The wall surrounding the town is not very large, almost seems more for aesthetic value than for defense. A gate stands across the road where it passes through and is being guarded by two men. Jiron pauses for a moment to observe them as he evaluates his chances of making it through.
Deciding not to risk detection, he moves down the wall away from the gate. Reaching a spot where no one can observe him, he jumps up and grabs hold of the top of the wall, then proceeds to pull himself up. He looks over the top to the other side and when he sees it’s clear, slips over the wall and drops to the ground.
Keeping to the shadows as best he can, he runs across the distance to where the first building lies. He moves along its side until coming to a window. Glancing in through the window, he discovers it to be some sort of carpentry shop. Not what he’s looking for, he continues down to the adjacent building where a light is shining out through a window. Looking in, he finds this one to be a home, most likely that of the carpenter. It doesn’t look as if any one is currently within, though it’s hard to be sure.
Not wanting to take the chance where someone could be home, he continues on from building to building. Staying in the shadows as best he can, he finally comes across one that is dark, yet seems to be a residence. Hoping for it to have some food, he makes his way around the side to the alley running between it and another building.
Finding the alley vacant, he moves into it and continues down until he comes to a door leading into the building he wants. A moment’s listening at the door assures him there’s no one on the other side. He takes the handle and tries to open it only to discover it’s locked. Taking out one of his knives, he works on the lock until it clicks open.
Pushing open the door slowly, he makes his way into the dark interior of the house, closing the door quietly behind him. Much to his relief, he finds that it is indeed a residence and begins to search the house until he comes across the pantry. Relieved to find it containing food, he takes a loaf of bread and puts it inside one of his sacks as well as some dried fruit. It’s not going to be enough to last him and James for very long, but it’s a start.
This residence contains many things of value so he doesn’t feel obligated to leave any money this time. They won’t suffer from the loss of a little bit of food. As he returns to the door leading to the alley, he opens it a crack and looks out to find the alley still remains dark and empty. Leaving the house, he closes the door behind him and starts moving further along the side of the alley until coming to a cross street. He sees hanging outside of the building directly across the street from him, the unmistakable sign of a butcher’s shop. That’s what I need!
Excited at the prospect of raiding a butcher’s shop, he looks up and down the street before he crosses. A lone man is walking toward him. Hiding in the shadows of the alley, he waits until the man passes and continues down the street, eventually moving out of sight. A quick scan after the man disappears shows the street to be empty so he dashes across to the shadows of the alley next to the butcher’s shop, where he pauses momentarily to glance back along the street. Finding that he’s made the dash undetected, Jiron begins searching for another entrance to the shop, other than the one facing the street.
Around back, he finds a door that’s locked and no amount of finagling with the lock will open it. Wishing for his lost lock picks, he begins glancing overhead and spies an open window on the second floor.
Searching the alley for something that might help him reach the window, he finds a broken crate lying in the alley several feet away. Going over to it, he checks it quickly to be sure it’ll hold his weight, it seems sturdy enough. Picking it up, he brings it over and sets it under the open window. Standing upon the crate, he comes to within inches of the window. Hoping the crate will indeed hold up under his weight, he jumps up and grabs the window sill. He then pulls himself up so he can look through the window.
The room looks to be someone’s bedroom, a bed and several dressers are contained within. Snores can be heard coming from the bed, two forms are sleeping under the covers. Not wanting to risk disturbing them, he drops back down to the crate which collapses under his weight with a loud crash. He quickly rolls against the building and holds still.
The noise from the crate crashing and him hitting the ground must’ve woke up one of the sleepers, for shortly a head sticks out the window and looks around the darkness of the alley.
Lying there perfectly still, Jiron watches as the person continues to look for several seconds before pulling his head back in. He waits for a minute and then lets out a sigh of relief when whoever it was fails to raise the alarm. He mustn’t have seen me here in the dark.
As he gets up, he sees two shapes coming toward him. They quietly say something to him but he doesn’t understand what they’re saying. Backing up slowly, he retreats back down the alley, never taking his eyes off the two approaching figures. Suddenly, a noise from behind and a quick glance shows another shadow approaching from behind.
Again, the figures say something. When he fails to reply, he sees them draw knives and can hear the person coming behind him do the same.
Sudden calmness comes over him as he realizes these are just some local thieves out for a score. Drawing his two knifes, he quickly advances upon the two approaching him.
They’re shocked for a moment as they didn’t expect him to launch an attack, and that moment’s hesitation is all Jiron needed to drop one to the ground. Quickly engaging the other, he blocks the man’s slash with one of his knives while following through with his other.
The man cries out as Jiron’s knife penetrates into his side, sinking five inches of steel beneath the skin and puncturing a lung. Falling to the ground, the man begins crying out and choking as his lung fills with blood.
Turning to the last thief, Jiron stands ready and can see the man is about ready to flee. Then suddenly from overhead, the person who had looked out previously now begins shouting, raising the alarm. That’s all the other thief needed, he quickly backs up and turns as he flees out of the alleyway.
Jiron quickly follows, deciding that the food he has will have to be enough for now. As he races across the street back the way he had come, another person who had stuck his head out his window to see what the other guy is yelling about sees him and starts to holler as well. Several guards, alerted by the shouting, see him running and give chase.
He dodges between buildings as he tries to throw off pursuit, all the while trying to make his way back to where his horse is tied up. He finally throws his pursuers off by ducking into a building and going out a side window. As they run off in the opposite direction, he makes a beeline for the wall and is soon over to the other side.
His horse is right where he left it. Mounting quickly, he turns toward the desert and kicks his horse into a gallop, putting distance between himself and the city.
Not happy with the small amount of supplies he had acquired, he supposes it’ll have to due under the circumstances. He tries to get his bearings in the dark in order to locate the area where he left James.
He rides for several minutes before spotting a light off in the distance. It looks to be a campfire. Don’t tell me James built a fire? That’ll alert everyone to our presence here! Getting mad at James’ stupidity, he rides toward the fire.
As he draws close enough to make out details, he realizes that it’s not a fire but several torches. Now much more cautious, he slows down and stops some distance away from the light, then gets down from his horse. Leaving his horse behind, he makes his way closer on foot and sees that the torches are held by soldiers of the Empire. A wagon is there as well and he watches in shock as an unconscious James is being loaded into the bed of the wagon.