[h1][b][center]Plot Point[/center][/b][/h1]

Mentioned [@Jerkchicken][@fetzen][@13org]

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As the three made their way up the clock tower, their tail disappeared into a nearby tavern.

[hr] 

Tayla fidgeted impatiently with her Whittler's knife. Little by little, she chipped away at the block of wood in her hand. Shaping it into the form of the woman from the day before. Her strokes started smooth and precise. However, as the shape she desired began to emerge, her whittling became cruder. Her cuts less accurate. 

Her mind was elsewhere. Away from the block of wood she cut away at. The fight with the woman replayed in her head. The memory consumed her. Filling her with anger and obsession. 

She was out there somewhere. She mocking her. Laughing at her! [color=6ecff6]'Coward'[/color] was what she called Tayla. [color=6ecff6]'Pathetic'[/color] she had said. 

Tayla's carving became erratic. Each cut chipping away larger chunks of wood. [color=c4df9b][b][i]I AM NOT A COWARD![/i][/b][/color] She screamed in her head.

Someone's hand lightly touched her shoulder. "Tayla..." Said a voice behind her. Tayla looked up towards the owner of the voice. It was Smit. "You'll hurt yourself." he said.

Frowning, Tayla looked down at the block of wood. In her anger, she had chipped away so much of the wood that her next cut would have surely nicked her thumb.

Tayla put down the knife. Shrugging off Smit's hand, she got to her feet and tossed the butchered block of wood off to the side. [color=c4df9b][b]"I hate waiting."[/b][/color] She said.

Smit smiled softly. It made Tayla feel anxious. What? Did she say something funny?

"You know," he said, "Sightless Vetius says waiting is the key to victory."

[color=c4df9b][b]"Yeah? And where is Sightless Vetius now? Lounging about in the Shining Palace?"[/b][/color] Tayla said dryly. [color=c4df9b][b]"I wouldn't mind waiting either if I were him." [/b][/color]

Smit dropped his smile, he looked around as if uncertain. "You really shouldn't speak poorly of Sightless Vetius." He said quietly. "If Sightless Nieffar overheard you..."

Tayla rolled her eyes. Typical Smit. A loyal dog through and through. Loyal, protective and boring. He followed Tayla wherever she went. It had been that way ever since she first joined the Clan. 

She still remembered that night on The Broken Isles. She sat alone atop the Church of Insight, looking upon the Clan's home town. She had just arrived, but didn't really know why she came. She didn't belong there. She didn't belong anywhere. She was just Tayla, the broken girl. She had no home, no family. She had nothing.

He came from behind her and sat down a few feet away. They just sat there like that, saying nothing to each other. Finally she got up to leave. 

"Where are you going to go?" He asked out of nowhere. She looked at Smit, confused.

"I've seen your like before. Syella often brings back people she found off the street. Most of them leave, but some, like me, stay." Smit turned to face her, looking at her for the first time. "You? You look like a runner."

Smit had been right. She had been planning on running. It annoyed her that he knew that. It frustrated her that he pinned her so well. [color=c4df9b][b]"What does it matter to you what I do?"[/b][/color] Tayla asked, not making any attempt to hide her annoyance. 

Smit shrugged and looked away. "It doesn't." He said.

Strangely, Tayla felt let down by this answer. That feeling only served to frustrated her even further. She turned to walk away.

"But," He said behind her. "were you to stay, it could be a place for you to call home." 

Tayla froze in place. 

"A place where you can feel safe." He continued. "A place where you can finally feel like you belong." She felt naked and exposed. She did her best to hold back the tears. 

"It would be a new beginning. The future, yours to make. That is why I stayed. That is why all of Syella's recruits stay."

Tayla ran, unable to tolerate his words any longer.  She ran and ran till she could run no further. Leaning against a nearby wall, she struggled to catch her breath.

'It could be a place for you to call home.' His words lingered in her head. Tears streamed down Tayla's eyes. Why did she run? Why did she always run? She was sick of always running. Sick of always being weak.

'It would be a new beginning. The future, yours to make.' Tayla's breathing slowed. She looked up at the Distortion's night sky. Perhaps a new beginning wouldn't be so bad. A new beginning meant she didn't have to be that weak girl any more. A future. Hers for the making. 

That was the night that Tayla didn't run. It was the night that Tayla held her ground. She remembered the surprised look on Smit's face when he saw her still there. That surprise quickly turned to a smile. 

Smit had been by her side ever since. Even as she quickly rose up the ranks. When she started getting assigned missions, he would volunteer to come along. She remembered It made her uncomfortable having the man around her all the time. She never asked him to come, and yet on every mission he would be there. Ready and waiting to follow her command. He was there to bring her food on nights where see didn't eat. There to make a fire when she shivered in the cold. There to watch her back when the enemy was about to take her life. 

Tayla shivered. She would have died yesterday were it not for Smit's interference. He was too nice. Too thoughtful. It made Tayla uneasy. 

She didn't trust men. She didn't like the way they looked at her. She knew the evil of man. It would only be a matter of time till Smit revealed that same evil. All Tayla had to do was wait.

Tayla sighed, leaning against a wall. Oh how she hated waiting. 

"Do you need more numbing oil?" Smit asked. Tayla looked to the man questioningly. "Your shoulder." He clarified. "Does it still hurt?"

Tayla glanced to her bandaged shoulder, realizing that she had been rubbing it. Unconsciously pressing against her wound from the previous day. 

[color=c4df9b][b]"It's fine."[/b][/color] She said bluntly. Reluctantly, she slid her right hand down the length of her arm. She shook her head. He really was far too conscious of her needs. 

The door, leading to the room, opened. One of the survivors from yesterday's battle walked in. "He's at the clock tower." He said. "Accompanied with the large one and the woman."

Tayla smiled. It seemed she would have the opportunity to kill the white haired woman after all.

An itch crawled up the back of her neck. [color=a187be]'Do not kill them.'[/color] Sightless Syella's words echoed in the back of her mind. 

[color=c4df9b][b][i]I won't.[/i][/b][/color] She thought to herself. [color=c4df9b][b][i]I'm only going to kill one.[/i][/b][/color]