(Don't) Blink:

(1) The Practice Run

Corvo's mind was whirling. He'd grown up going to sermons at the Abbey of the Everyman, just like most children in the Empire. He'd never been particularly faithful, especially as he grew older. Still, sheer repetition had driven some of the information into his memory permanently.

He was standing in front of the Outsider. He'd been marked by the Outsider.

Somewhere inside of him, the little boy who'd actually listened to those Abbey sermons was curled up and shivering in a terrified ball. That part of him was surprisingly easy to ignore when he considered the advantages he'd likely gain from this.

"Now come find me," came the order, and it never occurred to him to disobey even as the creature in front of him faded into nothingness.

He shook out his tense muscles and eyed the endless Void around him. A familiar white pavilion caught his eye, and he walked to the edge of his platform. He was forced to stop there, as there was nothing to bridge the gap between his piece of land and the next. He frowned at the empty void separating the islands thoughtfully.

Come find me.

Alright. If he was expected to play in this supernatural game of hide and seek, it was likely that whatever powers he'd been given would get him across.

He focused on his left hand, clenching his fist and trying to draw on whatever magic or power it was supposed to let him access, and it came to him surprisingly easily. It was a bit like holding a living thing, or hovering his hand in front of the electricity of one of Sokolov's Walls, feeling power and static writhe and build against his skin. The new mark on the back of his hand burned brightly, a pleasant warmth against the surrounding skin. An answering glow of light appeared in front of him, moving along with his hand as he waved it experimentally.

When he moved his hand far out to the side, the light remained even in the open space of the Void. He tipped his head thoughtfully to the side and, not thinking it through properly, loosened his grip on the power. In the next instant, he was tumbling through empty space. His mouth opened in a silent scream, arms and legs flailing madly in midair as his stomach lodged up in his throat.

He remained in freefall for several long, panic-stricken seconds before wisps of darkness appeared, surrounding him and halting his fall. He hung there for an instant, trapped and blind.

He came tumbling out of the blackness a second later, landing in a crouch with enough force to rattle his teeth. He stumbled upright, trying to reorient himself, and found himself across from the familiar pavilion again.

He was, apparently, right back where he started.

He stood there for a second, panting heavily as his heart raced. The Void swirled around him, undisturbed.

Right. Be careful where you aim.

He turned his gaze away from the emptiness below the edge of the land resolutely, calling more power from the Void and focusing this time on the floating patch of land in front of him. Even in his determination he could not stop his cheeks from reddening.

The Outsider was likely above such things, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was laughing at him.

(2) The Fireplace

Corvo surveyed the room from his perch on the cabinet next to the doors, carefully depositing a sleeping Overseer where he couldn't be seen from below. Magic hissed faintly in his ears, a rune above the lit fireplace drawing his attention.

He forced himself to concentrate. It will wait. Focus on the mission.

One clench and release of his fist, and he was down next the glasses and wine. For one long second, he considered switching their places. It was tempting to let Campbell die by his own plot, but in the end he reached out and knocked them over, shattering both delicate glasses. He'd deal with Campbell personally.

He faced the fireplace and drew his Blink back up, aiming for the edge of the mantle as he circled the table. If he could aim it just right, reaching the rune would be much easier.

Then his foot caught on the edge of the carpet and he tripped, throwing both his hands out instinctively to catch himself.

He landed with a crash, banging his head on a low ceiling and falling on his ass in something uncomfortably hot. It took him one second of irritated confusion to realize where he'd ended up.

He rolled frantically to the side to get out of the fireplace, swatting hurriedly at the sparks on his coat and the small corner near the bottom hem that had actually caught fire. A messy trail of ash and wood chips scattered across the expensive carpet as he moved. With his coat still smoking slightly, Corvo glared up at the rune, embarrassment and frustration warring for dominance. With a heavy sigh he jumped, snagging the rune with the tips of his fingers and silencing its song.

He was still standing there, wondering if he should take the time to activate it, when a clock began striking the hour. Drawn out of his reverie, he finally noticed the footsteps and voices approaching the door. At the sound of Campbell's voice, Corvo threw himself away from the fireplace, rounding the table and pulling the double doors he'd come through closed as he reached the hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief as they clicked shut.

He turned around and almost walked into an Overseer standing directly behind him, apparently frozen in surprise.

They both unfroze at the same moment. The Overseer had just enough time to draw in breath to shout before Corvo punched him in the stomach, forcing the air back out in a rush. The hilt of Corvo's sword connected with the back of the man's head as he doubled over, dropping him. Corvo caught the Overseer's tunic before the body hit the floor, trying to prevent any more noise. No one came rushing into the hallway, so he assumed he'd gotten away with it this time.

Snarling to himself, Corvo dragged the body around a corner to hide it as he eavesdropped on the conversation in the next room. His head jerked up as he heard Campbell exclaim, "What? Who's been in here?"

Struck by a sudden thought, he whipped his head around to check behind him. Finding nothing, he relaxed in relief.

Leaving a trail of ash behind him would have been terribly conspicuous.

(3) The Fence

Corvo slipped out of Galvani's office onto the first floor balcony with Crowley's message tucked into his pocket, stepping nimbly over the snoring form of the Watch Guard he'd left there on his way in. He crouched down next to the railing to track the Guards patrolling Boulevard below, considering the quickest path back to the Old Distillery.

He could play it safe and just travel back around the edges of the rooftops. Or…

He grinned at the thought of a challenge and clambered up to balance on the balcony railing. A quick flash of power and he was on top of a nearby streetlight, barely landing before he Blinked again, appearing directly atop the loudspeaker suspended in the middle of the street. He balanced for a second, checking on the guards, before Blinking onwards to the next streetlight and up to the art dealer's balcony in quick succession. He couldn't resist a small amount of smugness as he looked back at the wide expanse he'd crossed in so little time.

Turning, he readied his power again. He'd only need to Blink twice more, once to the top of the furthest railing post from him, and then over the wall to the left, which would leave him in the alley near Griff's shop. He took careful aim and –

"How old did you say your sister was?"

A guard's voice shattered the silence, below and to his right. Corvo twitched, startled, and released the Blink.

He threw out his arms, wildly trying to balance, as his footing dropped out from under him and he wobbled precariously on the sharp black metal spikes that made up the fence railing. The solid post he'd been aiming for was at least two feet in front of him.

His feet slipped.

He slammed down hard against the spikes, pain exploding as he bounced off and crashed down onto the flagstones of the Boulevard, knocking the air from his lungs. He mouthed a curse and struggled to right himself before the noise brought the entire Watch down on his head.

"What was that?"

He didn't stop to check where the guard's voice came from, instead twisting towards the entrance to the alley and Blinking over the wall. He turned the fall into a clumsy roll, narrowly avoiding clipping the dumpster on the way down. He curled up in the shadows next to the dumpster, desperately trying to muffle his breathing as his whole body throbbed with pain. Footsteps echoed along the Boulevard, coming to a stop almost exactly above him. If the guard looked over the wall, he'd be seen easily.

He waited, holding his breath.

"Hm. Must've been a rat." And the footsteps walked off again.

Corvo pressed his lips together tightly, feeling slightly hysterical laughter threatening to escape. He shook his head and clambered slowly to his feet, searching through his pockets as he walked for an elixir to numb the bruises he could already feel blossoming under his coat. A rat. Honestly.

The caliber of the Watch had definitely been higher in his day.

(4) The Tallboy

The hiss and crack of fireworks above him made Corvo duck his head instinctively, scowling. He'd hoped they might cover any noise he might make, but they were proving more of a distraction than an aid.

He had a feeling his mood was not going to improve as the evening progressed. In all his years as Royal Protector, he'd never learned to enjoy parties, and he highly doubted the Boyles could offer anything he hadn't seen before.

And yet, here he was, trying to sneak into a party.

He slid lower on his ledge as a tallboy passed below his perch, shaking the ground as it walked. While the tallboys' height gave them an advantageous view of the area around them, they – like the rest of the watch – had the extremely exploitable flaw of never looking above them. Corvo had no compunctions about taking advantage.

The tallboy stopped nearby; apparently content to survey the street from a stationary position for the moment. Corvo narrowed his eyes at him in irritation before a sudden thought struck. He knew already that guards never noticed the light he used to aim where he wanted to Blink.

What would happen if I…?

It was a bad idea. He knew it was a bad idea. It didn't stop the curiosity from welling up anyway.

Carefully – very carefully; he'd been careless before and had no intentions of doing it again – he prepared to Blink and swung the blue light in the tallboy's direction. As it reached the tallboy's head it flattened out into a circle, the way it did over any solid ground. He raised his eyebrows in interest. Apparently he could land on people, if he felt so inclined. He couldn't imagine ever doing so, but still, it was good to know. His curiosity was sated.

It came upon him too quickly to catch, no warning feeling or itch. One second he felt perfectly normal and the next second –

He sneezed.

One second of distraction was all it took, and he had a split second to be horrified before he was balancing on the tallboy's shoulders. Then he was scrambling for a foothold, no weapons in hand and too off-balance to aim another Blink as the tallboy wheeled about and flailed, trying to shake him off. They stumbled together for a moment, balancing on metal legs far too spindly for comfort, before their combined weight took its toll and the entire contraption started to tip over. Corvo pushed himself off into the air, trying to get as much distance as he could before –

The tallboy's oil tanks hit the ground and exploded; a blast of force and heat slammed into Corvo's back and propelled him through the air.

He landed hard, the breath knocked out of him as he skidded along the stones and hit a wall. He caught sight of the tallboy's operator beyond the scorched machine, thrown by the explosion as well. He couldn't tell if they'd survived it or not.

His head felt jumbled, his ears were ringing, and he could feel his lip bleeding, though he couldn't remember splitting it. Even through it all, he could hear shouting in the streets around him and he forced himself to his feet, activating his Dark Vision and scanning for a place to hide. A weeper stumbled out from an open doorway to his right, attracted by the noise and he Blinked into the doorway as soon as it was fully outside, leaving it to the mercy of the guards.

He took the stairs two at a time, hauling himself over a blockage of junk in one hallway as he searched for a door that wasn't bricked over. He finally caught sight of one several stories up, and the hissing song of a bone rune began tickling his ears as he cleared the latest flight of stairs.

A groaning weeper stumbled down the next flight of stairs, likely drawn by his less than graceful approach, and he brought it down quickly with a sleep dart. He swung his crossbow around at noises from the other room as he neared the door and got a dart in the second weeper's neck before it even cleared the doorway. He stepped over it, looking into the open doorway, and discovered the source of the singing; a shrine constructed in the corner across from him.

Something hit him from behind, knocking him forward off his feet and into the room. Hands clawed wildly at the hood of his coat amidst the groans and whines of a weeper and Corvo twisted, trying to throw it off balance. He drove his elbow backward at an angle and was rewarded with a satisfying crack and a grunt of pain as he connected. He pressed his advantage, bucking it off him and slithering over onto his back, snagging his crossbow from where he'd dropped it and lodging a sleep dart straight into its chest. It crawled after him for a few more seconds before the drug took effect, dropping it into slumber as well.

Corvo pushed himself backwards along the floor until he hit a wall, raising his crossbow and igniting his Dark Vision. Nothing moved within his line of sight except for a few stray rats, and so he only kept the crossbow raised for a few more shaky seconds before his hand fell. He let the Vision wear itself out and remained on the floor, pressed against the wall between the shrine and the balcony, not feeling any real desire to move when he would need to wait for the excitement outside to calm down again.

The thundering of his heartbeat lessened slowly, allowing him to hear the shouts of the guards and the mechanics of the tallboys in the streets below him. Everything in the room was bright and sharp, the excitement of the fight taking longer to fade, leaving him jittery and light-headed. He licked at his bloody lip, grounding himself with the sting.

The rune's song grabbed his attention, rising to an almost deafening pitch beside him. He reached out and picked it up just to make it stop, not even having to stretch to reach it. The world bled back around him as sound faded…and he found himself face to face with the Outsider's boots.

He knew he should probably stand up now, if only out of respect. The idea still felt rather unappealing. He tilted his head back instead to find the other's face.

The deity blinked fathomless eyes down at him, one brow rising slowly as he took in Corvo's disheveled state.

Corvo crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow right back.

That, amazingly, got him a smile – just the slightest upturn of the Outsider's lips at the corners of his mouth. "Having fun, Corvo?"

If Corvo's answering smile showed a few too many teeth, the Outsider didn't seem to mind.

(5) The Boyle Party

Every time he thought his estimation of the Watch couldn't drop any lower, something usually happened to prove him wrong.

The Boyles had clearly overpaid for their protection, whatever it had cost.

"They told me the second floor was off limits," the guard told him lazily, not even bothering to turn around fully from the balcony railing to face him, "but what you nobles do with your time is none of my business. Do what you want."

Not for the first time, Corvo was grateful for his mask. He didn't have to bother hiding his incredulous expression.

The guard wasn't even looking at him now, instead surveying the Boyle's ample yard below the balcony – the same spot he'd been forced to duel in, Corvo noticed – and whistling an ample tune. Corvo was tempted to knock him out just to prove a point.

Actually…why not?

A few seconds later, after depositing the body near the door, Corvo hopped up on the railing and aimed down for the cover of the trees and bushes to his right. He could reenter the house from the front door and begin his hunt for Lady-Lydia-in-Red. He didn't examine his destination very thoroughly before Blinking, assuming that most of the guests would be inside, and so was unpleasantly surprised when the space behind the foliage widened out into a rather pretty clearing, which was currently filled with mostly naked, writhing bodies.

He froze, feeling his ears and neck start to burn red as he tried to find somewhere to look that wasn't intensely uncomfortable. It was difficult, with groups of twos or threes or occasionally more taking up every space they could find. And the sounds…

They were definitely party-goers, he recognized distantly; the scattered clothing was high quality and many faces still had masks, though he thought he caught the glimpse of a Watch uniform or two in the chaos.

He tried to back away before anyone noticed him and nearly stepped on a pile near him, three men with their masks still on who were…

Corvo looked away before he could pick up too much detail. He really didn't want to know.

"Well, hello there." One of the women sauntered up to him, and he quickly moved his eyes up to her face, though not before getting an eyeful of her revealing and strangely familiar undergarments. The memory struck anyway; it was the Golden Cat uniform.

Most of the females were Golden Cat girls, he realized, and suddenly the scene made a lot more sense. The one approaching him reached out and trailed a long nail down his arm. "There's always room for one more, if you're feelin' a bit…frisky."

Corvo backed up hurriedly, keeping his eyes carefully on her face rather than risk looking elsewhere. She pouted at him. "Aw, come on now –"

"Leave him, Tess," said a man's snide voice from off to his left. A few of the male partygoers were laying there on the grass, mostly unclothed and smoking cigarettes. "More for the rest of us if he isn't up to it."

"Now don't you go gettin' all possessive on me again, Alvin. I told you, you ain't payin' me enough to…"

Corvo took his chance and slipped away while they were distracted, keeping his gaze resolutely fixed forward as he hopped over limbs to the best of his ability. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he made it back to the main walkway.

He hated parties.

+1 Samuel

Corvo jerked out of his dreams in a cold sweat, blankets tangled tightly around his legs. Dark thoughts slithered in the back of his mind, driving him out of bed and into his shirt, though he left his coat and shoes beside the bed.

Outside, a light breeze lifted his hair and cooled his skin, the metal walkway cold against his feet as he reached Emily's room. He cracked the door open, picking out Emily's and Callista's sleeping forms in the darkness. Both were still and silent, apart from their quiet breathing.

She's fine. Relax.

He closed the door just as quietly and forced himself away. He still didn't want to sleep, and so he stopped, climbing onto the wall of the walkway to glance over the yard. Lazily, he drew up a handful of power and Blinked down to the railing outside of Piero's workshop.

As he prepared to Blink again, a yawn overtook him; his ears popped and his jaw cracked – and he loosened his fist accidentally.

He collided with chest first with something an instant later, instinct helping him to pull his dangling feet up before he could slip off. He huffed in frustration as he found himself balanced on the curved metal sign above the stairs leading to the water.

A voice caught his attention before he could move. He glanced down to see three small oil lamps lit at the bottom of the staircase next a figure sitting on the bottom step, shielded by a box to stop the light from showing across the river. It was Samuel, he recognized, leaning over an object in his lap.

The boatman's rough voice carried up to his perch, rising and falling in a tune Corvo vaguely recognized. It roused his memories of that long voyage around the Isles, when he'd joined the sailors in their work and the shanties had echoed across the deck.

He tilted his head and listened.

Oh, the wind was foul and the sea ran high

Leave her, Johnny, leave her!

She shipped it green and none went by.

And it's time for us to leave her.

The memories became clearer as Samuel reached the chorus, and by the next verse Corvo remembered the song entirely, tapping his fingers along to the beat as he listened.

It had been a stressful time, that voyage, with refusal after refusal condemning Dunwall to its fate. The sense of failure he'd felt upon returning had been almost overwhelming. And yet, he mused, looking at his life now, he wished he'd known to enjoy the careless freedom of the ocean while he'd had it.

Corvo drew in a deep breath, swaying slightly with the music as Samuel finished one last chorus and then fell silent. When he didn't start up again, Corvo took the pause to get his feet back on solid ground.

He Blinked up to the top of the stairs and padded back down, making sure to step loudly enough for Samuel to hear him. The boatman glanced up at him with a smile. "Hey Corvo. Everything alright?"

Corvo nodded and smiled back as he settled onto the bottom step as well, letting the other man's presence soothe the last lingering remnants of his ruffled nerves. Samuel went back to tinkering with the object in his lap – an old audiograph player, Corvo realized now that he was close enough to see properly. Samuel caught his glance.

"Found this in the river, a while back. Still works well enough, 'cept some of the gears have started to stick. Rust from the water, most likely." He stopped for a moment, leaning down to grab a different tool from the ground near his feet.

Corvo frowned and reached out, tapping on a lamp with a fingernail. Samuel tipped his head in acknowledgement.

"Might do better in the daylight, but everything's moving so fast nowadays, there's hardly time for the little things anymore. Sometimes, you just have to find a second to stop and take a breath, even if it's the middle of the night."

Corvo smiled again in agreement, leaning back on his elbows and staring out at the ripples the faint wind caused in the river water. Samuel started to hum quietly beside him, another old shanty from the sound of it.

Closing his eyes, Corvo breathed.

So, I haven't written in years...wanted to start small. Actually finish the things I start, stuff like that.

If you wanted to hear what I imagined Samuel was singing, here's Leave Her Johnny from Assassin's Creed - watch?v=0EpYEM6KfjI