Well, it looks like I do have enough time for a few chapters. Here's the next one!
The Month of Sleeping (January) Age 8
Week 1
Today at class, the Kyrii ordered us to write resolutions and hopes for this year. Then we had to share them. Kayley grumbled about this, saying that hers was personal. The Kyrii looked over to see what she was writing and raised his eyebrows, but he told her she didn't have to share. "Alright, Hanso, you start."
"Do I have to?" I whined, stalling.
"Yes," he replied.
"But mine's personal." I looked at Kayley as I said this.
He rolled his eyes. "Just get on with it."
I sighed exaggeratedly. "Okay, my resolution: Make a few new friends."
Razor scrunched up his eyebrows. "Why? Don't you like us anymore?"
"Yes! I mean, no! I mean, of course I like you guys, but…we haven't met a lot of people, have we? No one else from the other classes or whatever. But isn't like the whole Guild about helping each other with stealing and stuff?"
"You have a point," the Kyrii commented. He had a thoughtful look on his face. "Your hope?"
"Hope? Oh, yeah. Um, I hope Kanrik gets out of prison." What I didn't add was that I also hoped that me and Brynn can be friends. And that Kayley would stop being so…interfering.
"My resolution is to be a better thief," Razor said. "I think I've been relying on Hanso a little too much." He gave me a small smile. "My hope is that we could all get along this year."
"That's fine. Now, the twins-"
Julius jumped to it before he could finish his sentence. "Resolution: Be nicer to everyone! Hope: Get more candy!"
The Kyrii sighed when he heard the last one. "This year's going to be fantastic," he muttered. "Now let's-"
"Wait," Juliet interrupted. "I haven't read mine yet." We all turned to her, slightly shocked. She's never really spoken by herself before, besides the whole 'tell Julius this' thing. Even her twin slightly taken aback.
"Er, alright, Juliet. You can share."
She took a deep breath. "My resolution this year is to….to spend less time with Julius. Hey, don't look at me like that!" She said defensively. "Everyone always thinks what he wants is what I want, what he does is what I do. Even now, you expected us to speak together." She bit her lip. "Being 'Julius and Juliet,' and being a twin in general is great and all, but no one knows who just Juliet is. I want to find out." There was a long silence after her outburst, and she broke it by only saying, "I also kinda hope that we get served more cookies in lunch!"
Even though it wasn't that funny, everyone laughed. I guess it was to release all that nervous tension. You know what, I think she's right: I don't really know who Juliet is. It'd be nice to find out.
Week 2
The Kyrii dropped the bombshell on us today. We were going to have to baby-sit.
"WHAT?" We all cried in unison. If there was one thing that the entire class can agree on, is that taking care of children younger than us is a big no-no.
"Each person in the guild has to help out, now that Kanrik's gone," he announced. "I actually got the idea from Hanso's resolution when he said he wanted to meet more people from the guild." They all shot me glares.
"That was not what I had in mind. And Kanrik's not gone," I mumbled. "Just captured."
He looked at me pityingly, as if he knew some sort of sad truth that I wasn't allowed to hear. It made me a bit worried. "Our lessons will become very infrequent, so you'll have to spend most of the time on the job. I thought it was better than assigning you cleaning duty at the dump." We weren't so sure.
"Sir, I really doubt that we can handle taking care of a bunch of overactive seven-year-olds," Kayley tried to tell him. "We're only a few months older; we're nearly as mature as them!"
"Less!" Razor chimed in. "I mean, it's both partly Hanso's and Kayley's fault that Kanrik's in jail, and they're always fighting, and-"
"I think that's enough, big guy," I said before he could blab anything else.
"Well, you're not taking care of seven-year-olds," The Kyrii explained calmly.
"But those are the youngest neopets allowed to be a thief," I groused.
"I know, but you can be any age to be a thief's child." When we all stared at him confused, he clarified, "Your parents can be crooks, right? We already have several fine examples in this class; Hanso, Razor, and Kayley. If you're the child of a robber, this is certainly a very difficult time, with your parents probably being sent to more assignments than ever and not being able to spend that much time with you. Imagine what it's like for them." I didn't have to imagine; I thought about my parents, how dead-tired they always looked when they got home. But always still having enough energy to give me a hug and kiss goodnight. "Yet you are mature enough to take care of yourself. Some people, though, have kids as young as a year old. They need someone to baby-sit them while they work, and that's your job. End of discussion."
There were many whispered gripes, but they were all pretty much half-hearted. We all knew what it's like to be left alone at home in a young age…and it isn't much fun.
Week 3
They gave us a few of our 'pip-sized pals' today. I got this two-year-old brown Wocky called Timmy. He had a lot of hair growing over his eyes, which he liked to move away by blowing on it. That was actually kind of cute. They said that based on how responsible we were, we'd get more and more kids to take care of. Oh, joy.
When their mothers handed them over, they started wailing in our hands. Timmy actually got sick all over me! Their parents seemed like they were about to change their minds when the Kyrii assured them, "They just need a little time to adjust. I'm sure they'll all be friends soon- and besides, it's better than bringing them to deadly missions with you." He flashed them a smile, stiffening their resolve to leave. They blew a few last kisses to their precious babies, then went to report to the main building.
"So, um…what do we do with them now?" Razor asked, holding his 'pal' an arm's length away.
"That's up to you," the Kyrii replied, starting to go. "I need to go to the briefing room soon. Feel free to do whatever you like to entertain them, including to go around the marketplace. Just be careful." With that, he went away.
"This is just great," Kayley bewailed, like always. "Stuck with a bunch of pipsqueaks. Thanks, Hanso."
"Hey, there was nothing I can do! How was I supposed to know that he'd think about my wish like that?"
"Maybe if you didn't say anything at all-"
"Fine! Fine! I'll change my resolution: For the rest of the year I'll be ignoring you. And talking to Brynn," I added. That hit a sore spot.
"DON'T YOU DARE-"
At the sound of her raised voice, all the kids burst into tears. She gritted her teeth. "Now look what you made me do!"
"What I made you do-"
"Guys! Enough!" Razor shouted. "Come on, you're upsetting them." We both took a glimpse on their sad faces wailing their hearts out, and sighed.
"No fighting in front of them. Deal?" I held out my hand.
"Whatever." She eyed my hand as if it was something disgusting. I took it back. "So, let's head out."
"To the marketplace?" Juliet asked, escorting her little pupil, Robby, alongside of her. He was a blue Nimmo not old enough to walk yet.
"No," Kayley answered harshly. "I don't want….some of us talking to the wrong sort." She really can hold grudges.
"How 'bout the rich apartments?" Julius suggested, referring to the part of Brightvale where the wealthiest merchants lived. Benjay, his little Lutari, trailed after him. "We never went there before, and it'll be a lot safer since there are not as many guards."
I shrugged. "Sure."
We spent the rest of the day there. There was a small playground in one corner, topped with a huge fountain for everybody- even the mature eight-year-olds- to splash in. Timmy and the "little people" loved it. Soon, though (WAY too soon) they started crying because they were so tired. A couple of them actually relieved themselves in the water.
"Ew!" Kayley cried as she carried up her infant, Lilia the Cybunny. She had a larger than average diaper."Not much point staying here. It's almost time to give them back, anyway- let's go to headquarters."
So we had to pick up the tiny animals and hand them over to their mothers. They sniffed loudly and shook their heads, telling us we should have taken better care of them. I wanted to snap back, Listen lady, we're eight! We can't even take care of ourselves! But I didn't say it aloud. The Kyrii convinced them to give us another chance, and they reluctantly agreed to. Hard for me to say this, but he can actually be a charmer if he wants to be.
When I first signed up to be a thief, I never read 'taking cure of wild hooligans' in the job description. It was enough to make even the sugar-crazed twins- er, Julius and Juliet, feel tired. If all days are going to be like this one, I'm going to have to quit.
Week 4
We ran into some trouble. Typical. Today, we took the kids to the park again, but someone was already waiting for us. At first I was scared it would be the guards- as much as I wanted to see Brynn again, I really didn't want the kids captured along with us- but it turned out to be wealthy neopets about our age that lived there. They were dressed in designer clothes, with shades that covered their eyes. It sickened me.
At first we ignored each other, which was fine by us. Then Timmy wanted to go on the swing, which was on their side. Seeing as he was going to burst into tears if I didn't, I just steeled myself and asked this Usul, "Um, this kid wants a turn. Would you mind getting off for a bit?"
He looked at me snottily, and I had the strangest feeling that he looked familiar. "Yes, I would."
"Okay, then." I waited for him to leave.
"No, you idiot! You asked if I minded if I got off. I said yes, I did mind if I got off. Duh."
"Hey, that's not very polite!" Juliet chimed in, slightly hopping.
The Usul laughed and gestured for his gang to join, which they did unconvincingly. "We don't need to be polite. We're filthy rich!"
"You still don't own this place," I shot back. He smirked, went right up to Timmy, and pushed him down. He started screaming. "Hey-"
"A hundred neopoints to keep quiet," he said, handing me money.
I threw it back to him and helped Timmy up. "I don't need it."
He snorted and scrutinized all of us. "Really? Could've fooled me."
All of us were red-faced. No matter how mean we are to each other, nobody, and I mean nobody, ever pointed out that they were poor. We were more or less in the same situation.
"Do yourself a favor and get out of our neighborhood," the Usul continued. "You're just embarrassing yourselves." He turned his back on us and started walking back to his place on the swing- but Timmy was already sitting there. With him insulting us, I hadn't noticed him slip away.
"Wee!" He laughed joyfully, getting higher and higher.
Now it was the Usul's turn to be red-faced. "Get him off my seat!" He yelled to a few older men who were apparently his servants.
"We can't, sir," one responded in a monotone voice. "He's too tall to reach."
"Fine, I'll get him myself!" The spoiled brat yelled. He jumped and hung precariously on the chain. Grabbing Timmy, he tried to stop the ride, but they both ended up tumbling out, rolling over on the sand.
Timmy's eyes went round and round. He grinned at me. "Again! Again!"
Before I could get him, the Usul shook him by the shoulders. There were outcries on both sides. "You little-"
"Oh….Me not feeling so well," Timmy said weakly, and vomited all over the Usul's fancy coat.
"UGH!" He raged as all the thieves giggled. "You know what this means, don't you?" He said in a deadly voice. "WAR!" Then he turned and stomped off to one of those white-washed mansions, with the rest of his group following him. I don't think he was kidding.
Something tells me we'll be seeing a lot more of each other- whether we like it or not.