Decemberland

Chapter 1: Thief

Decemberland Main Theme >>>

(an original by YASUpochiguitar, "Town of the Hills")

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Nico dashed madly through the crowded marketplace, hoping to blend in with the masses. Her winter cloak fluttered in the light breeze as she hurried through the clutter of bodies traveling down the lightly frosted cobblestone path. Her pursuer wasn’t too far behind her considering the commotion he was making. She begrudgingly thanked her size, just this once, for helping her stay out of sight.

Her eyes caught a wooden sign that directed her to the villa, and from there it was just a short distance to the school. Just a little further, and she would be safe. A loud crash resounded behind her, followed by a painful wail, “No! Not my fruit stand!”

He knocked over a fruit stand just to get to her? The hair on the back of her neck stood up. There was no guarantee she’d survive if he caught her. And yet she couldn’t help but think, all this for a single silver? Most of the world’s marketplaces accepted material trade now a day, after all. Coins were for rich people! However she was well beyond the point of just giving it back. Especially with him.

“Nico! Get over here, you thieving weasel!”

Of all the people she could have stolen from, it just had to be Phillip Grifter. Phillip, the most arrogant, violent, hot-headed person in all of Pierce Valley. But a professional like her never looks back, and never regrets. Curiosity taking over, she looked back for just a moment, then immediately regretted it.

His massive truck of a body was right behind her rampaging like a sick animal. It seemed that she didn’t quite blend in with the crowd well enough to lose him. Time to run.

“Lip!” cried a higher pitched voice, panting between every desperate call, “Lip, stop this! It’s just a silver coin, let it go!” Blake, Phillip’s only friend, and the only person in the whole town smaller than Nico, seemed to be giving chase just behind him.

“Listen to your little friend, ya freakin’ gorilla!”

She sprinted as quickly as she could down to the villa and made a sharp turn once she reached the sign, hoping to lose him or at least get some distance between him and her. It didn’t hinder him in the slightest, his feet skating on the frost as he spun his body in Nico’s direction, and continued to give chase without losing a bit of momentum.

“Oh gods,” Nico squeaked. Desperately, she looked around for somewhere else to lose him. In the distance, her eye caught a garden vegetable sale, an event that only happened during winter and inside the villa. Even luckier, it was more crowded in that little space than it was in the marketplace. Her tiny body could easily fit through those people and with her hood up, she could blend right in with everyone wearing a winter cloak.

She made her way to the crowd, Phillip only feet behind her. Her body slipped between the mob of people without notice. Her pursuer bulldozed his way in, ignoring annoyed protests from the crowd and addressed them with no more than a frightening glance and the occasional “Move.”

Phillip was a tall guy. Tall enough for Nico to notice his big, shaven head above the heads of several other people while he was standing just feet away from her. And luckily she was just short enough to evade his notice while she was so close. She waited until his direction briefly turned another way before she decided to move again. Unfortunately, her hood caught the side of someone’s belt as she skulked away, pulling it down and revealing her bright, shoulder length, crimson red hair. Almost immediately she ripped her battered old snowcap from her pocket and pulled it over her head, but it was too late.