Armageddon's Daughter

Four

Alice sat on a roof top looking out over the market. Here and there she could see Archer's newest recruits, trying earnestly to rob their way to respect among the other thieves. She was surprised when one or two managed to make a clean get away, after all robbing someone and then tripping up spilling all your loot at the victims feet never did seem like the best way to go about a day's work.

She felt, more than heard the footsteps on the thin, metal roof and stayed silent as Ignus sat next to her. She did not move except to play with the ring on her fingers.

"Figured out where it's from yet?" From her silence he learned she wasn't in a talking mood. She could go for days without talking, without seeming to do anything, except think.

"Well... I was going to go see Archer, he said he had a job for me and you if you were interested."

She said nothing.

"Yeah.... Well I guess I'll see you round then." She lifted her arm to wave to show him she had been listening, but lost interest half way through and her arm flopped down by her side once more.

A few minutes of staring into the cloudless sky later, Alice heard a small cry from below. Her head snapped down to the market where a young boy was being held by the forearm, struggling to be free.

"This one! This one stole my wife's jewelry!" Alice eyed the middle aged man, he was stout and vast, she doubted he really had a wife but that didn't mean anything.

The boy was wearing a ring.

Gripping onto the edge of the building, she gently lowered herself down until her feet were met with a flimsy metal pole. She held her grip on the building edge until she felt she had a firm foot hold, then let go and crouched down in short, swift movements. Her hands held onto the pole and she swung down, but misjudged how much weight the pole could take and tumbled down through the air. The pole clattered along the building beside her, nearly hitting her as they both spun in the air. She reached out her fingers to grasp any kind of ledge on the building, the bricks peeling at her skin. She hissed but held them there, eventually coming up to a window ledge that her hands closed over.

Her whole body slammed into the wall, she bit her tongue and her hands stung. She moaned a little, looking down and seeing there was only one level left.

She sighed, climbed down the rest of the balcony, then dropped to the ground. She landed in an awkward crouch due to the pain from being slammed into a wall, but stood up again immediately and began to walk off the injury.

She was damn lucky no one saw- "Hey! You over there!"

Her head snapped up to be met with the eyes of a small crowd. Just as she was about to run, she realized she had rounded a corner, so it was impossible for them to know what she had just done.

"Do me a favor and go call on the nearest soldier, this little runt was caught trying to steal my wife's jewelry!"

"Sure, but it might be better if you just came with us now," shifting her weight onto the leg with the least damage, she held her thumb up directing the way she had just came.