The Sleeping Theif

Closing the book before him, Duster looks out of the window, feeling the stone press into his back when he shifts. Slipping the book back into the bag, he reaches for his cane and starts to run his hand over it. Years ago he would use this to trick into thinking he was a frail lad, needing the support of the cane to walk, thus removing himself as a suspect from their minds when they found their coin-purses lightened. He would scale castle walls of his country’s enemies and steal battle plans from them to aid his Kingdom, though often they wouldn’t know they had a group of thieves in the shadows helping them.

Now however, he uses the cane for its primary use of support. Looking down at his leg with a quiet gaze, he shifts out of the window and leans on the cane a bit while shouldering his bag. Since his accident, he had to hang up his old job in favour of something that didn’t need him to be quick. Taking up the guise of a tutor to children was easy enough, allowing him time to heal his leg and try to strengthen it. He once hoped he could return to his old career path, using the skills taught by his father, but now he has found himself accustomed to a quiet life of a tutor.

Stopping at the door of the room, he lifts the cane and turns it over in his hand, allowing him to put weight on the leg. He could still stand so that was a plus. He didn’t need the cane as much as he used to, mostly needed for long walks over uneven terrain. Turning it slowly in his hand, he lightly fingers the hidden switches and smiles. In secret he keeps some of his skills sharp, and the hidden blade in the cane sharper, in case a need arise for him to take to the wind and do what he was trained to do his entire childhood. He may not be as good as he once was, to walk silently through the night and shadows, but he knew he still had the other skills deep inside of him waiting for when they will be needed again.

Giving the cane a short nod, he returns the end to the ground and continues to walk. He has students to attend to.