[b]Enjoy this next part of the fic.[/b]

[size=4]Chapter 4: Silent Footsteps[/size]

Nestal let out a groan as he began to stir. His hands began moving, feeling something soft from behind the gloves he wore. The Breton quickly opened his eyes and got up, pulling out a dagger. "Where am I?"

"My room in the Lonely Suitor." A voice spoke. The Thinker stared at the door as the owner of the voice closed it. It was Mary, only she wasn't wearing her mask nor her headpiece. "I ran into a man carrying Ian. He did not trust me, obviously until I told him what Ian had told me. I took her here while he went back for you with one of the patrons. A male Imperial who seemed to recognize both you and Ian. She is on the other bed, by the way. They also brought back a female High Elf. A survivor of that cult, no doubt."

Nestal look to the bed on the right and saw Azumi laid on top of it. She was still unconscious but didn't appear to have any wounds on her. The Thinker checked himself and noticed he wasn't wearing his hood. He also appeared to be fine. The Breton knew that both Ian and he had been treated after they had been brought to the inn. He stared at the ninja as he lowered his hands. "Ian said that you left and couldn't handle it. I am grateful that you helped treat us. But why are you here?"

"I did leave. All the way to Skingrad." Mary sighed as she leaned against the door. "I sat at the stables outside the western gates to contemplate. Just as I made the decision to return to Anvil, I managed to see Ian riding alongside someone else. I returned to the stables for directions and a horse. Turns out the fastest horse they had wasn't as fast as Ian's. It was nighttime when I finally arrived. I left my horse on the stables and got a room here. I went out searching for a bit but this place is... A better word for it would be a cesspool and that's me being nice."

Nestal grunted as he heard the ninja say that word again. "Ian said that same word earlier. Please continue though. I would like to know how you found Cadenza and where he is."

Mary raised an eyebrow. Apparently, that's how Nestal knows him. Still she resumed with her explanation. "It was after I returned to the inn. I was speaking with the innkeeper and planning to turn in for the night when Cadenza walked in with Ian. You already know the rest. Cadenza went to the room besides this one to check up on the High Elf woman." She moved away from the door once she was done and leaned against the wall close to Nestal's bed. "Hopefully, Ian will be waking up soon."

After Mary had finished speaking, the door opened, and "Cadenza" stepped inside, his cloak once again in place.  despite the lower portion of his face being covered by the cloak, he still managed to look more grim than usual.

"The High Elf is dead.  A ghost in a black cloak of some sort attacked her in her sleep, mauling her, something I hadn't anticipated.  It must have been some sort of curse or defense mechanism against those who betrayed the Dark Brotherhood, intentionally or otherwise."  He looked at Mary, realizing she hadn't been filled in entirely on the situation.

As he did, Nestal muttered under his breath. "To dishonor the Night Mother is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis. One of their tenets appeared true."

"We had been attempting to infiltrate the Dark Brotherhood gathering that had been taking place here.  It didn't go as planned.  Their leader, the "Night Mother", a supernatural being, was able to sense my and another traitor's presence, and we were not able to end her as quietly as we would have liked.  The situation turned south, and Ian took some heavy damage.  She'll need time to recuperate.  As for you, if you're as competent as Ian has told me, then I have a task for you to prove it."

He turned fully towards the ninja now, making sure he had her undivided attention.

"The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to steal Count Regulus Terentius' prized golden goblet from his manor, without getting caught.  Something that should be simple, with your abilities.  If you succeed, then I will fully explain who we are, and what our purpose is."

It was then, as Zero explained the less-than-impossible mission, that a groan was heard from the other occupied bed. Azumi Ian turned to one side, wincing in pain... and her eyes shot open, the woman sitting straight up in her bed!

...then she fell back on her back again, gripping her abs and head in two separate hands, biting her lip to keep from groaning again. In the brief time it had taken to scan the room, added to the explanation she had heard somewhat from Zero, she didn't think it was much of a problem to lie back again.

She waited a moment before she finally opened her eyes again, sitting up in bed, an arm around her abs still. The ice blasts had broken some bones inside, ribs. Nothing permanent, and a mage could probably do it, but she didn't want Nestal to waste his magicka on her, not until they were clear on what their arrangement was. So she spoke at least, getting their attention.

"If she does," her voice sounded pained. "I'll sit here with Nestal and figure out the important pieces... of our arrangement. Tell him more about who we are and what we do. Best to... give all of the information. Better than ONI..." She didn't explain that to the Thinker. "But Cyrodiil... is yours now, Thinker. Is for the Morag Tong, not the Dark Brotherhood. Maybe they're gone for good. But you still need to expand out of... Morrowind." She wheezed, taking a few breaths, letting others talk.

Mary looked at Cadenza as he walked into the room. The ninja frowned as she learned that the High Elf woman had died during the night. From what she heard of Nestal and Cadenza speaking, the attack on the Dark Brotherhood didn't go as planned. They were able to complete their mission but not the way they wanted. "I am listening." She replied when Cadenza referred to her.

The ninja listened intently to him as she was told of her mission. "I am to sneak in, retrieve the goblet and get out. All without being seen. I can do that. The mansion is in the southeast peninsula if I remember correctly." Mary moved away from the wall and walked past Cadenza. "I will be back after the mission." With that, the ninja walked out of the room to give Azumi the privacy she needs so she could speak with Nestal.

-----

Instead of going through the streets, Mary simply walked up to the third level. At this hour, it wouldn't be wise to use the streets. Especially to enter the mansion of Count Regulus, which regular citizens shouldn't be allowed to normally enter. It paid to be discreet this time and one of the better ways in this city was through the rooftops. Climbing out one of the windows, she turned around and grabbed the edge of the roof. Pulling herself up, Mary stood on the roof of the inn.

"The fastest way towards the mansion is..." Mary scouted the nearby rooftops of the houses so she could choose her route. Nodding, the ninja began running, jumping to the next rooftop. Moving from roof to roof, she made sure no one was looking up directly before each jump. The ninja could tell that she was about close to a quarter.

-----

"You are correct, Ian." Nestal replied. He didn't ask about the strange word she had said, simply nodding at Ian. "Once my injuries are healed, I will contact my Knower and let him know the mission was a success."  As soon as Mary left, the Thinker stared at the woman. "We do need to talk. Of our arrangements and also about who you and Cadenza really are. I've kept my suspicious to myself since we both sought the same goal. But now I would like to know the truth."

Azumi sighed, nodding as she looked at him. "Yes, that's right. It's time we discussed this." She took a breath, finally able to speak, but not to raise her voice for a little while. She would need to have some healing done. "First, you know our cause. The Assassins, who work in the dark to serve the light, you know the whole deal, kind of like what you do. Only we don't always kill, and we don't have as rigorous a training as you do. And another thing..."

She looked at her hands as she took breaths again. "We don't come from Tamriel. We don't even come from Nirn. We're from another world, another two. Nirn was created by the Aedra and all, but they don't control all worlds."

She paused, waiting, wanting him to let that sink in. It was quite a revelation, one she had had to compartmentalize herself before she went on with her life.

-----

"Good. I'm inside." Mary said in a whisper as she closed the window. The ninja managed to reach the count's mansion and had searched for an unguarded window. Looking at the room she was in, she noticed it was an empty guest's room. The ninja walked towards the door and checked it. It was unlocked, good. Opening the door a bit, she stuck her head out and saw that no one was in the hallway.

Mary walked out of the room and closed the door quietly. The ninja didn't know much about the count's mansion but guessed his room wouldn't be on the first floor. She needed to decide which direction she would take. The ninja chose the left, since that door was closer. Opening it, she saw another hallway and a servant cleaning the floor. The ninja heard the other door in the hallway opening and quickly walked through the door she had opened. Mary saw that the servant wasn't facing her and that she could sneak by from behind. And she did so quietly, although the ninja froze when the servant began turning around. The servant moved away from the crouching form of Mary however and towards the hallway where the ninja had come from. Letting out a sigh, she continued on her way.

Walking out the other door, she walked up the stairs up a floor and went through another door. On this floor, she saw two people speaking with each other. Two servants, both female Imperials sharing some gossip. Mary could hear them speaking from the door and took a moment to eavesdrop and see if they knew where the count's room was.

"The count just loves having that goblet polished. He always has one of the girls sent to his room to polish it."

"Oh really? I heard he simply has one of the girls bring him skooma. I feel bad for whoever has to do that."

"Again? By the Nine, it's only four floors. It's not that far to the count's room. In fact, it's right above us."

Mary closed the door after that. She got the information she wanted. The ninja went up the stairs and as she was about to grab the handle when she saw that the door was opening. The ninja quickly crouched in the corner, hoping the small shadow would disguise her and that no one would notice her. Out walked a guard, who simply walked down the stairs without even looking at his surroundings.

Curious, Mary noticed the guard had a slight stagger in his step and shook her head. He was probably on that stuff she saw some of the people in the city were on. She didn't know the name of the stuff and didn't think now was the time to recall it. The ninja walked through the door and continued. Mary walked through another hallway without incident. She reached another hallway, only this one had one door and a dead end.

"[i]Found it.[/i]" Mary thought as she walked towards the door to see if she could open it. It was locked though. Before she could figure out how to unlock it, the door suddenly opened. Surprised, the ninja quickly moved towards the wall and crouched, hoping the person that opened the door wouldn't find her.

The man was an Imperial with light brown hair. He wears an expensive blue velvet outfit with blue suede shoes. Mary guessed that by the location and the fact that he was locking the door to his room that the man was count Regulus Terentius.

The count locked the door and began to leave the hallway, stopping for a moment to glance back. He didn't notice the ninja crouched close to the wall though. The Imperial shook his head, maybe the skooma was getting to him. He turned around again, just to be sure. "I must be imagining things." The count turned back around and left the hallway.

-----

Nestal did indeed take all the time Azumi allowed for him to collect his thoughts.  Other worlds?  Was it really possible?  The people standing in front of him themselves were evidence to the fact.  They had done things he had never thought possible in the span of a single night.  After a short time, he slowly nodded.

"Other worlds. Mephala willing."

"Everything the Sergeant says is the truth."  Zero said.  "Our duty is to protect everyone to the best of our abilities.  This is why we've been expanded and creating self-sufficient Assassins guilds on other worlds.  There is only so much our group can do on their own.  This is the responsibility we are leaving to you."

-----

Mary shook her head as count Regulus Terentius left the hallway, holding the key to his room. "I can't believe he's the one in charge of this dump. Wait, I actually can believe it." Using the key, she opened the door to the count's room and walked inside. The room looked lavish, expected for the supposed ruler of Bravil. There was a bed, a desk and a drawer inside the room. Right on top of the drawer was Mary's objective. The ninja picked up the goblet and inspected the object. On the front side was the emblem of the count's family. She noticed a strange scent coming from the goblet. Moving the object closer, she lowered her mask to take a sniff and made a face. "[i]He must have been using this for that stuff.[/i]"

Mary turned around and left the room. She had no need to loot it since she found what she had come for. The ninja locked the door to the count's room. She would leave the key once she found an escape route. She checked the window in the hallway first. But it lead to the fields outside of Bravil and getting inside with the goblet out would simply cause trouble. Mary walked out of the corridor and down the stairs.

She was careful as she reached the first floor.  Mary was looking for a way out, glad that she hadn't run into anyone during her own mission. The ninja couldn't go out through the front entrance, since it was obviously guarded. Walking through the door to the right, she saw three servant walking straight in her direction. The ninja walked through the closest door, the one to the right and hid in the room.

-----

Azumi picked it up again. "We need you to re-expand into as many provinces and islands as possible. Morrowind can't last forever. And the reason is simple. We need stealth trainers. People who can teach our people to be sneaky and able to steal, manipulate without words or unnecessary violence. We need this, and the Morag Tong seems perfect for it. Can this happen?"

Nestal looked down in thought.  "I don't know.  To create such a development... it would take time, and I'm only a Thinker.  To initiate this sort of endeavor would take someone of a higher rank than I."

-----

Mary waited as the servants walked by the room. The ninja had almost been caught this time. She waited for a few more moments before opening the door and checking the hallway. It was clear with no signs of anyone. The ninja walked out of the room and left in the other direction. It led her to another set of stairs that led up back to the second floor. She went through another empty hallway and climbed up a set of circular stairs.

Mary knew it would lead her to the top of one of the towers and lead outside. She opened the door that led to the ramparts and walked outside. The ninja saw that no guards on the ramparts and searched for an escape route. She found the roof of a house close to the rampart but it was far in both distance and height. There was no other route she could take without risking being discovered so the ninja jumped.

Holding the goblet with one hand, Mary held out her free hand, grabbing the edge of the roof. Her body hit the wall, her grip on the goblet slipping. Grunting, the ninja raised the hand holding the goblet and let it go on the roof for a moment to pull herself up. Mary picked up the goblet again and sighed. All that was left now was to return to the Lonely Suitor and give the goblet to Cadenza. The ninja began her trek back to the inn.

The trip took longer than Mary intended. For one, she was in a different location than the one from where she entered the count's mansion. Another fact was that the ninja was taking the long way around to the inn. While she was careful during her rooftop trip back to the Lonely Suitor, she also had to move quickly. The ninja didn't want to keep the three who were in her room back at the inn waiting.

-----

Zero nodded.  "You have all the time you need.  It's understandable that such a process would be slow going.  Just make it happen any way you can."

"My partner here might be able to stay and facilitate the training development. He... has quite a bit of time on his hands." Azumi was uncertain of his lifespan, but whatever helped.

-----

Mary soon arrived to the roof of the inn and walked towards the window where she had walked out from. She carefully lowered herself to the window, making sure to keep her grip on the goblet. Opening it, the ninja climbed inside. Closing the window, Mary walked down back to the second floor and knocked on the door. "It's me." Waiting for the door to open, she kept the goblet in her hands.

Before Zero could reply to Azumi, he heard Mary at the door.  Opening it, he saw the goblet in her hand, and nodded in approval.

"You've done well.  Come in, and we'll continue explaining who we are."