Please read the bold text below

I understand some of you have been complaining this is OC X Thief king... well it's not. Sheeba is actually someone's past life. If you can't figure whose, read some of the more flamboyant thief fics and take a wild-ass guess. If you don't like the fact that Sheeba is a woman and therefore doesn't have a dick then hold on, all your little fantasies of hardcore citron will eventually come to light. All I ask is you give me some time. Another thing I should get across, BEFORE ALOT OF TIME PASSES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE STORY, is that Akefia is no older than 19 in the first few chapters. I thought this was implied to an extent by him not yet focused on revenge for the pharaoh or the lack of reference to his partner Diabound. In other words, he is young. That's why he isn't the best thief and got pocketed by some random stranger. This story is not a story of how the thief king kicks ass and takes names but rather his assent ion to greatness. Give me time; he'll whoop ass like it's nobody's business. More will be explained about Sheeba in HER chapter but for now you'll have to make your wild guesses.

"So hot... feet killing me..." moaned Sheeba slinging her heeled sandals over her shoulder, "I almost forgot how dreadful this stretch of desert could be."

"It wouldn't feel as hot if you would keep mouth shut for five minutes."

"I don't see how that would help."

"It would keep in some of that hot air!" Akefia sneered.

Sheeba was to hot and sticky to argue. Instead she grabbed one of her sandals and threw it at Akefia. It missed... by a mile. The two had been walking for days and she was at her end.

"What's wrong, Sheeba? Can't take a little heat?" Akefia snorted.

"I can take the heat," Sheeba mumbled slinking over to her sandal, "it's all this Radamned walking!"

"If I remember correctly, the nearest town is at least two days away from here." Akefia said watching closely how Sheeba reacted. The slump in her shoulders, the weight in her steps, she was beginning to slip. He had tried to pick back his dagger several hundred times since Sheeba had taken it and had been examining Sheeba's condition- judging if it was safe to make a grab for his dagger secured at her waist- ever since. As far as he saw, she was as prone as she'd ever be. He slowly inched closer to Sheeba who seemed too tired to notice. Just as he was about to make a grab she stopped causing him to crash right into her.

"Don't tell me you need to take a break." Akefia grumbled.

"No, look!" Sheeba said pointing her finger out ahead; it was the outskirts of a city. Akefia was surprised he hadn't seen it sooner; it blocked most of his view leaving no room in his vision to see around it. He thought that it may be a mirage painted out brilliantly by the gods in a convincing attempt to fool him. Sheeba grabbed Akefia by the cloak and dragged him closer to get a better look.

Where ever they had arrived it seemed to be in the middle of a festival, brightly colored blankets acted as tarps for various vendor stands. Brightly dressed women and children paraded down the streets as villagers applauded and cheered. Bright beautiful decorations hung from the windows and doors of the houses.

"Look at it all!" Sheeba said her fatigued expression instantly dissolving. Her fingers had tangled themselves in Akefia's cloak in her excitement.

"I see, I see." Akefia said pulling Sheeba's fingers away.

"I've never seen a celebration this big!"

Akefia shuddered thinking the same thing. He remembered traveling a lot as a child and never running into something quite this huge. Something must've happened in the time he had left. It was a great opportunity for a thief familiar with this town to make a move. Akefia being unfamiliar to his environment couldn't help but worry about the well-being of the dagger in the hands of Sheeba.

"Don't leave my side." He whispered to Sheeba who was eyeing a pair of earrings at a vendor's stall.

"Awww!" She teased, "I didn't think you cared so much about me."

"I could care less about you," Akefia mumbled, "hold on tight to my dagger. And, please, try to make things quick."

"I'll try my best." Sheeba said sounding like a soldier speaking to a drill sergeant. She turned back to the booth and begun picking things up and trying things on. Akefia sighed; he knew they would be there for a while. He decided it would be best to keep a close eye on Sheeba while watching for potential thieves.

Akefia tried his hardest looking natural as he guarded Sheeba. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the stall, he even tried pretending to browse. Nothing happened, no thieves could be seen. Still, he couldn't keep from feeling like pairs of small beady eyes were hiding right around the bend, waiting for him to break his defenses. If there were any thieves lurking on the streets Akefia knew they wouldn't strike as long as he was around.

He looked over at Sheeba who was still on her first stall. She had tried out nearly everything the merchant had to offer liking some, wanting others, but buying nothing. Akefia wondered why she didn't just steal it. She seemed capable enough seeing how she stole the dagger from him. After waiting what seemed like an eternity he gave Sheeba a nudge.

"Can I help you?" She said with sparkly bangles littering her arms.

"Why not take it?" Akefia whispered.

"The bangles?"

"Anything! You're a thief aren't you?"

"Correction, I'm a gypsy and a rouge. You're the thief." She slid the bangles off and picked up a small gold band with a huge purple stone at its center. She shoved it in Akefia's face as if he couldn't see it clearly enough and held it up to her eyes showing the uncanny resemblance. Sheeba nodded to the vender and handed him the necessary amount of coins. She slid the ring on her finger and admired it.

"That was a lot of money for one pathetic ring." Akefia scoffed.

"You have to realize," she said as they moved away from the stall a few miles down the road, "there's more to life than just stealing."

When they were far enough from the jewelers stand she bent down and began fiddling with something on her leg. Akefia realized immediately what she had done. She placed the gold headband she had pulled from a strap on her leg onto her head and let it shine in the sunlight. From her shoes she then pulled a pair of huge gold earrings and clipped them into her ears.

"More to life you say? Looks like you went to town."

"It's only the bare essentials." She said adjusting her hair to fit her new accessories.

"So are we done here?"

"Hmm..." Sheeba said looking around, "Lunch first, then two more stalls."

"You promise?"

"I promise." Sheeba said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Akefia didn't trust her and he had every right not to. Before he knew it (at the seventh stall or so) Sheeba was nowhere to be seen.

At first I planned to have this chapter be... (What like one page long?) and be done with it but unfortunately I had to throw in some crazy fight scenes. As a result, this is one of two this one being the shorter of them.