Thief is a sneaky little thing. And not only was Thief sneaky, Thief was also a sneaky little thing with a liking for thievery. It's in the name okay. They had been investigating the area of Leo recently, and discovered that a certain dragon around here had possible things that could be stolen. Was Dread large? Yes. Was he potentially very dangerous? Also yes. But Thief is young. Unexperienced. And most of all, overconfident.

The butterfly cat had been careful to disguise themselves beforehand, as a dragon. Though they did not know Dread was something called a dragon. Anyway, they had made an attempt to disguise themselves as a dragon-like cat, though it had not turned out very well. It mostly consisted of sticking branches to their head and attempting to attach stones to their fur for the scale-like appearance. None of this worked, however, with the branches looking incredibly not-like-horns and with the stones not sticking on at all. The disguise was very obviously not a disguise. Thief did not know that. They thought they were very smart and dragon-looking.

They did not care whether Dread was actually home or not, because they were confident enough in their awful disguise that they thought they could get away with it. And so, Thief flew right up to that sea stack where Dread kept his treasures.

@Dread

The top of the stack--where Dread roosted--was a large, bowl-shaped enclave. A tree growing at the top, gnarled by wind, provided dappled shade. Bones and hides, and chips of massive chrysalises, were scattered here among lesser treasures. Those "treasures" were shiny objects, mostly little gemstones that had caught the dragon's eye.

Down below, however--in the cave within the stack--was the real hoard. This place was a dozen or so yards below the sea stack's top, and only a creature with wings, like Thief, could get inside. It was visible enough: a gaping maw in the island's side, entering into the damp, cooler darkness where a number of treasures--real treasures--lay scattered.

There were softly-glowing crystals that chimed a constant, soothing song. There were gemstones, gleaming, and chunks of shining gold and fool's gold given to him as payment for a variety of tasks. There was, too, an enchanted collar: maybe ten inches in diameter, solid heavy gold, shining as it sat discarded amongst the other objects.

A crystal bat perched on a ledge within the cave overlooking all of this. It was larger than a typical Crystal Bat--the size of a big vulture, with a ten foot wingspan, and its skin was colored solid gold. It looked rather like a gargoyle or a statue, there.

Depending on whether Thief lit atop the upper bowl of the stack, or the cave beneath, they would find either Dread basking in Leo's light and breeze, or the golden Crystal Bat dozing by the hoard.

@Thief

Thief was not one to think incredibly hard about what to steal. The moment their eyes locked upon the first shiny treasure-like thing they saw, which in this case happened to be gemstones at the top of the sea stack, it was what they decided to steal. As their butterfly wings fluttered in the breeze, branch-horn thing flopping from side to side, Thief was feeling very good about their chances of snatching something. After all, their disguise was perfection! There was no way Dread would be able to tell they weren't a dragon!

It might have been possible to just snatch one and fly away, but you forget that this guy is overconfident. Confident enough that they think it's alright to land on the edge of the enclave and drift-glide their way down to where the treasures were if Dread didn't stop them. There was definitely some noticeable unfamiliarity with the way they went about approaching the treasure, but otherwise they seemed confident enough like they belonged there.

@Dread

Dread, half-asleep, slid his gaze to the black winged cat landing among his things. For a moment, he simply assumed--given the general shape--that it was his daughter, Bug.

Bug, after all, was half black cat and half dragon, and didn't look entirely unlike Thief at first glance. He even lifted his head a fraction and got that first word of greeting out: "BUG," and then paused. Things clicked into place rapidly: first, that this thing was baby-sized where Bug was fully grown, the size of a medium dog. Second, that it had red eyes, the tail was wrong, the wings were wrong. Third-...

"WHO ARE YOU?" he demanded, shoving hastily upright with a rush of dust. He was still more baffled than angry: his mind was (slowly) churning through possibilities. Like-... maybe Bug had had a kid. Maybe this was her idea of a joke: introducing a new child by way of her own prankster ways. But then his throught process was sidelined by another, far more important realization and the question on its heels: "WHY ARE THERE STICKS??"

He did not yet realize the cat-beast was going for his scattered treasures, here; he was too utterly thrown off for that, for now.

@Thief

Thief hadn't realized the sheer size of Dread until they were this close. Maybe they had messed up. This dragon was HUGE! But it should be alright, they had a great disguise, and no one would be able to tell the difference. Bug? Who was that? It seemed to be someone the dragon knew so uh, perhaps they should introduce themselves with a similar name. If dragons were named things like Bug... "I am Rug!" came the response, though coming from a cat that was really more kitten sized as they were one cycle old, this came out like a squeak.

Oh no he was questioning the sticks... come on, come up with a good explanation. "They are! NOT! Sticks!" they shook their head vigorously in disagreement, which caused a stick to fall straight off. Thief quickly stuck it back onto their head and continued as if that hadn't happened. "They are! Horns!" They side-eyed the treasure. "Rug has! Horns!"

@Dread

Confusion mounted, compounding. Generally speaking, a confused Dread was a dangerous Dread--the more frustrated he got, the more aggressive he tended to be. Most problems went away, after all, after they were set on fire. But this--this was a child, he could see that. And Dread was a parental type, so that even now his head was sweeping down, nostrils flaring, in attempts to sniff and nudge and prod at the strange black fairy-kitten.

HORNS? he thought (loudly) to himself. Maybe... this child was simply self-conscious about not having horns?! Maybe they were Bug's child, after all, and sad about the no-horns thing. He huffed, blinking. "THEY ARE NOT HORNS," he informed them gently. "BUT THAT IS OKAY. YOU DO NOT NEED HORNS!" (For, he assumed, 'being a dragon.')

The had child correctly assumed that Bug meant a name and not, in fact, Dread's assumption that Thief was an insect; this was even more puzzling. "WHO SENT YOU? WHY? WHY HERE?" he asked, pulling back a little to get out of the child's way.

It didn't occur to him even for a moment that they were a stranger, sent to steal. Maybe if they'd looked at all different-... Oh, but they'd introduced themselves. He should do the same, unless they already-... "-DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

@Thief

Thief didn't flinch when the dragon reached down to sniff them, keeping their chest puffed out and as if they generally knew what they were doing. Which they did! But the words that came next made them very confused. Dragons did not need horns? But that was the best part of their disguise! They were so realistic! But if Dread said that horns were not necessary in being dragon-like, that was probably true. He was a legit dragon after all. Thief let the sticks fall off their head, though at this point that meant they had no disguise on at all. The rocks from earlier hadn't worked as scales.

Come up with another dragon name, that should do it. "By Fug! Fug said this place! Is good!" Thief had to take deep breaths between each phrase because of their tiny lungs. They felt the need to yell in case a large gembound like Dread couldn't hear them.

They... did not know the dragon was named Dread. Ah well, time to come up with another name! "You are! Mug!" This was said with confidence despite the fact that it was extremely wrong. "Fug say! Mug give! Trea-sure!" Were they being sneaky about this at all? No. But they were one cycle old. You can't blame them.

@Dread

It was only now that Dread began to cotton onto the fact that this was not one of his family. That the names--Fug, Mug--were just parroted, echoes of the Bug he'd spoken first. He... didn't underestand why, and his reaction was again confusion first and foremost.

His large, taloned right hind foot slowly came down to grasp, in a loose sort of way (more a claim of ownership than a real grip), his haphazard collection of "shinies." "THESE ARE MY SHINIES," he explained, although again, almost gently. A rare patience gleamed in his fiery eyes as he tried his best to explain. "YOU CAN TRADE FOR SHINIES. YOU GIVE ME ONE THING. I GIVE YOU A SHINY. THEY ARE MINE," and it was... sort of an offer.

He didn't say what things he wanted, and possibly hadn't thought of that. But--with another cursory sniff of the child--he continued. "I AM DREAD. ARE YOU HUNGRY?"

This sounded like an offer, too.

@Thief