“Come all, come all! Freshly-caught fish for sale!”

“Fresh fruit & vegetables for sale! Apples and cabbages at half-price today!”

“Hey, you! Come back here, you little thief!”

Voices – soft and rough, male and female – emanating from all directions and entwining with each other to create an unintelligible noise, overpowering the sound of numerous footsteps, slow-moving wagons and frightened animals at the mercy of their captors. Long caravans guarded by heavily armored men as they make their way through thick crowds and shady characters watching them from a distance. Children jumping in and out of a large fountain, watering the small stone tiles surrounding it and splashing any unfortunate souls that came near them.

This is the ‘Grand Bazaar of Brurradin’. Its beauty and sheer size is often more than enough to overwhelm anyone without nerves of steel or exceedingly deep pockets. Crawling with experienced salesmen hailing from all over the known world, it serves as a trading hub both for the Brurradale Kingdom and the surrounding nations. To succumb to greed here is considered a death penalty for the careless as only master hagglers or thieves can thrive within the shadows of the Bazaar.

“Hey, you! Damn it, someone stop that brat!”

One of the merchants shouted at the young thief running through the crowd as the wind itself. After getting some distance away from the merchant, the thief looked back and mocked him as he ran.

“Hahaha, see you old man!”

Thinking he was in the clear, the thief didn’t notice the two guards that had appeared from the corner directly ahead until he nearly bumped into one of them while still running away from the raging merchant.

“Stop right there, you thief!”

One of the guards growled as he tried to grab him, but the thief dodged his grasp at the very last moment, jumped on top of one of the stalls next to him and swiftly climbed up to the roof of the Bazaar before the guards even realized what happened.

“W-What?! Where did he go?!”

“H-He just vanished!”

Standing on the edge of the roof overlooking the paved road below, the thief taunted the guards who were desperately trying to find him.

"Over here! Looking for me?"

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Following the sound of his voice, the guards looked up and the thief wearing a black and white scarf covering his head and his unusual black mask that concealed most of his face, but emphasized his beautiful sapphire blue eyes. Fingerless leather gauntlets protected his hands and a black shirt revealing his muscular torso fluttered in the wind as did his baggy, long white trousers which connected with his dark leather boots.

“H-How the hell did you get up there, you bastard?!”

The guard trembled in disbelief as he yelled at the thief who slowly removed his headgear which revealed his short blonde hair that looked like it was dancing with the warm summer wind and his smooth boyish face covered in sweat that glistened in the Sun. The thief whistled as he threw both his scarf and his mask on the sand-covered rooftop next to his feet. Soon after, a rather small brown monkey wearing a short red hat and vest appeared on his left shoulder.

“Heh, better luck next time! Let’s go, Noxy!”

As the thief scoffed at the guards, the monkey’s long tail that was drooping down his shoulder suddenly extended and coiled around the thief’s body while its hands extended to an unnatural length, grabbing the roof of one of the buildings east of the Bazaar before pulling itself and the thief towards it at an astonishing speed, creating a powerful gust of wind that knocked down anyone and anything unlucky enough to be standing in the area as well as forming a thick cloud of dust in their wake. The guards, after slowly getting back on their feet and coughing up the dust they were forced to inhale, tried to make sense of what they just saw.

“What in Ahras’ name was that thing?!”

“I don’t know, but it was definitely not just a monkey…”

“Maybe it was a demon!”

Both shuddered at the thought and with good reason too. Demons are feared creatures that bring waste and carnage wherever they go and even one of them is enough to raze a city to the ground if it’s given the chance.

“Whatever it was, we must report this to the Captain!”

“Y-Yeah! He’ll know what to do!”

“Alright! You take care of things here and I’ll head for the garrison!”

“Got it! See you later, then!”

As the guard ran for the city garrison as fast as he could, his partner took a few moments to calm down and check if anyone was hurt before departing for the garrison as well.