A Thief's Apprentice
Copyright © 2001 by PCommish


It all happened a few years ago, right after my run in with the Trickster. I was just having a drink and letting all the events of the last few weeks sink in. I wasn't yet used to my mechanical eye at that point and hadn't even perfected the zoom features. It was getting late and the natives were getting restless. I always like to leave before someone goes through the window. So, I paid for my drinks and bid a quick goodbye to the barkeep. On my way out the door I nearly tripped over this kid.
"Watch where your going, kid." I told him. The kid looked to be about 15. He was short and pretty dirty. "Are you Garrett?" He asked me. To which I said "Who wants to know?" The kid goes "I'm a huge fan of yours." This confused me so I said. "A fan? What do you mean?" Then the kid goes on and on about his life story. How he lost his family when he was young and picked pockets and did small errands to get by. Really reminded me of myself at that age. The kid went on to say that he just like I did as a child heard things. And he constantly heard about this great thief named Garrett. He figured if he could find me he could get me to teach him how to be a good thief, but he had no way of knowing what I looked like until someone mentioned my new eye. He saw me go into the Crippled Burrick and just waited for me to come out. After he finished his story I just said. "So you want me to teach you how to be a great thief?" He said yes, to which I just reply "Not gonna happen, kid." Then the kid goes on about how he could help me and he wouldn't be a bother and that he would pull his weight. I told "Look. I'm glad you're a fan, but I work alone. I'm sure you knew that." With that the kid shut his mouth and was silent the rest of the way to my tenement.
When we got there I said, "See ya, kid." Once again the kid goes on and on about how I should train him and that he has nowhere else to turn. I just told him "Look, life's hard all around, you'll get by." And I walked in the door thinking that would be the end of it. I thought wrong. The kid just stood right outside my window and wouldn't leave. I tried to just ignore him thinking he'd eventually get the point and leave, but just my luck a snow storm hits. It was already shaping up to be a bitter cold winter. I figured the kid would have to leave now, but he just stood there, staring. At first I thought it served the idiot right to freeze to death, but I'd look out there and see myself. As hard as I tried to shake the image of myself in those cold winters I just couldn't. I was also pretty sure that no Keepers would be coming by to pick up the kid like I was lucky enough to have happen to me. So, I just walked out there and said "Get in here you moron." Then the kid gets all excited and says "So you're gonna train me?". I told him that I had no intentions of training him, but he could stay here through the winter. He reluctantly agreed. He told me that his name was Llyr. I told him he could sleep on the couch, which he promptly did.

Llyr was a good kid, he kept the apartment in good shape and got a job at a nearby merchant as a delivery boy to earn his keep. I was still on a hiatus from thieving especially since I had no fence or anywhere to buy equipment currently. Over the course of the next couple weeks I made few new connections and was about ready to go for another mission. It was a simple job. My target was Lady Haluis's prized tiara. Word on the street was that Lady Halius spent more on treasures and valuables than she did on security so it should be a pretty easy job. I didn't tell Llyr any of this because he still wanted me to train him and he would've wanted to come with me. Plus, in my experience the less people who know a secret the better.

So the night comes, and I left well after Llyr had gone to sleep. I walked all the way to the manner unhindered. I got close to the wall outside the manner and saw the lone patrolling guard. I readied my blackjack and starting sneaking behind him. *CRACK* I heard the twig break and saw the guard turn and hack my side with his sword. I just turned and ran. He got me pretty good. I rounded a corner and much to my displeasure I find a dead end. I got back to the wall and readied my sword in a last ditch chance to see morning. Then right as the guard turns the corner I see a bright flash. When my sight finally comes back I see Llyr hauling the dead guard into the shadows. He had been up on the wall in shadows. "What are you doing here?" I said as loud as I could given the setting. He just says, "I wanted to learn from you, and I did just save your life." I lied and told him I could have taken care of the guard. He saw right through it and said Ha. Sure ya could." I was bleeding pretty bad by this time. "Let's get back home and discuss this." I told him. So we walked home in silence.

When we got home I asked how he knew where I was going. He told me that I had left the map of the manor out one night and he made the logical conclusion. He ran there as soon as I left and set himself up on the wall to catch the action. After he told me this I just told him to go to sleep. He wanted to know why, so I told him, tomorrow we train. I figured you can always use another friend in the business, and this kid did seem to have some talent and really he really helped me that night. I owed it to him to at least give him a chance.

The next day came and I took Llyr to an abandoned warehouse I knew of. I led him through all of the exercises the Keepers had taken me through. The kid wasn't much of a sneak, he could handle the basics, but not much else. I figured that would come with time. He was deadeye with a bow, and could more than handle himself in a sword fight. But, in my experience fighting is only a secondary skill. He didn't agree with my opinion there, but I figured he'd learn with experience. Eventually, after weeks of training I decided it was time to test his mettle. We would after the tiara. It had been long enough that the heat should have long disappeared from our last attempt.

I picked the night and went through a brief overview of what the mission would entail. I told him that I would be waiting outside and if things got too bad he was to use his birdcall and I'd try to get in and help. We planned on splitting all loot 50/50 from this mission.

We went and got equipment the day before and readied ourselves for the night ahead. We left around three o'clock for the manor. We both cleared the main wall and I hid in a shadow as he proceeded in. Less than an hour later he came out and gave me the thumbs up and we left. We didn't speak of the job until we got back to the apartment. I asked him if he had any trouble, and he told me that everything had gone fine. The kid made a pretty good haul, over 2000 plus the tiara. We fenced the tiara and split the loot just as we said we would.

The next night I went into the Crippled Burrick to see if I could hear anyone talking about our job last night. And sure enough they did. They talked about how the place was totally cleared out. I smiled a bit, and then they went on about how everyone in the entire place had been killed, even the servants and Lady Halius herself. They assumed it was an outsider because no known thief would ever pull a job like that. It draws way too much attention. The smile had long left my face and I returned home after paying for my drink.

I got home, saw Llyr and immediately yelled "You killed everyone? What the hell were you thinking?". He said "Well, yeah. They stood in our way, so I took care of them." I was pissed. "You killed defenseless people. Do you realize how much heat this is going to raise? There may not be honor among thieves, but use your head." Is what I told him, then he started "Ha! Screw honor, screw heat. This is about profit…" I interrupted with "Where's the profit in killing these people? How did we gain?" He just went on about how he didn't want to leave any witnesses who could link us to the crime. I just told him to get the hell out, and that I didn't train amateurs or murderers. He gathered his things in silence and left. I heard he got put in jail a few years later. I never expected to see him again.

That as I'm sure you have guessed was not the case. A little while after I defeated Karras I received a knock on my door. I didn't answer, but heard "Garrett, it's me Llyr." I told him to leave, and that we had nothing to discuss. But we said "Look Garrett, in the years since I left, I've grown a lot. I understand what you were trying to teach me then. I wanted to apologize, and see if you were interested in a job." I told him that I accepted his apology, but that I once again work alone. He still went on about the job, that it required two people, and that it would be incredibly lucrative, to the tune of 50 grand apiece. At that I opened the door and told him to come in.

He said that a man my the name of Costus and contacted him about the job. The job was to break into a Mechanist compound and steal the plans to their undersea ship, the Cetus Amicus. Costus planned on making a whole fleet of these ships and making a bundle of cash, he only needs the plans to get started. The reason two people are need is because the security around the plans can only be turned off for a brief period, and it's from a remote place. My job would be to turn off the alarm while he stole the plans. I figured I had to go for anything that hurt the Mechanists, and would give me such a profit.

The night of the mission came. The plan was for him to carry one of my scouting orbs, that I would turn on once I got in place. I would then wait for him to give me the thumbs up on the orb and then I'd hit the security and we'd get out of there. We got to the compound and split up outside. Security was pretty thick, but there were a good deal of shadows to hide in. I eventually made it to the security switch, and turned on the scouting orb. As soon as it turned on he gave the thumbs up. He must have gotten there before me, I thought. As soon as he flashed the thumbs up, five Mechanists rushed into the room, and surrounded me. I reached for a flashbomb, but realized I hadn't brought any. I dropped my weapons and they knocked me out cold.

I woke up with vengeance on my mind in New Cragscleft. But, I had more pressing matters to attend to. I wondered why they even kept me alive. I assumed I would find out soon enough, and then die 'neath righteous punishment. Right then a guard came by with food. I asked him why I hadn't been killed. He told me that I was being kept alive until they found out all of the events surrounding Karras's death. He said the the interrogation team would be down shortly to find out, and that in the mean time I should enjoy my last meal. I told him I'm allergic to brown water and vomit, and that he could take the food back. He jabbed be hard in the ribs with his mace and left.

I then looked around my cell, and much to my surprise someone had left a flashbomb in here. I figured that it could be put to very good use. Soon the interrogators came. The opened my cell and I threw down the flashbomb and took off. I ran for a ways and caught my breath quickly in a shadow, before getting the rest of the way out of the prison. I was incredibly thankful for having been there before, otherwise I would have been totally lost. After escaping I headed back to my safe haven in Shalebridge. I stayed with a friend of mine there for awhile before finding a place of my own.

The new place was out of the way, and I didn't tell anyone where it was. I thought that I should keep a low profile for awhile. Despite trying to keep my new residence a secret I still received a knock on the door several weeks later. I didn't answer as usual, but grabbed a dagger to be ready. It was Llyr. I said "I should kill you right now." He replied "Look, Garrett you have every right to want to kill me, but it wasn't my fault." I told him to get the hell away before I got really pissed. He stayed and went on "Look, I got arrested a little while before I came back you. They interrogated me and found out that I knew you. They said that they would kill me and my fiancee if I didn't lead them to you. What else could I say? I had to do it." I just said that there are always options. But he went on "Who do you think left that flashbomb there? Anyways, here's your equipment back, I went in and got it after they arrested you." With that he dropped my sword and blackjack and just turned and walked away. As he was leaving I yelled for him to wait. He turned around and I just told him thanks. He then turned back and went home.

Go back to Thief Fanworks