~ Chapter 3 ~
A decent person for a not so decent thief

“You're too kind; it's wasted on her.” Ashley said, frowning; she opened the door to their home for him and watched him lay her on the couch. Zora sat on the floor to watch as Ashley did her thing; she removed the needle, setting it on the coffee table. She then knelt down beside Lilly and pushed a flow of magic through Lilly's bloodstream. Zora watched with increasing anxiety as the veins glowing blue, where the poison had gone, slowly crawled up her leg, chest, and made its way to the heart. Zora watched as his sister put blocks in the bloodstreams halting the poison's progress, then she slowly eradicated it working her way back to its origination. Finally, she sat back, panting.
“She'll live, but when she awakes, we will have to talk about why someone's after her, alive. That poison would've only made her look dead, and a normal person would have left a thief to die,” Ashley explained, “someone wanted her to disappear, while still getting her alive.”
“Okay, but for now, let's let her rest.” Zora replied, frowning in thought, as Ashley draped a blanket over her.
“You really don't care for her do you?” Zora asked as he stood up.
“Not at all.” she replied bluntly, leaving the room, probably heading to bed. Zora got to his feet, moving to sit on the couch beside Lilly. He watched her chest rise and fall rhythmically, and before long, he’d fallen asleep.

Zora awoke, something warm was pressed up against his side; it almost felt furry? Suddenly Zora sat up. Did a rat get in his bed? Suddenly he felt movement, and Lilly sat up beside him.
“Why are you in my bed?” Zora asked in confusion, glancing around.
“Uhm, last I remember, I was in the alley.” She replied, Zora's face flushed with embarrassment.
“I brought you here, and sat down beside you, musta fallen asleep.” he explained, realizing where he was, the couch. She got up and wandered towards the fridge; her steps still weren’t fully balanced.
“Mind if I get something to eat?” She asked, opening the fridge.
“Sure,” Zora replied, “there might not be anything in there though.” Lilly frowned, looking at the mostly empty fridge, “what happened?”
“I carried you here after you collapsed, somehow you'd been stuck with a poison needle.”
“Oh,” Lilly replied, her eyes shifted away, looking a little despondent.
“So, you saved my life?” Lilly asked; she didn't seem very happy about the idea. He got to his feet and stepped into the kitchen.
“No, I only carried you, Ashley healed you, she found out later that the poison wasn't deadly.” he replied, patting her on the shoulder.
“Well thanks anyways, I guess.” Lilly replied, “Can we head to the dungeons now? I get the feeling your friend doesn't like me.”
“Sure.” Zora answered, grabbing his knife from the table. Lilly stepped out the door as he quickly put his new light armor on, he then followed her out. The wind attacked Zora like a thousand needless, but the air itself wasn't that cold. The dew glittered on the brick road, even though the sky was barely light. Ashley will be upset that I left before she could interrogate Lilly, but that's okay with me.
“Come on!” Lilly called, waving for him to catch up; she’d already begun to disappear down the street. Zora dashed after her, catching up just as they turned onto the road that the guild ward was on.
“You coulda slowed down just a little.” Zora said, panting as he stopped beside her. She nodded, her eyes fixed on a man leaning against the bulletin board designated for bounties. Lilly finally worked up the courage, and they both walked up to the board; the man looked down at Lilly, a sneer appeared on his face.
“Hey, been a while, where you been hiding, we've been looking for you.” the man said, grabbing her arm.
“Hey, let go.” Lilly said, fear in her voice.
“If you don't want your secret getting out, then you better come quietly.” He said devilishly, she went silent and began to follow him.
Zora stared after her, no point in trying to talk her out of going with him or trying to save her from whatever is going on; she wouldn’t trust me any more than him. I'm a stranger, I'll save her when I change that.
Zora watched her leave, he was scared for her, and he could tell she wasn't confident of her own survival either. He checked the board; there was a level eight beast with a bounty. Woah! That's a lot of money for a level eight beast. He grabbed the bounty and rolled it up, shoving it into his pocket. I'll do this right away, he thought. He made his way as fast as he could to the dungeon; he was stopped by someone asking about a good place to buy armor, remembering his promise, he recommended Carren's store. Finally, he arrived at the dungeon; he made his way to where level eight monsters usually roamed. After a while, he'd killed a couple of low-level creatures, but still no sign of the giant snake he was supposed to be after. The cavern Zora stood in was rather dark, stalactites, and stalagmites, making it look rather ominous. It was wide open though, big enough for the creature he was looking for.
Suddenly Zora sensed something coming; he flashed his hand up, catching an arrow inches from his face, and without pause, he flipped it and Drew it against his bow and fired it back at its original owner, killing him. A couple of shadowed figures stepped into view.
An ambush! He pulled his knife out and sliced an arrow out of the air, flipping the knife into the air, he quickly fired off two arrows and caught his knife in time to cut another arrow in half. He’d killed three of the ambushers, and there were only three remaining.
Boom! An explosion caused the dungeon ceiling to collapse; Zora leaped forward, rolling out from under falling rocks; he landed on his hands and knees, suddenly he felt a knife at his throat.
“Hello, it seems like you’ve taken a liking to our property, and we can't have that.” the man said,
“Oh, you mean Lilly? Yeah, she's the worst thief I've ever met, but she's cute mind if I have her?” Zora replied sarcastically.
“What! Of course not, you're going to die here for that.” The stranger said, and that's when he made his move; he flipped his body backward, hitting the knife his attacker held, with his knee and quickly stabbed his attacker with his own blade. Then he looked around, the cavern had collapsed, but it had opened a hole to the above floor. The remaining two stepped forward, Zora held his knife at the ready as they closed in. The first one to attack had a long sword and swiped viciously; Zora blocked easily, though. The second attacker had two small knives and was more challenging to block against; Zora blocked the long sword, simultaneously dodging the second attacker. Zora grabbed the second attacker’s wrist and forced it forward, using it to take the first attacker out of commission.
Now it was one on one with the last remaining attacker, Zora blocked both blades and kneed him in the stomach, stabbing him in the neck. He keeled over, choking on his own blood. Zora frowned as he left through the opening in the ceiling; there's no point in continuing to search for this beast. The bounty had been a trap.

Zora sighed as he stepped into the open. That was rather annoying. But with such a high reward, I should have been suspicious. I wonder what Ashley's up to. He shrugged and started walking; he made his way down the main road counting the alleys as he went, one, two, three, four, five, then turn. A couple of stalls were set up, offering different foods; Zora bought a few apples and some meat for tonight. Then he crossed the street to where the house was; he quickly went up to it but hesitated at the door. She's going to be so upset.
Zora pushed open the door; Ashley was sitting at the table writing; she looked up and frowned.
“How'd I guess she'd be gone before I could question her?” Ashley asked, her eyes glittered with anger. “Hey, your aurora, it's looking dark, what's on your mind?”
“I can't hide dark thoughts from you heh, it's nothing I'm fine.” Zora replied, smiling, “hungry?” he tossed her an apple, which she caught.
“Sure.” She said, taking a big bite, while Zora put the rest in the fridge. They both sat down to eat; the food seemed to quench her anger for now at least; he spaced out a little as he took his first bite; Selcict had the best apples in the whole country.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of town. . .

Lilly stood in front of the one person she vowed never to see again, the leader of the slaver’s right-hand man. His hair was a fiery orange; he was wearing a white cloak like he believed he was some kind of a good guy. His hands clasped behind his back, he stared down at Lilly, a crooked smile spread across his dirty lips.
“Lilly, you’ve avoided me long enough, and now that I have you here, I will waste no time.” he slid a shiny iron sword from his belt, easily recognizable as an imperial sword, and stabbed it through her shoulder, the bricks below her were dirty and cracked from age he took his fist and pounded the blade into the ground as far as possible.
"That should keep you here till you bleed out." She winced in pain, moving hurt like hell. He tore her coat hood off, revealing the secret she tried so hard to keep.
“Poor girl.” The man said, "Though I guess this will cover the cost of that sword. I'm sorry I had to do that,” he said, sighing like he actually cared, “but it's my job.” He then turned and walked away; his footsteps faded away, leaving the young thief to lay in a growing pool of her own blood.


Zora threw his Apple core in the trash; Ashley took one last bite before throwing her’s as well.
“Hey! Let's go out and walk around, okay?” Ashley said, blushing a little. “you've gone out so much I haven't had much time with you.”
“Okay, yeah that sounds great.” Zora said, smiling, “I think there's a nice grassy meadow on the other side of town that they turned into a park.”
“Then let's go!” Ashley replied quickly, happy to finally get some alone time with her brother. She hopped off the chair and headed to her room; she returned a few moments later, slipping her arms into the sleeves of a coat. She was wearing a different outfit too, a light blue and cherry red dress.
“Heh.” Zora chuckled, amused by her preference for more girly clothing.
“What.” She asked, stopping to look at him, her fingers still buttoning her coat.
“Nothing sis, It's been too Long since we just walked and talked, ya know?” Zora replied, turning to the table so he could grab his knife. When he turned back around, Ashley was already walking out the door, motioning for him to come on. He followed her, locking the door behind him. He followed his sister out into the afternoon air; the dew from that morning had long since evaporated. Zora followed Ashley at her brisk pace, doing his best to keep up as they passed the marketplace, pushing through the crowd. Soon they passed the guild ward and headed into the western part of the town, which is where Ashley began to slow down.
“It should be up ahead.” Zora told Ashley he led the way, and before long, they stood by the entrance to the park.
“This looks nice.” It was quite green, paths from the four entrances made an X as they went towards the center. A large water fountain was at the very center; the sound of the wind blowing through the branches was calming. Ashley started walking slowly through the park, Zora was close behind. She stopped beneath a tree and looked up, smiling.
“This reminds me of our childhood home; there was a tree just like it.” She said, placing a hand on the trunk.
“Yeah, ever since mother died, we've been so busy trying to get stable, we don't have much time for each other.”
“You found an apprenticeship yet?” Zora asked, leaning against the tree.
“No, I'm thinking I'll just start taking bounties like you.” She replied, looking down from the tree.
“No! You could get hurt.” Zora replied quickly, throwing his hands around her.
“You risk your life every day, but you won't let me risk mine?” Ashley asked bewildered.
“Exactly, I want to be able to know that even if I died, you're still alive.” Zora responded, hugging her tightly.
“Oh, that's stupid! But okay, I'll keep looking for an apprenticeship.” she said, affectionately, “come on, it's gonna start getting dark soon.” Ashley started off in a run towards the middle of the park. Zora dashed after her.

Zora followed Ashley as they walked back towards the house; the sun had gone down a while ago; Zora followed her past the guild ward. The sun had finally set by the time they were walking past the marketplace. Suddenly All he could think about was the look in Lilly’s eyes right before she was dragged off, fear, she was afraid. Suddenly he realized he was back at the house; he flopped onto the bed, pulled the covers up, and went to sleep.
Ashley watched her brother sleep; she sighed and walked to the kitchen, opening the fridge; she grabbed an apple and sat down at the table. A couple of hours passed, and she'd fallen asleep, the half-eaten apple still in hand.
The door handle turned slowly, stopping as it reached its locked limit; a few seconds later, it jiggled, making metallic sounds, but both brother and sister slept soundly. Finally, the jiggling stopped, and the door opened.

Zora awoke, yawning as he slipped from the sheets. He quietly got dressed before slipping out into the hall. He headed over to his sister’s room; she still slept; he crossed over to his sister's bed. That's when he noticed the blood on the floor; there was a drizzled trail from the hall to the bed.
He pulled the covers down, Lilly!? She stirred and opened her eyes; the second she saw him, her eyes went wide. There was a dark stain on her shirt; it had been ripped up and tied around her shoulder.
“Oh, um h-hi.” Lilly said, looking quite embarrassed.
“You’re hurt!?” Zora exclaimed, confusion in his voice, surprised relief sparkled in his eyes. “How'd you get here?”
“Um, it's a bit of a story.” She replied, blushing, “mind doing me a favor first?”
“Sure, what do you need?” Zora asked, concerned.
“Could you buy me some clothes?” She asked blushing.
“Um, why?” He replied, confused.
“Cause I had to rip mine up.” She replied, blushing a deeper red.
“Oh, of course,” he said as he left the room. After that, she quickly slid out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom.
"You'll find bandages in the medicine cabinet." he called through the door. Zora sighed, he was so confused, but he started down the street anyways.

He entered Carren's store and glanced around.
“Hey, welcome.” Carren called from the desk, a couple of people milled about, looking here and there. Zora headed over to the girls' section; he bought a pink dress and a light leather armor that he thought would look nice on her as well as a hooded cloak, like the one she had previously.
“Mind if I ask who you’re buying these for?” Carren asked, smiling mischievously.
“A friend.” Zora replied, smiling as he handed her the money. He then quickly made his way back to the house; Lilly had obviously just gotten out of the shower; she had a towel wrapped around her. He handed her the two things he'd bought. She smiled and thanked him before disappearing into the bathroom again.
That's when Zora noticed Ashley, still asleep at the table; a half-eaten apple rested in her hand. He smiled and walked over, tossing the Apple in the trash. He lifted his sister into his arms and carried her to her bed; he pulled the covers over her. I wonder how late she stayed up. He then made his way to the living room, where he sat down on the couch and waited. Lilly stepped out of the bathroom, the clothes he'd bought fit her nicely, she wore the cloak over it. She wandered over to him and sat down beside him.
“Thank you for the help; I didn't want to sleep outside tonight.” Lilly said, fear hiding beneath her voice. Zora nodded, frowning, he didn't mind helping, but he still had a lot of questions.
“Okay, I guess I'll be leaving now.” Lilly said, standing up, she started towards the door, but Zora grabbed her arm.
“Hey, why don't you stay here? I don't want to see you end up dead in an alley. Also, you've yet explained why you ended up half-naked and injured in my sister's bed.” he said, pulling her back down onto the couch. Her wound had been adequately bandaged but was still bleeding. If she wasn't careful, it still might kill her.
“Oh, okay.” She said, frowning. “It was an old friend, one that turned on me. I think he was paid to kill me; I was probably saved by his grudge. He wanted to make me suffer; he didn't stick around to see me die.”
Zora nodded; she looked distressed still.
"Prying that sword out was one of the most painful things I've ever done, and I fear it won't be long before he realizes what I've done." She continued.
“Oh, hey, don't worry, you can stay here. Tomorrow will you go into the dungeon with me?” Zora said, still feeling quite concerned.
“Yeah, I'd like that. And afterward, we should get something to eat.” Lilly replied, smiling a little.
“Hey, I don't know what's going on, but I'll protect you okay.” Zora said, smiling, he put an arm around her.
“Hey, what's going on?” Ashley asked, walking into the room.
“Hey, sis, could you do something for me?” Zora asked, standing up.
“Yeah, sure.” She replied, annoyance creeping into her voice.
“Could you put a disguise seal on Lilly's cloak?” Zora asked, she nodded reluctantly in response; Lilly slipped the cloak off and handed it to Ashley, who spread it out on the table. She waved her hand, and a few runes glowed in a circular Pattern, a Raven symbol appeared in the middle. She pulled her hand away, and a nightly black crept outward in all directions, from the Raven on the back, till the whole cloak was covered.
“There, that should hide you from anyone, but those who've seen you put it on, everyone else will just acknowledge you as a stranger.” Ashley said, handing the cloak back to Lilly, who put it on.

Zora walked down the sidewalk, Lilly a few steps behind. Ashley had also grudgingly healed her wound.
“Hey, after this, I'll buy you some armor.” Zora said, glancing back at her, “and a weapon.” Her eyes went wide, and she caught up to him
“Really?” she asked, he nodded.
“I promise!” He replied; they stopped outside the guild ward, Lilly stiffened beside him. Zora looked to the side; a boy was leaning against the wall.
“Excuse me, sir.” Zora said, clearing his throat; the boy looked up in return, white hair with a streak of red. He had brown eyes, and He wore a black imperial outfit, a sword on his back. He looked to be about twenty.
“Yes, what do you need, young man.” He asked. “Are you a slave Tracer?” Zora asked; he knew his uniforms, and this one looked a lot like a Slave Tracer unit.
“No, I'm the one they call when the Slave Tracers can't track the runaway.” He replied, smiling. “Your friend there? Looks quite scared,” the boy pulled the hood off Lilly's head, “damn, you just look like her.”
“You after someone?” Zora asked, a few dots still refusing to connect in his head.
“Yes, a lithian number 1I11IA.” He replied, frowning, “You see her, looks a lot like your friend there, but a lithian fox.”
“Nope, sorry.” Zora replied, “Though I should go.” He grabbed a level thirteen bounty in his haste and, taking Lilly's wrist, led her away.

They stopped outside the dungeon, Zora frowned.
“Still can't believe I grabbed a level thirteen!” Zora complained, frowning.
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