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" L'occasion fait le*. You gave me that opportunity. "

*[Opportunity makes a thief]

She smiled dryly as she leapt away, a papyrus note and a lone stalk of p***y willow drifting down onto the ground of the wrecked room. Her feet were graceful and light as feathers are she seemed to fly from rooftop to rooftop, a haul of precious jewels and trinkets jangling softly in her large pack. She stopped and jumped down into an alleyway, and dissappeared into the darkness.

The sky turned pinkish, then a rosy red as the sun rose up into the sky. A cry was heard down the streets.
" News! News! Le Chat has struck again! Its Jeweller Freya this time! News! News!... "

Le Chat was famous. The thief had started robbing only recently, but stole often and succeeded in stealing from places that were supposed to be some of the maximum security places. And Le Chat was successful every time. Marking each of her victories with notes on which were inscribed " L'occasion fait le. Le Chat. " and a stalk of p***y willow, the thief had shot to fame overnight. Bounty-hunters trwaled the streets searching for Le Chat. Some said Le Chat was a mischievious ghost. Others said Le Chat was just an ordinary thief. Needless to say the latter group were usually robbed a day or two after they said that. Le Chat had become a dangerous force within a short time.

Meanwhile unbeknownst to them, voices echoed in the underground maze of the thieves court.


"I have high hopes for you...Le Chat, my daughter.

"Yes, Father. I will not fail you."

Despite all the gossip and fear, Le Chat was just an 13 year old girl trying to stay alive on the harsh, poverty-riddled streets.

Surrounded by stolen loots of rare spices, jewels and many other items, Le Chat sighed as her father strode out. Her 'father'.

Le Chat had been adopted when she was only a baby by her current father, the King of Thieves. He had made no attempt to disguise her status as 'only an adopted child', prefering to dote on his only son, a wretched, ugly man by the name of Impitoyable, or Ruthless. Till a year before when delicacies started dissappearing from the thief king's own larder, which only her 'father' and 'brother' were allowed to eat from. She was not allowed to partake of the food in that place as she was only adopted. Then her father realised she was the thief who had stolen the food.

Instead of punishing her, Le Chat was told to undergo the harsh training of the thieves at once. She had completed a four-year training regime in less than a year on her twelveth birthday. Needless to say, she was treated much better from then onwards. Now thirteen she had embarked on countless raids and returned successfully. But she always went alone. Tonight she would strike a place no thief had ever dared to enter: The Royal Palace, and steal the royal jewels from the Queen who wore them. She would embark at the stroke of midnight, this time with a small group of trusted and highly skilled friends. Namely, Seraphin, Ashela, and Zack.

A stalk of p***y willow tucked into her belt and a note, this time written in red ink: L'occasion fait le. This time I brought friends!

She slid on a black mask and painted her eyes with recently stolen kohl. Her hair was pinned into the shape of cat ears, like she always did. Dressed from head to toe in black, she stepped out of her room and greeted her black-garbed friends. Sacks were slung from belts, bootlaces were tightened - the thief king and his son came to greet them. Then they set off, the darkness closing in around them. They would reach the palace at the very stroke of midnight, when the guards changed shift.

As they neared the palace doors, Le Chat stopped and looked at her lucky charm, a picture of her as a baby. The background was cut out, so she would never see her parent's faces. She shook off the gloom that was settling on her. With a boost from Zack she was over the moat and waited on the far side of the wide, dark 'river' that protected the palace. Soon Zack was the only one left on the other side. Le Chat threw a rope over to him, which he caught silently and tied to the high branches of a tree. While Seraphin, Ashela and herself held the rope tight, Zack used his hankerchief and slid smoothly over. Then he turned around and cut the rope as fast as he had come.

They scaled the high walls with hooked ropes and peered in at the nearest window. They were in luck. The Queen. Their target. She was sleeping, the royal jewels still clasped around her neck. How careless, Le Chat silently thought. As Seraphin picked away at the intricate lock and Ashela oiled the hinges, the others waited paitently. Then the window swung open quietly on oiled hinges. They jumped in, thick carpeting cushioning the fall and silencing their arrival. Le Chat and friends stuck close to the shadows as they approached the sleeping Queen. She reached out a hand, gently unhooking the clasp of the jewellery. Success, she thought, but that was not to be. Her hand trembled just the slightest bit, and the Queen woke up.

The lady's eyes opened and her mouth curved in an 'O' of surprise. Le Chat stared and stared. This lady bore a striking resemblance to her. The green eyes, the long aburn hair....she clapped a firm hand over the lady's mouth and turned to look at the portrait on the opposite wall. Could it be?

The portrait was the exact same as her lucky charm, her picture of herself when she was a baby. Her parents....

She fished out, with her free hand, her lucky charm and showed the queen. Then she pointed to the portrait on the wall. Her friends- she turned. Only Seraphin and Zack were left. Ashela...? Zack motioned to the open window. So her 'friend' had run off. She turned back to the lady, whose wide eyes filled with tears as she recognized her kin.

Le Chat removed her hand, and the last thing she expected to her was uttered.



"My daughter, princess...."

So it was true after all.

"Mother...!"




The next day, Le Chat was told who she really was.

"You are princess Belle. I am your mother. You were taken away by several masked men when your parents - me and your father, who is away at the moment, took you on a trip to the countryside. We never saw you again. Now, it seems fate has brought you back..."

Le Chat repeated her new identity like a mantra, with awe she embraced the palace and her newfound wealth and family. Now she was Princess Belle....and Le Chat. She turned the bend, and a surprise greeted her. Zack and Seraphin greeted her in the gardens, dressed in the brightly coloured outfits of the palace people.

"How is it? We've decided to stay with you!"

"The queen allowed us to work here!"

Le Chat-Belle stared and stared. Her friends had given up their past and family, just to give her support and to stay by her side. She laughed and cried, the sound ringing high and clear throughout the palace.

She was Le Chat the thief, Belle the princess.

Belle Le Chat.