1 Chapter 1

She leaned against the moldy old wall of a building with a slight shiver to her stance. Her hands curled tightly in her pockets to keep in some warmth. The sun had just gone down and citizens were returning to their homes for the night, but she needed to get one more in. One last pick pocket for the day and it had to be a good one. She hadn't had any luck today. The wealthiest of citizens didn't seem to come out today and even the middle class were not too keen on coming out into the freezing winter that was plaguing the capital. All there was were the poor and the miners that dragged themselves to the mines every single day until they died which would either be in the mine or from the mines.

Spotting a nice looking target, she leapt from her spot against the wall and made her way past the man that had stopped to stare through the window of a nearby trinket shop. She carefully slipped her hand into his jacket pocket, grabbed whatever she could, and took off quickly into the nearest alley way. Once she was sure that no one had followed her, she glanced down at her hand. Her fingers were curled around something hard with a shiny silver chain that hung from her clutch. That was a good sign.

Her fingers unlatched from around the stolen item to present a silver locket with flower designs engraved into it. Her thumb grazed over the design then flicked the switch on the side to open it. Thankfully, nothing was in it. She felt bad that she had swiped something valuable already. She didn't need any more guilt to go along with it. The locket went straight into her pocket and she was off towards home.

Home was in the deepest, darkest part of the capital. Luneres, the capital of Lunadonia, rarely ever had a full day of sunlight. This part of the capital never had any. Not even a glimpse of the sun could be seen from these parts. It was quite alright though. She was a rebel of the Kingdom. The darker home was, the easier she could be hidden. Why would a rebel of the Kingdom be living in the capital? She was a true believer of the saying "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer", and living in the capital truly reflected her belief in that statement.

The woman slipped behind a old, dirty bar that was just filling up for the evening with other crooks, criminals and unwanted citizens of the capital, and opened a creaky wooden door. The aroma of freshly made stew wafted from the hall that led from the doorway. After a long, disastrous day of thieving, it was nice to come home.

"Good afternoon, Vey," A tall, black haired elf greeted her with a smile. "How was your day?"

Vey shook her head with a sigh and plopped herself down in one of the wooden chairs at the dining room table. "Not so great, Amrynn. I just couldn't pick 'em today. After 15 years of pick pocketing, you'd think I'd be better at that."

"We all have our bad days and that's how we continue to learn," Amrynn said, stirring away at the stew over the fire pit.

Vey rolled her with a grin. "Don't get philosophical with me Amrynn. Ya' know I ain't really into that shit."

"Right Ms. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Amrynn laughed.

Vey's grin turned upside down into a slight sneer. "Whatever." She dug into her pocket and dumped the locket on to the table. "I was able to pick this."

Amrynn served her a bowl of his stew and took the locket off the table to examine it more closely. "We will be able to pawn this off for a fairly good price." His smile grew, and with a kiss to the top of her head, he pocketed the locket himself. "I'll be sure to pawn it sometime tomorrow."

"And I'll be sure to pick better pockets." Vey turned to her bowl with a sigh, then started to look around the room. "Where's Azuna?"

"He's in the bath," Amrynn said. "He came home smelling like rotten meat."

"Poor Azuna," Vey mumbled, shaking her head. "He hates being squeaky clean like you."

"If he wants to play the part as a human, he has to be at least somewhat clean," Amrynn huffed, setting down two more bowls at the table then sitting in front of one.

With a mouthful of stew, Vey waved her spoon around, pointing it haphazardly at Amrynn. "'o you 'ink-."

"Swallow before speaking please," Amrynn sighed.

She rolled her eyes and chewed a few more times before swallowing the stew. "Do you think we could find another clan that would accept him or even his own clan? It's been years since the incident."

"Do I look like an orc to you?" Amrynn asked. "I'm the opposite of one. I wouldn't know. The only thing I do know is that a full-blooded orc from a full-blooded clan should never seek out someone outside of their clan to spend their life with. Especially an elf."

"Orcs are dying out because they keep inbreeding instead of branching out into the world. Don't they understand this?" Vey shook her head and added more stew to her mouth. "I mea', orcs are s'art enough 'o-."

"Will you please swallow? I can't understand a word you're saying," Amrynn said with a roll of his eyes. "I swear, I don't know why I love you sometimes."

"Stop talk." A grumble came from the depths of the only other hallway in the house.

"Stop talking."

Vey kicked Amrynn's shin under the table, making him hiss and look at her sharply with a grimace. "Now is not the time, Amrynn!"

"Alright, alright!" The elf exclaimed and gave a pout as he looked away.

"Azuna, dinner is ready," Vey said, getting ready to stuff her face again.

There was a gruff from the hallway. Out of the darkness of said hallway, came a tall, dark skinned human man with black hair, black eyes and a snarl that would scare away even the nastiest of dragons. Azuna trudged over to the table where he plopped himself down and began to eat rather quickly and messily.

"Sorry 'bout that, Azuna," Vey said, bowing her head slightly.

Azuna gulped down what was in his mouth then sighed, shaking his head. "It is okay." Then chowed down on his food again.

"Were you thinking of doing anything besides pick pocketing tomorrow?" Amrynn asked, changing the topic before the silence got even more awkward. "I'd like for you to pick up some items in the lower district."

"Sure thing. Just gimme' a list of whatcha' need and I'll see what-."

"Do not steal any of these items!" Amrynn interrupted. "These are items that I've been saving up for and I'd like the purchase to be authentic."

Vey rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Why did you leave your perfect, little elven society again?"

"I left because some stupid human caught my eye which made me into a stupid elf who had to follow her out into the world," Amrynn huffed. "And what's even more stupid is that, if I had a choice, I wouldn't change a thing."

"Ew."

"Azuna, shush!" Amyrnn growled at the now giggling disguised orc. "You're no better!"

"Oh hush," Vey grinned at the blushing elf. "Now, I have matters to tell you both about once we're all done eating."

"To the cellar?" Azuna asked, quickly choking down his food.

"To the cellar."

Azuna and Amrynn looked at each other, then looked at the farthest corner of the room, then both bolted towards the corner. Vey sighed, shook her head and gathered up the empty bowls and silverware while the two raced each other to the cellar. Those two will never stop challenging each other at every little thing. However, that was the hatred towards the other's race that made them like that. Vey washed the dishes, dried them, put them away and then made her way to the cellar.

The cellar was not a real cellar nor was in underground. Walking completely through the wall which was just an illusion that Vey had put up to hide the teleportation portal, she was transported to a nice-looking room that was completely wooden with a fancy, red rug on the floor. In the middle of the room, there was a big, wooden table and a couple of chairs. There was a small kitchen attached to the room and that was it. Not a cellar at all, but that's what it's been called for years.

"You owe me jerky!" Azuna howled with a big, cheeky smile on his face while Amrynn glowered at the other with a pout.

"Lost again?" Vey giggled, taking a seat at the table with the two.

"For an orc, he's pretty fast… I guess," Amrynn scoffed. "Let's just get on with it."

Vey clapped her hands with a nod and a smile. "Alright." Then she waved her hands over the table and the tabletop quickly changed into a 3D map of their world with the Kingdom of Lunadonia on the left and the Kingdom of Solaria on the right.

"So, what's the situation? Anything good? Amrynn asked.

"His advisor is leaving for a few weeks," Vey said which elicited a groan from Azuna. "Yes, exactly how I feel." Vey hovered her hand over the Kingdom of Lunadonia and a soldier-like figure appeared out of the blue and moved it to an area on the right. "He's leaving for a small village in Solaria. I didn't hear why, but I'm sure it's for purposes that we are trying to stop."

Amrynn flicked the figure on the table. "So, we follow him?"

"Well, I'm not sure," Vey said. "While the advisor is gone, the King will become more erratic. The advisors of both Kingdoms are the smarts in this operation. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to leave the city as of the moment."

"I think it's best to follow," Amrynn objected. "Aren't we trying to protect both Kingdoms and not just one?"

Azuna nodded with a grunt. "Amrynn right!"

Vey tapped her chin with a finger for a second, then nodded to herself. "How about this- we stay for a week in the city and if the King shows no signs of becoming more insane than he is, then we will follow the advisor."

"How will we follow him after a week?" Amrynn asked.

"Are you seriously askin' that?" Vey scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'll just use a scent aura on him. It can last for weeks and only I can smell it since it'll be my scent."

Azuna groaned and shook his head. "I don't know…."

"If something comes up before the week is over, we can leave to follow."

Amrynn rubbed the few, fine hairs that he had on his chin then sighed. "I guess that can work."

"Amrynn…."

"Azuna, Vey has never let us down before, has she?"

Azuna shook his head quickly. "No."

"Then, I think we should do as she says."

Vey's lips curled up into a small smile. She waved her hand over the table and the map and figurines vanished. "Thank you, Amrynn."

"Although-," Amrynn started again. "-something tells me that we will be making our leave much earlier than we plan."

Vey and Azuna looked at each other, giving one another a confused look, then back to Amrynn who just shrugged.

"I've felt a familiar presence all day and it's even stronger now than it was this morning."

"A familiar presence?" Vey hummed in thought. "Can ya' give details?"

"Not much," Amrynn said. "It's a presence I haven't felt in years. I am pretty sure that this presence is an elf."

"Why would this elf make us change our plans?" Vey asked.

Amrynn shrugged and pushed away from the table. "I'm not sure. Again, I haven't felt this presence in years so I'm assuming this is a presence back from my village and, as you know, barely any elves from my village actually leave unless it's for a reason."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I wouldn't worry 'bout it." Vey copied Amrynn, pushing away from the table and actually getting up to leave. "'m planning to get an early start tomorrow so, I'll be headin' to bed."

"Going out," Azuna said, also getting up.

"I'm going out."

"I'm going out," Azuna snarled the words at Amrynn who smirked.

"Aight, just be home at a reasonable time." Vey half-assed saluted at the two then ran into the portal home.

"You still haven't told Vey about where you go at night, huh?" Amrynn asked, still sitting in the middle of the room, watching Azuna's back.

Azuna shook his head. "No. Still thinks I go out to the bars to learn human language."

"You better not let her find out, Azuna," Amrynn warned as Azuna got ready for the trip back home. "Her heart would break if she ever found out that you were purposefully putting yourself in danger for her."

Azuna kept silent for a moment and then ran into the portal, leaving Amrynn to his own thoughts.

Amrynn sighed and honed in on Vey's aura currently in their bedroom getting ready for bed. "Oh Vey. I hope you're not putting too much on your plate."