The Last Descent
Chapter 1: The Letter
By Deltathewolf
Paris, France 0230
It was quiet, save for the noises from street level created by the early morning stirrings of the city. And it was rather dark. The only light came from the moonlight shining through the partially open blinds on the windows bathing the modest apartment flat in a bluish tone. The silence was broken, as a toilet was flushed, followed by the sound of running water. The water was shut off, and a wide beam of light appeared as the door to the bathroom opened up, revealing a silhouette of a half naked Raccoon.
Sly Cooper, clad in nothing but dark blue boxers, shut the light off and closed the door, once again leaving the room in darkness, and he made his way to the kitchen, his natural night vision already adjusted to the dark.
Flicking on the kitchen light, Sly picked up and started sorting through the mail left on the table from the previous day while taking a seat.
A smile appeared on his lips as a very audible snore came from the bedroom which he shared with his Betrothed, Carmelita Montoya Fox. The engagement was a surprise for everyone, especially Carmelita's parents. Nearly the entire law enforcement community who knew the inspector was in an uproar, wondering how a cop could fall in love with a thief. The Chief just shook his head with the faintest trace of a smile. Now, nearly two month later, a slight bulge was beginning to appear on Carmelita's belly. Sly and Carmelita both tried to wait until they actually got married, but eventually they came to an agreement.
The smile faded and he let out sigh. He had not told Carmelita about his faked amnesia. Nor did she know that he had retrieved his family cane, and the Thievious Raccoonus from Bentley, who he had regained contact with recently. He knew he had to tell her soon, before their child was born, but how do you tell the love of your life you lied to her for two years?
As he pondered this, a letter in the mail caught his eye. He separated it from the other envelopes and examined it closely.
"No return address?" Sly whispered to himself.
Using his claw he ripped open the top of the envelope and pulled out its contents.
Inside were several pictures and a folded letter. The barely legible scrawl appeared to have been written in haste. His eyes widened as he read it, reading it again and again, over and over trying to digest what it conveyed. He put down the letter and looked at the pictures, crumpling and throwing each of them in the trash in anger after looking at them.
Back in the bedroom, Carmelita stirred. She propped herself on her elbows and peered through the half open door which light was pouring through. Seeing her Beau at the kitchen table, she got out of bed, letting the sheets fall from her naked form, not bothering to hide her modesty in front of her eccentric fiancé, and walked out to Sly's stooped form, her bare padded feet barely making a sound on the carpeted floor.
Sly, with ears tuned from a life of thievery, picked up the faint footsteps of his fiancé and was not surprised when her arms came around his head and wrapped around his neck, Carmelita's ample bosom pressed up against the back of his head.
"You're up early."
Sly forced himself to calm down before replying in his usual suave tone.
"I couldn't sleep."
Being nocturnal, this was true to his nature, preferring to stay up and night and sleep during the day. This lead to problems at work, with Carmelita constantly having to shake Sly awake.
Sly subtly placed his paw over the letter covering most of the words from view, Carmelita not noticing the sleight of hand.
"Well, come back to bed soon, I don't like waking up to an empty bed."
"I know." He replied with a grin. "I'll be with you soon."
He turned his head, giving his wife a quick kiss before she released him and went back into the bedroom.
He watched her leave out of the corner of his eye, the grin still on his lips as his gaze was transfixed on Carmelita's swaying hips.
It faded swiftly, and his eyes found the letter again. He crumpled it and threw it in the trash, landing alongside the pictures. One of the pictures had un-crumpled slightly, revealing the spread wing silhouette of an owl.