“Goddess damn you Faux!” Jasira yowled. They used blunted knives but he had caught her on her elbow behind where her bracer covered. She rubbed the tender flesh under her tricep as she stepped back and took a breath.

Faux had not been welcomed with open arms by master Varduk, but he had been allowed back. They had recently started training in basic combat as masters would be looking for disciples from upcoming contests. Faux face had no emotion, he shrugged at her anger and got back into his stance.

The kata they learned was like a dance with a knife. Each movement meant to take you in close, a twist, a dodge, a stab. Faux loved every minute of it and still had a few regrets about not gaining Varduk as a master. Stamina was the biggest issue so far. This art wasn’t about strength, it was about speed and stamina.

You had to be faster, last longer, and think quicker than your opponent. Jasira would thrust with her right hand, he would pull her through with left as he jabbed up with his right. Or she would block with her right and sweep his leg. The basic moves had been relatively easy to learn, it was how you used them or changed them in each moment. He knew that the training would only get harder. But for now it was a nice mindnumming exercise. Learn, practice, improve, repeat. That was the motto of their little class.

For the last few weeks since Faux’s punishment, he had been training even harder. He kept all of his own personal exercises, but added an hour with Master Lavish learning etiquette and blending. “The Midnight Guild” his instructor had eventually explained. “Operates wherever there is need. Whether that be an elegant function, or a bar room brawl, you are required to fit in.” The lessons never seemed to end.

Faux had simply never realized how much he was expected to know. He kind of just expected to learn stealth and stabbing. In that order. Then he had begun practicing his innate changeling power of shape changing when he was alone. He had used it briefly in the alley under duress, but that had been just his face.

Changing one's face and body was an incredibly painful process, and took time and focus. Each time he practiced it with different faces and body types, he felt the briefest improvement in speed, but not the pain. The pain was infinite. Mimicking a voice was not part of the ability, but was actually a skill Lavish had brushed upon that he would be learning in the future.

As distracted as he was it was no surprise when Jasira yanked him off balance and gave him three swift stabs to his kidney. It was a blunted tip, and he had a jerkin to soften the blow, but he still winced in pain. She had come in from the momentary break hard and fast, taking him by surprise.

He looked at Jasira and smiled. She quickly took two steps back and raised her hands. “Calm down Faux, this is practice.” The only rule he had found so far while training, was that you were not allowed to kill other students. Varduk was firm on this and had made his displeasure very clear the last time.

Ever since he had stabbed Shinroth, he had received a reputation of a sociopath and people no longer liked when he smiled. Others wouldn't say it outloud, and it was hard to explain, but it was a grim grin that gave one the impression of broken glass.

Faux found it strange that an order of assassins had scruples; he had eventually asked Master Lavish about it. “You do not use and unfinished sword in combat, you wait until it has been sharpened and oiled.” In Faux’s mind you didn’t wait for your opponent to sharpen his sword, that seemed like nonsense.

“Are you ready for tonight’s stealth course?” Jolly stepped up from where he and Kenosha were taking a small break from their spar. “We should work together to have the best time.” Kenosha almost whispered.

The group of three had been reserved at first with continuing their “friendship”and Faux had been fine with that. It took him nearly three days to go crawling back to the group's table asking to sit with them again. He might be a loner, but even he needed someone to talk to occasionally. So he had become more of an annex of the group, not part of the core, but not ostrichsized.

“You know the stealth course isn’t a group exercise right Ken? It’s about stealth.” Jolly chuckled. “Whatever you big galute, Faux and Jazz need someone to keep up with or they will be lagging in the back again.” Ken challenged. Kenosha had finally started to speak more, even if his voice was nearly silent. His statement was only partially true.

The stealth course for tonight had been expanded through the temple quarter, where you were expected to hit certain checkpoints while following your own route.The points would be set in a course like path, with one brief excursion into the temples. The students would be required to make a quiet circuit and return, quickly and without drawing any notice. Several instructors would be watching throughout.

This was only the third time since Faux had walked into the door of the Guild manor that he would be allowed to leave. And it would be the first time he would be allowed out of the district. They would be watched closely, but it would be nice to get a breath of fresh air.

But that was a worry for later. For now. Food.

It was a brief interlude for Faux, but eating with his three acquaintances brought him out of his pain and anger to a moment that felt like a lifetime ago. Sitting around a table, with friends and family. It all seemed so easy and simple. For a brief second, he could almost pretend everything hadn’t gone terribly wrong.

After dark the students started making their way out to the courtyard. The course points could be on walls, down alleys, and even across rooftops. It made a loose circle from the west wall with a small flare into the temple quarter. Then the most challenging part would be coming back into the nobles' quarters unseen, it was always easier to leave than return.

“Have you heard that people disappear from the collapsed compound/?” Jolly nearly whispered. They were walking past the dilapidated manor next to their Midnight Guild’s manor. There were many rumors going around. Some that it was owned by the guild, others that it was a mysterious noble. The only truth to the rumors were that the students were clueless.

“Nonsense, whoever said that was probably just trying to scare you Jolly.” Spoke Jasira. Around ten of the students, including Shinroth had been selected by masters already, Jasira was trying to focus as this was a test being held by Shade, who had taken her as his acolyte in all but name. Tonight would be her night.

They all still glanced behind them at the crumbling old home. “Masters wouldn’t allow anything to happen to an apprentice, and that collapse happened weeks ago, I’m sure if anything other than poor maintenance had caused it, the masters would have taken care of it by now.”

Again Faux wasn’t so sure, they were all about sharpening the blade here, once you were an apprentice he imagined they wanted only the best of the best. He looked at his three associates, like him, they were striving to be better.

One thing Faux did know, was that they would all know if someone had disappeared from their class, as it was just too small. The graduates on the other hand, while few in number, were impossible to keep track of while they were in and out on missions.

Faux silently wondered how many missions a graduate had to complete before becoming a master. Seven? Ten? Becoming a master is when he would finally have freedom again.

Thirty of the initiates now stood on the wall edge to their guild compound, Master Shade stood to the side looking over at them. They had been learning hand signals to use for quiet communication. They didn’t have many symbols in their repertoire, but they all recognized the symbol for “go”.

They all slipped into the shadows as they dropped down to the other side of the wall. Ken had been ready first and pushed them into motion, so they were near the front of the group. The more that joined them the harder it became to avoid notice. That was another reason Faux normally stayed to the back. A person might see a flash of movement, glance and look away, but if they saw thirty, they would surely look more closely.

The course fortunately wasn’t a straight or preplanned route, it was more a series of markers you had to reach, with instructors watching who made it and keeping an eye out for those who were seen. They weren’t necessarily looking for a shout from the guards. This was just after the cusp of dark. There were plenty of people still on the streets heading home or to the tavern.

In the nobles quarters those people tended to be mostly servants who kept their head down and a quick pace, but tonight they would be allowed into the temple district where eyes were more numerous.

If you were noticed too many times on the run, you were lucky if you only lost out on dinner. One of the younger recruits had literally ran into someone exiting a building, that poor sod wouldn’t have been able to eat dinner if they had allowed him to after such a beating.

They were moving along at a nice clip, quickly reaching the edge of the Noble quarter. Ken pushed them much faster than Faux would normally go, their path was nearly a straight line through the shadows.

The traffic seemed even lighter today than it had on two previous stealth runs. What day was it? Faux had completely lost track.

Faux still noticed another student in his peripheral vision. His senses warned him as he grabbed Ken who was in front of him and pulled his group into the shadows, Jazz and Jolly close behind. “Wha-” Faux covered his mouth and kept them deep in the shadows. Another few initiates that were close behind them had kept moving down the Alley.

As they closed the end of the alley Faux watched a thrown rock fly as a loud crash echoed down the alley. They heard a shout as two guards who had been patrolling nearby quickly came into the alley with torches held high.

The guards would likely not hurt or arrest the initiates since they technically hadn’t done anything wrong. But the masters would certainly show them their displeasure at getting caught by a patrol as they might have to intervene. They hadn’t stepped far in, and the three had hidden as quickly as they could, but their hiding spots wouldn’t hold up to a closer inspection.

“Those poor sods are gonna get a right beating when they get back” Jolly whispered from behind them. Ken and Jazz nodded in agreement. No one here was an innocent, but they were also all still kids. Faux was conflicted, he wasn’t friends with these three, but he also didn’t like bullies. His thoughts flashed to Mckale for a moment and he made a decision.

The guards held their lantern high and noticed it was a few kids. With some grumbling they pulled the three that had been caught out into the light of the street lamps for questioning. The faces of the trio were filled with the ire and embarrassment of being caught.

Jasira and her team moved forward again now that the guards were gone. She was truly annoyed at the hold up. She didn’t think her master would replace her, but it was a possibility. “Damn it!” If we don’t hurry, who knows how many others might beat us.” She said, They all nodded and picked up their pace. This might not be a timed exercise, but that didn’t mean they had all night. The three of them didn’t notice Faux slip into the shadows. Right before the ambushing student disappeared into the night, Faux had recognized him as Shinroth.

Faux had no doubt that the ambush was meant for him. As he moved stealthily from shadow to shadow, he gripped the handle of his new shank. They had taken his previous one, but the glory of a shank was you could just fashion a new one.

He moved with all the considerable speed he possessed, he was “just behind” Shinroth when it came to speed, and he was far superior in stealth. The fact that head had disappeared from his fellows in stealth class with no one noticing would be lost on all four of them.

He came upon Shinroth tucked into the shadow of a barrel at the edge of an alley not far from the disturbance. Staring out onto the street, Shinroth’s back was to Faux. It was perfect, it couldn’t have been a better setup.

Faux pulled his shank and slunk forward. A quick sprint would put his shank into the back of his enemies neck. Then his steps stopped. His hackles rose. It was perfect. It was too perfect. His senses told him something wasn’t right here.

Faux trusted no one, but he trusted his instincts. With no second thought, he quickly vanished back into the shadows.

…………………..

The rest of their course was uneventful. With Jasira pushing them hard and Jolly’s stomach grumbling, they had been a little careless, but they had been lucky and arrived back at the west wall of the compound before dinner ended. As they dropped inside, not quite the first initiates to make it back but close, they all gave each other a pat on the back. Jasira gave a sigh of relief as she received a nod from Master Shade, it seemed he wasn’t disappointed in her.

As Jasira had said earlier, this wasn’t a team challenge, for her it was very personal. They had all noticed the other groups forming. Murder might be a solo game, but a team felt safer. It wasn’t until they walked into the light that they realized that Faux was not behind them. “Where did he run off to?” Jolly wondered out loud.

“RIght here, I got slightly sidetracked.” Faux jumped down off the wall behind them. Jasira looked at him for a moment, the question not hidden in her eyes. Finally she just nodded. “Well alright then. Let's go get some dinner.” Faux saw the spark of camaraderie in his teammates' eyes. Assasination might be a lonely artfrom, but this was also a guild. Faux pondered this as he followed his fellows into the dining hall.

………

Varaduk stepped from the shadows after he saw the strange boy leave. “It seems he didn’t take the bait, '' the old master said to himself. He was only slightly disappointed, the wasted time the only real loss.

He motioned for his acolyte to continue on. Shinroth nodded and moved out to finish his stealth test. It would have been a nice feather in Varduk’s cap to take down Fang Te’s disciple. It would be a solid blow to the formidable senior assassin, he was the second biggest hurdle with taking down the old guard. All Varduk would have lost would have been a wet behind the ears disciple. Hardly any loss at all.

Varduk and his people had the keys to the guild's future, and they wouldn’t be stymied. For now he would be patient, new opportunities would arise, and if they couldn’t change things the easy way… there was always the hard way.