Annaliese Warren
22. Female. 5'6". Jewel Thief.
"What Value is a Gem on a Shelf? They'd be Better Off in Me, I think."
'A streak of red followed Annaliese as she ran through back alleys and side streets, the loud clanking of the guard's boots soon turned to mere echoes as they gave up the chase having little luck catching up to the young pickpocket. A short laugh filled with a triumphant smile as the redhead scrambled up a falling wall slipping back into her small hideaway. The contents of her latest conquest spilled out on to her sleeping pallet, little more than a few coins and small bobbles, the coins quickly found themselves ushered into a tin that was quickly shoved into a small hole in the floor. The bobbles placed on a small shelf with other bright pieces of glass and broken trinkets. Her prized collection of sorts. Broken shards of jewels from the shaping of raw stones, wax seals bearing different crest, tattered strips of silk, useless trash to the higher class.
Flopping back on to her bed she grinned happily staring up at the endless sky, the roof on the condemned building long gone, as she remembered how easy it was to separate that drunk knight from his purse.
Loud berating soon made its way up to the small girls hideout, it sounded like a woman accosting her servant for not paying better attention to where they were going.
Lost rich people were Nali's favorite as she carefully made her way to the building's edge, spotting a woman decked in bright fabrics and heavily adorned with jeweled pieces, an easy mark if she had ever seen one doubting the woman would notice if a few of her smaller pieces seemed to walk off. A short jump and a few steps found the girl in a corner hovering behind the pair, a dull knife glinting in the light as she snuck closer towards the woman, adrenaline coursing through her small body almost giddy on the high from it while she make quick work of the cord holding a small chain of Citrine stones linked as a belt before dashing off again not foolish enough to return home so quickly. She could waste time loitering around the local tavern or in the slum courtyard with the rest of the cut purses in the city.
A cold hand circled around her wrist snatching her back into a shadow, as she shivered slightly, it seemed like the cold was traveling and coursing through her rendering her motionless as a dark laugh echoed behind her. Soundless words filled her mind, a soft rhyme and rhythm to them, speaking of gems and hunger, of anger and pride, strange phrases and words the young girl would come to understand later, but for now she stood staring wide eyed at the woman from early gone was her rich garb switched in place for a dark cloak hiding her face and the dark green dress peaking out from under it before the woman easily cast the young girl out into the street a cruel smile on her face as she walked away towards the palace.'Speckles of green danced around the woman's blue eyes as the emerald rolled around in her slender fingers catching the dying light from her fire, long forgotten as her mind drifted back from distant memories, back from the beginning. A sharp shake of her head drew her back to the present as the redhead swiftly moved to stock the fire once more, breathing life back into the dying embers as the hunger started to creep up the back of her throat clawing in displeasure at the long wait for its food, her eyes slowly loosing their blue hue in exchange for a deep amber, it had been several days since Annaliese had been able to secure the food she needed, outskirt towns held little in the ways of high end jewels and gems. The higher the quality the less frequent she needed to eat. A bittersweet sigh left her as the gem disappeared with a quick flick, popping it into her mouth as it slowly started to melt and trickle down her throat.
The roaring hunger and anger quelling slightly at the newest offering.
According to her map the nearest city wasn't far, though she had little hope that there would be any easy targets; her infamy had started to proceed her and it was getting harder and harder to tell a trap from a genuine mark. A short chuckle left her lips, perhaps she shouldn't have stolen the Lord Regent's Sapphire Brooch, but the hunger had called for it, her smile dropping as memories took over once again.
'Blood trickled down her lip as she fought to sate the hunger gnawing at her insides demanding to be feed. The young girl was naive in thinking if she ignore it it would go away, she had no way of getting any gems in such a rural town and had tried silver and what little fools gold she could find; it had only seemed to enhance the anger boiling inside her as dark thoughts and whispers of blood and flesh started creeping into her mind. Frightened she fled to the outskirts tripping over a root sending the slender girl flying across the ground scrapping up her knee letting out a sharp hiss and whimper of pain, the hunger seething in pleasure at the punishment of her disobedience.
A returning fisherman found the young girl passed out on the ground, her face and hair smudged with dirt and blood, her breath escaping her in short rasps and whimpers more so from the swirling storm inside than her superficial wounds. Picking her up he carried the girl back into the village marveling at how thin and frail she seemed; surely her parents wouldn't have let her waste away like this, or perhaps her parents were long gone and the small girl in his arms was left to her own devices and had to fend for herself. His heart ached as he thought of something so small having to bare such hardships. Setting her down on his bed he made short work of bandaging her cuts before setting about make her something for dinner resolving himself to take in the girl.
A small bright green pebble falling onto the bed from his pocket, a strange stone he had found while fishing.
Nali's hand snaked out just as quickly as it fell shoving the small piece of jade in her mouth, vaguely conscious of her actions as the smooth cold liquid pooled in the bottom of her stomach taking the edge of her hunger, not enough to sate it.
Unfortunately it bought her enough time to betray her instances to run, instead she choose to believe in the man who took her in finding herself enjoying living a simple life with him instead of working to survive and keep the hunger at bay. She stubbornly ignored the signs of the hunger building, purposefully misinterpreting the outburst of angers as a young girl's fluctuating emotions. She worked hard to blend in with the village for them to accept her as one of their own, making friends with the other children her age; wistfully hoping that there was no downside to ignoring her curse, that she was just letting her imagination run wild.
The happy charade lasted a month at most before the hunger won over turning the raging anger inside her on her new found friends and family.
It was a bright morning as she ran home with an armful of flowers, happily expecting praise from her father at how good she was doing and how much better she looked. The gleam of his knife as it slide through the fish, gutting and cleaning it for breakfast had her entranced as the flowers scattered to the floor; before she realized it the knife was in her hand stained red as her adopted father clutched his throat his eyes wide with shock and hurt staring glassy eyed back at her while the blood poured out onto the floor. The blade slide across her tongue as she licked it clean, her eyes glowing a deep yellow.
When she came to the rest of village was slaughtered and her light blue dress stained red with blood, the bodies of her friends littered around her, a foreign metallic taste clinging to her mouth and tongue as she stood there in disbelief a sharp clatter as the knife fell from her hands. Hot tears started to well in her eyes, as she kept muttering to herself that this was nothing but a bad dream, she would wake up soon.'Three times she had tried to disobey the hunger, three times she had woken up covered in blood, corpses littering the ground around her, organs missing, the hunger purring happily within her as she fruitlessly tried to empty the contents of her stomach nothing but hot tears and acid hitting the blood stained ground before crawling away to the nearest building or home to clean herself up.
The first time she wasn't so quick in getting away chased out by villagers and assaulted by guards, the young woman nearly lost her life that night.
The sharp crack of the log splitting from the heat made the woman jump, her left hand shooting out towards the pair of daggers propped up next to her as she surveyed the area. The woods were no place to stop for rest, but she had little money and little choice. Reaching up she pulled the thin cloak around her, a unknown parting gift from a dimwitted villager, yet she was thankful to have it as the night slowly got colder. With her craving controlled she stood up grabbing her weapons before scaling the nearest tree to tie herself in for the night, tomorrow she would head into the city.
A girl has to eat after all.
The large gates loomed as Nali blended in with the crowd slipping her way into the city, her contact had breathed word about a large cache of gems being delivered to the local goldsmith to craft a new ceremonial crown for the new prince's coronation. A starved look flickered across her eyes at the thought of having that trove of jewels tinkling in the near empty pouch tucked away under her belt, she wasn't naive enough to leave it hanging out in a city overrun with cut purses and pickpockets. After all that's what started all of this, cutting the wrong woman's purse for a couple of coins barely enough to afford a hot meal and a warm bed. Pulling the hood up around her face covering it so only the long tendrils of her red hair spilled out she quickly slipped down a side street narrowly missing two guards on patrol neither of them bothered or payed enough to worry about another thief roaming the city.
A sharp curse and growl left her lips as she realized too late that she had just walked into a trap, the empty chest at her feet only fueled her displeasure as the loud echo of boots and shouting informed her that she was surrounded. She entertained the brief notion of ending it before they could reach her but shook her head, one day she would find the woman who cursed her and cut her beating heart out in front of her before then she swore she wouldn't die.
Prison could be no worse than this.
That was until she realized they would be sending her to the Stone, she never counted on them connecting the slaughters to her as well.
