Slippery slope

Even in a different land, things are still the same. To get what you want, to find what you want, all you have to do is look at the signs. First you need to find the lookout. That’s the best pace to start. Kade roamed the streets for a while, observing, watching, looking. After a while he found what he was looking for, the man sitting on a barrel just on the corner of the alley, smoking his pipe, not concerned with anything.

The man was very average. Brown hair, average height, not too handsome, but by no means ugly. Not defining scars, no one would give him a second glance. What gave him away was how much he was too unconcerned with anyone else around him, he gave everything away by giving nothing away.

Kade walked up to the man, and with slipped the man a crown with the dexterity that only years of practice could produce, so that no one could see but the fellow that he slipped it to.

“It’s an amazing city. It has almost all of the shops you could think of. I was able to find almost everything I needed in the course of a couple hours.”

“Oh, it has everything you need.” The man replied, then got up and walked down the alley. Kade followed the man to a shop that, according to the sign outside, sold antiques.

Inside the store, Kade could see that the ‘antiques’ on display were very lackluster, and was sure that in the history of the shop, they haven’t sold a single one. The man from the alley nodded at the shopkeeper then went back outside to take up his spot on the corner.

“BOY!” the old man called out, and promptly a young boy scrambled into the room.

“yes grampa?”

“Watch the store for a few, grampa has head to the basement.” And he motioned for kade to follow.

* * *

Leaving the store with a new set of lockpicks, Kade was sure that this new land was no different from where he grew up. Same bad elements, same thugs, same bullies, same underbelly. He would be able to survive here, that was not in question. The question was if he would be able to break the cycle and follow through on his dreams to become an honest man. Hard to be honest when things are so easy to be dishonest. Even in a different land, things are still the same. To get what you want, to find what you want, all you have to do is look at the signs.