Yara - PoP attempt 1

The stiff leather of their hunter’s armor gnawed uncomfortably at the underside of Yara’s jaw as they fumbled with the lock, their pelt on end with jittery anticipation. His golden eyes flicked to the strange, glowing blue rabbit who was meant to be keeping watch, meant to thump the ground if it saw someone coming. The creature’s pit-like eyes stared back. It blinked in what seemed like slow motion. Seriously?! Desperate, Yara searched for the tuxedo cat that had started tagging along once they’d pulled into port–finding it far more interested in rooting through the garbage cans in this alleyway than helping them stay out of prison.

“If I don’t make it out of here…” he hissed under his breath, though he didn’t finish his threat. The lock he’d been working at came undone with a quiet click and Yara praised whatever higher power had finally decided to smile on him. And then there was  a moment of pause. This wasn’t exactly a decision they could un-make. Was this really the sort of mara they’d become? “But really,” he whispered in argument to the placid rabbit, “it’s not like I’m hurting anyone. Well. It’s not like I’m hurting anyone.” The animal’s nose twitched impassively. Yara huffed and turned to their feline companion, who had slunk over with a popsicle stick hanging out of its mouth. It let out a soft, muffled chirp. “I know the Captain isn’t going to put up with insubordination, okay? Tell that to him!” They gestured to the glow-rabbit, and neither animal looked the least bit impressed, or even interested in what Yara was saying, if they understood them in the first place. 

The kiamara sighed, feeling silly, and slid the bolt holding the door closed loose as he continued whispering to himself, “Look, I’m just doing what I Have To Do. And I had to get out of the Bog. I have to eat at the end of the day. This doesn’t make me a bad mara. Or a pirate. I’m just working for one. This isn’t the rest of my life.” If he said it enough, he might just start believing it. Yara slipped through the soldiers’ stables’ back door, tailed by the pets. Their heart hammered in their throat with every step they took, feeling bulky and out of place in this armor. If nothing else, though, maybe it would protect them if a dregonian startled preemptively and stepped on them. Looking at the huge creatures…. No, no it probably wouldn’t.

Yara bit down on the inside of their mouth and pushed forward while their eyes adjusted to the dark of the stables. No one around, thank goodness. But were they really going to be able to do what they needed to before someone came for their mount? 

“Pssst!” he hissed to his four-legged cohorts. “I really, really need your help on this one.” With some pantomiming and pleading and bargaining, Yara managed to get the cat and rabbit to help him unlatch the stall doors that would let the dregonians out onto the streets, though the rabbit was so slow that it nearly made the process take even longer. Sweet-tempered as dregonians were, they seemed to be getting a little unsettled by all this suspicious activity by a stranger who really shouldn’t have been there. 

That settled, Yara blew up a balloon as large as they could and popped it, sending startled mounts running. Yara scooped their pets into their arms and escaped out the back before crying out for help, that the city guard’s dregonians were loose! They made quite a show of offering to help–leading any dregonians they found even further away. As he went, he “accidentally” bumped into maras and market stalls and flower pots, creating a hectic environment for wrangling the lost mounts. 

As planned, it offered great cover for the rest of the pirate crew to come along and pillage or pickpocket or plunder whatever their hearts desired. And, as planned, Yara earned his supper–even if he had to fork over a substantial amount to pay off his partners in crime.