Name: Javas
(meaning "swift")
Gender: Male
Javas is a crafty and elusive thief of Delta Velorum, picking the bags of unsuspecting DVFs for whatever he can get his sticky paws on. One second, he's right next to you. The other second, he's all the way over there with your belongings dangling from that smug grin of his. Unless he's promised a spectacular reward, he doesn't like doing favors. He prefers to take the easier route and let others do most of the work for him. For days, he'll stalk other DVFs to locate the easy-to-access resources, like food and water or even treasures. He stays hidden to avoid being caught, rarely revealing himself to others, and he has become quite good at it in his years.
Javas was always opportunistic. He wasn't a very successful hunter despite his speed. In fact, he was extremely clumsy and would trip over his own legs. Instead, he opted for flowers, berries, nuts, and pretty much all else that was edible and grew on the plant. Easy pickings for a little fox. He also picked off other DVF's catches and finds. If he wanted to find more berries, he'd simply stalk the other DVFs and find the best gathering places through them. His speed was more better used for escaping flooding areas or rockslides. He grew up extremely wary of other DVFs and doesn't make friends as easily.
The set of golden coins strung around his neck are his pride and joy. He allows other DVFs to look but not touch. Well, if he stops for anyone in the first place. Usually, he shows them off by flashing them in the sunlight and with a cheeky grin, before darting off. A thief doesn't want to be caught, after all.
The jingling of his coins is a tall tale sign that the Rockhollow thief is nearby.
A Game Too Far
Javas was left clinging to a log in the river with the sound of rushing water drowning out all other sound. The water was streaked in red. He could feel the sharp sting of the three large wounds across his back as the cold water beat up against his dampened and messy fur repeatedly. His face really hurt. He tried to open his right eye, but there was only red. "Great." He thought to himself. "Just great." The river was too strong to swim against. It couldn't possibly get worse from here. Could it? He felt something slipping from around his neck - the strings of coins. His most treasured belonging. It was being swept away by the river. The strings had come undone in the fight. "No no no no no-!!" He desperately tried to reach out a paw to grasp it and began to slip from the log. The necklace vanished under the waves. He scrambled to keep himself afloat and gave a sorrowful whine in mourning for his lost coins. As he was being pulled down the river, he could hear a voice faintly calling to him in the distance.
How did he get into this situation again...?
- - -
Earlier that day, Javas had been stalking a female of another clan, hunting out in the meadows. Proelia was her name, or, at least that's what he thought it was. He heard the other foxes calling her by that name. He had followed her out to the meadow in hopes that she would lead him to some resources. Maybe a small bunny den or even a frequently-travelled hunting path. He had taken a fancy to her - well, not specifically her. Actually, he was more interested in the fancy set of hand-made bone daggers that she carried with her in her leather bag. They were a nice set of tools. He figured he'd try to get one while she wasn't looking. He was confident in his ability to get away with his petty crimes. This fox would be an easy target to outrun. There was no way she'd catch up to him. Ever. To him, it sounded like a good idea.
At the time.
Proelia eventually caught a rabbit and had settled down among the dry grass. She flipped out a single bone dagger to skin the rabbit, only to realize that it had disappeared right after. A shadow darted away. She looked into her bag. One, two, three, four...
One of the daggers was missing.
She immediately processed what had happened and snatched up the rabbit, tossing it into her bag. It'd get a little bloody, but she had other things to focus on. "Hey, YOU! Stop!" She called out across the meadow, giving chase to Javas, who had already gained some distance between them. "Bring that back immediately!"
"Catch me if you can!" Javas had the widest grin across his face. It was more of a game than anything to him. Dashing left and right, he made an attempt to confuse and lose Proelia. This worked with most of his targets. It was just a bone dagger. She could always make more. Surely, she'd give up at some point.
Unfortunately for Javas, Proelia continued to give chase, continuously barking out at him. They ran for miles, heading straight into foreign territory. Javas scrambled up the mountain path. Proelia followed straight after, still fuming about the dagger. "How far does someone go for a dagger??" Javas thought to himself as he tried to get more distance between them. He climbed even further up. She did the same. They came to a stop on the winding mountain path with high walls and dark, foreboding cave openings stretching out across the face.
"Give. Me. My. Dagger!" Proelia growled at him.
"And what if I don't?" Javas asked with a smile.
Proelia lunged straight at him. The two foxes began to scramble at eachother. Javas did all he could to keep the angry vixen away from his face. He had clearly angered the wrong person.
"Drop it!"
"No!"
Their fighting began to set a few rocks loose and was luring the attention of nearby residents.
"I'm going to kick your tail if you don't!" Proelia took a few swipes at Javas' head.
Suddenly, the two froze in place. Javas was staring up, eyes widened, at the large shadow that was now looming over them. Heavy breathing.
Thunk. The bone dagger fell from his mouth.
Proelia leapt off of Javas and turned around to see that they were face-to-face with a mountain lion. They were in this lion's territory, and it didn't look very pleased. Javas scrambled to his feet. Without a word, Proelia made a run for it.
"H-Hey!" Javas turned and called out. "You can't just leave me here!"
"You brought this upon yourself!" Proelia shouted in the distance.
"No! Wait!" Javas began to run after her.
The mountain lion began to chase them down the mountain path. The two foxes were already exhausted from their earlier scramble but made an effort to escape. They ran down by the large river. Javas let out a sharp cry as he felt the feline's heavy claws sink straight into his flank. Proelia came to an immediate stop upon hearing him and turned around. With another swipe, the feline clawed Javas straight across the face and knocked him into the river. The mountain lion began to walk straight towards Proelia. "Oh no." She had to do some quick thinking to get out of it. The scent of blood caught her attention.
Oh, right, the rabbit.
She pulled the bloodied white fluff from her bag. "You want this?"
The mountain lion lifted its head.
"Then go get it!" She tossed it straight into the nearby bushes. Once the feline took the bait, she made a run for it and began to scan the river. Her eyes followed the red that began to stain the river waters up to a figure bobbing up and down in the currents. Javas was trying to stay afloat. "I-I can't s-swim!!" He gasped for air.
Proelia looked ahead. The river didn't end in a waterfall, but it had a few dips in it. She had to get him out of there somehow, or he'd drown. After some quick legwork, she managed to loosen a small log from the nearby ground and kicked it into the river. "Grab onto this!" She called to him.
Javas dug his claws into the log and held on for dear life. He swore under his breath that he'd stay within Rockhollow territory after this, if he managed to survive.
Proelia continued to scale down by the river, looking for a way to get Javas back to shore. She heard him whining. "What's wrong??" She called out.
"My necklace!" Javas had the expression of a kicked puppy.
"Forget your fancy trinkets!" Proelia frowned.
"B-but-!"
"Your life is more important here!"
Javas' ears sank down. She had a good point...
Proelia knocked another log into the river, pinning down the one that Javas was clinging to. She made her way over to him on the logs and pulled him out of the water. "Ow ow ow!" Javas squeaked. Just as she pulled him to shore, the logs were dislodged and began to flow down the river and out of sight. They both stopped on the shore to catch their breaths.
"Y-you saved my life." Javas said. He looked down at the muddy riverbank. "...sorry about the dagger."
"I'm only doing this once. Do it again and you'll be fish bait." Proelia frowned. "Come on. We need to get those wounds fixed up." She took a firm hold of his scruff.
"W-wait! Ow!" He didn't have the strength left to run and had no choice but to give in. "But my necklace-!"
"I'll go find it later." Proelia began to pull him along.
After his wounds healed, Javas was left with scars as a reminder of his mistake, but even that didn't deter him from his thieving lifestyle. He decided he'd keep it low next time, and he'd stay far away from mountain lion territory.
Of course, after a few future attempts to swipe Proelia's dagger again, he had to promise to stop taking her things.
Except, he never did hold up to that promise and continued to run away with her dagger in jest. Javas was always going to be the Rockhollow thief. He didn't plan to quit his lifestyle anytime soon.
