Why am I always helping you? Blank tried to push the unwarranted thought from his mind. He didn't have time to ask himself stupid questions, he needed to run. Not for himself, but for them. He wasn't trying to hard to escape anymore, he let himself fall behind. It was the only way they could be safe. He had to do this. He threw Zidane the map, sacrificing himself for the blonde once again. He had to wonder, even as the bastards grabbed him: Why?
Blank paced back and forth across the room, waiting for the arrival of his new roommate. He wasn't waiting there by his own choice, however. Blank would much rather be eating breakfast with the rest of Tantalus. Nevertheless, the moment the redhead left his room Cinna announced that the Boss and Marcus were going to get the newest member of Tantalus, and promptly tossed him back in. He insisted that Boss would be furious to have to search for Blank when he returned. Blank grudgingly admitted he was right, though he wasn't happy about it. Since then, Blank had been nearly bored to tears and was hungry enough to eat all of Lindblum.
In most cases, the Boss wouldn't be making this much of a fuss. A roommate was a common notion for a member of Tantalus. However, due to the…unusual situation when Blank joined Tantalus, he was given his own room. Of course, that was six years ago and now there was no real reason for Blank to be by himself.
While he'd never admit it, Blank was pretty excited about the new member of Tantalus, especially since the boy was supposed to be around his age. Sure, he got along fine with Marcus and Cinna, but he'd really rather hang out with someone that wasn't eight years older than him. Best of all, Blank wouldn't be the youngest member of Tantalus anymore!
Blank glanced around his room, his eyes lingering on the randomly strewn clothes and muddy footprints. For the first time, the boy wondered if should've done something to make his room more presentable. Then he thought better of it. That was such a girly thing to worry about!
"All right, Zidane, welcome to your new home!" Blank jumped as he heard Marcus's voice. Turning around, Blank saw Marcus with his hands resting on the shoulders of a very strange boy. He had messy, golden-blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a suspiciously devious expression on his face. Blank disliked him immediately. However, that wasn't the strange part, as there were few people Blank liked. No, the strange thing was the boy's long furry tail! Blank gaped at it, unable to look away.
Marcus cleared his throat. "Blank, this is Zidane Tribal."
Blank finally tore his eyes from the tail. He held out a hand to the boy, doing his best to ignore the still- convulsing tail. "Hey. I'm Blank. Nice to meet ya." The boy merely ignored his outstretched hand and glared at him.
"What kinda name is Blank?"
Blank returned the boy's glare with an icy glower of his own. He hated when people insulted his name. He chose it when he was SIX, okay? That's pretty good for a six-year-old! At least it wasn't something stupid like Bo-Bo or Oglop or…well his name wasn't that great either.
"What kind of last name is Tribal?" He retorted, crossing his arms. "And that tail….what zoo did you escape from, Monkey Boy?"
Feeling the tension in the room escalate, Marcus suddenly realized he had yet to have his breakfast, and he was in fact quite starved, and…was that the Boss calling him? "Try not to kill each other!" He waved cheerily, "Boss wants everyone downstairs in ten minutes."
Blank barely noticed Marcus's departure. He couldn't believe this. After only five seconds, Blank already disliked the newest member of Tantalus. His room mate…that's right, he WAS going to have to share a room with the boy…and with that gleam in the boy's eye, Blank wouldn't be surprised if he found snakes in his bed. Maybe it would pay to be friendly.
"So…Zidane, right? Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. I'm just tired," he lied. Zidane continued to stare at him. "So, uh…why'd you join Tantalus?" He hoped that would be a good conversation starter, though he already knew the story. Marcus had found the boy wandering the streets of Lindblum- well…Zidane found Marcus, really. He had tried to pick his pocket, and he was easily caught by the older thief. Instead of apologizing profusely or socking him and making a run for it, Zidane surprised Marcus by starting a conversation. Marcus pieced together that the boy was homeless, and, from his disconcertingly-visible ribs, wasn't eating too well. It was inevitable that the Boss would try to find Zidane and recruit him once he heard the story. While Baku may look intimidating, he was really a big softie, especially for kids. He couldn't resist giving any vagrant a place in Tantalus. That was why Tantalus had become some parody of the lost boys, filled with abandoned children, orphans, and runaways. And then there was Blank.
However, the boy didn't mention Marcus at all. He merely smirked at him with his tail drifting lazily and said, "I didn't really want to, but I felt bad for you guys."
"Felt bad for us? Why?" Blank asked, perplexed.
"Because you didn't have the help of Lindblum's king of thieves!" He declared proudly.
Blank stifled a laugh and bent into a deep, exaggerated bow. "My apologies, your Majesty, I had no idea I was in the presence of royalty!"
"Yeah, you can laugh now, but you won't be laughing when I'm filthy stinkin' rich and you're all begging at my feet." He said smugly.
"Nice dream, but that's not going to happen. We get whatever you steal." Blank wondered if it was mean that he so loved bursting the boy's bubble.
"What?" Zidane shouted, his rigid tail comically mirroring his irritation.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but if you want to live here you gotta give your share. It's not too bad when you get used it. You just gotta steal a little more than you normally would…but of course, that shan't be a problem for the king of thieves?"
"…'Course not. I'll still have more 'n all of you!" The too-happy smile returned to Zidane's face once more.
"Sure, sure…Anyway, we better head downstairs soon. You don't wanna get yelled at on your first day."
When Zidane was introduced to all of Tantalus, he once again told his little "king of thieves" story…after winking at every single person with boobs. They all thought he was adorable. Blank disagreed. Honestly, wasn't he eight or something? What the hell did he think he was doing?
After the meeting, everything returned to normal for the rest of Tantalus. Blank tried to blend in with the dispersing crowd, fearing that he would be-
"Blank! Get over here!" His heart sank as he faithfully returned to the Boss. "You and Zidane are partners today, got that? I want you to show him the ropes."
"I don't need his help!" Zidane protested, "I already know how to steal!"
"And I'm not a babysitter." Blank said callously.
"Well that's too bad...I'm not letting either of you out of this building unless you're together. While you're here, I suppose I have to find something else for you to do…let's see…"
Blank's eyes widened as he imagined the tortures unfolding in Baku's mind. "Babysitting's nice!" Blank squeaked as he raced out of the room, puling Zidane along with him. Baku's laughter followed him all the way out of the hideout.
"What the heck, Blank?" Zidane said indignantly as he twisted out of Blank's grip.
"You don't want to know the things the Boss will think up. Trust me." The redhead muttered. "And where do you think you're going, Monkey Boy?" Blank called after the fleeing blonde. As he chased him, he grabbed the first thing that came into his reach: Zidane's tail. The resulting screech was quite satisfying.
"What was that for!" Zidane shouted, rubbing his backside mournfully.
"Look, I don't like it either, but Boss's orders are to stay together. Besides, I gotta make sure you don't do something stupid."
"I'm fine on my own! I did this everyday before I joined Tantalus!"
"Good for you. But now you are in Tantalus, and for today that means we're partners. Can we just get started already?"
"You're just going to slow me down…" Zidane grumbled.
"Oh, really? Hey, that reminds me…weren't you going to show me your awesome stealing skills, oh king of thieves?"
"Oh, right!" The grin returned to Zidane's face as he unsheathed his dagger. He scanned the crowd, searching for a proper target. His eyes lit up as he spotted a wealthy noble, clearly a tourist. No Lindblum local would ever keep a bulging purse in open sight, especially not in this part of town. "Watch and be amazed!" Zidane tried to ignore the chuckle he heard behind him.
Blank watched as a blonde blur zipped past the noble, then back to the alley where he waited. Zidane was beaming as he held up the finely embroidered pouch. He hadn't even seen him snatch it. Blank had to admit, the kid was fast. But still…
"You're way too reckless." Blank commented dryly,
"Huh?" was Zidane's only reply as his smile faded.
"You heard me. Did you even look where you were going? You're lucky you didn't smash into someone, or even stab them when you were going that fast! Careless stunts like that will work on a tourist, but never a local. And on another thief- forget it! Watch and learn, monkey boy."
Blank let the indignant remarks of the blonde fade into the background as he stepped into the crowd. He merged into a group of people, pretending he was part of them. As he walked, he cut the purse of every person that passed him heading the other direction and let them fall into his hand. He returned to Zidane with five purses, looking more than a bit smug.
"Show-off. I thought we were just going after one, I can totally beat that!" Zidane protested.
"Go ahead." Blank said, starting to enjoy the challenge.
Zidane seemed to be copying Blank at first, slowly meandering through the crowd, but then he began to run again. By the time Zidane came back to the alley, he held seven purses, two necklaces, and a gold bracelet.
Blank raised his eyebrows. "Now how did a shortie like you reach up high enough to snag those necklaces?"
"Because I'm the king of thieves~!" Zidane sang.
"That's not an answ- whatever. You're still being way too careless. Watch what a master can do!" Blank said excitedly.
He waltzed back into the crowd, now enthralled with the game. He casually walked up to a woman and complimented her on her earrings. The woman, flattered that a young boy actually cared about her earrings, began to boast about them. As she talked, Blank seized the chance to nab the three rings of her finger, all of which had brilliant gemstones. He continued to rob people in this way, commenting so they'd focus on something and then stealing their jewelry and purses while they were distracted. Blank nearly skipped back to Zidane, arms laden with expensive trinkets of all kinds. Zidane's jaw nearly dropped at the sight of Blank's feat.
"I can still do better than that!" The blonde insisted. He rushed into the crowd, once more becoming a blur. For a moment, everything seemed to go fine…until Blank heard a shriek.
"H-hey! That's my...stop! Stop, thief! Help!" echoed from somewhere in the crowd. He rolled his eyes. He knew that Zidane would be caught eventually. Stuffing his pockets with their loot, the redhead ran into the crowd in search of the younger Tantalus member. It wasn't hard to find him. The angry mob of guards hot on his heels made locating him quite simple. Blank sighed and looked for something he could use to help him. His eyes fell on some stones on the ground. Good enough. As he threw the stones at the guards, they all turned to him.
"Shit." Was all Blank could say before he darted away. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Zidane never looked back. Jerk. And now the guards were chasing both of them, though the distraction helped Zidane to be a bit farther away. But Blank knew just how to evade Lindblum guards. He vanished into the crowds, and the guards eventually gave up on finding the thieves.
When the boys finally reunited at the hideout, Blank flashed Zidane a murderous glare that chilled him to the bone. Despite it, Zidane plastered a smile on his face. "Sorry 'bout leaving you back there, Blank!" Zidane exclaimed cheerily.
Blank's glare never wavered. "Some brother you are. "
"What?"
"We're all brothers in Tantalus. We look after each other. We don't leave each other behind." Blank stated coldly.
Zidane laughed. "Brothers? That's just stupid. I have no brother; I'm the King of Thieves!"
"Whatever, Monkey Boy. Just don't expect me to help you again."
Zidane figured he could deal with being stuck with Blank for one morning, but he quickly tired of being paired up every morning, of every day, of every week, of every MONTH! It'd been a year! He could steal on his own, dammit! Sure, he got caught on his first day in Tantalus, but that never happened again! Were they ever going to trust him?
Zidane did his best to ditch Blank. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes he found himself cornered by the redhead…or he'd never get a chance to escape and his tail would be brutally abused once again. Blank told him that he was just following orders, but Zidane wondered if Blank enjoyed tormenting him. Either way, Zidane had officially acquired his own stalker. And Blank still wouldn't use his name! It was always "Monkey Boy" or "kid" or something. Actually, all of Tantalus had taken to calling him "kid" and treating him like a baby. It was more infuriating when he realized that Blank was only a year older than he, but no one ever treated Blank like this.
Well, whatever. Today was the day he was going to get some respect in Tantalus. He'd been planning for this for a while. He was going to steal from the Castle…well, if he managed to escape Blank first. But today, he had a plan for that as well.
"Come on, Blank! We're gonna miss it!" Zidane called over his shoulder. He laughed at the sight of his Tantalus "brother" looking so exhausted. Even after a year, Blank still couldn't keep up with Zidane.
"Why…come you… wanna see the sh-show so…badly?" Blank's words came in strange spurts as he struggled to speak. "You-you can just…go T-Tantalus play…or be…one!"
"I told you already! I promised this really cute girl I'd go see her!"
"Ohh….I see this is…really 'portant…more than…our jobs? And…you're like…eight kid…how you…g-gettin'… all… " Blank huffed.
"Alright, seriously Blank I have no idea what you're saying." Zidane admitted. All he figured out from the boy's words was the he'd gotten his age wrong once again. Zidane was eleven. ELEVEN. It wasn't that hard to remember, it was a year younger than Blank.
As they reached the theater, Blank nearly collapsed. He bent over, fighting to catch his breath. "Hey! That's her! I wanna go to talk to her before the show, 'kay?" Zidane didn't give Blank a chance to speak before he disappeared into the crowd. Blank stayed where he was, realizing he'd been tricked but too tired to do anything.
"Bastard…" He finally spat when he caught his breath. Sighing, the redhead rushed after him. "Why am I always helping you?" Blank thought aloud as he scanned the city streets. "Why can't I just leave you to your own stupidity?" But Blank knew he couldn't. Even when it meant trouble for himself, and though Zidane resented him for it, Blank never stopped watching out for Zidane. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop. He had become Zidane's guardian angel, and the crazy brat definitely needed one.
But now there was no sign of Zidane anywhere, and everyone he asked said they hadn't seen a blonde boy with a tail. Sighing, Blank leaned against the wall of an alley.
"If I were a stupid Monkey Boy, where would I go?" Well that was a dumb question. He could be anywhere in Lindblum. He could be in a pub trying to have his first drink, or getting way over his head with a girl, or tying to break into the castle itself…
The castle. He was at the castle. He had that glint in his eye, the glint he had when he was planning something that was too much for him too handle. Like robbing Lindblum Castle. And, if Zidane had an ounce of sense at all, he'd try to enter through the construction site. Apparently they had been in the process of clearing land for some new airship docks, but the site had remained untouched for quite a while…and the workers left everything behind. It was rumored there were even bombs at the site, as they never finished clearing the area. Blank rushed off in the direction of the castle.
There it was. Lindblum Castle, the biggest building in one of the biggest cities on Gaia. And it was filled with the most extravagant items a thief could dream of. Items which were about to belong to Zidane.
He went to the abandoned construction zone first. He was pretty shocked they hadn't tightened security around the zone…it almost seemed like some people were begging to be robbed. It was just a bit spooky at the zone. He knew it had been abandoned because there were too many monsters in the area, and the Lindblum authorities didn't want to deal with all of them. So, they left the zone like a ghost town, hoping they would remain there. They also left behind bombs used to clear the land, and everyone once in a while one of them would blow, and the sound would reverberate around Lindblum.
"Zidane!" The boy's heart sank. How could Blank have found him so fast? Was it that obvious he was going here? Still, there was no way he was going to let Blank ruin his chance for glory.
"Leave me alone, Blank." Zidane said hostilely.
"Now why would I want to do that? Looks like you're having LOTS of fun in the most dangerous place in Lindblum!" Blank called sardonically.
"Blank, I'm serious. Go away."
Ignoring Zidane completely, Blank entered the construction site, stepping gingerly as if he was walking on broken glass. In response, Zidane dashed towards the castle.
"Dammit, kid!" Blank complained as he followed his charge. Zidane glanced behind him, infuriated to see Blank still chasing him.
"Blank, fuck off!" Zidane shouted.
"Kid, I'm not- ZIDANE!" Blank screamed in horror. Zidane turned around again, unable to conceal his curiosity about the panic in the redhead's voice. To his surprise, Blank knocked him to the ground.
"BLANK, WHAT THE HELL ARE-" But Zidane's confusion was short-lived as he heard the explosion. Despite the redhead's efforts to protect him, Zidane found himself thrown from Blank's arms and flung across the grass. The bomb seemed to smother him and stifle all of his senses. All he could do was hear, as he listened to the horrible sound of an explosion that sounded so much worse than when he was safe in the city…And he listened to the screaming. Someone was screaming over and over, but Zidane found himself unable to get up. He could do nothing but lie there uselessly and try to block out the intensifying agony in the voice.
Finally, the bomb stopped. Now all that was left was this ghastly weeping and screeches of someone under the ultimate torment. When Zidane at last placed the voice, he jumped to his feet, his own pain forgotten.
"Blank? Oh shit! I…don't move! I'll get help!" But he knew there was no way Blank would be able to move anyway. The boy had huge gaping holes in his body, and his leg looked like it was being held together by strings, and there was so much blood, so much blood…