Fuyuko: Well, I decided I'd start moving forward with this again, because I had a couple of very encouraging reviews. Not to mention that this section was screaming to get out, or else it'd run away from me… T.T

Krin'nal: And she likes writing the parts where I'm stealing. Something about less dialogueless pulling of teeth. No clue.

Fuyuko: You never have a clue. Then again, I don't exactly let you have them. Mr. Hamster probably would have, but he's still missing. (Looks around guiltily) I have no idea why that could be…It's not like I flushed the little slacker down the toilet or anything…

Krin'nal: O.O And you say I'm the sadistic one. Remind me not to piss you off. (1)

Disclaimer-Bot: I, Disclaimer-Bot, concur. The esteemed lady author has asked me to inform you that she owns nothing that might be related to the Legend of Zelda, or Jak and Daxter (1), but that she does indeed own Krin'nal and all the other poor OC souls in this fiction. That being said, I, Disclaimer-Bot, wish for you to Read and Enjoy the Following Content to the Utmost. Have a Nice Day!

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Anagram-Eticed

"Life is only as miserable as you make it out to be, good Getado. I hope yours looks better than mine." A war-ally of Getado's to him.

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"Y'know, I can walk just fine on my own. You don't have to lug me around like a sack of potatoes. Speaking of that, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't throw me out like said sack…of...GAH!" Krin'nal hit the cobblestone lane behind Lord Res'Tauvel's manor with a thump, skidding to the other side. That overgrown, lousy, son of a…The boy tried to right himself quick enough to jump his 'escort', but having stumbled dizzily to his feet at last, was chagrined to find that Karuse was gone. Brushing absently at some dirt on his cloak's hem, the boy thief snorted derisively and turned to leave the way he'd come in. Thinks he can treat me, ME, like that and get away with it? I've got news for Lord I'm-So-Perfect-It-Hurts. I'm nobody's whipping boy, and anyone who thinks they can control me is going to find out the hard way just how wrong they are.

The market was just beginning to open up as Krin'nal plotted his revenge against his latest employer, sulking down the paths. How to Annoy Your Employer 101-delay, dwaddle, and dilly-dally, as much as is possible. Deciding that he could afford a breakfast on this fine day, the youth slowed his pace and took in the multitude of meal choices surrounding him. It wasn't like he had a job to do or anything…Heh. Let the games begin…

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"So that li'l bugger went out on a job already, eh? Well, good riddance tah trouble in a tiny package. That kiddo is more trouble than he's worth, a might bit o' time."

"Worried, old friend?"

"He'd better be worried, Goddesses only know what the poor boy might be getting into right now, and you two lumps just sitting here pondering his fate. Nayru have mercy on your souls!"

"Seems ta me like yah wife is tryin' to guilt us or sumat Vern."

"…I am not getting in this."

Getado grunted at this statement, he'd expected that kind of response from his old friend. "Whipped, that's what yah are Vern. If yah wife didn' look so good in 'em, I'd wonda why yah weren' wearin' the pants in this li'l joint."

"I'm not sure exactly who you think you're buttering up, Getado, but it is certainly not working." Wresta sniffed, having had enough of the banter, and probably would have huffed off if a certain thief hadn't burst through the customarily locked back door, eliciting a small shriek from the missus instead.

The three adults watched as the youth strolled over to the bar, humming a baudy ditty as he placed a bulging sack on the bar's counter. Krin'nal ignored the stares of his adult friends, and after reaching behind the bar for a ragged washcloth, untied the string on the sack, releasing the most delicious aromas, while he pulled out their sources. It seemed as though he had gone all out when buying himself a breakfast, having managed to procure two warm loaves of rye bread, a slab of wood-fired bacon, an omelette loaded with peppers and cheeses, sugar-coated pastries filled with Chu-Chu jelly, and of course, a large bottle of Lon Lon's finest milk.

"So what's happening around my favorite crooked, cozy, Chasm? Get caught detailing the local dirt or just practicing fish-faces?" Krin'nal's words were slightly garbled, as he chose to tear into the omelette before speaking, most likely to annoy all three adults. He wasn't a bad kid, but the thief could be downright obnoxious at times, especially because he found it fun.

"Neither, brat, just the usual adult business talk. Nothing you need to hear about." Vern's acidic response flew back at the mouth-cramming youth, caught between reflecting on how much growing boys ate and how he wished that kid would bite his own tongue, trying to be smart.

"Never mind him, dear child, how did your evening go?" at Krin'nal's non-affirmative grunt, Wresta continued her interrogation, "You just don't seem to be happy today, dearie, and you know I'm just concerned about your job going over well." Motherly sympathy and understanding pored out of the missus's face, while the two men watched the boy's chewing slow, almost like he choked.

"My job is my business and I can handle it, Wresta. And it went fine. My employer and I get along like oil and water. No worries, as they say. I know how to rig it, just like I always do."

Having heard the cold, sardonic reply, Getado shook his head at the other two adults, signaling to leave the kid alone. It was stupid to try to talk to him when he was offended. Vern had to push things, though, it was his tavern afterall, and he could kick people out as he pleased, even if it wasn't during operating hours.

"If you're going to be that way, kid, then you'd better just get out! I've got a business to open up in a couple of hours and I don't need any angsty, cheeky, snot-nosed brats screwing with my clients and my earnings!"

"Fine." An almost tangible cloud of anger radiated from the fourteen year old as he swept out the door.

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Hours later, having decided that Vern didn't necessarily need to die, Krin'nal found himself again at the carnival site, and realized that it was preparations for the annual Day of the Seal festival. Man, I really do need to come up to the surface more if I'm forgetting the Day of the Seal. One of Hyrule's more memorable and traditional celebrations, the events of the Day of the Seal were rather religious in origin, although over time, they too were corrupted and made commercial by society. It was also an especially important holiday to the young thief due to its connotations concerning himself and his various lives. Climbing on top of a circular dais made of clay bricks in the square, Krin'nal could not help but judge the accuracy of the symbols inscribed there against their real counterparts. On the way down, he saw that a sign indicating that the festival itself was to fall on the darkest night of the year, as always, which was, according to it, only two days away. Great. I don't need memories of that while I'm trying to work.

Grumbling to himself about bad timing and certain Golden Ladies, the thief continued on his way, noting with a mix of amusement and disgust the number of vendors and the variety of their wares cropping up for 'special sales' during the festival. It really was strange what passed for religious piety these days, not that he could say anything. His own piety was limited to his service to the Golden Ladies and their destiny for him. Funny how that's still better than most priests.

"There's never enough time for a festival, you know." Krin'nal stopped in his tracks, pivoting to face the direction of the voice.

"..Well, you're not someone I thought I'd see out on the town, so to speak. What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet an old friend? I'd much prefer a 'hello, how are, how's the sage business' after such a long time. Well, long for you. We both know time does not pass in the Realm of the Sages."

"I don't know what you're talking about. My name is Krin'nal. I think in your old age, you've confused me with some religious and mythology fanatic you know. And I don't want to be him, so get outta my way." His hood may not have been up, but the boy's dark blonde hair was getting long enough to shade his eyes if he held his head so the bangs fell just so. The balding white-haired old man in ornate robes of golds, yellows, and whites kept his eyes fixed on the face he knew was being deliberately hidden from him. This was not how he and the others had foreseen the events of this time unfolding, but then, he was also fully aware of the fact that the youth before him was one of the two people with the power to change history in this realm. Go away, already, I'm through with this crap and you know it. Knew it. Probably before I did. Din-damned sage.

"My mistake then. It seems you are not the one I was seeking. He is not a lost child. I suggest you head for your home, young lad, as it will be busy here soon, and you will only be in the way of the preparations for the festival." Without another nod or glance in the now steaming youth's directions, the elderly Sage of Light departed slowly and regally, drifting in and out of existence as he went along the cobbled stones of the square towards the Temple of Time.

For his part, the boy known as Krin'nal dropped his head further toward the ground, torn between being incensed at the old man's words and letting his unexpected feelings of shame swallow him. True that he didn't want his old life back, but undeniable that he was still the person he was born and destined to be. There really is no way to win, is there? Heh. That's how my life always has been. A series of lose-lose choices. Well, screw that, I'm done with servitude and I can do my destiny from the shadows too. Do it my way. Enveloped in his thoughts, Krin'nal backtracked through the square to his safe-house to supply himself for the day's work.

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In one of the more abandoned sectors of Castle Town's back alleys there remained a string of middle class apartments from during the wartime that had been deserted when the western outer wall fell to enemy troops. Although the wall was repaired and reinforced after that particular front of the Unification War, the families that had once lived there had moved on to other parts of Hyrule, such as Kakariko, and the old buildings were left to become vacant and decay. Over time, this ruined sector of the town was even rumored to harbor a few restless spirits from the war era, leading even the poor and homeless to give it a wide berth. Simultaneously, the old neighborhood became part of the back alleys that Hyrule's underground claimed, and a few of the more fearless among this caste of society even settled in the old apartments.

Such was the case with Krin'nal, who had no reason to fear the horror stories that the townsfolk spread – I've seen Poes and Redeads, so it's not like a few unhappy dead people will bug me – and found that the abandoned area kept him comfortably secluded from everyone. Even better for the boy was the fact that his choice in homes meant that he could have a decent sized pad in which to ferret away his various 'finds' and set up base in. An old upper floor apartment with three rooms to it had been his premier choice, and luckily for the thief, it had been kept abandoned since the war time as it was rumored by even the most stalwart of undergrounders to have a 'bad aura' surrounding it. Gifted as he was by the Golden Ladies, Krin'nal knew it was all in their heads, as he'd never felt the telltale tingle that such 'infestations' set off in the back of his skull. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be if people didn't loose their heads so easily. It's thanks to superstition and rumors that I have such a sparkling lifestyle these days. Setting down his parcel of food in the doorway to his 'home sweet home', the thief gave his lodgings a cursory look-over.

The whole building was arranged somewhat like a triangle, with a large front room that connected to a small dining area behind it. Adjacent to these two rooms was the bedroom, and the wall that Krin'nal had repaired himself with some lumbar he'd gotten a five-fingered discount on. Apparently the bedroom had once had a tiny bathroom behind it, but since the plumbing obviously no longer functioned – although I'm sure the 'ghosts' would have liked the royal officials to have left it on – the boy had simply sealed up the broken wall between them. Inside the bedroom Krin'nal had managed to procure a bed from some rich noble's trash, although he'd had to buy new bedding for it. Both his 'safety' and his display table also resided in the room, basically so he could keep the valuable items and rupees he had saved up within arm's reach and eye's sight. The table, which had a short fourth leg that had needed a brick placed under it, mostly held a variety of his better weapons, such as an enchanted crossbow he'd kept from an employer by swapping it out with a regular one hand-painted into a replica. There were a few other knick-knacks on its less than glossy surface, however, including a set of china wolf sculptures, a horse's bridle, an ocarina, and a stuffed bear. I would never live it down if someone saw that, even if it is my oldest toy. My only toy.

Back in the great room that comprised much of the front of the building, the thief had furnished his abode with a thread-bare but still good woven rug to keep a chill off his feet in Hyrule's bitter cold winters. Besides an oil lamp next to the bedroom doorway, and a rickety rocking chair, there were only two long wooden boxes in the room. Each box was used for a different kind of storage, as Krin'nal had too many tools and weapons to place in his room, and his clothes, which were often dirty and in need of change upon his arrival were kept in the box near the door. This particular box had one of its cardboard cousins stuffed in one side of it, where the boy kept his 'clean' clothes. The rest he threw in the box directly, and when the two got unbalanced, he carried the dirty ones down to the Chaste Chasm so Wresta would wash them for him. Even I've got to admit that her motherly instincts aren't always a hindrance. The second long box was positioned along the far wall, and overflowed with the various lock-picks, poisons, potions, tools, and tricks that any good thief was known to possess.

The final room in Krin'nal's home was just as sparse as the rest, housing a small larder box for salted meats, breads, and other foods he could keep for a time, a round table where he ate his meals, and a tall empty box that blocked most of his 'bathroom' from view. It's the height of comfort for when I'm home anyways, which hasn't been lately. Being that he'd wanted some kind of private toilet, the fourteen year old has recently found an old chamber pot and washbasin set in the antique shop on Syks and Graf, and 'Anagram' had made a second visit there. Now that he was growing up, the boy found that having a private restroom was a good idea, since taking a leak in the street was only fun if you didn't feel awkward doing it.

Satisfied that no unwelcome guests had dropped by, he picked up his parcel of food ad carried it into the back room to put in the larder for tonight. It would go bad not much after that, so he intended to be home at least this once. Plans that he hoped wouldn't go awry with this evening's other events. He'd wanted to stall longer on the job from that stupid jerk Res'tauvel and his lackey Karuse, but after the peevish day he'd already had, he figured it would be a good idea to relieve stress through some light work. Breaking into the palace on a scope-out mission shouldn't be too hard.

Again humming his baudy ditty from the Chaste Chasm, the young thief proceeded from his larder to his weapons trunk in the living room, pulling out a long gold and black sword that he hadn't used in years, but that was certain to come in handy if he had to fight palace guards. They were the only ones of all their ilk worth anything, although Krin'nal knew that none posed a serious threat to him in real combat. If he was playing, it might be an even field, but even then, the poor saps were sadly lacking. No small wonder she and her nobility had tried so hard to cage him in with them before.

He grit his teeth and blotted that thought from his mind, forcefully reminding himself that he wasn't a puppet anymore, and the only reason he'd go near their opulent lifestyle again was to take it away from them. As they say, no sense in crying over spilt milk and worrying about the past. His agile thief's hands grabbed another vial of oil, having chucked the empty one away on the street. In the process his eyes examined a bottle of icy crystals that he'd kept since their impulse purchase from a vendor who only dealt to underground workers. The man had said the crystals would expand into a field of treacherous ice if tossed onto any floor, and the thief had saved it for a special occasion. Now's a good time to see if it was a worthy buy. If it was, he could track the vendor down through Vern's connections or go to the Knothole if he got desperate enough.

Contrary to what Wresta thought, Krin'nal was more than capable of handling the thugs littering the infamous bar and underground hangout. His preference between the two, of course, was still the more welcoming Chaste Chasm, but if he needed to get dirt, it made sense to head straight for the source at the grungier establishment. Having re-supplied his stash of thin lock-picking daggers that he kept hidden in a hood pouch and grabbed another satchel of Boconfer pollen as well as a hookshot, the by thief stood, straightened his black tunic and cloak, and left his humble home.

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Sunset in Hyrule was just as glamorous as its earlier counterpart, with the added bonus for most people that it signaled the start of another evening of parties and self-indulgence. For underground workers and especially thieves, however, it also heralded the time when their work was easiest to perform. Really, it ain't hard to rob people blind in broad daylight, but at night? It's a frickin' free for all! The barely turned fourteen thief made his way through the square with the festival preparations again, this time studiously ignoring their captivating progress. He wasn't a child, and he couldn't afford to waste time on childish games.

Turning away from the main part of town and the richer looking nobles quarter, the youth found his feet following a white marbled path that was more than familiar to him. There was no mistaking that such a grandiose path led to the palace, as even in the twilight one could see the carvings of the triforce, the three goddesses, and the eternal phoenix on the rich stones. It was unnecessary advertising, of course, since one could also see the palace the entire time the route was walked upon, but he knew the royal family of Hyrule was the worst for showing off their wealth with such displays. If regular people didn't tell them food was for eating, they'd probably use it to make grand replicas of their stupid oversized castle. He snorted at the thought of such a scene. It would take the king and all of his officials three to four days to pick the food used in the construction alone, and they'd all have to taste it for perfection. Idiocy.

Appearing at last near the bend before the gatehouse, the thief paused to gather up his wits for the work he was about to begin. If he remembered accurately – and I would know from doing this in my first life and doing it backwards in my escape – there was a series of trellises and thick vines that served as a nice climbing tool for the first stage of his break in. Saved him the trouble of getting by the guard at the gate and the ones on the main path beyond it, and he didn't need to hookshot either.

Not that he minded to use his hookshot, but it was better if he didn't have to go whipping through the air after a clinking chain. Less noise, less chance of getting caught, because the thick helmets of the royal guards would probably only intensify the sound through reverberations. He snickered quietly to himself, thinking of the headaches they must get while on duty. Especially if they had to guard miss royal whiny brat. I wonder if she's still such a child...or if she's become the young woman from my strange second life. He shook his head, and reaching to his left, grasped a lower tier of the trellis and began to climb.

After his climb, he knew there would be that open field of cultivated grass and flowers to cross, but the last time he'd been at the palace, security there had been lax, with only a few of the royal helmet-heads on duty at the perimeter. Next there would be the choice of going uphill to the castle's western wall and eventually the stables entrance, or going through the moat along to the eastern wall and the inner garden. The inner garden, he was sure, would be swarming with guards at this point in the evening, so as not to leave the area closest to the royal family's quarters too exposed.

Better then to take the less clogged route through stables entrance and into the main court of the castle by the western wall, Krin'nal decided as he finished scaling the trellis of vines and continued on in that direction. His sword clanked a bit much for his liking if he ran, so the blonde and hooded youth was reduced to walking across the open field, resulting in a more tense trip than he'd have liked. His mind, usually calm and even detached from the work at hand while on a job, was swirling with thoughts.

What if he was caught here? What would they do with him, prosecute as a petty trespasser or find out that he was Anagram and behead him on the spot? Worse yet, what if she recognized him from his other lives and had him caged in again? There was no way he wanted to repeat that part of his life. Dammit, I don't need this shit right now!

His black-booted feet began treading up the incline leading along the castle's western wall, and the thief's blue eyes darted around him to make sure that nobody would see him here. His long pointed ears were twitching slightly from the strain of trying to hear at maximum distance, something of about fifty or more feet away from his position. He wasn't fully matured yet, so the range of his sensitive hearing wasn't really at a lifetime maximum, but his rugged lifestyle had compensated for this by making him more acutely aware of unusual sounds in the outdoors. He was, due to all of this, fairly certain that no one was following him, but better that he erred on the side of caution and kept to the darkness as much as possible.

It would seem that castle security has not improved between my breakout and my break-in, which is good for me even if it shows how complacent the royal family is these days. He couldn't exactly decide whether to smirk or scowl at this thought, finding that his new and more sinisterly employed self was again at war with his voice of origin. Reaching the white marbled western wall at last, he slunk into its shadows becoming little more than a swirl of motion inside them. It was time for him to strike back at the heart of the nobles. Time and more than time for him to prove himself in his new life. Tonight was the perfect time for him to scope out the royal vault and the prize that Res'Tauvel had hire him to claim. Time was on his side once more.

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Fuyuko: And hopefully time will be on my side so that I can write the rest of chapter four and post it ASAP. I'm sorry to the few loyal readers I have, but my heart really hasn't been in this work recently.

Krin'nal: I knew it. You do hate me.

Fuyuko: No, I don't hate Krin'nal or any of the other characters and this story is still dear to me, but I just can't seem to write this the way I want without changing the rating too something too serious. Anagram is a dark work, but it isn't supposed to be that way either. Still, I don't feel as free writing this as I do some of my other works, such as my DMC fics. But then, it's probably just paranoid and strange lil ol' me.

Please Read and Review even if it's just to Flame for my Absence.