Disclaimer: Get thee hence, for thou
art mental if thou thinkest that I own the Thief Lord!
Isabella got up late the next morning, tired from waking up when Scipio brought Prosper & Bo there in the hour of 2 o'clock. Hornet was already up, sitting downstairs.
"Morning. The poor little blonde.. I mean, Bo...he's got a nasty cold. I gave him medicine, but i don't think he should go out until he's better... I wonder how Prosper will do today with Barbarossa?"
Isabella shrugged, then grabbed a carton of milk & cereal and ate her breakfast silently. Suddenly, Riccio & Mosca came bounding down the steps, oblivious to the fact that Prosper & Bo were still sleeping upstairs.
"What's for breakfast, Pretty Ladies?" Riccio said, grinning widely. "I'm starving from yesterday!"
"Riccio, I don't think calling them names will get us anything. And running downstairs when Prosper & Bo are sleeping will get us nothing but angry looks." Mosca said wanly. He looked hungry too, though. Isabella just nodded at Mosca & pointed at the fridge & the cabinets. She was too tired to even say but one word to them, and she didn't have enough energy to make breakfast. Just then, Bo came skipping down the stairs, with Prosper plodding right behind him. Bo plopped down on a chair at the table, a smile plastered on his face.
"What's for breakfast, because I am hungry!" Riccio nodded along, his stomach grumbling loudly as support.
"There's things in the refrigerator and the cabinets. Just look around and you'll find something." Hornet said. Everyone ate breakfast in silence, then Riccio bounced out of his chair and looked over at Prosper.
"Hey, come on Prosper! Barbarossa awaits our loot!...I mean...never mind. Let's just go already!" Hornet looked at Riccio with a glare that said, 'Let him eat and leave him alone, Riccio! He just got here and you're already bugging him! Go (attempt) to brush your teeth, or just sit and calm down! (...if that's possible for YOU...)'
Riccio groaned, but slumped back into his chair. But just as he sat, Prosper stood up.
"Come on, Riccio. Let's go get this done before Scipio gets back." He said quietly. So they headed off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------They arrived in front of Barbarossa's, hoping that the owner wouldn't be as hard to haggle with as usual.
"Your big moment, stony face," Riccio uttered as they stepped in. Barbarossa watched them and said to wait in his office. Then he went back and they talked...
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Hornet sat in the cinema chairs, reading a book to Bo while Mosca was fixing the projector for when he finished his movie. Isabella, on the other hand, was sitting on the back steps. She was singing a tune she remembered from when she was back in Roma. She reminisced about when she was 3, and how her parents died in an accident. She barely remembered them... Then, she lost her "nanny" when she was 7, (okay, well she ran away). After finding it hard to survive in the slums, she hopped a train to Venezia on her 13th birthday. Isabella had always loved to sing, and it was her dream to become a famous rockstar and make something out of herself. It felt good here, but she was still slightly timid around the gang. She wished she could talk about her past with them, but it was just too hard. Life on the streets had taught her that it's best to just keep your mouth shut and your eyes and ears wide open. She traced along the likes of the gang; Hornet, the only girl of the group was bookish but with an attitude; Riccio was feisty and was always looking for something fun to do; Mosca was wise and technical, fixing his project and boat whenever he could; little Bo could already be described as a ball of sunshine, radiating happiness to all who were around him; Prosper, the quiet one...he seemed to take his time at things and think things over before he jumped to do something... Last was Scipio...mysterious, a good thief (as his role model was the Thief Lord!) He had a charm to him though, even though he was cocky and had a headstrong attitude. He was decent looking, not like some "thieves" would be.
"You okay, Isabella?"Hornet appeared beside her, startling her out of her train of thoughts.
"Huh? Oh... Yea, I'm fine Hornet. I'm just thinking of when I was back in Roma. I'm done pondering. Now what?"
"We could talk. You can tell me about your past and I could tell you about mine. I can tell your past wasn't great, which is just like mine. I'll go first, if it makes you uncomfortable to talk about. But I feel like I can tell you." She said, smiling at Isabella as if she'd known her longer than a few days. Isabella nodded for her to go first.
"Okay, here goes... When I still lived with my parents, my mother stayed in her room because she was afraid. My father was always drunk, and he often abused me, both verbally and physically. I kept telling my mother that I didn't want to live there anymore, but she'd just sigh and tell me that there was no place else to go. But one day, I'd finally had enough. I barely had any dignity left with all the names my father called me, and I was hurt badly from him beating me. I broke down crying to my mother. She felt so bad that she helped me pack all my things and sent me off to find another place where we could live together, without my father. I searched and searched until I found Mosca and Riccio. I was afraid of them, since I thought they'd be like my father. But they welcomed me into their "house" and said I could stay because I was like them too. A few days later, I went back to tell my mother I'd found a place..." she stopped for a moment and sighed, a slight glisten of tears in her eyes.
"Do you want to stop, Hornet?" Isabella said, sensing how bad Hornet was feeling. Hornet shook her head.
"So I got to my house and snuck in one window. I looked in my mother's room, but she was nowhere to be found. My father was asleep in a chair in the living room, so I crept past him and searched the rest of the house. Finally, I checked our bathroom... I had to stifle a scream and the tears... My mother's body was frozen in time, a corpse on the floor. I knew she'd been sick, but I didn't think it was that serious. I ran out of the house and back to Mosca and Riccio. I told them what I saw and burst into tears. They both sat around me, but I wouldn't take one pat on the back or one hug. I felt like I could never trust anyone again after that day. Until you came..."
"Wow.. your story is so sad, Hornet. I'm sorry you had to go through something so traumatic. I'm glad I'm here for you. well, I guess I'll start my story..." Isabella said, twisting a lock of her curly jet-black hair.
"I used to live in Rome, that's where I was born. When I was three, my parents died in an accident. I don't know what kind, I just know they died because I was placed in the care of my nanny. She was a nice lady, but she wasn't my family. So I lived with her until I was seven. That's when I ran away and tried to live on my own. I was driven to the slums because I didn't have any money, even to buy food. I couldn't get a job because I wasn't old enough. I was at a dead end in the road. I was usually sick and and to sleep on people's fire escapes. On my thirteenth birthday, I'd had enough of my horrible life in the slums and decided to hop a train to whatever city was nearby Rome. So I stowed away on a train headed for Venice. But still, things didn't get much better. I didn't get a job until I was fifteen because, well.. nobody would hire me. When I did turn fifteen, Mr. Torilli, owner of a chain of gelati carts, hired me to work at his cart in Rialto. That's the center of the business, the most important cart. He seemed to act like he liked me, but in reality I was just another worker. I was a good worker, though, and when I brought him more money he started to expect me to always do well. He yelled at me for my smallest mistakes and was almost verbally abusive to me. Then one day, I met Scipio. He came to the cart as I was almost falling asleep. We talked, but I got in trouble. A few days later, I quit. I slept on a fire escape that night, but Torilli's "goons" found me and chased me across the roofs. Eventually, I ended up on a roof with no place to jump to nearby... That's when I fell. The Thief Lord appeared and caught me. He was hanging on a rope. We slid down and he led me to you guys. That's my story..." She sighed with Hornet and basked in the moment.
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Hi guys! Sorry about not updating in FOREVER! I've been busy with projects and stuff! My birthday was yesterday, yipee! Anyway, please R&R! Thanks to everyone who did! xoxox, Thief Princess 3
