Ch. 1 Ashley
Ashley hummed softly as she walked down the large halls of the Oait, Bently had made this place for the Draits to stay if they didn’t have their own place to stay at and Ashley was one of those people. The Draits were Bently’s gang, the members were indebted to him one way or another. He either decides to rescue them if he sees potential ways they could help him in the long run or they are in debt to him with various amounts of tuints. Bently was called the bastard of Braton, there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for money, power, and most certainly revenge. He was one of the harshest people in Braton and didn’t take wrong-doings lightly, and he certainly didn’t care about people’s well being if there wasn’t something in it for him.
Ashley’s story of how she got into the gang was very simple, her mom passed during birth from complications, and her dad soon kicked her out years after that, so she had to grow up on the streets. She hated thinking about her past and if she ever found her dad she would make him pay. She wasn’t a vengeful person but the thought of her dad just pissed her off, especially after finding some old letters from her mom and reading how shitty of a person he was to her, but you couldn’t help arranged marriages. She learned everything she needed to on the streets, how to pickpocket, how to start a fire with practically nothing, how to stay hidden from guards, how to build a shelter out of nothing, and how to be especially sneaky and quiet. One day, she saw a boy around 14 or 15, she was 14 at the time, and decided to sneak up on him and see what kind of money he had on him, he looked pretty rich with his fancy walking cane and tailored clothes. She practically erased any sound or movement or even presence that she might create in mere seconds, she managed to sneak up behind him, grab hold of him from behind, and place a knife to his throat. “Whatever valuable things you have on you, you better hand it over,” She remembered telling him that in such a threatening voice that she almost never uses so clearly and she remembered his look of shock on his face when she first caught him. Then, he took her by surprise, he hit her in the stomach with his elbow, knocking the wind out of her and making her double over, slightly gasping, people with a knife to their neck normally wouldn’t do that. “You have potential kid, are you living with anyone? Of course you aren’t no sane parent would let their kid in the fourth quadrant without supervision.” He said but it sounded more like he was thinking out loud than talking to her, but of course she retorted, “Hey, I’m only a year younger than you at most.” She remembered that she thought it sounded so good in her head but when she said it outloud it wasn’t that great. She did end up telling him what her situation was anyways and he made her an offer. It was a pretty good offer at the time and with her situation anything was better than living off of stolen wallets and watches and almost freezing to death on the streets. “I’ll give you housing, food, and a warm bed to sleep in if you work for me. Your job will be to find out everyone’s secret, every rich man, poor man, your best friends, your enemies, you’ll find out all their secrets and you’ll be my little black widow, you’ll be there being as invisible and quiet as a ghost and if you have to, sneak up on the enemy and kill them before they even know you’re there.” And with a hand shake, that’s how she started to work for the bastard of Braton himself.
A few months later after she turned 15 she ended up leaving the Draits, she snuck away and tried to get a better life but, ultimately, that didn’t happen. Her friends Anne and Tayton were eager to get her back in the gang and make things official and get her tattoo finally, since she left before ever getting her tattoo, but Bently needed a little convincing. He had trained her, he taught her everything he knew about being a convict and not getting caught, he gave her everything she needed, he even helped her control her new powers when she got so freaked out when she first found out that she had them and she hadn’t even gone on a job yet. He was more than upset when he found out she left, he was pissed. He hadn’t known why he was so upset when she left but he was, her leave hit harder than anyone else’s during his time as a gang leader, he didn’t know if it was because she hadn’t even got her tattoo or she hadn’t gone on a job yet, or if it was because of her potential he could use, or something else, he just didn’t know but what he did know was that he was pissed. Usually he would deal with someone leaving by sending another gang member to ‘take care of the problem’ but he couldn’t send someone after Ashley, he was so confused on why he wanted that stupid pickpocket to live, he had no problem killing other people that wronged him no matter how much or how little power that person has. It just wasn’t like him to want someone who wronged him to live.
Soon, Ashley was walking to Bently’s study to meet up with Tayton and Anne to talk about a job with the bastard. When she walked in, Bently’s natural cold look turned into a scowl, yep he was still mad at her, but she disregarded that and they soon started talking about the job. “Ashley and Tayton, you’ll be on the ground with me during the negotiation and Anne you’ll sneak onto the roof and try and keep track of the guards and only shoot if necessary,” Bently said but Ashley was super confused, she was the spy of the group, she was the one who could practically erase herself from existence, she was able to sneak up on Bently himself once and nobody was able to sneak up on Bently, why wasn’t she the one sneaking up there? “Bently, wouldn’t it be better if I sneak up onto the roof? Knives are quieter than guns and I was meant to be the one crawling up the walls, that’s what you hired me for isn’t it? No offense by the way Anne,” She said with a smile and Anne shrugged, her own way of saying she didn’t take offense. “I don’t think I made a mistake Ashley. If you think I did, I would like to see you pull off this job on your own without getting everyone killed,” He said in that tone that made it sound like she was the most stupid person on the planet and it made her blood boil, she certainly didn’t remember Bently being this much of an asshole or this cold before she left. She glared at him and fought the urge to slap him across the face but he continued to explain what would happen that night paying no attention to the angry little short spy in front of him. As he explained he left a few details out, he always left a few details out to keep his gang on their toes and so they couldn’t give away of his plans without realizing or try to convince him to change his plans. He knew how this night was going to go but he didn’t need anyone else knowing. Ashley left the study with a scowl after the meeting ended, she was going on a job and wasn’t doing the one thing she was hired to do, what was the point in hiring her anyways? She walked to her room in the Oait and sighed as she started to get things ready, she needed to change, clean and sharpen her knives, and make sure her custom boots were still fitting properly and still soundless.
She sighed softly as she decided to start with her knives, she always kept about 7 knives on her, two in her boots, two up her sleeves, two on her hips, and one on her thigh. She bought all her knives herself except the one she kept on her thigh, that was the first knife she ever owned and Bently was the one to give it to her before she left, it was a damascus, needle point dagger with a leather lace wrapping for a handle, it had a beautiful pattern beautiful but the handle gave her blisters easily, he told her it was one of the first knives he was able to buy when he started creating the fourth quadrant gang, and he had no use for it anymore since he had better knives and gave it to her. She still kept it after everything that happened. He told her that it would help if she had a weapon on her and knowing how to use it then just depending on holds, pressure points, hand to hand combat, or her powers. He trained her and taught her everything he knew but she wasn’t nearly as good at picking locks or shit talking as he was. Before she left she always cleaned and sharpened her knives before she went to training so she wasn’t going to treat this job any differently. She was honestly very nervous for this job, it was her first job ever and she wasn’t even doing what Bently had trained her to do, she was going to stand by his side as he talked with Grage, the gang leader of the third quadrant. She wasn’t going to be allowed to talk or anything as that’s the rules of negotiation, no matter what happens don’t move and don’t talk unless something goes horribly wrong, so she was just supposed to be there, if Tayton gets hurt she’s not allowed to do anything, she was only allowed to do something if anything happened to Bently. She then checked her boots out, they had rubber soles for extra stealth. She had them custom made to fit only her feet and they also never really made rubber soled shoes so that was something she had to pay extra for but they were so much quieter than the standard wooden outsoles and they gripped to walls or any surface better too, and rubber insoles had so much more grip as well for better balance. She then used her powers to pull out her outfit that she was going to wear, it was all black, it was an oversized long sleeved shirt with a hood on it but she had tighter fitting pants so she doesn’t trip on them, she had elbow and knee pads that were equipped with small blades that would come up with a push of a button on the back but if she slightly swung her leg the blades would pop out without having to push the button and same with her elbow pads, she’d have to thank Tayton for this again later but not right now.
Her powers were telekinesis and mind control but she preferred not to use them against people or anything or use them in general, it always took a lot out of her when she did use her powers and she always preferred to depend on her skills anyways. She was determined to keep her powers a secret from people who haven’t seen them, they wouldn’t understand her powers and they would try to use her powers for their own profit or they would fear her more than she was already feared, and honestly she didn’t need to be feared more than she already was.
She sighed as she sat on her bed once she finished and traced her fingers over her tattoo that symbolizes that she was a Drait, the symbol was a forget-me-not in a vase of blood, she didn’t understand why Bently chose a flower instead of something else, she’s heard of people having crows, lions, even dogs as their symbol for their gang but she’s never heard of people having flowers as a gang symbol, granted the blood added a little bit of a fear factor but still it didn’t seem like something someone should fear. Even though she was curious she wasn’t going to ask Bently about it, not yet anyways while he was still mad at her.
The time flew by and soon it was time for them to meet up at the Kaelit, it was neutral ground for all gangs so no weapons were allowed in the area but while they were walking to the Kaelit they were allowed to keep their weapons. Ashley was honestly glad about this, she found comfort in her knives, having them on her helped her relax. As they walked she gently ran her fingers over the blades that were up her sleeves, the way they were set up is that the blades faced down towards the ground and if she pushed a button that was set on her palm her knives would release and fall so she could grab both handles of the knives easily if she timed it right, which usually she did, another great upgrade made by Tayton that she was honestly impressed and thankful that he was able to figure out how to make, she never got to use it during a job but during training it came in handy a lot, instead of trying to waste precious seconds pulling out a knife from a sheath you just press the buttons and they slide into her hand and it was less noticeable too. She sighed as she looked up at the gloomy night sky, her long sleeved shirt went down to her mid thigh before you could see her tights and you couldn’t hear her steps, she could distinguish everyone’s footsteps though, she could hear Anne’s light footsteps although you could still hear her, she could hear the heavy, loud footsteps of the two new gang members of Draits, she could hear Taytons footsteps that were almost as heavy as the newbies but they were slightly lighter, the lightest of all of them, besides her, was Bently surprisingly, his footsteps were nearly nonexistent besides the small movement of gravel of the road under his feet, but his walking cane was a dead giveaway, he insisted he must have it everywhere he goes but he certainly isn’t quiet with it.
During the walk she must’ve looked as nervous as she felt because Tayton looked at her and whispered, “Hey, you okay? You seem really nervous,” Ashley looked up at him with a frown but nodded, “I’m fine Tay, you don’t have to worry, it’s just my first job and it’ll just be the first time I’ll be without my knives since…” She paused, her expression getting slightly more panicked as she remembered what happened, “Since you know what happened…” She said softly and he nodded softly, “That’s understandable, but it’ll be fine, Bently knows what he’s doing,” He said with a smile and caught up Bently, even if they spoke for a second he managed to calm her down, despite him being a player and womanizer he had this calming aura around him that could make anyone calm down, if he ever decides to settle down with someone they’re going to be real lucky. Tayton is also Bently’s right hand man, he was with Bently since the beginning, he stuck by Bently from when he was on the streets, Bently and Tayton would tell her stories of their time on the streets and how they survived, Bently would try and turn it into a lesson but Tayton would shut him up and tell him to just let Ashley enjoy the story, they acted like the parents she never had sometimes, and she missed it, she missed not having Bently mad at her and Bently would train her and treat her like he meant more to him than the rest of the Draits. It might’ve been because she was so valuable to him in the sense that she could practically climb up walls and could find out anyone’s secrets at any time, even in the middle of the day, that was more valuable than any amount of tuints anyone could offer. Then after a couple months she found Anne fending for her life on the streets, like she once had to. After lots of convincing, Bently finally agreed to let Anne join the Draits and they soon found out how handy she was with a gun, she hit all of her targets only missing on very few occasions when she’s never touched a gun before. Then a year later after Ashley left, Anne and Tayton had to fish her out of a sticky situation she was in and brave the dangers of an angry Bently to get her back in the gang.
They got to the checkpoint sooner than she realized and the two newbies they brought with them started taking up their weapons to hold them for when they enter the Kaelit. She gave up four of her seven knives, the two on her waist and the two in her boots, and her fellow gang member gave her a look, “Ashley, I know you have way more than four knives,” He said and that got Bently’s attention, “Ashley, if you keep a single knife on you and that makes this negotiation go to shit, I will personally make sure you never walk again.” Ashley rolled her eyes as she pressed the button that released the two knives that were up her sleeves and she handed them to the guy she hadn’t bothered to learn the name of but kept the knife Bently gave her on her thigh and no one seemed to notice, at least that’s what she thought. “If a single scratch is on any of my knives anywhere, you’ll be crawling to Bently for mercy I’ll have fucked you up so bad,” She snarled, she didn’t like threatening people without need but she loved her knives so much, probably too much. She walked up next to Bently, Anne wasn’t there anymore since she was sneaking onto the roof so it was just her, Tayton, and Bently. “You wouldn’t do that, you need me to find out everyone’s secrets,” She said with a small smirk trying to joke around before they had to get serious but Bently didn’t give any sign that he acknowledged her and that seemed to piss her off more than when he was being an asshole to her.
They walked to the middle of the Kaelit where they would meet with Grage and two of his own gang members. They walked up to Grange in the middle of the Kaelit, Ashley stood on Bently’s right and Tayton on his left. Ashley kept her expression neutral but she was deeply confused, she always saw Bently in almost ‘normal’ clothes, a nice waistcoat and trousers that were perfectly tailored to him that were very similar to what the richer people in Braton wore but Grage wore a giant fur coat with brightly printed tight pants and there wasn’t anything that didn’t sparkle or shine, his shoelaces were even shining under the light of the lanterns. His hair was slicked back and dozens of scars decorated his face from fighting. She really was only used to seeing Bently and she never saw what other gang members looked like since she tried to not risk being seen when she was listening in on other people’s conversations. She looked over slightly and Bently and Tayton looked unfazed by all of this, she slightly frowned but looked forward like Tayton was, that is until she got a little curious and started to inspect Grage. She was doing what she was hired to do and that was to find his weaknesses and any small movements that indicate anything. As she studied Grange she noticed the tattoo, it was a wolf with something hanging from its mouth, Lupian, it’s the Lupians. She hoped Bently knew what he was doing because the Lupians always had something up their sleeve, some trick always waiting to be played. Bently and Grage started talking about the weather or the profits their stores and gambling houses were making, they were beating around the bush about why they were there until Bently spoke up. “Let’s cut to the chase, you know we own fourth quadrant and all the places there, you can’t be walking into the fourth quadrant and stealing our business, we have the harbor, we get first pick of the people that come in through there” He said curtly with a bored expression on his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Grage said with a shrug, a smirk gracing his thin lips as he played dumb. Ashley glanced at Bently and she saw his jaw tighten ever so slightly, he was trying not to let his anger get the best of him and remain neutral, she saw him do that when she’d snap back at him sometimes, she’d see his jaw tighten and his brows would furrow slightly but it was so slight you never noticed. She actually noticed a lot of things about him, the way his light brown hair would slightly curl when he had bad bed head when he woke up some mornings, the way his stormy grey eyes would soften every time he heard a certain tune or a certain strum of a certain chord on a guitar, how his shoulders would bunch up and he wouldn’t bother brushing away the strands of hair from his eyes when he was stressed out, or every time a new freckle would show up on his pale skin, she noticed a lot of things about him, that’s part of being a good spy, you noticed every little thing. She knew everyone’s subtle little actions and their meanings, that’s what she was hired to do. Anne would drum her tan fingers against her amethyst handled revolvers when she was nervous and Tayton would run his fingers through his black hair as he hummed a soft tune to keep calm when he had his breakdowns by himself, she knew all of this. She soon tuned out the negotiation until she heard a gunshot ring out and she felt a sharp pain in her thigh as she crumpled to the ground. She held back a scream in pain as she gripped her thigh, trying to stop the bleeding. Tayton stared at Bently his green eyes going wide before he glared, “What the hell Bently?! What were you thinking?!” He yelled but, like usual, Bently didn’t acknowledge him, his main focus was on Grage, Tayton glared as his nose slightly cringed, he also did that everytime he got really mad, she very rarely saw him do that, Tayton wasn’t the type to get really mad, especially at the other members. Tayton, against all the rules, rushed to Ashley’s side and started to doctor her wound, “Hey Ash… I don’t know how you’re going to take this but there’s no exit wound, the bullet is still in your leg,” Tayton said almost nervously as his green eyes widened and his chocolate brown skin paled slightly, he didn’t want to pull the bullet out and anyone with a brain could tell. Ashley looked at him and rolled her eyes, “It’s just a bullet Tayton, just get it out- nevermind I got it,” She said irritably and prepared herself as she stuck her fingers in the bullet wound and tried to fish out the bullet as she drew in a sharp breath from the sudden pain. She soon was able to grasp the metallic, bronze bullet and pull it out, but she was able to find out that the bullet had gone right through her femur and snapped it in half, she couldn’t stand, she couldn’t run she was practically helpless. God this was going to be a long night...
