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"Once a Thief, Always a Thief" (Radat) Once upon a time, in a not-so-far-off land called the Toran Republic, there lived this thief. Actually, he didn't *live* in Toran; "*lived off* the good people of Toran" might be a better description, and he was the best when it came to such a livelihood. Unfortunately, he wasn't like some fairy-tale hero, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor; he stole from the rich AND the poor, then gave it all to himself. He didn't even look like a hero. He was short for one; he had this dirty, stringy brown hair and a face not even a blind mother could learn to love; he was stooped over so most of the time, that he had the beginnings of a grossly extended hump on his back; and he giggled. By the gods, men should never have learned to giggle, especially if they had a squeaky voice pitched too high for normal ears. And in the course of my many encounters - unfortunately - with him, I realized something not many people (and sensible people they were, for keeping distance from him; I had never been known to be a sensible sort of woman) knew at first glance: I swear that at times when he was especially nervous, his eyes veered off - in different directions. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers. Yes, I don't really like him. I don't usually show it - Article 24, Section 8; A friend as your ally is a step closer to victory - but I do. He *is* an exceptionary thief and a talented sneak; I give credit where credit is due. But his personality leaves a lot to be desired. I can still remember his jeers and fool antics as if it were yesterday, even after three years gone by: Offering me spiked tea, so he could steal some of my bits while I slept; a ploy I saw through. "Hee hee hee. Have some of my special brew, Kasumi. It's good, honest, hee hee!" Insulting me and disgracing my honor in front of my leaders. "Hee hee. How ladylike you try to act around Master McDohl. It's hopeless on you." Running around the Toran Castle after looting my undergarments drawer, waving for the whole world to see my pan-- Perhaps some things are better off left unsaid. And unfortunately as well, for reasons of his occupation and mine, I was forced to work alongside him during my sojourn in the days where the Scarlet Moon Empire was weakening under the Toran Liberation Army. Scouting together. Reporting attacks and subterfuges of the enemy. Cooperating to help in a six-man party to rescue Sir Viktor and Sir Warren from Sir Kasim Hazil's castle. It nearly drove me crazy. Oh, but maybe I'm just chewing on some old beef (was that how the saying goes?), dredging up past unpleasantries. That war, after all, was over, right? But, oh no. As the war drew to a close, that little runt had to pull off what he probably thought was the coup de grace of his entire career. Late one evening, the runt made a flimsy excuse to allow the guards to let him into the throne room, then five minutes later disappeared, making off with all the money and treasures accumulated in the Toran safe. The guards swore that they never left their posts, and the only other outer means of escape was one large window, but it was almost a thirty foot solid drop down into hard, solid earth. He hadn't been carrying anything when he had entered the room; the guards had seen to that. Needless to say, Kage, Fuma and I turned the palace upside down, metaphorically speaking, searching for him and, more importantly, the palace gold, to no avail. I blame myself a bit for that one. I was technically a part of security; allowing the valuables to be stolen brought me more hidden shame than anyone knew. Had I known how he had managed to get away, I would have been able to track him and recover them back. I still didn't see how he had managed to escape without killing himself, but after much logic and assessment of that specific palace window as well as the outer walls and grounds surrounding that area, and with much discussion with Kamandohl the alchemist, I have finally come down to one solid and satisfactory conclusion. Krin can fly. Her back hurt. That was the first thing she had noticed as she slowly came awake; things were swimming around to take much notice of anything else. But as vision slowly cleared, another fact, slow in penetrating through her head as she waited for full awareness to return, came into light. The back of her head hurt as well. With a loud grunt, Kasumi rolled over and managed to assume a sitting position. A tiny voice in her head screamed that it was impossible for such a feat, but as of the moment, she chose to ignore it. With pain came awareness, and with awaresness came remembrance. A dream. She had been dreaming. It hadn't been a pleasant one. Frowning, she tried to remember, but it slowly slipped away from her, leaving only bits and pieces of dream, like a jigsaw puzzle whose picture she could hardly discern, tickling only at the edges of her mind; far from complete. Someone or something had been chasing her. A lot of someones. Some of them, she knew, were even close friends with. Others were enemies long defeated or killed, but others were faceless, and they all converged on her like predators on a hunt. Gods, now she knew how a mouse felt in the eyes of an eagle. Why she was being chased, she could find no reason. All she remembered that it was dark and cold and lonely in that dream..... Uneasily, she shifted. Her back responded by giving out on her. With a soft oomph, Kasumi fell backwards, spread-eagled against the ground and looking up the clear blue sky. A perfect blue, with tufts of white spirals of clouds marring the blueness. It promised to be a beautiful day. That was the other thing that was wrong. She couldn't be spread-eagled like this looking up at the sky. The last thing she remembered, she was on a low tree branch. She casted a quick glance about her and found her answer. She wasn't on the tree anymore. The impact against the ground must have jolted her awake. A blessing in disguise, or something to complicate matters more, she wasn't sure, rubbing her back sourly. A good thing no one seemed to have seen her fall out. It was at most five minutes before she could assume a standing position this time. The pain in her back had lessened; Kasumi had taken heavier blows in the past, and she was pleased to note that she isn't as soft as she originally thought she was. A few years behind a desk could do that to a person. She counted her money with some misgivings. Most were still in bits, and she hasn't seen any sort of money-changer in this town as of yet. Perhaps in another? South Window. From what the young girl back in Banner Village had said - Kasumi berated herself for not even knowing the girl's name, for all the help she had given her - South Window was a busy place, merchants and merchandise alike. Perhaps she would find a money changer there. But first, a look at the town. As she had thought before, it seemed a nice place to stay for awhile. It wasn't really a busy town, but it was busy enough; sailors and fishermen chose to monopolize the right side of Radat that led to the small port; Kasumi supposed that, from what she knew of her former allies Tai Ho and Yam Koo, fishing and boats would take up most if not all their days and perhaps a goodly part of their nights. Children frolicked near the town square, playing intricate games of tag and hide-and-seek. There was a house that seemed to stand by itself on one corner of the town, looking impressive enough to be the domain of some rich merchant; the house right next to the tree she had sought shelter in. Kasumi debated on asking if the owner would be willing to change some bits into potch, but there was a hulking brute of a man lounging by the main door, with a look that clearly provoked people into staying away, and at a far distance at that. Shops sprinkled the area, item, weapons, runes. Maybe she could buy herself a new rune in South Window. And then she stopped and stared. Gods, pray that it's a hallucination. On a slight chance that she was asleep and this indeed, would be another dream, she pinched herself. Nothing happened. She pinched harder. A passer-by, a young boy dragging a small kite behind him, gave her an incredulous stare for even thinking of self-afflicted torture, but she didn't care. What the hell is HE doing here??? The HE in question, misfortune smiling on him at that apt moment, hasn't noticed her. He was trying to filch the wallet of a fat rich-looking man haggling for his groceries, while trying to look innocent at the same time, which was a hard thing to do when it came to him. Perhaps some things never change at all. It was about a full ten seconds later before he finally realized that Kasumi was bearing down at him in full speed, eyes angry enough to bore a hole at the back of his head. Eyes widening in stunned amazement, then stark terror, he frantically freed his hand from the fat man's wallet and pocket, then made to flee in the opposite direction. But for all his boasts about his vaunted speed, Kasumi was far, far faster than he had ever was, and still is. His high-pitched scream of fright began even before Kasumi actually took hold of his olive green smock, rumpled from wear and use. That was another strange thing about him; though he loved money, Kasumi had never seen him actually spend any on himself. "L-l-let me go!" Kasumi bristled. "Of all the people I've ever expected to see!.... Krin! What are you doing here?? How DARE you even show your face in this side of the world, not after your little escapade with Master McDohl's money!" To emphasize her point, she shook Krin, hard. The people milling about them chose to extend their distance at this point. "And to think that Master McDohl actually trusted you! How could you think of betraying him, betraying the Toran Republic? They needed that money!" Another hard shake, for good measure. She could actually hear Krin's teeth rattling about in his head. "How DARE you??" Shake. Desperately, Krin struggled to free himself with little success. "Hee hee hee. Er, Kasumi, old buddy! I didn't expect you around these parts. I see you've still got a thing for McDohl, even after all this time, eh? Hee hee." He always started with that attack; reminding me of the good old times together as comrades. Unfortunately, it didn't work; there had been old times together, but none of them had been good. "Don't you start that on me, Krin!" Kasumi growled, wringing him again. It felt good to wring his neck; that was another thing that hadn't changed. "Where did you hide Master McDohl's money?!" Krin's voice went up another octave; yet he still continued to hedge. "Urk!....hee hee. Come, come, it happened so long ago, y'know?" His head was starting to bob. "Three years! Whaddaya say, let bygones be bygones, heh?" "WHERE IS MASTER MCDOHL'S MONEY, YOU RUNT???!!" Kasumi felt a small blush stoling onto her cheeks; she suppose it hadn't been smart to shout the name of a man whose country outsmarted the leaders of the place you were in at the moment. She moderated her tone. "Tell me now, or so help me, I'll dump you in that harbor over there!" Her right hand, the hand where the Shrike Rune was imbedded in, was starting to twitch. Oddly, she sensed rather than felt her nose twitching as well. "I d-d-on't kn-kn-kn-know what you're t-t-t-alking about!" Krin blubbered. Kasumi took to drastic measures. After all, she stood almost a head taller than he did, and Krin was lighter than he looked. In the next minute, Krin had a good view of the world flailing upside down, as Kasumi firmly took hold of each pants leg and began to shake the truth - among other things - out of him. Coins, watches, rings, necklaces spewed out of his pockets; gods but the man was a walking jewelry store. Best that the local folk were trying to ignore the ruckus they were making. "S-s-s-top!" Krin's teeth was really rattling, now. "S-stop! I'll tell you! I don't h-h-h-have it! I-I-I spent it all!!" Amazed, Kasumi let go. With a mighty squeal, Krin landed facefirst on concrete. "You spent it all??" Kasumi asked disbelievingly. "Almost a year's worth of bits from treasure chests, monsters and hard-earned cash from gambling, enough for a lifetime, and you spent it all in THREE YEARS???" It was Kasumi's turn to raise her voice. Krin quickly scrambled up, but wasn't quick enough to prevent Kasumi from taking a firm hold of a coat sleeve. "I'm sorry!" He squeaked. Kasumi would have done more than make him squeak - much, much more - but a crowd was soon quickly gathering around them, seeing that ignoring them wasn't working. Coat sleeves tear easily; so Kasumi reached over and caught hold of his ear instead. "I'm not going to allow myself - or you, for that matter - to be caught by the authorities in these parts for breaking the peace, or whatever law we're sure to have broken today." She said through gritted teeth, as Krin's eyes brightened with sudden hope. "You deserve far worse than that. I'm afraid I won't have the pleasure of staying long enough to watch you rot in jail. On the other hand, you seem to know the place pretty well." She smiled; on another occasion and for another reason altogether, it would have made her look pretty. "So you are going to be my guide. You go where I choose to go, and like it. Don't even think of trying to escape me, because I'm a far, far better hunter than you could possibly think I am. You evaded me once; I don't make the same mistake again, Understand?" Kasumi couldn't see her eyes, but from the look on Krin's face, she must have been convincing, because he began blubbering fealties and prayers. "Good. And guess what? I'm not letting you go until we've earned back each and every bit that you've stolen." Krin's voice, mounting on the outer edges of the higher musical scale was lost in Kasumi's ears, even as she marched away with Krin's ear in tow, the crowd melting around her to give way. Had she seen the expression on her face at that very instant, she would have done the same.
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