\n Another piece of bite-sized fiction for you all, and this one without any smutty content at all! God help me; it'll never be read. Still, I hope it's enjoyed!

\n - Fae

\n Moonlight glinted off the thief's eyes. He glanced upwards as russet fur rippled in the midnight breeze. Stars shone high above, their majesty and infinite beauty lost on him.

\n That breeze, however, was not. It rustled the leaves about him, and it shook the bushes he crouched low within. Yellow, vulpine eyes tracked across the compound before him, and his tongue traced over the edge of his muzzle as he savoured the challenge to come. His prize was inside. He knew it. He could smell it.

\n The breeze intensified briefly, and he moved as soon as the rustle hit the trees above. From the small bushes he darted, low to the ground under the cloak of wind and night, towards the first impediment to his progress.

\n It wasn't that impressive as fences went, but he knew it was enough to discourage other thieves such as him. He was different, though. He dared plant his footpaws where others would not. He dared to risk all for the thrill of the hunt and the prize that lay within the compound beyond that fence. And beneath one bush on the edge of that fence, far from the prying eyes of those heavily-armed guards that regularly patrolled the compound's borders, was the labour of his nights.

\n The hole was mostly concealed by the bush, though the fox's keen eyes were more than capable of searching it out in the moonlight. The bush itself was barely larger than his body, yet he wriggled himself into that impossibly tight space. He curled around for a moment and sneaked a quick glance back up into the night as a fresh gust of wind set the trees blanketing his sounds, and he grinned mischievously as he dove back underground again.

\n There was so little time; other points of entry had been discovered before, and he couldn't afford to wait long. All manner of alarms were scattered across the grounds, and any one of them would be more than enough to alert the guards to his position. He couldn't afford to tangle with them. Other thieves had tried. Other thieves had failed. Other thieves had died.

\n Not him, though. His tools clawed away at the dirt before him, tunnelling steadily down and under the fence. The work of the last couple nights - in the few moments he could snatch before he triggered some of the alarms - had brought him so close to his goal, and it took only a few minutes of digging before he ascended again.

\n Almost before his tools had breached the surface, his head pushed aside the last of the dirt. His eyes scanned along the ground as his ears tipped back, and that giddy little grin spread across his features again at the sounds of midnight. The sounds of silence were all he needed for his goals.

\n Quickly, he scrabbled up and through the hole. His tail swept out from within the small tunnel as he turned his head this way and that, eagerly scanning out each possible approach of the guards even as he rushed towards the compound. But there was nothing; no guards came to stop him and none of the alarms were set off. His silence held.

\n The door to the compound was sufficient to stop some thieves, certainly, but the fox was hardly 'some thief'. It took only a few careful taps with his paws, a quick slice with one of his sharp little claws, and the doorway swung open for him. He was through. In.

\n Snap. He captured his prize quickly from the vault, and turned away. There was no need to stop. There was no need to be greedy. He had what he came for, and all he needed. He was too smart, too coy to let himself fall into the trap that others had. The squawk of a sudden, tripped alarm caught him off-guard, though. One set off another, and another, and within moments the entire compound was alerted to his presence. There was no time to stop, no time to fear. To stop was to die. So he ran.

\n The door slammed against the wall as he shoved it open before him. Immediately he dove for the fence, seemingly so distant with the sound of those echoing alarms behind him. He didn't even bother listening for the guards. He knew what they sounded like. He knew they were coming. Even before he'd left the compound, he'd heard their cries.

\n The guards had waited for him.

\n But he was too smart, too coy to let them have an easy time of it. He growled as he bolted for the fence, for his little getaway hole, and the safety of the bushes beyond. His legs jerked him this way and that, zigzagging his way across the open ground to confound the shots of his pursuers. Those shots rang out in the night, and bullets flashed through the air and pierced the breeze as they raced towards the vulpine thief. They missed, though; testament to his fleet footpaws. Not a single round pierced his furry body.

\n In one smooth motion, he leaped for the hole. His aim was true, and he vanished down into it. A single round rippled the fur of his tail, and his ears tucked in against his head as he wriggled his way back under the fence again. Too close. Far too close.

\n And then he was out, free, through. The fox all but leaped from his hole as he charged away towards the bushes, and the alarms and shouts of the guards behind him faded away. Prize firmly in his custody, the fox grinned wide and vanished into the night.

\n An enraged howl - a sound of pure frustration - left the lips of the man as he gripped tightly at his rifle. He almost threw the weapon off to the side as he watched that blasted little thief make off with his prize. The barest hint of a vulpine tail wagged at him before it vanished into the bushes, lost from sight and scope. He'd escaped.

\n The howl turned into a frustrated growl as the farmer turned to his chicken coop, awash with the terrified squawks of the chickens within. And they were chickens that were now without one of their friends, taken in the jaws of the furry thief.

\n "God-damn foxes!" he roared.

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\n You know, I don't go into this expecting to write foxes every time, but that's what comes. *shrugs* I don't know. Anyway, let me know what you all know... about how you liked the story! Leave a comment, score, fav... you probably won't hit the cum counter, though. If you do... well, good for you? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little bite of fiction. See you furballs next time!