Greedy. Parasite. The lowest of the low. Revolting. A blot on creation.

All of these titles had been applied to Sakon at some point in his life. He wore them like medals. What was the point in being a goody-goody no-pennies when you could always have more? What does it matter that a couple of nobodies get a bit tiffed with you when you lighten their purses a bit? All that name-calling went to show that Sakon was doing his job right.

Although he didn't mind the insults, he honestly thought that the people should be a bit more grateful towards him. He was a desperado! A regular Guard Rogue! He was just like the legendary thief, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. Although nobody could really call his victims 'rich', per se. And he wasn't really that poor, either. Whatever. Some might disagree with his idealogy, but Sakon knew better. He was every bit as dashing and heroic as the fabled Guard Rogue. At least, in his own opinion. And that was the only opinion that mattered.

Sakon cast a loving gaze over his hoard before heading out. It was every bit as beautiful as it had been last night when he had checked it before going to bed. Every treasure in his trove was not only a trophy, not only an accolade, but like a lover to him. He gently skirted a hand over an enormous wooden head he had lifted from the Stock Pot Inn. There was a story behind that one. One involving booking a room and robbing the place blind while skipping out on the bill in the dead of the night. He was planning on selling it at some point, when the crowd at the inn eventually forgot about it and it would be safe for him to lug it about Clock Town. Yes, like any good lover, he would eventually allow his treasures to know what they meant to him by selling them on for cash. And they would understand. Because he knew in his heart that his treasures loved him too.

It was an absolutely lovely morning out. Sakon took a deep breath through his nose when he set foot outside. Perfect. The sky was blue, and there was scarcely a cloud out on Termina Field to blot out the sun. He absolutely loved days like these.

Of course, there were the clouds hovering over Ikana. He wrinkled his nose to see them. There was hardly ever good weather in Ikana Valley. He had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the place. On one hand, it was nice and warm, and no one else lived there. That meant no neighbours to bother him or interrogate him, or even worse, find his hideout. It was also beyond the Clock Town Guard's patrol area, so they had no reason to come sniffling around for his hide. Admittedly, it was nice and peaceful.

On the other hand, there were the perpetual clouds. They never went away. That meant that any warmth around the place came from the awful humidity hanging around the canyon. It was also far too dangerous to go and loot. Not because of the neighbours. The only other people who lived in Ikana were a loony scientist and his brat. No, the real reason was that there were too many accursed monsters. Sakon wasn't easily shaken, but the sight of real live zombies traipsing around was enough to make him keep his distance from the palace ruins. He hadn't even bothered with the old temple. He had walked in, seen the drop, and walked right out again. There was also the strange sensation that he was being watched while he was out and about in the Valley. Not in a romantic way. In a cut-throat way.

There was also the addition of his hideout. The structure itself. He hadn't built it. It had been standing there when he had arrived in Ikana four years ago. It was a decent spot, tucked into a cliffside and out of the way of prying eyes, but there was the problem of the interior. He had no idea who had owned it previously, but whoever did had had a twisted sense of humour. The place was full of weird traps that he would have loved as a security system, but there was the fact that it also had all of these switches and gizmos that actively contradicted themselves.

There was the conveyer belt, which moved agonizingly slowly. He had placed the mask he stole from that purple-haired brat on it, just in case he tried to come and snatch it back. When the switch in front of it was stepped on, the conveyer belt would start moving.

However, the door to the next room would also open. It was the same with all the rooms, meaning that two people could get through the hideout if they stepped on all the right switches. For whatever reason, there were switches that slowed down the conveyer belt, and there were even two switches at the end that completely stopped it. It was like the architects of the hideout wanted the ones breaking in to get through it, just with a little bit of a challenge. He had brought in one of the carpenters from Clock Town to modify it, but all he managed to do was get an alarm installed before the man realized he wasn't going to get a rupee from Sakon and quit.

For Sakon, the cons really outweighed the pros. He wasn't a fan of the neighbourhood, and his hideout wasn't very well designed. But he had no other options. Where else could he go?

He pushed all of those thoughts to the back of his mind and grinned. He had a big day ahead. He set off skipping down the trail, ignoring the occasional feeling that something nearby wanted his head. His number one priority was the heist he was going to pull off tonight in Clock Town. Nothing big, but it might earn him a tidy profit if he wheedled with the Curiosity Shop guy. It'd be as easy as stealing candy from a baby, considering his target was at least seventy. He had tabs on everyone in Clock Town, and he knew that the old lady from the bomb shop would be bringing their newest stock of big bomb bags home tonight.

Suddenly, he heard a splash as he skipped by the river. A tiny boy with a green hat pulled himself out of the water and jogged towards him. Sakon ignored the kid and kept skipping, so the kid ran right up to him and got his attention.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the kid. He had this weird expression on his face, like he thought Sakon was some sort of villain. Weird, considering he'd never met the kid in his life. People usually got to know him for about a minute before hating him forever, rather than just doing it before they spoke. Whatever about the boy, though, because Sakon's attention was focused on that shiny sword he had strapped to his back.

"Hey, that's a nice sword you have..." he murmured, chuckling. He felt he should sweeten up the kid by pretending to look out for him or something. "You know... lately, frightening ghosts have been appearing in swarms in Ikana Village across the river. It seems they're the ghosts of Ikana's Royal Family, or something..." Not that he cared. The kid didn't seem impressed.

"There's no one living there anymore, though, so I moved nearby. Heh, heh..."

Wait, why did he say that? Why did he just give away the location of his hideout? He rambled on in an attempt to distract the kid from that information.

"Now there's a curious parent and child living there while they research the ghosts..." The brat didn't seem to care about anything he was saying, so he decided to go in for the kill. "Did I mention that is one niiiiice sword? Can I see it for a second?"

Surprisingly, the kid nodded obligingly.

"Huh?! Really? I don't want to trouble you, but..." he wheedled, carefully watching the boy for any signs of backing out. He didn't. Sakon's fingers began to itch as the boy reached for his sheath. He could almost feel the cool metal in his hands when, all of a sudden, an angry red light began to buzz around his head, bonking him on the forehead and tinkling loudly.

"Whaaa? S-s-some red thing?! What is it? It seems h-hostile!" he yelled, swatting at it in alarm. He managed to break away and fled down the trail to Termina Field, leaving the boy in the dust.

After a few minutes of solid sprinting (Sakon had learned long ago to never stop running until you're absolutely certain that you're out of the woods), rock turned to grass, and Sakon found himself on the Termina Field. He rubbed his hands together as he surveyed the vast plains. Yes, although the day hadn't started off quite as he had expected, the world was still ripe with possibilities.

Right. He picked a direction, and skipped off towards the Astral Observatory. During the brief times when he didn't have any specific jobs to prepare for or carry out, Sakon liked to spend his time scavenging and foraging for sparklies. The Observatory was a particularily choice spot, as most of the interesting things in the field somehow ended up there.

Sure enough, as Sakon drew near the Observatory, something shiny drew his attention. His eyes slid along the trunk of a tree, and came to rest on fifty whole rupees, sitting high in a crow's nest. His eyes began to sparkle with greed, but he then remembered that he absolutely hated physical exertion of any sort. Climbing a tree would be just short of torture for his skinny frame. Filling his left cheek with air, he quickly scanned his surroundings, deflating his cheek with a pop as his eyes came to rest on a ginger youth. He squinted.

Ah, yes. He knew that boy. He sat on the steps just outside of town, vacantly staring into space. He wore a white shirt and a fairly trendy close-cut beard, although Sakon was pretty sure the beard naturally looked like that, rather than any intentions of looking cool on the man's part.

Yes. It was a bit tricky to get information on him, but Sakon was dedicated to his trade, and wouldn't let an average joe like him be the first to slip through his network of information. The young man was scarcely out at all, leading Sakon to think that he was hiding some sort of incredible secret, and he had devoted weeks of his time to chronicling his entire persona. In the end, it was a total waste of time, because the only reason he was so rarely out was because he spent all day sleeping. It seemed he only ever left his home by the laundry pool for his part-time job at the Trading Post in the evenings. Sakon actually recalled passing by him several times during his various trips to the Curiosity Shop, but he had such an utterly unmemorable face that the encounters had completely washed over Sakon.

If he remembered correctly, the young man was constantly bored, constantly broke, and constantly looking for things to fill in his days. He was also very stupid. Sakon fixed a smile on his face.

"Good morning, friend!" he called shrilly, his grin widening as he pranced towards his target. The man's head drifted towards Sakon, and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw the terrifyingly wide smile on the thief's face.

"Uh, good morning," he mumbled, unconciously shrinking away from Sakon's advancing figure.

Sakon stopped, and leaned forward, making a show of scrutinizing the man. He placed a hand on his hip and scratched his head, then snapped his fingers in a show of theatrical inspiration. "You seem bored, my friend."

The man blinked. "Uh, I guess so."

Sakon's face crumpled as he clutched his chest in shock. "What a predicament! A problem that faces all of today's youth! Boredom, oh, boredom, dear me..." He staggered about, his face clouded with woe. "Is there anything worse than being both bored and penniless? Ah, not to offend, mister..."

"Candel."

"Candel. Lovely name, by the way. Not to offend, but you strike me as a man who has been left behind by fortune," Sakon announced knowingly.

Candel blinked again. "Well, uh... I guess so?"

"I knew it!" cried Sakon, startling the man. "Oh, woe is people like us, mister Candel..." He staggered about the place a bit more, then decided to unleash his coup de grace. He suddenly snapped his fingers in another apparent surge of inspiration. "Unless..."

"Unless?" Candel asked, furrowing his brow.

"Well, you see, I do recall seeing a pretty bundle of rupees in a crow's nest not too far from here. Rupees that a fellow like yourself could gladly use. Sitting unattended, no less!" he declared, wagging a finger in front of him.

"Rupees?" Candel asked. Giants, this boy was starting to sound like a parrot. He wasn't catching on. It looked like Sakon would just have to spell it out for him.

"Yes! In that very tree!" he cried, pointing to the tree. Candel stood up and squinted at it.

"Huh."

"I believe this would be a prime exercise in slaying boredom, don't you, mister Candel? Why don't you just hop along and grab them?" Sakon suggested, his patience wearing thin.

"Uh, okay." He began to make his way towards the tree, but then stopped and squinted suspiciously at Sakon. "Why are you telling me this?"

Get me my rupees, you ginger ninny. "Because I am a benevolent soul, mister Candel. Now, tush, tush! Hop along, now!" he insisted, almost shoving Candel in the direction of the tree. He stood and watched expectantly as the young man began shimmying up the trunk. Soon, he had reached the all-important branch with the nest in it. He reached out to grab it. Just as his hands closed around the goods, Sakon casually tackled the tree with his shoulder. The whole thing swayed, and three shining rupees fell from Candel's hand as he clutched onto the trunk to avoid falling.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he shouted down.

"Whoops! Sorry," laughed Sakon as he tackled the tree again. He had only gotten him to drop two fives and a twenty, so the remaining twenty rupees was still in Candel's possession.

"Stop that!" yelled Candel.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question! I'd love to thank you for doing the dirty work for me, but not until you give me that twenty," Sakon called, his frame juddering the tree for a third time. Candel clung on stubbornly. The sparkling red jewel still refused to fall from his grubby little hands.

"I thought you said I could have the money!" Candel cried.

"I never said anything of the sort. It's not my fault that you're too much of a sucker to see the loopholes in our agreement." He still wasn't letting go of the rupee. Sakon went for another tackle.

"You're evil, man! No way am I giving this to you!" Candel yelled, tightening his grip on the tree. Sakon ceased his assault and sighed. Somehow, he felt he was going to come away from this twenty rupees short of his expectations.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you, mister Candel," he called airily over his shoulder as he skipped away, the thirty rupees tucked safely into his bag.

"W-wait! At least help me down from here! You made me lose my foothold!" Candel yelled as Sakon left the scene. The thief paused, and turned his head until he was half-facing Candel.

"Will you give me the twenty rupees?"

Candel's eyes widened incredulously. "No way!"

Sakon continued skipping along towards the town, Candel's shouts following him all the way.

Sakon sat perched atop the building across from the inn. To the untrained eye, it seemed that he was simply doodling or scribbling absent-mindedly. However, it was on the contrary. Although he seemed to be daydreaming, Sakon was observing his surroundings with an eagle eye. He wanted to keep tabs on any and all people in Clock Town, even if they were only passing through, and, as it so happened, most of the members of that travelling troupe were in his direct line of vision from where he sat. Oh, yes, Sakon really did think of everything. From his spot on the wooden railing, he could see both of those juggling twins by the Treasure Chest Game, the troupe leader on his way out of the inn, and one of those dancing twins pacing up and down the hall through the inn window. He could also hear a lilting song being played from the room they were staying in. He opened a fresh page of his notebook, and began to write under the heading of 'Performing Troupe'.

"Juggling Twins: Identical twins. Weird idea of performer's humour. Heard them talking about the moon falling ? "

Those two men were exceptionally weird, to be fair. They had been practicing their juggling routine all morning since before Sakon had even arrived in town. Admittedly, when he looked up at the sky, he did notice that the moon was a bit... closer than usual, but the idea of it falling out of the sky was just a bit too weird. Anyway, neither of them had anything of value to offer, which Sakon noted at the bottom of their entry.

"Dancing Twins: Foreign. Stuck on dance routine. Might reward help ? One in blue = Judo. One in red = ?"

Again, they had nothing to offer him, either. Well, maybe unless he found a way to help them with their dance routine, but Sakon couldn't dance to save his life. Next entry.

"Guru-guru: Music box guy. Writes own songs. Scary when angry, apparently. May appreciate a shoulder to cry on."

This actually offered some promise, as he could smell something interesting about the music box guy. He only left his room at night when the others were trying to sleep, though, so that ruled him out for tonight. Sakon had other plans for tonight.

"Troupe Leader: Gorman brother ? Appointment with Madame Aroma, 10 a.m. May have something valuable, unlikely for good target material."

The man in question was on his way to the Mayor's house right that second, in fact. He passed under Sakon's dangling feet, a furiously grumpy expression on his face. He wouldn't necessarily be an good target because A) he rarely left his room, unless it was to go to the bar, and B) Sakon didn't really know that he had anything good on him.

Well, that was that. Even though it was useless information, he still had it, for better or for worse. Sakon snapped his notebook shut and shoved it back in his sack. If he recalled it correctly, a Goron should be coming to stay at the inn later today. He had heard Anju and that horrendous mother of hers discussing it. He was keeping this appointment in mind. Although not always, Gorons sometimes carried valuable ore on their persons, which Sakon could always use. It would be a risky operation, though, because Gorons had no qualms about fighting back. And Sakon wasn't great in a fight.

Then again, the Goron might not even have anything good in the first place. Those juggling brothers had been telling political jokes all morning, and Sakon overheard them saying something about a bad blizzard in Snowhead. He didn't really care, though. Sakon's domain was Clock Town.

To pass the time until tonight's heist, Sakon decided to take a stroll around town.

Sakon was so glad that he had chosen to infest Clock Town with his network of thievery and lies. It really was a nice place. Yeah, his base of operations wasn't too favourable, but Clock Town itself was a really, really nice place. The buildings and atmosphere were unbeatable, the food was great, and the locals were huge idiots. They were lucky Sakon didn't have anything in store for them at that particular moment, because if he had, they would have been sitting ducks. He eyed peoples unguarded purse strings with a deceptively cheerful squint.

As he strolled up the steps in west Clock Town, he was suddenly reminded of the Lottery Shop that lay at the top. It had been a while since he had gone in there. For some maddening reason, he was completely unable to gather any sort of information on the owner. He had never even seen their face. No matter how far forward he leaned into the lottery booth when paying for tickets, no matter how many angles he tried to peer at them from, Sakon was never able to catch so much as a glimpse of what the mysterious cashier looked like. Though, this was a fact he had resigned himself to long ago. Nowadays, the most frustrating thing about the lottery shop was that he had never once gotten the winning ticket.

The tacky music playing over the speakers greeted Sakon as he closed the shop door behind him. He glanced sideways at the ticket booth. The darkness behind the counter looked back at him.

The dry, rustling voice of the ticket salesperson spoke up. "Lottery ticket? Just ten rupees."

When Sakon had first arrived in town, they had spoken in the same rough voice, but their sales pitch had been quite a bit longer. And jazzier.

"Today's winning numbers, thank you," he replied cheerfully.

The salesperson didn't laugh as they looked for a ticket. "Ten rupees, please."

Sakon placed the red jewel he had oh-so-brilliantly robbed from Candel onto the wooden counter. He then pretended to stare into space as he waited for his ticket. In truth, though, he was carefully watching the counter in the hopes that this would be the time he caught a glimpse of the cashier's face.

However, just like every other time he had visited the lottery shop, he blinked and then missed it. The ticket lay on the counter in place of the rupee.

"Here's your ticket."

"Thank you." Sakon didn't let his disappointment show as he took the scrap of paper.

"The results are out at 6 a.m. tomorrow," they told him in a monotone. "Don't forget to check your numbers. Amazing prizes. Thrilling gambits. Thank you for taking a chance at the Clock Town lottery shop." A clunk reverbated throughout the shop, and the counter slowly and judderingly swivelled around until the desk had disappeared into the wall.

Sakon let a puff of air out of his cheek. Well, another day, another dawn. He would find another chance to get information on that cashier. For now, he was content with grabbing some lunch and waiting for night to fall.

His neck was stiff. In his boredom, he had arrived too early, and so had spent the last two hours crouching next to the playground in north Clock Town. He was bored and restless. Also, that sandwich he had picked up from that Zora vendor in the town square may have had some bad fish in it. His stomach was doing backflips.

He yawned and burped at the same time.

"Ex-cuse me," he said to no one.

No one replied.

"You're excused," he answered.

He shifted himself around to alleviate some of the burning in his calves and settled down to wait for the old lady to show up. He yawned again.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Sakon's heart rate increased and he readied himself for his moment.

"What are you doing here?"

Sakon almost leapt out of his skin at the childish voice. Snapping his head around the side of the slide, he saw a brat of about seven years old looking down at him. His face assumed a mask of fury.

"Go away, you snot-eater! You'll ruin everything!" he hissed. The boy's name was Jim, and he was the boss of a rag-tag group of annoyances called the Blowers, or something. The gang was comprised entirely of orphans, all with sad little sob stories of their own. They all shared a home in the Clock Town sewers, which was evident in their scruffy, snotty appearances. Each one made his name on the street by helping various residents around the town. That meant that they recognized Sakon as Public Enemy Number One.

"Not until you tell me what you're doing," Jim retorted.

"Taking a pleasant stroll. Now go away!"

Jim paused. Jim considered.

"I don't believe you."

"Oh, for-" What was it with the youth of today and wanting to help people? Why couldn't he just go and... play some conkers, or something? Sakon massaged the bridge of his nose.

"You're up to something, aren't you?" Jim stated.

Sakon moved his fingers away from his face to fix the boy with a glare. "And what if I was? What would you do about it? Tell your mommy?" Trick question, of course. Jim didn't have parents. It was a statement designed to wound the boy, and, judging from his crestfallen face, it did the trick.

"I'll..." He struggled, flushing bright red, before his face brightened with realization. "I'll tell the guards on you!"

"Oh." Sakon failed to suppress a snort. "Go on, then. Tell on me. Tell the guards on me," he mimicked. If it meant the boy would leave him alone.

"I will!" Jim declared. He set off in a run in the opposite direction. Sakon resumed his squatting, as the gentle plopping of Jim's footsteps was suddenly joined by the shuffling of the guard.

"Hey, guard! I got something to tell you! It's-"

"Uh, no, kid, sorry kid, can't let you out of the town walls. Too dangerous for a kid like you."

"No, no, no! I don't wanna go out! It's Sa-" the brat bleated, but got cut off.

"Uh, sorry. Can't do it. Why don'tcha go home to your mother?" the guard tactlessly repeated. Sakon sniggered. He couldn't see what was going on, but a long silence followed the guard's careless statement.

"I hope you get pooped on by guays!" Jim finally yelled, before running off. Sakon laughed away to himself as the guard called indignantly after the fleeing lad. As he settled himself down to wait for his target to appear, Sakon was so filled with malicious glee that he failed to hear the sound of Jim's furious footsteps slow to a stop as he encountered a certain boy. Neither did he hear Jim whisper to the boy, and he certainly didn't hear the silent boy nod in the darkness of the night. Sakon sat and waited.

Shortly after, he heard an unmistakably hobbling pattern of footprints. Just to make sure, he peeked around the corner, and a silent giggle escaped him. Yes, that was definitely her. Grey hair, small bun, neat apron - and, unless his eyes were very much mistaken (which they weren't), a bomb bag slung over her shoulders. She limped along the path, bent under the weight of the sack. Sakon tutted to himself. Poor old dear. He could almost hear her bones cracking under all that strain. Technically, he was doing her a favour. The poor chicken's back would surely give out if she had to lug that sack all the way home.

Well, time to go.

He set off at a light skip, as careless as a sunbeam in spring. He gave a friendly nod to the clueless guard - Paloon, was that his name? - as he passed. Oh, she hadn't even noticed him, the poor darling. He drew closer. Just as they brushed past each other, only then did she look up to smile at him. Her eyes grew wide with alarm just a second too late. Sakon bumped into her as hard as he could, yanking the bomb bag off of her back and knocking her to the ground.

"Oops, oh dear, sorry!" he called at the top of his lungs, laughing to himself.

And he was off! Bag on his back, night air in his lungs, Sakon set off at a sprint towards the town gate. Paloon blinked dumbly, entirely unsure of what was happening. Sakon would have no trouble getting past him.

"Help! Thief!" the old hag called feebly. Sakon cackled to himself as he approached freedom. Yes, aww, a thief. Not just any thief, you decrepit ninny. She had the privilege of being robbed by The One, The Only, Sako-

Sakon shrieked as the whoosh of metal sliced past his ear.

For a second, he was completely disorientated. The sack dropped to the ground, cut from his hands by an attack that narrowly missed his fingers. He flailed. He panicked. He ran as fast as he could, ducking under the armpits of Paloon, the incompetent guard. His first thought was that another guard had ambushed him. As he fled, he turned his head to check if they were chasing him. There was probably three- no, six guards, all of them armed to the teeth and in pursuit of his head. Sakon was prepared to be met with dozens of spears pointed at him, but instead, a small boy in green was picking up the bomb bag.

The exact same boy he had met that morning.

He almost stopped dead in his tracks.

He didn't, of course. The boy still had his sword in his left hand (the very sword that Sakon had attempted to rob that morning). Sakon kept running and running, far away from the gates of north Clock Town and all the way to the eastern canyon. Once he was absolutely one-hundred-per-cent certain that he was safe, he collapsed against a pillar, struggling for breath.

For once, something outweighed the disappointment of losing out on a heist. The absurdity-

Sakon blinked.

No, that couldn't be possible. He couldn't have been stopped by a ten-year-old. Him, the great Sakon. Sakon, who had eluded Clock Town's elitest guards, Sakon, who could steal a house from its foundations if he so wanted- it was impossible, wasn't it?

He rubbed his eyes. It suddenly occured to him just how tired he was. The gurgling in his gut made him feel as though he wouldn't be getting that much sleep that night, and his back was stiffer than ever. He wanted his hideout. He wanted his treasures.

Sakon trudged home, wondering if he had truly lost his edge or not. He was so tired that he failed to notice that the skies over Ikana were clear. Nor did he notice that, despite it being the middle of the night, a brilliant rainbow was shining over the canyon.

a/n: this is actually something i started over the summer ! and ended up finishing when i SHOULD have been studying for mid-terms, and uploaded at 4am when i really should be sleeping, haha.
so, Sakon, huh? personally, he's my least favourite character in majora's mask, but for all the right reasons. he's just so easy to hate, you know? he's slimy, he's sneaky, he's absolutely disgusting, he's a really really well-done character! all that selfishness and nastiness inside one person can't go unnoticed!

i will upload more soon...-0-