by the time the two assassins had returned to their cabin and packed the minimal amount of gear they would need to carry out their mission it was almost dark. the sun had fallen below the horizon leaving streaks of orange and gold in its wake, and an icy chill had started to seep down from the mountains settling over the quiet little village in the valley, the place some thirty or something assassins and in some cases their families called home. it was a cold desolate place, the steep rocky slopes to either side of the little township were bare save for a few scattered gnarly pines almost the only greenery visible in the otherwise bleak white landscape. further down the valley, the ground widened out allowing room for a few small farms at the edge of the forest. the cabin Tengjarl and hawks shared was located at the edge of this forest on the outskirts of the little village, just far enough away to avoid the usual hustle of activity in the main part of the village. few people ventured into this corner of the valley without a good reason this fact made the sudden knock on the door all the more surprising.
Tengjarl and hawks exchanged a glance there were few people it could have been this late in the evening Tengjarl shrugged and stood up reaching for the door, he half expected to see Rowan standing on the other side brandishing some last-minute piece of paperwork or something of the like, instead, he was pleasantly surprised to find possibly the last person he expected; Raven. he was an imposing figure, dressed all in black, sword hilt sticking out above his right shoulder, dark hair braided back away from his face, he looked more like some sort rogue soldier than an assassin. "I didn't think you were due back for another few weeks," Tenge said stepping out of the doorway "I got lucky, he was a pretty easy target, poorly guarded and rather predictable" raven replied shutting the door and removing his cloak "anyway Rowan told me you two found yourselves a new mission" hawks sighed "were given is probably more accurate it's a bit strange" "oh? what do you mean?" hawks moved over to the table and retrieved the piece of paper " read this" Raven took the sheet and flopped down into one of the cushioned armchairs by the fireplace. hawks leaned against the back of the chair and looked down at the paper over his friend's shoulder. Raven turned the sheet over then back, tapping the inky black wax seal at the bottom "it is a bit odd" "any idea why both of you have to go?" he asked "no, that's all the information we got, normally something thing like that wouldn't be too unusual but it's really specific. usually, he doesn't care who does his bidding so long as it's done" hawks sighed staring at the rapidly melting snowflakes in Raven's hair, starkly contrasted against the dark braids. "shame it's the king's orders, I'd rather not follow it through." Tengjarl said with a smile, stabbing at the fire with a new piece of wood Raven hummed assent "I'd come with you but Rowan's already managed to find half a dozen things for me to do" hawks snorted "sounds about right, he always manages to find something to keep us occupied" Raven grinned at that "how's Briar?" Tengjarl asked after a while. "she's doing alright she'd come with me on every mission if I let her" "I take it you don't really "let" her?" Raven snorted "I made the mistake of taking her with me a few months ago now there's no escape, I swear she knows more about my assignments than I do sometimes" Tengjarl grinned mischievously "why don't you don't you take her with you more often?" hawks asked eyeing Tenge curiously. Raven sighed "she's too young hawk, and too inexperienced, she hasn't even finished her training yet" "and how old were you when you took your first mission?" Raven grimaced his first assignment hadn't exactly been something to be proud of "you must've been what fourteen? fifteen? I do believe you survived, anyway, she's not going to get any more experienced if you don't give her the chance" "I know, I just- worry that something will happen to her" Raven groaned "Gods Mary-Anne would kill me if she got hurt" hawks snorted reaching to pick at a suspiciously dark stain on the collar of Raven's tunic "its blood" hawks grunted turning his attention to a different stain "also blood" Raven said watching hawks with an amused expression. "I guess you can't really stop her from getting hurt you can only hope she has enough sense to, well, not," Tengjarl said. Raven sighed heavily staring into the fire, he didn't answer.
"When do you plan on leaving?" Raven asked pulling his cloak over his shoulders "tomorrow morning, probably fairly early" Raven nodded "when should I start looking for you?" he said it as a joke but they all knew he was serious "two weeks if we're not back by then something's gone wrong" Raven gave a grim smile "try not to die" hawks snorted "same to you, look after yourself" "I'll try" Raven said before stepping out into the darkness.
>>--------------------->
they were up before sunrise, there wasn't much to do, they had already packed the few items they needed, Tengjarl's dog shadow was with Raven and his family, she would be safe there till they got back. Tengjarl sighed looking around, the cabin seemed eerily empty now, the hearth was cold, Shadow's bed was empty her food and water dishes were gone and everything had been tidied away. he turned and stepped out, hawk's was closing the shutters on the big window that looked out over the porch, Tengjarl watched as the room was plunged into darkness the only light was the grey rectangle of moonlight inside the doorway. Tengjarl glanced at Hawk's briefly before he pushed the door shut flicking the latch over. he quickly checked his knives then grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder "shall we?" hawks asked, Tengjarl nodded and stepped off the deck into the fresh snow.
"are you alright? you seem, quiet" hawks asked after several hours of silence. he glanced sidelong at his solemn companion. Tengjarl sighed heavily "I'm fine, just a bit tired I didn't get a very good sleep last night" hawks grunted he wasn't convinced in the least but he decided not to push it. "have you managed to come up with a plan yet?" hawks asked changing the subject, tengjarl snorted "I didn't know that was my job, but yes" hawks looked at him expectantly "we'll make camp outside the village, as always then find this "informant" and see what he has to say and go from there we don't have enough information to do anything else. God's I hate this assignment" hawks smiled grimly "don't worry, so do I. that sounds good enough though" Tengjarl just nodded allowing the conversation to lapse back into silence. above them a cold wind moaned through barren trees the branches groaned in protest squeaking as they rubbed against eachother.