Comradery

"Seize them!" a guard ordered, and the group of about ten surged forward.

Noir, Loki, Blanc, and Marron stumbled back as the warriors rushed forward towards them.

Loki and Blanc stepped forward to fend off the first few as Noir drew her own knife and tossed another to Marron, who caught it easily. Meanwhile, Blanc had managed to take down one guard with a sweep of the leg, while Loki had sent another soldier bumping into one of the others with a quick jab. The boys then drew back, letting the girls at the soldiers while they drew their own knives.

The companions lost sight of each other, under blows from the soldiers. Noir parried a blow from a large man with her dagger, catching the blade in the curved cross-guard of her own knife, and twisting the sword out of the man's grip. She whirled, sensing someone behind her, and ducked a mace speeding towards her head. She lashed out with her knife and slid the blade between two plates of his leg armor, slicing a tendon on the back of his knee. The man fell to the ground, and she finished him with a heavy blow to the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. Noir turned again, ready for more foes. She met the eyes of a man wielding an axe, and skipped backwards as he swung it downwards to cleave her in two. She tripped over the unconscious form of another soldier, dispatched by one of her friends, and fell to the floor.

The axe-wielding soldier drew nearer, leering. Noir's eyes widened in fear. She could see Blanc and Marron, back to back, fending off three other soldiers at once. They couldn't help her. Noir felt on the floor for her knife, which she had dropped when she had fallen. But she couldn't find it, and she dared not draw her eyes from the soldier who was prepared to kill her.

The man suddenly pitched forward, falling in a heap. The neko scrambled out of the way, bewildered. The soldier had fallen, and in his place stood Loki. His hands were glowing softly with a green light that faded even as Noir watched. He offered her a small smile.

"Just put him to sleep. Come on, Neko," he said airily, obviously a little smug that he had saved her. He held out his hand, which Noir took gratefully. Loki pulled the little neko thief to her feet and smiled a little before turning away.

All the soldiers were now lying unconscious on the ground. Only two had been killed during the skirmish, and the others would wake later with varying wounds. Blanc and Marron watched with raised eyebrows when the prince pulled Noir to her feet and smiled at her. They could clearly see the admiration in the neko girl's eyes, but could the prince?

Loki let the girl's hand go and looked at her companions, who watched with interest, soldiers at their feet. He pulled the black hood of his cloak lower, self-conscious about being seen being kind to the neko girl.

"Let's go," Blanc said shortly, wiping his dagger on his cloak and sheathing it, then walking towards the now-clear entrance.

The others followed briskly, and found that the street outside was clear. But they froze yet again as they heard marching footsteps behind them in the prison. It sounded like another patrol was about to discover the mess the four had made in the hallway.

"Oy! They must have left out the south entrance! Charge!" a man's voice ordered, and the four exchanged panicked looks.

They turned just in time to see a group of probably fifteen to twenty soldiers round the corner and charge straight for them.

"Run!" Noir shouted, and all four of them broke into a sprint, leaving the soldiers in the dust as they disappeared into the shadows of the night.

The soldiers started to follow, but their leader called out, "Leave them. It's not worth it, soldiers. We have more important things to do. Let's take care of these men." The captain gestured to the ten unconscious soldiers that had been taken out by the four figures.

The group growled in irritation at the knowledge that they had just allowed a prison break to occur. But they had to agree, taking care of their comrades was more important than going after the criminals.

The four paused as they made it a few streets away. They all collapsed against a building side, panting for breath.

"Well… we're back… on the street again," Noir panted.

"But at least we're out of the jail," Blanc added, breathing hard. "Do you think we've lost them?"

Silence, except for the four's panting.

"I don't hear anything," Loki said, relieved.

"No one cares what you hear, you're not a neko," Blanc spat in irritation at the prince. Loki glared mutinously at the white neko, but didn't comment. Blanc considered for a moment, listening carefully. "I don't hear anything. We've lost them."

"Genius, Street Cat; I already told you that," Loki retorted bitterly.

"Both of you shut up," Noir panted, throwing the boys mutinous looks.

"So," Marron said between pants. "What… happened? How'd you… get me?"

"It was the prince's help," Noir said with a smile.

Loki smiled, feeling his own pride at his little neko's warm words, even as he clutched a stitch in his side from the run.

"He helped a little," Blanc conceded. "Now… back to the hideout?"

Marron started to nod, but Noir paused, glancing between her friends and the prince. "Erm… Highness?"

"Yes, Bandit?" he asked in return, quickly straightening to hide the fact that he was just as out of breath as the thieves.

"Will you be going back to the palace then?" she asked tentatively. "Will they let you in even at this hour?"

Loki considered her. Yes, they would let him in, of course, he was the prince. But there would probably be some difficult questions to answer. Why was she so curious? "Yes, I could get back in easily enough… Why?"

Noir absentmindedly tugged on her fingerless gloves, feeling rather awkward. The prince was looking at her questioningly, and she could feel Marron and Blanc's eyes boring into her suspiciously. "I was… thinking… you could come with us," she said very slowly.

"What?! No!" Blanc cried abruptly.

"Why?" Marron asked, bewildered.

Noir glanced down, embarrassed by her friends' outbursts. Prince Loki remained silent.

"You would let me come with you…?" he asked softly, surprised.

His little neko thief cleared her throat. "Well, I was just thinking… It's near the middle of the night, and I didn't know if you would be able to get back to your own home… so I thought I'd offer you a temporary place at ours." Her voice was quiet, and she was obviously a little embarrassed by her offer. "Of course, it's no palace, but…"

Loki stared at her for a moment. "Well…. If I were to go back to the palace now, no doubt my mother and father would be awfully suspicious. If I waited until morning, I could easily say that I spend the night at an inn."

"No. We're not bringing him too our hideout!" Blanc said haughtily, glaring at the prince, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"Well, neko, it'd be far harder to think of an excuse as to why I was gallivanting about the city in the middle of the night as opposed to why I decided to spend the night at an inn. Which of those do you think is less suspicious, street cat?" Loki asked coldly. "Or would you rather the king and queen get suspicious? What would happen if I were to perhaps… let slip where I had been?"

All three nekos stared at him, wide-eyed. Loki felt his heart sink as he looked at his little neko. She looked shocked that he would even suggest such a thing. He cursed himself inside. Why did he have to keep accidentally hurting her? He just meant to intimidate the white neko… but again, insulting one meant insulting the whole… clowder.

Blanc's eyes bore into the prince's for a moment. "You're bluffing," he announced.

"Am I?" Loki couldn't lose the fight to this neko.

Blanc's face hardened, and he turned to the two girls. "Let's go. We're not taking him back to the hideout."

"'He' has a point," Noir protested. "It's less suspicious for him to just show back up in the morning. Appearing at home in the middle of the night is suspicious."

"Yes, but he's threatening us with it," Blanc growled.

"He doesn't mean it," Noir murmured. "You're just being a half-wit," she accused, bopping the white neko's forehead with her open palm.

Blanc let out a growl of annoyance.

"I don't see any problem with taking him to the hideout," Marron input. "I mean, I don't exactly trust him, but he did just help spring me from jail."

"You're siding with him, too?" Blanc asked, exasperated.

"Neko, you know I have a name, don't you?" Loki asked, growing irritated with the three talking like he wasn't even there.

All three turned and gave him a look. The white neko gave him a dark glare, the brown one looked rather bitter, and his little neko raised her eyebrows and gave him a sardonic smile.

The prince frowned. "What?"

The nekos exchanged looks.

"Ahem. Your Highness, this may have not occurred to you before, but…" his little neko started, an almost-mocking tone in her voice. "Well, you see, his name isn't Street Cat." She gestured to the white neko. "And her name isn't Neko." She gestured to the girl in brown. "And, you may want to sit down; this may come as a bit of a shock. Prince Loki, my name is not 'Bandit.'"

Loki felt his heart sink. He suddenly felt very stupid. It had never really occurred to him that the nekos might have names. After all, they were only nekos… But no. They weren't only nekos; they were intelligent creatures that were barely distinguishable from himself, except for the cat ears, cat tail, cat eyes, and slightly elongated canines. He felt his cheeks get hot at the realization that he was trying to call them out for being rude and simply referring to him as "him." But really, he had been the rude one, merely assigning them derogatory nicknames based on their status. "I…" he faltered, giving his little neko an apologetic look. "I'm… sorry?"

The three nekos exchanged looks again, wry smiles and head-shakes.

"Well… what are your names?" Loki asked tentatively. How could it have never occurred to him that his little neko had a name? Imbecile, he had only ever thought of her as a little neko thief, or the bandit.

She cleared her throat and smiled, taking a handful of her cloak in one hand and spreading it out as she dipped into an exaggerated bow. "Prince Loki, I am Chatte Noir Etoile, but you may call me Noir."

"Chatte Noir Etoile?" Loki repeated, looking at his little neko—Noir. She beamed when he said her name, which only made him smile softly in return.

"Your Majesty, I am Chatte Marron Arable," the brown neko introduced herself, dipping into a far less exaggerated bow and giving the prince a nervous nod. "But… everyone calls me Marron."

Loki smiled and nodded to her in return before turning his gaze on the white neko, the last to introduce himself.

There was a moment where it seemed the white neko would not offer his name, but Noir elbowed him sharply. "My name is Chatte Blanc Lune."

Loki nodded once more, but didn't offer him a smile like he had the girls.

"So how in the nine realms did you manage to pull off a prison break together without even knowing their names?" Marron asked, raising an eyebrow at the prince.

"Simple," noir answered. "He merely called me Bandit or Neko, and he called Blanc Street Cat, Thief, or Neko."

Loki clenched his jaw. "Sorry," he mumbled again.

Noir flashed him a grin. "I know you are. Now, to the hideout?"

"I thought we had already agreed we weren't taking him to the hideout?" Blanc complained.

"We agreed on nothing," Loki gave Blanc a pointed look.

"Fine. Now let's agree we're not taking him back to the hideout, then," Blanc folded his arms over his chest. "Agreed?"

"All those in favor of Blanc's proposal, say aye. All those opposed, say nay," Noir said primly.

"Aye," Blanc said.

"Nay," Loki, Noir, and Marron chimed in unison.

"Overruled, Blanc," Noir sang. "Let's go." She began leading the way down the street, leaving Blanc with an indignant look on his face, and the prince and Marron with identical mischievous grins.

Loki sped his stride so that he could walk next to the black neko—Noir. "I believe thanks are in order?" he suggested, looking down at her as they walked.

Noir smirked. "Yes, I believe they are, Your Majesty."

"Well, then… thank you. And you can stop calling me Majesty and Highness. Prince Loki works just as well. I know your name now, you can call me by mine," he offered, feeling almost as if he were giving her a secret rather than simple permission to be a little less formal.

Noir glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Prince Loki, hm? Still a little longer than Highness, but if you insist."

"So… Chatte Noir Etoile?" he questioned.

Noir nodded slowly, waiting for his next question.

"I couldn't help but notice you all had the word 'Chatte' in your names… are you related?" he asked, finding himself liking the idea of Blanc and Noir being related.

Noir shook her head. "No, we're not related. 'Chatte,' for nekos, is like the title of 'Lord' or 'Lady.' Only, it's gender-neutral. All nekos put it at the beginning of their names," she shrugged.

He nodded slowly, intrigued. "I didn't know nekos had their own naming customs."

"I didn't know you even knew nekos had names," Noir teased.

Loki sighed.

"I'm only kidding, Prince Loki," she coaxed, smiling to herself.

"I know, I know," he muttered. "And so what's the rest of your name mean?"

"Noir is just a general name… any neko with black hair, ears, and tail would be called Noir. Hence the last part of my name; Etoile. It distinguishes me from other black nekos. When a Neko is born, their last name is chosen by their parents. But a neko can choose their own last name if they want to, and sometimes they change it multiple times, if they get tired of their chosen name. A neko's last name is a symbol of their individuality. But a neko's last name is very special, very formal and rarely used unless there's a great gathering where there's more than one neko of a color… which, normally, there's never any great gathering where there's many nekos. So, I'm Noir."

Loki tilted his head to one side, peering at his little neko. "I find that strangely… fascinating."

Noir smiled, feeling a little self-conscious. She glanced away from his curious gaze. "We're almost there. Just a few more streets." A silence fell between the prince and the neko, and they simply continued walking.

A few yards behind, Marron and Blanc walked together, watching Noir and Prince Loki.

"I don't trust him," Blanc announced quietly, narrowing his eyes as the two in front of them talked. He couldn't hear their words clearly, but they seemed to be acting terribly friendly with each other.

"You don't trust him," Marron repeated, not as a question but merely as an echo. "Well, I don't really, either, but Noir's right that we can't just let him go back to the palace right now. He'll leave in the morning," she shrugged.

"I don't like him."

"That much is obvious, Blanc. But why?"

Blanc didn't answer, just looking as the prince and Noir continued talking.

"Blanc?"

"Because he doesn't belong anywhere near us," Blanc grumbled. "Nekos should be their own, and not be mixing with the Aesir. And nekos shouldn't be reduced to being thieves and pickpockets. We deserve better than this, Marron."

"But don't you think that maybe Noir being friends with the prince would help us not be thieves and pickpockets anymore?" Marron questioned. "Don't you think the prince could help change things?"

"No. The only way for nekos to be the way they should is to make the Aesir see that we're not beneath them."

Marron frowned up at him, disturbed by the tone of his voice.

Blanc glanced down at her and just shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Marron," he murmured with a heavy sigh.

"Here we are," Noir announced, stopping in front of a small hut. She glanced at Loki.

Loki wasn't surprised at their destination. He hadn't expected anything spectacular. He started to head for the three porch steps.

"Hmm… we're not going inside," Noir said, sounding amused.

Loki glanced back, already standing on the second step. "No? Why not?"

"You're standing on our front door, Prince Loki," Marron informed him as Blanc and she caught up and stood with Noir.

Loki blinked in confusion, looking down. "Standing on your front door…?"

"In other words, de-boot the porch," Blanc drawled.

Loki stepped down from the steps and gave the three quizzical looks.

The three exchanged knowing smirks, and Blanc, Noir, and Marron all knelt and wiggled the second step out of place, revealing the shaft that led down to their little hidey hole. "You drop down in here," Marron explained to the prince, glancing up from the ground as Blanc dropped into the tunnel without another word. Marron smiled meekly and followed Blanc.

Loki and Noir exchanged looks. Noir smiled sheepishly. "Welcome to the life of a thief, Prince Loki."

Loki scoffed. "It's not too bad."

Noir smirked. "Yes, you'd think so. Until you get arrested, or your food and coin stash get raided, or your brother gets hung."

Loki frowned. "…What?"

Noir was silent for a moment, her smirk disappearing. "Nothing. Are you coming down or not?"

Loki knelt down next to Noir, his eyes meeting hers seriously. There was a moment where he simply met her eyes, searching her face. Then he just nodded. "I'm coming. Ladies first?"

Noir smiled. "What a gentleman," she said drily. She then dropped down the tunnel and somersaulted as she hit the bottom, rolling back to her feet quickly. She surveyed her companions, who were crouching over their ransacked belongings, looking for extra clothes. They raised their eyebrows, and she simply shrugged.

There was a tumbling sound behind Noir, and she smirked, knowing Loki had now followed her down… but it sounded like he didn't have as graceful a landing as the nekos always did. Blanc snickered as they all looked at the prince, who was in a heap.

When Loki dropped into the tunnel, he expected to simply land on his feet. But he didn't; the tunnel proved to be deeper than he had expected, and his knees buckled when his feet slammed into the floor. He collapsed with a slight groan. He heard Blanc snicker, and he gritted his teeth and forced himself into a sitting position. He saw that he was now in a plain underground room with dusty stone walls, floor, and ceiling. The only light came from a single oil lamp. Marron sat on a simple cot, Blanc knelt on the floor over a wooden bin, and Noir stood only a few steps away, arms crossed and an amused expression on her face.

"Welcome to our humble abode, Prince Loki," she smiled, and held out her hand to help him up.

Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Heh, heh… six chapters into the story, Loki finally learns Noir's name. Don't worry, he will not stop thinking of her as his little neko thief; he will simply now have something to call her besides "Bandit" or "Thief" or "Neko." :P I would also like to add that everything I put in this story about neko abilities, characteristics, or culture are purely based on my imagination. The only thing I know about nekos is that they are part cat, part human, and super cute in manga pictures… So don't be thinking you've totally missed some part of mythology or anything. That's just me being creative and taking my love for cats to another level (you've seen my veneration for cats if you've read my other story Battle of Wits… I think I've made it pretty evident I'm a cat person :P), but it's still nothing but my own imagination.

So… I got some lovely suggestions from you guys. I'd like you to keep them coming, okay? You guys are making me feel so happy, because this story is the one getting the most immediate response. By chapter 5 of Twisted Minds Think Alike, I had only 9 reviews. By chapter 5 of Battle of Wits, I had around 10 or 11. As of right now, just before I post chapter 6, I have 16 reviews on Banditry. :D I hope the trend keeps going, you guys, and I give all of you who favorite, follow, and review a green handkerchief from Loki. For every chapter you leave a review, you get another handkerchief. Soon you guys will be able to make yourselves a scarf out of the prince's handkerchiefs. You'd like that, right? And now to the people who have suggested things:

To Isa: I would normally PM people who review the story, especially when they give suggestion or other such feedback. Unfortunately, that's not really possible… so I'll offer you my thanks here, and address your suggestions. I appreciate them both greatly, and plan on tying them both into the story, a little bit in the future… either next chapter or the one after. Hope to keep hearing your feedback on the story, and hope you like how the story progresses!

To Kieira: I liked both your suggestions for the story and how the beginning scene of this chapter could go… unfortunately, I already had this chapter half-written. I still deeply appreciate your interest in the story and the help. I hope you like the way I did the scene, and that I keep hearing from you in the future.

Alrighty, you guys, I expect to hear your thoughts on this chapter. I hope you liked it, and aren't disappointed that Loki now knows Noir's name. It had to happen sometime ;) So please favorite, follow, and review. We got handkerchiefs from Loki on the line here!