The night’s darkness had already settled on sky and city, but still people were moving about in the streets, pursuing the last of their daily businesses. By the wall of the ramp going from the harbour’s to the craftsman’s terrace, Purple Paw waited. He had already found a solid contact in the keeper of an inn called 'the copper sail' on the harbour’s terrace, and by this man, he had found a first contract for him and Brazen Claw.

She didn’t take long to show up. She had receded far back into her cloak, barely visible in all the cloth, but she was not as Invisible in the crowd as she believed to be, she just kept trying too hard to hide. He whistled a tune to let her know it was him and she quickly found him.

“How have you been doing, Claw?” When he put emphasis on her call sign, he could see a smile make a suppressed attempt to appear on her face.

“Well enough. What's the contract?”

She was eager. Sooner or later she would have to unlearn her lack of social discipline, it was bad for negotiations and infiltrations. For now, she was right to urge to the important matters. “We are to secure a witness before a local mobster can. It will be mostly doing a little shakedown and dragging someone off alive.”

She didn’t seem bothered by the timidity of the contract. He was sure that on her travels, she would have gotten used to blood and gore in the line of work.

“So, what’s the plan?”

He got out his notebook. “Our target is a dock worker by the name of Hermaeus. He saw something he shouldn’t have and already knows he is in danger, but he also won’t seek out the guard since he’s implicated. The guard wants him alive so they can interrogate and protect him until the mobster’s trial. Nobody knows where he disappeared to but I did some digging and found that there is one place the mobster in question – a brutal one named Double-Knuckle Nick – cannot get any footing in: the hidden tunnels dug into the rock of the slope. That’s most likely where our fugitive is hiding, most likely he’ll try to catch a ship by tomorrow evening so we need to find him fast.”

“And how are we going to get into those tunnels?”

“A friendly bird told me about one entrance and how to get through.”

“Let’s get going then, I have classes early tomorrow.”

They made their way up to the craftsman’s terrace. Close to the slope of the mountain they found a small inn, amidst a mostly residential area. Officially, it was a private little club for grabbing a drink and a small bite from noon to early evening, nothing that stands out. But Paw knew what kind of place it was. An establishment to funnel all sorts of wares, goods and money through. He knocked the door a few times. A hushed voice came from the other side.

“Are you hungry?”

Paw knew what to answer. His good ties with the barkeep in the copper sail had guaranteed that. “Only for the rarest morsels, but those in spades.”

“What bird has sung you that song?”

“One with blue plumes and yellow quills.”

The door opened and they were let in. The room they entered was an unassuming parlour, a bar with chairs, a few tables, a beautiful gal pouring refreshments, a few patrons throwing much more than just one glance at the newcomers.

The door fell shut behind them. Paw moved to the bar. From the corner of his mouth he warned the girl. “We’ll have a few, if we push too hard they won’t let us pass.”

The girl just nodded and sat down with him at the bar. He ordered ale for the two of them and they were quickly met with the stale brew of the house.

Puzzlement and doubt played on Claw’s face. “Are you sure? During work? For me?”

“It would be suspicious if we didn’t, now up with that tankard!” He lifted his and she hers and they clinked them for the first gulp.

Claw put the tankard down with a disgruntled frown. “One day, I wish we can meet up and gather information in something with higher standards.”

“You still lack the finesse and bearing to properly do work in places with higher standards.”

Claw made a displeased grunt and looked to the room, her ears twisting and turning into the direction of every whisper and murmur.

“What are you hearing?” Paw already knew to rely on the girl’s senses, especially now that she had even more of them.

“Talk about us. Some think they can take you, but they think it’s going to be hard. No one really trusts you, I think.”

Paw knew his impressive physique got him into more difficult fights than easy ones. He kept his posture and continued to read the room as much as possible without revealing anything. Some time went by before the girl spoke up again. “Someone’s heading for us.”

Paw turned around to the three men approaching them. They were of average size, one was obviously the big muscle, not badly dressed but certainly not passable for better company, they could very well be hiding weapons in their person. The middle one spoke up first. “You’re new in town?! What’s your names?”

Claw knew to hold her tongue and Paw introduced them. “I am Ralt and this is Dina.”

“Good to know, but we both know you’re not here for the ale, nobody is.”

“What if it so?” Paw shifted on his barstool. “What can you offer me that I might want?”

The man seemed not amused by this play. “If you’ll be upfront we can arrange a deal. If you’re playing dumb to be a smartass, we can rearrange your teeth. Come with us or leave this establishment.”

Paw could see the man had a job to do and was impatient to do so. “Understood, let’s see what arrangement we can make then.” He downed his tankard and so did Claw. The three men turned around and the two followed them through a door in the back of the building. By the walls, Paw could tell they had already entered tunnels dug into the slope. The walls were made out of the soft and damp sandstone, occasionally supported by wooden beams or held back by boards. As they were walking, the three men in front, two more behind them, Paw noticed that Claw was tapping against his right arm’s bracer, specifically where one of his throwing knives was hidden underneath. She was unarmed and nervous, but Paw wanted to wait before resorting to violence and force just yet. They soon were led into a room with four people sitting at a table and playing cards, by the looks of it Paw guessed they were playing Chemins, popular amongst gamblers but not Paw’s favourite.

The four players turned around and the man that had approached Paw and Claw introduced them.

“These are Ralt and Dina, boss, we found them at the bar being new.”

One of the players stood up, an especially well-dressed man, medium in stature, obviously worked his way up through the chain for years and collected a few scars on his arms and face. He made a dismissive gesture towards the three men, who promptly left the room. After the door was shut he approached Paw and Claw. “Ralt and Dina? Well my name is Soos and I control the access to the tunnels on the merchant’s and the craftsman’s terrace, so what do you want here?”

Paw had heard that name before, rumours had it that he was a thorn in Double-Knuckle Nick’s side. “Let’s just say we are looking for someone who might be hiding here and that us finding him will hurt Double-Knuckle Nick.”

Soos twisted his glance. “Interesting, come for someone who might hiding here...” he made a pause and scratched his chin demonstratively. “And so you thought you can just waltz in here and ask for details on our paying tenants? Tenants paying specifically for discretion and safety?” Another pause, another close glare. “WELL?! Did you?”

Paw decided to answer the man trying to be more imposing than him. “Well I am prepared to make arrangements, I didn’t come here to shed blood.”

“You don’t look too stupid to realize that betraying that trust would be detrimental to our business.”

Paw reached for his coin purse. “Of course we would compensate you for the lost rent.”

Soos stepped closer. “You don’t understand; trust cannot be weighed in gold! Our tenants will remain safe and unknown.”

Paw saw that Soos was of the rarer breed, the honest hoodlum, a man who truly believed in he was running a true, proper business rather than a profitable group of gangsters and criminals. “No harm will come to him, he merely needs to speak in court, something that Double-Knuckle Nick is investing much effort into preventing.”

“And who tells me you are not one of Nick’s investments? You are new here, you should know that entrance into the darker societies does not simply come from strolling in!”

Paw looked to the girl. She had her jaw clenched, her eyes fixed on Soos' every muscle. He turned back to Soos. “So where does that assumption of yours leave us?”

“It leaves me in the position to squeeze you for every bit of information you have about who is commanding you.”

Paw saw the movement of Soos's hand and was about to catch it where it was about to hit his skull, but the girl had already shot between them, grabbed Soos’ hand and moved to his side, twisting his arm back and down, back up behind the man’s back, like leading a partner in a painful but elegant dance.

The others jumped into action, Soos’ yelled and screamed, two more guards came through the door. Paw drew his dagger, quickly passed a knife to the girl. She put it to Soos’ throat, another opponent lunged, dagger in hand, she abandoned her position, jumped backwards.

They were outnumbered six to two, but Nanande was already locked in combat with two of them, using her grappling hook as a party weapon in her left while making occasional stabs with the throwing knife in her right.

Paw drew the Invisible Fist that always was at the very front of his cast book. A SNAP later one of the guards dropped to the floor, bleeding from nose and mouth. The other guard stormed at Paw, a blade glinted in his hand, Paw moved his body out of the way, shot his parry dagger to meet the opponent’s blade, twisted to bind it and drew him close. Paw sunk the knife in his left into the man’s abdomen. Paw shoved the man to the wall to bleed out there and drew sis next spell paper; Constrictor. A SNAP, a puff of flame and Soos was tied up securely.

The girl had pierced an opponent’s cheek with her grappling hook and swung him in front of him as a human shield, eventually managing to get him skewered in the neck by one of his friends.

Four of them were on the ground, the remaining two dropped their weapons. Claw had tied them up quick, then they got to putting Soos back up on a chair to interrogate him.

When all were secured, the door barred and the weapons collected, Paw spoke to Soos. “We’re looking for a guy named Hermaeus. Thin, middle-aged, long hair, bald spot on the top of his head, might have worn a dark red shirt. The sooner we find him the sooner you can get back to your game of cards. Understood?”

Soos scowled at Paw, then spat in his face. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to enter the deeper tunnels without my aid.”

Paw's fist came down upon Soos’ face with a satisfying SWACK, leaving the stalwart man unimpressed.

“I saw what my supervisor can do. I'm not afraid of a few punches.”

Paw had met stubborn people and he had certainly seen what some gang bosses did to the disloyal to raise the others’ morale, but Soos eventually proved to be an especially tough nut. He had started spitting out broken teeth and still wouldn’t speak. Blood covered Paw’s fist and even soaked into Soos’ clothes, but he remained unafraid. Paw wanted to get to magic means of afflicting pain when Claw put her hand on his shoulder.

“Let me try.” Her face bore determination enough to convince Paw and so, he stepped aside.

Claw reached into her mouth with her index finger. He couldn’t see what exactly she had done, but a clear-yellowish drop stuck to her index claw. She pricked Soos’ right shoulder and stepped back to Paw’s side. It didn’t take long until Soos’ face showed signs of suppressed pain, but ultimate he seemed to bear it well.

Claw stepped back to him. “Got enough?”

“Whatever you used is weaker than milk, you got nothing!”

Again, she brought her index to her mouth and again a clear-yellowish drop clung to her claw. This time, she pricked him in the thumb. The area around the prick started swelling soon, drops of sweat sprouted on his forehead. Eventually, he started to grunt and rocking in his binds, as if his heartbeat itself was causing him pain.

Paw grew concerned with the survival of their source of information. “Will he die?”

“No. I know to properly dose it.”

“And where did you learn that?”

“Pliranto.”

“Aha.”

Claw seemed happy with the result so far. stepped closer to Soos. “Are you ready to tell us now?”

Soos shook his head defiantly, still visibly suppressing pain. “Screw you, whore! You can’t break me!”

A smile of malevolent glee dashed across Claw's face. It stirred a sliver of worry inside Paw. “Funny that you called me 'whore'. The fingers are very sensitive and therefore enhance pain greatly. There is however another even more sensitive area!” She took a knife and quickly took a hole in his pants. She took his member into her left and put her right index to her mouth again. Paw could see the terror in Soos’ eyes, his whole body started to shake as Claw brought that dreadful drop ever closer to the tip of his fun rod.

“STOP!”

Claw flashed a wide grin, Paw couldn’t suppress one either.

“I'll tell you.”

A few words by Soos later they found and opened the hidden door that lead deeper into the tunnels. They would find Hermaeus at a place called 'merchant's belly', a part of the tunnels with a few communal rooms for the ones unwilling or unable to show their face in the light of day. The sandstone tunnels were cold and damp, the walls were so narrow at points that Paw needed to inch along sideways, most of the time he had to tuck his head in as well. If they came across other people, they had to find a wide spot to let them pass. The tunnels were dug erratically, no system was apparent; tunnels made sudden curves, arcs and bends, shafts suddenly opened in the ceiling and bottom of the tunnels, ladders leading to tunnels and rooms above and below, they even came across large chambers where many tunnels congregated at different levels, forming some sort of primitive and crude courts with galleries and tribunes. Some areas of this network were supported with wooden beams and boards, even brickwork and pavement could be seen in places. Paw also recognized parts of the tunnels to be dug with magic, it would be equally easy to reshape rock in place, hiding any entry not meant to be found and accessed by the uninitiated and magically ungifted.

By directions carved into the walls at junctions, they eventually found the area known as merchant’s belly. A rather large collection of chambers that served as sleeping rooms, tiny market- or business areas for fences, smugglers and thieves to offer their wares and services.

Paw made sure Claw stuck close to him, he wouldn’t want to lose her in this maze of chaos. Her ears turned and twisted to every opening and intersection they came across, her tail curled and swayed in anticipation. Every time they came by a sleeping room, all of them packed full to the brim with up to twelve people, Paw asked who they found there whether they had seen someone fitting Hermaeus' description, but they were always told no one knew someone like that. Their luck instead crossed their path. They had just gone through another sleeping room, when Claw turned a corner ahead of Paw, a man at the far end of stretch they could see froze in shock. He saw the large cloaked man and the crolachan girl accompanying him and dashed off into the direction he had come. Someone must have tipped him off.

Paw couldn’t even tell Claw to pick up the chase before she shot down the stretch with unbelievable speed. Paw took after Hermaeus as well, but the tunnels thwarted his attempts to match the speed of the girl. She seemed to just flow through even the narrowest openings like a breeze.

“HEY! STOP! STOP THAT GUY!” Claw’s voice resounded through the tunnels, and almost instantly, a figure stepped into the tunnel ahead of Paw. A woman holding a bucket in her hands. Her eyes spoke of fierce animosity, did she try to block his way?

He picked up more speed. “OUT OF MY WAY!” he yelled at the woman, but she didn’t move, instead, she struck out with the bucket and dumped its wet and disgusting contents all over him just as he came into her reach. She yelled some obscenities and insults while bashing at him with the empty bucket. “NO! SHE MEANT THE OTHER GUY! LEAVE ME BE!” Paw tried to get it into her head, but more and more people came close to pester him. He used all his strength to shove the woman into another tunnel and tore through the line of peaople with his shoulder, then he continued down the hallway. More people had become aware of the ruckus going on and some more tried to hinder him. He was about to pull a spell from his cast book when he saw a crowd had gathered in a more open area ahead. He pushed a member of the onlooking crowd aside and saw Claw with Hermaeus, forcing his arm on his back and pushing him against the wall, his struggles were fierce, but Paw could see that Claw’s claws had sunken into his skin, drawing blood. She smiled as she observed her prey struggle against her in futility.

Paw stepped to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Claw! Good one!”

Her head whipped around and for a split second, her caustic green eyes fixated on him like a combatant, her pupils narrowed to barely visible slits in the light of his vial, before she recognized him and let up. Her body relaxed and she gave Hermaeus another shove. “You startled me.”

“No need to worry. You did well, but why didn’t you use a Constrictor?”

“No point to it. When I finally had line of sight on him for long enough, he was as good as in my hands already.”

“Either way, tie him up, I’ll take care of the onlookers.” Paw handed his apprentice a pair of iron shackles and got to chasing away the small crowd that had gathered, some seemed willing to attack the two to free the man they saw as their comrade, but quickly gave up after Paw showed off a few flashy but harmless spells and his blades. Hermaeus resisted the entire way, struggling despite their reassurances that he would come to no harm.

Paw insisted on making stop at a well, so he could get most of the woman’s bucket’s contents off his clothes. Soon after, they dropped Hermaeus off at the city guard’s headquarters. The pay-out was good and the girl was most ecstatic about her share.

They sat on the ramp from the harbour’s terrace to the craftsman's terrace, looking out onto the dark night ocean. A row of tiny flickering lights stretched to the horizon, marking where the sunken spires waited for unaware sailors. Paw could still smell the refuse on his clothes, but Claw still sat next to him as if he had just bathed in rose-scented waters.

“How’s school coming along?”

“Stupid. I’m not making any friends.”

“That’s not the point of school.”

“Still, it would be nice! At my age, you at least had Elissa.”

She was right with that one. Paw had to think back to those soft eyes and those open ears of hers. “Well and you got me.” He didn’t mean it and he made sure to put a large dose of sarcasm into his voice.

Claw chuckled. “I mean it though. It would be nice to be able to talk to someone at eye level.”

“For the longest time, I didn't actually what to know Elissa, she was like a closed and locked book with seven seals. When we finally got closer, I found her to be most...attentive to my problems.”

There was a silence between them.

The girl broke it again. “I envy you. But at the same moment, I don’t. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in your life.”

That was something Paw truly hadn’t anticipated to come from her. “Hey, what’s so bad about it?”

“I don’t know. I still feel like my future exists. You have made a past for yourself, a life, you can’t change that. I wouldn’t want to not change, to feel powerless against my life, I want to still steer it, control it until I have to live with it.”

“It’s never too late to change something. I guess Black Surgeon thought that way. But I haven’t really seen any necessity for change. With the exception of you, of course.”

Claw’s face was kissed by the softest of smiles. It were those that were most honest, especially with perpetual liars like Hidden Hands. “I’m glad you did change your life in that regard. I am glad my mother traded in her life with you. Even if I miss her voice.”

Paw put his hand on Claw’s shoulder and she took it, gave it a tight squeeze. He knew difficult days lay ahead and he wished dearly that Master Paramonos could help the two of them, the girl and the Serpent.