Chapter 17: First Mission

                At around ten thirty that night, Zena pulled on her dark pants, wrapped up her strappy top, pulled her hair into a tight and high pony, and then placed her six, four, and eight inch blades on her thigh, arm sheath, and opposite hip, respectively.  She pulled on her boots and stalked out of the room to make sure Wolf was awake.  Immediately upon approaching the doorway, she wished she hadn’t.  Wolf was changing shirts, from his white t-shirt from the day, into a dark t-shirt.  He was wearing dark jeans, and black tennis shoes.  As he pulled off his shirt, the muscles in his back tightened and she found herself staring, entranced.  She shook herself and heard herself speaking, as if from a faraway place.

                “I’ll meet you at the front door, when you’re ready.” Wolf nodded, and she went back to her room, and then pulled out two blades from her blade cabinet.  She walked to the door and waited for Wolf.  

                Wolf came out with his hair combed back and his clothes dark. For a second, she seemed unresponsive, as she gazed at him as if in a trance. Wolf stared at her, wondering what she is doing. He glanced around, unsure and confused, and when he looked back at Zena, she seemed to snap out of it.

                Zena shook her head and cleared her mind. She was taken aback with herself.  If she were to go out on a mission like that, she would more than likely end up on a slab in some random morgue, with no one left to identify her. She sighs and holds out a blade to Wolf. He takes it solemnly, and she notices the hesitation.  She keeps hold of the tip of the blade as he grasps the handle, and looks him in the eye.

                “Are you SURE you’re ready for this?” she asks.  Wolf nods slowly, then follows her wordlessly out the door.  They knew that Robert Simpleton would be at home alone.  He had no family, and no pets, so there were not really any witnesses or possible side casualties to account for.  This one should be an easy one, Zena thinks to herself, and hopes that Wolf does well.  They venture through the forest on an unbeaten path, since Zena is always careful to take new paths each time, as to not leave a trail. Once they make it to the edge of the city, Zena asks Wolf to recite the address to her. 

                “Uh… Uh… 1472… Maple…. Avenue?” Wolf replies Hesitantly.

                Zena shakes her head. “1492, Oak Street.” She answers with a huff, rolling her eyes a bit. “You need to be able to memorize those things.  If not, you’ll not be able to remember where you are trying to go, you won’t get the job done, and then it’ll get back to Jaenes.  He’ll pay you a visit, and then you’ll lose not only status, but also reputation, and jobs. Jobs are the point of what we do.  Without jobs, we are nothing.  We don’t get paid by the guild, but we DO have a sworn alliance.  If one of us is in need, we help each other.  If an assassin fails to complete a mission, for whatever reason, and they lose status and respect, they have less people watching their back.  And trust me, there are a lot of people out to kill us assassins. So always make sure you never forget an address. And NEVER write a target’s address or location down.” Zena says as she lectures Wolf. Then she starts walking away, leaving Wolf to jog to catch up.

                They reach Oak Street, and Zena stops, letting Wolf find his way while she follows.  He walks past her, somewhat unsure, but after only a slight hesitation, he continues walking down the street looking for the correct house number.  Zena, walking a few paces behind him, clears her throat and stops walking.  Wolf stops mid step.

                “Is something wrong?” he asks, turning to face her.

                “Wolf, we aren’t the delivery man delivering pizza or Chinese or the mail… we’re here to assassinate someone.  Do you honestly think that walking up to a criminal’s door is the smartest way to get in the house?” She pauses as she waits for his response, and sighs to herself when she receives little more than a blank stare. “Look for a window open, or a backyard fence either nonexistent or low enough to scale. Make sure there are no visiting dogs in the area, so that they don’t start barking. Ill wait here. Make sure there is no ruckus.”

                Wolf looks at her like a lost puppy looking for scraps, not entirely sure how to proceed.  He looks down to gather courage and then marches off towards the correct house’s back yard.  After twenty minutes or so, Zena’s finely tuned ears picked up the sound of a slight struggle, and then the sound of a man’s throat being severed while he was gagging.   A dog from down the street must’ve heard it, because he began howling.

                Zena sighed, and, knowing there would be trouble, she turned up her head and howled at the moon.  Within seconds, Maurly came barreling out of the forest.  She jumped on his back, and they raced to nab Wolf from the house before the police arrived.  Grabbing hold of the back of Wolf’s t-shirt, Zena jerked him onto Maurly’s back, then leaned down and buried her face in his soft fur.  Startled, Wolf grabbed on to Zena to keep from falling off, and then followed suit by laying his head on her back.  They made it back to Zena’s humble house within minutes, and Zena hopped off Maurly’s back, causing Wolf to slip off to the floor painfully. He yelped, but Zena paid no attention. She watered Maurly and then called him to bed, then went to get changed out of her clothes without a word to Wolf.

Reviews

[Thomas Sawyer]

This chapter was supposed to be about the first mission, but you spent a very short time describing the mission itself. How did Wolf get in? Was there a fight? Things like that. Then it was hard to grasp how Maurly got to them that fast. Where they that close to the forest? Maybe you could describe what happened while waiting. Did Zena ride inside to get Wolf? I think you rewrite the end of this chapter.

[Meat of Dog]

Interesting chapter! It was intriguing how you started it with Zena's budding romantic interest in Wolf. She's so reluctant, and yet you can feel it brewing beneath the surface. It seems more emotional than sexual, as if she's been alone so long that she is mystified by his friendship and body alike. Also, these feelings seem to be distracting her from her job, which could be REALLY bad.

Zena's lecture was also a cool insight to assassins. Most people don't have a common knowledge of how that kind of occupation functions (I know that I don't) so your ability to weave and answer makes the story more immersive. Also, the guild seems so tech and organized that it’s kind of funny to picture Zena and Wolf in a back yard potentially scaling fences on his first mission.

Maurly is so handy! Part of me wonders if she trained him herself, or if he was given to her my Jaenes.

other suggestions:

-"Wolf nods slowly, then follows" and then

-"Wolf replies Hesitantly." hesitantly does not need to be capitalized.

-"And trust me, there are " replace the coma with a semi colon

-You might want to alter the last scene a bit. One grown woman riding on a wolf’s back for more than a minute would potentially injure its spine and hips, let alone a grown woman AND a grown man. Also, the positions in which they are laying would not hold on a running wolf.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. I like how you made the kill seem hard. Killing someone is not a easy task. A very good pace and I like the description of them getting prepared. A outstanding ending to a strong chapter. Thank you.
Coyote