The week since the Shadow Wolves' party passed quickly for Piper; as the weather warms, vermin grow more active and his services have been much in demand. After a long day rooting out vermites in an abandoned warehouse, the Gallah sleeps soundly in his bunk, planning in the morning to visit his friend Kassie and present her, at last, with the Creen he promised her.

Piper rolls over on his bunk, making a muffled whine in his throat as he draws himself up in a sitting position on his bed. He scratches at an ear and sniffs at the air as he blinks sleep from his eyes in the still darkness of the night. "Not morning yet … mph."

The sounds of the Bazaar, quieter at night but ever-present, seem ordinary enough, and the smells that waft in through the open window have the cacophonous variety the Gallisian mongrel has become accustomed to. But there's another tang in the air, vaguely familiar, but still unusual. At the foot of his bunk, he hears a quiet "cree?" After a moment, a second voice echoes the warble, even softer. "Cree."

"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" The Gallah rubs the back of his head and gropes a hand out towards the Creen's cage.

Piper's hand rattles the cage as it brushes against it, his eyes still adjusting to the dim trickle of Procession light. He sees the flutter of bright wings within the cage, and another startled "Cree!" He blinks a few more times to clear the sleep from his eyes, as a flash of silver wings towards the ceiling.

The mutt winces at the noise and eases himself out of his bed. "Misseur Argent?" he whispers, slowly picking up the Creen cage and grabbing his shirt. He starts to tiptoe towards the exit, trying to lure the other Creen out with him.

The cage door flaps loosely, unlatched, when Piper lifts the cage from its resting place. The Creen within it beats its wings twice more at the motion, then settles to the floor of the cage in a coil, its eyes riveted on Argent. The second Creen trills briefly, then circles over the dog's head as he walks towards the door.

Piper puts his hand over the open cage door as he continues to tiptoe out. ( I see, you were trying to set Belle free. I wonder why? Perhaps you can explain better once we're outside, Misseur. )

Argent trills again, querulously, as the dog exits thecommon room, then stealthily sneaks through the main room to the front door, and onto the street. Belle trills a response with a sharp, annoyed cadence to it, then settles once more when the Gallah comes to a halt outside. She shows no interest in the open door to her home.

The Gallah sets the cage down and takes a moment to pull his shirt on so he won't get too much of a chill in the cool night air. When he finishes, he reaches into the cage and tries to coax Belle to climb up onto his arm. "Misseur Argent, what you are doing is quite noble, but your lady is not a prisoner. The cage is to protect her, here… "

The brightly-colored Creen makes another annoyed trill at the hand inside her cage, but after a little while she allows herself to be coaxed onto his arm. She crees to Argent again, a comforting cry, and the silver Creen answers in kind, flapping its wings a few times as it comes to rest on the eave of the inn.

Piper strokes the Creen's head. "You see, Misseur? Your friend is very special to me and I have done my best to see that she is treated like a proper lady while in my care. I only keep her caged because it protects her from things when I am not around or awake." He speaks with the tone of a child that still believes that animals can understand people perfectly well.

For a few moments, the light-scaled Creen coils, silent, on the edge of the rooftop, its head slightly tilted to one side, eyes fixed on Piper's face, perhaps listening to him speak. It makes another querulous trill, then says, "Dragon egg," in uninflected Rephidim Standard.

The Gallah blinks. "Now where did you learn to say that?" He holds out his hand to the silver Creen, whistling softly.

The silver Creen spreads its wings and uncoils its body, still looking towards Piper and Belle. "Dragon egg," it repeats, with precisely the same intonation. The Creen on Piper's arm shifts and makes a soft trill, tightening her coils slightly around the Gallah's forearm. Argent pauses, watching them, then flicks its wings and soars into the night sky.

"Perhaps someone taught Misseur Argent to say that." The Gallah considers, patting Belle's head. "He seems to be very smart for a Creen, but all mythical creatures are supposed to be smart, if I recall." He grins and then sticks his arm back into the cage. "Back home you go, Belle. Tomorrow you get to meet Kassie." Curiously he watches the flight of the silver Creen, wondering if he could or should follow it.

Belle flutters her wings, scattering a few feathers to the bottom of her cage, as she's thrust back into it. "Cree!" she says indignantly, slithering free of the Gallah's limb. After a glance or two about, as if warning off further intruders, she coils and plants her head firmly beneath one wing. "Cree!" is her final comment. Argent, a dwindling speck flying northwards over the rooftops, neither turns nor comments in response.

Piper gently picks up the cage and smiles to himself. "Belle is not so tame that she will not allow others to boss her around too much, eh? You are a proper lady." He waves in the direction of the departing silver Creen and then sneaks back into the inn.

When the Gallah wakes again, it's to the ordinary light of day and the everyday bustle of the Bazaar outside. Most of his fellow guests in the common room have already left, while a few determined souls hold pillows over their heads as they hang on to somnolence.

Piper yawns widely, stretching his toes apart and shaking out his ears. He rolls out of bed and starts his morning routine of washing up and dressing. "Good morning, Mam'selle Belle," he whispers to the Creen. "Are you ready to meet Kassie today?"

"Kah-sie?" the Creen inquires, rustling her feathers. She pokes her nose at the bars of her cage, looking for a treat.

The Gallah laughs and digs out a seed for the Creen. "Mam'selle is also quite the flirt, I see." He gives the Creen its reward and then takes up the cage again, heading out before he wakes up any of the morning stragglers.

In a bunk a few yards away, a half-asleep Skreek groans and rolls over, pulling his blanket farther over his head while Piper steps out the door. Belle devours the offering without hesitation, and soon vocalizes, "Kaaa-see?" undulating her serpentine body and flicking her wings as she shifts around the cage, searching for another treat.

Breakfast is a simple affair of sugarfir-sweetened oatmeal, served by Natalie, the innkeeper's wife; her daughter presumably is shopping this morning, or on other business. After settling his account, a brisk walk with the Creen cage at his side brings Piper to Roho's clinic.

Instead of the usual Rath'ani nurse, a young red vixen sits behind the desk, her hair bound up with a thin cord and a neatly pressed nurse's apron smoothed over clothes a bit too large for her. A large book lies open before her, and she seems to be copying something from it onto a wax tablet. She looks to the door as the Gallah enters, and beams at him. "Piper!"

Piper's tail wags like mad. "Mam'selle Kassie! You look good as new … and they have you working here now?" He glances down at the Creen cage and swings it behind his back, trying to look nonchalant about it.

The vixen nods with an enthusiasm that rivals Piper's. "Yes! Isn't it wonderful? It may only be temporary … Master Roho sent Miss Naomi to the surface, to meet another healer for him, and she asked me to take her place while she was gone." Her tail swishes from side to side as she speaks. "But maybe if I do a good job I can stay on permanently!" Her smile undiminished, she stands and tries to peer around the Gallah. "What've you got there?"

"I hope you do well here then, Mam'selle. One never wishes for lots of customers to a hospital but perhaps there would be people who would think to come here with their wounds so that they can see your happy face." He grins and pulls the cage out. "Oh … you mean my companion here? This is Belle, whom I've told a great deal about you. She wished to meet you." He fingers a seed and pokes it through the cage bars. "Belle, this is Kah-see."

The Creen inside the cage perks and dives for the seed, swallowing it immediately. She pokes her head at Piper's fingers, looking for more. "Kaaa-sie?" she says hopefully, and the vixen squeals in delight. "Oh, Piper! She's beautiful! And she knows my name!" After virtually scrambling over the desk in her rush to see the Creen up close, Kassie steadies the cage in her hands and crouches down to peer at the animal within. "Belle?"

"It means 'beautiful' in Gallisian, although she is not soused to her name that you couldn't give her another one if you wish." The dog digs in his pockets and pulls out a small handful of seeds for Kassie. "I do not know if you are allowed to have pets here, but Belle is your Creen if you wish to have her. She's very tame and an absolute flirt if she knows you have treats in your hands."

"Kaaa-sie?" the Creen chirps in response, swinging her head around to bump her nose against the bars as she studies the vixen in return, then gives proof to Piper's words by nosing at Kassie's fingers in a quest for more seeds. The young fox swishes her tail and giggles at the Creen's antics, holding out her hand for the seeds. "I think it's a lovely name, Piper! Oh, thank you!" She stands and impulsively hugs the mongrel, wrapping her arms about his ribcage and squeezing. "Thank you!"

Piper oomphs at the hug, but his smile doesn't fade in the slightest. "Mam'selle Kassie must be feeling better to have such strong arms!" he barks happily and places the bag in the vixen's hands. "She will probably be a bit nervous for a day or so as she's more used to me … but she'll settle in quick enough. I am glad that you like the gift, Mam'selle."

"Oh, I do!" Kassie assures the Gallisian, blushing a bit as she releases him to accept the bag of seeds. She offers one to the Creen, and giggles again as the morsel is swiftly devoured. "I have a room at a boarding house near here … I'm sure Belle can stay there if Master Roho doesn't want her here." She feeds the winged serpent another seed, and lowers herself to examine the animal, asking a little anxiously, "She'll be all right if I leave her at home while I work, won't she?"

The dog pokes a finger inside the cage and stroke's the Creen's head. "Oh yes! Madame Belle is a very independent lady, why … just last night a Creen was trying to lure her away while I slept, but she would have none of it! As long as you make sure she has food and water and perhaps a toy or a view where she can watch things, she will manage just fine. Just be sure and give her some attention when you do get home."

Belle coos and chirps at Piper's caress, arching her neck to bump her head against his finger, then turning to nip at it lightly, just in case there's another seed there. Kassie strokes the bars of the cage, still watching the Creen in fascination. "I will," she promises, her tone earnest. "Shall we take her home now? Master Roho said I might have a few hours off when you came to visit me."

"Master Roho seems to be a very kind boss. I shall have to tell all of my friends about him." Piper's tail wags. "I would love to see where you are staying, and also hear how you've been doing. You look very well, as though you were never hurt at all!"

"I feel very well, too, though my fur still hasn't grown back," Kassie says, lifting the hem of her skirt to show the buzz-cut short red fur on one leg. "Just a moment while I tell Master Roho I'm leaving, then I'll be back." The vixen drops her skirt and bounces through a door to Roho's office. As she walks away, the Gallisian notices a slight favoring of the injured leg still, despite her enthusiasm.

Piper whines to himself, remembering how badly the girl had been injured before. He glances at the Creen cage again. "Apportez-lui le bonjeur, le petit."

"Kah-sie?" Belle offers in response, fluttering her wings to reach the top of the cage and watch Piper.

"Oui," the Gallah smiles. "Maybe the silver one will visit your mistress and bring her luck as well, eh mon petit?"

Moments later, Kassie emerges from the office, untying the apron from around her waist and removing it reverently before placing it on a hook within a nearby closet. She shuts the closet door and smiles to the Gallisian. "Ready to go?"

Grinning, the dog gallantly bows to the vixen girl. "I am indeed, mon ami. Shall I carry Madame Belle or would you like to?"

She reaches for the cage eagerly, then pauses with her left hand a little behind her right. "Oh … perhaps you'd better," she says softly, dropping her arms back to her sides as she walks to the door leading outside. "Is it all right to take Belle out of the cage now and then?" Kassie asks, holding the door open for Piper.

"Indeed it is, Mam'selle." He stoops down and picks up the cage. "Belle knows her cage as her home, not as her prison. She enjoys being taken out and played with, but she won't try to escape. You can take her out more as she gets used to you." The Gallah sniffs eagerly at the morning air outside, his talk wagging furiously. "It is a beautiful morning is it not, mon ami?"

"It is, indeed," the vixen replies, inhaling deeply with a dreamy look on her face. "I'm so happy. My boarding house is this way," she adds, gesturing to the right before starting that way. "It's not far. Is there anything you'd like to do after we get Belle situated?"

Piper licks his nose in thought. "Have you had breakfast yet, Mam'selle? If you like, I could show you where I live as well and see if the innkeeper has any food left. Or if you like, I could try and show you the silver Creen."

"Silver Creen?" The vixen tilts her head curiously, looking back at Piper. "Are Creens normally silver?" she asks, glancing to the colorful animal in Piper's cage.

"No, Mam'selle. Misseur Aaron told me that silver ones were mythical and I had never seen a silver one before, until this one." The dog places a hand under Belle's cage to steady the jostling. "I named it Argent. It seems smarter than most Creens – no offense intended, Madame Belle."

Belle chirps complacently at the mention of her name, looking unoffended, while Kassie smiles at Piper. "I've never seen a live myth before! Where did you find it?"

"In the Bazaar near a fountain, and it came again into my room last night." The mutt smiles. "Misseur Argent is a very beautiful Creen. Almost like a silver statue come to life."

"He came into your room? Is that the Creen that tried to lure Belle away?" the vixen asks, poking a finger into the cage to pet her Creen. "I'll bet he's not as beautiful as you," she croons loyally to the rainbow-feathered serpent, who crees back in response.

Piper nods, causing his ears to flip up and down. "That's the one, Mam'selle. But Madame Belle dismissed MisseurArgent like a Gallisian noble dismissing an ugly suitor. She was very polite but firm nonetheless. All the more indication at how much of a proper lady Madame Belle is." He winks.

The caged Creen chirps again, as if for emphasis, and Kassie giggles. "How did Argent take her rejection? Was he crushed?" she inquires, stroking her Creen's neck lightly.

The Gallah giggles to himself. "Oh, Misseur Argent took it like a gentleman. I think he realized that the lady was spoken for already and flew off without a word of complaint or any pleading. He had opened the door to Madame's cage and was trying to convince her to run off with him, you see. But Madame likes her cage, it is a nice home with food and water and keeps nasty things from getting to her when I am not around."

"Cree," Belle adds helpfully. "Kaa-sie?" The vixen digs out a seed for her pet obediently and feeds it to her, and the Creen looks content for another few moments. "She's a very sensible lady," Kassie agrees. "I'm glad Mr. Argent realized it was not meant to be. He sounds much too wild for her … Where do you think he's gone to now?"

Piper taps his nose. "I am not sure, Mam'selle. Perhaps hewent to tell his friends of the princess in the gilded cage who would not run off with him, or he's gone to drown his sorrows by eating lots of bugs in the Bazaar. Of course, he could be trying to woo another princess as we speak – although Misseur Argent did not seem all that much of a ladies' man."

"A fickle cad he'd be, to get over my sweet Belle so soon," the vixen concludes. "I'll bet he's eating bugs to forget," she adds, grinning. "Maybe little Belle found parting more painful then she lets on, and that's why she needs so many seeds." Kassie watches another disappear into the serpent's mouth. The Creen certainly doesn't look heartbroken. "I wouldn't mind meeting him, though. Even if he's not as pretty as Belle."

"Misseur Argent came to me once when I played for him, perhaps if he does not hold it against me that I pledged his lady to another, he would visit us again. I'm sure that if he knew that Madame Belle had such a lovely mistress to care for her now he would get over his sorrows much faster." The Gallah grins. "Besides, I have not played for you yet."

Piper and Kassie emerge into the crowded square, and the vixen keeps her right hand on her hat as she looks this way and that at all the people. "Where did you find Argent, Piper?" she asks him.

"There was a building with a gargoyle on the top that I think Misseur Argent lived up on top of. I could try calling him out from the fountain if the people aren't too noisy." The Gallah stays close to the vixen and places a hand over the pipes on his belt.

A giggle from the fox girl answers him. "I don't think they're going to get much quieter at midday," she remarks, picking her way through the crowd towards the fountain. "Maybe we can hope for the best?" As Piper scans the rooftops for signs of the gargoyle the silver Creen hid behind earlier, he notices a few Eeee flitting amongst the buildings, carrying Creen-catching nets.

The dog perks his ears and tilts his head at the goings on. "Que font-elles? It would appear that we are not the only ones looking for Misseur Argent."

Kassie pauses, and follows Piper's gaze. "Oh!" she says softly. "You think they are looking for him, too?" She watches the Eeee, who seem to have settled into new posts and are sitting quietly, listening.

"It would appear so, although if he is here, he is hiding and my playing might draw him out and attract the attention of the Eeee. On the other hand, we might be able to sneak him away from here before the others get him. Perhaps if there were lots of Creens to distract… " Piper starts to dig in his pockets and pulls out several shekels. "Mam'selle Kassie, there should be a merchant near here who sells candied bugs. Buy as much as you can with this while I set up here. I worry what will become of Misseur Argent if he is caged."

The vixen nods assent and hurries off with the funds, catching Piper's urgency. While she leaves, a black and gray Naga catches sight of the Gallah, and turns his attention from the Eeee on the rooftops to him, slithering in his direction.

Piper seats himself on the lip of the fountain, soaking his tailtip in the water as he plays a series of warm-up scales. His eyes flick towards the Naga and he nods his head while he plays in acknowledgement.

The Naga reaches the mongrel's side and bows his head to him. "Greetingss. You are Piper, are you not?"

The Gallah ceases his playing and smiles, his tail splashing in the water as it wags. "Bonjour Misseur. Oui, Piper is my name. Can I help you?"

"A pleassure to meet you, Piper," the Naga hisses. "I am Siessith, an animal trainer. I understand that you have, briefly, captured the silver Creen which wass sseen here not long ago?"

"I do not know if you would consider what I did 'capturing', Misseur. I called it to me, but it held me more than me holding it." The Gallah points to the Eeee on the rooftops. "Are you searching for it, Misseur?"

Kassie returns, carrying a wax paper-wrapped bundle of candied bugs in her arms. She pauses a few yards from Piper and the newcomer, glancing to her friend in silent inquiry before approaching closer.

Siessith hisses, "I ssee. Yess, ass a matter of fact, I am. I wass hoping you might be perssuaded to aid me in thiss effort."

Piper pats a spot next to him on the fountain and smiles to Kassie. With so many people nearby, it would be hard to be nonchalant more than likely. "I am not sure, Misseur. What do you intend to do with it? It did not seem like a creature that would do well in captivity."

Kassie takes the offered spot, smiling uncertainly at the Naga, who nods politely to her before answering the Gallisian. "I have a client who wishess to acquire it, Piper. Mosst Creenss fare quite well in captivity … they are ssocial creaturess at heart. What makess you feel thiss one iss different?"

The Gallah ponders this quietly and then finally decides that the truth would serve him best for now. "It wasn't very social, Misseur. I had to play a mother song to get it to come to me. It also tried to set a Creen I had captured – and was taming – free from its cage. I am sure that if it is such a mythical creature, it has had people trying to grab at it all of its life. That sort of thing makes it wish to be free all the more."

The serpent listens to the Gallah's answer, his eyes unblinking as he watches the other male. "I ssee. But the Creen did come to you, did it not?"

"Yes Misseur," Piper replies, fingering his wooden instrument nervously. "But that is because I told it that it could trust me and that I would not harm it."

"I am an animal trainer. I am not here to harm the creature, merely to capture it," Siessith explains patiently. "My customer has offered a handssome ssum for this animal … If you are able to asssisst me in itss capture, I will compenssate you well for your time."

"What does your customer want with it, Misseur?" The dog scratches his chin.

"My client iss a collector of exotic animalss. They are kept in a sspaciouss greenhousse, with many other animalss for company and ample room to fly, walk, and sslither," the Naga answers.

Piper chews on his lip. "I shall have to give it some thought, Misseur. If the silver Creen would not object to living in such a place, I will help you. But only if I knew that it would be treated well. I do not wish to fall under its curse should it get angry with me."

"Cursse?" The Naga's voice carries a hint of amusement as well as curiosity.

"It is a mythical being is it not, Misseur? Surely it could bring bad luck to me or punish me in some manner if I displeased it." The Gallah whimpers.

"A myth cannot be touched. Surely if it came and ssat on your shoulder, it iss no myth," the serpent says reassuringly. "Bessidess, do you imagine that it will be happier here, with people consstantly harrasssing it, itss life at rissk every time it sstealss a bug to eat, than it would be, were it ssafe in a noble'ss esstate, itss every need attended to?"

"It did not seem to approve of my keeping a Creen in a cage, despite how well I cared for it. Misseur, animals are not like us. It could be that the silver Creen enjoys the life it lives." Piper plucks at his lip. "If I see Misseur Argent again, I will see what he wishes to do. If he does not seem to be the type that would be happy living in captivity, then I cannot help you. But if the life you offer seems to be the life he would enjoy, then I will personally escort him to your residence."

Siessith gives a small sigh. "I hope you will conssider my offer carefully, Piper. I will pay you two ssilver shekelss if you bring thiss ssilver Creen to me. Do not dissmisss thiss matter lightly."

The vixen next to Piper squeaks in surprise – the first sound she's made since returning and grabs his hand, her eyes round with wonder at the figure.

The Gallah nods. "Misseur, I assure you that I do not. But I also cannot dismiss my conscience for two silver shekels either. I will think long and hard about this."