Assassin Training (Closed)

First topic message reminder :

Since so many people wanna try out for assassin rank, I figure you can try, but be forewarned, its demanding and I won't hesitate to deny the rank.
Assassin page (wip still) http://www.rpgdragons.org/t3273-sumus-electi

Oculus sat, waiting for the hopefuls to come to the training pit.  He knew a lot of them would come just for the glamour of the name, and that more than half of them would be denied.  Those that didn't quit the first day and somehow survive the rest of the initial testing would move on, just so he could mentally and physically break them.  Once broken, he could rebuild them into the ferocious warriors of the NightWings, something that the other tribes would learn to fear if they decided to mess with them.  For now, he would wait, and see who would show up, his current assassins in hiding, with only a couple sitting in plain view to look down menacingly at the wannabe's.

((Delilah you completely ignored my post ><))

Loque glanced left and right as the other dragons began their obviously wrong answers. Even if they couldn't quite observe their surroundings, a bit of common sense would have helped them make a better guess... It was quite obvious that despite their physical prowess, they weren't fit for the job. Well in any case it was Loque's turn to answer now.
"Two were guarding the front door, the others were patrolling so I couldn't see them all. I saw two guards patrolling the first trip and two others at the second. So that makes six I did see, and I would approximate four more patrolling around the palace. And as Sly said, all around 60 feet high with the regular red and black military armor." the Magistrate replied.

// O.O ai ai. You shall be mentioned even more then in my next glorious post. I would never forget you Hyr, how could i?  
//

(Dia and Myth booted from Topic.  And Hyruu, you made this post hard >:I)

Oculus remained calm, listening to those brave enough, or more stupid enough, he should say, to spout this nonsense to him.  0 guards?   Five guards?  Six guards?  What was this, a guessing game?  And red and black armor?  That was an obvious guess, and even sillier as they all guessed this.  It seemed as if he were holding a politician test instead of tryouts.  "So....I hear so many answers....from so many....yet.....why do they all differ?  Did you all not go to the same place?  And why so many different answers?  You making this up off the top of your head?"  He waited, letting it sink in for a bit.  "You think feeding me wrong answers will get you anywhere?  Telling me whatever I want to hear?  What good does that do?  IT DOES NO GOOD!"  This was now more of a soldier training it seemed, not a top of the crop harvest for assassin training.  "You dare make up information like this?  If this had been a real mission, your false information could be the death, DEATH! of your fellow brethren, all because you could not own up to your mistake and admit you did not know the answer!  Snarling, Oculus was glaring at them, quite unamused.  False scout reports could end in underestimating a force, and being overwhelmed.  Or a place said to not have enemies, flooded with them.  Or a place reported to have enemies, that had none, be a waste of resources.  He did credit those that remained silent, as they seemed to know better than spit wrong information, but the should still have admitted their report of not knowing.  "All of you, GET OUT of my sight, and don't return till you know how many guards there are, what color their armor is, their height, eye color, what they ate for breakfast, and who the sleep with at night!"  If one of them even dared to speak, or dared to be standing still after that, then they were either stupid, or dead.  With a huff, he turned and sat, raising an eye at Delillah to see if she found this amusing, or brought memories back from previous training.


(Guards = 6, armor = Imerpial Armor = black w/ purple.  I want some interesting, TRUTHFUL answers about the guards, so each pick two to describe in detail :3)

Edit: I know there spelling/grammar errors. Its 1 am ;-;

He closed an eye and turned it to the Emperor, who then proceeded to scoff at the whole group. The harsh words he spoke could possibly worry the faint hearted. All the emperor was given were nothing but random guesses. A dragon said none, another said one, another said six, and Sly himself said ten. Of course something like this would happen. Sly found it more amusing, seeing how the great Oculus could not have perceived this sort of situation. Then again, if he were regularly training assassins, the emperor should have expected random guesses.

Sly would admit that he guessed the true purpose of this task wrong. It was no awareness test, but honesty. But it would not matter to him at this stage. Like yelling at dogs, Oculus commanded everyone in the pit to go back and fix their mistakes, only this time he wanted even more information. Even something so far as to determine who they slept with? Sly assumed the Emperor also demanded any secret information they could be withholding, and requested the assassins-in-training to violate their privacy.

He bowed to the Emperor after he finished and slinked back into the shadows, before making his way out of the pit.

Information first. Sly power-walked his way towards Administrations, making sure he kept an eye on his surroundings and note anything suspicious. With what Oculus was testing them, he had to be prepared for anything he would throw if Sly did not want another scolding that could harm his chances. If he were a foreigner, such a task would be difficult due to the sheer tension in the atmosphere and the scars some Nightwings bore. But for Sly, he had memorised the norm of the Empire and knew what to look out for. Even a single dragon standing ‘out of line’ would be enough to arouse suspicion, and Sly would keep a watchful eye on them, what they were doing that was out of the ordinary, and keep note.

Sly did not have access to certain areas of Administrations. Unfortunately, one area housed the current roster for the Imperial Guards. The building was joint with the military infrastructures, and Sly was aware of his poor reputation with some of them after the events in the invasion of rogue territory. It did not matter though. Outside the building was quite a crowd and Sly could easily blend in. He kept his head low as he marched close with a group of dragons, passing by the guards before entering the cold hall.

When he was away from the eyes of the guards, Sly snuck away from the group and hid in the shadows, away from the lamps and lights that flickered throughout this huge hall. He assessed his surroundings. The registers were beyond the dragon at the reception, surely guarding those files. A look around and Sly could not see how he could pass through without being noticed. Perhaps he could distract the receptionist. A bit noisy and out of his league, but he could not think of anything else but to shoot a large orb into a random direction that would draw them away. He did just that, and, after a bit of a jump, the receptionist left its post to investigate. The hall was very open and Sly could still be spotted if he were not careful. He kept himself to the shadows, his claws not making much of a sound as he passed by the desk and into the archives. Slipping around the corner, Sly immediately began his search.

Roster, roster, roster, he thought as he glimpsed over the scrolls, stacked densely one on top of another, which filled this entire room completely, with only enough room for a dragon to squeeze in between sections. Sly eventually found the register and, unrolling it, found the Imperial Guards. So there were six of them.

Sly memorised their names before replacing the scroll and slithering to another section, where the names and profiles of the entire census were kept. He quickly pulled down 6 scrolls and, unravelling them, looked at their portfolios. Sly studied the picture for a few seconds before going into the explicit details, including their gender, age, height and record. Some of the guards had impeccable records that easily impressed Sly, while others were quite disappointing that made him wonder how did they reach the Imperial guards in the first place. Even so, there was only so much he could learn from just reading what they were willing to put down.

After memorising the 6 profiles, Sly made his way out of the archives. Passing by the receptionist, he gave a friendly nod and a “Thank you” before scurrying his way out of the building without looking back or stopping to see their expressions.

Now for the fun part…

Juunai stood till for very brief seconds, before he simply smirked and left. This was no order for him, rather a challenge, something that was worth his time. He was defiant in a sense, but, he knew to get a job done, and with his size he could pass through without getting caught into a den, but why take the time to do that? No, he needed written information, something that gave Juunai information about these dragons, even with whom they bedded with which was 'not' weird at all.

Before he knew it, there was a peculiar dragon heading into the Administrations, Juunai's guess was information he might need. He would follow this dragons steps perfectly, staying out of site and out of line, he deactivated the glows of his scales as he was just a black dragon now, and with his smaller size then many others around him, it wouldn't be easy to pass by guards and workers of the such, but at least he wasn't very big.

Juunai slithered, walking in the steps of this dragon but making sure he did not get caught. A guard noticed his actions and how suspicious it seemed and would make its way towards Juunai to question him, but then the view of Juunai was blocked, causing the guard to loose his sights upon the much smaller dragon. The guard looked around until going back to position. Lucky. Juunai would have been in some trouble for sure.

Juunai began to notice his own actions as sneaky in plain sight, so he began to act more casual, keeping up with the dragon whom he followed. As he hid for a moment behind a few crates, he had seen this dragon shoot a ball in a random direction, from what he had seen and guess. As the receptionist would leave, the dragon went into an archives looking through some scrolls. Juunai swiftly snuck his way behind the dragon, careful not to make noise as this dragon did. He followed the steps, and then would quietly and slowly made his way into the darkness, waiting for his chance.

As the dragon picked out selected scrolls, Juunai payed attention to what they looked like, where they were located. He could only guess that this dragon would put back the scrolls, since the information to be guards for the other dragons were drastic, one wouldn't need to steal such information unless it was for times of war, he guessed. As the dragon would leave, Juunai took a crack at this, careful not to get caught by the receptionist itself, he carefully eased the scrolls out of their positions, and would once again hide in the darkness, pulling out a small journal. He took one of his scales, opening the scrolls and then stabbing himself with a loose scale, causing him to bleed.

Now comes the long but easy task, recording. He couldn't speak, nor when he arrived back at the the location of the king could he simply agree with the other dragon whom he followed. No matter, he needed to write down every detail. As he would begin to eye color as well as scales, and then to their names and age. He then began to go into their details which in return took a good while but he got it done. As he slid the scrolls back into place, Juunai caused a few more scrolls to fall violently, a distraction in such a place where there was barely any place to hide, it was good enough.

As the noises were made the receptionist would rush back into the archives, and as it would begin to search Juunai would slide out from between a group of scrolls, then he would sneak out by just barely making little noises here and there. He would rush out rather swiftly, making noise this time the receptionist rushed out, but Juunai had made his way into the crowd by that time, causing the receptionist to question and call in a few guards to help it investigate.

Now that he had the basic info, it was time to move unto home life. The difficult task. He needed information for every family they had, six guards, from what he counted from the scrolls he pulled out, he had his journal strapped to his chest, a nice place for protection to keep from grubby claws. Juunai knew the location of their homes from the scrolls, however, he would need to be rather quick about this.

Delillah watched the dragon speak his answer or guess, which he believed to be right. A closer look revealed that he was a dragon calling himself Loque, a magistrate within the dark lands. She had never personally met him, but had often caught his name in conversations. It was due to her own position within the Shadow Kingdom that it was required from her to learn and memorise each possible important Nightwing dragon, that she knew who this was, however, why  exactly he was present here she did not know. It caused a reaction purely out of curiosity, her eye ridge rose  mere centimetres at him and his following words, which were not surprisingly disappointing. It was then she disregarded him.

Once Occulus had heard enough he rose his voice and Delillah listened to his words amused by them and the reactions upon the dragons below, many wore expressions of disappointment, fear or anger. Their anger she supposed was more directed towards themselves rather than to her, Their King. She herself wore her ever apathetic mask, under which she hid her wolfish smirk, it was after all all quite amusing.

It was only after everyone had scrambled out of the arena to try and fulfil their next given task that she lowered herself into a laying position, crossed her talons before her and smirked at the king" Fresh meat, so very delightful, full of hope and innocence. I don't recall you being so soft on my team when i was in training" She said passively, her voice trailing through the arena "Neither was the current task so painless and straightforward. I remember i broke a rib attempting to manoeuvre around the guardians you had placed outside the office." She chuckled remembering and side stepping the fact she had picked a fight afterwards  which had originally caused her broken rib. She had difficulties then, but as mentioned 'then'.

She glanced at the doors leading to the corridors of the citadel. She knew where they were, the boneless worms that believed to be able to carry the rank as assassin. None had impressed her yet, she looked at them no other way than she would at a lower ranked, because that is what they currently still were. They would have to give their very best in the next assignments to impress her, for she had seen and met many skilled dragons before. Whether they were still alive, could not be told.

There was no restrictions on how he should get there this time. He was not forced to go on foot, or not to use the same routes he had used to get to the palace. Neither was there any time constraints. It provided some relief in that he could slowly recover lost energy. But what to do now? The emperor wanted information on the imperial guards outside the palace. Did he want all of it? It was probably safe to do that, but all the more tedious and time consuming. There was no other choice.

As Sly made his way towards the palace on foot, and gave look at his surroundings, rolling his eyes to every crevice and alleyway without suspiciously turning his head about. He gave a glance back, ensuring he was not followed. But just to make sure, he walked into a stall, selling what appeared to be newts and lizards held in glass boxes. As the keeper was quiet, staring blankly at his customers, Sly feigned curiosity and studied the newts. In reality, he was watching his back for anything out of the norm. The dragons here were always on the move, their eyes filled with some determination to get somewhere, without even a single glimpse at what anyone was doing near them. It would be too easy to spot any spies trying to follow him, no matter how hard they would try to conceal themselves.

Like a somewhat disinterested customer, Sly walked away and, as he moved past a large cart, he slithered to his shortcut and quickly made his way towards the palace without looking back. These shortcuts were almost never used or passed by, and it was quiet, with nothing but the echoing clatter of claws on the moss infested cobblestones and occasional patters of drops. It was quiet.

Eventually he found a large building, a church perhaps, overlooking the palace guards. Sly went through the back entrance. He was in some sort of kitchen, though it was empty. Behind the window here, the gatherers were in a middle of a sermon. Sly quickly went for the stairs and, passing by a priest or two, he bowed to them and slowed to a walk. It was not long until he was at the upper floors and, through the arch windows, could see the front doors of the palace. There were many arch windows along the floor which he was at, and they were all shrouded in utter darkness. Keeping his snout away from the light, Sly counted the imperial guards.

One…two…three…five…six of them. He got the colour of their armour wrong. They were black and purple. Sly looked around him again, ensuring he was alone, before making a mental comparison of what he read and what the guards were doing. It took a while before the guards were only doing casual strolls and standing, and to some extent, interacting with others. It earned a frown from Sly. Something was not right. He did suspect that earlier, and his worries were found true.

With a huff, Sly cleared his mind and, squinting a little, studied the guards from his standpoint. He did not look at all of them for a brief second, but kept his focus on one of them until he was satisfied with what he learned. Sly smiled at one guard at the front gate, who, after a glance around, turned and walked towards a corner. It was secluded, but from Sly’s height, he could clearly see what he was doing near the bushes. Standing there, he seemed a bit fidgety for a while. Then another dragon’s head popped up from behind the bushes and startled the guard.

The guard did not respond with any sort of hostility. In fact, he welcomed that dragon in a warm embrace. A love interest it seemed. Sly was familiar with that dragon by the flower she had on her ear, Mythryl, a former recurring patient of his. She did mention something about falling in love with a former soldier, who was now promoted to a palace guard. Perhaps this was the one, under the name Felarin. Though Sly was a bit apprehensive about their… intimate moments, and that related to what ailments Mythryl kept seeing Sly for. Mythryl was one of the lower class dragons which Sly had almost made a name of himself below the noble dragons.

Perhaps Sly could be proud of his reputation in a sense that it saved him the troubles of figuring out what this guard was talking about. But if he were to be assigned in a foreign tribe, he doubt he would have that luxury if his task was reconnaissance. Which was why he needed to carry some deeper secrets from a guard he knew nothing about.

After taking note of all the new information he needed, as well as resolving his former task of not counting the guards, he left the church through the backdoor again and, using the shadows, made his way towards the palace gate. Felarin finished his private but quick moments with Mythryl with a French kiss before making his way back to the gate. There, Felarin noticed Sly. Sly snuck a gaze in his eyes, taking note of the eye colour. As he walked by Felarin, who slowed his pace and eyed at Sly back, Sly mentally calculated how high Felarin was compared to himself and made a rough estimate.

“Halt!” Felarin snapped, and Sly stopped to turn to him. Sly flared open his senses, hitting his own snout with his tenderising mist to sensitise it, making sure his focus was entirely on to him. But not before reassessing his surroundings for anything above the norm. “What do you think you are doing?” This guard marched until he was quite into Sly’s snout. Sly coiled a bit, picking up the stench on his breath, but not without determining what was eaten. He ignored the raspberry-like scent, which was probably from Mythryl.

I… Sly gagged a bit, sorry. I am looking for a guard.

Felarin frowned a bit.

Just for some… survey. He was about… this high? Sly gestered with his tail, roughly the size of Felarin. I saw him just now. He was standing near the door with you.

“The Imperial guards have no business loitering with a mere survey.”

This attracted another guard’s attention. The one Sly was actually referring to. As he got closer, Sly studied this one a bit, including the eyes which Oculus wanted and how high he was. Sly turned to this guard. Just one survey? One guard. And I will be out of your way. As he said this, he was making his way closer to another guard on the side. Sly got close enough to give a casual glance at the third, noting eyes and height.

This guard was rather displeased, growling as he sneered at Sly. There was enough air escaping through clenched jaws that Sly could smell what he had. He was rather tall as well, and Sly gave a quick glance over his body, hoping to find something he could share with Oculus.

Felarin?

Felarin froze, his eyes wide slightly.

I know a guard named Felarin. Are you Felarin? Sly asked this second guard. All he got was a another growl. A louder one. Fine. Maybe some other time. Sly smiled, a bit disappointingly. Then he scurried to the third with a wide smile. You?

“No.”

He took another whiff and… was not all that bad. Sly tried another look around the third’s stature before nodding. With Felarin and the second still following him close behind, Sly asked the fourth, fifth and sixth guard. All dismissed him, one quicker than the other, but not before getting at least a sigh out of them. Even though it seemed he got nothing at all, he at least had some clarification and some deduction on what especially this second guard had. He perked his ears when Felarin began talking to that second guard about Sly, hoping to catch a name even though it was probably not required of him.

Sly only walked 20metres before disappearing around the corner, and there he waited, hoping to spy on the second guard. Best he could hope for was that he would walk to a private corner. As he ducked behind a bush, the second guard did just that. But there was no one with him. In fact he was… crying? That was odd. Before Sly could leave him to his worries, he saw him holding onto a rabbit plushy. A plushy. A kid’s toy. He hoped to catch what he was crying about. Sly heard many sort of cries in his career as a healer. Crying because of loss, because of physical pain, hunger, stress etc. But this one…it was nothing common. Nervousness.

Huffing a sigh, Sly figured he had all he needed and made his way back to the pit. But not before making another awareness assessment of his surroundings. He continued to do so until he returned. There he sat in darkness and waited for himself to be called by the emperor.

Juunai was rather swift, however he needed to stay collective, calmed, he seemed to be more rushing then anything else. He could not find his objective, Imperial Guards, he needed information upon them, yet where to start? He knew the six names, what the scrolls had said, now he just needed the literal appearance. He would walk around for a bit, a regular guard here and there. Again, there was that same dragon he followed once before, another assassin trainee, however, he would not follow this dragon again for he needed to find his way elsewhere, the church was a more likely place. Juunai took note in blood again of how he could travel there swiftly, but needed to be careful of other guards.

Juunai put his journal away again, and proceeded his journey, learning of the location of the Church from before, he would begin his small journey, passing dragons rather swiftly. He understood he needed to be more casual, the guards keeping an eye on all dragons passing by as a squad passed by. Juunai acted casual. As he traveled through long streets he nearly got lost, but the signs pointing her and there, making sure he kept his path steady. Finally, he had reached the Church, finally. He noticed six guards at the front as he neared, and he would hide in a bush, keeping away from sights. He looked around for nay alternatives and thought of the top of the building gave him a spark of an idea.

Juunai snuck through the thick bushes rather carefully, his size helping with this matter until he reached the other side of the gate. Whilst the guards had not payed any attention he climbed over the gate, careful not to impale him or cut upon the metal spikes that lined the gates together to the ground. Juunai dropped down and hid into the shadows beside the building, then he began to climb, using creases, edges, and whatever to grab ahold to climb up. If he were to flap his wings it would be too loud and the guards would notice, so, he continued on. As he arrived to the top, he would look around until seeing he was well above ground, the roof. He looked down, seeing what appeared to be guards.

Six in total, and from what he could see they were wearing red... no, purple and black armor. He would write this rather swiftly and poke around the top for a bit, looking down at all but making sure he was not noticed at the same time. A guard at the gate glanced around for a bit, Juunai found this suspicious but kept focus on that particular dragon, but then, something poked out of the bush where he had headed, another dragon? Juunai swiftly wrote this in his journal, leaving a blank name and gaining the color of the scale before the two dragons kissed rather passionately. He squints his eyes, making sure he was not hallucinating, and as soon as the dragon... dragoness left, he would see where she would leave to, taking note on where the dragoness would leave.

Juunai noticed the same dragon he was spying on had came out form the shadows, so thats where he was? Or no, he must have came out of hiding. Juunai was especially careful, since that one caught the guards attention. Juunai needed the rest of the guard appearances, and as the guards made the dragon scurry away, from what it looked like, he awaited for a little bit before taking a piece of stone and kicking it off of the roof, landing on the tip of the tail of one of the guards. The guard yelped at the pain he received and looked at the stone, the tip of his tail bleeding. The guard looked up, Juunai leaving his tail out over the roof before swiftly hiding in that same window. This caught the guards attention, and the Imperials would got to the top of the roof as well, well, four of them. Juunai peeked, keeping careful glances here and there as the guards would attempt to find the dragon responsible for attempting the kill. Thats not what Juunai wanted.

Oh well, it can;t be helped, that stone landed wrongly and a simple apology would not help at all. As the guards passed, he caught glances of their eyes here and there, recording the scales, eye colors and their sizes rather swiftly in his own blood like he did all other writings. He closed the journal, then leaving down the stairwell rather swiftly he made his way to the front. He would crack open the door rather swiftly, turning off his glows, he would sneak put behind the hardly injured dragon who was tending to his tail. As soon as the dragon looked up, Juunai got a small droplets of blood upon a feather, then he swiftly went back in as the guard looked behind him, having an odd feeling upon his tail tip. Juunai took one quick glance as the dragon spotting his head poking out, but, Juunai at least got the eye color, appearance and the size of the dragon.

"Halt! Stay right there!" Yeah right, Juunai would think before taking off the opposite direction. He saw the same four guards swiftly rushing down the stairs, not a good idea to go up there anytime soon, for sure they would catch him! Luckily, the guard only got a look at Juunai's head but not his full body.

Juunai snuck into another room, the storage area from the looks of it. He would see a window and crack it open before making his escape. He forgot the guard near the gate. Damnit! Juunai swiftly made his way to the front gate, luckily his small size was enough to hide his body in the bushes. As he looked at the guard, he caught the glance of its eyes and would sneak back before the guard could see Juunai. Juunai retreated rather quickly, making his way into the town. Now to take things to the next level. If he remembered correctly, that dragoness that kissed that guard was around here... somewhere.

Juunai looked until spotting her traveling down a street, he followed from a good distance, not trying to get any eyes fixed on him for suspicion. As he followed the dragoness he would slide the blood stained feather into his book, the blood now dried. As he continued his stalking, he made it look like he was just a simple and casual dragon. He pulled out his notebook as the dragoness would buy select items. He was being well detailed, gaining her appearance as well before she began to walk again. Juunai began to loose sight of her as a large crowd blocked him, and he swiftly made his way passed them. From there, the dragoness entered what seemed like a house, not too big, nor too small, but he would record the location of the house itself.

Thus far, he was on point with most of everything, but like the 'king' said, "I want to know where they even slept!" Juunai gave a sigh as he proceeded, an opened window to allow some fresh air in, it wasn't that big as he expected, but it was better then nothing. He would look around, making sure he was not being watched by any other dragon, he poked his head inside the window.The dragoness leaving to another room, an odd yet sweet aroma filling his nostrils. He would snap his way through the window, being careful, he snuck around. The female dragon came back into the room, Juunai being swift to hide behind the objects. That was too close, it was not like the guards, if he were caught there was nowhere to even hide, the streets are filled with dragons and the female would know who he was, so he needed to act.

Juunai would snake his way into a bedroom, looking around he found a perfume on a dresser, and decide for more evidence he was here, he took it without hesitation before going into hiding. He noticed in a backroom there was a window open, now was his chance. He could hear the claws tap on the floor as someone approached, and he was quick to climb out of the window. As he did so, he fell between two crates. He would get out from between the crates and continue his strides, blending in with the crowd. He tucked the perfume into his chest strap where his journal was, making sure it was there nice and tight.

Juunai was lucky, far too lucky for that matter, by now he should have been caught, from the dragon he followed for information, to the guards, and to the dragoness. However he felt accomplished, now he had information, something that was valid, at least he thought. If this was not good enough then he will go back or take any punishment given unto him. He was not one for asking around since he could not speak, but by the gods, he hoped he did something right. He would head back to the pit, yet something that bothered him was the guard near the gate, when he snuck around he should have even been caught then. Was he truly that lucky? Or was he that stealthy? He should have been caught. He has size and speed to thank as well as some form of experience from hunting. This mission was quite the challenge, if he were caught it was the end, yet something he felt did help him, he didn't know what, now all he had to do was present what he recorded in the journal, the bloodstained feather, and the perfume. He wrote everything down thus far, from him stalking one in particular dragon to reach the information he needed, to dropping that stone on the guards tail, and to the thieving from the dragoness.

Juunai needed to be more crafty though, stealth is not everything, he just needed to plan out better, even if it pops in his head he needed to give it a twist. He would head back to the pit, hoping to at least please someone.

((Juunai, that is basically power modding with what you just did xD. How did he manage to continue tailing Sly without even going unnoticed by someone with high awareness abilities to begin with? How did he even know Sly disappeared into the alleyway or even inside the church? The stairways are inside the building. Pick your own route! :3))

((What's up with the walls of text? Oo))

Loque headed off the pit as the orders were given. He watched as Sly and Juunai headed off as well, toward exactly the same direction. This spiked the Magistrate's interest as he decided to follow them both. After all, nothing could be wrong with gathering information about what the other contestants were up to...

Soon enough both Sly and Juunai went sneaky, not hesitating to take tortuous passages or even through the roofs. That was kind of overdoing it... The black dragon followed them, trying to stay on the ground as much as he could. He didn't want to attract the attention, and the best way for that was simply to stay in the ground and act casual. Which wasn't that hard for him, considering the fact he just had to act like he usually did. Maybe Juunai and Sly liked to be sneaky all day long, but as a Magistrate this wasn't the kind of walk he was often doing.

Soon enough Sly and Juunai reached their destination. The sight made Loque smile as he understood what they were up to. The civil archives... There were a lot of basic information that could be found there, almost everything Oculus could wish for. So that was Sly's plan... Loque didn't quite know how the healer would make his way into the restricted areas, but he wasn't worrying too much about that. Sly surely had his own ideas on the events. As for Juunai, considering the pace he was having, was surely merely following Sly to try and steal his idea. Pretty unoriginal, but still pretty effective - and there were no rules about not stealing other people's ideas... But it wasn't in Loque's plans to steal the idea from someone else. Although, actually, his main idea had been a bit similar from what Sly was doing... with the only difference being the source of the data he was about to get. With a smile, Loque turned his back to the civil archives and went back in the crowd.

It didn't take long for Loque to reach his objective : the Shadow Refuge. Loque entered through the main gates, a few guards greeting him on his way. A few even interrupted him, wondering how that training thingie went. While Loque never really mentioned going there, him taking a day off (which was pretty rare) exactly the same day as a special training (which was about that rare), one didn't need much to figure out he was going to participate.
"Hello, Magistrate Loque. Did the training go well?" one of them asked him.
"It is still quite not finished. I am just going to take a look at the archives to get some information." Loque smiled at him.
"Oh, I see... Good luck then!"
And with that Loque continued on his way. He had a small chuckle as he realized his own interactions with the guards were a lot easier than for Sly and Juunai.
Loque made his way through the Refuge and soon reached the sealed door he was looking for. Any stranger that would try to get through it would instantly trigger the magic wards Tenebris had set up, and for sure it wouldn't end well for the trespasser. But Loque was one of the only authorized personel. The black dragon made his way inside, taking a second to admire the archives. The walls was entirely covered of folders, cleanly organized and sorted. The few scribes that were trusted enough for the job were making a good work. Loque soon found out what he had been looking for. The shifts around the Royal Palace. Let's see, today... Loque took one of the empty papers that were lying around, and brought the folder he was holding to a nearby table. The Magistrate dipped his blackened claw into the ink, and began to take the notes he needed. Alright, that was for the names and shifts. Now, all he needed to was to access the guards' personal files. Loque quickly gathered the different files, and began his reading work. These files had everything that concerned those guards. Only a few dragons were aware of the Nightwing intelligence network, and fewer could access their records, and that was for a reason : it was terrifying with precision. Not everyone was referenced with such a precision, but guards and other important personalities were tracked. The black dragon didn't even want to know how detailed his own file would be. Loque settled back on his desk, and began to take the notes he needed.

It took a few dozen of minutes for the Magistrate to read the files and note what he would need for his report. The notes were stored in the satchel he was carrying on his side. Now he only needed to gather some information about what the guards would have done since the last report he read. So he headed toward the Palace, rather calmly. Oculus never gave any guidelines about how he was supposed to proceed, and nothing was forcing him to use stealth to obtain the information.
And so it is totally casually that Loque headed toward where the two guards were positioned at the door. Due to his rank of Magistrate, the two guards slightly bowed at his arrival.
"There's no need to bow to me. How is the day?" the black dragon asked them, dismissing their bow.
"Quite calm until a few minutes ago, if I may say..." one of the two guards replied.
Loque feigned the surprise, raising an eyebrow. So Sly and Juunai already made their business around here... Well that was perfect. He didn't want them to see him talking to the guards. They could spy on him to get the information he was about to gather.
"Oh, let me guess, furtive shadows, quick sights?" he wondered aloud.
The second guard nodded.
"Yes. That whole Assassin training is making me nervous. I know they're on our side, but... That's kind of scary." he admited.
The Magistrate nodded in understanding.
"Just keep in mind you actually got to sight them. Not many will have the luck to do so... and will pay that negligence with their life."
This made the two guards gulp, understanding what he meant.
"Well, in any case, I am actually here because of this training. Oculus has given the trainees the task to gather information about the Palace's defenses, and this begins with you guards. I have been ordered by the Emperor to get a full report of what happened today, with every single detail included. After all, we need to cross-check what they are going to say, right?" Loque smiled.
The two guards nodded at the order.
"I will then gather the reports from the other guards." one of them announced.
But Loque interrupted him by sharing his head.
"I will see to them myself. I need the full details, and I am pretty sure there are a few topics we should discuss one on one. Let us begin then." he said with a smile.
The two guards looked at each other, but didn't say anything before reporting the situation.

A dozen of minutes later, Loque headed back toward the pit with a wide smile. Confronting the guards directly proved to be an excellent strategy. With all he had gathered at the Shadow Refuge, he had been able to push a few guards to tell him things they wouldn't have admitted in a standard report. One of the conversations ended up especially funny to him.

"Is that all what happened today?"
Loque had asked this in a rather severe tone, as he knew it actually wasn't the case. Loque had a developed sense of smelling from being used to track down preys in the forest, and he was one hundred percent certain this guard had the smell of another dragon on him. The smell of a dragoness to be precise.
"Yes, that is all, Magistrate." the guard nervously replied.
Loque let out a sigh.
"I did say I wanted all the details, whether they are relevant or not. And some alone moment with Mythryl figures among the details I would need to know." Loque sharply replied.
The guard suddenly turned pink from having his secret exposed.
"But do not worry. I may be supposed to gather everything that happened today, but reporting it to your superiors never was part of my task... Now, please tell me the details." he continued with a wink.

Well, for that one it did go all too well. He had the details. ALL the details. Soon enough, Loque reached the pit in which Oculus was waiting. The Magistrate just looked around as he entered with a proud walking stance, seeing Sly and Juunai already were there. Well once again he would wait last to answer.

((I edited almost the first part of the post, well, not the first paragraph or two, but you should be able to see the changes ))

Oculus chuckled at Delillah's comment. It was true, the original weeding process of the few selected was done in secret, and the tasks much more grueling. But now was the time to expand his little guild of assassins. While not all of them would have been denied since the first task, he figured he could use the training to expand on his group, and maintain the lethal reputation. "Yes, they are doing a much more straight forward task. If I did otherwise, we'd die of old age waiting for a decent applicant." he responded to Delillah. Slowly but surely, the wannabe's returned. It seemed some had dropped out, and only three remained. Good, made it easier for him now. Less daycare training and more individual assessment. Staring at them, he nodded, and waited. If none dared speak or got the clue that he was ready to hear the information, he would respond with a "Well, what? Want a cookie before talking? Too difficult to go walk and count guards? You just gunna sit there and stare dumbly at me?"

(I breaking this text wall stoof, it hurts mai eyes :'D)

Sly grinded his fangs, closing his eyes in the shadows as he waited for the others. His constant assessing of his surroundings, it had been a while sonce he was this much focus. Last time was perhaps when he planned to steal a whole deer carcass some twenty years ago. It was exhausting, at least, his head flaring a little. He caught dome light sleeps before the clattering of claws woke him and he looked up to see Juunai. The sight of him made his heart race. That was the dragon who followed him to the archives. Sly knew this, for he had heard footsteps in the silent archives. He took no note of it and went on his way, knowing it was not the receptionist. But now that they both were here, Sly could relax a bit. The archives they went to was absolutely useless. The roster was outdated, dating back all the way before Sly was even a healer. He managed to figure that out when he went towards the palace. The two information were not matching. There was no Felarin in that roster as well. If Juunai was reliant on that roster for basic information, he would have the wrong information on the guards.

It was too late to go back anyways. Unintentional, but likely caught into a trap Sly had somehow set. Oh well. That was what he would get for trying to stick his nose into Sly's business.

No later did Loque made his return as well. Now he was perhaps a bigger challenge for him. At least he did not try to stalk Sly, but it was unknown how Loque get his information. Sly did not even know much about him or how he went about his business. Though he would not mind a private moment where he could weed out a treasure trove of information out of the magistrate. Then again, they were colleagues under the roof of Shadows Refuge. Perhaps now they would become fellow assassins as well.

How interesting...

Sly waited a bit longer but no one else came. How quickly the competition lessenes to the remaining three. If it were Sly, he would have stopped the trial now and accept the remaining three. But it seemed the open spot for assassins was a lot more competitive than he thought. Perhaps there was only one spot. Or maybe two. They could all be accepted in the end as well. But now that they were the only ones who got this far, it was time to eliminate at least one more.

With a deep sigh, Sly rolled his green eyes to the Emperor. He spoke no word to them. Not even a praise on how the three out of... a dozen... got this far. No matter. Sly did not even expect him to. He turned to the assassin sitting next to him, still wearing that neutral expression. It made Sly smirk a bit, though he tried to hide it near his chest. Clearing his throat, he stood out of the shadows and spoke, letting his voice boom across the walls of the pit as he spoke with confidence in his report.

There are six imperial guards, all wearing black and purple armour, standing in the range of 70 - 75ft. Their recent meal is buffalo from the outskirts of the swamp.

One of the guard's name is Felarin. He had sharp yellow eyes of a hawk. Whenever no one is looking he rendezvous with his lover, Mythryl, from the poor district, just around the corner of the palace to share a kiss. Her recent meal is perhaps raspberry.

Another guard, a quiet and red-eyed one but the tallest of them all, is only wearing an intimidating expression to seem menacing. Deep down he is very... timid, and under the tree closest to the right side of the palace doors, he burries a rabbit plushy. It carries sentimental value to him.

That would be all.

Sly bowed to Oculus before stepping back into his spot under the shadows in the far back. Sure enough, the Emperor would have noticed his own healer participating in this trial by now, and what he just did would serve to add emphasis. Now that his ordeal was over, he carefully listened to the next speaker.

((Sorry for the late reply))

Juunai returned to the pit with his journal ready and having the blood-dried father and perfume. He recorded his journey in good detail, having the appearance of the guards written down as well as the female dragons, but he also had the information starting of when he was following a certain dragon in the pit with the group, then as he wrote down all information from the scroll(s) about he Imperial guards, he branched away from that dragon and took his own travel to the church from which he spotted the guards. He explained how he went from sneaking in the bushes to climb the back of the church, he described two dragons kissing a female and one of the guards as he described her appearance as well, and then once time was ripe he dropped a stone from the church's roof unto a guards tail, eventually making his way down and collecting the blood from the tail very carefully before he got away from the guards. He then went on how he followed the same female that kissed the guard near the gate, noting that she bought few ingredients from a shop then headed home, he then snuck into her home and got a closer view of the female and described her appearance better then from afar. He then stole a perfume and snuck out. (A short description of what he had done)

Juunai had written everything in detail, granted he never got any of the other guards and who they lived with, most of the information was in the journal. He presented the journal, the bloody feather, and the perfume and awaited for approval. He noticed the lack of trainees, leaving only three left. He gave a deep mental sigh, he did not wish to disappoint. He took a scale and would write into the dirt, "I am unable to speak, all information is within the journal, even the events that lead to the feather and perfume, including descriptions of each dragon in detail as well as my journeys. Enjoy." He was very brief before tossing the small black scale away and stood next to the other larger dragons, sitting and waiting.

Theres a great chance of Juunai getting booted from this training, but then again, there is a great chance he gets the job. He feared nothing really, however, there was a fear, information. He's heard of stories about how some spies and assassins had too much information on all tribes, including future war efforts and anything else and were disposed of. He always dreamed of becoming one of the best assassins of his time, since he only lives once, he must make the best of it.

Loque simply looked, his expression neutral as ever while the two candidates left exposed what they had gathered. The Magistrate cleared his throat as his time to talk arrived.
"I may not have a lot to add to what Sly has said, as he brought up some complete information. Felarin's lover, Mythryl, has been seen at the Shadow Refuge more than once, and it may be possible that she is one of Sly's patients. The other guard he mentioned, Falnir, has been raised in an orphanage and has had problems there. This is why he hold such a sentimental value to this plushie. One of the guards, Drasii, has come in replacement as the original one on the rooster caught some illness, due to the food that had been served the previous day. The fourth one, Izuro, hasn't got any secrets of the sort, apart maybe from the fact he is to be promoted soon. The fifth one on the opposite just got demoted for trying to flirt with one of the only female officiers. And the last one, well, hasn't much of a story. The rooster is going to change in about an hour as we speak." the black dragon said.

Oculus watched as sLy came forth, and gave his report.  Good, he managed to count on both claws the number of guards.  As sLy gave a full report, he relied on his scouts to approve the authenticity of it, and as none came forth, assumed they were correct.  He knew the names of his guards, but not their shifts.  With a nod of his head, he took his attention away from sLy, not uttering a word as he looked at Juunai, who came next.  He raised an eye at Juunai, taking the journal as he read his little note in the dirt, before turning to Loque, and listening to his report.  "ahh, good job, good job.  Good reports, all of you.  And smart thinking about writing down your observations, Juunai, just let me, woops" he said, and purposefully shredded the notebook in his claws, "looks like your observations got lost in the wind on the flight back from the mission.  Now tell me, what did you see in the two guards not reported by sLy or Loque?" he asked, knowing fully well that he had destroyed the tool that had the names and observations written on it, and that by him relying on the writting, was almost for certain going to mess up or not be able to provide the correct information about the last two guards.  "sLy and Loque, you are dismissed to eat, but stay within conversation hearing range."  With that, Oculus stared at Juunai, waiting for the wannabe assassin to give him the information he had just destroyed.

Juunai was confused, was this dragon expecting him to speak? Or write down the information upon the dirt? He had no clue, but given the amount of information he gave he did remember a majority of it, but what did you see in the two guards not reported by sLy or Loque? Usually he can understand a question but he was questioning the question itself, not understanding what the dragon meant. He tried to remember from the top of his head, then like a spark it hit him like a rock. The information was old, those dragons were new, and he was a fool to not have paid attention. It looked as if he was about to paw-palm himself out of stupidity, a simple mistake leads to a downfall.

Juunai thought the dragon meant what other two dragons were there and what they looked like and other things of that. He looked around swiftly until realizing the perfume he still had. He was unsure whether or not to give the dragon the perfume or not, but, it was better then nothing, it just goes to show what all he retrieved from the dragoness's home, granted, it had nothing to do with what the king did ask for. Juunai awaited for the response, looking at the king with a rather neutral expression, not out of confidence, but rather he did;t have a specific emotion for this moment but rather fear of failure. He didn't give up on becoming an assassin but he was prepared to get kicked out anytime, knowing a mute dragon could be no use to others who spoke. Juunai has been training for a very long time, and if all fails, then he leaves permanently from this tribe, and from this country. He knew he was not the largest, strongest, but by golly he had speed and intelligence, but even if information he had was not enough as speaking was, then he was just done with everything and leaving.

He gave everytthing at its fullest, with those present meeting his information with complete silence. No one really moved a muscle, neither did the scouts near the Emperor. If this was good or bad, he would know not. But it seemed he hardly made an impression. It unnerved his heart and he took a deep breath as he moved back in the shadows and let the remaining two present their information.

The one who followed him, Juunai, oddly presented a book to the Emperor. Loque, on the other hand, presented a more in-depth information, naming every guard, even the one with the plushy which Sly could not take. Impressive. Though Sly feared it would place him lower than the magistrate of Shadows Refuge. He cast a quick glance at the journal, which the Emperor was still glancing through.

Then he raised his head...

Oculus commended all of them for their information, with special notice given to Juunai. But then he shredded the journal and demanded to know what Juunai could present that was new and unspoken by Sly or Loque. Sly presumed this meant the contents of the journal was just a lesser repeat of what Sly or Loque said. He should have expected as such, since it was this dragon that followed him where he went. Surely, Juunai with have a lot of information to present but, unfortunately, false and outdated. Sly had caught on that the roster from administrations was wrong, and he could confirm it, now that Loque gave every name of the guards at present and they did not match with the records.

When Oculus dismissed Sly and Loque for a break, Sly looked up to the Emperor, then cast a casual glance towards Delillah. He gave her a small smirk before turning his attention to Loque and moved towards him. Pardon me, but it seems we both originate under the same roof of Shadows Refuge. Allow me to formally introduce myself, Sly offered a small bow. I am called Sly. My work is on the arts of healing. And you? Sly waited for his reply. If his response was warm, Sly would continue with, that was quite a detailed report you have. What about the role of assassins would interest the magistrate?

Delillah sat passively at the kings side and she herself chuckled at his comment nodding thoughtfully in-between his words while at the same time the fresh meat poured back into the arena. It seemed that some had dropped out and only three remained, a shame it was. For now she had less over confident dragons to entertain her with their foolish actions and beliefs, but the training would continue until the best wannabe assassin had proven himself and she had no doubts that the left-overs would make it any less delightful.

She listened to Loque and Sly. Both had represent acceptable information presenting them quick and efficient, however the third dragon calling himself Juunai began writing something in the sand from a book. She shook her head nearly unnoticeable, she knew of the book from when he first entered, he had held it obviously close to his body and Delillah assumed that it carried a special meaning, however, this she had not considered. Personally she considered it a fools action, to enter this training as a mute. He could perhaps remember the gathered information but not voice them, which from the beginning was already a useless dragon. The king, it seemed, shared a similar opinion as he shredded his book containing his information. Delillah flicked her tail and allowed a smirk upon her usual passive visage to represent her amusement.

She watched as the wannabe over confidently continued to attempt presenting Oculus with his information and began writing in the dirt. If it hadn't been obvious before that he was a mute now it was as he wrote it beneath them. Her attention, however, was briefly caught upon Slychotic as he smirked at her. She mirrored this with her own short smirk. He was the first who dared to direct something directly at her and that was something she noted down. As she watched him turn to Loque she turned back to Juunai, wearing her once again cold and unemotional mask.

((Hey, just so you know I edited my last reply))

Loque raised an eyebrow as Oculus suddenly tore the book Juunai handed to him. Well this seemed a bit cruel, but it was a good test to see if the dragon could memorize the information. Though the Magistrate felt some pity for the dragon who got asked quite a difficult question. The reason Loque had provided no information about the two last guards was because there was none to give, actually. Even the archives at the Shadow Refuge failed to give more information than simply dragons who have nothing quite interesting to report about them. Well, in a sense it was better if he got unlucky during training than on the actual job...
The young Magistrate turned his head toward Sly as he addressed him. Loque knew Sly from reputation, after all he was one of the Shadow Refuge's healers. He politely bowed back to Sly, just maybe not as deep as what Sly made - but if the Healer had been attentive before, he might have seen that even to Oculus the Magistrate hadn't bowed deeper.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sly. I did hear from you, after all it is hard not to hear from one of the Refuge's most reputable healers. I am Loque, one of the High Magistrates of the Refuge." he introduced himself back.
"To be quite honest, I am not exactly interested in the position itself - I fear I do not have enough spare time from my duties at the Refuge. This is more an occasion for me to prove myself, and maybe learn as well. If Juunai here doesn't manage to give an interesting answer for our Emperor, I do guess it will be time to notify him about this. I might still be useful for some sporadic missions, should the need of an additional assassin arise for the Empire. More like a reserve assassin than a permanent one... Though I guess the main reason is that I needed some respite from all the Magistrate stuff. Slapping common sense into dragons that take their nobility for granted... is quite a challenge if I may say." he sighed.

Oculus watched Juunai, waiting really. And by the lack of an answer or anything, he sighed. This dragon was not ready, and was still hiding behind disabilities or restrictions. They would need to conquer them before trying again. "Now Juunai, I understand you may have disabilities. And no, I do not consider you being mute a failure for the rank. If anything, silence is golden," Oculus spoke in a much softer tone, "However, you cannot let your disabilities define who you are and how you act. I needed you to report on the guards, I gave no limits, you could have walked up and asked for their names. Attention to detail, follow the instructions. I am sorry to have to say that you are being cut from this trial. Don't let this failure define you. Learn from your mistakes, and try out again on the next one." With that he watched and gave Juunai a small bow, wishing the best for him. He figured he would do much better next time.

Now, turning to Delillah, he smiled, and looked at the last two remained. "Alright, enough chatting, time to resume. Any questions before we begin?" he asked, looking at the two, making note of how slow they were to get back. He also did not speak in a loud voice, almost like he was talking to Delillah instead of them.

Loque's attention got drawn as Oculus talked to Juunai. He had been half listening to what was happening there, but he had heard just enough to understand what had been going on. It seemed the third dragon got disqualified... Which meant Sly and him were the last two left in the training. Well this was quite a problem. This happened way sooner than he had expected.
"Oh, talking about it... If you excuse me, I guess it is time to announce what I just told you." he told Sly, the situation forcing him not to wait for the answer from the healer.
The black dragon then turned his head toward Oculus, walking a bit toward the center of the pit as they had been slightly farther away. Once there he briefly cleared his throat before talking.
"More than a question, it is an announcement I would want to make. I hereby mention that I withdraw from the competition for the role of Assassin of the Empire. Now don't get me wrong, it is not because I do not want the position, but more that I cannot abandon my position of High Magistrate of the Shadow Refuge. As such, while I cannot apply for the official position of Assassin of the Empire. However, should the need arise, I remain available as an additional claw, a reserve assassin if you prefer. This is why while Sly here is the last official contestant for the position, I do wish to continue this training not only for personal feelings, but also to be ready should the Empire need me. I do realize that I should have mentioned this earlier, but I did not want other contestants to ignore me because I wouldn't have been a threat to them, nor did I actually expect to get so far in the selection." Loque declared.
His voice remained calm and formal thorough his speech, and his stance remained the confident one of a Magistrate. He slightly bowed to the Emperor once he finished, wondering how he would react to this situation. Would he dismiss him, or would he be willing to take him as a reserve assassin?

He listened carefully to what the magistrate had to say. Loque's greeting surely was a warm and formal one, and it seemed he had an eye on the healer's reputation. Unfortunately he could not return Loque's comments, less he would just reaort to empty praises. With so many herbs and so many goals to achieve, on top of so many patients to see, he was not fortunate to be granted the spare time to note on Loque's work. However Loque was closely affiliated with the one named Tenebris; he who ruled Shadows Refuge.

Interestingly enough, Loque entrusted Sly with the information that he was not completely committed to this role. Sly smirked a little, something he would keep note of later. It seemed the magistrate's work was a lot more important and he was willing to put himself as some reserve in case the Emperor encountered a situation where he may need Loque. I see, Sly responded. You are very passionate with your current work I must say. So much so that you are not willing to take up something much... grander?

As Sly spoke with Loque, his ears perked to the other discussion, listening in to what the Emperor had to say to Juunai, as he was told to do. The Emperor sent him, rather politely, on his way. It was rather awkward to Sly's ears but he took no note of it.

Just as Oculus turned to speak to the remaining two, Sly had finished his question with Loque but got no answer with what little tine they had. As Loque spoke, Sly stood with a proud chest towards the Emperor, firm and determined. With what Loque said, perhaps Juunai woulf be offered another chance to prove himself. Or perhaps this was the end of the trial and their training would begin. The pit had gotten very quiet all of a sudden. Before, a few dozen showed up. It only took two or three trial assignments before it was done to just the remaining three.

Sly kept his focus up. While his eyes were on Oculus, his periphery scanned the area, looking for something new or something amiss. Anything beyond the threshold of the norm before he entered the pit for the last time...

So, the politics pet was here just for the fun of it, not actually here to join. Well, he had nothing to do with them then. "Leave," was all he spoke to the politic, and turned his attention away from him, not wasting another breath on him. He then glared at the NightWing Healer, staring with scrutinizing eyes. It was a shame, only one left, and he still had tests to run. The only flaw was that the tests required competition with others, not a competition of one. "well, what do you think Delillah? Is he even worth moving on to the next training, or should we just push him off till the next batch of trials come?" Oculus asked Delillah.

(Short post because of issues)