It was dark. A large, full moon shone through the darkness, casting its gentle light onto the prison.

In the nearby bamboo forest, a tiny figure dressed in black from head to toe, stood and waited.

Come on, come on. The thought bounced through her head as she crouched down getting into position.

The guards had been there all day without breaks. They were tired. Slowly, ever so slowly they nodded off.

That's when she moved in.

She had done this before. The province where she lived had a justice system all its own. Instead of being put in prison because of tax problems, you were taken in and put to death the next day.

Or at least that's how it was before she came. Her emerald green eyes pierced the dim light as she silently moved forwards. It was all very simple. Wait for them to go to sleep and then slip in and slip out with the prisoners. Some people would wonder, Why the risk? The answer was a simple, Why not?

She quickly scaled the wall and landed silently on the other side. She twitched her long fluffy tail. No one there. Good. The prison guards may have been good at fighting, but they were just as good at being unbelievably dense. Didn't they ever learn?

She silently dashed towards the door that led to the cells. She slipped both her tiny, gloved hands forward and pushed on the large handle. Locked… No matter. With one sharp punch to the top, the inner mechanisms broke and released.

Easy peasy. She carefully pushed through the door and craned her large ears around in a circle to check for any stray members of the resident crew of meatheads. None. Perfect!

The figure crept silently down the hall checking cell after cell. Empty, empty, real convict, real convict, empty… There!

She'd spotted him. An adult pig in his late thirties lay on the floor of the cell sleeping. As he slept, tiny whimpers escaped from his dreams into the night.

"He's not used to this," she thought as she broke this lock as well. It was funny; as many times as she had managed to make a break in/out, the only defense they ever had was just putting on new locks. Pathetic really, but then who was she to complain?

After opening the door as quietly as possible, so as not to waken any of the people who were in here for a good reason, the figure reached forward and gently shook the pig's shoulder.

He awoke with a start, close to crying out before she placed a hand over his mouth.

"Sssshhh," she whispered through the mask that covered her head. "It's okay."

The pig, who had appeared apprehensive at first, quickly relaxed and nodded.

The woman silently turned around and led the way through the open door, down the hall, and out into the yard. She then motioned for him to follow her towards the wall. When they reached it, she silently instructed him to grab her tail and hang on as she went back the way she had come.

She dropped to the ground and caught the pig as he followed her.

Snap

Uh-oh

The figure whirled around and found herself nose to horn with a large rhino. He had friends too. Hmm, perhaps they had learned a thing or two.

"Oh crud," she thought. She soon shook it off though. These guys still didn't pose much of a problem.

She leapt forward and grabbed one of the thugs by his short tail. She then used him as a weapon and slammed the other four against the wall. They shouted and tried to get up, but there would be none of that. She easily leapt forward and knocked them all out two by two (who says making them knock each other out is old fashioned?), and then looked for her companion. In the shortly lived chaos she had lost him.

"Psst." She turned toward where the sound had come from. Ah, there. During the assault he had fled to the forest and was peeking out from behind a tree. If she hadn't been keeping quiet, she would have applauded. A large number of the people she helped to escape, instead of being sensible and getting out of the way when the rare problems occurred, did the exact opposite and made everything harder for her. It was nice to see some cooperation.

She dashed over and then led him through the forest as quickly as his short stubby legs would allow. When they were out of the bamboo, she then took him through a few small villages, and down many winding paths. The stranger finally slowed down to let him catch his breath.

"I-*pant*-don't-*gasp*-mean to be rude-*wheeze*-but who are you and-*cough*-where are you taking me-*hack*?

She turned and looked at him. In a calm voice she replied, "To your new home."

Now he looked very concerned. "Wh-what? But I-I-I have a family! What will happen to them? They need me!"

Though the man couldn't see it through her mask, she was smiling. She couldn't help it. Her own father had never been there for her. In his defense, it is rather difficult to be there for your twin daughters when you and your wife are dead.

"Calm down," she told him in an easy-going voice, as she resumed walking. "They're where I'm taking you."

"And where is that exactly?" he asked sounding less panicked but still rather nervous. He followed her breathing more easily.

"A place where other people, like you, are being protected from our so called justice system. You'll be safe; it's hard to adjust to new places, I know, but it's rather nice."

"Well all right." Having just come so close to losing his life, he felt like arguing was trivial. However one thing bothered him.

"May I at least have your name?"

She stopped, turned around, green eyes a-sparkle, and said, "Taia."