Although we were doing something a little… wrong, I couldn't help the huge smirk on my face as I followed Reatti through the alleyway.

It wasn't as late at night as I had expected. I had figured we'd be doing this in the dead of night, when no one was awake. Instead Reatti wanted to do it not long after the shop closed, when people would be eating dinner and getting drunk. I understood her reasoning, especially since the shop we were going to steal from didn't have any houses above or around it. It was one of the rare multi-floored buildings that had only more shops and warehouses above and around it. An oddity considering it was in the area that nobles shopped.

We rounded a corner, and the light rain that fell around the world masked our presence. The rain wasn't falling too hard, but still hard enough to make the world noisy. There were puddles, and all the water collecting on the rooftops of the buildings around us loudly drained and fell off the roofs and canopy's around us. Every so often we walked under one of the sections that had water pouring from it, which Reatti oddly walked right through and under instead of just around them. As if she wanted to get soaked.

Following her across a street and into another alleyway, I tried to think of the last time I'd stolen something. Before joining the Society, for sure, but how long before that…? I could remember stealing some clothes and a fishing pole from some knights not too long after Nory and I had built our cabin, but was that really the last time I'd done so?

Back then I had stolen things out of necessity. Usually the stuff I stole were clothes, since I was just so terrible at making them myself and I needed them to blend in with the humans. If I wanted to earn money, and buy stuff, I first needed to have the proper attire. To hide my ears and tail, at the bare minimum. But sometimes my thievery extended beyond clothes, and included metal or crafted items such as fishing poles… knives…

Feeling bad about my past, I slowed as Reatti stopped at the end of the alley. She peered around the corner as I walked up behind her, but didn't peer around the corner myself. I waited to see and hear what she'd say and do, and after a moment she turned around to whisper at me.

"It's all shut up and dark," Reatti whispered.

I nodded. "So we're going to do it?"

"Last chance to back out, Renn," Reatti said.

"Please," I said, wanting to scoff.

Back out? Not only was this utterly thrilling, it was important.

Their spears were in there. Those belonged to Reatti and Brom. To the Society. Vim had made them, and they were special.

I'd not allow them to be held by that rude man any longer. The jerk displayed them in his craftsman shop and had the gall to claim he was the one who had made them! Plus he wasn't willing to negotiate at all. Reatti and I had both tried to purchase them, properly and honorably… for great sums too, and the darn idiot smugly refused each time.

"Mhm. Okay then. Like we planned. We'll climb to the second floor and enter through that balcony on the side, okay?" Reatti whispered.

I nodded. We'd gone over this several times, and had scouted the building and area out rather well too.

We knew the owner of the building and his five or so workers left very quickly after closing shop. They didn't make their products here in this building but instead on the other side of town, at a blacksmith some noble family owned. The shopkeeper was a proud man but he himself didn't make anything as far as we could tell, he was simply related to the noble who owned both enterprises. Reatti believed he was married to one of the daughters or something.

I myself didn't care much for their circumstances. They had found those spears in the rubble during the aftermath of those creatures last year. I didn't blame them for picking them up, since they were special… but I did not like the idea of something Vim made, for my friends… one of which who had died protecting me, was in the hands of people who neither respected nor understood their value. Though even if they had, I'd still want them back. At the very least Reatti deserved to have her brother's…

Reatti peered around the corner of the alley again. It didn't take her long before she glanced back at me and nodded. "Let's do it. No one's around."

I nodded back and hurried with Reatti out of the alley. There was an alley on one side of the building we were about to break into, but it was tiny and full of boxes. Although cramped… it was the perfect location for what we needed.

We ran into the alley, and Reatti quickly went to the spot we'd already looked at and planned to use. She put her back against the wall and turned to me, cupping her hands in front of her. I wasted no time, I stepped up onto her open hands and she pushed me up just as I leapt upward a bit. I grabbed onto the balcony, but before pulling myself up I turned and reached out for Reatti. She jumped up, grabbing my hand, and I pulled her up the rest of the way.

Reatti clambered up onto the balcony first, and then I followed. I couldn't help but grin at how easily it had been. Reatti and I had tested this method already, helping each other climb up onto a second floor and honestly I was surprised at how capable we were at it.

Had I always been this strong? I had lifted Reatti rather easily, as if she'd not weighed anything. And I had done it while hanging off the balcony, holding my own weight too. It made me feel kind of good, to know I was so capable.

By the time I had got myself over the balcony's ledge, Reatti had already broken into the wooden door that led into the building. I heard tiny metal sounds as she pushed the door open slowly, trying not to make much noise.

She had simply pulled the metal handle with enough strength to break it. A rather… obvious method, but it made me realize how worthless a simple lock on a door was.

Reatti was strong, but not the outright strongest. The fact she had so easily broken an iron door-handle in such a way told me that even a human, with the right tools, was probably capable of doing it too.

The home we'd build up north, the orphanages and stuff, will need better security. I'll have to talk to Vim about it.

Reatti entered the building first. She did so while crouched a little, so I mimicked her and entered the same way. I felt kind of like a cat as I slowly prowled behind Reatti, leaving the rainy outside world and entering the shop that smelled like metals and oil.

Just as we figured, this floor was full of crates and shelves. In the darkness of the night I could see the gleam of dull metals, such as iron and brass, but there wasn't as much as I'd have expected. The room we were now in actually kind of felt… empty, somehow. As if it was not being used properly, or something.

Why didn't they at least have a table and some chairs? What if someone needed to work on something in here?

"I don't smell or hear anyone," Reatti whispered.

I turned to look at her, and found her kneeling in front of the room's door. The one that led to the hallway.

Pulling off my hood, I turned my head a bit and listened to the world around me. I heard the rain pittering-and-pattering up above us. I heard drips from leaks and cracks in the roof. There was a mouse somewhere nearby, in one of the walls… and…

I nodded carefully. "I don't hear anyone either," I said. It was hard for me to smell much, since all I could smell were the items around me. The metals and oils.

"I'll go first, just in case," Reatti whispered as she opened the door.

Although I didn't much like the idea, I didn't argue. All I'd accomplish by doing that would get us in trouble, by alerting someone.

Reatti stepped out of the supply room slowly, looking all around as she headed down the hallway. About half way down it was the stairwell, the one that I knew led to the bottom floor behind the main counter. It was slightly hidden behind a wall, but I'd glanced up it while Reatti had distracted one of the workers the other day.

I left the room as Reatti glanced back at me and nodded, telling me it seemed clear. I followed Reatti down the stairs, slowly, and flinched a little when Reatti made one of the floorboard steps creak a little loudly.

We both went still… and for a few quick heartbeats, there was silence. Even the mouse upstairs had gone still.

But the silence continued, and the rain grew louder up on the roof.

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If there was anyone in this building… they'd not heard or moved.

Reatti sighed ever so slightly, and then continued down the stairwell. She reached the bottom and turned to head into the main lobby of the shop, and I quickly followed her.

The shop was just as I remembered it from the other day. The whole room was a large square, with a circular shelf in the center of it. The shelf had a bunch of metalwork items, ranging from knives to even pots and pans, but there was only one thing we were focused on.

Not too far from the stairwell, hanging up on the wall behind the counter, were the spears. They both were hanging on little metal hooks, gleaming brightest amongst all the tools and weapons. It looked like the man had polished them, or something.

Reatti didn't waste a moment. She stepped up to them and reached up, since they were hanging up near the ceiling as if so they could be seen from a distance, and she tugged them off the hooks.

I pulled around the small bag I had, and dug out the dark blankets we'd prepared. I laid them out, unfurled, onto the counter in front of Reatti and she went and placed both of the spears onto them.

We both quickly wrapped the spears up, and then I went to helping Reatti put them into the spear holder she had on her back. It was cumbersome, since it hadn't been made with spears wrapped in a thick blanket in mind, but we eventually got them situated in place.

"Ready?" Reatti whispered, once the spears were secured to her back.

"Yeah," I said excitedly. I hurriedly went to cover my ears again with my hood as Reatti hurried back up the stairs, heading for the room we'd broken in from.

Although I hurried to follow her… I paused a moment before the stairwell. I glanced out at the shop we'd just stolen from, and wondered if maybe I should have brought some coins. To leave on the counter as an apology.

I decided against it, before coming here, because I didn't want to risk it. What if somehow those coins led the shop owner or the noble back to the guild? Or me? I couldn't bear the thought of them getting hurt again all because of my negligence. Yet I still felt a little bad… maybe I'd return later with Vim and buy some stuff, or something.

Reaching the balcony, Reatti paused a moment first to make sure the alleyway below was clear. Once she confirmed it was, she gracefully clambered over the railing of the balcony and leapt to the ground below. I waited a moment for her to move out of the way before I too jumped off the balcony.

I landed a little too loudly in my opinion, but did so without any trouble. Reatti nodded to me, stood up straighter… and simply walked out of the alley and onto the road. I quickly followed her, as to walk side-by-side.

"That went well," I said, feeling a little bit of a rush from a job well done.

"Hm. Almost feels wrong that it's so easy, huh?" Reatti said.

I nodded at that. It did, a little. Just as I had moments ago thought about how easily Reatti had broken that door handle… the reality is the whole thing had been easy. Odds are if we wanted to, we could rob nearly any building in this city. And that included the places guarded by actual knights and whatnot.

"I used to stress terribly upon stealing clothes when I was younger. One time I spent almost three days just… planning how I'd grab a shirt off a drying rack, behind a large household," I said as I remembered the moment. It had been not long after I had left Witch, after I'd killed her. I had not been in the best emotional state, to be honest…

"Hm… I luckily never had to resort to that. Me and my brother were found by Vim rather quickly after our families chaos," Reatti said.

Right… Wish I'd been found too, like that.

Though if I had been, would I have become Vim's partner…? Probably not. He distanced himself from those he saved like that, oddly.

We rounded a corner, heading down a slightly busier street. There was even a wagon being pulled by a pair of donkeys, and the men leading it looked tired and exhausted. One was even dragging his feet.

"Thanks Renn, for helping," Reatti then said.

Oh…? "I'd help you anytime, Reatti. Especially for something like this," I said.

Honestly I was super humbled that Reatti had asked me for help. As she'd just proved… it wasn't as if she had actually needed me. Though maybe she had, in her own way. As far as I could tell she hadn't felt comfortable asking anyone else for help, since no one else would have approved of the deed or even thought acquiring the spears worth the effort. To her they held sentimental value, but to the rest of the Society they were but simple spears. Weapons. And most of the Society hated those even on a good day, let alone ones that were associated with the death of one of our members.

"All the same, thank you. Honestly I probably shouldn't have let it bother me so much… but!" Reatti lifted her hands, shaking her fists as if angry.

I nodded quickly. "Yeah! He was a jerk!" I agreed.

Reatti huffed, rather loudly. "This is what he gets for not just selling them to me. Stupid fool of a human…" she mumbled.

I noted her tone, and wondered if that was actual malice I heard… or just her being emotional. Something told me I was hearing it right, which made me even more glad that I'd accompanied her.

Odds are if that man had been in that shop tonight… he may have died, had he tried to stop Reatti from regaining what was rightfully hers.

Though if I would have actually stopped her or not was up to debate. I was starting to really question some of my own moral limits.

I used to think I couldn't harm anyone unless the need was great… but now…? To me, helping a friend… especially a fellow member of the Society, regain their sentimental object of their fallen sibling was great enough to justify such a thing. And that kind of scared me a little. After all it wasn't as if the man had actually stolen them from Reatti… he had simply found them in the rubble. The man had done nothing outright wrong to us. He hadn't killed Brom. He hadn't been involved in that fiasco at all.

More importantly, Vim wouldn't have allowed Reatti to kill that man… but Vim also would have gotten the spears back too, though how he would have done it I didn't know. Maybe I'd ask him when he got back.

"I'd offer to take you somewhere nice, but it'd be best to not be seen with them for a while," Reatti said with a point to the spears on her back.

I nodded. "It's okay. I've been told Light plans to…" I hesitated and groaned.

"Hm?" Reatti slowed a bit as to give me a look.

I reached up to rub my left temple. "She wanted to have dinner…" I said as I remembered.

"Hm…" Reatti frowned at that and glanced up at the sky. "Well, it's late but not too late. If we hurried back I guess you could make it."

Nodding, I sighed a bit. "I didn't agree with her that I would have dinner, she just suggested it."

"Well… she's important, isn't she? People who are important get what they want, even if you don't outright agree with it. Brandy's like that too," Reatti said.

Amused at her perspective of it, I reminded myself that she was young. Although not actually young, she wasn't old enough to have known Celine or the Society back in the day. So her saying such a thing told me a lot about how she saw Light and her people.

Many in the Society saw a hierarchy. Even if there wasn't actually one. It was interesting to learn who did and who didn't, and was even more confusing that usually the ones who saw the Society in such a way were those like her. The stronger ones.

"If you don't like her just say so…? You're Vim's wife, that gives you some leeway," Reatti suggested.

Frowning at her, I wondered why she'd say such a thing… but realized she'd likely saw my thoughts on my face. About how she saw the Society, and interpreted them wrongly. It was kind of her to try and give me advice, and for it to be that type.

"Vim wants me to not cause problems, while he's gone," I said.

Reatti nodded. "Right… easy to say, hard to do."

"Right?"

She chuckled at me as we rounded a corner and headed for the district the Animalia Guild was located in. As we stepped onto the new road, I glanced behind us… to check and make sure we weren't being followed. It didn't seem we were, but it was a little hard to tell because there were people out and about. Most had cloaks on, since it was lightly raining, so it was even harder to tell what who was doing what.

I wonder if Lilly was nearby. I had told her about what we were doing, and she had offered to help… but I didn't want to risk it with Reatti. Though that didn't mean Lilly wasn't nearby, keeping an eye on me.

Merit knew too, but hadn't seemed too worried about what we were doing. She had only asked where the store was, and a little about our plan of attack. After I'd explained the plan to her, and the store's location, she simply nodded and changed topics. Either finding it not worth her time to worry or maybe to Merit doing such things was… well… normal? She didn't act it, but I knew Merit had lived a wild life before we'd met. She had grown up under a monarch, had traveled the world outside of the Society before joining, and then went ahead and became queen of a whole kingdom. Merit was… very experienced, with a lot of worldly experience. More than I had, at least.

I had expected her to want to be involved, if anything just to keep an eye on me, but Merit hadn't seemed too interested. It made me wonder if stealing some spears from a random human's shop was just… not very unique to her.

Glancing at Reatti, who had a very content and happy smile on her face, I felt rather… relieved. I had worried that even after getting the spears back, Raetti would have been agitated. Yet it seemed she was already feeling a little better.

"It's a little too bad that had gone so well, huh?" Reatti then asked.

My smile, which had been warm and gentle, flinched. "Um… yeah?" I said, unsure of what to say.

Reatti sighed. "Maybe I'll burn their building down later or something…" she mumbled.

"Would Brom do that?" I asked.

Reatti flinched and glanced at me, with a small glare. "Don't do that, Renn. That makes me feel sick."

"Sorry… I hadn't meant it that way, I had been genuinely wondering…" I said quickly. Brom to me had seemed like an affable man, not the type to be so vengeful.

Reatti groaned and looked away from me… and after a few dozen steps she finally nodded. "No. My brother wouldn't have even stolen these back, he was a passive man."

"I see…" I whispered. So I had pegged Brom correctly, then.

"Fine… I'll just let it be. For now," she said.

Smiling at her, I reached over to pat her gently on the shoulder. Near the spears that hung upon it. "Want to bury his? At his grave with him?" I asked.

Reatti slowed… and we both came to a stop, as I wondered if I shouldn't have said such a thing. But it was something I would have done, had I been in her shoes. I had figured it to be a good gesture… Then before I could say anything else Reatti looked at me, with blurry eyes, and she gently nodded without a word.

Holding her gaze, I nodded back.

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