Glass crashed around her and she settled onto the floor amidst broken and shattered pieces everywhere. Immediately she looked around and darted for the darkest area and went still listening to anyone who might have heard something in the night. Nothing stirred. She wanted though, uneasy in her stomach, on her legs, nervous as her fur bristled. The familiars scents coming to her nose made her want to snarl, but again, she knew not if she was truly alone. She was in the workshop, where the table was. Atop it was no cage, she saw it on the floor, broken to pieces, parts cindered, and it had a foul smell. She made sound from her throat to show disgust, evidently he had been angry when she got away. Not matter, she deserved her freedom, just as he deserved the payback she would provide soon enough.
She looked around the room, and she began remembering so much. The pipes in the corner, those were her training mates, the chains, her restrictions when she was used for bait to train other fighters to be stronger, without mercy. She felt anger brimming inside of her and she wanted to put it to good use. Even the ground itself was cold, and when she wasn't kept in the too small cage she was chained to the floor, unable to move, only look through the window to the moon. She walked over to the still intact window panes and looked out. The moon shone bright this night, and she smiled remembering when she heard Cellen howl first. When he had seemingly called out to her, when he had come for her.
Reisx moved quietly on the ground, making sure not to touch the equipment on the floor. Her master, she often heard him called the mechanic, or by his last name, regardless, his was a cruel b*****d she hated and had no respect for. Ironically, she felt like Imnir and her old master might get along well…if only they met. She shook her head, getting rid of the thoughts focusing on her mission. She moved from the workshop space, leaving it behind her, and went for his bedroom, where she knew the metal box lay.
The halls, the small portion there was, very dark. She could barely make out where the grunge covered walls were. They wreaked of his drink and smelled like the black oil her put on his contraption and almost made her gag. She wished to hold her breath but knew if she passed out here, there may be no going back home, home to the wild, beyond the gates, the fences and concrete, back to Cellen.
There was a light in the distance, but then it faded, someone walking by and her heart started racing. What if someone saw the glass, going in, not coming out? What if they investigated, or worse, got him and he came in and looked around? She couldn't hide in this dump forever, she couldn't stay out of sight when daylight arrived, He'd be able to find her he'd be able to - and she stopped thinking, closed her eyes and stilled herself taking a breath. She could do this.
Under the bed she saw it, the metal box, and she crept to it slowly. She made her way across the floorboards, moving so that her belly nearly touched the ground, but she stayed above the dirt and grime as much as she could. As soon as she was back, she was diving head first into the nearest stream to get this smell off her. She got close and touched her paw to the metal box. It creaked and she stopped, listened, and again heard nothing and continued her ministrations. She moved herself under the bed so she could do what she needed but was also out of sight of the only window in the bedroom. It was dark, in an alley, but she didn't push it past the young ones who lived in the slums to try and break into the mechanics house. They were a waste, the lot of them, it surprised her that Ai and Seven's owner were half decent and could provided in a better neighborhood. She was grateful they were well taken care of, and hoped that would continue on.
She opened it and peered inside. It was dark, hard to see, but she could see the stack of crumpled, but smoothed out pieces of paper with numbers on it in the idle. There was a lot of change, but that meant nothing. She only saw the way her old master's eyes lit up when a lump sum of cash like this was placed in his hands from either Reisx winning, or when he bet against her in the ring. She still couldn't come to terms that he, as her owner, would bet against her. He deserved everything she did.
She took the money in her mouth and made a choking noise when it touched her tongue. It tasted horrendous, most likely because it touched his hands as he counted it so many times, and she began to move. Soon, she heard a grumbling voice, then anger and yelling. She saw candlelight and dark eyes as he came bumbling around the corner, but she ducked out of the way just in time.
"Where are you you little whelp? Show yourself! I'll teach you boys a thing or two!"
She grinned while holding the money, while hiding under the shadows of the corner of the room, she had to make a break for it, she had to get to the workshop. So he thought boys came in, good. As he whirled to look at the bed, his heavy boots clad against the floor she ran to the other room, light on her paws, near silent.
"NO!" he screamed. "No! Where are ya? Where? I'll kill ya! I'll kill ya!" he said over and over. Seemed like he had too much of his drink tonight.
Reisx jumped up onto the work table, where she had once been a captive, and looked out of the widow to the moon, the one thing she wished to look upon freed from behind the glass.
A light was cast upon her, and she turned to look at him, his eyes, dark, angry, jaw clenched.
"You!" and she jumped, breaking through the glass and tearing off down the street, hearing him yell behind her. As she ran, she knew she was too far from her normal escape, and went to a far end, on the way, there was a trash can lit up in flames and abandoned, most likely by kids. She jumped up, released the cash from her mouth, stopped and watched it burn into ash. She smiled, watching the remnants of her legacy her old master had, leave.
He no longer owned her, any part of her.
She would only be a harsh memory, a reminder now.
And she went for the woods, her home, her freedom, never to be chained again, but she hesitated. No, she couldn't just run for it without thinking, she had to think of where Cellen was going to go with his human, the one he was fond of. They would help, and they would get home.
She felt...free.
((1220))
