Sly Cooper 5: Promises Made By Thieves

Chapter 69: Asenath

"Almost done with the firewood," calls Pili. "Just need a little more, then we should be set."

"Terrific," I call back as I soothe my little baby in my arms. I'm glad he's habituated to our walking. He was able to sleep well most days, considering our constant dwindling supplies and the sense of fear he must've been able to read while in my arms.

But those supplies are no longer as much a concern as before. It was only two days ago when after a trek that nearly killed the four of us, we found our haven. It may be temporary or permanent. Either way it's perfect.

After Slytunkhamen got back to the marketplace without Sly, explaining he and his gang went back to their time but they'd return for us, we hid around the market for about a day, but then guards were beginning to surround us and we decided to flee.

Accepting something must have happened in the time process, normally he and Pili would completely object to running away and leaving the other raccoons to fend for themselves against Catra and everybody, but with our freshly born kid, we had to prioritize his safety and we set off on The Black Eye Voyage.

Our family has never tried it. We only know it from hearsay. Our whole lives we've heard about a five-day trek across the desert, north, to a fair supply of water and wildlife by an ocean. We know which direction north is due to basic knowledge of the directions the sun rises and sets, and the stars as we now realize make for good navigation when it's gone.

The Black Eye Voyage was named by a raccoon whose name I can't remember but is old enough to be my great grandfather. He apparently built a bunch of rock cairns, carrying most of them on his back like how we've been carrying our food and water, only about three times heavier. I suspect he had help. What he apparently did was build the cairns to be high up if they ever partially got buried in sand, and shaped like arrows to keep us going in the right direction. It turns out the rumors have been true.

Most of us back in town don't try the supposed voyage. For the same reason we've tended to stay in town. As much as things are unfair for the lowest class, at least there's access to the little food and water to keep us alive. Getting lost in the desert, especially for a raccoon who needs more water to survive than most animals who live here, is the deadliest of death sentences. And our society is made so raccoons don't tend to have the capacity to survive for two days, and the trek apparently takes at least five, and that's as long as you know where you're going.

We're all still rubbing our backs from standing up and simultaneously slouching for hours on end. We took off wearing clothes from Catra's palace that were admittedly comfortable. They were even protective of most of the sun, I think courtesy of the perfume put on it. But we had the large bag of food and an even heavier big bottle of water to carry, and Slytunkhamen insisted on not leaving his new canes or his book behind. He hasn't written anything in it since he scribbled stuff from a spare pen in the market, when he spent the hour before our escape documenting what's happening and what we set out to do for Sly to apparently read in the future. He lost the pen after we set out for the voyage but I'm sure we'll find one now.

Our steps were a lot slower and weaker than we were used to because of all we were carrying, and I was still recovering from my pregnancy. But we were determined not to turn around. Escaping from jail does that.

We're nearly finished all of the food we stole from the palace. But we aren't panicking. Because two days ago we found the sea, and realized the rumor was true all along. We've been living just on the outskirts of a town recognized, according to the signs, as Alexandria. I'd heard a little about this place in history. Apparently over 400 years ago this city lost a lot of its wealth and since, a lot of people have remained because of a sensible amount of water. It's pretty rundown from what we can tell, but I'd take rundown over corrupt any day.

Yesterday Slytunkhamen "borrowed" a boat, and returned a few hours later with enough fish for last night and this one, and we're now just finishing up the fire pit to cook them. It's been ages since we've been able to eat or drink and worry about eating too much rather than too little. We haven't spoken to anyone in the city just yet, but if they're surviving, there's definitely food there. And potentially work. Back by the pyramids, most raccoons didn't work, or at least couldn't work decent jobs because of the raccoon discrimination. But a lot of the times, they survived nonetheless because of my husband and Pili. I used to constantly try to dissuade them from stealing so much and seeing if they could live a life without having to look over their shoulders. And maybe I'll have to resume that talk now that we've found shelter safe enough for our baby. But after how we were treated in prison, it's enormously safe to say rebellion is a requirement for our lives.

"So when you find something to write with," says Pili as we snuggle up by the fire as the sun dips away, "what do you think you're gonna write in that special book?"

"I'll mention where we are, that's for sure," says Slytunkhamen. "And hopefully Sly sees us and comes back."

"You don't think you'd like living here in Alexandria?" I ask.

"It looks not that bad," he admits. "But we can't leave our home at the mercy of the pharaohs."

I sigh. "I do know what you mean. The thought of any of our friends locked away like how we were makes me want to go right back. But what if Sly doesn't return?" Slytunkhamen and Pili say nothing. The fire crackles and I think our fish are done. I grab the stick holding mine and wave it in the air to try and cool it down for my baby. It's clear he's caught wind of and is excited for it. "I mean, what if something went wrong in the tech?"

Slytunkhamen looks down at his book and flips through its many blank pages, supposedly to be filled with pages of text from numerous future Cooper lineage members, including his son. "Then they'll fix it."

"But what if something truly went wrong and he's, you know, lost in time? Remember Sly's story of a future he and his gang didn't recognize when returning from Arabia? You never know. It's grim to think about, I do admit that, but it could be possible for all we know."

"I'll write about all this in the book," he decides. "Then we'll see. And hopefully they return so we can properly gear up to take our home back."

"And maybe we won't need them," brings up Pili. "Once we establish some more wealth here in Alexandria, and maybe when Slytunkhamen The Second is a bit bigger, we then can take back the city. We might have to work a long time, but let's not forget our motto."

"The only things impossible are those not yet attempted," say the both of them. We then all eat our fish together, and the glint of pure happiness in the eyes of my baby as he enjoys the fish I mash up with my hands so he can swallow makes me feel that we've truly escaped. I mean, we escaped from jail a week ago. But the concept of freedom is not having to worry about your survival and making choices for yourself. Finally here, we can truly indulge ourselves.