You look Nuo up and down, trying to guess how much she weighs. She appears confused by the attention. “What are you thinking?” she asks, a little warily.
“How to get you to the top floor.”
“…You are not throwing me up there.”
“No, I don’t know how you’d land. I thought I would carry you and jump.”
“If you believed that would sound more appealing to me, you were wrong.”
“It’s safer than starting on the first floor and going up.”
“Have you done this before?”
“No.”
“…Are you giving me a choice?”
“No.”
Nuo tenses up as if to fight or run away, then relaxes with an exasperated sigh. The two of you walk around the wall to the rear of the building. You look towards the top, considering the distance. Nuo walks to the wall and puts her hands on it, also looking up.
“…this is insanity,” she says, half to herself. “Why am I…” trailing off, she lets out another sigh and comes to you. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Wait,” you stop her, suddenly realizing a problem with the plan. You pull Cleaver, Archer’s Paradox, and your quiver off your back. “You’ll need to carry these.”
“Uh…”
“Just hold still. Stick your arms out.”
Nuo visibly sags when you wrap Cleaver’s sheath around her. The bow and arrows, though lighter, do not improve her stance. “Godsblood, Nergüi, you are not inspiring confidence right now.”
“I know what I’m doing,” you interject. “This will work.”
Despite her obvious discomfort, Nuo does not resist as you take her left arm and raise it above your head. Then, leaning down, you wrap one arm around her left knee and pull her arm around your neck and down with your other hand, bending her torso over your shoulders. Then you straighten up with Nuo’s arm and leg hanging down your front. You shift her around, adjust your posture a bit, concentrate, and soon it’s as if Nuo weighs nothing at all.
Before either of you can question the plan any further, you take a couple steps forward and leap into the dark skies. Nuo gasps as the ground flies away from her. Then you land with a clatter on the tiles of the second floor roof tier. Both of you exhale forcefully from the impact. There is a moment’s pause, and then you carefully slide Nuo back onto her feet. She takes a breath and adjusts her hat, eyes wide. “I can’t believe we just did that,” she says.
You are pleased, more so than you thought you would be, but you try to keep your mind on the job. “Well, we did. Give me my weapons, and then let’s get inside.”
Nuo nods and starts unfastening your things, gently setting them down on the tiles beside her. While you wait, you edge closer to the window, squinting at the paper squares. Nuo has just started freeing herself from Cleaver when you start to hear boots stomping up wooden stairs.
With desperate hand-signaling, you try to indicate to her that she needs to move. She watches for a moment before you crouch and start moving towards the corner of the roof, away from the window you landed in front of. With gritted teeth and a thought, you quiet the clanking from your metal armor and the weapons you are still carrying. Nuo starts moving too, but instead of going to the side she goes towards the window, dropping to one knee and then rolling onto her back right underneath it. Your sheathed sword thuds against the tiles underneath her.
Inside, you see a dim glow rise against the paper in its frame, bouncing slightly – someone with a lantern has entered the office and is crossing the carpeting, walking slowly towards where Nuo lies. You draw one of your steel throwing knives, keeping your eyes on the light. The light stops at the window. The whole world holds its breath.
With a soft clacking noise, the window slides open. A man pushes a paper lantern on the end of a stick out the window. You pull your arm back and prepare to throw, but Nuo is already in motion. You barely stop yourself from letting go of the knife as she sits up, grabs the man’s arm, and pulls him through the window onto the roof. The man gasps and lets go of his light. He and Nuo roll over once and then she is sitting on his chest, leaning into him, pushing both of her fists into the sides of his neck. His face quickly turns red in the fallen lantern’s glow while he weakly tries to pull at her arms. Then, after a few seconds, he goes still.
Rising from your position, you carefully pick up the man’s light – amazingly, the paper shell didn’t catch fire – and bring it closer to Nuo and her victim.
“It’s Wei,” you say, surprised. The clerk’s rumpled robes and ruddy complexion don’t disguise the care he took with his appearance. That mustache is very distinct. “Is he dead?”
Nuo shakes her head. “No. He’ll wake up in a few minutes. Tch…” She looks at the open window into the dark office. “I knew we should have gone in on the first floor. This complicates matters…”
Now what?
“How to get you to the top floor.”
“…You are not throwing me up there.”
“No, I don’t know how you’d land. I thought I would carry you and jump.”
“If you believed that would sound more appealing to me, you were wrong.”
“It’s safer than starting on the first floor and going up.”
“Have you done this before?”
“No.”
“…Are you giving me a choice?”
“No.”
Nuo tenses up as if to fight or run away, then relaxes with an exasperated sigh. The two of you walk around the wall to the rear of the building. You look towards the top, considering the distance. Nuo walks to the wall and puts her hands on it, also looking up.
“…this is insanity,” she says, half to herself. “Why am I…” trailing off, she lets out another sigh and comes to you. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Wait,” you stop her, suddenly realizing a problem with the plan. You pull Cleaver, Archer’s Paradox, and your quiver off your back. “You’ll need to carry these.”
“Uh…”
“Just hold still. Stick your arms out.”
Nuo visibly sags when you wrap Cleaver’s sheath around her. The bow and arrows, though lighter, do not improve her stance. “Godsblood, Nergüi, you are not inspiring confidence right now.”
“I know what I’m doing,” you interject. “This will work.”
Despite her obvious discomfort, Nuo does not resist as you take her left arm and raise it above your head. Then, leaning down, you wrap one arm around her left knee and pull her arm around your neck and down with your other hand, bending her torso over your shoulders. Then you straighten up with Nuo’s arm and leg hanging down your front. You shift her around, adjust your posture a bit, concentrate, and soon it’s as if Nuo weighs nothing at all.
Before either of you can question the plan any further, you take a couple steps forward and leap into the dark skies. Nuo gasps as the ground flies away from her. Then you land with a clatter on the tiles of the second floor roof tier. Both of you exhale forcefully from the impact. There is a moment’s pause, and then you carefully slide Nuo back onto her feet. She takes a breath and adjusts her hat, eyes wide. “I can’t believe we just did that,” she says.
You are pleased, more so than you thought you would be, but you try to keep your mind on the job. “Well, we did. Give me my weapons, and then let’s get inside.”
Nuo nods and starts unfastening your things, gently setting them down on the tiles beside her. While you wait, you edge closer to the window, squinting at the paper squares. Nuo has just started freeing herself from Cleaver when you start to hear boots stomping up wooden stairs.
With desperate hand-signaling, you try to indicate to her that she needs to move. She watches for a moment before you crouch and start moving towards the corner of the roof, away from the window you landed in front of. With gritted teeth and a thought, you quiet the clanking from your metal armor and the weapons you are still carrying. Nuo starts moving too, but instead of going to the side she goes towards the window, dropping to one knee and then rolling onto her back right underneath it. Your sheathed sword thuds against the tiles underneath her.
Inside, you see a dim glow rise against the paper in its frame, bouncing slightly – someone with a lantern has entered the office and is crossing the carpeting, walking slowly towards where Nuo lies. You draw one of your steel throwing knives, keeping your eyes on the light. The light stops at the window. The whole world holds its breath.
With a soft clacking noise, the window slides open. A man pushes a paper lantern on the end of a stick out the window. You pull your arm back and prepare to throw, but Nuo is already in motion. You barely stop yourself from letting go of the knife as she sits up, grabs the man’s arm, and pulls him through the window onto the roof. The man gasps and lets go of his light. He and Nuo roll over once and then she is sitting on his chest, leaning into him, pushing both of her fists into the sides of his neck. His face quickly turns red in the fallen lantern’s glow while he weakly tries to pull at her arms. Then, after a few seconds, he goes still.
Rising from your position, you carefully pick up the man’s light – amazingly, the paper shell didn’t catch fire – and bring it closer to Nuo and her victim.
“It’s Wei,” you say, surprised. The clerk’s rumpled robes and ruddy complexion don’t disguise the care he took with his appearance. That mustache is very distinct. “Is he dead?”
Nuo shakes her head. “No. He’ll wake up in a few minutes. Tch…” She looks at the open window into the dark office. “I knew we should have gone in on the first floor. This complicates matters…”
Now what?
- Leave, take Wei with you. There’s not enough time to search the office now – even if nobody else heard you, someone will surely notice Wei is missing before long. But Himitsu’s toady probably knows more than you could find by fishing through scrolls…
- Stick to the plan and search the office. You could restrain and gag Wei, or just kill him while he’s out. Then you can investigate for however much time you have.
- Abandon stealth. Assault the first floor from the stairs now, while surprise is on your side. Kill anyone standing between you and the magus and see what he knows at swordpoint.
- Something else?
Exalted 
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