A Tale of Masila

     "Ariel! Ariel!" Suddenly Masila heard a voice. She craned her neck to see a pretty young female pet clad in a very elegant cloak run towards her brown-haired owner, who was picking carefully through a display of jewelry.

     "Delilah?" Ariel looked up from where she had been examining a sapphire necklace and saw the pink Cybunny racing towards her. "Delilah, what's wrong?"

     Masila listened closely to their conversation, and kept herself well hidden at the same time.

     "Ariel, you are SO wasting your time in that shop," came the voice of Delilah the Cybunny. "I know where we can find matching necklaces with assorted gems, and they're much prettier and cheaper than that junk you're sifting through!"

     The tall girl grinned apologetically at the shopkeeper, who gave her a dirty look. "Erm…we'll just come back later…" she said quickly, and let Delilah drag her over to the next stall. The stealthy Acara followed them, not far behind, until they got to a well-furnished shop. It was huge, spacious, and had large displays of gemstones and other trinkets. Many other shoppers were quite engrossed with admiring and gushing over the merchandise.

     "Oh, those earrings would go well with my pretty cloak, right? And…and that bracelet is so sparkly! I've GOT to have it! Don't forget the matching pendant!" The Cybunny began snapping up some jewelry and showing them one by one to her owner. "We have enough money to buy all of it, right?" She smiled and blinked her big eyes sweetly.

     Her owner patted Delilah on the head. "Yes, dear, we do have enough for all of it. Now, we have to pay for these."

     Masila watched beadily as the shop owner took the cash and Ariel's pink Cybunny immediately donned every single knickknack that was bought for her. "Wait till all my friends see me…they'll all be so green with envy!"

     "OK Delilah, stay here beside the shop for a while. My friends are calling me, and I'll be back as soon as I can." Ariel gave her a kiss on the forehead and sprinted over to a group of chattering teenage girls. When she was out of sight, the green Acara saw her chance and walked casually towards the Cybunny, as if she really was a friend rather than the mistress of the double-cross.

     "Hi!" said Delilah cheerfully, waving enthusiastically at Masila. "I'm Delilah, and my owner's name is Ariel, and she loves me very much! What's your name?"

     "My name is Masila," said the villainous Acara. "And I think you're a beautiful, sweet Cybunny. Will you be my friend?" She stuck one green paw towards Delilah.

     "Of course!" Delilah immediately shook Masila's paw vigorously. "Wait till you meet my owner, and go to our home, and we can do stuff together, like friends do!"

     The villain just nodded, and as Ariel returned and her little Cybunny came running towards her, Masila flashed an evil grin and chuckled to herself. "This will be a very profitable day," she whispered softly.

     ***

     "And this is my room, and my bed, my little Hasee…" Delilah was so excited that she gave the Acara a tour of her home, not knowing the trouble that would befall her soon.

     "Yeah, yeah," grumbled Masila, wincing at the tacky yellow covers of the Cybunny's bed. "Is there anything GOOD to see in here, anyway?"

     Delilah's face fell for a moment, as if she was thinking of kicking her visitor out the window at that very moment. The green Acara bit her lip, waiting for the blow to fall. But instead of getting chucked out, the Cybunny, smiling again, immediately grabbed her paw and dragged her over to a huge wardrobe. Immediately Delilah began rummaging around in the drawers until she stood up with a locked brown box with gold trimming around the edges.

     "What's that?" asked Masila curiously, sarcasm and impatience aside.

     "It's my jewelry box," said Delilah in a suspenseful whisper. "Only Ariel and my closest friends know how to open it, and now you will know too, since well, even if we only met awhile ago, and…"

     As she blabbed on and on about how she had found the perfect friend and still not aware of the trouble brewing, Masila's mouth curled into a triumphant smile as she took the box from the pink Cybunny's paws and examined it on all angles.

     "So…how do you open this thing?" she asked, interrupting Delilah's unnecessary chatter. "I mean, you promised me you'd let me open it and all…"

     "Of course!" The Cybunny reached through the pocket of her velvety cloak and pulled out a tiny silver key, attached to a little gold ring. She stuck the key into the lock and turned it. The two heard a faint clicking noise as the lid was raised.

     Masila was dumbstruck. Her jaw dropped as her beady eyes scanned the shiny, colorful contents of the box presented before her. There was a pretty purple brooch, and several pairs of golden hoop earrings, all in various sizes. A silver chain with a ruby heart at the end glittered alongside a handful of gold rings with many different gemstones set in them. She found it hard to resist the urge to grab the box quickly and make a run for it.

     "Maybe tonight," she told herself, examining a pair of emerald earrings.

     "What did you say?" asked Delilah.

     "Oh, nothing," Masila answered nonchalantly. "I mean I wanted to ask your owner if we could have a sleepover."

     The pink Cybunny's eyes lit up. "Oh, good idea! I'll ask her now! I know she'll say yes!"

     "Well, if it's a sleepover you two want, it's a sleepover you get. But just for one night, OK?" The pair whipped around to find Ariel standing casually in the doorway. "Have fun, you two."

     Delilah grabbed Masila's shoulders and began shaking her new friend. "Did you hear that? DID YOU HEAR THAT? YAY! I'll go get the snacks, and the juice, and the…"

     "Yeah, I know," said the Acara, her grin growing even wider and even more malevolent.

     ***

     "Good night, Masila."

     "Good night, Delilah."

     "Sweet dreams, Masila."

     "Yeah, sweet dreams too, Delilah…"

     "Don't let the Mootix bite!"

     "OK, let's just sleep already!"

     "Um, sure! But first I have to count Babaas! One, two three…"

     Masila grumbled and shoved her pillow over her head. She was lying on a blanket spread on the floor, and looked up at the Cybunny on the bed, who was tossing and turning. The green Acara decided to wait until her so-called "friend" was asleep before she carried out her sneaky scheme…

     "What the heck?" Masila said aloud. She stood up and glanced at Delilah, who was snoring loudly. Flinching a bit, the villain tiptoed towards the huge wardrobe that kept all of the pink Cybunny's stuff. She opened it gently and started opening and closing drawers, looking for a certain brown box with gold trimming…

     The Acara gasped as she silently lifted out the container of valuables from the last drawer. Shooting a swift look at Delilah, who was still sound asleep, she pulled out a small hairpin and began picking at the little silver-colored padlock on it, making soft eerie scratching noises.

     "This thing must be tough," Masila whispered as she twisted the hair accessory into the keyhole a bit more. But just as it snapped in half, she realized something else, and felt something soft and silky brushing against her shoulders. The villainous Acara lifted a paw to find out what it was a long, beautiful purple cloak.

     The thief immediately pulled it down and fumbled through its pockets, until she felt something hard and smooth. She pulled out a ring, with a key attached to it…

     Even more quickly now, Masila shoved the key into the lock and turned it. The box opened before her eyes. But before she could stick her paws in and grab everything inside, she heard a rustling sound behind her.

     Delilah seemed to be stirring. She got up, rubbing her eyes, and the weirdest thing about it was that when Masila saw the clock on the bedroom wall, it was half past midnight. Even so, she took the cloak and the box, and hid behind the wardrobe. Her beady eyes watched intently as the Cybunny mumbled something, climbed out of bed and made her way towards the bedroom door.

     As soon as she was out of sight, the Acara jumped out from her hiding place, put on the cloak and darted towards the window, still with Delilah's jewelry box. As the moon shone serenely down on Neopia Central, Masila climbed out of the window and made her way across the empty streets, her stolen treasure under one of her arms within the purple cloak. No one noticed the triumphant thief flee from her victim's home.

     No one noticed, until Delilah walked back in, scratching her back.

     "Masila?" The Cybunny noticed the empty space beside her bed. Her gaze traveled from her bed, to the window…and finally, to her ransacked wardrobe that was left open. One article of clothing was missing, and all the drawers were dangling out.

     "Oh, no! What the heck…" Delilah gasped and saw the last drawer, which was empty. She eyed her clothes, and realized that one cloak - her prized purple cloak - was gone, like her jewelry box. Then it dawned on her what happened, and she began to wail. Her screams brought a frantic Ariel into the scene, hair disheveled and clad in a fluffy orange bathrobe.

     The owner scooped Delilah up and asked, "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

     In between sobs, Ariel's pet managed to say a few words coherently. "Masila…gone…with my cloak…jewelry box…SHE'S A THIEF!!!" The pink Cybunny continued to cry in her owner's arms.

     "There, there…" said Ariel, trying to stop the bawling. "At least she's gone now…"

***

     Meanwhile, at some far end of Neopia Central, Masila was far from gone. Wrapped in a silky purple cloak with a matching brooch and three pairs of earrings in her ears, the mistress of the double cross waited, mingling with the crowds, waiting for her next victim. Suddenly she heard an excited squeal.

     "Don't I look pretty in my necklace? Come on, can you buy it for me?"

     At these words the Acara craned her neck to find the source of the voice. The thief was ready to strike again.

The End