"Thank you! Come back and see me again anytime!"

Louise took a well-deserved sigh of relief as she waved to the small group of people whom had all stayed around to watch her perform. Her feet were sore from her constant standing as she had taken no break today, trying her best to attract as big of an audience as she possibly could all day. Her money purse was empty besides, so she hadn't bothered to act like she was rich and go find some pub and get a small drink or something to snack on. Other her feet and rumbling stomach, her fingers and throat ached, her fingers from the constant playing on her harp and her throat from all the singing she had been doing that day. Performing wasn't as easy as it looked, especially if one did it for a living.

However, a small smile graced her thin lips as she looked down to her cloak, which she had placed on the ground earlier that morning for passerbys to drop gold on, and she was glad to see a handful of coins glittering in the setting sun's eyes as it struggled to continue its bright shine of day onto the world. However, Louise knew it would only fail, and would leave soon enough to let the moon take over its nightly shift. When that happened, and the moon was with its accomplices -- the stars -- that would be when Louise knew she was done for the day and could relax. Maybe she'd even be lucky and find a somewhat decent place for her to stay the night with the newly acquired gold.

'Must hurry and gather my things before nightfall...'Twould be harder then than now...'

Shaking her head, Louise closed her eyes for a moment, drawing in a deep breath and releasing it once more. She was so exhausted; she felt as if she were about to fall right then and there. Reopening her misty gray depths, Louise ran a hand through her long, light brown hair before she reached down into her clothes, soon pulling out her money purse. Kneeling down, the female then grasped the gold that lay on her cloak, and she managed the coins into the small purse before she closed it, returning it back into her garmets. She then picked up her cloak and she threw it over her shoulders, reaching down one last time to pick up her beloved harp. It was her life, and the way she handled it proved that it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to her.

Just for good measure, Louise plucked at some of the strings, humming a soft tune she knew from when she was a little girl and her parents were still around. A saddened smile crept upon her lips as she began strolling down the streets, heading for the closest pub or inn in the area that she would be able to afford to stay the night in. Maybe she could even afford a small drink. She highly doubted that food would be in reach, though; food cost a lot these days. Especially for those that had no where to call home and held no lives other than that of which they lived from day to day. If those were to be considered lives. It was more-so an act of survival. A poor act of survival.

Arthano sat silently on the roof of one of the many buildings that littered the city of Lómëdor, his legs hanging off the side of the roof. He looked up to see the moon rising higher and higher into the air, the stars slowly coming into view. His yellow eyes, once white as snow, now as yellow as the sun, scanned the horizon for something... anything... to relieve his mind of this constant pain that plagued him. But it was not to be so, for nothing troubled the streets these nights. A simple performer walked the streets, touting her little horn or harp or whatever the heck it was.

He really didn't care.

Music had never been something that he liked very much, but perhaps that was because he had never heard any really good music. Art in general had never interested him very much, but the sight of blood had. When his infatuation with death of villains began, he didn't know, but he wanted to be a hero, just like any kid who didn't know what it was like to take a life.

Until he did.

Arthano sighed softly, cold breath flowing from his mouth as mist. His hand reached out to grab it, yet came back with nothing but moisture and a bit of annoyance. Arthano chuckled to himself, wondering where his wits had gone, and then something caught his eye. In the alleyway just next to him two men lurked, waiting to attack the woman who walked the streets as though there were nothing in the world that could touch her.

However, she was gravely mistaken.

Just as they looked as though they were about to jump out and attack her, Arthano leaped from the roof, landing upon ones shoulders and sending him to the ground before he pulled out his katana. Arthano then proceeded to loop the other man's head off in one quick movement of his sword and then stab the man whom he was standing upon several times until he was sure he was dead. Arthano walked slowly from the shadows, wiping off his sword as he spoke.

"You shouldn't walk alone as the darkness of the night approaches milady."

Of course, Louise remained unaware of the two men hiding in the dark alleyway that she was soon to pass by, their intent eyes staying on her and watching her every move as they waited for the perfect time to attack her. The performer's mind was wandering off into its own little world as her feet took her wherever their destination was, her hair falling into her face as her fierce eyes got that distant look in them, as if she wasn't a part of this reality world any longer.

She had barely passed by that same alleyway where her attackers had been when she heard someone speak. Snapping out of her thoughts, Louise looked over her shoulder with a soft 'huh?'. Her eyes fluttered open at what she saw: a man walking towards her from the alley's dark, looming shadows, wiping his bloodied blade clean. Fear arose on her features, and Louise took a couple steps away from him.

"Wh-What...What do thou want from me?" she asked in a hesitant voice, her eyes never peeling away from the blade he held in his hands. "What servive might thou have of me?" she asked once again, her eyelids narrowing over her eyes as if trying to appear more courageous and less fearful than she actually was. She gripped onto her harp with her left hand, using her right to grasp the hilt of the dagger she carried lowly on her left hip.

"Well? Thou will do well to speak!"