T-t-this is... gold??? ... “It’ll have to do,” Bob feigned ignorance.

“Let us begin,” he covered the coin carefully and slowly, giving Mart enough time to crawl back beneath the table.

“Wait. The cup with the coin is scratched,” said the boy, pointing to the cup with his finger. “It wouldn't be fun to guess if it's that easy. Can you replace it with another one?”

Bob examined it closely.

It is scratched a bit, but how didn’t I notice that before? Now is not the time to wonder, the gold is waiting!

“My apologies, I will get a new one at once!” said Bob, retreating into the back. While he was gone, the boy grabbed an apple and put it into his pocket.

“Alright, this one is good, no? We can begin.”

After shuffling enough he stopped and asked; “There we go. So, which one do you choose friend?” all while rubbing his hands victoriously.

The boy pointed at one of the cups, without further ado. After the cup was lifted, Bob's smile widened; “Awww... what a shame. You missed. Care for another try?”

“No, sorry, I have no coins left. Thanks anyway,” said the boy and disappeared amidst the crowd.

“Oh, no, thank you, and do come to visit us again sometimes,” said Bob and pulled down the curtain. He then signaled Mart to come out from the table.

“He had no luggage. How did it go on your end?”

“Oh, it went brilliant. Just look what I have here!” he lifted the second cup. “Huh? It's not here? Well, then it must be under this one. I shuffle so well that I even confuse myself sometimes. Aaahahaha..ha... huh? Where’s the coin?”

* * *

As he was strolling happily through the market lane, an apple in his pocket, satisfied by outsmarting the fox and finally having something to eat, the boy heard a shout from somewhere amidst the crowd; “Thief! Stop him!” but he paid it no mind because he was confident nobody saw him back there.

The shouting continued; “Guards! The long-haired boy stole my apple!” and some of the folks around chuckled at the statement, but two of the nearby guards didn't find it funny, nor did the boy.

One of the guards looked in his direction so he started running while he had the advantage. The guard tapped his partner on the shoulder and they burst into a chase. He was smaller than the two robust men and apparently a lot more agile, so he moved faster through the crowd, while the guards were not really equipped for this kind of thing, but rather for, well... guarding.

“Move it! Stop that boy!” the man was warning the crowd, although no one really flinched.

The first guard ran into a muscled fisherman that came around the corner and fell on his behind, while the other guard lost sight of the boy after he gave him the slip through one of the tents. He followed after him and ended up in the narrow area behind the shops. There he caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a black kimono slide in between a row of stands.

I'll flank him from the other side! he thought to himself.

As he stumbled into another guard; “Hold this!” he gave his sword and helmet quickly to lose weight and be able to run quicker. 

The kid came out of the back on the main road trying to blend in with the crowd, thinking he was finally in the clear, but then he saw the guard coming at him from aside at a full sprint.

“Give up, it's just an apple!” the boy took a sharp turn down the road, jumping over boxes of fruit and knocking a priceless Toukoku vase with his elbow.

“Whoah!” the man chasing him stopped and caught it before it fell.

The black-haired fellow would sometimes glance over his shoulder to keep an eye on his pursuers.

“There he is! The boy with long hair!” shouts could be heard and then the boy noticed something peculiar; on one of the village walls in the distance, another chase was going on simultaneously. Three guards were after someone dressed in a grey rugged shirt and dirty pants, with long blond hair tied in a tail; a boy with an apple in his hand. With a wide grin on his face, the blond boy was running parallel to the black-haired one, taunting the guards that chased after him.

So no one had actually seen me stealing? It’s all that blond kid's fault!

The black-haired boy was aggravated by the fact that it turned out no one actually noticed he stole an apple but instead, by sheer bad luck, there was another long-haired boy that stole an apple elsewhere at the same time. He kept glancing at the wall while running, trying to see what will happen to the blond boy.

The blondie ran fast, turning and grimacing, sticking out his tongue at the men following him furiously. As if they were not already agitated enough struggling to navigate the narrow fenceless walls that surrounded the village. One of the guards red like a tomato took off his helmet and dropped it down on the street. The helmet made a blunt sound as it fell from a height of more than three meters.
The boy had just slipped his fingers when the guard noticed a gap in the wall a short distance from them.

There’s no way he can jump over. He’s mine now!

In a few moments, he would be right behind him, trapping him with nowhere to go, but then something strange happened. Instead of stopping, the kid seemed to continue running towards the gap.

“Stop or you'll fall!”, the guard shouted, but to no avail. The boy didn't seem to be stopping.

While the black-haired boy on the main road watched in awe, the unrelenting guard caught up to him.

“Got you! You gave me quite a run...” he was catching his breath, holding his forearm, but the boy didn't resist. Instead, his eyes were focused on the blond kid on top of the walls.

“Huh?” the guard’s attention also shifted to the walls, and they both stared as blondie was approaching the gap. They both thought the same thing, that the kid probably didn't notice the missing part of the wall and will fall to his death, but then…

He jumped!

Everyone held their breath as the moment seemed to last forever while the blond boy almost flew over a thirty feet wide gap and landed on the far edge, barely keeping his balance, his arms flailing about.

“Whoa! Whoa!” he grabbed a small flagpole and everyone exhaled. “Phew... that was close,” he said to himself, but alas too soon, as the already damaged flagpole broke and he fell...