1 Chapter 1

The most popular town of the Oak Territory, White Oak, was alive with movement. The sun's golden rays peaked through the top of the trees that stretched as far as the eyes could see while street vendors called out frantically to the people passing by, urging them to buy something.

"Ma'am, please wait! This bracelet here was made of the finest silver and amethyst from the Oak Mountain Mines! It would look absolutely stunning when paired with that silver necklace of yours!"

"Little child! Do you want this candied apple? Go and ask your parent to come and buy you one! We have plenty of other fruits too! It's sweet and it's good for you! Isn't that the best?"

"Come and have a taste of Edward Tavern's best liquor! If you like it, buy some more! You will never regret this!"

Amongst the lively bustle of the street, no one cared to take a look at the small children rummaging through the leftovers from the street vendors, or the stray animals that tagged along with them. No one took another glance at their pleading eyes or their unkept appearance. Certainly, no one would notice the small, dark form that lingered around the food stalls.

When a large group of children, unaccompanied by their guardians, started wandering over, the form moved. Determination and intent glimmered in his eyes as the boy slowly and casually slid over to the closest stall.

'A sandwich stall', he noted. The vendor gave him a stink-eye when he noticed the boy, making a shooing motion with his hands as he turned around to wipe his sweat. The boy made a show of flinching and stumbling back, but once the vendor's back was turned, the boy suddenly dashed forward. A pair of slippery hands reached out and snatched whatever they could get before the boy veered sharply towards the crowd, carefully avoiding bumping into the other children as he made his escape.

When the vendor turned around, his face turned turned red upon noticing what happen. Marching to the empty row, he frantically inspected the clean surface, managing to only knock a few breadcrumbs onto the road.

"The Shadow Thief has struck again!" He howled miserably, dropping to his knees while announcing his misfortune to everyone in the vicinity. "The Shadow Thief has stolen my merchandise that I put so much hard work into! I only turned around for a single moment, yet they were all gone when I turned back again! He did not even leave a crumb untouched! Oh, what am I to do? Why?! Oh Veros, what has this poor vendor done to deserve this? Please! Answer me!"

A few onlookers hesitantly stepped forward to pick the man up, expressing their sympathy to him as the crowd started murmuring.

"Poor guy, why hasn't the guards caught the Shadow Thief yet? It's been months since this started happening to the merchants here. Even if he is a child, he shouldn't be stealing!" A grandmother snorted loudly to her friends.

"Mama, who's the Shadow Thief?" A wide-eyed girl asked, tilting her head up to her mother, the teddy that she was hugging completely forgotten.

"A bad person," her mom fussed, "and you must never be like him when you grow up! Don't lose face for me!"

The thief in question was hiding behind a crate of rotting produce, sweating nervously with his lips curling up in distaste as the voices floated over to him. 'Tch, ruining my fun! What do they know anyways? These people are the real ones that are losing face! Don't talk behind someone's back without even knowing them, idiots!'

Grimacing still, he snuck a glance back at the crowd and adjusted the sandwiches he stole in his arms. He took care to not let a single one get dirtied by his greasy clothes as he hid them into his pockets. Then, he dusted his hands off on his pants and casually strode away when the vendors went back to their stands to chase away any other possible thieves.

Heart pounding, he continued to look back behind him in case he was being followed, but when he deemed that he already walked far enough that nobody would be following him, he slowed his pace and turned to go out of the town. Luckily, he didn't attract anymore attention and was able to smoothly make his way out of the town.

Once he was out of sight, he let out a deep breath. Blinking, he shook his head as he let his chocolate-colored eyes adjust to the sunlight peeking through the leaves. Once he found it comfortable enough to look around, he examined his choices.

"Going straight would be going to the stream, going left would be the other forest, and going right would would be going to the farm... Well, I need water first. Stream first then go back to the town? I'll have to hurry though if I don't want the food to get too warm though..."

Looking down, he contemplated for a moment before nodding, satisfied with his plan.

"Stream first then town it is."

Humming a random tune, he held his hands over his pockets and began running forwards. It wasn't long before the stream came into view. The sun's rays reflected off of the clear water that ran through the streambed, a few pieces of flora growing next to it.

Upon noticing that he had arrived, he skidded to a stop by the water and crouched down to wash his hands. After vigorously rubbing the dirt off, he splashed some water on his face as well to cool down. Grinning happily to himself, he plopped down and took out his sandwiches. They were already quite squished after being in his pockets for so long, but he paid it no mind as he bit into one, chewing it in his mouth thoughtfully before swallowing. Then, he took another bite.

'I need to go borrow some clothing soon... I guess that lady with the bun is always pretty easy to steal from, but I should start being more careful... too much attention is never a good thing."

Sighing, he mentally praised himself for being so humble and rejecting the attention.