In a cabin of the Aube Doré, Danica sat on the bed, clearly at ease as she leaned back with her legs loosely crossed and her arms propping her up behind her. The distant sounds of men calling to one another reached her as they unloaded the cargo from the ship. Over the years, Danica had developed an eye for hefty pockets and fine goods, and she knew exactly how valuable the expensive cloths and liquor aboard the ship were. A fine haul indeed. For some reason, they saw fit to keep her down here at the moment, so she lounged around as she waited for something to happen. She couldn’t say she minded too much; the bed was comfortable enough and patience was something she had plenty of. After all, a thief who couldn’t bide her time to strike at the opportune moment was a dead one, or at least very poor. Not to mention that she didn’t have to help with carrying all those heavy crates around like the others on deck did. What a relief.

The sound of approaching footsteps made her look up as the bandit leader crossed the room to stand before her. She felt a slight flash of irritation as he reached down to pull her up, calling her “Naga” instead of addressing her by name, but she hid the sentiment flawlessly—after all, she was used to it, and she was used to keeping up quite a charming façade. With that in mind, she allowed the man to take her hand and rose smoothly to her feet, meeting his gaze with a sly smile. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll get your money’s worth out of me,” she assured him, her eyes flashing dangerously as her mind raced, already planning her moves and strategy. She worked better in the dark, and the dim lighting of the hold would provide her with plenty of opportunity to strike from the shadows—literally. “Take care who you send down. Wouldn’t want them to get in my way,” she couldn’t resist adding. While she could use the support reinforcements would provide, Dani regardless had a habit of running her mouth even when it might not prove to her advantage.

She drew her knife, observing its keen edge before carefully returning the blade to its sheath. Her bow and quiver were with her, but there wouldn’t be much use for archery down here. Nevertheless, it seemed safer to keep them on her person, especially since her arrows were… “enhanced”. It would require a lot of effort to replace all the toxins on new arrowheads if she were to lose her current stock. Her natural venom was always a useful weapon, even if she couldn’t exactly bite through armor to get to a vital point. Still, she had enough to weaken her opponent and give her an advantage, at least temporarily. Rumors abounded in the cities that older Naga had venom potent enough to kill a grown Dimuran warrior with a single drop, but Danica highly doubted that was accurate. Maybe there was a grain of truth in there somewhere, but there was no way of knowing considering the average lifespan of most Naga living in foreign cities, and how reclusive they were. Maybe she would find out if she ever grew old enough, but she doubted that would ever happen either.

She was already dressed in full armor, of course. Considering they were floating in a river in the middle of nowhere with stolen goods, it wouldn’t do to be caught unawares without battle gear. Satisfied that she was ready for combat, Danica locked her hands together, lifting her arms above her head in a long stretch as she bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. She was already anticipating the rush of battle. Sure, there might be nothing out there and they could pull off the operation without a hitch, but experience had taught her to always be prepared, no matter what. So the Magi would wait belowdecks, melting into the shadows at the first sign of trouble with her knife in her hand.