The air in the city smelled dewey. To be fair, it always smelled a little dewey in Romba, but it was usually a more industrial smelling kind of dewey. Kajulan, who was tucked away in a crevice beside the street, would personally describe said smell as metallic. Like coins. Or blood.

Not that blood was something she smelled a lot. More than average, for sure, but not quite a lot. It was unavoidable in her line of work. Lots of competition, lots of violent dispositions.

Kajulan had picked out the hidey hole she was currently waiting in a while ago. It was the perfect place in the city of Romba for someone like her. Far away enough from the nice parts of town that the guard rarely ever ventured it, but not so downtrodden that it worried the rich folk to travel. Of course, if people kept getting robbed, that might change one day.

Clearly it was not this day though, as a young man and woman dressed in silk and making googly eyes at each other came down the road, unburdened by any hired protection. Kajulan leaped from her hidey hole, landing in a crouch, and slowly uncoiled upwards. She had a wicked knife already drawn, flicking it back and forth, and gave a crooked smirk. She looked wild, scarred and unkempt with skin an even sicklier shade of green than usual for an albi, although her hair was cut short and carefully parted to the side, contrasting with the rest of her ensemble. The young man bristled slightly and puffed his chest out, making Kajulan chuckle. “Drop the act, kid. I’m the one with the knife.”

Kajulan began slowly circling the couple, elbow resting on her hip and the knife pointed straight out. They were the right amount of scared; enough to cooperate, but not enough to do anything rash.

“So,” she began, not even looking at them. “What do you two have that I might want?” The two didn’t answer, barely breathing as they did everything they could not to provoke her. “That wasn’t rhetorical guys. I’m actually looking for an answer.”

There was another period of silence, during which the man was clearly trying to hold back an outburst.

“Where the hell are the guards?” he whispered through gritted teeth.

“Not here,” replied Kajulan, her smirk widening. She stopped her circling and stepped closer to them, raising the knife. “That also wasn’t an answer to my question.”

Kajulan’s eyes darted to the woman’s hands, which were hidden in the pockets of her robes. “Now, why’s the lady hiding her hands?”

Before either had a chance to respond Kajulan darted forward, grabbing the woman’s arm and forcing her hand from her pocket. On her finger was a beautiful ring, made from silver with gold inlay. Kajulan held the woman’s hand in hers, getting a better look at the jewelry.

“How pretty,” she said. “How much do you figure a ring like this is worth?”

“Not much,” lied the woman.

Kajulan gave a short snort at that, before slipping the ring off her finger. She held it between her thumb and index, taking some time to admire it before dropping it into her pocket. She looked back at the couple. “I suggest you two stay put until I’m gone. I don’t want either of you running to the guards.”

Kajulan began to slink away, continuing to gesture menacingly at the couple with her knife, before sliding between two buildings, her wiry frame quickly disappearing into the gap. Sometimes it was surprising just how easy this was to do. Sure, she had her fair share of knicks and bruises from close calls, but overall she had found a lot of success with her criminality. It was just a matter of picking the right targets and using the scariest knife you could find.

…

After the robbery, Kajulan headed straight for her guy. She thought it was cool that she had a guy. It made her feel like a big time crook or corrupt viceroy, talking about how they were going to make a problem “disappear”. Of course, her guy just made stolen things go away. He’s a fence, is what she means. Also his name’s not guy, it’s Rudim. She was just doing a bit.

Kajulan opened the door to Rudim’s Antique Shop. There were shelves against every wall, filled with stacks upon stacks of worthless “antiques,” uncared for and coated in a thick layer of dust. Of course, it was all a front, so the cruddiness of his wares didn’t really matter. Kajulan walked to the desk at the back of the store and put one elbow on it. Normally Rudim would be nearby, but today he was nowhere to be seen. Kajulan coughed loudly, hoping to get his attention, wherever he was.

She was about to leave when the shop’s backdoor creaked open. Rudim stuck his head through, before entering the rest of the way with his portly body.

“Kajulan!” he exclaimed with his arms held out. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been very busy.”

“No worries!” replied Kajulan happily, pulling the ring out of her pocket. “Look what I got!”

Rudim took the ring from her, inspecting it closely. “It is very nice. Quite the, errhm, “find” actually.” Rudim suddenly got really quiet, and then let out a heavy sigh. “I’m afraid I can’t take it off your hands though.”

Kajulan crossed her long arms. “Why not? It’s not everyday I get a score like that, you know!”

“I’m sorry Kajulan. Things are just getting too hot.”

Kajulan continued to fume. “I thought you said the guard didn’t give a shit about small stuff like this!”

Rudim rubbed his brow. “It’s not the guard. There’s a new operation in town. Jethin’s operation.”

Kajulan squinted. “That name sounds stupid.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not his real name. But that’s not the point. He’s a mobster from down South, from Tajlynd. They’re crazy down there. Real feudal types. He’s been cracking down on any operations in the city he’s not a part of.”

Kajulan cocked an eyebrow. “So you’re just quitting?”

Rudim sighed again. “Well Kajulan, this isn’t a line of work you stay in for very long. You either get out while you can, or you live hard and die young. And I don’t think I’ve lived nearly hard enough to justify dying now.” Rudim took a heavy box off his desk before continuing. “Jethin offered to pay me off, get me out of the business. He also made it pretty clear the alternative wouldn’t be pretty. So I took it. I’m actually leaving today.” Rudim held the box out in front of him. “This is the last of my stuff.”

A bell rang as the front door of the shop opened. A large man walked through, dressed as if he was playing soldier, with a coat of armor and an ill-fitting helmet on his head. A mercenary type if Kajulan had ever seen one. She hadn’t, but she still got that general feeling from him.

The armored man pulled out a pocket watch, seemingly purely for show, before closing it and looking at Rudim. “Times up. Let’s go.”

Rudim nodded, and gave Kajulan a solemn look. He put the box under one arm and patted her on the back.

“Times are changing Kajulan,” he said. “No place for going solo anymore. You should get out while you can.”

The mercenary looking man gestured for Rudim to leave, and he did, waving to Kajulan as he left. The remaining man leered at her.

“You too. Get.”