The birth of a partnership

[Giph]

fall 512 18th AV Giph was walking through the only lightly crowded marketplace, it was still early and most normal people where still doing their morning routine or snoozing away while the day was already shortening. Today he was here with a purpose and for once that purpose wasn't to relieve fat merchants of their gains and put those miza's into his own pocket but for something completely differen't. Lately giph had been noticing he hadn't been able to get enough money together on his own to make his rent and still keep some of it for personal use. So he had come up with two ways to gain more money, one pick more high profile targets who had more money. A venue that was risky and could end up with him thrown in the pit or worse, a place he really didn't want to be if he had any say in it. The other idea he had come up with was to find a partner, which seemed to be a lot safer. As long as the partner didn't try to one up him of course. Since one couldn't just walk up to somebody else and ask them if he or she wanted to be his partner in crime he had devised a rather clever ruse. At least it looked clever to him, he had just clothed himself in his normal clothes, having given them a good brush over so he didn't look as down on his luck as usual, girded his quiver on his left leg,slung his crossbow over his shoulder, but most importantly he had hung his normally unused purse from his belt. He had filled it with grit and some stones to make it look as a good target. In addition to make sure he would be able to find the person when it was stolen he had captured a few nasty spiders and shoved them in there with the stones and sand, they should make for a nasty surprise. Hopefully whoever opened it was a screamer though, otherwise it wouldn't work. So giph walked through the streets of ravok early in the morning, letting the fake purse hang in plain sight while he just tried to look like a random citizen of ravok who was doing his early morning business. As he walked he forced himself not to look towards the purse or let his hands wander to close towards it to check as if it was still there. He couldn't keep his instincts and habits in check that had build up for years that where jelling at him that this was not a good idea. So when nothing else worked he just jammed his hands in his pockets to keep them from wandering to it. He did keep his attention on his belt though, with the purse being quite heavy he could feel the tug of its weight on his belt if he concentrated. Now all he needed to do now was to wait for an unsuspecting theif to take the bait.

[Rynhin Quickhand]

Early mornings did not agree with Rynhin, he yawned and rubbed at the sleep lingering in his eyes as he watched the small crowd at the market go around their business. Setting up their shops, running messages, transporting their goods and all the other chores that needed doing before the day began. The tavern porch he had chosen as his spot this morning was overlooking the busier part of the market, a good breakfast would do him good as well. And even though early mornings weren’t the best time for a thief, Rynhin figured it was worth going out early to get a feeling of his new hunting grounds. Besides it was easier to pick out targets from a smaller crowd and with the sleep still lingering they usually were less observant.

His train of thought ended abruptly as one of the barmaids came up to him with his breakfast, venison stew with vegetables and a piece of bread. Giving the barmaid a charming, at least what he thought was charming, smile and a sincere thank you he paid for his breakfast.
“Would that be all?” She asked and threw him a pretty smile as she put away the money.
“Unless I can ask for your company, then yes.” Rynhin replied to her.
The barmaid looked back into the tavern and then faced Rynhin again, still smiling. “I’m sorry my boss wouldn’t like that. But if you come back again later I might have some free time.” Oh she was good, the tavern keep had found himself a good barmaid.
Rynhin thought he could see a little twinkle in her eyes, but it was probably his imagination. He knew women didn’t take much notice of him. “If I get to see your smile again I’ll come here every day.”
The barmaid laughed at him and rolled her eyes as she turned around to leave.
“Wait!” Rynhin threw her a silver miza as she turned around. “For being so pretty.” He added with a wink. She rolled her eyes again, but smiling as she did. He didn’t know it was from the compliment or because she had gotten a tip, probably the latter he concluded as he watched her leave. Alone again on the porch he turned to his meal and looked out at the market, watching people scurry around, searching for a traveler with a fat purse.

Rynhin had almost finished his breakfast when he found his target, a boy with a big purse walked by the tavern probably on some business for his parents. Even though the kid had a rather big crossbow for his size he doubted he could wield it with any skill, besides he wasn’t planning on letting him notice before he was long gone. Looking down at the rest of his breakfast Rynhin decided he couldn’t miss this opportunity. He quickly took a last bite and rushed off down to the market, almost tripping and falling headfirst into the canal that was running beneath the porch, before he lost his target.

The light crowd made it easier to follow the target, but it also gave less opportunities to strike. But a thief had be patient, he followed his target at a distance as another in the crowd, talking to shopkeepers as he passed them, making jokes and discussing lightly with them as he kept an eye on the boy, trying to make sure nobody noticed he was following the boy. After a while he saw where the boy was headed, towards a smaller bridge that was more crowded that the rest. Deciding it was as good as an opportunity to strike he would have to get hold of that fat purse he set out to catch the boy as he crossed the bridge.

Bumping up against someone as you passed them from behind was not the ideal way of stealing a purse, but it would have to do, the crowd on the small bridge was slow going and a lot of people pressed up against each other as they passed so it shouldn’t prove a problem. As the boy drew close to the bridge Rynhin caught up to him and slowed down, melting in to the crowd of people as they made their way towards the bridge. When the victim was past the middle of the bridge he started forcing himself through the crowd, mumbling apologies as he shouldered his way up to the boy, pretending to be in a hurry, fingerblade at the ready. Just before they left the bridge Rynhin walked up on the left side of the boy, his shoulder brushing against his victim as his hand shot out, with the swiftness that he had earned his name, and in one small notion cut of the string holding the purse tied to the belt. Rynhin quickly grabbed the purse as it got lose from the belt and swiftly slid it into one of the pockets inside his cloak, securing his catch and putting it out of sight until he could have a look at what it contained. Without slowing down he turned left down a street and walked past a few shops before chancing a glance back to see if the boy had noticed and came running at him with the crossbow in hand, he couldn’t see the boy among the closest crowd and he quickly escaped into the closest alley to inspect the loot, his curiosity couldn’t allow otherwise.

Once inside the alley he looked over his shoulder once more to make sure he wasn’t followed before finally taking out the purse to check the loot. Leaning lazily against the wall he fished up the purse out of the pocket in his cloak and weighed it in his hands, shaking it. With a smile on his face he untied the purse and opened it… Only to be attacked by a hoard, at least to him it felt like a hoard, of angry spiders. A not so manly scream left his throat, echoing through the morning air. Falling to the ground he threw the purse into the water beyond the alley as he tried to rid himself of the attacking spiders, hungry and upset for being stuck and thrown around in the purse.

OOCIf there is something amiss, unlcear or if I'm overplaying make sure to tell me so I can edit it!