FFXI stuff would be owned by SquareEnix and Arlette and Kodie are characters made up by Healerkou and Serge. Do not use them or anything.
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Arlette skulked and lurked around the Yagudos that were huddled together outside a large cave entrance. She was on her way to Jeuno in hopes of starting over, and some money was definitely needed to accomplish that. But, seeing as how she was banished from Windurst where people actually had money she could steal, she had lowered herself to pick-pocketing travelers on the road, and trying to swipe Yagudo feathers and necklaces that she could try and sell when she got to Jeuno.
The beastmen were a couple feet taller than Arlette, and were basically bird-men covered in gray plumage. Bits of that plumage, plus the necklaces the magic-castors wore, went for a lot of gil in Jeuno. Arlette grinned to herself at the thought. Not to mention that her buyers would probably be impressed at her skill in procuring the items in the first place. After all, the creatures were intelligent, but they spoke their own language and Arlette never bothered to learn it. Nor was she that interested, to be honest. Sometimes she wondered if they could understand her. She doubted it.
A couple Yagudo Scribes and Initiates had caught her attention about a mile back, so she had followed them for a while, keeping back enough so that they wouldn't perceive her as a threat, and perhaps not even notice her. Then, while they were distracted with whatever they were discussing in their language, she would make her move. All the beastmen seemed young, so Arlette hoped they were inexperienced enough to let her get away with it.
Even though this level of thievery was way beneath her, Arlette wasn't too proud to admit it was her own fault for getting caught back in Windurst. Hell, she was even lucky to be alive. If it weren't for that Dark Knight, there's no way she would have been able to fight off an entire angry mob of people. And it was all because of a small loaf of bread. It was enough to make her sick, thinking about it. It was her own weakness that caused her to be sloppy back there, and she would never allow it to happen again. Because of her stupid growling stomach, she had almost been caught for the first time in ten years. Then, to add insult to injury, she was saved by a Hume man.
'Although, I am only flesh and blood,' Arlette tried to justify in her own mind, 'Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. I just have to be careful not to make another stupid mistake.'
Quietly, the young Mithra woman approached the Yagudos. She had her hand raised and was aiming right for a young Scribe's necklace when he suddenly spun around and immediately cast Bind on her.
'They knew I was here this whole time!' Arlette suddenly thought to herself. How could she have been so stupid? She wasn't an amateur! But for whatever reason, the beastmen had been waiting for her.
The spell made her unable to move for a short period of time, but it was long enough for the beastmen to gather around and chain her arms behind her. One fastened those chains with a lock, while another put shackles on her legs.
The Yagudo who looked to be the oldest of the group picked Arlette up like she weighed nothing, and tossed her over his shoulder and began walking towards the cave. The Mithra kicked and wiggled and flailed and made growling sounds in the back of her throat, but to no avail. Finally, the Yagudo just seemed to be getting annoyed with her, so he motioned to one of the Scribes who raised his staff and slammed it down on top of her head.
As the pain began to fade to black, Arlette lost consciousness thinking that this really was the last mistake she'd ever make.
