Joshua paused for a few seconds in silence after hearing what she had to say, stopping right before he said something to reconsider. Instead he cleared his mind and cleared his throat before responding. "Where would the Masks be? I don't know... helping citizens with tasks that they may find difficult on their own... responding quickly to fires starting thanks to a tipped candle instead of a mad vandal... maybe even helping a little kid find a lost toy." The irritation was still in his voice despite his initial hesitation to clear it from his tone. "We aren't around to simply be upholders of the law; you can have simple town guards for that, but no... you and your friends have to go around stealing stuff and causing trouble for everyone else and make us clean up the messes and deal with the angry citizens. And of course you can't have the light without the dark; they define each other with being absent in one place, but you don't have to be so... combative about it. And you're talking to the wrong one about grudges: If I was so adamant about grudges, I wouldn't even be in Cille..." He suddenly stopped himself, not wanting to spill a personal event to a thief.

Joshua stammered a bit at the part where the thieves didn't kill. He was sure that wasn't a true statement, but at the same time he couldn't think of a report ever showing that the Guild ever killed anyone. Instead he groaned and he looked at her with irritation. "You can hold yourself on such a high horse, but at the end of the day you are nothing more than a thief and an enemy of the law-abiding citizen of the town of Cille." His Mask pride was slowing a bit more now and he didn't even realize it yet. "It doesn't matter how far you or your friends will run off too, because at the end of the day you will be put behind bars. At least you can see your friend Ryan again..." He knew this was a dagger for her; he read a report about Ryan wanting someone that matched her description.

Joshua was quiet once again when he heard Emelote say that last sentence. Maybe she was wanting to break him out sometime soon? It wasn't going to matter if he had his way. Without anything else ot say to her right now, he suddenly lunged at her, hoping that she wasn't going to be able to use magic at this time. She did look a little tired, so maybe she wouldn't, but Josuha was fully expecting to be blinded in response for this.

Joshua stared at her, a mix of frustration and defiance burning in his eyes. "I'm bound to my oath thief, no matter if I wear my uniform or not.". He took a few steps forward, making it clear that he wasn't going to give up just yet. "We aren't going to be afraid of what may come to us; as long as we make sure law breakers are put behind bars, it will be worth it."

(Shorther than usual, I know..)

Joshua's advanace faltered when he heard her boast about the Mask that was blinded. So it was her after all... add that to the list of things that she needed to be brought in for. But there was a major problem; her eyes were glowing, and they weren't before she used her magic, and now that they were glowing again, does that mean that she would actually be able to blind him? He wanted to say something... anything at all to try to make her surrender and give up, but there was nothing that came to mind, so instead he sighed and looked at her with dulled intensity in his eyes. "You may think you can use your magic to get away every time... but at some point your luck will run out, and I'll make sure the key is thrown away when you're finally behind bars." With that, he walked away, knowing there was no point in continuing the conversation. He felt like he was doing the Masks a great disservice, but at the same time, he also felt like there was a third pair of eyes watching him as he walked away, a feeling that quickly evaporated.