The Tale of the Cat

I continued to sit and wait for the unconscious girl to awaken. Her skin was regaining colour. It was a good sign of recovery. The state that the girl was in made me wonder just how many times I've been like that. It reminded me of when I died.

It made me think that this girl wouldn't have survived if we hadn't shown up. I felt more worry than anger when I saw her. I don't think that I want to arrest her now.

"When she wakes up." I said. "Let's give her a chance to redeem herself."

"Why? Isn't she a major thief?" Azraea asked. "Imagine what we would get."

"I don't care about the pay." I told her. "Look around you. Does it look like she wants to be here? That's why we should give her a chance."

"..." Azraea took a look around the decrepit and near uninhabitable shack. "You're right. Even a thief wouldn't live in a place like this by choice. Do what you will then."

Just as she said that, I heard stirring from the bed. The girl's ears twitched lightly and her tail waved around in the air. Her feline eyes opened wide slowly.

"Where…ah'm I..?" she made out.

"You're in your shack." I told her. The girl looked over at me and her eyes widened more. She jumped back with inhuman agility and landed on the top of a wardrobe. She hissed like a cat would.

"What are ya doing 'ere?!" she hissed. "Are ya 'ere to take me away?"

"No. Not at all." I told her calmly. "We helped you recover. Your wound looked fatal."

"Liar!" she yelled. "You're 'ere to catch me an ah know it!" Her eyes stared venomously at me as she bared fanged white teeth and hissed more.

"Catch you? What do you mean?" I said, deciding to play dumb to her crime.

"Don't be tricky with me!" she shouted as she drew a small blade and came straight at me with near inhuman speed.

CLANG

I only managed to block by a hairline, shifting my sword from its sheath. She was quite strong. I felt my hand being pushed back.

"The hell?" I said. She was pushing me back. A surprise given her size. "How are you so strong..?"

The grinding of steel was heard as I slashed across her blade and broke the stalemate. She staggered back, most likely still dazed from her fainting.

"I'm not here to take you away." I told the girl. "Just tell me what's going on!"

"So they sent someone skilled this time…" the girl muttered.

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

She continued to lash out at me as I kept just barely blocking the blows.

"Stop it!" I yelled, "I told you I'm not here to hurt you!"

"And ah say you're a liar!" the girl hissed as she unleashed yet another strike.

She turned at the last second and went under my blade.

I wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

CLANG

.

.

.

I'm…not dead?

I looked back to see the girl's blade on the ground in two pieces. She was staring to the side in absolute shock. I turned too.

What I saw was Azraea staring at the girl with a fire in her eye. Her shortsword was drawn and aimed at the girl's throat.

"Listen when you're told." she growled at the girl. "We aren't going to hurt you. But if you so much as cut a single hair on his head…I won't hesitate."

The girl audibly swallowed her words as she was stood at the end of Azraea's blade. She let her arms drop to her sides and she slowly took a pace backward.

"It's nice that we could come to an agreement." Azraea smiled as she sheathed her sword under her cloak. That was the first time that I'd been frightened by Azraea. It felt different to what I felt when I was around my father…

"So." the girl said, barely getting her words out. "What…did ya want from me?"

"I came to offer you a chance." I told her after rearranging my thoughts. "We know that you're the thief that everyone is talking about."

"A chance..?" the girl was still in shock from her sudden defeat. "But how did ya know who ah was?"

"Simple deduction." I told her. "But anyway. What I am offering you is a chance to clear your bounty for good."

I outstretched my open hand to her.

"Join us." I requested. "That is the only way to clear your bounty. But first, you have to return everything that you've stolen to their owners. Do that and we will give you a second chance."

"What makes ya think that ah want a second chance?" the girl asked without any thought to what she said. I only steeled my look.

"You have dreams don't you?" I asked her. "I'm sure that living in this shack and thieving to get by isn't your dream."

The girl stopped for a moment. Her ears twitched.

"I don't want to hand you over to the guards if I don't have to." I told her. "That is why I'm offering you a second chance at having the life you dream of. What is it you want out of your life? To live and die in a pit of pointless survival and endless problems? I don't think so."

"It's not…" the girl responded weakly.

"Then here is your chance to change it." I said sternly. "There is no fate in the world, everything can be changed. All it takes is your will to act."

Whilst I spoke, I thought of all the times that I could have changed my own fate. Maybe I would not have met such an end if I had done things differently. But then I would lose the reason that I say these words.

"Will…to act…." the girl mumbled to herself.

"That's right." I replied. "Even your destiny can be broken so long as you will it to happen. So break your chains and rise. Rise and accomplish your dreams."

My hand remained outstretched to the girl. She looked at it hesitatingly.

"So all ah have to do…is give back what I've taken?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Yes." I smiled. "That's all you need to do. No-one knows your face yet so we can easily hide you with us."

"Ah see…" the girl sat on her makeshift bed. Eventually, she raised her head and gave a smile.

"Alright." she responded. "Ah'll do it."

"That's great." I replied. "What's your name? I forgot to ask."

"It's Rissa." Rissa said.

"Well Rissa." Azraea said. "Welcome to the team. I hope that there'll be no problems from now."

With that Azraea smiled brightly. Speaking of dreams, I think I know what hers is. Though I'll have to ask her someday.

"Now lets begin." I told Rissa. "It will take a while to take all of this back. I think that we should take it all back to the guild. They should be able to gather the victims and bring back their things."

Both Rissa and Azraea nodded in agreement.

"We'll start loading it into sacks." Azraea said. "I can carry at least three. So split the rest amongst yourselves to carry."

"Right." I responded. From there I took Rissa outside and found a large abundance of cloth sacks. They must have been how she was transporting it. I started loading up the sacks with the treasure in the pit outside of the shack. Rissa joined.

When we were finished, there was around nine sacks full of all sorts of treasures. I divided it between us. Four for Azraea, three for me, and two for Rissa.

I loaded up. Carrying one sack in each hand and holding the other on my back. Rissa simply carried one in each hand. Azraea loaded one on her back, another on her belt, and carried the last two.

"You're a real leader aren't you?" Azraea chuckled as she looked at me.

"I guess so." I replied as we began to move. The bags weren't actually too heavy. It was mainly hollow heirlooms and only some gold.

We finally reached the guild after walking for around twenty minutes. I noticed that people were giving Rissa some dirty looks. They didn't seem to be knowing of her background…in fact they seemed more perceptive of her appearance. It made me think back to what Azraea told me.

"Hey Azraea." I asked. "Do people here have something against Beastkin? I can feel their stares."

"You don't know?" Azraea replied, tilting her head. "That's strange, I thought that everyone knew about the Wilder War."

"Wilder War?" I questioned.

"The Wilder War was a war between the people of Wolftan and the Beastkin tribes of the south." Azraea explained. "It was a long and bloody war. But us humans won it, and our oh so gracious leaders decided to spare the Beastkin in exchange for their service."

That last part sounded sarcastic. I sighed.

"So they were enslaved…" I muttered. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh? I mean, I get the whole spoils of war thing. But why would they enslave the Beastkin?"

"Because of their superhuman traits." Azraea responded. "Beastkin have been recorded to have superior strength, speed, stamina, and mental capabilities than most humans. However they're few in number because of the war. Men are greedy for power, that's all there is to it."

"I see…" I went back to walking in silence. They would never have allowed this kind of stuff back home. I wondered what Rissa's thoughts on it were…but I shouldn't ask a question like that out of the blue.

Then we entered the door. I'm fairly certain that the only smiling face was Erika. Everyone else was either out cold or glaring at Rissa for no reason whatsoever.

"Welcome back." Erika beamed at us. Then she tilted her head. "Who's this?" she asked, looking down at Rissa with a grin.

"Our newest party member." I said. "Also, the goods that had been stolen by the thief have been found."

All three of us dropped the bags on the table.

"And the thief?" Erika asked.

"Gone." I told her, "Deserted the hideout and left their treasures."

"I see." Erika said. "Well, we have what really mattered from this case. Your pay is reduced since you didn't catch the culprit. But you've done a great service by bringing back the stolen belongings."

Erika handed a pouch of gold over to Azraea. She counted it up and it totalled to twenty pieces.

"That will do." Azraea said. "It seems fair for a half-done job."

"Yes." Erika replied. "I hope that the thief may also be found soon. We will start finding the owners of this property right away."

"Right." I said. "Thank you."

Erika simply smiled back and waved as the three of us left the building. That was how we gained a new party member and house-mate.