Thief had not been up to a whole lot of thievery lately and that just wouldn't do! They had been flitting about from here to there, not really coming across many things they would consider worth stealing, or any gembounds worth stealing from. They dipped down to drink from the river, also taking the opportunity to investigate the area, such as shinies that may be hidden in the water. But it was shallow, and concealed nothing that they deemed worth keeping. As they made their way through the tunnel, it was not long before they stumbled upon the Wisteria Grove, eyes catching sight of a small den within one of the trees. Time to check it out! But wait- before they did, it was important to have a disguise. Just in case there was someone there.

There really aren't much things around to help with a disguise, just the river, and the trees. They roll around in the water to make their fur a bit stickier, then roll around in the petals to try and get them to stick to their fur. But water is not known for its adhesive properties, leaving Thief looking like a very wet cat with clumps of fur sticking out in all directions. Ah well.

It is okay not to have a disguise. If they're fast, they can get in and out without anyone looking anyways. If there even is anyone there. Thief enters the den to investigate what it might hold.

@Thief finds the den empty of its keeper but loaded with small trinkets, some of which seem organized and others cluttered. It is clear that the den is frequented and new things are placed within its walls for safekeeping. Some of the items seem quite useless: some misshapen rocks, some smooth; a myriad of gems or pieces of gems; sticks, leaves, flowers; and random knickknacks that have no true name.

Several crudely stitched items (or burned where seams would be, an attempt to close different pieces together), perhaps best described as someone's attempt at dolls, are huddled together in the back corner. Their shapes are strange, most resembling elongated canines or wingless dragon-type creatures, though resemblance is a generous word. It is possible Thief does not recognize anything familiar in their alien forms.

There is a thin pathway through some items and the center of the den is clear of things, though it is lined with furs, feathers, and mosses for a comfortable place to lay.

Thief paused, eyes darting around the den to pick out any trace of movement. Finding none, they follow the pathway, taking care not to touch anything. It's clear that someone still lived here, which meant they had to be careful not to tip off whoever it was. The impulse to snatch everything in sight was nearly irresistible. Thief was already calculating how many trips back to their stash it would take to transport everything here to there. They would steal the most valuable things first, but not so much that whoever it was would notice it missing. It would have to be a gradual process. Being part-cat meant Thief was pretty light on their feet, managing to cause minimal disturbance despite their wings.

The pieces of gems were shiny and much to their liking, and so were some of the flowers (seems they had an eye for pretty things). But above all, it was the peculiar doll-like items that piqued their interest the most. They had no idea what they were supposed to represent, but they seemed valuable. For someone who had a major lack of guilt in stealing things, Thief almost felt bad for taking something that someone must have spent some time on. Look, it was different stealing something that someone had merely stolen from something else or taken from somewhere. Gemstones existed in many places, as did flowers. But dolls like this... Thief shook their head. Clear that thought.

Taking just one wouldn't hurt. They finally decided upon one of smaller dolls, trying to grasp it firmly in their jaw and slowing dragging it out of the den without disturbing anything.

Thief was successful in carefully removing one of the dolls: it was a small but long and floppy white dragon-like creature, with four stubby legs and a puffy mane made of white feathers, although it had no wings.

NPC: Meissa

"H-hey!" chirped a voice from the den entrance. While Thief had done well to not make a mess, they were not without discovery. Meissa considered this, how careful this visitor to her secret hideout had been, and for a moment she wondered if they were here to do something mean...? "Did you want to play with that?" she asked after a brief pause, because surely nobody would steal anything from her secret pile of things, right!? Of course not! Her body wriggled at the idea of meeting someone new. She didn't even think the gembounds knew how to get to this spot!

"You can borrow it!" she decided to add, the smile on her face lifting her voice into a high, cheerful tone. "I'm Meissa! That's my stuff!" While she didn't mind someone looking at and using her things, she still felt the need to declare ownership of her trinkets. "My dad helped me make that doll of him!" she continued, with little care for the stranger's time or input. "His name is Lyn! What's your name?" Again, she did not even consider the stranger's time—and the fact that she had accidentally pinned them within her den, as she was still standing at its entrance, caught in the moment of bewilderment and excitement.

@Thief

Thief froze, eyes wide open and ears folded back in that deer-in-the-headlights look, except this would be more accurately named a Thief-caught-stealing look. They slowly dropped the doll, opening and closing their mouth as they tried to formulate a response. This being sure was bigger than them by a noticeable amount, even if they weren't very big to begin with. But Thief was very much not scared, and being part-cat, assumed that they could probably win the fight if one were to occur.

They cleared their throat, trying to go for a deep voice indicative of someone who was potentially very powerful and not at all to be messed with. "Play! Yes, I want to play with it. I am very good. At playing." But instead their voice cracked ended up fluctuating between very deep and extremely high pitched as they spoke, giving instead the impression of someone who was trying to sing and very much failing at doing so.

Borrow it? Thief's tail twitched. Tempting. It was tempting to say yes and 'borrow' the doll and never come back with it. But being in the actual presence of someone who owned all these things made the potential theft seem all the more personal. Not to mention, there was the mention of a dad, and Thief had no idea how powerful this potential dad figure could be. If they stole this doll, would Meissa bring her dad to track them down?

"Borrow! Right, uh-" their voice cracked and Thief ditched their pathetic attempts at a fake voice for their normal one which was still a bit more on the higher side of things. And high enough that it didn't quite fit a, well, black demon-looking cat. They continued as if nothing at all had happened, "Who is your dad?" They weren't going to borrow this doll unless borrow was equivalent to a successful heist, in which case it was necessary to know the potential danger of this Meissa's dad.

"My name is Thief. But not because I'm a thief. My dad gave me the name because I am not a Thief." This was an utter lie in more ways than one, but they figured that Meissa was happy and naive enough that she wouldn't call them out on it. This was where they probably should've stopped, but they kept on talking to fill up the awkwardness building up inside. "Just like you're named Meissa because you are not Meissa. See? Names are the opposite of what they actually mean. It's very smart. My dad is very smart. Maybe your dad can meet my dad. Do you think that would be fun? I think that would be fun. We can bring the dolls and play... with both our dads..." And here Thief shut up and felt just about ready to disappear into nothingness because the awkwardness of their words was hitting them even harder after it left their mouth.

Meissa was quite delighted to learn that the visitor to her den wanted to play with her things. She beamed at them, smiling and wriggling from her spot, lifting her ears at their question.

"My dad is like that doll, except WAAAY bigger!" she said excitedly, sitting back on her legs and stretching her front legs to suggest a size, even though her arms could never express Lyn's size. "He's really nice! We live in a garden in Pegasus!"

She cocked her head at their name and gave an airy laugh. "Haha, okay, Not Thief! That's funny, I like that!" she said, and it was painfully sincere. Meissa had no reason to think someone would lie to her. They just wouldn't, right? "Yeah our dads can meet! My dad plays dolls with me! We could all play together!" This was turning out to be one of the best days ever!

Laughing, she tilted her head the other way and asked, "When do you want to do that?" She shuffled from the den entrance and into the wisteria grove, kicking up some loose petals to bat at them in the air. "This is my secret spot! I come here to play and hide things! Please don't tell anyone where my stuff is at! But if you want to come play with things, you can!" she went on, oblivious yet again to Thief's time, or if they even cared that she was still talking; she was swirling and bounding through petals, excited to have met her new friend, Not Thief.

@Thief could roll to slip away while Meissa is distracted if they'd want to!