"Alright, you see the cows that farmer is milking?" Rouge asked, pointing down from a ledge.
It was very early in the morning and a few thin rays of light landed on top of several empty glass jars.
Rouge always hid her most valuable possessions in the dark and couldn't fathom why anyone would do any important work near light unless they were a complete beginner. Most of her own thievery was conducted during nighttime, usually in dimly lit alleys or caves. Leaving a possession out in the light was asking for it to be stolen and stealing a possession in the light was asking to be caught.
This particular quest would require a whole set of advanced tricks. Rouge was not good at math so she couldn't calculate her exact speed, trajectory, or how much noise her weight would make when she hit the ground. However she was as good as a deadly assassin when it came to instincts.
Her shadow would fall to the back of the barn, so that area would have the possibility to attract the most attention. But even if the farmer were to look that way, Rouge knew from experience that she could escape in time without being seen herself.
Giving the hedgehog the 'shush' signal (which he copied), Rouge waited for the perfect time.
The farmer was clearly not suspecting anything - he would be as helpless and unobservant as a dumb farmer (Rouge was not the best at analogies). He was also a bit groggy and his limbs were stiff.
Twelve glass jars - six filled with milk, six left to go.
Sonic saw Rouge peer down with unblinking eyes, capturing the solemness and stillness of a gargoyle statue. The most important part of the art of thievery was waiting for the perfect time. Hours of vigilant stalking could shatter in seconds - a guard could turn his head two seconds earlier than she expected, or a door could close after she sprung into action - then heads spin, lights turn on, and people call for security. That's a den of trouble.
Four left -
Then as Rouge saw it (or maybe even before she saw it), the bat dived straight as a missile, closing her eyes for an impromptu self-imposed challenge.
The farmer had turned his head to sneeze.
Rouge shrieked in an extremely high pitched range and saw everything clearly in her mind, perhaps even more clearly than if she was using her eyes. She grabbed a filled bottle farthest away from the farmer before the sneeze began and she sprang back up in the air before it was finished.
After a few minutes, and without an inkling that he had been robbed blind (although with a suspicion that there was a family of mobians secretly living in the barn since that was the only thing he knew he was allergic to), the farmer carried the filled jars back in a container and walked out of the barn.
"Did you see that?" Rouge asked the hedgehog.
"It may have been too quick for you but I actually replaced his filled milk jar with an empty one - leaving him with twelve and no need to worry. A novice would take two or three, a second-rate would take one, but the classiest pros have methods where their deeds become invisible even under microscopic inspection or with an accountant logging every transaction."
Saying this put her short trance where she imagined the hottest boys from her mobian calendar stealing in the most inconspicuous ways and then promptly asking for her hand in marriage.
She quickly snapped out of it.
"How about a drink?" she asked, offering the jar to Sonic. She in fact never drank the milk herself but stole on occasion to improve her craft.
One day, just to challenge herself, she stole two jars milk, dumped out their contents, and replaced them empty all while the farmer was busy milking. This was almost too close because one of the empty jars fell over. A novice mistake! However the farmer never noticed that.
Ever since she took care of Sonic, Rouge stole milk jars more often to give the growing child some nourishment. Sonic was beginning to learn how to speak and although he was no prodigy at that, he was able to obey simple commands and he did so with enthusiasm. He explained to Rouge that he preferred exploring and running rather than sitting around in a dark barn like she did.
This was useful to her because her very reason for being in such a rural environment was that there was an emerald gem rumored to be hidden in one of the fields. So when evening came, Rouge would lead Sonic to a field and tell him to run down a lane until he saw something green and shiny hidden in the dirt. If he saw it, he was to report back to her.
When night came and it was too dark to distinguish colors, Sonic was to trace his hand along the dirt.
"Now let's search for something smooth."
This type of life was rather monotonous but Sonic enjoyed every minute of activity. He was excited whenever he ran in a field with new weird fruit, asking Rouge to explain each interesting type.
"That's not edible for me," she would say sometimes. Rouge wasn't sure what mobian hedgehogs could or couldn't eat so when Sonic encountered a new type of plant, she told him to sample just a little and wait to make sure it didn't upset his stomach.
Their happy life was broken up when, from the fields, Rouge saw the farmer carrying a shotgun and knew it was intended for them. He had realized their unwelcome company at last!
Quickly she made a checklist of all she had to do. Sonic and her would have to stay hidden and she knew he didn't like that. Then at nightfall she would gather her belongings from the barn and finally she would leave with the hedgehog.
The saddest thought she had that night was that another mobian would likely find the emerald. It would probably be somebody less talented than her. It would probably be a clumsy oaf who just happened to trip over it! That last thought left her steaming!
With a sigh, she traveled with the hedgehog to a more populated region. One where humans and mobians were both welcome - Robotropolis!