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From WikiWatch

She could hear the sound of the waves as she crept closer to the cliff and peeked over the top to survey the dock below her. Relieved to see only two poorly dressed and slovenly guards who seemed to be ensuring that a recently delivered case of brew was of the required quality (though she suspected not quantity soon enough), she clambered over the rock edge, deftly swung down the few feet of cliff face and dropped quietly to the ground.

Pausing briefly, barely breathing and listening acutely for any sign that the guards had heard her, she began to make her way through the main entrance. A crudely written sign on the wall indicated she was entering Beggars Court and she immediately began to feel a little more at ease. Beggars afterall were far to worried and caught up in their own impoverished circumstances and trying to make enough money for a loaf of bread to take home to notice a small kender darting in and out of the shadowy crevices of the rough stone buildings.

Making her way through to the centre of the village, Taraiha stopped in a doorway to survey the area. Outwardly nothing moved except her pigtails, which fluttered softly in the breeze, but inwardly her heart was thumping heavily. She had never tried to get into Freeport on her own before and didn't really know where she was going. As she stood wondering whether she could get past the two knighted guards and open the incredibly heavy looking wooden gate without them noticing, she suddenly spotted a familiar face and darted out from her spot to disappear behind a large urn a few feet away.

"Psst!" The sound was barely audible even to the old woman sitting the other side of the urn, but she was confident that the ranger would hear it. Throwing her voice was just one of many abilities she had learned over the years and it was always easier with woodelves in particular, who listened for unusual sounds almost instinctively.

For a split second she thought perhaps he hadn't heard her as her continued his conversation with the vender on one of the market stalls, but Thanryon's noncholent walk toward wall beside her where he began inspecting his recent purchases and counting coins proved her wrong.

"An' wha' is a Gnome like ye doin' in this part o' Norrath?" He enquired so quielty he could have been talking to himself.

"I's comma visit" came the hissed reply.

"It be dangerous fer ye here y'know. Young hafflin's like ye ain't welcome in Lucan's City."

Taraiha grinned from behind the urn. "I knows, but I's wannit see if I coult mekkit in. Wanna go see Kitty."

"P'raps y'would ha' been better t'ask him t'meet ye and escort y'through?" The ranger smirked slightly.

"No." Taraiha frowned, trying to think of a way to make the elf understand. "Is a surprise see? When I's big nuff ta sneak in witout gettin caught, it be big surprise fer Kitty. Is notta surprise if hims knows I's commin issit?"

Thanryon looked at her curiously. "Yer brave, or foolish little one; possibly both." He pulled a small dagger from his boot, kneeling almost face to face with her as he did so. "Take th' Thieve's Way, round th' back o' tha' buildin' yonder. Ye'll know it by th' stench." He stood up and began casually cleaning the dagger.

Taraiha absent mindedly reached around behind the urn, picking up a small but interesting mug the old lady had put down by her feet. "Okies. Gnomie go dat way." She paused, her nose wrinkling. "Is sewers, innit?" she asked as she turned back from slipping the mug into her satchel, but the ranger had gone.

Sighing and briefly checking there was nothing about her that could fall off and clang to the floor attracting attention, she peeked out to look at the building Thanryon had indicated. From her vantage point she could just about make out a small sewer grate near the far left side and immediately began calculating how long it would take to pull it up and get inside.

Then she began to run...

---

As the shouting died down Taraiha slowly pulled herself out of the sludge. She had managed to catch her foot against a table, knocking the wares over the floor and thus been spotted by a very large and now very angry woman who made to chase with a hunk of leg meat but gave up when she realised the 'child' she though had caused the trouble could outrun her several times over. Fortunately, being kender and therefore indistinguishable from a human child until looked at closely, Taraiha had managed, with some giggling and stick throwing to throw them off the scent of a Qeynosian infiltrating their city. She grinned to herself as she stood under a rainwater pipe gushing nearby, to clean off the sludge from missing her footing on the ladder.

"Note ta self: bring changea clotheses next time" she giggled to herself and began to make her way through the tunnels.

Sometime later, seemingly lost and unable to make out where she should be from the crude scribblings she had made when she last came to Freeport, she sat heavily on a ledge and pulled out some Jum Jum mix to munch on. Almost immediately there was a rustling behind her.

*sniff* *sniff-sniff* "Give nice candies" *sniff* "Mees take you to gate" *sniff-sniff-sniff* "little one lost. Ratho know way" *sniff*

Taraiha stared and the small, bespectacled ratonga who was snuffling at her candy and grinned. "I's Taraiha. I's gnomie." She handed the ratonga some candies then offered him some cheese from a pouch  in her satchel. Ratho's eyes gleamed.

*sniff-sniff* "Ooh! Yesyes" he nodded frantically, his whiskers waggling and tickling Taraiha's cheek. "For cheeses and candies Ratho take you safest way. Very quick." He squirreled the treats away into a pocket and scampered off down a tunnel, briefly turning to beckon her. *sniff* "Comes! Follow Ratho! Ratho show you the way!" He scampered off and Taraiha hurried after him.

A few tunnels later Ratho stopped. "Where little one is going? Not the city?" His eyes grew wide behind the glass and his whiskers twitched.

Taraiha nodded. "Yes. Gotta getta East Freeport. Near da dockses."

Ratho shuddered. "Not safe. Bad place. Big guards." He looked around as if someone might over hear and leaned in close, whispering. "Big cats."

His new friend giggled. "Yes, dat why da gnomie goin. Gonna go see my Kitty."

There was a gasp and Ratho threw his paws up in the air. "Oh! But you teeny! Big cats eat teenies!" *sniff-sniff* "Big bad cats hurt teenies!" The panic in his voice grew.

Taraiha laid a small hand on his furry arm to calm him. "No. Dis Kitty verra nice, loves hims gnomie lots" she nodded vigorously. "Hims notta bad Kitty at all. Even nice to mousies." She grinned.

Rathos gasped. *sniff-sniff* "Nice to mouses? Big cat nice to mouses? Really?" *sniff*

Taraiha giggled and linked her arm through Ratho's. "Yes" she nodded. "Nice to mousies, nice to teenies, look affer evvybuddy. Verra nice Kitty. Yous shoult comma Qeynos one day," she added, pausing for a moment. "All our Kitties nice. No eat da liluns."

Ratho stared at her in evident disbelief.

*sniff-sniff* "Maybes. Maybes Ratho visit new friend." He gave Taraiha the toothiest grin she had ever seen, then pointed to a grate just in front of them. "East City. Big guards." *sniff* "Be careful." He nodded at her again and then disappeared down a tunnel leaving behind only the echoes of his feet against the floor.

Taraiha examined the grate and moved a small lever, opening it just enough to peek through...