Chapter one
"Shade! Gimmie a hand here bro!" A young boy with fiery red hair yelled glaring at a another boy. The second boy looked up at him from under a hood he always kept up during the day. The second boy way sitting on the docks with his back against a crate.
"I do my share at night… you should know that Dill" Shade said lazily as if he didn't care.
"But I'll have the work done by then" Dill growled.
"Kids you shouldn't be here…" A tall dark man said eyeing the twins. Shade's eyes racked over the man.
"Dillen…" He growled in warning.
"We work here… Slaves dontcha know?" Dill snarled annoyed by this man. "Then maybe you wanna leave with us and escape your master" The man chuckled.
Shade narrowed his eyes his gaze hidden from the stranger but Dill could read his body language. Dill stepped closer to his brother. Shade had a rather long walking stick he carved in boredom one day. He had trained with Dill for weeks in how to use it. Dill always felt a hell of a lot safer near his twin when his twin got edgy.
"Hn… lets go…" Shade muttered.
"Are you insane?!" Dill hissed. Shade shook his head and pointed at the mans clothing. It was the traditional trader clothes including the staff marking which caravan they were from. Dill nodded in understanding.
"We'll go with you when do you leave?" Dill asked, walking toward the man. Shade's hand brushed his warning him to stick close. Dill stopped his hand brushed his brothers back in a calming motion. The man grinned hugely looking as friendly as his dark battle worn skin would let him.
"Tonight at dusk you better be on time or you get left behind." The man warned. "We live on the docks no worries." Dill said a small wave of excitement already bubbling in his chest.
A young girl with short brown hair and midnight blue eyes walked calmly thorough an open market. Her fingers twitched expectantly. A new tattoo burned the skin on her left hand on the webbing between her thumb an forefinger. A black X on each of her hands marked her as a rat so she kept them shoved in her pockets when she didn't need them when she could she covered the tattoos with paints her thief lord sometimes supplied her with. The girl was from a gang called the copper vines. The thief lord had supplied them each with a copper dav with a thin vine like wire through it.
The girl flinched when she passed a paints stall. It was like the paints were calling to her. She creped closer inspecting the paints in interest. A Dark purple and pale blue caught her eye they were in small vials and probably wouldn't be easily noticed by the owner. Her fingers swiftly wrapped around the vials and she had them slipped into her purse before anyone noticed. She turned and slipped out of the market a meat bun and the two paints all she grabbed in her explorations. Her eyes narrowed as she realized a member from another gang was waiting outside for her. Another girl approximately the same age as her with red hair reminding the copper vine of red clay. The other girl was from the tricksters rats only known for the rats they kept for pets and the grey sash the wore on there left arms.
"Hey Vine I've been waiting for you my thief lord has a message for your lord." The second girl said still leaning against the wall of the building across from Vine.
"Well Rat next time tell him to send someone bigger." Vine snarled turning to leave. As soon as she turned she let two daggers fall into her hands from string she kept slightly hanging into her palms to pull an drop the knives. She spun an caught the back of the Rats left hand, with her right handed dagger. A millisecond later two guards had come from no where and had them pinned to the cobble stones.
"Now, now no concealed weapons and no battles outside of the open markets." One of the guards snarled pressing his knee into Vines back. She gasped trembling in pain and fear. 'I'm dead…' She thought terrified.
