return

Faye hurried to stuff her finds into her magical bag. She turned around, and joined the people in the streets, hoping to find out more about what happened to Ryder. She returned, finding a group of people still in the streets, though a few had turned in, it seemed.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked someone nearby.

A middle aged woman turned to her. She held her night shirt above the dirty ground as she spoke. "Someone broke into the house over there, seems like a couple of guys saw 'em and was chasin' em."

Faye nodded. It was impossible that someone saw someone run out of the house, so she assumed that meant maybe they were chasing Ryder? At least it was clear he wasn't caught immediately....

"Which way did they go?"

The woman pointed down the road. "They ran that way and then turned down one of them alleys on the right."

Faye thanked the woman and started jogging in the direction the woman pointed her in. She didn't really have much hope of finding Ryder, but she couldn't just sit around and do nothing, could she?

She searched for a little while, heading down various alleyways. Eventually, she came to the realization that she wouldn't be able to find anyone. Maybe it was best to head back to the house and see if Ryder was still around there? Maybe he wasn't the one the man was chasing?

She returned and found the rest of the people that had been in the streets returned to their houses. Some still had a light lit, but for the most part, the street seemed to have returned to it's former still and dark self. Faye stood by, watching and waiting for some sort of movement. It wasn't long before she saw a man stamping down the street. Behind him was another man, who stayed a little distance away, before turning off and entering a nearby house. Faye watched as the man grew closer and eventually turned to enter the home Ryder and her had infiltrated earlier.

She watched, stunned, as he slammed the door shut behind him. If he was here, where the hell was Ryder?!?!

Finally, not seeing any other option available to her, Faye decided to return to the Gooseberry Inn. If she was lucky, maybe he made it there.

Faye walked into the rowdy Inn in a glum mood. She wasn't sure if they failed or succeeded in their job, and her partner was nowhere to be found! What a night....

As she entered the Inn, a familiar voice found her. She stared in disbelief at Ryder, who sat at the bar. He saw her enter and greeted her loudly.

"Faye! My friend! How are you? Come! Come have a drink!"

Faye walked forward in a daze. He acted as if they weren't just running around outside, stealing from people and trying to get away....He acted so nonchalant that Faye started wondering if she'd just dreamt the entire ordeal. She had half a mind to dump out her bag and see if she even went anywhere....

She didn't, however, instead silently joining her partner in crime at the bar. She blinked at the drink sat in front of her, Ryder ordered it on her behalf and told them to "put it on his tab".

Faye took a sip, but wasn't in the mood to drink. She turned to stare at Ryder, hoping for some sort of explanation. He seemed to notice her look of frustration. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "not now, wait for later, then we'll talk."

She sighed, but nodded to show she heard him. She couldn't do anything else at the moment and she wasn't in the mood to drink. She gave a farewell to the barkeep and headed back up to her room. Before leaving, she placed her hand on Ryder's shoulder.

"Come up when you're done."

Some nearby patrons heard her words and she heard a few guffaws and "attaboys", but she ignored them and headed back up stairs. First of all, she wanted to see what she even picked up. It'd be a waste if all she grabbed was some old clothes and a useless box.

She was careful to shut her door behind her. She pulled out her bag and tried taking out the cloth items first. They seemed to be day old clothes, they were probably what he'd worn before heading to bed that night. The clothes were dirty, clearly having been worn for a number of days, perhaps even weeks without wash. Although it grossed her out, Faye sat the clothes aside and reached back into the bag. There was a pair of trousers, an under shirt and an outer shirt that she pulled out of the bag. After setting them aside, she reached in and thought of the wooden box. She pulled it out of the bag slowly. Just as she was about to give it a shake to see what it sounded like was in it, She heard her door open behind her. Her heart skipped a beat and she quickly turned, trying to hide her crimes with her hands unsuccessfully as she did.

There, in the doorway, was Ryder, staring at her with a bemused smile.

"Seriously?" He asked.

She glowered at him and ignored him as she turned back away. He snatched the box from her hands, however.

"Hey!"

Ryder ignored her and threw himself to lay comfortably on her bed. She wanted to say something about him making himself at home anywhere he went, but couldn't seem to form the words. She watched as he casually opened the box and dumped the contents onto the bed. She began to wonder if he'd done this sort of thing before....He acted quite naturally after committing a crime....