In a shadowed booth, a mysterious dark feline sits with his back to the wall. It costs extra to get seating here, but it's well worth it – It offers a bit of privacy, a bit of protection to one's backside, and a good vantage point to see the newcomers as they step inside, their eyes having to adjust to the dimly lit interior of this seedy establishment, from the relatively bright lamp glare (and the flickering of bonfires) outside.

A few of the patrons expressed a dislike of Khattas in this establishment. One way or another, they were dealt with, and the feline has a moment of relative peace as he awaits his contact – some slithery fellow named 'Susudio', who just might have a job that could fill the experienced but poor assassin's moneybag.

Shikouju settles into his seat, having been here a while and finally starting to relax. He takes a few sips of the horrid liquid inside his mug, but makes no expression to indicate its taste, he's had worse. Replacing the mug on the table, the Khatta gives a few slit-eyed, stone faced glares around the room at the other, feline-hating customers. They know not to mess with him, but he likes to reinforce the point.

It's hard to tell if the other customers can even SEE Shikouju's glare to respond to it, given the shadowy confines of his booth. But their body language says enough – namely the body language of not being anywhere near him!

There's a death-shriek from one of the distant tables, and a Skreek at a gambling table falls forward, a chitin dagger in his back, and no sign as to how anyone got behind him to put it there. His opponents calmly divide up his shekels between themselves and rake them into their own piles.

The dark feline snorts; one less Skreek to worry about, but they're vile creatures anyways. Shikouju finishes off his mug and wipes his mouth, where is Susudio anyways? He's late, and this cat doesn't like to be kept waiting.

A female Savanite slave pokes her head into the front door – and, in a lightning-quick move, darts back just in time to avoid a dagger that thunks into the wall where her ear was just a moment ago, then ducks as a Kavi – either drunk or dead (as if it matters) – whizzes past, crashing into a pile of debris which used to be a wagon before it was left untended for five minutes.

Shikouju arches a brow at the door, strange that a slave would risk coming here of all places. He takes another look, and remembers something about a slave… yes Susudio's slave! Is this her though? He's never really seen her, just been given descriptions. He peers more intently to be sure.

The slave looks around furtively, to the untrained eye appearing like she is simply looking for anyone else who might be throwing a projectile in her direction, but surreptitiously scanning as if for someone in particular. Or something. At last, she spies Shikouju's booth, and by her eyes, it's evident that she can't really see the dark feline seated inside. Nonetheless, she makes her way to the booth, head bowed subserviently, and keeping well out of limb's or weapon's reach of any of the patrons that she's forced to pass.

The black Khatta nods to himself; this must be her. What was her name again? Stucco? Sato? Staccato? Ah, that's it, Staccato. He keeps still and watches the feline servant make her way over, she must be very brave, or very crazy to enter here.

The slave slips into the booth, and it takes a few moments for her eyes to adjust, during which time the black Khatta has plenty of time to judge his company – or, if he cared to, relieve himself of the invasion of privacy. She looks much like any cheetah, with her hair tied back in a common servant manner, so that it will not get in the way while doing chores, but even her many-times-mended work attire and smudges here and there on her fur fail to conceal that she is a very attractive feline, with deep brown, expressive eyes.

With a golden-furred hand, she slips a note across the table toward the dark Khatta. To most eyes, it would appear to be a meaningless scrawl. But during his short stay with the Faceless Ones, the dark feline has been able to catch up on lost time and refresh himself on many tricks of the trade … such as an encoded message like this. It reads, "Susudio ran into some trouble, and sent me to meet with you."

The note-passing is followed by a small bundle wrapped in stained cloth. Without even touching it, the dark feline's keen eyes can pick out that the small bundle contains coins. And by the weight and the force of the Savanite's fingers used to push it across the table – so slight that most wouldn't notice it – these are coins of metal, not ceramic. It would seem that an effort is being made to get the dark feline's attention and interest.

Shikouju reads the paper with an expressionless face, but inside questions begin to spring up. At the sight of the coins a mild look of curiosity crosses his face, but only slightly. The Khatta looks up at the cheetah, and for a moment gets lost in her eyes…

The Khatta shakes himself back into reality, "Er, uh, anways… " he whispers, while putting his stone face back on, "what has happned to Susudio?" Shikouju stares at the money, avoiding the Savanite's gaze.

The cheetah's ears blush slightly, and she looks taken aback by Shikouju's expression. She pulls out a scrap of parchment and scribbles on it, pushing it over. This one reads, "A hazard in Darkside. But this is to cover your trouble although he could not make the meeting. The job is not ready yet, but he wishes to secure your services for a small task."

Shikouju picks up the bundle of coins, looks inside, and mentally weighs it. Good amount. "He pays well," replies the cat, "but before I can do this job, I need to know what it is. Has he told you?"

Another note is passed, this one already written. "Your target will be an insurrectionist who is posing as a merchant. He is dangerous, and believed to dabble in Chaos magic. You will be assigned an assistant to help you find the target. It should be an easy task for your legendary abilities, and you will be well compensated."

"'Insurrectionist?'" The Khatta says with a slight grin, "Just your average trouble maker? That doesn't sound too hard. And one of those brainiac mages at that. I'll have to charge extra if I get any fur burnt off." Shikouju chuckles slightly. "An assisstant? Is that really necessary?" He looks back up at Staccato, "So, who's my 'assistant' gonna be?"

The cheetah smiles enigmatically and lightly touches one finger to her own nose.

Shikouju does a double take; did he understand her right? The cat's face looks confused. "You? But… but… a slave? You'd better not be pulling my leg spots. I don't like games that much." He stares at the cheetah – he must have misunderstood.

The cheetah shrugs, and flicks a few fingers. For some reason, Shikouju can understand it … somehow … "I'm expendible."

The dark feline grimaces. He only likes those that die around him to be the ones he was paid to kill. Random dead bring no money. "I work alone. Besides, I don't want anyone in the way." Shikouju crosses his arms, "Why did he want you to come along anyways? You do something to make him mad?"

The cheetah scribbles a note. "I am dependable, at least."

Shikouju looks the cheetah over, Savanites are fast, he reasons, perhaps she might come in handy. Once again he stops to gaze at those eyes… "Alright," he says as he quickly looks away, "you can come along. Maybe you'll make a decent decoy." The Khatta pulls out his dagger, and begins to polish it intently. "When does he want me to do this job? I need a time."

Another note is passed by the cheetah. "You will be contacted when the target is vulnerable. It will be some time. No sooner than a week from now. Possibly later."

The Khatta nods. "I'd prefer it be sooner than this, since it delays other jobs that may be available," he places the note aside, "but the customer is always right." Shikouju raises his paw to order another drink, then looks back at Staccato, "So what are you going to do until then?"

The cheetah shrugs, leaning forward and smiling at the Khatta. She absently scrawls a note. "Nothing in particular."

The cheetah pauses, then scribbles up another note. "So, what work have you done recently? Were you involved in that job on the Captain-Astromancer Candidate?"

Shikouju is a bit taken aback by this slave's… friendliness. Usually they are not so outgoing. He takes a sip of his newly refilled mug, and wipes his mouth. "I don't discuss my business with people, customer confidentiality. But no, I didn't pull that job; slaughtering children is under me. Besides, that job would have been too easy." He stares at the cheetah, "You seem eager to hear about my profession – Why?"

The cheetah's ears blush slightly, and she scrawls another note. The next time, when she passes it, she lets her fingers linger a little longer on the edge of the note before it is taken by the dark feline. "I have heard of you. I find you fascinating. You're much younger than I ever imagined."

The Dark feline stares at the slender fingers, then remembers to look up. "Well, why shouldn't I be young?" The Khatta chuckles, but is still slightly unnerved at the cheetah's openness. "What have you heard of me?"

The cheetah looks dreamy-eyed. Perhaps it's absent-mindedly that she lapses into making hand-sign. And there's just no telling how Shikouju, mighty assassin, who hasn't any reason to have to deal with slaves, should be able to follow any of this, but somehow he does: "You've been a legend for so long! Why, you'd be old enough to be a grandfather by now if the tales are all true. But maybe the legends are true … that you're an immortal."

How does Shikouju do it? Maybe it's just because he's too COOL to not know what's going on.

Grandfather? Shikouju looks confused; his memory's still hazy. "Well, if I'm immortal, it hasn't kept me from getting these scars-" Wait a second… what's wrong here?

The cheetah just smiles, and starts to get up. She wiggles her fingers in a farewell, and gives the mighty assassin a look that seems to suggest she looks forward to seeing him again … very soon.

Shikouju, on the other hand, just sits completely still. What sort of sorcery was that? He looks up to the cheetah, and gives a nod of farewell, his stone face returning in her abscence. This has been a very strange night.

As the cheetah walks out, Shikouju's gaze follows her. She was strange as well, and it is strange that he should even be looking at her! She's a slave! The Khatta averts his eyes and grumbles a bit; he doesn't need this. He holds his head back up and looks around, a grin replacing the frown. Plenty of cat haters here. Maybe a fight is in order…