Perched atop a tree branch as the dawn breeze kissed my cheek and awoke me from my slumber, the village nearby took part in a ruckus. One of the commoners brought about an outburst toward the village owner. I hopped from my perch and walked toward the commotion in an effort to discover the cause. People gathered around the entrance of the village. I peered in from the back of the crowd to listen in on the ordeal.

From what I gathered by the complaints, a band of barbarians who had come in the past to steal food, have struck too deep and kidnapped a peasant's daughter. I let out a soft sigh and shake my head at the false accusations. From my combat experience with barbarians, they never stooped this low. They never cared to stoop this low because they were bloody savages who left no survivors. They had no need to stoop to petty theft and abduction. They just killed and maimed.

Just as my mind couldn't take anymore of it, an old man spoke up and declared that it had been more logical to assume it was a local brigand of thieves. I nodded my head in agreement and gave a smirk as I crept back into the shadows to fulfill the unofficial mission. If I rescued the daughter and brought the bandits to justice, the village may just give me the funds I need to survive for another week or two.

I nearly made it out without detection, but somehow I must have stuck out.

“Hey, you.” I heard in a slight overtone. I turned around and tilted my head in confusion and pointed to myself.

“Yeah, you. ...I believe I have seen you once before in the presses... Yes, you were with that rambunctious riffraff, the Pack, right?”

I rolled my eyes at the tone of speech coming from the village owner. I nodded my head in confirmation. I could see a mile away where this was going to go.

“What say I give you some coin to... settle this matter for me?”

I gave a sigh and shrugged, “...I was going to go even if you didn't ask me to. ...But I'll take your offer instead.” I swept my hands through my belt and equipped my claw gloves.

“Fabulous. I expect you'll be here by sundown.”

Sundown? What does he think I am, a mule? I pondered to myself as I nodded without hesitation. He walked off to go about his own business and the peasant whose daughter had been accosted walked up to me.

“Excuse me, Miss, I overheard the owner speaking to you and thought I give you this piece of information to aid you in your job. And if you do manage to bring her back, I do have something to give you...” she trailed off as her husband rubbed her shoulder in support.

“Love, you know we can barely make ends meet. We don't have anything to give this woman in return..” he turned her around and shook his head in dismay.

She nodded in disagreement, “Oh, I know we don't, but I do.. it's something I don't use anymore...it was before I met you..”

She wiped a tear from her eye and turned to me. “The bandits that did this are based not too far from here, sadly. They're deep in the mountain range off to the south-west, toward Arende.”

...Arende? Didn't I just come from that way...? I sighed to myself as I shook my head at the thought of going backward to move forward. How ironic.

I faked a smile toward her, and gave a slight nod. “Don't worry, I'll get her back safe and sound. You can trust me.” She may be safe and sound, but dirty and bloody is another story all together. I can't promise she won't get dirty.

Moments after I spoke to the old man from earlier to gain more information on the brigand, I used the last of my funds to stock up on sustenance to use for my small journey into the bandits' den. I made my way from the village and trekked my way back toward the town I had just come from. I run my fingers along my claws to test their sharpness. I nodded in content and picked up my pace into a dash as I spotted the entrance to the mountain range in the horizon. The sun began to rise high in the sky after my long trip to the den.

The sound of my stomach echoed into my ears, though I paid it no mind. As the sun arched in the sky, I felt my head absorb the heat and trickle a small stream of sweat down the side of my face. I flicked it away as I walked into the shade of the cliff side and the entrance into the mountains. I heard sounds come from around the corner and used the ledges to hop to a higher level, out of eyesight.

Two bandits appeared and continued to walk the path toward their domain. I kept my eye on their movement and assessed that they patrolled the area. I kept watch and timed when they would appear again, and debated with my own mind whether to knock them out silently and barge in there head on, or wait until nightfall and slit all their throats in their sleep.

I would prefer the latter if there wasn't a hostage at stake.

So I sat there on the ledge for several moments until I heard the footsteps creep toward me once more. I waited until they were close to my location and jetted myself off of the ledge and wrapped my thighs around both of their necks and brought their heads close together. My yellow eyes and emotionless face caught them off guard as I stuck my claws down their mouths to shred their voice boxes.

Gargling had been the last noise that came from their lips as blood sprayed from their teeth and holes in their throats. I flicked the red liquid from my blades and wiped off the rest with a cloth and crept along the path toward the main entrance.

I used the ledges as a foot path to run along the sides of the walls above anyone's eye sight so I could penetrate the hideout without too much detection. The scent of liquor and odor mixed in the air as I drew closer to their main headquarter. I cringed with the combined scent, as I never understood why people would drink the foul smelling liquid.

I shook my head and blocked out the pestering scent and focused on the mission at hand. The next objective for me was obvious. I had to discover the location of the abducted girl. I made mental notes of how to go about the next phase of the attack.

I heard a few more men head this way, all within my plan, as the two patrolmen took too long to appear at the main entrance checkpoint. As I perched atop the pointy ledges, my eyes spotted my prey. I pounced upon them and slashed my claws through their necks and tore out their esophagi and voice boxes. With what little they had left in their flesh, was not enough to keep their heads on their bodies and they plopped onto the dusty ground and rolled downward. Without a delay, I dashed along the wall to find another bandit to interrogate.

As I approached the deeper area of their hideout, I found a cavern entrance with a man made door blocking the path. I didn't let the wooden door stop my assault and crashed through the hinges and crawled along the ceiling to confuse the occupants of the main threshold. It delayed them several minutes and caused a few panicked discussions, but one of the brutes had enough intelligence to spot me on the ceiling.

I winked at him and smirked as I flew downward into the party of five. I waved goodbye as I flipped onto my hands and held out my legs in a split and spun on the floor like a top and shifted my feet downward to trip them of their remaining balance. I flipped back up onto my feet and chuckled softly to myself as I flicked my hair behind my ear with my thumb.

“I see a stray kitten has wandered into our humble abode...” said a voice that filled the air with confidence and had a lot more presence than the lackeys I faced so far. I turned my head to see where the voice originated from.

Down the hallway to the left, I heard footsteps echo toward me. I quietly ran down the hallway and jumped lightly in the air and launched myself from the ceiling toward the source of the footsteps. However, I had not expected to see my target being held in a joyous piggy back with the leader of the bandits.

“...I assume you've come to snatch this girl, have you not?” he glanced upward at the giggling girl who stopped her smiles and looked toward me with curiosity. She looked down at the man as she pointed at me.

“Daddy, who's this lady?”

He smiled and said, “She's a bad person, Gabby. She wants to take you away back to your mother.”

I stood there dumbfounded. From the ruckus earlier in the day, I thought that the girl that was accosted had belonged to a peasant woman. My mind tried to come up with solutions to this predicament. I scratched my head in confusion.

“I see that she didn't tell you everything, that woman. Did she perchance have blonde hair, green eyes, and a mole on her left cheek?”

My eye twitched at his accuracy. Things have grown so much clearer now. Crystal clear.

That woman used to be a bandit and took custody of the girl. The girl wasn't accosted, she just wanted to see her father and went along willingly. That prize is tempting, though... I pondered to myself. I glanced at the girl. I glanced at him. I glanced back where I came...

Then it hit me like a stampede. I could pull off getting the curious prize and have this girl be with her father still.

As I was about to snap my fingers in eureka, the sly fox beat me to it.

“Let me take a guess here and say that my ex-wife has a something to give you if you bring the little lady back to her. I saw you working your little kitten brain to form a plan of action, and let me tell you right now that what you seek will be of no use to you.”

I raised my finger in question, and he answered it for me, “You use those claws as your weapon of choice, right? That wench was going to give you sharp thread used for combat.”

I puffed my cheeks and glared at him softly as I looked back toward the entrance where I maimed the guards. Thread could have been useful to keep my presence hidden. I let out a sigh.

“I beg to differ.. I could have used that earlier to stay hidden.”

He pondered a bit, then shook his head as he chuckled.

“Love, I've known you were here ever since you came through the door. Rather... loudly I might add.”

I blushed and looked to the side embarrassingly. He stepped up to me and my instinct kicked in to get me into my defensive stance.

“What's the matter, woman? You're not supposed to hesitate when taking out your targets.” He said as he brought the girl down from his shoulders and she stayed behind him. She looked up at him and pointed at me again.

“Is she going to do something to you, Daddy?”

He shook his head and knelt down to her, “Me and the girl here have something to take care of. You go back to the room, okay? I'll come get you when we're done. Promise.”

“Okaaay” she said has she frowned a bit and went behind him into the room and closed the door.

He lifted up my chin and looked into my eyes, “You know, your eyes really do look like a cat's. ...And the way your hair on the sides stick out makes something like cat ears.. Heh, looks like I wasn't wrong about a kitten coming in.”

He raised a brow and glanced back at the room. I followed his glance and raised a brow of my own.

“Tell you what, love, if you want your little prize that badly, we can work out a deal. I can tell from our little clarification earlier that you planned something, right? If you'll hear the story of how this came to be, and why I took the wee lass with me, I'll let you take her.”

I rolled my eyes and nodded in agreement. I had to get her back by sundown.

“That fool of a owner wants me back by sundown, and it took me half the day to get here as it is...”

“Ah ha, but that's for his coin, not for my ex's prize. If it's coin you want also, we took some of that bugger's loot for ourselves. Help yourself to a bit of it, since this story will be a while.”

My lips were about to protest, but my mind worked its gears and concluded that since they came from the same source, it was okay. I didn't like that man anyway.

I cleared my throat and leaned against the wall as he went back to open the door. He motioned me inside and I walked past him. He smelled like maple with a hint of orange. He put his arm in front of me which caused me to stop in my tracks. I looked up at him with a raised brow and a tilted head. He ran his hand under my chin again and caressed my right cheek. His eyes glistened and for the first time today, I saw him in a different light. He was sly, he was cunning, but he was also really handsome.

He also just kissed me. My cheeks burned red with embarrassment as my eyes widened then looked downward. I melted into putty. This hardened assassin melted into putty from an encounter with a cute guy that pushed all my buttons. A giggle in the background brought me back to reality.

“I knew she wasn't bad, Daddy. Why did you lie?”

“I didn't lie, dear. She was just misinformed by mommy. Daddy straightened her out though..”

“And has also taken a fancy to her, hee hee.” she giggled at my expense.

I cleared my throat and forced down my redness. I sat down at the table and leaned on it with my elbows. He smirked and sat across from me while she sat on his lap. I had to admit that they looked pretty cute together. I unconsciously licked my lips as he started to speak.

“First of all, my name is Jesse. The woman's name is Connie. This little angel's name is Jessica.”

He proceeded to explain how him and Connie got together while she was part of the group and also mainly an assassin of sorts, but never killed anyone unless necessary. She was skilled with the thread, and also with projectiles. I learned that Jesse's crew began as sort of a Robin Hood type brigade. The two soon had Jessica and barely made ends meet to support her at first, and then had to steal from more than just corrupt rich people. Jesse wasn't bothered by this, but Bonnie had another say in the matter. That's where the conflict began, and soon enough Bonnie left the group with little four year old Jessica in tow.

Jessica is now eight. Jesse had been pilfering from other more well off villages until just the other day where he stopped by the village Jessica had been sighted at and stole a few materials from the owner and a sack of food from a few collective peasants and found an eight year old Jessica who interestingly enough remembered her father's appearance. She went along with him on her own.

And that's where they were today. That still didn't explain why he kissed me. Not that I was bothered by it.

“Little Jess was right, I have taken a small fancy to you, Kitty. I'll let you take Jess back, when she wants to go back.” He turned his focus onto her and asked her.

“I wanna go back tomorrow...” she said in a yawn. She plopped down on the straw mattress and fell asleep.

“She's cute,” I said as I kept my eyes onto his.

“So are you,” he flirted. I smirked as he leaned in to kiss me again with tongue. I complied and we moved around the room until he pinned me against the wall. Our cheeks flushed red with infatuation. His scent of maple ran through my nose as we kissed.



The sun had shifted throughout the sky and back to the east, where the morning called out. The three of us walked out of the main headquarters. I don't know how that sly fox managed to woo me to the point of clothing removal, but it happened. However, I didn't complain. I had a big grin on my face as he held my hand.

We went over the plan again and he reminded me of where Connie hid her “prize.”

I put Jessica on my shoulders and told her to hang on tight. Jesse and I had one last kiss before I rushed off to the north. That would probably be last time I see him, unless I somehow wind up going this way again.

A few hours passed and I was at the halfway mark, when Jessica spoke up.

“Aunt Kitty, do you like Daddy?” The abrupt question caused me to lose my footing and trip on my own foot. Jessica retained her balance upon my shoulders. I coughed and stood back up and dusted myself off.

“Hee hee... I'll take that as a yes,” She said boldly. I blushed as I picked up speed again to go back to the town. We would get there by around noon.

“Yes.. I do like your daddy.” I confirmed for her. We were a quarter of the way there at that point. She smiled and pinched my cheeks as I continued to dash with small spurts of jogs in between.

“Good... I like you too. You remind me of what mommy used to be like. I think that's why daddy likes you...”

“Oh?” I said as my eyes glanced upwards toward her. I couldn't help but smirk at her compliment.

“...I wouldn't be mad if you became my second mommy. I already have two daddies, with mommy's other husband. ...So....”

“.....” I was speechless. This girl was so forward and innocent with her speech that she caught me off guard. I barely met the man and she.. she gave me her blessing? But I wouldn't ever see him again.

“That's sweet to hear, Jessica... but I don't think I'll ever see your daddy again unless I come back this way some day. ...I wander around, sweetie. But.. I think I'll come visit again if I can. Would you like that?”

We arrived at the entrance of town. We snuck in through the side and headed straight for Connie's home. I knocked on the door, and the woman answered the door. Before she spoke, I pondered why Jesse didn't get upset at my maiming of a few of his allies. I suppose that was one of his good traits. He lacked certain emotions that I also lacked.

Connie squealed in delight as she glomped Jessica and held her tight. Jessica giggled in return and winked at me. I winked back as Connie went back into the house to gather the prize. I walked away with her combat thread with a smirk on my face as I licked my lips. My pockets were full of coin and my stomach was full of food, and my mood was good.

Though, little did the woman know, Jesse would be back for a private visit later this evening.