Game 7: The Thief and the Rose

A quiet village nestled in the jagged rocks, tranquil and loving.

An old wicked witch bent on world domination, evil, brash, and vain.

A devious spell, fire, brimstone, and starfall. Vicious and cunning.

Danger, stay away! Hope and honor not found here. No rain for three years.

•

It did not take very long for Takeshi and Rita to capture and restrain the wannabe thief. The only thing they needed to be on the lookout for was for him to change into a ragbunny again. The tips of his hair were deep red, but the rest of his hair was black as the abyss, which explained the red-tipped ears of his ragbunny form.

“Alright, buddy,” Rita told the thief, “you got five seconds to start talking or else!”

“I don't have to say anything to anyone!” the thief protested. “I know my rights! I want to speak to my lawyer!”

“Don't be dense!” Rita scoffed. “Everyone knows there are no lawyers in The Game. Now, who are you? Where did you come from? And who are you working for?”

“I'm not telling you anything!”

“Let's see that Life Counter of yours,” Rita suggested. She tapped on the screen, revealing a 1 - No, a 4! No! A 2! Wait a minute, it says 8 now?! “Your Life Counter is busted.”

“Yeah,” the thief explained. “It's glitching. Been doing that ever since I got cursed with this ability to turn into animals. The Game doesn't seem to know whether I'm a player or not."

“Cursed?” Takeshi asked, having just finished picking up all the spilled money from earlier.

“Yes, cursed,” the thief continued. “The Badlands are full of warlords and gangs and they're all fighting each other for domination. If I had known that, I would have picked a better starting location.”

“That still doesn't explain why you went out of your way to find Takeshi,” Rita continued, “or why you stole the money from us.”

“The Game only has one rule, and that is to win at any cost,” the thief added. “To win is to survive.”

“So you survive by stealing from others,” Rita realized.

“It's not like I have any other choice,” the thief insisted. “My whole village had been wiped out, leaving me to survive on my own.”

“You always have a choice,” Takeshi finally spoke up. “You chose to find me. You chose to come with me.”

“You seemed like a nice person, Takeshi,” the thief admitted. “You reminded me of the people who took me in when I first got into The Game. But, let's be honest, I couldn't stay in that ragbunny form eating grass and nibbling on flowers forever. I needed an opportunity to do more than just pretend to be someone's pet. When I heard about that money, that's when I knew I had to strike.”

“So, what kinds of animals can you change into?” Rita asked him. “Surely, with enough time, you could have figured out something more useful to do with your time.”

“Only the cute and cuddly ones,” the thief explained. “Trust me, I've tried. Can't be of much use when your skillset is as limited as mine.” He then cycled through an assortment of the kinds of animals he could change into: a ragbunny, a four-winged pigeon, a cat, a poodledoodle, and a butterfly, among others.

“You could have spent the rest of your life being someone's pet,” Takeshi joked.

“That witch must have had some sick sense of humor or something to do this to me,” the thief cried.

“Witch?” Rita asked. “What witch?”

“She called herself the ‘Desert Rose’,” the thief told them. He then removed his shirt to reveal she had placed a mark on his back. The mark itself was blood-red, and sprawling across the thief's back.

“I've seen that mark before!” Rita realized. “There was once a guy who ran into Innsbruck in the process of getting turned into a tree. He had that mark on his right arm.”

“That would be it, then,” the thief added. “That only means I haven't much time before I get stuck like this forever. Or maybe I'm already stuck like this forever. Or maybe it'll get worse.”

“What does someone like you need with ten thousand libras, anyways?” Takeshi asked him.

“What wouldn't someone do with ten thousand libras?” the thief asked in response. “For me, that could have bought me my big ticket out of here.”

“Oh, don't tell me you believe in those stories, too,” Rita scoffed. “There is no way out of The Game.”

Takeshi glared at her. Don't discourage the other players.

“... That we know of,” Rita corrected herself.

“No! There is a way out! I swear!”

“How can you swear an urban legend is true?” Rita asked the thief. “I know the stories,” she added, loaded with sarcasm, “You just gotta follow the yellow brick road all the way to the Emerald City. There, you'll meet the Wizard who will grant you your greatest desire.”

“Wait a minute, that's The Wizard of Oz!” Takeshi realized.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“Well, it's not quite like you described,” the thief, also not recognizing Rita's sarcasm, corrected her. “There's no yellow brick road, there's no wizard, but there are the Game Masters.”

“Game Masters?” Takeshi asked.

“They run The Game from a location in the Emerald City at the center of the map,” the thief continued. “Although, it's more like an Emerald Fortress. Heavily fortified, and chock full of God knows what that's trying to prevent you from getting inside.”

“We're returning to Innsbruck with these items and the money,” Rita explained to the thief, having completely shrugged off the chief's story. “The villagers may be boring, but they're good people. They can take care of you. Or -”

“Or you could come with us,” Takeshi added. “If we're stuck in this game, we might as well be stuck together.” By this time, both of them have started getting ready to leave this place behind.

“Takeshi…” Rita was embarrassed at the mere thought of the thief joining them.

“Listen, Rita,” Takeshi explained. “If it's possible to win The Game, we might as well try to win it together. If it's possible to escape, we might as well escape together. And if we can't, we could just be one big happy family.”

Rita softened her expression. “I hate it when you're right. But are you sure you want to forgive this guy so easily?”

“Hey, can I at least have a say in this?” the thief interrupted them. “I'll accompany you to Innsbruck, and I'll make my decision then.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Rita accepted the thief's counter-offer.

“The name's Proteus, by the way,” the thief finally introduced himself. “Proteus Rhade.”

“Fancy,” Rita commented on his unusual name. “On to Innsbruck, then!”