Lucky day
That man with the cloak and blue hair was perfect; he was distracted enough that surely he wouldn't have noticed if the weight of the little bag he had tied to his belt suddenly went missing.
Even if he noticed it, what could he do? She was just a kid and she was very good at playing the part of the hurt, innocent little girl. If he tried to do anything to her, she was sure someone would've jumped in her defense, like it already happened before; who would ever suspect of such a cute little face, after all?
Her feet moved on their own accord, and Heather started to run towards the man.
That was the perfect environment for a thief: there weren't too many people on the street to hinder her movements, but there were still enough to let her blend in the crowd, so following her would've been difficult.
She was close now. She had to be quick or else the man would've noticed her, but she was confident, if not cocky. She had found out she had a talent for stealing and she intended to make good use of it. Everything to help her dear, sick, mother.
She made contact with the man; her nimble fingers worked on the bag, and he didn't seem to have noticed anything. Then she moved quickly: she turned away, muttering a "sorry" without even stopping her legs as she already walked away; if she did the man would've notice the bag in her hands.
She gave a quick look at the stranger, and the only thing she noticed was how quickly he readjusted his cloak and then looked around worried, like he was hiding something under it. Maybe it was an even greater bag, but now it was too late to verify it.
She didn't care. The important thing was that he succeeded.
She found an empty corner where she could hide – she was very good also at that – and she counted how much she'd just stolen.
It was… a lot. Fifty pieces of gold.
Heather didn't think she'd ever had so much money in her hands.
That must've been her lucky day.
Better to go home, now. She was a bit afraid of staying in the streets with all that money with her: someone could question her, or worse, try to rob her.
She'd stolen the bag first, she had no intentions to lose it, so she did her best to hide it under her clothes – the less people saw it, the better – and she started to get back on the way home.
Suddenly though, she felt a big hand on her shoulder. The grip was too strong for her to escape, so she was forced to stop.
She looked back and she saw a man she didn't know. He was smiling but it was more unsettling than reassuring.
- Hello, kid. Where are you going, all alone? -.
She finally escaped from his grasp and she tried to run away, but she slammed against another man.
- Don't you know it's dangerous for a child being on the streets like this? -, he said.
It was clear that those men were thugs; if she remained there she was finished. She quickly looked around for a way to escape but she found none.
Maybe if she crawled under that man's legs she could've escaped…
- There you are! -.
Heather turned around and she saw someone pushing away the man behind her and then kneeling before her; it was the guy she had stolen from before.
Oh no, it had gotten from bad to worse.
- What's gotten into you, huh? Running off like that? Mother was so preoccupied! -.
What was he talking about… oh. Oh.
- I'm sorry, big brother -, she muttered then, pretending to be very sorry.
- Wait a second! -, one of the thugs said, advancing menacingly towards the man with blue hair, - No way she's your sister, you don't even look alike! -.
He gripped the man's shoulder but he didn't even flinch – if anything he only looked mildly annoyed by that whole situation.
The stranger got up – he was taller than both of the thugs – then he took the hand on his shoulder to push it away, but his grip was so strong that Heather heard the sound of bones cracking and the man's scream of pain.
- I suggest you to leave me and my sister alone, now -, he said with low voice, and if looks could kill Heather was pretty sure that thug would've died instantly.
The thug had fallen on the ground, meanwhile, clutching his broken hand.
- Do I need to repeat myself? -, the stranger menaced then, that time raising his voice, and both of the thugs didn't waste any more time and they ran away.
Once they were alone, the stranger sighed.
- Are you all right? -, he asked to Heather then, - Did they hurt you? -.
Heather shook her head.
- Good -.
It was true that he'd just saved her, but Heather reminded herself that she still couldn't trust him. If anything she should've been even more wary of him now, seeing how little effort it took him to scare those thugs away. Besides he was probably there to get his money back; for what other reason he would've stepped in, otherwise?
- You should run home, kid, if you have one -, the stranger said, - You'll be safer there at least -.
Wait, what?
He wasn't mentioning the bag at all; maybe he hadn't noticed it was missing yet.
If he didn't have bad intentions then, maybe…
- Um… sir? -.
- What is it? -.
It'll be safer for her like that, after all her house is still far.
- Would you come with me? -.
- I… um… -, the stranger said, then he cleared his throat, - I have business outside the city, I should hurry up… -.
- I live right outside, sir -, Heather insisted, - Please, I'm scared -.
The man took some time to think.
- Well, in that case… all right then -, he agreed.
- Thank you, sir -.
Along the road she took his hand. When he shot her an interrogative glare she just said:
- It feels safer -.
He didn't object.
- You're not from here, are you? -, she said at the umpteenth time she had to guide him thought the streets.
- No -, the man replied, - It's the first time I come here. I was… curious -.
Heather would've liked to ask what he was curious about, but she wasn't stupid: she could see that he was reluctant to share anything about himself.
It preoccupied her a bit, but as long as he didn't try to do anything funny she didn't care that much.
Still she couldn't help but to try to take a peek under the cloak, to see what it was keeping hidden, but the man noticed it.
- What are you trying to do? -, he asked, defensive.
- Nothing -, Heather replied, and from that moment she didn't try to glance anymore.
- May I know your name, at least? -.
- Shouldn't you tell me yours before you ask for mine? -.
- … Fine… Leila -.
- Henry -.
- Is that your real name? -.
- Why, yours is? -.
- Fine, fine… Heather -.
- … Naesala -.
When they finally arrived to Heather's house she almost exulted in victory, but she hadn't forgotten to keep her act until the end.
- Thank you, sir Naesala -.
- Next time be more careful when you go stealing around, you'll never know who you'll meet -, he said.
- You… knew? -.
Oh no, it was even worse than she had thought. She'd believed she was finally safe but instead she had been played.
- Of course I knew -, Naesala replied, - Your technique isn't bad, but you should be less obvious about it -.
- What do you want? -, Heather asked.
Her mom was inside and if he wanted to do something to her she would've fought with all her strength – which wasn't much, but still – to not let that happen. Everything to keep mom safe.
- At first just I wanted to get my money back, but you know what, Heather? -, Naesala started to reply, - I let you take it, so it's yours now -.
- Really? -.
- Yes, keep it all -, Naesala said, then he started to make a few steps back.
- Be more careful next time -, he warned her, then he turned and he started to walk away without even waiting for Heather to say anything.
She couldn't believe it. What an incredible luck.
There wasn't anything left to do so she opened the door and stepped inside. She put the bag on the table and she ran to check on her mother.
With all that money, she could pay for medicines for at least a month, and she could even buy something for herself – maybe some new dresses since she was starting to outgrow those she had.
Indeed, that had been a very lucky day.
Author's notes: I like to think that when Naesala saves Leanne in PoR it isn't the first time he disguises himself as a beorc and that actually he's done it some other times so explore beorc cities