((transcript from a roleplay chat off site.))<br/><br/>"It was 'just a fluke' you happened to be there?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at the same time. "The merchant who asked for my assistance was insistent that she's very attentive when it comes to her store. Now, if memory serves, at the moment the merchandise was stolen, there were very few people in reasonable distance. In particular, there were three. The merchant herself, another merchant off to the side.. And a cloaked individual who just happened to be passing by in surprising haste at that exact moment. Do you have an explanation for this?"<br/><br/>The Merchant Woman leaned back on her heels, picking under her nails with her knife just for effect, then raised her gaze up to the woman, peering at her intently for an answer, "You know he has a point, right? You can keep lying, but it wont work. You got sloppy."<br/><br/>Frowning, the girl offered a sour look first to the woman, then the man. She rises to her feet, facing them squarely. "Just like the rest of them..." She doesn't elaborate further, but makes no further protest.<br/><br/>Caedrin nodded, accepting this as her sign of surrender. He began walking towards the girl, preparing himself to draw his weapons if needbe; when lies failed to get them out of it, the guilty frequently turn hostile, and he was prepared for that. "In that case, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me, ma'am."<br/><br/>The thief offered no immediate objection, but in her eyes, there remained a constant glare of challenging defiance. "Well go on, then..."<br/><br/>Traveler rose to her feet, anxiously sheathing her knife, and stepping clear to allow the knight to do his thing. Her posture remained tense as she paced, clearly still angry.<br/><br/>At this point, most guards would have taken an aggressive stance, knowing that the other party was without a doubt guilty, but Caedrin never chose force unless necessary. He grabbed the girls arms and pulled them around to her back, being careful not to injure her but keeping his grip forceful and strong. "I'll be taking you back to the Capital, where you will be held until further judgement of your actions is reached. Anything else you'd like to confess to while we're at it?" he asked in a half-joking tone.<br/><br/>The thief remained silent, the defiance never fading from her gaze. Her eyes moved around to focus on a tree some distance away and stayed there.<br/><br/>Traveler frowned, gesturing at her wildly, "See? This is how 'your way' works. You realize she's just waiting for you to turn your back, right?" She looked around the clearing, searching the brush for something, then grinned, "HA! not very good at hiding stuff, though... I bet your stolen merchandise is there." She lifts a hand to point.<br/><br/>Without moving his gaze from the girl in his capture, he responded, his tone almost a challenge; "First you tell me she's going to stab me in the back, then you try and get me to turn my head? If you're so sure there's something over there, why don't you check? I'm sure a mild-mannered merchant such as yourself wouldn't think of stealing whatever she found.."<br/><br/>Grumbling, the woman strode over to pick it up, stretching to reach behind a bush and retrieve it. When she emerged, she held the pack left there by the shapeshifter earlier. After a moment of digging around inside, she chuckled, "I would imagine a few merchants will find this pack interesting..."<br/><br/>Caedrin barely resisted the urge to turn his head, but kept his gaze focused forward. "Interesting how..?" he asked, after a few moments of silence. The girl in his custody was already peculiar, being a shapeshifting thief, but something in the other girl's words caught his interest.<br/><br/>With a chuckle, she rolled her eyes, "Oh relax... its just some random stuff she stole... Seems she's pretty good at it. You just do your job and I'll haul this. My cart is parked just inside the tree line about a league north. We can tie her to a tree there and get some sleep. I'm beat."<br/><br/>He opened his mouth, prepared to reject her idea, but stopped for a moment to think. Sleep.. Sleep sounded good. Something in the back of his mind told him to think things through more, but his day had been long and frustrating, and he simply wanted it to end. "..Very well," he responded simply, beginning the trek north.<br/><br/>She followed close behind, watching the thief closely. The day had been long, difficult, and the spell she'd cast had drained her severely. By the time they were near the cart, She was having a bit of a struggle walking a straight line. Tossing the pack in one of the crates on the cart, she then set down on the bottom of the cart near the crate. "I'll keep first watch, if you likeâ€¦â€ she yawned.<br/><br/>Noting the obviously exhausted expression on her face, Caedrin quickly rejected the idea. "That's alright, you get some rest. You need it more than I do," he said softly, tying the thief to a tree as he did so. Without giving her a chance to respond, he plopped himself down on a nearby stump, conjuring a small orb of light which began hovering next to him.<br/><br/>She tried to argue the point, but couldn't manage to get the words out before another yawn cut her off. Frowning, she nodded and scooted a bit to lean back against the crate. "I'll at least sleep here so nothing can get to your evidence without waking me. Get me in a hour or two." She leaned her head back against the crate, shut her eyes, and began snoring ever so softly within the span of thirty seconds.<br/><br/>Caedrin chose not to respond, instead keeping his focus glued on the area ahead of him. He stayed this way for a good 20 minutes or so, until he noticed a quiet sound coming from behind him. He turned around to find the source, and soon realized it was the merchant girl, snoring. It was quiet; unnoticeable if not for the eerie silence that befell the forest at night. He couldn't help but smile, as up until now the girl had seemed almost inhumanly stubborn and rude, and seeing something so.. normal.. from her was unexpected. He absentmindedly watched her sleep for a while, but before he could realize he was staring at the girl, he felt a sudden, sharp pain in the back of his head, and soon found himself lying on the ground, the black abyss of unconsciousness soon overtaking his mind.