Of Talons and Steel
Nightmares. One wasn't so lucky that the dreams were created from his vivid imagination. Afterall, his childhood hadn't been the greatest since he was eight years old. There wasn't any monster under the bed that one may be afraid of. As your mother kissed your forehead and placed a small light to keep them away. Your father, being the silent comfort that there was nothing to be afraid of. Just a part of your imagination that didn't exist. The childish fear slowly ebbing away as you grow older.
Sly knew the real monster and he never faded from his dreams. Dreams that had turned into nightmares. The sharpness of his talons never dimmed. He was a raccoon that was born into a family of thieves. Generations of thieves that had passed all their knowledge into a book, the Thievius Raccoonus. Which had always been handed down from father to son. Each ancestor had written in the book and created their own style of thieving. His father had been a thief as well and had been told story after story about his family. Something that he was determined to follow after his father and the rest of his ancestors. He didn't know what move his own father made or what he would create himself.
But it had been stolen from them. His dad, Connor Cooper, had been about to pass it down to him as he finally turned eight years old. But they had been disrupted by five visitors to their door. His dad's ears folded down, sensing the upcoming danger. Pushing his only son into the closet. Urging him to be silent like he had taught him. To never make a sound no matter what happens. Then the door had been busted off its hinges.
It wasn't just one that visited their home. But five.
Sly didn't know any of them but his ears folded down just like his father's. In fear for his mother and father as he slowly peeked open the door. It was hard not to make a sound as he saw his own father fight as much as he could on his own. Yet he was weaponless… His legendary cane, the symbol of his family, had been placed in the closet with Sly.
His eyes filled with tears as he saw talons shred into his father's fur and soak the carpet of their home. Even if he wanted to make a sound, it was like he couldn't. His father had always seemed unbeatable. His mother… he didn't dare to look at her. He had heard her screams first as the bulldog pummeled her to the ground. Bones likely broke but she didn't move from where she laid. Hand outstretched towards his father.
Besides the slight twitch of his tail, his father hadn't moved from where he was. Even the menacing voice of the owl was chilling enough to never forget it. But being after his mother and father hadn't been enough. They searched the entire house… except for the closet. But they found what they were looking for regardless.
The Thievius Raccoonus. The book that had been in his family for generations was just shredded into five separate pieces. He held his father's cane tighter into his hands. Unable to believe what he was seeing.
And that was how he was found when the police had been called to his home. He refused to part with his father's cane and the blue cap that was placed on his head. It was far too big but his father had placed it on his head that morning. Saying that he looked like a real thief, a Cooper. His grin had been wide that morning. But now it was filled with anguish.
That was how he was left when he had been sent to the nearby orphanage, Happy Camper. It was an old building that appeared to be maybe two or three stories high. He still gripped the cane for dear life as he was introduced to the Headmistress of the Orphanage, Mrs. Puffin.
She was an older gray bird as her lips twisted into a scowl. It was clear she wasn't happy to see him. Sly felt the same way. She had a set of rules that were set to be followed. They were required to attend school and no misbehavior was allowed. They had strict times for meals and if you missed it, you would go without. Any misbehavior would revoke any privileges you had. That was before he had been shoved into a small room with three beds. One of them was already occupied with a sleeping pink hippo.
Being the only child of his father and mother, it was weird to be in the same room with someone else that wasn't older than him.
And despite his small size, he could wrap his tail to cover half of his body. He didn't dare to wake the sleeping hippo in the room. The blanket he had been given was thin and worn out. Not that he paid much attention to it to start with.
He had wiped away his tears for what felt like the thousandth time. Being somewhere unfamiliar was bad enough. But he could no longer go to his mother and father for comfort. Not even when he started to have nightmares about that night.
The memories of their bloodied bodies stayed in his mind. He had never felt more terrified in his life. He couldn't help feeling his own fur, checking his own injuries. It hadn't mattered that he knew in his mind that he was unharmed. The nightmares had been enough to overrule any rational thoughts. They were always of that monster made of metallic feathers and talons with golden eyes. Shredding into his fur with talons soaked in wet blood. Shaking him as if he didn't weigh anything before his body fell limp in the owl's grasp. The same talons that had shredded into his father's body before he hadn't moved again.
Sly hadn't cared that his fur had been covered in blood after those villains had left. Mrs. Puffin had demanded that he take a shower to rid him of the filth. The officers that had come to his house hadn't cared that he was covered in blood. They just wanted answers.
What was there to tell?! His mother and father were dead. He knew of murder as it was in some of the stories his father told him of the criminals that they would steal from. He had felt so proud of his father. Now he just wanted to curl on his lap and listen again about Rioichi Cooper and Japan.
The Thievius Raccoonus… it was gone. Practically destroyed in the hands of those villains. All he had was the broken cover, which he had hidden in that small room. He didn't dare to let go of the cane; in case someone was to take it from him. It was the last thing he had of his family. That and the blue cap.
It felt too soon that the pink hippo realized there was another occupant in the room. He seemed a bit… energetic. He took a step back when the hippo got too close to him. There wasn't enough space, and he didn't like it.
Sly almost felt… bad about doing it. Because the hippo looked like he was going to cry. He didn't want to make any friends. Not here.
At least that had been the plan at first. It was until someone had tried to take the cane away from him and a fight had started. The hippo had helped him, and he hadn't known his name was Murray until that day.
The other boys hadn't been hurt by him, but it was enough that it scared them. Sly had been there a few months by then and he hadn't hesitated to knock one of the boys out with the cane in his hands. It was still much too big for him, but it had been enough for the others to step away for a moment.
It was lucky enough that nobody had mentioned that the cane had been used as a weapon against one of the boys that had cornered Sly. So, the blame had been placed on Murray. As it wasn't the first incident where the hippo didn't know his own strength.
After that hadn't been the best introduction but the grin Murray had, had made it worth it. It was then that Sly learned that Murray had been at that orphanage since he could remember. He didn't even know who his parents were. Which was quite different for Sly, at least he had memories of his parents and good ones.
The topic had never been touched on by Sly's own parents. There was always the chance of someone figuring it out when they heard his last name was Cooper. There were still a few teachers that still thought he was lying when he told them that his name was Sly. It was always enough to ruffle his fur.
Granted, school wasn't his best given everything. Even in the beginning, Sly never bothered to do the assignments that were given to him. That was when he met Bentley, a turtle, another orphan at the orphanage. Someone he probably wouldn't have known about otherwise. He lent out his help and there came the question. His cane.
Sly didn't know how he managed to become close to the hippo and turtle, but he had. So, the truth had come out. Not just the fact that his parents had been murdered by villains. But the true meaning behind the cane, as a thief. He expected the pair of them to leave him at that point but they never did. You could say that they planned their own heist together, the first of many. The cookie jar that was kept in Mrs. Puffin's office that she would use as punishment against them. There had always been offers that dessert would be chocolate chip cookies, but she kept them for herself.
It would be the first success that they would have, thanks to Murray's pedaling skills on the old bike they used to get away quickly.
The nightmares were still there but less frequent opposed to that first night. Which grew less and less the older he got. It only made the bond between the three of them closer, as they knew what the nightmares were about.
The thefts for them got more daring from the moment they went away from petty thievery at the orphanage. It wasn't as big as when Sly's own dad had stolen the largest diamond in the world. Though the original purpose was to get a getaway van for them as they were becoming more well known as the Cooper Gang.
But the next goal for them was obvious, as Sly still had his terrible memories ten years ago. He still wanted those pages from the Thievius Raccoonus. He still had the cover of the book, which he kept in the Cooper van. It was a dream he started to have the past few years. To be able to retrieve his family inheritance back. He knew it would be the toughest mission he had ever been on. And he had thought he had been lost on that rooftop back in Paris. He could never thank Bentley enough for his navigational skills. Which had been the reason why he crafted the binocucoms for each of them. Easily pinpointing locations for each of their objectives to keep them on track.
The start had been stealing the police file from Carmelita Fox, the Inspector with Interpol. He had learned over the years of who had broken into his family home a decade ago. But it had provided their first location as Sly opened the file on Sir Raleigh the Frog. His father had knocked the wind out of the frog but that was over ten years ago. He was part of the Fiendish Five.
The last location reported for Raleigh had been the Isle of Wrath.
Bentley had been worried when he went after Raleigh. You could hear it in his tone as he went after each individual treasure key so he could gain access to more of his base and his cannon. He had used it to shoot himself to get to Raleigh before defeating him. Stealing back the portion of the Thievius Raccoonus that he had stolen a decade prior.
Sly had remembered those stories the most. His ancestor, Rioichi Cooper from Feudal Japan. Enamored with the stories of him sneaking into fortified castles and credited for creating sushi while not arousing any suspicion to himself. It was then that he learned one of the greatest thief moves ever created, the Ninja Spire jump. A move that Rioichi created to aid him in his thieving.
Even though the nightmares hadn't been as frequent as a child, didn't mean they went away completely. As he was still aware of who was the final member of the Fiendish Five. It wasn't a thought he was able to push away easily.
He was thankful there were no looks of judgement from Bentley and Murray. Over the years, they have come to learn what his nightmares were about. Sometimes Bentley would ask what they were about.
There was also a new sense of confidence for Sly as he defeated each member of the Fiendish Five. Going after Muggshot, Mz. Ruby, and the Panda King and receiving the sections of the Thievius Raccoonus that they had stolen. Each piece being placed back into the Thievius Raccoonus until he could officially restore to its original state.
He had known that the real challenge as a Cooper was getting back what was rightfully his. Even as a child, he had known that you never stole from just anyone. As his father told him, there was no challenge, no honor, or fun stealing from ordinary people. That they stole from a master criminal, which showed their finesse as a thief. And so far, Sly had stolen from four master thieves while practicing the moves he learned from the Thievius Raccoonus while he was at it.
The file that Sly read over did have a name to it. The final member of the Fiendish Five being the mysterious Clockwerk. But even Interpol hadn't managed to figure out where the owl was hiding out at. Something that Bentley had been able to figure out given the high technology for the blasting vehicles that Sly had used in Haiti and China. Given the metal used in it could only be found in one place, the Krakarov Volcano in Russia. That had to be where Clockwerk was at.
Sly wasn't the fearful eight-year-old child that day. It had been ten years but there was still a sense of wariness that spread over him. His memory was still as bright as ever, but he hadn't forgotten what Clockwerk was capable of. Even the Panda King had laid his own blows on his family, but he had beaten him.
Then he started to notice something as his brown eyes looked over what he had collected of the Thievius Raccoonus. He still felt irritated that one of the pages couldn't be collected because it was in owl dialect. And he knew who was responsible for that… There had been photographs attached to each of the ancestors that he had learned the new thieving moves from. There was a shadowy figure in the background of each of them. Which depicted an owl… was there something he was missing here?
Something he didn't learn until he blasted the lock off the owl gate and moved through Clockwerk's fortress. Gassing him didn't even work, which made him thankful to have a friend like Bentley that was able to hack through it to shut off the gas. The real hero had been Carmelita. She may have been captured by Clockwerk but with her shock pistol shots and jetpack, he had been able to defeat Clockwerk.
Something not any of his Cooper ancestors had done. After he had found out that Clockwerk had known all about his family. That the shadowy owl in those photographs hadn't been a coincidence. The damn owl had made himself immortal by fueling himself with jealousy for his family and their thieving reputation. And killing his father had been part of that. Stealing the Thievius Raccoonus had been his plan all along, but it hadn't worked.
You would think that the moment the person who had been behind all his nightmares, that they would stop with their demise. But they hadn't.
Clockwerk's final words had stuck with him.
You'll never be rid of me, Cooper!
Maybe at the time, Sly had placed them as words of hate. Right before your death to get the final word. But the memory was more vibrant now. Now that Sly had faced him and could remember every detail of the metallic bird. Even after he had fully restored the Thievius Raccoonus to its original state. He had fully held the book since he was eight years old. There was a fierce feeling of accomplishment that he had been able to earn the book while his ancestors had inherited it.
But Clockwerk still wasn't rid from his mind. It was like a shadow or plague he couldn't get rid of.
It wasn't just remembering the feel of the talons slicing through his fur in his dreams for years. They were dreams of every possible way it could have gone wrong. One of the lasers that blasted at the jetpack and falling into the lava like Clockwerk had twice. With the last one ending in his bird's demise.
Sharp talons were pinning him to the concrete ground as they sunk into his grey fur. Choking on his own blood. Practically a ragdoll in Clockwerk's grip to play with.
That steel beak snapping his neck in half when he got too close to the owl.
The scenarios were endless in his dreams and Bentley had seemed to have caught on to the fact that they were getting more frequent. Murray was worried as well as he looked at his friend, whose tail had been soaked from the dream. Taking a shower was an easy way to freshen and not appear that he had just awakened from a bad dream once more.
At first, Bentley had thought that Sly was fighting something and had a bomb ready. Until he realized it had just been Sly, who was now on the floor twisted in blankets.
"Clockwerk?"
Sly had felt awake enough that he could nod, as the fall had jerked him out of the nightmare. "Talons."
It had been the unasked question as Bentley's eyebrows ruffled in worry.
"They're getting worse, Sly. Are you sure you're up for this?"
"It's just a break-in at the museum, Bentley. I'll be fine. I always am."
Bentley didn't look as convinced.
Sly sighed, "they were bound to get worse, Bentley. I didn't remember much of him when I was eight. Facing him put it all into reality. They faded away before. He's gone and I intend to make sure of it."
Bentley didn't look all convinced at that but at least he went back to bed. While Sly snuck off to use the shower as his fur felt slightly wet. It was the one part he hated from waking from those nightmares. Hopefully feeling dry fur might be enough to coax him back to sleep before the big heist in the morning.
Unaware that the Clockwerk parts that Bentley had been keeping tabs on had been stolen before they could get their hands on them. By the Klaww Gang.
Looks like they would be going back to Paris sooner than they thought.
