Prosperity…  Adventure…  Comradery…  Freedom.  Were these not the words often used by those of the Mafioso when they tried to woo someone to the life of crime?  This life could be all these things and more to the poverty stricken countryside…  Just so long as you knew the right people and kept yourself on this side of the water.  But what if you didn’t?  Danger…  Terror…  Pain…  Death.  Are these the things that would await those that tried but didn’t succeed in that life?  These thoughts and more were the thoughts that plagued my mind as I sat on the dock out on my visit to Philadelphia.  I had come here with my family on a business trip but this place seemed recently abandoned.  Not a clue as to what had happened, but I might be about to learn more than I’d ever wanted.

A sound drew my ear.  A scuffle perhaps?  Lifting my face, my slightly pointed nose twitched, almost as if I could discern what was going on by the smells around me.  Naturally the sounds told me more than the sea air and exhaust ever could.  But still something drew me to the sound.  Sliding fluidly to my feet, I moved silently toward the scuffle.  I couldn’t make out what they were saying… Something about money?  Someone owed someone else money?  Shaking my head a little, I shifted just a bit closer but just then my eyes met the eyes of who I assumed was the aggressor…  Hostility…  Anger…  Desperation…  Fear?  These emotions and more flooded from the man in waves and the other man…  If you could call him that…  Lay back begging for…  Well I didn’t stop to hear what.

Fleet steps took me away from there.  My heart pounded and I didn’t slow down as I ran.  Those feelings weren’t something I wanted to face especially when I had nothing to do with the situation.  Honestly I didn’t want anything to do with the situation.  I had heard murmurs of these organizations.  They weren’t foreign to me even if my parents had nothing to do with them.  But these moments were the first brushes with the crime underworld that I could claim as my own.  Shouting came from behind me.  One thing that I had heard was that these people didn’t like others in their business.  And I had stumbled upon their business… 

Down one alley…  Up another.  Terror sent my heart whirling until I found a small alcove to duck into.  Pounding feet ran by me as the aggressive man and his cronies shot past.  The one who seemed to be in charge of the operation huffed and puffed something about how angry the ‘boss’ would be at him if they didn’t keep the loose ends tied?  Good night, what were they even talking about?  No amount of reading could fully prepare a body for the world that I now glanced into.  But this wasn’t even to be the biggest surprise of the evening.

As their footsteps faded into the distance, I sighed, leaning back against the cool cement side of the building.  Yes…  I had eluded them.  Now to find my parents and-  Whine…  Whine?  What the…  I froze.  No, there it was again.  Whine.  Softer this time…  Wheezy.  Whine.  And then something wet and very cold pressed against my hand.  A strangled shriek ripped itself involuntarily from my throat but I swallowed as much of it as I could, clamping my hand over my lips lest those…  Whoever they were…  Found their way back to me.  Looking down, I saw something else hidden away in this hidey hole.  The dim fading light danced over russet fur.  Sleek and beautiful she stepped out into the dim streetlight.  Her warm brown eyes met mine and held them.  Deep in their depths held such knowledge, such understanding unlike any I’d encountered in an animal. 

Suddenly she stumbled.  Now normally I would say that the correct response would not be to surge toward a wounded creature, but I couldn’t help it.  There.  She was wounded badly and yet even as I moved toward her, she moved laboriously away.  Furrowing my brows in confusion, I met her gaze again.  “What is it girl…?”  She kept moving, pausing every few feet to be sure I followed.  Something in her gait and mannerism spoke of urgency so I followed.  What the heck…  Why would I follow a fox through the streets of Philadelphia?  The rest of the evening hadn’t been exactly ordinary so why the heck not…  Down one street, up another…  Down another until we came back to the docks…  I looked around warily but again she whined imploringly so I followed.  The fox moved dutifully toward a hidden away portion of the docks before stumbling again.  The blood flowed freely and this time the creature did not rise again.  She merely whined and barked.  Glancing around, I searched in vain for someone to help this poor creature that my heart went out to so fully…  But there wasn’t even anyone around…  “What do you want from me…”  I whispered as I suddenly realized that there were tears pouring down my face.  I couldn’t help this creature and that fact hit home harder than any truth I had been presented in my short lifetime.  Just then she gave another whine and lay down on her side breathing heavily and it was clear her time was short.  I moved to her side just as I heard another soft whine.  Not one…  But two tiny russet furred creatures moved blindly forth in the dying sunlight.  I gasped as I looked from the exhausted mother fox to the two tiny ones.  “You have babies…  That’s why you were so… Oh…”  But she was gone.  

Tears stung my eyes as I reached out to gently gather the little ones.  They didn’t put up much of a fuss as they were still so tiny.  I held them close, bundling them gently against my form under my coat in the inside pockets.  I reached over to gently pet the she-fox where blood did not mar her beautiful fur.  I did not know what had happened here but I would help in the only way I knew how.  As my fingers moved through the beautiful creature’s coat, they caught in a collar around her throat.  Daintily I disconnected it to get a better look.  It was beautiful in colors of purest emerald and it marked her as a ‘Member of the Race Street Crew’.  Now that was a name I had heard whispers of even with my lack of ties to this life.  Elsewhere it held the name Merah…  The fox?  And as I flipped it over there was an engraving on the back.  ‘Always in my heart, my Little One, Eee’  This may have been the most perplexing piece yet.  Eee…  Initials?  Could this have been the owner of this little one?  So many questions and not enough answers…  But one thing was for sure.  “Don’t worry Merah…  I will look after them.  Always…” 

I murmured before quickly grabbing a couple pieces of wood and fashioning a crudely made raft before gently guiding it out into the water with the beautiful lifeless form of the fox.  In the very least she deserved a proper send off right?  “Always and forever…”  And that was a promise, that no matter what happened next, would not be broken.

Joint lit and head held high, The Prince swaggered confidently down the street.  It had been a good day for him so far! Still riding the high of his recent promotion in the Family it seemed that nothing could slow him down.  On top of it all the sunset in Philadelphia was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen.  He never would have imagined that he would be traveling the country representing the name of the Island of Misfit Toys but so far this was the life for him. 

The sun sparkled it's last rays on the rooftops of the city as The Prince walked and out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement.  He immediately stopped and took on a more inconspicuous stance for if he had learned anything from his time in the streets so far it was to react first and think later.  He eased his way along the corner of a building leading to an alley to his left and carefully stuck his head out to get a view of what the movement he noticed was.

To his surprise there was he saw a figured huddled over shuffling things around.  Curious, The Prince relaxed slightly as he now leaned against the wall smoking his joint, intent on the scene ahead of him.  As he attempted to appear as just another random citizen The Prince thought he heard a small sob coming from the direction of the figure followed by more shuffling and the grating of wood on pavement.  The figure slowly stood, dragging what looked like a makeshift raft with some sort of fuzzy object on it.  The look of pure sadness and determination in this strangers eyes struck him.  This was a pure moment The Prince had stumbled upon.  He could feel it in the air around him.

Reverently he stood by as the figure pushed the raft off into the water and murmured a few hushed words with head hanging.  The Prince didn't know why he did it but he could not stop himself from doing what he did next.  He slowly approached the figure.  Stood next to them and bowed his head in the moment.  After a small moment of silence The Prince finally turns to the figure.

"The Prince is not sure what this is all about, but he feels he understands. Hold your head up friend. Tomorrow is a new day filled with new opportunities." With that, The Prince passes his joint over to the slightly mysterious stranger.  "Looks like you might need this more then The Prince does today"

The Prince nods and gives a slight, affable smile.  "If you are ever in Las Vegas give The Prince a call.  We could all use more friends in this world" 

Drawing in a ragged breath, Viven watched Merah sail away on her last adventure.  Death very well may be the greatest adventure...  But did foxes have souls?  Well if what she saw in those warm brown eyes was anything to go off of, Viven could give that a resounding yes.  Biting her lip softly, she reached down to touch her pockets where the fuzzballs had gone still.  Sleeping she confirmed from the soft rise and fall she felt from both their warm forms.  Good...  That was good.  Gently running her fingertips under her eyes to rid the residual tears that had flowed only moments before, she sighed as she quietly reflected on that moment.  She didn't even notice the approach of another form.  

It wasn't until he spoke that Vivien noticed his presence and it made her near jump out of her skin.  But even as she startled, she realized quickly that he was not here to threaten her.  Her mind latched onto his words as if they were a lifeboat in this swirling uncertainty.  In this girl's short life, she had not yet had to come nose to nose with death and face it's presence as she had today.  Sure she had lost pets...  Mice, a lizard, even a cat...  But this was different.  

But it seemed she didn't have to face it alone.  A warm smile found it's way to her features as she regarded The_Prince in silence for a moment.  His words bolstered and encouraged her heart.  She nodded quietly as she returned her gaze out to where the fox drifted softly upon the moving water.  "It's up to us to keep light burning in the world when the time comes for others to stop."  She nodded quietly before looking quizically to the item she was being offered.  Honestly she wasn't exactly certain what to do with it, so she just held it in between her fingers for a moment.  "Thank you."

"The_Prince?  It's a pleasure to meet you.  I'm Vivien."  She murmured softly with a portion of the affability in her voice that he held.  Sure she was friendly toward him but grief tinted the meeting.  Even so, she was grateful not to be alone.  Nodding in response, she knew that if she were ever in Las Vegas she most certainly would look him up.  True friends were rare and far between.  But somehow she felt that she might find one in The_Prince.