Bad Luck

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 7th October 2022

Characters: Cosani, Iskara
Description: Cosani and Iskara bring "bad luck" to a hold
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 1, day 10 of Turn 11

Cosani

Cosani carefully pictured a visual of a hill in Golden Fields Hold and
how it would look in the moonlight. It should be far enough out that
no one would see the dragons' glowing eyes and the animals wouldn't be
spooked. "Ready?" She grinned over at Iskara.

The other greenrider's teeth flashed in a smile as she raised her hand,
confirming that Hylith had the visual from Shalith. Her dragon's eyes
whirled faster, reflecting her anticipation of the mischief they planned
for tonight. "Let's go!"

Shalith climbed to a safe height and then winked /between/. They came
out from cold nothingness to considerably warmer air and a dark
landscape below. Cosani scanned around them, looking for any signs of
people, though at this time of the evening, the holders should be
settling down for the night. When her dragon landed, Cosani slipped
from her neck and stood gazing at the hill which blocked the small
hold from view. Cosani had thought she'd never be back here. What she
really wanted to do was burn everything down, or take a riding strap
to her grandda and beat him bloody.

}:This place makes you feel bad. I do not like it.:{

Cosani patted Shalith's forearm. **I'm gonna feel better soon, don't
worry.** She turned to Iskara. "We _can't_ be seen."

"Trust me, I don't want to be on punishment duties for the next Turn any
more than you do," Iskara replied, her voice low and amused. While it
might be fun to see what M'gan's temper was like, she'd rather it wasn't
directed at her, at least for now. "How close do you think we can get?
Have they got any canines?"

"There was one when I was here last, though they could've gotten more
since I left." Cosani frowned, hoping that wasn't the case. "They keep
her in the big barn at night, and she should be in there by now. Which
is one of the reasons we let the animals out _last_."

"And we do the quiet part first." Iskara reached up to her dragon's
straps and unhooked the bag that she'd brought. As she held it up, it
bulged slightly as the contents wriggled. "Finest tunnelsnakes from the
traps of the Weyr. They should have worked up a good appetite by now."

Cosani chuckled. "This is going to be so fun. My only regret is we
won't be around to see the chaos." She pulled down a small glow
basket, to be used minimally and carefully so they wouldn't stumble in
the dark. The moonlight was just enough for them to make out larger
features, like the Hold itself and the outbuildings. "This way."

Iskara followed her, placing her feet carefully so that she wouldn't
step on any dry twigs and give their presence away as they approached
the hold. A cool night breeze stirred her hair, blowing from the
direction of the darkened buildings as they approached, so with luck
their scent wouldn't carry to the canine. Her heart began to beat
thrillingly fast as they drew closer.

Suddenly, she stopped and reached forward to touch Cosani's shoulder,
then pointed to the silhouette of a man, sitting on the step outside the
main building, his head drooping as he leaned against the wall. Iskara
stifled a giggle, then pressed her palms together and rested them
against her cheek in a "sleeping" gesture. Stupid holders couldn't even
keep a proper watch.

Cosani bit her lip and held a finger up to her mouth. The grain that
gave the hold its name was housed in a cluster of buildings several
dragonlengths from the main building and Cosani crept toward them. She
glanced back toward the dozing guard to make sure he didn't startle
himself awake. It would be so disappointing to have to flee before
they even got started.

They made it without being spotted and Cosani crept around to put the
buildings between them and the guard. It was dark and it _had_ been a
while so it took her a moment to orient herself and find the best
target. Once she had it, she hurried to the corner of one storehouse
and uncovered the glowbasket just enough for a small beam of light.
"This wall had to get patched up a few turns back . . ." Cosani
whispered as she ran a hand over it, looking for the right spot.
"There." She took out her belt knife and quietly chipped away at the
weak spot, about a handspan up from the ground.

"Let me hold that." Iskara took the glowbasket and lifted it so that the
light fell on the spot where the mortar was crumbling under Cosani's
knife. She kept a careful watch, but the night was still and all she
could hear was the scraping of the blade and the soft slithering and
hissing from inside the sack at her feet.

}: What are you doing? :{ Hylith asked curiously.

** Just a little joke, ** Iskara replied, projecting thoughts of
reassurance as best she could despite the thrill and the danger of being
caught. ** We'll be back soon. **

Cosani squinted at the hole she'd made. "Okay that should be enough."
She didn't want it to be _too_ big -- it was supposed to look like a
natural occurrence. She gestured for the sack of tunnelsnakes, though
she wasn't keen on handling it. A small sacrifice in order to get a
little taste of revenge.

Iskara tugged on the riding gloves she'd tucked into her belt as a
precaution - if one of them got bitten then they'd have a hard job
explaining themselves to the healers - and picked up the sack, loosening
the tie that held it shut. "If I hold it over the hole and you tip it
up, they should slide right in."

Cosani nodded and rose from her crouch to take hold of the sack. She
waited for Iskara to get the end in position over the hole before she
started tilting the far end, the creatures inside making angry noises.
As soon as they discovered all the food inside, she was sure the
tunnelsnakes would be quite happy to have been dumped in the
storehouse.

"Here goes..." Iskara pulled the sack open and felt the first
tunnelsnake drop through the hole Cosani had made. Fortunately, they
seemed more interested in wriggling swiftly away into the darkness than
turning on the greenriders. As soon as the last one was in, she let go
and took a hasty step back from the storehouse. In the darkness, she
grinned. "Dinner is served, my scaly friends."

Cosani covered her mouth to laugh. "Okay, now the animals." This was
the riskier part. If the animals made too much noise or rushed out, it
could draw the guard's attention. And of course there was that canine
to worry about. Peeking out from the storage building, she confirmed
he was still asleep and gave Iskara a thumbs up. Then she moved
quickly but quietly toward the barn.

Once Cosani had reached the safety of the shadows around the barn,
Iskara followed, running swiftly on light feet. She tiptoed along the
wall to the barn door. No locks, just a bolt to slide across and a heavy
wooden bar holding it shut. Shells, these holders deserved to be robbed.

She helped the other greenrider to lift the bar as quietly as possible
and then they inched the door open a crack, holding their breaths in
case it creaked. The scent of hay and warm, crowded beasts drifted out
from the darkness inside. Then Iskara's heart jumped as she saw a dark
shape lying curled up, only a few paces from the door, its sides lifting
as it breathed softly in its sleep. The canine!

Cosani paused with a finger to her lips, her eyes slowly adjusting to
the deeper darkness of the barn as she stared at the canine's sleeping
form. It twitched once and Cosani tensed, ready to run. But after a
long moment there was no further movement and she eased the door open
bit by bit. She signaled Isakara to watch for the guard while she kept
her eyes on the canine.

Iskara edged back along the wall of the barn to get a better view of the
guard. He was still unmoving, his head slumped on his chest. **Fast
asleep.** For a moment, she considered sneaking up to him and playing
some mischief - tying his bootlaces together, or stealing his hat - and
regretfully discarded the idea. As well as being risky, that would be
too obviously human intervention rather than bad luck. She turned and
gestured back to Cosani that all was well.

Ever so carefully, Cosani kept going until one door was wide open. The
canine moved one more time and Cosani's heart pounded, but it didn't
wake. A few of the animals inside shifted sleepily. Once they started
to fully awaken, they'd wander out and scatter. She grinned, thinking
of the holders spending their morning trying to wrangle the animals
and then discovering what was lurking in the grain storage. Cosani
signaled that it was time to go.

With one last mocking salute to the sleeping guard, Iskara stole lightly
after Cosani, away from the hold buildings and back towards the shadow
of the hill where their dragons were waiting. No shouts of alarm or
barking followed them, and when she got back to Hylith she was fizzing
with excitement and had to remind herself not to shout with glee. "That
was so much fun!"

Cosani stifled a laugh. "It was! Thanks for helping me." It wasn't
much compared to years of torment, but this small piece of payback
_did_ make Cosani feel a little bit better. The holders would never
know who was responsible, but _she_ would.

"No problem." Iskara smirked. "Any time you want to get revenge on some
miserable holders, I'm your girl."

Cosani's gaze was drawn toward the hill, thinking of the hold behind
it. She wanted to come back and cause more trouble . . . but it would
be wise to wait a good long while before returning. She looked back at
Iskara and nodded. "We're definitely doing this again sometime."

Last updated on the October 30th 2022

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Bad Luck