Claimed: A Thieves Guild Fanfiction [Revised&Edited]

Chapter 2

Arsha knew as she stepped up to the gates of Riften that something was about to happen. The night was cloudy and starless, the moon was dim, and the wind refused to blow. It was as if nature was holding its breath. The gates were locked, but the guards slept peacefully, so she carefully pickpocketed one of them, opened the gates with his key, slipping through them silently. and opened the gate with his key.

Walking through the empty moonlit streets, Arsha breathed in the smell of Riften with a slight smile. It had been years since she had been in the city, and she had missed the place.

Now, Arsha once again pushed open the door to Honeyside. As she stepped inside her long-abandoned home, her feet left prints in the thick dust that covered everything within. Not a single thing had been touched in fifteen years. This house held the painful memories, memories that seemed to belong to a different person, and not a good one. It seemed everywhere she looked, an object would catch her eye and drag one of those dark memories from the shadowed corners of her mind.

Arsha sighed and turned to leave the house. She would deal with all of this later. Before she stepped into the street, however, she made sure that her hood and mask were in place, shrouding all but her eyes from view. It had been fifteen years since anyone had seen more than her eyes, and she planned to keep it that way.

She walked toward the Bee and Barb intending to sleep there until she got her house cleaned up. That could take some time, however, as she would have to do it in secret, or perhaps she could buy it from the Jarl... Shaking her head, Arsha drew herself from her thoughts and pushed open the door to the inn.

As she stepped into the Bee and Barb, she could feel the eyes of almost every patron within turn toward her. She could imagine what they thought of her, dressed as she was in dark leathers with two enchanted glass daggers hanging at her side and a similarly enchanted glass bow with a quiver full of arrows on her back. She was quite a sight.

Ignoring the stares, she walked up to the counter and placed a bag of gold on it. "I would like to rent a room for seven days," she said, her soft voice at odds with her frightening appearance. The barmaid, Keerava, appeared unfazed by her appearance, however. Instead of commenting on it, the barmaid simply scooped up the coins and told Arsha to follow a different Argonian who stood nearby.

The Argonian showed her to her rooms upstairs, and Arsha thanked him with a generous tip. He grinned a reptilian smile before wishing her a good night and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. As soon as the man left, Arsha knelt in front of the door and rigged a quick tripwire that would wake her should someone try to enter. Then she shrugged off her weapons, except for her daggers, which she placed under her pillow, and collapsed onto the bed and promptly fell asleep.

In the morning, Arsha left the Bee and Barb to seek out work. There was always somebody who needed someone to fetch or deliver something, a fact she had learned well over the past several years, but today those people were scarce. One person wanted her to gather some alchemical ingredients, and Arsha said she would keep an eye out, but other than that no one seemed to be in need of the newcomer's services.

Brynjolf watched the stranger in town as she searched for someone who could give her work. He couldn't actually see her skin thanks to the leathers and mask she wore, but she appeared to be a nord. She was a bit tall and less muscular than most nords, but judging by the bow she wore slung on her back she was an archer rather than a warrior. Her golden eyes, far from common among nords, although not impossible, swept the market for someone else who could offer her work. They focused on Balimund, and the woman made her way over to the smith on light feet that made hardly any sound against the stone street.

She and the smith spoke for a few minutes, and Brynjolf could tell from the woman's posture that she was ready to spring into action at any moment. Even as she spoke to Balimund, her head moved from side to side, keeping an eye on her surroundings, and Brynjolf had a feeling that her ears were just as alert. The woman would make a good thief with traits like that.