He meets a shady character

After donning his armor and sheathing his sword, Janno quickly moved out of the room. He wasn't sure what Bella and Ariel would do, but he hoped they wouldn't stay in bed all day. Then again, it was already late in the afternoon.

Janno emerged into the common room and looked around. Sure enough, the person in question was easy to spot. While everyone else was at tables near the bar or in the center of the room, one lone cloaked figure was by himself off in a corner table. If Janno hadn't anticipated looking hard into the shadows, he probably wouldn't even had seen this person.

Trying to muster up confidence without appearing arrogant, Janno marched over to the figure and stopped at the table. The figure made no move to look up at him as he approached. There was a moment of awkward silence as Janno waited for the figure to react. When he didn't, Janno was **** to talk first.

"Hello, my name is Janno," he said. "I take it you are the person who sent the message my way via the stable lad?"

The figure nodded. A muffled voice came out and said, "That would be me."

"Well, it appears that you are rogue of some sort, good with finding traps and sneaking about," Janno went on.

"I am a fair shot with the bow, though I like throwing daggers," the figure offered. He still hadn't looked up much.

"Well, we could use a man of your talents," Janno said. "If you can prove that you are a capable in what you say, then I would welcome you into my party."

The figure finally glanced up and seemed to look at Janno. However, his hood overhung his face enough that Janno couldn't see the eyes, though he saw that the mouth had a scarf of sorts covering it. "In what manner must I prove myself?"

Janno thought for a moment. "Why don't you meet me in the stables out back and give me a little throwing demonstration."

The figure was still for a moment, then nodded. "I will meet you in the stables...after I finish my ale. It won't be long."

Janno glanced down at the mug of ale. It was three-quarters empty though it didn't look like it had been used that much. "What is your name, sir?"

The figure was about to reach out and grab the mug, but pulled his gloved hand back. "I would prefer not to mention it until I know I am safely in the party."

That sounded like the typical lonely, suspicious rouge. Janno figured as much, so he agreed and headed out the back door towards the stable.

Once he got to the stables, Janno quickly set up a small, throwing range. He had targets for bow practice at the far end and spotted a marked up wall that could be used for the throwing daggers. It took a few minutes to set it up, but the figure hadn't shown up yet.

So, once he was done, Janno sat down on a bale of hay and waited. To pass the time, his eyes were cast toward some of the horses nearby and Janno spent some time gauging the animals, seeing which would make good mounts. He did need a mount after all.

Janno mused about the horses a bit, ideally wondering what was keeping his prospect. Suddenly, he felt a blow land on his back, beaten his shoulder blades, causing him to fall forward flat on his face. The blow stunned him only for a moment, but as Janno tried to figure out what was going on, a body landed on him hard, causing him to be pinned to the ground.

The fighter saw the cord pass through his eye sight and realized to his horror what was going to happen. He felt the small rope go up against the flesh of his neck and with a jerk upward, he was gurgling for air, his back arched back. He could feel the breath of his assailant on the back his neck and visions of his life started passing through his eyes.

"Not bad of sneak attack, huh?" a voice called from behind his ear.

Suddenly, the cord was no longer at his throat and Janno took deep lungfuls of air as his head fell forward. He laid gasping for a moment and a little shaken. A figure was helping him up and he got the dark cloak out of the corner of his eyes.

"Just wanted to give you a demonstration of some of my skill," the muffled voice said.

Janno was irritated. The person he was meeting obviously had skill, all right, but the fighter wasn't happy to have his life threatened, even if it wasn't really. "Yes, well, maybe you can warn me next time."

A bit angrily, Janno thrust his arm out to the other man's chest in an effort to push away and get some space. He should have encountered something flat, but his hands suddenly came into contact underneath the dark clothing that was round.

The figure jerked back at the same time Janno did. "What?!?" the fighter roared. "Y-y-you're a woman!"