This is the single longest story/chapter I have ever written for Fanfiction!
Wewt!
Anyway, this story mainly focuses on everyone's favorite Ixi thief...
*drumroll*
Nabile!
loljkjk.
Hanso!
But of course, there's a little Brynn in there too.
Anyways, this starts when he's around 5ish and ends when he's around 6ish.
And yes, I had quite a chuckle making a 6-year-old call someone "Sweetheart"
Enjoy!
"That's my only boy, over there in the blue."
"Oh, that's him? He's pretty cute. He'll be a heartbreaker when he grows up, for sure."
"Haha, he will be, won't he?"
"Oh yes, Sir, he will be. He has those looks and those mischievous eyes. I would know, my own son has the same!"
The little blue Ixi wearing the blue suit looked up at his father, a green Ixi with a black coat. Next to him was the new maid, a pink elephante named Trin. The little blue Ixi peered over at his two sisters, lined up silently next to him, presenting themselves to the new maid.
"Hanso, straighten up!" His father barked.
Hanso jumped and stood straighter, his blue ears twitching.
"And a little trouble maker. How cute." Trin remarked.
Hanso hated her already. Surely they could get a good maid, for once. After all, their father was never around, so he would be spending a lot of time with Trin.
Time to try a new tactic.
"What are all your names?" Trin asked, smiling sweetly.
The first sibling in line, a pink Ixi, smiled back. "My name is Anatia. Or just Ana, for short." She curtsied and nodded to the yellow Ixi in the green dress next to her.
"I'm Kreeny." She said, only to be nudged by Ana. "Er, I mean, I'm Kreenia. Call me Kreeny." She curtsied clumsily.
Hanso grinned. His turn.
At the age of five, Hanso was already exactly what Trin had said. A mischief maker. He hated how boring his life was. It was a rare occasion in the household when Hanso wasn't making trouble, even when he wasn't around. His favorite tricks involved Morthogs and plenty of glue.
"The name's Hanso." He said confidently. He stepped forward and stretched out a paw to shake Trin's.
"Oh my." Trin shook his paw. "Hello Hanso."
Hanso looked at her face, thought a minute, then grinned. "You're fat."
Ana, Kreeny, and Hanso's father all collectively gasped.
"Apologize this instant, young man!" Hanso's father snapped.
"Why?" Hanso asked.
"Because that was rude!"
"Why?" Hanso repeated.
"Because it isn't kind to call anyone fat!"
"Why?" Hanso swayed a bit, tasting the victory of the moment.
"Because…stop asking why!"
"Why?"
"Go to your room!" Hanso's father's face was turning red.
"Whhhhyyyy?" Hanso drew this one out, shifting from one hoof to the other.
Hanso's father appeared to have steam coming out of his ears. Trin looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled.
An evil smile.
"Sir, I'll take young Master Hanso to his room." She said.
"Why?" Hanso asked, turning to Trin.
"Because I'll tell you a story if you stop asking why." Trin shot back.
Hanso blinked, considering it for a moment.
"What kind of story?" He asked.
"The kind of story I believe a young boy like you would enjoy." Trin answered.
Hanso pondered this. "Ok, fine." He said. "But if it isn't good, I have plenty of Morthogs out back."
Kreeny shrieked. "Oh my Fyora, Morthogs! Daddy, ground him!"
Ana nodded. "Yeah, Daddy, he admitted to having Morthogs!"
The father of the three little Ixis turned to Hanso. "Hanso, don't be so rude to our new-"
"Deal, Young Master Hanso." Trin interrupted, ignoring the green Ixi. "But I don't expect to lose. I am a great storyteller."
She took Hanso's paw and lead him upstairs to his room.
She sat him down and pulled a chair over in front of him.
"So, you gonna tell the story?" Hanso demanded.
"Patience, Young Master." Trin said, sitting down.
"What's this story about?" He asked.
"A great thief by the name of Hanso." She said.
"But that's me!" Hanso insisted.
"Yes, it is." Trin nodded.
"I'm not a thief." Hanso added.
"No, you're not. This is a story, remember? It isn't real." Trin said.
"OK, fine, but this better be good." Hanso said, crossing his arms.
"Oh, it will be." Trin said. She took a deep breath and began.
"Once upon a time, in a kingdom ravaged by war, there lived a thief named Hanso. He lived his life off of the things he stole from the villagers of the kingdom. Despite this, he was a rather friendly pet, never angry or mean to anyone. He thought of his thievery as a necessity, a job, like the jobs the peddlers and shopkeepers and jockeys had. One day, he was walking outside when he spotted a girl in green armor, the color of the neighboring kingdom. He asked her why she was in his kingdom and she told him that she was terribly lost and she would be willing to pay him to help her find her way home. Hanso thought of this as a good deal, so he lead her back to her kingdom, planning to steal her neopoints before they got to there. He didn't really expect her to pay him when they found her kingdom anyway, so he figured that it wouldn't be a problem to take his pay forcedly. But the girl surprised him by not asking of his job. Even when he told her that he was a thief, she still didn't leave him. Hanso was shocked by this, so he forgot about his plan to steal her neopoints."
Hanso interrupted. "So he didn't get paid? That stinks!" Hanso cried.
"Just wait a moment, Young Master, my story isn't over yet." Trin said.
"When they arrived at her kingdom, Hanso asked the girl for his pay and she gave him her entire bag of coins. She told him that she was forever grateful and if he ever needed anything that he should stop by the castle and ask her. Hanso peered into his bag and saw a note from her, revealing that she was the princess and that her brother, the prince, also was a thief. She told him in the note that she kept his secret because she didn't blame him for wanting adventure. She thanked him again for helping her and signed the note with a flourish. Do you know what her name was?"
Hanso frowned, shaking his head. "What was it?"
"It was Brynn. Princess Brynn. One day, several years later, they met again. Hanso had joined his kingdom's army, and had been wounded in the battle. Princess Brynn found him on the battlefield and healed him, saved his life. Before he woke up, however, she fled, convincing her servants not to tell him who saved him. Sure enough, Hanso did wake, and he asked who was responsible for saving him and the servants told him that the pet wished to remain anonymous. Hanso wasn't satisfied with this answer, so he searched all of Neopia, looking for the pet who saved his life. It was not until many years later that Princess Brynn and Hanso met for the third and last time as just friends. Princess Brynn revealed that she saved him and Hanso, ever grateful, asked why she wanted to remain anonymous. She told him that she was betrothed to a prince from a faraway kingdom, and she couldn't bear to see him again, because she was in love with him. Hanso thought about that and he asked her if they could run away together, because he felt the same. So they did, they ran away together."
Hanso blinked. "That's a stupid story. I didn't want a mushy romance!"
"You didn't? I saw the way your eyes shone when I told you that story. You enjoyed it." Trin insisted.
"I liked it up until you put mushy romance in it. That's so stupid!" Hanso looked away stubbornly.
"Well, you liked a little bit of it, didn't you?" Trin asked.
"Yeah, sorta. The morthogs will stay in the backyard. For now. But I'll never fall in love, it's so stupid anyway."
"Oh, I don't know. You may find your Princess Brynn one day, Young Master." Trin smiled. "Now, get to bed, it's late."
Trin blew out the candle on Hanso's side table and left the room.
Hanso sat there, in the dark, seething. How could he have been so stupid? Of course the story would be horrible, it was told by an adult, anyway. Adults never told good stories. And him, a thief, what a terrible-
Hey, wait a sec. That is a good idea. Me, a master thief. A life of action and adventure. Hanso sat up, smiling with his idea. Feeling around in the dark, he found a few of his least fancy clothes, and he stuffed them into a bag, along with the candle and a blanket and peered around, trying to think of anything else he might need.
Food. He thought, and went into his drawer for his secret stash of candy. That would have to do for now, but he figured he could steal some more. He also grabbed his neopoints, about three weeks' worth of allowance, and finally his book of pirate stories.
He peered out the window. Thankfully, his room was on only the second story, and there was a shed beneath his window, so he figured he could jump and land on the roof of the shed and then jump into the bushes down below without much as a few scratches. He had done it before.
He did so, landing squarely on the shed roof. Clutching his bag in one blue paw, he hopped into the bushes below and looked around. Where to next?
Although he would have never admitted it, he held the story Trin had told him in the highest respect. So, he decided to go to the neighboring kingdom of green, like in the story.
Brightvale.
"Alright, that would be 375 neopoints." The book shopkeeper said with a smile.
Hanso grinned back, reached into his pocket, then frowned. "Aw, Fyora. I left my neopoints at home." He lifted his gaze to that of the shopkeeper's. "I'll pay you back."
"I doubt it. Pay now, or put the book back." The shopkeeper said firmly.
Hanso glanced at the book in his paw. It had been nearly a year now since he had ran away from home. It hadn't surprised him when there weren't any missing child posters anywhere- he wasn't expecting his father to want to find him anyway- and Hanso was doing pretty well on his own.
"Well, that's a shame. I can't do either of those." Hanso said sadly, looking at his hooves.
"What's a little kid like you doing with a big book like that, anyway?" The shopkeeper asked.
"Little?" Hanso asked, lifting his gaze a bit.
"Er…um, no, I meant-" The shopkeeper stammered.
"Well, I may be little, but I can outrun you, don't you think?" Hanso said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Wait, what do you mean-"The shopkeeper started.
He didn't get the chance to finish. Hanso bolted off, the book still in his paws.
"Stop! Come back here and pay for that!" He heard the shopkeeper hollering.
"Lemme think about that…" Hanso called back, "No!"
"I'll call the guards on you!" The shopkeeper yelled, huffing with the effort of running after the speedy little Ixi.
"Oooh, I'm so scared!" Hanso yelled back, turning a corner and diving into a large empty trash can- the trash had been emptied earlier that day- and waited. He heard the footsteps of the shopkeeper grow louder, then fade away. He waited a bit more.
1…Tyrannia…2…Tyrannia…3…Tyrannia… Hanso counted in his head. When he got to 30, he poked his head out from the trash bin. He looked left, then right, and saw nothing. He twitched his ears and heard nothing.
"Well, Reggie's gonna be real happy when he gets his flippers on this." Hanso whispered to himself, holding the book up to the light.
Reggie was Hanso's…employer, kinda. He was a chubby blue Flotsam who got too old to continue stealing. So he hired young thieves and paid them to steal certain items. Hanso assumed he turned around and sold them again, seeing as he was always rich, and got a nice profit.
"I wonder how much he'll pay for it?" Hanso wondered aloud.
Suddenly, he heard more footsteps. Startled, Hanso ducked back into the trash can, rattling the lid slightly.
"Hey, what was that?" One voice said, the footsteps stopping.
"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing." Came another, older voice. "Scavenging petpet, or something."
"…Are you sure?" The first voice asked. "I could go check it out. Shouldn't I be careful not to mess up on my first day of guarding?"
Oh Fyora, guards? Hanso thought to himself sarcastically. And even worse, a GIRL guard on her first day. I'm terrified, really, I am.
"Alright, fine, suit yourself. If we're late coming back to HQ though, it's your fault, kay?" The second voice added.
"Right, right." The first voice said. "I'll be quick."
Hanso heard her footsteps approaching slowly, pausing every so often.
"Anybody there?" She asked softly.
Like I'm going to answer that. Hanso thought.
Her footsteps tapped by the trash can Hanso was hiding in, paused, and continued.
Hanso lifted his head slowly, lifting the lid ever so slightly so he could see the guard he was up against.
She looked around his age, maybe a year older at the most, an orange Kougra with light auburn hair, tied back in a unitail. His eyes lowered from her face to her belt as he spotted a bag of neopoints tied to it. Normally, he wouldn't pay attention to a bag of neopoints like that, but something about this one caught his eye. It was tied too loosely around the belt, and he figured it would be easy to snatch.
She stopped again, and she was just in his reach.
It's now or never. Hanso thought, and reached out to grab the pouch.
"Hey, Brynn! You okay back there?" Called the second voice from before.
Brynn? Hanso thought, No way in Moltara…
But his thoughts were interrupted by the teetering of the can he sat in. He had reached too far, and now the can was off balance.
"Oh, Rainbow Dung!" Hanso cursed as the can he was in toppled to the ground, making a loud crash! As he fell, the pouch of neopoints he had grabbed snapped off Brynn's belt and fell with him.
Brynn stopped and whirled around. "Hey!" She cried, spotting the bag. She patted her paw where the bag used to be, her eyes widening. In an instant, she drew her sword and had it pointed at him.
"What happened?" The second voice cried, and a spotted gelert came around the corner. "Oh my Fyora, Brynn! What's going on?"
"This little thief here tried to pick pocket me." Brynn replied, not taking her gaze off Hanso.
"Little?" Hanso offered half-heartedly. "You're about as little as me, Brynn."
Brynn's blue eyes widened. "D-don't call me that! You have the right to remain silent!"
"Oh, okay. I understand that, but I'm not using that right, sweetheart." Hanso replied.
"Shut up! Don't call me that either!"
"Geez, so picky. Fine, I'm not using that right, orange-kougra-girl-who-is-pointing- her- sword- at-my-throat-right-now."
"He's an awful charmer." The spotted gelert remarked sarcastically.
"Drop the neopoints." Brynn threatened. "And the dagger." She said, eying his belt.
Hanso reached for his dagger, and then threw it off to the side. He didn't need it anyway, since he wasn't planning pulling it on this girl. He barely knew how to use it, anyway.
"Here," He said, grabbing the bag of neopoints and tossing it up to Brynn. "Catch."
Brynn caught it, but not without a glare Hanso's direction.
The spotted gelert came closer until she was standing over Hanso threateningly. "You want me to take him back to HQ?" She asked, glancing up at Brynn.
"No, I think I can handle a thief like him." Brynn growled, spitting out the word "thief" like it was rotten meat.
"No respect." Hanso sighed, "I get no respect."
"You don't deserve any." The spotted gelert said. "I'll go back to HQ and tell the head guards you caught one. They'll be impressed, for your first day and all." She padded off.
"First day, huh?" Hanso questioned.
"I've been guarding for three years, but this is my first day on patrol." Brynn said, a hard tone in her voice, as she took out the pawcuffs from her belt. Then, sheathing her sword, she grabbed the collar of Hanso's jacket and hauled him up with surprising strength.
"Come on, easy on the jacket, sweetheart." Hanso complained.
Brynn didn't reply, snapping Hanso's paws in the pawcuffs. Then, she began dragging him along the direction that the spotted gelert had left earlier.
After they walked for a while, Hanso got bored. "So, your name is Brynn?"
"Brynneth." Brynn replied.
"I like Brynn better, personally." Hanso said, remembering the story again.
"I don't care what you think. You will address me as Brynneth, and nothing else, thief." Brynn snapped.
"OK, Brynneth-and-nothing-else, where are you taking me, exactly?" Hanso asked.
"You already know." Brynn growled.
"No, I'm pretty sure I don't." Hanso said.
"Do."
"Don't"
"Do."
"Don't, don't, don't."
"Do, do, do."
"Don't, don't , don't, don-"
"SHUT UP!" Brynn cried, throwing up the one free paw she had.
There was silence for a long time.
"Look, I'm taking you to jail." Brynn said.
"What?" Hanso asked.
"You asked me where I'm taking you, so I told you." Brynn said, more softly.
"Oh."
More silence.
"You know, you aren't so bad, for a guard." Hanso offered.
"And you're ten times more annoying than I ever imagined a thief could be." Brynn shot back.
"Hey, we all have our downfalls, don't we?" Hanso joked. "And by the way, I have a name."
"Don't care." Brynn said.
"Oh yes you do." Hanso replied.
"Do not." Brynn growled.
"Yes you d-"
"WE'RE NOT STARTING THAT AGAIN!" Brynn yelled.
"OK, fine." Hanso mumbled. "Just tryin' to have a little fun, is all."
"Fun? This is anything but fun!" Brynn cried. "I knew how awful thieves were from the start, but this is ridiculous!"
"You've met thieves before?"
"YES, YES I HAVE." Brynn growled, squeezing her eyes shut. "They're all the same. Nasty, mean, uncaring, heartless, soulless, stupid, purposeless, treacherous, and…and…" Brynn trailed off, seeing Hanso's hurt face.
"We're not all like that, you know." He said quietly. How different this Brynn was from the one in the story.
"Oh yeah? Prove it." Brynn said, turning around to face him.
"How?" Hanso asked.
"I'm going to uncuff you and leave for thirty seconds. If I come back and you're still there, I'll rethink." Brynn said firmly.
"So…you're going to let me escape?" Hanso asked incredulously.
"No. I'm faster than you." Brynn said. "I could catch you."
"Is that a bet?" Hanso smiled eagerly.
"No." Brynn said, uncuffing him. "Now, make me wrong, thief." She walked away.
Hanso stood there, watching her leave with his bright amber eyes. Now, a choice. Run, and probably escape? Or stay, and possibly win the trust of a girl he'd probably never see again?
In his mind, he knew the answer. His heart said differently.
"Fyora, this is too much for a six-year-old to think about." Hanso grumbled.
Meanwhile, across the busy dust road, Brynn stood with her eyes squeezed shut.
27…Tyrannia…28…Tyrannia…29…Tyrannia…..30! She spun around, dreading what she would see.
There, across the road, stood Hanso, still puzzling over whether or not he should run or stay.
Brynn breathed a sigh of relief, Karalee, the spotted gelert, would kill her if she found out the thief had escaped.
She started across the road, noticing how it was suddenly clear for some reason. No other pets besides her were walking on it. She stopped and looked around.
Nothing.
Hm. Oh well. Brynn thought.
Too late.
"Brynn, watch out!" Hanso called, his voice drowned out by the thundering of hooves.
Brynn turned in shock to see a chariot pulled by two white unis racing towards her.
"Oh Fyora help me." Brynn whispered, as she watched it come closer.
No time to run.
Brynn squeezed her eyes shut.
~
Heroism wasn't in Hanso's blood.
His father was a rich coward, his mother a seamstress who had passed away years earlier.
Maybe that was what compelled Hanso to become a thief. If he wasn't going to be a hero, why not do the exact opposite?
Still, Hanso thought as he threw himself across the road towards Brynn, what a crazy coincidence it would be if he died here, saving a guard who didn't even bother to learn his name.
A guard named Brynn.
How crazy was that?
Wasn't it the guard's job to be the heroic one? Wasn't the thief the one who was heartless and cruel?
How the tables had turned.
And yet, and yet, Hanso didn't think he was going to regret doing what he was doing. If this girl would be a little nicer to thieves in the future because of him, then Hanso didn't really care what happened. Maybe things would change.
But then again, six-year-olds have big dreams.
Impossible ones.
He pushed Brynn out of the way, and her eyes turned towards him, blue ones. Kind of like how he had pictured the Princess Brynn to have.
How funny.
It was fairly certain at that moment that Hanso was going to die. But he was having none of that. He wasn't going down without a fight.
He leaped into the air.
Brynn sat on the side of the road, blinking the stars out of her eyes. What had just happened?
That thief saved me. Brynn thought.
But where was he?
She looked around, panic growing in her stomach. Her mind flashed back to how rude she had been to him. Sure, he had tried to take her neopoints, but he had just saved her life!
"Hey, what happened here?" Someone shouted.
"Is she alright?" Another voice asked.
"Yeah, but what about the Ixi boy? Where is he?" Someone else shouted.
Brynn stood, her mind swirling.
No, no, no, no. She thought, looking around, This isn't happening, this can't be happening!
Suddenly, there was a loud gasp. "How'd he get up there?" A zafara standing next to Brynn pointed at the chariot, which had come to a screeching halt when the Unis had seen Hanso and Brynn.
Did they stop in time? Brynn followed the Zafara's paw, and almost cried in relief.
Sitting on the top of the chariot, looking rather pleased with himself, was Hanso.
"Hey Brynn! Did you see that? Awesome, huh?" He cried, waving at her. He then noticed how the villagers were staring, wondering how he knew the name of a Brightvale guard, and he stopped waving. "Er, um, I mean, you…kougra girl…say thank you, okay?"
"Get down from there, boy!" The chariot driver shouted.
"On it." Hanso said, leaping down. He strolled over to Brynn, smiling cheekily.
"Well, did you see that?" He whispered excitedly.
"No." Brynn snapped, looking away. "But, uh, thanks." She added, more softly.
"Not a problem, now let's scram." Hanso said, grabbing her paw and dragging her away.
After they walked for a while, Brynn and Hanso stopped, and Hanso let go of her paw and held out his paws.
Brynn stared at them. "What are you doing?"
"Pawcuffs?" Hanso asked.
"…what?" Brynn questioned.
"Pawcuffs." Hanso said again, as if it were obvious. "I took your neopoints, remember?"
"Oh, oh right." Brynn said, snapping them on his paws.
They began walking again, in silence.
As they finally neared the HQ, Brynn spoke up. "So, what is your name anyway?"
"I thought you didn't care!" Hanso mocked.
"Yeah? Well, I do now." Brynn snapped back.
"Hanso. It's Hanso." Hanso said.
"Hanso…why have I heard that name before?" Brynn asked.
"I dunno." Hanso said.
"No, no…Hanso…" Suddenly, Brynn's eyes lit up. "Oh my Fyora, Trin's story!"
"…You knew Trin?" Hanso asked incredulously.
"You knew Trin?" Brynn asked back.
"She was my family's maid. She told me a story that inspired me to become a thief." Hanso clarified.
"Pink elephante?" Brynn asked. "Kinda fat?"
"Yeah." Hanso said, smiling.
"I knew her too. It must have been the same story." Brynn smiled back at him.
"Crazy how Neopia works sometimes, huh?" Hanso remarked.
"Yeah, crazy." Brynn replied.
They headed into the Brightvalean Guard Headquarters' Jail and Brynn chose a cell and locked Hanso up.
She turned the key with a click, and locked the cell door.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Brynn said.
"Yeah. Goodbye, Brynn…er, I mean, Princess Brynn." Hanso replied.
"And goodbye…Hanso." Brynn said, turning away and walking up the spiral staircase to the top floor.
Hanso stood in the dark, smiling like an idiot.
Little did he know, that wasn't the last he would see of Princess Brynn. No, it was only the beginning.