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"A Thief and Her Crime" (Howling Voice Guild) It was quiet…too quiet. The kind of silence that makes one feel uneasy. There were no distant sounds of footsteps, no crickets chirping happily outside, such as Elza was used too. She just hoped it was her lucky night as she quietly walked, careful not to make a sound. She put it out of her mind for the moment. As Elza crept down the dark halls, she thought of why she came here, just to preoccupy her mind. She had heard from her informant, which she had many of, that the Howling Voice Guild had quite a valuable, if not priceless, treasure in their hands. She quickly planned steal, er…um…'borrow' it and pawn it for some cash, as she had grown accustomed to. It had been easy finding the guild, and, after checking the place over, even easier getting in. She just had to wait until dusk, when no one would be looking, and then… Elza snapped out of thought as she saw the room she that she thought she was looking for. A door, somewhat slightly different from the others, that was being guarded by a couple of guards. "Easy." she whispered to herself. She stepped from the shadows and tried out her most innocent voice on the guards. "Oh, guards…" the two quickly turned their heads in her direction. She gave an innocent smile to match her voice, "Would you please help me? I'm lost and can't find my way." "Who…who are you?" One of the guards stuttered hesitantly as he stared at the woman who had come out of no where. He cleared his voice and, sounding a little braver, said, "Are you a member of our guild?" She started backing around the corner as she said, "Come over here and I'll be happy to answer anything you would like to ask." The guard who had spoken looked to his companion, who shrugged, and they both walked over towards Elza. 'Perfect,' Elza thought. The guards disappeared around the corner and, a few seconds later, you could hear two thuds, one after the other. Elza came out, dusting off her hands, and headed to the door, smiling. "Pleasant dreams, boys." She wasn't surprised to find the door locked. As she started to pick the lock, she wondered what was on the other side…silver? Gold? Jewels? Elza hoped with all her might that it was the third option. 'After all,' she thought, 'diamonds are a bandits best friend.' Elza finally heard the lock go click and began opening the door. It gave a loud, protesting squeak, and she stood still for a moment, not making a sound. Satisfied that no one had heard, she continued into the room that was dimly lit by one small window, through which the moon shined. As her eyes quickly adjusted, she was sorely discouraged as to what she saw. One lone pedestal, with a small chest the size of Elza's hand, was all that was in the room. "Another wild goose chase," she grumbled as she walked over to the chest. "Well, it's better than nothing," she said as she hastily put it in a small pouch concealed by her white cape, not noticing the strange markings and designs all the case. As she turned around to leave, she discovered a tall man in a black cape blocking her exit. "Stand where you are!" he exclaimed in a deep voice. "Well that should be easy," she answered sarcastically. "Where else can I stand except where I am?" The man lowered is brow, glaring at Elza. "I am not impressed by your clever answers. I, Clive of the Howling Voice Guild, hereby declare you my prisoner!" "It's about time!" she said, with a smile. She had quickly thought up an escape plan. Clive looked taken aback and confused, and managed to stutter, "Wha-huh?!" "Come, come! I am your prisoner, lock me up! Confine me to my quarters, it's getting late." As Elza was confusing Clive, she was inching her way to the exit. "Well? What are you waiting for? My prison cell awaits." She had finally made it to the door, the black caped man still confused by Elza's comments. As she walked out the door, breaking into a run, she shouted over her shoulder, "By the way…what's for dinner?" Clive, finally realizing what Elza had been doing, hit himself in the forehead. After mumbling a few 'unmentionable' swear words, he ran after her. He hoped he wasn't too late to stop her from stealing the guild's most valuable possesion. Meanwhile, Elza had gotten about a minute headstart, but she wasn't much of a runner, so she knew that man would catch up with her any second. She was completely lost in the building, but didn't care which turn she took, as long as it would keep her pursuer from catching her and as long as it got her to the exit eventually. After a little while of running, she heard some distant footsteps, also running, who she suspected to be Clive. She lost all hope of finding a door exit and soon saw a large window ahead of her. "How convenient," she huffed, for she was getting short of breath. Elza braced herself as she jumped through and broke the glass. She forgot it was a two-story drop, so it took her a few seconds to realize why she had the air knocked out of her when she landed. She was no longer suited for running, for the landing had also caused a pain in her legs, so she wondered how she would escape. "Stand where you are!" came a shout from above her. She quickly looked up to recognize her chaser sticking his head out of the broken window. "There's that phrase again," she muttered as Clive left the window and headed, she assumed, for the entrance to the guild. He would soon be there and Elza had to figure a way to escape. All of a sudden, she heard a faint whiny behind her. She quickly turned her head and saw she had landed next to the guild's stables, which were filled with horses. One caught her eye, a pure white stallion that she assumed did not like being confined, what with all its bucking. Elza luckily had a way with horses and, after limping over to it, had soon calmed the horse into submission. She clambered on to its back, let it out of its 'prison,' and they were off. This was the fastest horse she had ever ridden and, after a few minutes, Elza looked back at the building. It was almost out of sight, but the distance did not stop what happened next… "ELZA!!!!" Was a loud cry from Clive that she was sure could be heard for miles. Elza smiled at herself as she thought that he must of found her little 'note' she had left. She had a small dagger hidden in her boot that she had used to scratch out the message on the main entrance door: ELZA WAS HERE. She always did this to big places that she snuck into. Her way of saying hi without actually meeting the occupants. Before she was completely out of hearing range of the guild, Elza suddenly pulled out one of her two pistols. As the horse galloped away, she shot two shots into the air. Partly to make the horse go faster, partly to let the other members of Howling Voice know that Clive had goofed and let Elza get away…
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