“Alright,” The chipper little Halfling calls out as she looks up to us, “Today's training is all about the art of infiltration.”

“I thought we were learning how to handle a hostage situation?” Melodiana asks while tilting her head.

“Same thing,” the Halfling shrugs, “You have to know who to get in to save the hostage, sometimes without causing to much of a ruckus, and other times by causing a big ruckus,” She shrugs slightly, “Anyway I'm Mishka and I'll be responsible for the two of you today.”

“It's nice to meet you,” I nod to her, “Lily.”

“I'm Melodiana,” Melodiana greets her as well before she claps her hand over her fist, “I'll do my best to learn today.”

“That's the spirit,” Mishka claps her hands and starts to walk down the street, “First we will have a nice warm up with a door.” We both follow her along the brick building as she continues to talk, “Plenty of ways to do a door, pick'em, kick'em, blast'em with magic. I once knew a gnome that mixed volatile powders and would blow up any door that was in his way.”

“Oh that sounds exciting,” Shiva titters slightly at the thought, before I feel her focus more attention on me than normal, “Maybe-”

“No, I like all of my fingers right were they are,” I cut her off before she can continue that line of thought, and I take a look around. There is a lot of scaffolding set up near the wall of the building and farther down the street, but beyond that it is a completely normal street.

“Do you think they use the scaffolding to train climbers?” I ponder for a few moments before we come to a stop in front of a sturdy looking wooden door.

“First I want the two of you to pick the lock on this here door,” Mishka nods with a tight smile as she looks us up and down, before she fishes around a little and produces a pick and anchor, “M you get to go first.”

“M?” Melodiana asks and tilts her head but she steps forward after a moment, “I've never picked a lock before.”

“No time like the present then,” Mishka shrugs at her and places the tools in her hands, “Just give it a go. Who knows you may be a natural.”

Melodiana nods before she steps up to the door and she stands there for a moment and just stares at the two thin pieces of metal in her hands, before she looks at the lock, and then back to her hands, and then back to the lock.

She repeats this a few times before she throws an almost pleading gaze my way and I shake my head a little, “The bent one is what you use to set the pins, and the long thin one is used to turn the lock.” She gives me a tiny nod, and I continue giving her some quick lessons, “You'll want to put the pins in a bind and then set them one at a time, beyond that it is just feel and experience to get it open.”

“I understand,” she nods her head again and she steps up to the door and starts to fiddle with the lock.

“So L would you say locks are your forte?” Mishka asks me with a raised eyebrow, and after a moment I give her a tiny shrug.

“I should be able to pick any normal lock, combination locks are a bit iffy, though given enough time I should be able to crack them,” and I find myself frowning as I recall the array in the desert I worked on for days, “and if it wasn't for the fact that it would harm the things locked behind them magic locks might as well just be destroyed for the effort that goes into undoing them.”

She laughs at me as we watch Melodiana fumble about with her task.

“So how long are you going to let her suffer?” Shiva asks after a few minutes and I tilt my head.

“I wasn't planning on interrupting her,” I say as I look over to Mishka as she offers Melodiana some tips, “I doubt that she will make any significant progress but it won't hurt for her to keep trying.”

After a few more minutes Melodiana looks over her shoulder at me like she just had an epiphany before she steps away from the door and turns towards me. “Would you open this door for me?” she asks politely with a small smug smile on her face.

“Oh so you are giving up then?” Mishka laughs and shakes her head like she expected this to happen.

“No,” Melodiana shakes her head, “I am asking my partner to take care of a problem that is beyond my current abilities. I won't say we are giving up until she says that she can't do it.”

“Oh,” I shake my head at her smug attitude that I can't help but like, “I suppose I ought to take care of it then.”

“I like her,” Shiva gives Melodiana her quiet praise, “There isn't anything wrong with admitting you can't do something and asking for help.”

I don't say anything as I step forward and I look at the tools Melodiana offers me and after a moment I shake my head and I retrieve the leather pack from behind my belt and the clasp gives me a little protesting pop since i haven't used it in awhile but it still releases. I unroll it to reveal the greenish metal before I grab my own anchor and a small straight pick.

I drape the pack back over my belt as I step up to the door and I slide the pick in and up along the roof of the lock and I shake my head at it and repeat the action.

“That's a nasty trick,” I cluck my tongue, “Seven pins and at four of them are sticky and one is loose. There's no way a beginner would be able to get this open.”

“I suppose the wingless are supposed to already be experienced in one way or another,” Shiva agrees with my assessment and I nod as I press my anchor on the bottom of the lock and I start to twist it before I test the pins again, and I cluck my tongue again.

“One of the first ones is a sticky pin as well,” I complain as I apply pressure with my pick and I quickly find the one that is more stuck than the others and I gently pry it up into place until I feel the lock shift ever so slightly and I check the other pins.

The second one is sticky as well and I have to stop myself from sighing as I quickly give them test shoves before deciding on which one to set next, but it actually goes pretty quickly once I fall back into my old rhythm.

“And done,” I announce as I set the last pin and give the lock a full spin with my anchor. I can hear the dead bolt slide cleanly away and I am almost surprised they didn't make it sticky as well. I step back and put my tools away and roll the pouch up tightly before i put it back behind my belt and pop the clasp back closed.

“Well color me impressed L,” Mishka claps her hands, “Less than a minute and you are already in. I suppose you weren't just bragging.”

“She wasn't bragging?” Melodiana asks and looks over to me with a confused glance.

“Indeed. That lock normally takes newbies with a bit of experience four to five minutes to crack,” Mishka explains, “It is a fairly fickle one that if you make a mistake with even a single pin it cause the whole mechanism to seize up and requires you to start over to open it. Since she did it so fast she is on par with the senior members.”

“That's amazing,” Melodiana responds before turning towards me and I can almost see her eyes sparkling as she looks at me and I just shrug.

“I'm certain there are people that could do it faster than me,” I shrug and work at diverting her attention, “Especially with other types of locks, and I wasn't concerned about the door being trapped either so I didn't do it cautiously.”

“Is that so?” she asks but she still seems pleased with my performance so I just shrug again and push the door open.

“Well we won't have you break the door today,” Mishka takes the lead back, “But a Dargoth shouldn't have any issues knocking a door in, and windows are even easier so we can just pass over them for now.”

“So what are we doing next then?” Melodiana asks as we step into the empty room.

“Hmm,” Mishka hums and nods her head, “Well what do the two of you think your goal is during a hostage situation?”

“It should be to rescue the hostages before they are seriously injured, right?” Melodiana questions after a moment of deliberation.

Mishka nods her head before she looks over to me for my opinion and I give it a thought before I respond. “I think it changes based on the situation,” I nod and tap my sheathe with my finger.

“Oh?” Mishka raises her brow at me again like she wants me to elaborate and Melodiana is looking at me as well.

“Let's say you know who took the hostages,” I pause and look around the room at the walls, “And you know that they are a wanted killer or the like.” I turn and both of them nod their heads at my scenario, so I ask, “Doesn't it make sense to kill them? Even if it causes a few losses.”

Melodiana chews on her lip and looks like she wants to say something but is holding back and Mishka is just quietly waiting for me so I continue, “At the end of the day you might save more people by putting them down and losing a few hostages in the process.” Melodiana's face changes as she thinks about it, and I nod my head, “Of course the perfect scenario would be that you rescue everyone and take out the target but I don't think that is a good way to think.”

“Plan for the worst huh?” Mishka nods her head in an approving manner and I look to Melodiana. She looks conflicted like she can see the logic in my argument but that she doesn't quite want to outright agree with it.

“She probably doesn't want to give up on the hostages,” Shiva offers her insight, “She seems like a good girl.”

“I agree,” I sigh after a moment.

“Well it is just something to think on,” Mishka nods her head, “I want to say that nobody will blame you if a hostage dies while you are trying to rescue them but the world doesn't work that way.” She nods and she gets a distant look in her eyes before she continues, “All I can do is guarantee that so long as you didn't run them through yourself, I won't blame you.”

“Anyway,” She shakes her head, “Next we will work on how you approach a room. I will go another room and I want the two of you to take turns and try to reach the door as quietly as possible. This is just an empty room but I will also have you practice in a few different rooms so you can get a feel for it.”

We both nod to her and she turns and walks to the far side of the room and steps through the door and closes it behind her. I look towards Melodiana and she has calmed back down and I look down at the wood floor and quietly ask, “So would you like to go first or should I?”

“I would like to give it a try,” she nods and looks like she is determined to make it all the way across and I nod my head and take a step back to the door frame and gesture for her to go. She takes a few breathes and steadies herself before she starts to slowly approach the door.

Her footsteps are soft but they still slightly click as her boots press into the wood, and every few steps the boards underneath her creak slightly. Even so her steps a fairly graceful for someone so big and I nod my head in approval, even if it isn't perfect.

“I suppose she probably has some experience hunting,” I contemplate her as she slowly chooses her steps and tries to test each spot before she shifts her weight fully.

“I think that's a fair assumption,” Shiva agrees with me, “Mountain tribes a more likely to do so, or at least they were in the past.”

It doesn't take her a long time to reach the door and once she does she looks back over her shoulder and looks at me and I nod my head and point at the door. She nods in response and reaches out and opens the door and looks into it.

“Not awful M,” Mishka claps from in the room, “It wasn't perfect but you've got some a good foundation to work with there. Alright step in and we will let L have a go before I show off the next room.”

“Alright,” Melodiana nods and steps into the room before she gives me one last glance before she closes the door behind her.