Gypsy Caravan
A train of wagons in various states of repair and decoration form a loose circle in plot of land set aside for parking such. The lights of the Roadhouse still burn into the night, but aside from the central bonfire the camp is largely unlit. A few gypsies can be seen still; sitting on barrels and blankets around the fire for the older ones, or eagerly waiting for some paying local to venture into camp for the younger ones.

Following Nyneve from the Pickle Barrel, Alptraum notes once more just how nicely kept the woman's wagon is, thanks to the talents of her nine daughters – many of whom have their wagons parked near. For the other families a single wagon usually suffices, even the most ramshackle of them. That honor once went to the wagon of Borg the Big, but has since passed on to his son Hexen's cobbled-together box on wheels. The fox has tried to make it more attractive by painting flames along the sides.

Alptraum breaks out in a huge grin. "Are you certain you do not wish Hexen courting one or more of your daughters," he asks the Khatta he walks alongside. "Does not his wagon just say class and future?" He even spreads his hands wide toward said travesty.

"He is already in trouble with young Luludja over a game of chance," Nyneve notes. "I intend to marry my girls off to fat princes, after all. Hexen is not even plump."

"I suppose that also leaves me out, as I am far from plump," Alptraum notes, "But such is not a problem, as my eye is elsewhere anyway. And no, not on you! You're safe from me." He even winks.

"My daughters are all beautiful; so too are their fathers, Alptraum," Nyneve notes. "If I wanted you in my bed tonight, I would have you so, da?"

"Ah, do you think you can seduce me so easily?" Alptraum teases as he reaches over to tickle her nose. "Besides, you still owe me an earring from last time. That is if anything happened."

The feline smiles mysteriously in the dark. "You should watch how you drink, my Nightmare," is her only reply, as they arrive at her wagon. "Now, I must prepare for bed. Beauty such as mine is not maintained without effort, you know."

Alptraum laughs. without even asking, he reaches over, cups Nyneve's chin in his right hand, then kisses her lips lightly. "Well, then good night to you," he says as he lets her go. "But for me, well, the night is still young and I have a few people yet to surprise!"

Nyneve gives Alptraum's nose a lick with her rough tongue. "I'm sure I will hear the details with the morning gossip," she tells him, and then she's into her wagon.

Alptraum waggles his fingers as she departs, then rubs his hands together. "Hm, who to surprise first?" he wonders. Getting a devious idea, he looks for a clothesline with clothes from the day still upon it.

There are several to choose from, strung between wagons. The closest belong to Nyneve's daughters, of course, but there are plenty to choose from besides those.

Alptraum gets the sort of look in his eye that mothers fear and often spawns stories that start with the phrase: 'Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!'. So, he grabs some of Nyneve's daughters more 'dainty' bits of clothing. The troublesome Eeee then heads right to Hexen's wagon. There he raps his chitinous knuckles upon the wood door. "Trist stories and souvenirs!" he calls out in a ridiculous and forced-deep tone, "For the discerning man who doesn't have time, or the skill, to win a woman … but still needs to tell the tales! Filly undergarments, complete with the smell of feline still upon them! Amuse your friends with tales that never happened and convince them by showing them your new trophies!"

"What?" comes a surprised bark from inside, and the door (well, flap) is thrown open as a shirtless black fox pops out.

"Ah, I do have the right place! You have ze look of one who is hopeless with women," Alptraum continues as he grins widely. He holds up one of the undergarments he swiped, neatly dangling from on of his fingers, "Care to buy proof of conquests you never made?" The Eeee even waggles his brow.

"Hey, that's not nice!" Hexen claims, then realizes who it is. "Alptraum? Is Tulani with you? Are those… her panties?"

"Of course not! Hers are edible. They last only a day … or less," Alptraum claims as he snaps his wrist and tries to drape the garment on Hexen's nose. "And sorry, no, she's not with me this time. What? I'm not as good looking and fun? I'm hurt."

There is a ridiculously loud sniffing sound from the fox, before the dainty bit of apparel vanishes into Hexen's back pocket (well, half is still dangling out, actually). "You are as gorgeous as an overripe tree lizard! You even make Kizzy look attractive," the fox retorts, referring to one of the other Eeees in the troupe; a pleasant enough girl of the Saskanar breed, having her wings on her arms and noticeably upturned nose – and who is one of Hexen's few female admirers, not that he'd admit it.

Alptraum puts his hand over his heart. "You wound me!" the Eeee claims. "And here I was going to share with you places you can meet women of superb beauty … and loose morals. Hmf. I think I will just keep that to myself!"

"Wait, what?" Hexen asks, grabbing on to Alptraum's vest. "You have a woman, so you don't need that information any more! You are obligated to pass it along to your dear brother!"

"Since when are you my brother?" Alptraum asks as he lightly swats Hexen's hands (though not so as to actually dislodge them). "Besides, I'm not really sure what you would do with a mix of the best traits of all; an Eeee with the curves of Nyneve's daughters and such skill in the bed as to make whiskers curl, anyway. Forget I mentioned her at all and that she lives as an aide in all things on reproduction for the ladies and men of Draco Castle and its surrounding town."

"Oh, you are teasing me about the imaginary voluptuous Eeee, ne?" Hexen laughs. He then cups his hands before his chest, and wiggles his fingers while grinning. "An Eeee to fill my hands, you claim? Why-" Before he can go further, a cry of "Hexen!" comes from the direction of the Radovah wagons.

"Lady problems?" Alptraum has to ask as he still grins, "Need me to come to your rescue?"

The fox hides behind Alptraum. "That… that was Nadya!" he whimpers. "Tell me you did not pilfer these from her?" Sure enough, a Khatta with flashing green eyes and the colors and pattern of a tiger is bearing down on the pair, while a smaller, cream-colored girl trails along behind – Luludja! It doesn't help any that Nadya's nightgown is fairly open, either.

Alptraum secure in the knowledge that he can fly and they can't, helps keep the bat from panicking too much. "Ah, look, the muses of grace and beauty come to visit us," the Eeee says and dips into a formal bow to the approaching women. "Good evening to you both. Your beauty dances in the pale light of the procession, and yet does not do you complete justice. Your radiance deserves far more illumination than the mere heavens." Okay, so maybe the beer did get a bit to Alptraum…

"Silvereyes!" Nadya says, smiling now. "You are back again! That was quite a party last time. Now, hand over the panty-thief. He owes me and my sister now."

"He tried to impress some gorgio girl by over-wagering on an Airships game," Lulu pipes in. "He owes me fifteen Shekels, because I had to lend him five to cover his wager and he lost!"

"Five! I only owe her five," Hexen claims. "Fifteen!" the girl counters. "You promised me that much!"

"Ah, alas I cannot allow him to suffer for my actions," Alptraum admits, "I borrowed them to torment my friend with. I heard he had caused you grief … and over an Airships game it seems! So I felt he deserved a bit of teasing," He holds his left hand behind his back and waggles it to try and get Hexen to hand them over to him.

"Then why are they sticking out of his pants?" Nadya asks, while the fox hastily offers them back (from behind Alptraum). "It… was just one of Traum's practical jokes, Nadya!" he claims.

"Because he put them there after … ah, sniffing them," the Eeee says while trying to not fall over in a fit of laughter. "Of course … if you still want to punish him… "

"Ewww," the Khatta says, sticking her tongue out and refusing to touch the tainted lingerie now. "Did you really take them like he claims, Alptraum?" the girl then asks, boring into the Eeee with her green eyes.

Alptraum dips his head. "Alas, yes," the Eeee admits as he looks back into her eyes.

"Then your punishment will be to come back with me and rewash them," Nadya says, crossing her arms (and thus blocking the pleasant view). "Hey, what about me?" Lulu complains.

Alptraum reaches back and takes a hold of the pair. "A fair punishment," the Eeee concedes. "As for you, Lulu, you can do whatever you like to dear Hexen… "

"What? Don't offer me up like that, Alptraum," Hexen pleads. "Can you loan me some money at least to pay the little demon off? She threatened to sell me to Kizzy!"

"And what is wrong with Kizzy? She likes you," Alptraum points out.

"She's as flat as Lulu, without the excuse of only being nine years old," Hexen grumbles.

"Hey!" Lulu complains.

"And? Curves aren't everything," Alptraum points out, "Eeee make the best lovers, you know!" The bat then sighs and shrugs, "If I pay Lulu what you owe her, you do realize you'll owe me, right?"

"After all we've been through, Alptraum, how can you put such an onus on our friendship?" Hexen says, feeling bold enough to step out from behind the bat – and puff up his chest a bit for Nadya.

"Because, dear friend, I've been living close now and you haven't visited once," Alptraum says and pokes Hexen square in the chest. "If I pay off your debts, then you have to convince the entire tribe to visit the capital!"

"We're already… that is, of course I can do that!" Hexen claims. "The Elders all listen to my advice, you know."

"Riight," Alptraum says. "Of course if you're lying to me, I know someone who can curse you with the worst case of swamp itch you'll ever see." Another grin comes from the Eeee and he checks his pouch to see if he has enough to cover his debt to Lulu.

Luckily, Nyneve didn't drink all of his traveling money. A bit of digging reveals a fiver and a tenner.

And so Alptraum sighs overly dramatically … and then offers the shekels to Lulu. "Here, you can now spare his life and manhood from your vengeance," he says, "And now I must see to cleaning dear Nadya's garment from your unclean touch!"

Lulu bites the coins, and once convinced they're authentic, she smiles and says, "You just bought yourself a fox, Alptraum! I'm sure he'll make a nice hat and coat for you!" And then she's dashing off back to the wagons.

"So… do you need help washing those dainties?" Hexen asks Alptraum.

"No help!" Nadya declares.

"I was considering him for a towel, actually … for when I'm really dirty," Alptraum calls out after Lulu. There's a quick pause and the bat's attention flicks back to Nadya, "Point me to a cleaning basin and I'll wash these up."

"Follow me," the tiger-striped Khatta says, and turns back to the wagons as well. Her tail twitches in a way that temporarily hypnotizes Hexen. It's a good thing she doesn't have a tiger's size to go with her color and attitude.

"See you later, Hexen. I'll sell you to a pretty woman, I promise!" The Eee claims. And with that, he follows after Nadya. "It's nice that none of you have really changed," he comments, "It's relaxing to get away from all the chaos of the town and castle and well … just have some fun."

"Fun?" Nadya laughs. "Well, yes, there is fun between the work." At the wagon, she opens the door and ushers Alptraum inside – where he's reminded that Nadya shares a wagon with her older sister, Katka, since he can see her on the lower bunk, naked and contorted into a position that only a Khatta could possibly find comfortable to sleep in.

"Dear me, taking me into your wagon to clean things? Tsk, what would your mother say," the bat jokes as he steps inside. "As for work … the work of the tribe is simpler then the things I deal with these days. I envy you."

"Everyone envies me," Nadya boasts, as she pours some water from a jug into a washbasin, then sets it on the floor in the center of the wagon, sitting cross-legged just past it. "Katka never does the wash. She dislikes getting wet. But I enjoy it. I even swim."

Alptraum sits on the other side of the tub. He looks worried for a brief moment, then strips off his left glove (but obviously not his right). "If you don't mind, I'm going to clean my defensive gauntlet too," he explains before she asks why he didn't remove the right hand one. "It was a gift, warded against the undead and all that. Protects me while I travel."

"Enchanted clothing?" the dancer asks, leaning forward for a better look, and giving Alptraum an eye-full in the process.

Alptraum dips his right hand in the water then fetches the brush. There he starts scrubbing the chitin, making sure to check between each seam for any signs of fungus, chitin rot, or worse. "Yes, but it's also ugly. Rarely are enchanted items attractive, otherwise then everyone would want them," he claims.

"Most gorgios are happy to buy ugly talismans," Nadya points out. Watching Alptraum scrub must trigger something in the Khatta, because she starts to groom the back of her own hand with her tongue.

Alptraum rinses off his hand, then sniffs it to also check for any signs of mold or fungus starting. He can't help but arch his brow a bit when Nadya starts grooming herself.

The Khatta catches herself, and says, "I know it is kittenish, but I find it relaxing. Katka and I often groom each other after dancing." From the constant purr coming from Katka, it's probably a safe bet that the girl knows a lot about relaxing.

"You groom each other?" Alptraum blurts. His ears then flick back as he mutters, "Thank you for giving me those mental pictures! I'm going to now have painful dreams." Grumbling now, he moves on to the stolen undergarments. He dips those into the wash bin now and uses his left hand to swirl them around (to keep the spines on his right from damaging them). He rests his right hand on the rim of the tub for the time being.

"Do Eeee groom each other?" Nadya asks. "Are there special groomers at the castle? What is it like there? Do not wring the lace dry, it has to be air dried. What is the food there like?"

Katka makes a little 'meow' noise in her sleep, and twists and stretches into another revealing, if contorted, pose.

"Eees don't groom each other in that way, no," Alptraum answers, "And depending on your station or how much money you have, there may be handmaidens or similar to tend to bathing. You have to be fairly important, though, to get a personal servant to assist you with washing up. The food, from what little I can taste of it, is very good. But again the best is kept for those of the highest stations or those with lots of money."

"Hmmm, what else do handmaidens do?" Nadya asks, with a bit of a purr creeping into her voice. "Do they get paid well? Do they ever marry into the upper classes or become kept women?"

"They get paid okay, I think. And some do get 'kept' to provide, ah, pleasure to those who keep them, yes," Alptraum explains. He pauses there in the cleaning and looks up. "But you could do far better than that. Someone as strong willed as you could never be kept!"

"Handmaidens also often tend to clothing and repair it, wash it, iron it, make sure it's properly put away, and many other mundane tasks," the Eeee adds.

Nadya breaks into a toothy smile at the compliment. "What station do you think I deserve then?" she asks with a rumble. "I am more exotic and sensual than Katka, I think. Don't you?"

"I wouldn't know for certain," Alptraum teases and grins, "After all, I never experienced either of you." He lifts out the garment and shakes the remaining water from it before laying it flat on a nearby, clean, table. "Now, as for you … I could see you as head lady, overseeing all the other servants of the house. You do have that sort of fire."

This causes the girl to sit up a little straighter. "I could have higher station than Katka then, and order her around?" she asks, her green eyes glittering.

"Potentially, if you were all part of the same house," Alptraum notes. He then waggles his finger at her and asks, "Just what are you plotting?"

"She is the eldest, but I am clearly better," Nadya claims, and pulls her nightgown off over her head. "Just look! I am firmer and stronger and my chest is bigger. My fur is thicker and softer – go ahead and feel," she suggests, leaning forward.

Knowing he ought to resist such an offer, Alptraum reaches forward and feels with both of his hands anyway.

Nadya does have really soft, lush fur – and is plenty firm underneath it. "Now feel Katka," she says. "Her fur is short, and while she is slightly more flexible, she is not as firm. You will see – she is squishy!"

"Ah, I'm not sure I should feel a sleeping Khatta," Alptraum says as he draws his hands away. She'll wake up and hit me!"

"She never wakes up," Nadya says, and reaches over to give her sister a squeeze. Katka makes a mew sound, and squirms around into a new position.

Alptraum's brow arches. Knowing better once again, Alptraum reaches over and feels Katka now. "If she wakes up, I'm blaming you," he tells Nadya.

"It will be okay," Nadya assures him. Katka feels as soft and pleasant as Alptruam always imagined she would be, from when he was old enough to start wondering about such things. He barely even notices when the purring stops.

"Why are your hands cold and wet?" Katka asks, her eyes opening to slits.

"Hm, you're right, she is softer in the ways you describe," Alptraum agrees as he draws his hands back. He pauses as Katka speaks and then coughs, "Because I'm helping Nadya do some laundry. And then she wanted me to compare her to you… Er. I don't think my hands are that cold are they?" He even presses each one to his cheeks to feel their temperature.

They're a little cool, while his cheek is understandably hot. "Nadya… is this another of your silly contests?" Katka asks, as she stretches and wakes fully. "Hey, this is Alptraum! You do not know how to handle an Eeee, Nadya! They can be fragile, and you are not gentle."

"I am hardly fragile! And it's not like we were doing anything. I was just helping clean and nothing more!" Alptraum huffs, indignant. He even crosses his arms over his chest.

"How dare you call me ungentle," Nadya replies, and then looks to Alptraum. "Do you think me clumsy, Alptraum?"

"And no, you're not clumsy! I've seen you dance," Alptraum answers quickly. He also can't help but glance back towards the door and begins working out an escape plan … preferably with a little injury as possible!

As if to test Alptraum's claim, Katka reaches out and feels the bat's upper arm. "Hmmmm. Not so fragile, perhaps, but he is probably more than you can handle, little sister."

"Er," goes Alptraum, "I'm not here to try and do anything with either of you. We grew up together!"

"Yes, and I know you tried to peek on me a few times, Alptraum," Katka purrs. "Do you want to sleep with me tonight? Just sleep. I know Eeee are flexible, and we can find a comfortable position… "

"Naaaooo," Nadya complains. "I'm softer! Alptraum, wouldn't you rather sleep on top of me tonight?"

"Well … if it's just sleep," Alptraum concedes, "Then yes I could sleep here tonight… " Of course when Nadya speaks up, he covers his face and groans. "May I make a suggestion before a war breaks out… ?"

Both girls turn their attention on Alptraum; one pair of green eyes and the other gold.

"We spread cushions and blankets on the floor and we all sleep together. Each of you against one of my sides," Alptraum offers.

"And in the morning you will tell us who is best, yes?" Nadya asks. There's a slight growl in that request.

"I will offer my observations, yes," Alptraum agrees with a forced smile. Inside he's thinking "Oh Gods. There's no right answer to such a question!"

Nadya takes the basin away, and says, "We can finish washing in the morning." She then reaches up to pull the beddings down from the top bunk.

"Ah, can you give me a few minutes," Alptraum asks and motions towards the door. "The bushes are calling and all!"

"Of course, Alptraum," Katka says, not in any hurry to move her bedding.

And so Alptraum escapes out the wagon door to a moment of safety! He does head to the bushes to try and recover his wits. He full well knows if he goes back he's in trouble and if he runs he's also in trouble. "Why me?" the bat asks himself once he's out of easy hearing range of the Radovah camp.

"What did she do to you, Alptraum?" Hexen whispers from behind a nearby tree. "You look like a man facing his doom!"

"They want me to sleep with them!" Alptraum laments. "And not in the way you're thinking. The two are competing again on who is the sofest."

There is a pitiful squeak sound from behind the tree. "Soft… softest?" Hexen wheezes, coming out from around the tree. Catching his breath, he says, "Alptraum, my friend, I owe you a favor. So, if I take your place, will we be even as far as that trivial little debt is concerned?"

"Do you even think they'll accept you as a substitute?" Alptraum asks as he finds his own tree to sit behind, out of the fox's view. "And you do realize that they'll kill you in the morning, no matter how you answer?"

"I can run very fast," Hexen says, as if trying to convince himself. He comes and squeezes Alptraum's shoulder. "And I could not live with myself knowing the torment it would put you through!" he declares. Much quieter, he asks, "Is Katka's nightie as revealing as Nadya's?"

"She sleeps naked," Alptraum answers. "And feel free to go ask them if you can observe in my stead. I'll listen from here… "

"N-nnn… " Hexen stammers. Then, somehow, he's thrusting his pants at Alptraum. "If… if I don't return, see that at least my pants are buried… " And then the fox is off, practically on all fours, and into the wagon.

The Eeee sighs at his crazy friend. Now alone, though, he looks at his right hand. He waggles his fingers, then furrows his brow. "/Okay, if I'm staying over-night, I need to try to make you look more normal where-ever I sleep. He starts simple by flipping his hand over and tries to 'instruct' the scaled part to return to 'normal' while he listens for the fate of his old friend in dealing with the Khattas.

Eeee hearing reveals a bit of commotion, which then dies down. There's a bit of crying that has to be Hexen, but he also picks up Nadya saying, "The wings would have been awkward anyway," to which Katka replies, "Just keep his face buried in your chest, and he'll stop twitching. Then we can get some sleep… oh, look at that! I'd heard he was much smaller… "

Alptraum actually snorts a laugh at that. "Happy birthday, or Deathday. Some day. Enjoy, because I know you won't be sleeping much," the Eeee comments.

As for Alptraum's arm, returning the skin to normal isn't that hard… but getting the fur to come out black instead of gray takes a bit more effort.

Alptraum's brow furrows a he tries to work with it. He rubs his thumb back and forth over the exposed skin as he tells it, "Come on, black fur. Why won't you come out black?"

The fur darkens finally, but feels coarser than his normal fur for some reason, at least to his left hand.

Alptraum's brow arches. "Okay, odd," he says as he feels the upper forearm of his right arm, then compares the texture with regrown black fur.

The upper arm feels normal. The forearm fur is definitely courser though, as if it had been shaved during its growth cycle.

Alptraum shrugs a bit. "Well … at least you're black," he comments. He also pokes at his palm a bit to see if without scales the feeling of sensations is any better.

There's some difference, but it's hard to tell if the sensations are still muted or not without feeling something with both hands at once.

Getting an idea, Alptraum presses both palms to a tree to feel the bark texture as a test.

The bark feels rough to both hands, although the left is still better and sensing the heat of it. To the right, it feels cooler.

"Huh," Alptraum notes. He licks both palms to see if they both at least feel the same temperature.

To his tongue… well, the right hand seems a little cooler then the left too.

Alptraum blinks. He tries that again, just to be certain.

The second time is a repeat of the first: the right is a bit cooler, and the courser fur make it seem like licking a hairbrush.

"Weird," Alptraum comments, "Probably from scaling it. Lizards are normally cooler." Turning his hand back over now he prepares for the harder part. The Eeee leans back against the tree and takes a few deep breaths. His attention then focuses on the chitin on the back of his hand and fingers. This he tries to melt and draw back like Kaira did that one time, and move the orb from the back of his hand up to his forearm as part of a chitinous bracer instead. That, at least, is a little easier to explain to people.

Without the dagger slotted, the chitin doesn't seem inclined to obey. It retreats slightly from Alptraum's fingers, so that the 'claws' aren't covering his own now, but even that seems to creep back as soon as the bat's concentration wavers.

"Oh come on," Alptraum complains at his hand. He tries again and fails. So … he sighs and grabs the dagger from his waist, then slides it into the slot in the gauntlet.

The orb winks, and a floating dragon's head appears. "Hey there," Kaira says, looking around. "Is this your parents' caravan? Going to introduce me finally?" she asks.

"Not tonight," Alptraum hisses at the dragon head. "I'm trying to make my hand look more normal so no one asks questions, but the chitin is not behaving itself. Can you help me out?"

"Oh, you want the bracer again?" Kaira asks, sounding a little disappointed. "I won't have energy left to manifest then. I altered the elf a little to have paler skin and pink eyes and white hair, since that albino monster-baiter seemed to really pique your interest… "

"Really? Well, I can always recharge the gauntlet in the morning, you know. I just need to look more normal for the night is all," Alptraum explains, "And as for your elf guise … well, I will have to sample that sometime soon."

"Okay then, just don't forget about recharging," the dragon says, then 'blows a kiss' and winks out. Almost immediately, there's a crawling sensation in Alptraum's hand as the gauntlet begins to retract (into the dagger itself somehow, if he remembers correctly). Chitin pulls back from bare skin, which then sprouts a fresh coat of black fur. The fur and skin on the underside seem to change as well to become 'normal'. Within a few minutes, the gauntlet has become a leathery, dragon-embossed bracer with a pale gem and a built-in knife sheath.

Alptraum breathes a sigh of relief as the chitin draws back and his hand looks more normal. He does know he only has about a day before the unpleasant reversion begins as the hair falls back out, but for now he at least looks relatively normal. He shakes out the freed hand and runs his fingers along the back of it, feeling the sensations again after so long. He even licks his palms again, just to test temperature differences once last time.

Both palms feel exactly the same, although licking the right one does cause a little Kaira-voice in his head to say, "Oooooo, that tickles!"

"Hey, you can feel that?" Alptraum thinks, "What did you do?"

"I'm controlling the hand to keep this shape," Kaira replies in the bat's head. "So of course I can feel with it. I could even take control if necessary."

"Bah. Why is it easier for you to control it than me? That's no fair!" Alptraum complains mentally. "When I do it the fur is gray without a lot of effort and is all rough. I guess it is because I lack practice?"

"You aren't a dragon," Kaira notes. "The gauntlet is mainly dragon blood and Shadow. The dagger is also dragon blood, so that's why I can control it. If the dagger had a source of power like the gauntlet did, I could change its shape too."

"Oh sure, make me feel inferior," Alptraum teases, "Thanks for the help, though. I owe you. Now … time to say hi to the folks and get some sleep!"

"I promise not to molest you in your sleep," Kaira says, possibly just to make Alptraum worry about it now.

"Good, because if you did that I wouldn't allow you to manifest ever again," Alptraum quips to himself as he gets to his feet. He straightens himself out then heads back into camp and directly towards his parents' wagon.