Chapter 8: A Most Feline Stroll
 
Unease was not something that the White Leopard Cub known as Cassidy Cat was unfamiliar with.
 
After all, her life was far from perfect. Once that had been the case. How happy those years had been! But then her mother had started to get 'desperate' to keep up with their expenses, and Cassidy found herself pulled in a world of adults she wasn't truly happy about. The change wasn't immediate. Money had been there as her father had passed away, but that had swiftly vanished due to their modest yet still luxurious life.
 
And Cassidy learned of sex and... prostitution. It wasn't a pleasant thing, but her mom told her it was the only choice. It wasn't like Cassidy alone was doing this, but she became a 'fixture' whenever men visited their house. Her mother had been the one starting this on herself, but then the clients wanted 'more'.
 
Cassidy wasn't truly pushed into it. She was given a choice- not much of a fair one considering the look her mother had given her back then. So depleted, so tired, so hopeless and... then it happened. Sure, she had 'fun' at times, but the roughness and the intensity was, at times, too much.
 
It got so bad that even wandering the streets on her own to get to kindergarten felt like a dangerous thing despite how safe most streets tended to be. The real issue stemmed from the hour she was strolling- it was early in the morning, the city's paths were barely visible and not many people were wandering around. But those that were didn't exactly count as the usual crowd.
 
Hands firmly squeezing at the latches of her red school bag, her hat sheltering the top of her head from the chilling gust of wind soaring softly, and her emerald gaze shifting nervously to keep track of any potential trouble, Cassidy was not planning to do any 'fun' at this point.
 
And yet she felt hungry eyes on her. Quickening her steps and fastening her pace, Cassidy's mind swiftly held to her a path to safety: near to her current location there should be a phone booth. No one really used it since smartphones had started to appear in the market, but the place was regularly patched up, with the lock to it being sturdy enough to hold against some of the toughest men in town.
 
Yet, her effort was slightly voided as one of the lurking predators whistled at her. She made the mistake of looking, seeing the toothy grin of the tiger anthro staring at her.
 
"Hello, cutie. What's the price?"
 
"I-I am not working at the moment," The girl replied, green eyes glimmering with dread.
 
"Nonsense. I bet you are a 24/7 treat~" The man growled lustfully.
 
Instead of replying, Cassidy bolted. Running was not something she usually had to worry about, but in this case she felt her tiny legs burning as she engaged in her first real chase. It didn't last long- she just didn't have the chance to get to the booth as she turned the corner on the street where it was, she saw it close and yet she was tackled on the ground by the big adult.
 
"What a cute prey I got~" The tiger remarked with an amused voice. "No more running, it's time to play and..."
 
The tiger trailed a bit, and Cassidy spotted why he had paused. Standing over them with a flat look was a human boy. Two years or so older than Cassidy herself and appearing quite annoyed by the sight before him. Short brown hair, dark-brown eyes, glasses, a green shirt and blue shorts. He was drinking a cup with... lemonade?
 
"My, my, I found two tasty morsels then."
 
The boy held a finger up, finishing sipping from the straw of the cup. Then, he clicked his lips together.
 
"Fuck off, wanker," He muttered suddenly, unloading the content of the cup against the tiger's face. With the lemonade hitting his eyes, the adult roared angrily, hands rushing to his face and releasing Cassidy.
 
The girl was surprised by this turn of events, but rather than stay put, she accepted the boy's hand as they both dashed away from the predator. The man was quick on his feet, but failed to catch them right as they entered the booth, closing it.
 
Picking some coins left on the counter by the phone, the boy started to put a number, the tiger angrily slamming himself against the door in an effort to tear it down when-
 
"Hello, I am speaking with the police department? Yes, I would like to signal an ongoing kidnapping attempt. We are two kids, the man in question is not family or a friend- he wants to do creepy touchy things with us and-"
 
Right as he said that, Cassidy's gaze widened in surprise as the tiger gave up on the effort, panicking before running away from them. She had never seen someone run as fast as the man did and the girl turned to the human boy. He too had been staring strongly at the retreating predator and then... he proceeded to smile cheekily.
 
"The phone booth is no longer connected to any line," He explained, shocking Cassidy for a moment as she realized that, a matter of ignorance from their pursuer, had led to their 'victory'. "How are you?"
 
The cub paused. "I... I am fine."
 
"Still scared?"
 
A slow nod. She felt safe enough to shed away the distrust for now. And this was further enforced as the boy just pulled her in a hug. It's been a while since someone else beyond her mother had done this and... the girl mellowed against the boy.
 
"T-Thank you."
 
"You're welcome," He offered jovially, "I am John."
 
"C-Cassidy."
 
"Nice to meet you, Cassidy. Are you planning to go to school after what happened?"
 
She looked at her feet, shy once more. "M-Mom would be angry if I didn't do that. And I have to... help her a lot."
 
...
 
"You... You are paid to do things, right?"
 
Tension returned to her body. Surely, he wasn't asking to- to do that. He was too young- maybe he was like her? So many questions entered her worried mind but... none managed to get a proper reading of the situation.
 
"Y-Yeah. I do 'fun' things for money to help mom."
 
...
 
"What if you were paid your regular tariff for... a couple of hours. And yet you weren't to do sex?"
 
Cassidy blinked, knowing that wasn't so simple. "W-Well, that would be nice. But no one would do that."
 
He blinked. "How much is the tariff?"
 
She perked up at this, part of her knowing where this was going.  "Why?"
 
"So I can pay for you to keep out of trouble."
 
"...That's nice, but it's pricey."
 
"How much?"
 
She showed him the papers her mother had given her to potential customer, flinching as it described all sorts of fees for the various actions. Yet John aimed his gaze at the most expensive- which was to spend a full day with her. Then, he picked up his phone as all transactions were done through online payment.
 
It didn't take her long for her own phone to buzz with a message, and she slowly checked on to see that it was her mother. The message said....
 
"F-Five days?"
 
He nodded. "I paid for that much. Is that fine?"
 
"I-It's so expensive!" She replied loudly, not trying to yell but feeling her emotions. "W-Why did you- why?"
 
"You deserve a break. Plus, it's not fair."
 
"Y-You should have that many money," Cassidy rebuked but John just shrugged.
 
"As a kid, it is absurd but I am... actually an adult. Just got hit by magic."
 
The girl frowned. "Really?"
 
He nodded, and as they left the booth and she started to follow the human boy around, she was told what happened to him. Despite learning that John was actually an adult, she didn't feel distrusting of him and... this explained why he behaved so mature compared to the rest. And as she hummed along the path, listening raptly to what John had to say, they both failed to realize that, behind them, just around the corner, a certain goat girl was peeking at them.
 
A smile crept on Rambi's face. "Joo-ohn~, I found ya~."
 
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AN
 
And the game begins!