Fritz reflected that the streets in the Upper Ring were far more orderly and far less flooded. There weren’t any dingy alleys he could hide or sleep in as that’s where the drainage canals lay. The rainwater rushed down the canals to the wall behind him filling the gutters then, ostensibly, flowing out to sea but instead often overflowing into the streets of the Sunken Ring. Up here there was also a conspicuous absence of skulg, rats, beggars and thugs.
Instead of grumbling about the unfairness of it all Fritz set off to where he thought the Thoroughfare Market to be, keeping a wary eye out for the drizzler patrols. He shivered, the cool of the night beginning to take hold and his soaked clothes getting uncomfortably chilly. Though in retrospect he should have been feeling the cold much earlier. Must be Endurance lending me some strength, he mused. I should look for a coat as well.
He wound through the streets until he found the wider thoroughfare lined by windowed, rain-shaded storefronts and split with a large canal. He had found his destination. Fritz knew from the many maps he had committed to memory that this thoroughfare ran the centre of the Upper Ring in a great circle. It connected the two looming Spires by smooth paved roads and the great canal that intersected the nine great gutters that carried goods and people through the districts. During the day the thoroughfare’s canal would be filled with boats, however in the late hours of the night the water flowed fast, free and clear of any vessels, gurgling and sloshing chaotically.
He hadn’t risked much burglary in the Thoroughfare Market before, as it swarmed with patrols of Storm Guard and the stores themselves were more secured, with heavy wooden doors and more complex locks. And every time he had stolen in the Upper Ring he had been almost caught. He put his past concerns and fear out of his mind. Now that he had his Powers he suspected it would be far easier to avoid the drizzlers, plus the goods would be far nicer.
After some small searching, Fritz spotted what he was looking for, a dangling polished wood sign carved with a boot and reading: Blueheel Cobbler. He stepped under the wooden rafters that shielded prospective customers from the rain or would have if there were any out at this time of night. No, this was too far away from the Spires and noble estates to have any of the city’s tall, brass mana lamps and bustling nightlife, so it lay empty and quiet save for the rain's pattering.
He almost felt bad for attempting to burgle this out-of-the-way cobbler, but he reasoned that this store was still in the Upper City so it must be doing well for itself. And I’ll only take what I need, he promised stretching his cold, wet, aching toes.
He sidled up to the heavy door and pulled forth two small metal fish bones that he had saved, some of the more tiny ribs of the Quicksilver Swordfish they had butchered so long ago.
Not that long ago, he reminded himself as he slipped the bones into the brass lock.
Picking the lock was easy, his hands didn’t shake and his movements were supernaturally precise now. That and he could filter out the noise of the rain with his Perception and listen to the clicks of the tumblers being set into their proper places. He could also feel Awareness subtly suggesting how and where the correct positions were so he let it guide him.
It took him half the time he would've taken before even with a less sturdy and complex mechanism and he smirked giddily as it clicked then finally clunked as the door unlocked. He tried the handle and the heavy wood swung inwards without a creak. Glancing over his shoulder and seeing nothing amiss he slipped into the dark, deliciously-dry shop.
He scanned the unlit room, to him the sight was as clear as an overcast day and he rapidly located the kind of boots he was looking for. They sat in the display window and were made of grey leather, were waterproofed and came up to his knee. The fit wasn’t quite right for Fritz’s slightly smaller-than-average feet but they would stay on well enough and would protect him from puddles and rain for now. They were a terrible replacement for his magic boots but having dry feet was a necessity in Rain City.
He spotted some heavy black woollen socks, inexpertly made as they were he assumed that they were some project of the owner's sons or daughters instead of the goods produced by a dedicated clothier. Still, he took a pair of the slightly misshapen socks, then a second pair for Bert then a third pair for himself just in case he lost his first pair. Drying off his feet he quickly slipped the wonderfully soft socks over his aching feet, then after a thought put his second pair on over the first.
This should help with the too-big boots, He told himself as he pulled the sturdy grey boots on hastily. As he began to leave he saw a black leather belt with a brass buckle by the front window, so he wrapped it around his waist and buckled it adding it to his collection and crimes.
Fritz considered leaving some triads for the items he just stole but decided against it, reminding himself that he would need all the coin he could get to resupply himself and Bert for their quest to retrieve their stashes of Treasures.
Not wanting to linger long he left the shop through the front door, re-locking it in a show of goodwill. “Only took what I needed,” He whispered.
Fritz strode under the rafters while he searched for his next mark, only dipping out into the rain to avoid the patrols of drizzlers. Walking three abreast and one carrying a bright mana lantern they would bump into him if he stayed in under the rain shades. Cursing he had to skirt the edges of the light and slip around them getting more wet and cold in the process.
After ten more minutes of walking, he began to shiver once again and finally found a clothier’s shop. He didn’t bother to look at the sign as he could see into the display window and saw a dark purple coat that piqued his interest and stoked his greed.
Fritz glanced to the sides, making sure there were no patrols heading his way and kneeled before the elegantly carved door. I must be in one of the wealthier sections, he realised while he took in the intricate steel lock.
Fritz picked the lock with his trusty fish picks, it was a harder task than the last time but he still managed it without much trouble. Again he swung open the door took a peak inside and ducked into the clothier. Inside there were clothes of all cuts and kinds on display as well as large mirrors and a set of stairs going up, likely to the clothier’s living quarters.
He nearly raced to the coat he saw from the front window but instead stood still for some moments remaining cautious. After nothing happened he skulked in and quickly attempted to assemble an outfit of the toughest-looking finery he could find without going into the backroom.
Deciding to behave as a polite burglar Fritz was careful not to disturb the displays too much and made sure he put things back as they had been once he had inspected them. Much to his chagrin a lot of the clothes simply wouldn’t fit his slight frame, even if he was slowly filling out. A lot were made for men larger around the waist than him or for small children.
Resignedly he took what would fit him, ending up with a plain cream shirt, dark trousers and, happily, the deep dark-purple coat. The strange almost silken coat was light, warm and a little over long, but he felt the added length only complemented his odd mystique. As he was admiring his new look in the tailor’s tall mirrors and thinking he cut quite the figure he felt a buzz in the back of his mind and a sudden sense of urgency.
Trap Sense? He wondered, looking around for any pressure plates or tripwires he might have somehow missed. There were none, but his instincts, no, his Awareness combined with his Trap Sense drew his eyes over the wonderfully woven entrance rug. Still, he saw nothing but with a small dread building in his chest he quickly approached the rug and lifted it off the hardwood floor.
There, carved deep into the planks were a line of softly glowing runes, that grew brighter as he knelt to inspect them. Reacting to something? He wondered, as they flashed red for a moment then went suddenly dark, dull and lifeless. At the same time, the door and display window were covered with a near-invisible barrier and a high, keening note pierced the drumming of the rain.
Fritz stood still, stunned at the events, he’d burgled stores like this before, snuck into the far more secure estates of the nobility and nothing like this had ever happened. Had he got sloppy and overconfident? No, he couldn’t say he had, he’d done everything as cautiously as he used to.
In fact, he thought, now that I have Abilities and Attributes I should be harder to detect. What went wrong? Why didn’t the alarm go off immediately? Is it just bad luck or something worse?
Through the rain, Fritz could hear the thudding of boots on pavement and see the rapidly approaching light of a mana lantern. Of all the times to mess up it had to be the very night he got out of the Spire.
Typical really, he lamented.
Figure out why later, for now hide or find another way out, he told himself as picked up Quicksilver from where he had left it in the umbrella basket and stood back from the door, searching for a place to sequester himself safely.
He let his Awareness expand over and past the walls of the clothier’s shop, tuning his Attribute with his Door and Trap Senses to expand Awareness’s capabilities further. In the back room he got the feeling there was a trap door that led down to a basement and as that was his best chance he dashed then knelt before it. He went to gather his picks when the noise stopped and the front door’s barrier dropped.
Hurriedly with fish bones in hand, he went to open the back room door’s lock but stopped when his Trap Sense trilled in his mind when his tools were only an inch away from the keyhole.
Cursing, Fritz rolled behind a counter, hiding behind it as light poured in from the display window. After only moments the front door opened and three guards strode in their mana lantern glowing bright and illuminating the entire store.
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Crouching and listening, Fritz waited for a chance to slip away or for them to leave when they saw that nothing had been broken and that the finery was still in place, save those few small things Fritz was currently wearing, and wearing well if he did say so himself.
Not the time, he scolded, watching as the drizzlers searched.
“See anything?” One of the guards asked.
“No, but there’s something off, my Awareness is itching,” Another replied in a whisper that Fritz could easily hear with his enhanced Perception.
Damn it, Fritz cursed inwardly. Of course, a Guard Path would have Awareness.
“You heard the man, search the place,” said a soaked sergeant entering the shop with another two guards and wringing water out of her long, dark, maybe brown, hair.
They took to the task with abandon, stomping through the storefront. One of the drizzlers, the one with Awareness, heading right for the counter he crouched behind.
Just then, there was a click and the creak of a door. A woman poked her head out of the upstairs doorway holding a small, dim mana lantern of her own and peering down at the guards below. She was bordering on middle-aged with mousy locks confined in a pink hair net and a suspicious glint in her grey eyes.
“What’s happening?” She demanded brusquely. “Why are you trampling all over my store?”
The guards stopped and all looked to their sergeant who spoke for them, “No cause for alarm. We think it was a break in ma’am, we’re just looking for the thief.”
“No cause for alarm!" the lady scoffed. "If there’s a thief, catch him quickly!” she urged the obviously annoyed sergeant.
Fritz quickly weighed his options. He could surrender? Never! He very much doubted he could fight off five guards and their sergeant, so that was out of the question. So he searched his surroundings. The shop was mainly made of wood, but the walls and front and back door frames were stone brick. He couldn’t dig right through them with Stone Pit without exhausting himself but the idea gave him a brief glimmer of hope.
A plan rapidly rampaged into his mind, an insanely risky one to be sure but he wasn’t called Mad Fritz for no reason.
Fritz peeked over the counter pulled on his Dusksong and wove an orb of Illusory Shadow around the guard's lantern, the light cut off as it was covered by solid black, plunging much of the store back into shadow.
He prepared to engulf the woman’s dim lantern next but before he did so he quickly called on the power of his Stone Pit ability. His Stamina drained, his body became heavier from the fatigue and he cast the spell. It warped the stone frame of the back room door, creating a gap around the lock, allowing the door to be freely swung open.
He darted towards the back door, eliciting a shout of “There they are!” from both a guard and the woman on the stairs. His second cast of Illusory shadow slinked out, covering the last dim mana lantern as he reached the door, plunging the room into blackness.
It wasn’t, however, dark at all to Fritz, so he thudded into the door hopefully making a sound approximating to it being slammed, and bounced off. As the guards stared stupidly into the dark or rushed wildly to where they had seen him. They thudded into each other and one tripped and fell from some small interference from Fritz as he put a leg out in the dark. He easily dodged the grasping guard as they crashed to the hardwood floor.
Fritz circled around the store, avoiding making any sound with his skulking, Graceful steps. Then he hid again, this time close to the front door that was currently too crowded with drizzlers to get through. He slipped himself under a mannequin's bell-shaped dress, making sure not to ruffle the extravagant lace or accidentally tear it with Quicksilver’s jagged edge.
Should have left it at my hideout or handed it off to Bert, he self-recriminated silently.
One guard stumbled to the back room door and his hand found the handle, the trapped handle. There was a loud crack and a bright flash like that of lightning, it illuminated the whole room for a second before the dark returned. Peering through a small gap in the fabric, Fritz saw the guard fall, his grey armour smoking slightly and he lay in a crumpled, twitching heap.
“Watch out, the back door is trapped,” The woman, presumably the owner, belatedly warned in a high, guilt-ridden voice.
“Spire’s spite!” the sergeant cursed, “Someone get some light!”
Fritz’s Illusory Shadows had faded away already, but surprisingly he noticed that the lanterns were no longer lit. It seemed that the Light Eater Evolution was much more far potent than he thought. It had dispelled the magical lanterns completely. If that effect was permanent he might have to rate this new aspect of his Ability even higher than he already did. Alas, it was not to be. The light flashed back on as the guard fed the magical light source a gold triad, grumbling and cursing the whole while.
As the room filled with new light one drizzler closest to the back door kneeled at his friend's side and checked him over.
“He’s alive,” He called out. “Just stunned, Durability saved him from the worst of it.”
The sergeant let out a soft sigh of relief, so soft that Fritz supposed he was the only one who heard it. He held himself tensely, ready to spring out the front door once the way was clear.
“Bloody bastard, when I find the sneak thief I’m going to ring his neck,” said the guard Fritz had tripped as he got to his feet and patted himself down.
“Not before me,” the guard with the lantern growled. “He just cost me a gold triad, he did.”
“How’s that?” Another asked.
“They have some sort of stone shaping and a dispel,” the sergeant groused, “It’s a nasty combination, can’t have that running about the city. The captain will have all our balls if we let them slip past us.”
“Don’t see how that’s a problem for you, Sarg. Seeings as you have none,” one of the guards commented, to a smattering of chuckles.
“Oh, please, as if that would stop the captain,” the sergeant said, then began searching the room. “Now, where’d that bastard go?”
Sweat beaded on Fritz's brow as he waited for the guards to leave the doorway, he felt at the fuzzy, shifting unreality of his magic. He grimaced as he found it practically gone with only a few dark, twisting motes floating around his Sanctum. Makes sense, cast a three-cost ability twice and I only have six aligned Dusksong.
One of the guards finally got out of the way and not wanting to miss his chance Fritz sprang out from his hiding spot with a swish of lace and rushed towards the door. He sprinted past one guard who had his back to him, then another guard noticed him and closed in on Fritz. Danger Sense’s phantom pain rang over his shoulder and using the warning he dodged a sweep of a wooden baton rippling with waves of force then dived under another ferocious blow aimed at his head.
He turned the dive into a roll that brought him swiftly to his feet when a guard blocked the doorway with baton raised and a hand out to catch Fritz by his collar. He let danger sense guide him, knowing the guard’s weapon would strike between his head and his shoulder he stepped to the side, and the baton swung through empty air with a dull whistle.
Seeing the opening in his foe's stance, Fritz clenched his fist and precisely drove it up and under the man’s chin. There was a thud and a click in the man's jaw and he fell bonelessly to the floor. Fritz cursed at the ache in his knuckles, his uppercut had felt like punching a wooden dummy rather than a flesh a blood person.
Still, he needed to escape so he leapt over the fallen drizzler and was almost out the door when a hand tapped his shoulder and his legs snapped together with irresistible force. Fritz toppled face first, his head hit the floor with a thump. He expected more pain and ringing from the impact but thankfully his fall was cushioned somewhat by the entrance rug.
“Got him with Bind,” a guard from behind called out. “He’s not running anywhere.”
Fritz's legs felt like they were bound at the ankles by some invisible unbreakable rope, but unwilling to give up so easily he began to crawl forward. The guards laughed at his attempt to flee. A heat burnt over his chest and face. Desperately thinking of a way out and remembering the binding of the goblin chief ring, Fritz directed his will to push and pull on the unseen rope in an attempt to slip free.
To his surprise the bindings snapped after a mere moment of struggle, releasing his legs. Shocked as he was he still acted, quickly rising. Startled but alert enough to react, the guard beside him reached out again grasping his shoulder with a strong hand. He now knew why he had been caught by the Ability in the first place, why Danger Sense had failed him. It obviously didn’t consider ‘Bind’ to be a deadly peril, or rather, imminent harm and therefore wouldn't detect it.
Fritz felt the spell again but this time he was ready for it and headed it off with his own will, breaking the binding before it had a chance to tighten around his feet. Then with a parting knee to the man’s gut, he was off, sprinting out the door making it over the threshold and into the street.
“Idiot! What did I say about a dispel,” The sergeant roared as she darted out into the rain behind him.
From what he could gather in the chaos of his escape it seemed that the Bind Ability was a spell that needed touch, which meant now all he had to do was lose them in the dark streets. And that meant he had already won.
Fritz laughed manically as he fled, giddy delight thundering in his chest.
Until something caught him on the ankles and he slipped and fell, again. He broke his fall with his arms rather than his head, sending his fish blade skittering away. His forearms and elbows screamed from the impact but it seemed he hadn’t broken any bones. Which was good, so he quickly tried to figure out what or who tripped him. He rolled onto his back and searched the streets, seeing a rush of guards he turned his attention to what held him.
It was that invisible binding again, and he fought it, but this one resisted his will, not snapping immediately as the others had. Though it couldn’t fight him for very long and soon came undone as he tore away at its unseen strands with his Control and will.
He somehow knew that this was the sergeant's Bind, some ineffable sense linked the Ability’s ‘taste’ to the impression of her. Awareness being weird, I suppose, he thought. Unfair that she has a ranged Bind though, is it an Evolution?
Unfortunately fighting off the Ability had taken too long and the guards were already gripping him by the arms and legs as he lay on his back on the cool paved streets. He struggled but their strength was far greater his, obviously they had more aligned to Strength than he did. They held him implacably, hauling him up and taking him back into the store. As they carried him they hit Fritz with more Binds, ‘just in case.’ Not wanting to piss them off any more than he already had he just went limp and let them move him.
So when he was planted in a wooden chair and forced to face both the woman he robbed and the full force of the law he was thoroughly unable to escape, restrained by both magical and physical might as he was.
He lifted his chin with a haughty tilt and glared defiantly at the room and everyone in it. Whatever curses and accusations he expected to endure, he didn’t expect to hear the next words spoken to him.
“Tomas- no... Francis? Is that you?”