Notes: Part 1 of Arabia. Some time after the snippet from the prologue.

Arabia 1

Red glanced slightly across the way, waiting for the signal from Bird Boy. Sure enough, the other black-haired thief rubbed at his eyes, as if trying to get sand out of them, and Red ran out from his hiding spot and into the street, pursued by a crying Star.

"Ha ha!" he taunted over his shoulder, ducking and weaving through the crowd until he was standing near the fountain. He pulled a green hair ribbon, the shade of Star's eyes, out of his pocket and dangled it over the water mockingly.

"Give it back!" the red-haired girl sobbed, trying to get to him as he jumped around the fountain, continuously keeping just out of her rather long reach. "Please, give it back!"

The market folk watched and clucked their tongues as Red continued teasing his friend and partner in crime. "Make me, cry-baby!"

Abruptly, he was knocked into from behind, and he let go of the ribbon in surprise. Star snatched it up with a cry of joy as Red spun to face the idiot who had bumped into him. The blue-eyed young man pulled up short as he looked down at Raven. The dark-haired girl frowned at him. "Don't tease her so much. It's not a good way to get a girl to like you," she told him, brushing past him and joining Star.

"You have no sense of humor," he muttered under his breath, scowling as he sulked off the opposite way that the girls took. Once he was in the alleyways, he doubled back to the hideout, arriving just in time to see Raven and the others pulling out their spoils.

"Good job, Red," Bird Boy told him, approvingly.

"Easiest job ever," Cat boasted, his nose in the air until Stone whacked him.

"Don't forget that you did nothing, shrimp," the bigger thief smirked. As the two of them began arguing over who had done more, Raven tossed him an apple.

"Job well done," the leader of their thief group told him.

Red beamed with pleasure as he cut the apple in half, tossing one part to Star. "All thanks to my partner over there," he demurred, falsely modest, and winked at the green-eyed girl.

She flushed and Bird Boy glowered, and Red considered it to have been a truly successful day. If only he could find a way to rile Raven up.