"All I can hope for is for me to get better because all I can take is no more."

by nulimez

Summary:

Literally just my Hilda self insert au i made since if i dont write it down ill tweak out

Chapter 1: The night in question.

News had been spreading around like crazy in the city of Trolberg about a chain of robberies that had taken place. People were finding their belongings missing and windows open, stores noticed a lack of supplies when just restocked and people on the street realizing they had been pickpocketed.

The warnings were almost the only thing people would talk about nowadays. "Make sure to lock your windows," "Install cameras!" "Get a guard dog!" Things like these were something Hilda and her mother heard nearly every day for the past week.

It was night in the city. People had porch and balcony lights off, the streets were quiet, and people found themselves tucked in their beds.

Hilda and her friends were no different. At the moment, they were having a sleepover at Hilda's house due to the thorough convincing of all of their parents. Hilda lay in her bed with her deerfox, Twig, with David and Frida sleeping on the floor with blankets and pillows, all on the verge of peaceful unconsciousness.

Click, click, click.. The noises were small but noticeable. It was coming from her living room. It stopped for a brief moment.. Then again. Click, click, click.

The noises started and stopped at random intervals. It wasn't like her mom was leaving to go do something at this hour.. No.. Nobody would unless you worked the night shift or were a night owl, which neither she nor her mother really were.

Once the clicking came to a stop, a careful sliding noise followed, as well as a thud. Someone's voice. A quiet curse. Someone was in her house.

Through her groggy state, she managed to sit herself upright. She hadn't fully processed the situation at hand, that was until unfamiliar footsteps traversed through the house.

She shot up, her mind on full alert realizing the full extent of the situation. Twig, the ever perceptive one, was already on the floor growling at the door, realizing long ago there was a home invader.

She carefully stood up. She had to do something. She couldn't just.. go and let someone rob the house!

She quietly walked up to where David and Frida were both peacefully sleeping, blissfully unaware of what was happening outside of their mindless dreams, and began to shake them awake.

"David, Frida! Wake up, there's someone in the house."

She tried to warn them as quietly as possible, hopeful that the invader hadn't heard her. She had no clue who or what was in her home; she was not about to risk everyone's safety by being loud.

With the relentless bugging from Hilda, both David and Frida opened their eyes, both equally confused by Hilda's sudden urgency in the dead of night.

Throughout their whole friendship, they'd gotten used to Hilda's late-night adventures or situations she'd manage to get them all in, but this seemed different.

Frida was the first to notice: Hilda's panicked demeanor, the clear tension in her body.

Sure, she was used to seeing Hilda scared from time to time but this was different. It was a type of panic she'd rarely see on the other girl's face.

Even David quickly noticed, quickly tensing up as he saw the distressed expression plastered on Hilda's face. Hilda had always been the bravest out of all of them, so seeing her so.. petrified, was unsettling.

"Hilda, what's going on?", Frida was the first to press, voice unsure as she looked around the room to see what could possibly be wrong.

"Shh, there's someone in the house..!"

Both David and Frida's faces became ones of confusion. They were on the third story, How could someone break in without being caught? Despite their suspicions, Hilda was their friend and they trusted her like no other.. Most of the time.

"What, but how? Aren't we on the third story?", David whispered as he silently tried to stand up, still disoriented from the abrupt awakening.

"I don't know! I just.."

The sound of clanking rang throughout the house, quickly followed by quiet panicked curses, cutting Hilda off.

By the noises, one could guess the intruder was most likely in the kitchen, rummaging through their stuff, presumably for something valuable.

"Well, we could just wait in here?", David suggested. It was probably the more logical route to take.

Unfortunately for them, Hilda was far from logical more than half the time. If she was anything, she was stubborn.

"No, I can't let them get away with this!", She quickly retorted. She hated the idea of letting someone steal from her and getting away with it.

David and Frida both exchanged concerned glances, knowing how easily things could go south.

"Maybe David's right, Hilda. We don't know who's out there; it could be dangerous!", She tried to reason with Hilda. As much as she'd like to confront the intruder, it really just wasn't safe.

Alas, Hilda, predictably, didn't listen. Either way, she was going to confront this thief, alone or not and Frida and David knew it all too well.

They decided they'd rather be there for backup for when things inevitably went absolutely horrid.

"What are we even going to do?", David questioned as Hilda silently held the door open ajar, peering through to see if she could get any sort of idea what they were working with.

"We'll think of something.." " she said as she tried to make out who was in her kitchen.

A cloaked figure stood in her kitchen rummaging through cabinets and moving seemingly useless papers to the side as they persistently searched.

The hooded figure scoffed as they realized the drawer they searched through had nothing of value to snag before shutting it back up.

Hilda stared at the mysterious individual for a while, trying to figure out any clear way to stop them.

Frida moved right beside her, trying to see what they were, apprehensively, dealing with.

They both watched as the stranger continued to raid her kitchen and its drawers, stuffing a couple bucks in their bag along with some random food items like bread and such.

"We need a weapon..", Hilda whispered, breaking the silence only slightly.

But what could they use? They didn't have any sort of weapon at their disposal.

They all looked around until Frida spotted something a bit.. Unpractical..

Hilda held the lamp tight in her grasp. It wasn't much but it could work. It was better than nothing at least.

"But how would we sneak up on them without being spotted?", David brought up a valid concern. It would be useless to try and confront the stranger

"We need a distraction..", Hilda thought. What would be a relatively effective distraction to keep someone's eyes off them?

That's what led the three to beg Alfur to be a distraction as they tried to stop the burglar.

"You want me to go out there and do what now?", Alfur questioned, bewildered by the thought. He was a writer! A journalist! He didn't do.. this!

"Please Alfur! We need you..", Hilda pleaded, trying her best to convince the tiny elf to help in her, more than reckless, plan.

He sighed, knowing he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't oblige. "Fine, I'll do it.", He agreed although reluctantly.

They sent him out of the room, allowing him to make his way to the kitchen to begin their plan.

They heard it. Small voices.. The stranger looked around trying to find the source, but to no avail.. There was nobody but him.

They gripped their flashlight, turning it on to look around the areas they swore they heard a voice from. Maybe they were just sleep deprived..?

Hilda knew the chances of the intruder signing any sort of contract with the elves were next to none, allowing her plan to play out perfectly. While the stranger was preoccupied with trying to figure out with where the unidentified voice was coming from, she stepped outside the room quietly with Frida and David following close behind.

"I think I'm going crazy..", The stranger mumbled to themselves after realizing they couldn't see anyone.

Though they didn't see anyone, it didn't make them any less anxious since they were mostly convinced they heard voices..

They backed away from the kitchen and grabbed their bag, never facing away from the kitchen as if they did the voice they were hearing would suddenly materialize and attack them.

This was perfect for Hilda, allowing her to get closer without being spotted and getting caught.

They continued to silently inch closer before striking.

"Now!", Hilda yelled as she wielded the lamp as if it were a bat.

The intruder spun around, caught off guard by the sudden noise.

Hilda swung and hit them square in the face. The stranger stumbled back, disoriented by the sudden and unexpected blow.

"Ow!", They yelped and gripped their nose which throbbed with pain; dropping their bag.

They aimed their flashlight at the three who hit them in the face.

They didn't expect to get caught. Well, they were being sloppy with their work today, but still.

He stared at the three for a moment, attempting to figure out what had just happened. Being hit with a lamp really threw them off their guard.

"Who are you?", Hilda demanded, "What are you doing here?", Frida backed her up.

They were more focused on thinking of a way out to really process anything. They were outnumbered, 4-1. They had 3 people along with a deerfox on him.

As the three took in some of the vague features they could make out from the dark, they quickly realized they were the same age as them, heavily confusing all of them.

"You..", Hilda managed to mumble out before being quickly interrupted by the stranger grabbing their bag and hopping out the open window.

"Hey!", they all yelled after the mysterious person as they watched them slide down a light pole and bolt away.

Chapter 2: New leads

Summary:

Part 2 of my Hilda self insert fanficc AUGHH.

Notes:

sorry for any grammar errors in advance. im lowk writing all this at night so my works a lot more sloppy than usual (╥﹏╥)

It was an early spring morning, and Hilda and her friends walked to school in a daze, their minds all stuck on the same thing: last night's robbery.

They couldn't help but think about it! Who could really blame them? It felt like some sort of collective fever dream the three of them oh so happened to share that night.

"We have to find them.", Hilda abruptly announced catching both David and Frida off guard.

"How would we do that? The city is full of suspects! How could we possibly find the culprit out of everyone?", David brought a valid point, the city was huge, meaning there was little to no chance of actually finding the infamous burglar.

They could tell city patrol, but then again, they hadn't really been of much help as of late.. If ever. They always seemed to somehow escalate and or make situations worse so that was off the table.

They hadn't even told Hilda's mum, Johanna. They knew if they told her there would be a good chance of her telling the city patrol and her watching them like hawks.

Johanna could be.. protective at times, so her being around watching would not be ideal in them trying to find the thief.

"We can start questioning witnesses! There are plenty of people who've gotten robbed! We can start there.", There were plenty of people who've gotten robbed as of late! No doubt they'd get some sort of lead from there.

"We can do that after school, Hilda.", Frida knew they couldn't just skip school to scour the entire city just to find someone.

"Hm.. Fine.", as much as she'd like to skip, she knew she couldn't, so she begrudgingly continued her walk to school.

The school day went by uneventfully, Mrs. Hallgrim talking about.. something. None of them were really paying attention besides maybe Frida, who couldn't help but get slightly sidetracked with her thoughts throughout the lesson.

The school day came and went, the bell ringing dismissing everyone for the day. Hilda, David, and Frida all met up at the front of the school all knowing their plan.

They ran around the city questioning people trying to find any sort of lead, big or small.

"Excuse me, have you been robbed recently?", Hilda asked. This was the twelfth house they'd been to without any luck.

"Oh, yes I have! They took my watch! Wait no, I lost that myself.. But they took my money! I found that money fair and square Do you know how hard it is to find money on the ground?-"

Their search was proving to be pointless. Either the people hadn't seen the thief or had just not been robbed at all.

As they were listening to their interviewee mindlessly blabber on, Frida spotted someone. A kid around their age. Long curly hair that could nearly reach the floor, tan skin, a band shirt, jorts.. Just a regular kid.

Something about them caught her eye as they pranced around. She stared at them for a long while, squinting to try and see anything off.

That's when she saw it. Their bruised nose. It caught her attention immediately.

The bruise looked decently fresh. Last night's events flashed in her mind. The lamp.

"Guys, look!", Frida quickly pointed at the boy who was now walking away, blissfully unaware that he had become their prime suspect.

Hilda turned in the direction Frida was pointing and saw him. This was the biggest lead they've had all day!

"Uhm, yeah. Gotta go, sir. Bye!", Hilda said as she booked it towards the boy as he walked away.

"Oh, well how rude.. I wasn't even finished! Kids these days.."

They continued to sprint towards their new suspect who seemed completely clueless to the fact he was currently being trailed.

They quickly managed to catch up with him, seeing as he wasn't even running.

He turned around, noticing quick-paced footsteps getting closer and closer behind him, and saw the trio standing there with a certain look of.. purpose.

He stared at them for a couple seconds too long, looking the three up and down as if he were inspecting them. They stood there in awkward silence for what felt like an awkward amount of time. The stranger stared at them with a now more confused expression, wondering what was going on.

Hilda stood there for a couple moments, realizing she hadn't actually planned out what to actually say when confronting him. What he wasn't even them?

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to say—", she thought for a moment trying to come up with a reasonable lie. "—cool shirt..?"

He looked down at his own shirt before nodding in appreciation. "Oh, thanks! It's a band I like. I'm.. gonna go now. Bye."

He turned around, walking away from the interaction, occasionally taking a glance or two back before he was fully out of sight.

The trio stood there for what felt like an eternity, finally letting out a sigh of relief when the boy was finally out of view. "..What was that?!", David turned to Hilda, wondering how their supposed confrontation ended so anticlimactically and overall awkwardly.

"I don't know! I panicked!", Hilda couldn't help but feel a tad bit embarrassed as to how the whole thing went. Frida sighed, trying to think of a way to get something out of him without raising suspicion. "What if we follow him? See if he does anything suspicious?"

So they agreed. The three began roaming around the city, finding him once again shortly after. They didn't want to make it too obvious that they were trailing him so they kept a good distance between him and themselves.

They watched as he strolled through the city. He wasnt doing anything explicitly suspicious.. Well, unless you counted picking up stray quarters off the ground as suspicious. "Maybe he isn't the thief?", David suggested, tired of walking around aimlessly for what felt like hours. "Maybe you're right..", Hilda sighed in disappointment.

Hilda couldn't help but stare at the boy a bit longer, defeated by another meaningless trace.

She watched as he began slowing his pace, looking around to make sure no ones eyes were on him.. As if he were doing something suspicious! "Wait— look!", she pointed out his now seemingly sketchy behavior as he turned a corner.

The others both turned and noticed the sift in behavior from him and nodded, all silently agreeing on one thing: follow him. They ran after him and watch from afar as he walked into a secluded alley, away from prying eyes.

They ran after him, hoping this was it, that they had finally solved the string of robberies across the city!

They slowed their pace as they got to the enterance of th alley. They couldn't help but be a bit nervous. If they were right, who knows what the strange boy would do if he knew they found out? They began carefully walking, keeping silent.

It was.. odd? They couldn't see him. They looked around but found no trace whatsoever. The continued to walk further into the alley. Maybe he was behind the dumpster? "This is creepy..", David spoke, a shiver running up his spine. Hilda took the lead and jumped beside the dumpster hoping to find him there and catch him off guard but.. He wasnt there.

They all stared at the alleys dead end. Nothing. He wasn't anywhere to be found at all! How was that even possible?

"Where'd he go?", Hilda looked around frustrated, confused, and creeped out. No sign, no clue as to where he could've gone.

"How'd he get out? It's a dead end!", Frida looked around, trying to find any possible escape route one could've taken to get out and in such a quick fashion. "I don't know but this is weird..", David backed away, as if getting any closer would be infectious.

She just couldn't understand it! She was so sure he was here.. He was here! Where could he have possibly gone? Was he a ghost of some sort? But ghosts didn't have the ability to turn human! And even if they did, she was sure they couldn't bruise..

They all left, dejected. "At least we know what our suspect looks like..?", Frida tried to lighten Hilda's mood, if only a little. "Yeah, you're right. We'll find him tomorrow!", she nodded enthusiastically, already going through future plans and maybe something to actually say when confronting him next time.

They eventually had to each go their seperate ways home and each bid their farewells.

Hilda eventually made it home. She walked in to the comforting smell of food being made by her mum.

"Oh, Hilda, you're back! Dinners almost ready, sit down.", Johanna was clearing off the counters to make room for bowls to pour stew she had prepared into. "How was your day with David and Frida?"

Hilda sat at the kitchen table, fiddling with her spoon, the days events replaying in her head like a movie. The robbery, the boy... "It was good mum..", Johanna nodded and placed a bowl in front of her.

"Well that's good! I'm going out to the store tomorrow to get some food. I swore I bought bread last time.", Johanna took a seat across from Hilda, noticing her daughters usually upbeat demeanor replaced by a more subdued one.

"Is there something wrong?", Johanna gave Hilda a concerned glance. "I'm fine mum, I'm just— not hungry.."

She stood up from the table and walked to her room. She was tired and too preoccupied with the thoughts swimming in her head to eat. She flopped onto her bed, contemplating on all the decisions that led up to this.

"You need tell her, Hilda!", Alfur popped out of his little coocoo clock house and walked across Hilda's bedside table. "No! I can't. I can deal with it myself, Alfur.", "She's bound to find out! My advice is to tell her and be honest."

Hilda scoffed. Sure, she knew Alfur had a point, but she was determined. She could do this by herself.

She turned to look at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the world. She had to think of a plan for tomorrow. She couldn't let him get away! That kid must've been the thief, she just had to prove it.

 

As David walked he heard distant thuds.. But it was weird? It was from above.. He tried to get a better angle at the roofs. It was probably just some late night maintenance worker. "Is someone jumping across the roofs??"

He stared at the figure hop from roof to roof, bewildered by the sight. Was he going crazy? He squinted trying to get a better look, but finding it to be difficult from down below.

They looked familiar in a sense.. They wore a cloak.. A cloak. That was them! The robber! He had to tell Hilda and Frida!

 

Hilda was snapped out of her trance, the sound of frantic knocking jolting her up. She hopped out of her bed and walked to the now empty living room. She looked at the door and peered throught the peephole.

It shocked her to see David right outside looking like he had just seen a ghost. She slowly opened the door to let him inside, curious as to what he had to say.

"David, what are you doing here?", "I saw them! I saw the robber!"

This immediately caught her attention. She hadn't expected this sort of news when she saw him at her doorstep, but she wasn't complaining. Far from.

"What? Where?", she pressed, desperate for more information. This could be it! "They were jumping on the roofs! While I was walking home I saw them hop across roof to roof!", he exclaimed.

So that's how they got around.. They needed to find them and fast. They could be anywhere by now and they probably didn't have much time.

"We need to chase after them!", she turned towards her mum's bedroom. It seemed she fell asleep early.. They had time.

"We need to get Frida, hurry, come one!" She turned around to find Twig right at her side looking confused wondering where she could be going at this time. "You too, boy, c'mon!"

Twig quickly obliged, following David and Hilda along to find this "mysterious person".

They bolted to Frida's house, trying to make it there as quickly as they could. They couldn't waste any time if they wanted this done.

"Where'd you see them last?", "On top of a building close to my place! If we get Frida and get back quick enough, maybe they'll still be close by!"

They soon arrived at Frida's house. Hilda frantically knocked and was quickly answered. "Hilda? David? What are you two doing here?"

"David saw them! We have to go look!", Frida tilted her head not fully convinced. "Are you sure it was them?", "Im sure! It was them!", David quickly interjected. He knew what he saw and was confident.

With both Hilda and David being so adamant that they knew where he was Frida followed along, trusting that her friends weren't leading her on a wild goose chase for nothing.

David led them all back to where he last saw them and pointed to the roof. "He was up there! He was jumping across!", Frida looked up with curious eyes.. How'd one get up there? "Maybe that's how he travels? Instead of on ground he travels on the roof."

They needed to find a way onto the roof, and quickly. Who knows where they could've ended up by now!

They all began frantically searching for a way on the roof. That's when they found it. An old rusty ladder in an alley that went all the way up onto the roof.

"Here!", Hilda exclaimed, running towards the ladder. "Is this safe? It looks dangerous.", David stared at the ladder. He wasn't wrong, it did look.. flimsy.

Hilda shook the ladder. "See? It's fine. Now c'mon!", she picked up Twig and began quickly making her way up with Frida following right behind her. David sighed and followed suit, albeit reluctantly.

They made their way up and looked at their surroundings. "Did you see which way they went?", Frida turned to David. If they wanted to find them, they had to at least have a basic lead. "He went that way.", David pointed to the left towards the building over.

Hilda put Twig down and walked up to the edge and looked at the building across then down. The jump was a taunting one. If one fell it could end horribly, but that wasn't enough to deter her. She was confident. She had survived worse. Dangerous adventures and chases, yet she always came out alive.

She stared out into the distance, trying to see if she could see anyone or anything. Any sort of clue that they could use to their advantage..

A figure in the distance stood upon a building a couple roofs over. That must be them! "Guys, I see them!", Hilda pointed towards the figure, ecstatic they actually managed to track them down.

"We have to get to them, let's go!", Hilda backed away from the ledge, preparing herself to gain some momentum so she could jump across. David on the other hand saw the distance between buildings and shivered the thought of falling sending a wave of paranoia through him. "Uh, I think I'll just—", he backed away began heading back for the ladder. "travel on ground. Y'know, just in case."

Hilda and Frida exchanged glances, but decided not to push. "Alright, we'll meet you down there!", Frida yelled back at David before turned back toward to next building. "You ready boy?", Hilda turned to Twig who seemed not all that enthusiastic about it but ready nonetheless. They all backed away before sprinting and hopping to the next building over. Hilda had her eyes fixed on the figure doing god knows what. It was near impossible to tell from where they were at.

The kept up the pace, jumping from building to building, adrenaline coursing through them.

They were in view! Just a little closer.. They looked like they were looking at a large piece of paper with drawing on it maybe? The three of them continued jumping eventually making it to their destination.

The figure flinched at the noise of others on the roof and spun around, surprised to see the three. They stared for a moment.. Where was their other little friend? Honestly though, that was the least of their concerns.

The hastily grabbed their stuff and began dashing toward the next building over, not wanting to get caught. "Hey, wait!", Hilda yelled after them, running to keep up. "They're getting away!", Frida and Twig quickly followed behind.

Adrenaline coursed through them. They couldn't let them get away again! They couldn't just leave it here! They had to at least get something out of all this.

The hopped from building to building, keeping up the best they could. The invader eventually stopped, there being no other buildings to jump to. They stared down at the ground, the fall daunting.

Hilda, Frida, and Twig all stood a safe distance away from the stranger, leaving no room for them to try and run past. "Stop! You can't run forever!", Hilda took a step closer, knowing that they couldn't do much to stop her.

They stared down at her and took at step back but realized they couldn't go much further without falling. They didn't have any sort of clear escape.. They stared down and then back at the three, contemplating on their next move.

That's when they spotted something. They looked back at Hilda before jumping down. Hilda and Frida both collectively gasped and ran to the ledge, hearts pounding in their chests. Did they just jump?! Were they crazy?!

They looked down and saw the stranger slide down a lamp post, safely making it to the ground. They both sighed in relief, glad they didn't just witness a death.

The stranger hopped off the streetlight and began to start running again until they were pulled and held back. They trashed around and turned to see who was holding him back just to see David. He was traveling on foot the whole time!

"Get off—", They trashed and pushed as David attempted to keep a grip on then for as long as possible, trying to stall until Hilda, Frida, and Twig made it off the roof. "—me!" They pushed David off, the hood of their cloak coming off from all the movement. It was the boy from that morning! He quickly backed away and sprinted, not stalling as to not get caught.

"Hey!", Hilda scooped up Twig and took the same path, sliding down the streetlight and looking past the corner. He was gone! Hilda put Twig back down, frustrated. Was that all for nothing?!

Frida slid down right after, dusting herself off. She looked at Hilda and noticed her defeated expression and could quickly assume that he had gotten away again. "Hey, it's okay! At least we know who he is now.", Frida walked up to Hilda and pat her on the shoulder, trying to comfort her friend the best she could. "We can find him tomorrow."

David sat back up, his balance slightly off from the push. He looked down at the ground and noticed a large piece of paper on the ground that the thief had seemingly dropped and picked it up. "He dropped this!", Both Frida and Hilda looked back at David to see what he was talking about. Hilda perked up at the sight. That's what he was looking at back on the roof!

"What is it?", They made their way towards David, both on either side to get a good look. They unfolded the paper to see a map of some sort of hand made map drawn with pen. It was covered in little notes across it and effective pathways.

"This must be how he tracks the areas he robs!", Frida stared at the map in awe. It must've taken deliberate planning and attention to detail to make something like that.

Hilda was thrilled to say the least. Not that there was a robber, but that they had finally found a huge clue. "We should look at this tomorrow!", she was enthusiastic to start as soon as possible but knew they'd all have to get back home at some point. They couldn't just stay outside forever.

"I'll take the map to look at it.", Frida took the map and inspected it. This would be something for sure.

They separated, all making their way back to their respective homes. "We finally got something! You excited for tomorrow boy?" Hilda strolled back home, happy that the whole ordeal wasn't for nothing. Twig followed right beside her, ready to make his way home.

Hilda made her way to the front door, pressing her ear against it to see if she could hear anything. She slowly opened the door and sighed in relief to see that the living room was still empty, happy her mum didn't notice her absence.

Her and Twig both walked in and quietly made their way back to her room where she found herself flopped on her bed.

She kicked off her shoes and just laid there. She was confident she'd finally have this sorted out soon. Tomorrow was a weekend so they'd have plenty of time to search around.

She turned to face the window and stared outside. Sure, they didn't catch him today, but that didn't deter her. It never did. She yawned, the day catching up with her. Her eyes soon enough closed as she fell asleep.

Chapter 3: One Step Closer

Summary:

Hilda amd her friends get one step closer to finding out who the mysterious thief is!!! oooo! (Mudi is actually my brothers self insert fyi :33)

Notes:

this took 4ever w band camp in the way (╥﹏╥)

Hilda woke up, still in her day clothes from the night before. She set herself upright, slightly disoriented from sitting up too fast. She couldn't tell if she was well rested or not. It was like an odd combination of the two.

 

As her brain processed the previous days events, she jolted awake. She scrambled out of bed, getting ready for the day as fast as she could. She had to meet David and Frida to talk about what they had found last night!

 

"What's got you in a rush?", Alfur asked, sitting on her desk. "I have to meet David and Frida to talk about the thief!", Alfur shook his head at the response. Sure, he wasn't surprised in the slightest; Hilda was determined, but that didn't stop him from trying to convince her otherwise. "Hilda, shouldn't you just go to city patrol? This isnt something for you to handle!"

 

Hilda couldn't help but roll her eyes. They stole from her, automatically making it something for her to handle! Why couldn't he understand that? "It's fine Alfur, I can deal with it.", she quickly retorted. She was going to stop the thief one way or another regardless of his stance.

 

"But your mum—", "She's not going to find out, Alfur. It's fine.", she quickly cut him off, rushing out her room as Alfur sighed and shook his head. 

 

She sprinted out, Twig quickly realizing where she was heading, decided to follow along. Just as she was about to open the door, Johanna called out to her. "Hilda, you're leaving already? You aren't going to eat?", Hilda turned to her mum and quickly responded, not wanting to waste time. "Oh uh, no. I'm going to eat lunch with David and Frida. Bye!", Johanna gave her an odd look. It wasn't unusual for Hilda to rush off and do things though, she was probably just thinking too hard about it.

 

Hilda wanted to see if Frida had figured out anything at all from inspecting the map they'd gotten. Maybe a motive? A place he kept the stolen items? Her and Twig continued to jog, their only goal being to make it to Frida's as fast as humanly possible.

 

They made it there quickly, Hilda knocking on the door, her gut twisting in her stomach from nerves and excitement. The door swiftly opened within a couple seconds with Frida greeting her. "Hilda! David's already here. I think we found some clues, c'mon!" Hilda obliged, following Frida to her room eagerly with Twig right behind her.

 

As they entered the room, they saw David sitting on the bed along with the map placed neatly on Frida's desk. "Look at this," Frida led Hilda to the desk as she pointed to various points on the paper. "I think the alleys are where he hides his stuff."

 

She pointed to one of the many marked alleys as "Safe-point". There had to be at least ten other areas on the map marked as such.

 

David hopped off the bed and walked over beside Hilda, wanting to get a good view. "He may have other maps," He noted. The map looked uncomplete; the ends of it looking like they were meant to be connected to something else to make a bigger picture.

 

"We should look around the areas on the map!", Hilda suggested. If their assumptions were correct, maybe they could find some of the stolen items and even more clues! "Okay, we can start here since its close by, then work our way around.", Frida suggested. If they could all work their way around until they'd explored most of the area on the map, they could talk about it after and talk about any potential new information!

 

So they agreed, all of them deciding to make their way around until they found something useful, or until they'd explored everywhere on the map. They headed for the closest area: An alley next to a nearby convenience store.

 

They arrived quickly, looking around to see if they could find anything of interest. The alley wasn't anything special; nothing suspicious either. "I dont see anything..", Hilda realized. There wasn't anything out of place. Well, out of place for an alley at least. "Are we in the right spot?", David asked as he opened a dumpster, hoping that maybe he'd find a clue in there.

 

Frida opened the map to give it another look over. Maybe she led them to the wrong place? But nope, they were in the exact point that was labeled "Safe-point." on the map! "Yeah, we are.."

 

Twig scanned the place as he walked, something catching his eye behind a stray box. It was a bracelet made of colorful beads and some dingy string. He sniffed it pushing it around with his snout like he was inspecting it. It had a faint smell, similar to that of the map they'd found. Determining it could be a clue, he picked it up gently, not wanting to bite too hard so he wouldn't break it.

 

Hilda turned to see Twig prancing up to her with some sort of handmade jewerly in his mouth. "Huh, what's this?", she spoke as she crouched down to his level to get a good look at it. She stuck her hand out and Twig dropped it for her to inspect.

 

"What'd Twig find?", David walked up to the two and stared at the bracelet that was now in the palm of Hilda's hand with a confused expression. "Twig found it.", Hilda said bluntly as she stood back up. She looked at it wondering if this was somehow related to their thief.. Maybe it was his?

 

Frida looked up from the map to see Hilda and David huddled together looking at something Twig had found and walked over to see. She was surprised to just see a bracelet, and sure, she wasn't expecting that much, but she had expected something a bit more.. interesting? "That's it? A bracelet?", Frida said, slightly surprised by how simply.. mundane the item was.

 

"Twig found it behind those boxes.", Hilda placed it in her pocket for safe keeping. "Maybe theres something else there?" She walked up to the dirty pile of stray boxes and moved them to the side, but found nothing of use.

 

"I guess not.", David said as he looked, disappointed by the lack of anything substantial. They all left, all more determined after finding something. Sure, it was small, and most definitely insignificant, but it meant that there was most definitely a chance for another, possibly bigger clue, to be somewhere on the map.

 

As they left the alley, they saw the shops cashier: some random teenager, walking out of the store, seemingly off their shift. Frida impulsively decided to walk up to them, hoping to start up small talk, maybe find something out herself. "Excuse me, do you know anyone who has really long curly hair and—", before she could finish, the employee cut her off seemingly already guessing what she was about to say. "The kid who wears that band shirt?", Frida nodded, happy they knew who she was talking about.

 

"Yes! Do you know him?", Frida asked. "Sort of. They took my iPod but that's about it.", "They stole from you?" Frida looked shocked, but wanted to press further. "What? No, I gave it to him. I didn't need that old thing anyway. He comes by from time to time, usually around night. Anyway, I have to go." They walked away and Frida slightly slumped. She was glad they hadn't been robbed, sure, but she had hoped that'd they'd have a witness.

 

She walked back to the group with the new information. So he came here during some nights.. They needed more though. From what she could tell, he didn't go there every night and waiting around the store night after night seemed tedious. "Where to next?" Hilda asked. She was already eager to look for more. She had a good feeling about this whole thing.

 

And so they searched, looking around the places prominently marked on the map. They found that they unfortunately, weren't as lucky as before, realizing there wasn't anything of use. 

 

They'd come down to the last area marked "Safe-point." on the map. They all walked around looking for anything at all. "Nope, nothing here either.", David concluded as he looked behind an old trashcan. Hilda sighed in frustration, the fact they hadn't found anything beside an old bracelet being more upsetting than she'd let on.

 

David walked over to Frida and looked closely at the map. Had they missed anything? Surely there must be something else to explore. Sure, there was a lot on the map, but that was mainly pathways that they didn't really need. After scanning the page for a while, something caught his eye.

 

"What's that?" He pointed to an area marked "Mudi" on the page. It was located right around a local farmers market with no further elaboration. "Huh, I don't know?" She looked closer. The place wasn't far at all, maybe a five minute walk from where they were.

 

"What are you talking about?" Hilda walked up and quickly saw what the other two were on about. Maybe there was something there related to the thief! "We should go! I bet we could find someone there who knows him!" Hilda suggested. Frida nodded. It wasn't a bad idea. With plenty of people there, there was bound to be someone who knew the culprit. "Okay, let's go! There's a bunch of people there around this time!" Frida spoke, readily agreeing with Hilda.

 

And so off they went to the farmers market to track down whatever or whoever this "Mudi" was.

 

It didn't take long for them to find the market, the sound of friendly chatter filled the community. "So, we just ask around for a Mudi?", Frida questioned. "I guess so.. C'mon!", Hilda led the way with the other three keeping up right behind her. 

 

They studied the stands nearby, people selling all sorts of goods. Hilda walked up to a nearby stand where a farmer seemed to be selling her crops to a customer. She waited and watched as they interacted before speaking up. "Hello, do you know a Mudi by any chance?", the farmer turned to her, a slight frown on her face. "Mudi? Gosh, you're looking for her?", Hilda nodded in response. Was this Mudi that bad? "He's somewhere around here. She can be.. A handful.", with the way Mudi was being described, she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.. What could possibly be so bad about him?

 

"Well, do you know where I can find him?", Hilda questioned. "Oh, she's usually around the middle, you can find her there."

 

Hilda nodded, grateful for the useful information. "Thank you, have a good day ma'am!" She said as she waved the farmer goodbye and pranced right back up to Frida, David, and Twig. "I think I know where to go."

 

Hilda led them to the middle where they continued to search for the Mudi they'd heard about. David spotted a stand in the distance, a kid around their age seemed to be running it. The stand had bold letters on the top with the words "Mudi's Woolen Mittens" on it. It stood out more than usual stands around, the design having a green and purple banner. "I think I found him..", David said, bewildered by the odd stand design.

 

Frida and Hilda turned to look at the stand, Frida having a more perplexed reaction to the odd look while Hilda was just happy to finally find the guy. "Let's hurry!", Hilda said as she bolted to the stand, eager to actually learn something.

 

They slowed down their pace as they stood right infront of the stand where a kid their age managed it. He wore a green pancho with a white long sleeve shirt underneath, her brown hair being shoulder length with two strands of hair on either side being dirty blonde. He looked through a box of items before noticing, in his mind, potential customers.

 

"Hello, what can I do for you?", he said as he placed the box down back behind the stand. "Are you Mudi?", Hilda quickly asked. He raised an eyebrow at the question to which the answer was quite obvious. "No, I'm not. Im Sam.", he replied; Hilda slumped looking slightly defeated. He sighed before speaking back up. "Yes, I'm Mudi. Do you want to buy mittens? Made from wool from my very own sheep!" He pulled out a pair of woolen mittens and placed them down for the rest to see.

 

Hilda perked back up after learning that this kid was in fact, Mudi; glad to have actually found the right guy. "No thank you. We were wondering if you knew anyone with really long curly hair, band t-shirt—", Hilda was abruptly cut off by Mudi as he shook his head, shutting her down completely. "What's it to you if I know him? I keep strict customer confidentiality with loyal clientele." He turned away, crossing his arms while refusing to answer more questions.

 

Though it was extremely unhelpful, at least it confirmed that the two had a connection. "What? Come on! Tell us his name at least!", Hilda protested, but Mudi just shook her head in response. "Nope, no can do. He's been a loyal customer, hence I must be loyal in return. I'm a seller, not a sell-out!" He continued to refuse. He seemed to be quite stubborn when it came to this.

 

"Please, we'll give you anything!", Frida begged. This was their biggest lead yet! Someone who actually knew the guy and who talked to him one on one? That was something they couldn't just pass out on. Unfortunately for them, Mudi didn't seem to have any plans to relent at all, still ignoring any sort of questions about the ominous thief when asked.

 

Hilda groaned in frustration. This was becoming straight up infuriating! Why couldn't he just cooperate? "Why won't you just hear us out?!", Hilda demanded. Mudi turned her head the other way and shooed them off. "You're holding up my line! I have loyal customers waiting for you to move.. Now shoo!" He waved them off, refusing to engage further. David turned to look behind them to see that there was infact, no line. "But.. there's nobody behind—", "I said shoo!"

 

They stood there, all annoyed from the fact that this kid was blatantly covering for this.. this thief! 

 

Hilda stared him down, wondering what she could do to get any sort of information out of this conversation. Suddenly, she remembered the dingy little bracelet she had gotten from the alley that was presumably the thief's.

 

She took it out of her pocket and dangled it in front of Mudi, making him look at it while she spoke. "I know this is his! We just want to.. return it." She exclaimed. Mudi's face snapped from a look of defiance to one of surprise. He hadn't expected these people to have something like that.

 

He gave them all a suspicious glare, scanning them as if he was looking for anything wrong with their story.

 

Hilda began to get nervous. What if he didn't believe her and continued to ignore her? Though she tried her best to keep her confident demeanor, her face slipped a look of uncertainty once in a while.

 

Just when she was about to give up, Mudi relented. "Fine, if you say so. If anything goes wrong, I didn't meet you, I didn't talk to you, I never saw you."

 

Hilda perked up happy to have finally gotten through to him. They watched as Mudi grabbed his bindle and unwrapped it to reveal a few items. None really that note worthy.

 

He moved a couple to the side and handed them a folded piece of paper "I can't make it tomorrow anyway.. Now go, I have business matters to attend to and you've taken too much of my time.", Hilda looked over the folded paper with a look of confusion. "Huh, what's this? What does this—", "Shoo shoo, you're wasting my time!"

 

As Mudi waved them off, they decided to take what they could get and walked off. Hilda looked at the paper and began unfolding it to see what clue they'd managed snag out of that whole ordeal.

 

"What's this?" She asked as she read the contents of the page. At first glance it didn't look like much to care about. Just a simple drawing of a tree next to large brick wall. "Just a drawing..?", Hilda squinted at the page, looking at it as if something else would pop out of nowhere. "Can I see?", David asked and Hilda nodded handing him the paper. "Sure."

 

He looked at it for a couple seconds, a bulb flickering in his head as he realized something. "Hey, this is the big tree near the city wall enterance!" He swiftly pointed out. Hilda's eyes widened at the revelation. She flipped the paper to the other side to see if there was anything else at all.. and there was! A date and time scrawled aross the back. The date seemed to be for tomorrow at four P.M.. A sudden realization hit the three of them all at once.

 

 "What if they were planning to meet?", Frida spoke up, saying what they were all thinking. "Yeah! If that's true, he'll probably be there tomorrow!", David followed up. It would be easy to ambush him there and get some real answers!

 

She knew she had a good feeling! "What should we do now?", David asked. Now they'd actually found something that could pretty much guarantee some sort of meeting with the thief, they didn't really have much else to do.

 

"We can go to my house!", Frida suggested. "Yeah, sure.", David nodded. A distraction would be nice after all.. this. It'd been a stressfull day; they deserve a break!

 

"Let's go, I have some snacks at home!", Hilda stood up and followed. The walk to Frida's place was a blur, for Hilda at least. While David and Frida talked, Hilda couldn't help but have thoughts swirl in her head.

 

She began to fully realize what she was getting herself into. Sure, she had, in her opinion, effortlessly dealt with literal magical creatures and all things of that nature, but this was different! She was about to deal with another person who was a renowned thief! Now that she thought about the whole thing, where were that kid's parents?

 

He clearly was their age, that much was obvious.. But what wasn't clear was his motives. What kid goes out of their way to scour the city for pathways? What kid sneaks off in the dead of night to rob people? It wasn't petty theft, it was a series of robberies that'd been commited by one kid!

 

And that also raised another question: his parents. Who just lets their kid out in the middle of the night with no care? And even if he was sneaking out, they would've caught him by now, right? There was no way he was consistently managing to wiggle his way out without raising suspension at all!

 

The thoughts plagued her mind. She'd have to try and think about it later when she was alone and had freetime to herself. She sighed, the constant questions still buzzing in her mind as she tried to ignore them. It'd get solved tomorrow. They had a real way to meet him face to face and get answers and she would make sure of that.

 

She looked up, a bit surprised when she realized that they'd already arrived at Frida's house, the walk feeling painfully short. Frida pulled out a house key from her pocket and unlocked the door and walked inside and motioned for the rest to follow. "Come on, we can hang out in my room again." She continued making her way to her room, expecting the rest to follow along.

 

They all made themselves comfortable in her room, Frida sitting at her desk, David on her bed, and Hilda and Twig comfortably on the floor. The time passed peacefully, the looming confrontation only being in the farther parts in her mind. She found that the mindless chatter among them made her feel relaxed. It always had after all. Her friends had a way of making it her feel more at peace and calm when push came to shove, so their hangout was much needed.

 

They all talked for what felt like forever, with the sun setting for the day. David turned to look at the time and jumped up from Frida's bed, catching Hilda and Frida both off guard. "Oh shoot, I have to go. My parents are going to wonder what's taking me so long." David explained as he pat himself down and looked around the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. "Oh, what time is it?" Frida looked at the time. 9:26 PM..

 

It in fact, had gotten late. Hilda watched as David scrambled off and waved a quick goodbye before running outside, presumably back home. She stared at the bedroom door a couple seconds too long. She knew she'd have to go home soon, but a part of her wanted to stay and hang out with Frida a bit longer. She begrudgingly got up from the floor as she decided the former would be the smarter decision. "You too?" Frida said expectantly as she tilted her head. "Yeah, my mum would get mad if I stayed longer." She sat up, setting Twig off her lap as she did so. "I'll see you tomorrow, Frida.", "See you tomorrow, Hilda!" 

 

They waved their goodbyes and Hilda quickly made her way out with Twig close behind. Hanging out after the long day was helpful. It made her more confident! She didn't have everything solved, but that was alright. She'd figure all that stuff out as they went.

 

---

 

She made her way to her apartments and walked into the familiar warmth of the lobby. She found herself walking slower than usual as she made her way to the door. She unlocked it with her key and walked in.

 

Inside she saw her mum sat right on the couch and saw as she turned to face her. "Hilda, what took you so long?", Johanna questioned. She wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of her staying out with friends, but something had been feeling.. off lately; she just couldn't put her finger on it.

 

"Sorry mum, I lost track of time while at Frida's house." Hilda quickly brushed off Johanna's concerns. It wasn't like she was lying, just not saying the whole truth was all. Johanna gave her a suspicious glare, but didn't say anything. She didn't have any solid proof and she wasn't the type to get Hilda in trouble without substantial evidence. "Alright, dinners in the fridge if you want something."

 

"Oh, yeah, sure." The thought of food didnt sound all that bad, especially now. She had barely eaten anything, if anything at all. She was so wrapped up in everything she nearly forgot!

 

She made her way to the fridge and scanned the contents and rummaged through them to find pasta stored in tupperware, the container still slightly warm from the previously hot food. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she hadn't eaten much through the course of the day.

 

As she closed the fridge, she grabbed a fork and made her way to the table and began to pick at the food.

 

She looked down at her feet, noticing Twig looking up at her with hopeful eyes that stared into her soul. "Oh, you're probably hungry too, c'mon boy!" She got down from her chair to search through her cabinets for some Deerfox appropriate food. She grabbed a large bag of kibble and walked up to Twig's food bowl and dumped some in, filling it too the top. "Here you go!" 

 

Twig looked at the food with a less than pleased expression. He was more so hoping that Hilda would sneak him some human food, but he couldn't do much and settled for the plain dry food infront of him.

 

Hilda, satisfied with Twig eating his food, went back and stored the bag right back where she found it, rolling it up so bugs wouldnt get in. She stood back up and wiped her hands off, making her way back to sitting at the table so she could eat her food.

 

She began to eat as she let herself fully relax after the long day. She was confident! She just needed to hold out a little longer and she'd finally solve the mystery once and for all! Maybe she'd even get the stuff he stole back, and if not that, maybe some sort of motive.

 

"So, how was your day with David and Frida?" Johanna broke the silence as she turned to look at Hilda from the couch. Hilda paused, swallowing a mouthful of food before answering. "It was fun! We went to the farmers market."

 

Johanna smiled. Maybe she was just being silly. "That's nice! Well, I'm glad you had fun." She paused in thought. "I'm going to the art store to buy supplies tomorrow. Wanna come?"

 

Hilda shook her head. She'd be far too busy tomorrow! She had to plan after all. "No thanks, I'm going out tomorrow." She spoke as she continued to eat, finishing the last of her food. Johanna slightly frowned. What had Hilda so preoccupied lately? As much as she was curious she decided against pushing.. For now. "Alright.. Get some sleep soon, it's getting late." Hilda nodded in response, sitting up from her chair. She rinsed out the container and placed them in the sink to wash later. "Okay, I'm going to bed. Night, mum!"

 

Hilda began making her way to her room, giving her mum a hug before heading to bed.

 

She made her way to the inside of her room and shut the door behind her, looking back a couple of times just to double check if she actually closed it. She slowly pulled out the bracelet she'd gotten and placed it on her desk and stared at it like it held some huge secret. Maybe it did? She didn't entirely know. How could she get an entire story from a bracelet alone anyway? She'd just have to figure it out tomorrow. She looked over the bracelet one last time before turning away; heading to her closet to grab clothes to sleep in.

 

She swiftly changed and plopped into her comfortable position on her bed and mulled over the days events. It definitely was better than the last, that was for sure. They had a plan! A foolproof plan at that. They'd ambush him and finally get answers, she just had to prepare.

 

She stared outside her window, laying on her side. The view outside and the silence around her slowly lulled her to sleep, the day, once again, catching up with her as she drifted off for the night.