FSE

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Excess confidence in the profession of shadows can be disastrous

Another venture far out into unknown territory for me in this story, so bear with me if it's not much good since half the time I probably don't actually know what I'm doing, despite that this story turned out to be surprisingly fun to write. Here's submission number one outside my usual category, a little something I came up with out of nowhere while trying to decide which of the stories I'd begun to plan out to work on next, of which this one wasn't involved, but I felt I should branch out a little, so there you have it.

...wow, that was a long-winded babble...

Any comments would be greatly appreciated for this story more than any of my others, and as usual, hope you enjoy =^.^=

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The ‘Profession of Shadows', they called it, a title quite befitting the life involved for any that decided to venture onto this dangerous path. The three S's, shadows, silence, and secrecy, were one's best friends, none could be trusted, especially within the profession, and a slight slip-up could mean absolute doom.

With this being said, those that glorified the profession were, naturally, swiftly targeted and eliminated for bringing too much attention onto it.

And once one entered into the profession, there could be no turning back, no failure, ever, else they wished for a swift, or perhaps not-so-swift depending on the proverbial executioner, death.

The profession in question was, of course, that of the assassin.

‘Don't find jobs, let them find you.' That was the advice the fox's old master had constantly pestered him with from day one of him coming into the old wolf's care years back. Good advice, perhaps, but it was advice he never cared much for, arguing with the wolf about how he was supposed to determine what was and wasn't a serious job simply from observation, and how was he supposed to expect pay if he did the deed before determining the need?

‘We're not in this for pay, you stupid child!' the wolf had argued the last time his pupil had brought up the point.

‘So what, we're supposed to just...' the fox began to retort before receiving the too-familiar feeling of a knife-tip against his throat, in the perfect position to slit his neck in just the right spot to kill him quickly.

A mistake, as it turned out.

Recalling briefly how he'd used his natural black fur to blend easily with the darkness of night, how he'd cooked a meal that had a notable scent later than the wolf wanted it, carrying it to his room during his time of privacy and leaving the plate within the room for fear of any repercussions from interrupting his master's seclusion, in turn filling the room with the scent of the food enough to hide what little scent the old wolf may have been able to pick up from the youthful fox, the vulpine let a small smirk come to his lips briefly, hidden beneath the cloth he wore to hide the white fur that lined the underside of his muzzle and down along his chest.

Thirteen years of abuse and hard, often torturous, training since he was five years of age, finally ended in a planned-out strike, and one less assassin in the world.

Confident, cold, and cunning, the fox prided himself on his greatest victory that night, the type of victory all trainee assassins sought after and few succeeded in, where those few often went on to take trainees of their own, sometimes foiling the attempt, sometimes falling victim to those whose skills they honed, a cycle that had gone on for ages and would continue for ages to come, lingering beneath and within the prying eyes of society, known to some but ignored and forgotten by most.

Kai, the black-furred, red-eyed fox had always introduced himself as. Short, simple, easy to remember, and being spread far more than his three-months-deceased master ever would've come close to allowing. Not that that mattered any more...he was his own master now, free to make his own decisions, live life his way. If he wanted to speak his name to his clients, he would. If he wanted to approach those he believed would have need of his services, he would.

A mistake, as it would turn out.

Not that he could care that people might take notice of his actions. His black fur made him born for a role within the shadows, and his imposing red eyes grown men had quivered under the gaze of, despite that he himself was only eighteen. The role of a skilled, feared assassin was one he was born for, and if there was anything he'd thank his fallen master for, it was for showing him that.

This day found him, as usual, in a busy, bustling city, the perfect type of place for someone like him, particularly within the inevitable darker corners of society lying within such cities. Leaning against a wall in a dark alleyway, his tail waving lazily behind him and his eyes closed but his sensitive ears and nose fully alert, the fox listened to the footsteps of all those that walked by, listened to some carrying conversations as they walked, others muttering to themselves, paying careful attention to every word, every hint of anger or distrust directed toward someone, for these were those people that he could conceivably approach. Unfortunately, two hours spent within this alley yielded no such comments, a fact that surprised him, and none entered the alley where the fox was but a shadow.

And yet this wasn't even the first site he'd tried this day, within this city. He'd earlier spent a few hours in another alleyway elsewhere in the city, there receiving only one hint of distrust toward anyone within the conversations he picked up on, but nothing so much as to yield a job, it seemed to him.

What pitifully fake people...he could've approached any one of them, and it seemed a fair bet that they wouldn't be willing to speak badly of anyone around them, much less to a stranger like him. Letting out a low growl as he shifted his shoulders back to push himself lightly off of the wall, Kai dug his hands into his pockets, taking one quick, sweeping glance over that part of the street he could see to try and find anyone standing around, not seeing any such people, and walking off down the alley away from the street. The dark corners of this particular city were apparently somewhat hidden, but if there was anything of note he picked up from the mutterings of some walking by, it was where to find at least one of them, and therein lied his destination.

Making his way quietly up the stairs and to the true area of the club, he took a casual glance around as he walked over to lean back against an unoccupied wall, taking in the surroundings. Not a bad place, he thought...lit by neon, moving lights, painted a dark red along the walls and ceiling with a wooden floor, tables all about occupied by various types doing various things, whether eating, conversing, gambling, drinking, or being attended to by one of those within the club's employ. A long bar lay at one side of the club, most of the stools occupied by patrons in various stages of alcoholic influence and a bartender who looked to the fox to be the impatient type, and on the next wall over, not far at all from the bar, a large stage with vertical iron poles scattered along it, seats dotting almost every free inch of the area directly surrounding the stage, of which, like at the bar, most were occupied, and for good enough reason for the show that five girls of varying species were giving those watching. Nothing of any particular interest to the fox, who was, of course, younger than everyone else around.

Watching his surroundings carefully, unable to make out any conversations for how many were going on, all that could really be seen of the fox save for those few times that one of the multi-colored lights passed over him were his piercing red eyes, shifting slowly back and forth among all the patrons of the club, until finally it seemed an argument arose about some card game or other and everyone at that particular table got up and shouted loudly at each other, drawing in some attention from those around them, until they began to physically fight, the bouncers quickly rushing in to break it up and kick those that dared threaten to damage anything in the club out. Too bad for them their numbers were down by two.

And indeed, just outside the door at the bottom of the stairs, two large, heavily-muscled figures, a buck and a wolf, lay dead against the wall, not the slightest hint of a struggle about them, now unable to prevent those unwelcome from entering the club, not that that mattered too much, since most such people didn't know of the club, and still more had no interest in going near it.

The conflict resolved some ten minutes or so later with some difficulty, the whole of the three-person group booted from the club only for the remaining bouncers to find that the doormen had been slain, the club's normal activities resumed, those people that had turned their attention to the fight returning to whatever it was they were doing before it had started, and yet still no hints of work for an assassin could be found by the fox. He'd considered approaching one of those from the group that was just kicked out, but the trio had left all of their gambling funds on the table, which had since been quickly pilfered by a small mob, and it didn't seem likely that any of them would have enough to spare to be interested in his services. If they wanted each other dead, they could find some assassin that was more like his old master, who didn't care enough about the pay, to do the deed, or they could do it themselves for all he cared.

"Hey, punk, yer in the way," he eventually heard a voice that was easy to make out throughout all the conversations going on throughout the club that were drowning each other out to his ears, and allowed a casual glance to the voice's owner, a buck of similar size to one of the former doormen.

"Yeah? Guess you'll just have to go another way then," Kai replied, his voice somewhat muffled by his mask, a fierce glare directed into the buck's eyes. Recoiling a little and thinking better of trying to stand up to those piercing red eyes, the buck grunted and walked off, pushing his way between a few tables.

"Pretty good, kid, but ain't you a bit young to be in here?" another voice spoke out clearly in the fox's ears, and he glanced casually in the direction opposite the one the buck had been on, finding a black-furred panther approaching him, well-dressed and probably fairly wealthy.

"Got a problem with that?" Kai asked, his voice and expression passive, at least for now.

"Nah...kid like you able to make it into this place past those muscleheads outside the door has gotta be pretty good at somethin'," the panther said, an oily smile appearing on his features.

"You mean that buck and wolf? They've probably been replaced by now," Kai said casually, and the panther let a small smirk cross his features for a moment, nodding.

"Replaced, huh? Nice...never liked them anyway, they have a bad habit of asking questions," the panther nodded thoughtfully. "So, what's yer name, kid?"

"Kai."

"Short and quick. I like it," the panther nodded again, that oily smile still clearly marking his features. "So, Kai, what's a kid like you do around here?"

"Watch and listen, I suppose," Kai said, a small hint of interest beginning to appear on his own features.

"Guess so, since you're standin' over here by yourself. Suppose you like to look for a bit of cash while you're at it, huh?" the panther suggested, and Kai narrowed his eyes slightly, appraising the panther before him. Cash it indeed looked like he had...whether or not he would get it was the real question.

"You might say that..." the fox replied, the tone in his voice indicating that he wanted to hear more, and the panther's smile thus widened.

"Hm, dressed like you are...thief? No? Assassin, maybe?" the panther hazarded, receiving a nod from the fox. "Don't usually see your type around, at least I think...you don't seem too worried about people noticing what you are, though, huh?"

"I like to keep my eyes and ears open," Kai replied. "Best place to do that is to be where lots of people are."

"True, very true...but for a kid like you in a place like this, open to attract attention...anyway," the panther muttered, shrugging.

"You said something about making some cash?" Kai spoke, hoping to draw the panther's thoughts back to anything that might interest him.

"Yeah, so I did. See, I've got a little problem..." the panther began.

"That's what we're for," Kai spoke, somewhat cutting the panther off, but the panther simply nodded, not bothered by the comment.

"True, very true...anyway, yeah, I've got this problem with some people in a village a little ways away from this city, and I need it taken care of, see? The problem's..." the panther began to explain, but the fox cut him off again.

"...none of my business," Kai finished the sentence for him. "My job's to take care of such problems, not to know why."

"Of course, sorry. So what, you need the who and where, right?" the panther asked, receiving a nod in reply. "Right then. Just northwest there's a village called Vale, where there's some kinda dojo or something. I dunno, I guess it doesn't matter, point is I need that bastard of a human that runs the place...taken care of, see?"

"How much?"

"What?"

"The pay. How much?"

"Ah, right, right. Lessee...four hundred, how ‘bout that?" the panther offered.

"Done. Any care for casualties?"

Now the panther looked a little nervous, his eyes shifting around a little to see if anyone was looking or listening in their direction. "Just...keep it quiet, see? I might have some use for the place."

"Fine. I'll check the place out and have it done in a few days' time, so last question: when and where should we meet afterward?"

"Right here, same time as now in four days, if you can manage that," the panther said, recoiling suddenly from a fierce glare from the fox. "I mean, yeah, right here in four days, same time as now, alright?" he corrected himself, a little panicked.

"Deal. Try anything, though, and you're done," Kai said, his expression calming, and looked away from the panther. Seeing that the conversation was over, and honestly worried about what might happen if he bothered the assassin any more, the panther nodded and walked off to go about other business. He probably expected the fox to leave immediately, but instead Kai slipped off his mask, stuffing it in his pocket, and unzipped his hooded vest, leaving the buckled gloves in which there was concealed a few useful tools of his on his hands, his appearance now casual enough to blend in with the crowd.

Scanning the club for anything that might be of interest to him, he eventually made his way around the wall to the unoccupied stool at the end of the bar, slipping onto it and leaning leisurely forward, his elbows resting on the edge of the bar.

"What'll ya have?" the bartender asked, walking over and not bothering to say anything like ‘you're too young to be in here'. He'd well since learned to avoid making verbal observations of any of the patrons.

"Glass of red wine, I don't care what name," Kai replied, and the bartender unquestioningly nodded, selecting from the possibilities one that seemed a common enough choice, pouring a glass and setting it down in front of the fox, who'd already left the payment on the bar. Taking a sip, he glanced down along the bar, making sure nobody was looking his way, which they weren't. Satisfied with the fact, he took another sip, lifting himself off the bar and turning his stool a little so he had a view of the stage. Even a young assassin like him was allowed occasional indulgences.

"New in town, hon?" he heard a voice quite near him, very likely directed toward him. Turning further in his seat to look in the direction he'd heard it from, he saw indeed that it was him the question was directed toward.

"Just arrived earlier today," Kai replied, finding that it wasn't one, but two, people that had approached him. Both were female in their early twenties, in bright red matching outfits that left little to the imagination, suggesting probable employment in this club. One was a skunk, with fur as black as Kai's, and had been the one who'd spoken, judging by what specific direction the fox had heard the voice come from. Her companion was a light green-scaled snake with a head of hair rivalling the color of her outfit. Another similarity they shared were bright green eyes.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" the snake spoke this time, reaching out to run a scaled hand down Kai's arm from shoulder to elbow. "So, what brings such an attractive young fox to a place like this?"

"Hey, sweethearts, why ya wastin' yer time with this kid?" a dark blue-scaled dragon wandered, or more accurately half-stumbled, over, Kai's eyes catching his approach well before he arrived, slinging an arm over each of the girls' shoulders, to their clear discomfort. But then, they supposed, they weren't paid to shy away from any of the patrons, however drunk said patron may be. "Plenty o' room an' money right here, tha's what yer here for, right?"

"Plenty enough money to go find someone else to bother, I'm sure," Kai said, directing a mild glare to the dragon, who unfortunately was a little too drunk to take the hint.

"Hey, now see here..." he began, releasing his arms from the two girls and meeting the fox face-to-face, Kai's strong nose wrinkling a little at the strong smell of alcohol so close from the man's breath. "I got more money than you'll ever have, kid, so you jus' leave me be and find someone else yerself."

Secretly wishing he could slit the dragon's throat right then and there, or better yet slice off that persistent tongue of his, Kai instead kept himself in check, thinking through other ways to be rid of the drunken pest. Speaking low so that only the dragon could hear, he made well sure that he got the point across that he wasn't someone to mess with. "Yeah? I wonder if that money can protect you from an assassin, right here and now?" he spoke, his piercing gaze directed straight into the dragon's eyes, the man's vision, though slightly blurred, picking up on them quite effectively.

Taking a few moments to think the situation over, not an easy task in his current state, the dragon shrugged, backing away from the fox and wandering off, risking an apprehensive glance back to the fox after he passed the skunk and snake, receiving the flash of a glare in response. Shrugging again, he continued on his way, deciding to go and take one of the open seats around the stage.

"I dunno what you said to him, but thanks...I know we're not supposed to complain, but I really don't like dealing with the drunks..." the skunk said, giving a sigh. "So, I guess we owe you one."

"Don't worry about that, I don't like dealing with people like that either, to be completely honest," Kai said, taking this time to lean back a little against the bar, resting his elbows on the edges of it and letting his forearms dangle down.

"So, what does bring an attractive young fox like you to this place? You never got a chance to answer since that drunk showed up," the snake questioned, smiling somewhat seductively, her thin, forked tongue flicking out of her mouth once.

"Yeah, you seem kinda young for a place like this," the skunk observed, looking Kai over carefully. "What are you...eighteen? Nineteen? Thought you had to be at least twenty-one to get in here..."

"Eighteen, yeah," Kai answered, nodding, receiving an ‘ooh' in response from the snake. "As for why I'm here...I guess I just like to check out the crowd sometimes, see what things might be like when I'm older."

"Really?" the snake asked, taking a step closer, the fox noting that she seemed to be taking much more of an interest in him than her skunk companion. "And how'd you get in, exactly, if you're supposed to be at least twenty-one?"

Seeing that her reptilian companion seemed to want this fox much more than she did, and spotting a male of her own species not too far away who must've arrived recently, the skunk drifted away from the two, not noticed at all by the snake and only vaguely noticed by Kai, who didn't see any particular reason to care. At least that left only one person to have to pay attention to.

"I guess I know how to fake it pretty well," Kai blatantly lied, though he made it sound convincing enough, not that an excuse like that had to sound very convincing. "That, and flashing a little money usually seems to work."

"'Money makes the world go ‘round' sorta thing, huh?" the snake replied, taking another step forward, now standing a mere few inches from the fox.

"So they say," Kai shrugged. "Probably different people than said ‘the best things in life are free'."

"Yeah, probably...so how do you think the ‘best things in life' come? With money, or free?"

"Money certainly always helps...but I'm going to say free, long's you know where to look," Kai answered.

"Hm...pretty well said," the snake said, leaning a little closer, her left hand reaching up to rest on Kai's furred chest, her tongue flicking out of her mouth once more. "So, how about you? You free?"

"Sometimes," Kai said, a vague response but apparently satisfying for the serpent. "Name's Kai."

"Sssera," the snake hissed out, her hand sliding steadily up through the thick fur on Kai's chest.

It was times like this that Kai enjoyed the mysterious, dark life of an assassin. He could go anywhere, do as he liked for the most part with no real fear of repercussion unless he was foolish enough to cross an assassin. Of course, even those others he crossed could potentially hire assassins, but there was a certain amount of name recognition throughout the trade, and it wasn't often that an assassin wanted to target another in the same profession. That could get extremely difficult, and the high price for such a deed would be impossible for the majority of people to pay. Of course, there were a certain few that liked to make a specific trade of hunting or foiling the efforts of other assassins, but those usually stayed under the employ of one particular individual or firm that could afford to keep them.

Reaching his own left hand up, he brushed it lightly along the cheek of the snake who was practically giving herself to him, leaning up and off of the bar, meeting the snake's eyes in his own.

Having a well enough known attraction to those rarer sights around the club, Sera held her somewhat seductive smile as she stared into those piercing red eyes, those and the fox's black fur having quickly drawn her to him. Not only how that gaze seemed to look through the eyes, but the simple fact that she'd never seen black fur on a fox, only white or red, and the only times she'd seen red eyes were on the occasional dragon or albino. Black fur and red eyes together, however...that was even more unusual, and gave a dark, mysterious air to the fox.

"Hmm...hope I'm not in danger or anything..." she said, tilting her head a little toward Kai's hand.

"Wouldn't worry about that around me, I can handle quite a bit," Kai replied, certainly not untruthfully.

"Oh, so you'll protect me, then, if anything might happen while I'm around you?" Sera asked, leaning still closer to the fox.

"That you can count on," Kai said, nodding.

"Hehe...I feel sssafer already..." Sera hissed, taking the initiative he seemed to be allowing her and closing in through what little distance remained, brushing her lips briefly against Kai's, the first time she'd had such contact with a fox, hoping to draw him into action.

Easily picking up on the hint, Kai placed his free right hand on Sera's hip, keeping his eyes locked on hers and tilting his head down a little to place a soft kiss against her lips, holding this one.

"So...how long're you planning on sticking around town, anyway?" Sera asked a short while later after Kai finally broke the kiss.

"Tomorrow morning I have to leave for work," he replied.

"Hm...so you've got until then to kill time, huh?"

"Yeah, just spending tonight in this city, then I'll be out for a few days until I come back to pick up my scheduled pay."

"Aw...sounds like you already have a place to stay..." Sera said, looking a little disappointed.

"Nothing solid, just a few options between inns around the city," Kai shrugged, noticing Sera perk up again.

"Well, you said something earlier about the best things in life being free...so why bother going out to pay for a room?" she smirked.

"It beats sleeping on the street, at least," Kai shrugged again, and Sera giggled.

"Well, club rules say that I have to charge our patrons to stick around me very long," the snake said, winking, a certain emphasis on the word ‘patrons'.

Fairly certain he saw where she was going with this, Kai nodded slowly. "I guess since I'm not old enough to be in here, I suppose I can't really be called a patron of this club."

"Aw, you tricked me. Now I guess I won't have to charge you for staying over," Sera joked, that seductive smile creeping back onto her features.

Satisfied with her new catch, the snake flicked her tongue against Kai's lips, hissing in pleasure as Kai kissed her once more, pressing further forward and deepening the kiss, her thin tongue slipping somewhat easily between hers and the fox's lips as they both held the kiss, slowly closing their eyes, Kai's furred hand beginning to run along Sera's mostly exposed thigh.

Thoroughly enjoying a night off the job, and a place to stay that he didn't have to pay for and wasn't in the middle of a forest or some such place, Kai, true to his word, left the city the following morning, bidding a long farewell to his new admirer, Sera, and heading in the direction the panther had pointed him toward, thinking over how to go about this job.

The panther had mentioned a dojo, and his target being the master of that dojo, he distinctly remembered, meaning there would likely be some difficulty, perhaps more so than the 400 he'd be paid warranted...but that wasn't to say he couldn't up the price to some extent for difficulties faced. The panther wouldn't like it if he did, but he suggested that he had money, so that would be his problem if he had to spend more of it.

Remaining in his more casual appearance as he walked alone down the street that he'd heard had led to Vale, the fox found the street unusually deserted for most of his walk, only one carriage passing him by going in the direction of the city he'd just come from and paying him no mind. The panther had called Vale a town, so judging from the lack of activity along the street, it probably wasn't a very big place. That would make things quite a bit easier when the time came to slip quietly out of town.

His first destination already set since he began this trip, he easily received directions to the local dojo from the first person he came across in town, and indeed, it was a small town. There was a small area where three merchant's stands were set up, mostly for those that passed through on the way elsewhere it seemed to him, and otherwise, the few wide streets within the town were dotted with maybe around two dozen houses in total. Looking around his surroundings with the look of a big-city boy, the best way he could think of to keep too much attention from falling onto his actual appearance, he made his way toward the dojo in the direction where he'd been pointed, finding it was mostly shielded from sight by a wall of trees, a single pathway maintained through them that didn't even allow sight of the building.

Why such a small, seemingly insignificant place like this had any interest to that panther, Kai couldn't be sure, but again, it didn't matter. He'd do his job, return for his pay, and continue with his life.

It was a short while further of walking when he finally escaped the forested barrier, looking off to the right to see a tall, oriental-style building with a sign hanging from the edge of the roof inscribed in some language he couldn't read. The tell-tale sounds of training having met his ears a short way through the trees, he simply followed those to find where his target would likely be, taking a moment to dig around his gloves a little, make sure everything was exactly where it was supposed to be and his blades were ready to come out at a moment's notice. Satisfied, he continued onward, looking casually over the sight.

Three students were the first thing he saw...nothing much. The place must not have been very well-known or anything...those students, two of them older, possibly in their thirties, and one around his age, were probably those few of the townsfolk that had any interest in learning what this place had to teach.

Walking further along, his light footsteps silent even to his own ears, he saw his target, standing and watching as the three swung the kendo sticks they held in repeated vertical swipes. What he saw drew out a low growl from his throat.

The human master of this dojo was old, as his balding head, wrinkled features, and tired expression swiftly revealed. His arms and legs were crossed as he sat down on a wide pillow atop a somewhat elevated pathway that made its way all along that wall of the building. He was wearing the same type of loose-fitting shirt and pants that each of the students were, but while theirs were white, his was black.

Kai had been sent to kill someone that probably didn't even have very long to live as it was...if that clearly impatient panther simply waited for two years the man would probably drop dead of other causes by that point anyway. How an old man like that could pose a problem for anyone was anyone else's guess, and it was a little humiliating to have to spend any effort eliminating such an old man, but the fox was going to be paid well enough for the effort, so he couldn't really complain.

Something about the man's eyes, though...there was something in there he couldn't place but which bothered him, more so for the fact that he couldn't place it.

Shrugging off these useless thoughts, he waited in silence until this particular training regimen was apparently over, all three of the students bowing politely to their master, the two older students walking into the building while the younger student gave a tired sigh and lowered herself to sit down on the ground. She was a dragonfly, Kai noted, her armor-like skin a strange mixture of blue and green that seemed to shift between those colors depending how the light hit her, her short hair a pale blue bordering on white. An interesting sight, to be sure, but not in the least what he'd come here for.

"You coming or what?" the old man called out with a surprising amount of strength, and Kai snapped his attention over to him, though the human's gaze was still focused directly forward. He must've been talking to the young girl, making himself so loud to get the point across to get up and moving. She seemed to think so, too, as she began to get up, but was surprised at his next comment, which couldn't have been directed toward her. "I know you're standing over there, now quit being shy and get over here and tell me what you want!" Looking all around and trying to find whoever her master seemed to be speaking to, the dragonfly eventually spotted the black-furred fox walking out from a shadowed area within the trees, only able to make out some of his white-furred chest and a pair of unusual red eyes.

"Sorry, I've just never seen a place like this before, and I didn't want to bother anyone," Kai said, his voice innocent and his words surprisingly true, albeit with an underlying purpose to said actions.

"Well, congratulations, now you have," the old man said, finally looking over in Kai's direction as the fox came near, giving him an appraising look over, seeming to pay particular attention to his eyes.

"Yeah...so...what's this place for, anyway?" Kai began to question. "And why out here, in the middle of nowhere? I'm sure you could get a lot more students if..."

"I don't need more students," the man cut him off. "I don't need a bunch of punks and money-worshippers invading this place, got that? This place is to build discipline, teach people how to defend themselves, people that actually care enough to stick around and learn."

Defend themselves, eh? From what? Someone standing right in front of them on a wide-open street, announcing that they're going to attack? Kai chuckled inwardly at the mocking thought, letting none of it show on his outward expression. "Suppose that makes sense," he admitted, giving a small nod.

"Why are you here, kid?"

"No reason in particular, I guess. Just checking out what places like this are like," Kai said, casually looking over the building in apparent interest.

"Now you've seen it, so leave," the old man said, and Kai lowered his gaze back to him, noticing one of the two older students, a human like his master, perhaps even the master's son, approaching through the open sliding doors, kendo stick held firmly in hand.

"Outsiders aren't allowed here, so consider yourself lucky to have gotten this far," the student said, stepping between Kai and his master.

"I'm just..." Kai began, finding that the mere act of speaking was a trigger for hostility. Hopping back and slightly to the side just in time to avoid the long wooden weapon suddenly thrust at him, he took that time to adjust his gloves a little, making sure the concealed blades wouldn't come out. The panther had, unfortunately, expressed a desire to not leave behind any casualties other than the old man, and this was thus neither the time nor place to attempt the kill.

Not being given much time to think of how to go about his job as the student came at him with another swing, the fox shifted to the side to avoid it, acting before the man could prepare a third attempted strike, the points of his clawed fingers suddenly halting a dangerously short distance from the man's neck, an attack that would be instantly fatal had the fox wished.

"Swing that stick at me all you want, you..." his eyes widening slightly as he suddenly realized that something wasn't quite right, he jumped quickly off to the side and rolled back into a mostly standing position facing the human student and the one that had come to his aid, judging by the girl's current position that he'd barely avoided being cracked atop the head with her kendo stick. That girl...probably because she was an insect, she had no distinct scent, a fact that might prove somewhat problematic. If only he could kill her too...but his target was the old man, and without knowledge of what the panther wanted with the man or possibly this place he couldn't make an effective judgment on whether or not any of the three students were of interest to his client.

"Hm...good reflexes and instincts..." the old man observed, watching the events carefully from his seated position, the only thing Kai had yet seen move on him being his eyes and mouth. "I suppose...I could take one more student, if you have any interest in the art of the sword..." he said thoughtfully.

"Wha...but father!" the younger human began to protest, the master's son just as Kai had suspected.

"He will stay and train for a few days on a trial basis, at which point I will judge whether to keep him, and accept input on the matter from you his peers," the old man said, silencing his son. "You will call me Master Shiro. Students, introduce yourselves."

"I am Shura," the human student said, bowing politely but keeping his eyes fixed on the fox's face.

"I am Myst," the dragonfly introduced herself next, also bowing politely; while her fellow student regarded the fox with hostility, she regarded him simply with suspicion.

"I'm Kai," he finally introduced himself, also bowing politely, completely aware that he'd never actually given his input on whether or not he was going to stay. Not that he was going to pass up such a perfect opportunity.

"It's getting late," Master Shiro observed, finally unfolding his arms and legs and getting up slowly with a small grunt. "Come, Shura, Myst, dinner should be ready by now. Kai...you will remain out here for tonight. Consider it your first test, to see if you have any dedication." With that, Shiro and his two students went inside, Shura's eyes remaining mostly on Kai until he turned around to close the doors behind them, at which point they were blocked from each others' view.

Grumbling and walking over to take a seat on the edge of the deck, watching the sun as the last slivers slowly fell below the trees, Kai leaned forward thoughtfully, resting his elbows on his knees. Quite a strict master, it seemed, and that would likely mean a strict daily regimen, which meant a particular time to sleep. Yes...this shouldn't be a problem at all.

Whiling away the hours into darkness in silence, never moving or making a sound but to blink or breathe, the black-furred fox, now blended well into the shadows with his vest zipped up, his hood risen onto his head, and his cloth mask tied around his mouth and neck, slowly rose up to a standing position, turning around and taking a few silent steps until he reached the doors, placing a hand on each one and carefully beginning to slide them apart, testing for any kind of lock, or perhaps a trigger for a trap. Not seeing any hints of either, he slid them a little further, working to move them as similarly to Shura's method as he could manage after having seen the man close them earlier. Sniffing quietly around as he slowly poked his head through the sufficient gap he left, he slipped quickly inside, sliding the doors closed behind him in a method quite similar to the human's.

As big as the place was, there didn't even seem to be many rooms. It was mostly a long hallway spanning the same wall that the deck spanned outside, one large entrance room just beyond it with a low table and pillows similar to the one Shiro had been sitting on before placed evenly around it, cabinets on one side of the room and an oven and long sink on the other side, while at the back of the room...well, in a sense it could be said there was no back of the room, as the wall was non-existent and the room seemed to simply extend back outside, leading to a neatly-organized garden with all manner of flowers and plants, stone-laden walkways travelling in seemingly random, winding paths through it.

Allowing his attention to linger on this first room for a mere moment, he followed the old man's scent off to the left, sticking as close to the wall as he could in the knowledge that that was where the floorboards would be attached to something else, and thus be far less likely to move and make any sound.

Soon, he reached what seemed to be Shiro's room, the human's scent strongest at these doors. Smirking a little, he carefully slid one of the doors to the room open a fraction, just enough to peer inside. Straight ahead, not blocked by anything, was the old man, sleeping on a mat on the floor and covered by a blanket. Noting the steady rise and fall of the blanket above his chest, the small movements of the lips, it was a guarantee that this was the old man, not some trick or illusion. Sliding the door further, just enough to slip inside, he crept carefully forward, further toward the old man, opting, unlike some assassins, to use only close-range strikes instead of thrown daggers or darts, a more sure kill paired with a more effective means of telling whether the target had survived the strike.

Only two feet away from the old man, one of his wrist blades brought forward by a quick thrust, having been re-adjusted before he entered the building, Kai blinked in surprise at a strange sensation. Rubbing at his eyes with the arm that it was safer to do so with, he tried to blink or rub away the blurriness, the sleepiness slowly creeping into him. Something was definitely wrong...he'd been conditioned to be fully resistant to most poisons and gasses, to nausea or sleepiness when he really focused, and yet here he was, something in the air, or somewhere, beginning to forcibly lull him to sleep.

"Kai...a name drifting lazily through the world of assassins," a somewhat familiar voice spoke from behind him, and the fox was surprised to notice through his blurring vision that the only thing remaining on the mat just two feet from him was the blanket, laying in the very spot it would have had the man simply vanished from existence and left the blanket to fall on its own. "A black-furred, red-eyed fox, an image drifting in much the same way. Your fur is perfect for blending into the shadows, I'll admit, but it makes you unusual, noticeable, and it doesn't help that you seem to make some point to spread your name along," the voice continued, giving a sigh while the fox struggled to break free of the sleepiness, too absorbed in that to turn around and face his target. "Oh, by the way, it's the effects of a unique plant that I grow in the garden you must have seen, puts anyone to sleep the first time they're around it. Too bad...it'll take a lot more than a kid like you to get rid of an immortal like me."

"You...bas..." Kai growled weakly, a sharp blow atop his head finishing the plant's job and sending him falling limply to the ground, fully asleep.