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Kaille's eyes opened heavily, vision too blurry to make out details as he moaned in discomfort, a small giggle coming from beside him as he lay on his back. A paw found its way gently to his head, petting between the disoriented Sen's furry ears as they twitched in response to the sounds of conversation and labor. As vision returned to him, Kaille looked around, scanning his whereabouts for clues as to whom had apparently saved him. The "roof" above him was in fact the top of a deep red cloth, held up at a central point by a series of connected poles that ran into the ground, typical of a large tent of sorts. Running his right hand down near his leg, he could feel softness and a wooded frame. Some kind of cot or light bed, apparently owned by one who could afford higher quality goods judging by the feel of the fur-lined leaf bed. Wearily turning his head, a lone female came into view, most of her figure hidden by a blend of azure stained robes that combined fluidity and luxury. As she sat beside him, petting him cozily, a warm smile graced her lips.

"You have finally awoken, Stranger. It is good that you have, we were beginning to worry that you had lost too much blood."

"Where... where am I? Who exactly are you?" Kaille asked, a minor throbbing still coursing through his wounded leg. His observer looked down at him from her seat and nodded, motioning him to calm himself with her paw.

"You are safe, now. You are in a medical tent of the Aecquiarren Trade Company. Our hunters found you lying unconscious next to the Praeta they killed. You are fortunate, you know? You led the creature right to them before you collapsed. From what they said, they found you just in time. As for myself, I am Vaerra Menasse, a pleasure to meet you." A cheerful and innocent look came from her, her smile, warm and welcoming. Kaille lay there astounded by her gaze, his own eyes meeting her own, their color a unique blend of cobalt blue and onyx. Instantly realizing he was a little embarrassed, Kaille averted his eyes from Vaerra's, his tail twitching slightly under the Tsovik fur blanket.

"I am known as Kaille of the Nesuut Clan. I thank you for saving my life, though I wish it had not been necessary..." Kaille rebutted, an underlying tone of sadness in his voice despite his efforts to hide it.

"Nesuut? You must be Ravven, then, yes? What brings a Ravven so young to our fair Retsana, might I ask?" Vaerra's ears perked up with curiosity, her voice now a bit more enthusiastic as she questioned her guest.

"My mother and I were-" Kaille, while open enough with his response at the start, was interrupted by another individual as they entered the tent, looking over the conscious Sen with a sharp eye, as if trying to determine if he would be any trouble. The new person stood a head above Vaerra, giving a knowing smile in her direction as she blushed through her tan fur and left hurridly, as if suddenly caught in the act of doing something off limits.

"I apologize for the interruption, Ahser. Vaerra is still curious, and is often swept away with whatever takes her fancy like leaves in the wind. She means well, though sometimes she can get ahead of herself, hehe" The newcomer chuckled to himself, his voice deep and carrying a certain feeling to it, like it came from one who had labored long and hard, but had retained his humor throughout. The man's body matched the voice in every way. He was built sturdily, a great tree trunk of a man with the muscles to match. He wore a simple tunic white, plain and unadorned except for his clan's insignia upon his right shoulder. Kaille bowed his head as he could, shifting to his side to properly address the large man who now sat before him. Most curious about him was the obvious fact that he was Lunnite, given away by his burnt umber colored fur, and that he was also a Niorra, a cross bred individual with traits of both Qes and Sen, in his case possessing the tail of a Sen but ears and build of a Qes.

"It was no trouble, really. She was actually quite charming, though I agree she was a curious sort right to begin with, hehehe." Kaille shifted and forced himself to sit up, letting his legs droop down off the side of the bed, revealing that his attire had been changed and his wounds properly treated and mended, as made evident by the bandages still on his bad leg and chest. From the look and feel of them, he'd been out of it for several days at least. A thought suddenly shot through the Sen's mind... Who had changed him out of his old clothes? His host laughed reassuringly and shook his head.

"No, no, don't you worry, son. Vaerra wasn't the one to change your outfit. If we'd let her, Ancestors only know what she might've tried to do to you, isn't that right, Vaerra?"

Vaerra's eyes widened and she could be heard outside the tent, taking off from behind the doorway as a child does when they know they've been caught. The two inside the tent shared a hearty laugh with each other as they thought of her, Kaille's mood seeming to lighten.

"Well, seems that you can laugh and speak well enough. Good, means that you should be on the mend by now. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Rhyanstro Alcranolvo Geirran, and I lead this arm of the Company." Kaille's mind swam with confusion as he tried to remember the man's obviously foreign and odd name.

"A middle name... then your clan must've joined with another of some import for you to have been named after them."

"Ahh yes, my clan hails from the Province of Kashirn, far west of here and north of the Magisterial Capital. As you guessed, I was named after the clan that helped found the Company roughly ninety years ago. But please, just call me Geirran. I find it's much easier than remembering the whole thing. And by the looks of you, my young adrift friend, you are Ravven. We don't see too many people from your homeland out this way, what brings you all the way out here?"

"As I was about to tell Vaerra, my mother and I were merchants from a small port in southern Ravviin. When Corsair raids became too close and frequent for our tastes, we decided to come east to Retsana. My mother had said that she'd had contacts out here that'd help us get started again, though so far all I've seen are dense forests and big creatures. I can hardly believe that Marscella had a plan for us in the middle of nowhere..."

"Marscella? As in, Marscella Nesuut? Hahaha, Pup, you must truly have been born under a lucky star. I knew your Ma from back in the day. She and I pulled all sorts of crazy ventures when we used to run together, guess she never changed, eh? Tell me, how's she been lately?"

"Well, for starters, she's been a little less dead before...!" "Dead? Re' Va... I- I'm sorry, Pup... she was a good woman. Had a good head on her shoulders for business, though she never could avoid trouble well. How'd she go out?"

"Corsair attack. We were nearing the port when they came out of nowhere and blew our ship straight to the Hollows and back. Last I saw of her she was clinging the mast of out burning ship for dear life before I got dumped overboard and wound up sea-marrow."

"I wish she could be here with us, Pup. I was supposed to meet her at port in a few days, but I guess she won't be joining us after all. In which case, my offer of help extends to you now."

"But, Geirran, I don't know much about-"

"Don't lie to me, Pup. I know all about your "merchant life" with Marscella. You may not have done anything that crossed the line, but you were Barrets, through and through. I know because I taught your Ma way back in our golden days. Now, so long as you stick to what your dear Ma taught you, and promise to keep your business to yourself around the folks in these parts, I promise not to tip off the guy who brought you here in the first place. Deal?" Kaille looked the bold Niorra in the eye, sensing the level of seriousness behind the levity in his voice. Grudgingly, Kaille nodded and agreed, being helped to his feet and stabilized as Geirran lent him a shoulder to lean on, Kaille's leg still weak from the injury it had suffered.

The two limped out of the tent, the shade from the tent being nearly matched by the shade that filled the outside. Kaille looked around, seeing that the tent he was in was actually one of many, some larger, some smaller, and most with their own embroidered marking on the side, representing the Trading Company that they all belonged to. Gaining his footing enough to walk on his own, Kaille bowed his head to his host and was left to his own devices as Geirran walked away to speak with others in the group. There was a surprising number of people for being surrounded by wilderness, even as wide as the space between the trees was. Slowly moving about, Kaille got a good look at his saviors. Many of them were craftsman, traders and vendors all sharing their inventory stored in the wagons they kept and talking amongst themselves, rather happily in fact. Many more were performers: Dancers, musicians, bards and poets, even a small group of young men and women sparring off against each other in mock combat, their peers watching and jumping in when the moment struck. Among the musicians, Vaerra could be seen, holding a flute to her lips and practicing a certain tune, which she proceeded to miss several notes on when she looked up to see Kaille moving about. To Kaille's mind, this bunch was an odd one. A veritable community, all moving and travelling from place to place, living where they pleased, no single place of origin to bond them together. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaille spotted several figures, all standing apart and with their backs to the others, each one stoic in pose and holding the handle of a sheathed blade. His eyes locked on to a single one, a fit looking Qes adorned in chainmail armor with simple greaves and arm guards like the others, hurrying about from one person to the next, speaking briefly before moving on. Watching the grey faced Qes, Kaille did not see Vaerra sneak up behind him and pounce on his back with her typical enthusiasm. Nearly falling forward onto his face, Kaille gasped in shock and stumbled about before catching himself and looking back to see Vaerra laughing hysterically to herself.

"Ahsa, why'd you go and do that? Nearly gave me a heart attack sneaking up on me like that."

"Oh don't be such a stick in the mud, handsome. Besides, I caught you eying me up a few minutes ago, hehe. What do you think of our little family?"

"I've heard about the Trading Company, but I admit I never got a chance to meet anyone from one. Seems like a decent enough group, though I don't understand how so many from so many different places could live together so easily."

"Oh, it's not like we're all that different really. Sure we may sound a bit different and come from different homes, but end of the day, we all bleed the same. Take old Geirran back there. He joined up years back and ran a pretty lucrative smuggling business from what I've heard. Now he runs this arm of the Company and is completely legit. Even manages to get along with the fellow who picked you up and carried you back here."

"Oh? Why do you say that? Who brought me here, Vaerra?"

"Hmm... I suppose I could tell you, but that'd be letting you off easy. Tell you what, you give me a kiss, and I'll tell you. Sound good to you?" This girl, while adult, apparently never grew out of her childhood mischief. Kaille rolled his eyes as Vaerra giggled, blushing through her fur excitedly. But then Kaille realized something about her "deal". With a sly smile, Kaille nodded and agreed, asking the young Sen to close her eyes. When she did, she puckered her lips expectantly, but instead opened her eyes to see Kaille planting a chaste kiss on her paw. She withdrew her hand in shock, looking at Kaille, who was now smiling confidently, with a face that spelled out how she'd been caught in her own trap.

"Come on, now, Vaerra. A deal's a deal. A kiss for an answer."

"N-No! You cheated, you- you! Unfair!"

"No, perfectly fair. You said that you'd tell me who brought me here in exchange for a kiss. You failed to say that I had to kiss your lips, only that I had to kiss you. I gave you a kiss, so our deal is valid. I held up my end, now you must deliver on yours."

"Oh fine! But next time I'm gonna steal a proper kiss from you, got me?! The one who saved your plates is Pharos Tahnis. He's the one you were looking at over there, he helps guard the rest of us and the camp from bandits and beasts.... Happy? I answered your question. Stupid man being so clever and fooling a girl out of a kiss..." Kaille nodded and held back a wide smirk as best he could as he turned and walked away from Vaerra, the female Sen still pouting and stomping off towards her friends, no doubt to tell them about how she got tricked by the newcomer. Kaille doubted she'd be too convincing in her frustration, as he tail was twitching like mad as Kaille left her.

"Pharos Tahnis, huh...? Guess I should go thank the man for saving my sorry neck, even if I wasn't conscious for the part where my clothes were changed for me..."