Jude trotted along happily, the remains of a bloody, half-eaten rabbit carcass between his teeth.

He hummed a tune to himself as he began digging a small hole in the snow. Pausing a moment to make sure he wasn't watched, he dropped the corpse into the hole and buried it in a mound of snow. With one last spread of snow to clean an area of blood, he started to pad off in the opposite direction. However, a familiar sound caused him to stop and perk his ears up.

"Blimey...sounds like the ol' bastards got another one." He muttered, licking the blood from his teeth.

He trotted towards the location of a shack near the edge of the woods. It was where they hid animals before selling or skinning them. The entire area reeked of blood. The sound he had heard was the rattling of a metal cage, and something inside it struggling ferociously to free itself. A strange-looking animal sat alone inside of the cage in the snow. Looks like the poachers only managed to get one of...err...whatever it was.

Good ol' Jude to the rescue, eh?

"Well, well, well...look wot we've got 'ere." He said with a grin, lying down in the snow beside the cage.

Faye tugged and pulled vigorously at the lock and grew more frustrated with every attempt. She wanted so badly to be back home in the meadows of Australia, warm and comfortable in the sun, where kangaroos feel safe. She had no idea what made her wander so far into the Outback. Her curiousity often landed her in serious predicaments but she couldn't seem to help herself, especially after her mysterious vision a few weeks ago...

Even still, she had never imagined she'd be dangling 10 feet off the ground in a rope trap; she just wanted a little adventure. Next thing she knew, she was being cut down by a man with a thick brown beard and a khaki hat. His laugh sent chills down her spine, and she trembled as he pulled out a small tranquilizing gun. And she woke up here, trapped and alone, with no idea where she was or how to escape. But she knew one thing: she was NOT staying in this cage.

Suddenly, out of the snow emergered a matted black wolf, still licking fresh blood from his jaws. Faye shivered fiercely in the freezing cold. She wasn't sure if she was more frozen or more afraid.

Faye gazed in fear and eyed the monster who lay before her. Faye saw his lips moving but her heart beat like drums in her ears and she didn't hear what he said. She was more focused on his razor sharp fangs.

Oh please, she begged to herself, please please don't hurt me. Don't hurt me...just don't hurt me...

Jude blinked as he awaited a response, and scoffed when he never received one.

“Oi, sunshine. Think you’re scared now? Just wait’ll the human gets back ‘ere.” He laughed dryly as he stood and paced around the cage. “Just think: by this time tomorro’, you’ll be nothing but the lining around a lady’s ‘andbag, love.” He turned his back to the cage, gazing off into space, sighing sarcastically.

“…unless…unless there were sumbeast who could ‘elp…sumbeast that could pick that bloody lock…”

Jude raised a paw to his chin and tapped it in mock thought. He loved the feeling he got from toying with the locked up animals. Something about it gave him a high like none other. Jude assumed it was because of the unbelievable power he temporarily held. For the moment, Jude was her judge, jury, and executioner.

The weird-looking beast in the cage looked so scared, she probably would have rather be ripped to shreds by the poacher than accept help from him. However, if she knew any better, she would realize that he was her only hope of escape.

Faye thought maybe she didn't hear him correctly, but it did sound like he was willing to help her. And his sharp claws would be perfect to pick the lock of the cage...

But what if he was only pretending to help her so he could gobble her up as soon as she was free?
Or was it worse to be skinned for an "andbag" for the humans?

Faye didn't know what to do. She had to get out of that cage. She just had to. And if need be, she had been a good fight or two and was sure if the wolf tried anything, she could at least attempt to fight him away.

Faye swallowed hard to clear her dry cracked throat.

"D-do u t-think you can get me aughtta this cage?" she managed through shivers in her think Australian accent. "I would be s-so grateful--"

She didn't even get to finish her statement.

The lock fell to the ground with a clank and a thud and the rusty cage door began squeaking open slowly. Jude frowned down at his paw as he realized he had snapped one of his nails with this latest jailbreak. No doubt it would be sore by tomorrow. He winced to himself as he thought of the pain fresh snow could inflict on it.

Bugger. The price one pays for a good deed, he thought miserably.

Before the female could crawl out of her prison, Jude squeezed himself inside next to her and, biting down on the door, slammed them both inside. Sitting and turning his head to face her, he flashed a toothy grin. "Nuthin' like quali'y time together, eh love?" He said, patting her on the back with a paw.

"Befo' you go abou' on your merry li'tle way, there's sumthin' you 'ave to do f'me. Otherwoise, you're stayin' right 'ere."

Faye was still shocked at how easily the wolf had broken the lock of the cage. He's no stranger here, she thought and she wondered if she could trust him. Faye had landed herself in enough trouble just by wandering a few miles from home. Now she was thousands of miles away, and in more trouble than she could imagine. A small favor for the wolf who was setting her free was not of any great significance after all that.

Faye continued to shiver under the intimidation of the wolf. The wind began to howl and soft icy flakes began to fall from the sky. Faye weighed her option quickly: if she agreed to help him, he would set her free but she stood the chance of being recaptured; if she didn't help him, he would either leave her there to freeze to death or be destoyed by the humans, or he could eat her himself. Both had their consequences but her mind was made up.

With big fearful eyes, Faye whispered her reply.

"Ok...what do I have to do?"

Jude's grin faded as he pressed the cage back open.

"Flowers. All I need is a small bouquet, but the more, the bettuh." He glanced up and down at her briefly. He had a funny feeling about this weird beast. As scared, shy, and alone she was, she still managed to make his fur stand on end. "Dunno' why, but I got a feelin' we'll meet again. Jus' giv' 'em t'me then, eh?"

Jude padded out of the cage, uncovering the rabbit he had buried in the snow and locking it once again between his teeth. Just before stalking out of sight, Jude stopped and placed the rabbit back on the ground, glancing back at the female. Internally, his conscience was boiling inside of him like an angry pit of lava. Technically, he had freed her, but she would just get killed in the wilderness by just wandering around, and she was no good to him dead.

Growling at himself for getting soft, he pranced back to the cage.

"The closest leader is in America. D'you know how to get there?"

Faye looked around with uncertainty. Did he say leaders? Surely not, he couldn't've said...

Faye tried to focus and think clearly but her mind was overwhelmed. So many questions she wanted to ask but didn't want to know the answer to. She shook her thoughts to place and forced herself to speak up.

"Um, no actually I don't, I'm kind of a stranger here," she replied, still shivering a little, even though the chilly winds had calmed. "And, I'm sorry, did you ask me to...bring you flowers??"

Faye's expression showed visible confusion, as she was near terrible at masking her emotions. Here she was face to face with a large carnivore--a wolf, for pete's sake, much larger than any dingo she had ever seen---and had he just asked her to bring him a "small bouquet of flowers" in exchange for rescuing her and setting her free? And then, he wasn't going to kill her and eat her as she had once assumed he would, but now he was willing to help her get home?

Faye wished for some sign to show her what to do, but she was on her own; it was finally time to grow up and take charge of her life. And the first challenge was this wolf.

Jude growled angrily, blushing slightly.

"You know bloody well that I said 'flowers!' Are you deaf?! Jus' bring 'em t'me! Unless you wanna stick around in that cage! Worked so well last time, yeah? Go on, take anotha' nap and see if your innards are still intact when you wake up!"

Jude ignored the creature's confused expression and pointed a paw.

"You'll wanna head south-east of 'ere. Keep going until all the snow's melted and you're on dry grass again. I'm guessin' someone will meet you theh and 'elp you the rest o' the way."

Before he left, Jude picked up the bloody rabbit carcass and asked the female a question through his teeth.

"...oi. Wot's yo' name, sunshine?

Faye pushed open the door to the cage with her front paws and hopped out onto the snow. Her large feet had never felt anything so cold! She promised herself right then that she would had to repay the wolf at all costs, even if it meant coming back to this frozen wasteland. A promise is a promise, and he had set her free; now it was her turn to keep her part of the deal.

"My name is Faye, after my great grandmother, who didn't survive a capturing very similar to mine. I loved her dearly and now she's gone. And I almost fell to her same fate," she paused and studied the face of her savior. He seemed...softened. She looked at him and smiled. "You are a saint and my hero, and I am forever indebted to you. I will travel to the land nearby and bring you the most beautiful flowers I can find!"

She began to hop away but stopped suddenly. She turned her head back and saw the cage that was once her prison. Filled with rage, she balanced herself perfectly on her tail and, with all her might sent the cage flying with a powerful kick from her legs. The crushed cage landed with a crash several yards away.

"That had to be done," she nodded to the wolf. "Now, who may I call upon when I bring the flowers back?"

Jude yelped audibly at the violent sound of the cage being crushed by Faye's powerful legs as he tried not to imagine what they could easily do to his ribs. He winced at the thought. Even if he was in the mood to make her into a meal, she would no doubt give him a run for his money.

Jude began to wonder just where this weirdbeast came from.

She was unlike anything he had ever seen. She was like a fuzzy frog, she was, hopping and skipping about. "Yeh, yeh, don't get all mushy and wot'not." He said, making a face at the fact he was being called a savior. He preferred the term businesswolf. "And I expect to see quite the posies when I see you again."

He called over his shoulder as he trotted off.

"Name's Jude, by the way. Nice doin' business with you."