Tales of a Thief

[Kiweh]

Awwww poor Dhia *pets*

[ultraviolet]

well he was innocent originally, just a lot of junk happened and he started hanging out with this bunch. x)

[Lilium]

Arathyne says he was born evil.

ARA: I--
ME: *pushes her away* ^_^

[ultraviolet]

roughly two-and-a-half months later

"Good evening sir," said an ixi, barely stifling a laugh, "I would like to purchase a wristwatch." he said, rolling the 'r'. The dusty black top hat half-concealed his face, covering one eye loosely. The other eye, blue and brighter than brightvale, bore into the watery grey ones of the Eyrie shopkeeper.
"Do you now?" he said, looking the ixi up-and-down. He could easily be wealthy, but there was something he didn't like about people in cloaks, like they were hiding something.
"Indeed," said the ixi. His pelt was green, bright green. Much healthier than the ragged form it used to be. Several piercings adorned his ears, and there was a chunk missing out of one.
He smiled, showing yellowing, pointed teeth. "I rather do like that one," he said suddenly, pointing to a watch under the glass counter.
"Ah, excellent choice," said the Eyrie. A few giggles erupted from somewhere. They sounded slightly muffled. "That'll be 2600np, sir."
He held out his hand expectantly.
The ixi's hand went for his pocket, but reached out a knife.
"How about you give me the watch," said the ixi, his demeanor changing, "and I won't make you bleed?"
The eyrie raised an eyebrow, his hand reaching for the alarm button. The ixi blinked, and smiled again. The alarm went off.
Three pets crashed in through the windows - a xweetok, not much older than the ixi, a blonde korbat and raven-haired kougra. All three were holding some sort of weapon, and leered at the shopkeeper.
"Actually, I changed my mind." said the ixi, resuming his disguise, "I think I'll take them all, what do you say to that?"
The other pets cackled.
"Ah - I don't think-"
smash.
Shattered glass showered the floor as the ixi grabbed several items of jewellry. The others followed suit.
smash. smash. smash.
The ixi took off his hat and bowed to the shopkeeper, still smiling mischeiviously.
"I bid you goodnight, sir."
The other pets laughed and followed him out the door.
They rounded down the street and turned a corner.

***

Dhiablos sat panting in the alleyway next to a trashcan, stuffing the cloak in his backpack with the top hat and several stolen items of jewellry. The others did the same.
"Dhia, c'mon, we gotta get going," said Roque. The others were ready.
Dhiablos nodded, still panting. He got up, slung the bad over his shoulder and forced his face into something casual, not anything like massive-guilt-from-robbing-a-jewellry-store. The others scattered. It was better to be alone after this sort of thing.
It was a quiet night in the streets of Neopia Central. The alarm still rang through the night, and somewhere far off a warf barked.
A policeman ran past. He was a middle-aged red lupe in blue uniform. He put a hand on Dhia's shoulder.
"You seen anythin suspicious young man?"
Dhiablos looked up, his eyes scared and innocent. "No sir, I only heard an alarm, what's going on?"
"A jewellry store's been robbed. You okay?"
"Yes sir."
"Be careful, there's lots of weirdos that hang around Neopia at night."
"Yes sir."
"S'no place for a kid. Watch yourself."
"Yes sir."
He took off in the direction of the alarm.
Dhiablos chuckled to himself. He rounded a corner and entered a door behind an old brick building.
"You made it!"
A small crowd welcomed him, holding up various bottles of alcohol.
"Of course," he said, walking to his little gang. "You expected me not to?"
"Show us the loot!" yelled someone from across the room.
"Yeah, show us!"
Dhiablos grinned and emptied his bag - Roque, Fly and the kougra did the same.
Cheers went through the room. They'd gotten a lot more money and items since Dhiablos joined their crowd.
The Kougra went to join his group of friends - they'd taken him along for experience. Normally, one of Dhia's other friends would join them, but he was unwell.
Dhia laughed, which quickly turned into a cough. Roque frowned.
"You ok? You haven't been the same since you fought with that Hissi guy." ((yes, that's a reference to when he fought the Hissi with Cera))
Dhiablos coughed again. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." he gasped.
He cleared his throat.
"Where are we going tomorrow?" asked Fly, looking through the jewellry.
"I'm going solo tomorrow, I need a break."
Roque nodded. "I might stay back."
"I'll go check the shop," said Fly, sighing, "not that there'll be anything to check."
"You'll get sales soon, Fly." said Dhia, sitting on an old couch.
"Yeah, don't worry, someone's bound to buy something from there." Roque grabbed a book from off the floor and sat on the other couch.
"I guess."
She stalked off to talk to someone else.

[Lilium]

Argh, it's people like that that just make me wanna...
*shakes head*
When did he and Cera fight a Hissi?

[ultraviolet]

Dhiablos woke.
He groaned.
He sighed.
Dust blew up from the floorboards.
'Most uncomfortable night ever.' he thought dully.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. The room was blurry.
He rubbed his eyes.
The room was still blurry. He shrugged. That wasn't unusual.
The combined side-effects of a transmogrification potion and a recent Hissi bite had made his health a bit funny recently.
He was just glad they hadn't done blood tests or got his name while he was in hospital.
Dhia looked around the room wearily.
He'd recently began living in an old flat above a garage, somewhere in the slums of the 'central. It wasn't too bad. It had running water, but no electricity. The windows were grimy, the floorboards were faded and dusty, and several of his possesions lay scattered around the room, mostly on an old table he'd built himself.
He loved it here. It was quiet. He hadn't been feeling particularly social lately.
Well, there was Cera. She was cool. Roque didn't like her much.
Dhiablos stood up, stretched, and shuffled off to the bathroom.
After a while, he stared at himself in the mirror. He did not look happy.
He did not like mornings.
Since we last saw Dhia, he'd gained the look of a 'true' theif over a few months. A scar from somewhere above his left eyebrow narrowly missed his eye and continued down to his cheek. His teeth were still yellow - though he brushed them every morning.
His ears were pierced and scratched in several places, but his hair remained the same. Slightly bedraggled, but still the same.
He rubbed his eyes again irritably and reached for his toothbrush.

***

His vision a little better, but still blurry, Dhiablos had decided to go shopping. And perhaps sell some of that jewellry, too. He peered around a fruit-n-veg stall, half-amusedly.
"How much for this apple?" he said to the vendor, the small red fruit in his hand.
"Er, that's a tomato."
Dhia blinked. "So it is." It felt a little squishy to be an apple. He frowned. It looked like an apple. Then again..
"Apples are over there, they're 15np each."
"One of those, thanks."
He sauntered off with breakfast down the busy street, not really enjoying it. He felt today was going to be a bad day.
He hated mondays.
This thought entered his head after he'd just about walked into Fly.
"Oh, hey."
"Sorry."
"S'ok."
She was carrying a bag of something - Dhia couldn't make out what - so, she'd obviously been shopping.
"I thought you were watching the store today?"
"I was. I got bored, I guess."
Her eyes widened. "Dhia-"
"What?"
A hand gripped his shoulder. Dhia turned to see a policeman with a stern look and a partner a little behind him. Dhiablos stared into the Grarrl's grey eyes and took a bite out of his apple.
"Can I help you, officer?"
"Are you Dhiablos Steeuwalker?"
Dhiablos blinked. It had been a while since someone addressed him with is full name.
He shook his head. "No, my name's Zeke, and this is - "
Fly was long gone.
'Bitch.' thought Dhiablos.
"Okay, I think you should come with me."
"What?"
The Grarrl reached for Dhia's hand and put it behind his back.
"Get the cuffs, Joe."
With a fluid motion, Dhiablos slid out of his grip and felt his fist connect with Joe's jaw.
"Ahh! The little - he punched me!"
Dhia had actually meant to punch the Grarrl. The Grarrl twisted his other hand behind his back in a lock - Dhiablos kicked and twisted, he could feel his arm hurting.
The crowd had given them a wide berth now, and were watching the fight with great excitement.
Dhiablos' arm felt like it was going to break - he had to do something, so he did what came to his mind first.
He bit the officer. Right on the shoulder. The Grarrl yelped.
crack.
Dhiablos' wrist burned - it had broken. He held it tightly with his other hand and dashed off into the crowd, the police in hot pursuit.

[ultraviolet]

that's way back, way before Neoplay. It was about march last year I think.

[Lilium]

Oooh, you guys'll have to tell the story of how Cera and Dhia met someday, too. ^^

[ultraviolet]

yeah, we should redo as an anthro thing. It was Quad, originally.

[ultraviolet]

"Split up!" said one of them. "Go round and we can trap him!"
The other yelled something in agreement.
Blurred figures rushed past his line of view as he fought through the crowd and down an alley. He doged a bin and several items of junk, finding it hard to run whilst holding his other hand tightly.
No matter what he did, he couldn't shake this guy off.
Was it him? Was he not running fast enough? Or was that guy just exceptionally fast?
He turned another corner, taking a few moments to realise that it was a dead end. Pain shot up his arm. He groaned and turned around.
A few moments too late.
"You're the fella who robbed that jewellry store, aren't ya?"
" - no, I-"
"Yeah, that's right, Bob saw you last night, didn't he?"
" - no-"
"Thought you were real smart, lying to him didnt' ya?"
"- no, I-" His vision was worsening. Pain and confusion clouded him.
"We have to deal with kids like you all the time, ya know."
"- I'm -"
"C'mon kid, you're coming with me."
"- no -" Dhiablos' hand reached for his pocket as the Grarrl got out handcuffs. He reached for Dhia's broken wrist and turned him around to the wall.
"Face the wall, kid, you've got the right to-"
"NO!"
The Grarrl tottered backwards, slightly, and slumped against the wall, bleeding. There was a large stab wound from somewhere near his neck across to the left side of his chest. A deep gash, bleeding profusely.
Dhiablos panted, rubbing his eyes slightly and stared at the officer, gasping on the ground. His eyes focused on the knife, now crimson, clasped in his right hand.
'Did I just..'
He shook his head. The officer was unconscious, and not moving.
Dhia kneeled to him, his face pale.
He was dead. He should have been, by the amount of blood that had gushed onto his uniform.
Dhia shook his head. "No..." he croaked. He backed away, quickly.
Suddenly he was the nervous and scared teen he'd been before. He dropped the knife like it was a poisonous spyder.
There was blood on his hands.
'Blood on my hands...'
He gasped and shrank back from the dead man.
Dhia glanced around, shoved his hands in his pockets, and bolted down the alleyway, then down an empty street.
"Officer down! I repeat, Officer down!"
Sirens echoed through the neighbourhood.

[ultraviolet]

Dhia washed his hands again. They felt scrubbed raw.
He went and sat in the middle of the room again. Then he got up.

Pace. Pace. Pace.
Roque sat outside his door, he hadn't been seen for a few days, and she was a bit worried about him. She was sitting outside his door on the step. She could hear him moving around.
Pace. Pace. Pace. Pause.
Pace pace pace flip flip flip.
There was a sound of rushing water, presumably the bathroom tap.
Psssh.
Pause.
Flip flip flip flip towel, flip flip pace pace pace pace.
pause.
Then he sat down. Roque stood up and opened the door.
Dhiablos looked up from the floor with bloodshot, unfocused eyes.
The place was an absolute mess - more so than usual.
It appeared that he'd tried to distract himself from something by all means possible - books, magazines, paper, pens, assorted random objects, various trinkets he'd collected, stolen items, his pocketknife and shattered glass.
This was probably one of the many empty glass bottles that littered the floor.
Only one clear trail was visible in the line of junk. Three paces from the old mattress that was his bed, back again, the bathroom, and the mattress again.
Rinse, dry, repeat.
"...Roque."
Dhiablos looked at her timidly. His voice sounded as if he hadn't used it in a few days. Dhia had obviously also been in a state of wear - his hair was a mess, his shirt was torn for some reason, and he seemed to be wearing the bottom half of his pyjamas. His left wrist was bandaged awkwardly, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"Dhia.. what's going on, are you okay?" she said, walking over to the mattress and sitting down next to him.
Dhiablos sniffed and stared at the ground. He reached for a half-empty bottle and took a swig from it.
"What's this?" asked Roque, reaching for his bandaged wrist.
Dhiablos took a short intake of breath and withdrew the injured arm slightly.
"..it's nothing."
Roque stared at the room and back again.
"You've been pacing. You only ever do that when you're pissed off," she said, "or something's wrong. What's going on, Dhia?"
Dhiablos stared at his hand in front of him, then glanced sideways at Roque. He sniffed.
"Fuzz got me." he said, raising the hand slightly.
"When was that?"
He swayed slightly. "Monday." he said, staring ahead.
"What happened?"
"Went shopping, bumped into Fly."
"Wasn't she watching the shop?"
"That's what I said."
"Uh-huh.."
"Officer walked up to me. Asked me who I was."
"You lied?"
He nodded. "I lied, one of em recognised me from the robbery night before."
"And?"
"Tried to cuff me. Fly bolted off like a snowbunny."
"Bitch."
"That's what I said."
He paused. "Thought. Said."
"Doesn't matter."
"So I bit him, and got away. That's when he broke my wrist."
"It's not a sprain?"
He shook his head. "S'broken, I can feel it."
"You been okay?" he said, raising his eyebrows.
"Aye. Go on."
"So I ran down the alleyway that leads to twenty-fourth street-"
"-bad route, you know that."
"I couldn't see where I was goin."
"What?"
"My vision," he said, waving his hand in front of his face, "S'gone blurry again. Anyway, I got trapped - or he got trapped - or something -"
"Okay,"
"He tried to cuff me again, and, next thing I know, he's on the ground."
"I bet you flogged him good."
"Nah, that's the thing." he said, looking up at her. "He was bleeding everywhere,"
"What?"
"and, and there was blood on me, on my hands-" he gestured to somewhere in the junk, "-on my shirt, on my hands," His voice started shaking, "and, and then he wasn't moving, or nothin'-"
"-Dhia,"
"-and I realised I had my dagger out, and there was blood on my hands, and I killed him, Roque!" He was on the point of hysterical.
"Shh, hey now c'mon." Roque hugged him, but she may as well have been hugging a tree. Dhia stared straight ahead, trembling.
"You know there are people who murder down in 'central don't ya?"
Dhia nodded. "But I - I thought I'd never be one of those people, I just - I just-"
"-It's okay."
"No!" he said, standing up abruptly. "Don't you get it?"
He rubbed his eyes again. He was slightly drunk.
"I just ended this man's thoughts, feelings, opinions, values, friendships, hopes and dreams. His life. Doesn't that seem wrong to you?"
"Dhia, you were gonna get cuffed."
"Was that worth taking someone else's life?" He demanded.
"Look, I know guys who kill for less."
"Well maybe I don't wanna be one of those guys."
"Dhia please-"
"I've been having nightmares about this every night, faceless corpses, bleeding and bleeding, blood on the ground, blood on my knife, blood on my hands.."
"You're making a mountain out of a molehill here,"
"You think so?"
"Yeah!" she said, standing up. "I do!"
"Then go creep up to one of your murderer friends!" he snarled, "Go on!"
Roque paused. She opened her mouth to argue, but she thought better of it.
"Fine!"
She crossed the room and left, slamming the door.
Dhia threw the bottle at the door in a fit of anger; it shattered and alcohol seeped across the door.

[Kiweh]

^^ Cera ^^ Yeah we should, I would like to rp with Dhia before they started hating eachother... ;D

[Lilium]

ME: "a mountain out of a molehill". Too funny. ^^ I would say, 'Poor Dhia', but frankly, when it comes to liars and thieves and murderers people who trick others out of their money or possessions, I'm right there with Ara.

ARA: That filthy, dirty bastard... You felt guilty for that one but ya felt guilty for not killing Cera, is that it?! Well I ain't gonna feel the least bit dirty when I kill you!

ME: I'm just more controlled.

[Kiweh]

Cera: *shakes head* I seriously don't know that person *scoots away*

[Lilium]

ME: Ummmm, yeah, she's really protective of stuff and people she doesn't hate.