"Maybe one day, when you're old and matured enough, I promise that I myself will take you to all the places I've been to when I was a Greencloak."

"Really?"

"That is a promise I will never break."

- - -

-Rollan-

A boy, in his teen years, was walking through the busy streets of his home. A place where there's many opportunities of people like him. A place for thieves. He wore a straw hat as he bowed his head down, careful to hide most of his face. Occasionally, he would peek up and his vision would sharpen immediately. That's thanks to his Spirit Animal of course, who's now flying somewhere up high.

He stopped in front of a vendor who sold the most warmest, greatest bread he has ever tasted. It would be perfect to eat it with stew, if he had the time to steal the ingredients that is. Usually, he would already have the money to buy this bread, by stealing from others of course, but right now, he was in a good mood for trouble.

"Warm bread, freshly baked from the oven," the vender called for costumers, "The best of all of Concorba!"

"If it's the best, then why don't you have your own restaurant for it?" the boy asked the vender.

He glared at the boy, "That is of working progress of course."

The boy grinned, "Of course it is. I'd like three of this bread of yours."

The man stuffed three of the bread in a plastic and was about to hand it to the boy, "That would cost 6 tokens."

The boy pretended to take something out of his pocket as he handed him 'six tokens'. He quickly took the plastic bag and quickly scurried away.

"Stop! These aren't Amayan tokens! These are buttons!" The vender yelled at him, "It's him! It's Roll! Stop him!"

But Roll had already entered a dark alley and soon emerged into another busy street. He grinned as he once again escaped. He always got what he wanted. He casually made his way back to his house and opened the door.

"Ma, i'm home," Roll called out, "I got some lunch for us."

"Ah, nice to meet you, Roll," an unfamiliar, deep voice replied, "Me and your Ma were just talking about you."

A man with a black cloak stepped out of the shadows, a dagger pressed on his mom's neck.

Roll gasped and quickly took out his own daggers, "Let her go."

"I don't think that will be happening," the man replied coldly and more people walked out the shadows, instantly surrounding him, "I suggest you drop the dagger and listen to me if you don't want your mother's head on the floor."

"Rollan, don't listen to him," his mother cried but the man silenced her.

Rollan hesitated before dropping his daggers and kicking it away from him, "Now let her go."

"You still haven't heard of my proposal," he spoke.

"What, are we getting married?" Rollan replied dryly, "Sorry but i'm not interested."

"Quite the jokester are you, Roll," the man said, "The most wanted thief on all of Amaya."

"Well then, I congratulate you for finding me," Rollan asked, "What? You gonna turn me in for some bounty now? Earn lots of money and be known for being able to outsmart Roll, the most wanted thief on all of Amaya?" He tried to imitate the man's voice.

"Actually, I have a better idea," the man told him, "Since you are the so-called Roll, the best thief in Amaya, then you don't mind stealing for me now, would you?"

"What if I refuse?" Rollan asked.

"Refuse and your mother will die," he replied coldly, "And you will spend the rest of your life, rotting in jail unless they execute you first."

Rollan stiffened as he looked at his mother, her eyes wide and pleading. He seemed to know what she was trying to tell him, "Rollan, please don't listen to him. Please don't do it."

I'm sorry, Ma, Rollan thought.

Taking a huge breath, he spoke, "What do you want me to steal?"

"Excellent," the man exclaimed, "My name is Zerif, now formal introductions aside."

He dropped his mother, only for two soldiers to take his place. Another soldier handed him a book and Zerif started flipping the pages.

"There used to be animals called Great Beasts," Zerif told him, "Huge animals unlike any others who ruled over Erdas. Something happened to them causing them to die. Now, these Great Beasts have returned, summoned as Spirit Animals."

"How do you know that?" Rollan asked with a tone that says he didn't believe any of this.

Zerif grinned, "Because Raisha here has summoned Gerathon the Serpent."

A young girl stepped forward and in a flash, a cobra slithered on the floor, making its way up its partner's leg.

"That looks like any ordinary snake," Rollan told him flatly.

"Have you ever heard of anyone summoning a cobra before?" Zerif questioned, "A wolf perhaps? Maybe a polar bear? How about a lion? Or maybe an eagle? And what about a swan?"

Now that Zerif mentioned it, he had never heard of anyone summoning any of those animals before.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Rollan asked, "Find these people who summoned these Great Beasts?"

"Not exactly," Zerif replied, "I want you to find them and bring me their talisman."

"What talisman?" Rollan started to grow uneasy.

Raisha took something out of her pocket. Rollan looked closely and he saw that it was some sort of necklace, though this one had a carving of a snake on it. Rollan tried to keep his expression calm, he had seen that before, or something similar that is.

Raisha spoke, "This is a talisman. Those who summoned Great Beasts have been given talismans. When worn, they-"

"I think that's enough information for now," Zerif interrupted her, then he spoke to Rollan, "I'll give you the list of Great Beasts and where you can find them. I'm giving you three months to bring back these talismans."

"Three months?" Rollan argued, "That's not enough. Anyways, why can't you do it yourself?"

"Three months and your mother will die," Zerif spat, "So I suggest you start working now. And for the second question, I have much better things to do."

Zerif handed him a scroll which Rollan snatched away. Then he gave him a pouch which was filled with coins, "You'll need that for traveling."

Zerif walked out the house with the soldiers following behind him. The two soldiers carrying his mother away. As they finally walked out the house, Rollan sighed and picked up his daggers. Than he walked up to his room to find his Spirit Animal, Essix, perched on the window. He opened the scroll and read through the animals. He stopped dead at one of the animals that was written on the scroll.

Essix the Falcon.

- - -

Here we are with Rollan, the most wanted thief on all of Amaya! Please vote and leave a comment on what you guys think. Stay tuned for the next chapter!