Summer was a thief with morals.

She lived by two codes.

One: She stole only what she needed, when she needed it.

Two: She stole only from those who could afford it.

The market place was crowded the morning Summer ventured into town. The merchants had set their stalls at the break of dawn.

Nestled in the foot of a mountain, the town was little more than a village. It was as much a part of the woods surrounding it as the trees with which it was built.

Summer stood in the shadow of one of the houses along the market street and scanned the shoppers. She looked like a boy fresh out of childhood in a big patched cloak and tattered leather shoes she hadn't outgrew since the age of fifteen, eight years ago.

Her first victim of the day caught her eyes after a few moments. She liked to think of them as unsuspecting donors: By ridding them of any excess food or money, she helped them give back to the community.

The man she set her sights on was more gut than anything else. She recognized him as one of the people who lived in the better parts of town, where houses were cleaner and bigger, as were people.

The nameless town in which Summer grew up was an isolated part of the Springwood Kingdom. Surrounded by mountains and difficult to access, they only got a handful of visitors over the course of her life there. Most of those visitors were the same merchants who brought goods from elsewhere.

Summer had never gone past the mountains. She occasionally climbed the mountainous woods, but never ventured further. Her entire life, which wasn't much, was here.

Boyd, her mentor and the man who'd raised her whenever he was in town, had once said that the rest of the kingdom was as different from this place as night was from day. He'd said that out there, poor people didn't starve to death, that orphans lived with dignity and that widows didn't have to earn a living on their backs to feed their young. Out there, everyone was taken care of. Summer couldn't imagine such a place.

She watched a half starved servant trail behind her chosen target, carrying bags already filled to the brim with a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits from the farmers' stalls, cookies and bread from the only baker in town, and more items that made Summer's stomach growl.

Just as she was taught, she kept to the shadows, blending into the background. People very rarely noticed her when she didn't want to be noticed.

Light on her feet, she followed the man, noting every relevant detail about him, like where he kept his coin bag. A few minutes later, the perfect opportunity to rid him of some of his superfluous riches presented itself.

He pushed his way to the front of a crowded stall that sold friandise brought in from the north. Summer didn't let herself hesitate. "Do it," she whispered under her breath. "Just do it."

Pushing past the mix of thrill and fear knotting her guts, she joined the mass around the sweets' stall, brushed against her target unnoticed and emerged a few seconds later with a coin bag.

Mouthwatering scents and sights assaulted her senses as she drifted away, the constant noise of haggling shoppers and stubborn merchants a familiar sound. A dog barked in the distance. A man screamed for a thief.

Summer strolled along. She had to be in the orphanage before the headmaster got back from the market, for he wouldn't let her in.

And if there wasn't someone she cared about there, she wouldn't even set her eyes on the building where she grew up to the age of nine. She didn't have fond memories there. Maybe a few. But her reasons for going on a weekly basis had nothing to do with reminiscing.

*** **** ***

The orphanage was located on the edge of town.

On the way there, Summer stumbled upon three town guards cornering one of the older children of the orphanage. She flattened herself against a tree and observed for a while.

The boy was around eleven or twelve, old enough to be working and paying rent according to the headmaster of the orphanage. The guards were pushing him around, flipping through his bag and pockets.

Summer recognized one of the guards as a bastard who'd tried to put his hands on her a few years ago. She had left him with a nice reminder; a scar across the face.

When the guards' search for money turned futile, they took turns slapping the kid around. Summer had had enough. She picked up a few pebbles off the ground, aimed and sent three shots in quick succession. The stones hit the guards on the back of their heads.

They whirled around, cursing. Summer melted into the shadow of the tree.

"Who's there?!" One of the guards bellowed.

The orphanage kid was smart enough to take advantage of the guards' slip of attention. He scrambled off.

The guards saw him and cursed, but didn't give chase. After all the kid had no money. But Summer had no doubt they would try to find him later.

Summer climbed up a tree in seconds as the guards came to investigate who dared attack them.

Summer watched through the thick foliage of the tree as they walked past her, cursing her to the devil. They didn't even think to glance up. What a sorry bunch of humans.

Once they were gone, Summer sprang down and resumed her way to the orphanage in peace. She reached her destination with no further unfortunate encounters.

The orphanage was a large two story cottage with a sorry thatched roof and a crumbling porch. Its only good point was its size. With more than ten bedchambers and a spacious common hall, it was perfectly appropriate to house the unwanted children of the area.

Isolated by the trees surrounding it, it was part of the woods more than it was part of town. It was as if the rich people didn't want to be reminded of the less fortunate children in need, and so they built it there. Out of sight, out of mind.

Summer wasn't welcome inside ever since a beam dropped on one of the orphanage mistresses and killed her. It wasn't Summer's fault. At least that was what she liked to think. But very few people shared her belief.

She climbed a tree near the back of the building. Sometimes she felt more at ease climbing trees and jumping from one branch to another, than walking the ground like normal human beings.

She tapped on a window. A moment later the curtains were pulled to reveal her only friend's face. Dark eyes set in a delicate round face, framed by jet black curls that bounced as Rose quickly opened the window. Summer hopped inside the tiny room.

"Sometimes I think you're more monkey than human," Rose said.

"Sometimes I wish I was a monkey rather than human," Summer said, only half joking.

Rose closed the window then quickly checked the door lock. "You shouldn't be here. Last time the headmaster threatened to call the guards if you set foot in the orphanage."

"He's busy stuffing his face in the market," Summer replied, pushing the coin bag into Rose's hands. "How is Berry?"

"Again? Where did you get this, this time?" Rose's eyes glistened. She looked at the cot where Summer took a seat next to the small, sleeping boy.

"Don't worry about it. How's he?" Summer brushed the boy's hair back.

He was sleeping soundly. His skin was pale and clammy, his lips and the space under his eyes were almost blue. The room was barely big enough for a cot and a table. But Summer knew it was better than other crowded rooms in the house. At least Rose had her privacy here.

Rose shook her head, a tear fell down her rosy cheek. "He's getting worse. The physician said he only has a few months left. The medicine will only delay the inevitable. There may be some doctors up north who can perhaps perform a miracle, but Berry won't survive the trip. At least not without enough medication."

She brushed the tears furiously, her voice now vibrating with anger. "And the headmaster! That vile, disgusting, selfish man! He said we don't have enough funds! The medicine is too expensive, I know, but- but...it's his grandson!"

Summer didn't bother delving into the subject of Rose's former bad decisions. Falling for the headmaster's son when she was fifteen was one of them. Allowing that slimy coward to touch her was another. He was ten years her senior.

Rose said she was willing. But Summer had her doubts. She knew how her friend avoided confrontations even on her own detriment. Summer would have gladly made the bastard a eunuch.

When the sorry excuse of a man found out Rose was with child, he stole his father's savings and disappeared.

Needless to say, the headmaster didn't take well to the scandal. Everyone knew his son had been courting Rose, an orphan who lived in the orphanage since she was a babe, so the old man couldn't deny the responsibilities of her and the child without losing face with the town's people. Which was why he allowed them to live in the orphanage.

He probably viewed the illness of his grandson as a blessing. A way to finally rid him of the burden forced upon him.

"There's enough money there for a few days' prescriptions. I checked." Summer squeezed Rose's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll figure something out."

"How? I can barely survive with my salary. No one in town would offer you a job because of those foolish rumors."

"Hey, it's their loss." Summer grinned, flipping her short brown curls over her shoulder. "They're the idiots for not taking advantage of such skilled individual as myself."

Rose snorted, then smiled down at the coin bag. "I still don't know how you manage to live. You should just leave this hell hole."

"Until Berry is up and running, we are not going anywhere," Summer said, reminding her friend of their childhood promise that wherever they'd go, they'd go together. "Besides, I'm pretty resilient. I'll figure something out for you and the brat. If I have to break into the magistrate's house and steal all that gold his wife flaunts around, I'll do it."

Rose laughed, thinking Summer was joking. She wasn't. Life left her no choice but to live the way she did. She had no problem with it. She enjoyed living on her own in the woods.

*** **** ***

Rose left her son in the care of a relatively nice mistress while they went to order the medication.

The last thing they needed was a thief robbing Rose of the money she desperately needed. So Summer walked her to the Bluesnow post. People usually gave Summer a wide berth. Especially reckless men who thought a single woman was easy prey. Most of them knew from painful experience how handy Summer was with a knife.

"When will you give up stealing?" Rose said, then smiled ruefully. "Listen to me, such a hypocrite. Lecturing you about stealing when I'm the one holding the money."

"You know it's not stealing," Summer nudged her friend's side. "The man had way too much for his own good. And the poor servant trailing behind him had enough to carry already. I felt sorry for them."

"Right." Rose snorted. "So you only helped the servant."

"Yep, you know me. A charitable soul."

The short walk through the woods to the town was pleasant. There were no guards around. The sun stealing through the trees was bright and warm.

Soon they reached town, and were walking past a young couple holding hands and standing so close to each other Summer wondered if they'd be stuck that way.

"How disgustingly sweet," Summer said. Rose giggled.

Summer stayed outside while Rose made her medication order. If the person in charge recognized Summer, matters could become more difficult for Rose. The man would probably conjure up some nonsense like how his business would suffer if she set foot on his property, or how the birds would fall sick and die. Any unfortunate event, even one that did not occur yet, would be blamed on Summer's rotten luck.

A reputation which she didn't work hard to acquiesce, but which was built on a series of disastrous events that accompanied Summer since her infanthood.

The day she was found on the doors of the orphanage, a thunderstorm hit town, destroying half the orphanage's roof. It was mid summer and the area very rarely had thunderstorms, if ever.

The headmaster's wife died exactly one year later. A child Summer was playing with when she was two years old broke his arm. When she was five years old, she was with the rest of the children on a field trip to the market. Right as Summer and one of the other girls passed by, a stall caught fire seemingly out of nowhere.

Rose was the only child who never paid any mind to the rumors. She was warmhearted and careless enough to befriend Summer when they were six, and they stayed that way ever since.

Some people blamed Rose's deplorable fate on Summer. Her rotten luck stained her friend's life, they said.

Summer didn't believe any of it. Even while she tried to keep away from Rose as much as possible. She didn't believe it.

Summer pulled the cloak tighter around her against the morning chill. It would get warmer as the day went by. It never got too cold in this part of the country. Compared to the north, that is. At least that was what Boyd used to tell her whenever she complained about the cold.

A few minutes passed before a blue feathered bird shot up from the building's roof into the clear blue sky. A second later it was a distant blur. A Bluesnow bird. A big bird with gossamer blue feathers, snow like tuft around its neck, and a speed unmatched in nature.

The Bluesnow bird would take the order to another Bluesnow post in the north, and another bird would be back with the medicine in a matter of hours. Rose's son would survive for a few days. But then what?

Summer only hoped she would find a solution before it was too late.

Little did she know, the solution would float her way that very evening when she was bathing in the creek.