Here I Stand

Entering the room, Au'lani looked around the of the Mentor's office. Book cases toward high and reached the ceiling. Au'lani scanned her eyes over the texts to see if she could understand any of it and realized that it was several languages, meaning that the owner was well knowledgeable with languages, and with barely any dust covering any of the books, told Owie that the owner was also well knowledgeable in general.

"Konbon wa," she called out carefully, unsure where the owner was or if he was even in there.

Her brown eyes scanned out for the Mentor. She finally came upon a desk, papers scattered everywhere with scrambled note taking. Au'lani's interest peeked as her eyes scanned over the fluent kanji and particles that scanned vertically or horizontally on the pages. As her interest became more interested she glanced at some of the text curiously and reached out to start shifting through some of the papers and texts.

"I could not help but to notice that you have been waiting here for some time. I say feel free to peruse his biblioteca {library}. Desculpe {apologies} that he is not here. The Mentor is a very busy man. I believe you said you came for an evaluation. Please enlighten me on your intentions. I will be more than happy to assist you however I may. After all, I am his tenente {lieutenant}."

Thiago sat on a nearby chair with his hand to his chin.

Footsteps echo throughout the den, the origin a middle aged man. His locks of hair, like his beard are jet black but slowly are beginning to grey, His pupils are a pale grey colour, yet are still able to give off a vibrant and warm feel. He arrives at the doorway to his office, he watches as his second in command enters. His eyes narrow as he takes pursuit.

Leaning his head in, he notices another, an assassin he has yet to meet. "Can I help you two?"

"Olá Mestre {Hello Mentor}," Thiago gave a slight bow, "This is Au'Lani Rivers. She came here to find you. I believe she is here to join our ranks. She is a curious mind, and I see something in her on that front."

"I could not help but to notice that you have been waiting here for some time. I say feel free to peruse his biblioteca {library}. Desculpe {apologies} that he is not here. The Mentor is a very busy man. I believe you said you came for an evaluation. Please enlighten me on your intentions. I will be more than happy to assist you however I may. After all, I am his tenente {lieutenant}."

Au'lani nearly jumped out of her own skin, and blushed in embarrassment as she turned to see Thiago, the man she had met outside enter the Office and take a seat. She realized afterwards it probably wasn't a good sign for an assassin to be caught off guard or surprised. Her cheeks flamed, as she fumbled in her pockets to find the letter. She was not only blushing at her embarrassment for being caught poking around, she was now blushing because she had no clue he was the second in command and just outside she had practically questioned his judgement in another.

She finally found the letter, but jumped once more as a voice boomed and echoed in the Office, "Can I help you two?" By his commanding tone, Au'lani knew this was the person her father had sent her to see.

And as though to confirm her suspicions, Thiago said, "Olá Mestre {Hello Mentor}," and gave a slight bow, "This is Au'Lani Rivers. She came here to find you. I believe she is here to join our ranks. She is a curious mind, and I see something in her on that front."

Owie blushed at his compliment before she quickly said fluently, "Dozoroshiku oniigaishimasu {please regard me kindly}, Mentor. You both surprised me greatly, I had suspected to find someone in here, not for someone to come at me from my back," she realized she would probably get scolded, or at least her father would do so and wondered if the Mentor was as kindly as his Lieutenant, she made a mental note to scold him for not telling her that he was so in the first place. He may not have saw it fit to tell her, but if she had known, she wouldn't have made such a fool of herself.

"Um, this is for you then," she said, and held out the paper with both hands.

((Just in case you don't know, traditionally a gift/letter/anything that is given with one hand, is taken in one hand. And the same for both hands, so you should take the letter with both hands :3 ))

"It is all well, mas {but} you will come to expect it soon enough. As the Mentor and I approach our old age, we like to keep our skills sharp. A master is not born, but rather made."

Extending two hands of his own, he takes the piece of paper. He smiles, giving the young girl a slight nod. He turns to face his desk, with a free hand he lights a lantern which illuminates the entire room. He begins to read the letter, the handwriting seeming oh so familiar. He looks the girl up and down before continuing the read.

He arrives at the end of the letter. It was signed Michael. The mentor looks up at the young one again, suddenly his jaw drops slightly and a look of shock comes over his face. He quickly hides this look under a smile. "It is a pleasure to have you within our ranks." He continues to smile. I knew your farther very well." He pauses a moment. "I will get someone to show you, where you shall be staying."

"I knew your farther very well." This didn't come as much of a surprise, many knew her father, but the way he emphasized it made her raise an eyebrow in question. But as he hurriedly told her that someone would show her to a room, Au'lani merely nodded.

"Domoarigatoogozaimashite," she spoke calmly, "I won't over look your hospitality. And I hope my father's teachings will prove themselves to you," Owie had purposefully mentioned her father, curious to see if she could dig another reaction out of the Mentor on her father.

The old man scrunches up his face slightly at the mention of the young assassins farther, his eyes narrow. "Yes I feel you shall do him proud." He turns away, facing a map of Nagasaki. "Now if you don't mind, the time grows late and I am not as young as I used to be." He pulls down his hood. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask any of your fellow assassins.

"Wait, Michael Rivers? That Michael Rivers? I have never met the man, but I have heard his name. Is he not the irmão {brother} who journeyed to the Pacific?"

Au'lani smiled at the tale her father had told her of him in a boat for days without food or water and then finally stumbling upon an island called Mau'i. "Yes," Au'lani said, "that's where my father met my mother." She could tell the Mentor wanted her out though and so said to both of them, "Thank you for your hospitality," and then gave Thiago a hard look, she wanted to speak with him, she was still thoroughly embarrassed from earlier, she then said, "Until we meet again then."

And with that exited the Office but waited down the hallway so that she could have her moment to pounce on Thiago.

"What do you mean 'again'?" Thiago followed her to the hallway, "I still have much to ask of you. So tell me about yourself."

"Me tell you about myself," Au'lani said slightly angered, "you know enough about me- why didn't you mention you were the second in command?"

Thiago chuckled, "I thought you knew that. People usually come to me first because the Mentor is rarely in. So, if you want me to tell you about myself, I only have one question for you: Where should I start?"

Au'lani scoffed at his casualness, obviously not understanding her embarrassment and wanted to say to give a very smart retort but decided against it. Now that she knew he was the second in command, it probably wasn't best to mock or offend someone of his power.

"Well...how did you get to Nagasaki," she questioned, "How did you become the tenente? Do you have a family? What-" she cut herself off as she realized she was rambling and probably overwhelming him a little with her own curiosity, "Gomennasai," she apologized, "I didn't mean any disrespect...I'm naturally inquisitive."

"Mas {Well}, I sailed here from China, but the localidade {locale} call it Chuugoku. As for my familia, os Assassinos sao a minha familia {the Assassins are my family}. And as for being inquisitive, relax. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. It is exactly what we fight for every day."

Au'lani raised her eyebrow at his last statement and then said, "Right, sorry. As you could imagine, my father wasn't the most lenient of teachers," she said with a slight smirk, "and questioning a superior, you assume, was not the smartest of moves. It's something I'll have to learn to adjust to."

Rolling her shoulders she asked, "Well then...when will I know of my first assignment?" To say that she was eager to prove herself to her father and to the Order was an understatement, she was ready for anything and she wanted to prove to herself and to her father that his training wasn't a waste.

"Paciência, we do not know your skills yet. What kind of training have you seen?" Thiago walked the hallway to the room directly across the hall from the Mentor's office, "This is my armory. I want you to show me the kinds of weapons you are comfortable using."

The young assassin followed Thiago into the armory and immediately spotted the two weapons that she understood easily: Throwing knives and the hidden blade. She gestured to both easily and then said, "The two I'm most comfortable with," she admitted, "I was never better with the swords or my own fist, in all honesty."

She eyed the rest of the weapons curiously, never having seen so many blades or weapons before. She examined each and then turned back to him, and then felt as though she needed to emphasize, "but give me any weapon and I will be able to handle anything you throw at me."

Thiago dismantled a sword from the wall. It was one of his hook swords from China. He examined his reflection against the blade, "Feel free to experiment with them. We have weapons of all kinds here. Axes, maces, daggers, guns, and anything beyond and between. I would wish that you try them all at least once." He carefully returned the sword to its place on the wall and took a pair of hidden blades designed for training, "We should see your skills first."

He threw one blade to the novice and fitted the other to his own arm.

Au'lani caught the blade with ease and fit the deadly weapon onto her sleeve herself and then stretched her hand, noting the slight weight difference in her hand that usually came with the weapon. Her wrist now no longer had the full wrist rotation that she had, which was to come with the weapon, but it was completely hidden.

"Do I kick your butt here, or would you rather it be in a sparring room," Lani said with a playful grin.

"You are confident, which is good. I may be old, but I have held this weapon for the last three decades. This is not that kind of a challenge. W have a training ground in the back. I want to see where your real talents lie."

"Seniors first," she said playfully, gesturing for him to lead the way.

She followed him through the hallways and soon opened into a small courtyard. She rolled her shoulders as she noticed a couple of other assassins or passersbyers glancing at them and she suddenly grew nervous. She'd never had an audience before, should she try and impress them? It was always just her and her father, she never thought about peers.

She fidgeted, suddenly growing uncomfortable with this idea and dragged her brown gaze to him.

Thiago wiped a speck of dust from his eye. He glanced to Au'Lani, whose features he noticed had -even with her English blood- more in common with the people of the Philippines than any other kind of people he had seen thus far. They still weren't a match, though. He shrugged it off to return his thoughts to his work. He spotted a look of uncertainty on her face as she glanced around at the people in the training ground. "Do not worry irmãzinha {little sister}," he assured her with a pat on the shoulder, "They are not here for you, so you can ignore them," he pointed to obstacle course, which was built into the housing for the citysfolk of Nagasaki, "I want you to run to the market and buy me a fish that has been skewered and cooked. Here is the money. Now the trick is to run in a straight line. If you see a building in your path, go over it. I will be keeping time. After this, we will see how you can use that blade. Now go."

The young novice took the money and raised an eyebrow, I'm no running boy..., She grumbled in her head as she turned and eyed the obstacle to try and get an idea of what she was up against. She then gave a mock salute to him, threw her hood up out of habit, and started running.

Her footsteps were soft as she had practiced and her run was graceful. She climbed up the ladder with ease quickly, and then pushed herself up onto the roof top. She could see the market now, small puffs of smoke coming from small huts as they grilled food. She could see the pristine blue water too, that sparkled in the evening sun. She moved across a plank of wood on the roof top, she wasn't as practiced with balance as she held her hands out to level herself and quickly moved across.

When she reached the other side she gave a running jump and then landed on another roof top, she rolled upon the impact though but hopped up on her feet once more as she continued to throw herself from roof top to roof top. Citizens barely even noticed, and if they did spot the shadow passing over head, by the time they glanced up the young assassin was no longer there.

Landing with the softest of thuds right in the market place, some citizens jumped away in alarm and stared at her curiously. And then she realized this wasn't like back at home where she could foolishly drop from everywhere and her father knew she was there or wouldn't be freaked out that a female had fallen from the sky.

"My apologies," she said in her embarrassment, glad that she had remembered to throw up her hood to cast most of her facial features in shadow.

It was a good thing the owner had expected her, he held out a fish wrapped in paper to gesture for her to come over to him. She paid him the money, and he nodded his head saying, "arigatou gozaimashite, mata kite kudasai!"

"Hai," Au'lani couldn't stop herself from replying, as she followed the route she came with some difficulty with holding the fish. Only once did she slip, she didn't account for the fact that she would have to jump higher to reach a building that she had jumped down from on her way there. She grabbed the ledge at the last moment to cushion her fall, but still her hand slipped, and she landed on her feet with a painful yelp, before she climbed back up and continued her return to Thiago.

As she made her way across the flat land between the village and where Thiago still stood, she calmed her breathing so it didn't look like it was much of a task as she held out the fish for him to take. "I hope I did not take longer than you anticipated," she said kindly.