AN: Grrrrrrrr!!! I meant to finish this thing by the 25th! And now it's the 26th and I haven't even introduced the new character! __ Curse you vacation laziness! Curse yoooouuuu!!! Here's chapter 3 for ya. Oh, and there's also a few things in here that lead up to another fic I plan on writing after this one, so remember what happens in the next few chapters *wink*
Notes: ****** = change in point of view
~*~*~* = time lapse
"Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to."-unknown
The city of Paris was exactly as Bijou remembered it; romantic, alive, free, bright, passionate, dangerous, and pulsing with the energy of life itself. A collage of culture and adventure, lit up like a grand Christmas tree to brighten darkened spirits and heal broken wings and broken hearts. Many people walked the busy streets, some sitting in cafes quietly watching the world go by, and yet others zipped in their sleek cars racing to some unknown destination. The city of love. The city of life. The city Bijou knew and cherished. Her home, her maison. But this scene was passed by the white hamster quickly for she had fallen asleep during the flight, now stirring every now and then in her sleep.
She woke to the sound of a suitcase opening and she lazily opened one eye "Mmmmmmmm….. It can't be time to wake up yet…just five more minutes…." A hind foot slowly dropped out of the bars of the carrier and Bijou suddenly jumped at the feeling of something cold and slippery on her paw, looking around anxiously. Where on earth was she?! The last thing she remembered was telling the other ham-hams goodbye and going home, so what was she doing in this strange place? Then, noticing her owner asleep above her head she calmed a bit. That's right, they were going back home to France… She stood tall on her toes trying to glimpse out the window to make sure she wasn't dreaming this and saw the tall arches of Notre Dame in the far distance. Yes!! It was true, she was back in Paris! Truly home. Bijou nestled in her bed and breathed in to get the full scent of where she was, it smelt of raspberries and cream, not exactly as she remembered it but close enough. After all it had been three years (AN: I'm estimating here) since she left, and many things may have changed. There was a chance some of her friends and siblings were here anymore, may have moved like she did. And her parents were old hamsters by now..who knew if they still even lived? Would anyone remember her? Bijou shook her head. Non! She could not focus on the things that could go wrong. She would have to go out and find what she could find, good news or bad. And even if things had changed, even for the worse, at least she still had Paris. That was one thing she knew would never change.
Bijou grabbed a sunflower seed and sat on the floor of the carrier looking around the room she was now in. The metal carrier now rested on a ruby colored satin pillow (which explained the cold slippery surface her paw touched earlier) that had a fine golden trim around it complete with tassels at the corners. The cage itself was adorned with bright red and green ribbons along with dazzling polished silver and brass bells tied to the top corners and jingled when she hopped and grabbed on to the higher bars. The room itself was a bit small, but more than did the trick for a short stay. It smelled of cinnamon also. A small TV sat on a wooden dresser where empty suitcases lay at it's feet. The bed, which was right beside the hamster, was trimmed with white lace with Maria wrapped in the green comforter. Beside the bad was a wooden table with the book Les Miserables and an alarm clock that read 12:36 AM.
Hmmmmmm. Bijou twitched her ears in thought. She could sneak out now and be back by sunrise and find all of her friends and family, but then again they would probably be asleep, plus there was the chance they might have moved or she was in a place too far away to remember the direction where they lived and chances were unless there was such a thing as nocturnal ham-hams she wouldn't be able to find much help finding them. Plus, there was the matter of night itself. Although it was Paris, the finest city in the world, it was still a raging city nonetheless and, as all cities are, throbbing with danger, risk, temptation, deceit, and sin. The streets and allies alike were now swarming with bloodthirsty cats, owls with piercing evil eyes, violent angry dogs, and many other creatures who stalked in the cloak of darkness craving the blood of whosoever should be so unlucky as to cross their path.
Bijou glanced again at the clock and then again at the night outside trying to decide weather to go now and take her chances or wait for morning like any sensible ham-ham would. After contemplating this for a while she decided to wait a few hours longer, then make a break for it. She'd get a good ideas of where she was exactly and try and find out where her relatives and friends were, spend some time with them, and then get back to her carrier before her owner woke up. Then if she was left alone again, she'd go out once more. She sat on the cage floor and chewed on another sunflower seed. I may as well try and get some sleep, for at least a few hours.
~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*
*badda badda badda* A white hamster dashed through the night with the dawn creeping at her back and fluffy snow flying past her heals. Bijou dashed around a corner and climbed on top of a shoe box panting and looking around for any signs of danger. There was none so far. She sighed and relaxed a bit. She'd made it to the Café di Musica et ballo, the house where her parents lived was only a few blocks away. She could just make it there and back to Uncle Leopold's by eight, when they were waking up. "I'm almost home free" she said to herself. "Just need to make it to 5th street and I'll be with you mère…père" (mother, father).
But unknown to Bijou, she was not the only one at the Café di Musica . Two pairs of eyes watched her.
One, a large pair of glassy green orbs with large pupils taking in the moonlight along with the sight of the white hamster around the bend. The owner of the eyes chuckled to herself. Judging from the perfectly groomed fur, she could tell it was a town ham. Doesn't even know where she's going. So easy. So very easy. Maybe this night wasn't a complete loss after all. No wait..she couldn't get worked up just yet when the rodent wasn't even in the open yet. She crouched in the small patch of grass and snuck just a bit closer and settled again quietly. Wait. Wait….
******
The other pair of eyes was a smaller set and an unusual color: a deep violet. The owner of these eyes sat atop the roof of the Café di Musica. He'd been sitting there for quite some time now looking at the stars. Or trying too anyway. Paris was nice, but it was bright, way too bright to see the stars, or even the moon. Nothing like his home, where you could see stars for miles and miles with no city lights, big building, or noisy traffic to get in the way. Just him and the sky. He sighed and leaned on the wooden roof gazing down at the street not too far below boredly until a sight caught his eyes. A hamster climbing onto a shoebox. Most hamsters weren't out this late (or up this early depending on how you looked at it) unless they were either city or field hams. And from the frantic jerky movements of this hamster, she was certainly not used to the urban woodland. With that white fur and- wait! White fur? There was only one breed on hamster in Paris with pure white fur, and only five of them at that, all of whom lived a few blocks from here. And none of them would be awake at this hour. But.. The creature stood on his toes to give his eyes had a closer look and then bulged with shock. Ribbons?! He rubbed his eyes, must be a dream or spent too much time in the moonlight. But no, there they were, red and green satin ribbons. He sat again in disbelief. A pure white hamster freshly groomed with ribbons in her hair…could it be?
******
The green eyes widened with pleasure as the ivory hamster slid off the shoebox and carefully came out of hiding and he grinned to himself. Yes. Her claws flexed and gripped the soil as he made her silent approach. Now. Now was the time to strike.
******
Bijou gulped Well, here I go. She jumped out of her hiding spot and made a mad dash for the end of the block. Almost there. Almost. Suddenly something hard, sharp, and furry slammed into her side and Bijou went sprawling into a nearby garden of poppies. A yowl of frustration rang in the air and she gasped as she struggled to rise but the sudden shock and weariness of running so far already ended up in catching Bijou in a panic, causing her to only scramble in place. She gave a screech as a pressure came don on her chest and she stared up so that her widened ebony eyes met with a huge set of large malevolent emerald ones. A cat, and this one was nothing like the one she'd met at home, this was a true ally cat, and a hungry one at that. The green eyes abandoned their previous look of desperateness Bijou had seen when the paw first pinned her down. Now those eyes were full of pleasure, satisfaction, and pride. A row of sharp ivory teeth glinted in the moonlight and Bijou could feel claws coming out now tensely pinning her fur to the soil. No doubt the other paw's set of claws were out also, ready for the kill. Bijou made a small whimper-like sound of desperation but made no attempt to struggle as her chest heaved with the drumming of her own rampaging heart that seemed ready to burst. The white hamster shut her eyes and waited for the final blow to be struck.
Ooooooo! Evil cliffhanger!