Rose looked back, seeing the four boys chasing after her. Noctis was quick to try warping to her, but as soon as he did, she used her whip to fling the nearest object at him. Being in the marketplace, that item happened to be a bag of spice. Noctis was taken by surprise by the bag colliding into his face. His eyes immediately burned and watered from the particles getting into them. He groaned in pain and furiously rubbed his eyes, allowing Rose the chance to get away.

"Noct!" Ignis shouted, hurrying to the prince's aid. "Are you alright?!"

Though Noctis couldn't see, he nodded. "I'll be fine, just keep going. Don't let her escape."

The remaining three went on, continuing their chase. Rose tried to lose them in the maze of streets, but her plan backfired when she found herself at a dead end. She turned to face the three blocking her exit.

"Nowhere left to run now, little lady," Gladio said.

"Just give yourself up and we can avoid any conflict," Ignis advised.

"And I'd really hate to have to fight a girl," Prompto added.

Rose stood firm, remaining quiet and showing no signs of surrendering. The boys took that as a sign to take her by force. They summoned their weapons. Rose narrowed her eyes at them and readied her whip. She fixed her gaze on the gunman first, not liking the firearm he wielded.

As soon as he aimed his gun at her, her whip lashed forward, the barbs on the end piercing his skin as the whip wound around his wrist. He yelped as his weapon was yanked out of his hand. The whip retracted and the gun flew into the air, allowing Rose to catch it. She immediately aimed it at them.

Ignis and Gladio both got into a battle stance while Prompto stiffened at having his own weapon turned against him. This made Rose chuckle a bit. Instead of firing the gun, she tossed it back at them and used her whip to grab hold of a weak spot on a wooden balcony above. She yanked it down, causing debris to fall between her and the boys.

While the three stepped back and shielded their eyes, Rose took the opportunity to grapple up to the roof. Once the boys could see again, she was already out of their reach. She smirked to herself, staring down at them. She blew them a kiss before disappearing from sight.

Gladio sighed in annoyance as they all dismissed their weapons. "Well, there she goes."

"Let's go back for Noct," Ignis suggested with a sigh.

The three rejoined the prince, who'd washed his eyes out and could see once more. "So, she got away," he said. "Sounds like she really is uncatchable."

"Not if we catch her off guard before she has a chance to act," Ignis said. "I still think that blind woman is hiding something."

Gladio shrugged. "We don't have any better leads. I say we go for it."

"What're we gonna do?" Prompto asked. "Harass her till she reveals something?"

"No," Ignis replied. "But what if we were to discover that she isn't really blind?"

Noctis hummed in thought. "She could have connections to the thief. Hell, she could even be the thief."

Prompto sighed. "Let's track her down...again."

After searching for the remainder of the day, they couldn't find a trace of the blind girl again. They rested at the hotel for the night. The following morning, they found the girl at a restaurant enjoying breakfast. They approached her table, causing a slight frown to tug at her lips upon seeing them again. But she pretended not to see them and ate in silence.

"Good morning," Noctis greeted. "Nice to see you again."

She forced a smile. "Ah, you sound like the same young men I talked with the other day. Come by for another chat?"

"We have," the prince replied. "My name's Noctis by the way."

"I'm Gladiolus."

"Ignis."

"And I'm Prompto."

She nodded at hearing each of their voices. "You can call me Rose. You're welcome to have a seat."

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," Ignis interrupted. "For our request remains the same as before --- we ask that you remove your glasses and let us see your face."

"Of course, we could always snatch them off you," Gladio added. "Shouldn't be difficult to do to someone who's blind."

Rose was getting uncomfortable by their persistence. She wondered if they'd already figured her out. Either way, she kept up the act. She took her cane and slowly stood, turning to walk away.

"I'm sorry, but I don't like being harassed because of my weakness."

"Rose," Ignis said.

The girl paused and turned slightly to face them again. Ignis suddenly tossed an apple from off the table. The fruit flew toward Rose, and by instinct, she caught it. A smirk crept across the bespectacled man's lips.

"Got you."

Rose gasped. Knowing she'd been found out, she dropped her cane, turned, and sprinted away. She didn't have her whip with her, leaving her defenseless. The four boys chased her down an empty side street. With nothing stopping him this time, Noctis warped straight to her and tackled her to the ground. The girl struggled to free herself, but the prince was stronger than she was. His friends quickly caught up. Ignis bent down and snatched the tinted glasses off her face, revealing her green and brown eyes.

Prompto gasped. "I don't believe it. You were the thief all along!"

"Just as I presumed," Ignis boasted.

Rose growled, glaring up at them. "So you found me out. So what? What're you gonna do, turn me in to the hunters?"

"Probably," Gladio answered.

"But first, one question," the prince said. "Why?"

Rose chuckled. "Because it's fun. Being able to just take whatever you want --- who could pass that up?"

"That's it?" the tattooed man questioned angrily. "You commit crimes just for the thrill?"

"There's gotta be more to it than that," Noctis said.

"It's not like I know how to do anything else," she muttered.

"Seriously?" the gunman asked.

Rose sighed in defeat. "Let me go and I'll explain." They complied and let her stand. She crossed her arms and glared at them. "I grew up as a street rat, okay? Is that what you wanted to know?"

They stared at her in surprise. "Please, elaborate," Ignis requested.

She grumbled. "I didn't have a family. I lived alone on the streets. No one wanted me. I learned how to take care of myself. I learned to lie, cheat, and steal in order to survive. As time went on, I began to enjoy what I did."

"Y'know, you could put your skills to better use," Noctis suggested.

Rose looked at him in shock. "Are you saying that you'll let me go?"

"If you turn things around and stop thieving from innocent people," Gladio explained. "You do have some talent there. A shame to only use it for crime."

"I don't know." Rose ran her fingers through her messy black hair. "What would I do? Become a hunter?"

"Sure," Prompto replied. "Anyone can be a hunter. You could lend people a hand instead of just taking things."

"But would they accept someone like me?" she questioned.

"The hunters are always eager for people willing to lend a hand," Ignis told her, "no matter the background."

"I guess it would be nice to get some recognition," the girl admitted. "Especially without constantly running and hiding. Maybe I'll...give it a try. Once I pay for everything I've done, of course."

Noctis smiled faintly. "Good."

Thanks to the prince and his pals, Rose's life was turned around. Instead of using her skills to take from others, she would try helping people for a change. Rose could finally make up for the crummy childhood she had, and give back for everything she ever took.

The End

Kind of an abrupt end, I know.
#sorrynotsorry (Prompto quote)
Also realized that I didn't use her alias, Thorn. It just ended up being unnecessary.