One shadow, in particular, lingered near one of the many warehouses in the district. It shifted with the slow progression of the sun across the sky, waiting. You see, this shadow was not formed of light and dark. This shadow was a figure cloaked in magic and mischief.

And it waited. The shadow knew this was no ordinary warehouse, but home of the thieves that stalked the back streets and alleys of Britain, preying on the rich and stupid. And it amused this shadow to stalk them. Those thieves, brash humans who lived off others, pretending to be honorable to their own but in truth were loyal only to greed.

Yes, the little shadow spent a great deal of its time antagonizing the various thieves that plagued the citizens of Britian. So the shadow bided time until the careless sentry left the door open long enough for it to slip past as a thief was admitted after giving the "secret" knock.

What the shadow didn't expect was for the thief it followed to be an elf! Silently confident, the shadow slipped in with the elf, past the sentry whose purse was lifted by the elf's nimble fingers. If anyone had seen, a smile would have been noticed on the lips barely visible beneath the cowl of the little shadow's robe. But no one was looking into the shadows, no one was noticing the one who watched.

The little shadow listened as Patch, that disgusting creature, lectured the elf. Luck, it was an interesting name for an elf. Curiosity piqued, the little shadow decided it would follow this Luck, see what he was up to. Sometimes following as a whisper of shadow, sometimes in various guises mastered over the years.

Days followed nights, and it became obvious Luck was being set on tasks far below his abilities. Pickpocketing? Even the youngest street urchin was above such a lowly job. He was being tested, his loyalties questioned and answered, it appeared. The game kept the shadow sharp, for it was not the only thing following the elf. The thieves were also watching Luck's progress through his assigned tasks.

There were days when the little shadow would loose its prey, Luck traveled with magical means the little shadow couldn't follow, but the lurker waited, knowing he would return to the Thief's hideout.

One night, tired of wandering in the shadows, a rat kept the elf company in the backroom of the warehouse. The rat watched the elf with glittering eyes, nose twitching as it watched the elf nibble a meager piece of bread. Watching the odd look of anger and worry dance across the elf's face, the rat guessed that tomorrow was a big day by the anxiety in the elf. It was grateful when a stale heel of bread was tossed into its corner, quickly devoured before the rat found a sheltered hole and tucked its nose beneath its tail and found some sleep.

Best to get some rest while it could, since the fun of the chase was about to heat up.