Mission:
I squinted at the brilliant sunset as it sank down into the sea, the reflection off the waters brighter than the firey orb itself. I leaned back against the outer wall of Ublaz's palace, resting my head against the stone structure and closing my eyes momentarily, holding the strip of cloth in my paws. On that cloth was written the threat that was so kindly delivered to Emporer Ublaz, as he found it pinned just above his head by an arrow. On it were written the words "Next time I will hit you."

Just after the arrow was loosed, a Monitor guard claimed he had spotted a small rat perched on the window sill. How that rat had managed to scale the wall and balance on the narrow ledge and still be able to shoot an arrow accurately was beyond me. This beast was either an acrobat, a squirrel, or insane enough to attempt this.

As I sat staring at the note blankly, the first thing that caught my mind was the writing. Any seabeast could have written it, the letters half-formed, disconnected and the words incorrectly spelled. The note actually read "Nekst tim I wil hitt yu" The cloth was filthy and frayed, the charcoal lettering smudged. I had the notion that we were not dealing with the most intelligent of beasts here.

I stared upwards, hunched down within the cover of my black cloak and stared upwards at the pinpricks of light through the black cover of night, the western horizon still glowing slightly but the sun completely set. I realized that I was hungry and thirsty and headed off towards the taverns for a drink and a bite to eat. The building was absolutely packed as I picked my way through the crowd, picking up a cooked fish and a mug of ale and heading off to a small, round table near the far corner. I seated myself, took a long draught of the drink and munched thoughtfully on my meal. The chances of me finding the sniper were very slim. I only knew that it was a small rat, and where I was to find this small rat on all of Sampetra was beyond me. He could have even escaped on one of the ships that left the jetty earlier today.

I took out the cloth and placed it on the table, resting my chin on my paws and simply staring at it blankly. I was baffled. I had been examining the cloth for a few minutes longer when I spotted the beast standing across the table from me. My eyes drifted up before I snapped my head up, my surprise registered clearly in my eyes. There, right in front of me, was a small rat, matching the description given to me by the monitor as the sniper. He was staring down at the note. I mumbled "I don't believe this," under my breath and cleared my throat, catching his attention. He looked up and stared blankly. "Might I help you?"

Without replying, he seated himself across for me and reached for the note. I flicked his paw away with a snap of my wrist. He jerked away and said quite plainly. "I'd like my note back."

I bit my lip to keep back a smile and used every last shred of will power to keep myself from bursting out laughing. My voice wavered a touch. "This is your note?"

The rat nodded. "Oh yes, it is. See, it's my writing."

I leaned back in my chair and glanced away for a moment, not believing what I was hearing. I had thought it would have been a little more difficult to find the sniper, but here he was, plain as day, asking for his note back! I turned back to him and smiled cruelly. He cocked his head to one side as if confused. "Are you gonna give it to me?"

I sntached the note off the table and crumpled it up in my paw. "You admit that this is your note?"

The rat sighed impatiently, the anger rising in his voice. "For the last time, give me back my letter." This beast was completely and utterly insane. He stood up suddenly, causing his chair to topple over backwards. I tensed up in alarm, ready for anything. His voice wavered and lowered. "I'll ask you once more, give me back my note or I will take it from your cold, dead fingers."

I stood up, enraged that this... this scum could even think that he could get the better of me. I was aware of other beasts stopping behind to watch. I was just a touch taller than the rat, and I was among the shortest and smallest beasts of Sampetra. "Listen, rat." My voice was cold, my eyes hard. "If you even try to get it from me, you'll be dead before you can think twice about it." I kicked my chair away from behind me so I would be able to react without an obstacle in my way if he should try anything.

The rat looked away for a moment, as if having second thoughts, then turned back and dove at me, his paws latching around my throat rather unexpectedly. I fell back, kicking him off me and rolling back up to my footpaws. The rat crashed into a chair and lay still a moment before kicking free and standing up. He looked up at me and froze, pulling his neck back from my scimitars, which I had crossed against his neck like scissors. I slowly let one blade drop, pressing the tip of the other into his chin and forcing his head up. With my other blade I struck him across the nose with the flat of it, sending him spinning away into the crowd with a cry of pain and dismay. He latched onto somebeast, pulled himself upright and took off through the crowd towards the door.

I screamed out curses and chased after him, dodging and leaping around the other beasts in the tavern, my quarry throwing down chairs and even other beasts behind him in an effort to slow me down. He had just about reached the door when he stumbled over a barstool, kicking it back at me and skittering out the door. I leaped over the stool but landed awkwardly, twisting my ankle painfully and careening full speed into the doorframe. I cried out in agony as I spun out through the open door, doing an awkward hop-skip backwards before my footpaws went out from under me and I landed on my side on the hard packed earth, choking for breath. I sat up almost immediately, threw my scimitars down and pulled my longbow free from the straps on my back. I looked around, spotted the dark figure racing off across the sands and, faster than the eye could follow, I whipped an arrow from my half-full quiver, set it on my bowstring and rested it against my cheek, sighting down the shaft before I let it fly. I remained frozen for a moment, my uninjured arm halfway back to the quiver.

The arrow sped forward like an angry wasp and thudded deep within the small of the retreating beast's back, his high-pitched squeal of agony dying away to a sickening gurgle as he pitched forward and landed face-first in the dirt, skidding to a stop, unmoving. I smile coldly and placed my bow back in it's place, sheathing my scimitars at my sides and, in one painful, swaying motion, I pushed myself back onto my footpaws, limping slowly towards the still figure. I took my time, approaching cautiously. When I reached him, I found my arrow, embedded half it's length in the small of his back. Staring in the dark, I froze. "I don't believe this." I threw my head back and screamed aloud, cursing the night itself. I stooped down and grasped the arrow, wrenching it free and flinging it as far as I could. I moaned loudly and fell to the ground in a sitting position, staring at the figure in absolute disbelief, for it was not the rat I had persued who lay slain, but a small stoat instead.

I lay back, staring up at the stars above, the new moon, and the blackness beyond. I had probably lost my only chance to catch the sniper. I cursed my stupidity for not dealing with the rat properly in the tavern. I reached over withmy good arm and gently massaged my injured shoulder. I winced. Boy, did it hurt! I don't know how long I remained there, my only companions being the cold earth and the stoat with a sizeable hole in his back. I closed my eyes for a moment, but snapped them open once more as I heard the sounds of somebeast slowly approaching. I didn't have the heart to stand up but slowly drew a hunting knife from the brace of long knives strapped across my torso and waited.

The approaching beast stopped, the appeared, leaning over me in the dark, their face covered in shadow. A familliar voice reached my ears. "Are you going to give my note back now?" I cried out in anger and brought my knife down, jamming it to the hilt through his footpaw and pinning him to the ground. He screamed and bent double, but I had one of my scimitars free in an instant and brought it up with such force that it passed clean through him until it stopped, half the length of the blade in his chest, the other half stained crimson and glittering wetly in the moonlight, protruding from his back. His screamed died to a slow gurgle and blood oozed from his open mouth, his face frozen in a mask of surprise and agony.

I pulled my scimitar free, let him slump to the ground and cleaned the blade off on his tunic. I retrieved my knife, cleaned it in a similar fashion and slowly got to my feet, glad to have rid Sampetra of a completely insane rat. I limped off into the night, heading towards the lights of the taverns, a vicious half-smile on my face. "I need a drink."