"Word on deh street is that dereh be a new shadow lurkin about." A beggar murmured softly to a small group clustered together beneath the overhanging sill of a long since broken window as Garrett walked by.
Garrett didn't stay to listen into the conversation, continuing his quest to pace around the cathedral like some caged dog, he had grown restless in the past few days, desperate to move, to be useful, to do anything, but unable to bring himself to act.
The streets of the city were no place for a half-blind thief. With Graven prowling like a blood thirsty beasts day and night, searching for common folk and guards alike, tempers within the city were summer dried kindling, even looking at someone wrong could ignite a new skirmish, and Garrett did not wish to accidentaly find himself in such a predicament.
He did, however, crave news…
Any information, any at all. From the faintest whisper of the wars progression to general lazy happenstances occurring within the city.
Anything…
Yet, the new shadow lurking about was all the Queen's beggars could talk about as of late.
From what Garrett had managed to gather from scattered remarks made by the beggars, however diluted from word of mouth, this new shadow wasn't a thief, by any means, Garrett could tell just from the hushed conversations he had heard around the cathedral courtyard.
The man wore a proper cloak, a rarity in the city now, dark in colour, hood drawn, always hiding his face. His steps were sloppy, quiet yes when he wasn't slipping in gutter muck, clearly not adapted to the rough cobble of the city streets.
That alone typically wouldn't be enough to pique Garrett's interest, unless someone suggested that the stranger would make a good mark for pick-pocketing, Garrett would have dubbed him a runaway noble trying his best to not die and leave it at that.
What did draw the thief's attention however was that the new shadow was looking for something, even going as far as to carelessly throw coin around without worry, in exchange only for information…
Garrett was used to being wanted for less than savory reasons. He was a thief after all, he was more than wanted for theft, the General Thief Taker seemed to have a hellbent vendetta against him as a person…
And he was unfortunately aware of how certain people viewed him with far more… Carnal desires. Madame Xiao Xiao and her girls were some of the very few who ever seemed, dare he say, excited? To see him in the flesh. Not that he stuck around long during that particulate mishap...
Regardless. The new shadow wasn't looking for a thief, not by a long shot.
The new shadow was looking for him, by name…
And there were very few people in the world would ever call him by name...