[Sadistic] Various Magi One-Shots

Terrorist ~ Kassim

Night was fast falling, and nary a single bird was singing. You had a theory about that; even the birds knew Balbadd was an unwholesome country, and had fled. A chilly breeze filled your old room, coming from a massive hole that filled the sides. You had been away on a trip, and come back to a city in disrepair. No one lives in your house anymore...unless you count the rodents.

It seemed like a decent place to hole up undetected for a while, at least until you could figure out what was going on in this country.

"I'm not going to lie, things have been pretty bad here. They were going downhill before I left, but now...to think I don't even have a home anymore." You muttered to yourself, pulling your throw blanket tighter around your shoulders. Perhaps you should have been thankful to even have a home back then; not many did.

The air was clammy, dampening your skin and making your hair stick to you. It also allowed the bite of the cool night air to get to you, leaving you shivering despite yourself but unwilling to light a fire, for fear of drawing attention to your building. The last thing you wanted was to be set upon by bandits...

Fog seeped in through the opening in the wall, and you sighed as you scooched away pointlessly. Then something caught your attention; the sound of footsteps.

(e/c) orbs flickering up warily, you slowly stood up and made your way along the wall of your room, then slipped out of the doorway. Carefully picking your footing down the stairs, the fog enveloped you as you made it to ground level and slowly crept over to a window.

Now, as someone who playfully imagined herself to be some kind of Shinobi, you couldn't possibly have been less aware of your surroundings...or stealthy, for that matter. Half of the troupe outside had heard your cumbersome attempts at sneaking. Every stumble, every stubbed toe, and every curse. You heard someone chuckle behind you as you knelt at the window, the fog around you illuminated in the glow of the moon. Turning inwards to the room, you could see nothing, and had no idea you were fully visible to your unknown guest.

Something sounded like it was shifting, before suddenly you heard a man huff, clothes rustling as footsteps rushed your way. Suddenly a figure lunged into your line of sight, thrusting his arm forward and causing a scream to tear from your lips as you shrank back in fear.

Something loud sounded next to your ear as he struck the wall near your head, and you glanced sideways to make out an armblade embedded in the stone wall. Glancing up at your unidentified assailant, you could make out none of his features; the man's face was in shadow as he peered down at you, and the only thing you could tell was that he was a reasonably young man, with dreadlocked hair pulled back in a ponytail. His robes were...white? Yeah, nothing really defining. Just a skinny white boy with a sword.

Of course, that didn't remove the intimidation factor that came with the fact that he had just tried to stab you in the face. That kinda...stands out.

"I-I'm warning you...I know Chopnese..." You stumbled over your words, shaking from the cold. The shadowy man remained unreadable as he hovered, motionless.

Then came his chilling chuckle in answer, head turning side to side very slightly. He was shaking it? Pulling his arm back, he dislodged his weapon with ease and straightened. "If this is the best the National Army can do as far as spies to track our movements, they must be at their wits' ends."

"E-eh?" You blinked, taken aback once more. "National Army? Spies? What are you on about?! I am a traveler."

"Mm-hmm, yeah, okay. That is easier to buy than for you to be some government spy. I'm sorry, but you're so clumsy it's pathetic." Laughing easily, he held out his free hand. You accepted, warily, and he pulled you up. "I'd ask if you wanted to tag along, but we're on our way to a job. You would probably freeze on the way and don't even seem to know who we are."