~By the way Maya is six in this chapter~
Wandering along the edge of the sidewalk Maya kept an eye on the shadows of the roofs in an attempt to catch sight of her playmates. Ever since she had arrived at her new home her family had always sent people to follow her whenever she went out as a cat. It was certainly a change from her mom who always tried to keep her in and she absolutely loved it. Especially now that she had realized it meant that she could play hide and seek with them.
Pretending to be interested in one of the food stalls in front of her, Maya made a move towards it before darting off as fast as her four feet could take her into the ally and down the next street. She ran as fast as she could, weaving around feet and ducking under any object she could find in an attempt to make the guards following loose track of her. Eventually Maya ran out of breath though and slowed down to a gentle trot, heading for an ally that she could hide in as she caught her breath.
Just as she entered the ally, a collar of some kind came down over her head and cinched tight. Yowling in surprise, Maya attempted to back out of it. But the collar, that was attached to a pole, began to drag her backwards and she was picked up by a man she didn't recognize.
Crying out in fear, she swung out at him with her claws as she thrashed about. In response the man just adjusted his hold so he had her by the scruff of her neck and carried her over to a van. There he locked her in a cage, being careful to only remove the collar once she was in the cage and could not slip out.
As the van began to move, Maya threw herself at the door of the cat carrier terrified and desperate to get out. She tried biting and clawing at it, but nothing worked. When the van stopped and the man came and picked up her carrier to move her, Maya yowled as loud as she could in a hope that Demetri and Felix, who had been following her today, would hear her and come get her.
But they didn't come and Maya was carried into the pound and transferred to a slightly bigger cage that was right across from a mean looking dog that growled at her the moment their eyes met. Backing away from the giant dog, Maya brushed against the side of her cage and heard an angry hiss. Jumping away in shock she turned to find a tabby hissing at her. Retreating to the corner furthest from both the tabby and the dog, she curled up as small as she could and began to cry. This whole situation was scaring her and she just wanted one of her new uncles or siblings to come and take her home.
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Maya wasn't the only one in distress though. Outside the building there were two very worried guards holding a very hurried and very angry discussion.
"We can't just leave her in there!" Demetri spat as he gestured at the building angrily.
"Well we can't just set place on fire!" Felix shot back. "In case it escaped your notice; Maya is in there!"
Demetri snarled. "Then what do you suggest we do? Nothing?"
"We need a collar" Felix told him, thinking things through. "We get a cat collar and then walk in and ask them if they have found any kittens that match Maya's description."
"You really think that will work?"
Felix shrugged. "I don't see why not. Humans are inexplicably simple."
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"I-I'm s-sorry sir. But without pr-proof of ownership we-we can't simply give you an an-animal" The receptionist told the two men demanding to see any black kittens with green eyes they had. She could tell they were both stunningly handsome, even with most of their faces and all their skin covered, but something about them just set her entire being on edge and made her shy away.
Snarls appeared on both their faces and the poor woman could have sworn she heard growls coming from the men before they turned around and stormed out of the building.
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At six o'clock exactly, the last employee locked the front doors of the pound and began to make their way home. At six oh one, Demetri and Felix were slipping through the back door and heading straight for Maya. Any animals that made a sound quickly quieted as the pair let out angry growls at the sight of the place their dear little sister had been forced to spend the last three hours in.
Moving quickly to her cage, Demetri wasted no time in opening it and pulling her out to cradle in his arms. The pair had been tortured by her scared cries and whimpers and now that he had her in his arms he wasted no time in stroking her back and whispering soothing words to her as they made their way out of the building and back to the castle.
As they moved, Maya shifted back into her human form and the group stopped moving only long enough for Felix to whip off his cloak and wrap it around her like a blanket. She sobbed against Demetri's chest as they ran. Clinging to her big brother and telling them how scared she was and how terrifying it had been between her sobs and shaky breaths.
The two comforted her as best they could, apologizing for ever letting her out of their sight and reach long enough for this to happen as they raced across the roof tops. The moment they reached the castle they went straight towards the library, knowing that at this time it was their best bet for finding either the kings or the queens.
The moment they burst through the doors all three kings whipped their heads up, ready to bite the head off whoever had been foolish enough to disturb them, but stopped the moment they registered their child crying in the arms of a member of their guard.
In less than a second, all three were surrounding her and pulling her into their arms in some weird version of a group hug. They all whispered soothing words as they held her, alternating between staring down at her in worry and glaring at their guards in a silent demand for an explanation.
"She got picked up by the pound" Demetri told his kings, shame filling his voice.
"We tried to get the pound to give her back to us, but they refused to without proof of ownership so we had to wait until they left to break in and get her" Felix added, frustration mixed with regret coloring his tone.
"A pound?!" Sulpicia asked in shock and horror from where she stood behind them at the entrance to the library, flanked by Athenodora and the twins who she had arrived with. The four of them had heard the sounds of their child/sibling in distress and come to check on her.
Athenodora moved forward with purpose, scooping Maya out of the men's arms and into her own. "Come my child. Mama is here now. We shall get you all cleaned up and wash away all traces of that nasty place" she cooed as she made her way out of the room and towards her own chambers.
Sulpicia turned to follow, pausing at the doorway as she did. She turned back to face the remaining occupants in the room, rage clear to see on her face. "Fix this." She demanded. "I don't care how. I don't care who dies. Just ensure that our child never has to go through this again."
Then she turned as swept out of the room, following after Athenodora to help get Maya cleaned up, fed and settled.
"Demetri" Caius demanded the moment the women were out of sight.
"Already locked onto the bastard responsible for picking her up" Demetri growled. "Just wanted to see Maya home safe before I went after him."
"Excellent" Aro said with a smile as he clapped his hands together. "Bring him here will you? I would like to ensure that he understands the ... seriousness of his crimes."
"Yes my king. It shall be done" Demetri said with a bow before turning and leaving.
"That will take care of that fool, but what about the next one?" Caius asked, looking around to see if anyone had any suggestions.
Felix hesitantly raised his hand to catch their attention. "My kings if I may, when Demetri and myself attempted to get her back by pretending to be her owners I saw another worker there reading the tags of a lost dog and calling the owners to come and get it. Perhaps we could get our little Maya something similar so that should this ever happen again we know they will call us and we can quickly move to retrieve her."
"You wish to collar my child like you would a slave?" Caius asked in a deadly calm voice. He had been raised in Rome, seen countless slaves and how they were treated. How many of them had been forced to where collars with tags that had instructions on how to return them if caught escaping. He would not allow his daughter to be collared in such a fashion as that. To wear something that resembled one of the marks that helped to strip away a person's pride and rights.
"N-no my-my Lord" Felix stuttered out as he waved his arms around and verbally backpedaled. "I merely suggest that while it may not be feasible to do away with every pound in the city, we could ensure that she would not be forced to remain there very long should this ever happen again."
"It shouldn't have happened in the first place" Aro told him in a deceptively calm voice. "Perhaps you should explain to me how it did?"
Felix opened his mouth to explain, but in the face of the rage he could see in his kings' eyes he forgot how to speak entirely.
"She likes to play hide and seek" Alec told the kings, coming to his friend's rescue. As the three kings turned to look at him, Alec lowered his eyes to stare at the ground. "She knows we follow her and she likes to play hide and seek with us. She always has so much fun and seems to love it when she thinks she got away from us that we've all begun falling back a little bit or allowing her to spot us looking around as we pretend that we can't find her."
"There's also been a time or two that she nearly has managed to hide from us for real" Jane added.
"Of course she has" Caius told her, pride for his little girl welling up within him. He just knew she would make an excellent predator one day when she was a little bigger.
"That still doesn't solve our problem though" Aro reminded his brother, wanting to keep him focused on the problem at hand.
"Perhaps we could provide more guards?" Marcus suggested, speaking up for the first time. "The regular two she can play with and then another that she won't see that can stay close and ensure she is safe."
"Yes, yes that should work" Aro agreed happily.
"That still won't help if she is snatched in public again" Caius growled. "Our guards can't make a move in public during the day without being exposed."
"Yes" Marcus agreed, "I have been thinking on that. I believe what Felix has suggested may be our best course of action to prevent that from happening." As Caius turned on him, fury in his eyes, Marcus held up his hand to halt his protests. "Brother, our child came home in tears and I have no doubt some of those tears and the fear she felt came from her wondering if we were ever going to come and get her. You know and I know that we would never leave her there, but she is a child and she was afraid. Perhaps if we gave her this collar and explained to her that it was not to make her a pet or a slave, but a way to ensure that should this ever happen again we will be there as fast as we can, she will be reassured."
"It makes sense" Aro mused. "As much as I would love to set fire to every pound in the city and drive out anyone that even supports that profession, its just not possible. Added to that, this would give her something to focus on. I recently read a book that talked about how children can become 'traumatized' by some events and avoid anything that might remind them of it. The last things we want if for our dear wild Maya to be afraid of venturing outside our walls. This could be her ... amour, a way to reassure her that she is protected even when we are not in sight."
Caius grumbled a bit more before he finally sighed. "Very well, we will get her a collar." He turned to face Felix. "You will be in charge of acquiring one. It must be of the best quality, do you understand me? I will not have her wearing some cheap thing like the humans put on their pets. She is our child and she will have one that reflects that."
"As you wish my King" Felix told him with a bow before turning and heading out to begin his search for one that would fit those specifications.
"Jane" Aro said, "have someone get one of those 'cellphones' for me and ensure that our secretary keeps it fully charged at all times. We can use that for the number on the tag so that it will have a direct connection to us instead of having to go through the usual channels."
"It shall be done" Jane assured him before following Felix out.