[Sadrain]

You may read, but please do not post here.

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As world advanced trough the 21st century, the thin shroud of reality was torn and things many dreamed of, came to be. That was nowhere as sweet as many had imagined it and wars ravaged the world for years, until humans and other beings started to accept each other's presence in the new, shared world.
Now, in year 2367, most advanced technology is mixed with the harnessed magic, bringing new highs and lows to Earth. And in this world that is balancing on the edge, everyone keeps playing the theater of life, hoping, believing, dreaming...

Now it is time to meet the actors...

[Ainthe Deleon]

.xI Age: Unknown, appears to be around 20.
.xI Birthday: Unknown.
.xI Race: Half human, half Shadow.
.xI Gender: Female.
.xI Powers: Shadow manipulations of any kind (she's quite imaginative about it), Shadou control, flight.

.xI Appearance: There is something inhuman about her from the first moment one sets his eyes on her. Many associate white color with purity, but this time, the color could not be more deceiving. Her skin is very pale, even her lips are, unless she uses black lipstick. Ainthe's hair is silver white, going down to the small of her back, except for bangs on her forehead and around her face. Her eyes stand out in this whiteness with their bright purple color, with thick lashes that are black, despite the white hair.
Ainthe's form is slender and she seems to possess little physical strength (which is not entirely true). She is medium height. Under her gothic styled clothing, it is hard to tell how well endowed she is and being caught oggling her could end more than nastily. Her face is rather classical.
She can slightly alter her appearance, by dismissing her self into shadows and then 'reforming', but she prefers to keep her self like this, except for small tweaks, such as cat pupils, to see better at night, or black, feathery wings.
[Insight]

.xI Personality: Only half a human, she seems to have little, if any, of human emotions. Cold, silent, calculating, with no apparent fears, manipulating, cruel (sadistic even on occasion) - all that would describe an evil person that she as might as well be. Ainthe seems to possess deep hate for males, but while she is not particularly kind to women either, she will not harm a child. She likes to observe people and keeps a small journal in which she writes down her conclusions. This girl seems to have little to no respect for anyone, and she is rather arrogant, usually not listening to everyone and doing things her way, but she is also sensible, understanding that sometimes pride must be swallowed if one wants to survive. She indeed has a strong survival instinct.
Ainthe's weak spot appears to be creations of people, such as art, music, poetry, and all things living besides people - animals and nature as a whole.
She rarely expresses any emotions, besides smirking arrogantly.

.xI History: Practically nothing is known about her, and she prefers it that way.

.xI Other: Nicknamed "Shadow Mask" by people who do not know her name (and that makes majority of people who even know of her), due to her lack of emotions and control over shadows. She's a very highly priced mercenary and will do practically anything. Besides her powers over shadows, she's skilled with blades, especially throwing knives, poisons and likes to use a small cross-bow. She has not failed any missions thus far and is considered fully reliably job wise, but rather vengeful, even to employers, if she's crossed in any way.

.xI Relationships:
Sanna Rath - Employer

[SkoomaCat]

Jayce Raggenrol

Age :: Mid-twenties
Birthday :: April 17th
Race :: Human, mostly. There's some other blood from earlier generations.
Gender :: Duuuuude
Powers :: Some power over inanimate objects. (He can cause things to tip over, to slide a few inches across a table--small things like that. He usually uses this ability to create a distraction during a job.)

Appearance :: Jayce is a tall, well-toned man with plenty of muscle, on which he relies for the completion of most of his jobs. That's not to say he's grotesquely muscular, but he does have a fair amount of bulk. He has spiky blonde hair, green eyes, and slightly tanned skin. The left side of his face his covered in a series of black swirling lines from a curse he encountered during one of his jobs. The lines don't hurt him in any way except that they are used to mark him as an enemy of the one who cursed him; the lines point him out to the caster's comrades. (Jayce is unaware of this purpose--as far as he knows, the curse is annoying because he can't cover up the lines with makeup or remove them with plastic surgery. They just won't budge.) He also carries a roughly oval-shaped burn to the side of his stomach--say, roughly over his appendix area--that he got when he was a teenager. He's a little self-conscious about this burn, so he usually keeps his shirt on to cover it.

His body is marked by a variety of smaller scars--little cuts and scrapes and such--but these don't bother him.

[I don't have a pic because I just took him from my head, but I could try to find something similar to him if you'd like me to]

Personality :: Jayce is one of those people who can do no wrong. He is always right and his plan is always the best. Very headstrong, he does not like to be told "no" or to be out of the spotlight. His pomposity masks an inner insecurity and fear of inadequacy. He rarely allows things to bother him--or to show that they bother him, anyway--and is most often seen with a challenging grin on his marred face.


History :: (He does have a history, but I'm still working on it P: I might just reveal things as the RP goes along.)

Other :: Although he doesn't use it often, Jayce has an excellent singing voice. He used to sing more when he was a child, but certain events caused him to stop. He also hates the sound of crinkling paper, rustling paper, paper rubbing on paper....

Relationships :: None at the moment. There aren't a lot of people who can stand him.

[How's that?]

[Sadrain]

"Come forward, Ainthe."
Silence seemed thick for the few moments before a form submerged from shadows, behind the mighty columns that seemed to grow out of the stone floor, and walked into the center of the room.
"Milady," the young woman said in clear voice and stiffly did a small curtsy. Her bright purple eyes bore into the cool blue ones of the one in the large throne, before the youngest of the two lowered her gaze to the floor.
"Why have you summoned me, milady?" she asked, not even attempting to soften her tone.
"I have a job for you, Ainthe, but as this is a special case, I could not rely on messengers." There was a small pause before she waved her hand and a servant came from the side and gave the silver-haired woman a thick envelope.
"You will find all the regular information in it, as usually. What I ask of you specially, though, is that no one is killed on this robbery and you must avoid using your powers, at any cost. There mustn't be any traces."
Ainthe's grip on envelope tightened. It would not be easy. But a challenge could liven up her slightly routine-filled life. "As you wish, madam."
"That is not all, Ainthe. While I believe in your abilities, you must take recent addition of my mercenaries with you."
The young assassin's gaze shot up to her employer's, eyes widened in disbelief and anger. "I cannot take anyone with me!" she firmly stated, the idea outrageous to her.
"You must, however. He will supply the needed physical strength and second person needed to accomplish this mission. I also mark you as his adviser and tester, if he is worthy to become permanent mercenary here."
"For now, I am asking it of you. Do not make me order or force you, Ainthe." the woman said, seeing the strong resistance in Ainthe's expression.
She finally bowed her slightly, giving into the words, for who knows what reason. "Yes, milady. I shall do it as you wish."
"Wonderful. You're dismissed now. You shall find your partner in the Green library."
Ainthe just nodded head once and melted into shadows, wanting to get the whole ordeal done with as soon as possible. She had been ashamed once tonight already.
Few moments later, she re-materialized in the said library, nearby window, and her eyes quickly scanned the room till they found the person who was assigned to be her team mate.

[SkoomaCat]

The Green Library was dimly lit by the light filtering in through a single window, but Jayce didn't mind. His eyes were used to shadows and darkness, and were scanning the room back and forth. Although he had been assured that he would not have any trouble here, he refused to let down his guard. His paranoia--not that he liked to call it that; he preferred "instincts"--had kept him alive all these years. He didn't see any reason to change his ways.

As such, he sat in a corner of the room, his back against the bookshelves so that he had a clear view of his surroundings. He didn't like surprises, unless he was the one doing the surprising. He sat casually, one leg crossed over the other, one set of fingers tapping slowly across his thigh as he watched the door, waiting for his new partner to appear. Jayce was used to working with new people. Most of his partners didn't last more than a few jobs, whether because they were killed or they just didn't want to work with him again. He didn't mind it, though. People came and went. In this life, nothing was constant.

He sighed and stretched, his hands up above his head, cracking his neck back and forth, eyes closed for just a minute. When he opened them again, a small tremor of surprise went through him as he saw that a woman was suddenly standing across the library, in front of a window. He hadn't heard her come in, hadn't seen the door open. It would have taken her a few moments to walk from the door to where she stood now. His green eyes narrowed as he looked at her, slowly lowering his arms. She wasn't a normal human--not that there were many pure blooded humans left these days, but she wasn't as normal as she could have been. As she should have been. Jayce didn't have a lot of love for those on the supernatural side of the spectrum.

He could only make out her silhouette against the light of the window, couldn't see her face, but he assumed she was here because of him.

"You're Deleon?" He asked, his voice echoing in the library. He hoped he got the name right. It sounded right.

[Sadrain]

Ainthe's eyes slid over her new partner's body, darkness as clear as daylight to her, noting how well muscled the stretched arms were and the strange markings on his face - something stirred in the back of girl's mind when she saw them, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. Other than that, he seemed fairly normal.

When he opened his eyes, Ainthe could nearly taste the man's surprise, quickly tinted with something akin to dislike. She knew human emotions far better than one would expect from someone so cold. Smirk played on her lips; the assassin was glad he had not been aware of moment when she came in. It gave her an advantage of sorts.

As he spoke, she realized Sanna had never told the man's name and quickly glanced at the envelope, but, of course, there was nothing on it. "Yes. And your name would be?" she said curtly and walked forwards, dropping the envelope on the table with a small thud, before taking a seat. For a moment, a thought of pulling some small supernatural stunt crossed her mind, but then Ainthe thought it would be too much of honor to try to impress him.

She took the envelope and opened it, seemingly ignoring Jayce, and pulled out few pages and data chip. Sanna loved to mix old and new things - even in this library, there were two computers, and countless old books. Ainthe quickly skimmed over the pages and then pushed them in Jayce's direction. If he needed light to read, he would have to light it himself.

[SkoomaCat]

Jayce watched the woman as she approached, taking her in. She seemed fairly business like. That was good. They could get this job done and get on with their lives. Just as long as she understood that he was the one giving the orders.

"Jayce Raggenrol," he said, taking the papers from her. His eyes didn't even touch the words--he knew it was too dark to read properly, and he wouldn't allow himself to sit there and squint like some idiot. Tossing the papers on the table, he asked, "So what's the job?"

[Sadrain]

Ainthe sighed in the manner "oh, the idiots I have to work with" and got up, taking the chip. She walked to the back wall and few moments later, it turned into a large screen. When she inserted the chip, it asked for password she quickly entered and then multiple folders appeared. Before the girl went further, she turned back to man, with slightly haughty expression.

"As the document states, I am your superior during this mission, so no back-talking or disobedience will be tolerated, unless you want to lose your job or head, which in this company, is practically the same thing," the woman paused, letting her words sink in, before continued.

"We must steal something from a well guarded building. There mustn't be any hitches in this mission, no one must take notice that we're there, or that the item has been stolen, till we're long since gone." Ainthe turned back to the screen, squinting eyes slightly - as much she didn't like to admit, the difference between darkness and light affected her eyes. Hiding the bitterness about this last factor, she added: "We are not allowed to use magic. Although, I doubt that affects you much."

She opened a folder that contained the map and the first level - containing map of the building and its surrounding area - opened. "Do you know how to use a hovercraft? Any vehicle?" the assassin asked, continuing to examine the map.

[SkoomaCat]

Jayce's fingers began tapping along his thigh again as he listened to her. There were several things not working here: first off, she seemed to think that she was in charge, and that may be so on paper, but that would have to change once they got in the field. It was only natural that Jayce would take the lead when they actually started on the job. That's how it was always done. The bosses could put anyone they liked in charge, but Jayce always came out on top in the end. Just give it time, give it time.

Second, it was becoming clear to him that he would have to teach her her place. Regardless of what she thought her position may be, she had no right to talk to him like that. Either she was stupid, or she thought she had more guts than she did. But again, these things would straighten themselves out in the field, away from the prying eyes of the higher-ups.

"Sounds vague enough," he said as she described the mission. "Get in, keep quiet, get the thing, and get out. And yes, I'm trained in the use of several types of vehicle, and those that I haven't had training with, I can figure out pretty quickly."

[Sadrain]

Ainthe heard something in his voice that irritated her. She couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but it sounded too much like arrogance and boss' attitude. The girl grit her teeth, glad he couldn't see it.

"Then tomorrow evening, you come here and take one of the hovercrafts. You will leave it here," she pointed to spot, not too far from the building, but not in the 'notice' zone. "And we will meet here, at 6pm." Ainthe put her finger on a point near the outer fence.

After that, the assassin 'moved' trough other maps, marking the paths, noting about guard placements and other important moments. Accidentally or not, most of Jayce's tasks included backing her up and watching for guards, except for the room of the item, where, apparently, two people at the same time were needed to deactivate the security system and take the item.

"... Then we split our paths, and I take the item back to base. If you do well and don't give me any trouble, I will give you a good recomendation and you will last here for a bit longer," Ainthe finished and turned to face him, unconsciously crossing her arms in defensive manner. He had said only few words, but she couldn't stand him already. Although, the fact he was male was enough for that.

[SkoomaCat]

Jayce watched with feigned boredom as his new partner ran through the plan. His eyes darted across the maps, following her fingers, processing her every word. The job itself didn't seem to be to terribly hard. There would be quite a bit of sneaking around, disabling security, but he could work with that. What he couldn't work with was having her in the lead. Not only did he not have a lot of trust for those who dabbled in the supernatural, but he didn't exactly like the idea of playing the sidekick. It just wasn't how it was done. He was in the lead. He gave the orders. He went in while his partner kept watch. Not the other way around.

Still, it wouldn't do much good to bitch about it here. Too many authority figures. If he tried to muscle his way into the number one position, he'd be shut down immediately. Maybe even shipped out to another company, and to be perfectly honest he didn't like the idea of having to move again. While it was true that he spent a lot of time switching between companies, it was a pain in the butt to get to used to a new structure. He'd just have to wait until the mission was underway, then work his way under Deleon's skin. Maybe he'd even rescue her from certain death. That would be worth some points with the boss.

He put on a little smile as she finished her speech, masking his contempt. Looking up at her, he said, "Sounds simple enough. And in the meantime . . . ?"

[Sadrain]

He was up to something! She could feel it, she could see it, behind the well put up mask of boredom. She was master of pretending after all. And so, Ainthe, spoke calmly, despite the vicious thoughts going trough her mind. In all honesty, she had thought she would have gotten past the point of getting ticked off so easily by man, but, apparently she wasn't. Or, it was just her intuition telling her he would give her a lot of headache. There were men who seemed to do nothing but that.

At his question, the girl shrugged. "Whatever you want. Pick up your vehicle around 5pm from here - I will make the arrangements. Try not to be late, or I will go in without you." With that, she simply disappeared. It was hard to tell if she sunk in floor or wall, or shadows simply gobbled her up. In any case, Ainthe made it clear he was not even worth of good bye.
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Ainthe tapped her feet twice, before forced her self to stop the anxious actions. She hoped Jayce would not be late, but more than that, the girl wished would not arrive at all. She did not feel comfortable working in a team, especially with someone like him. She felt as if she would need to watch his every move and that if she made any mistakes, they would be written in tabloids tomorrow. Or she could end up dead. Which would be in tabloids, too. "Famous assassin Shadow Mask found dead in a warehouse."

With frustrated sigh, she crossed her slender arms, not even the beauty of "Lonely Shepherd" performed by Gheorghe Zamfir could calm her. Instead of her gothic dresses, she had picked up rather tight bodysuit with various features worked into it. Generally, she picked functionality over appearance, especially if something was as tight as this... In all honesty, being so exposed - even no extra skin was shown -, made her feel slightly uncomfortable, although, she had no reason to be ashamed of her slender, endowed and muscled enough, body. Ainthe had also braided her long hair in a thick plait, so it would give no trouble to her.

As the music changed to Schubert's "Serenade", the woman glanced at her wrist, where, for brief moment, a watch display showed. Ainthe had made the arrangements for Jayce's hovercraft, her own small car was casually parked among many others not far. She would attract little attention with the many people on streets, and that was the main point, especially since she seemed more like someone about to go clubbing than break in and steal some high tech technology chip.

[SkoomaCat]

Jayce had always had an eye for vehicles and other shiny objects of considerable worth and excitement. This baby was the whole deal--to be honest, he was surprised his new employer had this kind of thing at their disposal. It was just big enough for two people, but it's sleek, dark design allowed it to move quickly and silently through the coming night, nearly invisible to the casual observer. There was plenty of storage below deck for weapons, equipment, and whatever else they might pick up along the way.

As he drove to the predestined drop spot, he chewed a plastic toothpick and thought about the approaching assignment. He should be in charge, but how could he when his partner was keeping information from him? Purposefully, too. She didn't want him to know anything he didn't need to know. She'd string him along, give him a bite here and there. Just enough to complete whatever asinine task she gave him. Bullshit. He'd have to get his hands on those plans at some point, turn everything to his own direction.

He slid the hovercraft behind the building, his fingers tapping the wheel. To be honest, he was nervous, too. About magic. He'd never trusted the stuff, never seen any good come of it. But maybe he could use that to his advantage. Any screw ups from her end and he'd be able to run this thing all by himself.

Having parked the hovercraft, he jogged to where he was supposed to meet Ainthe, slowing just before he rounded the corner and she came into sight. From there he walked casually, his clothes dark and functional with a variety of tools and weapons concealed within the mix-matched pockets. When he saw Ainthe, he couldn't suppress a smile, his eyes running over her. He hadn't been able to tell before, seeing as she was buried beneath all those ruffles and lace, but she was quite a looker. Only slightly ashamed, he allowed one more lingering look before approaching her.

"Lookin' good," he said. "Ready?"