The Sapphire Tiger

Chapter 6: Olga

The hulking white Bengal tiger stood with a wicked grin on her face as she clutched the poster in her gigantic hand. The foreign bounty hunter hadn't been off the boat in this strange new land for a whole day yet and already she'd found herself a job, and an exciting one at that. A human? Did these creature's really still exist over here? Olga hadn't heard of any humans still being around in the rest of the world, not even rumors. She had heard all the folk tales of these bizarre animals and what they were capable of. Of course they were just fairy tales, a load of nonsense. If she tracked this Lief character down, she would have the bounty on his head with no issues, she was sure of it. She had slain mighty warriors a plenty back in the Motherland, adversaries that were far larger and more fierce than something as small as a human could possibly be. Her only concern was being able to subdue him without breaking his puny bones and losing her chance at the reward of ten thousand lunars. 
"How fascinating," She mused. "Ten thousand lunars for a single criminal? Looks like someone's a very naughty boy indeed. I'm no fool though, he must be capable of quite a lot for such a small creature so I'll take plenty of caution in my approach." She continued to read the information on the poster.
"Wanted for the deaths of more than a hundred royal soldiers, destruction of royal property, thievery, resisting arrest, escaping prison, banditry, kidnap, rape, and the murder of several hundred citizens. Deemed extremely dangerous." These crimes astonished Olga. She had brought to justice some true savages in her career but this human's wrap sheet was truly disgusting. The rapes alone filled her with rage and made her wish she didn't need him alive for her payout. 

Before Olga could fold up the poster and place it in her satchel, her attention was caught by the voice of a very small, very young vixen who must have been no older than seven years old. 
"Excuse me, ma'am but are you looking for the bad guy on the poster?" The towering tigress knelt down on one knee, still being a few feet higher than the youngster. 
"Why yes I am, little one," She answered. "You wouldn't happen to have seen him, would you?" The young fox looked over her shoulder, as if making sure no one was listening. 
"Mom says I shouldn't say anything but if the queen's after him, he must have done something really bad, and my dad says bad people should always pay for the things they do." Olga nodded.
"And he's absolutely right, my dear. I plan to find the criminal and take him to the queen so that he can be held accountable for his crimes." The young fox pointed to Bran's Battlewear. 
"I saw him come out of there with two of his henchmen, a boy wolf and a girl wolf. They headed out onto the road out of town. I don't know where they were going though. They looked really scary. I'd be careful if I were you." 
"That's sweet of you little one. Don't you worry about me. Thank you very much for the help. You and your family won't need to worry about that evil human any more once I've found him, now run along back to your mother. It's never safe for such a young one to be alone."

After saying her goodbye to the helpful little vixen, Olga's first stop was Bran's Battlewear. The aged boar had seen all kinds of adventurers walk in through the door to his shop and there were few, if any people that he would be surprised by but the young fox currently working behind the counter was much younger and far less experienced. He was quite taken aback when the almost eight-foot tall tigress walked in wearing full battle armour, save for her head, hands and feet which were completely bare. The shopkeeper fox would normally question why a person would walk around completely barefoot but Olga's reason was fairly easy to deduce. Her toes, much like her fingers, were equipped with long and extremely sharp and powerful-looking claws. Something she likely made use of in combat situations in which she found herself disarmed. She was well built and clearly very muscular, even for a tiger. Her eyes were a light, watery shade of blue while her fur was white as snow with uncountable black stripes all over. The hair on her crown was kept just as short as the rest of her fur. This woman was clearly focused on being as efficient as possible in combat. She even chose to have almost no hair on her head that might get in her face while she was fighting. The fox had no idea who this woman was or where she came from but she was clearly very serious about what she did. He felt sorry for anyone who was foolish enough to cross blades with her. Speaking of which, her weapon of choice was a long-handled morning star strapped to her back which bore a larger-than-usual steel ball with particularly vicious spikes covering most of it. The weapon looked far too heavy for any normal person to swing effectively in combat. 

"Good morning, m'lady. What can I help you with?" The young fox asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Olga walked over to the counter, unfolding the poster as she took it out of her satchel and placed it face up for the fox to see. 
"I'm looking for this tyrant," She answered. "He was seen leaving your shop today. Would you happen to know where he and his two friends were heading?" The fox swallowed nervously as he looked up at her, remembering what Bran told him earlier. 
"I don't think he's actually a bad person, ma'am. The queen is a tyrant and is always convicting people of ridiculous things." Olga's face stayed still as tone as she took a bag of coins a little bigger than the average person's fist out of her satchel and dropped it on the counter with a metallic, jingling impact. The young fox was just experienced enough to know what this meant and tucked the bag into the pocket of his apron. "I don't know where they're going or where they live but I've seen the girl a lot. She works here in town some days. Up the road at the fruit and vegetables stall. The old lady who runs it can probably tell you where she lives. Whether the human will be with her when you find her, I don't know." Olga smiled. 
"Thank you, sir. You've been quite helpful." She said as she folded the poster and placed it back in her satchel. The blacksmith's apprentice continued to admire this intriguing character as her massive feet thumped the wooden floorboards audibly on her way out.

The elderly squirrel almost flinched at the sight of the gigantic feline as Olga approached her stall.
"Oh, good afternoon my dear," She greeted. "What can I do for you?"
"The young she wolf who works for you, she was apparently seen with a friend of mine, a human with long golden hair. Would you happen to know where I can find this person please?" The titanic tigress was polite with her questioning but the old squirrel's instincts didn't fail her. She could feel it in her bones that this woman was no friend to Snow or the human who had been accompanying her. 
"Oh, a friend of him, are you?" She asked.
"That is correct, ma'am." Olga answered. 
"Please don't insult my intelligence, dear. It's clear as day you're a bounty hunter. I haven't met the human but if the young Snow chooses him to be in the company of, then I'll bet my tail that he's a decent fellow. I've seen the posters and I know he's wanted by the queen. His crime is probably no worse than stepping on a soldier's tail by accident." 
Olga was visibly frustrated. The old squirrel was nowhere near as daft as she'd thought upon seeing her.  
"Well, that might be so but the fact is, he is wanted by his queen and as a traveling bounty hunter, I make it my job to apprehend people who have been named a fugitive by their rulers."
"I'm sorry, madam but you're just going to have to find that information somewhere else." She answered sharply.

Olga wanted to attempt bribery like she did at the blacksmith's shop but she had a feeling that moment had passed. This old hag of a squirrel wasn't about to give up Snow's location and put her in potential danger, not even for money. And Olga knew that. She loomed over the elderly merchant as threateningly as she could while attempting not to make a scene.
"I'm sorry you've driven me to this, but you either tell me where this 'Snow' girl is or the next customers you receive will be a soldier patrol. And they won't be as polite as me." The aged squirrel grit her teeth. She wanted nothing less than to be harassed by those thugs. There was no knowing what they would do and besides, she knew Snow was smart and a capable fighter. She was sure no harm would come to her. The tigress was only looking for the human after all. 
"You're just after the human, aren't you?" Olga nodded in response.
"I'll not lay a finger on the girl. That much I will promise." The old squirrel gestured to the direction toward Castle Songvale. 
"She lives in a castle by the mountains just a couple of miles from here. I'm sure you've seen it in the distance. It's owned by a Lady Moss who opens it to any seeking a home. It's possible she's taken the human himself there. Approaching the castle armed isn't likely to result in the guards letting you in though. If they sense you're a threat to anyone within its walls, they'll turn you away rather forcefully." 
"I see," Olga replied. "I'm certain it'll be no problem." The elderly squirrel watched and hoped that Snow would be safe when the bounty hunter found she and Leif while she scorned at her as she walked out of the town.