Sorry if Hanso was a little OOC in the last chapter- but hey, he's only seven! You can't expect little boys/ixis to be greedy already, can you? :P
The Month of Eating (April) Age 7
Week 1
April Fool's Day made everyone a little mischievous. So when I announced that I was going to pull a prank on the Kyrii, even Kayley wanted to join in. Mind you, she might just want revenge for the bad grade he gave her last month; she's still not over it!
Early in the morning, I went to the market. I hated getting up early, but today it would be so worth it. Everyone had pitched in; Razor gave the money he earned by working with the bookstore shopkeeper, the twins reluctantly handed over the neopoints they were going to use for candy, and Kayley-
"This better be good," she hissed, before throwing me a handful of coins. When I got back, I was armed with water guns filled with cake frosting and a bucket full of sprinkles. We carefully placed the pail over the door and took aim from beneath a desk. The class was the most silent that I've ever seen it before. You could have heard a pin drop.
A figure stood looming on the doorway. He turned the knob-
"APRIL FOOLS!" I yelled. We all started shooting, covering the person with tons of whipped cream. The Kyrii screamed. I remember thinking that it was weird that he seemed to have such long ears, plus a scar on his face…
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Somebody cried. We all turned to see the horrified Kyrii standing outside the hall, still clean.
"Wait," Juliet said slowly. "If you're not the April fool…"
"Then who's this?" Julius finished for her.
The guy pulled his heavy (and rather sweet) cloak off, uncovering- Kanrik?
Uh-oh. We were doomed. Razor appeared as ashen as he had at the Illusen Day Festival. The twins were trying to hide behind each other. Kayley seemed to want to crawl under the table and die.
"Who," he asked, breathing hard, "Is responsible for all of…this?" He gestured around wildly. All of them pointed to me. Even Razor, though a little guiltily. He drew in a sharp intake of breath. "Hanso. I should have known. Come with me." Not waiting for an answer, he grabbed me by the ear and dragged me through the corridor.
Before I went with him, I've never went that deep in the hideout. It was against the rules. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but after getting lost twice and a few hard whackings, I had decided to obey for once. He took me to a room, which he told me gruffly was his study.
"Wow," I exclaimed, noticing a huge map. It showed the different branches of the Guild. In the Lost Desert was the Desert Scarabs. In Krawk Island, there were the Smugglers and Pirates. And something else. When I looked closer, I saw an Usul with long, brown hair and a flowing green dress, smiling at the camera with the air of an adventurer. "Is that Hannah?"
"Yes," he replied. "You and she are quite alike. Both of you had no problem to publicly embarrass me."
"We really didn't know it was you," I persisted, trying to worm my way out of trouble. "If we did-"
"You'd have hit your master instead," he completed. "But no matter. Today is April Fool's Day, the one time I allow such follies to take place. What is the point of being a thief if we are restricted to do what are only allowed to normal civilians?"
"Exactly," I agreed, not understanding a word that he said, though suspecting it had something to do with forgiving me. "So I'll just be on my way-"
"Not so fast," he said, striding in front of the portal. "There is one more problem we need to discuss."
"Uh-huh. And what would that be?" I asked suspiciously.
"I believe you gave this," he held up the Illusen staff, "To the student named Razor when you found that he was failing the class. There's no point in denying- he's already admitted it himself."
Busted.
"Thieves don't characteristically give by nature," he said. "You know what I'm going to do."
"Okay, fine. Tell the whole Guild. I'm out of here." I got up and started walking out. The whole thing sucked anyway. I mean, who needed to be a "real" thief? I could manage on my own just fine.
"I'm not going to tell anyone."
I whirled around enthusiastically. "You're not?"
"No. I am fully aware that in doing so I would be making you a mockery."
"So…what are you going to do?" I pressed.
He reached for the pocket inside his cloak- the one that hid weapons. I cringed, expecting something that would blow me up. Instead, he pulled out a small, tin badge shaped like a coin. "I'm promoting you to an Apprentice Thief," he said. "And don't worry- my dagger is in my other pocket." He tossed the small object to me.
"Cool- thanks!" I blurted.
Then his face darkened. "As I said, thieves don't give by nature. They can't. Any act of kindness is considered a weakness by both the guards and his peers. I'm only excusing you this once because you are young, but if I ever hear of anything like this again, you will be kicked out of the guild with no hope of returning." I gulped. "But you have a lot of potential," he continued. "I don't think anything will happen to you. Or else." I nodded. "You may leave now."
I scurried outside, practically running to the classroom. Just in time to hear Kayley saying to the Kyrii, "I tried to stop him, sir, I really did, but he was just so flippant…." She wavered when she saw me. "What happened?"
I grinned broadly. "I got appointed to Apprentice Thief."
Week 2
The twins have been pestering me at lunch all week, wanting to know how I elevated to a new station.
"How'd you do it?" They cried, enclosing me inside their little circle. "We want shiny badges, too!" I kept it on my jacket, just to show off.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kayley said, glowering at me. "He obviously cheated. Probably did a quest for Illusen or something. There was no way he could have gotten it from the armory."
I shook my head at her patronizingly. "Kayley, Kayley, Kayley. Is someone getting a little green-eyed today?"
"But she doesn't have green eyes," Juliet pointed out, not getting the joke.
"Figure of speech," I explained. "It means she's jealous."
"I AM NOT!" She shouted. "It was way too hard to get anything from inside the vault. The faerie booby-trapped the whole thing; you would've definitely have gotten caught!"
"But I didn't. I learned from your mistake."
Her eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I just winked at her and grabbed my share of cafeteria mush. I spotted Razor sitting by himself, getting poked in the back by paper balls. When I seated by him, all the wad-tossing stopped. Being an Apprentice Thief gave me a lot of respect, which I soon found out. At least until everyone else gets promoted.
"Hey, big guy," I greeted him.
"Thick boned," he reminded me.
"Right."
He shifted a little, staring at his food. "Are you mad at me for telling Kanrik?"
"Mad? Do I look mad?" I beamed at him, but he still had a depressed face on.
"You still would have gotten more credit if you handed it over right after the party."
I rolled my eyes. "Who cares? Being an Apprentice Thief is great. It actually got Kayley to shut up!" He chuckled a little, and that encouraged me. "If I got any higher she'd probably start groveling at my feet!"
"So we're cool now?" He asked.
"We were cool before. Now, we're awesome!" We both laughed.
No one besides me, Razor, Kanrik, and you know about what really happened with the staff. I think I'll keep it that way. It's nice to know something that Kayley doesn't for once.
Week 3
My glory of being an Apprentice Thief is dying down a little, though I don't really mind. A lot of kids are expecting to get a higher position when the tournament comes around, because it's one of the few chances you have to prove yourself. If you make it, your status automatically becomes increased.
Week 4
Just a few more weeks till the tournament. I wonder what kind of trouble I can brew up before then.