Stan and the Aisha Thieves: Part Two by reverbir |  |
Untitled Document
LOST DESERT
Stan stretched out comfortably on a large silk pillow.
This is the life, he thought, smiling, no running, the Elephantes
leave me alone, and all the Tchea fruit I can eat. He was startled out of
his daydream by a rough clotting over his head. He looked up and found himself
staring into the eyes of Advisor Wessle. "Hiya,' he said, giving a slight wave,
"uh, is this your cushion?"
"The princess needs to see you in her chambers,"
the Kyrii said, "and give me that Tchea Fruit. All you get is Ummagine for a
while, that is, until you stop those Aisha thieves tonight." Stan stood up,
straitened his hat, and made for the princess's chambers.
Upon entering, which he did without knocking,
he found Vyssa polishing a small statue of King Coltzan III. The Usul spoke
without turning around, "This is probably what they'll go for tonight, I've
cleaned it up so it shines brighter than the others, it'll attract them more."
Stan nodded as the princess turned to face him.
"Well," he said after some thought, "If I'm
going to pull an all-nighter, I'm probably going to have to take a nap. And
Tchea fruit always helps me sleep…"
"No Tchea," the princess said, "until you at
least try to stop those thieves. You can have a Cheops plant or Sand Orange,
your choice. They're in the bowl." Stan bowed himself out, taking the Cheops
plant and sneaking another Tchea Fruit. He munched on them both as he went to
his temporary chambers, the luxurious guest rooms.
Wessle woke Stan up at the appointed time and
the Kyrii thief headed for his post in the princess's chambers. Not much excitement
accompanied his first hour or so of watch, except his almost being caught sneaking
another Tchea fruit and Puntec. However, at about 11:13 NST, the Kyrii's experienced
ears picked up a scratching sound from the window. He his behind a column as
he watched Purrow and Consillo claw their way over the window sill. They seemed
almost surprised that here was no window pane to cut through. Stan waited until
they both were in the room before materializing in front of them. He clucked
and shook a finger slowly at them. "Uh uh, no visitors allowed at night. Princess
needs her beauty sleep."
Purrow tried to shove him aside, "Out of my
way kid, we're here on business."
Stan decided to keep his sarcasm going, "Oh,
you're the guys we asked to clean the sheets? Sorry, they're being used." He
pulled one paw back and continued, "and you should have used the front door."
He swung out. Purrow ducked the blow, but Stan kept swinging and belted Consillo
on the side of his head, sending the thief flying into the fruit basket. The
contents of the basket went flying, and a puntec fell on Vyssa's head, splattering
and waking her up.
"Well," she exclaimed, "that's twice today I've
been pelted by a fruit." She scanned the room and spotted Stan and Purrow locked
in fierce combat. "Yikes!" the princess shrieked, "Aisha Thieves!"
"Don't worry princess," Stan said, throwing
Purrow towards the window, "I've got everything under control." Purrow landed
short of the window, and Stan snapped his fingers in disappointment. Next thing
he knew, the empty fruit basket whacked his head and he fell in a heap. Consillo
laughed and went to pick his partner up. Between the two of them, they lifted
the statue of Coltzan and jumped out the window, landing on a nearby roof. Vyssa
dashed over to the window, and then helped Stan get off the ground. The Kyrii
had a furious expression on his face.
"Don't let it haunt you Stan," the princess
said, "You tried your best. You'll still get your payment."
Stan shrugged her off, still furious at himself.
"No princess," he said, "My job's not done till that statue's back where it
belongs." With that, he leapt from the window onto the nearest roof before Vyssa
could object. He ran the length of the roof and jumped to the next one, whereas
Purrow and Consillo had gone down to the streets. I'll track them down,
Stan thought as he leapt to the next rooftop, no one knows their way around
Sakhmet like I do.
Purrow led the way through the alley ways, Consillo
trailing and lugging the statue's base, his partner had the head on his shoulders.
The Aisha thieves ducked into a narrow alley, sure that they hadn't been followed.
Purrow pulled a morphing potion out of his pocket, inspecting it until the green-ear
he was working with noticed it. "What's that for Purrow?" Consillo asked, intrigued.
The other thief tossed the potion lightly between his paws.
"The most important part of your reward my Green-ear,"
he said, "this little beauty here," he patted the statue, "will be your rite
of passage. When we get this back to the base, the Boss will present you with
this. As you know, all veteran Aisha thieves are Blue colored. Green-ears can
be any color they wish, but when they pass the final test, they must turn blue."
"Why not just give me a paint brush?" Consillo
inquired.
"Because," Purrow said, "it's kinda dangerous
for a wanted Aisha to be around the rainbow pool, now isn't it?" suddenly, they
heard a soft thud to their left, in the direction of the alley's exit. All they
could see for a moment was a silhouette.
"Thanks for that valuable information thief,"
the figure said, "Too bad your buddy there isn't going to get that potion."
While he spoke, Stan stepped into the dim light, where the thieves could see
him.
"How'd you find us?" Consillo exclaimed, looking
scared.
"Easy," Stan half-growled, stalking closer,
"I live here, and I've had to use every hiding spot in the city. No one can
hide from me. Now return the statue."
"Not. On. Your. Life," Purrow said, "we've got
you outnumbered." Stan just stood there, unflinching. He reached into his pocket
and pulled out one of his Elephante morphing potions.
"Well then," the Kyrii said, "let's even the
odds here!" He popped the cork off the bottle and rushed the thieves, forgetting
to drink the potion. Purrow also rushed in, also forgetting to put the potion
he had in his hand away. The two of them collided with a thud and their potions
flew out of the bottles. All other distractions aside, Stan ran around, trying
to catch what he thought was his potion in either the bottle or his mouth. Consillo
did the same, without the bottle. The potions flew up, past each other, and
down into the mouths of both catchers. However, everyone present soon got the
feeling something went wrong. Instead of getting bigger, Stan kept his size,
and grew ear stalks and other Aisha features. At the same time, Consillo was
becoming an Elephante guard.
After they all recovered, Purrow pinned Stan
to the ground, growling, "what did you do to my green-ear?"
Stan, despite his position, kept a dominating
tone, "What green ear? You're blue!"
"No you idiot!" Purrow said, "Green-ear is a
term we thieves use to refer to rookies. Consillo's now the wrong species!"
Stan shook his head slowly, chuckling.
"Don't worry about him," he said, "that potion'll
wear off soon enough. The question is… WHAT ABOUT ME?!" He threw Purrow of him
and thrashed about, his ear stalks flailing wildly. After a minute, he calmed
down, the thieves hadn't moved an inch for shock. "I'll tell you what," Stan
said, panting , "You get me a red Kyrii potion, and I'll let you get away with
something a little smaller than that statue." Purrow and Consillo, now back
to normal, looked at each other, and then back to Stan. Purrow started some
haggling.
"Here's the deal kid," he said, "You help us
get this statue back to HQ, join the Aisha thieves for a while, and I'll see
about getting that potion." Stan thought for a minute, then gave his reply.
"That statue's still got to go back," he said,
"But I know where there's a better one. Follow me." The three Aishas moved silently
down the street, carrying the Coltzan sculpture over their heads.
To be continued...
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