[Bazaar] In the Company of Thieves (-open-)

[Ynari]

10th Day of Spring, Year 510 A.V.

The earthen and exotic smells of the bazaar drew the little polecat like ambrosia. Where there were people selling wares, there were likely to be animals. Where there were animals, there were likely to be chickens. And where there are chickens...a cheeky grin spread across the white-whiskered maw of the polecat as she bounded from the shelter of an overhanging ledge of stone and scuttled beneath a merchant's table. Ynari wrinkled her nose as the spicy scent of peppers invaded her senses. The merchant's wares dangled from over the edge of his table on thick cords, the russet, shriveled peppers glistening in the afternoon light. Definitely not my liking, thought the polecat decisively, dancing out of range of the merhcant's feet as she darted beneath the next booth. Her tufted ears swiveled, filtering out the myriad of sounds all clamoring for recognition, struggling to locate the harbinger of delights her stomach craved... There! A distinctive cluck-cluck-caroo! caused her to flinch with excitement. Ynari's bottlebrush tail whisked in anticipation, held aloft as she bounded from beneath one booth to the next, hesitating as the step or the shadow of peddler and patron alike intervened. It wasn't long before she drew near the stacked wooden vessels, each containing one to three of the feathered farm fowls. Ynari's pink tongue rasped over her pointy maw, and her teeth glinted in a mischievous grin bourne of hunger... The booming voice of the Akalak Merchant manning the booth caused Ynari very little consternation. She was lithe, lightning fast....easily missed. As were her objects of desire. The wooden crate stacked alongside the hens was padded with a thick layer of straw. Nestled within were eggs. Dozens of them. Wonderous eggs! Ynari's hazel eyes flicked to the merchant, who was currently busy with a bartering transaction, it appeared. Perfect... The nimble polecat crept past the chickens, ignoring the few that cluck-carooed in fear at the sight and scent of a forsworn enemy. Rising to her hind legs, she peered over the lip of the box. The sight was enough to make her drool. Wasting no time, she hoisted herself into the box, shoveling her nose beneath and egg and wresting it from it's nest of straw. Pushing it to the edge of the crate, another cautionary glance was paid to the preoccupied Akalak. Satisfied he'd not spotted her yet, Ynari gave the egg a good shove... It tumbled from the crate, bouncing once off it's side and shattering just beneath the merchant's table. Ynari sprung after it, tufts of hay scattered in her wake. She tucked in rapidly, lapping up the egg's splattered contents with an expression of relish. Several of the chickens trained their beady eyes on the little thief warily... Greed got the best of her, and Ynari turned from lapping the last of the egg's residue from her cheeks to the crate once again. One more couldn't hurt, could it? The Akalak was still shaking hands with the patron... "Oy! You little RAT!" Just as she'd hoiseted herself into the box, Ynari found her scruff clamped firmly in the hand of the Akalak merchant. She was lifted to his scowling blue face, and the little polecat tucked in her legs and tail, her white-tufted ears furling back as she did her best to appear contrite. It must not have been enough, for good bodily shake was delivered, and Ynari chittered indignantly in return. "What manner creature are you, diving into my eggs! Vermin!" The Akalak delivered an exasperated glance about, as though debating what to do with the pilfering polecat dangling from his fingers.

[Charon]

Ynari hung while waiting for her fate to come to fruition. Dangling in the chilly air, she could only hope that whatever were to happen next would only hurt temporarily and would allow the Kelvic to continue with her plans with only a slight delay. The jury was still out on whether gaining access to the crate of eggs was worth the trouble. The Akalak in control of Ynari's destiny looked around the bazaar briefly and decided he could take a quick moment to take care of the situation.

As he stammered away from his stall, Ynari in tow still dangling by the scruff of her neck, the Akalak threatened her. "If I ever so much as see you near my stall again... It's not going to be pretty, you thief!" Before Ynari could react or reply she found herself yanked quickly through the air and was immediately overcome with the sensation of flying through the air. In any other situation the experience may have been enjoyable, but upon realizing her landing strip consisted of a stone wall at the edge of the bazaar, Ynari could only brace for a crash landing.

The impact was less than enjoyable. Luckily Ynari wound up landing at the base of the stone wall and was able to avoid sliding down it after hitting it. Out of breath and immediately noticing her sore neck, it would take a few moments longer to realize blood was slowly oozing from a cut suffered on the back of her head. Dazed and only relatively cognizant of where she was, Ynari was not in the state of mind to be caught off guard by the voice seemingly booming from above her. Though spoken in a natural tone, the voice range between her ears like a gong being played in the same jail cell. "Smooth going, cat."

Slipping down from a ledge several feet above Ynari, another feline, this one male, had a sly grin as he settled down next to her. "Your greed is admirable, but your technique is less than perfect. You should take care of that, you know." With a nod, the cat motioned to the flowing crimson now streaming between Ynari's eyes and heading to her nose. "Are you new around this place? I don't think I've seen you before."

[Ynari]

Ynari blinked groggily from her crumpled position at the base of the wall. A baleful glower was shot in the direction of the Akalak merchant, and her white muzzled wrinkled in distaste. Well, she mused inwardly, rolling to her feet with a wince, at least I’m alive…Whiskers intact, tail still attached! A voice above her drew her attention. Caramel eyes flitted up, catching sight of the cat. Her tufted ears snapped back. Did he just call her a cat? Her gaze narrowed. Perhaps she’d struck her head harder than she thought…"I am not a cat," she sniffed, hefting her shoulders in a haughty shrug and wincing at the pain it caused... A rivulet of something warm spilled off her forehead. At his implication, she raked a paw over the back of her head…instantly regretting it. Flinching, Ynari examined her pad for the ruby evidence of her injury…Oh this is just great. My breakfast ruined, and I’m taking criticisms from a cat?…She transferred her glower from her ruby-stained paw to the smug expression of the feline looming over her. "Huh, n' I s'pose you coulda done it a turn better?" Just who did this feline think he was, dolling out evaluations to perfect strangers? She whisked her salt-n-peppered tail and glanced mournfully back towards the crate of eggs. Alas… "I 'ent from here, no..." she responded flatly. Her eyes returned to the cat warily. She was not accustomed to much beyond the callous and street-toughened demeanor that she herself adopted in the presence of strangers. Her defenses flew up at the first sign of trouble...even if it came in the form of a potentially helpful feline. "Who are you, the border patrol?" A sigh swept through her small frame, and she gingerly tested the back of her broad skull again. Tender. Open. Blood. Swiping her paw over the top of her skull several times and running it past her rasping tongue, she managed to tidy the worst of it from her face. The wound itself, she’d have to deal with later. As for her newfound ‘friend’…her eyes swiveled in the cat’s direction expectantly, as though awaiting an addition to his review of her skills.

[Charon]

Setting his rear down on the cool stone beneath himself and polecat beside him, the gray and black coated feline just grinned at the first question posed to him. Ynari, evidently full of pride and not keen to the idea of taking criticisms from pure strangers- four legged or not, saw the cat beside her produce an egg in his paw he had somehow carried down from the ledge above her blood-warmed head. The egg was familiar to her caramel eyes, as it should be unless the thrashing she suffered had been more brutal than she realized. It was of the same variety that she had intended to make herself full on. Not only that, but it also appeared to be the largest egg from crate.

Ignoring the border patrol comment completely, the cat simply shook his head. "Though it is only one egg, isn't it a beauty?" he snickered as he cracked open the perfect shell and cranked back his head while pouring the yoke and any other contents of this half the egg down his throat. He tossed that half of the now empty shell away and took up the other half before pausing. "Where are my manners, did you want some? After you provided me with the perfect distraction that I needed, I just wandered innocently up to the crate and had my pick. I lifted it out of there and was away with it before the clerk ever got back to see. He probably thinks it was you who stole it!" With the last comment he smiled again, obviously enjoying this.

Giving the remainder of the egg to Ynari whether she indicated wanting it or not, the cat pushed himself up from his sitting position and started to walk away. It was not everyday that a creature, even a rodent, came along casing the same target that he was. She evidently thought more of herself than perhaps she should, but it did not bother him. "There are places you could go around here to get that head of yours fixed," he said over his shoulder as he continued slowly away. "There are also places you could make it worse. At your rate you'll probably find the latter first." Though Ynari could not see it, it was not difficult to imagine the same sinister smile the cat had on his face with the last quip.