"Stay in the shadows until I need you."

Night had fallen by the time her feet finally touched the ground outside as she followed after the familar tapping of a cane, the darkness rising, cold and consuming, leaving the sky nothing but a void in the absence of light that had her shadows rolling around her flesh in delight. Of course, Yvaine didn't truly know where they were going as she strolled along carelessly, with only the word heartrender her clue, her warning of things to watch out for...as if she wouldn't of noticed her chest exploding and bathing the whole of Ketterdam in her wicked shadow.

But Kaz had her exactly where he wanted her as he always did...blind and guessing and right behind him in his shadow, and she trusted that whatever he needed her to do, she'd figure it our rather quickly because the pick-pocket worked best when chaos was afoot. So, she kept her gloved hands crossed behind her back, ease and confidence oozing from her every pore as her dark eyes flickered sinfully slow to the streets around them, searching through the darkness, seeing things that others could not, and making sure that any threat was handled before it could even take a step towards them.

It was strange that months ago she wouldn't of dared be so crass in the slaughter she could command with a mere twitch of her finger, wouldn't of dared to fall back into the sweetness of her cruelty to stain her hands with mortal sin because she could, because the night was her calling, because her shadows were her salvation and her damnation, filling up her hollow corpse with their black abyss, and yet now she was hungry for it, now she didn't hesitate to let her wickedness roam...because when you were surrounded by monsters, you realise that in the end, it wasn't such a horrible thing to be.

"So, where's our darling wraith and sharpshooter, Kaz? Or is this just an excuse to get me alone and all to yourself?"

Saints, Jesper really was rubbing off of her in the worst ways possible, Yvaine thought to herself with a pained grimace as she stalked up beside him quietly, pretending she couldn't see the sharp look she was given for her flirtation that was growing more and more bold by the day as she smirked and he glared, slamming his cane upon the already crooked cobblestones with more force than necessary in obvious warning that only filled her with amusement as they walked through the bloodied dirt of the Barell. "They'll be meeting us later on, pick-pocket...you and I just need to get something first."

We just need to get something first, that phrase was unfortunately familar to the shadow summoner as she paused for half a second with her mind racing swiftly, almost missing a step and losing her footing as the pieces began to fall like a house of cards, and then she let out a scoff, gloved fingers dancing over her hands still crossed behind her back as she quirked a brow up at him boredly. "And by something...you mean the heartrender, don't you? There's better ways to ask a girl to kidnap someone for you, Brekker, I hope you're aware of that."

"I'll keep that in mind."

But just as those words were spoken, he suddenly came to a stop in front of a rather homely looking building, leather clad fingers moving over his cane as he looked upon it with something dark passing over his features like a promise...and the pick-pocket didn't need to hear him say anything to know that that was the house in which their mark lived before he made his way around the back of the small house quietly without so much as a backward glance, knowing that by the time he'd finished strolling up the stairs...the job would already be done.

She was swift to glance around, ensuring that there was no one there as the shadows began to wind their way around her, looping beneath her limbs, curling around her feet until she felt like she was completely immersed in the darkness she commanded like saint to sinner, and then, though lacking the grace the wraith usually displayed, she began to push herself up the stone wall with gloved hands clumsy and stiff that she desperately pretended to ignore, trusting the black abyss underfoot to catch her if she misplaced a step as she climbed and climbed and climbed until she finally reached the half open window.

A bad decision if I've ever saw one, Yvaine thought to herself grimly with something cruel drifting over her eyes, not that she had much of a leg to stand on, quite literally in this case as her shadows gave her one final shove so she could slip into the living room of the heartrender, pulling the thick tendrils around her still moving corpse as she slithered into the corner of the low lit room, wrapping herself completely in darkness until there was nothing left of her, no scent of her clothes, no intake of her breath, no beating of her heart...nothing but the quiet of the room that seemed so much darker than it had been before.

And luckily, she didn't have to wait long, because she'd barely even been in there a moment before the door to what she could only assume was the bedroom opened, light streaming in like a halo as a woman strolled out, already dressed and looking rather dapper as she walked into her room where nothing looked nor sounded nor felt amiss, where she didn't see the dark gaze of wicked shadow watching her every move in the corner like a fat cat to a mouse, far too busy searching for her hat that matched her boots that she'd definitely left somewhere, and not realising the danger that had filled the room with ominous threat.

But of course, that didn't last long, because the moment the heartrender turned her back to the darkness of the room...she abruptly heard the powerful thump of a heartbeat, loud in her ears like the drums of war...the only problem being that she didn't even have a second to grab her bearings, didn't even have a chance to turn herself back around before her hands, her weapons were suddenly yanked behind her, and a blade that glistened with a black sheen was pressed under her chin, pushing into her skin until thin beads of crimson began to bleed down to her chest as she stilled, eyes wide and terrified.

"Try and use your magic on me, witch, and I'll open your throat like a butcher to a pig."

Yvaine's voice was a sneer, lowered into a grumbling pitch that was her own inside joke, a mocking of Dirtyhands that he definitely knew about but never did anything other than scowl when she used it. But when there was no light, when there was something sharp licking at her poor marks heels, and when there was nothing around but a whisper in the shadows...that voice could be very intimidating indeed as she pulled the black tendrils forth to wind around the grishas wrists, making sure they couldn't be seen, that they could only be felt, refusing to risk the horror of being known, not after everything.

"Careful now, pick-pocket, we do need this one alive."

She turned her head slowly, even though she already knew what sight would greet her after hearing the familiar and ever ominous tap of cane against wood as Kaz finally strolled into the room, hat pulled low on his forehead and his dark eyes of the churning seas trained upon the heartrender with something malicious and down right feral twisting at his lips. The shadow summoner could practically taste the fear that seemed to taint the room, getting stronger and stronger the more the woman realized her disadvantage, and once upon a time, she probably would of felt guilty for such cruelty...but that time was long gone.

"I know...I just like it when they're complacent." Yvaine snapped her teeth right by the grisha's ear with a purr, lingering for a few moments to make sure the unspoken threat was heard before stepping out of her shadow and back into the Bastard of the Barells with ease, standing behind him, moving as he moved, pausing as he paused, and then eventually deciding that she wasn't quite done being a menace as she slitered down upon the couch like she owned it, arms hanging over the back of it and her legs crossed at the ankles, looking so sinfully at ease that it was almost threatening.

The heartrender didn't seem to know who to look at, who to keep her guard up around, who seemed to be the leader, the more dangerous room in the suffocating room that was filled with the stretch of her terror, her gaze constantly flickering between the two rather haunting individuals that stood in the darkness of the room like they commanded it, sweat gathering across her forehead, fear maiming her from the inside out, and she knew that she should be more afraid of Dirtyhands, the bastard rising his way through the Barell by being nothing short of brutal.

However, without her permission, always without her permission, she found her eyes lingering over towards the girl, because everything inside of her screamed that the real devastation, the real monster was the devil with a dangerous grin.

And the pick-pocket knew exactly what was going through their marks head as she smirked, because she may not have had half the reputation the dregs had, as her so called boss had, but when you had spent your life surrounded by darkness, eventually darkness you became until everyone could see and fear it...and when she glanced over towards Kaz, it was to see that his face was set into his usual hard expression, but only she could see that familar glimmer of irritation that she just loved to ignite as she leaned even further back against the rough cushion of the furniture underneath and did what she did best...wait.

"What do you want from me?" There was a tremor in the older woman's voice, something she obviously tried to hide with her false bravo, pointed chin tilted up to the ceiling and her shaking hands concealed by the strange bindings that forbid her movements to do some damage.

"We have a job for you." Kaz said roughly, gloved palm dancing over the head of his cane that glistened in the haunting sheen of the moonlight, and from there, far too slow for either of their liking, a deal had begun to form. The promise of kruge a very convincing thing to even the most fearful individual, even if it was supposed dirty money because the greed of humanity was insatiable, she knew that better than most...and considering it appeared that the heartrender was soon going to be out of a job, not that she knew that of course, she could really use all the kruge she could get.

But when the rather strange trio eventually began to walk the streets of Ketterdam once more, it was Yvaine who lingered at the back, who let's her shadows bathe her in their embrace as she followed just behind them...and when she was sure that there was no praying eyes from the masses, she finally allowed her mask to fall as she muffled a pained cry into the curve of her shoulder...her gloved hands twisting with vile cramps that make them spasm and convert, rippling beneath her flesh and making them ache something awful as for a moment, just a moment, her darkness seemed to dim before she battled for control once more.

It was over as quickly as it had come, a few moments of agonising pain in which her scars seemed to pulse with wicked intentions, feeling like they were being torn anew while she tried to stanch her tears, but she barely gave it a second thought as she heard Brekker's voice in the wind, ordering her to hurry up as she forced herself to match his strides, her face drifting back into its neutral mask swiftly...because in the end, the shadow summoner knew she could bear any pain as long as it had meaning...and she just hoped that it did.
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They'd paid the heartrender for the hour, at least, that's what she kept repeating like some mocking parrot ever since they'd began walking, that she'd do business with them for a mere hour before waddling back to the orchid to continue on with her night, just going on and on, saying the same thing until the shadow summoner was wondering if the grisha was necessary for the job after all. Which, of course, she was sure that Jesper had noticed when he'd eventually decided to join them, if the way he'd formed a wall between them was any indicator with a cheeky wink thrown in her direction to soften the blow.

But as they got closer and closer to Dreesen's mansion, to the point where she could see the cracked paint of the black gate...Yvaine couldn't help but feel like there was something going on she didn't know about. There was a certain feeling in the air, a certain trepidation that only she seemed to be immune too, watching the way Inej's bronze hands never strayed too far from Sankta Margaretha by her thigh, the way the sharpshooter kept fiddling with his belt where his revolvers lay, and the way Kaz seemed stiff, well, even stiffer than usual though he was a master at hiding it.

She kept such thoughts to herself, however, arms crossed behind her back and eyes flickering from object to object as they drew nearer to the gate, only half paying attention to the exchange between the heartrender and the Brekker boy as he warned her of her inevitable fate to go into hiding after all of this was said and done, but it wasn't until Pekka Rollins name had fallen from his lips did she suddenly snap back to the conversation, brows furrowing as seemingly everyone avoided her gaze...and it was then that she knew for certain that she most definitely didn't know the full details of the job.

"Who are you lot?"

There was a guard standing by the gate, obviously, seemingly waiting for someone who wasn't them as he scowled dangerously through the iron bars, shotgun held in his large and surprisingly steady hands like a lifeline as he watched them all come closer cautiously, that grip only tightening further when Kaz kept limping forward without even a sign of slowing down, of being threatened by the weapon at hand...not that he had any reason to be anyway, not when the shadows were a far more powerful adversary to a mere bullet. "We’re here to see Dreesen."

"You’re not with Pekka’s crew."

"And you’re not in Pekka’s pocket anymore if you don’t owe him." And then, pulled from nowhere, a bag of coin appeared in his gloved hand that was thrown through the gap of the bars swiftly, which honestly, Yvaine would of usually found impressive if she wasn't getting more and more suspicious by the moment, feeling her ever tempting darkness as it flickered around the dimly lit mansion, just waiting for a moment it could let go as the gate was swinging and certain eyes averted, allowing their journey to continue to the doors with haste.

However, there happened to be a problem, as there usually was with everything they all seemed to do, because of course, she should of remembered that Dirtyhands parting from his precious bloody kruge was a sin in itself, because just as she heard Jesper ask where Kaz had gotten the coin from just as the doors were opened, she felt movement from the shadows as the guard from before called out to them, his voice dangerous and down right fuming as he eventually caught on to the fact that he'd been conned like a fool. "Hey! One of these has a hole in it!"

But all it took was one dark nod from the bastard of the Barrel towards his pick-pocket for that voice to be abruptly cut short as he tried to stupidly follow after them. Nothing more than a mere yelp swallowed by shadow to prove that he hadn't just dispersed into thin air, quick and relatively painless with barely even a mere twitch from her gloved fingers as the summoner let her lips curl into a smirk, sharing a look with Inej who swallowed whatever she was about to say...though no doubt saving it for later as the doors of the mansion closed behind them, bathing them all in the golden light that seemed to glow.

"Well suddenly the Crow Club just got a whole lot more shabby." Yvaine muttered, pretending to ignore the sharp look she was given from Kaz and instead focusing on the way the sharpshooter snorted, looking at the fancy decorations and paintings and wallpapers that looked more expensive than their entire wardrobes, including their weapons, put together...something that had her gloved hands clenching with unbridled excitement as the shadows of the corners of the room began to thicken, feeling her desire to steal and reacting in kind.

And yet, she had never been that lucky, because as soon as they began to be lead through the halls by one of the guards, it seemed that the Brekker boy had read her mind as he miscounted a step until he was limping beside her with his cane missing her foot by a mere inch, leaning down low so only she could hear the rough snarl in his voice that grated against her ears like nails on chalk. Especially when he didn't allow her to do the things she desired like a reprimanded child. "Keep your thieving fingers to yourself, darling pick-pocket...and stay in the shadows until I need you."

"Always, darling Dirtyhands." The sarcasm wasn't lost on him of course, but as the doors to the merchants office were finally opened, it wasn't like he had time to say anything more on the matter as she stepped behind him quietly, crossing her dangerous hands behind her back and letting her darkness hear her calling as the lights of the room dimmed in her presence as they all strolled in.

Then by the moment they'd stepped a foot inside, Dreesen had already lifted his head at their presence as if he could smell them, moustache twitching and his eyes dark as they passed from individual to individual, something vile twisting as his face like he wanted to spit, before lifting a singular finger and pointing towards them with his brows set and heavy. "One look and I can tell...criminals. I’m not meeting anyone ’til midnight." He snarled, glaring down at them with his beady gaze narrowed in contempt, like their mere existence was dirtying up his flooring, like they were simply staining the air they were all breathing.

Yvaine kept her own eyes trained at the guards stationed around the room as Kaz and the merchant began to talk about the job at hand, lingering upon their weapons, their guns crudely on display by their waist, as she started tapping her leather bound fingers against the skin of her forearm inconspicuously, herself being the only one able to see the way her shadows had crept from the crevices of the corners, looping ever so carefully around their ankles with their phantom touch light and apathetic, ready to pull them back into the abyss she'd create at a moments notice before they even had a chance to pull the trigger.

But she snapped back to attention once more as Dreesen chuckled, a spiteful sounding thing that set her teeth on edge as she twisted her head back to the conversation happening in front of her, watching the way he stepped up from his desk and walked around it like he didn't have a care in the wretched world as he leant against it Oh so casually, looking from the heartrender to the boy dressed in so much black that he looked like death itself and then back again with a leechful grin. "Mr. Brekker, no businessman worth his salt hires his first applicant."

"No. No, I understand." Kaz said softly, glancing down to the ground beneath them and trying not to smirk as he caught sight of the thick tendrils of the black darkness seeping into the merchants shadow like an ominous threat, seeing the way they moved slowly like winding snakes, venom poised and ready to strike...before he lifted his head to stare directly into Dreesen's eyes who'd began to look rather agitated indeed. "Of course, I will have to report you to the guild for kidnapping and harboring a prisoner without chain of title."

"You wouldn't." The man spat as he sat up straighter, upper lip curling, half hidden under that ridiculous moustache as his guards reacted to such a statement, their fingers curling over their jackets to show their weapons of steel, a warning, a threat that was matched when Jesper did the same with a nonchalant ease that was all confidence, knowing that he could out shoot them any day...and knowing that their own bullets wouldn't even touch their sides as the light from the lanterns began to dim once more, the air of the room thickening with pure and raw power as something dark began to bloom.

"No businessman worth his salt bargains for what he can take."

The merchant stepped forward, strides slow and purposeful as he came to stand in front of the ever looming shadow of Kaz who stood tall, looking down at him without so much as a flinch as they glared each other down, waiting for the other to blink first as Yvaine risked a step forward, getting ready to make them all bow at his signal...only for their unexpected savior of the heartrender to come forth as she lifted her hand, saying the only thing she seemed to know how to considering how often it came out of her bastard mouth. "I have to be back in an hour."

...And just like that, they were being led down into some dark and dingy basement, something that had her breath catching as she desperately tried not to focus on how small the walls suddenly felt as they went further and further down, like they were closing in on her with the light of the room practically non existent, her heart beginning to pound in painful thumps as her mantra of I control the shadows, they do not control me, curled around her mind, but getting quieter and quieter as the space grew smaller...and then, there was a tap at her ankle, a harsh slap of her skin with the ever rough cane that forced her back to the moment as she grunted.

There was better ways to keep her calm, and Kaz definitely knew that, but he wasn't called the bastard of the Barell for nothing. However, she didn't get a chance to retaliate before they finally reached the cellar, and when Dreesen opened the rather creaky door...Yvaine would of been lying if she said she expected the sight that greeted her as Inej gasped to the side of her quietly, and clutched the summoner's shirt in her calloused palm in horror when they cast their eyes upon...a skinny boy tied up like fucking cattle.

"Who’s this?"

"So you don’t know everything after all. This…is Alexei Stepanov." The merchant chuckled, walking past the murder of crows with a glass of wine clutched between his fat fingers, before grabbing the pale brown sack and yanking it from his captives head...where, sure enough, the boy's terror ridden face finally came into view, looking half mad, half tortured with his bloodshot eyes that screamed of the monsters of the world, staring lifelessly at the ground as if praying it would swallow his whole while Dreesen walked back towards them calmly. "Two weeks ago, young Alexei here crossed through the Fold on foot...alone."

The fold? Shadow made damnation, Yvaine kept her gaze trained upon him, handing Inej a glass of water that she'd poured for herself to give to him when she heard his whispered begs and practically tasted the wraiths disgust at his treatment, unable to tear her eyes away from the boy who had seen the worst of what darkness had to offer and had lived to tell the tale...well, if you called the state he was in living.

"I know an expedition was swarmed by volcra, it should’ve been a total loss, but something happened...some sort of device detonated, obliterated the volcra and lit up the dark like a forest fire, and I know it wasn’t a fire or else no one would have survived...this was some invention no one had seen before." Dreesen continued, something dark and greedy dancing over his weathered face that was gone as quickly as it had came, but not before the pick pocket had caught it of course, and that trepidation that had already formed in the pit of her stomach began to reach boiling point as pieces of the job began to fit together like a puzzle.

The question, however, still remained...why did it seem like she was the only one who hadn't been told?

"He knows, but he doesn’t seem to be able to articulate his account of events, probably some form of traumatic lapse, so…" And at this, he turned to gesture towards the heartrender who was swift to make her way towards him as they all watched, picking up the blues of her skirts as she kneeled beside the bound boy with her smile gentle and easy when she began to softly trail her long fingers over his thin wrist, feeling the pulsing of his heartbeat in his veins, getting slower and slower as she worked her small science, weaving it into his chest like a siren song as breath evened out and he finally succumbed to peace.

"Now we can just talk, tell me what happened in the Fold. What saved you?" She whispered softly, staring up at him as she trailed her lingering touch over his flesh like it would shatter beneath her nails if she pressed down too hard, all the while Alexi looked at her like she'd hung the stars and the moon, something flashing over his pained eyes that looked like it was bringing him to the brink of insanity all over again...and Yvaine supposed that she might as well of considering it was probably the first time the poor bastard wasn't being maimed by the memories of the darkness rising.

The boy swallowed thickly, letting the grisha work her magic as his shoulders slumped in his restraints, not even aware of what he was truly saying, what he was remembering as he drowned in the blue of her gaze. "You won’t believe me, but…it was a Sun Summoner."

And the moment those damned words left his chapped lips, Yvaine felt the sudden grip of Inej as her broze palm enclosed over her gloved wrist when she gasped loudly, her living saint a blessed thing, her faith her saviour as she pressed her free hand against her chest and looked towards ceiling in prayer, in some kind of rejoiced awe. But the shadow summoner didn't share her feelings, of course she didn't, because ironically enough, she just felt cold and strangely uncomfortable, like something inside of her was rotting...like this was only the beginning of the end, but she couldn't even begin to figure out why.

She could feel her shadows begin to get restless as they withered in the corner of the room with only her control to keep them tame, having no choice but to watch as the merchant lied to Alexi with the promise of freedom, talking about the wonders that was Ketterdam, giving him false hope when she knew what was going to happen when the name of the sun summoner, the living saint, was left out to be damned in the open air, and soon enough...the name Alina Starkov was finally given up for the sake of a vile vow that was falser than the smile Dreesen wore like a omen. "You'll set me free now?"

"Of course."

However, Yvaine knew exactly what was going to happen next as she saw the pistol in the mans fat fingers, shining with the golden rings that glistened in the low light of the lantern, and she just managed to step in front of the Wraith in time to block her from seeing the bullet that was abruptly engraved in the young boys head as his body dropped like a mere animal to slaughter and his brain matter scattered across the wall behind him, the screams of the heartrender nothing more than background noise as her gaze lingered upon the crimson river flowing like the sea into the cracks and crevices of the ground below.

"We are now the only people west of the Fold with this information, my ship sails for West Ravka at dawn, and if you can prove that you have a way through the Fold and back, I’ll put you on that ship with an advance, but if you don’t, I’m giving this job to Pekka Rollins." Dreesen glanced over towards them boredly as if he hadn't just murdered an innocent, his weapon already holsted as he strolled right on past the crows towards the door to the cellar once more, leaving the body of the foolish boy who stupidly believed in the mercy of others to rot down with the rats.

But just as the pick pocket was about to speak up, sick of biting her tongue and tasting copper morality to ask just how he supposed they were going to do that...Kaz suddenly stepped forward, cane clenched in his gloved hands so hard that she could hear the leather creak, his gaze firmly set on the merchant and ignoring Yvaine's searching eyes as once more...she began to slowly meld the pieces of why she wasn't told about everything, and her fate was only sealed as Dirtyhands spoke with promise...because after all, what use was a shadow summoner if she couldn't bend all kinds of shadow. "I already have a way through the Fold."

"Oh? Do you now, Mr. Brekker? Well then, you better get your act together, because your ship sails at sunrise...the prize is one million Kruge, now bring me Alina Starkov."