Hey, there!  This'll be my 1x1 interest check for ya'll who are interested :D

1.  First things first, do PM me if you are interested :D
2.  I'll only be accepting one person for each prompt.
3.  I do write about three, or more paragraphs depending on my mood-- I'd also like a partner who can match my length (or even surpass) as well :D
4.  Since I am working, there might be times wherein I cannot reply right away!  I'll give you a heads-up, though :)
5.  Also, MxF pairing for now, since I'm not entirely comfortable with MxM or FxF :D
6.  Feel free to add in your own plots, because I do love a good twist or addition from my partner :3  It's our story, after all!

[hider=Pull the Strings]

[center][b]Pull the Strings
Nox Azane, the Bandit x The Female Hired Blade[/b][/center]

There is a price for everything.  A price for goods, a price for homes, a price for love, and even a price for a life.

After the Black Mists had shattered a good number of the kingdoms surrounding the lands of Betrair, only five kings were able to stand up after the devastating disease tore apart the land, filling it with mass graves of the people who succumbed to the plague.  As it turned out, these five kingdoms gathered their remaining powers as they established dominion over the now healthier territories, dedicating their effort into curing the rest of Betrair.

To the south of the land was where the Mist hit the hardest.  The five kingdoms called it as the Squalid Dwells due to the tormented earth which glowed with sickly green essences as well as the withered trees which towered over the forests.  Even the skies above the Squalid was gray and dark with an almost eternal downpour of rain.

Decades passed, and the five kingdoms grew in power as tales of the Squalid Dwells were left already as myths and legends since the kingdoms agreed to control passage into the lands.  Stories of the plagued territories were soon forgotten until reports of throes upon throes of guards being killed inside the Squalid reached peasant ears.  According to the tales, a group of plague-infested bandits had taken residence inside the Squalid Dwells, and were slowly building their own kingdom to dominate all life on Betrair.

With this news going rampant, the five kings called a gathering as they decided to hire and send an assassin down into the Squalid to deal with the rumored 'leader' of the plagued rogues.  They mustered their resources as the kings finally found the best assassin they could among the lands they controlled:  a woman who climbed the ranks until her very name became a synonym for Death (your character).  

While her price soared to the premiums, the king wasted no time and parted with their gold to send the assassin on her way to lop off the head of the snake before it grew any longer.

Now, as the assassin traversed the Squalid for days, she was able to kill and track a good number of the plagued rogues until she was finally ambushed and taken prisoner.  As she leaned against the tree she was tied to, the leader of the Squalid approached her-- tattered raven cloaks and dusty bandages shrouding his features-- and raised his knife.  As the knife slashed down, the assassin would realize that the ropes had been cut, and that, she was free.  However, the leader whose white pupils refracted light, spoke to her:

"You were sent to kill me."  The blind rogue mumbled.  "But, I assure you, your lot with the kings are a far worse bargain.  There are secrets you must know, and I intend to tell you.  Betrair and the Squalids, they weave an interesting tapestry.  If you stay and help me in finding a cure, I will let you go and live once the cure is found.  I'll even show you the way out of the Squalid.  Should you choose not to, well...  I'm afraid I must do what I must. "

Now, the assassin is left to an impossible task:  fight and be killed, or listen and risk getting enmeshed in the secrets which ruined the land centuries ago.
[/hider]

[hider=Cutthroats]

[center][b]Cutthroats
Daniel Proudsword x The Female Bodyguard[/b][/center]

Three sons were born into the bloodline of the Proudswords, fully assuring the king that his line will continue to grow even after his death.  The first son, Metaron, was a prodigy in the martial arts.  In fact, the eldest prince quickly became the general of the kingdom's army.  The second son, excelling in diplomacy, became the kingdom's representative in all external affairs.  It would seem that the sons of Proudsword would go down in history as talented, brilliant, and handsome men who led the kingdom into greater heights.  However, as pleased as the family was with their two sons, the opposite happened when Daniel, their third prince, came into existence.

The youngest prince was a sickly child, his endurance and stamina unbefitting that of a man.  Daniel failed at everything his brothers could do, and thus, he quickly became the shame of the family-- a skeleton in a closet.  A prince who couldn't even contribute anything to the kingdom is nothing more than a burden, and so, Daniel grew up as the shame of the Proudsword bloodline.  Technically, the only reason Daniel was kept alive was because it was illegal to kill him.  But, the monarchs needed to 'show' their subjects that the third prince was still taken care of, and so, they hired the cheapest bodyguard (your character) they could find, and to top it off, it was a woman.

Obviously, Daniel's safety was not the priority in hiring this bodyguard.  The task was simple:  take care of Daniel, and protect him.  

However, the retainer would discover that the danger was Daniel himself.  A few months after the woman was assigned to him, Daniel confessed to her his plan to kill his parents and siblings.  Intricate steps of deaths ranging from brutal to 'natural causes' were laid out in detail among the third prince's parchments, and his rationale for such an act was that monarchs who would treat their own child this way, as if he never existed, did not deserve to rule the kingdom.

He would take the crown, and he needed the help of the seemingly useless bodyguard to commit the sedition of the age.
[/hider]