A Thief's Welcome [Closed]

[Thief]

Jack could tell what this kid was thinking. Unfortunately, apologizing and begging for mercy was not a good idea. You never know when someone sadistic is just going to kill you.

"Well, part of our deal was that you never get caught again." Jack glanced over at the man in the hat, who was still busy. "So, I can show you how to minimize the chances of that. It's completely up to you, though. What do you say?"

[Anonymous]

"...." Keoni's eyes darted around, taking in his escape options. He had the purse, he could just take off. But the guy didn't seem that dangerous and he would make sure to not go anywhere to secluded with him and it....should be okay.

"Well...okay." He seemed like he just wanted to show off a bit, impress some young thief, "I don't normally pick pockets. I'm uh...good with mechanical things."

[Thief]

"Mechanical?" Jack thought for a minute. "You mean locks and such? Well, that's more than I can say." Jack hated locks. Just like with closing the distance to avoid using firearms, he would make an exception about using his ability to get around locks. "I never really could handle locks very well."

Jack looked over to see that the man with the hat had left. Finally... I was worried he might notice it missing with me standing here. Best to just move now. "Guess we should find a spot. I'll leave that up to you. Where can we talk without too many interruptions?"

[Anonymous]

"Yeah, locks and stuff. Anything mechanical really." He would take anything apart to see how it worked. Just locks came up the most often with his line of work. They made sense to him. There was order to a lock, a controlled beauty to them the kid enjoyed.

The question had Keoni frowning a little. He couldn't really take him back to the hideout with the others and he didn't really want to go somewhere to private. He still didn't fully trust the man. Pursing his lips, he finally decided on a place, "Um...I guess I know a place. Follow me."

It was an old stable that had burned in a fire. There were still active businesses on either side, but no one had rebuilt the land where the stable was yet. While burned, it still gave a decent amount of cover, but there were still people around if Keoni needed to run for it.

Keeping his head down, the scrawny boy slid through the crowds of people with a practiced ease, avoiding gathering much attention to himself.

[Thief]

Jack followed Keoni through the crowd. The kid was very good at walking through the people without brushing against anyone. Jack didn't do well in crowds, he hated them. He found himself having to wait for people to pass in order to avoid bumping into anyone. Keoni had to slow down once to wait on him.

As he walked, Jack thought to himself, Good news is, if the kid ever gets into a crowd, he's as good as gone. He has a better chance of escaping on foot than I do in this place. When he noticed the kid getting too far ahead of him again, Jack just focused on keeping up. The crowd was starting to thin anyway.

[Anonymous]

"Here." Keoni pointed to the stable. He was a little surprised at how...prissy the other man was. Why was he a thief? He had nice clothes, seemed clean and had that...expectation of personal space that rich folk had. His accent was a little funny, but the city attracted a lot of foreigners, so that wasn't surprising.

The boy picked his way through the yard, slipping into the burned out stable. There were signs around that other people used this place now as well. It would be cleared away eventually, but for now, it was a good hide away or place to sleep.

[Thief]

Keoni led him to a stable that appeared to have burned down some time ago. Not much was left, but there was very little traffic near it. It felt more like home really, and Jack made a mental note of the area. Without hesitation, he entered the charred ruin.

It was most certainly not a safe place, but at least it was away from most eyes. The interior was barren. The place was truly a charred husk of a building. It even had a couple of places where the wall had burned through, making a quick escape easy. "This place is great, Seth." Jack found a spot near the wall, and sat on the floor. It felt great to be away from people for a few minutes. "This is the most comfortable I've been all day."

[Anonymous]

The boy watched him sit and moved to a place near Jack, but still out of arms reach, watching him through his dirty hair. "Yeah. It isn't bad here. Though sometimes it can get crowded. With beggars and stuff."

He didn't speak for a moment, his fingers picking apart a piece of wood he had absently picked up, "So...what'er ya gonna teach me? Why're ya gonna teach me?"

[Thief]

Jack looked up at the boy. He was picking splinters of wood off of a larger piece with his fingers. He saw a bit of himself in this kid. He certainly shared Jack's habit of nervous fidgeting. He noticed the kid's hair was covering one side of his face almost entirely. He could just barely see a scar on his right cheek. Further proof that growing up like this isn't easy, Jack thought to himself.

"A bit of distraction, deception, and  deviousness. As for the why..." Jack paused. The memories of growing up in the slums of Echo came flooding back to him. Those memories were not happy ones, but they certainly were useful ones. "I know how difficult life is, especially when you're in our line of work. Let's just say I'm hoping to make it a bit easier for you."

Jack stood up. His right fist clenching something at his side. "First lesson," he said as he opened his hand to show the dirt he had scraped up, "distraction." He turned and threw the dirt up into a cloud of dust that speckled the wall. "Being a thief already means we don't play by the rules. So, when in doubt, fight dirty. If someone surprises you as I did earlier, rather than back away, feign a fall. Scramble a few feet to get away, then grab some dirt in your palm. When you pick yourself up off the ground, you can have a secret weapon ready to use for your escape."

[Anonymous]

Keoni highly doubted the man had any idea how hard life really was, with those posh clothes and clean skin. He looked rich, acted rich and dressed rich. Keoni doubted he had any idea what it was like to grow up on the streets.

But he did seem like he wanted to help. He still didn't trust him, but Keoni was feeling much less skittish around Jack. He nodded his head, "I know a bit. I just ain't the one that normally dose a cut job. I ain't real graceful."

When Jack threw the dirt, Keoni was startled to his feet, looking ready to bolt before he realized the other man was just demonstrating the throw. Flushing, he dropped back into the crouch, nodding his head, "Uh...yeah. Okay. I just ain't...I don' like fightin. When ya fight back, that just makes 'um hit ya harder."

[Thief]

The kid was extremely worried about things getting worse when he showed any sign of retaliation. That was the root of the problem for him. "Hopefully, these tricks will allow you to escape a fight. Escape is always your best option. I would never recommend a fight, unless escape was impossible or unnecessary. Remember deception is the key to getting yourself out of a tight spot, not a way of getting into more trouble."

Next, Jack took a pebble... and gave it a light toss. It made a surprisingly loud tap against the wall, and caused a small cloud of ash to kick up where it landed. "Next, distraction is a way to ensure you are not caught. Knock things over behind you as you run. If you break the line of sight, find a way to lead them in a different direction. A good bit of noise in another direction is usually a good example. Also, you could toss a rock one way to knock over something and run another way. Surely your pursuers will follow the debris you knocked over, leading them away from you."

Remembering his reaction earlier, Jack added, "You can also use distractions to help with pickpocketing. Maybe you could come up with a way to make it easier. An example is the man in the hat I stole from earlier. Knocking his hat off took his attention away from me, while picking it up for him and apologizing eliminated his suspicion."

[Anonymous]

"Yeah, I know that. I ain't no total nob." Keoni bristled a little, his teenage pride bruised a little at Jack's simple examples. He wasn't that great, but he knew at least about distraction and all that. "When yer a dirty street kid and not some prissy sir like ya are, people don't want ya touchin' their hat and get really picky when ya get to close too long."

And Keoni was not about anything that drew attention to himself. He hated attention on him and wanted nothing to do with any of the theatrical side of thieving. He stole because he wanted to eat, simple as that.

[Thief]

Jack was about to ask what he meant, then he realized the clothing he had was rather elegant. "Well, the 'prissy' appearance was not intentional. I guess you could call it a part of deception that I didn't think of."

The last part of the lesson, was the actual escape. "Of course, all of this really seems like common knowledge until you apply the last part, deviousness. Your overall intention is to avoid a conflict, so that is how the tricks will be applied. Being sly or cunning isn't really the same as being devious. The only thing you need, is to keep calm. Plan ahead on your escape routes, carry a bag of sand with you for tossing into a guards face, deviousness is simply thinking ahead." After the words left his mouth, he thought, Hopefully, I can practice what I preach on this part.

[Anonymous]

The boy nodded, his own paranoia generally enough to keep him safe-ish. He tended to be aware of escape routes as a matter of life, and even when he spoke with Jack, his hazel eyes would dart around the room, checking that his exits were still clear.

The sand was a good idea. It wasn't a weapon, it wasn't likely to escalate a fight much and it helped him run like mad. "Ya sure know lots. What cha doin' pickin' pockets on the street an shit when ya this smart?"

[Thief]

An odd question to ask, but understandable. Intelligence did not mean you were guaranteed riches, but most rich people did like to think of themselves as intelligent. "I steal as a necessity. I'm always wandering about, so I really can't afford to have more than I can carry. Clothes, food, a bit of coin... I just take what I need and go on about my business."

"Now, unfortunately, I do need to be going." Just the thought of the clothes on his skin being more elegant than casual was beginning to bother him. Rich people annoyed him, and wearing their clothing was having the same effect. "However, I have a parting gift before I leave." He tossed Keoni the coin purse he stole from the man in the hat earlier. "And Seth, just remember not to get caught with it." He turned and began walking towards the entrance to the little hideout.

[Anonymous]

Keoni startled when the bag was suddenly thrown at him, though he snatched it out of the air and it vanished into one of the many hiding places on his body, "Right." There was a pause before long forgotten manners tugged at his mind, "Uh...thanks. For the advice an' gold an stuff."

With all this, he and his brother could pay Jackal and still have plenty to eat. Probably could buy a pair of shoes too. Today had been an amazing day.

[Thief]

"No, problem," Jack said, as he exited the charred remnants of the building. Once outside, he made his way back to the main street. Hopefully, he could find a clue to where the girl had gone.

Not long after he reached the street, he heard a someone yelling over his shoulder. Turning, he saw the man in the hat from earlier accompanied by two armed men. He was pointing at Jack when he said, "That is the man who I believe stole my money." Jack no longer had the coin purse, so they would not find it on him. The problem was that they would keep looking, and might find the kid. Dammit, Jack thought to himself, Well, as usual, looks like my luck ran out. He turned and began walking away. Ignoring the guards cries for him to stop, he rounded the corner and took off sprinting down the street. Let's see how well I know lesson three, he thought to himself as he made his escape.

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OOC: Thank you for the thread Rina. I really enjoyed the experience, and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this.