A/N: ok, I know that I promised to get this chapter up by the end of the week, but there was some stuff that happened to my family so I couldn't really concentrate enough to write. Sorry again.

By now everyone in the market place had there eye on the merchant and the girl he was chasing after. Briar couldn't get a good look at the girl, but she seemed about his age and she was dressed in rags. 'A street rat' Briar thought. By this time the merchant had tripped and fell while the girl got lost from sight in the crowd. The young mages quickly ran over to the merchant who Evvy recognized.

"Jeweler Raden are you ok?" she said.

"Evvy oh its you, please I need your help" he replied "That street rat just stole one of my most expensive items. It's a charm that's worth hundreds. Please get it back form her"

"Don't worry, we'll get it back for you" Sandry said

"Yeh, the only problem is she got away through the crowd" said Briar "It'll be harder to track her down"

Just then Niko, Lark and Rosethorn bushed there way through the crowd to get to them.

"What happened here?" demanded Rosethorn

"Some stupid street rat girl stole one of my most prized positions, and I asked these mages to get it back from me" replied Raden

"Don't worry Raden, we'll try to get it back for you" said Niko "Did any of you get a good look at her?"

"Not really" said Evvy "Just that she was dressed in rags"

"Ok, you three search around the market for a sign of her, we'll find Tris and Daja and tell them to keep an eye out for her"

With that the three of them started to make there way through the crowd and stared to search down all the streets and alleys. They had been searching for about 15 minutes and still no sign of the girl.

"There's still no sign of her, maybe she got away" suggested Sandry

Just as she said this Briar noticed a tall tree near a building and some of the branches were broken. He went up to the tree and saw a piece of cloth that looked like the one that the girl was wearing.

"Or maybe she's not on in any of the alleys but on the roofs" said Briar

With that said he started to climb the tree to reach the roof. When he reached the top of tree and jumped on to the roof he saw the girl sitting with her back to him on the other side of the roof. She was leaning over the charm, running her finger over the designs on it. It looked like she was crying.

Briar started to walk to her, making sure not to make any noise, but just as he was about to grab her shoulder he herd.

"Briar do you see her?" Sandry had yelled

With that herd the girl whipped around and jumped away from Briar. It was now that he got a good look at her. She had tan skin with some freckles, with deep blue eyes. She had jet black hair that was tired up in a messy bun. She pulled out a dagger and sliced a rope next to her that held up clothing line. The cloths fell on Briar blocking his view for a second, which was enough time for the girl to jump to the next rooftop and start running away again.

Briar ran to the edge of the roof and yelled down to Sandry and Evvy "Yeh she her, but she saw me and is on the run again. Im gonna go after her, she heading for the square, tell the others."

With that said he started after the girl again. She was just as fast as he was and from the way she maneuvered from rooftop to rooftop he could tell she had been a street rat for many years. He finally caught up to her when she had reached a rooftop that had a gap from the next one that was too long to jump. Briar was only a few feet from her when she turned to face him.

"I don't want to fight you, I know what its like to be poor and on the streets" said Briar "Just give me back the charm you stole and I'll let you go"

She gave him a hard look and simply said "First of all I stole it back. That jeweler stole it from me when I was sleeping."

"I know jeweler Raden and I know he wouldn't steel, so give it back, you don't have anywhere else to run." replied Briar

"That's what you think" she said with a smile

The girl looked over to the small water tower on the roof and Briar saw a silver glow surrounding her. She lifted her hand and started to clutch it like she was squeezing an invisible ball. Briar looked at the tower and the wood started to crack on and in a split second the tower burst. Briar covered his face to avoid getting hit by a piece of wood in the head. When he looked again he saw that the girl had the water from inside the tower hovering in the air above her.

"Wasn't expecting that were you?" she said

And with the flick of her wrist the water shot at Briar with full force. The water hit him with a lot of pressure and made him fly back wards till he hit a shed that was on the other side of the roof. He saw the girl wink at him and jump off the roof to the street.

Briar tried to get up but it was hard because of so much pressure that had made him hit the shed. He was also gasping for breath because he had breathed in some of the water when it had hit him. He managed to get to the edge of the roof catching a glimpse of the girl turning the corner heading into the square.

He jumped down to the street and started running after her again. He had just ran into the square when he saw Sandry standing with the rest of the mages.

Tris saw him first and yelled to him, and he ran over.

"Briar, Sandry said that you were chasing her, did you catch her?" Niko asked

"No, I almost had her but she escaped." he said "I saw her run somewhere here in the square"

"How could you let her get away?" yelled Tris "With all your skills as a thief I would have thought she would have been easy to catch."

"Hey it wasn't my fault she got away, ok" he yelled back "I didn't know that she was a mage"

"What" they all gasped

"She used magic to get away?" asked Lark "What kind?"

"Well she made a water tower explode, and made the water in it hit me with enough force to fling me into the sir till I hit a shed, so im gonna say she's a water mage" replied Briar

"Well at least now we know what were dealing with" said Daja

Briar herd Daja say something else but didn't process it because he caught a glimpse of the girl go down one of the alleys. With out a word he ran past the others and started after her. He ran down the alley and was right on her tail again. She tried to loose him but couldn't. Finally she headed down an alley that led to a dead end.

"Looks like this time you have no place to run" he said

She turned around to face him and glared at him.

"Didn't you learn anything from last time, you can't beat someone that has the skills that I have with magic" she replied

"You may think that but im a mage as well" said Briar

And with that he made the vines that were on the wall next to the girl come alive and wrap around her. She struggled to get loose but couldn't.

"I wouldn't keep struggling or they'll just get tighter." warned Briar "Like I said before I don't want to hurt you, I was a thief too for many years; I know what its like. Just trust me, give me back the charm and ill let you go."

"No way in hell, that charms mine and I don't trust you." She yelled back and with her free hand pulled out her dagger and cut the vines to get loose.

"If you really were a thief then fight me if you want the charm so badly, but no magic" she said

"I don't want to fight but you really give me no choice"he pulled out his dagger as well"But no magic right?"

"No magic, thief's honor" she replied and with that charged him and tried to cut his face.

Briar blocked her and tried not to hurt her but to disarm her. She on the other hand wasn't as nice and kept just nearly missing slicing Briar with her knife. She was very skilled and for some reason he recognized a lot of her moves. Finally he managed to knock the dagger from her hand but she did the same to him. He tried to retrieve it but she grabbed the dagger first thrust it at him. Briar tried to block her but she managed to cut his arm.

The wound was deep and it hurt badly. But just as she turned her back to him and tried to climb over the wall he kicked her ankles making her fall and the dagger she held slid over to the other one she had dropped.

They started to fight again but this time with no weapons. Briar was at a disadvantage because of the wound on his arm, but he managed to keep her there until the other showed up. Daja was the first to react and she gripped her staff and thrust it at the girl in her face knocking her back.

She fell backwards right near where the two daggers lay. She grabbed hers and just as the other mages were about to grab her she turned to a sewer pipe at the far right and waved her hand at it. It exploded with pressurized water blocking the mages from grabbing her. The water gave her enough time to climb over the wall and get away. This time for good. The water from the pipe slowed down and started to run slow enough till it stopped.

"Great, now she's gone and we can't get the charm back" said Evvy

"Briar, are you ok?" asked Sandry after seeing the cut on his arm.

"Yeh im fine" he said "Nothin that wont heal"

"Any idea of to who that girl was?" asked Niko

"No, I've never seen her before" said Evvy

The rest of them shook there heads too. Briar walked over to where he had dropped his dagger and picked it up, but before he put it away he noticed something different about it.

"Briar?" asked Tris "What's wrong"

Briar just continued to stare at the dagger like he hadn't even herd her. The only thing he said was "It can't be"

A/N: so that chapter 4, what do you think?