The council meeting ended not long after, much to Rayne’s satisfaction. Sitting in a room full of pompous council members was never fun. Unfortunately she had work to do after the meeting, it wouls take hours to fully cleanse the body, prepare the offering, and take it into the woods. By the time that exhausting work was done the sun had set, leaving Rayne to figure out where she was going to sleep for the night. “Sleep with me in my room, I’ll sleep on the floor.” Daku said when she voices this concern, mostly to herself out of exacerbation. “I… we just met today… Wouldn’t it be awkward sleeping in your room?” Rayne said, looking away to hide a mild blush and stroking the cat laying on her shoulders as they walked. “So… you would rather sleep outside in the street? Possibly in the rain?” He said teasingly, smiling, while looking upward at the overcast sky.
“Hey it’s not like I didn’t do that the last few days walking here. That said, it wasn’t raining then.” Rayne said evasively, avoiding answering the offer. “I’m not saying you couldn’t… but if you don’t have to…” Rayne sighed, thinking. She looks over and, as the turn to the next street, sees the bear, or what is left of it. People would be harvesting from it well into the night. The mayor had set multiple people the job of cutting, cleaning, and harvesting the meat. The sight wasn’t pretty. The bear was too heavy to move, so in the middle of a ruined street a skinned bear with major muscles missing and ample puddles of blood. It was perhaps the single most overt and conspicuous thing she had ever seen.
In the end she did decide to accept his offer, and after a quick meal, she hesitantly followed him to his room in the in, making sure her cat had done it’s business outside first. “I’ll make a pallete on the ground, you can take the bed.” Daku said as he shut the door. With a thoughtful expression he looked at her for a moment, and a slightly pained expression came over him. He seemed to grow slightly taller, and red fur sprouted from his body. His ears moved to the top of his head, and he gained a tail. “I hate disguising myself as a human. I much prefer to be like this, or even as a full fox. Being all furless and having those weird misshapen ears sucks. Anyway, give me a second and I’ll change into more comfortable clothes.” With that, he walked over to a dresser,pulled out something, and changed behind a privacy screen. “Uh… you don’t need to do that, I’ll just shapeshift and sleep in cat form. Sleeping on the floor isn’t in issue, in that form especially, but if I could borrow your second pillow, and set it on the floor, that’d make a fine bed.” Rayne sighed slightly to herself, before gained a look of great concentration, and seemed to begin to shrink, after several seconds, she seemed to have dissolved,leaving a pile of clothing lying on the floor. After a few moments, a somewhat large cat managed to escape the clothing, giving the pile a frustrated look, and jump onto the bed.
The cat was large, but not bulky, with long legs and a sizable tail. It’s fur was a golden orange with black markings. “Mrròôw? Ñooôw. (Okay, I’m done.)” Rayne, having shapeshifted, to assume cat form fully, gave a strange meowing sound, speaking in felis, the kaetsian language. Rayne tilted her head slightly, and flicked her ears, before changing languages. She had a much harder time speaking common in this tongue, but she could speak felis and caniven just as well as ever. She had been raised in a mixed settlement of quitsun and kaetsu, and, as was common for kaetsu and quitsun who were raised thusly, could speak the quitsunian language. “ŵróoth. Grrówh. (Is this better?)” A sigh came from behind the screen, and Daku spoke. “Okay, and yes I can speak felis… Please don’t speak caniven though, your accent is just bad either you learned from a hillbilly or you are just really rusty, but don’t butcher my language please.’ Though the comment was somewhat insulting, there was a teasing, amused tone to his voice that contradicted and undercut the harshness.
The next day things moved on somewhat. Rayne and Daku spent the day helping finish dealing With the bear carcass. About noon a caravan of sorts pulled off the king’s road and into Drace. Soon it was revealed that they were a traveling troupe. The Mayor checked their writ of patronage, permission to travel and perform in these lands. He seemed to pale somewhat, color draining slightly from his face. “We’re Duke Valenwine’s troupe. Might put him in a bit of an awkward situation, but we’ve got permission from a local noble as well. Valenwine being a duke in Raithal.” A boy who looked to be about 15 said softly to Rayne, who was clearly curious looking.
Rayne and Daku, having openly used spirit fire the previous day, weren’t bothering to conceal their species anyway, and were both in their natural forms. Given she was blatantly a kaetsu, she was slightly surprised to be so openly talked to, given Elista had a racist reputation. But what he had said explained it. Raithal had a very different attitude. King Edward “the Dark” had a very different attitude towards other races than his siblings, the rulers of Elista and Antura.
In the end the troupe didn’t perform, given the state of the town. A man who looked to be in his 30s approached his son, Rayne, and Daku. “Making friends? Do you two live here or are you just passing through?” Daku and Rayne looked at one another for a moment. “Just passing through, on my way to Raithal for a bit, not sure whereabouts. I don’t like staying in one place too long, especially not here.” Daku didn’t specify where ‘here’ was, but everyone got the gist. “The same. I make a living as a traveling exorcist of sorts, and artificer where possible. That said the first mostly because it plays to my skills, not so much personal enjoyment. Hopefully I’ll find more… satisfying? work.” She didn’t hate dealing with necromantic matters, but it wasn’t something she was able to find steady work on.
The man looked Rayne over interested for a moment, not confused or startled. Clearly he had some worldly knowledge, at least enough to not be superstitious about magic. He turned to Daku, and spoke. “So, what do you do?” “I hunt, get work as a caravan guard sometimes, etc.” “Ahh, I’m not really surprised.” The man gave a world weary sigh. “It seems like not too far from half of Raithal is made up of more varied people than ever. But I can’t say I blame them, considering half of my extended family here aren’t strictly human. I’d flee Elista and Antura too.” The man said, eyeing over the caravan as people got out of wagons. “Well I’m not fleeing so much as…” But he was gently cut off. “I didn’t mean to say or imply as much. Lord knows you couldn’t get me to settle down in one place. So why are you hitting the road then?” He said, looking both of the over curiously, before returning to gaze at the troupe. Daku shrugged seemingly to himself before speaking. “I just felt like it mostly. What’s the fun spending your whole life living in some town or city, always wondering what the ocean looked like, but never seeing it?” “And you?” Rayne took a moment before speaking, clearing her head. “I had too much curiosity, in part, but my teacher said I was getting to the point where I needed some real world experience, or my learning would slow. She said a person doesn’t know themselves if they’ve never walked a long stretch of road, preferably at least 100 miles. She also said a person doesn’t grow well without any edges, places where you can look off and see the danger. She said such edges, or cliffs if you prefer, were too hard to find without traveling. Her advice seemed good enough, so after some preparing, I hit the road. It wasn’t hard to convince me, as I said, I’m a curious person.” The man gave a loud chuckle, apparently impressed with those pearls of wisdom.
“Hey dad, there’s a dead dire bear over there! Well… part of one…” The man sighed slightly, and threw an arm around his son’s shoulders. “Sure is, and the mayor said these two killed it.” Rayne blushed slightly and looked away, and Daku looked slightly irritated. “Wow… cool! How’d you…” “He’d have found out sooner or later, it’s amazing what kids can worm out of people.” Daku sighed and nodded. “The name’s Terin by the way. We’ll head out and do our stuff. Even if we aren’t going to perform here, we have a tinker with goods to sell, and we could stand to stock up on some things. But I must say I do want to talk to you two again later, this evening.”
The troupe seemed to slowly filter into the town as they went about their business. A peddler went about selling and buying things, and troupe members could be seen going about town. Rayne and Daku went about their business as well. Rayne being somewhat absent minded, thinking. As the afternoon wore on, she enjoyed an almost-date of sorts with Daku, before both headed to the apothecary, to see how things were progressing. “Ahh, I thought I’d see you two. People too riled up? I suppose they can’t be blamed, but this whole thing had done nothing but make them more superstitious. I’ve seen all the stares and half hidden looks you two are getting, and got the feeling you might be counting the days till things were ready.” The old woman said playfully, shifting bottles of who knows what, and dried herbs around. “So… I took the liberty of speeding things up. You burn the right wood and herbs, and take care, and you can get the tanning and curing process going much faster than normal. Your things will be ready by tomorrow.” Rayne pales slightly. “You don’t have to, I didn't intend to bug you, I. We. Neither of us were expecting…” Rayne said, stammering slightly as she spoke urgently, worried she felt rushed.
“Relax, relax, it was my choice. I asked myself ‘would I want to stick around here a week or two while things set and tanned and such?’ And came up with… No… Not with all that attention. I’ve seen you two trying to go about your business, and all the extra attention isn’t helping. So I put a rush order on your stuff. Though I can’t take all the credit.” She said, half grudgingly. “That guy from the troupe heard about it and helped out a bit.” As if on cue, Terin walked in, wearing the same burgundy red and grey-green outfit he had been earlier. “Speak of the devil huh! Actors intuition.” Terin said playfully, entering the apothecary with a spring in his step.
Daku looked at him, half curiously and half warily. “Why were you involved? I mean, what is your motivation for helping get that done?” Rayne sighed, thinking that wasn’t necessary. “Well… I’ve taken a bit of a liking to the two of you… And I thought I’d propose something. But, when I found out about your order, I knew if it wasn’t done, I’d be out of luck.” Daku raised his eyebrows slightly and looked him over. “And what would that be?” Daku asked, getting straight to the point, despite his curiosity. “Why don’t you come with us? I figure we could take this on a test drive of sorts. Come with us to our next destination, a town not too far, in Raithal. I think you two would make great members of the extended family. I can’t say entirely why, gut feeling. It’s not like you couldn’t contribute. If one or both of you aren’t feeling it when we get there, we go our separate ways. Your both headed into Raithal anyway, right? You’ve nothing to lose…” Daku looked at him, a mix of curiosity, some minor confusion, and something else playing on his face. “Just take some time and consider it. We’ll be leaving around noonish tomorrow, so you have until then I suppose.” Terin said, looking at the both of them not unkindly. “Anyway I have to go finish up other things, see you then, it, if I don’t, I suppose that's an answer in an of itself.” Daku and Rayne stood briefly, absorbing that information. “Anyway, drop by tomorrow morning and everything will be ready.” The last said, interrupting slightly.
Terin left with a merry wave, off to do his thing, leaving Rayne and Daku wondering what exactly they should do. The sun was starting to set and Daku proposed they meet up back where he was staying later, and that he had some business to attend to. That said, Rayne had the impression he might just want some alone time to think. Rayne agreed, and Daku left to do whatever it was he wanted to do, leaving Rayne alone standing in the apothecary. ‘'Well, I guess I may as well get some supplies… Not like there is much to do anyway.’ she thought to herself before approaching the counter.
Bottles of various sizes sat in shelf after shelf. And the odd smell of dozens of dried herbs was all the more present without the talking to distract her. “Um… do you have Laurial salt?” The woman eyed her curiously, before. to with various bottles, and asking “How much do you need?” Rayne considered thoughtfully. “Enough for a couple quarts of water I suppose. I’m low on funds at the moment.” Rayne said as she pulled her purse up and looked around inside it’s mostly empty depths. “You could have asked for such at the meeting you know, some money. Daku took some, after some talking. He went more balanced than you, he took a few bones, etc. But mostly wanted something to travel on.” Rayne sighed to herself. It kinda was her fault. “Yeah… But… as I said, I may make a living largely dealing with spirits, undead, etc. But artificing is more my passion. I saw the chance i would never normally have. I can’t afford to work with dire animal materials… I saw the bear and thought to myself ‘imagine what I could make with that!’” Rayne said, sighing slightly, her ears flicking back anxiously. “And you regret that?” The woman asked, eying Rayne curiously, almost sternly. “No...not really. I’d rather have what I asked for than money. But my lack of the later does complicate things.” “Whatever you make will sell well, as you know, so your money issues shouldn’t last.” The lady said, as soon as Rayne stopped speaking. Rayne sighed. “I don’t… really… Plan to sell them.” Rayne said softly, almost to herself. “That’s actually nice to hear. Hmm… let’s see though… the value of a dire bear claw, intact, is roughly 5 gold pennies right? Given it’s great rarity, and severe danger in obtaining. So.. Typical hunting rules give you and Daku mixed credit for the kill, and normally mixed claim over the body. Most was given away, by far the most. I’ll get enough from selling parts to merchants to rebuild many homes and shops. Truthfully you both could have demanded far more than you asked for, without being considered rude. So let’s say one of these claws I have here is bought from you. So let’s say you now have 5 gold pennies in store credit, within reason… Laurial salt is about a silver penny per 2 grams. You want enough to purify 2 quarts of water. You could do… about 2 cups per gram, so that's 4 silver pennies.” She didn’t stop to offer Rayne any input in what she was saying, and seemed to speak without providing any stop long enough to politely speak without interrupting her. Rayne suspected She did this on purpose because her feelings on this “bargain” were quite mixed. The lady seemed to be purposefully refusing to give her the chance to decline.
After another minute, Rayne sighed and gave in reluctantly. She was very good at purposefully avoiding allowing her to raise any objection. “You know, most people would happily pounce on this.” The woman said, mostly to herself, with a quick and sly grin at Rayne, which was gone in a split second.
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“What else do you need then?” Mrs Jennings asked, looking Rayne over. Rayne didn't say anything for a while, before once again, the old woman won the battle of wills. It was more awkward to refuse than to go along, so with a small sigh, Rayne answered her. “A couple sage smudge sticks, I’m down to one left, and given my work…. A mortar and Pestle, my last one broke…” Before she finished, sage was already stacked next to the lauriel salt. “We have many types. What material are you looking for?” Rayne thought to herself on what would work best.
As evening wears on, Rayne meets up with Daku and the two have a long, and after a long talk, considering it hadn’t even been said that they had been planning to travel together, having only met less than half a week ago. Rayne stayed over again, if slightly awkwardly.
The next morning, not long after sunrise despite Their late night, they got together with Terin for another talk. He did seem pleased for the most part. “Well, to tell you the truth, I suspected of I convinced just one of you, both of you would decide to come. You don’t seem to have known one another for long, but my gut says if one of you were to come, the other would find an excuse to as well.” Rayne wasn’t sure about that, but mostly on Daku’s part. There was something that rang true about what he said, even if she wasn’t aware of it.
“How do you expect this to work out? That's two more people, Their things, granted that wouldn’t have been much, before the last few days.” Daku said, bringing up the obvious question. “We have 14 family members, not counting you two, as you have yet to decide. Shani, Trevor, and Serry sleep in one of the 6 wagons.” Terin said, motioning to a couple and what appeared to be their 7-8 year old daughter. “Deern and Markus are a couple, so they are together. In the end, everyone shares. You two would have a wagon to store your things in. And both of you are shape shifters, so sleeping space isn’t really an issue.” As he spoke,Terin pointed to what seemed to be a gay couple packing things into one of the wagons. “Yeah but, what do you get out of this, I still don’t understand that.” Daku asked suspiciously, his eyes scanning the wagons.
Terin sighed slightly, and squared his shoulders. “Simple, I guess. Your a solid hunter, as said by others, your actions, and yourself. Bandits would be less a threat, and that's more meat on the table. Rayne is an Artificer right? Among other things. She could make things like poison free cosmetics. It’s hard to live a long life when putting on plays means makeup full of poison. And before asking this isn’t something I am doing without input. We’ve talked it over, you’ve met them all, even if briefly.” Rayne had… she even liked most of them, and none she especially disliked. She’d ran into a couple here and there, seemingly by coincidence. It’s a small town, after all, especially with a large chunk of it out of commission.
In the end they did agree, Daku more reluctantly. It took the remaining hours to get ready. Firstly to pick up everything from the apothecary, which had been ready, and the things she had “bought” that the lady had prepared overnight. She swapped out the mortar and pestle she had been about to get for a better model, now that she wasn’t going to have to carry it, it wouldn’t need to be super light.
In early afternoon they were off, Rayne and Daku sitting next to a woman who simply called herself Shade. She said her birth name sucked, and she figured she had more right to name herself than anyone else did, which seemed understandable. It was very awkward for Rayne, given that she barely knew these people. She has traveled as such before, hitching a ride from some caravan in exchange for money or some service, but this felt different. Rayne looked up, as someone in the wagon ahead started strumming a lute, and began singing with a voice that some women would fawn over. It was a slow tune, perfect for travel, but somehow nostalgic despite the fact that she’d never heard it. The song made one think of fun, mellow time with friends, a long stretch of road, and memories.
She was brought out of these thoughts by Shade. “What is a ‘'Mark of Guild”? No…. That's not it… Terin said he asked to see yours and you showed him one. What is it?” Rayne took a moment, shaking her head to clear it. “Every magic user, witch, mage, whatever you prefer to call us, has to have one before selling our skills. It provides information about us, and shows that we have went through the official channels.” Rayne said, pulling out a necklace from under her shirt. On the chain was metal, engraved with writing one had to look closer at, and handed it to her. But why? If I could use magic the last thing I would want to do is deal with that crap.” She said as she reached out to take it. “It’s… not that simple… any clever person can fool another into thinking they can use magic. Fakes are a huge problem. But still worse are those who can use magic, and misrepresent themselves. You know, the beginner who think’s she’s a big shot and sells herself as an expert whatever, let's say, potioneer, and ends up poisoning people. People die every year from deals like that. So a council of mages decided to create some system to help prevent that. The first place I went when my teacher had me start traveling was to get these.” Shade looked at them, and began to shiver slightly. “What’s ‘class’ mean? And why is it so cold? They are heavier than they look too.” Rayne smiled before responding. “yeah, they seem to grow heavier when anyone but me wears or touches them, and begin leaching your body heat. It helps prove Their authenticity.” Rayne said, reaching out as if to take then. When Shade handed them over she slid them over her neck and back under her shirt. “Class refers to my level of skill. I’m in class A-J. It’s simple enough. The lowest class is N, which stands for ‘novice’, after that is A for ‘apprentice’, then J for ‘journeyman’, E for ‘expert’, and M for ‘master’. In other words, I’ve had professional training. After a degree of training, the magic user is usually sent out into the world for more hands on experience. After a year or three, or 10, however long it takes, they are promoted to Class J. So A-J means I am an apprentice who has moved on to gain some real world experience. That’s on there so I can’t misrepresent myself to other people. Well… To people who know enough to ask to see these. Many People are so superstitious they never actually bother to learn about magic, and don’t know they have such a system to take advantage of. Terin asking to see these means he’s got enough experience to know what he’s doing.” Rayne said, speaking slightly slowly. Shade kept her eyes mostly ahead of her, but nodded along. Daku seemed interested as well. Perhaps he hadn’t known either, if so that wouldn’t be his fault. Or just as likely he’s never heard someone actually explain it. “What were the markings on the back?” Shade asked, turning to look at her. “When you register as a magic user you take many tests, to verify your skills, and determine your abilities. Those tell you how I tested regarding the schools of magic.” Rayne took them out and held them close so she could examine. “This shows that I’m most experienced in necromancy, enchantment, and mildly skilled in a few other things, such as potion making, warding, restoration, and alchemy. Again, this is so I can’t sell myself as someone far better than I am. As I previously earned money dealing with spirits, ghosts, undead, etc. Necromancy is a given. It also shows that I’m not the kind of person who could throw fireballs or something. Destruction just isn’t among my talents… I’m quite bad at it actually… I’d rather not be known as the mage who tried to throw a fireball and set themselves on fire instead.” Rayne said, blushing slightly and turning a bit away. Daku had turned away slightly, watching the road and landscape go by as the horses pulled them along. “You’d want to call me for that.” Daku said nonchalantly, sounding almost bored. His right hand gave off small sparks, jumping from finger to finger, then forming a small sphere. Whether he had intended that or not, the mix of casual, almost bored voice mixed with the display. “Wait.. You too? Why didn’t you say you could use magic?” Daku brought his hand towards his face quietly. “Rayne was explaining stuff, I didn’t feel like I had much to add. Besides I’m really not interested in going around making an ass of myself by shooting things with fire and wind and who knows what else.” Daku didn’t say this harshly, despite what the words might imply, if anything his tone was thoughtful. “Yeah… Wow half forgot you could use magic.” Rayne admitted reluctantly. That fact had been overshadowed after the bear fight. It had been mentioned during their quiet conversation when they first met.
The conversation lulled for a bit, before Shade finally asked what she’d probably been thinking for a while. “Can everyone learn to use magic?” Rayne shot Daku a look, sighed softly, and took a minute before replying. “Yes… and No… everyone has magical energy, mana in them… but the vast majority never find the ability to control it. We call it the awakening, mostly because words can’t quite describe it. A sort of “click” happens in your head, and suddenly you can physically feel the magical energy. Once you can feel it, sense it, you can learn to control it. The problem is… as I said, the vast majority of people never awaken that ability. Only a couple out of every hundred, at most. Excepting Telvani. It’s not quite as rare among our kinds. But when you live for potentially hundreds of years, that's more time where it could happen. And it happens more in Telvani than any other race proportionately.” Shade looked slightly disappointed, but not entirely surprised. “There isn’t a way to…” She said, before the comment seeming to just wither away before completion. “No… not normally.” Rayne looked at him, but Rayne didn't contradict him. He had a valid reason for the lie. Most ways to forcibly awaken someone ended very badly. People had died trying it. The other alternatives were… More dangerous. Too dangerous for the most part. Shade however, didn’t seem to be taking it that well. The conversation stalled shortly thereafter. It was a blow, she was sure. But better take the bandage off now.
Little more than an hour later, they found a clearing in the woods off the the side of the road, and figured they might not get lucky enough to find another in the hour left before they usually called it a day. Rayne copied one of the troopers, and helped get the horses fed and brushed, admittedly without being asked to. “Why’d you do that? And how’s you know to do it that way?” Terin asked, walking over to her. Rayne looked away slightly. “It needed done right? I just copied Deern…” Terin took a moment to think. “Yeah, but you weren’t asked to.” He said, with a slight grin. “I could do it… it needed done right? So… Did you expect me to not help?” Rayne asked confusedly. “Not as such… I guess I’m just used to people who come along being dead weight. You have to hold their hand just to get them to clean up after themselves.” Terin walked away not long after, seeming contented. Daku emerged from the woods with 3 skinned rabbits, and a pouch full of wild herbs. Based on the sounds, she guessed he’d left a portion as thanks in the woods. She could hear dogs of some kind tearing into it.
The whole troupe sat together for a while, entertaining itself with song, dance and stories. Terry, Shank, and Serry, their young daughter headed for “their” wagon, to eat along in relatively more privacy, soon a cook fire could be seen behind said wagon. Shade, always curious, asked “so I notice the rabbits were incomplete, I noticed when they took their portion away that the rabbits were missing forelegs. Why?” Before Daku could answer, Terin answered instead. “It’s just their way, a portion of the meat is left behind as a thanks of sort, to nature itself.” Terin said idly, and begin cooking a rabbit leg for himself. Someone added potatoes to a pot as Shade spoke again. “Isn’t that wasteful though? How does wasting meat show respect to nature? That seems contradictory.” “It’s not wasted. Nothing is ever wasted in nature, the offering I made was eaten by some canines of some kind, probably foxes or coyotes. Later, if not already eaten, some other animal will break the bones and eat the marrow. Everything gets used up somehow.” Daku said, shooting a slightly mischievous look at Terin as he answered before Terin could.
As the evening wore on more and more people retired to what privacy they could get. Serry, the young girl could be seen seemingly hunting for firewood or wild herbs alone. Before Rayne could get half a sentence out, Shade answered her mostly unspoken question. “Privacy is hard to get living in a troupe. It’s almost a custom. In the afternoon when we stop, kids are sent to gather firewood, or something else. It gives the kid, and the parents privacy. So if Serry comes back an hour later with only a single armload of sticks, no one complains, and if her parents haven’t yet started dinner, well, that's fair too right?” Rayne pauses, then started to speak. “Isn’t that…”
Shade interrupted her before she could finish. “Dangerous? Village people often coddle their kids. We find kids do better with some privacy. Being alone teaches them valuable survival skills, situational awareness, etc. They don’t go far, never further than yelling distance from the camp.” Rayne was nodding along after the first word. This wasn’t far from how she was raised. She had awakened when she fell from a giant red ash tree. She should have died, but when her falling body went into crisis mode, she supposed she ended up tapping subconsciously into her mana. She had landed with no major injuries, apparently her magic had created a powerful updraft to slow her before she hit the ground. But she had slept for days afterward.
After another hour only Shade was left sitting with her and Daku. “Well I guess we should work out sleeping arrangements. I usually sleep in this wagon. I have a bed of sorts in there. But I can sleep under the wagon or something if you guys would prefer.” She said awkwardly. Daku was thinking. Rayne shook her head, indicating that that wasn’t necessary. “I’ll probably just shapeshift and sleep as a cat. It’s what I typically do when traveling alone anyway. If you’d prefer I could probably find a relatively protected tree branch and sleep up there with no problem.” It did however look more cloudy than she'd prefer. But she’s slept in the rain before she supposed.
“On an unrelated question. Who owns these anyway?” Daku asked, apparently out of sheer curiosity. “Other than that one, which Markus technically owns, being less a performer and more a tinker and peddler than ended up permanently joining our family here, the troupe as a whole does. The one I sleep in is a sort of rent-to-own thing, bought by Duke Valenwine, our patron. It’ll be fully ours in another half year.” Daku looked down, eating the last scraps of food on his plate, then asked the obvious question. “So why did Markus get one? Just a storage need?”
Shade looked at him, then back toward the wagon before responding. “pretty much yeah. He has a blade sharpener, personal items, and all his merchandise. He finally got to the point he found it worth buying his own. He and his boyfriend sleep together in there.” Shade then turned to look at Rayne “Oh… And you don’t need to do that Rayne… space isn’t an issue. It’s more an… awkwardness thing. I know Kaetsu and Quitsun don’t have a so big a nudity taboo, or not the same as we do. I figure your fur covers you enough, I’m just not used to it. Hence why I wanted to work out what we plan to do. Also, where will your cat sleep?”
Rayne pondered that briefly. Her cat had been skulking around, investigating the wagons and such all day, and as a result she hadn’t seen her much. Being Rayne’s familiar though, she knew where her cat was. “Also… Umm… are you too a couple?” Shade asked, immediately derailing Rayne’s thoughts. Daku took a moment, then simple replied. “...Yes…” Rayne blushed wildly and looked away, not sure how to respond. They’d only met a couple days ago! But… it’s not like she hadn’t thought about… Shade burst into giggles. “I guess she didn't know.” Shade said, still giggling, causing Rayne to blush even further.
“I… I’ll just sleep on my big roll of bear hide. It’ll be soft enough...kinda” Rayne said, evading that topic. Though perhaps her lack of contradiction was itself a statement.
Not long thereafter they headed to the wagon. Rayne and Daku each with a mouth full of clothing. They could change shape, their clothing, not necessarily so. Shade’s bed turned out to be a bedroll, though it looked like a good one indeed. “This wagon is designed to convert into a stage for when we need to put on a play on the green. Hence the.” Her sentence petered out as she seemed to struggle with a word on the top of her tongue. But she was pointing to some device along the side of the wagon. Seemingly a henge or something to open it up. Looking around, Rayne could see some play backdrops, some rattling tin, and various other acting related things.
Rayne slept on her dire bear pelt, which was rolled up and placed next to Shade’s bedroll. This hadn’t been intentional perhaps, but there was only so much space. Fortunately her bedroll was portioned so that she slept with her head toward the exit, so Rayne and her cat were nearer her feet than anything else, which made it less awkward. Daku lay on top of a crate with a pillow on it. He looked as if he was trying to decide the appropriate distance to sleep next to his new girlfriend without being presumptuous. It seemed an awkward issue. He was close, but not intimately so. Rayne finally managed to fall asleep, her cat cuddled up against her on one side.