Ernest glanced from the top of the roof and jumped. She slid into a window frame on the opposite building. Now, this was time sensitive. She only had a few minutes. Looking briefly left and right, she crouched and threw a rock. It hit firmly, knocking a watermelon to the ground from one of the fruit stands. 

"My precious melon!" shouted the fruit stand's owner, and he was off, running through the middle of the road to retrieve the watermelon. Now was the hardest part. She jumped from the window sill to the awning of the stand and slid backward, ducking behind it. A second later, a close observer might have noticed her reach out and snatch a few oranges from the stand. She scanned the area again. There was no such thing as being to cautious.

She slid casually into the crowd, stopping only to grab a few fallen coins, and got past the fruit seller just as he was returning to his stand. She hoped no one had noticed, but you could never be too sure. She slid quietly into an alleyway and pulled out an orange. Breakfast was served.

Noland strolled down the street. Confident that his men were doing well in the thieves' den he had found for them. Now he was on to more pressing matters. Breakfast. He was surprised he hadn't eaten before starting such a monumental day. He tended to ignore basic human needs as he worked, though you wouldn't think so by looking at him. His stomach growled audibly. He patted his belly and made his way to the nearest marketplace.

Once there a watermelon rolled past him and a fruit vendor chased after it. He merely chuckled and continued on his way. He stopped at a meat cart and began inspecting the cuts of meat that had been pilled on top of each other on a large vertical spit on top of which sat a skinned pineapple. The vendor began shaving meat off of the spit and gave it to a paying customer in an easy to carry wicker basket lined with cloth. Noland was filled with awe at the hard working people of Adeluna. He was proud of them, and would gladly buy from them to promote their local business. He purchased a basket of assorted meats and payed the man well. After that he visited a baker and bought a loaf of bread. 

He then went to an open seating area to eat his breakfast of meat and bread. This day couldn't get any better. Unbeknownst to him, he didn't secure his coin purse as safely as he thought he had. It sat next to him unwatched and out of mind. 

Ernest wandered casually through the crowd, her orange finished and the other two in her book bag. She had no real plans for the day. To be honest, she had actually gotten somewhat lost, and didn't really know how to get out of the city. Not that she had anywhere to go. It just bothered her, being unaware of where she was.

Her eyes widened as she spotted, among the people, a nobleman who apparently didn't give much care to where his purse was. It sat there, not on his person or even touching him, but a few inches away, tempting her. It would be so easy to grab it, but she had already stolen enough today. On the other hand, noblemen rarely left their purses unguarded, and she would love to be able to pay the fruit vendor back for what she had taken. But it could be a trap. 

She stood there, watching him for a few minutes, but he seemed blissfully ignorant. Still, one could never be too sure. She wanted a distraction. Grabbing one of the stones she had in her bag, she tossed it a few times, then sidearmed it across the plaza. It wasn't very far to the other side, and she had a good throw when she needed to. It knocked a post, bumping it just far enough that a nearby horse reared in fear. Just by luck, it happened to be one that wasn't tied properly, and the rope flew off the post as the horse went running.

Perfect. While everyone was distracted, she reached out and snatched up the nobleman's purse, emptying a few silver coins into her hand. Not enough to be suspicious, or that he would tell they were missing, but it could buy her a good meal or two. She slid the purse back, and turned to leave, hoping everyone was still distracted by the horse.

"There is more where that came from" he said still eating. He then lifted his basket revealing a second basket. He slid it over and plopped some meat down on it. "Have a seat" he added. 

Noland took out a pen and paper, "How would you like to make an honest living?" He asked, "Well, honest enough. I have a need for someone with your talents. Someone who knows their way around the city. You can have that whole purse." 

Noland needed more information if he was going to continue his mission he needed to know more about where thieves hid. Where else than from a thief? 

Ernest just stared at the man for an entire minute. She hadn't expected that he would see her, and even if he had, this was the last thing she would have known any nobleman to do. Her instincts screamed that this was a trap. She didn't trust this man, but she sat down anyway, knowing that she had no chance of escaping at this point. Either way, he was offering food.

She considered his offer. Honestly, she didn't know the city too well, and she hadn't meant to spend much time here. Still, the amount of money he was offering tempted her. 

"What kind of job are you meaning?" she asked. She wondered what this nobleman was up to. No one acted like this unless they had an agenda.

"Here's the deal" began the nobleman, "I'm looking to run the thieves' guild out of this city. A big task I know, but I'm a big man." As he talked his oddly small hands made wild gestures.

He continued, "I need information on locations within the guild so I can strike fast and deep within their ranks! All that money is yours if you help me." he had no idea that she didn't know the area. "Also, you can keep getting this much money if you join the cause fully."

This nobleman was like nothing Ernest had ever heard before. He was actually using his power to try to improve life for ordinary Adelunans. She wondered exactly how much he knew about the thieves, though. "When you say 'the thieves' guild,' I'm assuming you mean the crews who run the big operations, correct? Or do you just mean all forms of thievery in general? Because the latter, I'm afraid, will be a lot harder." 

He certainly knew how to make a good offer. Although greed wasn't the main force driving her, she would rarely pass up a bit of extra cash. "So, you want me to be a spy?" she asked. She could probably pull that off. The guilds had approached her before; she thought she could recognize some of them. "Also, I don't think I can commit fully to your cause. I don't spend much time in one place, usually. But I could probably spare a week or two."

"There are others who might help you, you know," she said. "Not all of us are ruthless. You could get a lot of help for the amount of money you seem to be offering." She didn't tell him that most of them would help him for the chance at just a hot meal every day. Better to let them do their own bargaining.

Noland considered the young thief's words a moment. He then said, "I am a man of order, and as such I know the impact of order used maliciously." He took a bite of meat, chewed, swallowed, and continued. "No, I am only focused on organized crime. It's terrible. I can no longer stand by and watch as this fair city suffers in the hands of the corrupt." He looked at her for the first time, "I want to make Adeluna City a great place to live. For everyone." He pushed his purse towards Ernest. "I need the best, and I can see that you're one of them. What's your name?"

His eyes conveyed that he believed exactly what he was saying, "I've been putting together a team of people I feel can handle this problem. You're welcome on it."

Ernest nodded. She understood his frustration. She had little patience for the complex jobs and hits they planned. "I agree with you about the guilds," she said. "I may be a thief, but I don't steal for fun." She met his eyes. He certainly knew how to convince people. She just wondered if he had the skill to put a plan into action. Either way, she thought she could help him. 

"My name is Ernest," she said. "And I'm more than willing to help you as long as I'm in Adeluna." She paused. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

He wiped his mouth on his handkerchief and smiled as he said, "I am Noland. Noland Prumt, and I need you to enter a guild hideout. Now, this won't be easy. These are bad guys. The worst, but I need you to find the biggest hideout you can and mark it with this." He held out two scrolls with a red 'x' on each of them.

"You will need to plant one on the outside and another where hideout leader is to make sure we get him." he then produced a third scroll with a green circle, "you will then need to find a hiding place. Put this where decide to hide yourself and my boys will rescue you." He paused a moment and kept going, "Now, you don't need to hide the whole time. I am giving you complete autonomy, you can do whatever, but once you hear them come crashing in, you need to find a place to be."

He believed this would work. How could it not? He thought of it. Who was better at getting rid of organized crime the he was? By now he probably already had one hideout under his belt. He wondered how his little task force was doing.