Dan's thief contacts had led him to a small wooden building that had a very small second story, due in part to the fact that it was split into a balcony area on which sat a couple of rickety chairs and what appeared to be a still. As he approached along the street he could see no obvious signs of movement within the house but the usual hustle and bustle on the streets below. The building was built very close to its larger neighbour and had a small, dirt trodden alley on its other side.
Dan tucked his dagger into his shirt and approached the building. He contemplated numerous farfetched methods of gaining entrance to the building before trying the front door.
Not wanting to leave any signs of a forced entry, the man stepped away and looked for anything extending from the walls of the building which may allow a nimble man to scale upwards.
The alley by the side of the building was quite thin, the window ledges set into either building might be enough to allow him to scale between the buildings.
In a daring and unlikely acrobatic feat, Dan backed up a dozen yards, charged the windowsill and planted his polearm into the ground, attempting to vault to the window sill.
Dan stuck both hands as close as possible to one end of his dual bladed weapon. The man backed up as far as he could and made a running jump for the balcony, extending his naginta for the base of the structure. He tensed his grip up on the back end of the weapon, hoping his weapon would plant itself into the structure.
It was all but impossible to get a running start from a window sill, but Dan was somehow able to sling his weapon over the edge of the balcony. His weight immediately caused the whole affair to slip back, the blade of his weapon catching the edge and stopping him from falling back to the ground.
Exhaling rapidly Dan paused and caught his breath. With as few and as powerful movements as he could muster, the man tried to pull himself up to the balcony by his weapon.
It was hard going but he managed to pull himself up high enough to transfer his hand over to the ledge. All he would need now was to fling his leg up and he would be on the balcony.
Dan sighed and swung his body slightly away from the ledge before transferring his power towards the ledge, attempting to get a leg up on the structure and climb his way on.
Dan panted loudly as he lied on the floor. The man rose to his feet and sat the straw chair upright, trying to position it in the exact spot it was prior. The man yanked his weapon out of the ground. He proceeded to sit on the straw chair and smoke a cigarette. As he relaxed he looked around the balcony, looking for a possible entrance into the second story of the building.
Dan extinguished the smoke on the bottom of his shoe and chucked it over the balcony, along with his match. The man subsequently rose to his feet and tried the door.
The door was unlocked, opening into a rotten looking bedroom complete with wash basin and straw bedding. There was a trapdoor in the far corner of the room that presumably led down to the ground floor.
Dan took his naginta and placed it in the straw bedding, trying to cover it up. With his stealthiest footing, the man went to the trap door and lifted it, looking down within.
Opening the door revealed a ladder that descended into darkness. Apparently the room below had some very thick curtains or blinds because the only light entering the room came from behind Dan.
Figuring this was as good a hiding space as any, Dan descended the ladder and closed the hinge above him, making sure not to lock himself in. The man then tried to stay calm in the dark and listened for the sound of another.
There were no other sounds within the room, save those the permeated in from the street outside. His eyes slowly began to adapt to the lack of light, revealing what looked like a large stained workbench and what appeared to be a squat and wide safe.
One had to assume any valuable were contained within the safe, which upon further examination could have been a footlocker with reinforcements and locks built around it. There were a few iron implements on the workbench, a hammer, a very thing knives.
[Elexia] Golt Vurmben, The Second Story