Honor Among Thieves
Prologue: Barflies

"Hell of a catch there, buddy." Abu looked sideways at his partner in crime, who was still wiping the blood off of his cheek. Not his blood, of course, but the blood of their latest prey, a merchant from the west. The fool didn't realize that he had crossed the path of the notorious bandits until it was far too late. Perhaps he was still alive, trembling on the path.

In front of them a rich woven rug was covered in gold trinkets and spices from all corners of their world. Abu's companion huffed slightly. He laughed a bit, patting his best friend and partner on the back. "C'mon Onigumo! It's a good haul!" Onigumo was not so satisfied.

"Yeah, yeah." The black-haired young man snipped. "But Suzumushi said there would be more." Abu shook his head, brushing it off.

"You know Suzu'. He's always puffed up about how big everything is."

This statement prompted a small smile between the two. The little weasel sure did like to brag. Onigumo slouched against the wall again, still thinking. "I can't help thinking that there should have been more." Abu made a small 'feh,' silencing his friend. He was certainly the optimist of the two.

"You know what you need, Oni? You need a woman." Onigumo snorted in disgust. Please, a woman… what a joke. He got all the women he could handle just fetching water in the morning. They were a waste of any more than ten minutes, he thought with a small smirk. Abu interrupted again with a snap of his fingers. "We're gonna go drinking! We'll celebrate the money…" He grabbed his cloak and headed out into the sunset.

Onigumo snorted again, rising to his feet. He quickly walked out the door of the small house. "Still should have been more…"

…

The streets were pretty empty except for the occasional vagrant or drunkard. Even the thieves look down on these, who stared up with dirty faces, begging for money or babbling incoherently about nothing. Pathetic. "Here we are!" Abu announced victoriously. He threw open the rusty-hinged wooden door and strutted inside.

Onigumo followed behind, shoulders slumped. They flopped down at a wooden table. An alarmingly large-chested woman popped up out of nowhere and smiled benevolently at them. "What can I get you two boys?" She asked, her voice deep.

"Gimme a slice of that." Abu laughed. The woman blushed crimson and fidgeted, leaning directly over Onigumo's face. The bandit flinched. Abu ordered for them and turned red trying not to laugh as she walked away.

Onigumo muttered a string of curses at his friend. "Fucking… bastard… what the hell?"

"Lighten up, Oni. I told you I was going to find you a woman, so what about her?" The waitress was winking seductively from the bar. Abu started laughing again. Onigumo rolled his eyes, turning back to his friend. "How 'bout that one?" Abu pointed to another barmaid, black haired and dark eyed, carrying a small tray of tea to another table. Onigumo shrugged. "I guess…" He was already looking for an excuse to escape Abu's game.

Someone passed by the table, just to walk out the door again. A piece of paper fluttered onto the table. Onigumo opened it and read quickly, then whispered the contents to Abu, busy downing the drink. "Listen, Abu, there's another heist tomorrow. Big horse breeder from an island just south of here. Gonna need everybody to take him down, but it'll be worth it."

Abu giggled. "She doesn't look so bad after you put a couple down." He muttered, pointing at the waitress, still waving and giggling in her masculine voice.

Onigumo shook his head. This guy was too much. "No time for girls now, you have to sleep off that alcohol. Up, Abu." He hoisted the man up by the arm, managing to support him while throwing the bare minimum that would cover the bill onto the table. The waitress waved and winked again. Onigumo hurried out the door.

Notes: Ahh, what could be more intriguing than the mind of the man who became Naraku? I haven't seen many of these. So, I've decided to break the haughty, faraway Onigumo and expose what I thought he'd be like- just a regular guy. Hope this doesn't get too out of hand… So far, it's been fun, but the tone definitely will get heavier. Enjoy.

All my names have meanings, obviously, Onigumo is the spider, but if you haven't figured it out, Abu means horsefly. The informant, Suzumushi is Japanese for cricket. All the members of this thievery ring have the names of insects or arachnids.