Sequel to Suddenly A Ringtail. Haven't read it yet? Read it!
Prologue: Once A Thief...
I grinned, the wind rustling my fur almost dangerously - quite a nice reminder of where I was at the moment. I crouched easily on the pole, watching the city fall asleep so I could make my move. Everything was spread out underneath me,from here on my perch. I could almost forget my mission, the view captivated me so.
But I began to move, my muscles clenching like a lion's when it prepares to pounce. And pounce I did, gracefully forward, sailing toward the ground abnormally fast before I whipped out my paraglider. I pulled sharply upwards, but I'd been practicing that maneuver for so long it barely fazed me. I was gliding ever faster toward my target.
The pompous rich brat would never know what hit him - until he saw the calling card. I landed lightly upon the roof, putting the paraglider away with ease of practice. The skylight in front of me was the only real obstacle I would face on the entire job.
I pulled a gadget out of my messenger bag that I kept on my shoulder almost at all times. I carefully placed said bag next to the skylight before placing the gadget against the security system, turning it off. A rope found its way into my hands as I anchored it to a small structure on the roof l, opened the skylight, dropped the rest of the rope inside, and slid down it. I landed in a thankfully laser free zone and carefully picked my way across the room to where the security started.
In the middle of a very large assortment of lasers and spotlights was the very thing I was looking for - the Venus de Whalo, a would've-been possession of Dimitri Loustaeu, ex-art forger and a member of Sly's gang. It was a possession of Beverly D'Oinkeau, and was stolen by Sly, who had it stolen from him at some point. The current owner was a pompous brat, and I had always wanted possession of it, if only for the peace of mind it would grant me for getting back my great, great grandfather's only lost treasure.
I grinned again and examined the room for any security cameras. None. Not even hidden ones. I nodded in satisfaction and began my deadly dance toward the statue. My biggest problem was the spotlight trained directly on it.
After a moment it was easy enough to get a hold on the spotlight from above - though it required a lot of acrobatics to avoid everything else and get to that level - and retrain it somewhere else. The objective was to leave no evidence that I had been there except for the calling card and the missing statue, so I would move it back before I left
Given the size of the statue, I was skeptical about being able to get it through all the security and onto the roof, but Lindsey had provided a solution. Before trying to grab it, I pulled out the gun-like device she had given me.
A shrink-ray. Highly unoriginal, but operational, as far as we could tell. I aimed the device at the large statue and fired. It quickly became small enough for me to hold in one hand, so I lowered myself to its level again and grabbed it. After placing my calling card (with a beret on it), I quickly got back on the level of that insistent spotlight and turned it back to the pedestal that the Venus de Whalo been on.
I danced through the security and back to the rope I'd climbed down on, putting the Venus de Whalo in a bag on my thigh for safe-keeping and climbing back out. I pulled the rope up after me and untied it from the pole it had been attatched to. My messenger bag was picked up and the device taken off the skylight's security system - after I closed it.
All that was left to do was flee back through the town to the hideout and un-shrink the Venus de Whalo.
A/N: Geez, already working on the sequel? I can't believe I actually finished a story for once! Suddenly A Ringtail is probably the most interesting thing (in my opinion) I've ever written... Here's hoping that Missing Ringtail will live up to those expectations!