Urenburgh, a small old English style settlement out on the edge of the Griffin Kingdom. It's an average griffon town, with a forest and open plains. Most of the town is very close knit and usually knows each other by name. It's not a rich town by far, but it still has its wealth here and there. Merchants often stop and sell their good in Urenburgh due to it's location. The streets were dirt and the layout of the the town was simplistic.

During the day the streets are busy with griffons everywhere. But as the sun begins to set, the store start to close after a days work. All the griffons head to their homes and eat a warm meal with their families before going to bed. The streets are now empty, the only source of light coming from those of inside the houses. But as the last light dies out and the last griffon house goes to rest, a dark silhouette pokes its head out from between two homes. It looks around for any other beings, then looks across the street to a rather large house.

This house had the same style as the rest, but was larger than the rest. It had thatch roofs and stone walls, supported by wooden beams going up the walls once in a while. Separating the first and second floors was another wooden beam going left and right. The front door was rectangular and wooden.

The silhouette check its surroundings again, then darted across the road to the house's front door. If you could look closer, you would be able to see that the figure was not a griffon, but a human. It wore a simple cloth shirt and pants, but no shoes. The human ran up to the front door and tried to open the door, locked. It seemed that this house was quite cautious if they had locked their doors in such a small town.

The human then reached into one of its many pockets a around its waist and pulled out two small lines of metal. It moved the two pieces of metal to the lock and began to fiddle with it. After a while a small snap was heard and the figure threw the pieces of metal to the ground and looked around. It walked around the house and scouted the side of the house.

As it looked around the side of the house it saw an open window on the second floor. The window was about 11 feet high. The figure looked around again to see if there was anything it could use to climb up. Seeing no objects to stand on, it readied itself and latched onto the wooden beam and slowly climbed up the wall. It climbed up until it reached the beam going sideways and hauled its feet onto the sideways beam. It shuffled towards the window and climbed into the house.

\\

Dang freaking, tall house. I stretched my back as I landed inside the target house. I guess that's what I get for failing to lock-pick the front door. I stretched out the rest of my limbs and looked at my surroundings. I was in a hallway with four doors. Thinking it was best, I ignored them and headed for the stairs.

I quietly made my way over to the stairs and hoped that it would make too loud of a noise. I stepped on the first one and the creaking was tiny, but quiet distinguishable in the silence of the house. I controlled my weight as to not make the creaking louder as I walked down the steps.

Once I reached the ground floor I took the time to see if there was anything worth stealing. There were about four or five electric lamps hanging from the ceiling. Two years ago a group of ponies in Equestria discovered a method of using the lighting that pegasi controlled to power all sorts of things. Since then only the wealthy have been able to afford electricity, more poor families continue to use candle-light. This home seems to have just integrated electric lamps; seeing as there were candles sitting around as well.

I walked over to their dinning room and saw a glass cabinet. Looking inside I could see silver plates and silver utensils. Opening the glass cabinet, I pulled out a sack I had inside one of my pouches and put the silver into the sack. After taking all the silver in the cabinet I looked through a few drawers and stole some coins, placing them into my coin pouch. After checking the rest of the first floor I headed back up the stairs to the bedrooms.

I approached the first door on the left after climbing the stairs and slowly opened the door. I looked inside the dark room to find that it was actually a bathroom. After checking for anything valuable in the bathroom(there wasn't), I exited and closed the door behind me.

I reached the next door on the right side of the hall and checked the door; it was unlocked. I peeked my head into the room to see what was inside. It seemed to be a bedroom, I sneaked inside and saw a young griffon kid sleeping in the bed. I stared at the griffon kid until I noticed something leaning on the wall. I made my way towards it to see that it was a sword. Is this a freaking sword?! I picked the sword up and looked at its sheathe. The sheathe was very well decorated. I gripped the hilt and slid the blade out. Ah. . . It's a toy sword. I thought to myself as I played with the fake blade. Still. . . it's very well made. I bit this could sell for a good price. I slid the blade back into the sheathe and placed it inside the sack.

Leaving the griffon kid's room, I made my way over to the last door in the hallway. I reached for the handle and turned it, only for it to not turn. Locked?! I checked the lock. Why would you lock your bedroom door?! It's not like someone is going to try and- oh wait. I fished out another set of lock picks and proceeded to open the lock. After a series of trial and errors, I heard a satisfying click as the lock disengaged and I opened the door.

Looking inside the room showed that it was another bedroom, presumably the master bedroom from the size. I Spotted two large bumps underneath the bed's blanket and heard a snoring come from the slightly larger bump. Looking to a drawer next to the far wall and made my way across the room. Taking a closer look I could see a few glamorously decorated boxes. Opening them revealed that they were filled with jewelry and gold. Hello~. I grabbed a hand full of jewelry and started shoveling the contents into the sack. Despite being called savage and brutal, these griffins sure do own lots of jewelry. I spotted a candelabra on a table and swiped it. Next I checked the closet to find furs of a multitude of animals ranging from a rabbit's to a bear's. looking through the furs I chose one that was brown and tan and flung it over my shoulders. I took the time to feel the fur's softness. Oh wow this is soft! I stood there as I continued to feel the fur, until I notice the room get slightly brighter. I quickly turn around and see a large male griffin on the bed hold up a candle while rubbing his eyes. Upon seeing me, his eyes enlarged and made a face of disbelief. My eyes widened as well as I shoved the fur into the bag and sprinted to the door.

I ran out into the hallway as I heard the griffin yell "STOP!"

Heh, yeah right. Then I slipped and hit the wall, but recovered and made for the open window. I stopped at the window and looked down to the ground outside.

Oh. . . that's high. I secured the sack to my harness and climbed out the window. I shuffled on the wooden beam before a head popped out of the window, it was the griffin's wife. She held a jewelry box in her claw and proceeded to throw it at me. The box missed me and I prepared to jump down. I let go of the side of the house and spun myself. As I landed I bent my knees to lessen the fall.

I fell to the ground and the bag hit the ground with a clang. Holy- I released a held breathe, but was interrupted as another box smacked into the ground beside me. I looked up to see the griffin wife disappear into the window, only to reappear with two more boxes in her claws. I got to my feet and slung the bag over my back and ran as a box hit the bag. OK, I take it back. This freakin bitch is crazy! I ran across the road as the windows in the other buildings began to light up.

I ran into an alley way as a pair of griffin guards arrived at the house. Looking around the floor of the alley way and found the sewer cover. Lifting the cover, I dropped the bag into the hole. I climbed down the hole and placed the cover back.

Reaching the ground of the sewer, I took a relieved breath. I instantly regretted it. I inhaled the stench of the sewer as I breathed in.Ugh. I lifted the collar of my shirt to cover my nose.It reeks in here! I picked up the bag and checked to see if anything fell out. Nice. Got some good stuff this time. I looked around the sewer tunnel. I think the way home was. . . this way. I walked down the tunnel into the darkness.

\\

Hmm. . . I was pretty sure this was the right way. I scratched my head in thought. I didn't take a wrong turn right? I reach a hand to lean on the wall and immediately retracted it. Uh, gross. I wiped my hand on my shirt. Looking around the next corner, I saw a ladder with a dagger lodged in between two bricks right nest to it. Ah, there it is. I approached the ladder and placed the bag on the ground. I proceeded up the ladder and pushed the cover slightly to look at the other side.

The room on the other side of the cover was darker than the sewers and took a second for my eyes to adjust. There were no windows, but the walls were made up of stone and were supported by wooden beams. To one side of the room were kegs, to the other side, there were shelves of different objects. Yup, looks like the right place. I lifted the cover and placed it to the side before heading back down the ladder to get the bag.

After climbing back up the ladder, this time with the bag on my back, I closed the entrance to the sewers and looked for the stairs. Finding the stairs, I walked up to the door with no worries. I opened the door to enter a familiar hallway. I closed the door and turned to the left. Where is she right now? Looking down the other way I spot a closed door with a light shining through the cracks. I sigh then head towards the door and open it just a crack.

On the other side of the door was a wooden-floored room with two windows and wooden walls. On the wall to one side, there were paintings that seemed to not fit with the drab room. In the middle of the room lay a wooden desk with a lamp facing the door. A rather small gray-feathered (small in terms of griffons, not me) griffon looking down at some papers and occasionally taking a tube-like object to inspect a few jewels. I silently walked into the room, yet she still was able to tell I was there and lifted her head and moved a group of brown feathers from in front of her face. "Great! You're finally back!" She kindly welcomed me back. "What took ya so long?" She got off her chair and took off the ground.

~Kinda. . . woke the baron.~ I used my hands to make the claw-signs of griffon sign language. Which was composed of a combination of hand signals and a series of different scratches.

Trist face swiftly changed, "You what?!" She stopped flapping her wings and landed on the floor. "Ugh! You know how difficult it is going to be to stay inconspicuous now?" She used one of her claws to rub her forehead. ". . . He didn't see your face did he?" She glared at me.

~I don't think so. . .~ Averting my eyes.

"You don't think so?" She looked at me intently.

~Well. . . yea. It was kinda dark. Although from the look on his face, which was hilariously funny by the way.~ She continued to look at me with a 'I'm not in the mood right now face. ~Anyway. . . From the look on his face, he may have seen me. But he also could have not! seen me. . .~ Trist still just continued to stare at me with her lavender eyes as I looked around the room, as if trying to find something interesting to look at.

"You better hope so." She turned and walked to her desk. "We'll find out tomorrow if he puts up a wanted poster. But for now," She stopped walking and turned her head. "Go take a shower, you smell like a sewer rat's bathroom." I looked down at myself.

Wow, I guess I am a bit dirty. My clothes were ripped at the knees and had a few suspicious brown spots. I sniffed my shirt and recoiled at the stench. Ok, I guess I got too used to the sewer smell. I looked around the room to place down my loot.

"Just place it on the floor right where you are. I'll get to looking through it." Trist sat down in her chair. I did as she said and looked at the little tube object she had just picked up.

~What's that?~ Trist looked up and lifted the object and pointed at it. I nodded.

"It's a loupe. Jewelers use them to get a better look at gems to find any mistakes in them." She placed it on the desk. "Bought it today while I was out." I nodded in understanding and turned, exiting the room.

I walk down the hall and up the stairs to the shower upstairs. I enter the small bathroom and remove my clothes. Looking in the slightly cracked mirror, I look at the moderately muscular 14 year old reflected back at me. Thanks to Trist, he had gone through training to strengthen his body. As I entered the shower, my mind drifted as I remembered what happened after Trist had found me in that ditch.

\\

Trist, or her full name Tristana Kaneclaw, belonged to a close-knit, nomadic group of hunters on the outskirts of the Griffin Empire. After Trist had brought her father and a group of hunters, they brought him to their camp. At their camp, I saw other griffons as well as a few tied up humans, again without clothes. I was brought into a large tent and laid across a table. I don't remember what exactly happened after that, but I do remember Trist eyeing me the entire time and speaking to her father (who was the Head Chief). After that a few female griffins began tending to my wounds and bringing me food.

Once in a while Trist would begin to bring me my food. soon enough, she began bringing my food every time. She told me that she was my new master and owner. I quickly gave her a smug look and smiled. Her reaction was hilariously funny that I tried to laugh. Except that laughing made me sound produce an awful guttural sound. This sound I made cause her to laugh and me to pout.

After getting back up from the ground, Trist found that I was different than the other humans and that I was actually able to understand her. I thought she would treat me like a normal person. Instead, she saw me as a rare and exotic pet, rather than a normal human.

Once I had (somewhat) fully healed from my injuries, Trsit immediately went to work in training me. At first I thought she meant pet training. She actually meant physical training.

Apparently, it is tradition for each hunter in the group to hunt with a partner human. The human would find the game, then signal the griffin where it is. Trist was to train me as her partner human(or how she says it "pet").

At first I did horribly, I was eleven years old! I had never done so much physical labor in my life!. The humans here are physically stronger than me. They could lift freaking boulders! However a year into my new life, I figured out a way to even the playing field.

I began to wonder why the humans never seemed to use tools or weapons. When I asked Trist (by writing it down) she looked at me with a look like the answer was obvious. "Cause they're too stupid. Duh." She replied. That's where I got the idea to use a weapon.

After that I was able to use my intellect as well as an uncanny ability I had to see in the dark. Of course, we kept my intellect a secret from the rest of the group and I learned to pretend that I was like a "normal" human. However, on the third year after they found me, some of the group began to whisper and speak of me being unlike the other humans.

Eventually, Trist's father ordered for me to be caged and then inspected the next day. But in the middle of the night, Trist unlocked the cage and said that we were leaving the group. She handed me my belongings and told me that we were leaving.. We left the camp that night and headed to the closest town she knew of, Urenburgh.

Now we live in a quite old house on the edge of town and took up thievery. Since we could best use our training. Even if it is me that's the one going out for heists. Trist works on finding houses to actually steal from.

\\

I jumped as a voice woke me from my daydream. "Hey! Don't take so freaking long! You're going to waste water!" Trist banged on the door. I realized that I was still in the shower and finished cleansing myself of the sewer, then dried myself, and walked out of the bathroom with a towel to dry my hair. I walked sown the stairs and down the hall towards Trist's work room. I opened the door and tried to try my hair one more time, covering my face as I tried. As I entered, I removed the towel to see Trist leaning on her claws.

I paused and stared at her, occasionally looking around the roon in silence. I then noticed the bag of loot on her desk. ~Hey?...~

"Don't you 'Hey' me." She said reaching a claw into the bag and pulling out the contents one by one. "The candelabra is a good find, but the jewels alone we'll sell to some jewelers in need of inexpensive gems." She continued to look through the bag until she pulled out the small brown fur. "But what's with the brown fox pelt? I mean, seriously? We can't sell this for much!" She laid out the fur onto the desk. "It would be a different story if it were a full coat. But if it's just a single fox pelt, we can't sell it." Trist stared intently at as the pelt was sitting on the desk. "So? Care to explain?" I stayed silent with the towel slowly resting on my shoulders before replying.

~I. . . thought that I could. . . wear it.~

". . . Why?" She questioned.

~Well, it's soft. And I like the colors.~ She glared at me as I sheepishly avoided her gaze.

"Fine." She finally exclaimed after glaring a hole into me. "You can had it, but you have to find a use for it." She tossed the pelt to me. "The rest of the things you got from the baron's house will support us for a bit." She looked through the bag one final time before looking to me. "Overall, good heist." I smiled at the compliment. "But don't get cocky!" Trist switched her voice. "You still got seen by the baron!" My smile disappeared in a flash. "Now go to sleep, pet." She pointed at the door.

~Hey Trist?~

"What?" She looked at me.

~Can I actually have a name?~ I asked, a bit angered by her use of the word 'pet'

"You do have a name. 'Pet' " She answered.

~No, I meant like a real name.~ Trist held a claw to her chin and looked at the ceiling in thought.

"Sure, why not?" I smiled at the thought of not being called 'pet' anymore. "You can come up with one." I was so glad as she said that I almost jumped. I had been thinking up an awesome name for weeks now.

~I already have one!~

"Oh yeah? What is it?" She seemed a bit interested, but also seemed to mock me.

~Phantom Thief.~ I theoretically said with my hands. Finishing it off with spirit fingers. Trist just stared at me with a 'your'e kidding, right?' face, before letting out a small laugh.

"Sure, Mr. Thief" She said sarcastically. I pouted at her joking manner.

~Fine then. . . Shorty~ I signaled before booking it through the door and closed it behind me.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!!" She yelled at me through the door. "YOU BETTER GO TO BED BUSTER! AND HOPE THAT THAT DUMB BARON DIDN'T SEE YOUR FACE." I chuckled as I walked down the hall, opened the door to my room, and flopped onto the bed. I lay awake on my bed as the moonlight shined through my window.

This is our new life huh? Doesn't seem that bad. I roll over in my bed and close my eyes. Well world. Say hello to Mister Thief.

Author's Note

And there you have it, After so long, the journey begins as Trist and Phantom start an independent life in the small town of Urenburgh. Please continue to follow, as they face the obstacles that will lead them to Infamy!

For those of you who were wondering. In my world of this, Phantom right now is about 4ft 9in - 5ft. Trsit is about 4ft 6in and a normal grown griffon is in about the 7ft range.

Sorry it took so long, I am going to work on this story more and keep A Not so Ordinary Editor on hold.
Hope you like how the story technically starts ^_^. And once again, I thank you for reading my story.

Also, just cause I want to say it. NO, I am not dead ^_^