Life seems to enjoy playing tricks on our plans. To be quite honest, I'm a spiteful and hateful little pet. So when something I plan to be evil and cruel winds up being a great good to society, I get upset.
****
I must confess that it was I who had the brilliant idea. We were sitting around the table one night, eating what MiracleStar called her psuedo-Chinese food. I was having difficulties eating, as Taffin kept making faces from across the table. Finally I managed to calm down and spring the big question.
"MiracleStar.... You know that house, well, mansion, a couple blocks over?"
"Yes?"
"Can we break in?"
There was a long silence.
"Well, don't see why not."
"No, not all of us. Just us four pets. To see if we can, ya know."
MiracleStar put down her spoon and looked at us.
"So basically you want to know if you can try for one by yourselves."
"Exactly."
We stared at her, doing our best to look responsible. Finally she sighed.
"Very well. Just be careful, and plan every detail. Got it Nianso, plan for everything. That's rule number one of being a thief."
We did plan for everything, at least, I thought we did. Skyil did her traditional scouting, looking around the outside of the house, then when the owner got within range, picking her mind over for details about the security and such. The owner's name was irish_lady_2009, and she was filthy rich. Not to mention stuck-up, arrogant, and everything else that went with the title of rich. Her pet was a silver peophin named Lady_Ireland, who was as bad as her owner. Together, the two had a fantastic reputation of snobbyness.
Skyil reported all the security system features. On the night of the burglary, we snuck up to the house dressed in our black cloaks. The owner and pet were home, so we'd have to be extra careful. Taffin went first, easily bypassing the security codes, as Skyil had told them to him ahead of time. From there he pried open a window and we followed him inside. Everything was going according to plan. Taffin and I took the upstairs, moving from room to room, careful to avoid the irish_lady_2009 and Lady_Ireland's room. I peeked inside though, and saw a young girl, about 15, sound asleep. I took a deep breath and slipped inside. Irish_lady_2009 was sound asleep, she wouldn't notice. I took everything from her jewelry box and slipped back out the door.
And promptly ran into Taffin. He hissed in surprise, and the next thing I knew it, I had a dagger at my throat.
"Whoa, it's me," I whispered.
"Nianso. I thought you were irish_lady_2009."
"No, now put that up."
He shrugged and sheathed his dagger again. I was about to head back downstairs when I heard someone stirring in the room I'd just vacated.
"Ngh... Lady_Ireland? Are you up or something?" the girl inquired sleepily from the room.
I nodded towards the stairs to Taffin, and he nodded also, teleporting downstairs. Too bad he forgot about the customary 'pop' that accompanies every teleportation...
"What was that?" irish_lady_2009 said.
I could hear her get up and start padding out into the hallway. I hurried down the stairs as the upstairs lights came on. I found Taffin and Jaix in the dining room, eyes wide. Skyil came running, her long golden ears flat against her head.
"Let's go," she whispered.
"Is someone there?"
I glanced nervously at the upstairs and over at my siblings. Without a word we started towards the window we'd opened earlier. I managed to step on Taffin's toes though, and the Kyrii hissed and jumped away from me, directly into a lamp. Crash!! It fell to the floor and shattered. We all froze, then started a mad dash for the door. I ran smack into Jaix, who stumbled and once again Taffin got stepped on.
"Kiko snot!" he snarled, staggering and falling over.
And as he fell, he managed to hit the light switch the lamp was connected to. There was a flurry of sparks as the busted lamp finally burnt out. I didn't really notice, I was running for the door, when I heard Taffin shout something behind me.
"Oh my..." I muttered, seeing the small fire arising.
"RUN!" Taffin shrieked, and I could see the shadow of someone coming downstairs.
Skyil took off for the nearest window, leaping for it, intending to break through the glass. Didn't work. She hit head-first and merely bounced. I rushed past her, the fire spreading rapidly on my heels.
"Like this!" I snarled, and leaped.
The window shattered around me, and I landed hard, rolling and laying there, dazed and cut from the glass.
"Let's GO Nianso," Jaix said, pulling on my arm.
I staggered to my feet and ran after him into the night.
MiracleStar didn't say a word when we came home. Just let us in and watched the glow of the fire from the window. We heard sirens all night as the firefighters battled the flames. In the news the next morning, we discovered that the fire had not affected any other houses, but the mansion had been burned to the ground. Irish_lady_2009 had lost everything in the blaze. The investigators blamed arsonists, but couldn't find any evidence to go on.
"Thank goodness," MiracleStar muttered over breakfast.
"So we had a couple difficulties," I admitted.
"A couple!" she snorted.
"Alright. We blew it. But we did get some stuff," Jaix added, dumping our loot on the table.
"Very well. But you guys started this mission, you finish it. Meaning, you get this stuff sold, quietly! Don't get caught."
It didn't come to as much as we'd hoped. But irish_lady_2009 was totally broke, and we weren't, so I guess we came off the better. To make a long story short, the money was used to furnish our house a bit better, and pay off some bills. Irish_lady_2009 got extremely luck and managed to make an incredible come-back on the stock market, soon back to being as rich as she was before. And it was then that I saw the headlines on the local newspaper.
"Improvised Millionaire Makes Come-back"
I shuddered and read the rest of the article. And with a growl, started shredding it in disgust.
"What's wrong?" Skyil asked, coming downstairs.
"It's that irish_lady_2009. Apparently she's turned all nice and generous."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Here, her pet's quoted here, 'I used to be so stuck-up, if I didn't get my way, my day was ruined. Money was all I cared about, and I used to make fun of other, un-painted, pets. But then we were as poor as could be, and I realized just how well-off I was. And I realized that I could put my wealth to better uses.'"
I paused and eyed Skyil, letting that sink in.
"Here's some more. 'I think this thief did a great thing for us, their actions caused us to learn generosity. It's a shame he had to resort to such things, but hopefully our actions will help others to stay off the path of thievery."
I sighed and finished mutilating the paper.
"So now she and her owner are donating huge amounts to the poor on Neopia, and getting all these programs in place and all. Disgusting, isn't it. And she couldn't even get it right about the thieves. Not singular, but plural. Moron."
Skyil shrugged.
"Well, I think it's ironic, if nothing else."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to go steal some candy from a baby to feel better now, thankyouverymuch."
I stalked upstairs to my room, leaving the confetti I'd made of the paper behind on the table.
Note: Thank you, irish_lady_2009, for allowing me to use you and your pet, Lady_Ireland, in this story.
****
I must confess that it was I who had the brilliant idea. We were sitting around the table one night, eating what MiracleStar called her psuedo-Chinese food. I was having difficulties eating, as Taffin kept making faces from across the table. Finally I managed to calm down and spring the big question.
"MiracleStar.... You know that house, well, mansion, a couple blocks over?"
"Yes?"
"Can we break in?"
There was a long silence.
"Well, don't see why not."
"No, not all of us. Just us four pets. To see if we can, ya know."
MiracleStar put down her spoon and looked at us.
"So basically you want to know if you can try for one by yourselves."
"Exactly."
We stared at her, doing our best to look responsible. Finally she sighed.
"Very well. Just be careful, and plan every detail. Got it Nianso, plan for everything. That's rule number one of being a thief."
We did plan for everything, at least, I thought we did. Skyil did her traditional scouting, looking around the outside of the house, then when the owner got within range, picking her mind over for details about the security and such. The owner's name was irish_lady_2009, and she was filthy rich. Not to mention stuck-up, arrogant, and everything else that went with the title of rich. Her pet was a silver peophin named Lady_Ireland, who was as bad as her owner. Together, the two had a fantastic reputation of snobbyness.
Skyil reported all the security system features. On the night of the burglary, we snuck up to the house dressed in our black cloaks. The owner and pet were home, so we'd have to be extra careful. Taffin went first, easily bypassing the security codes, as Skyil had told them to him ahead of time. From there he pried open a window and we followed him inside. Everything was going according to plan. Taffin and I took the upstairs, moving from room to room, careful to avoid the irish_lady_2009 and Lady_Ireland's room. I peeked inside though, and saw a young girl, about 15, sound asleep. I took a deep breath and slipped inside. Irish_lady_2009 was sound asleep, she wouldn't notice. I took everything from her jewelry box and slipped back out the door.
And promptly ran into Taffin. He hissed in surprise, and the next thing I knew it, I had a dagger at my throat.
"Whoa, it's me," I whispered.
"Nianso. I thought you were irish_lady_2009."
"No, now put that up."
He shrugged and sheathed his dagger again. I was about to head back downstairs when I heard someone stirring in the room I'd just vacated.
"Ngh... Lady_Ireland? Are you up or something?" the girl inquired sleepily from the room.
I nodded towards the stairs to Taffin, and he nodded also, teleporting downstairs. Too bad he forgot about the customary 'pop' that accompanies every teleportation...
"What was that?" irish_lady_2009 said.
I could hear her get up and start padding out into the hallway. I hurried down the stairs as the upstairs lights came on. I found Taffin and Jaix in the dining room, eyes wide. Skyil came running, her long golden ears flat against her head.
"Let's go," she whispered.
"Is someone there?"
I glanced nervously at the upstairs and over at my siblings. Without a word we started towards the window we'd opened earlier. I managed to step on Taffin's toes though, and the Kyrii hissed and jumped away from me, directly into a lamp. Crash!! It fell to the floor and shattered. We all froze, then started a mad dash for the door. I ran smack into Jaix, who stumbled and once again Taffin got stepped on.
"Kiko snot!" he snarled, staggering and falling over.
And as he fell, he managed to hit the light switch the lamp was connected to. There was a flurry of sparks as the busted lamp finally burnt out. I didn't really notice, I was running for the door, when I heard Taffin shout something behind me.
"Oh my..." I muttered, seeing the small fire arising.
"RUN!" Taffin shrieked, and I could see the shadow of someone coming downstairs.
Skyil took off for the nearest window, leaping for it, intending to break through the glass. Didn't work. She hit head-first and merely bounced. I rushed past her, the fire spreading rapidly on my heels.
"Like this!" I snarled, and leaped.
The window shattered around me, and I landed hard, rolling and laying there, dazed and cut from the glass.
"Let's GO Nianso," Jaix said, pulling on my arm.
I staggered to my feet and ran after him into the night.
MiracleStar didn't say a word when we came home. Just let us in and watched the glow of the fire from the window. We heard sirens all night as the firefighters battled the flames. In the news the next morning, we discovered that the fire had not affected any other houses, but the mansion had been burned to the ground. Irish_lady_2009 had lost everything in the blaze. The investigators blamed arsonists, but couldn't find any evidence to go on.
"Thank goodness," MiracleStar muttered over breakfast.
"So we had a couple difficulties," I admitted.
"A couple!" she snorted.
"Alright. We blew it. But we did get some stuff," Jaix added, dumping our loot on the table.
"Very well. But you guys started this mission, you finish it. Meaning, you get this stuff sold, quietly! Don't get caught."
It didn't come to as much as we'd hoped. But irish_lady_2009 was totally broke, and we weren't, so I guess we came off the better. To make a long story short, the money was used to furnish our house a bit better, and pay off some bills. Irish_lady_2009 got extremely luck and managed to make an incredible come-back on the stock market, soon back to being as rich as she was before. And it was then that I saw the headlines on the local newspaper.
"Improvised Millionaire Makes Come-back"
I shuddered and read the rest of the article. And with a growl, started shredding it in disgust.
"What's wrong?" Skyil asked, coming downstairs.
"It's that irish_lady_2009. Apparently she's turned all nice and generous."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Here, her pet's quoted here, 'I used to be so stuck-up, if I didn't get my way, my day was ruined. Money was all I cared about, and I used to make fun of other, un-painted, pets. But then we were as poor as could be, and I realized just how well-off I was. And I realized that I could put my wealth to better uses.'"
I paused and eyed Skyil, letting that sink in.
"Here's some more. 'I think this thief did a great thing for us, their actions caused us to learn generosity. It's a shame he had to resort to such things, but hopefully our actions will help others to stay off the path of thievery."
I sighed and finished mutilating the paper.
"So now she and her owner are donating huge amounts to the poor on Neopia, and getting all these programs in place and all. Disgusting, isn't it. And she couldn't even get it right about the thieves. Not singular, but plural. Moron."
Skyil shrugged.
"Well, I think it's ironic, if nothing else."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to go steal some candy from a baby to feel better now, thankyouverymuch."
I stalked upstairs to my room, leaving the confetti I'd made of the paper behind on the table.
Note: Thank you, irish_lady_2009, for allowing me to use you and your pet, Lady_Ireland, in this story.