[color=gray]The sun was setting. The shadows were elongating. The air was getting frigid. The light was fading. The people were scattering. The huntress was hunting.

A girl walked alone down the street, clothed in all black and hooded. Only her lips could be seen underneath the hood, the rest was obscured by the long hood. If any expression was on her face, her lips weren't a part of it, they were straight and sealed shut. Every step the girl took in her boots made a low cadence that rebounded off of the buildings and echoed down the road. It was quiet on the street so her eerie walking made up the ambiance. A weak gust of wind blew down the road, caught her cloak and made it wave but she didn't break her stride. The people of Penumbra knew when something was amiss, and the entire aura and visage the lone girl exuded was downright unsettling. The people who's lives were more nightly that daily walked around her, picking up their pace whenever they got too close.

One man who looked like he had a chip on his shoulder got close and even checked her with his arm in passing. The girl stopped. The man kept walking and barked at her as he did, [color=white][i]"Watch it, runt!"[/i][/color]

[color=darkturquoise][b]"You."[/b][/color] the girl said.

The man turned and walked backward away from her, looking at her with a smug grin. [color=white][i]"You lost, honey? This ain't no place for a darlin' girl such as yourself."[/i][/color]

The girl turned to face him, her hood still masked the majority of her face. [color=darkturquoise][b]"I could say the same about the girl who's giving me attitude."[/b][/color]

The man took a moment, [color=white][i]"You calling me a girl?"[/i][/color] he started walking toward her. People were making themselves scarce, a common rule of thumb in Penumbra was to keep to yourself wherever possible. He must have been an outsider.

The girl lowered her hood and looked him straight in the eyes, unfaltering and piercing. [color=darkturquoise][b]"I can make you one. What's your name?"[/b][/color]

The man chewed his tobacco as he looked down at the short girl, he was trying to gauge her. [color=white][i]"Elias Smith, and I'm not the one you want to idly threaten."[/i][/color]

The girl raised an eyebrow, [color=darkturquoise][b]"And what makes you think I am?"[/b][/color]

Elias laughed a hearty laugh, [color=white][i]"Because you look like some gutter-rat girl who is trying to make herself look scary so nobody bothers her."[/i][/color] he leaned down to get at eye level with her, [color=white][i]"It ain't working, doll."[/i][/color]

Before Elias could react, the girl has him by his necktie, keeping him at her level. Her other hand went to the knot and tightened it almost to the point of strangling. Elias tried to stand straight but the girl had a good grip to her. The lady in black held him there for two minutes, not saying anything. Every time Elias tried to do something or even speak, she would tighten the knot a bit more. When the shadows cast by the sunset reached her feet, she finally spoke, [color=darkturquoise][b]"You're one of the cultists I'm looking for."[/b][/color]

Elias got a little more pale, [color=white][i]"Cultist? I-I don't know what you mean. Look maybe I was a little too crass you with. What'o ya say we go our separate ways and never see each other again, huh?"[/i][/color]

The girl let go of his tie and the man turned and began to run. The shadows of the building were long and ran straight along the road Elias was running down. He made it ten meters before the girl was next to him with a foot stuck out in his path. He tripped and faceplanted into the road. With a groan, Elias looked up at the girl, the cloak was gone and there was a crossbow in her hand. [color=darkturquoise][b]"You're not getting away that easily, Elias."[/b][/color] she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him to his feet with one arm, [color=darkturquoise][b]"Walk to that alley, no monkey business."[/b][/color]

Elias raised his hands slowly and did as he was told. He looked over his shoulder to her, she wasn't following. When he got into the darkness of the alley way, he saw her sitting on a pile of boxes, cleaning her crossbow out. [color=darkturquoise][b]"So, Elias. Here's how this is going to work."[/b][/color]

He blinked and looked back at the woman in the streets, it faded to black and then drifted away like mist in wind. Was he seeing things? [color=darkturquoise][b]"You have three chances. Answer wrong the first time and I put a bolt in your knee. A second, in your crotch. The final one in between your eyes. Answer right and I'll leave you alone. Is that clear?"[/b][/color]

Elias spat on the ground, [color=white][i]"You're bluffing, no way a little girl knows how to use that thing. You're gonna pay for that you little bi- AGH!"[/i][/color] a bolt pierced straight through his kneecap and came out the other end.

The woman stood from her box-throne and walked up to him, leaning down to his level, [color=darkturquoise][b]"I'm not the one you want to idly threaten."[/b][/color]
[center][h1][b]__________[/b][/h1][/center]

Tessa pulled the bolt out of Elias's knee, [color=darkturquoise][b]"Thank you for cooperating, Mr. Smith. I'll be seeing you very soon."[/b][/color] she wiped the blood off of her bolt with his necktie, [color=darkturquoise][b]"Don't try and warn your co-conspirators. I'll know."[/b][/color] a shadow separated from her for a moment before fading away.

She turned to leave the alley way, calling back to him as she left, [color=darkturquoise][b]"The chances still count. Next time you disappoint me, I'll back up my threat and make you a girl."[/b][/color] the cloak that Tessa had taken off simply faded onto her like some sort of shadowy wrap, then as she stepped into the same building shadow she had used to trip him, she simply just vanished with the wind.

Night time. Tessa's time to shine.
[center][h1][b]__________[/b][/h1][/center]

She stepped out of a dark alleyway across from a tavern. People were entering with laughter and leaving with tears, all of them were drunk. There was a large bouncer at the door to the tavern, a distinguishing mark on the back of his hand had tipped Tessa off that he was one of the men Elias had told her about. He really wanted his jewels apparently. She raised her crossbow and aimed it at the man, but before she fired it, she felt one of her comrades was calling.

[color=darkturquoise][b]"Another night."[/b][/color] she said to herself and stepped back into the alley way.

Moments later, she was in a park underneath one of the many bridges that the light never reached. [color=darkturquoise][b]"Lorekeeper."[/b][/color] she called out to him the moment she saw him with a woman. [color=darkturquoise][b]"You called and the shadows answered, what's so urgent that you felt the need to interrupt me during my hunt?"[/b][/color][/color]