Judy
Joss winced, eyes leaving hers. He considered a number of lies, but felt at this point he owed the strange woman the truth, as stupid as she might find it.

"... My mum an' da are really poor. Always felt like a bit ovva burden, specially in the winter. One less mouth t'feed, righ'? An' — livin' with them now. *Hurts.* They think there's sommat really wrong wi'me. Like someone cursed me, or I musta messed wi' sommat I shouldn'. So they spend all their spare time if I'm around, talkin' about wot with me's wrong an' tryin' to fix it. Exorcisms or herbs or wotever. I jus'... I." He swallowed hard. "I saw sommat they wouldn' ... They wouldn' unnerstan'. Wot they won' even *Try* To unnerstan'."

Both arms were wrapped around himself now. "So I figured. I oughta apprentice myself. Find actual work, like y'said. An' I did. I was apprenticed unner a bowyer for wot — two? Over two years. It was horrible. Didn' teach me shit, jus' beat me when I did sommat wrong an' barely ever tol' me how to do it right. Locked me into a contract. Couldn' break the apprenticeship unless he deemed me ready — and trust me, that weren't gonna happen, he liked havin' me around doin' all his chores — or unless I paid off this huge fee. 

So... Y'know. Started stealin' at night, coz at that point, where else am I gonna get money? You don' get *Paid* To apprentice, it's jus' to learn. He found th'money I was savin' up from th'stealin'. An' he starts goin' after me so bad, I thought he migh' kill me. Then as he's doin' it, he jus' — ups and dies. Outta nowhere. Guess he beat me too bad fer his own damn self, over-exerted maybe. So... I got outta there. Been on th'road since. I ain't apprenticin' again. It's *Awful.*"
April
Emiko just shakes her head "Right, so ya met one shitty 'master' and now they're all bad? Ya already made that mistake with thieves. Met one good one, then got fucked over by a couple shitty ones. They ain't suppost' contract ya or some shit, he was just an asshole. Go find a better one an' get 'em t' teach ya, there are good ones out there. More than there are good thieves. And at least then ya won't end up gettin killed"
Judy
Yet the set of the boy's jaw was stubborn and stiff. "They *Do* Do contracts. That's like a basic part of apprenticin'. Better question is why *You* Don' go straight if you think it's such a good time? Coz I got *Shit* To do. Wot's prob'ly gonna get me killed anyway, but can't live with myself if I ignore it."
April
She snorts "Last I checked, people ain't exactly eager t' take on grown women as apprentices, 'specially those with skills as... 'specific' as mine. An' yer, what, 13? 14? What the hell kinda shit have you gotta do?"
Judy
Joss crossed his arms. "So wot. Lie. You ain't gotta go 'round announcin' you're a thief — an' I gotta learn t'shoot a bow, an' get into places I got no business bein'. Ain't yer business why." Scowling deeply, eyes averted. "Like I said, I seen some shit."
April
Emiko growls lowly "An' I've bin through some shit. And if ya go an do as well as ya did t'night, yer gonna be dead in a week, ya get that right? You bein small is about th' only advantage ya got, and its also yer weakness, since ya got no skills t' back it up, so whatever mission yer on, give it up if ya actually wanna live t' grow up"
Judy
The boy stared back in a way that was not *Cold* — it was full of fury and emotion, in fact — but steadily, with conviction. "So I'll learn t'do better. Do easier jobs. I don' care. I ain't gonna live like a coward an' jus' *Give up* On doin' wot's *Right*. An' far as I kin see, that's all that kin happen if I go straight. If yer so convinced it's the only good option, go straight yerself."
April
"Except stealin ain't right! Nothin about what you wanna do is right, why d'ya think ya gotta sneak around so much t' do it? An' from th' way I see it, yer bein a bigger coward fer not tryin t' find another apprenticeship. An' stop tellin me t' do th' same shit, kid, I got better reasons than you fer not goin straight"

Emiko drops her arms, taking a breath, and all of a sudden, it looks as though an illusion on her skin melts away, the thief's body suddenly glowing softly, the glow highlighting the multitude of old scars covering her, criss-crossing up her arms, a few larger ones peering out from under her top, even a few on her face, one narrowly missing her left eye "I can't go an' be some god-damn apprentice cause this is what happens when I go t' sleep. This is what happens when I ain't conscious enough t' keep it hidden, an' I doubt there are a lotta people who ain't gonna go runnin straight fer th' nearest guard after seein this. But hey, if yer dumb enough t' actually throw yer life away when ya got a god-damn choice, go fer it. Git lost"