Yugi walked down the crowded street, following his prey as silently and gracefully as a cat. His prey stopped to look at the merchandise one of the stall men were selling. As soon as the man had his back to the street, Yugi rushed over, took his money purse and turned quickly down the nearest alley to look at his loot.
Not much more than a few coins, but enough for a piece of bread. Yugi walked to the end of the alley walking to the end that he knew joined on to the main street. From there he made his way over to the bakery.
He slowly opened the door. It was an old wooden door that creaked slightly. There were a few people lined up, buying some of the delicious smelling bread. He walked up to the counter to stan behind a tall woman with grey hair and a grey feather stuck in her blue hat. He couldn't help but snicker at her large lacy dress that was tackier than anything his mother had ever worn.
After a few minutes the women was served by the fat baker and she left the shop after giving her thanks. Slowly, Yugi walked up to the counter. He just came into eyelevel of the baker.
"What can I get for three gold coins?" said Yugi.
"Ya' can ge' two loaves o' me finest brea'." Replied the baker, giving a toothless grin to Yugi who was trying hard not to scowl at the stench from the man's breath.
Honestly, doesn't this guy know about parsley or jeez some other herb? If I wasn't so desperate for food I would tell him. Honestly, he could fell a whole army with that stench.
"Fine I'll get two of your finest loaves, if you please."
The baker reached under the wooden counter and pulled out two loaves of bread placing them in a paper bag and handing it to Yugi as Yugi handed him the coins. He took them and unlocked a black box and placing the coins in before turning the key and putting it in a pocket on his apron.
Yugi hurriedly walked out of the bakers shop grossed out by the man's breath. Maybe I'll give him a whole box of parsley for his birthday. He thought amusedly.
Yugi wondered as he sat on a bench chewing the bread what he would do for the rest of the day. Maybe he would go annoy the guards. That was always a good way to pass the time.
So for the remainder of the day Yugi annoyed the guards and ran from them and other people he stole from. He also practiced what Malik had taught him. He thought and plotted of the different ways to he could get Vivian from the guards' 'evil' clutches.
Soon he was tired and didn't feel like doing anything else, it was just past dinner time. He made his way once more to the alley that he had been spending the last few nights in.
As he walked, he thought that his steps sounded louder in the deserted alley than they usually did. He slowly stopped walking and as he did the sound of his footsteps stopped. As he started again, it sounded too loud for him, so he sharply came to a halt, noticing that there was a sound of stumbling before all noise seized.
He stood there in the silence of the alley listening to his heavy breathing. Once again the footsteps started but this time Yugi wasn't moving. He turned around wondering who was following him. And came face to face with the baker he had stolen from and bought from over the past week.
The baker stopped a couple of paces in front of Yugi. He stared down his large nose at Yugi mulling over his thoughts before gruffly speaking.
"I've been watchin' you boy. I know tha' you're the one tha' stole from me. I also know, tha' you the one tha' bough' bread from me. You go' some nerve kid. I've been trakin' ya for days you aint easy to track ill admi' bu' I still found ya." He laughed.
"Yeah, so what do you want? You took all that time to track me so you must have a reason."
"Oh yes, I spen' a lo' o time trackin' you." The man scowled.
"Yeah, you already said that. So what's your reason? Why are you here?" Yugi said, impatiently tapping his foot on the dirty stone street.
"I be givin' ye a chance to pay me back for all tha' bread you stole from me."
"So you're giving me a job." Yugi asked sceptically.
"Ain' tha' wha' I said?"
"Well yeah but, why would you give me a job when I stole from you?" Yugi said, raising his eyebrows.
"To repay me." The baker replied highly annoyed. "You can live in thee shop an I'll feed ya an' I won' punish you for the bread ya stole. Working for me is punismen' enough eh. Deal."
He stared at the baker incredulously. He couldn't believe it. After weeks of searching for someone to give him a job. After weeks of being turned down and doors slammed in his face, the baker, the very man he stole the loaf of bread from earlier was offering him work, a way to repay the man for all of the bread that he had stolen from him.
The baker had said that he could live there too. He would be fed and sheltered. The baker had said that he wouldn't punish him for stealing the bread earlier.
He looked at the baker. He was wearing a white apron stained with flour and mixtures, tied tightly across his bulging stomach, to the tall white hat perched upon his plump balding head. With beetle black eyes and thick bushy eyebrows, with slim lips pulled tightly across his face in what appeared to be a friendly smile, but it looked more like a grimace.
He was a little wary of taking up the bakers offer. After all, why would he, the man that he stolen food from, be offering him a job?
Still, it beats living on the streets, doesn't it? I mean, I would get food and drink and a shelter. All I have to do is work for the man. He doesn't look friendly, but it is better than the streets, and I did want a job, so this is my chance.
"All right." He said slowly. "I'll work for you."
The fat man nodded then turned on his heel and lumbered off in the direction of the bakery.
When they got to the door of the bakery, he turned to face Yugi and pointed a finger at him with a stern expression on him that suited him better than the smile.
"You'll do every thin' I say with ou' complaint go' it. Ya won' talk, you won' ask questions. Ya hear? All ya's do is bake. No mistake, no punishment. With mistake, come punishment go' it pretty boy?"
Mutely, Yugi nodded. He dare not say anything for fear of angering the man. He looked ferocious. He slowly repeated in his head the key points of the man's rant. No talking, no questions, no complaining, no mistakes. Slowly he followed the beefy man inside the shop.
It was a small shop with a long wooden counter that ended at the wall, behind the counter was a door leading to the next room.
Probably where he makes the bread. Yugi thought silently.
Yugi would have continued looking around, had he the chance, but before he could finish his assessment of the room, he was roughly grabbed at the back of the neck and thrown through a door he hadn't noticed and landed on a pile of flour sacks.
"You'll be stayin' here till I says ye can come out. Youse be punished for the bread la'er. Go' it?" the baker said gruffly.
Gone were the politeness, gone was the friendly face that had conned Yugi into working with the baker and were replaced by a mean, angry and bitter looking man who, unfortunately for Yugi, still appeared to be mad at the loss of his loaf of precious bread earlier last night.
Before Yugi could reply or run, the door was slammed shut. Yugi ran to the door and yanked it open, or would have if it hadn't been locked.
Great, I'm stuck in a locked room. The baker hates me for the loaf of bread incident, and I got conned into working for him. This isn't going to turn out well.
Dejectedly, he turned around before lowering his tired limbs onto the sacks. He sighed. He looked around the room for means of escape. But found none, only the one door, no windows, and no cracks. Just the locked door and the flour sacks. It was going to be a rough night by the looks of those flour sacks.
All Yugi could do was try to sleep and see what would happen in the morning.