Hunter and Prey

Chapter 2: All for One

The sun was peaking over the eastern mountains, making a beautiful mixed palette of color ranging from bright pink, to fire orange, to soft purple, fading to normal sky blue. The warm rays of light drifted over the soft white countenance of a young female Snow Leopard as she lay asleep in the hollow of a large tree, high up off the ground. Her nose twitched softly and she smiled as she felt the warmth soak in. The young woman stretched softly in her warm bed of moss, a feather duvet and several soft blankets as she slowly began to wake to the world around her. The tree hollow she was in was rather large, given she was in a large tree. The opening was about five ft high and 4 ft wide to let in plenty of light. The room inside was rather spacious. In total the surrounding hollow inside was 6 ft high, 8 ft long and about 7 ft wide. At the side of the tree hollow there was shelves cut into the wall decorated with various trinkets and treasures ranging from fancy pocket watches to beautifully decorated brooches. Where had all these items come from? The young leopard smiled and opened her shining blue eyes. Once the light hit them, they lit up like all the stars in the sky. The large tree was surrounded by forest on all sides, but the side along the closest village nearby didn't have a long distance to travel through the forest to get there. Maybe an hour walk in total. Villages in the other directions were a little further away but no longer than a three hour walk in total or less, depending on which you went to. Putting the hollow tree nearly in the center of them all, allowing access to supplies and materials on all sides, never being too close or too far away. A few small fluffy clouds and thin white and gold wisps floated through the sky as the sun slowly lifted higher. A warm summer breeze flowed through the morning air as the young leopard sat up in her cozy home. Five long and soft tails lay beside her after uncurling themselves from around her. They each swayed to their own direction and acted separately from one another as she sat there in the sun for a moment. Her softly glowing blue markings shimmered in the sunlight as she yawned and stood up, starting to get dressed for the day ahead of her. A sly grin crossed her visage as plots and ideas flowed like a river into her mind for what would come of that day. She flung on her dark brown, ragged cloak and lifted the hood up over her ears, grabbing her leather satchel beside her bed, putting a small dagger inside and then began to make her descent from the tree hollow. Her tails stayed mostly tucked under her cloak but the tips hung out like peeking children from under a blanket, keeping the bottom of the cloak out of the wet grass and mud on the ground as she finally stepped down, looking around for any witnesses to her hideout. She kept her satchel under the cloak so it was hidden along with it's contents. A quick glance around to check the area for intruders and then she began to head towards the village with a happy smile and bright eyes. New growth covered the ground with soft green and buds of new flowers were coming to bloom all around the forest. The girl wandered along a well-worn path through the woods towards the village for a while and voices could now be heard from far away. She wore no shoes as her paws were now coated in mud, and her fur looked dusty and dirty just from the short trek through the forest. She blended in and looked like a normal beggar, but through the dust and rags she was ruggedly beautiful all the same. After about an hour or so, the village came into view and all sorts of people were visible. Women were out washing laundry on their front lawns, men were drinking at the town pub or helping with work around the house, and children played with dolls and toys, or helped with the small household chores. The shops bustled with fancily dressed upperclass people with more money to spend on fancy hats and ties in one day then the poorer people of the town spent on food each month. Some people, mostly women, wandered the streets with ragged and ripped rags for clothes and their ribs even showed through their clothing. The girl frowned as she saw a frail vixen slightly older than herself, stumble through the street looking dazed and starved half to death. The vixen tripped and the leopards eyes widened as she rushed forward, catching the frail woman just in time before she fell, hearing her groan in pain and hunger as she uprighted herself weakly. The young fox looked up at her with a half grateful, half hopeless look on her face. "Thank you young one, please do forgive me for being a weak burden to you... Bless you, girl..."
The vixen turned to walk away but the girl leopard thought for a moment and then gently grabbed the older woman before she could walk away, raising a finger, indicating to wait a moment as she turned to under her cloak and reached into her satchel, pulling out a fist-sized chunk of fresh bread, holding it out to the women and smiling softly. "Here... You need this more than I do, miss. Please take it, and don't worry, you are no burden to me, ma'am... My name is Rose by the way, ma'am."
The young leopard placed the bread in the vixens hands and smiled brightly. The vixen stared in awe and joy as her eyes lit up at the fresh-smelling food. Her eyes welled up with tears as she nodded to the girl and put the bread into her own small side-bag. "Thank you young lady... Bless your soul, Rose. Bless your soul..."
With that, the old vixen turned and walked off to her small house down the street. Rose smiled as she watched the vixen walk away, remembering the happy look on her face at her gift. She sighed softly and started walking down the street with pricey shops along it. High class animals walked around with their partners wearing feathered hats and frilly dresses, holding Jewel decorated handbags. Rose grinned as she saw a well-dressed male Panther wearing a tux, holding bags of jewelry for his wife who was a young calico cat, as she chattered away with a friend dressed up in a similar frilly dress. Rose wandered by, holding out a tin cup as she walked by, her tails swaying softly behind her as she walked, gently bumping into the panther as she walked and purposefully stumbling, giving a surprised scream. The panthers ears perked and he immediately dropped the bags he was holding at the sight of the young beautiful leopard, catching her as she fell into him. She looked up at him with a frightened look and immediately pulled away, pretending to be shocked. "I-I'm so sorry sir, please forgive my clumsy stupidity. I beg you sir, do not strike me... P-please forgive me..."
Rose teared up and looked away in shame and fear. The panther turned her back to facing him with a kind look on his face as he steadied her. "Nonsense milady, are you alright? My apologies, I didn't see you behind me, if I had I wouldn't have tripped you.."
Roses tails strangely wove forward as she continued apologizing, coiling around the handles of the jewelry bags and pulling them under the cover of the cloak. "T-thank you for your extreme kindness my lord... I'll do my best never to bump into you again sir, forgive me... Enjoy the rest of your day with your lovely wife, sir." The panther smiled and turned back around as he listened to his wife's conversation with her friend about shoes, forgetting about the jewelry bags, his mind lost on the beauty of the girl he'd just encountered.
Rose grinned as she made the distance between her and her latest victim further. She wandered innocently through the crowds surrounding her, none of them suspecting anything of her as she wandered back towards the pathway to the forest. She was a thief. An expert thief. She'd robbed hundreds of people blind and no one she knew had ever suspected her or blamed her. She smiled at the thought of the ease of her gained bounty. So that's where all those items in her hollow had come from. Her private line of work, as a thief.
Everything was going as planned as she walked toward the exit of the village slowly, taking her time to make sure nobody rendered her suspicious. As she walked out of the village gates she could've sworn she saw a white wolf wearing a trench coat, glance at her slyly from under the brim of his hat. Her spine tingled at the very thought that maybe someone had seen what she did. But nobody had ever caught her before and she most certainly hadn't been caught yet. She was always careful at who's eyes were directed at her. But those eyes... Those eyes were different. They knew her... But how? She hadn't recognized the strangely dressed wolf from any of the towns she had stolen from. It must've just been her mind playing tricks on her. She shrugged and continued to walk home without a worry, forgetting the mysterious wolf she'd seen. She still had work to do.