AS TOMAS HEADED HOME, he watched the streets around him, for he was aware that the day was still that of the Gathering, meaning that plenty of thieves were around. His hands sat in his pockets as he walked, resting on his money. He could hear voices chattering all around him, but a certain one stood out from the rest.

   "Look! Easily worth three aurum, you can't deny it!" the voice said. Tomas's eyes widened as he heard the words. He had never even hoped to get a single aurum and yet something was worth three times that much?

   Casually, Tomas slowed, drifted toward the voice, and paused when he saw them--they were brandishing a silver ring with a diamond on it. When he finally saw the ring and the man trying to sell it, despite the rage that built in him as he realized the guy was part of the Gathering, Tomas almost laughed.

   "That diamond's fake," Tomas called. His voice was loud enough to attract the attention of the man who was trying to sell the bracelet and the man he was speaking to. Both of them looked to him in shock at his words, but when he saw him, the dirty street orphan, the guy who was trying to sell the ring laughed.

   "Oh? And what would you know about that?" he asked tauntingly. "You're just a kid!" The other man seemed to relax at his words, but Tomas saw doubt in his eyes. Tomas smirked, keeping his laughter in his stomach and his rage buried.

   His laughter crept into his voice as he spoke. "Yasmine Mikhail, that woman who ran the jewelry shop? Remember her? Not only did she tell me how to tell the difference myself, but you tried to sell that to her one time. She called you out in front of the whole shop. Plus, that sparkles rainbow colours, real diamonds don't do that. But I wouldn't expect someone like you to know that," Tomas said. He added the last part just for fun, a devious smile splitting across his lips as he said it.

   The man tensed at the mention of Yasmine, but his expression twisted with anger as Tomas reminded him of how she had called him out. The anger on his face only grew with Tomas's last words, but the man beside him spoke before he could do or say anything.

   "Thanks, kid." he said.

   Tomas gave the man a gracious nod, but quickly looked back to the Gathering guy with a smirk on his lips and anger dancing in his eyes. The man who'd almost been duped gave Tomas a smile and walked away after Tomas's words, oblivious to his anger. As he left, the Gathering guy angrily stuffed his fake ring in his pocket, watching him go.

   Anger overtook Tomas's expression as he strode toward the man, but he stopped when they were only a foot away from each other. "Don't try to sell stuff in the middle of the streets. You'll ruin the Gathering for everyone!" he hissed, keeping his voice low so only the man could hear him. Without even waiting for an answer, Tomas left, angrily brushing past the man.

   Before the man could say anything or pursue him, Tomas had ducked into the crowds and hidden within them. Done with his business for the day, Tomas now headed home again, wanting only to draw his emotions away. Reaching the alleyway, Tomas checked behind him, looking to see if the man had followed him. Not seeing him or anybody suspicious, Tomas laughed softly; it came as a surprise to him when it came out sounding angry.

   Shaking his head softly as he dismissed the sound and the surprise it brought, Tomas went into the alleyway. When he passed by a trash can, he pulled the fake ring out of his pocket and tossed it in.

   Finally stepping through the curtains of his home, Tomas sighed softly and took off his coat, dropping it onto the blankets of his bed and listening to the jingling of the coins in the pocket. A small smile came to his lips at the thought of having so much money, but he froze as he heard the blankets of his curtain move again. His breath caught in his throat and his heart twisted in his chest as he heard it.

   "Why do I get the feeling this is your home?" a woman's voice asked. Tomas had turned on his heel as she'd spoken and, when he'd finally faced her, he got to see her as she finished speaking.

   The woman who'd spoken was leaning her shoulder against the wall and pushing aside the curtain with her free hand as she looked at him. Despite how the words she'd spoken would've sounded sad and tired to most, she had an expression that was perfectly calm--bored, even. Her hair, which was dyed a dark blue colour, was done up in an elegant way; her skin was pale and clean, looked soft, so she clearly wasn't from Vadera and probably had a roof over her head every day; and she had a cocky way of holding herself that, on top of everything else, told Tomas that she was someone for him to be afraid of. While most cocky people were wrongly so, Tomas had an odd feeling about the woman--and that odd feeling had everything to do with how she had managed to follow him to his home.

   Tomas stared at the woman for a long moment, too deep in his shock and fear to say anything in response to her question. His mouth opened slightly, but neither a sound nor a word fell from his lips.

   Though her expression remained as it was, the woman laid her head against the wall and spoke again, a bit of annoyance creeping into her voice as she spoke. "I know you're not a mute. Is this your... 'house'? Do you live here?" she repeated.

   Tomas clenched his jaw as she asked her question again, meeting her bored look with a defiant and angry one. "Why does it matter to you?" he demanded.

   Despite how Tomas had refused to answer her question, the woman's expression grew amused. "You clearly aren't in a position to make demands and it's obvious you realize that, so why do you? You know what--fine. I'll humour you. It matters to me because I don't enjoy the thought of people living on the streets. Now, since it's obvious enough that this is your home, you'll have to answer another question of mine: why did you stop that man from selling the fake ring, steal it from him, and then throw it away?" she asked in return. When she had spoken of "humouring" him, a faint smirk appeared on her lips, but it quickly faded as she continued.

   Tomas grew tense as she spoke. What have I gotten myself into? he wondered. She'd managed to see him take the ring out of the man's pocket--and yet nobody had ever managed to see him do so before. Not only that, but she'd somehow followed him while he'd been on his guard and had hidden himself in the crowd. No, not 'what have I gotten myself into,' who is she!?

   He forced himself to take a deep breath before he glared into her eyes and answered, "I think it's wrong to sell something to someone when it's fake. So, I stopped him and, since I knew he would just try to sell it to someone else, I stole it from him and decided to throw it away. Is that all? 'Cuz if so, I'd really appreciate it if you left."

   Though he didn't want to answer the woman, he knew how right she was. "You clearly aren't in a position to make demands and it's obvious you realize that, so why do you?" It took all of Tomas's willpower to keep himself from shuddering as he thought about those words.

   As Tomas pretty much told her to leave, the woman's expression grew more amused, a smile splitting across her lips. While she smiled, though, there seemed to be a colder look in her eyes. Seeming to pay no mind to Tomas's last words, she pushed herself off of the wall and let the curtain fall back in place beside her.

   "No, that is not all. Truthfully, is that why? And, are you or are you not part of the Gathering? To tell the truth myself, I wasn't aware that thieves had the luxury of morals," she said darkly. Her electric-blue eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke about not knowing that thieves had morals.

   Fear swelled in Tomas as the woman stepped into his home, any hope he had of her leaving flying out of the lack of a roof. She knows about the Gathering, so she has to be a thief, smuggler, or something like that, right? Right!? the thought was desperate even in Tomas's mind.

   Thieves having the "luxury" of morals, he wondered. It was true that it was more difficult to live as a thief, having morals. But Tomas couldn't imagine ruining other people's lives for the sake of his own. As such, when he stole, he didn't aim to steal people's identities or all of their money. Instead, he aimed to steal only pocket change, something that was nothing to them but everything to him. It was that goal that had kept Tomas on the streets for so long despite his talents for pickpocketing and the richness of the citizens of Vadera.

   She's probably a thief who doesn't believe in morals, Tomas realized suddenly. But that still doesn't explain why she's asking the questions she is... Despite his thoughts and the fear that filled him, Tomas only lifted his chin, gave her a harsher glare, and took a step toward her.

   "You think I'm going to lie when, as you said, I know that this isn't a good situation for me?" Tomas countered, trying to avoid answering her question about whether or not he was in the Gathering just in case. "And, you said you didn't think thieves had the 'luxury' of morals... why don't you have the luxury of morals?"

   The dark look on her face grew amused again as he stepped toward her and answered her question with one of his own, but as he asked her if she were a thief, the woman froze. All of the anger and tenseness seemed to fall from her as she laughed. "Wait--you think I'm a thief?" she asked.

   Tomas's blood ran cold at her question, the faked anger falling from his expression and showing the horror and terror that laid behind it. "You're not?" Tomas's voice was quiet as he asked the question.

   The woman snorted, seeming unaffected by how the anger fell from his expression and his true feelings showed. "You think I'd come waltzing in here to bother you if I was? Nah, I'd just take that ring myself and make on my merry way, wouldn't I? Eh, never mind. We're wasting too much time here. It doesn't matter why you did what you did, either way, it's obvious you've broken some laws. Try not to hurt him too bad, Hugo." she said calmly, her humour and anger falling completely away to show the bored look she'd had when Tomas had first seen her.

   Tomas's expression twisted as the woman spoke the words she did, but his eyes only flew open with her last statement. Hugo? Tomas wondered. Before he could even manage to turn on his heel or dart away, Tomas felt something slam against the back of his head.

   Hardly a second passed between the moment the woman said "Hugo" and when Tomas hit the ground.