Grey sat before the lows flames of of his camp fire, his old, worn traveling cloak pulled tightly over his body. He huddled closer to the dying flames; his gaze turned to his side looking at the small bundle of branches he had collected earlier. He carefully reached his hand out and grabbed a particularly long branch and cracked it in half, and then again into fourths. He threw wood into the fire and grabbed a long stick he had set to the side to prod the fire. He wished he could add more, just a little more to help warm him. He spent the entire day walking, stopping only to collect wood for the fire and to try to hunt; Grey ran out of his food supply a couple days ago and had been forced to try to find other means of survival. He had lived in the city for so many years that he had almost forgotten the hunting lessons he had learned in his youth. He was rusty and well out of practice, but not all of the lessons were forgotten. He managed to successfully catch a rabbit while looking for wood; it was small, but after a day without food he had been more than happy to have something to eat. After days of hunger and endless travel, Grey wanted nothing more than to add wood to the fire and allow the flames to grow. He needed it, just a single warm night, to sleep in peace without the tossing and turning that the cold had incessantly brought to him. Grey wanted to give in to these small temptations, but he couldn’t; not here, not now. He had survived in this world by being cautious; he couldn’t break that trend now, especially not where he currently was. The fire he had was large enough for him to cook the rabbit he caught and to help keep him warm enough so that he could at least find some sleep, nothing more.

        Grey looked up into the star-covered sky, as clouds slowly passed over the crescent moon, shrouding the world in darkness. “How did I end up out here?” Grey asked the stars, which remained silent like they must have been for hundreds of other quizzitive souls before him. That was fine though, Grey wasn’t looking for an answer; he knew why he was here. He had brought himself here. In a way, this was his punishment; a consequence for all the things he had done in his life, all the people he had hurt, cheated and lied to. He knew that if he died out here no one would care or even notice. After all, what is a thief but a rat needing to be exterminated.

        It had been four months since it all began. Grey was living in a small, rundown inn at the corner of Piss Water alley and Rock Bottom street--those weren’t their actual names, but Grey was oddly fond of them anyway. They suited the neighborhood well. Grey had found himself living in the city since the age of twelve. For years, he had lived on the streets begging for money, stealing food for survival and fighting against all the other unfortunate children that found themselves unlucky enough to be living in the streets. Since he was older than many of the kids at the time, he often found himself left alone; nevertheless, he would find himself in fights every now and again over food, money, or any other stupid disputes that arose. He once awoke one night to find a kid he had previously gotten into a fight with standing over him with a knife. The kid stood over him hesitantly when he awoke, obviously unsure whether to go through with the act. Grey managed to get up in time to grab the knife from him; he walked away with a cut on his upper arm, and the kid walked away with a black eye and broken nose. Grey kept the knife, and since then he had always made sure he had a weapon on him at all times.

        After a few years Grey eventually found a knack for finding himself in places he shouldn’t necessarily be, as well as being in possession of things that weren’t necessarily his. At first it began small, taking small things from here or there, something just to earn him a bit of coin to maybe pay for a meal or a night off the streets if he was lucky. Then the allure of potential profit had him search for new ways to make an income. He soon learned plenty of beneficial tricks on the likes of Piss Water alley, and other just as respectable and crudely named places. He learned ways to break into buildings, what kind of people were willing to buy “lost” goods. He even eventually started learning that theft could be achieved in a multitude of ways. He broke into homes or businesses, he learned how to steal things right off a person, he learned how to cheat during games, and most importantly he learned the greatest skill of them all. The skill of Misdirection. Grey figured out fairly quickly that it was easy to take things if a person’s mind was on something else. Thus Grey also became proficient at talking and learning how to read and direct conversations in the direction he want them to. He could charm a miser from his gold watch or a king from his throne. Figuratively of course, Grey had never even attempted such feats, besides it would probably had been easier to just get the miser drunk and then slip the watch off his wrist when he gotten his attention turned towards curvaceous tavern wench or something.

        Grey had also become associated with quite a few questionable people in his time. As his tendency to take things grew in both quality and quantity his reputation to said people began to grow. Money launders, gangs and illegal guilds, corrupt law enforcers. The whole works. Eventually Grey found himself living a semi-comfortable life in a inn room he rented, rent was cheap enough that he could afford it, but frequent enough that he couldn’t find himself too comfortable with his life, this is when Grey truly found himself in trouble.

        Grey was running low on rent for the month and on top of that he was struggling to find a job that would pay him sufficiently enough for it. Grey approached the person he had always tried his best to avoid. A man named “Smiling Jack”. A cute little nickname Jack picked out for himself. He lived up to it, at least on the surface. He walked around town always wearing a smile, and cheerful disposition. But everyone who was anyone knew it was all just a facade. Jack was one of the largest money launders in the city, and also known to be the most brutal. Grey had done a handful of jobs for Jack in the past, but they were always on his terms and discretion. This time Grey was going because he needed Jack and not the otherway around. Jack had welcomed him in with his normal jovial manner, poured them each a drink, sat him down and began the typical formalities of selling one's life to a psychopath. After Grey explained the situation Jack comforted him, promised to solve all his problems, and in return he just needed a simple job done in return. In a couple of weeks there was a priceless gem that was being transported into the city that Jack was rather keen on, “obtaining.” Grey accepted the deal, Jack patted him on the back, said something about old friends, and politely kicked him out of his office.

        Grey waited for the day to come, Jack sent him all information on where the gem would be located. Grey had to travel to a richer part of town for this job. The gem was being transported to a high end jeweler’s shop where it would be displayed and sold. Grey figured it wouldn’t be too different from any other break in he had done, hell he might as well make his own profit while he was there. Grey confidence however was horribly misplaced. Due to the upscale occupants in this particular part of the city, everyone easily spotted him out by his lower downtrodden appearance. He tried to get information out of the locals but his charm failed once people took a single glance at him. He even tried to enter the building during the day to map out possible ways to break in. He was quickly kicked out and the owners threatened to call the guards if he came back. Once night fell Grey thought he would have an easier time with this job, but much like the day Grey found himself playing a whole new game with an entirely different set of rules. Grey found picking the locks to be almost impossible, he found luck with a second story window he managed to find a way to clamber up to. Once inside he found himself with even more problems, he had no idea where the gem he was looking for was located, and he found the building actively guarded, and these weren’t the drunk, tired late night guards he was used to dealing with. Grey was discovered inside the building before he could even find the gem narrowly managing to escape the building without being caught, but in foresight he had gained; sitting in front of the smoldering embers he called a fire, it might have been a better to let it end there.

        Word spread quickly of the break-in at the jewelry shop, and Grey barely managed to plan his next move before he was cornered by Jack’s men. Grey was trying to make it back to his room at the inn when he was caught and forced back into Jack’s office by two of his strongest hired muscles. Jack awaited him smiling his wicked smile, with a great amount of apathetic disappointment in his eyes. Jack offered Grey a seat; to which he was forced into, and then offered him a drink; to which Jack filled his own cup and put the guest cup away before Grey could answer, not that he would have taken the drink in the first place. Jack left the bottle on the table, Grey had noticed. He could feel Jack’s goons standing behind him on either side. As Grey took in the situation he began to formulate a plan. Jack began to express his disappointment in his “friend”, going on and on about how they had an arrangement and how Grey couldn’t even manage to meet his end of the bargain. In his mind Grey was telling Jack to go to all sorts of colorful places, but Grey choose to remain silent and play this out. Grey began to ask questions, small and simple ones. Grey knew they had to be simple enough for Jack to humor, and they had to be asked at the right time, say something too daring or at the wrong time and Jack’s goons would have shut him up. Eventually the conversation took a turn to the terms of his punishment, Jack remained vague, but the circumstances remained clear, they would either kill him or make him wish that they had. Grey heard one of the goons behind him let out a low laugh, and with that Grey had his window. Before the laugh had even ended Grey’s arm shot out and his fingers clasped around the neck of the bottle, and with one swift movement, the bottle crashed across Jack’s face. With that Grey had successfully accomplished one of the most dangerous feats he had ever done in his life. With that “Smiling Jack” had stopped smiling.

        Before the two goons could register what happened Grey stood jabbing the goon on his left with the neck of the bottle. Grey caught him in his right shoulder blade and the man stumbled back in pain. Grey could feel the other man move preparing to grab him, and as he brought his arm back Grey thrusted his elbow back  into the man's meaty face breaking his nose. Or at least that’s what he hoped he did, the man's thick face in reality probably caused more harm to his elbow then the man's actual nose. Grey didn’t want to stick around to admire his work. He knew the two men stood in the way of the door, Greys eyes locked onto a window on the side of the room, he ran forward throwing his arms in front of his face and jumping full force into the window. It shattered as Grey rolled into the open streets, covered in shards of glass and blood. He didn’t have the convenience to stop and register the pain. Grey ran. He ran out of the slummy district from which he made his living, he ran until he legs carried him out of the city from which he lived in for eight years, and he ran until eventually his legs gave out.

        Now that Grey had found himself safely away from the city he made his way to the next closest city he could think of. Once there he found himself broke, and with no way to support himself. However this was a fresh town, with people that didn’t know him, and places he’s never stole from before. Everything seemed ripe for the picking. He easily managed to make up a meager living by stealing and cheating. His income wasn’t as stable as it was in the last city, but it was enough to keep money in his pocket even if he had to resort to sleeping on the streets again every so often. It was only took a couple week however until Jack’s men had come into town looking for him. Apparently smashing a glass bottle into the homicidal criminal's face had earned him the highest possible spot on Jack’s shit list. Grey didn’t stick around long enough for Jack’s men to find him, he soon left the city and headed out to another. However, Jack’s men didn’t let up, they followed him from city to city, town to town, and village to village, wherever it was Grey could hide. Grey found himself being pushed closer and closer into “Their” territory. And as he got closer there became less and less places to run too. Grey realized this but even still he couldn’t stop moving ahead, knowing that all the places behind him had Jack and his goons waiting. Grey eventually found himself in a small village. He had no place left to run too, there were no more villages ahead, and he knew why, no one wanted to be caught by the natives of the lands that lay before him. The people that lived in this village and the other handful of villages even remotely close by must have been crazy as is. Grey was at the end of his rope and he knew this. He was almost broke, and out of options. While sitting in a tavern Grey overheard a group of people talking about a place not to far away from the village. There were said to be jewels and gold that could make a peasant as rich as a king and food that could fuel an entire village for centuries. The people of the village dismissed the thought of even attempting to travel there, not daring to wish enter the dangerous lands that lie ahead, but more importantly they feared of the owner of said treasure. Grey sat at the tavern, considering his options. Feeling he had no other choices left for him, knowing Jack’s goons would be arriving at any day, Grey decided his fate. He spent what was left of his money on supplies for the travel. His worn traveling boots and cloak, a traveling pack filled with food, a water skin, armed with a small hunting bow, a handful of arrows, and a small hunting knife, Grey took his first steps into Giant Territory.

        Grey watched his fire, he grabbed some more branches and added them in, poking the fire to keep it alight. Grey knew this was suicide, the chances of him returning alive were slim. He knew giants were ruthless creatures, he knew first hand. It was a giant that forced him to live in the city and struggle to survive. He had been seven when it happened but he still remembered that day as if it were yesterday.

        People were screaming all around him, the cracking of wood and breaking of stone as homes were destroyed. He remember it’s large destructive form, the giant had looked just like a human, except in the light of the situation it seemed like a large terrifying creature that seemed to eclipse the sun itself in it’s sheer monstrous size. The giant destroyed all the buildings of the village ripping people out of theirs homes and devouring them. Grey was hiding with his parents in their home when the gigantic hand broke through the roof and grabbed them, the rest of the building collapsed and everything went black. When Grey awoke it was night and a dead silence hung in the air. Grey managed to crawl his way out of the rubble that was formerly his home and struggled to find someone. Not a soul was left in this desolate place, only the destroyed stone and wood, remnants of the villages former buildings remained. At first Grey was afraid, thinking the giant might still be lurking about, but soon the silence reassured him he was alone. Grey called out into the night, crying for help, for anyone to hear him, crying for his parents to come and find him. Silence was his only answer.

        The dreams of that night had plagued Grey constantly since his decision to come out into these lands. Grey threw his poking stick to the side. He stood up and began to walk away from his makeshift camp. He walked past the trees and bushes and even in the night he could see the clearing of the forest before him. He knew things looked grim for him but he had to try. He might never be able to pay Jack back after what he had done to him, but with enough money he could at least pay for protection. He could pay for a home, maybe actually start a life not soaked in crime and thievery. Grey stepped out past the tree line and looked ahead into the open fields and hills that came past the forest. In the distance he could vaguely make out the outline of a extremely large building, it was more than just house, it was a large home made of stone, almost resembling a castle, except far smaller, at least in in comparison to what probably lived inside. He could easily see the lights from inside the building. A sign that the massive building was indeed occupied. Grey watched the light for a while, until eventually he saw it go out. Grey took in a deep breath and turned around to return to his fire. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would have to face probably the truly most dangerous act of his life, smashing a bottle across Jack’s face while being surrounded by the king's royal army would have been less stressful than this. At least Grey could be assured he would just be impaled in a million different ways. With this giant he didn’t know what would happen. The images of the hand breaking through his roof and grabbing his parents ran through his head. Grey looked up into the sky.

        “I wonder what you guys must be thinking right now? Looking down at me for what I have become and where I have lead myself.” Grey said to the stars once more. Once again they responded with silence.

        Grey returned to his campsite and sat down next to the fire. He put the last of his kindling including fire poker in the dim embers. He laid down next to the fire.

        “Long day tomorrow, better get some rest. I won’t be getting much tomorrow night.” Grey closed his eyes, drifting once more into a night of fleeting sleep.