Story WIPS

riki assassin au slay

As Riki snuck through the silent castle, his heart pounded with anxiety. He'd been hired to kill people in the past, yes, but those were people closer to his level. This...this was a *prince.* Arguably the most important boy around his age for miles and miles.

And tonight, Riki was to take his life.

Part of him wanted to just be done with it all. He was running dangerously low on money and being a smooth-talking street rat wasn't exactly a great source of income. Plus, his employer had promised to pay *handsomely.*

So what was the death of a prince to help himself? This boy didn't matter to Riki anyway. In fact, wouldn't he be doing *his* people a favour by killing someone who would only continue to make him suffer...?

He continued to ponder as he evaded guard after guard, slinking away into the cover of the shadows just before they'd be able to catch him. For now, he was doing good. But the real issue would be the guards before the prince's chambers. Only the best of the best could guard such precious cargo, and Riki had to somehow a) sneak in without announcing himself or b) somehow incapacitate them quickly enough so as not to be detected.

But, easy enough, right?

The white and gold doors of the young prince's chambers appeared before him much faster than he'd anticipated. And just as he'd feared, four guards stood guard in front of the room he needed to make his way into.

He squeezed the hilt of his silver dagger tucked carefully into its sheath as he thought quickly. Should he disguise himself...? No, it was much too late for that. But how was he to-

And then it came to him.

If there was anything 17-year-olds such as himself were experts at, it was making *noise,* being *distracting.*

He smiled nervously as his less-than-confident plan began to unfold in his mind, but he was slick. He was fast. He could pull this off.

Clearing his throat loudly, he proudly stepped out from the comfort of the glittering shadows the castle provided, grinning mischievously at now tensed up guards.

"INTRUDER!" one of them yelled.

"Now, now, gentlemen," Riki began, waltzing around as if drunk. "That's no fun, is it? Ah, but you guys seem boring. And bored, too. I'm only here to...have a little fun~ Care to join me?"

He suddenly stopped, slowly turning toward them as he grabbed the hilt of his dagger, his grin almost manic as adrenaline pumped through his veins. Ah, the thrill of potential death! There really was nothing like it.

Just as he'd hoped, the guards came to him, rushing at him with swords drawn and glinting in the pale moonlight. Riki laughed as he sprinted away, keenly aware of the number of people behind him growing as he expertly twisted and turned through the castle, making mental notes of every turn he took.

Thank the gods he was speedy, although he was making more noise than anticipated. Soon the whole castle would be awake and...gods, he should have thought this through more. Still, he couldn't back down now. So he ran, sprinting through the castle until, at one point, he took a sharp turn to the left, ducking into a room he had noticed as he had looped back to this hallway a second time. He'd had enough of a lead that the pounding footsteps of the patrolling guard raced past the room he was in. He held his breath for the whole while until before the last footsteps finally echoed past him, and it was only then that he let it out, sucking in some much-needed air.

Thankfully, the room he'd ducked into seemed to be empty, so there was no problem as he stepped outside. But, to his dismay, lights now floated around every bend. People were waking up.

He didn't have much time.

He was thankful that he'd taken note of every turn he'd taken as he landed at his destination in moments, hastily rushing inside and closing the doors behind him as quietly as he could.

He allowed his eyes to readjust to the darkness, and in the darkness did his eyes land on the sleeping form of His Highness himself, Yang Jungwon.

Riki's heart began to pound as he quietly unsheathed his dagger, slinking toward the bed with only one thought on his mind: to kill.

As he stood above the prince, eyes cold and calculating, he couldn't *help* but notice that...they really were around the same age. ...How strange. Riki had never had a brother, really. Male friends, sure, but a brother? No. And this boy was close enough to his age to be that brother.

The strange thought of longing caused him to pause, to falter in his fatal strike.

And in that moment, he realized he had doomed himself.

The eyes of the prince sprung open, wide and confused before they landed on the dagger held above Riki's head. Terror filled the prince's eyes as he began to sit up, preparing to bolt, to scream or to fight back.

Riki was panicking as well. If this mission failed...

So down the dagger went, as hard as he could. Yet, while he'd expected his hand to be then painted red, just like every other instance...

His hand was stopped, hovering just inches above the prince's neck.

Through a gaze that still held terror but now held a fire in them, a fight that Riki knew he couldn't quell, the prince spoke quietly but clearly.

"I don't want to die. Not yet."