A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 1

I firmly grasped my cloak over my body as I hid behind an old shack watching the villagers walk by, oblivious to my presence. Waiting for the right moment, I pulled the hood over my head and walked out into the slowly moving crowd. With the cloak, I easily blended in with the people around me, because not many care to notice or are too tired to do so. I made sure not to make any form of eye contact with anyone, because doing so will surely start trouble, and that's the last thing I want.

I made way way through the crowd, shoving my way through as people walked to the small marketplace. I peeked from underneathe my hood and looked for the man I was searching for. I looked around until I saw the familiar face of old Jason Biers. He was standing next to his cart of somewhat wilted cabbages, some apples that were pretty bruised, and a few fish in there as well.

Biers was a grouchy man, his brown and gray, whispy hair in a tangled mess and sharp eyes and pointed chin. If his looks didn't intimidate anyone before, then his ugly personality will. He always talked down on people like they were below him and practically forced people to buy his stuff. He was also a con man and tricked people into trading him things more valuable than his own stuff. It was safe to say that nobody in the village liked him.

He stood there in a slouched stature smoking a cigar with his hands in his pockets. Before he could spot me I ran behind another shop and peered from around the corner. Biers' back was to me which would allow me to carefully sneak up from behind him and take back what doesn't belong to him.

I crouched down and scurried to a few barrels that were sitting under a wood awning to hide. I looked around me to make sure nobody saw me before peering over the barrels. I raised my head so that I could just barely make out the cart with his produce and carefully watched Biers as I slowly made my way around the barrels, creeping up behind him when my eyes caught sight of the object I was looking for.

A silver chain was hanging out of his right back pocket, swaying gently as he stood next to his cart. Once I got close enough, I reached out towards the object and gently grabbed the chain. I held still and looked around me quickly. Thanks to the nearby barrels and the convenient placing of his cart, I'm able to hide from others' views to avoid getting caught. I held my breath and counted down from three in my head before swiftly pulling the chain up and running back behind the barrels as I clutched the object to my chest. I had managed to get the item without Biers noticing, and I let out the breath I was holding and looked down at the object in my hand.

It was a silver pocket watch with a lot of intricate designs on it. I pressed a small button that opened the pocket watch and looked at the time. It was half past noon. I closed the watch and shoved it in my front pocket before I got up to leave, but of course, the gods wouldn't let me off that easily. As soon as I got up to make a break for it, a dog had come up out of nowhere and started barking at me, catching the attention of passerby's, and, unfortunately, Biers.

"Hey!" a gravely voice shouted behind me. I whipped my head around to see Biers glaring at me with his sharp eyes. "What do ya think yer doin' here, kid?" he asks with an irritated tone.

"N-nothing, sir. Just passing by," I say nervously. He eyes me skeptically when the dog barks and lunges at me, causing me to fall back and land on my backside. As soon as I hit the ground, the pocket watch fell out of my pocket and landed in the dirt. Biers saw the watch and his eyes were filled with anger. Without hesitation, I grabbed the watch and ran as fast as I could away from Biers as he began shouting.

"Someone, stop that thief!" he shouted, but everyone was too confused or didn't care enough to actually do something. I ran as fast as I could trying to get away from the angry man chasing me, and thanks to my youth and his older age, I was easily able to outrun him and lose him in the marketplace. I ran behind the side of another shop to hide and catch my breath. I peered from around the corner for any signs of Biers, but thankfully I didn't him. I stepped out from my hiding spot and jogged on over to the blacksmiths shop, clutching the watch to my chest underneathe my cloak.