Usual disclaimers apply: I don't own, kudos to those who do.

My first installment into how the stowaway got on board the ship. Part two to follow hopefully soon.

Criticsm is good, guidance is better.

A/N: How does one make italics and such on this forum?

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She ran through the dark winding alleys of the Eavesdown Docks. It was a place she knew almost as well as the Common on Isis. Many was the time she’d sat for hours on end, waiting for certain people to stroll past or slip by so she could get a lock on their information. In her business, information and a sharp mind---along with the art of disappearing quickly---were among the greatest assets a Shadow news dealer could possess.

They were gaining. There was no need to even attempt to blend into the bustle of the docks; the place was swarming with unseen eyes looking to snatch her for the bounty she had on her head. She’d been the second person to escape that cachot concret blanche, and in their eyes, that was two too many.

She vaguely remembered the little one that had gone before her---a tiny, lithe little thing that looked much too fragile. Though she had witnessed a couple of the things they had done to her (hell, they had made her watch), she never really got to know even the little one’s name. When she realized that the girl had escaped, a part of her cheered. It gave her hope that she herself could escape that torturous nightmare.

They were closing in now---there were at least three plainclothes that were steadily moving to surround her near the edge of the docks. Two more, clearly bounty hunters, were approaching from the north end of the dock.

If I’m going to pull this off, I’m going to have to hide---fast, she thought. She knew that the Elders would want to know what had happened all those years ago; and what the fate of the other five had been. She tried to push the thought of seeing the “Scarlet Fox” collapsing in that cold white hallway, hi