The next morning, I went back to the training room where I found that Gus was already practicing. “Morning Mak, where’s Reg?” he asked between swings of the training blade. “He was rifling through his stuff when I left, he’ll probably be here soon.” No sooner did the words leave my mouth than the bundle of positivity burst into the room. “Give it back you little thief!” he said as he suddenly grabbed at me. Instinctively, I jumped back and took a defensive position, “What are you talking about?” I asked in confusion. “You know very well what! I counted my money this morning! You took a copper piece!” he accused as he approached me again. I tried to back away, but he kept on pressing me, “No I didn’t! You probably just miscounted or dropped it somewhere!” I told him. “I. Never. Miscount.” Reggie was fuming with anger. “Hey now, don’t fight, it is just a copper piece, here take one of my-” Gus tried to defuse the situation but Reggie interrupted. “Just a copper piece! Any amount of money stolen is a crime worth punishing! I demand justice!” He shouted. “But I didn’t steal it!” I shouted back. “You’re a lying little rat! Why would I believe you? You killed your own rats so why wouldn’t you steal from a team- GAHHH!” I cut off his words with a scratch to his face.
We began to tussle as Gus watched in horror. Just as I was about to rip Reggie’s eyebrows off, we were separated by a gust of wind. “You two are supposed to be training with Gus, not each other you know?” Krimsun said as she entered the room with one arm resting on a crutch. “That rat stole my money!” Reggie screeched pointing a dagger at me. “No, I didn’t you ape!” I replied, getting back onto my feet and bracing myself for further conflict. “Enough!” proclaimed Krimsun, small flames shooting from her nostrils as she stepped between us. “This copper piece has no consequence to the upcoming mission; therefore, I shall hear no more of it. Continue to practice with Gus and work out your personal issues on your own time!” Krimsun spoke with such a violent tone that I froze in place. I had no idea she even had a temper. She angrily limped over to a chair and sat down to watch us practice, her face once again calm and impartial.
It was a long and awkward day of training after that. While he still couldn’t land a hit on us, Gus was clearly improving… Or maybe Reggie and I were sloppier because of our fight. Either way, after twelve grueling hours of training we were finally given permission to go to bed by Krimsun. She didn’t look angry anymore, but I was pretty sure she was furious. We wolfed down some food and head straight to the barracks, Gus’s bed sounded like it was about to collapse as he fell back into it. “You really are doing better Gus, in fact, you almost-“ SNORE! I was interrupted by the sound of the sleeping half-giant. Chuckling to myself, I scurried up to my bunk, avoiding eye-contact with Reggie. Despite my fatigue, I couldn’t sleep, partially due to the fear of more nightmares and partially due to the stress of our fight. Could we really work together and survive against a serious criminal like this?
I laid awake in silence for what must have been hours before my ears perked up at the sound of a creaking bed. The same creaking that I had heard the other night. “He must be going to sneak out again.” I thought to myself. Peaking an eye open I spotted him grab his bag and turn invisible. My mind raced, wait for him to leave so I can tell someone? Pretend I saw nothing? What to do? No, I couldn’t tell anyone without proof and I couldn’t just keep pretending I didn’t notice him until he decides to kill me or something. Focusing magic into my ears I enhanced my hearing to the point where I could hear even Reggie’s muffled footsteps. I followed him from a distance, around the corner, past the guards, and out into the city.
I had never been in the city by myself before, and never during the night. Much to my surprise, it was even louder and brighter than during the day! The city had a bustling night market, with tons of wonderful sounds and smells. As interesting as it all was, I couldn’t afford to lose track of Reggie. But between the chatter of the crowd and the music of the minstrels, how could I follow him? “Step right up!” a man shouted to the crowd, “Play if you can knock down all these glasses, you’ll win this stuffed wolf-snake!” That was it! I focused in on the sound of Reggie’s footsteps and blocked everything else out, relying on my sight to avoid bumping into people. Fortunately, we weren’t in the crowd for too long before I heard Reggie enter an alleyway.
I followed him all the way to the docks, where he undid his invisibility behind some crates. A scruffy-looking sailor walked off of one of the boats and waved to Reggie. “You’re late!” he barked. “Sorry, the town was crowded because of the festival.” Reggie apologized in an uncharacteristic sincere tone. “Yeah, and I want to take my kid to it, so can you hurry it up already?” he replied. Reggie handed a small package to the sailor. He lifted the package up and down with his wrist a bit, “Did you make sure you left enough so you can eat?” the sailor asked in a concerned tone. “I’ll be fine, just get it to them tomorrow,” Reggie replied. It was unlike Reggie to part with a single coin, who is he sending it to? “Come on Reg, at least let me treat you to some food? It’s the Harvest Festival!” the sailor offered. Reggie sighed, “Alright… Thanks…” he replied reluctantly. The sailor smiled and patted Reggie on the back as he led him back to the square.
This was my chance. I snuck over to the sailor’s boat, I had to figure out where it had been and where it was going. I didn’t even need to get close to the boat to know what it typically transported. Fish. The whole vessel reeked of seafood. I could never stand the smell nor taste of fish, had I not thought it a matter of life and death I would have been completely thwarted by its stench. Bravely pressing on, I made it on to the vessel and looked at the merchandise. “Sordestese Fisheries,” it said. How peculiar, why would Reggie be sending money to such a sad little port town? It used to be a wealthy trade town but got decimated by plague around a decade ago. Was Reggie from there? No, there’s no way someone who prunes himself like a housecat could possibly from a place that filthy? In any case, there was nothing here to prove that Reggie was betraying the guild. I snuck back to the barracks, hoping I’d get there before he did.
Unfortunately, he somehow eats faster than Katherine. Peaking through the window of the barracks, I saw Reggie getting into his bed. It was now my turn to play the intruder. I thought about what made me notice Reggie, the handprint, and the sound. I waited for him to face away from the window, then hopped right through. My stealth and agility magic worked together to make my landing perfectly silent. “Ten meters,” I thought to myself as I crept closer to my bed. I kept close to the wall and cast a camouflage spell to blend in and crawled under the beds of the other sleeping guildmembers to keep out of sight. “Eight meters,” a sleeping Dwarf nearly falls off of his bed on top of me as he tosses and turns in his sleep. “Five meters,” a drooling half-giant nearly drowned me. “Four meters,” a sleepwalking elf kicks me! “I’m done for!” I thought, but he simply keeps on walking as if nothing happened. “Two meters,” almost there, but the Lizardman in the bottom bunk is dreaming about eating something and is raking the ground next to him with his claws and gnashing his teeth. I feel a freeze coming on, it’s now or never. I jump over the top of the bed toss a portal at my spot on the top bunk. I open one up in front of me as I leap over the beds, just missing the tail of the person on the top bunk and landing on my own. CREAK! “Oh no…” I whispered. “Just get into your bed and sleep you rat.” Whispers an annoyed Reggie. Needless to say, I did not sleep.
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