Thieves Alike

     -*- Obsidian and Nadyr -*-

          "Can you believe we're working?" Zena said a bit more enthusiastically than Nathan felt. The trip back to the Marketplace was much quicker than their ride up to Faerieland.

     "Yes, but where do we start?" Nathan asked, examining his surroundings. They had just entered the Marketplace and the crowds and the number of shops seemed overwhelming. "What're we after again?"

     "I have the job posting right here." Zena pulled the posting out from her jacket and waved it at the Brown Lutari before reading it out loud:

     Item(s): 3 Blue Evil Fuzzle Plushies.

     Time: 2:00 hours.

     Reward: 23,000 Neopoints.

     "Not bad. The reward seems decent, but we have less than two hours to find them," Nathan said, looking up at a clock mounted to the wall of a nearby shop. Twenty minutes had already passed by.

     "How hard can that be? There's lots of shops to choose from! And, we get a large bonus if we're quick," the Green Ixi said. The excitement of the challenge flowed through her body and the adrenaline caused her to speak a little more energetically than normal.

     "But how much do the plushies cost?" Nathan asked.

     "Beats me. I just picked the posting with the largest reward. I can't think they would cost too much," Zena said, tugging on Nathan's arm to get going.

     They hurried through the bustling crowd, visiting several shops without success. Nerves began to build up in them as the time quickly ticked by. If they didn't meet the deadline, not only would they receive no reward from the Employment Agency, but they would have to line up in that queue again hoping to be fortunate enough to snag another job.

     Almost an hour had gone by when they reached a large shop that advertise the largest assortment of Employment Agency items around. Eager to finish the challenge, Zena raced up to the booth.

     "Do you any Blue Evil Fuzzle Plushies?" Zena asked, gasping for air. A lanky Krawk with a sheepish grin smirked back.

     "Of course! 7,500 Neopoints each. How many?" The shopkeeper asked.

     "What?!" Zena gasped in disbelief. Nathan had just caught up when Zena turned around and shoved him on the shoulder. "Did you hear that?!" Nathan nodded with a pale face.

     "You have to do us a favour. We don't have much on us and we need those plushies for a job. We're trying to make some Neopoints," Zena pleaded.

     "Nope, sorry. I don't do deals," the Krawk insisted, crossing his arms together to show his authority.

     "But even if we buy those, our reward will be next to no profit," Zena tried again.

     "Then I suggest buying them quickly to get the bonus," the Krawk smirked again. Zena scowled with tight lips.

     "Look, we don't have enough Neopoints to buy them," Nathan said, rummagging through his bag. He looked back at the cunning Krawk. "We'll cut you a deal. You give us the items, and we'll return with the profit. Plus some."

     "Like I said, I don't do deals," the Krawk insisted before nodding his head towards some smaller shops down the road. "You could chance going somewhere else, but good luck finding those plushies for much cheaper."

     "Wait, the purse!" Zena suddenly realized. Zena took it out of her backpack and opened it up. Inside was at least 25,000 Neopoints.

     "It looks like there's enough," Zena said giddily. Nathan counted out the Neopoints for the three plushies and put the amount on the counter.

     "You keep your purse in a backpack?" The Krawk crooked his eyebrow.

     "Yeah, where else would I keep it?" Zena said, rolling her eyes. The merchant exchanged a puzzled look and shook it off. Taking the Neopoints, he counted it out and handed over two Blue Evil Fuzzle Plushies and 7,500 Neopoints.

     "No, we need three for the job," Zena corrected. "I gave you enough."

     "But I only have two," the Krawk answered calmly with a subtle smile. "And I gave you the correct change back."

     "You didn't say that!" Zena snapped. The Krawk just shrugged his shoulders slightly.

     "Where do we get the other one?!" Nathan asked, trying hard to keep his calm.

     "Not sure, but check some of the smaller shops I suggested earlier. You may just get lucky." With that, the Krawk cackled to himself and wandered off to organize some distant shelves.

     If Zena didn't hold him back, Nathan would have hopped over the counter to exchange words with the Krawk. But they had a job to complete and they had to move fast. Nathan opted instead to cast a necrosis spell to a basket of fruit, which whithered up to an unrecognizable blackened state. The Krawk didn't notice and Nathan was okay with that.

     "We should've just stolen them," Nathan muttered to Zena as they walked away, checking out the stock of the various small shops. "That's why I didn't bring many Neopoints with me. This trip with you seems to have softened me up a bit." Zena glared at him. It didn't sound like a compliment.

     "He only had two anyway, and he looked pretty savvy. It would've been a pointless risk," Zena said.

     "Or a challenge?" Nathan countered. He paused and held out an arm to stop Zena. Something had caught his eyes.

     "Hey, aren't they those two thugs from the Employment Agency?" He asked. Zena looked over. Grutee and Nathasha were walking casually, checking out their surroundings.

     "Thugs? Feeling threatened are we?" She jabbed.

     "I think we should follow them. No one can be that efficient without bending some rules. I want to see what their secret is," he said, hiding himself behind a bush.

     "Lets finish our job first. If we run out of time, we lose the job and it stays on our record," Zena said.

     "It's not like we haven't lived our lives with a bad reputation anyway. Who're we trying to fool?" Nathan scoffed and followed slowly behind the two Employment Agent celebrities, keeping himself out of view. Zena's interest peaked when the Grarrl and Zafara eventually split up. It [i]did[/i] appear they were up to something.

     **********

     Grutee looked subtly over each shoulder before advancing towards a merchant who was busy organizing his merchandise.

     "Ah-hem. Excuse me kind sir." Grutee's deep voice carried a sense of need the merchant couldn't ignore. The Blue Kacheek quickly placed down the snowglobe he was holding to address the potential customer.

     "Hello, sir. Mighty fine weather we're having today," the merchant said eagerly with the tilt of his hat.

     "Yes. Although a bit too warm," the Darigan Grarrl said, wiping his dry brow with his arm before pointing over to a far corner of the shop. "I see you sell Tropical Fruit Smoothies."

     "Yes, of course! This one's my own recipe. Guaranteed to quench your thirst!" The merchant said and quickly ran over to the corner. Grutee looked over and nodded at Natasha who was standing inconspicuously amongst the crowd. The Purple Zafara answered with a smirk and advanced to the shop. Her nonchalant saunter showed no purpose as she made her way towards Grutee, and the untrained eye would never have caught her palm feed her pocket the trinket she had been eyeing from the distance. She approached Grutee with a subtle nod.

     "Fancy seeing you here," Natasha said to Grutee.

     "Aye, a bit thirsty I was," Grutee said as he gave her an exaggerated wink.

     "Here ya go, big guy. Hope you enjoy," the Kacheek said, holding up a tall glass of Tropical Fruit Smoothie.

     "Wait, what is that made of?" Natasha asked the merchant.

     "It's my own recipe. It's an assortment of tropical fruit from Mystery Island, such as-" the merchant began to explain before he was cut off.

     "Oh, I thought you were allergic to tropical fruit," Natasha said to Grutee, realizing how lame it sounded, but at the same time not caring.

     "Oh, right. I am. Have a good day, sir," Grutee said and walked away with Natasha.

     "But," the Merchant said, stunned. And then to himself, "I guess I should've inquired about that."

     "Maybe next time you could try not to be so obvious with your wink. We've talked about that before," Natasha whispered directly at Grutee.

     "Oh, sorry." Grutee scratched his head. "But how-" He started before they were suddenly interrupted by slow, dramatic clapping. They turned around to see Nathan and Zena standing behind them.

     "Who are you?" Natasha asked, crooking her brow with an annoyed and impatient look.

     "Just an observer," Nathan answered.

     "We have lots of those. C'mon Grutee. We have to get back to the Agency," Natasha waved him along.

     "You aren't concerned about WHY I clapped?" Nathan asked.

     "No. We get lots of those too," she answered smuggly, not looking back.

     ".. Or what we witnessed?" Zena added.

     "I don't like games!" The Zafara hissed. "What're you trying to say?!"

     "Hey, that's the girl who lost her purse," Grutee pointed out in his deep voice. Zena responded in an awkward smile as she shrugged her shoulders.

     "Haha, yes I think you're right. You're welcome, by the way," Natasha said uninterestedly to Zena. "C'mon, Grutee." Grutee refused to move and instead glared at Nathan through the thin slits of his eyes.

     "But we know your secret. It'd be a shame if people found out," Nathan threatened calmly.

     "Okay, kid. I'm starting to lose my patience," the Zafara finally snapped.

     Grutee began to crack his knuckles and grind his teeth. "What about it?"

     "Just saying it'd be a shame if word got out. You really oughta be more careful," Nathan continued. Though he didn't show it, he was beginning to feel nervous. Zena tensed her hands up, leafing through spells in her head that she may need to use.

     "No one would believe you," Natasha threatened and held her arm up to calm Grutee down. They weren't going to waste any more time on these troublemakers than necessary.

     "No, maybe not. But you know how things you hear tend to fester in your mind. Sure, everyone may believe you initially, but then there will be the odd Neopian who'll grow skeptical. And they'll start talking, creating uncertainty in others. Then before long you'll have more eyes on you than you could shake a fist at," Nathan said. "Face it, it's only a matter of time before your dishonest ways are discovered."

     "We don't know what you're talking about. Besides, we did your little friend there a favour. Show us some gratitude and leave us alone," Natasha said.

     "Oh, and I truly am grateful," Zena piped in when an idea suddenly popped in her head. "Maybe there's something we can do to return the favour." Nathan looked concernly over at Zena. She was starting to go off script.

     "Like what?" Natasha asked.

     "Let us work for you," Zena suggested.

     "What?!" all three exclaimed. The unexpected proposal caught everyone by surprise, including Nathan.

     "Sure, you have a reputation to keep. We just moved here today. We're unknowns who need work, and we have lots of experience in the realm of sneaking around," Zena said. She rarely ever tooted her own horn, but she dreaded going back to the Employment Agency to wait in the queue again, fighting against mindless citizens for a chance at a job. Natasha bursted out laughing followed shortly by Grutee.

     "You're kidding me! You two. Thieves?!" The Zafara continued to laugh.

     "Better than your average," Nathan added. It was now a challenge to prove them wrong.

     "We work alone!" Nathasha said and Grutee nodded.

     "It's only a matter of time before someone else notices your scheme. We don't get caught, and we'll also ignore what we saw," Zena said. Natasha pursed her lips and mulled over the idea.

     "Okay, we'll give you a chance to prove yourself, but mess it up and the deal's done. And you forget what you think you saw," Natasha said threateningly. Grutee groaned in disapproval, but grudgingly accepted.

     "Deal," the two young bandits said together.

     "Any ideas on how to prove it to us?" The Zafara asked.

     "We're looking for a Blue Evil Fuzzle Plushie to complete our job. Do you know where to find one?" Zena asked. She had to start somewhere.

     "Hardly proving yourself when you're already asking for help," Natasha sighed. Grutee made a snoring noise as though they were wasting his time.

     "Show us where to find one, and we'll show you what we're capable of," Nathan added.

     "I don't like this, Tash," the Grarrl grumbled.

     "Don't worry, Grutee. They're new around here. I think they deserve a shot," Natasha said with a subtle wink, then turned to Zena and Nathan. "Come, follow us. I know where you can find one. And be warned, we're not easily impressed. We've been a duo for years and things have been working out well for us."

     Zena and Nathan followed as Natasha and Grutee lead them to the edge of the marketplace where the number of shops grew thin. Zena began to feel uncomfortable, uncertain about whether there was something devious up the Zafara's sleeves. Natasha stopped by a darkened alley, just out of view of a shop she insisted had what they wanted.

     "We'll stay here and watch from the distance. If you can pocket your plushie without getting caught, then we have a deal," Natasha said.

     "This place?" Grutee gasped. Natasha jabbed him with her elbow and glared at him.

     "What is it?" Nathan asked. "There must be a reason why you brought us here."

     "You want a Blue Evil Fuzzle Plushie? You have better odds at finding one in a less-inviting shop. Like this one," Natasha said.

     "You're up to something," Zena said shaking her head to Nathan. Nathan kept his emotion unknown and looked over at Natasha for an explanation.

     "Okay, I'll be honest. This is one of the very few shops that we've never successfully stolen from. The shopkeeper's high-strung and fidgety. I'd be impressed if you can pull this off, hence the challenge," Natasha explained. Zena sensed a truth in what she said.

     "Maybe the shopkeeper should try a different profession," Nathan quipped.

     "Trust me, on this side of town you need to be like him to run a successful shop," Natasha said.

     "Okay, let's do this," Zena said to Nathan. They agreed that Zena would do the talking and Nathan would sneak over from the other side of the shop. Nathan pulled out a brown cloak and hood from his backpack to conceal himself. He showed it off proudly as though he knew an opportunity like this would arise.

     Zena approached the old, wooden stall where a Mutant Quiggle conveniently watched her approach. Zena hadn't anticipated the merchant to be a Pet with three eyes, so conveniently positioned for a wider peripheral vision. She wondered if he had vision like a Spardel, which she had once heard had a near 360-degree field of vision. If that was true, they were going to have to rely heavily on luck to pull this one off. She looked back. Natasha and Grutee were already out of sight in the shadows.

     "How can I help?" the Quiggle asked in a raspy voice, long before Zena completed her approach to the counter. His head jerked around like a cautionary lizard.

     "Just looking around," she said, trying to sound more cool and relaxed than she felt.

     "No one comes around here to just look around," the Quiggle sneered. "Who were you looking at?"

     "No one. A friend told me to come here," she explained.

     "Some friend sending you down this darkened alley," he said, followed by a couple more twitches. "What're you after kid?" Zena was taken aback by how blunt and straight-forward the Quiggle was. She scanned around the shop and observed a large number of plushies amongst the merchant's ominous-looking ware.

     "I'm looking for rare plushies," she said.

     "You'll need to be more specific than that!" He hissed, hinting that he didn't like his time being wasted. Zena saw Nathan approach from the opposite end of the shop. The Quiggle took notice of Zena's quick shift in gaze and jerked his head around. Nathan had thankfully blended in well to his surroundings as he pressed up tightly to a wall.

     "I've never seen these before," Zena said, pointing to a collection of plushies to gain his attention again. The fact that he had to turn his head slightly to look behind him suggested that his field of view wasn't as wide as she initially feared.

     "They're my Quigukis! I collect them," the merchant said, sounding a bit more involved in the conversation.

     "I never heard of them. I used to have a Usuki doll when I was younger," she said to carry on the conversation. She saw more movement from Nathan from the corner of her eye, but dared not look.

     "Bah, Usukis?! There's no comparison!" The Quiggle said in utter disgust. Zena realized she hit a nerve when he bent over to grab one of his Quiguki dolls. His guard was off. She quickly glanced up to Nathan and signalled slightly with her head for him to make his advance. He made a silent dash to the opposite side of the shop, and hopped over the counter with ease. She was impressed at how he could pull that off so quietly.

     "Neopians thought these were a joke when they were first released, but you can't deny the beauty of this one." The merchant held up one of his prized plushies with yellow hair, a pink tutu and pink ballerina shoes.

     "Oh, that's nice," she said. She fought off the urge to cringe. It wasn't something she would have wanted to play with when she was little. The merchant's neck spasmed. Fearing that he would look over, she entertained a thought. "Can you get accessory sets for them?"

     "Of course!" The Quiggle bit and reached for a Quiguki doll with a mustache and another holding pom poms. "And you can even swap parts between plushies." He demonstrated by swapping a few of the accessories on each doll. Nathan was scanning the merchant's inventory quickly. He spotted a Blue Evil Fuzzle Plushie and stuffed it in his pocket. This was going better than she thought. "But I carry the actual accessory kits over here." He started to turn around.

     "Wait!" She interupted, trying quickly to think of something to distract the shopkeeper. The Quiggle stopped, his neck jerked a couple times in sync with his twitching eyes. "I'd like to buy this one." She picked up the Quiguki with the moustache.

     "Roxton?!" The Quiggle gasped, looking startled. He charged over to Zena. "Are you kidding me?! These aren't for sale! Do you know how hard it is to get the complete collection?!"

     "No," she answered honestly. Until now she hadn't even heard of them. "Why else are they in your shop?"

     "There's not much traffic in this poorly lit alley, so I play with them sometimes to keep from getting bored," he explained. Zena glanced over briefly to see Nathan peer around the shelving unit, but quickly darted back in when the merchant turned his head.

     "What do you keep looking at," he asked. The twitching of his eyes increased.

     "My eyes just wander sometimes. You have a lot of neat stuff," she said. The Quiggle wasn't completely convinced and headed over to the shelf where Nathan was hiding.

     "Hey, is this the whole set?" She asked, hoping it was enough to regain his attention. He looked over. "You said you have the whole collection. Is this it?"

     "Of course not. I keep the rarest ones locked up in the safe!" The Quiggle annouced, turning back to Zena. It was working. "I don't show those to anyone. Can't risk it around here."

     "Can I see your accessories then?" She asked to keep his attention so Nathan could escape. He was already in the midst of leaving.

     "Sure," the Quiggle said excitedly. "I keep them on the shelf over here." He started to turn back around towards Nathan who was now fully exposed. Zena gasped. How could she be so dumb! The Quiggle almost saw Nathan when-

     "HALT!!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Suddenly the whole sky lit up in a blinding light. Zena watched as Nathan fumbled over his feet before crawling to the counter and pulling himself over. The Quiggle pawed at his eyes for a while until the effects eventually wore off a few seconds later. Zena found it strange that her vision hadn't been compromised. The Quiggle looked over at Zena in a panic and frantically hobbled over.

     "Was that lightning?!" He asked, grabbing at his Quiguki dolls and shoving them under his arms. "It wasn't supposed to storm! You must go! I have to protect my Quigukis!"

     "But-" Zena started.

     "I'm closed! Goodbye!" He answered shortly and rolled down some tarps from the shop's overhanging canopy. As happy as she was to leave, it completely threw her off. She walked back up the Alley towards Nathasha and Grutee.

     "What was that?!" Nathan approached from the side.

     "I know, right? I can't believe I did that," Zena said with a proud chest. It was the same blinding light Malvus used on them the day they tried to break into his house. She had never successfully pulled it off during their stay with him.

     "How did you do that?" Nathan asked. He had never seen Zena do any magic not worth snoozing over.

     "I don't know. I felt helpless and just wanted him not to see you. It sorta just came out. I can't explain it," she said. It was as though the feeling of desperation and passion was enough to trigger the spell.

     "So it was just dumb luck," Nathan said dismissively.

     "That's not nice," she said.

     "Well you almost spoiled it for us!" Nathan snapped, suddenly changing his tone. He could feel the anger fester inside of himself and Zena saw it in his eyes.

     "What? But we succeeded," Zena said.

     "With luck! You foolishly sent him my way then blinded me so I couldn't see where I was going. Thankfully I knew the way out, but I barely made it!" Nathan said.

     "Why are you being so unfair! We [i]had[/i] to rely on luck to pull it off. Didn't you see how jittery he was? Yeah, I made a mistake, but I tried," Zena argued.

     "Wow!!" Natasha approached, applauding. Grutee stood next to her with an impressed expression on his face. "You guys never said you were magic users."

     "We don't always need to use it," Nathan said, taking a quick moment to glare at Zena.

     "No, of course not, but this could be useful. We do come across situations where magic would make things simpler. It will open up way more opportunities. I like this. A lot. How about you, Grutee?" Natasha said.

     "I like the two of us, Tash," The Grarrl moped, but didn't disagree.

     "You've always lacked vision, Grutee. Don't worry, big guy. We'll always be partners in crime. But these two could be useful," Natasha said, then turned to Nathan and Zena. "On a trial basis of course. Like I said before. We work well alone, but we're willing to give this a shot."

     "Perfect!" Zena cheered.

     "I don't know if we've been properly introduced. I'm Natasha, and this is Grutee," the Purple Zafara said.

     "I'm Zen-" she started before Nathan interupted.

     "Wait, no one knows us here. Do we really want to go by our real names?" Nathan asked. Zena thought for a moment. A new name for a fresh start sounded ideal and it would also make them harder to track down if anyone from Silver Hills tried looking for them. Not that she believed anyone would go to that trouble to find them. Everyone was probably happy they left.

     "Did you have a name in mind?" Zena asked.

     "I think I'll go with Nadyr, but with a 'y' instead of an 'i' to be a bit more original," Nathan said. "While [i]you[/i] might be the Zenith, all cute and innocent, [i]I'm [/i]more like the Nadir, where misfortune is found. Hidden low in the shadows, no one would anticipate my arrival."

     "Okay, a little melodramatic maybe?" Zena laughed.

     "Lets see you come up with a name," Nathan said.

     "I'm not sure. I've never thought of changing my name before," Zena said. She tried to focus on a name, but found it difficult with three sets of eyes on her. She fiddled with her obsidian locket that hung loosely around her neck. The memories she had of her mom may have been few, but she could clearly envision her mom's photo without opening the locket. She examined the smooth, glassy texture of the locket. She was so proud the day she got it.

     "Obsidian," she said. It was a byproduct of lava, which matched her fiery attitude, and although seemingly fragile, if used right it could become a powerful weapon.

     "Nice, frozen lava! I think that suits you," Nathan laughed. "Mr. Moe-stachio would approve!"

     "Sounds like someone needs their tail frozen again," she teased.

     "That's cold," Nathan needled.

     "Okay, children. So Nadyr and Obsidian it is then," Natasha said. "Welcome aboard." She extended her hand and they all exchanged handshakes.

     To be continued…