[Kittyms]

"Hurry!" Rowena yelled, grabbing Max and leaping out the window. She grabbed hold of the rope she had left there and scrambled up to the roof, following the sound of KBS-M1. "Where's Max?" she asked, seeing that he wasn't right behind her, where she thought he was.

"Here," he grunted, and she saw that he was perched on the tiles just a little ways away. "I picked up your rope." He handed it to his mother, and she accepted it gratefully. "Now let's get out of here." He walked to the rooftop edge, gathered up his muscles and leaped to the next rooftop, his claws sliding on the new roof for one frightening second before they gained purchase. Rowena followed, leaping across with the grace and agility of a seasoned escape artist.

"Let's go hide out for a while," she said, sliding down the roof, and landing neatly on the ground behind the house. "I know a special place." Making sure that KBS and Maxwell were following her, she slipped into a dark alleyway.

[M: 9, R: 9]

[Kitsune_Beauty]

Police had begun swarming the house just as the three pets escaped the roof.KBS-M1 used his claw to go across the rooftops, keeping up with Rowena and Maxwell easily. "They didn't see us." KBS-M1 stated as they entered the ally Rowena had mentioned.

"Kitsune would shut me down if she knew what i'v been doing." the squid said with a sly flash in his eyes. Of course he wouldn't tell anyone. He was enjoying tonight too much. "They have tracking sahound with them." he said as he scanned the scene, looking through the building walls as if they were transparent.

[Kittyms]

"That doesn't matter. We can lose it easily," Rowena said. "There are too many scents in these backstreets for them to stay on one."

"Or it could suffer an accident," Max said, grinning, though his mother shook her head in disapproval.

"Just follow me, okay?" She sped into a lope, glancing over her shoulder from time to time to make sure that the police weren't getting too close. "It won't be long before we get there. It's only a short ways away, but make sure that you walk through every puddle so that you can try and lose our scent."

[M: 10, R: 10 --level up for both]

[Kittyms]

(Eh, I may just start closing this roleplay. I can't believe you were the only one interested, Kitsune! :/ I thought for sure there would be some other people...Why didn't anyone else show up? It must have been my horrible posts. xD)

After walking through the streets for a few minutes, Rowena took a right turn, and entered a disused and dilapidated old building. She stopped for a second, overcome by memories flashing through her mind. Images of her, and a black Lucain pup, hanging out here. This had been their sanctuary. "We'll be safe here, I think," she said, tracing a line through the grime covering the walls.

Max sighed. Why was his mom being so sentimental? It was obvious that this had once been some sort of hide away place for her or something. Probably when she was younger. But there was so much sadness in her gaze... What happened here? he wondered, walking around the room.

[M: 11, R: 11]

[Kitsune_Beauty]

OOC: Awww, your posts are really good, Kittyms! I dunno why nobody else showed up.

KBS-M1 watched Rowena as she began to trace the gunk on the walls. Her eyes were sp distant. "Past experience?" the cyborg asked, moving a bit closer. The squird scanned the area (it was his way of identifying scents). Rowena's scent was there, but there were others he could not identify. Only that they were lucain as well.

The light on the squid's forhead flashed a few times. "I must get home before the mistress starts looking." he said regretfully. "Farewell, Rowena and Maxwell Oakshadow." With that, he scuddled off, making sure none of the police force saw him go.

[Kittyms]

(Aww, thanks Kitsune! *huggles* You makes me feel better! x3)

"Goodbye, KBS-M1, and thanks for all your help," Rowena said, turning to wave at the squid.

"Ta-ta," Max said, not really caring whether the squid left or not. Turning to his mother, he said, "Mum, why are you so sad when you look at this place? And what is this place, anyway?"

His mom sighed, then motioned to him to take a seat on the floor, as she sat down herself. "This was the hideout for me and my friend when we were young. He was... my everything. I guess you could say that he was the one.. the one meant for me to spend my entire life with. I knew that from the moment I met him, even though I was very young. And I think he knew it, too. But one day, while we were here, we were found by a very very bad person. And then, you know what happens next." Her voice was choking up, but Maxwell sensed that she hadn't been telling the complete truth. Still, if she really wanted to keep quiet about it, he wasn't going to press her for information. After all, she was his mom.

[Max: 12, Rowena: 12]

[Kittyms]

"So.. do you think it's safe to go yet?" Max asked, leaning against one of the walls. There was a cracking sound, and the concrete wall fell apart, causing him to fall into the street in a cloud of dust. Instantly, there was the sound of barking and police sirens getting closer. "Stupid weak wall," he grumbled dusting himself off. "Come on mum, let's go."

"Coming," Rowena said, tearing herself away from her reminiscing to race after her son through the back alleys. The two knew this place like the back of their hand, and it would be unthinkable for them to get lost.. But get lost they did.

"Uh, mom, do you know where we are?" the dark Lucain asked after a few minutes, when the sound of Sahound barks and sirens had faded away.

"No.." she said, staring around at the unfamiliar street. It seemed deserted, with only a few old, abandoned homes, but she had learned never to trust appearances.

[Max: 13, Rowena: 13]

[Kittyms]

"We should get out of here," Rowena said, fearing the oppressive silence. It was like somebody or something was waiting.. just waiting to strike. "Come on, let's go.."

But it was too late... Heavy footsteps sounded behind them, and the two Lucain spun around, only to receive painful blows to the head, knocking the poor female down immediately. But amazingly, Maxwell stayed conscious long enough to fasten his teeth into the attacker's wrist. With a cry, the human tried to pull him off, but he only bit down harder, determined to make this person pay. Then, there was pain on his skull, lights flashed behind his eyes, and he passed out.

***************************************

Max came to in a small, cramped cage. "Mother... mother are you here?" he whispered, then felt his head, which was still throbbing from the beating it had gotten.

From a cage next to him, he heard his mother's faint voice. "Yes, I'm here.. unfortunately." She also felt her head, wincing at the sparks of pain. "Where are we?" she asked, some confidence returning to her voice.

"I don't know," Max replied. "It looks kind of like some sort of poacher's hideout. Or maybe it's a petnapper. I've heard of these people - they steal valuable pets, like Lucain, then sell them."

"We're not going to be sold," Rowena growled, feeling the bars of her cage. "I'm sure we'll find a way out of here.."

[Max: 14, Rowena: 14]

[Kittyms]

"Yeah, they can't hold two expert thiefs behind bars," Max said, swinging the door of his cage open. His mother gaped, amazed. "They were stupid enough to leave the key in the lock," he explained, opening hers as well.

"Good job.. now let's get out of here!" Rowena raced toward the nearest exit - a window - and leaped out of it, shattering the glass even as she did so. An alarm sounded but she and Max didn't care. They were already racing off down the streets.

"I think we should go home and lie low for a little while," Max said. "Shame, really. I had hoped that we could break into a few more houses, but it looks like the sun's already rising." His mother nodded, and together they headed back toward the pen, knowing that Kitty wouldn't have worried about where they were. They could take care of themselves.

[Max: 15, Rowena: 15 -- Level up, and they have now left]