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Nabiu was loving the trip they were having!
The journey to get the chair has been a longer one than usual, she has to admit- usually, she would be done and happy by now!
Back at Wizzro's, making potions, having fun with the other Interns, doing what any assistance would do- sort paperwork as well…
This journey however took so many twists and turns that it seemed to take quite a while to get to the one chair that her Mentor had lost!
But there was one good thing about it…
She met Karoto!
“I'll be right back, promise. I just want to go get some snacks!”
Right now, the bard was for some reason hell bent on getting food the moment they got like 30 gold-
Which was just from the most recent quest they had finished, which somehow included a cannibalistic mushroom.
Not that Nabiu minded.
“Alright, see you soon!”
With that, the carrot had for now vanished into a shop nearby, bringing the blueberry to a look around the current town they had arrived at.
It was neat and small, not much noteworthy…beside the stage that was for storytellers, performances and so much more like concerts too!
Nabiu wasn't much of a giant loud crowd person, but even she couldn't resist the thrill of a good story sometimes!
“Hear, hear! Today we tell a tale that has yet to be ended!”
And today, it seemed like there was an extra special story with how much the crowd filled up…so many different kinds of beings.
Humans, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, animals and so much more-! The only way Nabou could see the person telling the story was by heading way back into the plaza!
Her eyes caught how some birds rested on buildings, rare Lemon bats even settling their long clawed feet on the railings of houses.
Some kids were allowed to be on their parents shoulders, the bigger animals let the smaller ones crawl on their arms to get a sight, mushrooms gently planted themselves on the stage as decoration.
There were even some animals in a pile that rested while the big story was about to be told!
That only got Nabiu's curiosity to get much bigger…what story could bring such a giant commotion?!
Nabiu could only settle for standing in the plaza, watching as the person arrived…
A cloaked person in purple-ish black, their face not recognizable to anyone with purple patterns lighting around the outlines of the cloth.
They wore a beautiful poncho in black, almost like a mother wearing their wings as a cloak…weighted over all.
With all these clothes, Nabiu could only see a white big dot for an eye, their face obscured from vision.
“Everyone, please seat yourself appropriately as we prepare the show.”
Hm.
The blueberry quietly tilted her head to the side as she heard the murmurs of the crowd, hearing wolves gently whisper to each other.
“Can't believe this has been going on for over a decade now…”
“Yeah! You'll think they would find the person. But no…”
“The feast and cheer that's gonna happen once they finally get locked away!”
“Pff, with their crimes? That'll be execution in the grandest way!”
“Ohhhh, I wanna be here when that spectacle happens!”
Nabiu winced at the mention of executions.
Executions were a…punishment in many people's eyes, as the person who committed heinous crimes would be able to just escape their true torture.
Some say it was only fair, as the face and body being alive just brings illness to other people's stomach.
This little girl couldn't hate executions more.
It…wasn't fair. Everyone deserves second chances and a chance to actually explain their situation! Not just…
Death. With the head cut off.
A quiet shiver ran through her body purely at the thought of such a thing, but she ignored it as she listened to another one.
Even through the many voices and whispers, focus on a specific one and…
“You know, they rumor the king has recently found out the thief's face.”
“Ridiculous. Wouldn't the King and Queen make an announcement if such a thing were to happen?”
“Maybe it could lead to racial issues. Or imagine if they're wrong!”
“Hm…True.”
That could be an issue indeed.
Depending on what species or what specific type of person this…person. Whatever they are- seem to be, it could cause hate on their people.
The one place they reside from…even though that species had done nothing associated with them!
Nabiu hoped that whatever happens, that wouldn't happen. But first-
She needed to start learning about this person!
“THE PREPARATIONS HAVE SET! SILENCE PLEASE!”
The whispers stopped, all eyes on the cloaked figure as they simply bowed to the audience as a start, giving quite the strange entrance.
From what she heard from entering this place, this…was one of the more popular stories.
And it seemed to start with a black canvas.
“Today…i'll be telling the story of the one and only Kingdom thief. A story not yet completed.”
A soft sigh came as they stepped back
“Long, Long ago…the world lived in peace. The broccoli kingdom was a peaceful kingdom.”
A wall behind them slowly rolled around, two giant pins moving it along to show a picture…a picture made of wood, paint and art of many types.
Even glass to make everything shine grandly in beautiful colors.
It showed the Broccoli kingdom in all its glory, the giant Broccoli head on top of the castle quite the beautiful sight as Nabiu had seen a few times when visiting it.
Behind it, so many different blurs of other kingdoms were there and before, trees and bushes decorated the scenery.
A kingdom of joy as some say, but legends and wars tell a different story with dried out lips.
“People cheered along, were united even through the tragedies and people loved to sing and play! Just like on this very stage…”
Figures of wood appeared, showing the people having fun while playing instruments, playing along and more as the cloaked person motioned towards the people.
It was an active place for sure with so many species being allowed without any complications, united truly through love and appreciation for one another…
Or keeping their mouth shut.
“But sometimes, the stage play doesn't work out as intended just because one person is unhappy. And this is what leads certain people to disrupt the peace.”
With a quick tug from a nearby bird, a figure appeared behind all the other townsfolk, littered in black clothing and a giant cloak that no one could see through.
Ironic, as they could look like anyone, Nabiu thought to herself as she looked upon the cardboards being moved away one by one and the roll-mechanism changing the scenery.
A castle-like interior was shown, with the guards looking away into the dark red walls that littered every single place of the basement.
From what she had heard, the basement was truly giant and kept the treasure of the lands.
“One day…the guards didn't look right, missing the one person passing through and do you want to know what happened?”
The figure in black wood simply walked along, passing through all the halls and having some magic get played along to show its back side swiftly.
The scenery changed to a wooden door, grandly above everything else that was slowly opened with the help of some birds pulling the strings.
“The treasure of the Broccoli, protected ever so harshly…got parts stolen, without anyone ever noticing.”
Behind the doors, treasure gleamed in its golden colors, getting gasps from the audience, snickers from the greedy ones and even some terrified whispers of said riches.
The wooden black figure laughed in its drawn form, taking the money in its hands and leaving to the side as the scenery rolled along.
They must have escaped.
But why did they only take parts of the treasure? If they were such a big thief, wouldn't they want it all?
Nabiu quietly looked to the ground. Why would anyone miss such a chance of getting all the treasure?
Perhaps the thief only wanted something specific.
“With that money gone, incident after incident started to happen. Most of the time, it was heavily market and food related for some reason.”
Pictures were quickly changed, showing drawings painted with the faces of horror with the crimes that the dark figure did, stealing money and food with a smile.
A smile…that despite painted, never seemed truly joyful.
Wouldn't the storyteller want the villain to be portrayed with the most evil smile?
Do they take pity? Can one take pity on such a thief?
“But that didn't stop the thief of this story from taking pieces of treasure from kingdoms and towns! The signs of it being one singular person being right there.”
Switching as ever, the paintings portrayed a pattern, showing two towns.
The one the dark person just left had their market profits much more down, some mess left behind and their kingdom treasure stolen to an extent.
Never fully finishing the job.
Never finishing…anything. Always parts here and there, everywhere and nowhere.
“The name of said thief stealing from everyone and everything?”
The cloaked being simply stepped back, casting a spell to darken up the area as everyone seemed to stare with just a bit more hate.
In all the spotlights, the wooden figure showed itself with a gleaming stare and a bright smile of mischief.
“The Kingdom thief.”
….
Nabiu has heard of such a name.
Rarely, but the whispers of fear that the thief could strike back now that they were back - at least from what Nabiu heard - weren't unusual for her.
Being feared, hated and disgusting to everyone…
What was this thief's problem?
“Nobody knows why they do such things. Some rumor that it is grief. Some say it is for fun. Some say anger…some say they don't even know themselves.”
With silent steps and not a single word interrupting the silence, the storyteller walked across the stage, slowly flipping the pictures of the possibilities.
It showed the thief grieving for their loved ones.
It showed the thief laughing at a child's cries.
It showed the thief growling at a higher power.
Most importantly, it showed a silhouette of emptiness of said thief.
A being drenched in rumors and lies.
“Some say the being murdered. Some say there was assault. The most heinous crimes were blamed onto such personality.”
It showed the kingdom thief murdering people, sullied in the blood of their own.
It showed the kingdom thief grabbing onto people with a force beyond recognition.
It showed everything that could have happened but may never be true.
She swore she could hear disgusted gasps and whispers of anger, those believing every single thing told on this very stage.
“Yet…nobody truly knows anything beyond the treasures. And there was even a 3 year break where everyone believed this thief was a goner.”
The thief left the stage for a moment, showing happiness yet surprise of the other wooden cupboards, searching for the thief.
The blueberry questioned if the kingdom thief found something that brought them peace.
They could have lost something.
Someone.
“But in the end, they returned. With the same crimes…food and money. Nothing more.”
The wooden cupboard appeared again, with the wooden people looking just as angry, afraid and disgusted as before, but yet…
This time.
The figure never truly shown wasn't facing the crowd, holding a single bag of what was presumably gold.
“No one has ever seen their face. Never heard their voice to their knowledge. They could be in this crowd right now and we wouldn't know!”
A hundred cutouts in blacks, with the shine of the light the candlebugs who had joined in directing towards the crowd.
They gasped, looking around in fear and even hissing at one another.
Nabiu saw no sense in that.
Such a famous thief wouldn't hide in such a simple crowd…right?
“But know this.”
The drawings disappeared, only the black canvas showing and the storyteller coming in the middle.
“The Kingdom Thief is ruthless in his endeavours and once they are finally caught?”
…There was a hint of hate in that expression. Fear. Uncertainty.
But in a way, absolutely a glare.
“The world will be a lot happier.”
People cheered at that.
The idea of the death of such a person made everyone beyond happy, yet made Nabiu sick in her stomach.
How could one be so happy about death? Decay? Wouldn't they want to ask the thief?
Perhaps not.
Perhaps never.
But in the end, the storyteller bowed to everyone, bringing the canvas to a halt as the world was brought to light again, spinning their arms with it before stretching them out.
“Thank you for coming, everyone. I hope you enjoyed it all.”
And so…People cheered even louder, clapping along and expressing their joy for such a good story! Even if…it wasn't finished yet.
Nabiu blinked quietly as she looked up.
How could so many people hate one person?
If this thief is really known worldwide for their crimes…wouldn't someone have recognized them by now?
Wouldn't they be caught?
“Hey-”
“AAAAAAA AA-
“Oh, sorry, Nabs-”
Oh.
Karoto.
The little blueberry sighed in relief, pressing herself against the carrot's side in quiet want for comfort.
It wasn't indirectly reciprocated, but a hand did rub her side after a while.
“Must have been a horrible story if you're reacting like this.”
The bard joked as always, biting into a particularly nice loaf of chocolate chip bread which was offered to her as well.
“A bit…”
She groaned under her breath as she took the piece, biting into it and mumbling under her breath.
This was good bread.
As she munched, Karoto patted her side with the same charm he always had, nudging into the direction behind them.
“How about you tell me what it was about while we look for an Inn, hm?”
The crowd was finally getting less and Nabiu couldn't be more happy about that as she nodded in response, quietly hanging her head low.
At least there was Karoto, the worldwide Hero!
Perhaps they could go after this thief together and ask them why they're like this!
They could just be misunderstood.
Yeah.
That would be a nice outcome.