Well, hi there! :D I'm Super Grape Pie, and this is my first HM 'fic.

And, by the way, I know what you're thinking:

"Good God, not another Steiner fanfic. D:"

But I just got this idea out of the blue the other day as to what Steiner's past may have been like while I was playing HMDS Cute. (He doesn't really give much explanation to it at all, which is weird because I thought he was/would be the most developed of the guys you could marry, for some reason…must've been the curry thing.) It's probably not the best, but I did try to stuff some symbolism (and hopefully some cameos in future chapters) in this story, so I do hope you enjoy it!

Oh! Also! I'm gonna be using Japanese names for the main characters...You might've already guessed that. :P

If this gets about 3-4 or so reviews for the first chapter, I'll try to continue.

But enough about that stuff. Without further ado, I present to you…

Stages of a Thief

Chapter One: Childhood

On that fateful day, it wasn't the dogs barking that woke the young boy up, nor the cry of his older brother telling him to get up for school that usually rang out every morning, but rather the mere silence of the whole farmhouse that stirred him. His eyes fluttered as he realized there wasn't a sound in the house at the moment, and, groggily, he got up from the creaky makeshift bed he slept on, brushing his snow white hair out of his face and shifting his gaze around the empty little room to try to find the answer.

…And then he found the window, its corners covered with thin layers of ice and snow. All in a moment, the boy's emerald eyes widened, and all feelings of sleepiness left his body completely. Two simple words could describe what he saw from the window and what covered the vast fields of his family's farm:

"It's snowing!"

As hurriedly as his stick-like legs could take him, the 10-year-old rushed to his little wooden chest of clothes, snatching his one and only argyle sweater his mother had made him that lay at the bottom. Once it had gone over his favorite pair of hand-me-down overalls, he rushed out of his room, through the cramped little bedroom hallway, and finally to the kitchen, where the smell of his mother's cooking immediately embraced him.

Upon hearing the sounds of her child's footsteps, the slender young woman turned her gaze from the eggs frying on the pan to her son, a loving smile crossing her lips at the sight of his happiness. Her hair was just as snow white as her son's, and her apron was, surprisingly, newly washed, something that rarely happened in the winter due to the lack of good water.

"Good morning, Steiner," said the boy's mother, her lavender eyes filled with joy at the sight of her son. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well, sure, but that doesn't matter, Mama! It's snowing outside!" he cried. His mother had forgotten: Steiner's favorite thing in the whole wide world was the wintertime, (she had always found it strange, though, as he had been born in the heat of the summer), and playing in the snow always made the boy feel like a million gold.

"…Oh, is that so?" his mother asked playfully, "I suppose that means breakfast doesn't matter either, does it?"

"H-huh? I never said that! If I don't eat I won't have enough energy to play outside!" At this, the young Steiner pouted with his hands on his hips, giving that 'feed me!' look at the same time. His mother could only utter a slight chuckle.

"Ah, yes, that's right," she thought aloud, "If you think so, then come and have a seat at the table. Breakfast should be ready in a bit." Cheering a bit, Steiner rushed over to the large silverware cabinet: his mother's cherished wedding present that was years older than him. It took a bit of strength, but when he did finally manage to open it, the boy took his favorite set of fork and spoon, embedded with lines from his favorite fairy tales of princes and princesses, and moved right back to his place at the family table.

"Um…Mama?" Steiner asked, eyeing his silverware.

"What is it, dear?"

"Do you think…maybe one day…I could be a prince, too? Like the princes in those fairy tales you tell me?" To her surprise, Steiner sounded completely serious. She had always known that he adored those fairy tales, yet…What was she to say?

"Hmm…" the woman pondered as she placed some bacon and eggs on her son's plate, "I think you may just become one, Steiner." For some reason she, almost felt confident when she said that.

"R-really? What kind of prince? A strong one? A brave one?"

"You would be…Steiner, Prince of the Stars."

"Ooh! I like that one a lot!" he cried, stuffing a piece of bacon into his mouth. His mother could only smile at his reaction.

From then on the kitchen had become quiet; the only sounds heard were Steiner's wolfing down of his breakfast and the washing of the dishes afterward. From there, Steiner was to put on his scarf and play, according to his mother. Before he left, his mother called one more time, her voice a bit stern.

"Before you go out, promise me one thing."

Her son stayed silent and listened.

"Do not let your father see you. If you see him at all…or any sign of him, run. Understand?"

"Huh…? Why is that?" Steiner could only ask innocently.

"I…Just please, understand," his mother replied, a rare but serious look on her face.

"Y-yes ma'am…Can Vaults play with me, too?"

"I think he's busy milking the cows right now. Try not to let him see you or he may tell your father," she paused, but kissed her son on the forehead and wrapped his scarf tight, "Now, I want you to go have fun, all right?"

"Yes, ma'am! I promise!" the boy nodded happily.

"Good! Now, off you go!" his mother responded, giving him a slight but kindly push outside as she opened the door. As fast as he could, Steiner trudged far out into the snow-covered fields where he knew his father couldn't see him. He thought to himself as to what kinds of fun he could have. There was no one to have a snowball fight with; his brother was already busy and he couldn't ask his father. Snow Angels only lasted for a moment or so, and they'd be covered up quickly by the heavily falling snow of the night. And then it came to him.

"A snowman!" he cried. Excitedly, the young boy tried grabbing some of the snow to see if it was 'snowman quality', as his brother would call it when they were younger and happily played in the snow with their family. He began rolling the snowballs into place as soon as he was sure everything was planned out perfectly; first large on the bottom, then medium on top for the head. He'd always figured the third snowball was a waste of time, so he never bothered like his brother would.

Once he finished, he piled the medium one on the larger one with all his might, and before he knew it, it had grown to be taller than him! Steiner had become overjoyed at this; never had he made a snowman like this! Digging through the field's dirt underneath the white blanket, the boy was able to find a rotten carrot from the season before: it was the perfect nose. Carefully, he placed it in, hoping it wouldn't ruin the snow he worked so hard to gather.

Finally, once all was done, he stuck two rotting twigs into the sides of the larger snowball; and carved a face on the head with his fingers. A sigh of relief passed through him, as this, he had thought, was his very own work of art!

"Hmm…you're tall and big like Papa," Steiner thought, "so…I'm gonna call you Klaus! Like him!" He smiled and nodded at the snowman to confirm it.

"Klaus! Klaus! Hooray!" he cheered, unaware of the shadow behind him.

…And then only the worst could happen.

"Boy, you'd better have a good explanation for this," the voice behind the young boy bellowed. Steiner could only jump and turn around, fear in his eyes.

"P-Papa…? H-how did you—"

"Well, are you just gonna keep talking nonsense or tell me what in the hell you're doing?"

"I…I made a snowman…I named him Klaus, because…he was tall and strong like you, sir..."

"Don't dare address me by my name," the man replied. He was, indeed, as Steiner described, tall and strong. His fierce green eyes could pierce into anyone's soul, and were quite scary to the boy, unlike his mother's kind eyes.

"Now, son, tell me this: just who gave you permission to play?"

"I-I can't…"

The reply came fast and quick: a strike to the boy's face. The man had little patience, as he pulled the boy by the collar and asked him but one thing:

"Who gave you permission to do this?! Hm?"

"…am…" Steiner managed to utter through small breaths.

"Who?" Klaus bellowed again as he shook his child.

"I-It was Mama!" He cried. As soon as he let those words out of his mouth, he knew he was in nothing but trouble…

To his surprise, though, silence ensued for a few passing moments, and finally, Klaus, face as red as his hair, dropped the boy.

"Do me a favor, boy. Don't listen to a word that cur tells you, understood?"

"Y-yes, sir!" Steiner responded, trying to hold back tears.

"Now do us all a favor and get your sorry ass up to the barn. The cows aren't milking themselves, and Vaults can't get it done by himself."

"Understood…"

And, as he was told, he trudged all the way back to the barn, warm tears stinging his chilled face.

Entering the barn hadn't done much to ease the cold from Steiner's body; in fact, the almost nauseating stench from the cows made everything worse. As he walked through the stables, the stench became stronger and stronger. He'd hoped to the Goddess that he didn't have to walk much further to find his brother.

Unfortunately for him, the Goddess had better things to do.

Though, after a few minutes, he did find his brother. He hadn't done too much, just the first four rows out of twenty.

"Where've you been?" the older boy asked as he adjusted the raggedy old cowboy hat he wore.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Steiner replied, still a bit shaken from his father's words.

"…Whatever you say. Let's just get done."

"Yeah, I agree…"

For almost an hour the two just stayed silent as they milked, fed, and brushed their farm's cows. And then, finally, an odd question popped up.

"Hey, Vaults?" asked the younger brother.

"What?"

"What's the city like? …You've been there, right?"

"Yeah," the elder brother explained, "Well…I only went there once with Papa to buy a few cows, but it seemed real nice there. The people were always smiling and there were all kinds of things that I'd never even seen before."

"Really?"

"Yup; the buildings are huge. They have a whole bunch of houses put together in these rooms called 'apartments'. And they even have huge places for you to eat. You just gotta pay for it. I forget what they called them, though."

"Wow…It sounds really nice! I hope I get to go there sooner or later…"

"It is. And you wouldn't believe the girls there."

"…Huh?"

"Oh. Sorry, never mind. Guess you're not there yet," chuckled Vaults.

"Not where?"

"N-nevermind!" At this point, Vaults couldn't help but laugh a little harder. Sure, Steiner was only four years younger…but that was exactly why he loved to mess with his little brother.

From there, the conversation turned to things the two brothers would usually talk about: why their father favored Vaults more than Steiner, or why they always had to milk cows every day instead of go to school (which they had hardly gone to). Lucky enough for the two of them, teamwork had paid off, and they finished the job of taking care of the cows by sunset: just in time for dinner.

As usual, beef was laid out on the table, as were some carrots and corn the family had saved in the icebox, and leftover bacon from breakfast. Before the dinner was commenced, Klaus led the family prayer.

"O Goddess of the Harvest, we pray to get through this cold winter, as your mercy has let us do to this day. We thank you for the food you have given us, and pray that our crops be plentiful in the coming spring."

From there, everything was silent: a bad sign to the boys. When dinner grew silent, both Steiner and Vaults knew that something would happen. Something bad? They couldn't say. But that's how it usually turned out, and they would expect the worst that was to approach.

And, when dinner was close to over, approach it did.

"Annika," Klaus addressed his wife, "what did you tell that boy today? I wanted him to work, but instead he slacked off like a fool."

"I only wanted him to enjoy this day," the young woman replied almost monotonously, "You know as well as I do he loves the snow more than anything."

"You think I care about that garbage?! We have a farm to run, and I'm not letting your son just lie around and dillydally like a failure!"

"He's our son!" Annika cried, her voice shaken from the tears she held back.

There was only silence. Vaults left the table and ran to his room before anything else could happen; he didn't want to get involved in this fight. He did try to elbow Steiner to leave, as well, but he had become frozen in fear of his father, and of his mother's fate.

"Hmph," Klaus scoffed, "I wouldn't call that vermin my son even if my life depended on it. He's nothing but a failure and you know it, Annika! All he ever does is play around and talk about his damned fairy tales, and that's all he'll ever do!"

Annika stood up from the table, her eyes seething with resentment. All she needed to say was one thing for chaos to begin.

"You're wrong, Klaus."

Steiner had never seen his father as angry as he was on that night. His face grew a fierce crimson red, and, with the anger he withheld, he stood up from the table as well and knocked it down along with the lone boy sitting by it.

"What did you say?" the man yelled, seething with rage as he pulled his wife by the collar as he had done with Steiner earlier in the day.

"I said, 'you're wrong'." Annika replied calmly, yet fearfully at the same time. She knew her fate; she knew she was only "property" to Klaus, but…she was glad she said what she said.

And, as she'd predicted, the woman was carelessly thrown on the floor, her beloved cabinet almost tumbling right on her, as if she were the 'garbage' that Klaus had always spoken of.

"M-Mama, no!" Steiner screamed. At that, his father only stared at him angrily.

"You're next, boy," Klaus began, "unless you run away in the next second."

It wasn't possible. He was on the floor, unmoving and drowning in his own fear. In the time he had, he shut his eyes tightly and braced himself for the pain…But whether it was from shock, or the pain he unknowingly felt…

He blacked out.

"ke…p!"

"Wake…"

"Steiner, wake up!" a voice called. Steiner's eyes quickly opened as he realized what had happened. The kitchen was still in a mess, the table and chair were still practically on top of him, and his mother…

"V-Vaults? Where's Mama? Where's Papa?!"

"It's okay," Vaults began, "Papa said he was heading out to the bar a while ago. It's about a mile away…But I'm not sure when he'll come back. Mama's…She's still…" he trailed off, leaving the younger brother to worry. As much as it hurt, he still got up and rushed to his mother's side as she lay almost motionless on the cold wooden floor. Tears began to form in the young boy's eyes as he gently shook his mother.

"Mama, wake up! Please, wake up! It's me…Steiner! Vaults is here, too!"

Her eyes fluttered and slowly opened; the two boys could breathe a sigh of relief.

"V-Vaults…" Annika muttered almost inaudibly, "C-can you do me a favor…?"

"Anything, Mama! You just ask, a-and I'll do it!" It was at this point that Steiner grew more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. Vaults had never cried, and he sounded as though he was about to…He knew this was, indeed, a time of crisis.

"There's a small white box…in my room…it should have money in it. Bring it here, if you could…"

"Yes, ma'am!" Vaults answered, and as quickly as possible, he ran through the bedroom hallway to the master bedroom. It was in that time that Steiner last heard the voice of his mother.

"Steiner…?"

"Y-Yes, Mama?"

"When Vaults brings the box…there's money inside…I want you to take it."

"Mama, I don't need any money! Just hang on!"

"I…If your father returns and finds you...I fear what may become of you. When you get the money…I want you to run...far, far away…and…don't return."

"Run…? Where should I go?"

"You…you can go anywhere, dear…After all," at this point, his mother paused, took a breath or two, and smiled, "You're the prince of the stars…"

He couldn't take it anymore. When he heard that, the young Steiner could only weep for his mother and call out her name time after time until Vaults finally returned with the white box in hand. Once opened, the three hundred gold inside was taken by the young boy, tears still streaming down his face.

"Before you go," his mother said, "Take this..."

With what seemed like the last of her energy, Annika slowly reached for the back of her neck and unchained something that seemed like a necklace with a small sliver locket. Weakly, the young woman handed it to her son and put it on for him.

"Please…don't lose that…No matter where you go, Steiner…this will remind you that we do love you…Me…and Vaults, and even your father…"

"I-I love you too, Mama!" the boy said through his tears, "You and Vaults and Papa!"

"Good…Now, it's time to go…Vaults, lead him to the back door…"

As he was told, Vaults grabbed the sobbing boy's hand and lead him to the back door at the end of the bedroom hall. Unknowing of when their father would return, the elder brother quickly opened the door.

"Hey, Steiner. Do me a favor, too, okay?"

"Yeah…?"

"...Don't cry. As long as you get away from here, you should be fine. You won't need to cry anymore." At that, Vaults gave his brother a quick hug and continued.

"If--maybe one day--we meet each other again, little brother…Let's come back here and take care of Mama together."

"…I'd like that," replied the boy, weakly smiling.

Footsteps were heard from the front porch.

"…Papa's back," Vaults whispered, "You need to go. I'll help Mama; don't worry…If you keep going the same way as you leave…you'll find Flower Bud City. You should head there if you want to stay safe. Now, go!"

Steiner nodded as to say he understood, turned around, and began to run as fast as he could, turning his head back to see if his older brother were still in the same place as he had been. As the view of his house got farther and farther, everything became quieter in the night snow. As he ran, it seemed like the snow had almost absorbed all sound…

Except for the scream he heard minutes after he began running. It was his mother.

…But he knew he couldn't turn back. Holding back the last of the tears he had, he headed towards the city, unknowing of whether his mother was alive or dead. It was right then and there as he ran away that he decided:

He hated the snow.

Ugh, that took forever. XD But, um, I'mma get down to the post-story notes since it's 1:30 AM and I need some sleep.

Note 1: I chose Vaults as Steiner's brother mainly because I think the two have a whole lot in common, but not in a personality or looks type sense. I mean, yeah, they look similar and stuff, but they also share a kind of 'I'll protect you no matter what!' vibe (even if Steiner looks like he doesn't mean it!)…um, if you're not getting it, that's okay…I don't even know if I do anymore.

Note 2: Why I put them on a farm to live in during their childhood I can't say for sure. I was originally going to have them be fabulously rich in the country or something, but that's kind of boring, so I figured that a big ol' cow farm would work a lot better. :D

Note 3: So while I was writing I noticed this thing...In Steiner's black heart event, he calls himself "the prince of the stars". Well, his English name is Skye, so, like...He's Skye...the prince of the Stars. -bud-dum-CHH-! :D Natsume probably didn't recognize that! Or maybe they did...which is why they named him Skye. o.o

...Yeah, I know. I'm tired; work with me here. Xx

Alrighty, I'm good for now. Reviews are eternally appreciated, as always, and I'll try to respond to your review as long as it's not just one word or so! (like, you know, the obligatory "WRITE MOOOORE!!111" but I guess those are good too. :D) Also, a bit of constructive criticism would be great, too…just don't overload me much 'cause I'mma wimp. XD

Again, thank you so much for reading!