Disclaimer: Baldur's Gate and it's sequels, along with the characters Valen and Rose (and others who will appear later) are property of Bioware and Wizards of the Coast.
The plot, the Circle of Shadows, and all other associated characters are mine, however.
Chapter One - Valen
The young woman grinned to herself as she counted coppers from the pouch she held in her hand into the palm of the other. The woman - more a girl - was fifteen years old, and glad of her still slight frame. If she'd been more developed, maybe, she'd have ended up like her friend Rose, a streetwalker. As far as the ebon-silk haired Valen was concerned, however, thievery was a much better option. If she was a streetwalker, she would have to put up with men.
Valen herself was small, not yet with her full growth. She wore a linen shirt with a draw-string at the neck and long sleeves, tailored for a male, and loose, dark britches that completely concealed her figure. Her brown eyes were soulful when she let them be, but mostly held nothing but contempt for those slower or less alert than her. Some day she hoped to progress beyond lifting and filching, but for now it was all she could do. For anything more rewarding, she'd need equipment like rope and trap-probes. Or maybe she could find some idiot adventurers and sign on as a trapper. Trick one of them into teaching her to fight, or use magic. She was pretty sure that if she put her mind to it, she could learn magic. She'd never been able to resist spitting in the eye of authority. Or at least at the back of its head.
"Yeah. I'd be Valen Firefingers, and then the cowl's'd laugh on t'other side of their faces." she snorted to herself with derision. Maybe some day, but right now she'd get some food and see how her friend was doing. Pushing off the beam she was sitting on, she dropped down to the next one before jumping across to the half-finished floor of the building she'd been lurking in. It was probably meant to be an inn or something, but she was pretty sure that if so, when it was finished it would be closed down pretty quick. Lehtinan didn't much appreciate it when others started up business in his area. Not even the shadow thieves messed with that slaver.
Moving through the streets of Athkatla at a stroll, Valen fixed the pouch of coins onto her own belt and pulled her cap down over her face. The streets started looking better kept as she left the slums, until there was a marked change as though she was stepping into a different city. In a way, she was. The bridge was practically a city of its own, with businesses and homes set up here and there. Most importantly, the bridge district was the home of the fishermen and the performers. The Five Flagons held the city's premier playhouse, and the multitude of fishmongers here far outstripped those at the docks in both quality and quantity. Buskers stood here and there on the streets, but actors and musicians weren't the only performances on offer. Prostitutes - both streetwalkers and hookers for the large brothel that took up most of the bridge - wandered with fire-eaters. Dancers made every step a joy, while living statues stayed silent and frozen in the hope that someone would take pity and put money in their hats. Valen pressed her lips together as she saw her target speaking with a most unwelcome figure. A moment later, the man left however, and Valen grinned to herself and headed towards the streetwalker he'd been conversing with. Stopping at a pastry seller, she tossed the man a couple of coppers and got a pair of hot meat pasties in return. In the bridge district, it was always as though the circus was in town.
"Heyla, Rose, was that Sergeant Aigisfeld I saw ya talkin' with?" she spoke just loud enough to be heard over the din as she offered the slightly older woman one of the pasties. She took it and grinned.
"Sure was. Hey, Vay, what's with the generosity?" She lifted the pasty to indicate.
"Just feelin' lucky. So, what's with the sarge? You and a watchman? I thought.." Valen trailed off.
"Just a customer." Rose replied with a chuckle at Valen's surprised look.
"You.. he... he hired you?!" The thief realised that she was almost shrieking, and curbed it. "But that would mean.."
"Yep. I got a licence." Rose grinned.
"So that's why I bought you a pasty!" Valen laughed. "Congrats. How'd you get the cash to pay though..?" she frowned. "You didn't do anything bad, did you?"
"Oh, don't look like that. Of course I didn't. I do have some limits... I just nicked a lordling when 'e was plunderin'."
Valen blinked.
"That's... You... " Her face broke into a grin. "I'm so proud of you, Rose!" She grabbed the girl with one hand, hugging her while holding the remains of her pasty with the other.
"Why? I just took a leaf out of my favourite cutpurse' book." Rose grinned back, but Valen shook her head.
"It's one thing to double-team a mark, but that's one hell of a distraction tactic. I almost wish I could do that kind of thing."
"You could, you know." The older girl was looking at her strangely, Valen realised.
"No way. I'm not pretty enough to sell myself, and I don't exactly have much in the way of womanly charms." she gulped down the last corner of her pasty and waved a hand roughly in the direction of her chest and knife-edged features.
"You're pretty enough, Valen. You just don't see it. Besides, some men like them smaller, rather'n huge lobster-buoys like these." She indicated her own rather large assets, referencing the spheres of brightly coloured wood used to mark lobster pots by the sailors down at the docks.
"If you say so... I'm still better at lifting."
"Ah, you're just scared." Rose jibed back, and Valen jerked guiltily. "Knew it! Valen's scared of men!" she taunted, playfully.
"Am not! I just... don't like them. Stupid, ugly, violent brutes." the shorter girl scowled.
"Valen.." The thief looked up at the uncertainty in her friend's voice. "Are you... do you like girls, then?"
"What?" Valen blinked at the idea. Something told her that her friend didn't mean just as friends. "I've.. never thought of it like that." She shrugged, noncommittally. To tell the truth, it wasn't something she wanted to think about. "Does it matter? To tell the truth, I don't want to be a heart-thief. I'm happier dealing in coins."
"Well, I guess if that's what you want. It's more profitable my way, that's all..."
"No, no. There's nothing wrong with it. It just doesn't suit me." Valen shrugged. "Anyway... I'd better be off. You know how it is - places to go, money to make. Besides, I think you have a potential." Valen slipped away, leaving Rose to turn and see the brightly-dressed man strolling down the bridge and admiring the painted women at its edges.