Amy was almost back to the pack. It gave her such a heavy heart, even thinking about it. She hated that she'd been forced to submit, knowing that any shows of arrogance or dominance would lead to more screaming, more struggling with the pain as her hearing was taken out. Amy had been lucky this time, her ears recovering without any permanent damage. She had a feeling that wouldn't be the case next time though. Panda would be sure to do damage to her, Amy was sure of it. She really would have preferred the ax, so much easier for her to fight against.

Her movements had slowed, growing extremely snappish. Amy had even growled at Dhiate, an act that she had only ever done before when greatly displeased. Raoth had been holding himself with extra arrogance ever since, sure that Dhiate's golden life would be completely destroyed soon, putting him on the same level as the coyote. Amy kept moving though, refusing to give in to the darkness threatening to cloud her, prepared to fight it off with every fiber of her body. She wouldn't stop fighting until she had made it clear that she was top ranked once more.

The bellowing voice of a dog dragged her from her thoughts. Stopping Amy glanced over, noting a brown and white sheepdog. He jogged down to her, grinning the entire time. 'Allo. Jes noticed yer wagon, an thought ye might be willing to trade. Amy grinned, stepping back. Have a look. She opened the wagon, revealing the treasures of cloth, jewelry and weapons that were inside.

Kit had left Fleta's side to go looking for another gift to give the female, a trickster that he had found himself staying around as much as he could manage. She had not been his only female since coming to the area, but things had changed quite a bit for the male. Moving his hand up to where a necklace would normally be, Kit thought of where it's new home was, around Fleta's neck. That was only the beginning of course, and would soon be joined by other gifts if he could just find something shiny, the very sort of thing Fleta seemed to love.

The smell of strangers carried through the air, and drew Kit over to where a wagon waited. Spending a moment surveying the situation, Kit pondered how to approach the wagon. As a potential person looking to trade, he had nothing, but as a thief, he didn't need anything to trade. Telling Fleta about how he managed to take the gift from some unsuspecting merchant was just icing on the cake.

Each careful step of Kit's feet brought him closer to the wagon, and his goals, while the male used whatever cover he could manage to shield his position from the two doing business. It was a dangerous game he was playing, and simply hoped that the distraction of doing business with someone would allow him to snatch an item or two up.

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Kit was getting closer to the wagon, and was pleased with himself that no one had seemed to notice him. Tail wagged silently behind him at the thought of telling Fleta the story of how he had got her would be gift, but that daydreaming only lasted a little while, as he realized that someone had spotted him. Freezing in place, Kit was certain the alarm would be sounded quickly, from the way the other male was watching him with a grin. He was close too, right at the edge of the wagon, and wondered if he would even be able to dash away before being tackled.

Instead of the attack he expected, they moved to block his view of the two that were engaged in a trade. Confusion was evident on Kit's face as he remained still, and simply waited to see what the male would do. It almost seemed like the other male was blocking the view for him, but that seemed too convenient, and a trap of some sort was more likely. Kit's muscled remained tensed, as though he was ready to bolt in the opposite direction, the only thing that kept him in place, was the distant possibility that it was either his imagination about the male seeing him, or that he was actually going to let him take something.

The sheepdog glanced over, noting the burly coyote that was standing there. Grinning he waved lightly. Whipping around Amy growled, signaling for him to get back. Obediently Raoth moved, still making sure that his body stayed between the strange hybrid and his mistress. This was excellent revenge. It wasn't like she could ask why he didn't warn her, considering how he didn't have a tongue. Amy turned back to the trader. Sorry about that. He's still being trained. The sheepdog's face contorted in confusion, glancing from the young coyote to Amy.

Still being trained? What d'ya mean by that? Amy sighed, shaking her head. It doesn't matter. Is there anything else you'd be interested in? The male turned, looking over the wagon. He lifted up a small silver decoration, a pointless beautiful silver holder, designed for daggers. Unfortunately it wasn't practical at all, only it's beauty earning it's place in her wagon, too heavy for actual use. This 'ere looks interesting. She nodded her head, taking it from him and proceeding to point out the details. This is a very delicate piece. Notice those knots in it? Celtic, taken from old human runes.

A growl from the female who seemed to own the wagon almost caused Kit to bolt, but it quickly became apparent that the growl was directed at the male who had apparently spotted him. Listening to the conversation, and watching the silent male, Kit eventually gathered that they were a slave. Given his experience with slaves, Kit started to wonder if they were intentionally remaining silent, maybe as a way to get even with a cruel master. It was a shot in the dark, a guess, but Kit couldn't think of many other reasons to explain the situation he had found himself in.

Licking his lips with wariness, Kit decided that he had to take a chance if he was going to get anything from the wagon, and closed the last bit of distance. All the while, Kit's green eyes watched the apparent slave, and hoped that he had guessed right. Once he reached the wagon, Kit carefully peeked over the edge of the wagon, to see what he might be able to grab. He wouldn't take long to decide, since he would be a little exposed, and grabbed for the first item that shined. All that remained, was to see if the other male stopped allowing things to proceed as Kit wanted, or if the other two noticed his theft.

The sheepdog was stupid, eyes glistening with interest as she talked about the silver piece. He had no idea that it had no true worth, simply a glittery object that she planned on trading away for more useful items. It seemed that he was going to be the ideal victim for this, clearly impressed by the detail and the information she was giving on how it worked. What do ye want fer it? Hooked. Amy smiled, leaning back against the wagon. This was difficult to procure. Something that could compensate for it's loss would be appreciated. Perhaps a promise?

The male's eyes narrowed slightly, his suspicion rising at those words. Feeling a bit uneasy he took a step back, looking at Amy. What kinda promise? Amy smiled coolly, knowing that he was trapped now. Raoth, shivering at knowing the dark things that would soon happen with the promise she would extract from him, hurriedly shoved a bunch of bright objects towards the back of the wagon, hoping the thief would hurry up and take something so that he could go and crawl into the back and pretend that none of this was happening.

While the merchant attempted to wring her customer for whatever sort of favor she sought, Kit was busy surveying the shiny baubles that had been moved toward the back of the wagon by the strange male. That he had moved things closer to him, only convinced Kit that he was safe to take whatever he wanted, so long as only the male saw him, and in the interest of making sure that was the case, Kit was quick in his appraisal. If he had thought it possible, Kit might have tried just grabbing several things at once, but knew that if he had to run, the fewer things he was carrying, the better. Then one item above the others stood out, a gift that he suspected Fleta would like, but also served his own wants at the same time.

A flexible ring of silver, just large enough to fit comfortably around a neck, studded with gems, but missing a few in a couple spots. It was the sort of thing that would allow Kit to further lay his claim on Fleta, an activity that brought a grin to the male's face, and sent his hand to claim the prize. Almost turning to leave, Kit noticed another thing that particularly piqued his interest, a collection of small clay pots, but many of them had what looked like dried dye near the lids. Fleta had disliked the idea of tattoos, but Kit figured that didn't include dyes. The only problem was that the color he wanted most, a red dye, was beneath the others, but that didn't stop him from moving the collar to his teeth, and then attempting to grab the red dye. It would have been fine, if that had not caused the dyes to tumble, and one of the pots to break audibly. Not waiting to even see if the merchant had heard the commotion, Kit bolted in the opposite direction, carrying the small pot of dye with both hands, and the collar in his maw.

It's simple, really. In the future, I'll find you, and ask you to do something for me. At that time, you will do exactly as I say, fulfilling our bargain, and paying for this. Amy twirled the silver piece in her hands, confident in her actions. The male thought it over, ponderously measuring what she said. Amy could see the rusted gears in his mind slowly begin to turn, working on figuring it out. A clatter from behind interrupted this process however, and Amy whirled around, snarling. Raoth had to interrupt her while dealing with a customer, didn't he? Raoth wasn't the culprit though, the slave quickly disappearing back behind the wagon where he was supposed to be when a pot broke.

Amy's eyes widened, spotting a small shape fleeing across the land, probably responsible for wrecking her stuff. A thief as well, if his attempts at remaining hidden were any indication. Roaring Amy quickly tore off her clothes. Running she surged forward, shifting into secui form. Her mane shortened and thickened, a protective ruff around the back of her neck, falling onto all fours as her limbs shortened and changed. She stumbled slightly, a little off kilter from the change in balance, but quickly regained it. She followed the scent of the one who had dared such a thing. When she caught up she would rip him limb from limb. His tail flicked ahead, powerful muscles slowly shortening the distance between them.

A roar from behind him was the obvious hint that he had not gone unnoticed, and as fierce as it had been, Kit doubted being caught would be an option. Only the slight head start had given the male a chance to escape, but being unable to shift to Secui, and still keep his treasures was likely going to lead to him being caught if it turned into a straight forward race. A variety of plans blazed through Kit's mind, and the first, of cutting his path through a stream was put into action after dashing through some brush that hid an ankle high waterway.

Fear spurred Kit to run as fast as he could, and memories of the last time a theft had gone truly bad. That time, his father had been killed, and he had only narrowly escaped the same fate, that or slavery. He had been young enough back then, that maybe they had not been planning to kill him, but the female behind him might not think the same thing. A soft drop landed on his nose, and nearly caused the male to slow his hasty retreat in an effort to find out what had hit him, but the slowly increasing droplets of water hitting him was all the hint he needed.

If Kit ever could call himself lucky, it was at that moment, with the potential for rain, no matter how unpleasant the feel, Kit could perhaps at least not be tracked by scent as easily. From then on, he would just have to find a hiding place, and wait out the chase.

The distance was closing, but that dratted thief darted off. If he'd kept straight ahead it would have been an easy catch, but no, he added fuel to the fire and decided to try dodging her. If he had surrendered, Amy might have let him live, only removing a couple limbs. Now though, he wouldn't even get that short mercy. She would tear him apart, not letting up at all. He would beg for death before she let it end. His scent burned into her mind, one she would never forget and let go of. Crashing into the forest Amy skidded, turning the corner. Smaller plants were completely destroyed, crushed under her heavy paws.

Despite the monstrous size there was a sinuous grace to her movements, no lack of control seen. Each move was precise and sharp, calculating. Hitting some thick bushes where his scent trailed through Amy paused, snorting. She pushed her nose in, finding the water that bubbled underneath. That was just great. Now she'd lose time finding him, working on picking up his scent. A couple drops hit her as she moved along, searching for the scent. As the rain increased Amy howled her anger, knowing the trail would grow even weaker now. At last Amy found where he had crossed, leaping over and working on following the rapidly fading trail.

The sounds of pursuit had started to fall further behind Kit, and the male assumed that his trick of going through the water had slowed down the vicious sounding female behind him. With the rain starting to come down in a heavier blanket of cold that clung to his coat, Kit was beginning to look for some sort of hiding place. The thought of having the angry merchant pass him up was both amusing, and also relieving because it would get him out of the rain.

In his current form, many spots were just too small for him to get inside of, but Kit didn't want to stop to shift, nor did he have any desire to not be able to carry his prize if she did find the hiding place. Eventually Kit was starting to breath heavier from his running, and decided to try his luck by climbing a tree. Slipping the pretty collar onto his arm, and moving the pot of dye to be held awkwardly by his mouth, Kit started to scale a nearby evergreen tree. He didn't stop until he was rather high up, and tried to get into a comfortable position to wait. Where Kit was, it would be very hard to see anything but right below, and didn't intend to leave his hiding place for at least an hour or so.

Amy stood, studying a single paw print. With the rain running down drenching everything, it was difficult to see. The blond beast appeared more ethereal in appearance, a creature out of one's nightmares, coat streaked with a light that seemed to come from the canine instead of just a coat of raindrops reflecting off it. Head lowered she took a deep sniff. It was him. Lifting her head she howled, a deep booming cry. She had found the trail of her prey, and she was going to continue. Swiftly she began to run over the ground, nose low as she followed the faint scent guiding her to her victim.

Amy hit a dead end when his scent ran out. Amy searched around, nose buried deep to figure out where he could possibly be. She brushed along the large pine tree, growling angrily. It was in her way, the needles scratching along her back as she searched. Her hackles raised Amy was finally forced to give up. Lifting her head she howled with anger. The promise of vengeance when she finally caught up with him filled the air. When she caught him, she would kill him, ripping the filthy thief apart, letting him scream with each tug. She would be nice and slow with her revenge. Turning Amy moved back towards the wagon. A red hybrid. She pressed his scent into her mind. She wouldn't forget.

Kit stilled as the sound of someone beneath his hiding place reached the male's ears, and realized that she had discovered his hiding place. Or had she, since there came no demands that he get down from the tree, no ferocious climbing, or throwing things at him, but instead of those horrible outcomes Kit only heard an angry howl. She then headed back in the direction they had come from, Kit assuming that meant she had given up, but also not willing to risk coming down from the tree for a good long while.

Only after a great deal of time had passed, would the male cautiously make his way back down from his hiding place, and once it was clear that the coast was clear, dash off in a round about path to where he had left Fleta. The grin on Kit's face revealing to anyone who was watching, just how excited he was to deliver the "gift" he had procured, but also at the idea of using what was now his pot of dye.

OOC: I think this thread is probably done, unless you wanted to add to it somehow?