Sly Cooper 5: Promises Made By Thieves

Chapter 72: Pili

I'm not quite asleep yet, but I know the others are.

It has to have been at least an hour and a half. Our fire pit has long since extinguished. I'm still full from the tasty fish. I bet if I wanted, I could go for a late-night swim without waking anyone up. The only few times I've ever been able to swim are when Slytunkhamen and I stole enough money for some private baths a few years ago before it was deemed too suspicious and costly for us raccoons to return. There was also the time when we were breaking down the dam and setting alligators free. That felt kinda like a swim.

A curse about always having access to water you can get wet in is your fur gets accustomed, so it works hard to make more oil. That's a weakness the high-ups have always had. They'd be as oily as the fish skins if they went three days without the access to water needed for a shower, something the rest of us are delightfully accustomed to.

I went for a swim the day we arrived, and it felt magnificent. To be honest, I'm really hoping Sly does return with the van, because he could take us and use his riding box he kept calling a van and bring my friends back in Cairo here. It could be a kind of haven. I hope we're able to work ourselves up rather soon so I can return and maybe lead the group through another trek. It wouldn't be easy. Most of the time I did honestly think the four of us were gonna die in that desert. With the assistance of a vehicle that could make the trek so much easier, we could save the town. Whether or not we'd decide to take it back or live here from now on would be equally thrilling, because if we decided to just hit and run, the high-ups would have pretty much no one to tend to all their chores that keep them wealthy but them.

I can barely sleep because I'm so happy at either thought.

But something wakes me when I finally fall asleep.

I think it was a twig snap?

I've heard them here and there earlier. Maybe I'm not used to living with grass and trees everywhere, but I do have to admit that snap was rather loud.

I can feel my heart beginning to race, and I know I won't be able to fall asleep again until I know for sure I'm being only paranoid.

"Uh...hello?" I say, quietly enough that if the others are in a peaceful enough rest they won't wake up. It's generally a cloudy night, so the stars and moon aren't giving much illumination.

I stop my walking to listen. I hear crickets and the slight waves from the sea. Nothing unnatural. I'll just go to where I think I heard the twig and then return to sleep.

"Is anyone here?" I lightly call. I think I hear one of my friends stir a bit. I then hear a faint footstep back as I head up. "Who's watching us?" I say with more certainty.

I then hear a slight grunt, and I jerk back. By the time someone shouts "Go!" I jump away and scream at the others to wake up.

Slytunkhamen and Asenath fortunately get the message fast and scramble up at the ready.

I run back to them but see in the light darkness figures running up to them from every side.

"Guys!-" I don't finish my thought before I'm tripped to the ground somehow. I think it was from one of Catra's canes. It definitely felt like it.

How did they find us?! I can't make them out very well, but they look like they're in the same gear they've always had.

The baby begins screaming, and I do the same. I turn over and claw whoever is about to be on top of me, and his flinching when I manage to slice allows me to get back up.

Asenath is being quite agile. With her newborn in her arms, she is avoiding the guards even though they're nearly upon her. Slytunkhamen is also doing his best to whack the guards hard, aiming for their groins and heads mostly.

But there are so many ambushers from every direction, and soon I'm unable to escape one of the clutches, and soon a blindfold is also put over my eyes.

"Run!" I yell. "Get out of here!"

I hear both Slytunkhamen and Asenath scream in response, and I can tell it's not because they obey, but because they've been caught too.

Within the chaos, I hear some kind of smug giggle. I don't recognize it but that's the last thing on my mind. Whoever it is is really happy to see us. And I truly don't get it. Who are these people? How could we have been followed and found?!

I would rather die before being thrown into a cell again. At the thought of either of those occurrences, I begin to wail. My life is flashing before me, and I can tell so is everyone else's, including our little baby.