The Very Hungry Skeith
(part four: Thief!)
by Emminou
"Oi!" The angry shout tore the faerie's attention from Lily. She spun around to face her less-than-satisfied customer, a white aisha who winked at Lily, before continuing, "My asparagus and leek soup was off!"
For a second, the small skeith was too afraid to move, but then she remembered Yang's words - "refusal to help will result in our being unable to help you."
With a quick check to make sure that nobody was watching her, Lily reached a paw towards the sausages. She faltered for a second, but only for a second; she could feel Yang's eyes on her. Then she grabbed the string of sausages.
She twisted around, waiting for someone to yell thief.
But no one did. No one had seen her.
Lily felt like laughing and crying at the same time, the relief was so great. No one had seen her! No one! She took a deep breath. Forcing herself to be calm, she inched out of the shop, past the crowd gathering around Yang.
The door slammed shut behind her. She stopped, heart pounding. Any second now, she thought, somebody is going to look up and see me. Somebody is going to see the missing sausages. Somebody is going to make the connection.
The young skeith edged away from the shop. Any second, now. Any second. But seconds passed, and nothing happened. Her heartbeat slowed, and Lily began to relax.
"STOP!"
Shaking, Lily looked back over her shoulder. Yang stood outside the Soup Kitchen, smirking at her.
"Did you think you'd leave without me?" he asked the terrified skeith. She shook her head, still too scared to speak. "Come on," Yang said, "let's go home."
***
Yang was, apparently, very proud of Lily. He told her so, numerous times, as they crossed Neopia Central. When they arrived home, Lily discovered Yin was, too.
"Well done, Lyra!" she cried. "I'm exceedingly proud of you."
Lily didn't know what 'exceedingly' meant, but she did understand one thing. Yin and Yang were proud of her because she'd stolen something. Now that the she wasn't so frightened, Lily wasn't so sure she was proud of herself.
***
Lily was still brooding about the theft when dinnertime arrived. The two aishas bustled around, cooking the sausages on an almost certainly stolen gas cooker, but Lily sat a little further away, deep in thought.
I stole the sausages. I stole them.
I'm a thief.
"Have a sausage," Yang offered. "They're delicious!"
Lily took one of the sausages, but she didn't eat it.
I stole this sausage. Worse, I stole it from the Soup Kitchen. Starving pets go there-
You were starving, too, part of her snapped. Come on, admit it. It wasn't that bad-
"Libby? Libby?" The black aisha was staring at her, eyes full of concern which Lily was sure was fake. "You silly little thing, you were daydreaming. You've not eaten a bite of your sausage!"
"Oh... right," Lily mumbled. She took a tiny bite of the sausage and swallowed it without chewing.
With the two aishas' eyes on her, Lily finished the sausage. It tasted wrong, bitter somehow - something she'd once heard described as the taste of undeserved victory.
"Would you like another sausage, Lilac?"
Another one? Yeah, right. The blue skeith shook her head emphatically. "No, thanks."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." She sat there for a moment longer, then added, "I think I'll go to bed."
***
From her bed under the counter, Lily could hear the two aishas discussing something. She wondered idly what they were talking about; although she could hear their voices, she couldn't make out what they were saying.
Probably talking about what a good thief I am, she thought, with a sigh.
***
She was half-asleep, and dreaming of giant asparagus spears when she heard it. For a few moments, the enormity of what the aishas had said didn't register. Then Lily's brain kicked itself into gear. 554323 Neopia Avenue... Big heist... Easy place, I've already cased the joint.
"554323 Neopia Avenue?" she mumbled to herself. "Is that what they said?"
Moments later, she banged her head on the counter. "554323 Neopia Avenue?!" she repeated. "That's my house!!"