A Dire Mistake

[Gilsworthy]

It was another cold day in Avaren, as Christmas approached the weather progressively got colder, and still Gilsworthy felt every hole in his dark overcoat. Not that there were many, he tried his darndest to keep it in immaculate condition. He would get a new one. Some day. This day, however, he was milling about with the crowd, hands in his pockets, contemplating what to do with himself. He'd not been here a few days and already many interesting events had occurred. For once, he almost didn't feel like leaving to wander again. It would happen eventually, though, and he would be gone. Any friends he would make, he would leave. A love? He'd encountered a few of those, and he'd left them too. He was a wanderer at heart, nothing would change that.

The thief's sharp eyes took in the various faces of the crowd, distinguishing noble from peasant, merchant from laborer, and all the rest. Lucky for him he was watching, for it looked like he was the only person in the whole crowd to notice one man moving stealthily through it, coasting from person to person until, before Gil's very eyes, he did the classic bump and snatch. Striking lightly up against one fat noble and muttering a quick "Excuse me." the flatfoot then made away with the unsuspecting noble's wallet, which he immediately began rifling through.

Gil looked around quickly, the man was good. Nobody else had seen anything out of the ordinary... too bad for this thug another experienced thief was in his midst. In an instant he decided to pull a decidedly more complicated thieving skill, one he called Bite the Bait. The thief with the goods was quickly making his way Gil's direction, and at just the right moment Gilsworthy let a fat gold mark fall from one pocket while he acted none the wiser. The look of delight on the thief's face was priceless as he hastily bent down to take it, whilst Gil simultaneously pickpocketed him.

As fate would have it, however, the thief straightened up a hare too quickly, and passed over Gil's hand right as the wallet was removed. For a split second they locked eyes, the moment lasting far too long, before the fellow cutpurse cried out, "Thief! Thief! He's taken my money!" and pointing heatedly at Gil. The entire crowd seemed to stop and stare, the noble who had been stolen from stopping far ahead, cursing loudly, and beginning to shout as well.

"Damnation!" cursed Gil under his breath, spinning to look at the crowd that watched him in horror and revulsion. His bright eyes searched for a way out, in a town like this the law would be on him in a matter of moments.

[David Augustine]

David had just exited the barracks and entered the main road. He saw that everyone was shouting and looking one direction. He heard "Thief" and "Thieves" not knowing if there was one of them or two of them. He then started to walk towards the source of the commotion.

As he approached, he started to get a visual. It wouldn't be hard to see David. Since he was a little bit taller than seven feet tall and wore white armor. He saw two men that were surrounded by another crowd. From the looks of it one was holding a wallet and the other was holding a gold piece. And from the stance that they were standing in it was a trap for a thief that came from a thief.

He continued to approached but not as if he was the law. He nudged people to the side and told them excuse me. He wasn't going to convict them of anything until he got the facts straight. He was near there when he raised his hand in the air and pointed at both of them. "Hey, you two over there!" David shouted at them.

[Gilsworthy]

The other thief cursed loudly, causing a few gasps, then bolted straight through the wall of people and out onto the streets. Shooting a slightly confused grin at David, Gil turned on a heel and did the same, sprinting with all his might through the crowd and flipping the wallet, unfortunately already emptied, back to the Noble who it had belonged to with a curt, "My apologies." He let momentum carry him past the knot of people and into the streets proper, where he took a quick look behind to see if anyone had given chase. A few opportunities presented themselves if the law really had shown up.

[David Augustine]

David managed to grab the other thief with ease. David knocked him out and looked in the direction that Gil had ran. He then sprinted after him carrying the knocked out thief with ease on his shoulders. He was able to run quiet fast despite his size and the armor that he wore. Of course, the armor wasn't heavy either. He gained on him fast. The body he carried on his shoulder not slowing him down. In fact, the body was like a feather to him. He was used to carrying things on his shoulders anyway.

[Gilsworthy]

'He's fast!' thought Gil in amazement, watching out of the corner of his eye as the man in white sprinted easily hefting the man on his shoulder like a sack of flour. Just running wouldn't get him anywhere with this one except caught. The other thief would slow him down, eventually.

Grinning widely, Gil ducked into an alleyway and with his momentum leaped, pivoted on a brick wall, and vaulted to grab the top of a rather high dead end, the alley having been sealed off long ago. His hands scrabbled at the brick, his fingerless gloves keeping them from being torn too badly, until one boot found purchase and he pulled himself over the high wall, shooting a wink back down to David before dropping over the other side. The dark clad thief landed into a crouch, his overcoat settling slowly about him. There was no telling whether that would stop pursuit or even if David would be right over the wall after him- you just never knew with the people in this town- so Gil took off again out onto the adjacent street.

He got some strange looks, his face probably showing exertion from his acrobatic feet and his jet black hair all a mess. After taking a moment to run a hand through it, he walked off toward a less populated section of the Square, out into the city proper, at a jog. Quickly he rounded a corner, still grinning to himself. The white clad guy would have to be pretty quick to catch up now.

[David Augustine]

David watched what the other had done. And decided to let him get over the wall. Once he had dropped he jumped and made it one of the side posts and then lept again onto the wall. He watched as he turned the corner. He was a dragoon and would take much more than a few turns and running through a maze to lose him.

David lept again onto a rooftop and decided to use them to his advantage. He ran along them and made sure to keep an eye out for his prey. He saw him make another turn. David simply jumped over to an adjecent building and ran across it. He was side by side now. He watched Gil as he walked through the people. He continued with the pursuit on the roof tops.

When the chasee stopped and rounded the corner. David was on the roof top right next to him. He jumped down infront of him. He had a grin about him as he saw the look of shock on the thief's face. The thief that he carried slowly started to rouse. David quickly grabbed a hold of Gil before he could escape. He set down the other thief against the wall and threw Gil next to him. "Alright, I'm going to ask both of you some questions and that'll be all." he said as he looked at both of them, "What happened at the square?"

[Gilsworthy]

"Good, lost him." said Gil to himself, slowing down. That jump probably had the man in a pretty pickle as to the pursuit... maybe he would do it again just to lose him entirely. Then again, why waste the energy if he was already long gone-

In a blur of motion the white armored man alighted in front of him as from the sky, and Gil's eyes about bugged out of his head. What, did the knights sprout wings and fly around in this country, on top of everything else? In a matter of a split second his hand shot out and gripped Gil's collar like the jaws of Death, making his eyes about pop out of their sockets. 'He's inhuman! I thought I was tall but this man's a giant, he shouldn't be able to move that fast at his size... I've never seen anybody move that fast...' the litany repeated in his head even as he was thrown unceremoniously next to the unwashed street thief up against the wall of a house.

At his side, the other thief awoke, and instantly seized up as he saw his predicament, cutting off a curse and nearly biting off his own tongue. This was classic... the protector of the innocent towering over the low scum of the world, and boy, if this man towered any higher he would have battlements. Unfortunately, the two of them started talking at once,

"I was really just minding my own business-"
"Well, you see, I thought it would be rather clever-"

Gil lashed the man with a glare and said, "Quiet, you, I was talking first."

"No, no, I'm not the one at fault, he stole the purse right out of my back pocket." cried the man like a child, tears welling up at his eyes. 'Oh, this is rich. Let's see if he gives us the 'wife and two kids' routine next.' thought Gil dryly.

"Nonsense, I saw you steal from that Noble with my own two eyes. Too bad you couldn't keep the goods for very long." said Gil, staying just short of sounding like he was gloating.

"Oh, you don't understand, I've just fallen on hard times and-"

"Suck it up, sheesh, you're making me sick! Sir, if anyone's worthy of the stocks it's this ruffian, not me." said Gil matter-of-factly to the man, who scowled at him with a look of rage.

[David Augustine]

David examined both of them. "Which one of you have the money from the noble?" he asked simply.

[Gilsworthy]

The two thieves pointed simultaneously to each other and said in unison, "He does."

"Now wait just a moment." said Gil, "How could I have the money if you're the one who pickpocketed the noble first."

"You stole it from me." whined the other thief, "With that nasty trick you pulled. Give it back to the nice man."

"Come on, tell him the truth so we can both get out of here. You stole it first." asked Gil, his patience wearing thin.

"But the wallet was empty when you 'returned' it." said the thief, pointing an accusing finger. "So it had to have been you."

"Any man with half a brain would have given it back by now, neither of us is keeping any money here, get that through your thick skull!" growled Gil, gritting his teeth in aggravation.

[David Augustine]

"Well, I guess there is only one way to solve this problem." David said with a sigh. He then grabbed one of Gil's legs with his right hand and one leg of the other thief in his other hand. He then started shaking them both eventually causing "their" belongings. David noticed the large sum of money that came out of the one thief's pockets. He tossed them both back on the ground. He then pulled out a pouch and put all the money that was taken from the noble inside of it. "You're both lucky I'm not part of the law. I would have thrown both of you in the stockades." he told them, "The next time I hear about any theft I'm coming after you two, whether you did it or not." David then turned and walked down the alley way and turned onto the open streets.

[Gilsworthy]

Gil sat dazedly on the cold cobblestones as the man walked calmly away after rattling him like a child's toy on Christmas day. His eyes seemed to be spinning, he closed them and put his hands to his head. Once his insides felt righted again, he opened them and looked at the thief who was skulking away.

"Hey." said Gil wearily, reaching into his overcoat, "Come here a second." he stood, and pulled a sealed pouch out of a hidden pocket. "Take it, there's enough in here to- damnation!" His finger poked straight through a frayed hole in the bottom and out into the icy air, then tore at the thing with both hands in anger. A roar of frustration escaped him as he tore it to bits, throwing the bits of cloth to the ground with a huff. The other thief was watching him scaredly, like he was a madman, and Gil looked back at him coldly.

"Looks like he got just a little more back than what you took." he commented acidly, fumbling about his coat some more. "Now let's see... ah, he didn't get to this one." He pulled a tiny washleather purse from the depths of his dark overcoat and tossed it to the thief; it jingled with the sound of coin. "There should be enough in there to support your family until you can find yourself a job. I hear they need a cook over at the Tavern." Gil grinned, and the man grinned stupidly back at him.

"You must be an angel in disguise, sir, for me to do all of that and still you give me this." the dirty man said, holding the purse like a sacred relic.

"Who, me? Nah. Angels gave up on me a long time back." replied Gil, turning and beginning to walk away, simply raising his hand in goodbye to the man, his other hand trying to find warmth deep in one pocket. It was a lucky thing he'd struck hard on some good fortune during his travels, or he would be as destitute as the man he'd robbed. As Gil walked away, he felt like a good thing had come of all the hullabaloo, like everyone got something nice in the end. It warmed his heart, and made him chuckle at the absurdity. Gil only later realized that he hadn't gotten the white armored man's name.

A kind of poetic justice was served that day, for while Gil walked away knowing he had done something good, and while David walked away with the money recovered, the thief walked away with only a very special purse, it held a fact that even Gil was unaware of;

Every last coin in it was fake.

[David Augustine]

David ran into Gil again. Literally bumped into him. "Hey, I've been looking for you." he said calmly scratching his head at the same time. He stood there and pulled out the same pouch that had all of the noble's money in it. He tossed it up in his hand and caught it.

"It seems that the noble that this was stolen from died sometime after the theft. I was told to keep the money but I have no use for it." David explained looking down at Gil, "So here take it. If your friend was here I'd have you split it, but seeing how he isn't around. You can have it all."

David then turned and started walking slowly away. He stopped in the middle of the street looking around wondering where to go. He then looked down in his hand to find the pouch still there. He turned around and gave it to Gil. "Forgot to give it to ya." he said as he started to walk away again.

[Gilsworthy]

"You're something else, mate." chuckled Gil, running a hand through his hair. "I hadn't planned on meeting you again so quickly... too bad about that noble. Guess the stress was too much for him." His hand transferred to the back of his head where he scratched and made a smirk. Gladly he took the bag and secreted it away inside his coat, one thing his Father had taught him was 'Never turn down an offer of money, an offer of friendship is what you should be suspicious about.' Whether this knight wanted to make friends or not was beyond the thief.

"Hey." he called out as the white knight strode away, "I never did catch your name, mine's Gilsworthy." A stroke of luck, it seemed, that they had run into each other. Or was it a fated meeting? All Gil knew was that most of the time people of high status wanted nothing to do with him, and if Gil knew half of what he thought, then this man was a noble himself.

[David Augustine]

David stopped and looked toward Gil. He sighed and walked back over and looked down at him. "I'm David Augustine." he said as he held out his hand for him to shake. He didn't know if could completely trust him or not, but it didn't matter that much to him at the time. He didn't however mind making friends whenever he could. And someone with his skills might come in handy for certain situations.

"Is there anything else that you would like to know?" David asked. He scratched his head for a bit and looked around. He thought about what else he could possibly be doing or better things he had to do. There had to be something else he could do. He continued to think, but all that came up was nothing. And he didn't feel like coming up with a story so he decided to talk with Gilsworthy.

[Gilsworthy]

At first, Gil looked at David's hand like it was a live snake, his own remaining firm in it's pocket. Was he trying to trick him into playing nice? No, somehow he didn't think so... this man had an air of sincerity to him. It was usually like that with the high and holy types, that whole holier-than-thou thing really made Gil angry, but David just seemed plain old nice.

Eventually, Gil slowly removed his hand from it's pocket and shook, slightly tattered glove against gauntlet. The man's grip was as hard as he was tall. Maybe his mother was a giant? Not exactly a question to ask in normal conversation.
"No." he said, eyes looking toward the inviting alleyways. "I usually run solo, and exploring this kingdom has it's share of surprises, but no. Thanks for asking." the last had a bit of sarcasm thrown in, but the thief couldn't resist. "Perhaps we'll meet again, the way you ran into me just now, I wouldn't doubt it. Ta ta!"

With that Gil dashed off into one dark alley, overcoat flapping about his heels as he went. If the heavens were looking kindly on him, he would never see Augustine again. People like him associating with that sort never ended up well. As Gil quickly spirited away down the twisting paths, full purse jingling as he went, he thought that maybe things might be looking up for him in Avaren.