[Backstory] Thieves' Cant

She didn’t headbutt Aidan because he had stolen her diary. She didn’t even rise to it when he started reading excerpts in a mocking, high pitched voice - even though she felt her eyes burn with embarrassment and anger as he did so.
 
No, Robyn Sharpcrest wouldn’t let such things bring her down to his level. But when Hamish (stupid Hamish!) had tried to intervene and get her book back, Aidan had shoved him to the ground, and she saw red.
 
Though Aidan was only a year or so older, he had quite a bit of height and size advantage over Robyn, even with her recent growth spurt that made her limbs gangly and stringy. Still, she had the element of surprise, and a strong head to boot, using both to her benefit when she launched at him, cracking her head against his.
 
He reeled back, shielding his nose as blood started to bloom, tears welling in his eyes. Robyn’s nose was bleeding too, but she bore the pain with more strength than the older boy, anger fueling her adrenalin as she continued her assault, small fists pounding against his chest.
 
“Hey. Hey! What in the name of - Robyn, stop!”
 
Someone grabbed her by the shoulders and she wriggled as best she could, but whoever had hold of her was certainly much stronger. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and she could barely process the conversation happening around her - Aidan complaining loudly, Hamish protesting in her defence, and a rumbling tone of the adult that still had a hold of her by her upper arms.
 
“Enough.” Hamish and Aidan immediately fell silent, and Robyn also stopped resisting, going limp in his grip. Mr Kinsley’s tone was firm and commanding, more than she had ever heard from the gentle man before. “Aidan, return the young lady’s book. Robyn, I am going to set you down now. I suggest you both apologise and forget this happened. No, Hamish,” he added when Hamish went to open his mouth.
 
Robyn felt her feet touch the ground and broad hands let go of her arms but Mr Kinsley kept them resting gently on her shoulders - a reassurance and a warning to not scuffle anymore. Aidan, still sniffling and nose bright red, picked up the diary from the ground and held it out sullenly.
 
“...s’rry.”
 
Robyn wiped her bleeding nose on her sleeve and scowled, snatching back her book. “Don’t do it again,” she snapped.
 
Mr Kinsley sighed exasperatedly. “And?”
 
She huffed. Hamish was right. It wasn’t fair. Aidan started all of it. But if there was one thing she had learned already is that plenty of things weren’t fair, and sometimes you had to choose your battles. “I’m sorry.”
 
Judging from Mr Kinsley’s second sigh, it wasn’t very convincing, but it would have to be enough. “Right. Aidan, get yourself home. You too, Hamish. I’ll take Robyn back to the Tower.”
 
“But-,”
 
“Now, Hamish.”
 
Hamish looked rebellious for a moment, and stepped forward to give Robyn a hug. She returned it gingerly, the adrenaline fading and leaving her feeling sore, her arms starting to ache. “Later,” he said as farewell before heading further down the street as he was told.
 
The road to Sentinel Tower never felt longer as Robyn kept pace with Mr Kinsley in relative silence. At some point she realised it would be very obvious she got into trouble from the look of her, so she started wiping her face as best she could and looking at her blood and dirt covered sleeves to see what she could hide.
 
Mr Kinsley chuckled good naturedly. “There’s no hiding this today. I imagine that shirt will be stuck that colour for a few washes too. Don’t worry, I heard what Hamish had to say and I will explain the situation to Quinn.”
 
Robyn bristled. “Why did you make me apologise then?”
 
“Bastion is far too small to hold the resentments it already does. The ones that are not worth holding on to should be soothed wherever possible.” He smiled softly, patting Robyn’s shoulder gently. “I hope you will remember this rather than have to learn the hard way as I did.”
 
Robyn rubbed her nose. “His head was already pretty hard.”
 
“Hmm. You had the right idea, aiming for his nose, but you want to use this part of your head,” he answered, tapping the top of her forehead, “rather than your nose as well. It’s the toughest part of your head to the softest part of your enemy.”
 
The guards at the gate saluted Mr Kinsley as they crossed into the Tower grounds. Robyn felt her heart rate spike again and her hands go clammy, knowing there was likely to be (another) severe scolding when Quinn saw the state she was in. Quinn’s sharp tongue was legendary amongst recruits, and Robyn wasn’t spared it just because she was his ward.
 
Quinn was loading up a cart when they arrived. “Shepherd’s arse,” he swore, setting down a box roughly and taking two quick strides to Robyn, taking her by the chin and turning her face left and right to check the damage. “What in the blazes happened?”
 
Robyn shuffled her feet, embarrassed, and Mr Kinsley gently patted her shoulders. “How about you go and get yourself cleaned up, Roby, and I’ll speak to Quinn for you, how does that sound?”
 
She didn’t need telling twice as she dashed for the stores and headed straight through the stores to her little room in the back. Washing her face was a bit of an effort, and she found her eyes watering as she rubbed her swollen nose too abruptly.
 
Some time later, there was a knock on the door, three quick raps that indicated Quinn was coming in, so be presentable. She jumped to attention, washcloth still in her hand, as Quinn stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.
 
“At ease,” he said gruffly, and Robyn tried to relax. It didn’t really work. “Kinsley told me what he heard. Now I want to hear your side.”
 
Robyn felt her eyes burn and she took a shaky breath. “Aidan stole my diary,” she blurted out. “He wouldn’t give it back, and he was reading it out loud, and it was really embarrassing, but I didn’t hit him for that, Hamish tried to get it back and he pushed him over so I headbutted him and hit him back.”
 
Quinn seemed to take a moment to process the rush of words and try and parse the sense from it. “Alright. Alright.” He rubbed the back of his head, his wispy hair sticking up in several directions. “I can’t say I’m happy about this, but I’m satisfied you didn’t start it, so that’ll do. Now, where’s this diary?”
 
She frowned. “Why?”
 
“Because I said so, that’s why,” Quinn snapped, though he seemed to regret it after seeing Robyn flinch as she handed the book over. He flicked through it briefly, not really reading the details, but taking note of the languages used. “I don’t mind what you’re writing, girl, but if you’re wanting to keep secrets, you can do better than Common. Or even Dwarvish,” he added, pointing to a page where she had switched. He paused as he turned another page. “Your Elvish script could be neater.”
 
Robyn scowled, but didn’t argue. “Yessir.”
 
Quinned turned to a blank page and gestured to Robyn to sit down at the small writing desk that was crammed into the corner for her studies. He laid the book out and started writing, and Robyn watched every scratchy penstroke.
 
“That’s gibberish,” she claimed.
 
“Is it? Or is it that you just can’t read it?”
 
Robyn squinted at the script on the page. “That letter is dwarvish, and that is elvish. Why do you have them together?”
 
“That’s how you hide what you mean. It won’t keep it completely secret from everyone - there are others that know this cipher - but at least little shits like Aidan won’t be able to know what it is.”
 
Robyn did a double take at Quinn’s description of the other boy, mouth open in shock, but before she could say anything, Quinn smacked her lightly upside the head. “But just because he’s a shit doesn’t excuse you brawling in the street like an animal, you hear! Now, you learn this key and I will test you on it every day, and once you’ve learned it, we burn this book, and you keep the key in your head. Got it?”
 
Rubbing the back of her head reflexively (it never really hurt when Quinn rapped her, it was always just enough as a warning), Robyn couldn’t help but grin at the prospect of being able to hide secrets in plain sight. “Yessir!”