There were few ways for a young person to make an honest living in a city, too few ways.
In the city of Lincada, you were either part of the working class or you were filth. Those who were below that order had to steal to survive and quickly banded together under the same interests.
Our young female lead (named Lily) is one such person, being forced to steal to survive.
Her natural skills at lock-picking earned her high respect from her local people; yet she often wonders why an honest life seems to be beyond her reach.
One night, the group of thieves learns about a massive shipment that's been delivered to a local small shop and decide to target it for their next stealing escapade; hoping that they can haul in enough to feed them all for a long period of time.
But something goes wrong, they are all caught by the shopkeeper and attempt to flee the scene. During the commotion and confusion the shopkeeper winds up lifeless on the ground... The group just committed murder.
While grief begins to trike at their hearts, they quickly take anything that they can and completely flee the vicinity.
They would later find themselves back at their local area, trying to ignore the situation and pretend it didn't occur. But the ice soon breaks and they all question what happened. Some saying it was immoral to kill him, whilst others make mention that this was the best haul they ever received.
Our young protagonist chooses to avoid this senseless argument and take a walk outside. She too was at the scene of the crime and worries about any action that could be taken against her for this.
During her thought process, she unintentionally walks directly back to the shop. She sees no one around except for the remaining body of the shopkeeper and a young little pup sitting next to him; the pup stares intently towards the shopkeepers face, waiting for any sign of movement.
Lily, feeling guilt-ridden and deeply saddened, walks over to the pup and reaches out for it; pulling him back away from his owner and into her arms.
The pup shows no sign of resistance but instead looks her in the eyes and then back towards his owner. She carries him home resting on her shoulder.
The thieves (now being done with their little scuffle) have started to drink till their heart's content; they question Lily and her new-found pup, but she makes no mention of the shopkeeper to them.
It is at this point that Lily decides that this lifestyle is not never was what she wanted, she will live a normal life ~ or die trying.
A couple of years have passed since the shopkeepers death and the group of thieves is more renowned throughout Lincada; mostly as a bunch of thieves, but at other times for murder.
Lily does not have contact with this group anymore as she has gotten a daytime job playing music at a local (and busy) auditorium. Her natural talent at playing the piano has earned her much praise throughout her local area, however she does not get paid enough to buy her way out of the Slums of Lincada and is forced to live in between one of the healthy parts of town and the poor area of the city.
She has given her dog a name (Rally), who happens to appreciate his new owner very much; showering her with love and fighting for her.
On the occasional night, Rally will leave Lily's presence and return to the old store to wait for his old master to return.
The investigations into the murder of the shopkeeper have since gone cold and investigations have been called off. This was one case where everyone got off scot-free... or so they thought.