In her usual spot, Emi sat on the tree and observed everyone training themselves. A bored look appeared on her face as she glanced to the secret entrance from time to time.

          Finding a way to get out is easy, but escaping from this place is the problem here.

          She sighed, resting the side of her head on the tree as her eyes focused back on the men training themselves, however, she wasn’t actually looking at them.

          “Here I am seeing you up there again, don’t you get bored at all?” Emi heard someone asking here and she glanced down, seeing Zak standing there, looking better than before.

          “There’s nothing to do here, at all. What do you expect me to do here?”

          “Train with us.”

          “What?” Emi frowned at his words, sitting straight up.

          “Are really asking an enemy of yours to train together and let her learn about the fighting tactics of this group?”

          “Sure, why can’t I do that? Besides, you aren’t considered an enemy to us, just something similar to…a nuisance.” Zak shrugged, an amused grin on his face.

          Nuisance?

          Emi’s confused expression turned into an annoyed one and she jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully on the grass. “Didn’t I steal something that your leader—or Kris, needed?”

          “Hm, well, that wouldn’t be much of a problem. Kris always gets what he wants in the end, he never fails at all.” Zak said, gesturing for her to follow him and she took a hesitant step forward, slowly starting to follow him.

          If he’s so skillful, why does he require a group of his own?

          Why does he even want to make a mercenary group anyway?

          “Why does he want the necklace so badly?”

          “I’m afraid I can’t answer that, Emi, he’s a little…hard to know.” Zak struggled his words out, frowning slightly.

          Emi nodded, following Zak and her eyes wandering around, watching the men train with swords and bows, a curious thought crossing her mind.

          “How strange.”

          “What is strange?”

          “Why do none of you use guns? Why are all of you sticking to the old traditional way of fighting?”

          Zak smirked, turning around to face Emi as he came to a stop, nearly causing Emi to bump into him.

          “Emi, have you ever used a gun before?”

          Emi shook her head, an impassive look on her face.

          “That may explain why. You see, guns are loud, really, really loud and we don’t want to attract any unnecessary attention. After shooting a gun, the recoil of it causes us to lose balance in our movements, disrupting our flow of…well, you should know what I’m talking about now.” Zak explained, his smirk growing wider and he spun back around, starting to walk again.

          “So that’s why.” Emi muttered to herself, stopping herself when Zak came to an abrupt stop.

          “Alright, I suppose you should know the basics of fighting, so…” Zak trailed off, slowly explaining and showing her the advanced techniques of fighting.

          Yun watched them from afar, an amused look on his face as he saw Emi trying to follow his movements, failing from time to time. The rest of the mercenaries training glanced to their direction, some of them even stepping forward to guide her further.

          Yun observed as Emi clumsily handled the bow, pulling the bowstring back and Zak instructing her, step by step. When she finally released, the arrow went whooshing past the dummy target, nearly hitting an innocent bystander, who let out a shocked yelp, narrowly dodging the target.

          “What’s so interesting, Yun?” Kris asked, joining Yun who was still observing Emi.

          “That.” Yun gestured his head towards Emi and Kris’ eyes followed his direction, landing on Emi.

          “…sorry.” Emi muttered out, causing the bystander, who was another mercenary training with another, to glare at her.

          The others watching her chuckled in amusement and she frowned, feeling vexed.

          “You make it seem so easy.” Emi grumbled out and Zak shrugged, snatching the bow right out her hands, aiming it swiftly at the wooden target.

          “It is easy, Emi.” Zak said, releasing the arrow and it zoomed across the air, landing on the bullseye and he pointed his finger towards it.

          “See?” Zak grinned at her, shoving the bow onto her and she lifted her head up.

          “You are a really great teacher, Zak.” Emi deadpanned and a few chuckles erupted from the people training beside her, pointing accusingly towards Zak, mouthing a few words to him and Zak only responded with a sheepish smile. Emi glanced around her surroundings, a warm, fluffy feeling in her chest as the cheerful atmosphere around her caused a tiny smile to form on her lips.

          Kris gazed at the gleeful scene in front of him, an unimpressed frown on his face, stepping forward, preparing to dismiss everyone and put a stop to the training that Zak was giving Emi. However, when his eyes landed on the tiny smile on Emi’s face, he hesitated; his face expression changing into an unfathomable one, which Yun noticed.

          This feels like…

          Emi thought, an image of her and her father sitting down on the table, waiting for their dinner to be served while her mother cooked their dinner just right behind them. Their kitchen and living room were in the same space, since it was a small house, but despite the small space, it was cozy.

          “Mother! I’m hungry!”

          “Alright, alright.” Emi’s mother chuckled at her daughter and after a few minutes, she placed the dishes down on the table.

          “Emi, it’s hot! Don’t-“ Emi’s father tried to warned her but it was too late, Emi already placed the spoon inside , only for her to cry out in pain.

          “Hot! Hot, hot, hot!”

          “I tried telling you…” Emi’s father sighed as his wife shook her head at their child.

          “Mether, fethur, it hurpts.” Emi’s words sounded strange, since she was sticking her tongue out and she glanced up at them, tears in her eyes.

          Both of her parents erupted into a hearty laughter as they tried to comfort their child who continued to speak with her tongue still being stuck out.

          The smile grew a little wider as Emi looked at the scene around her, feeling wistful.

          Family.

          “Emi? What’s wrong?” Zak asked, waving a hand in front of her face and Emi snapped out of her thoughts.

          “What? Oh, nothing, just thinking of something.”

          “What is it?”

          “All of you must be really close to one another, like brothers, like…”

          “Family?” Zak finished the sentence for Emi and Emi stared at him for a few seconds, before nodding her head, the smile still on her face.

          “Yeah, we are. Most of us here don’t have a place to return to, so to us, this is our home.”

          At the mention of home, the smile dropped from Emi’s face and Zak noticed the change in her mood, frowning at her.

          “I see, that’s nice.” Emi whispered out, pulling back the bow again and she aimed it at the wooden target.

          All the while, Yun held a curious expression on his face as he stared at Kris, who took a step back, deciding not to interfere anymore. Yun let out a short chuckle, causing Kris to furrow his eyebrows at look at him instead.

          “What?” Kris questioned him, irritated.

          “Nothing, nothing at all. I just realised something.”

          “What is it?”

          “You.” Yun answered him cryptically, making Kris give him a bewildered look.

          “Huh?”

          Yun grinned cheekily at him, heading back into the house and out into the backyard, knowing that the pigeon would arrive soon.

          Whether you realise it or not, Kris, that thief is starting to make you feel something else, other than hatred.

         

         

          *******************************************

 

 

          Yun and Kris sat on the table, looking at the new requests in front of them, however, they were both staring intently at one of the request. It was an urgent request about requiring protection from them, or more like, requiring them to protect his precious item from being stolen.

          “Why is he back again?” Kris let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. Yun raised an eyebrow, surprised at the trouble expression on Kris’ face.

          Bartholomew was another thief, similar to Shadow Rogue or Emi, however, Bartholomew works alone unlike her. He loves challenges, so he would always leave a letter behind and the letter was simple enough to be understood by everyone.

          It would simply be a few words, “You are my target”, and he would write his initials on the letter, which is just a letter B.

          The special thing about Bartholomew is how he loved challenges and how he always conquered them. Never once did he fail at stealing the item from the target, but there was one time he did. Due to the Dragoons, he failed in stealing the item but it was a close call. He was extremely agile that Kris nearly lost him and it was the only mission that Kris had difficulty in.

          “This agile bastard is troublesome.” Kris groaned and Yun held a contemplative expression on his face.

          “So, are you planning to cancel this request?”

          “Definitely not, it would damage our reputation significantly. Even though reputation isn't a big issue to me, it would have dire consequences on the others.”

          “You plan to stop him again like last time again then.” Yun stated and Kris shook his head, lifting his head up to look at Yun with fierce eyes.

          “I have to, but Yun, I’m not confident I can stop him again.” Kris admitted, gritting his teeth.       

          “I thought so too, but…”

          “But?”

          Yun looked at him with cautious eyes, hesitant to continue speaking.

          “Go on, Yun, say it.”

          “We might have someone who can stop him, but I don’t think you aren’t going to like who it is.

          “Who it is…?” Kris furrowed at Yun’s words and Yun inhaled in a deep breath.

          “Emi Winters.”

         

         

          *******************************************

         

         

          “Winters.” Emi flinched at her name being called, turning around, expecting to see Sergi standing there, only to blink in surprise when it was Kris.

          “Come.” Kris ordered gruffly and Emi frowned at him, placing her bow down on the ground, hesitantly following him into the house. Inside the house, Emi noticed Yun sitting on the table as if waiting for her presence, greeting her with a nod. Emi only gave him a puzzled look and Kris settled down onto his seat, while Emi just stood still, not wanting to take a seat.

          “What’s the reason for calling me here?”

          “…we need your help.” Yun admitted and she widened her eyes slightly, surprised at the fact that even they need her help at all.

          “My…help? Why do you even need my help? Do the both of you not despise me?” Emi questioned, raising an eyebrow as she leaned on the wall for support.

          “I don’t despise you, Emi, I never did.” Yun said, his tone sincere and Emi just glanced towards Kris who regarded her with a fierce stare.

          “It’s only you then, Kris. Asking help from the person you despise, what exactly caused the almighty leader of the Dragoons to stoop this low?” Emi asked, utterly curious.

          It must have been hard to admit to himself that he needed my help.

          “It takes one notorious thief to know another.” Kris answered simply and Emi tilted her head to one side, taking a moment to infer the meaning behind his words.

          “Bartholomew.” Emi stated and the both of them nodded, making her sigh.

          “Seems like you don’t really like him that much either, huh?” Yun smirked at her.

          “Something…similar to that.” Emi replied, a frown on her face, making the both of them curious at her odd answer, especially Kris.

          “Similar?” Kris asked and Emi glanced at him, fidgeting as her impassive look on her face twisted into an uncomfortable one.

          “Bartholomew is a little…” Emi trailed off, a chill running down her spine and she quickly shook her head.

          “Alright, never mind, it’s not necessary to know about it anyway. So, you need my help to predict his movements?” She hastily changed the topic, which both of the men managed to catch.

          Kris furrowed his eyebrows at her words, arousing his curiosity about her again.

          What did Bartholomew do to her to make her react this strangely?

          “That’s right, a thief should know how another thief’s mindset work, right?” Yun pointed out.

          “All of you are of the same type anyway.” Kris added.

          Emi snapped her eyes towards Kris and Emi’s eyes swirled with an unreadable emotion as she gazed at Kris, who remained neutral. Eventually, she turned away from him, ignoring his words and walking forward to stand beside Yun, making Kris annoyed at her actions.

          Did she ignore me and purposely stand beside Yun?

          “Alright then, since the both of you went through the trouble to ask him, especially him, I will offer my help.” Emi looked at Kris again, causing him to twitch slightly when her words pointed towards him.

          “Thank you, Emi.”

          “On one condition.” Emi continued and the both of them looked at her in alarm.

          “Bring me along with you in this mission of yours.” Emi demanded and Kris snorted at her demand.

          “You can’t even survive through the tunnel, how do you expect us to bring you along?”

          “Kris is right, Emi, we can’t bring you along.”

          “I guess I can’t offer you my help then.” She shrugged nonchalantly, starting to walk off, only for Kris to abruptly stand up from his seat and slamming his hands down on the table, startling Emi.

          “…fine, I’ll show you another way. We have another way of travelling out of here, for recruits who still had difficulty in going through the tunnel successfully.” Kris complied to her request and Emi smirked victoriously while Yun gaped at Kris in shock.

          What is he doing?

          This is so unlike Kris, unless…he has something in his mind.

          Yun thought, slowly recovering from the shock.

          “Tell me everything you’ve planned after you’re done. You’ll know where to find me.” Emi said, walking out of the house without turning back.

          “…Kris, what are you doing?” Yun exclaimed and Kris stared at the direction Emi walked off, a solemn look on his face.

          “What if she escapes?” Yun hissed at Kris who settled down back onto his seat, utterly relaxed.

          “She won’t.”

          “How can you be so sure?”

          “That’s because…I have something that she wants.” Kris grinned at Yun, digging into his pocket and taking out an unknown object, dangling it from his fingers.

          “Isn’t that…” Yun’s eyes widened in recognition at the object dangling from Kris’ fingers.

          The necklace that Kris had been looking for so long ago, until Emi stole it away.

          Kris held the devious grin on his face as he studied the beautiful necklace in his hands, his mind recalling how he found it.

          It was during the late morning when he entered the attic, wanting to check up on her. He couldn’t be bothered about how she was, but something in his mind was bugging him to go and check on her and he certainly didn’t like what he was feeling at the moment. Whether it was concern or something else at that time, he didn’t like it, at all.

          Her bed was neatly arranged when he arrived in her room and he felt satisfied and…relieved, deciding to head down the ladder until something caught his eye, his eyes automatically drifting towards it.

          His eyes widened considerably as he hurried up the ladder, grabbing at the shiny object that was on the ground. A smirk appeared on his face as he inspected the necklace in his hands, clenching his fists around it tightly and he held in his feelings at finally finding the necklace.

          You’re a little too careless, Winters.

          Quickly keeping the necklace in his pocket, he searched around the room once more and proceeded to descend down the ladder. While heading to the door of the house, Kris’ smirk softened into a gentle smile as he clutched onto the necklace in his pocket.

          Father.

          I finally found it.

          “She won’t leave, Yun.” Kris assured Yun, who voiced his doubts once more.

          “But what if there’s a slightest chance she wants to leave or escape, despite what you have in your hands?”

          “I won’t let her.” Kris growled out, his eyes lighting up fiercely. Yun opened his mouth to retort once more but decided against it, letting out a long resigned sigh.

          “Alright, if that’s what you say, Kris.”

         

         

          ************************************************

         

         

          A knock sounded loudly on Sergi’s door and he maneuvered his way to the door, opening it. “What?”

          “I’ve got some news, Sergi.”

          “Speak.”

          Sergi opened the door wider, allowing his underling to walk into the room as he folded his arms across his chest, only wearing a loose pants to cover up his body.

          “Bartolomew’s back, Sergi.”

          Sergi instantly tensed up at that name, narrowing his eyes at his underling who took a cautious step back.

          That vexing man is back again.

          He’ll probably end up messing up my business as usual.

          “Where’s his next target?” Sergi asked and his underling started to answer him, while Sergi held an irritated look on his face, since that was the place he was planning to steal from next.

          “Do you want to send another person along?”

          “No, there’s no need, he’s planning to interfere with us yet again.”

          “What’s the plan then?”

          “I’ll go, by myself.” Sergi declared, a determined look on his face.

         

         

          *******************************************************

 

 

          Returning to her room with sore arms and hands, Emi decided to clean herself up in the river, knowing that at this time, there wouldn’t be anyone there. After all, it was past midnight and everyone would be sleeping, in addition, there wouldn’t be any patrols.

          Emi shivered a little when she submerged herself into the chilly water, but she relaxed herself eventually, slowly washing herself up and she glanced up at the moon in the sky, taking her time to soak in the water and smooth her tense muscles.

          When she was back in her room again, her head turned towards to her outfit and she stood up from her bed, walking languidly to her outfit, checking her hidden pocket. She stuck her hand into the pocket, expecting to find the necklace there, only to frown when she realised that it was empty.

          “What…?” She muttered out, digging around, her actions more frantic this time and as time passed, she grew more and more frantic, until she finally realised that the necklace was officially missing. She scoured around her room for ten minutes, but to no avail, not finding any traces of the necklace.

          She ran a hand through her hair, that was messy now due to her searching around the room and she bit on her lip, tapping her foot on the wooden flooring.

          It’s gone!

          Where could I have possibly dropped it?

          “Oh god.” She whispered out, running another hand through her hair.

          Besides, even without your help, I can and will find it.

          Emi’s eyes widened as she remembered Kris' promise that he would find the necklace, without her help. She glanced down the trapdoor, a nervous expression on her face, a dreadful feeling at the pits of her stomach.

          He found it.

 

---

My nemesis in writing is always, always the freaking names. God, instead of thinking of how to write the story, I sit there thinking of a name for ten minutes! Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, as always ^^.