It was a dark moonless night in the Imperial city Athros. Most of the city was slumbering or getting ready for the next day. Only drunks and guards roamed the city streets at dusk.

“Hey get back here! Thief! Thief!” A drunkard cried out, ruining the peaceful silence of the night.

Hearing the plea, my patrol rushed over, seeing a drunk man grappling with a skinny youth. As we were making our way the young boy managed to slip from the drunkard’s grasp and run off into an alleyway. Giving chase, we pursued the Perpetrator.

Thieves were a plague on the city, and recently more and more have been popping up. The thief was only able to stay ahead by nimbly jumping over various heaps of trash and obstacles littering the alley way. As our torches dispelled the surrounding darkness, the figure of the dirty street urchin was revealed. As the kid saw us gaining on him, he started making quick turns attempting to lose us in the winding maze of the narrow alleyways. He was still a good twenty meters in front of us, but his lead didn’t last long.

It seemed as though the running was draining him, while my compatriots and I only had a light sweat going. Seeing this gave me an extra burst of energy. I wanted to end this now, so we could get back to our card game. Just as he was within arm’s reach, the thief made a sharp turn and slid sideways through a small gap in between two rundown buildings. It was a tight fit but he managed to squeeze through.

One of my friends tried to do the same getting himself stuck. I rushed around the building hoping to corner the kid, but by the time I got there he was gone.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered as I looked around hoping for some trace of the thief.

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I woke up with a growling stomach. It ached, crying out for food and tore me from slumber.

I tried to ignore it and slip back into sleep. I was able to shrug off the pain of my empty stomach. It continued to protest letting out gurgles and growls.

At this point I was used to the relentless ache. It was like a companion to me, there for as long as I remembered.

There's not much chance to eat your fill when you're an orphan.

I was just about to nod off again, when my best friend, Herald shook me awake.

“Wake up Thorin. Today is the start of the festival. A lot of people with a lot of money are going to be here this week.” He whispered as he shook my shoulder.

“Eeh, let me sleep a bit longer. You know I had a rough night.” I whispered back as I forced my legs off the side of the bed and slowly sat up.

“No way man. The merchants will be just as tired as you are. They won’t even notice us cutting their purses. Plus, you have to make up for coming up empty yesterday.” Herald whispered with excitement in his eyes.

He was always eager. There was nothing fun about being a pickpocket, but he was a dreamer. He fantasized that one day he would steal a pouch full of gold and leave this life behind, telling himself that today was the day. I admired him for that.

I stood up and groggily began putting on the worn clothes I stuffed under my bed last night. They were covered in dirt and filth. I had to wear them, they were my only set.

I finished getting dressed and made my way over to the sheet separating my sleeping area, from the rest of the orphan's. Being careful not to wake them up.

I paused taking a moment to just look them over... Each of them enduring the same struggles I did. They were all dirty, skinny kids. I hated the fact they were here because I knew what they went through. Eventually they'd have to leave.

Some might get lucky, but most would live the rest of their lives penniless and starving. The boys I played with would join gangs or beg on the side of the street. The girls I had grown up with would sell their bodies in order to survive.

I would gladly give my life if they could have a better one. I had given up on myself, but they each had a chance. So I stole for them. I tried to get enough food or money so they could eat.

Some days there just wasn’t enough for all of us, often we made it through the day rationing the little we had. Yesterday I didn't get anything, so unless I have a successful snatch today, we wouldn't be eating.

“Let's go already” Herald whispered, causing me to move away from the sheet.

“Alright, alright I am moving.” I whispered back as I moved towards the door of our shack with Hearld following behind.

I rubbed my eyes as I stepped out into the grimy alleyways. It was early dawn and the sun had yet to show itself.

We made our way through the warrens of Athros, avoiding the shadier areas of the slums slowly making it to the west gate. On the way we chatted, deciding what ruse we were going to use today.

“Cripple and Helper?” Herald asked.

“Nah people are going to be in too much of a hurry. Let’s use the beggar and pedestrian.” I decided.

“Fine but I'm the beggar. You know I am a better actor than you.” Herald said sticking his tongue out at me.

“More like you're afraid you'll screw up the snatch like you did last week.” I shot back. Laughing, we drifted onto less conspicuous topics as we approached the gate.

We made it just as the gate was opening. Travelers started forming a line in front of the guards and waited to be inspected. After the guards asked some questions and checked their items, they were let through.

Most were farmers or travelers here for the Blackwater Festival. We could rob them, but often times they didn't have much and weren't worth the risk. Herald and I were biding our time to find a merchant or lesser noble that was coming to participate in the Blackwater Auction. Annually the wealthy get together and sell rare items, if we could snag one of their purses we would be set for a year or more.

We sat there observing the flow of people and waited for a good target. After twenty minutes Herald nudged me and pointed at one of the people just past the guards. He was wearing decent clothes that weren't too flashy and he didn’t seem special.

“What do you mean? He doesn’t look wealthy” I protested. “Aren’t we supposed be looking for high class targets?”

“I saw him flash gold to the guard to skip the line. He had a decent sized pouch. Trust me.” Herald said over his shoulder, already moving back into the alley.

“Alright, set up two buildings down. See you in a bit.” I said my eyes locking onto the man.

I waited until he passed the alley and walked out into the crowd. Making sure to keep track of him I casually made my way towards him. It was a little crowded on the street but, I managed to get in position behind the man. I slowed down keeping pace right behind him. I familiarized myself with his gait and movement. He seemed tired, but alert.

I looked ahead, and checking the side of the road where Herald waited. We made eye contact for a brief moment and I made a small gesture with my hand indicating that we were good to go. He repeated the same motion.

My heart beat started to pick up and my adrenaline began to flow I had ten more paces until the target passed Herald. I took the small blade hidden from one of my pockets and hid it up my sleeve ready to go. Three paces left. I stepped slightly closer and readied myself.

Herald crouched on the side of the street and jumped out towards the man. He latched onto the man’s feet crying out. “Sir please give me some coins, anything please. I am starving.”

The man had to stop walking and surprised by Heralds behavior.

Before Herald had even moved, I was in motion knowing he would go for the left leg because the pouch was on the right hip. We figured out that most people move their pouch away from the beggar by twisting their mid-section.

This small subconscious movement made my job much easier. I zeroed in and was close enough to get to the pouch. I reached out with my left hand and pulled the pouch slightly downward creating a tension on the bag. With my right hand I placed the knife to the pouch strings attached to his belt. Then I lowered my shoulder and preparing for the difficult part. While doing all of this, I continued walking forward. Right as I collided into the now stationary man I jerked the blade through the string to disguise the force of the cut.

I quickly stuffed the loot into a small bag I attached to my pants, straightened my posture and jumped back.

“Hey what are you doing?” I said angrily.

By this point the man had kicked off Herald and turning to me and apologizing.

“Sorry, the beggar kid forced made me stop.” The man said in a frustrated voice glaring daggers at Herald who was running back into the alley.

“Next time watch where you are going, idiot!” I replied before heading away and into the nearest random shop.

I was a bit out of place in the shop, but pretended to look at the items for a minute before wading back out into the crowd with a big smile on my face.

I started heading back to the slums, ready to go through the spoils. Perhaps we finally had gotten lucky.