Renisanz's Tale
Author's Notes: This is for renisanz. I was sick one day and asked her to tell me a story. This was her reply and I decided in my sickly haze that it needed a proper middle. 21 days later, voila.
Once upon a time, there was a little Thief. She had golden wavy hair and watchful hazel eyes. She learned, at a very early age, how to take care of herself. People were not people to her, just phantom obstacles in her path. She lived among the discarded in the streets, decorating her little nests with shards of color, filched from the phantom world.
As she grew up, she honed her craft. She learned how to hide between shadows and how to tell treasure from rubbish. She raised herself up from the streets, tucking herself into forgotten nooks and high above crannies. She was alone, but she wasn't lonely, because she'd never known any other way. The world was her university, the phantoms her entertainment, thievery her passion. It was all she needed.
The little Thief did have one weakness: money. Money meant security, meant she'd never be among the discarded again. So she'd steal for other people, items that meant nothing to her, and traded them for lots and lots of money. She was quick, quiet, and she always worked solo. She accepted one job and ended up meeting him, the Hacker.
He made her skin itch, the way he looked at her, the way his voice wrapped around her. There were others there as well: the Mastermind, the Hitter, and, later on, the Grifter, but they might as well have been phantoms compared to the Hacker.
The five of them became a team, calling for a different way of thinking, of planning. They couldn't do the things she could, couldn't go where she traveled. It was a different kind of alone. The Mastermind guided her and the Grifter taught her. The Hitter walked next to or ahead of her, protecting her from the phantoms. The Hacker, however, he was a voice in her ear, performing long distance magic. Doors would click open, cameras shut down, and screens turned on. It was like he was all around her at once, helping her be the best Thief she could be.
Their influence pervaded her. Her vision cleared, the grayness lifted, and she no longer lived in a world of phantoms, but one of people, unique individuals who needed to be protected. They were helpless against the dragons that preyed on the helpless and the team, the team she belonged to, they saved people. Helped people. It took her a long time to wrap her mind around the gravity of their quest. It started as a game, a new type of challenge, but then the Hacker taught her that even in darkness and fear, a single moment of hope could change everything.
The little Thief couldn't make the Hacker fit, couldn't slide him into a neat category in her life. He was mentor, compatriot, wizard, man... From the first moment they met, he saw her and he never stopped, no matter what careful secrets she whispered. When she finally kissed him, it wasn't like a princess awakening from slumber, but a mimicry of what she saw on the streets. Still, something stirred within her, sparking to life among cold embers. As his hands fell away, her skin tingled and she ruthlessly shoved her mind back onto their current quest.
The kiss lingered on her lips long after the quest was completed and long after the team separated. A dragon had come along and, with one breath of fire, changed everything. They'd defeated him, but it came with a cost and they'd separated to avoid reprisals from the dragon's kind.
The little Thief hadn't thought being alone would be a challenge, especially since she'd done it before. They had separated earlier, but there'd been an expiration date, a promise to return. That promise didn't exist this time. It shouldn't matter, though. She'd spent only a year with the team, and she'd been alone all the years before. Yet a challenge it was.
She couldn't fall back into old routines, old patterns. She didn't fit anymore, forever changed by her experiences over the time gone by. She missed the Hitter's cookies, the Grifter's scent, the Mastermind's confidence, and the Hacker... She missed all of him.
She left breadcrumbs in the ether, searched the crowds, sent up flags, even as she kept moving. She wanted him to find her, even if she wasn't sure she wanted to be caught. Eventually, the loneliness ate away at her, like a rushing brook over a submerged stone.
The little Thief let the Grifter lure her to a meeting, knowing she would be exposed, but hoping all the same. Voices swirl around her, feet tapping out irregular melodies on the hardwood floors. She turned, the flimsy ticket in her hand, and there was the Mastermind. He looked at her through weary eyes, new lines drawn upon his face, and she smiled because it was still all the same.
Then, from her right, the little Thief heard her name. Her smile faded as she turned to face the Hacker. The world became opaque, turning back into phantoms, and he was the only real thing she saw. His lips curved, as he began to walk towards her, when the Hitter's distinctive twang floated over to them. The Hacker looked away to follow the sound and the little Thief took a breath, her chest tight, fingers twitching on the program, as the world flooded back into place.
The Grifter joined them minutes later and the team stood together in a loose circle, for the first time in months. It wasn't the homecoming that she'd envisioned, but then again, that home had been destroyed in roaring flames and shattered glass.
As she edged closer to the Hacker, his heat soothing her cold places, she knew this for what it was: a beginning...
Once upon a time, there was a little Thief. She had golden wavy hair and watchful hazel eyes. She learned, at a very early age, how to take care of herself. People were not people to her, just phantom obstacles in her path. She lived among the discarded in the streets, decorating her little nests with shards of color, filched from the phantom world.
As she grew up, she honed her craft. She learned how to hide between shadows and how to tell treasure from rubbish. She raised herself up from the streets, tucking herself into forgotten nooks and high above crannies. She was alone, but she wasn't lonely, because she'd never known any other way. The world was her university, the phantoms her entertainment, thievery her passion. It was all she needed.
The little Thief did have one weakness: money. Money meant security, meant she'd never be among the discarded again. So she'd steal for other people, items that meant nothing to her, and traded them for lots and lots of money. She was quick, quiet, and she always worked solo. She accepted one job and ended up meeting him, the Hacker.
He made her skin itch, the way he looked at her, the way his voice wrapped around her. There were others there as well: the Mastermind, the Hitter, and, later on, the Grifter, but they might as well have been phantoms compared to the Hacker.
The five of them became a team, calling for a different way of thinking, of planning. They couldn't do the things she could, couldn't go where she traveled. It was a different kind of alone. The Mastermind guided her and the Grifter taught her. The Hitter walked next to or ahead of her, protecting her from the phantoms. The Hacker, however, he was a voice in her ear, performing long distance magic. Doors would click open, cameras shut down, and screens turned on. It was like he was all around her at once, helping her be the best Thief she could be.
Their influence pervaded her. Her vision cleared, the grayness lifted, and she no longer lived in a world of phantoms, but one of people, unique individuals who needed to be protected. They were helpless against the dragons that preyed on the helpless and the team, the team she belonged to, they saved people. Helped people. It took her a long time to wrap her mind around the gravity of their quest. It started as a game, a new type of challenge, but then the Hacker taught her that even in darkness and fear, a single moment of hope could change everything.
The little Thief couldn't make the Hacker fit, couldn't slide him into a neat category in her life. He was mentor, compatriot, wizard, man... From the first moment they met, he saw her and he never stopped, no matter what careful secrets she whispered. When she finally kissed him, it wasn't like a princess awakening from slumber, but a mimicry of what she saw on the streets. Still, something stirred within her, sparking to life among cold embers. As his hands fell away, her skin tingled and she ruthlessly shoved her mind back onto their current quest.
The kiss lingered on her lips long after the quest was completed and long after the team separated. A dragon had come along and, with one breath of fire, changed everything. They'd defeated him, but it came with a cost and they'd separated to avoid reprisals from the dragon's kind.
The little Thief hadn't thought being alone would be a challenge, especially since she'd done it before. They had separated earlier, but there'd been an expiration date, a promise to return. That promise didn't exist this time. It shouldn't matter, though. She'd spent only a year with the team, and she'd been alone all the years before. Yet a challenge it was.
She couldn't fall back into old routines, old patterns. She didn't fit anymore, forever changed by her experiences over the time gone by. She missed the Hitter's cookies, the Grifter's scent, the Mastermind's confidence, and the Hacker... She missed all of him.
She left breadcrumbs in the ether, searched the crowds, sent up flags, even as she kept moving. She wanted him to find her, even if she wasn't sure she wanted to be caught. Eventually, the loneliness ate away at her, like a rushing brook over a submerged stone.
The little Thief let the Grifter lure her to a meeting, knowing she would be exposed, but hoping all the same. Voices swirl around her, feet tapping out irregular melodies on the hardwood floors. She turned, the flimsy ticket in her hand, and there was the Mastermind. He looked at her through weary eyes, new lines drawn upon his face, and she smiled because it was still all the same.
Then, from her right, the little Thief heard her name. Her smile faded as she turned to face the Hacker. The world became opaque, turning back into phantoms, and he was the only real thing she saw. His lips curved, as he began to walk towards her, when the Hitter's distinctive twang floated over to them. The Hacker looked away to follow the sound and the little Thief took a breath, her chest tight, fingers twitching on the program, as the world flooded back into place.
The Grifter joined them minutes later and the team stood together in a loose circle, for the first time in months. It wasn't the homecoming that she'd envisioned, but then again, that home had been destroyed in roaring flames and shattered glass.
As she edged closer to the Hacker, his heat soothing her cold places, she knew this for what it was: a beginning...