To Train a Thief

Ever since the war and now constant skirmishes over the Obelisk, the Thieves Guild had been running a bit thin with members. They were desperate for new recruits, and those recruits didn't necessarily have to be good ones. Really, this would not have been a problem to Monty if he had not recently been appointed the mentor of several Thieves Guild branches in Neopia. As a renowned fence for the Thieves Guild, Monty really did have better things to do with his time than train newbies. But really, the Cybunny chef would have had no problem if the trainee he received actually held any sort of merit as a thief.

     But that simply was not the case. His first trainee, Lyle Peterson, was a Tyrannian Kougra with zero stealth skills. He couldn't even sneak right, for Fyora's sake! That goofy little tail of his would always stick straight up in the air whenever he crouched down to sneak, ultimately giving away his exact location. Even a Potion of Invisibility wouldn't make this Kougra stealthy or sneaky in any way.

     Monty would have been content just carrying on as a famous Meridellian chef as well as a fence for the Thieves Guild, but this whole training nonsense had to get in the way. 'The sooner I get rid of him, the sooner everything will be back to normal,' the royal Cybunny told himself, watching as Peterson painstakingly tried to keep his tail down as he snuck around the forest dramatically.

     Suddenly, the Tyrannian stopped, having ducked behind a large bush. He giggled softly to himself and called out to Monty, "Bet you can't find me, huh?"

     Monty shook his head and sighed, pulling a bagguss bomb from his pocket, lighting it, and tossing it into the bush where he knew Peterson was hiding. Suddenly, a loud BOOM was heard and the Kougra came staggering out of the bush, toppling to the ground with tail sticking straight up. The Cybunny walked over to his trainee, giving his forehead a poke with his foot paw, "This isn't a game, Peterson! We're not playing hide and seek. However, you're getting better with controlling that tail, at least..."

     Peterson coughed a cloud of smoke and shook his head, standing back up. "I kept my tail down the whole time, right? That was awesome! But did you have to throw a bomb at me? That seems a little excessive, don't you think, Monty?"

     The Cybunny rolled his eyes. 'Now we're talking excessive?' he told himself, sighing once more. "You did keep your tail down the whole time, but you're just not being very stealthy. I could see every move you made."

     The Kougra nodded his head, as if considering how he could improve this situation. There had to be some way to prove just how epic he was to Monty! Suddenly, a thought came to him and he voiced it immediately, "Maybe I just need a more direct approach. I'm pretty strong, you know!"

     Monty shrugged. At the very least, it was worth a shot. "Okay, come at me with everything you've got, then. We'll test your strength."

     Peterson wasted no time in pouncing in Monty's general direction, growling with ferocity. Monty, of course, simply stepped aside and the Kougra was on the ground once again. "Almost got you!" the Kougra exclaimed, getting right back up and going for several more pounces. Every pounce failed just as much as the last.

     "Now... looks like it's my turn," Monty commented, taking a step forward and pulling another bagguss bomb from his pocket.

     "Raaawkk... you're gonna have to stop right there!" a robot crokabek soared down from the treetops, stopping right in front of Monty. The machine somehow managed to change its expression, wearing a permanent glare on its face for Monty. The crokabek craned its neck forward, pecking Monty on the forehead.

     The Cybunny returned the crokabek's glare with his own, grumbling, "Crowe! You aren't supposed to interfere! It's the only way he will learn. Peterson, control your bird!"

     Peterson shrugged, smiling goofily. "He's just doing what he's programmed to do," he explained matter-of-factly.

     This response, of course, received an eye-roll from his mentor. Monty was simply not amused. "He's programmed to handle your enemies. I'm not an enemy!"

     Peterson nodded his head in agreement. That was true, Monty wasn't an enemy. However, Crowe wasn't programmed to deal with the Kougra thief-in-training's enemies. "He's just programmed to protect me and help me out. I never said anything about enemies."

     Yet another eye roll from the Cybunny met the Kougra's next response. "Yes, yes... but you've gotta learn to..." Monty stopped himself in mid-sentence, a sudden realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. 'It's true that I'll probably never be able to train this guy to be a good thief. Still, there's hope for his crokabek. Maybe the key is teaching them to work better together...' the Cybunny pondered to himself, a little grin coming across his face. Maybe he would have peace yet again after all! "Alright, new plans! Peterson, I want you to play to your strengths... and your strengths happen to be Crowe. You two should work together, so what I want you to do is teach him signals for what you want him to do. Meet me back here at sunrise tomorrow morning. We'll put your strategy with Crowe to the test."

     And, with that, Monty left, returning to his restaurant, leaving Peterson to contemplate a clever strategy with his petpet companion. "Maybe he's onto something! With my thieving strategies combined with your ability to fly and your small size, we can't lose!" the Kougra exclaimed, grinning like a fool once more.

     "Rawwk, you're really onto something! So what's the plan...?" the crokabek crowed, roosting comfortably on Peterson's shoulder.

     ---

     The next morning arrived and Monty found himself in the middle of the forest yet again, waiting. "Where are they? They should be here by now," the Cybunny complained, tapping his foot with impatience and mild irritation. He wasn't one to enjoy waiting even for a short time. One would think a revered Thieves Guild fence would have developed more patience; however, that was not the case with Monty Langston.

      "I'm here!" Peterson exclaimed, rushing toward Monty with Crowe in tow. "Sorry, I'm late... we overslept somehow..."

      "You kept hitting the snooze button..." Crowe explained oh-so-helpfully.

      The Cybunny determined he should probably just keep his eyes rolled when around these two. They certainly were a piece of work, and not good work at that. "Regardless, show me what you've taught Crowe," Monty stated, a twinge of irritation still present in his tone.

      "You won't be disappointed! Now, let me just get up in the tree..." Peterson said, all the while scrambling up onto a high tree branch. Monty had to admit, he was impressed the not-quite-lean Kougra managed to get up there. "If you'll just dart around in the forest, Crowe will pursue you... stealthily!"

      Monty nodded. "Alright, then. I hope you impress me, Peterson," he warned, beginning to saunter into the forest, quickly breaking out into an effortless sprint. Even dressed in his normal classy attire, Monty was still quite light on his feet, not to mention difficult to follow with all of the zig-zagging between trees and bushes he was doing.

      Crowe turned to Peterson for his first set of instructions, which the Kougra silently signaled. These signals informed the crokabek to stay up in the trees and begin a steady pursuit. Crowe did as instructed, with some effort catching up and staying with Monty. Another signal from Peterson told Crowe to fall back and move to the side, to which Crowe responded to the letter.

      Monty had to admit, he was impressed. Even now, he couldn't sense the machine's presence. He was totally silent. Maybe Peterson really could be a thief, though quite an unconventional one. 'Now I'll really have to concentrate to find him...' the Cybunny told himself, trying to pick up the flapping of Crowes wings or really anything to give away his location. 'I think... sounds like he's maybe behind me and to the left...' he concluded, turning to see no sign of Crowe. Before the Cybunny could even fully turn his head around, Peterson had already given the signal for Crowe to soar back up into the trees and out of sight.

      'Wow, he really is good with Crowe...' Monty began searching again, picking up faint sounds every now and then, but never actually spotting the robotic crokabek. Turning back around, Monty found the machine right in front of him, head craned forward and just about to peck. With deft reflexes, the Cybunny fence moved away from the attack. "You almost got me... but almost isn't close enough!" he exclaimed, taking a step back, turning directly around and running away. This test was not one of strength, but of stealth and therefore, Monty refrained from fighting back.

      Instead of directly chasing Monty, Peterson instead directed Crowe to take to the trees once more and get into position, going through the stalking process all over again and this time, Crowe's strike was successful. Monty groaned, rubbing the spot on his forehead which had just been pecked. "Well, that was good. Very good! You can come out of the trees now, Peterson!" Monty exclaimed, looking forward to congratulating his trainee.

      Peterson did as he was told, hopping down, goofy grin still present. "That was pretty awesome, right? You couldn't even figure out where Crowe was!"

      Monty nodded. "Nope, I couldn't. Now, if you just stick with that strategy, you might just have the makings of a great thief."

      "Rawwkk, we sure will! I got you good, rawwk!" Crowe exclaimed, with joy, laughing in a mechanical sort of way.

      "Yeah, you did... but that still doesn't change that you sound like a pawkeet," Monty commented, shaking his head and smiling amusedly. Peterson still had a long road ahead of him, but Monty was starting to gain a little more confidence in the young Kougra.

The End