"Stop! Thief!"

Mira giggled, didn't stop running.

"You'll be hung for this!"

They always said that but how come it hadn't happened yet? Not that Mira was entirely sure what a 'hanging' meant anyways but it didn't concern her much. Oh well. So long as it wasn't a whipping then she decided it couldn't possibly be that bad. The merchant stopped running and angrily threw his hat onto the cobblestone-paved ground. He had speed and she had her stamina. But the winning factor? She'd done this a hundred times already (ah yes, practice makes perfect) and she'd do it hundred times more. Just for the thrill of it. The little girl didn't bother looking over her shoulder anymore and ducked straight under the flapping cover of a nearby clothing stand. Thankfully the woman in charge of this particular tent and its contents hadn't noticed, so Mira was able to relax. She bit into the juicy flesh of her stolen prize: a yellow apple. Who'd have thought such a little thing could cause so much trouble? Plus it's not like she really stole it; more like a long-term I Owe You. Mira intended on paying back for this and all her other 'borrowed' goodies once she grew up and had her own garden of trees whose fruits she could sell.

In just a few minutes she'd chewed it down to the core and stuffed the seeds into her pocket to save for later. Not that Mira had the patience or knowledge on how to properly trade them but the old lady with the chickens, who lived in the area, seemed to like collecting them. In exchange she'd tell the girl old wives' tales or fables. Peeking her head out to make absolutely sure that the old ugly man hadn't followed her, Mira looked around before crawling out of her hiding spot. Well that was fun. 'Time to go back now,' she decided. Mira skipped to the end of the bazaar and turned to head towards a smaller path branching off the main road. She began humming to herself as she followed the familiar brown-stained stones to home. It was still fairly light out but she never liked walking around at night. Not that she was afraid of the dark but everything was just so hard to see! Mira reached the fork in the road and turned, still humming as she kicked a couple of loose pebbles around. There was a sudden whine from behind and the girl paused to turn around. Hey, a doggy! But the animal looked... Weird. Aside from the bald patches in its fur. The eyes? Maybe that was it. They looked pretty wide. And it was drooling a lot too. Mira found that oddly enough, she didn't want to pet it and actually hoped it wouldn't come any closer either. But the canine did indeed step closer and the girl reacted in the first way she could think of. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed her small handful of apple seeds and chucked them before turning to run.

Mira squealed as she darted, neglecting to check if the animal was even behind her or not. She only realized afterwards that it wasn't, which made sense considering otherwise it probably would have outrun her. Moving as quickly as her short legs could carry her, the girl made a beeline towards the nearest house she could see and banged on the door. When wasn't opened immediately she decided she'd rather risk a scolding for trespassing than having to face that mutt again. Running around to the side, Mira spotted an open window and hopped up to haul herself in through the frame. She flopped over it and fell to the floor with a grunt and an "ow" of complaint. Mira sat up and rubbed her head.

Sparhawk was in the middle of eating dinner--a chunk of bread taken from a loaf he'd stolen the day before and some cheese he'd gotten his hands on last week. He preferred to steal dry goods because they didn't spoil nearly as quickly as other foods like meat or fruits. He also kept a small stash of eggs in case of an emergency and he was starving.
He had other foods as well, jarred foods, which kept very well in basement cellars--for example, the one he called home. Compared to other street kids, he lived like a king. He could easily defend his residence as well, because of sheer size, and his knack for being able to intimidate all the other kids that might want to invade or steal from him. Most days he would stake out prospective houses--his favorites were always small farms that housed an old couple, because usually he didn't even need to steal from them. He could just offer to work for food or for a coin or two, and that would get him enough food for a day.
That was another thing he had a small stash of. Money. He never used it if he could help it, though. He just saved it.

Presently, there was a soft thump from above. Another invader, he assumed. He put down his dinner and got up to scare off whoever might be snooping around. He climbed up a crate that sat underneath the hatch that led to the main floor of the house and quietly cracked it open to see who was there.

He saw a little girl, younger than him, at any rate. He could immediately tell she was a street girl. She was dirty, had messy hair, and her clothes were torn in some places and were too small for her.

He rolled his eyes and shoved the hatch open the rest of the way to hear slam to the ground on the other side.

He hoisted himself up with crossed arms and a scowl.

"This house is taken, sister." He told her in a deceptively quiet voice.

Mira blinked and watched with curiosity as a part of the floor opened up and out came who she assumed to be a resident of this house. She remained seated on the floor and looked up at the older boy when he explained what she already knew. Sister? She wasn't his sister and she didn't have any siblings. He must have her mistaken for someone else which was silly because she had never seen anyone else that looked like her. Stupid boy. "There's a dog outside" she responded simply, completely missing Sparhawk's implied subtext. What was she supposed to do, go outside and chase it with a stick? It was about half her height! Something clicked in her head and Mira dug another yellow apple from one of her pockets. It was the last one. Maybe he wanted compensation for his trouble? Thinking that must be it, she got up and held it out to him.

Dog? Oh, she must have seen that ugly beast that always scavenges around this area. He wasn't exactly friendly.

Sparhawk sized up the little girl before him.
Nah. She wasn't worth it. And there was no way she'd be able to take on that monster. Hence why she climbed in.

Sparhawk gave her an unimpressed stare.

"Keep it. I don't eat them." He told her simply, then walked past her and shut the window.

"You can stay until the dog is gone." He told her. She was lucky. If she had been another boy, he would have kicked her out right then and there. He disappeared down the hatch again, though he had left it open.

"Well hurry up then, before someone looks in through the window and sees us!" He growled.

She was happy he was allowing her to stay. But also surprised that he didn't take the apple. Who didn't like apples? Hmph, it was his loss. More for her! Mira quickly shoved the fruit back into her pocket and watched as he closed the window. "Why are we hiding?" she asked curiously she followed him through the hatch door. She was able to easily squeeze through and followed the boy into his little compartment. Needless to say, she quickly spotted the plate of bread and cheese. Cheese was nice so long as it didn't stink too much. She wondered if the bread was stale.

Was she really this dumb?
"Are you always this dumb?" He asked her bluntly.
"You're not the only street urchin around here, you know." He told her, digging back into his dinner.
"The previous owners are gone, so I moved in. The upper floor caved, so no one else is gonna come live here. It's my house now, and the only reason you're still here is because I don't like the dog either." He told her. He reached up and pulled the hatch down again.
"And if we get caught here, we'll be hanged. That's why we're hiding, sister." He sat himself down on a spread blanket before a lit candle, currently the only light source. The only problem with cellars was that they got very cold at night.
Fortunately, Sparhawk had plenty of blankets and pillows, stuff the previous owners had left behind. He'd dragged them all down here to make the place more comfortable.

There was that word again: hanged. It was really starting to get under her skin. Since she wasn't hungry, she didn't make any attempts to snatch the bread or cheese from him. Besides, she still had that apple. "What's an urchin?" she asked. "And since I'm sister, I'm calling you brother." He seemed to still be mixing her up with someone else so she decided to play along. No harm in a little game. Mira moved to join Sparhawk on the blanket spread over the floor. Seeing some more nearby neatly folded into a pile, she grabbed one and wrapped herself snugly into it. Mira had a tendency to forget asking for permission.

Yep, she really was that dumb. Whatever.

"An urchin is a street kid. Like you." He told her, continuing in his bluntness.

He watched her grab one of his blankets. As long as she left it here when she left, he didn't care. He bit off some more bread. She announced she was going to call him brother.
"Whatever you want." He replied to that. It wasn't going to matter in the morning when she left.

Wasn't an urchin a type of fish? She couldn't say for sure since she'd never seen one in person before -she'd never gone near any large bodies before for no reason other than they were far from here. Mira wrinkled her nose and decided to just accept the boy's answer as fact. After all, the big kids were supposed to know more from what she understood. A yawn escaped her and Mira slouched tiredly. Maybe she'd stay here for a while longer; so long as the dog was outside, she had no intention of leaving any time soon. "Or maybe Big Brother" she corrected herself. For obvious reasons. "What's your name anyways?" Mira still wanted to call him Big Brother but it would be a little weird to not know his name.

"Sparhawk." He replied simply. He wasn't secretive, he typically was just wary of other street kids. He'd had to beat up several of them for trying to steal from him already. But this little girl didn't seem too bad. So far. He still would have to keep an eye on her. It was strange, though. She was the only other kid he'd seen that had dark hair like himself. Most of the other kids had lighter colored hair. If you didn't look closely, you might think they were actually related.
One could practically see the gears already working inside his head, but he didn't say anything.

"Mine's Mira" she finally shared, introducing herself to him. Sparhawk seemed nice even though he didn't talk very much. Maybe she would come back tomorrow to see him again, but bring something other than apples since he apparently didn't like those. Or maybe he just didn't like the yellow ones? Mira yawned again and decided to call it a night. "Well, goodnight Big Brother. And thank you for letting me stay here." Mira reached out to grab a nearby pillow -he seemed to have a whole bunch of those as well- and pulled it closer. Mira laid down and rolled over so her back was to the little candle lighting up the room. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Sparhawk was unused to hosting guests, and he didn't exactly know Mira at all yet, aside from the fact that she didn't seem to know anything and she liked to help herself to pillows and blankets, so as much as he would have liked to sleep, he kept himself awake. There was no telling if the girl would try to steal from him while he was sleeping.
Not that she'd be able to carry off a lot of his stuff--she didn't look very strong, and thieves had to stay light on their feet, but still. He had a good thing going, and he wasn't about to risk one little girl ruining it all for a bit of sleep.

He waited out the night, laying on his stomach, propped up by his elbows.

The dog she'd encountered usually hid during the day when it was hot. So that would be the best time for Mira to scram if she wanted to avoid the ulgy beast. But he was toying with an idea. She was just a little kid, and a scrawny one at that.

---

It was daylight. Sparhawk had crept up the hatch to look outside to see what time it was, and now he was preparing for a trip. Knife? Check. Money? Check.
He never took his money with him, but today, he had a plan.
"Hey sister, wake up." He told the sleeping girl, nudging her lightly with his foot.
"Lets go." He said, already making for the hatch again.

Mira slept soundly that night and hadn't stirred once until Sparhawk woke her the next morning. The little girl sat up to rub her eyes. "Where are we going?" she asked tiredly. But she was up quickly and ready to move. You always had to be when living off the streets. Mira followed after Sparhawk and climbed up the hatch once he'd gone through. She suddenly stopped, refusing to go any farther. "Is the dog outside?"

"Shouldn't be. But I'll scare him off him off if he is." He told her.
"Now come on, we're gonna go get some real breakfast." He had a little smirk on his face. He closed the hatch when she was up and left through the window.
"Anyway, I wanted to say sorry for being a jerk yesterday. Most kids climb through here looking for trouble, and I give it to 'em. You're not so bad." He looked around.
"Dog's gone for now. Let's go!"

With the affirmation of the dog's absence, plus the offer of protection should it decide to show up again, Mira confidently strode behind Sparhawk. She climbed out the window but took her time so she didn't fall right over the edge unlike what she'd done yesterday. Thankfully she succeeded in landing upright and on her feet this try. "That's okay" she replied with a little shrug. In all honesty Mira didn't see his behavior as being a jerk. She was actually expecting more, since she'd walked into the boy's house without permission but instead he was actually quite hospitable. But she didn't bother correcting him and instead greedily accepted the apology. Usually it was her on the other end of things, trying to make amends. "So where are we going?" Mira asked, looking up to Sparhawk as she walked besides him.

"You'll see." Sparhawk told her, shutting the window behind her.
"I'm thinking a nice pastry, I haven't had one in months." Bread was all well and good, but there was nothing quite like a sweet roll dripping in icing and still warm from the oven. Just thinking about it made him grin in anticipation. Also the skinny little girl with him sure looked like she needed something really nice to eat. She couldn't live off apples forever.
"Ever had one before? Usually only rich people can afford them, but I've been saving this," he jingled his money pouch, "for a day like this."
"I'd usually just steal some, but I have a better idea." He told her.
Because in truth, he loathed to part with the precious little round coins, so he had a plan to get his money's worth back after paying for the treats, and he might even be able to make some more in the process. And Mira could help with that.
If it worked, he decided to split whatever amount they got from it with her. So she wouldn't have to keep eating apples.

Pastry? Ah yes, Mira had seen those before -but not often, since it was considered a rather expensive delicacy around here- but hadn't tasted one for herself. Although judging by appearances and smell, it definitely looked like something she'd enjoy. She started to skip alongside Sparhawk and listened as he said something about a plan he had. Well that sounded exciting, and she wondered what about. And would the pastries come before or after? At this point there were too much questions bubbling in her head and Mira decided to wait and find out rather than starting shooting them all at Sparhawk.

Sparhawk led her down to one of the main town squares, his personal favorite place to 'shop' when he needed to stock up on supplies. In the square was also a bakery, where he usually got his bread, but where he also knew that pastries were sold. The baker was a dumb oaf. He'd stolen many times from the man and had never once been caught. So he was actually on neutral terms with him. Before they went in, however, Sparhawk pulled Mira aside and spoke to her in a low voice.
"Okay, so, if my plan is going to work, I need you to put on an act. You gotta be as nice and sweet as those pastries in there. Don't let him think you're anyone but a cute little sister. And you're gonna have to be real conversational with him. Think you can manage that?" He asked.

It was a nice walk. The morning weather was fair, there were no signs of the dog anywhere, and it wasn't much of a long distance to travel. Mira looked up to Sparhawk and tried to focus on what he was saying, paying careful attention to what he wanted from her. Just talk? Well that should be easy. So long as he continued to refer to her as 'sister', Mira could just keep calling him 'Big Brother'. The girl didn't think of the physical part of it and just assumed that everything would go alright so long as the both of them pretended. Mira bobbed her head in understanding, "Okay!" Once she and Sparhawk went inside, Mira walked right up to the baker. He was a bit of a larger fellow, as the stereotypes went, but he has a soft face and looked friendly enough for her not to be afraid of him. "Pardon me sir" she called out to get his attention, tugging on his apron. Mira couldn't remember whether or not Sparkhawk had requested she be polite as well. Oops. At least it wouldn't hurt her chances. "Is flour actually made of flowers? They're not the same color and they don't smell the same."

It was beautiful. The baker hadn't even noticed Sparhawk because Mira had immediately gotten his attention, and was laughing good-naturedly as he explained to her that flour was not made from flowers.
He casually walked behind the counter as though he were allowed to be behind there, the crouched down and neatly swiped the full money pouch that sat tucked away in the corner of the shelf in the back of the counter. From his pocket he grabbed a folded scrap of parchment, then stood up and tapped the baker's shoulder.
"You dropped this, sir." He interrupted, handing the folded scrap to the baker, who blinked and turned to look at him in confusion.
"Oh. Did I? How strange...Nevermind. Thank you, m'boy." He told Sparhawk, who then returned to the front side of the counter.
"It's my sister's birthday today," He told the baker, moving to stand beside Mira. "So I wanted to get her a pastry to celebrate."
"Ah, what timing! I just finished baking a batch of pastries!" The baker replied.
Already knowing how much the things costed, he dug into his own money pouch and handed over twelve silver coins.
"Ah, so you've been saving up then, eh? Doing a lot of hard work for the Gundersons?"
"Yes sir." Sparhawk nodded. Which was true, he often worked for the old farmers to get a bit of money.
"Good lad. I'll be right back with those pastries." He pocketed the change and walked to the back of the bakery right when another customer walked in. Sparhawk noted this with a feeling of victory. He hadn't seen the customer walk in, so if he noticed that his money was gone, he'd sooner blame the fully grown man that just walked in than two poor kids celebrating a little girl's birthday. This turn of events only made his plan get better and better.
Soon, the baker returned with two warm, sweet, sticky, delicious pastries. "Here you are! Two pastries, and happy birthday!"
"Thank you sir." Sparhawk smiled at the man, then shepherded Mira out the door. When they were out of earshot, he smirked devilishly at her. "Happy birthday, sister."
He planned to give her half the money he stole, but he didn't want to do it out in the open. So he held off on that until they were in a safer place to do that.