Madrigal grinned as she tilted her face towards Sage. She thought back to the troubled expressions she'd seen on Sage's face. He'd been trapped and run into the ground by his father, and he'd been targeted out of hate by everyone else around him. her friend needed this. So, she nodded. "Give them hell, my good man."

Sage cackled and his grin spread even wider. "This place is already hell. I'm just gonna let it loose." He hadn't felt this happy in years, and he was hopeful that life would get even better from here. Being hopeful was a good start, he hadn't let himself hope for much in a very long time.

Madrigal playfully shoved Sage's shoulder, laughing. "You do that."

As they got closer to town, Madrigal started using the shadows. The sun was in the perfect position for them now, with it being earlier in the morning still, creating a mirage of places for them to take cover. Give her a shadow, and Madrigal would disappear. You could bet money on it.

As they got closer to the market arena, Madrigal took a mental tally of her weapons; the throwing knives hidden in various places over her body and the crescent moon knives. At the outskirts of the arena, Madrigal crouched, mindlessly gesturing to Sage to do the same. As soon as she did it, she realised the uselessness of it. She rolled her eyes at herself.

Madrigal's hawk gaze moved across the crowd, looking for guards and the regular buffoons that liked to play patrol party. The crowd was already thick today, which would make their task a whole lot easier. "Wanna split up?"

Sage thought about that for a second. "It's either that or just expose ourselves completely and act like we're a couple browsing shops." He eyed Madrigal, his trained eyes able to see her outline even though she practically disappeared. He could only see her because he did the same thing.

He shrugged and looked around the market. "I have a feeling you'd prefer to stay in the shadows, and so would I, but seeing us both here three days in a row might make someone suspicious and keep a sharper eye out when we actually take stuff. It's up to you what we do."

Madrigal chewed her lip, thinking about Sage's suggestions. The shadows would be more fun, but he was right. They would draw less attention if they went together. They would blend into the sea of hundreds of other couples. Dihsa was a trading port, afterall. "Either way, we could be notices tomorrow, so why not make a little fun out of it?" She hestitated. "One question: would anyone recognise you?"

He thought about that for a second and then shook his head. "I don't talk to anyone or make myself stand out so they shouldn't. Someone might see I'm a native, but that's rare and it won't stop us from shopping."

She flipped her hood, then ran her fingers through her hair, loosening it and pulling some strands out to frame her face and make her hair look chin length. "Okay then, Honeybun, let's play the hell out of these people." She guessed that she would have to drop her cloak. The thought made her stomach church, but she steeled herself and undid the buckles, slipping the cloak off and folding it into a neat pile, which she hid away behind a pile of barrels. She'd taken the crescent moons out, but now there was nowhere to secure them. Her heart dropped as she turned to the bundle tucked away out of sight. She folded the blades into the fabric gently, staring at them longly. Taking a deep break as she stood, Madrigal turned her back on her babies. "You good?" She asked Sage.

He grunted and knelt, pulling a brick out of the side of the building after making sure no one else could see. "Put them in here and then we can go." He blew the hair out of his face, taking a deep breath as he did so. He hated the feeling, but he would do what was necessary. Besides, he was sure Madrigal wasn't used to taking her cloak of either. But he also knew he could reveal his face, since no one here should ever see that face again. "You ready for this?"

Madrigal shot Sage a grateful look as she placed her blades in the hole and sealed it. It would be inconvenient if something happened and they were chased out of the arena, but at least no-one else would pinch them. She nodded to Sage, "let's go. Walk through the stalls, start on the other side and make our way back here. In case anything happens, we won't have to run through the whole arena to get back here."

He nodded and then frowned and offered her his arm. "If we're pretending to be a couple we need to look the part," he explained. "We don't need to do anything else though."

(Sorry it's kinda short this time haha)