Amongst Thieves

CHAPTER ELEVEN- Tested

They gathered at the gate as the sun broke the horizon, members of each round watching with knowing smiles as Callen's group was patted down and given permission to leave. Callen spotted Lex and Torren among the spectators, smug as ever. Lex even blew him a kiss, knowing exactly who was watching.

Many of the group ran into the heart of the city without hesitation while others walked slowly and with purpose towards the slums. About a third watched them leave, glancing nervously at Callen in hopes that he would see them safely through the day while Ape towered over them all with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. Callen ignored them as he was cleared to leave. He had to assume Mallik had known this would happen, or maybe he just wanted to handicap the boy, but either way he made sure Callen was the last to be cleared for exit. Callen walked slowly away from the guild towards the tallest building in sight of those who watched him. In full view of the three senior rounds, and those that hoped to follow him, he began to climb; pulling himself easily up the sheer face as easily as a spider scales a wall. Some of the braver first-rounders tried to follow his path up the building but they quickly gave up or fell, and those that sprinted through the streets below soon lost sight of him.

Unhindered he made his way towards his old home, jumping from one roof to the next until they grew too far apart to reach. He knew most of his round would be waiting for him at the slum gate, either to follow him in or rob anyone on the way out, forcing him to grudgingly return to the same building that had seen him in and out of slums so many times before. He was almost surprised to find it empty when he arrived, the shutters evidently pushed closed by the wind in the months that had passed. Once inside he unravelled the small bundle he had collected on his way to his old home, little more than a handful of coins and an old pair of ragged trousers. He had to fold the legs almost in half to free his movement but when he was done he looked as much the slum-rat as any of the other filthy children that darted through the streets. After stowing his own clothes in one corner of the room he pulled himself from the small window back into the stinking pit of the city. As much as he hated it, it still felt like home.

With the layout of this squalid section of the world still burnt into his mind it didn't take him long to find the stall, a single table not far from the stagnant river covered with roughly shaped tokens of yellowed wood overseen by a lone guildsman. As tempted as he was to snatch one and be on his way he knew better than to just assume he was safe, instead squatting next to the nearest child begging for scraps and waiting for others to make the mistake for him. From his wider vantage point it wasn't hard to notice them; some hiding in wait much as he was, others milling around in groups as they watched the stall. He recognized most of them from the guild, third-rounder's like Torren and Lex. It was easy enough to assume their goal but the added challenge only brought a smile to his face.

The first of his group to arrive was a small boy with dark hair whose name he had never bothered to learn, though Callen knew stealth was not his strong suit. Sure enough he was noticed long before he reached the stall, the owner pointing him out and beckoning him over. Disappointed but not distressed the boy grudgingly handed over the iron, receiving a darker wooden token from behind the table in exchange. Callen watched him move away, followed closely by one of the students that slowly circled the stall. Smiling from the thrill of it all he slipped back into the crowd.

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He had his hand on the token when he was shoved roughly from behind, staggering as the guildsman turned and caught his wrist in an instant, just as Callen gripped the wrist of the whoever had bumped into him. Neither made any attempt to escape as the guildsman held out his free hand. With a smile Callen gave the man his coins, shaking his head to refuse the small wooden token he was offered from beneath the table.