A thief's recue mission

The sun was slowly disappearing behind the sea, dipping Alexandria in an orange and red light. The gigantic lighthouse was freeing smoke above its head, as the gigantic fire inside of it was lit up to guide the boats through the night.

In the streets of the city, the sound of hooves echoed, breaking the calm of a peaceful day. People would jump to the side to avoid the run away beast, while guards followed behind on their own horses. With a bag of golden coins in his hand, Sirius was trying to get out of this mess alive.

Xerxes was way faster than any of the guards' horses. She was his trusty steed, the one he would give his life for. He knew she could outspeed any of them. The problem was that they were too many, way too many for him. Sirius was an experienced mercenary. It was not his first time getting followed by guards, nor his last - at least, he hoped-. But the situation was complex. 

Today’s mission was to steal a very precious scroll from a minister’s house. This mission was given to him by a man he did not know. But, from his clothes, he could guess pretty easily he was from Egypt. He had no idea why, but he knew better than to question. When he stole the scroll, he noticed it was destined to end in the hand of the King of Greece, Aetherion. Sirius did not read it, hiding it preciously in the saddle of Xerxes. But, as he was about to leave, he saw a bag of coins, and he could not stop himself from taking it. Sadly, it was when a servant saw him and started screaming. By the time he was out of the place with his mare, the guards were already behind them.

He asked Xerxes to jump above a wall, which she did without any hesitation. The huge mare was fearless, courageous and powerful. They passed in front of the huge observatory, where Sirius knew was currently full of the cleverest people of the Roman Empire. He often wondered what he could possibly find inside of it, but he was not crazy enough to try. Yet.
With the jump, they were able to finally bring some distance between them and the guards, but now, they had to hide, to find a secure place. At least, until the guards stopped looking for him. He brought his mare to a trot and started looking all around him. It was when he saw what seemed to be an old, abandoned, barn. He led Xerxes here and jumped down her back to close the doors as fast as he could.

Finally, Sirius could breathe. With a long sigh, he turned back to Xerxes and came slowly pet her large curly mane, letting his fingers down under the long fur before looking around him. The barn was falling apart. A hole in the ceiling let the dying light enter inside. Some hay was still on the ground, but vegetation had taken most of the place. A few birds had their nests on here, just like a few mice and other small animals who ran away as he got closer. That was when Xerxes caught a movement, and started growling. Sirius jumped back, bringing his hand to the short sword on his belt and looked in the same direction his mare was staring. It was dark here, too dark. But when he heard movement, he took his sword out. He had no clue what it might be, maybe danger, maybe foe, maybe was it the guards. With waryness, he slowly got closer to the source of the sound… Only to find a small brown pony staring at him.

“Oh! Hi?”

Putting his sword back, he got closer to the small animal. The pony was skinny, too skinny. His long fur was matted, hiding his eyes. Sirius noticed his legs were tied up together, his long tail touching the ground. It definitely did not look like an Arravani, nor did it look like a well taken care horse. It looked tired, exhausted even. Sirius frowned. It was alone, lost in an abandoned place… Stolen? Maybe. As he looked closer, he noticed boxes of wood. As he got closer to inspect, he noticed they smelled like the sea. So all this was the cache of some thief, probably stealing from boats? He wondered how far that pony had traveled. He returned to the pony to slowly pat him, the small thing jumped from surprise, snorting a bit before not moving anymore. Well, that was a very scared little thing. That was when Sirius noticed the collar it had around his neck. He untied it and looked at it. On a small metallic part, there was a name.

“Kimchi? Quite the funny name, where are you from, little horse?”

Definitely not from around. But the collar he had was expensive. That pony must have belonged to someone rich, very rich. And now it was here, tied up, starving and exhausted. There was no way he would let him here. Xerxes had joined him, curious but not getting too close. The size difference between the two was quite impressive, and pretty funny to see. Sirius put the collar in his pocket and, with his knife, cut the ropes around the pony legs and untied him from the branch he was tied to, leading him to the light. Here, he could see Kimchi in its whole glory. It was a very pretty pony, it definitely needed some good grooming, his hooves too long, his ribs too visible. But behind all this mess what a wonderful chestnut and white pony. With eyes of brown and blue.

“Eh, looks like I found myself a new partner, don’t you think Xerxes?”

The mare snorted as if to confirm, before getting closer. The pony was not moving still, either frozen or just not caring at all. Kimchi raised his head when he felt Xerxes close, but he was too small, even with his whole head raised up, to smell her muzzle. The sabertooth mare was just curious but pretty fast came to seek affection from Sirius.

Sirius who had to figure out things now. Not only was he stuck in the cache of another thief, who might come at any time, but he had to also hide from the guards outside… And now figure out how to get out of here with a pony!

“You are going to give me a head ache, you know?” He petted the pony, before deciding to tie Kimchi to Xerxes saddle.

He went back to the boxes and started to break them with his knife and feet, taking anything of value for himself. What? He was not going to waste such an opportunity. And who is going to complain that he steals from another thief? He found some precious items he could bring with him, putting them in a bag, as well as food for himself and for Xerxes. Sadly, there was nothing that Kimchi could eat… Unless! He found some fruits. At least, that proved to him that those boxes were not here for very long. He brought some of the fruits to the pony and put them on the ground, letting him eat while Sirius did the same, eating the dried meat, giving some to Xerxes as well.

That was when he got an idea! Oh, Lucius! The blond asshole of a man also had a pony similar to Kimchi. Maybe he could help him. And he was certain the other man would not refuse to help an animal. Perfect. The red haired man tied the remaining bags to his mare saddle, securing everything and getting ready. Kimchi was a bit stubborn, refusing to walk at first and follow the larger mare, but he ended up accepting to do it. The poor thing’s hooves were in pretty bad shape, no wonder he refused to walk. At least, he didn't seem more injured.

The night finally took over the city, darkening every alley, every road. Some torches were placed strategically, but Sirius knew Alexandria very well. He also knew perfectly how to join Lucius’ grandiose house. He opened the door of the old barn, making sure there was no danger, before leading Xerxes out. Kimchi followed, slowly, but he was trying his best. Sirius decided to stay on foot to be the least visible possible, leading the two horses from place to place. Each sound he could hear, he stopped them both and made sure no one saw them.

Finally he saw the house of his… Friend? Lover? Eh who cares, boss maybe, all at once. Probably none, just an enemy who paid him well. But he knew where to enter without being seen, and Xerxes knew perfectly how to squeeze by the entry. Kimchi was a lot more fearful, less confident in the small space he had to cross. Sirius took some time before the pony finally accepted to follow him, but once he did, he let out a long sigh of relief. Okay, now, he had to find the master of this place.

Kimchi was tired, huffing as he took shaky steps. But he would be safe now, nothing would happen to him here. And Sirius would make sure of that.