The Cooper Crew
Told by Mutitoon90
Chapter Nine: A Promise To Be Fulfilled
A day passed after Shade's and Penelope's 'arrival' onto the Silver Serpent and Sly's telling the she-raccoon of her heritage of the Cooper Crew and the Cooper clan. The ship of the Cooper Crew had returned to the hidden port, where Carmelita berated the two girls for leaving the town without permission, and when she was through with Penelope, she turned her furious lectures to Shade for stealing the key to the holding cell.
After receiving the sheriff's scowlding statements, the two friends met up with Jing King and were introduced to the Panda King, who was grateful to the friends for rescuing his daughter during her time of need. The best friends were pleased with themselves for their action. When the male panda asked the friends about them joining the Cooper Crew, their answer were cryptic and short.
When the other pirates asked the two friends about joining the crew, their answer was always the same: "Maybe yes, maybe no."
By the time the day ended, the two friends were in the sheriff's house and getting ready for bed in the room Carmelita had given them earlier.
"What a day!" Penelope said as she pulled a white gown onto her body, wanting to go to sleep, "Those guys just never stop asking!"
"You can say that again." Shade replied as she yawned loudly before placing herself onto the bed and pulling the sheets to her form.
Penelope, who did the same thing as the she-raccoon did, stated, "Well, it's better than what we're usually being asked for."
"No kidding!" The brown raccoon laughed out as she recalled the last time that anyone had asked them for a favor that the men believed the girls could only provide them; Penelope broke the man's jaw.
"Well, at least, we know that some people won't be messing with us for a while." Penelope stated as she removed her glasses and place them on a table.
"Well," Shade summoned the doubt to her lips, "not everyone would care about who's sister or daughter I am."
"No joke." The lavender mouse sighed out, knowing that the she-raccoon was right about the fact to some men take what they want and do not care who they hurt.
"Let's get to sleep, Penelope." Shade said to her friend, "I don't know about you, but I'm tired from everything that's happened today."
"Me too." Yawned Penelope as she felt that her body needed the rest, "Good night, Shade."
"Have good dreams, Penelope." Shade spoke as she drifted off to a slumber, while her friend did the same thing.
Outside the room, Carmelita Montoya-Fox listened to the conversation between the two girls and making sure that Shade and Penelope were not going to sneak out of her house again. She had been worried about the two ever since they had vanished, and she became furious when she learned that the girls just ran away from the port, which led to her lecturing the girls upon their return to the hidden town.
Although she was enraged by the act, the sheriff was relieved to know that the girls were safe and mostly unharmed by LeFwee.
As she quietly started for the stairs, she heard the sound of knocking on her door. Carmelita was confused about the knocking and why someone was coming to her house in the evening, but she went to the door, hoping it was not who she thought it was.
She went to her door and opened it, and upon opening the door, she freed a groan of displeausre; Sly Cooper was at her door.
"Good evening, Sherriff Montoya-Fox." Sly grinned suavely at the vixen, "My, don't you look ravishing today."
"What do you want, Captain?" The vixen asked, hoping for the offchance that Sly was at her home for something else, besides her.
"Well, I'm hoping to talk to Shade before she went to sleep." The grey raccoon answered, nearly surprising the female fox.
"And what if she's already asleep?" Carmelita asked, eyeing the clever raccoon, who answered bluntly, "Well, then I'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her," then Sly's brown eyes narrowed at Carmelita,"unless you want me to stay for a little."
"Sorry, Captain," the sheriff announced to Sly, "but you lose out both times. Besides, I would be shamed, if I were you, for acting like that."
"Like what?" Sly 'asked innocently' to the vixen, "I've done anything wrong, outside of stealing from pirates that is."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Sly Cooper! Your sister, whom you've just found days ago, is sleeping upstairs, and you're down here, flirting at me under the pretense of seeing her! I wouldn't be surprised if she learned of this and knocked out your lights for it!"
"And I wouldn't be shocked if she wasn't surprised at my behavior at all." Sly countered as his face expressed a rare seriousness that Carmelita had hardly seen.
"So," the sheriff spoke to Sly in more calm tone of voice, "it's like that, huh? I wasn't expecting you to say something like that."
"I know." Sly said in a nearly deadpan voice, "I was about to get her off that damn orphanage, when she and Penelope ran off on their own, so she's seen a few things that I and my father would have never shown her in any aspect of her life."
Moments passed in silence, and Sly and Carmelita thought about what was said between the both of them.
Then, the sheriff spoke up to the captain, saying, "Look at it this way: this means that she is a little more stronger than she would have been if she didn't experience them."
"You've have a point there, Carmelita." Sly gave a little grateful smile on his face as he turned to the she-fox, "Thank you, Sheriff."
A smile graced Carmelita's lips as she said in polite and relieved response, "You're welcome, Captain."
"You want me to stay for a little while?" Sly asked as his grateful smile turned into a mischievous grin.
Both the question and the grin annoyed the lady sheriff, who gave her answer to the raccoon captain politely.
"I wouldn't if I were you, so no thank you, Captain."
"I was just asking." Sly said as he grinned less mischievously and more sheepishly, "I'll leave if you want me to; all you had to do was asked, Sheriff."
Sly went to the door, ready to exit the home of the Sheriff and the harsh glare of her ember-like, amber eyes as their owner followed the captain to the door.
As the Cooper Crew's captain reached for the knob, he halted his actions and turned to Carmelita Motoya-Fox to speak to her.
"Sheriff, I need to ask you for a favor, please hear me out about it."
Carmelita had an odd feeling about the favor from the captain, but she allowed him to ask by saying, "That depends on what kind of a favor."
"I'm going to take my sister in the manor, so she'll be out of your hair for a while, but whenever I have to be somewhere else and can't take her with me, I want you to take care of her."
This peaked the vixen's curiosity, and the sheriff asked, "Why are asking me to do this, Sly? I'm not the kind of woman that your sister would respect."
"She does respect you, Carmelita." Sly grinned at the vixen, "It's just you're on the overprotective side when it comes to her, that's all."
"Maybe so." The vixen sheriff stood her ground, "It's my job to make sure that no one that is innocent gets hurt by anyone or anything."
"Keeping an eye on Shade is something that I really need you to do." Sly nearly begged the Sheriff of the hidden port, "That's why I'm going to you first with this."
"So, I can refuse this anytime I want to?" Asked a curious Carmelita Motoya-Fox, who was still unsure if she should accept this offer from the Captain.
"Anytime you want." The raccoon confirmed as he answered the question, "You don't even have to agree to it now."
Carmelita put a bent finger on her face in thought, and after a moment, she said, "Can you come back tomorrow? I need some time to think it over."
"Of course." Sly nodded to the sheriff of the hidden town and opened the door, ready to exit Carmelita's home.
Once out of the house, the captain turned to the sheriff once more and said to her, "Good night, Carmelita."
"Good night," the sheriff started to say, but she paused for a moment before finishing the statement, "Sly."
The vixen watched as the young male vanished into the darkness of the town before she retreated into the safety of her home, locked the door and went to her room.
On her way to her bedroom, the sheriff peeked in on Shade and Penelope and found both girls sleeping in their room. Pleased by the sight, Carmelita quietly closed the bedroom door and went to her room.
Upon entering her room, the sheriff undressed herself and replaced the attire of a flowing nightgown. The female fox went to her bed and fell asleep, still thinking about Sly's offer to watch out for Shade, when Sly could not.
The night passed by, and the next day came without any interruption of sleep for or from the three women in Carmelita's house. Shade was the first to raise for the day, which was something not unusual to her.
"Looks like it's gonna be ham and eggs today." Shade yawned out as she woke up. A moment passed, and the she-raccoon realized that she was in Carmelita's house and not the hideout in Blood Bath Bay.
"Oops!" Shade said as she covered her mouth at her own sillious, and then she announced, "That's okay! I don't mind cooking ham and eggs!"
Shade dressed herself in her usual attire, sneaked out of her room without awaking up her friend, went downstairs and to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, the brown raccoon found the cooking items and started to make breakfast.
The fumes of cooked food danced in the air until the scent reached the noses of Penelope and Carmelita, waking them up.
Both females follow the invisible trail with their noses, and they made their way to the kitchen, which was a mess from Shade making breakfast.
"Good morning!" The she-raccoon greeted the Sheriff and the mouse, "I've made ham and eggs this morning, and you're welcome to have some if ya want."
Penelope's response was: "Don't mind if I do!"
Carmelita was a little wary about the meal, but she was a little surprised about Shade making a meal in her house.
"Shade," the vixen asked the she-raccoon, "why did you make a meal? And how did you learn how to cook?"
"Well," the brown raccoon replied, "why don't you try the food before I give you an answer for that question."
The she-fox was a little nervous about trying the food, but she had a feeling that Shade would not answer. So, Carmelita took a deep breath, grabbed a plate, filled it with some food and she grabbed a fork.
Having a few moments of prayer, the blue-haired vixen scooped some of the ham and eggs with her fork, and she put the food in her mouth. The taste in her mouth was something that Carmelita was not expecting from the food.
"This is good, better than I would have thought!" The sheriff announced to the raccoon, known as Shade, "How did you learn how to cook like this?"
"One learns to do many things when you go looking for the next heist." Shade grinned mischievously, making her look more like Sly Cooper.
"What do you mean by that?" The vixen asked as she continued to consume her breakfast of ham and eggs.
"What Shade means," Penelope explained what Shade had stated, "is that we had to take a few jobs before we rob the pirates."
2"Name one." The sheriff commanded nonchalantly, doubtful about the girls' story about really getting real work in-between heists from pirates.
"Where do we begin?" Shade looked at the lavender mouse, looking for some form of help from her closest friend.
"Well," spoke the mouse, "we were barmaids on the last job before LeFwee found out what we were up to. Before that, we were dancing girls when we stole all of that gold from Mugshot."
"Wait a mintue!" The sheriff announced loudly, "You stole from Antonio Mugshot, also known as Two-Gun Tony!?"
"Yeah, we did." The female raccoon confirmed verbally before asking, "How did you know about that heist?"
"Sly and the Cooper Crew were planning to rob him." The orange-furred vixen explained herself to the girls, "So imagine his surprise to find the vault empty of any gold."
"I can't." Shade announced as her face was twisted from trying not to laugh, "I'm imagining Mugshot's reaction to the lack of gold!"
Then, the raccoon bursted out with laughter, nearly causing her to fall out of her seat, which caused Penelope to laugh nearly as hard as the raccoon.
"Well, Mugshot wasn't pleased," Carmelita announced to the girls, "and the first person that the brute saw was Sly."
"And Mugshot aimed his guns at the captain." Penelope stated, knowing enough of the pirate and his fury-fueled temper.
"Not surprising, knowing that sea dog's temper." Shade stated before she shoveled some more of her ham and eggs onto her plate for the third time.
"Slow down on the food!" Penelope scowled the raccoon, "That meal's not going anywhere else right now."
"Can't help it." Shade responded to the mouse, "It's a bad habit that I've picked up long before you came to the orphanage."
"Orphanage?" The vixen asked the girls, "You two are really orphans?"
"Unfortunately." The two friends confirmed in unison before groaning loudly as they recalled their time there.
"I've spent the most time there, since I've lost my parents at the age of five." Shade announced to the sheriff before Penelope added, "And I was there since I was ten."
"How horrible!" Carmelita gasped as she realized that they were victims of a cruel part of fate. Then, she asked, "What happened?"
"Don't ask me." The she-raccoon stated in response, "I was very young when I lost my parents, which is still a mystery to me!"
"I... rather not talk about it." Penelope sadly said, not wanting to talk about her life before her parents' deaths.
Seeing that she could not get an answer from the girls, Carmelita said regretfully, "I'm sorry if I've stepped on the toes."
"It's okay, Carmelita." Shade smiled at the vixen, "It's something we don't like to dwell in very much, and you didn't know about that."
"Well," the vixen stated, feeling a little better about the situation, "I'm glad to hear that. Thank you, Shade."
"Not a problem." The raccoon smiled in response.
Then, knocking was heard by all three females and reminding Carmelita about the offer that Sly told her the night before.
"I'll go get it!" Shade offered as she stood up, "You two need to go upstairs and get dressed; it might be a guy at the door."
Blushing from hearing the statement, Carmelita and Penelope ran to their respective rooms, while Shade went to the front door and opened it.
"Oh! Hi, Sly!" The female raccoon greeted the captain of the Cooper Crew, who greeted back by saying, "Hi, Shade! Is Carmelita up and around?"
"Yeah, she's up," the younger raccoon answered, "but she's not around right now. It'll be a few minutes."
"I can wait." Sly responed to the answer before he asked, "Is it fine with Carmelita if I waited for her inside?"
4"I don't know." The she-raccoon replied, sounding very unsure, "This is Carmelita's house, and I have a feeling that she wouldn't like it if you were in here, while she was upstairs."
"Understandable, Shade." The captain nodded to the young female, "I'll wait outside then. Please, tell the sheriff that I'm waiting for her outside."
"I'll tell her." Shade nodded back before she closed the front door and leaving Sly outside.
Once Shade closed the door, she only took a couple of steps from the entrance, when Carmelita's hasten footsteps as the vixen ran from her bedroom to the front door. Shade was quick enough to get out of the fox's path, so she would allow Carmelita to reach the door and keep herself from being ran down.
"Captain," panted Carmelita Montoya-Fox, "it's good to see you this morning."
"Same to you." Sly responded politely as he saw Penelope's confused face as the mouse watched his reaction.
Sly saw that reaction often from his own crew, who believed that Carmelita refused the captain of the Cooper Crew was that she had a lover of her own. However, Sly learned that she was alone after watching through her window for a couple of weeks.
Shade also saw the mouse's facial reaction and spoke out, "Penelope, let's go back to the kitchen and clean the mess that's in there."
Eying her friend oddly, Penelope complied, saying before she obeyed, "I'm coming." As she followed Shade to the kitchen, she whipsered into the brown raccoon's ear.
"Do you think there's anything between them? Or is it all just a big show for everyone around them?"
"I don't know, Penelope." The raccoon whispered back, "Whatever it is, it's really none of our business."
Frowning at her friend's statement, the mouse decided not to continue on with the subject of conversation. However, once the friends were in the kitchen, they were careful not to expose themselves listening in on the conversation between Captain Sly Cooper and Sheriff Carmelita Montoya-Fox.
4"So, Carmelita," Sly suavingly asked, "did you consider my offer after I left last night?"
"Yes," the vixen replied with a nod of head, "I did give it some thought, and I had to admit that I still have my doubts about it."
"Are you sure about that?" Sly grinned as he placed his hands behind his head, "So, what soften your opinion?"
"Well, I've slept over it, and I wasn't as tired as I was last night, and I had a surprising good breakfast by Shade."
"Wait a moment!" Sly sounded surprised, "Shade? Made breakfast? Coopers aren't famous for making meals."
"Well, tell that to Shade!" Carmelita stated in a joking response, "She's a better cook than anyone I've ever known!"
Hearing the comment made the brown-furred she-raccoon beam with pride as she continue to hear what Sly and Carmelita had to say.
"Really?" Sly mused at the thought for a moment before speaking, "Well, I know of a few family members of the Cooper clan that were gifted in the culinary arts."
"Well," Penelope whispered to Shade once again, "now I know how you were the best cook in the orphanage."
"At least, the talent." Shade shrugged her shoulders, knowing that she was also forced into cooking foods, which was considered to be a 'woman's job.'
Then, the girls heard Carmelita's following statement: "Maybe it was the orphanage that she grew up in; that would make some sense."
Shade and Penelope reacted silently by covering their grinning lips as they tried not to burst out laughing as they continued to listen to the conversation.
"So," the captain of the Cooper Crew spoke up, "are you going to take me up on my offer, or just say 'no' right now?"
A moment passed before the sheriff of the hidden port gave her answer to Sly Cooper, "I will accept the responsiblity of taking care of Shade, but only if you're not able to."
This statement surprised the girls, since they were expecting a powerful protest or a mild submission, but the reason of the conversation was a shock to Shade and Penelope.
"That you know about this?" The lavender mouse asked the brown mammal, who responded bluntly, "Not at all."
"And I thought you two were cleaning the kitchen." Sly's voice rang out to the girls, who froze upon hearing the captain's voice.
The two friends were surprised and a little embarrassed, since they were being a little loud upon hearing the subject to the talk between the captain and the sheriff.
"You two!" Carmelita's voice boomed from the den of her home, "Come here...NOW!"
The two friends blushed at hearing the vixen's voice, but they knew that they were caught eavsedropping by the captain. So, they revealed themselves and entered the sights of a furious fox.
"What were you two doing, eavsedropping on us?" The sheriff of the hidden town demanded to know as the girls figetted their fingers.
Neither Shade nor Penelope wanted to answer the question, but they knew that Carmelita was going to become even angrier with them. So, they explained themselves.
"You see," Shade stated to talk first, "Penelope and I thought that Sly's offer was on the unmoral side, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah," the female mouse agreed as she spoke up, "and we're a bit on the nosy side, much to our own shame."
"Oh, my goodness..." Groaned an annoyed sheriff after hearing the girls' confession, "I can't believe that you two would be interested in that kind of nonsense."
"It's how we usually obtain most of our information about our targets." Penelope explained blunatly and nervously, "It's a habit that we made to survive on the islands."
"A habit that's saved our lives more times than not." Shade added, still worried about the sheriff's reaction but willing to face it.
"I'm afraid that's not completely untrue." Sly stated in the girls' defense, "I had to learn that from McSweeny when he found me."
Carmelita was speechless by both Sly's defending of the females' rude eavsedropping, but she knew enough that the Coopers were being truthful about the information they were giving her. So, she admitted defeat with a heavy sigh.
"I give up; you three win."
Penelope was smiling, while Shade giggled a little upon hearing Carmelita's submission to defeat. Sly grinned a little at the sheriff.
"Don't worry about it, Carmelita." The Cooper Crew's captain said in an attempt to comfort her, "Shade and Penelope will be out of your hair for a time. I'll personally see to that."
After that, Shade and Penelope grabbed theier belongings and departed for the mansion that was the living quarters for the Cooper family. Before they left with Sly, Shade and Penelope gave the vixen sheriff both their goodbyes and their apologies for listening on the conversation between her and Sly. The vixen was plesantly surprised by the girls and was quick to forgive them.
As the girls followed Sly to the manor, the sheriff remembered that there was a professional chef that resided in the quarters and started to giggle. The chef was very stern with anyone that invade his kitchen, and tended to be furious at anyone that was brave, dumb or hungry enough to do so. Carmelita assumed that she would be able to hear about the results of that conflict within a week's time.
Then, another thought formed in her mind: the two girls had been stealing from pirates for a few years, and they had not been fatally caught yet. A smile formed on Carmelita's lips as she thought that it made them smart enough to know that they could fail, but knew enough to plan just in case.
As the sheriff turned to her front door, she thought about the girls and how well they were going to be at adjusting to their new home. Carmelita knew that between herself, Sly Cooper and the rest of the crew, Shade and Penelope should be fine among the pirates of the Cooper Crew.
