The rain drifted down, creating small rivulets of water on the panes of glass lining the street. The stores were dark now, but the dulled streetlights reflected off of them, outlining every being who passed by in a shadowy silhouette. One such being passed by, darker than the rest.

Completely absorbed in his own thoughts, Valthir almost didn't notice his pursuers as they tailed him through the dimly lit streets. He glimpsed the pair as he turned each corner, only watching them with his eyes as to not give away his knowledge of them. At that distance, it would be impossible for them to be seen as anything more than dark figures, but what protected the pursuers, also protected the one they pursued.

The Masters must have sent them. More assassins perhaps, though they probably wouldn't just tail me if they were bent on killing me. Simple tails then, keeping tabs on me.

Up until this point, he had meandered through the streets aimlessly, attempting to clear his thoughts, which had grown muddled as of late with the death and danger that always seemed to be hanging above and around him. Now, he had a purpose and that was to lose his tails. Easier said than done, however. The tails were actually quite adept at what they did, and Valthir was having trouble getting away from them, at least through the normal means.

Time to try something a little abnormal then.

As he turned another corner, instead of continuing on at a faster pace than he had before, he stepped forward and ducked into a recessed doorway. Finding the top of the doorframe hanging low above his head, he shrunk further into the deep shadows, becoming almost lost from sight. A few moments later, the tails rounded the corner, each looking around in vain to see where he had gone. They had walked a few feet past the doorway when the pair stopped. As they looked around, Valthir froze, hidden in the darkness. Deliberately, he slowed his breath and calmed himself, something that had become almost second habit to him. One continued on as he had before, albeit slightly more frustrated, as the other stayed where he was and looked around. Soon, the partner returned.

Failure was probably not familiar to them as various expressions crossed each face, ranging from disappointment to outright rage. With a whirl, one turned and stalked away, leaving the other to stare off down the street, towards where the man imagined Valthir had disappeared. After a few moments, he turned away and then stopped again, facing the doorway. With a thoughtful expression, he peered into the darkness of the doorway and started to take a step towards it, only to be distracted by his partner’s call. Taking another glimpse at the doorway, he sighed resignedly and followed his companion.

Unsure as to whether or not they had truly gone, Valthir waited for what seemed to be an eternity and slowly poked his head out, peeking around the corner. Seeing no one, he carefully edged out and moved back down the street, the same way he had originally been walking. 

***Three months later***

They had sent more after that first pair of tails, as many as one per day. They had sent not just tails, but assassins, bounty hunters, and the like after him, trying to kill him. He had outsmarted every one so far. Although, he couldn’t lay the victory directly on his shoulders; tremendous good luck on his part and tremendous bad luck on the part of others had played a vital role in many of his escapes. Time and time again, he had been very nearly killed, yet through some unforeseeable fluke, he managed to either kill his opponent or just plainly disappear. Those near escapes had eventually taken their toll on him though. He still bore a few long scars and burns, more as a reminder of certain failures than anything else.

He sat, perched on the edge of a building, unconsciously rubbing one such scar. It was a remnant from a fight with one the latest batch of assassins sent after him. The Masters, before that one, had stuck with assassins found on planet, which had met with zero success. Desperate, they expanded their search outwards.

That fight had been a fierce one, one of the toughest ones yet. Despite that, the only major injury he had sustained was the very one he was touching. He remembered how he got it, by way of the assassin’s knife, thrown with deadly precision towards Valthir’s head. There had been no time to duck or dodge it. All he had been able to do was bring his hand, which had already been moving, up into the knife’s path. The knife had sunk up to the hilt in Valthir’s hand, erupting from the other side. As the pain had racked Valthir’s body, he had been caught by a few other knives, nearly incapacitating him with the pain. It had blinded him, to the point where he passed out. Before he had done so though, he later vaguely remembered the feel of doing something, though he could not remember any specifics.

He had awoke later, alone. The assassin had disappeared, and his hand throbbed, but was not nearly as painful as it had been. Quickly gathering his wits, he had fled the area.

Valthir pushed those memories away and focused on his current mission, which was about to come to fruition. A starship had docked in the local spaceport earlier in the day. The pilot had apparently run low on fuel near the planet and drifted in. Once hearing of the news, Valthir had hatched his plan to escape. Gathering up his small amount of belongings, he had met every one of his contacts to extract credits or items from them, in return for the favors he had done for them. With everything in his bags, he had begun watching the spaceport. Luckily for him, the spaceport was incredibly small, so he could easily see the ship from his vantage point. Based on what his sources told him, the ship was going to be lifting off in less than an hour.

Deciding it was time to pay the pilot a visit, Valthir descended from the building and entered the spaceport. It didn’t take long to find him. The first place Valthir had visited was the bar. One look was all it took and he had pegged the man sitting at the bar counter as the pilot he was looking for. Obviously an outsider, from his clothing, he seemed to be a down-on-his luck spacer. With a quick grin, Valthir approached the man, waving a credit in front of the spacer’s face once he was close enough.

“This is yours if you take me with you.” Valthir said.

The spacer looked suspicious until he glanced at the denomination of the credit chip, after which he vigorously nodded, “Definitely. But my services usually run at about twice that amount.”

Sighing, Valthir fished another credit chip from his pocket and added it to the original amount, “Half before, half after. Ok?”

With another quick nod, the spacer downed the rest of his drink and sprang to his feet.

“Ready to leave?” he asked, eying the credits.

Valthir nodded, “After you.”