Puppy!!!!1!!!!

Contrary to what everybody else, including herself, believed, Yetta was not a complete oaf. Well…most of the time. When she didn't have Carman taking her kills from her, Yetta could be quite the badass in her own right. Right now, however, the hunter was getting her ass kicked. She dodged around, and at one point had given up her rifle to punch the shit out of a hive wizard. Which wasn't actually doing anything for her, besides getting her right up to their line of fire. 

Most of the blood coating her armor was her own, and Jason just took to hiding in a small hole in the wall for a quick revive if and when she would need it. Finally, the floaty son of a bitch fell, and Yetta cracked her neck, smiling to herself. "Got it!" she yelled to the sky, almost missing the soft snarl. Almost. Her head whipped around, witnessing the small creature crouched low to the ground, sharp teeth exposed in a leering snarl.

Jason gasped behind her, transmatting away. "It's a runt," he alerted her. "It'll be easy to get rid of, just don't get flashy."

Yetta awe'd, sticking her hand out. "Why would I want to get rid of the little guy?"

"Yetta! That is a Cabal war beast, even if it's just a pup!! Punt the damn thing!!" 

Yetta stuck her lower lip out, withdrawing a cookie and holding it out to the small pup, which couldn't have been any bigger than her foot. Jason groaned through their bond. "Shut up, before you say anything," Yetta warned. The pup got closer, sniffing the cookie warily. Its snarl died down slowly, until it deemed the cookie to be acceptable and swallowed it in one bite. Yetta let go, yanked her arm back, and fell backwards. 

The runt looked at her, yellow eyes sizing her up as its head tilted. It seemed to be asking for more, so Yetta brought out another cookie, and, setting it flat on her palm, held it out. The war beast pup chomped it down the small, needle-like teeth grazing her palm and leaving bloody trails. Jason sighed again, and sent a pulse of light to heal the scratches. "Jason," Yetta called out. "We're taking it home."

"No-."

. . .

The small runt, of course, did not approve of being picked up. Naturally. Who would? Certainly not Yetta, and certainly not the war beast pup. Yetta was very glad to have been wearing armor, because it did try scratching at her. Which, in her opinion, was a very fair reaction. "Nobody's going to like you sneaking in a cabal war beast, Yetta," Jason warned.

"Well, I mean…they don't have to know?"

"They don't have to- Yetta! You cannot bring a war beast into the tower!!"

"But-."

"No. Buts. Period." Jason thunked himself against her head. "They are bloodthirsty, and cause mayhem anywhere they go. You cannot-"

"But Jason, if he's a runt, then I can protect him!"

"How do you even know it's a boy?"

Yetta shrugged. "Wild guess?"

"Traveler give me patience."

"Well, at the very least can I take it home and feed him? He looks so hungry!" She held the runt out towards Jason, who flew away from the clawed paws. The runt groaned in mild distaste, then relaxed once more. 

"Fine. Just hide it from the vanguard, and Carman." Yetta hopped in joy, holding the pup close to her. "If we get caught, I was never here."

. . .

The pup was very wriggly, but for the time being Yetta had put him in her book bag, just to hide him from the rest of the guardians. Zavala's office was right by where she needed to go, she just had to hope the commander wasn't there. He already wasn't where he usually was, and that alone worried her. She snuck past the various guards and workers just fine, but as she approached Zavala's office, it became clear she couldn't just rush past.

Especially not with Carman in the room, which Yetta noticed as she peeked her head around the corner to see just how good, or how bad, her chances were. She took in a deep breath, moved the satchel to her other side, and walked past normally, or at least tried to. "Yetta!" she heard Saint-14 boom. "Come! Come! This meeting is worth sitting in on!" Pausing mid-step, Yetta grit her teeth, and turned her head, looking into the office. 

"You're fucked," Jason hissed through their bond, and transmatted away. Yetta smiled, held the bag shut so the pup couldn't poke his head through, and stiffened.

"It's been-," she faked a yawn in the middle of her sentence. "A long patrol today, I think I'll just head home." The pup, offended that the bag was being held shut, growled low. Yetta stiffened more, watching the Cabal empress, Caital, turn towards her with narrowed eyes. "And…get some food! Wow, my stomach is really loud!"

Carman rubbed her temples, as if she could get a migraine. "Yetta, that wasn't your stomach, was it?"

"S-sure it was!" As if on cue, or just bad timing, the pup pushed her hand out of the way, poking his red, scaly head through the top of the book bag, letting loose a short snarl and a yip. Carman turned sharply, taking a step and Yetta held the bag close to her chest, away from her mentor. "I can explain," she began.

The rest of the heads in the room turned towards her. Yetta was very much feeling cornered at this point, with the fucking queen, Crow, Saint, Osiris, Mithrax, the empress Caiatl herself, Ikora Rey, and Zavala all looking at her holding the small runt to her chest protectively. Her eyes darted back and forth in a panic, and her grip tightened. "He was hungry, I couldn't just leave him!"

Caiatl stood, towering over the much shorter hunter in the doorway. The awoken girl cowered, shaking slightly. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Carman resting a hand on her side arm, eyes trained directly on Caiatl. "And how, exactly, did you come across this runt?" the empress sternly rasped. 

Jason flew over her shoulder. "In my defense, I tried to make her leave it behind! It was stalking her like prey, but she wanted to keep it anyways!"

Yetta nodded, the small pup in her arms laying his scaly head down on her arm with a huffed growl. Caiatl held out a hand. "Let me see it." Yetta hesitated, then slowly relaxed her arms so she could set the pup in the empress's hands. With a short growl, the runt tried to bite Caiatl, chomping down repeatedly. The Cabal didn't react, turning the small war beast back and forth, inspecting him. "Hunter, come here," Caiatl then instructed. 

Yetta crept into the office, standing in front of Caiatl. The pup, upon seeing her, calmed down, letting her scratch his little head. The tension in the room was thick, Carman still had her hand on her side arm, and Yetta was fairly certain nobody else was even breathing, one big breath being held until the suspense was over with. The empress handed the pup back to Yetta. "Name him," she instructed motherly. "He's imprinted on you. The runt is yours now." And just like that, the air in the room released, one giant, deep breath being taken. Carman's hand fell away from the gun. 

"Can I go home now?" Yetta whimpered. 

"Go home, Yetta. Try not to bring home anymore dangerous pets, ok?" her mentor asked, politely.