This is how it worked. The activity caught children’s eyes, and they, in turn, pulled in their parents. As the audience grew, so to did the interest of ambivalent bystanders - and thus formed a group of distracted onlookers: perfect prey for those who were skilled at sleight of hand but a little less morally uptight.

Some, like the victims of their little heist, would have called it thievery. The performers and their far more unassuming compatriots called it compulsory tipping.

They belonged to a troupe that moved from town to town, and with Skia naturally presenting them with their biggest audience, they were put in full force. Whatever lured the captain, the lieutenant, and the soldier to the vicinity of the show mattered little to the thieves with sticky fingers. Even if they had recognized the relative power of two of the men from whom they would attempt to steal, the would-be thieves hardly would have cared. After all, two of the men were clearly nobles - and nobility meant wealth - while the third, well, he was just unlucky, wasn’t he?

A young man bumped into @warren , while he watched the show. When the contact undoubtedly caught the captain’s attention, the passerby responsible would turn to offer a quick apology and sheepish smile before continuing on his way. While the captain had hopefully been distracted by the show, nimble fingers had dipped into jacket pocket with a moderate amount of skill. The man’s crossed arms allowed access to the pockets in the sides of his jacket, and it was into one of these that a slender hand reached - and removed whatever his fingers had first touched.

The pickpocket who went for Aldrich Abbott was considerably less skilled. She had tried to sneak up behind him to reach into an open pocket, but he had shifted at the last moment. Her hand came into contact with the lieutenant instead. Like the rabbit in the magician’s arms, she froze, reached blindly for whatever she could, then bolted, whether or not she’d actually managed to snag anything.

Ber, having stooped to such acts himself in the past, was no stranger to pickpockets. When he noticed the kid creeping up beside him, he pointedly lowered his hands to his sides and eyed the boy. He wouldn’t let the kid steal from him, but from if he did so from the noblewoman beside him— Ber turned his attention back to the show. Well, he didn’t see a thing.

Although the magic show itself had gone well thus far, the second part of their operation had not. Having conned many smaller audiences out of their gold, the troupe had experience pulling off their heist, so to do so in Skia ought to have been no different. And yet... Perhaps it was the pressure of the big city or the increased military presence or perhaps the young thieves were simply not on their game today, but from his position on the stage, the magician could see as everything began to fall apart. He watched the girl and the boy run away after getting caught, and soon enough his gaze landed on the captain’s determined approach through the crowd.

Before @warren or Aldrich Abbott could get too close, however, a commotion began off to the side of the crowd.

Though he kept his head turned toward the magician, Ber had maintained enough of a vague awareness of the kid beside him to recognize when he went on his way, presumably having successfully rid the noblewoman of her coin pouch. Sure enough, when the sounds of trouble yanked his gaze away from the stage, he briefly noted the kid’s absence before focusing on the source of the commotion. Nostrils flaring and eyes wide, a horse hitched to a nearby post reared up. Something - or perhaps someone, Ber didn’t know - spooked the creature further, and with the cut leads dangling from its bridle, it tried to escape the perceived threat as the people around it, unprepared for this turn of events, scrambled to get out of the way.

“My cabbages!”

The cry drew Ber’s attention from the panicked horse to a nearby merchant, who stood beside his toppled cart with his hands hands on his head. Leafy greens spilled to the ground and began to roll across the street, where most ended up trampled by people trying to get out of the way. Still unaware of Woodwick and Abbott, Ber began to approach to try to figure out how to help the vendor or catch the horse or, ideally, both.

Amid the commotion, the magician performed his final trick: a disappearing act.