"How do you get up to the castle? You cant exactly walk up the path to the castle..." Taemin asked through the darkness. The forest was incredibly beautiful by night. He supposed some might find it scary, but the way the light from the stars and moon filtered through the branches was truly gorgeous. 

"Usually we climb up the cliff face..." Minho replied. Taemin stared in horror at him though the darkness.

"The cliff... You climb it?"

"Yeah, it doesn't take long... besides, we've done it so many times we know where to place our feet and hands" Minho said with a chuckle.

"Well I don't..." Taemin muttered... He jumped when an arm was slung around his shoulders. 

"Aw don't worry maknae" Jonghyun chuckled. "We'll protect you from the big bad cliff" He teased. 

"I'm not a child you know."

"No but you are as adorable as one, right Flame" 

Minho looked between a grinning Jonghyun and a pouting Taemin and had to admit that the boy really was adorable. But instead of voicing that he replied; "Oh shut it Dino..." Said Dino pouted but continued to chat animatedly with Taemin all the way to the cliff face. 

When they reached the cliff Taemin felt a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. They had to climb that....  in the dark... how...? 

"Why the cliff... Couldn't we find another way in...?" Taemin half whined. 

"You know the layout of the lands surrounding the castle right?" Jonghyun asked, arm still slug around his shoulders. Taemin nodded, he knew the layout of the castle quite well... seeing as he'd spent far too long cooped up in it. 

The castle had strategically been placed on the corner of the cliff's edge so the was nothing but a sheer drop on both the east and north side of the castle. Surrounding the west side of the castle atop the cliff was more woodland , it was easy to assume that the land the castle had been built on was originally forest and then had been torn down to make room for it. The only real way to the castle was by coming by the south of the castle; A long dirt path followed the sloping cliff's edge all the way down to the village. Alec's soldiers constantly patrolled it, inspecting any and all vehicles headed for the castle, where the entrance laid at the south of the castle. 

 "We can't exactly go up the castle road can we? Besides, we've never been caught this way" Jonghyun chuckled. It seemed obvious really... Trying any other way into the castle was an easy way to be caught or too ridiculous to attempt. 

They walked along next to the cliff, the fading light didn't seem to hinder Taemin's new friends at all. They knew exactly where they were going it seemed. 

"Wait!" Taemin called out causing the three to turn and look at him. "If you climb the cliff, you come up on the east side of the castle right?" He said peering upwards at said castle.

"That's right" Onew said with a frown, rather confused as to where this was going. 

"Well how about we just take the secret passage I use to get out of the castle... That comes out in a bedroom in the east wing of castle..." Taemin said looking at the ground... To him it made perfect sense and he didn't much fancy trying to pick his way up a cliff in the dark. 

"It comes up on the east side of the castle?" Onew asked/repeated eagerly and Taemin nodded. "Perfect! I can stop cutting myself on the rocks" Onew yelled happily. 

"Where on the east side of the castle?" Minho asked ignoring Onew completely.

Taemin faltered for a moment. "I-in the tower..." Minho looked above them at the castle.

"That could work... The tower leads to the battlements right?"

"Yeah, they're connected..." 

"Perfect!" Minho smiled through the darkness. Taemin returned the smile with a slight blush happy to have helped. "Where's the entrance?"

"There..." Taemin pointed to his left. The main reason he had called them to stop was because they were about to pass the entrance. 

"Really?" Jonghyun went to inspect the cliff. "I don't see anything..."

"That's because-"

"How can you guys be so slow..." A voice carried through the trees. "I expected you to be halfway up the cliff by now" Key complained walking into view. 

"That was quick Kitty cat" Jonghyun called. 

Key mock glared at the Dino and shrugged. "There was no reason for me to stay. As soon as I reached the road I knew something was wrong..."

"How'd you mean?" Minho asked, a frown set on his face. 

"The surrounding forest is full of soldiers... Hiding soldiers... well, not very well hidden soldiers..." Key sighed. "The entire road is clear though... not a soul in sight..."

"So they wanted us to think that everything was running perfectly..." Onew said softly, finger on his chin in thought. 

"It was obvious that what was going on... Though, it took me a while to actually pick my way past the soldiers to even get to the road... It was even harder getting back..."

"How did you manage to stay hidden..." Taemin asked quietly.

"Lets just say I'm really good at staying quiet.." Key smirked. 

"That's our Kitty cat."

Key half heartedly glared at Jonghyun. "And why exactly are you all just standing here rather than climbing?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because we no longer need to climb it" Jonghyun said happily while ignoring Key's questioning gaze. 

"We thought we'd use the hidden passage Maknae found" Minho explained. "It'd be less strenuous at any rate..." 

"But where does it come out. We don't want to make it harder for us to get to the treasury unseen."

Minho smiled. "I already thought of that, it comes out in the east tower, so it'll be easy for us to get to the battlements like usual."

Key thought for a moment before smiling. "I always wanted to see the passages that my parents told me about" Key said softly. 

"Anyway" Jonghyun interrupted. "I still cant see the entrance..."

Taemin sighed happily at the elders childlike impatience and walked over to the hanging vines. He looked back at his hyungs with a smile before pulling the mass of foliage to the side like a curtain. 

The four immediately huddled around the opening in the rock, faces lit up with awe. "It seems so obvious..." Onew half whispered. 

"Maybe that's why it's so well hidden..." Minho mumbled whilst looking into the darkness of the tunnel. 

"Well let's not stand around then!" Jonghyun exclaimed eagerly pushing Minho into the passage way...

~*~

"Wow..." 

Key looked around the dusty room unusually quiet. Of course he had no idea who this room had belonged to, heck it might not even have belonged to one of his relatives, but he felt a strange sense of longing in his chest. He really wished that he knew more about his family and what was meant to be his home. To think that it was Alec that took that all away from him made his blood boil... But he suppressed any anger he held to simply gaze at the room and what was in it. He was particularly interested in the vanity desk and the jewelry on it. 

This had a woman's room, a noble's room... It was very likely that the woman would have been related to him... Key wasn't sure if that made him happy or sad... Well she was obviously well looked after at any rate... and it calmed him that for whatever reason nothing in the room and been touched for years...

"Hey!" Key jumped slightly, returning to the real world at Jonghyun's exclamation, "Why's there a pile of clothes here?" He asked. Taemin dashed across the room and clutched the clothes to his chest after snatching them out of Jonghyun's hands.

"They're mine..."

"Wow... they look so expensive..."  

Taemin pouted slightly at the comment.

"Oh leave the poor boy alone" Key scolded the Dino whilst putting an arm around Taemin, who chuckled at Key's nagging and stuck his tongue out at Jonghyun.

Giggles and soft laughed were shared around the room and Key could only wonder when the last time people laughed in this room had been.

"Come on guys" Minho said softly, heading for the door. "Maknae..."

Taemin took a moment to recognize his new alias before placing the clothes back where they were and walking over to Minho. "Lead the way, but stay hidden..." Minho's voice was low and and soft as he opened the door, it had a richness to it which made Taemin suppress a shudder. He nodded to the outlaw and stepped cautiously into the hall. 

The four trailed behind Taemin, eyes and ears peeled. Taemin had his eyes and ears open as well but he knew that this part of the castle was very, very rarely used so they could move quickly. A few corridors and a flight of stairs later they were once again standing in the night air. 

As they peered through the darkness Taemin frowned at the courtyard below. "I have a question..."

"You're gonna ask what we're doing on this side of the castle when the entrance to the treasury is on the other side of the courtyard..." Onew said quietly whilst peering down at the courtyard below.

"Um... yeah..."

"Well... usually we climb up the cliff right?" Jonghyun said with a smile. Taemin just nodded... "Well by doing that we end up here, on the battlements on the east side of the castle..." he continued. 

"Oh stop confusing the boy" Key complained. "We cut across the courtyard rather than going round the battlements because it saves time and we're less likely to run into anyone" Key sighed. 

Jonghyun just pouted at the interruption to his explanation but said nothing.

"Okay then..." Taemin watched the ground below them looking through the darkness. He could easily see the large door which lead to the lower levels of the castle... The treasury and the dungeons... He'd never actually been down there so he had no idea what it looked like but he was eager to find out. "So how do we get down there?" He asked not taking his eyes off the silent cobbled floor of the courtyard. 

"With these." Taemin turned his head to see Minho holding a length of rope. "We'll use them to get back up as well..." 

"We should go... It's completely clear..." Jonghyun's whisper signaled them all to move and within seconds two lengths of rope were securely tied to the battlements. It happened so fast all Taemin could do was stop and stare. It seemed to make him realize just how often they did this and how efficient they were at it. They knew every step they had to take, every twist and turn...

When it was his turn to half shimmy half slide down one of the ropes he became very grateful for the gloves he was wearing... He doubted having rope burn was very flattering. He touched down on the very familiar stone of the courtyard yet somehow it felt different... It felt dangerous... Like the very place was his enemy... Of course he had not enjoyed his time in the castle at all it was still a strange feeling; being cautious in the place you call home. 

They stayed pressed up against the wall they had just descended down for a moment, waiting for the right moment to move. The large courtyard was dark with only a few ill placed torches desperately trying, and failing, to light up the space. It dawned on him just how easy it would be to run across the courtyard without being seen. Besides, there was no reason for security to be placed in the courtyard; the very center of the castle... How would anyone get there without being seen?

Again Taemin marveled at the brilliance of "Flame's" operation. He was getting back at Alec without the man even knowing that he was doing it. Taemin, along with the entire region, knew that Alec was obsessed with money and power, he knew that this would hurt Alec and Taemin was ashamed to admit that the thought made him smile.

Minho silently motioned for them to moved and so they did. The crept across the courtyard, eyes scanning the surrounding area rather than staying on their goal. They weaved past any patches of light so to keep as much out of sight as possible. Reaching the large door was effortless seeing as no one was about. All they had to do now was slip behind the door. 

Surprisingly, it was brighter behind the door; inside, than it had been outside. Minho held a finger to his lips, a sign to be quiet and motioned for Key to creep forward, which he did, at the same time Minho moved back towards Taemin. 

"Have you ever been down here?" He whispered softly. 

Taemin tried to suppress a blush at their closeness and shook his head.

"Well this is where it gets a little tricky... Down here is always guarded..." Taemin felt his heart beat quicken in his chest... "At the bottom of the stairs is a long corridor. On the left side are the dungeons but if you follow it to the right and round the corner you reach the treasury..." Taemin could tell where this was going... This place would be teeming with guards...

"How do we get past..?"

Taemin didn't like the way Minho went silent...

"Along the corridor  is an office. It has two doors... One on either side of the corner. We sneak down the hall, into the office, it's always empty, wait, then sneak out the other door at the right moment and into the treasury..." 

"How do you know that the office is always empty..?"

"The only one that goes in there is Alec, and he has no reason to be down here tonight." At least Minho was right there... Alec was probably eagerly awaiting the arrival of the wondrous news that Flame had been caught... He could practically see his grinning face...

"Usually we go one by one..." 

Taemin felt his stomach drop... despite knowing it was coming. 

"... We each head to the office, regroup there, then go one by one to the treasury..."  Taemin bit his lip. Would he be able to do that...?

"How far is the office?" he asked, trying not to sound scared... he didn't think it worked... What if he got caught?

"It's not that far..." Minho gently laid his hand on Taemin's cheek forcing him to look at him. "You'll be fine. If we get caught tonight it will not have been the first time. I promise everything will be okay..."

Taemin's heartbeat sky rocketed and he could feel himself blushing but he hoped the dim light would cover it as he nodded softly. 

"I can send you with Kitty if you want..?" Minho whispered trying to make it easier on the younger. 

Taemin definitely considered the idea but he already knew he wouldn't take the offer. They went one by one for a reason and there was no way he was going to put Key at risk... "No, I'll go by myself..." he replied surprised at how steady his voice was. 

Minho smiled softly and let his hand fall from the other's face. "Okay, go after Dubu and I'll go after you..." Taemin nodded feeling his heart racing in his chest. 

Minho looked down the curving stairs to Key. The feline male nodded and Minho nodded back. With a quick smirk Key disappeared practically silently down the stairs.

Taemin found himself nervously wringing his hands together becoming slightly worried, he felt it even more so when Jonghyun also disappeared. Just Onew to go then him... He jumped Minho separated his hands with his own, holding them gently. He gave Taemin a smile which calmed him some...

All too soon Onew was also gone. He would be okay right? He wouldn't get caught... Minho squeezed his hand softly and Taemin looked back to give him a nervous smile. 

"Take your time... You make the call as to when you go and don't worry about us. I'm safe here, they're safe in the office..." Minho whispered. "The office will be the first and only door on the left. Go slowly to the bottom to the stairs but don't step out, listen for movement. If you don't hear anything then check the corridor. It's up to you as to when you go..."

Taemin bit his lip but nodded. "Everything will be okay right?" he asked quietly. 

"Of course it will. I promised didn't I?" Taemin looked at the softly smiling Minho, decked out in black, mask covering his eyes and smiled back. 

"Yeah" Taemin steeled himself before letting his hands slide out of Minho's. He took a breath and began to slowly head down the winding staircase without looking back. 

As he had been told, he waited at the bottom of the stairs. Off to the right he could hear talking... rowdy talking. It was more like the kind of banter one would hear in an inn... it sounded cheerful and far off... 

Cautiously he peeped his head out of the stairwell. Minho was right, the corridor wasn't that long... at least to the right before it turned the corner. It was considerably longer to the left where he could see the beginnings of the iron bars of the dungeons... Still...the corridor was empty and he could easily make out the door to the office which was slightly open. 

He paused to just listen again... Whatever it was that the guards were laughing about down there it didn't seem like they intended to end the conversation any time soon and it didn't sound like they were moving...

Taemin took another breath... It was now or never... go before they decided to actually get back to work... He set his sights on the office door, reminding himself that he had to be quiet and stepped into the hall. 

Trying to keep his steps as light as possible he began to run down the hall, still listening for any change in the guards movements. 

All of a sudden, any worries he'd had about getting to the office seemed ridiculous because as soon as he set off he was there, slipping past the office door to greet the smirking faces of Jonghyun, Key and Onew...

He smiled back and walked over to them. 

"You okay?" Key mouthed.

Taemin nodded, wondering what on earth he'd been worried about. It had been easy, but then the risk of getting caught... He didn't want to think about it...

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Minho joined them, also smiling. He patted Taemin on the shoulder as he walked further into the room. "What does it look like out there?" he whispered to Key. 

"Not good... they wont stop talking..."

"How many?"

"Two outsides the door, a couple more actually patrolling the corridor..."

The five went quiet for a moment they couldn't do anything until the coast was clear and they couldn't afford to stay here all night...

"What if one of us goes back to make a distraction?" Jonghyun offered in a whisper. 

"That might make it harder for us to get back..." Onew replied shaking his head. 

"Then what do we do?" Taemin asked in a small voice. They all went silent for a moment again the sound of the guards talking passing easily through the door.

"I guess we wait..." Minho sighed. 

"We cant wait here too long" Key whispered back curtly. 

"Maybe we wont have to, listen!" The five fell silent at Jonghyun's quiet exclamation. There seemed to be an argument going on outside the room. It seemed that the senior guard had gotten sick of his underlings not doing their work... There was a lot of complaining and grumbling but eventually the voices lowered and footsteps could be heard moving away from the door. 

"Perfect!" Onew grinned "Let's go!"

The five crept over to the door on the other side of the room listening for any sound of movement. 

 Very slowly Jonghyun opened the door, just a crack and peered out. He stayed very still and very quiet. He stayed like that for a while before dashing out of the room.

"Why did he go first?" Taemin asked Key who was peering out the door watching the puppy at work.

"Because..." the kitty muttered, "He's the best with a lock pick..." it took Taemin a moment to realize that meant Jonghyun was breaking into the treasury.

"He's in!" Key announced softly before also slipping out of the door.

Taemin looked back to see Onew peeking out of the other door, watching for the guards. "Go now!" he mouthed to Taemin when he looked back, knowing that the gaurds were out of the way. Taemin bit his lip before nodding and moving back to the door. He took a moment to lock his eyes with Minho, ignoring the feelings that rose in his chest, and dashed out of the door.

He headed for the door at the end of the corridor, keeping his steps light like before and within seconds he had joined Key and Jonghyun behind the heavy door.

The room was completely black... There were no windows or lit torches, the only light in the room was the slither that came from the slightly open door, only just allowing him to see the other two.

The three waited for the remaining two in silence. They could hear the guards every now and them as they patrolled. All it would take for them to realize the treasury door was open was for the three to draw attention to it...

As soon as Onew and Minho were safely behind the door Minho closed the heavy door silently, fully wrapping them in darkness... Something Taemin was was becoming increasingly accustomed to...

Just like in the crypt, Jonghyun lit a torch in the darkness bathing them all in a warm light.

Taemin's eyes opened wide at what he could see by the dim torch light.

It was like everything the soft light touched glistened and sparkled. Coins were everywhere along with jewels and other treasures... It was like something out of a fairy tale... Who knew so much wealth lay under the castle?

"How is it that we rob this place all the time but the amount never seems to lessen?" Onew sighed.

"Because Alec is constantly restocking...." Jonghyun answered, irritation laced into his voice.

"Well, lets get what we came for..." Minho stated as he walked further into the room. The others moved also leaving Taemin clueless as to what to do or take.

"Here..." Taemin held out his hands when Minho came over to him holding a bag about the size of orange and another empty one which was a lot bigger.

Minho dropped the small bag into Taemin's hand. Taemin could easily tell that it was filled with coins. "Fill this with as many of these as you can carry comfortably..." Taemin nodded and took the larger bag. "Seriously... You may need to run before the night is out and you don't want a heavy bag to hinder you..."

"I'll be sensible" Taemin said softly, smiling when Minho showed his own. With that the two headed towards the piles of money and began placing the already bagged amounts in their own bags.

Taemin was surprised by how quickly his bag became heavy.  

He hadn't filled it up very much but it was already weighing him down. He put in a couple more bags in the larger one before tying it up.

Looking around he saw that the others had done the same. He could also see that Jonghyun's bag seemed to be the fullest out of all of them.

They all came into the center to regroup, besides Minho who moved over to a chest. Taemin watched his back confused. He didn't open or move the chest but from where he was he couldn't see what he was doing.

Soon enough though, Minho joined them again and they all gathered around the door, bags slung over their shoulders. Jonghyun doused the torch, once again throwing them into darkness.

Someone, Taemin couldn't see who, slowly and quietly opened the door crack. From the silhouette he saw it was Onew.

He stayed there for what seemed like an age... Not moving, just watching what was outside the door. When he did move, it took Taemin by surprise and he was gone in a flash back to the office.

"Go after me" Minho whispered to Taemin who could do nothing but nod. Then, just like Onew, Minho disappeared through the door.

Taemin crept up to the door staring out of the crack made by the open door. Taemin could see down the hall and the guards that were walking up and down it. They followed a pattern of walking down the hall and round the corner, out of sight then reappearing about a minute later...

Taemin chose his moment when the last of the guards disappeared around the corner knowing he would have about thirty seconds before they would come back.

But as he expected, he reach the office easily and quietly, smiling happily when he saw Minho.

They didn't have to wait long for Jonghyun and key. They arrived in the office together making Taemin raise an eye brow to them.

"They go together because Key keeps a lookout for Jonghyun while he re-locks the door..."

"Oh... By the way" Taemin said softly. "What were doing by that big chest?"

 Minho laughed quietly in the darkness. "Oh that's just my idea of a joke..." he chuckled. "I left a piece of paper in there the third time we raided the place..." His smile grew at Taemin's questioning gaze. "It has a tally on it of how many times we've been in there."

 "How many times have you been in there?"

"I lost count... But I've reached the back of the paper..."  

~*~

Well there you have it. This chapter took quite a while to write and I'm sorry that it took so long. 

Please people comment so I know someone's reading this ^^

Btw if anyone's confused about anything let me know, I'll be happy to explain anything ^^