Umm, so this starts off like the video game...

Oh, I don't own anything...


Chapter 1

A storm. Dark clouds covered the sky. Lightning flashed across the horizon. The waves of the ocean rose and sank.

In the midst of the storm was a boat that was struggling to keep afloat. One of the boat's passengers struggled to maneuver the sails. The other passenger was holding a bundle of brown cloth and tried to keep her balance in the fierce wind.

An enormous wave crashed on the boat and the female passenger fell on her back, but never let go of what she was holding, although the wave carried the cloth away. In her arms was a small baby with a horn right in the middle of its forehead.

Princess Garnet woke up with a start.

It's that dream again, she thought. The princess was sitting in her favorite chair in her bedroom, the one nearest to the window. She must have dozed off while she was enjoying the afternoon breeze. She put her hands to her forehead and realized she was sweating profusely. She just hoped she wasn't sweating so much that a stain would show on the dress she was wearing.

The dress was a gift from her mother, Queen Brahne of Alexandria, for her 16th birthday, and it wouldn't be nice to ruin the dress her mother had ordered ten tailors to sew.

I almost forgot, she thought, it is my birthday today.

Princess Garnet sighed. She liked her birthday as much as the average person, but she didn't really like all the festivities and celebrations that her birthday supposedly demanded. Sometimes, she wished she could just have a fancy quiet dinner with her mother, but she knew the queen would never agree.

If all goes well, I will not need to worry about this anymore, she thought to herself.

She stood up from the chair and walked to the window. She peered down at Alexandria. Although the festivities didn't officially start until twilight, she could see the preparations and feel the excitement in the air. Many people seemed to be in Alexandria that day, more than usual and most of them nobles. It must be because of the Tantalus troupe performing, she mused.

She looked up to the sky and watched the birds flying above her.

Will I ever be as free as a bird?

WHYUDELETEMYPARAGRAPHBREAKS

The blonde-haired youth lowered himself down the pole and entered the only door visible.

"Sure is dark," he commented. "Guess nobody's here yet…"

He fumbled around in his pockets until he found what he was looking for. He took out the box of matches and lit one. He walked to the middle of the room where a candle was sitting on a table. He lit the candle and blew out the match.

A voice called out from the next room. "Who's there!"

"It's me, Zidane," the blonde replied.

The door burst open and three individuals entered the room.

After meeting the three's eyes, Zidane crossed his arms over his chest and the rest followed suit. It looked like some sort of salute.

"Hey Zidane, you sure are late," the first one said. He was taller than Zidane and had a lean but muscular build. His hair was a fiery red and his eyes were covered by a brown piece of cloth. Zidane never found out how he could see through it. His face looked handsome enough, at least from what you could see of it.

"Yeah, I know, Blank. Sorry about that, guys. I dozed off a bit." Zidane looked around. "So… where's the boss?"

"Ain't here yet," replied the person in the middle. He had quite a shocking face. His eyes were covered in black makeup, presumably to make him look scarier, but only served to make his face look even more comical. He had a red bulbous nose and a prominent beer belly. He was clutching a hammer in his right hand and was repeatedly banging it against his thigh. "Wait till the boss hears how much money I've earned in Treno! I sold the tickets for more than double its price, but those nobles never batted an eye!"

"Nice going, Cinna!" the last one said. The last person needed no introduction. Anyone on the street (or at least, any girl) could tell you that the person with the bandanna on his head was Marcus of the Tantalus theater troupe. However, not many knew that Marcus, in addition to being an actor, was also a pickpocket.

In fact, all the people in the room were four of the best pickpockets this side of the Mist Continent (and probably the other side too.)

Zidane rubbed his hands together. "So, how much money we talking about here?"

At that moment, the door opposite the one Blank, Cinna and Marcus came out from burst open and a monster with a long blue head jumped out and roared.

Zidane immediately ran around to the back of the creature while the others covered the front and sides. Cinna approached the creature and tried to pound it with his hammer but it parried his attack with a sword it brought out from his pocket and quickly knocked Cinna out with a quick blow to his head with the hilt.

Zidane, seeing his chance, dashed forward and slashed the monster with his dagger. It roared in pain and tried to hit Zidane but he quickly jumped back, narrowly avoiding the glinting blade of the sword.

Blank and Marcus charged forward together and hit the monster in the head with their swords. Their swords made a distinctive "clunk" as they connected.

The monster's head split into two and out popped the head of Baku, the head of the thieves. "Ughuaa! Go easy, guys!" it said.

"Yeah, tell that to Cinna, boss," Marcus said.

Cinna was just regaining consciousness. "I-I'll be fine," he said, laying flat on the floor and panting heavily.

"Gwahahahaha!" their boss laughed, his ears flapping. No matter how Zidane looked at him, he always reminded Zidane of a bat. Maybe it was the big flappy ears or maybe the furry skin or maybe it was the way he always swooped on his troupe unsuspectingly (like he did just now). But despite appearances, Zidane knew that Baku was a kind-hearted man (and sticky-fingered, but that's beside the point). "You're looking a lot better!" Baku rubbed Zidane's head.

Zidane met Baku when Baku picked him up off the streets of Lindblum. He was still about 7 years old then and he didn't know anything about himself aside from his name, Zidane Tribal. He didn't remember his parents, his hometown, or even his birthday. He didn't know why he had a tail, although no one really seemed to mind. All he remembered was a blue light and that could have been anything. Baku "adopted" him and trained him to be a pickpocket, like all the others. Now at 16, Zidane thought of the troupe as his own family and Baku as his - though he would never admit it – father.

"Alright, enough with this horsing around! Let's start this meeting already!" Baku ordered, kicking open the door to the meeting room. Zidane and the others quickly went in the room, where they settled themselves around a table.

"Here's the plan!" Baku said, gesturing to the table. Zidane peered at it and saw that a miniature Alexandria castle was set up on it. Baku continued, "Tantalus, the infamous band of daring thieves (that's us) is heading to the Kingdom of Alexandria... Our mission: to kidnap the heir to the throne, Princess Garnet!" Baku held up a small rag doll complete with a golden crown to represent the princess.

Zidane looked at it closely. "Hey, Cinna! Isn't that your doll?" he asked.

"H-how did you-" Cinna spluttered out, but decided not to finish his sentence. He cleared his throat. "I'll take it from here, so listen up! We're going to Alexandria and perform 'I Want to Be Your Canary', the most popular play right now. Marcus, break a leg! Cause you're playing the lead!"

Marcus stood up. "Leave the acting to me! I'll have the Alexandrian women swooning to their knees," he chuckled. "Blank, Zidane, we're counting on you to do the actual kidnapping."

This time, Blank stood up. "I'll distract the audience backstage with the oglops. Ugh, I can't stand these things, but I'll manage. Then it's your cue, Zidane!"

"Okay!" Zidane chirped. "That's when I kidnap Queen Brahne, right?"

"Right!" Baku agreed. "You're gonna kidnap the fat-ass, butt-ugly Queen Br— what… what am I saying!"

Zidane laughed. "That's when I kidnap the princess, right?"

"You bet! You're gonna kidnap the most babe-licious beauty in all of Alexandria, Princess Garnet!"

"Don't worry! I won't mess it up!" Zidane assured everyone. He wondered if the princess was as pretty as they say she was.


Okay...I don't know what scene I should put next... (It's probably gonna be Vivi though...)