And welcome back reviewers to Sly as a Cooper! 100 reviews already? Thank you! This has been one of my goals ever since I put up my first fanfiction. I had seen others with 100-plus reviews and hoped that I could be as successful as that one day, like in five years or something. My hopes weren't that high cause I didn't except much. A 'sucked in' fanfiction? How many times has that been done? In short: to death. This was supposed to be an Inuyasha/Sly Cooper crossover that went no where. I had lost the notes before I uploaded the first chapter, so I turned it into a 'sucked in' fanfic. I never thought anyone would like it. The first chapter had been rushed, no one knew Faye well (neither did I at the time. :P), dialogue had been skipped, and as mentioned before the idea had been done to death. I barely expected one review. Now look.
Faye: I can't believe it.
SQ: Believe it! Welcome to the chapter with the longest simile (figure of speech) used thus far! …Heh. Things start messing up in this chapter. I won't say what, though. And anything said by Yami will always be in quotations. Faye's thoughts won't. It either will be or will not be in quotations. Just something I wanted cleared up. Oh, yeah… Ahem. Last time, Neyla had burned the symbol of the Klaww Gang onto Faye's forearm, forcing her to be a prisoner of her own words. She managed to get away from a couple of guards and major trouble, but now she must complete her current mission and meet up with Sly. Will he believe her words, or will the Cooper Gang believe their eyes?
Disclaimer: Back you lawyers, back! I do not own Sly Cooper or any copyrights to the game, comics, or characters or anything affiliated with it. Now shoo!
Claimer: I do, however, own Faye Tym Destine, Yami Faye, Trinity, Faye's parents, Tyrano Rexus, Natasha Venery, Natasha's stepfather, and any songs or poems in this fanfiction. I also own the idea for the false reality and the Dimension Disrupter.
Note: The Natural History Museum was in Cairo. Oops.
Chapter 15: Makings of a Master Thief
Sly was already at the rendezvous near the elephant driven satellite array. He had the spice plants that were the most difficult to get and was waiting for Faye. He brought out his binocucom and Bentley's face appeared in the right screen.
"Where's Faye? She should've been done by now," he said with concern behind his voice.
"I don't know," Bentley replied, bothered by the fact that Faye was late. "…You don't think she was captured, do you?" Panic was etched in his nasally voice.
"Of course not. Faye's a natural born thief. She's too good to be caught," Sly said coolly. "She probably got sidetracked and had to take a detour. She'll be here sooner or later." Bentley sighed,
"'Natural born thief'? You do realize that it was her first time at that Natural History Museum in Cairo?" Murray nearly choked on several peanuts from a bag back at the safe house, though Sly could not hear it. Nor could he hear the pink hippo cough out,
"It was?!" Sly replied to Bentley as he zoomed in on the satellite array,
"Yeah, I know, but she's got potential. All she needs is a little training and she can-"
"Become a master thief?" Bentley finished slyly, smirking a bit and raising an eyebrow.
"Anything's possible," Sly said with his usual charm. "Oh wait! I think I see her." Sure enough, down in the ruins, sprinting with all her might towards the rendezvous was Faye. Sly zoomed in and noticed that her shirt was torn at her left shoulder and around the bottom. The strip of cloth from her shirt was wrapped around her forearm and her mask was off, revealing her rose-colored cheeks.
"Something's wrong with Faye. I'm going to go check it out," Sly put up his binocucom as several guards came around the corner Faye had just ran from, pursuing the noise of her footsteps. Sly hurriedly dashed to a nearby low-hanging vine overhead where Faye was heading. He put his cane in his mouth and leaped as far as he could on it before clinging to it. Faye was nearing and she was holding her cane, hook side upwards, in her right fist. Entangling his feet in the foliage above the vine, Sly let go of the vine and held onto his cane, just hanging there from the thick plants and roots. He could hear her softly sobbing just before she ran under him, her head facing the ground. Sly reached his cane down and it snagged onto Faye's. He immediately pulled her up as she gasped. She held onto her staff for dear life and looked up at her savior, breathing heavily. Tears were streaming from her eyes full of fright and she was panting frailly. Her arms and legs were scratched up, probably from the underbrush. Sly was slightly taken aback by this and he widened his eyes a little bit. The guards below had stopped and were searching the area, snorting as they were looking for the intruder. There were two rhinos and two goats; all four ready to take care of any unwanted guests. Sly hoisted his cane and Faye upwards until she was near the vine just below him. Faye clung like a cat onto the vine with her cane still in her hand. She scrambled across the vine back to solid ground. Her legs gave out beneath her just as she jumped from the foliage to the dirt and she landed on her palms. Faye was shaking and she seemed to be scared of something. Sly was soon beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What happened?" he asked, mixing his usual charisma with concern. He tilted his head to try and look at her face, but she refused to make eye contact. Faye tried getting her mind together to come up with something, though it kept breaking here and there like a sand castle being washed away by the waves of the ocean while a little kid tried to rebuild it.
"S-S-S-S-Sly?" she stuttered from dismay and the chill of the wind and the rain, "Would you…still be my friend…even if…" She paused. "Even if…" Faye burst into tears again and silently wept, sniffling every now and then as she grit her teeth in frustration. Yami's voice reverberated in the back of her mind,
"Faye, I'm sure Sly will understand if you just tell him what's wrong."
"And tell him what?" Faye mentally yelled. "That Neyla burned the mark of the Klaww gang into my arm and that I'm from another world where he's just a video game character? I can't do it! He'll think I'm crazy and Neyla will kill me then him then, then…" Faye could not think straight anymore. "I just want to go home!" Sly's voice brought her back,
"Bentley, I'm bringing Faye back to the safe house. She's been through a lot and she's shaken up. She can sit out the rest of the jobs." Faye turned around to see Sly pressing a button on his earcom. He was not wearing his usual grin, but instead a serious, if not worried, expression. He let go of the button, took his hand off her shoulder, and extended his hand for her to grab. "Come on. Let's go."
"I…I'm sorry, Sly," Faye said as her voice cracked and another tear slid down her cheek, blending with the rain. She grasped Sly's gloved hand and found that it was soft despite the rainfall.
"It's not your fault," he said as he helped her to her feet. Faye was unsure of everything at the moment. Should she run, or should she stay? Should she reveal where she was from, or wait until another time?
"Have you collected any spice plants?" Sly asked benevolently. To Faye, it was strange how he was acting. Usually, he would try to make light of the situation and crack a joke, but he appeared to have a serious side too. Faye nodded quickly and, letting go of Sly's hand, brought out the four spice plants that she had gathered from her pack.
"Alright, now place the spice plants into the elephant's feedbag," Bentley radioed to Sly before switching to Faye's earcom frequency, "Faye, you might want to stay back." Faye gripped her hands together as Sly said,
"Wait here." She nodded as he ran, leaped up into the air, and landed on the ground without a sound. There were no guards around at the moment and the elephant had just passed him. Faye stood there uncertain of what was going to happen. She would have to explain what had transpired at some time and then she would just have to trust that the others would believe her. Sly set the spice plants in the feeding trough and tiptoed away.
"Sayonara satellite array," he said craftily as the elephant halted in its tracks and began chowing down on its contaminated food. It stopped eating for a moment and its eyes changed to an eerie crimson then back to a bluish hue. It started eating again, though it paused once more as its eyes went back to crimson and it trumpeted fiercely. The elephant jerked back and forth and side to side on its harness and broke free in seconds. It stomped off, charging through the satellite array and knocking out several guards as it trumpeted wildly and ran off into the jungle. Sly had watched the entire thing beside Faye. She suddenly remembered what would happen to Murray at the Contessa's prison and she knew that she would have to warn the Cooper Gang before Operation: Wet Tiger.
"Come on. Let's get you back to the safe house," Sly said as he put a hand on her shoulder and motioned his head towards the skull that was their hideout. Faye had stopped sobbing and she just seemed to be a little nervous. He took his hand off her shoulder, turned around, and was about to walk back with Faye when she spoke up,
"Sly," he turned his head back and looked at her. Faye slightly gulped, "It's alright. I can help with the rest of the jobs."
"Are you sure? 'Cause you seemed shaken up a bit back there," he said, making sure she was ready for another job. Faye nodded with a somewhat cracked voice,
"I just needed…to be by a friend." Faye slowly broke a smile as another tear ran down her cheek.
"Maybe…" Faye thought, "I can still be their friends… I just have to keep steady…"
"And find the courage to beat Neyla at her own game," Yami's voice resonated in Faye's mind, "You can do it. Just believe in yourself and the Cooper Gang's friendship."
Sly pointed at her forearm with a strip of material from her shirt wrapped around it,
"What about your arm?"
"It'll be alright. I can just confiscate a first-aid kit from one of the guards." Faye seemed to be a bit happier as she tried to lighten the mood; basically doing Sly's job at the moment. Sly smiled back at Faye and took out his binocucom,
"It looks likes Faye's going to be helping with bugging Rajan's office."
"Are you sure about that? The way you talked back there made it sound like Faye was in trouble…" Bentley said, concerned about what was happening outside.
"You can't become a master thief without taking a few falls, Bentley," Sly said with that Cooper charm.
"Isn't that the truth…" Bentley said, as if reminiscing something from years ago. Faye looked up at Sly, shock reflecting upon her face as her eyes widened. She spoke softly, trying to grasp what Sly had said,
"Do…you really think…that I could be…a master thief…?" Yami was silent, listening in suspense. She dared not speak, catching her voice and opening her ears. Sly brought down his binocucom and stared Faye in the eye,
"Of course. Faye, you've got the potential to be a great thief. I don't know how you got to that Museum in Cairo, but I really think you've got what it takes to become a master thief." Faye felt tears welling up in her eyes again and, for once in a long time, she felt great joy rise in her heart. She could not help but smile as a tear came down her cheek.
"…Thank you Sly…" she said, barely above a whisper though still audible. Sly took another look through his binocucom before turning back to Faye,
"Let's see what Bentley's got planned for our next job." Faye nodded and followed Sly, repeating what he did subconsciously as she thought to herself and Yami,
"How am I going to tell him about his world and ours?"
"Technically, you're speaking about yourself all together," Yami said, pointing out Faye's mistake in grammar. "But nevertheless, you will have to tell Sly, Murray, and Bentley-"
"What about Carmelita? I'll have to tell her too…" Faye added to her worries as she started climbing a vine to an upper part of the temple.
"Maybe. It all depends on what happens. For now, just worry about Neyla. There's no doubt that she will try to turn Sly against you." A flash of Neyla being thrown into piranha-infested waters went through Faye's mind.
"I just wish I could actually do that…" A sudden thought occurred to Faye, "Hold on. If you are me, then how come your grammar sounds dignified? I never talk like that."
"Like what?" Yami asked, as if she had no idea what Faye was talking about, and she did not. Faye mentally sighed, focusing on where Sly and her were going. It seemed as if they were almost to the pool shrouded in mist up ahead.
"'Maybe that's how the Dimension Disrupter works, by obscuring key components in someone's mind.'" Faye recited mentally, "I never say 'components' in a sentence unless I'm reading it from a manual."
"Oh. That." Yami now sounded somewhat sorrowful. "It must've happened when my memories were erased the second time. Neyla and Arpeggio created the machine, after all. And they taught me how to be 'proper.'"
"Faye? Are you okay?" Sly was waving his hand in front of Faye's face. "You zoned out there. Are you sure you're up to this?" Faye smiled, not realizing that she had stopped in her tracks on the teetering ruin which the next mission icon was located at. She nodded,
"Yes. I can't be a decent thief without contributing to the team, can I?" Faye put her hands on her hips as Sly grinned and climbed up a vine behind him. Faye followed after and immediately spotted the water bug. She and Sly brought out their binocucoms as Bentley's voice came from their earcoms,
"Sly, Faye, the insect in that pool is a rare Indian water bug. If you can carry it into Rajan's office its wings will transmit local soundwaves at a frequency I can monitor."
'Oh yeah! I remember that shortcut I took on this mission! A little difficult, but worth it to get to Rajan's office faster.'
"Let me get this straight," Sly said, raising an eyebrow; unsure of Bentley's logic this time around, "We're going to bug Rajan's office…with a bug?"
"It is an elegant plan, I agree," Bentley said with confidence, ignoring the uncertainty in Sly's voice. Faye fought to stifle a laugh. "Now pay attention." She stopped from laughing out loud. "That water bug can only survive in stagnant pools… If kept out of water too long it'll become unhappy and likely draw the attention of local guards." Yami spoke up,
"And that's why I hate that bug. It kept me up every single night when the guards were bored with nothing to do." Sly directed his binocucom over the water bug and looked at another pool not too far off with the same mist emanating from it as the one near him and Faye now.
"Hmm…looks like there's a few pools along the way to Rajan's office," Sly said, getting a plan together, "A short swim every now and then should keep our little friend quiet." Faye ran the job through her mind, remembering what she had done when she had performed the challenge herself.
"I can go on ahead and take care of any guards that we may come across," she said. Faye and Sly put up their binocucoms.
"I'll stay here," Sly said, "You go on and check if the coast is clear." Faye nodded,
"I'll contact you when the route is safe." With that, Faye climbed back down and peered over the edge of the temple ruin.
"Uh oh…" she muttered, so no one but Yami could hear her.
"It was easy because I played as Sly. He could jump from this height and not get hurt. For goodness sakes, that's how I got around with everybody!" Finally realizing just how different things would be getting around, Faye looked around for something to get her off the wobbling ruin and down to the pool below. She looked near her feet and saw a vine leading off the edge. She ambled over to it and looked down off the side. The vine stopped just above a tree, though something was peculiar about it. After a few moments of staring and getting wet from the rain, lightning flashed and the light reflected from the tree. Faye smiled knowing that it was a clue bottle. She hurriedly clutched the vine and slid down, not even having to let go as she landed on the treetop. Faye grabbed the green bottle and frowned; the piece of paper was missing. She then recalled what Bentley had said,
"I've already sent out Natasha to collect what she can."
Faye set the bottle upside down on a branch of the tree, not wanting to step or trip over it later. Two feet below and a foot across from the treetop was the top of a long ruin. A vine from the other side of it led to a circular form of temple ruins that resembled a landmark Faye knew was in Scotland. She walked across the vine and waited until a goat guard passed under her before jumping down behind him and sneaking to a bouncing mushroom. She moved eight feet before comprehending what she was doing; she was moving like Sly did in the game, putting one foot up in front of her and bringing herself over to it. She did not know whether to laugh that she was imitating the game so much or try stopping herself, though she knew it was the best way to get around. At least till she tried learning Feral Pounce anyway. Faye proceeded to creep like a Cooper until she arrived at the toadstool. She then jumped onto it and the fungus propelled her upwards to the building's roof. She landed without a sound, courtesy of the ability of her costume, and watched as a monkey guard four feet away patrolled the area. Faye crept up behind him and hooked her cane through his belt. She turned around and hauled him over her shoulder, slamming the guard into the ground and knocking him out. Faye unhooked her cane and reached for a button on her earcom. She turned it to the second frequency, the first being Bentley at the safe house, and pushed the dial in.
"Coast is clear Sly. Come on down," she said, looking upwards at the careening temple ruins. She watched as Sly put the water bug on his back and leaped off the structure straight to the ground. Faye looked away and winced, waiting for the sound of bones breaking. She waited a little longer and when she opened her eyes, Sly was landing in front of her. He set the bug in the pool as she asked quietly in awe,
"How did you do that?" Sly turned to her and whispered back,
"I don't think I can explain that. Bentley might be able to." Faye shook her head, making sure to keep her voice low as another monkey guard was just below them,
"No thanks. Some of the things Bentley says hurts my head." Faye rubbed her frontal lobe, reliving the complicated words the brainy turtle always said. "What in the world does 'toujours' mean?"
"It's French for 'always,'" Sly answered casually. Faye stared at the ground and sighed, still massaging her temples. "You weren't in France very long, were you?" She shook her head,
"You have no idea…" Faye's eyes widened and she mentally slapped herself; she had leaked out information.
"So how long have you lived in Paris?" Sly asked. Faye looked up and said indifferently,
"I arrived not too long before I met you," Faye answered, trying to cover up any suspicions. She had to reframe from lying so that when the truth got out, she would be more believable.
"But I thought you said that you had been in that museum more times than the nightwatch?" Faye cringed.
"Busted! Stupid, stupid, stupid…" Faye mentally cursed herself for being so forgetful of her first meeting with Sly. She put a hand on the back of her neck and stared at the ground, knowing she had to tell the truth,
"Yeeaahh... I…kinda…wanted to impress you and Bentley. I didn't want to seem like a newbie at thieving." Faye looked back up at Sly's face and slightly squinted her left eye as she gave an apologetic look.
"So…how long have you been thieving?" Sly asked, now starting to question Faye's background. Faye grit her teeth together and looked at the ground again.
"Um… Can I tell you later? I have to add the time up," Faye said sheepishly, looking at Sly through her damp bangs hanging outside of her costume.
"Alright then. Just don't get specific down to the seconds," Sly said, as he took out his binocucom again. Faye hopped down to the raised portion of land below and once again knocked out a monkey guard out with the finishing slam move. She waved at Sly, who had put up his binocucom, to follow her and jumped down to the ground, heading for a wooden log bridge that led across the river. She looked back once to see Sly with the water bug on his back just about ten feet behind her. She crossed the bridge and turned left towards another pool and waited for Sly. But when she turned back around, she saw a rhino guard turning to cross the bridge she had just tiptoed over. Amazingly, he did not seem to notice her, but Sly was approaching the bridge. Faye covered her mouth as the flashlight drew closer to Sly's feet and if he did not hurry, the bug would start alerting the guards of their whereabouts. Faye wanted to close her eyes tight and wait, but like a train wreck, she just could not look away. At the very edge of the light, Sly jumped out to his left and landed on a wooden stake coming out of the water, avoiding a very hairy confrontation. He ninja spire jumped to another stake before leaping onto solid land again. Faye breathed a silent sigh of relief as she and Sly ran to the pond since there were no guards to hear them.
Without warning, a cobra came out in front of them, hissing and glaring with its crimson eyes. Faye gasped and stepped back, frozen in its stare as adrenaline pumped through her veins. Sly, still running, thwacked it with his cane and placed the bug in the pond just near a dangling vine coming from the ledge above. Faye's heart started to slow down and she let herself breathe normally. Her cane was shaking in her hand as her mind stopped rushing with thoughts of what to do against a snake in the middle of nearly nowhere and not getting bitten. A small voice abruptly came through on Faye's earcom,
"H-hello?" Faye recognized it immediately. She turned the dial in her earcom to the fifth frequency, being that Bentley's earcom aside from the safe house was third and Murray's was fourth and the voice had to be fifth. Faye pressed the dial in,
"Natasha?" She let go, listening for a response.
"Faye?" Natasha whispered back, fright hanging on her words, "I, I need help…"
"Tell me where you are. I'll be there," Faye said with confidence.
"What's going on?" Sly asked, overhearing part of the conversation. Faye looked up at Sly for a moment,
"Natasha's in trouble." Natasha's voice came immediately afterward,
"I-I'm stuck. There's a bunch of guards and I can't get out."
"Where are you?" Faye asked, wanting to get to Natasha as soon as possible. There was silence for a while before the little panther quietly answered,
"I…I'm not sure. A see a lot of lights and crates…and guards…and I'm on the ground somewhere."
"Calm down and stay quiet. I'll be there as fast as possible," Faye said before turning back to the first frequency. "Bentley, Natasha's trapped near a lot of lights, crates, and guards. Can you get a marker on her?" There was a small pause,
"…Got it. Use your binocucom to find her. She's on the other side of the temple. You'll have to go up higher to find her." Faye brought out her binocucom and saw an orange beam rising into the sky. She lowered her gadget and turned to Sly,
"Can you take care of the rest of the job without me?" Her voice was somewhat frantic as hope and fear reflected in her bright orbs.
"Sure," he answered. "You go get Natasha. I'll bug Rajan's office." Faye brought out her binocucom and looked up near Rajan's office. She spoke quickly,
"Sly, up there is a tree next to the entrance to Rajan's office." Sly brought out his binocucom and gazed at what she was referring to. "Use the root from it on the part of the temple where two rhino guards are and double jump up to the ledge. You'll get to Rajan's office faster that way." Faye kept her binocucom out as she started running back towards the bridge. She started creeping again once a guard came into view, resisting the urge to sprint.
"What do you think happened to Natasha?" Yami asked.
"I don't know. I don't remember any crates in this level or why guards would be sitting around in one place," Faye thought, trying to hurry but not attracting any unwanted attention. The holographic marker led Faye to an area she was familiar with; she had to guide Sly through the area with the Cherry Bomb 500, going through the shadowed area behind the small arcs from the ceiling leading from one dwarfed pillar to another. It was also where one of the clue bottles was located. Now, there were a bunch of wooden crates, three rhino guards, three goat guards, and four monkey guards in the area. Faye made her way above the guards and listened in on their conversation.
"Rajan's too paranoid," said a monkey leaning on a crate, "He keeps pacing around the temple like somebody's gonna jump him."
"I don't know Jim," said a rhino on Faye's far right. "Rajan might be onto something."
"Shut up, Frankford!" yelled a goat, waving around his bugle. "You're not the one lying out cold on the stupid ground!" He either had anger management problems or was under the influence of spice. Frankford glared at the goat and slammed his fist into the goat's face, knocking him back into a crate and breaking it.
"Natasha's in there," Faye thought to herself, "There's got to be a way to distract those guards. Maybe…" Faye backed away from the ledge a bit and ducked so the watchmen could not see her and she could not see them. She concentrated on her voicebox before bellowing in a strong voice,
"Men! There are trespassers near the northern waterfall. Take care of them at once!" Faye waited for a response.
"Sir? You sound different-" started Jim.
"If I have to tell you again I'll have your heads! Now get moving!" Faye thundered, imitating Rajan's voice as best she could. The guards scrambled, climbing over one another as they moved down the path away from Faye. She rubbed her sore throat and crept towards the ledge again. She turned the dial on her earcom and pressed it, whispering,
"Natasha, get out of there. Those guards won't be gone for long. And don't worry, that wasn't really Rajan." After a moment, Natasha came crawling from the remains of the broken crate with Josie under her left arm. A few scraps of paper were sticking out of her sweatshirt as she got up.
"Up here," Faye softly spoke, bending down on one knee and looking over towards Natasha. The little panther looked up and saw Faye. She smiled but Faye frowned; a rhino guard was heading back. Faye pointed behind Natasha and she looked. She gasped and started running down the road straight ahead of her, which was on Faye's left. Faye jumped down and caught up to Natasha.
"Slow down," she said airily. Fear was in the panther's eyes as she held Josie tight in her arms. Faye grabbed Natasha's left arm and pulled her in another direction. She knew where they were and she started to slow down. They were near the area with the truck containing the helicopter Bentley would use later and the patrol route of one of the elephants. Footsteps were still behind them as they came to the edge of the river and part of a temple with a vine hanging down. Josie jumped out of Natasha's arms and starting racing towards the ruin. Faye and Natasha chased after her, not saying a word. Josie walked along a narrow strip of land, though when Faye looked down, she saw dark blue sparkles going forward in a line. Faye thought to herself,
"Isn't this…where the Spice Grinder is at?"
"…Yes, it is," Yami commented, seeing what Faye did through her eyes. Faye neared the sparkles and started sidling across, thankful that the cat costume gave her more balance. Natasha seemed afraid and stayed behind. Faye took notice and extended her hand, thinking,
"Déjà vu…again. Is she an alternate version of myself or what?" Natasha took Faye's hand with her left and took baby steps getting across as a light searched where they just were.
"It's okay, Natasha," Faye said warmly. "We can make it."
'And get a mission done while we're at it.'
It seemed to be forever, but they finally made it to a small nook in the cliff near a door where only two torches lit the area. Natasha picked up Josie and stroked her fur. Bentley came over Faye's earcom,
"Faye!" he freaked. "Where are you? Where's Natasha? Are you alright? Speak to me!" Faye pushed in the dial after setting it and answered,
"It's alright Bentley. Natasha and I just had to outrun a few guards. We'll back be in a while after clearing something up. We'll contact you when we're done."
"No, you better come back to the safe house-"
"Bentley…" Faye said firmly, "Please. Just trust me. I know what I'm doing." Natasha voice also came over, being on the same frequency,
"Bentley? I want to help Faye," Faye looked at Natasha as she held Josie close to her in one hand. "I trust her." There was an awkward silence before Bentley's voice came over again,
"Well… Alright. But contact me as soon as you're done and be sure to hurry. We still need to get the blueprints from Rajan." Faye smiled and said,
"Don't worry. We'll be quick about it." Faye approached the button on a stand right of the door and pressed it. The door opened and Faye walked in with Natasha holding Josie behind her, knowing that she was finally taking on a mission that, even though it had not been assigned, she had chosen to do.
SQ: I really hope this accommodates for my delays even if the action slowed down a bit. I don't mean to keep you all waiting, but schoolwork and writer's block keep me busy. When I recorded this episode to get the dialogue, the rhino guard really did almost catch me with the insect going across the bridge. I enjoy writing this story almost as much as my personal story I created, even if getting all of the dialogue can be a pain sometimes. (Looks back at chapter) Oy… (hits head against wall) I'm so, so sorry. It's too easy to create a Faye/Sly moment even when I don't mean it. I mean, Murray's always eating and Bentley's on his computer. Who else is she supposed to talk to during missions? Sly's the only one she's connecting with right now and Natasha's too young to have an intense conversation with.
Faye: Some people like it.
SQ: Do you?
Faye: That falls under the category of my-business-and-no-one-is-to-find-out-so-they-can-go-nuts-and-keep-wondering-till-later-on.
SQ: Uh huh… I'll put that under 'undecided.'
Faye: Whatever keeps that insane mind of yours working.
SQ: Caffeine. Lots and lots of it. And reviews don't hurt either. The longer the better. Even if it's just a bunch of ramblings.
Faye: Does anything bother you?
SQ: ……Bugs. And unfortunately I've been camping during summer vacation. I hate these things! (sighs) Oh well. And just to say, I think I made someone cry during this chapter. I'm not sure if it was Natasha or what, but there are a dozen or so used tissues at Outcast in the living room. …Okay so it's not Outcast. …Just think of the Kame House from DBZ. (Starts painting over the word 'Kame') Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I almost had the chapter with Operation: Wet Tiger all set till I remember everything was flooded. :( Now I have to think a little more before it's ready. Thank goodness for the school I'm in, otherwise I wouldn't have updated this early. (sweat drop) Until next time. May the light of the moon lead the way to the master thief. (I do not own Zelda where this is derived and changed from.)