Not going to waste my time [open]

[Zander James]

Zander stood on the side of the village road, surrounded by various homes some quiet and bare, some with smoke rising from the chimney, some filled with children crying or people yelling. The sounds he was accustomed to. The sounds he had grown up to. His hands were tucked securely in his pockets to ward off the chilly village air. His eyes were narrowed, his face firm and unchanging as he twirled his small felt pouch around his finger. He was not satisfied.

Nobody in his family seemed to be taking things seriously. His little brothers and sisters were hungry and there were only so many ways to keep them fed. Cora sending some food home from the castle helped out, but it only lasted so long. Heaven knows their Mother wasn't feeding them. And pitiful Robert was trying to take charge as usual, trying to be the hero, thinking he could get himself married off to a girl and win her money. The thought made Zander laugh, well, scoff and then laugh. What girl was going to marry down her class, to his brother at that. It was ridiculous. And Robert was off doing this, leaving Zander to work his fingers to the bone.

He watched as a few workers carried out a stretcher, the victim's face covered by a white sheet. The plague. Maybe it wasn't a big deal yet, but it was going to be and he was not going to be a fool. He was not going to sit back and watch his family die. He patted his now empty pouch and a slow smile spread across his sleek face, a tint of malice in his blue green eyes. He was going to save the family. Not foolish Robert. For once, he would be out of his older brother's shadow and Robert would be looking up at him in gratitude, thanking him when his foolish plan burns to the ground.

Yes, Zander knew what he had to do. It was...dangerous perhaps, not honorable, crafty. But it was the only way. He wasn't doing it for himself, not totally. He was doing it for them. and they would be thankful. They would never even know how or where. That wouldn't be important. Yes, this pouch wasn't going to be empty for long. This was going to work, he was sure of it. He needed it to work. He had to be careful, he couldn't be caught. He nodded, smile vanishing and he dropped the pouch. He would do it for them.

[Sinead McDunna]

Nothing like a plague to take your mind off things. Sinead couldn't say she was overly concerned, the threat of death was nothing new to her. She had been orphaned and for the most part had raised herself in the gutter.

Sinead's only blessings in this life had been strong survival skills and a keen intellect. It had been that keen intellect which led her to chop off her vibrant red hair, sell it to a wig maker and disguise herself as a boy at a young age. That choice had made all the difference between her becoming a thief instead of a lady of the night.

An old hardened criminal saw the advantage of having a sweet looking young boy with big blue eyes begging on the street, so he could pick the pockets of those kind enough to stop and look at him. That same hardened criminal and used her for something far worse. In fact after several years that was precisely how their relationship had ended. He discovered the young boy he had taken under his wing was really a girl, he attempted to take her honor and she attempted to take his life. Sinead had been the only one successful in her attempt that night.

Really that was the old mans final lesson, personified. There was no right or wrong, there was only survival. Sinead would do what she had to in order to stay alive, really it was as simple as that.

She could pick pockets with the best of them, spin a sad story that would make people hand over what little they could, but perhaps her best skill was a willingness to do what others would not do. The Plauge was a tragedy, but there was money to be made if you knew what you were doing. Most thieves were afraid to rob the houses of those who had died from plague. Most thieves had some chance of making an honest living, as an unmarried woman Sinead simply did not have those options.

She set out wearing her one and only outfit, plain gray mens clothing almost indiscernible from that of any male peasant boy. Trousers, woolen knee sock, a tunic, and a vest with many inner pockets, gloves, and perhaps most importantly a hat. In order to make the best profit Sinead only sold her hair once a year, it was currently long enough to look feminine and so she wore it tucked away.

She walked along smoking a corn cob pipe, when she spied a young man playing with his coin purse with a determined look in his eye. She had no idea what the young chap might be planning, but she knew opportunity when she saw it. She pretended to be very interested in the plague victim being carried by as she casually bumped into him.

"Sorry" she said, his purse already in her hands. Now that she had it she realized it was empty. With a sigh turned back around and tossed it to him. "You dropped this." she said in a low voice before turning and walking away "Not even worth my effort" she muttered under her breath as she took another drag from her pipe.

What was he going to do report her for returning an empty purse. worse comes to worst it was always easy to make that swift transformation from boy to woman, no one would even know they were looking for such a pretty young lady.

[Zander James]

Zander blinked out of his thoughts when somebody, a little shorter than he bumped into him. He nodded at her apology and looked down, only to quirk one eyebrow when he found his felt pouch gone. The what he amused to be a young man around his age turned around and tossed something at him. He caught it, and then looked back over at her, a small smirk playing at her lips. He hadn't thought he was going to be the one being robbed from. Luckily, it was thus far empty. As he said before, it wasn't going to be for long. He was going to have to be more aware of himself and others, as the path he had chosen would be filled with people just such as the figure who had walked a few steps away, smoking a pipe.

He smirked, watching, and heard what she said under her breath. "Good strategy though," he remarked from where he stood, loud enough for the thief to hear. Zander knew he would be in the same place as this street urchin, on the other side of the situation, trying to walk away with the prizes. He wondered exactly how he would do it. Direct contact such as accidentally bumping into someone as had just happened to him, or would he just get close enough to slip his hand into someone's pockets. Whatever it was he would do it. He watched the girl before him unknowingly for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed in thought as he studied her, looking like nothing but casual curiousity although he was trying to figure her out. Something was in dissonance. Something wasn't right, but he shrugged it off, watching the dead being carried off until almost out of sight.

[Sinead McDunna]

The facts:

She had just lifted the empty purse of a young man.
Young man complimented her strategy.
Clearly the Young man knew that she had stolen from him, but was not going to do anything.

The Conclusion:

He must be a thief or at least aspiring to be one.

Sinead turned on her heels and looked back at the guy. He might just be of use to her, training a new thief was a good way to make some cash and have an ally. Really you couldn't never have too many friends in low places. Ok and he was kind of cute, not that she could ever express such a thing without risking her cover and probably upsetting the boy terribly.

She stepped closer to him sizing him up with a skeptical eye. "Looking to get into the business are you? Surely you must be an amateur or you would have seen that trick coming from ten paces away." her voice lowered as to keep from sounding feminine.

She would give him a better offer then the gone given to her by the man who first taught her. If he gave her half of his winnings, she would teach him almost everything she knew about being a thief.

[Zander James]

Zander was fingering the felt of his pouch again, looking up to see her gaze on him. She looked like she was considering something, like she was waging some options. He waited patiently, scratching his chin and then nodding with a smile to an old couple passing by, before yawning and noticing some dirt stains on his knuckles and wiping them off on his shirt before bringing his blue eyed gaze back over when she stepped closer, speaking.

He didn't shy away under her eye, he didn't squirm or move nervously. He just stared back calmly at the young fellow before him, eyebrows raised curiously, not fazed easily or at least very good at not showing it. Because of the strong pride every James had despite their class, he wanted to say he was already in the business. He could be. He had the craftiness, quick on his feet, the desire, the nerve. But to combine them altogether and be an unrecognizable thief stealing from all kinds of people would not come instantly. He knew that. He could steal sure enough but without landing himself in shackles? He wasn't all sure. So he nodded, not sure if being an amateur was good by her standards or not. Well, he knew he was one but he was sure he wouldn't always be. Not if he wanted to provide for his family to his satisfaction, anyways.

[Sinead McDunna]

Sinead's expression remained stern, and her tone serious. She couldn't be as strong or as tall as men, but she could be every bit as tough and intimidating. When you couldn't defeat someone in a physical match it was best to make them believe that you were capable of stooping to levels of depravity the other one would never touch. Make them believe you are the more insane or evil man and they won't challenge you. Sinead wasn't going that intense with her intimidation today, she spoke with just enough of an edge to show herself for what she truly was, a hardened criminal.

She waited till the old couple had passed and the streets were clear before making the rest of her offer.

"Well unfortunately for you there is no room for amateurs in this town, not unless you count the stocks of course." she said beginning to circle him like a shark. "Fortunately for you I have been looking for an apprentice." she offered standing still in front of him and looking him dead in the eye. "It's a simple deal really, you give me half your earnings, and I'll teach you everything I know.

"Now you'd be daft to an accept an offer like that on the spot so here is the deal. Today I will give you a free lesson. I get to see if you have any potential, and you get to keep anything your grubby little hands can take and you get to see why you need me to survive.

Of course the other part of the plan was left unsaid. If he had no skill she would leave him to get caught while making her escape from whatever mess he got himself into. Really this was an investment for her. A few weeks of having a partner, it would increase her intake especially if she got half of what he was collection. If things went well he could be a good contact, one could never have too many contacts.

"What do you say then?" Sinead held up her hands mimicking a scale. Follow me and learn something, or run back home and hide behind your mothers skirts.

[Zander James]

Zander listened to her with one brow quirked, watching her carefully as she circled him and then halted, looking him straight in the eye. He didn't respond at first, just listening, considering everything. The pride inside of him said he could do it by himself, that it was always the James way not to ask for help, that if you couldn't taught yourself and if you couldn't do it, that was it, you didn't do it. They were independent. They weren't apprentices or students or lackeys. But this was different. He couldn't go out and rob the world blind. Not by himself.

He believed this was the matter of life and death for his family. Whether they lived or whether they starved. Whether they remained strong or in weakness fell to the plague. He couldn't fail, he had to be successful. He needed to know what she knew, he needed to watch and learn before he could grow and flourish in the art of thievery. He had said he would do whatever it took before to be the savior of his family, to keep them alive, to be looked up to for once. So that meant receiving help if it would help him accomplish this. He watched her hands mimic a scale, teetering up and down for a long moment. He made his decision. His brows furrowed in determination. There was no going back now.

"I will follow and if it works out today, we have a deal." He held out his hand to confirm it, a grin lighting up his face. Cora said it was his finest feature, his good teeth and she had the eyes. He liked to argue he had both but she always rebuked him on that. Well, he would put those good teeth to work. "Zander James, if you'd like to know who you're dealing with."

[Sinead McDunna]

"Good." she said offering a handshake "I'm Sam. First rule of this trade, never give your last name. Makes it easier to track you down if you get in trouble."

Sinead had already planned out what the first task would be. Honestly she had been planning to go this alone until she met him. Having an extra set of eyes for this would be helpful. Honestly she couldn't have come up with a better test for an aspiring thief had she actually planned this out. Pickpocketing, lock picking, and a number of other skills necessary for a thief were easily taught; morality or should we say lack there of was something no one could really teach you. If you didn't have the stomach necessary to take from others without hesitation or remorse you had no business being a thief.

This would be a test of how far Zander was willing to go in order to succeed. "Alright then follow me." she said with a little bit of a smirk. This would be like throwing the boy into the deep end of the pond, he would either float or drown.

She led him down the street and into an down an alleyway to a small hut. The hut had paint across the door marking it as a home that had been struck by the plague. Sinead knew for a fact that all none of the owners were left alive. It was risky going into a home where sick people had been, which was precisely why no one had come along to clean it out yet.

"Ok It's simple, I'll go in. You keep a look out." she said

This was only the first step of course. Standing guard while someone stole the belongings of the dead from a house afflicted with plague, going in and taking things yourself was quite another. Sinead was interested to see how Zander would far, almost as interested as she was to see what could be stolen from the home. It wouldn't be a big haul from a peasant like this, but one never knew they could have one or two trinkets of value or a couple coins tucked away for a rainy day.

Sinead pulled a scarf up over her nose and mouth, and picked the lock. Within seconds the door swung open and she went inside.