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While the Holiday is all about giving, you've just witnessed someone taking. In the middle of a crowded shopping mall, you just saw someone blatantly pickpocket someone else--or maybe, they tried to pickpocket you? You've got a few options--turn a blind eye, inform the victim, chase the thief--anything you feel is right. But still, you've got to do something.
Normally, Sylvia hated the mall. But something was different, and it wasn't just the pleasant relief of the mildly heated air relieving her frosty nose and toes. It was the fact that the security guard turned a blind eye on the bedraggled feline sneaking amongst the clothes racks. It was the carefully discarded bits of chicken or hamburger that she greedily gobbled up once she'd reached the food court.
Christmas spirit.
While she loved the warmth and the sudden generosity with food, Sylv found the decor a bit... Garish. There was a photo booth with a sweaty man in a fake beard holding strange children, reindeer that lit up and moved and nearly scared her half to death, and then of course the massive, incredibly tempting tree. The people in the shopping center however seemed to love it. She couldn't spot a frown anywhere.
So it was with some surprise that Sylv noticed one human sneaking around rather furtively, eyeing shoppers' bags as they ate or ordered food. With a quickness that surprised even the street smart cat, the girl darted forward and snatched away a purse left momentarily unattended. With one smooth motion she removed the wallet, replaced the bag, and high tailed it down the hall.
Sylv blinked, and looked around. No one else had seemed to notice. Intrigued, she tailed her, ducking into displays and behind stalls so as to avoid notice. The young girl - she couldn't be past high school age, really - ducked and weaved and there were several times she'd thought she'd lost her in the crowd.
As she rounded the corner, however, she nearly ran face first into the girl's legs.
"Hey, guess what I just - what the hell, why is there a stray cat in here?" The young woman's voice was strident and unpleasant, and Sylv flattened her ears, responding with a low growl. She was joined by a band of similarly aged miscreants, but one of them stood out in particular, approaching the girl and glancing where she pointed.
"Heheh, whoa. Let's grab it, maybe we can set it on fire." Apparently the criminal mastermind had an accomplice, a hulking goon in a football jersey. Presently, he was standing over an increasingly agitated Sylvia and leering idiotically.
Oh, it was so on.
Slyv blinked, and then scampered up the boy's pantleg, claws neatly slipping through the jean material to dig into the flesh beneath. The boy cursed, swinging an arm down at her -
And merely slapped his own knee, as she used his leg to launch herself at what she could only assume was the bratty, teenaged Bonnie to his rather pathetic Clyde.
"Not my FACE-"
Some time later, a very prim and self satisfied looking Sylvia sauntered up to the Security station, stolen wallet gripped tightly in her teeth.
"Whoa, again? Steve, come look at this. That cat got another one somehow!" The on duty guard waved over his partner as Sylv proudly dropped her trophy on his desk before hopping down and scampering back out.
She pondered if it was somehow contradictory to her own nature to punish the thieves, but immediately dismissed the notion. The girl's hair had been terrible, and besides, who set CATS on fire?!
People with scratched up faces, that was who.
