Opening the window, the black figure entered the house quietly. The figure went through the entire house with gentle steps,  searching for any valuables, until he found what he was looking for. 

An elegant necklace that had a misty transparent crystal attached to it. It was inside a hidden drawer in the kitchen. The figure examined it closely and decided it could fetch a good price. He put it in his pocket and without any more dilly-dallying around, the figure went back to the open window, climbed out, and closed it behind him.

But the thief knew the stealing process didn't end there. He couldn't lose focus until he was sure he was out of danger and at least a few kilometers away. 

He stuck to the alleys, going through the complete darkness as if it was day. He went past a few of the local residents. They were mostly drunk or high. 

Without sparing a single glance at any of them, he continued to one of his safe houses that was conveniently placed at the perfect distance that the guards wouldn't look in after the family found that their necklace was stolen. 

After a thirty minutes of fast pacing, he finally reached the small desolate house and entered it. It was run down, but it was good enough.

He opened a hidden trap door on the floor and went down the small ladder into the basement. When he touched the stone ground with his feet, he turned around, only to see three men in guard uniform standing in front of flipped tables.

He quickly started climbing back up the ladder without looking below himself. He heard a few distressed and commanding screams below him but he couldn't care less. He had to escape. 

He stepped onto the wooden floor of the house, kneeled down, and closed the trap door. He quickly ran out of the front door of the house and ran back into the alleys cursing in his mind. 

The guards shouldn't have been there. He was always so careful and paranoid when he stole, they shouldn't have found him. 

However, it wasn't something he could just stop and wonder about. He had to get away as quickly as possible. He headed in the direction of his friend's house. If they found one of his safe houses, they probably have found all of them. 

After a few minutes of jogging he came up to a normal looking two floor house. He knocked on the door, discreetly looking around to find if anyone had followed him. It didn't seem so.

After a few seconds he heard footsteps coming his way from inside the house. Then, the door unlocked and opened, showing the face of Rolge the dwarf, his face lighted by candlelight. 

However, Rolge wasn't small, he was actually as tall as the thief. Rolge examined him for a second before looking to the street. 

When his eyes finally rested on the thief's eyes permanently, he began speaking. 

"Get in you stupid twat." He said in a stereotypical gruff voice. The thief nodded and entered the house as Rolge gave him way. As soon as he heard the door close behind him, he took off his hood and mask. He dropped them on the floor as he took off his jacket as well. 

He hung the jacket on his shoulder and looked back at Rolge grunting while staring him down.

"Come on man. I got into some trouble, why so angry?" He asked whining like a little kid, hoping to relax Rolge. 

"Trouble? Are you kidding me Jay? Every time something goes wrong you gotta come to me?" Rolge sighed while walking past Jason. He bent and took the mask and the detachable hood off the floor and went in the direction of the stairs. 

"Come." He said while going up the first few steps. Jason just nodded, hoping to not annoy him more than he needs to.

He went up the few stairs with two leaps. He went after Rolge into the bedroom. 

"Listen, it's just that…" He searched for the best way to describe it. "I fucked up really badly this time." He finished as he cringed, expecting to get an annoyed yell as a response.

"I heard about it already." The dwarf who sat down on the bed replied. Jason's eyes widened. It could only mean one thing. 

"They put up posters of you a few hours ago when I was in the bar. Apparently you were caught stealing something." He said with another sigh while looking at the floor. It looked like he was tired.

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"Are you kidding me? Shit. Doesn't that mean we're both fucked?" Jason asked in an annoyed voice before turning a bit timid. He quite possibly just fucked his friend's life.

"Yes. As you so beautiful put it. We're both fucked." Rolge said as he got up from the bed and went to the closet. He opened it up and took out a dagger. He looked back at Jason for a second before throwing it to him. 

Jason skillfully caught it by the handle. He examined it and found that it was a quality good. It seems sharp enough to slice through bones. 

Then, Rolge took out a short sword with a sheath from between the clothes. He strapped it to his belt, closed the closet and turned around.

"This is serious Jay. We have to escape, got that?" He asked in an intimidating voice, obviously blaming Jason for it.

"Yeah, sorry." Jason put the dagger in a special compartment in his pants. He took a deep breath, dropped his jacket onto the bed and went out of the room and down the stairs.

Rolge went after him and both reached the cabinets in the kitchen. Jason opened a cabinet and got inside, crawling through a small tunnel that went downwards before straightening out. 

Rolge went in right after him, squeezing inside as a tight fit, closing the door behind him and although it hurt, he still continued as it was necessary. 

Suddenly, they could hear faint knocking outside accompanied by a few voices. They both ignored it and continued on their way carefully.

A few minutes later Jason dropped down into a small basement. He looked around and etched the entire room to memory. Then, he stepped aside, letting Rolge to drop down right next to him.

"This is the place huh? Never been here." He said to the dwarf while smirking a bit. He liked seeing new and cool places. this is one of the reasons he enjoys stealing so much.

"Wipe that smile off your face." Huffed Rolge while looking at him in the eyes. "We're not coming back to this town." He stated with finality.

"Oh, come on.. When things quieten down we can get back man." Jason replied while making frantic hand gestures. 

Rolge just looked at him for another second without saying anything, as if scolding him, before getting back to their current situation. He went to the wooden door that was positioned on the opposite side of the room from where they were standing.

He opened it with a creek and went up the coarse stone stairs. Jason followed right after him.

Rolge opened the hidden trap door and found himself in a cramped shack. He unlocked its door and went outside, breathing in the natural air.

Jason stepped onto the muddy grass outside and stretched a bit. "That's the stuff." He said quietly. Rolge shook his head and continued forward, going between the various trees of the forest they were in.

"Man…" Jason said as he crouched down and plucked a purple flower. "This stuff's beautiful. First time in a long time being outside the city." He said with a small sad sigh as he got up to run after Rolge who was getting further away while playing with the flower in his hands.

"The atmosphere is really serene isn't it? I like going out here a lot. You can just escape society." Rolge said with a hearty chuckle. Jason smiled at that, happy that his friend's mood was getting a bit better.

But he had to apologise. He screwed up badly and not only that, but he dragged Rolge in as well. He figured the best time to apologise when everything was relaxed.

"Listen… I'm really sorry for doing that. I didn't know they put up a poster of me. I also didn't expect someone to actually see me." Jason said while looking at the ground, slightly tightening his grip on the flower. 

Rolge glanced back at him before grunting, "It's fine." Jason smiled at that and felt relief go throughout his entire body. 

"Well, there is supposed to be a pond a few more minutes ahead. Let's stop there, hydrate, and continue on to the next town over which should be just," The dwarf looked at the night sky. "A few more hours of walking away." 

Jason nodded. He was sure that news about him as a wanted criminal didn't spread as far as multiple towns. Rolge and him could spend a night there before going in the direction of the border. To be fully safe they will have to escape the country. Especially with how infamous Jason is. 

"The ghost thief running away.. such an unsatisfying ending to my legend." Jason said in a depressed voice while looking at the sky. An annoyed shut up was all he got from Rolge. 

------

"Finally! I'm fucking starving man!" Jason jumped up while throwing fist bumps into the air. Rolge looked at the scene with slight annoyance, however, if he would have been honest, he was also quite hungry. 

"Yes yes, now shut up. Let me deal with the guards." Jason and Rolge stepped onto the main trading route a few minutes ago and were now headed to the main gate of the small town of Lapize. 

Jason corrected his hair and put his hands in his pockets. "Fine.." He grumbled like an annoyed teenager. 

Rogle shook his head for the nth time and continued onwards, him leading the couple. 

When they got to the gates, a guard stepped up in front of them. 

"Names, businesses, anything of note?" The guard asked tiredly, obviously bored out of his mind. 

"Rogle Kolwern. My friend over here is Jason Cohen. We're just passing by, wanted to rent a room to sleep in for the night. And nothing serious of note sir." Rogle said in a respectable tone, making Jason slightly impressed with how the mostly annoyed dwarf handled the situation.

"Good. The entry cost will be three coins." Rogle nodded and fished out three coins from the pouch he had attached to his belt. The coins were silver and had the engraving of the current king's grandfather.

He gave the coins to the guard, and Jason and him were let through. 

They decided to ask a local where the inn was located.