— Unknown —

Darkness surrounded me. Heavy footsteps stopped right outside the vault. I ducked farther into the darkness, waiting for the vault to open, and let me out. My mission succeeded, now I just needed to get out of here. Take one little crystal drive and they all freak out. I snickered at the thought since that was the plan.

I gathered the shadows in the vault, waiting on them to let me out. If someone was watching the cameras closely they would have noticed the shadows receding, shrinking, and the vault losing depth. Thankfully, no one was paying attention to the shadows.

I knew they were scrutinizing the recording right now, trying to figure out what set off the alarm. Bet they’ll never figure it out.

I had hidden in the camera's blind spot and used a return needle to get the drive. I used the shadows to leave behind a shadow copy of the drive. The damn needle was crazy expensive and only worked on small objects like my target. To them, it looked like nothing had changed.

The vault door slowly opened to a platoon of warriors, not a rogue among them. They must not be trusting types. This would work better in my favor. The guards didn't appear too concerned and were even casual about the whole thing. Must happen quite often for how chill they are about this.

Two of the guards were talking as the door opened. “Probably just a rat again.”

“You know what's in there. Even if it is a rat we have to take this seriously.”

“Yeah. Yeah. But who would try to steal from the Keepers?”

“Someone with an end wishes. Prepare just in case.”

I heard the draw of weapons, as the door continued to open.

My heart began to quicken. This is my only shot. I pulled harder at the shadows and the world became flat; losing dimension. The shadows around me became denser, almost solid. The door continued to open, while I focused on pulling more and more shadows. Condensing them further, thinning the cloud of darkness into smooth second skin.

The door opened fully; I took my chance, letting go of the darkness. The world faded to pure black.

— Aster —

I awoke from the darkness disoriented and trying to run, only to find myself lying on cold hard stone ground. “What? Where am I?” I was just in the vault...was that even me? My mind slowly caught up with my surroundings. I was surrounded by stone walls, and ground, smelling of mold and...something unpleasant. I was in an alley, one in the middle of the city. I sat up and a sheet of paper fell to the ground. Picking the letter up, it read.

Hello Aster,

This is day 2 for stealth. All you have to do is make it back to the guild, (front entrance) but you must follow the rules. If you don’t, you’ll regret it:

Rule No. 1:

-No Clothing Allowed

Rule No. 2:

-No Vehicles Allowed

Rule No. 3:

-Don’t get arrested (They don’t like naked people.)

Rule No. 4:

-No Waiting till Night (By the time it is dark you must be at least halfway.)

Rule No. 5:

-Don’t let children see your nakedness

Rule No. 6:

-Do not harm anyone to keep yourself hidden

Rule No. 7:

-Have fun

Don’t forget to follow the rules.

Sincerely,

Jane

It was only after reading the letter, did I feel the lack of clothing. The last rule made the least sense. “Have fun? I’m naked! What is wrong with them?”

Although I have to admit I do feel a slight thrill at the challenge, that is beside the point.

I tried to stand, but a feeling of wrongness flowed through me. After the last time, I was kind of expecting it. Expecting it, and experiencing it were two completely different things. It didn’t help me stand, it only helped me to whether the weirdness. I began slowly. Pushing myself up to all fours, then up and stumbling around to gain my balance. I moved and stretched trying to get rid of the foreign feeling in my body. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone would stumble down the alley and see me. But it would probably be even worse if I head out before I could move. Tentatively, I took some experimental steps, walking around. With each step, I found something was different. My steps made no sound. “Neat.”

It took a while before I could move normally but once I could I edged to the alley’s mouth. Reaching the entrance, I saw a now very familiar building, or should I say giant hat. It looked a little different than I was used to. It looked almost, smaller. I didn’t have time to dwell on this since time was running short. At least I know where I am.

I wasn’t too far away from the guild, which would normally not take too long. That is if I had clothes on. Being naked would complicate things. There was no telling how long it would take while avoiding everyone.

I was at the edge of the alley, looking for the snapdragon brick to orient myself when I heard a loud piercing scream. A woman had seen me and was pointing. I did not hesitate and ran down the alley away, exiting into another crowded street.

No one made a move to stop me. A few looked in my direction confusion painting their faces, but I don’t think the people who saw me running by even registered that I was naked, or they just didn’t care. I like to think that what passed through their heads was. 'Was that guy naked? Nah’. Fun thoughts to have when running, through a small crowd.

I ran into the closest alley, luckily there was a series of boxes in the perfect position to use as a boost to an overhanging ledge. Using those boxes, I made my way onto the ledge. I wondered why I hadn’t heard any cops yet?

It was only moments after having that thought that I heard. “I think he went that way.” I could hear the heavy footfalls on stone go past me. I lay there breathing heavy, trying not to make a sound.

“Did anybody see him?” Silence.

“Did anyone get a look at him?” More silence.

I heard a loud sigh and heard the officer speak into the radio. “Report. Be on the lookout for a naked guy. Last seen in the merchant district. Age unknown, height unknown, race unknown. This is for awareness.”

That sounded rather unprofessional. I guess no one got a look at me.

I waited for a good hour on the ledge, waiting to make sure no one was waiting. The roof was too high to reach from here so I quietly jumped down, taking the harder route to the guild.

That was the only trouble I ran into until I was right in front of the guild.

“Sir you are naked.” A young officer came up to me with a little smirk. He had a kind face. I could see he looked concerned.

Oh, come on! I let out an exhausted sigh covering myself, turning toward the officer. Instead of panicking words flowed out of me without thought. “Yes, I am! Those asses stole my stuff! I was just looking around for the guild I wanted to join, see I got a late start since...I got lost on the way here. Anyway, I just graduated and when I made it to the city I met these guys who claimed to know where the warrior guild I was looking for was, Hawks guild by the way. They offered to pay for some drinks, of course, I said I should go to the guild, but they insisted that it was closed for the day, and only took new recruits in the mornings. So, I went with them. They explained the lay of the land, so to speak. After going with them I must have gotten drunk. Only to find myself naked and with nothing.” It all just flew out of my mouth so smoothly, I started to question my own story. Blight, that didn’t even sound like me.

The officer was now looking at me with pity. “Then why didn’t you contact the police?”

“I’m naked. I thought I would get arrested, and I just want this day to be over.” I gave my most sorrowful expression I could.

“Well can’t have you running around naked. Can we?” He went over to his vehicle and pulled out a blanket kept for emergencies, and handed it to me. “Now, why don’t you come with me to file a report?”

My mind blanked. Does this count as clothes? Will I get penalized? With my face growing pale I unconsciously shook my head.

The officer looked at me. “What? Do you want to be naked?”

Snapping back to my senses, I took the blanket to cover myself. “It’s not that. I have a friend who has a spare pair of clothes I can borrow. I just needed to meet him inside that building.” Pointing to the home for wayward cats.

The officer paled seeing the building I pointed to. “Son your friend came here? Why?”

Oh, rot he knows what this place is. “To get a job. Not sure which job is here though?” Putting on my best confused innocent look.

The officer looked at me dismally. Of course, they knew what this place was. Any law enforcement person needs to know of the Rogue’s guild. They also seem to know what we go through. “I’m sorry, but your friend might not come out the same.”

“What do you mean?” Might as well find out what he knows.

“That job has a ritual, which involves a lot of pain”

I flinched at the memories. Do they know everything? “Will he be alright?” The weight of the question was much heavier than I realized. I looked up at the officer needing to hear his answer.

“I don’t know.”

Now a little scared. “I must go to him and help!” I think this helped sell my urgency. The officer didn’t even try to stop me as I ran into the building.

Entering the guild I could see Kyle waiting in the lobby. “Welcome!” Looking me up and down “Not technically clothes, but you are so lucky they gave you that blanket right outside.”

“So I passed?"

“Yes! Now only a few skills left."

Tired, I asked. “Which are left?” I had honestly forgotten.

“You’ll find out tomorrow.” With that Kyle handed me my clothes and led me back to my room. That was the last thing I remember.