The Shadow Thieves

by Shygeek943

Summary:

Penelope learned from a very young age that people simply don't just give you things. If she wanted something, she would have to take it.

 

AU: Penelope wasn’t adopted and had to learn how to survive as a poor orphan girl; what could have become of Penelope.

Chapter 1

 

The rattling of a carriage and its caravan broke the silence that settled in the night as they traveled a rough, dirt path through the woods. Inside of one, a wealthy merchant grew more irritated. Turning his attention towards his assistant, a younger man who was sitting in front of him, he voiced his displeasure. “Must we travel such a rough path? Were there no other routes for us to take?”

“This was the fastest route. If we had taken another, we would have been late to our destination.” The assistant was quick to respond. 

The merchant accepted the answer with a short grunt and went back to silently enduring every jolt and bump. They were on their way to the empire’s capital with an abundance of goods and commodities. Soon, an annual festival will take place, and such celebrations often motivates people to spend. Especially the nobles. He would be a fool not to take advantage of these occasions. 

Suddenly, the carriage came to an abrupt halt. Before either man could question what happened, the carriage shook as they heard something land above them. Then, everything became unsettling still and quiet. 

“Dylan, go check outside. See why we’ve stop.” The merchant demanded, feeling increasingly uneasy as seconds passed by with no movement or sound. 

“B-but sir-”

The glare Dylan received silenced any protest. Hesitantly, he reached to open the carriage door. Stepping out into the cool night, he immediately noticed something wrong. The caravan and horses were still there, but the coachman and the men they were travelling with were gone. “Sir, everyone’s g-” Before he could finish his sentence, the air got knocked out of him. Then he felt something pushing him down, forcing him to his knees. As he was trying to get his bearings, he heard his boss shouting.

“How dare you?! Get your hands off me!” Two hooded figures dragged the merchant out of the carriage and forced him to his knees next to Dylan.

“Are these the last two?” A feminine voice asked. Following the sound, the men looked up to see a masked woman sitting on top of the carriage with her crossed legs dangling from the edge. As the dark and mask was restricting their vision, they couldn’t make out her features except for her bright, turquoise eyes. 

While Dylan was scared at the turn of events, his boss was only angry. “Who do you think you are?! You thugs! A bunch of trash thie-!” 

Already bored with the display in front of her, the woman waved her hand and the two men immediately lost consciousness. “Put them with the rest.” She ordered the hooded figures as she jumped down and landed gracefully. As they did what they were told, she went to inspect the merchant’s goods. Looking through all the silks, jewelry, furs, and other valuables, she allowed a slight smile to herself. “Not a bad catch.” 
                                                               ——————
“Did you hear? You know that group of bandits that everyone’s been calling the Shadow Thieves? Apparently, they’ve stolen a merchant’s entire carts of goods just last night!” A young maid chatted with her fellow workers. 

“I heard that those poor men didn’t even see it coming. One second they were just travelling and the next they’re waking up by the side of the road and everything was gone.” Another maid added with a shake of her head.

“Isn’t this the fourth time this month alone? Those thieves have been a thorn on the Duke’s side ever since they appeared three years ago. Do you know if the Duke or young masters have made any progress in tracking them down?” A third maid asked.

“The young master is with the merchant to get his account of last night. But if it’s like the times before, he won’t be able to give any new information.” The first maid said. “It’s always the same thing. The thieves completely blindside their victims, and the people they stole from can never give a description of them. We know nothing about what they look like.”

“For a bunch of criminals, you have to admit that they’re quite skilled. Especially since they’ve been able to evade the Eckarts and their knights for so long.” 
                                                                 —————
Derrick Eckart held back a sigh of irritation as the merchant continued to rant and rave. “Those no-good scums! I work hard for money; I’ve earned my wealth. Then, those blasted criminals came and dare take what’s mine!” Several swears spouted out of his mouth as his face was red as a beet. “Those shameless thugs and that vile woman! I want them punished-!”

“Wait,” Derrick interrupted, putting his hand up. “There was a woman?”

There was a slight scowl on the merchant’s face at being cut off. “Yes.” He replied gruffly. “But it was too dark for me to get a good look at her. She was wearing a mask anyway.”

“But we did see her eyes.” The quiet assistant chimed in. “Her eyes were a bluish-green color.” As an afterthought he said, “A pretty color.”
                                                           ———————
“They know about you now.” A young man with crimson hair and golden eyes said casually.

A woman with turquoise eyes showed no worry as she twirled a strand of her fuchsia hair around her finger. “They know about a woman with bluish-green eyes. Hard to find someone based solely on their eye color, Alex.”

A chuckle came from a bronze-haired man with amusement in his hazel eyes. “Three years and that’s the only thing those Eckarts learned about us. They have such formidable reputations but based on how much progress they’ve made on us, it’s kinda of underwhelming.” He cracks a laid-back smile. “Or maybe we’re just that good and it’s getting too easy. Maybe we should take it up a notch.”

A smirk tugs at the corner of the woman’s mouth. “We could sneak into the Duke’s manor. Steal right under their noses.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Don’t give him ideas, Penelope. You know Luis has enough crazy ones of his own.”

“You call it crazy; I call it creative.” Luis said.

Not wanting to hear the two males bicker, Penelope shifted the conversation towards business. “Before we start planning the next hit, we need to make money off of this one first.” She walked towards the commodities they stolen. “Though that shouldn’t be a problem. That merchant really did bring some quality stuff.” As she looked over the goods once more, a certain necklace caught her eye. It had a small golden chain and hanging down from it was a pendent made from an emerald-colored mana stone. Penelope picked it up and turned to the boys with a smile. “I’m keeping this.” 

 

Chapter 2: When It Began

Summary:

The first time Penelope stole.

At the age of twelve, Penelope became an orphan. Her birth father was never a part of her life. Whether that was by his choice or by ill fate, she didn't know. Her mother was her only family, the only person who loved her. Her mother is dead now. And Penelope hates how alone and scared she feels. 

Penelope was the daughter of a poor merchant. Too poor to keep a roof over their heads, too poor to keep their stomachs full, and certainly too poor to afford a burial. So, she stays by her mother’s corpse, doing her best to swat away the flies. She doesn’t know how many days passed, but her mother is rotting away and doesn’t even look like her mother anymore. Penelope uses an old, dirty blanket, one of the very few things she has, to cover her mother’s body. Penelope was cold, but she couldn’t stand to watch her mother slowly rot. She didn’t want that to be the last image she had of her. 

Hunger was something Penelope was all too familiar with. She’s lived with for as long as she could remember and has learned to endure it, but it’s come to the point where she couldn’t ignore it anymore. So, she leaves her mother’s side in search of something to fill the hollowness in her stomach. 

Penelope hates being a beggar. She hates how it makes her feel so lowly, so pathetic, so inferior. It hurts what little pride she possessed. “What is pride worth compared to surviving, my love?” Her mother once said to her. So, Penelope begs for whatever scraps strangers would give her. But just like times before, she is either completely invisible to them or they look down at her with disdain-filled eyes. 

As she was about to give up and return to her mother, Penelope eyes landed on the produce a male vendor was selling, namely a bright red apple that looked so enticing. She knew she couldn’t have for she didn’t have any money. “You could just take it when he’s not looking.” A faint voice whispered in her head. Penelope frowned at the thought. Her mother had told her that stealing was bad, that you shouldn’t take what doesn’t belong to you. Stealing would upset her mother. “But mother’s dead now.” The voice whispered again. “You’re starving. It’s just one apple. What would it hurt?” The growling of her stomach was the last push that brought Penelope closer to the vendor’s stand.

The vendor was distracted, occupied with arguing with a customer over price. Penelope could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and she wondered if the man could hear it too. It got louder as she lifted her hand and reached for the fruit, constantly glancing towards the vendor and the other people walking about to make sure they didn’t see her. Once her hand grabbed the fruit, she quickly held it to her chest, turned, and ran as fast as her as she could. 

Penelope didn’t stop until she was back by her mother’s side. Breathing heavily, she crouched down as she stared at the apple in her hand. She turned towards her mother’s lifeless body. “Sorry, Mama.” She murmured before sinking her teeth into the apple. Penelope did feel guilty for doing something that her mother would disapprove of, but her hunger outweighed her guilt. And at least for now, her stomach wasn’t so empty. Hopefully, her mother would forgive her.

Notes:

Sorry that the chapter's on the short side, but I hope you still enjoyed reading it. Sorry for any grammatical errors. I honestly have no idea where this story is going, so it'll probably be a while before I post another chapter. Feedback is always welcomed.

Notes:

First of all, I love DITOEFV and I love Penelope. After I finished reading the novel, I wondered what Penelope’s life would be like if there was no Leila, if Yvonne was found shortly after she went missing, if Penelope wasn't adopted. And I haven't written in a while.. So, I ended up creating this little AU fanfic.
I hope you enjoyed reading it and I'm sorry for any grammatical errors. Feedback is always welcomed.