No matter how you look at it, a colony needs resources. A lot of them. Water, shelter, and food were stuff that the Sun Chasers could more or less easily scavenge from their environment. Towering stone canyon walls provided shade, and the watering holes sprinkled every so often supported water to fill their bellies. Creatures too, should one stop for a drink. Even a certain number of healing herbs could be found and carefully grown in the desert.

The only problem was they needed more. More building materials. More livestock. More money. That last one was the real kicker since it was the only way to get the other stuff that they also urgently needed.

As much as Sam was hesitant to admit it, Onyx knew that they likely won't be able to get what they need through fully legal means. Not without a hefty discount, which merchants in Issiq were very unlikely to offer up. So it was time to turn to the five-finger discount instead.

But first, Onyx needed to find herself an expert to learn from. And lucky for her, there was a rather infamous one slinking around Naveh.

"Let me get this straight… you want me to teach you to be a thief," Hamster summarized flatly.

"Yes please, I love to steal!" Onyx grinned.

Hamster fixed her with a flat look. "No one talks like that."

The two stood at the end of an alleyway, pressed against a wall to let the scarce shade hide them from sight. Not that many would be looking their way, too busy hustling around doing their errands before high noon made it too hot to leave their homes. Now was the perfect time to learn how to steal in Onyx's opinion.

The tsabhua shrugged, unbothered. "Maybe, maybe not. But regardless, my request still stands. You're one of the best pickpockets I've seen. And I wish to learn from the best." Hopefully a quick play to her ego would make the belemoid thief more willing to help out.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all well and good," Hamster huffed. "But that doesn't exactly help me. Why should I bother-"

"I had a feeling you would ask that." With that Onyx rummaged around in her bag before whipping out a coin purse. The xen inside jostled and she watched Hamter's gaze sharpened at the sound.

Bingo.

"What do you say?" Onyx said. "A couple xen for a couple tips and tricks."

Hamster glanced at her face, then the pouch, then her face again. Onyx never saw her paw move but one second the coin purse was there and the next it was gone. Payment accepted.

"Follow me," Hamster grunted before turning and trotting off. To which Onyx grinned and skipped after her.

The two wound their way through Naveh with Hamster leading the way. Well, more like Hamster was trying to shake Onyx off her tail and go back to stealing unbothered.

But Onyx knew better than to let a known thief slip out of sight without fulfilling her end of the bargain. She ducked and wove between red sandstone buildings and down cramped streets after her guide.

At last they came to a halt in front of an old, old building that looked like it hadn't been used in some time. It sat nestled on the outskirts of town, its walls worn and cracked from the heat. A far walk from the oasis center, Onyx could guess why it had been abandoned.

Yet in spite of its dilapidated state, a shiny new padlock sat perched on its doors.

"You see this lock, kid?" Hamster asked. She gave the lock an unimpressed glance before turning that same expression to Onyx. "Open it."

Onyx blinked. Hamster stared expectantly. They both stood in silence for far too long heartbeats before it became clear that Onyx wasn't going to spontaneously learn how to undo a lock.

Hamster let out a heavy sigh, like she couldn't believe she had to teach the person she just agreed to teach. Hate it when that happens.

"Look, every lock is made of roughly the same components," Hamster explained. "Usually there are five or so pins that you gotta push up to about the same height. That's what the ridges on a key are for; the pins are different lengths and so too are the bumps. Nudge the top of the pins to the same level inside the lock and it can no longer lock."

Onyx nodded, trying to picture that in her head. It seemed… relatively simple. "But how am I supposed to know how far up to push each pin?"

Hamster huffed a ghost of a smirk. "That's for you to figure out." She held out a pair of thin metal picks, both bent at roughly 90 degrees, which Onyx hesitantly accepted. "Go on now, give it a shot."

Well, here goes nothing. Shuffling closer, Onyx slipped her first tool into the lock's crevice, pulling down to apply some pressure. The second one soon followed it and Onyx started awkwardly searching around. In all honesty, she had no idea what she was supposed to be searching for. But as she poked around she could feel something in the lock itself move. The pins? It must be. Not like there were a lot of other moving things within a lock. So she carefully got to work negotiating the pins up out of the way.

To her mild surprise one of the pins seemed to have a bit more resistance than the others. No matter, she wedged her pick around to shove it up into place with a quiet click.

Hamster's ears twitched. "Good. You found a seized pin. Since you've pushed it up, another pin is now seized. Try to find it."

Onyx nodded. "And I'm guessing once I push up all the seized pins, the lock will unlock?"

A sharp grin was her response. "Precisely."

Following Hamster's instructions, Onyx got back to work attacking the lock. Sure enough a random pin would become more resistant to her manipulations. One by one they were all slotted up into place, the end drawing closer in sight. Almost inside… just a little… more…

"Hey!"

Onyx nearly jumped out of her skin. She whipped around to see a creamy tsabhua standing there, staring straight at her. Furiosuly. She glanced to the side only to find Hamster gone.

Before she had a chance to explain, the stranger let out a furious roar and lunged right for her.

Onyx bolted, not certain where she was running to but knowing she couldn't stay here. The furious pounding of paws on stone told her the furious homeowner was following quickly behind. She had to lose them, and fast.

What would Hamster do in the situation? Onyx had no clue, but she supposed finding somewhere to hide was a good place to start.

Onyx put on another burst of speed, not caring as her legs began to scream in protest. She screamed around the corner, sanding down her paw pads but shoving the pain out of her mind.

Instead she dove behind an occupied bench, tucking her limbs out of sight. The belemoid glanced down at her and she held up a pleading claw in front of her snout. Luckily the stranger took pity on her and found somewhere else to look.

The tell-tale sound of thudding paws made her flinch and duck even lower against the sand. She didn't dare move, didn't dare breathe. Onyx kept expecting the homeowner to pounce on her and demand… something. And yet they never did. She craned her neck just in time to watch them turn back the way they had come, tail lashing.

She took a deep breath, forcing her muscles to at least try to relax. Not exactly how Onyx had pictured her day learning with Hamster would end. But hey, at least she knows how to lockpick now.