The Origin of Sithis: Part 3

I wish I could say this new chapter of my life was pleasant and nice, but I would be lying. As Jinzo had said before, I was to be an assassin. A stealthy killer, that only comes out of the shadows to strike down its prey. Unfortunately, even though Jinzo had said I had potential, I was way behind the others. I soon found out that most of the students at the Monastery have been training their whole life to get there. Me? I got put there because I had no where else to go. Despite this, or maybe because of it, I was worked just as hard as everyone else, and, after a while, began to keep up.
Of course, many of the other students resented me because of this, but there was one in particular. He was also an assassin-to-be, but not only that, his family was rich. He came from a family of kurzick nobles, many of which had been skilled warriors in the past. And because of this, he seemed to think that he was automatically better than most, especially me, a poor, orphaned, canthan kid. He enjoyed taunting me when he did better than me in a test, or when he did a stance slightly better. To say he was kind of annoying is like saying getting punched in the gut kind of hurts.
"Come on Sithis, can't you keep up?" he said. We were sparing, and, like usual, Panaku, the other assassin instructor, decided to pair me up with this infuriating son of a... nobleman. His practice daggers were flying all over, and I was barely able to hold them back. Suddenly, as I deflected another attack towards my face, I saw an opening. I ducked under his attack, and sweep his feet right out from under him.
"Come on Dagger, can't you even stay on your feet?" I stood smiling as he got up, glaring at me the entire time. If looks could kill, I would have been dead before I hit the ground.
"How did you do that?" he asked, venom in his voice.
"You let your guard down." a voice from my left said. We both turned and looked, and there stood Panaku.
"Your attacks were excellent Dagger, but you left your guard open. Sithis saw this, and was able to use it to disable you."
He addressed the class. "Everyone, go back to the main hall, the evening meal will start soon."
My life in the Monastery went like this for quite some time, Dagger trying to prove he was better than me, and, occasionally, me proving him wrong. I did notice that the longer I was there, the more I trained, he started to beat me in fewer and fewer things. Eventually, we were almost evenly matched, which drove him crazy.
All this proved a great distraction from my past, but the events still haunted my thoughts. Many a night I would dream of being under the bed again, trying to not to hear the sounds of murder. The sight of my parents lying on the floor, and surprisingly frequently, the eyes of the Jade Brother as his life slipped away.
I trained at the Monastery for 5 years, and by then I had become a quite formidable assassin, the only student that matched me was Dagger. Because of the fact that we were the best two assassins, we continued to be paired up for just about everything. And during our last year at the monastery, we were forced to work together during an event which would further shape my future, and throw Dagger's way off course.
"Dagger, Sithis, you two have been given a special honor. The two of you are to escort a warrior from the land of Elona around the Monastery. He has been sent to observe how we train our fighters, so that the Sunspears of Elona can try our techniques."
"That sound cool, but does he really have to come?" said Dagger, pointing at me.
"Hey! Why do I have any less right to show this guy around?"
"Because he wants to see the best we have."
"So why would he want to see you? We should be hiding you in a closet somewhere."
"Enough!" Headmaster Lee yelled. "You will both be showing the warrior around. And the two of you had better not fight in front of him, we need to give a good impression!"
"Fine.." we both say, scowling at each other.
"When will this guy get here?" I asked.
"He will be arriving within the hour."
Dagger and I didn't say a word to each other as we went to the docks to meet this warrior when he arrived. "How will we know who it is?" Dagger asked.
"I think we will know." As I said that, I spotted a man walking slowly towards us, he was clad in a red robe, with a hood that shrouded his face in shadow.
"Are you the one called Sithis?" this mysterious man ask.
"I am."
"Good," said the man, "Then I expect you will be the one to show me around this place."
"Actually, I am to show you around also." Dagger said. I rolled my eyes.
"Very well, what shall you be showing me first?"
"We thought just a quick tour of the training grounds perhaps?"
"That will be fine" The three of us made our way down the Saoshang Trail back to the Monastery. As we got closer, I got a bad feeling.
"Something isn't right." I said.
"What?" Dagger said.
"I don't really know, I just..." As I was saying this, we turned around a bend, which brought the Monastery into view. I could see flames rising over the walls…

- Written by Sithis