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Twin silhouettes sat upon the edge of a cliff which overlooked a sprawling village of nice, well put together homes. A village of middle class folks milling about cobblestone roads, of traders that passed in and out of the city gates, carrying vast arrays of silks and salts and treasures from all over the land.
...
“Hey, Taako, wanna play a game?”
“Um, you mean, wanna beat you at a game?”
“Whatever-- do you want in, or not?”
One of the twins flopped back, letting themselves sprawl out in cool grass… He was a very young elf, possibly only in his early teens, which was practically infantile when it came to elven ages… He gave a dramatic sigh, eying his twin, another young elf, who watched him in earnest excitement.
“Ugh, whatever, Lup… what’s in it if I win..?”
Lup stood, adjusting the worn but expensive looking dress that hung loosely over her shoulders and past her knees, “Loser carries all our shit to the next town.”
“Lame.”
“You won’t be saying that when you lose~”
Taako seemed distracted by the thought, gaze lingering back over the sprawling village below them. They needed to get something to carry them over for the next couple of months... something good, something that they could hock off in the next city to give them some coin.
This was a dumb way to do it… but he couldn’t let Lup challenge him and wimp out, right..?
“Ugh. Okay. Alright. Okay, you’re on.” Taako languidly pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his pants.
“Fuck. Yeah.” Lup balled her fists and punched the air, a wildly mischievous look on her face.
Taako yawned, approaching the edge of the cliff, hands on his hips, “So you gonna lay them deets on me or?”
“Okay, listen, it’s easy. We get down in that shit, right? Each of us steals the best thing we can find. The first one to get back up here with the best thing wins.”
Taako eyed her from over his shoulder, “Um, that’s kinda subjective, don’t you think?”
“We’ll play it straight! Just straight up, what can we sell this for, kinda value, okay?”
Taako seemed lost in thought for a moment before glancing back at her again, “Sure. Sounds good… but, hey, Lup..?”
“Yeah?”
“You, uh, better get good.”
As soon as Taako finished speaking, he stepped backward and off the edge of the cliff.
“TAAKO!” Lup scrambled forward, almost throwing herself off the edge after him-- but when she saw him, he was floating languidly toward the ground, cheesing with the wildest grin he could manage.
“Feeeeeeather fall~” Taako’s feet hit the ground, and as soon as they did, he was fuckin’ gone. He took off into the brush and toward the village.
WHEN DID HE LEARN TO DO THAT?
“Oh, you-- Oh, it’s fuckin’ on now, you better re-cog-nize!” And Lup threw herself off the edge of the cliff after him, but instead of floating, she used the heels of her boots to grind down the slightly slanted surface. She tumbled a bit, toward the bottom, but she ended up landing on her feet.
And she was off.
But damn, if she wasn’t bitter about it.
Taako was so good at magic! They were elves, so they were kind of predisposed to it, but the fact that he could now cast THREE spells that she knew of, and she still couldn’t do ANY was so enraging!
But at the same time, she was so proud. She was super proud of him, that was for sure, but it also sucked that despite her best work, it just wouldn’t come to her as effortlessly as Taako… Taako who could now cast mage hand, prestidigitation AND feather fall, apparently!
“MAGIC IS CHEATING!” She called after Taako’s retreating figure… he seemed to be heading toward the opposite side of town as her, which was fine, “but you’re gonna need it to beat me anyways!!”
She huffed and straightened her dress out, glaring at her own feet for a minute before steeling herself to get to work. She’d find something to really set them up straight. They’d eat like kings for weeks! They’d get new clothes and maybe even a room at an inn for a while! Yeah, hell yeah!
Determination etched her features as she strolled as casually as she could into the village.
That was the thing about being elves. No one really gave you a second look… especially a high elf in modestly expensive looking clothing. Sure, her dress didn’t quite fit right, and hung a little loose on her shoulders, but it was still nice and well taken care of.
So she was free to stroll the streets, eying various merchandise, coin purses, window displays… and despite shrewd eyes, her countenance was that of impassive, childlike curiosity.
Taako was very much opposite his sister. He hadn’t strode into town like he owned the place… instead, he was slinking through a back alley, ears perked, listening as intently as he could to the sights and sounds of passer-by. There was a shop, and he’d seen it from the cliffside, with a golden, gilded sign… a fancy looking to-do, really... and a wagon was unloading merchandise in the side alley.
And he was gonna get in on that.
Despite having more of a proficiency in magic than his sister, he didn’t quite possess the same confidence she did. He was more calculating, more shrewd… and careful as he could be to not be seen and not be heard, because confrontation was something he absolutely did not want.
Taako scoped out the scene as best he could from behind a pile of crates-- two half elves guarded the back of the wagon, and a rather stout human man was unloading crates and carpet bags from the open back.
A slick looking black dragonborn in a nice suit accepted the wares into the shop, jotting things down on a clipboard as they passed the threshold.
So, first order of business, he needed a target. Something small and hopefully valuable that he could snatch from them without too much effort. Second, he needed a distraction for when he decided to make a move… something to draw the attention of the two guards away to somewhere else. Third, he needed an escape route-- easy enough, he’d already taken care of that part. There was a passage back about three alleys that led to a winding back street, and it just so happened that that was the way he got here to begin with.
One. Two. Three.
He didn’t have to wait long to find his target, either.
As the human man went back into the wagon, the posh dragonborn at the doorway actually took a couple of steps forward, “Hey, hey-- that one, there, be careful. It’s worth more than your life, and the lives of everyone here.”
The human man grunted some annoyance in response, and as he stepped out of the back of the wagon, in his hand was a box about the size of an apple. It was brilliantly colored and wrapped in velvet fabric… and exactly the sort of thing that Taako wanted to steal to totally fucking show up his sister.
As stealthily as he could, Taako pointed at the package, and he cast prestidigitation upon it. A small, not easily noticed mark was burned into the side. He’d use that to find it, just in case he lost track… and then, in the same breath, he cast the spell once again to shower sparks right over the clipboard in the dragonborn’s hand.
The shopkeeper gasped, rightfully shocked by the magic and the fact that his paper was rapidly catching on fire-- “W-what in the hell!?”
The two half-elf guards were at attention, sharply regarding their surroundings with bows drawn taut. Taako sniggered to himself, and he cast the spell one last time to mimic the sound of something scuttling away on the opposite end of the alley.
“There!” One of the half-elves took off, trailed quickly by the human man, who passed the box off to the dragonborn, who had thrown their clipboard to the ground and was fuming.
Taako took the moment of distraction to move. He darted from the pile of crates to the wagon in the flurry of action everyone took. He kept his head low, creeping along the side to peer out. He’d have to use mage hand, or… something to get that box away from the dragonborn.
But when he rounded the wagon, the half-elf and dragonborn he’d been expecting to see when he peered out were gone.
Immediately, Taako’s stomach dropped. No, wait, that wasn’t right--
A clawed hand snatched a fistful of the back of Taako’s hair, and he was unceremoniously jerked up by the dragonborn merchant, who now bore a sly and dangerous smile, “Well, look at what the cat dragged in~”
“Get the fuck off--!” Taako immediately protested, hand going for his waist to attempt and draw a weapon, a small, silver dagger from a previous haul.
Before he could, another set of hands snatched his arm-- the half-elf, who had followed the shopkeep in stalking Taako’s movements.
“Listen, little elfling, you’re going to have to do better than that if you’re going to out rogue a rogue,” the dragonborn hissed, before tossing Taako bodily toward the half-elf who was still clutching his hand.
“Dispatch him, please. We don’t have time for this riff-raff.”
“You got it. Ey-- Kingson, get back over here!” The half-elf shoved Taako to the ground, and immediately he tried to scramble away, but before he could get far, a boot slammed down onto his face--
The heel crushed his nose, the toe slammed into his eye-- Taako yowled in surprise at the pain.
He was in trouble.
…
Lup, who had positioned herself in a jewelry store not far down the road, was none-the-wiser to her twin’s trouble at first. She’d managed to sweet talk the manager, saying she was looking for something to give to her dear, sick mother back home… she had in her hands a brilliant diamond necklace, woven with roses the color of ruby. Cha-ching. Easy. Now, she just needed a distraction--
A ruckus from outside got both her and the shopkeep’s attention. A half-elf and a human ran by the shop, yelling something about a thief.
A… thief…
Lup felt ice run in her veins. Taako.
“Oh, oh no~” The shopkeeper rushed past Lup, “you stay here, love, it could be dangerous out there!” Of course, the woman was a busybody, and she opened the door to crane her neck and try to see what was happening without, well, having to run out, herself.
Lup had no time for this. She turned and ducked under the jewelry cases, and barreled toward the back of the store. She slammed out of the back door and took off down the back alley as quickly as her legs would take her.
She could feel it now. She knew, she knew Taako was in trouble. They shouldn’t have split up-- that was a terrible idea. Sure, Taako was able to take care of himself, but… but, fuck, she should have been there to protect him.
When Lup skid around the corner, it was to exactly the scene she hoped and prayed it wasn’t-- Taako was bleeding on the ground, blood pooling beneath his face from what appeared to be a broken nose, and there were two half-elves standing over him… one with a bow drawn right at his face, the other with his shoe twisting into Taako’s chest.
No. Nonono. No no no.
“GET OFF HIM!” She roared, and charged forward.
The half-elf who had their bow drawn toward her brother jerked it up toward her, now, instead… though he hesitated at the sight of a young girl barreling toward them-- one who looked so very identical to the boy they’d just caught stealing.
“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” The shopkeeper roared, and with his surprise at the yell, the half-elf loosed his bow.
Lup ducked, dodging the arrow as she came skidding onto the scene. She rammed straight into the man pinning her brother down, which knocked him back.
“Taako, Taako,” she grabbed his arms and sat him up, eyes horrified as they raked over the bruising quickly forming over his cheek and eye… the blood that dripped freely from his nose, staining his shirt… She felt white hot rage alight within her heart at the sight of her brother, her fucking best friend, her… god, her heart, looking so-- so…--
“Fuck, I’m sorry-- Taako, this is my fault. I’ll get us out of here…”
“You little bitch--” The dragonborn was snarling, now, lips crackling with energy as he approached the twins, “you’re both fucking dead.”
Lup’s eyes flashed as she looked up from Taako’s damaged face… her gaze refocused on the group of men who approached them, “I would like to see you fucking try--” She snarled, expression wild, body tense and ready to spring.
And suddenly, she felt it. She felt something happen… something within herself. Like a dam breaking loose at the behest of a raging river, a barrier snapped in her mind, and a rush of energy filled her veins, filled her heart. Her hands were burning, and energy crackled from her fingertips with wild abandon.
Oh, she was about to light these motherfuckers up.
Before anyone could move, Lup lifted her hands, a smile twisted across her face, teeth bore in rage and also in delight, “Eat a dick!”
She cast fireball.
Flames raged forth from her palms, engulfing the wagon, burning at all four of the men who were assailing them, assailing her brother.
It was safe to assume that their focus shifted from the twin elves on the ground and to their own burning clothes and the wares that were now at risk in the wagon… and Lup snatched that opportunity. She grabbed Taako off of the ground and took the fuck off, dragging him behind her.
“Turn right--” Taako muttered, one hand covering his nose as it continued to bleed, “there’s a passage out back here.”
“Got it,” Lup bolted them through the twists and turns of the back alleys and out of the city.
...
The two of them didn’t stop running until they had reached their campsite back atop the cliff they’d from whence they’d began, and where they promised to meet back with their treasure…
“Fuck, Taako, I’m so sorry--” As soon as they stopped, Lup had her hands on her brother’s face, looking over his wounds with a lip worrying in her teeth.
“Listen, I’m fine-- nothing, no big-- it’s--”
“No, I… it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have split us up just for some stupid game. We can’t watch out for each other that way-- we can’t…”
“Shh. Sh-sh-sh...” Taako drew back from her hold, wagging a finger, “what makes you think I didn’t have them right where I wanted them?”
Lup looked confused, “you were getting your face mashed in, Taako, I don’t…”
Before Lup could continue, Taako drew from within his bag a brightly colored box wrapped in fine velvet…
“Lemme just tell you right now that whatever you’ve got isn’t gonna beat this~ Guess who’s carrying all our shi--iiiitttt!” Taako pranced back on his heels, a fingergun pointed right at Lup, “Not to ruin the, uh, suspense but, it’s you, boo~”
“Taako-- … Taako, I’m gonna kill you.” Lup growled and marched toward him, but her brother skipped back a few more steps.
“Now, hang on-- We’re gonna be set! It’s a good thing that happened!” Taako dramatically held the box forward, wiggling his fingers over it before popping it open…
… to reveal a piece of parchment.
Neither of them moved, time stretching between them for what felt like ages, “I-uh… this is…”
Lup jerked a hand forward and snatched the note, and she read it over before barking a laugh.
“B-bro-- Bro, you got fuckin’ had, well-- actually, I guess that slimy dragonborn was getting had, too-- it says here that the owner of this treasure knew those bandits were gonna rob him, so he hid it somewhere else. Um, it also says ‘suck my butt,’ nice, seems like a cool guy.”
Taako was silent, lips pooched out in a pout.
“Aaaaand, I guess that means Lup wins~” And from within the front of her dress, she pulled out the diamond and ruby necklace, “so you better get packin’ up, boyo~”
“Uggghhhhh…” Taako dramatically slumped down by their extinguished campfire.
Of course, in the end, they both carried their burdens to the next city. The competition between them died out as quickly as it had arrived, and Lup had taken care to mend Taako’s face as best she could before they took off again.
Life on the road was too hard for them to be competing with each other.
And despite everything, Lup made sure that even if they did split up again, she was in a position that she could always protect Taako from harm.