A hand intruded into Yuki’s sanctuary.
Yuki’s total focus was on the discussion at hand. She understood a few words here and there, but most of it flew over her head. From the small gap in the leather bag, Whisker was the rabbit being sold to the older woman, and by the range of voices, gasps, and gathering crowd, things weren’t going as expected.
Jenny’s voice in Larissa’s form was deeper and rumbling, and she spoke with a low confident cadence. The older woman looked afraid and surprised, and the merchant, well, looked like a merchant. To her surprise, a hand reached inside the bag and felt things around, touching places it shouldn’t.
It wasn’t the soft caramel color of Jenny’s skin. Instead, rough, thin, stick-like fingers grasped about.
Yuki didn’t give it time; she glomped on the intruding appendage, biting as hard as possible.
The hand retreated, and a man yelled. Jenny moved, the bag swishing about, and soon after, the world turned around, and Yuki lost her sense of direction.
Jenny impacted the wooden countertop, and from the bigger gap, she saw the events unfolding. Whisker, cute, adorable, twitching Whisker, did what any sane rabbit should do. In the moment of surprise, she bucked and moved and bit. The merchant let her go on reflex, and the rabbit bolted off.
Yuki ran out of the bag in pursuit. She leaped onto the countertop, thumped the man’s hand for good measure, and dashed off behind her sister. Pandemonium broke around her. The giant’s legs moved in a chaotic dance, stomping, jumping, and kicking. A foot came toward Yuki. She jumped to the side, dodging the incoming attack, only to hop into another stomp.
A pair of hands descended on the place she would pass by. Yuki hopped forward to the side, thumping the hands for increased momentum. A yelp followed her passage. She dodged more kicks and hands until finally, blessed space free of giants.
Things came in sharp relief. The blur of gray fur ran ahead toward the area with fewer people. A young girl held a cord to her left, tying a dog down. Said dog strained against it, loud barks, eyes glued to the fleeing Whisker.
Yuki bolted after Whisker. The city’s many colors were distracting, the market smells filled her nostrils, and each yell from the crowd sent her head spinning.
A teenager slipped out of the crowd and started after Yuki. The dog barked louder, pulling harder against the rope. The girl yelped and let go, and the chase was on. It made Yuki think of the old children’s story of the old lady and her pig.
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Hot on Yuki’s heels, barking and spitting saliva, the dog chased. If being afraid for Whisker and being in the wide open wasn’t enough, Yuki’s heart jolted, and instincts almost took over. She wanted to find somewhere to hide under, away from the predators and the open sky. But Yuki reigned that in. She needed to deal with the dog before it caught up to her.
The market’s stink of manure and rotting vegetables choked Yuki. Whisker sprinted onto a cobblestone street, a blur barely evading the pounding hooves of a cart-horse. She let out a high-pitched squeal, nearly inaudible under the animal’s snort and the clatter of the cart. The dog’s barking, a ragged drumbeat in Yuki’s head, grew louder. What would happen if they got caught?
Whisker turned into a corner and under the legs of a distracted vendor. The man flailed, knocking over a stack of baskets she had to jump over, and the dog bulldozed through. Yuki kicked over a water bucket, hoping the dog would slip, but it didn’t work.
A horse reared up in front, scared by Whisker bolting between its legs, spooking a group of people. Yuki dodged between their legs, not fast enough to escape a kick aimed at her. It was a glancing blow, but pain lanced her leg.
Relentlessly, the dog chased.
Yuki vaulted over obstacles, zigzagged between legs, and tumbled around those she couldn’t evade. The dog just pushed through. Yuki slowed down, letting the dog get closer. Ahead of her was a stall cluttered with all manner of things. Whisker had run past and around it, but Yuki wanted something else. She measured her pace, letting the dog get closer and closer.
She was about to collide with the stall when the dog got close enough to pounce. Yuki abused her higher dexterity and greater control over her movements to leap away. The dog’s maw bit down on the space she had been just a moment before. The dog crashed into the stall. Things fell, the dog yelped, and Yuki continued her pursuit, free of any chasing dog.
When they encountered people, most would often jump out of the way in surprise, some kick reflexively. Yuki managed to evade most of that, though Whisker suffered one or two hits. Yuki was faster than the other rabbit and would’ve caught up already if not for the fact that she had no idea how to calm her panicked sibling down. Her current plan was to see where other rabbit would stop, prevent anyone from getting to her, and go from there.
The further they went from the marketplace, the rougher the houses became, and fewer people were on the roads. Whisker had started to slow down from her frantic escape and turned yet another corner, away from a horse drawn carriage moving down the road.
Yuki heard a yell and a yelp. She turned into a small alley with no exit to see a bony, freckled girl dressed in simple clothing wrestling down the rabbit. Yuki froze. Something sparked in her mind. She’d seen that girl before. At the time, she’d been smiling and dressed in old but well-kept clothes. The girl’s mane was matted and dirty. She had a bruise on her face and no shoes.
With a triumphant yell, the girl got up, Whisker firmly held in both hands. Bee jumped around happily and turned toward the street.
The girl stared at Yuki, who stared back. Bee’s eyes widened. She pointed at Yuki, mouth flapping. From the corner of her eye, Yuki caught movement, and on reflex, she hopped away.
At the alley entrance — panting, puffing, and sweating — stood a nasty-looking boy with crooked teeth, a smile, and a crude knife in his hand. “Gotcha!” He said.
From behind, Bee yelled.