In The Dark of the Night...[FINISHED]

[Jin NPC]

The temple was quiet as Tabitha made her way through the entrance. The place was inhabited mostly by monks, but she had done her research well; the villagers of the hidden jin community had told her that the place was mostly run by human monks. The thought disgusted her, that there were any amount of Humans and Jin working in the same space. She could not fathom the idea, because jin were obviously superior.

She made her way swiftly to the top of the first building in the annexed area, leaping to the next one.



Landing on tiles, she immediately stooped low to hide her frame in the shadows. She counted the number of roofs on her fingers, locating the structure that Kaori's namesake had been put in for the night. Spying had it's disadvantages.

Finding the right roof with ease, she took a moment to contemplate her next move. How would she discover which room the girl was in, once she made her way to the right floor? The job would have to be quick, so she would prefer to not have to kill both the girl's attendants. That would be messy. And from what she heard of their opening conversation at the door, they were both practiced at least a little with the sword. She wasn't sure what skill either one had, either. She would prefer to not fight opponent of unknown skill. Taking a dagger out of her coat, she made her way near a window, to see if she could spy who lie within before she dropped into the building.

[Issac Verro]

Waking from his small nap, Issac sat up and scratched his scruffy features, grabbing his floppy ears and tying them loosely in a Bushido fashion. As he stood, he stretched out the folds and smaller wrinkles of his tattered robes, grabbing his sword from its location, leaning on the wall near him. Grabbing his sword and placing it within the confines of his robes, Issac slowly opened the door to his room, looking outside to see if anyone was around. Seeing no one, Issac stepped out of his room and began to make way for one of the monastery's various reading rooms, when he heard the patter of feet.

These feet weren't inside the temple with him, but from above, coming from the roof, and Issac lifted his head to follow the path in which they took. The seemed to be heading in the direction of Koari's room and stopped, Issac sighed and began to walk slowly toward Koari's room, hoping to not draw any attention to himself or arouse suspicion. "What could be going on up there." Issac said in a low murmur.

[Jin NPC]

The fact that she was in a temple with only a few swordsmen comforted her. If the monks were actually violent, then she would have worried. Tabitha couldn't fight if she was outnumbered by almost a hundred to one; there were few warriors who could.

She found that the wing of the temple that Kaori had been assigned to had only two windows, and they were only on the staircase leading to the wing, and far on the opposite side--toward what Tabitha could only make out as a bathroom.

Great, just great. These were not ideal conditions for an assassination, she knew, but the Head of the House had ordered it. And if Obaa-san ordered it...

The window was small, and the wooden panels made it easy to remove without sound. Placing the glass in the large folds of her jacket in order to prevent any noise-making, she dropped carefully down onto the floor of the hall, crouching low to blend in with the shadows on the ground and not be seen.

[Issac Verro]

Issac heard the noise again, yet this time it stopped moving near the washroom, several feet away from Issac's current position in front of Kaori's door. Issac slowly placed his hand inside of his robes, and began to move toward the washroom at the farther end of the hall, his suspicions compelling him to investigate would be footsteps on the top of a simple monestary.

Walking slowly past Kaori's door, looking ever suspicious with his hand in his robe, he began to advance toward the room to further investigate. Using Force, he padded the bottom of his feet as to cushion his steps, allowing him to traverse the small distince in utter silence.

[Moriteruze Kaori]

Matthew's ear perked up before he rose abruptly from his futon. There was something going on; there had to be. He heard the pitter-patter of footsteps echoing from somewhere...

Getting up, he made sure to conceal his sword in his robes before he opened the door. He almost ran into Isaac, who seemed to be doing some stalking outside of Kaori's door, his hand in his robes.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. Indeed. Was he trying to do something to Kaori? Many thoughts began to run through his head. Had their meeting been staged? Did he work for someone? Who did he know?

His hand was skillfully poised at his waist, waiting for the inu-jin's reply before he did anything else. He did not want to act rashly. Lady Kaori was very skilled, and he was sure that if anything was affoot, she was awake in her room already and was waiting for a report from him.

[Issac Verro]

Issac stopped in his tracks, his stealth interrupted by Matthew who came from his room down the hall. Turning around, Issac met Matthew in a somewhat awkward position, his back hunch slightly as well as his hand in his robe could not have portrayed a pleasant picture to the guardian of the woman he was protecting. "Umm... hmm... I can imagine that this is quite awkward looking, but even I'm not stupid enough to barge into someone's room in a monastery. But, I'm willing to make an exception in the case of our roof creeping friend in the room next to the lady Kaori's." Issac said, removing his sword from his robe and placing it on the ground before Matthew, in a gesture of good will.

Standing with his ears to the door of the room he was going to entered, Issac showed both his hands to Matthew to further ease the tension of the situation. "I heard some foot steps on the roof and tracked them here. Now I've put down my arms so you can do your job and I won't be in your way." Issac said pointing to the room with one hand. "Matthew... someone is in that room, go and see for yourself." Issac said, looking down at his weapon as the noise grew quiet from the room, hoping the would be attacker might have heard his voice as he purposely spoke in a loud manner.

[Moriteruze Kaori]

Before Isaac had even finished speaking, Matthew knew that there was no reason to suspect him at all. He had even laid down his sword to accentuate his point, and that was more than Matthew probably would have bothered to do himself if he had been caught in this situation.

He hadn't been woken up by any sounds on the roof, but he trusted Isaac's word. Matthew was a trusting person by nature, and there was nothing in place to make him doubt anything that he was saying.

"Man your weapon; we'll protect her together." he said, noticing a sliver of moonlight making its way from a window onto the floor. Keeping his eye on it he began to move forward slowly, knowing that the closer he crept to the wash room, the more he was blocking the pursuer's route to Lady Kaori's room. And if he kept watching the window, he would most definitely be able to stop whoever tried to use that escape.

His mind racing with all of the possibilities, he made a hasty decision. "Go into Lady Kaori's room," he whispered to Isaac. He knew that Lady Kaori wouldn't mind under the present circumstances, and most likely was already awake and listening. Having someone in the room with her would help just in case the attacker got past him. The hallway was very narrow, though, so he was hoping that was the worst case scenario.

[Issac Verro]

"Appriciated..." was all that Issac said before he darted off. Following Matthew's instruction, Issac did indeed man his weapon, crouching low the Inu-jin swordsman sent a surge of Force magic through his body, Issac shifted his foot toward his grounded sword, stomping near it, causing it to fly upwards into his waiting hand. Immediately afterward Issac blasted off, running at an incredible speed toward Kaori's room, moving from floor to the sides of the wall, and eventually the ceiling and in a matter of seconds, Issac landed on the floor near Kaori's door, using the same magic to cushion the noise of his landing as he did to cling to the hallway wall.

Hesitant to barge, Issac sighed and placed his hand on the knob to the Lady Kaori's door. Opening the door, Issac regrettably bust into Kaori's room, taking care to cover his eyes to not look totally brazen. "You can scold me on this later my lady but... I need you to stay in here, it seems we have... a guest here in the monastery. They're growing closer to your room as we speak... and with your permission, I will take care off this." Issac said, his voice full of both confidence and humility.

[Jin NPC]

Tabitha swore. Now both of Kaori's guardians were on her. She had frozen as they had taken the time to talk over their options, and the dog with floppy ears had taken the liberty of pointing the way towards her. Great.

She had one of three options. She could try to rush them for Kaori; she could also try to escape through the window, although it would make her visible and she would have to avoid a confrontation by running; as a last resort, she could allow them to capture her and escape from there.

She thought she would go after option number two. However, knowing the skill of both of people coming after her, she would have to bide her time until she could make her escape. She swore mentally once more. She had been looking forward to killing Kaori, the Head of the House's idiot granddaughter who had stolen her name and disgraced it. It sickened her. She would have to try another day.

[Moriteruze Kaori]

A small smile crossed Kaori's lips as Isaac entered her room suddenly and without warning. She had been awake since had felt the mental stirring of a being on the roof, and she had been listening intently for both Isaac and Matthew to awake, knowing that they would. Isaac had crept soundlessly across the floor until he began speaking with Matthew. Hearing their conversation, Kaori had known that Isaac was coming. Despite that, his entrance had slightly surprised her, and that was something that she had found interesting, moreso than his humble speech at breaching her quarters.

It was the middle of the night, and there was no guise to make her appear Human. Her slender, curvaceous shape was covered in a silver night gown made from thick material. However, she had not lit a candle in an attempt to be conspicuous, and only her outline was visible in the darkness.

"I am aware of the circumstances. I've read her. She is a cousin of mine...apparently my grandmother is out for my blood again now that I've returned to the mainland." Knowing that she was being a bit selfish as well as careful with her next decision, she continued. "Matthew will take care of this. If she reaches my room by passing him, you can take care of her here." She knew that honestly, she could take care of this cousin herself, but Matthew did not like her using her magic because it tended to garner attention. Also, she realized that her family was not aware of her magical abilities, and thus it would be best to surprise them later.

"You cannot do anything at the moment. It is all in Matthew's hands. Please, sit and meditate. Clear your mind. However, as a warrior, I'm very sure that you would not even need my help in doing that, my dear?"

[Issac Verro]

Although his vision may have been obstructed, Kaori's sweet scent filled every corner of the room, sending Issac already sensitive noise into euphoria. Breathing in deeply to speak once again, Issac had foregone the need to be extra prudent, his inhaling clearly audible. He then listened to Kaori speak, as she informed of the current situation, something he had expected but not to the degree in which it was presented. Hearing that family was after her, her own relative the assassin did not comfort Issac at all, causing him to briefly reminisce on his own troubled past.

At her insistence, Issac followed her instructions and understood his role. He took a seat in the middle of the room with one side of his head toward Kaori, the other to the door, placing his weapon in front of himself. Then he saw her true form, in the pale moonlight Kaori sat their before him, the sight of her a visual feast that caused his nasal experience to feel dwarfed in comparison. The way the material fit over her figure erased whatever strife lie within Issac's mind, and he did nothing to hid the smile on his face, one so large the tips of his rather large canine's slightly shown in the sparse light of her quarters. "You make it rather had to clear my mind, you know that?" Issac said playfully, hoping to lighten the mood, if only a little.

[Moriteruze Kaori]

"You make it rather had to clear my mind, you know that?" Issac said jokingly.

"So I have been told," she said with a very small chuckle. She found herself too impressed by Issac's intial consideration to even pretend to be full of herself.

Kaori was confident in Matthew's ability to dispatch the intruder. Having realized that her assassin was a member of her own family, however, she was quite saddened, despite the light banter that she now held with Isaac. She had been out of contact with her grandmother's faction of the family for such a long time that she could not even distinguish the intruder's precise identity without delving from her own mind into her relative's.

Keeping a keen sense on the impending confrontation outside of her doors, Kaori still sought to avoid unsettling Issac by keeping this conversation with him. He had been very kind to both Matthew and herself, and even under the threat of battle he was sticking with her, almost as though she had been there from the start. It reminded her of Matthew's eagerness when they had first met, although Issac was a bit more rough on the edges.

Turning her mind completely back to sensing the battle, she allowed a growing smile on her face to leave an impression of her thoughts...

---

Matthew made his way slowly to the end of the hallway with the window. Unfortunately, the lights in the hallway were turned on only when a member of the monastery flipped the switch for the entire building--only the rooms had individual lighting, and there was no room other than the washroom that would shed light on the intruder.

Sword drawn and in its standard position Matthew continued to edge toward the intruder.

"I know you're here," he said, trying to bait him out. Other than the single sliver of light coming from the window in front of him, the hall was covered in darkness, and he did not want to risk being ambushed. His ears perked in order to heighten his sense of hearing.

[Jin NPC]

"I know that you're here."

Tabitha was not interested in pretending that she was weak. She did not have time for these games. She was either going to kill Kaori ot die trying. She would not go back to her grandmother with disappointing news. She would not fail. Kaori was less worthy of the family than the floor that was she crouching upon, and her remains needed to be erased from the earth. She was a failure. She was disloyal.

"I am not afraid to show my presence," she growled, and leapt, with precision and ease, wielding her sharp claws in one hand and her long dagger in the other. Left hand aimed to gauge the man's side and the other ready to parry his sword in the best way possible.

[Issac Verro]

Issac could hear to the impending battle looming over head outside of the door to Kaori's room, but he remain seated as per her request. He then closed his eyes to focus his senses in preparation for what may lie ahead. Issac's life had been a turbulent one to say the least, roaming from place to place, so the notion of temporary comfort was a familiar one to him.

Nevertheless, he learned that life, like an opponent is never to be underestimated, so he began to prepare himself for what may lie ahead, his visual attention off of the scantily clad, yet rather pleasant distraction several feet infront of him. "You know, you smell almost as good as you look..." Issac said to perpetuat the light mod already in the room.

[Moriteruze Kaori]

Matthew could hear the assassin's coat billow as she moved, but he didn't allow that to fool him as she made her swift approach. He saw a flash of silver as he came into the moonlight, and he maintained his defensive stance. Turning the hilt of his blade up to catch her dagger's edge, he twisted his arm to do the same to hers, surprised at how easily her attack was deflected--

He lurched a bit, feeling a pain in his side. Without looking to see what was injuring him there, he noticed that the moonlight was illuminating her face, if not only for moment. In a moment of blind instinct in the face of his injury, his left hand rose moved quickly, forcing the attacker to the wall.

---

Kaori could not help but be a little bit flattered by Issac's words. The mood was light, but growing more tense for every second that Matthew's fight raged on in the hallway beyond their room. Kaori had not sense any imminent danger, however, and so she maintained her position in the room, just as she had asked Issac too.

"You are very kind," she said, an answer that meant something and not very much at the same time. "I cannot remember being complimented this many times in a single evening."

[Jin NPC]

Tabitha felt her claws connect first, and she gave that mangy mutt's side a squeeze. It felt satisfying, and she was sure that when she let go there would be blood--

Her world panned white for a moment, and she released a curdled cry as she was slammed into a nearby wall by the guardian's free hand; it was enclosed on her neck, and it was all that she could do to draw the gasp it took to replenish her lungs from the cry. She tightened her grip on his side, and she dropped the dagger in the stead of scratching at the hand on her neck, trying to pry it loose. She hadn't expected him to attack her bare-handed. Her tail flattened against the wall in an attempt to push her forward to give her a little bit of air, and her feet began moving sporadically on the ground, trying to gain enough ground to thwart his grip. Opening her mouth, she found that did help much, either.

[Moriteruze Kaori]

She was not very strong. That much was apparent. Matthew did not know the history of Kaori's family, but the fact that Kaori was expected to be dispatched by such a weak individual was daunting. Did they just thinkt hat Kaori was going to go away without any say in her life.

All that he could say about Kaori's family was that, other than her parents, she felt nothing for them. And so, in his eyes, this foolish girl pretending to be an assassin's story was over. There was nothing more to tell, for she had stepped into the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. He also knew that when dealing with the Head of family, no one would be spared. And so no one would spare them, in his opinion.

He squeezed harder, and he could feel her struggling to breathe. She was scratching and writhing and all manner of things, but it made no difference. Matthew raised his sword, holding her there with his other hand, quickly making a stabbing motion with his sword to her chest. It was not the quickest way that he could think of; he did not kill regularly. He held his sword there, in her chest, until she stopped struggling, and then he allowed her to fall onto the ground.

"Kaori," he called. "Gather your things. We must leave at dawn. I have offended the temple. It's finished." It was safe now, he supposed, since his aggressor was no longer moving outside of small jerks. Pausing just another moment, listening to see if there was anyone hidden in the shadows with them. He stood by the body, waiting until the others joined him before he would get his own things. He would have to go get Yama immediately. It was still dark, very dark, so he was sure that they would be allowed to finish their stay until morning.

[Issac Verro]

Despite not being there to witness it with his eyes, Issac's back against the door allowed him hear the futile struggle between Matthew and the would be assassin, who met a grim fate at the end of Kaori's bodyguard's able blade. It saddened Issac to be so close to death, especially not know the reason behind such an attack in a place so sacred, but he would remain quiet until he felt it appropriate to talk to Kaori about it.

"It seems to me that the situation was handled Rather quickly..." Issac said, standing to his feet, getting one last glance at Kaori for the evening. "I'll have my thing ready in the morning, don't let this bother your sleep okay." Issac said as he turned and opened the door, bowing himself out of Kaori's room. He walked into the hallway to find a young female Jin slumped against the wall, dead for all intents and purposes other than acquiring information on who may have sent her, judging from any personal items., Noticing the blood smear on the wall Issac walked over to the body and place his sword at this side, before kneeling down to examine her.

"Shame..." he said in a somber voice, turning away a she closed her eyes with his hand, turning to Matthew. "Who was she?" Issac said flatly.

[Moriteruze Kaori]

Kaori tried her hardest not to listen to the sounds that were coming from the hallway. She was not one to avoid the truths of life, but truth of the matter was that while Matthew had encountered some of her family, he had not seen nearly enough to know who this assailant was, and Kaori knew that she would have to identify the agressor herself.

Issac was very polite as he exited the room, perhaps not realizing that Kaori was sure to follow. When she did gather herself to rise and leave, Issac was kneeling at the body, pushing the eyes closed just as Kaori recognized the lifeless orbs staring at the ceiling.

"Tabitha..." Kaori said. Although her voice was saddened, none of that remorse was directed towards her cousin. She was disappointed that life had to be shed here, of all places. Matthew kept himself quiet, knowing that he would not be able to answer Issac's question. Realizing this, Kaori continued.

"She was a cousin of mine. Quite older than me. She must have been sent to kill me by my grandmother..." Kaori trailed off slowly. Matthew busied himself removing a cloth from his robes and cleaning his sword before attempting to work on the ruined wall. He knew that if they tended to it now, the blood may not stain.

Kaori sighed. "She must have had eyes in the city. They know that I am leaving my home, and they will kill me for it." This was something that she would never understand. Kaori had no intention of imposing on her distant family or their cruel structures and rules. Was one decision enough to have them hunt her for the rest of her life?

[Issac Verro]

Issac was even more saddened at the confirmation that she was related by blood, standing to his feet, he clenched is sword. Looking a the victim she seemed relatively easy to subdue,, but Issac could have only wondered if she really needed to die. Her intent aside, Issac though to himself what may have occurred had he been in the hallway and not Matthew, would he have been able to talk her out of her mission, or would have had to make the same decision as Matthew, briefly glancing over at Matthew.

Issac was a warrior by nature, the conditioning of his childhood, and his history aa a self sufficient vagabond had molded him into what he was today, but even with all that, killing was always a last resort to him, a last resort he rarely stooped to, and being that this heinous assault was to be carried out against family only hurt his heart more as he though back to his own past, and a father he would never see again.

"Wake me set out to leave please, thank you..." Issac said as he walked back to his room, his sword still hand. Upon entering his room he placed his sword before himself, and removed his arms from the sleeves of his robes and sat cross-legged on the floor, meditating to calm his nerves, so the he may rest for the night.