Lost Legacies: The Amulets - Part One

*****

     Trev sprang onto another rooftop. This is too easy, he thought as he jumped onto yet another one. He nearly slipped on the expensive transparishield, but his well coordinated body caught itself in time. All the transparishield had its own convenience- the robber could see where he was.

     This was definitely the place, through the roof the Shadow Yurble saw expensive furniture from all over Neopia, and from the new found moon- Kreludor. Some spoilt brat, Trev thought, but then smiled as he thought, oh well, it will be mine in a minute anyway.

     Trev was short for his age, but his shortness was agility in his case. A Hopso would measure up to his fluffy neck.

     The shadow pet produced a handy gadget that was always looped twice around his neck, hidden under his scarf of fur. The gadget provided a pocket for bits and bobs, a keen knife, tiny but sharp pair of scissors, pincers, glass cutter, and a handy suction cup on an extendable line- what Trev would be using now along with the glass cutter. He pressed hard with the suction on the transparent roof so it would stick, and pressed a button that would catch the line if it should try to extend. He pulled the glass cutter out and drew a circle with the gadget like a pair of compasses. When the two ends of the cut joined, the glass threatened to drop into the lounge below and spoil the whole plan. The good old suction stopped that from happening.

     Trev pulled on the glass and placed it delicately on the roof and pressed the suction into the side of the hole and tied the gadget to his tail. Pressing the button again, he released the catch and the line was free to extend as he dropped into the hole, pressing the catch as he was almost at the ground so he wouldn't hit the ground and twist his ankle like he once did. Trev sighed as he recalled the experience, so foolish of himself! At least he managed to get away, it was a close call.

     He pressed the catch again so the gadget wouldn't whoosh back up to the suction, shutting himself inside the house, and unlooped it from his neck and pulled off the gadget from the string so it would be at his side at all times. Trev untied the piece of linen that was always around his waist like a belt- but it was actually an enormous bag made of thin material, but it was made of the strongest material around, spun by huge Spyders in the haunted woods. It was stolen from poor Eliv Thade when Trev was in that area. Now, he roamed around the house, taking the really expensive things but not taking so much that he wouldn't be able to fit the bag back through the hole in the roof with him.

     Where is it? Trev thought frantically, time was running out. The owner went to work every morning at 6, it was already 5!! Trev cursed his lateness -- he had been help up by a rather attracting jelly house full of various jelly collections on the way and it was too tempting to leave it till later. He had robbed the house and put all the items in his SDB, where it would remain until the heat of the crime had worn down, and he would gradually put them on auction gradually to avoid suspicion. That's what he always did.

     It would also take longer than most houses, every floor was full of rooms and gardens, the whole house was precisely 104 rooms, as Trev had learnt from his studies of the house. Every room was made of transparishield, except for the toilets of course.

     The Shadow Yurble quickly scanned the map; he was looking for the room called "Study Room 6". According to his map, that was one floor down. He ran down the corridor and found the stairs easily- huge, marble, and curving slightly towards the other floor. Trev slid down the banister instead of chancing going down the steps- if they creaked it would be the most embarrassing give-away ever. The Yurble reached the bottom of the banister and jumped off, landing with a bit of a loud thump on the ground. Trev grimaced. He hoped no one had heard her landing, he had gone too far to turn back now; he must succeed!

     Trev triple checked at his map. This must be it, he thought. He pushed the door of Study Room 6 slowly open, and saw two desks, a cupboard and a safe. The Yurble snorted. Of course it would be in the safe. He made his way slowly to it and pulled out her gadget once more. He flicked out a thin knife with ease and knelt down next to the safe. A normal combination lock… This was too easy to imagine!

     After no more than five minutes, Trev was already pulling himself back up into the hole he had made in the roof and replacing the piece of transparishield, and went off to the SDB building.

     *****

     Carrie stood in the SDB building, frantically searching her pockets for her SDB key. How could she have lost it? Her owner was going to scold her so much when she found out. If only she had double checked that it was there. The striped Shoyru sniffed at a driblet that was threatening to drip out of her nose. She was walking home and then Meuka had attacked her and gave her the Sneezles. Luckily for her, just the other day she had found a Magic Cookie on the ground, and she had put it in her SDB. Now, as she kept sniffing, she kept frantically searching around in her pockets and bag for the tiny gold key. She couldn't have lost it!

     "A...A...ACHOO!" Carrie sneezed into her paw without warning and desperately rushed to the toilet for another tissue.

     *****

     Trev discarded his "luggage" outside the large SDB building. The alarms might sound if they caught him with a more-than-a-pocketknife gadget. Depositing it along with Eliv's bag containing her new Kreludor Lamp, he inspected the key again-it had detailed teeth on it and the digits "AR260" carved on the back, and walked casually into the building.

     Walking along the marble halls, he turned right at a sign that read "A", and assumed that was the right way. It was the first character on the back of the key, anyways. He turned left at another sign, "R", and then (woe behold) "2", and the last one- "60-69". Trev didn't have far to search, the one he was looking for was the first room. Shoving the key impatiently into the lock, Trev nearly dropped the key twice. Finally, he managed to slide the key in without jamming it and turned the knob.

     Carrie came out of the toilet just in time to see a tail going into her SDB.

     Trev was too marveled at the sight of the SDB room before him to move. Like every SDB, it had two of its walls covered in shelves, and a few cages for petpets stacked up on another wall, and posters and a refrigerator for food against the other wall. Furniture was littered all over the place, and Battledome weapons were piled up delicately on display on the west wall. Trev was so fascinated by everything that he forgot that the door behind her was open, and just after Carrie quietly slipped in and hid behind a Stone Chair, the Yurble turned around and shut the door. Carrie moved into a more comfortable position to watch this pet, she reached a shelf with her magic cookie, exactly like it was when she had almost donated it yesterday. Desperately, Carrie stuffed the cookie into her mouth to finally stop the Sneezles, and continued to watch the little thief.

     Trev was looking for something in particular over the shelves- an ordinary thief would just rampage through everything, leaving the cages and shelves all empty. No, this was no ordinary thief. The Shoyru stared at Trev as the Shadow pet removed her Rainbow Swirly Thingy from the shelf.

     "NOOO!!!" she couldn't stop herself from screaming. It had cost her a fortune, and she wasn't about to let it slip through her fingers, snatched by some brat. Trev whirled around in shock, and with expertise, wrapped the Rainbow Swirly Thingy around his neck by the chain, it would be secure there-things placed there always were.

     Both of them glared at each other as hard as they could, Carrie was the first to make a move. The Shoyru leapt across the room and flew straight at Trev. The Yurble waited until Carrie was almost touching him before he sprinted to the left side of the wall with great agility. Carrie caught herself in time to prevent herself crashing to the ground, and pulled at Trev's mane. The Rainbow Swirly Thingy was ripped off the Yurble's bushy neck along with a few tufts of fur. Trev howled in pain and threw himself at Carrie, snatching at the treasure. The fight became a grab-and-snatch competition, and then as they both tore at the Rainbow Swirly Thingy at the same time, the frame split in half, leaving the multicolored liquid to trickle to the ground. It seemed to crawl up the petrified Neopians, and then it wrapped them into darkness.

To be continued...