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We made a big mistake when we went on the dragon's quest. Not that it was
our fault, we had no choice. An oath is an oath, especially one made to a dragon.
It was an unavoidable mistake. And what is that mistake? Getting on the bad
side of a certain fire Zafara.
I WAS INSIDE, avoiding Jaix and Taffin, who were outside, practising their
pitching. I rue the day MiracleStar showed those two how to play baseball. Skyil
was also inside, nursing a bruise from one of Taffin's fastballs. But when I
heard a loud crash, I ran downstairs in a hurry.
"What is it?" I exclaimed, rushing into the
living room.
My owner was sitting on the floor, her hand grasping
the silver starburst necklace, and a faraway look in her eyes. The mug of hot
tea she'd been carrying was broken on floor.
"MiracleStar?" I asked, waving a paw in front
of her face.
She didn't reply, and I fretted for a couple
seconds, wondering it I should call an ambulance. But then she took a deep breath
and shook her head a bit, letting go the necklace.
"What is it?" I asked, worried.
"Get the others," she said grimly. "I've got
something to tell you all."
I ran upstairs and banged on Skyil's door.
"C'mon, something's up!" I shouted, then trotted
downstairs and braved the backyard.
"Quit fooling around and get in here!" I shouted.
Taffin eyed me edgily, then threw the ball as
hard as he could.
"Catch Nianso!!"
I shrieked and ducked, the ball slamming against
the side of the house.
"Holy Kau Taffin!" I raged. "Don't do that!!"
He shrugged and reclaimed the ball, heading into
the house.
They gathered in the living room, Taffin teleporting
to the best spot on the couch before any of us could get there. I snarled at
him and found a spot on the arm of the sofa.
"Now, I got your paint brushes from a dragon,"
MiracleStar said, repeating what we already knew. "In return, he demanded that
I serve him occasionally. He can contact me telepathically through this necklace.
And we've got a mission from him."
She paused, letting us all take this in.
"Some stuff of his was stolen the other day.
We've got to get it back. Somehow it wound up with a pet, Angel_the_Faerie,
and her owner is Rainbow_Faerie02. From what the dragon told me, they don't
know who the original thief is, as this treasure managed to trade hands a couple
times before it landed in her possession. So we've got to avoid Angel and Rainbow,
as they don't know what they have, and are therefore innocent of this whole
business. Taffin, you go get the files from Neopia Central about them, Skyil,
you go scope out her house, and we'll plan and get the equipment together. Now,
go."
And used to this routine, we split up to prepare.
***
We met on the outskirts of the Faerieland residential area. It was midday,
unusual to thieve during, but Angel_the_Faerie's house was pretty remote, and
Skyil had discovered that they were both gone for the day. We weren't wearing
our cloaks or anything, and we kept our wings closely folded to distract attention
from us. I nodded to Jaix and Skyil, and the two slipped off for the side of
the house, MiracleStar took the back, and Taffin and I took the other side.
It was a huge house, and we quickly found a convenient window.
"Hurry up," I whispered.
"I'm hurrying," Taffin replied irritably. "This
has got to be done just right due to security systems, you know."
"Yeah, I know," I muttered, hoping MiracleStar
had got the system bypassed correctly.
"Got it," the Kyrii said, and slid the window
up.
I climbed through after him, and started scouting
the house out while Taffin helped the rest of the crew get in.
"It's clear," I announced to MiracleStar and
the rest as we gathered in the hall.
"Okay. Taffin, Nianso, take the upstairs, I'll
take the downstairs with Jaix and Skyil," she directed, and we split up.
I took the stairs on all fours, my tail smacking
the wall as I turned a little too sharply.
"Careful," Taffin admonished.
"I am careful!" I said indignantly, waiting
at the top of the stairs.
I slipped into the first room and started checking
all the usual spots where people tended to hide valuables.
"Knowing our luck it's in a safety deposit box,"
Taffin called out from another room.
"No, the dragon was quite clear that it's in
the house!" I replied.
"Sure. How's the dragon know?"
"Beats me. Now hush up and keep looking."
"Found it!" I heard Jaix holler from downstairs.
"All right!" I hissed, and stepped out into
the hallway.
It was then that disaster struck. I heard a yelp
from Taffin and the fire Kyrii came dashing out of the room, forgetting to teleport
in his panic to get away.
"What the…?" I muttered, hopping out of his
way.
Immediately charging after came a Noil, yipping
and snarling. The beast leaped at me, and I dodged to one side, but it's pointy
teeth latched onto my ear.
"Oww!" I shrieked, smacking at it with one paw,
trying to get it to let go.
"Hang on Nianso!" Taffin called out, manoeuvring
closer to the vicious petpet who was still chewing on my ear.
"Ow ow ow ow…." I whined, trying to hold still.
The Kyrii raised his dagger, hilt down, and smacked
in on top of the Noil's head. The pet pet let go and staggered back, his eyes
crossed, before sliding to the floor unconscious.
"Thanks," I said, rubbing my sore ear.
"No problem," he said cheerily, then teleported
downstairs.
I sighed and was about to follow him when I felt
the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I turned in trepidation and stared
into the room I had just left. A female fire Zafara smashed through the window,
sending glass flying everywhere, landing on the floor in a crouch, her immense
black wings folded up over her head, and a Portable Kiln in one hand. She wore
cream coloured leg bandages, and spiked cuffs on her legs and wrist. A similar
coloured bandanna was tied around her head, just above a pair of fierce and
fiery eyes. I hardly reached her shoulder. I stood there in dumbstruck awe for
a few moments, then collected my wits and dove over the edge of the banister.
"Get out!" I shrieked to my startled family.
"We've got unfriendly company in the form of a Zafara!!"
"Skyil!! When you said she had incredible stats,
just how incredible did you mean?!" Jaix hollered, as she and MiracleStar ran
past to the exit.
"Really really incredible," she replied, ducking
outside with the treasure.
"Get out of here Taffin! Make sure MiracleStar
and Skyil get away, then come back and help me and Jaix," I snapped as the sound
of a banister shattering signified that Angel_the_Faerie was indeed following
us.
She landed at the bottom of the stairs, murder
in her eyes.
"I despise thieves," she snarled, enunciating
each word.
I could feel the heat from her Portable Kiln
from where I stood.
"Take left," I muttered to Jaix.
We split up, daggers in our paws, circling around
the Zafara, who just stood there, waiting. Jaix attacked first, leaping at her,
then I leaped too, towards her back as she turned to meet Jaix. She spun, catching
Jaix in one hand, swinging her Portable Kiln in a backhand manoeuvre. I barely
saw it before something incredibly hard and blazing with fire hit me full in
the chest, sending me flying across the room to slam into the wall. I lay on
the floor, a red haze covering my vision, my breathing strained from the blow.
I could dimly see Jaix trying to free himself from Angel_the_Faerie's grasp,
and she threw him, leaping into the air, raising her Kiln high.
I staggered to my feet, and ran, leaping at the
Zafara and ramming her in the side, knocking her to the ground. I rolled and
managed to recover to my feet, but Angel_the_Faerie was hardly even dazed by
my rush. I leaped back just in time to avoid a second hit with the Kiln.
"Get out of here!" Jaix called, rushing forwards to engage Angel and give
me time to escape.
I took his advice and ran for the door, hardly
looking back. I could hear the sounds of Jaix and her fighting. Taffin was waiting
at the door.
"They're safe," he said breathlessly.
"Jaix!" I called, turning just in time to see
him barely dodge the Kiln, his fur scorched from the near miss.
"Coming!" he called, running toward us, the
Zafara in pursuit.
I too took flight, and Jaix followed. Taffin
flew alongside us, glancing back and muttering something not-nice under his
breath. I heard wing beats, and realised the Zafara was still following us.
"How'd this happen?" I moaned.
"We got unlucky," Jaix said, panting. "Real
unlucky. Apparently this Zafara has been stolen from before, and has a nose
for when someone's in her house."
"Great. A Zafara with a grudge and a Portable
Kiln," Taffin muttered.
"Taffin, keep her busy, we'll get ahead and
then teleport to catch up," I ordered, and veered in the direction of Faerieland.
"Right."
And a soft pop signified Taffin teleporting away
from us.
I could hear him taunting the Zafara from behind
us.
"Hey, errrm, I was wondering," he was saying.
"Thief!" the Zafara snarled.
Pop!
"So, anyway…. whew that was close!"
"Coward! If you're brave enough to break in,
you're brave enough to take the consequences!"
Pop!
"No, I don't think so. Even if you are incredibly
good-looking."
There was a screech of frustrated rage, and I
finally looked back.
"C'mon Taffin, quit flirting and let's go!"
Taffin was still doing the strange mid-air dance
with the extremely angry Zafara, teleporting just out of range of her whenever
she got close.
"See, you're a very beautiful Zafara, and I'm
a pretty handsome Kyrii,"
The Zafara dove for him, and he vanished and
reappeared above her.
"So I was wanting to know if you'd like to go
on a date?"
"He can't hear us," Jaix observed. "Or he's
ignoring us. With Taffin and girls you can never tell."
"Scratch that plan then," I grumbled.
I flew a little closer, where Angel_the_Faerie
hovered just out of striking range, amazed by the Kyrii's cheek.
"You're asking me out?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I mean, why not? This Friday good?"
"Why…. You…. " she sputtered, eyes boiling with
rage, swinging the Kiln up at him.
"Or maybe Saturday?" Taffin persisted, once
again teleporting out of range.
"Taffin, there's plenty other eligible girls,
let's get out of here!" I shouted, hovering a short distance away.
"Well, sorry Angel_the_Faerie, but my sister
says time to go. You sure Friday's not okay?"
And with one last cheeky grin, he teleported
over to us and the three of us went into straight dives to get away.
"She's still following us," Jaix commented.
"And gaining…. She's apparently a faster flyer
than us," Taffin observed.
"Why don't you go ask her out again?" I said
through gritted teeth.
"Well, okay…"
"No, I was just kidding!" I said hastily. "Pull
up, NOW!"
And we flared our wings, pulling up with a sharp
pop. I glanced behind me, and saw Angel_the_Faerie pull an incredible aerial
manoeuvre, twisting and changing direction from down to up with hardly any loss
of speed.
"Kiko snot," I whispered, and felt a hand close
on my tail.
I was yanked out of the air, and dangled upside
down from her grasp, flailing my wings in a panicked attempt to free myself.
I stared into her furious eyes, somehow knowing that I doomed.
"Ummm, sorry bout all that," I whispered.
"Sorry?" she snarled. "You broke into my house
and stole from me!"
She raised her Portable Kiln and glanced over
at Jaix and Taffin, who hovered out of range, eyes wide and uncertain what to
do.
It was then that I felt something strange. A
twisting, a bubbling of raw power inside me, and I felt all the hair on the
back of my neck stand up. The air seemed charged with power, and I think even
Angel_the_Faerie felt it too, because she hesitated. Then I was suddenly right
side up, hovering in mid-air with my brothers, and Angel_the_Faerie was about
a yard away, holding nothing and looking extremely puzzled.
"Another one that can teleport?" she said, and
started to fly towards us, only to stop, and place a hand out, feeling something.
"What the?" she said, puzzled.
I flew forwards, bemused, and placed my hand
out opposite hers. The air was solid. I then turned back towards my brothers.
"Seems reality has changed a bit…" I murmured
in a strange voice.
I turned back to my brothers.
"Well, guess my talent has finally decided to
kick in," I said, trying to suppress a grin.
We laughed and started to glide away, leaving
a furious Zafara behind us, who had just realised that the air was not only
solid before her, but all around.
"You'll regret this!" she screamed. "I swear
I will hunt you down, thieves!"
"We're not just any thieves, we're the Dragon
Thieves!" I called out behind me, then folded my wings and dove for home.
The End
Note: I would like to thank Rainbow_Faerie02 for generously allowing my use
of Angel_the_Faerie and Grrr the Noil for this story. We all know that in a fair
fight, Angel could take on all the Dragon Thieves and win. But obviously the thieves
don't believe in fair. | 
