I like this one. I like the film though, so I'm biased :) Others considered for this were Tabris and Isabela, but then I realised that the Dwarf Commoner origin was perfect. :D

One Jump Ahead (Aladdin) - Brosca

Orzammar Market had been fairly quiet that day. But of course, the pair from Dust Town had appeared around midday, and the place had been turned upside down.

A cry of "Stop, thief!" propelled the guards into motion, and they headed swiftly into

A dwarf with dark braids, leaning casually against the wall, shouted loudly over the heads of the approaching guards. "Hey, Brosca! Get your ass movin', salroka, we gotta go!"

Another cry. "Guards! He's here"

Then –

"Ah, crap!" and a wild laugh.

Next thing, Brosca came into view, short legs sprinting through the crowd, two loaves of bread clutched to his filthy patched armour. The head guard swung his sword, but Brosca dodged the heavy blade just in time. "Gotta keep one jump ahead of the breadline," he muttered, "One swing ahead of the sword.I steal only what I can't afford," he shrugged as he sidestepped another swipe, letting the guard hit a box of nug meat instead, which spilled over the street. "And that's everything," he exclaimed, before running again.

"One jump ahead of the lawmen," he continued as the guards came hot on his heels, weapons brandished. "That's all, and that's no joke – these guys don't appreciate I'm broke!" He stopped in front of a crowd, wondering if they saw the funny side.

Nope. "Riffraff!" they shouted as he dodged through them.

"Street rat!"

"Duster!"

"Take that!"

"Just a little snack, guys," reasoned Brosca to the two burly men blocking his exit.

The gruff voices of the guards bellowed from behind him. "Rip him open, take it back, guys!"

Brosca gulped, and squirmed past the men. "I can take a hint, gotta face the facts –" he threw a loaves to the dark haired dwarf – "You're my only friend, Leske!"

Leske nodded, and ran back to Dust Town. The guards would never deign go in the slum, and Brosca could lose the guards quicker without carrying things.

Brosca jumped through a low window, and found himself staring at a silk covered bosom. Or three. Ah, yes. It was the Dulin sisters. He seemed to remember being chased from this window before by their mother. "Oh, it's sad that Brosca's hit the bottom," they sighed. "He's become a one-man rise in crime!"

"I'd blame the mother but she's too drunk to notice," came a growl, and Brosca looked around to see the heavy set Dulin matriarch. He gulped, and turned back to the sisters.

"Gotta eat to live," he reasoned, "gotta steal to eat,tell you all about it when I got the time?" He leapt through the opposite window as he avoided her broom.

"One jump ahead of the slowpokes!One skip ahead of my doom," he skipped around the guards, feeling cocky. "Next time, gonna use a nom de plume," he mused, cheekily. "One jump ahead of the hitmen – one hit ahead of the flock.I think I'll take a stroll around the block…" He snuck around the corner, hands in his pockets, lips pursed.

"Stop, thief!" came the cry of stall owners. "Vandal!"

"Outrage! Scandal!"

The guards had backed him into a doorway. Gulping, he tried charm. "Let's not be too hasty…"

Strong arms picked him up from behind, and he closed his eyes, envisioning the cell he'd spend a week in –

"Still I think he's rather tasty," came a gruff yet girlish voice from above him, and Brosca nearly fainted as he saw the broodmother lookalike that was his rescuer.

"Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat," he grinned, flipping out of her arms and resting on a guard's breastplate. "Otherwise we'd get along!"

"Wrong!" bellowed the guards, as they dived for him.

Brosca wasn't entirely sure how he escaped the pile-on of swords and armour plating, but he found himself sprinting aimlessly through the market, passing street performers, criers, stalls, and wondering if he should have kept his daggers on him.

"One jump ahead of the guardsmen!One hop ahead of the hump," he muttered, as guards seemed to appear from all sides. "One trick ahead of disaster – they're quick, but I'm much faster!" He leapt up a set of stairs and into a window – he knew where he was going. The guards were closing in on him, grinning in victory. He crossed his fingers. "Here goes, better throw my hand in,wish me happy landin' – all I gotta do is jump!"

And with that, he leapt out of the window, landed with a startling lack of grace on the floor, and galloped away into the recesses of Dust Town, laughing and whooping in victory, as the guards stood in the window above, fuming.

-0-0-0-0-

Hope that added some energy after the chill profoundness of the last one! More fun coming up :)

Up Next: Hawke's companions have a moment of childishness on the Wounded Coast.

(Have fun working that one out - the clues are getting cryptic...)