Rays of sunlight filtered through the entrance of my tent, hitting me full in the face and causing a grunt of annoyance to escape from between my lips.

I stirred in my sleeping bag, turning over so that the light would stop bothering me and wanting to sleep longer; however, the sounds of the rest of the camp waking and moving were already reaching my ears.

Letting out another grunt and knowing that there was no point, I mustered all the will I had at this hour and with an enormous effort managed to sit up.

If there was one thing I had never liked, it was waking up early. Not even the fact that I had been reincarnated and the subsequent years had changed that side of me, no matter how much I tried to. There was just something so thrilling about prolonging my sleep that from time to time I let the urge get the best of me. Those were some really enjoyable nights.

Unfortunately, as part of the caravan to Elderpine Forest I did not have that luxury.

After my talk with the Custodian the days had passed quickly.

True to my word, I had made the most of the next morning to sleep in and relax from the busy and stressful week I had had, waking only after midday when my stomach had had enough of my furry lazy ass and demanded its just tribute.

After a bite to eat I had decided it would be best to find out more about the caravan, particularly considering I hadn't been told exactly when it was leaving.

That led me to an inn called 'The Watering Hole' on the outskirts of Arbordale where I met the owner of the caravan who confirmed both the time of departure and that yes, I didn't need to pay for the outward journey but that I did need to contribute in some way.

With a chagrined groan I abandoned my not so comfortable sleeping bag, stood up and stretched my arms upwards as far as I could as if I wanted to touch the sky to stretch my muscles that had become very stiff after spending the night on the hard ground.

My mouth opened wide producing a big yawn after which I rubbed my eyes with my fingers in a vain attempt to disperse my tiredness.

I knew I was going to fail and that for the rest of the morning I was going to be running on low energy. Since we had started the journey, I was finding it difficult to fall asleep. Normally I am a deep sleeper, however, these last few days I have found myself dozing off and reacting to the slightest of sounds or movement, which has caused me to wake up every morning even more tired than usual.

Hopefully, today we should be arriving at the settlement and once there I can see if I can get a more comfortable place to sleep. I thought as I carefully ran a stiff bristle brush through my fur to get rid of the knots and tangles I had, then used a carding brush to get out all the loose fur that hadn't come out yet and give it volume, and finally a soft bristle brush for my face and ears.

With that finished I cleaned and put the brushes away in my grooming case, each in their respective places, and then took out another brush and ran it through my hair; because yes, Bunyars have hair on their heads as well as fur on the rest of their bodies. In fact, with age there are times when the fur around the mouth can grow and become so thick that it would not be wrong to call it a beard. Amusingly, it can happen to both men and women of my race.

When I finally finished my morning ritual I felt a little better. For a Bunyar there are few things more important than basic hair care and after a lifetime as one I can wholeheartedly say that I agree. Few things are as annoying or stressful as having a dishevelled coat for a long time. Not only does it look awful, but it makes one feel awful.

"Thinking about it, I should see if I can get some oils or essences once I settle down." I said to myself as I finished getting dressed and settled my things before leaving my tent.

The rest of the caravan was already in full swing of activity.

Men and women were pacing back and forth making sure that the wagons loaded with goods from Arbordale and the animals pulling them were ready to continue their journey while off to one side a small group was about to begin preparations for the morning meal. It was the latter that I joined.

There was not much I could do to help, not with the animals and certainly not with the goods they were carrying. What I could do was what almost no one else wanted to do like peeling potatoes, stirring or cleaning pans and the like.

To tell the truth, for me it was a perfect arrangement. The job was simple and straightforward; it was also something I was used to from my time at Underhill so I didn't need much instruction and it allowed the cooks to focus on other preparations.

It was also the perfect opportunity to learn a little more about the world I lived in through their conversations and comments.

Yet I must say that the most interesting information came from the security personnel hired by the caravan.

Although I had tried unsuccessfully to join, it was the first time I had seen Mercenaries and they were not quite what I was expecting.

Those accompanying the caravan were a group of ten people of mixed races ranging from humans, what I now knew to be half-elves and a couple of half-orcs whose equipment was as varied as they were. Some carried equipment like chain mail and weapons that made me think of medieval men-at-arms while others carried lighter things like leathers and bows and there were even some with robes and staffs.

From what I had gathered, and then confirmed, the Mercenaries Guild apparently fulfilled the sort of role that an 'adventurers' guild' used to perform in some entertainment media during my past life where people of different abilities, mystical or otherwise, would join together to do jobs of various kinds, mainly geared around protection or combat.

When I had tried to join, I thought it was more of a group of mundane armed fighters or something along those lines. Not that I would have changed my decision at the time had I been given the opportunity, although I now understood a little more now why I was rejected as I only had my normal clothes with me and with my height I could admit that I didn't look very imposing.

It still made me angry, though.

Anyway, thanks to the conversations between the mercenaries — which I could hear despite the distance or their whispers as these ears of mine were not just for show — plus what I was learning at the side I was getting a clearer picture of the world around me.

Once the preparations were completed, the rest of the caravan was soon called for breakfast.

I took my bowl of gruel and, after a glance, approached one of the groups, sitting next to a slim, dapper-looking man with long black hair, a well-kept moustache and goatee, pointed ears and striking violet eyes in a face with pronounced laugh lines.

"Ah! Young Noah! Good morning! How did you sleep? Better, I hope?" Said the half-elf in an affable tone to which I honestly responded with a sigh.

"Good morning to you too, Amos. And no, I'm still having trouble sleeping and the sleeping bag is of little help." I grumbled quietly and with droopy ears before I shot him a hopeful look. "We should be arriving at the settlement today, right?"

Amos hummed in assent as he chewed his gruel and pointed his spoon at me before swallowing. "Mm, that's right. If you look north of the road you can see, in the foothills of the mountains, a glimpse of the Elderpine forest." He gestured with his spoon in that direction and I followed with my eyes.

Far off in the distance I could see the mountain range he was referring to running from one end of the horizon to the other as part of the natural barrier that almost completely encircled The Basin.

Squinting, I tried to focus my eyes, but I could barely make out anything to be sure.

"Hmm, if you say so. I can't make out anything from here." I commented as I took a bite of my food.

"Ah! My bad! Apologies. Maybe you need a spyglass from here." Amos apologised and I gave him a questioning look. "Elves, and for that matter half-elves like me, have better eyesight than other races. That's why we tend to employ precision objects like bows or rapiers." He explained to which I nodded, making a mental note of it along with the rest of the things I have been learning from him during the week.

Amos D'nzar was the owner of the caravan going to Elderpine Forest that I met at the inn in Arbordale. He also gave me more information regarding the settlement along with various suggestions of things I might need for the journey and afterwards — the tent was one example — along with establishments where I could get them at a better price without sacrificing quality.

For that alone the man would have earned my appreciation. Amos, however, decided to go a step further as he had apparently also realised that I lacked a lot of information considered common and unilaterally promised his help in answering any doubts or queries I had during the trip.

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Thanks to that I had been able to make sense of several things I had heard both on the trip and during my stay in the city such as the differences and names of the most common races, magical beasts most commonly sighted in these parts and he even showed me a basic map of the Basin and the most important city-states among others.

Thus, Amos had earned my undying appreciation and friendship.

Amos and I continued to chat a bit more as we ate, him telling me a few more anecdotes about his life as a merchant to which I reciprocated with a few more about life in Underhill. All in all, simple talk that went on until we emptied our bowls.

Amos glanced around and nodded. "Well, I think it's time to get moving." He said to me before standing up and taking a breath. "Alright people! Fifteen more minutes and we're off, so go finish eating and get your stuff together if you don't want to leave anything behind!" he shouted and the caravan responded with a shout of assent to which Amos nodded again and glanced down at me. "Alright Young Noah, you heard it. Better go get ready and I'll see you later."

"Aye-aye, Sir!" I replied, made a mock military salute, turned and put on a brisk step towards my tent while pretending I hadn't noticed the snort behind me.

Fifteen minutes was not much time to clean my bowl, dismantle and stow the tent, and arrange all my things.

It was fortunate then that during this week I had a lot of practice taking care of my luggage. If all failed in the end at least I could take comfort in that.

= = = = = Line Break = = = = =

Watching Young Noah walk away in the direction of where he had set up his tent while weaving through the people with sidesteps and hops, Amos felt his lips stretch into an amused smile.

Amos had lived for many years and as such had experienced many things, some of them more bizarre than others; yet he had never expected a Bunyar to want to talk to him, much less with the intention of joining his caravan.

To say he had been curious was an understatement of epic proportions.

As far as Amos knew the Bunyar were a humanoid race with the appearance of anthropomorphic rabbits that did not like to interact with species other than their own, preferring to remain in their underground town near Arbordale and only engage in limited trade when they wished to acquire something in particular or to fulfil the agreement they had with the city in order to supplement its crops.

Having tasted the quality of the flavour of the vegetables and mushrooms imported from Underhill, Amos felt it was a terrible shame that interactions were so limited.

Still, neither he nor anyone else would ever try to force the issue beyond what was already agreed.

Not after what those poor people had been through.

That said, Young Noah seemed to share little of the character associated with his race.

On the one hand, there was his sincere curiosity and genuine interest in learning things.

Amos had picked up on this during their first meeting when he had told him a little about the settlement and explained about the journey; and then reaffirmed it with every interaction they had along the way.

The truth was that seeing the Bunyar so interested yet, one might say, lost reminded him a little of the times when his children were small and he would spend his evenings telling them tales of his adventures throughout the Basin. It was partly for that reason that he offered to help if he had any questions of any kind and Amos was glad that he decided to take him up on his offer.

He could tell that the talks they had during the hours of walking and the campfire nights along the way were the best part of the journey back to the settlement. Amos was self-aware enough to realise how much he enjoyed not only reminiscing about some of his past moments, but most of all sharing them with the Young Bunyar who seemed truly captivated by his tales, practically hanging on his every word as if they were the best stories in the world.

The moments shared were only made better by the inclusion of the anecdotes Young Noah shared about life at Underhill. Amos not only loved learning about different places, people and cultures, but also hearing their life stories; it was one of the reasons he had become a trader, to keep travelling and interacting with all manner of people.

It was during these talks that Amos was able to get a better idea of the Bunyar's personality, which led him to the second difference he discovered.

Young Noah was more assertive than he was supposed to be.

Amos was no expert on the subject, but he prided himself on being a well-read person — his profession demanded nothing less than being well-informed to the point that after the first meeting they had he made sure to brush up on his knowledge of the race — and he could tell that in all accounts where they were mentioned it was a common trait that they are extremely shy of strangers to the point of avoidance.

In contrast, Young Noah — while not the picture of extroversion and seemingly enjoying his personal time — did not shy away from interactions with strangers.

And it was not just the fact of the conversations they had, but the times Amos saw him exchanging words with one or another of his staff members and, to a lesser extent, with the mercenaries accompanying them.

In other words, Young Noah acted more like the rest of the surface races.

Oh, he had his peculiar quirks and mannerisms, like that odd gesture he made when he raised his hand to his head and made a quick gesture in his direction, but who didn't? Other than that, it was like talking to any other person.

Kind of a weird statement to make, but Amos had been worried that he would have difficulty integrating into the community because of his background. That his character would have been too different to form a connection with the people at the settlement.

He was still worried, but after the realisation he had it was a more normal worry along the lines of 'I hope he makes several friends' rather than the 'I hope he can connect with someone' he had at the start.

Shaking his head to focus his thoughts, Amos went about getting his things ready in the few minutes he had left; a simple task that he finished with time to spare thanks to the years of experience he had doing the same thing to the point where it could almost be considered an art.

With the preparations completed and the final checks done, the caravan set off on what was to be the last stretch of the road.

For several hours they moved on across the hilly plain following the only dirt road that led towards the forest, stopping only for a few hours around midday for lunch so that the animals could rest before continuing their journey.

It was not until the sun began to set that they reached the edge of the forest that Amos had a chance to speak again with the Young Bunyar.

"Wow!" Amos heard him exclaim from close to his side and glancing down he snorted in amusement at the expression on his face.

Young Noah had his amber eyes wide open on his rabbit-like face with his long ears pointing forward and his snout-like mouth slightly agape to the point that it allowed Amos to catch a glimpse of the slightly longer incisors he had.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" Amos asked as he patted him on the shoulder without having to reach far, what with the Bunyar only coming up to his waist without counting the ears.

"I've never seen trees so numerous... or so tall." Young Noah said with a nod without taking his eyes off his surroundings.

Amos understood the sentiment well. It was the same one he'd had the first time he'd been in the presence of the towering trees that now surrounded them on either side as they wandered deeper into the forest along the sinuous paths naturally formed between them.

Populated with trees taller than the towers of a castle and so thick that it would take at least a score of men to encircle each trunk — not to mention the behemoths deeper inside — the forest of Elderpine was both an awe-inspiring and unsettling sight.

There was something about the forest that, even after all the time Amos had lived there, caused his senses to grow more alert.

Taking a sidelong glance, he noticed that as expected his staff, beyond shifting a bit in their places and glancing around a bit or two, were, like him, showing little sign of being affected thanks to how used to the feeling they already were; the mercenaries, on the other hand, had closed ranks around the caravan with scowls on their faces and hands firmly on their weapons to the point that their knuckles were turning white as their eyes darted cautiously back and forth in search of imminent danger.

Amos shook his head slightly — if he rehired this group, he hoped that by then they would have learned that what they were feeling was part of the forest itself and that the only thing maintaining that level of tension all the time was going to do was wear them down before they encountered real danger — and turned his gaze to Young Noah to see how he was doing and offer advice or words of encouragement, and had to blink and look again to see if his eyes weren't deceiving him.

Narrowing his eyes, Amos took a closer look at the Bunyar, noticing that he had decided to change into a more elegant outfit consisting of a forest green long sleeved shirt, a dark brown waistcoat and trousers of the same colour that came down to the shin of his digitigrade legs, leaving the rest of his paws bare as was to his liking.

To be honest they made an interesting contrast against his pure white fur, but other than that he couldn't notice the tense posture, swivelling or twitching ears or standing hairs he was expecting. In fact, the Bunyar didn't seem to be tense at all!

"So, what do you think of the forest?" Amos asked with genuine curiosity and Young Noah looked up in his direction with eyes sparkling with delight.

"It looks great!" He replied animatedly, his nose wiggling and he could see that behind him his tail was wagging— Amos had to stop himself from cooing at how cute it looked! "I've always wanted to explore a forest. I'm glad I finally have the chance." He said as he turned his gaze to his surroundings and a smile formed on his snout.

"That's good... And nothing else? You don't feel anything strange?" he asked and Young Noah looked at him again, now with a doubtful expression on his face as he cocked his head to one side.

"Hm... No? It feels normal to me. A bit humid, maybe? Why? Should I feel anything?" His brow furrowed slightly, to which Amos shook his head quickly.

"No, don't worry. It's just that for most people the forest is a bit ominous and makes them tense." Amos gave a slight nod toward the mercenaries which the Bunyar followed with his eyes.

After a few seconds of running his gaze over each member of their protection detail, the Bunyar eventually shrugged.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, I don't feel anything in particular." He commented in a still dubious tone and Amos decided it was best to change the subject before ruining the mood over something that was nothing more than a curious detail.

"Ha! I can see that." Amos grinned and patted him on the back. "And speaking of particularities, I see you've put on something a little fancier in addition to having spruced yourself up a bit. Are you going to try and charm my fellow townsfolk?" Amos mentioned, indicating not only his clothes, but also the medium-long mane of soft light grey hair that grew from between his ears in neat locks and continued to the back of his head.

Now that he thought about it, looking at Young Noah it was as if someone had taken a pile of fresh snow, shaped it into the form of an upright rabbit and added a mop of dirty snow.

The mental comparison made the smile on Amos's face grow more sincere and he had to hold back a chuckle as he watched the Bunyar nearly stumble as he spluttered for an answer.

"Y-You said I should make a good impression!" Young Noah accused in a mildly embarrassed tone, pointing one of his finger-like paws at it.

"Tut-tut, what I said was that I thought it would be a good idea to make a good first impression." Amos replied and gave him a second glance before nodding. "And now I think you have nothing to worry about."

The Bunyar's posture went from embarrassed to concerned in an instant. "You think?" He said quietly with a forward gaze and neutral expression, but Amos could see through the attempt to cover his nervousness in how he ran his fingers over his clothes trying to smooth them out and his ears pulled back.

Seriously, who would have thought a humanoid rabbit could be so expressive? Mm, I have to watch out or the other geezers are going to take advantage of him if they convince him to play cards with them. He thought to himself while outwardly resting a hand on the young man's shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"Sure, you'll find that the inhabitants of the Glade are much friendlier than the city folk—" "Isn't the settlement only a year old?" "—and they're not going to care who, much less what you are. The only thing that matters around these parts is putting in the effort and supporting the community.

The Bunyar just sighed and gave him a small smile with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "If you say so, grandpa, I'll follow your ancient wisdom and leave my fur in your capable hands."

Amos's brow twitched, his smile strained and his eyes narrowed. "You brat who are you calling old, just so you know I'm in the prime of my age!"

"Of course you are, old man. Whatever you say. We don't want you to get too excited, at your age you have to be careful with your blood pressure." Young Noah's smile grew as Amos gave an exaggerated 'gasp' and put a hand to his chest.

"The audacity!" Amos said, affecting an appalled tone as he shook his head with a 'sad' face. "This youth of nowadays. What, in my day we would say 'yes yes' to our elders...and then mock them behind their backs! How the values of yore have been lost! The sorrow!" he finished with mock wails that made the Bunyar snort and cover his snout with his paws to try and stifle his giggles.

The expression of sadness on Amos' face faded and turned to one of placid joy.

He remained quiet, walking beside the young Bunyar, waiting until his giggles subsided to a sigh.

"Feeling better?" Amos asked and Young Noah nodded.

"Yes... Thank you, Amos." Said the Bunyar with a more relaxed posture, calm eyes and ears back forward.

"You're welcome." Amos said in a calm tone, the contour of his lip curling upwards. "Now cheer up, we've arrived."

A moment of silence.

"What?!"