Piper retrieved Kassie's meager possessions with little difficulty from the Crossed Swords. The inn's owner did, however, extract a promise from the mutt to keep him posted about the vixen's condition, seeming genuinely concerned for the young fox's well-being.

In the ensuing weeks, Kassie has been recovering well. Although the two Jupani who had spoken with Piper never directly contacted her, a few days afterwards, a Skreek claiming acquaintance with the pair stopped by and spoke with her. A week later, she received a note stating that they'd declined to employ a healer full-time at this point, but would bear her in mind should circumstances change.

The Gallah captured a Creen soon after his promise to do so on behalf of the vixen. The winged reptile has proved difficult to train, however, possessed of bad temper atypical for its species, and a pronounced habit for biting things … especially people.

After a long day, comprised mainly of one small job and a lot of further searching for work, Piper returns to his hostel to find the door to the cage open, and the Creen gone.

The Gallah's ears shoot up as he finds the little creature missing. "Oh drats… I'd put so much work into taming this one; I'd hate to have to start all over again." He picks up the cage and sniffs at the latch, trying to see if the cage just has his scent and the Creen's, or if hints of someone who might have opened the cage might still remain.

He shares this common room with a variety of other occupants, some of which have been here as long as the Gallah, and others who vary day-by-day. With so many other scents in the air, it's difficult to be certain of the exact ones on the cage … but the mutt thinks the scent of the innkeeper, Durog, is on the latch, and stronger than he'd expect it to be from the Rath'ani just walking by.

Piper sets the cage down and rubs his nose. "I hope I'm not going to find Creen feathers in the stew tonight. Oh well, maybe they just didn't like having pets here." The dog shakes himself out and pads out of the room again, searching for the innkeeper.

Durog's young daughter, April, is tending the cash box at the moment. Her ears flatten towards her head as she sees the dog come past. "Hi, Piper," she bids him cheerfully enough, however. "Did you want some dinner?"

"Good afternoon, April." The Gallah bows politely and fusses with his fur in some hopeless attempt to make his rumpled appearance a bit less rumpled. "I'm looking for Durog, unless you might happen to know what happened to my Creen?"

"My da's in the kitchen, Piper," she answers, looking nervous at the mention of the Creen. She twists her hands together, and the dog notices a bandage wrapped about her index finger. "Um … wha's wrong with your Creen?" she asks.

"Well, either he's suddenly become invisible or someone unlatched his cage and swiped him. I'd be perfectly happy to catch a Creen for anyone who asks, but I was in the process of taming that one, Mam'selle." The Gallah lifts his head up and sniffs at the air towards the kitchen.

"I know," the little Rath'ani says softly. "I'm sorry to hear that he's gone. Want me to go ask my da if he knows where it went?"

Piper tilts his head to the side. "Oh, you seem a bit busy with the cash box. Would it be all right if I went into the kitchen and asked him myself? I could smell his touch on the latch." The Gallah taps his nose for emphasis.

April grimaces at his gesture. "Ummm. I guess so." She rubs at the back of her head absently.

"Thank you, Mam'selle." The Gallah smiles at the young Rath'ani and then strolls towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Durog's wife, a chubby raccoon named Natalie, stirs a large stew pot. She glances up at Piper's entrance indifferently, then turns back to her chore. The Gallah can hear grunting sounds coming up the stairs from the cellar.

Piper nods to Natalie and pauses to sniff at the air again. He nonchalantly starts to walk towards the cellar while his eyes scan the ground for signs of Creen feathers.

The floor here is recently swept; the entire kitchen is quite tidy and organized, in fact. More than once, Piper has heard Natalie roundly browbeating some poor soul who chanced to leave something in her kitchen out of place. As he approaches the cellar entrance, Durog emerges, carrying a large beer barrel in a kind of jury-rigged harness on his back.

The Gallah hops back a little to keep out of the innkeeper's way, and then hesitantly steps forward again. He tries to reach towards the barrel to support it better. "Here Durog, let me give you a hand."

The innkeeper grunts at Piper as the dog circles around behind him and braces the barrel, taking some of the weight from the raccoon's back. "Goes there," he mutters, jerking his head towards a table with a few other barrels settled on it.

"Quite a lot of ale. Is there going to be a party tonight?" Piper tries to keep in step with the raccoon.

"Nope. Old barrel's empty." They stagger over to the table and, with the help of a footstool before it, manage to heft it into place. With the weight of the barrel off of him, Durog straightens, bracing a hand against the small of his back and arching it, making a few more grunts. "Thanks, Pipe." He's an imposing figure, especially for a Rath'ani, well over six feet tall and solidly built, and he eyes the mutt incuriously as he cracks his knuckles absently.

"Happy to lend a hand. Urrr." The mutt rubs the back of his neck and whines to himself. "By the way, do you know where my Creen is? I noticed that it had gone missing when I came back in today."

"Creen?" He looks briefly puzzled, then nods and grunts. "That ill-tempered monster you had in the common room? Nope, don't know."

"I apologize if I am misunderstanding the situation, misseur – but when I sniffed at the latch I noticed your scent on it." Piper's tail fights very hard to not tuck itself between his legs.

Durog steps down from the footstool before the table, and walks over to the rack of dishes drying beside the sink. He starts piling the plates together, then pauses at the dog's words. "Was in there earlier. Cleaning. Might've touched the cage," he replies after a moment's thought.

The dog tilts his head to the side. "Perhaps you accidentally nudged the latch? I had not fully tamed it yet, misseur. It might not be safe to have it flying loose around your inn. May I have permission to search around here before it attacks one of your guests?"

"Nat fired the drudge boy 's morning. Short-handed now," the innkeeper adds, perhaps by way of explanation. "Might've jarred it." He piles the large plates together, and carries them to a rack with other plates, then straightens, looking at the dog. He grunts. "Go 'head. Knock first. And don't try any locked doors."

"Thank you, misseur." Piper bows again and steps out. He glances at April as he leaves the kitchen and takes a few curious whiffs of the air, comparing her scent to the innkeeper's.

April's scent bears some resemblance to her father's, but they're unmistakably different, especially to a keen nose like Piper's. The Gallah also notes another familiar scent in the air, moments before he spots a Jupani with one ripped ear quaffing from a mug at beside the small bar.

Piper whimpers to himself and rubs his nose. This is a mystery that might take the rest of the evening to solve… oh well, at least he won't be bored. At the sight of the Jupani, he brightens quite a bit and waves. "Bonjour, Misseur Torn-Ear. Fancy meeting you here."

The Jupani sets his stein onto the counter and grins at the raccoon girl, who looks distinctly uncomfortable. She darts a quick smile to Piper as he speaks. "He was jus' lookin' for you, too," she tells him brightly, while Torn-ear turns his attention to the dog as well.

"Yah, sure was, Piper. How've you been, kid?" the wolf inquires, leaning back with one hand against the bar.

"Moi? I don't normally have guests here." The Gallah's tail waggles as he circles around the bar. "It's a delight to see you again, Misseur Torn Ear. Where is your quiet companion?"

The wolf makes a noncommittal waggling gesture with one hand. "Silent's off on other business. And's business that brings me here, too – might've some work for you." He grins toothily to Piper. "Interested?"

"Indeed, misseur!" Piper lolls his tongue out, the Creen completely forgotten for now. "What sort of work would you have me do?"

Turning his side to the bar to squarely face the Gallah, Torn-ear waves his hand expansively. "'s not work for me, actually. There's this place in Little Babel – " he pauses and looks into Piper's eyes, " – you don't have any problems with bats, d'ya?"

"No misseur. I don't even howl when they squeak loudly." The Gallah's back stiffens a bit unconsciously.

Torn-ear nods approval. "'S good. 's market in Little Babel, 'Eeeeat Up' – honest, I didn't name it – and they've got a pest problem wit' Creens. Keep getting into their produce and eating it up, seems." He guffaws. "Anyway, owner's looking for someone to fix the problem, and I told him I knew someone and I'd send ya down if you were available. So, are ya?"

Piper brightens all the more. "Yes I am, misseur! Do you need me this evening, or shall I start in the morning?" His tail wags. "Thank you ever so much for getting me a job! If I can ever repay you, please feel free to call upon me."

The other male grins again, leaning forward to slap Piper's shoulder. "'s great. He said the problem's worst during the day, so you should stop in next mornin'. Tell 'em Torn-ear sent ya." He drops a few shekels onto the counter and winks at the nervous girl behind the bar. "Take care of y'rself."

"You as well, Misseur! And thank you again!" The Gallah practically bounces on his toes in delight.

With a wave and a smirk, the Jupani exits the establishment, flicking a shekel up in the air and catching it deftly as he walks away.

Piper grins to April. "Isn't he wonderful? We've barely just met and he was kind enough to arrange a job for me in these tight times. Catching Creens no less! Maybe I can find one that's a bit more tame than the last… the last… OH! I forgot all about it!"

The Rath'ani girl looks reluctant to share Piper's enthusiasm for his friend. "That's good," she says dubiously, leaning against the cash box. She twitches slightly. "Did Da know anything about it?" she asks at the mention of his erstwhile Creen.

"Your father said he might have bumped the latch. He gave me permission to search the inn to make sure it wasn't running around loose here. Hopefully I can find it before it bites someone." The Gallah's eyes fall upon the girl's bandaged finger.

"Um. Yeah. It sure was mean, especially for a Creen," April agrees. She folds her hands together on top of the cash box.

Piper folds his arms across the top of the bar and rests his head on them. "April, I promise I won't get angry at what you have to say and I'll believe whatever it is you tell me… but are you quite sure you've not seen my missing Creen? Is there something you're not telling me?"

The raccoon girl flattens her ears against her head and leans back from the cash box at Piper's inquiry, her tail swishing fitfully. "Oh … umm … oh!" She sniffles suddenly, then lifts her hands to hide her face in them. "I'm sorry!" emerges her muffled exclamation. "I din't mean for it to happen!"

"There there, Mam'selle." The Gallah digs in his pockets and fishes out a rag that he uses for a handkerchief. "What happened?"

The raccoon girl wipes at her face with her hands. "I was in the common room cleaning, and when I went to move its cage so I could wipe off the trunk, it slipped its little head right through the bars and bit me!" She holds up her injured finger for proof. "And it wouldn't let go, either! Da came up when he heard me scream – 'cuz it startled me, and it hurt! – and he, um, got it to let go … by … um … crushing its head." She sniffles again.

Piper winces. "Oh, Mam'selle… I'm so sorry. I should have had a cover on the cage or warned you that it was a nasty thing." His ears droop. "I hope you weren't injured too badly?"

"Da said it was a mean Creen anyway; you'd be better off without it. An' that we din't have to tell you how it happened, 'cause you'd never know if we din't tell you." Her ears are still plastered against her head as she peers guiltily at the Gallah. "So we cleaned everything up and left. 'm sorry I didn't just tell you. I thought you'd be mad." She pauses in her monologue, rubbing at her face again with the offered handkerchief. "'m fine. We cleaned the bite out good… I don't think it's any worse than a knife cut. Ma's worried that it might have disease or something, but I think it's fine."

"If it gets infected, be sure and let me know. I'm not at all upset, just a bit sad that you suffered harm because of it." The mutt places a gloved hand against his chest. "If I have another mean creature, I'll be sure and cover its cage up and warn the rest of you. I hope you're not terribly mad at me because of this?"

April looks bewildered by the inquiry. "Me? Mad at you?" She shakes her head vigorously in negation. "No!" She sniffles again, and blows her nose into the rag before offering a hesitant smile to the mongrel.

The dog stuffs the rag back into his pocket, oblivious of its current contents. "I'm glad for that. Well, I'll consider the matter forgotten then… and if I can catch some game for your father the next time I'm in the Rephidim woods, I'll try to repay him for the damage that way."

The raccoon girl brightens considerably. "Okay. Thank you, Piper! Is there anything I can get for you now?"

Piper stretches and yawns. "Perhaps some dinner? I should probably eat and have my strength up if I'm to be chasing Creens over Little Babel tomorrow. You've got to be fast and alert if you're trying to catch something with wings."

Nestled a few shops down from Dali's Pastries, a sizable two-tiered structure with a sturdy wooden frame and canvas sides houses "Eeeeat Up." A multi-layered display of numerous different kinds of live insects in translucent chitin and mesh cages, as well as an assortment of fruits, dominates the store front on each level. Large chalkboards proclaim "Today's Specials!" with a handful of names and prices below, while the cages and fruits themselves are sporadically labeled, if at all. An elderly brown-furred Eeee with a graying face stands at the front of the lower level, occasionally squeaking commands to her two bat assistants.

Piper weaves through the bats and other patrons of Little Babel. His bow and a full quiver of arrows rests across his back and a few bags of bait, repellent, and some handmade snares hang from his belt. The empty Creen cage is tucked neatly under his arm. He eyes the workers at the restaurant and focuses on the elder Eeee. Figuring her to be the best chance of finding someone in charge, he jogs up to her. "Mam'selle! Good morning Mam'selle!"

The bat female turns towards the Gallah, and squeaks a greeting out to him, then makes some more unintelligible squeaks, gesturing to the produce arrayed in the display before the tent.

The Gallah pushes his way through the crowd until he's at the front of the store. He carefully sets the cage down at his feet. "Greetings Mam'selle. I was told that you were having a Creen problem here, by my friend Torn Ear. I am here to help you remove that problem. I'm Piper, exterminator extrordinare."

The Eeee leans forward, squinting at the vermin-catcher while he makes his short speech. It's a few moments before she responds, then she breaks into a wide grin and bobs her head up and down in understanding. "Ee! Yes, very good, here to kill Creen? Very good! Owner say he send someone new, not say who. Come, come, show you where problem worst." She steps outside the shop and flits her way to the second level, before turning and gesturing for the dog to follow.

After a few moments of looking around, the Gallah spots a rickety-looking ladder half-hidden behind a rack of produce, leading to the second level. The Eeee seems bewildered at first by his lack of response to her beckoning, then she sees his eyes wandering over to the ladder, and laughs, pointing to it and gesturing for him to come up.

"I'm on my way, Madame." The Gallah executes an exaggerated bow and then starts to scrabble up the ladder after the lady bat.

The ladder wobbles perilously as the mongrel makes his way up, but he reaches the top without further incident. The bat meets him there, taking his arm and leading him to the back of the store, past rows of cages filled with such items as large, crawling black beetles, and tiny flies that buzz in anger against the fine metal mesh constraining them.

"So how long have the Creens been a nuisance here, Madame? Does it look to be a seasonal problem, or is there something here that attracts them?" Piper sniffs at the air, glancing curiously at all of the bugs.

At the back of the tent, she gestures to an old tower located in the row behind theirs. "Think Creens come from there," she tells Piper. "Sent man to clean out tower once – he say he do but – phah! – problem just as bad few days later." She screws up her face in distaste. "They come because our produce is best!" she proclaims loudly. She reaches into a nearby cage and pulls out a fist-sized caterpillar-like insect with brilliant purple, red and blue colored-chitin, waggling it at the mutt for emphasis. "See! Look at colors! Mmmm-mmm! Creens love them."

The shopkeeper bites the head off the wriggling insect and chews on it contentedly, a look of pleasure on her face. "Ah! Finest in Rephidim!" She gestures with the still-wriggling body towards the large open window at the back of the store. "Creen come through window most. We put mesh over window, but – phah! – Creen chew through mesh! Put up more mesh, chew through it again! Then they come through front of store, too. Is no good."

Piper bobs his head up and down. "Yes Madame." He points to the tower again. "Does that place belong to anybody? I mean … does anyone live there?"

The shopkeeper shakes her head at the mutt's query. "No, no one live there now."

The Gallah pulls out a small bag of repellent from his belt and draws out an arrow. "Very well, Madame. I shall get to work immediately. Perhaps if I cleared out the area where they roost first, they will be less of a bother to you, but I also need to keep them from flying into here while they do it."

Again, there's a pause while the shop attendant considers the mutt's words, then she nods in eager assent. "Yes, very good! Clean roost, and keep out. You need anything, you tell, right? I go, help customer now?" She pats Piper's arm gently with her unoccupied hand, then licks at the top half of her caterpillar.

"Yes Madame, I'll be fine here." Piper sets his Creen cage down again and gauges its size compared to the window.

Another pat on the Gallah's arm, and the bat flits off, crunching on her snack.

The window is roughly eight feet wide and perhaps one and a half feet high. It's framed by thick pieces of wood with canvas stretched between them, like the rest of the semi-permanent building. The wood around the window, however, suffers from appreciable gnawing damage. Two flaps of canvas, each about four feet wide, are tied up over the window; pulling them down would apparently shutter the opening.

The Gallah spends the next several minutes setting up around and inside the market by laying down repellent to keep the Creens from bothering the customers and setting some snares and his cage with some bait inside around the areas with the bugs. After he decides he's as set as he can possibly be, he stands at the open window, aims an arrow with a bag of Creen repellent speared though it at the heart of the tower and fires it off.

The shaft flies true, sailing through an unglazed window on the tower, with an arc that should cause it to impact with either a wall or floor inside, depending on how low the floor is set relative to the building. For a moment, nothing happens, and then a multicolored cloud rises out of all the windows of the abandoned building, and Piper hears the "cree! cree!" sounds from the disturbed reptiles.

The Gallah hastily grabs the shutters of the window and tries to close it as rapidly as he can before the swarm hits the building.

The canvas flaps that serve to shutter the windows, it turns out, have chunks missing from the corners, frayed cloth marking many of the edges. Still, they cover most of the opening, at least leaving little area for the pests to enter through.

Nodding, the dog quickly baits his Creen cage and sets it next to him as he takes a position near the crates of bugs. He pulls out his pipes and waits to see what happens next.

Through one of the corners of the tent, Piper spots the colorful feathers of approaching Creen wings, but many of them seem to fall back before reaching the tent, perhaps put off by the same repellent scent that drove them from the tower. One determined serpent flies to an opening and starts to wriggle its way through, wings folded sleekly to its body.

Piper waits quietly. He does wish to allow one Creen in after all; hopefully this one will be better behaved than its predecessor. He doesn't move a muscle and simply sits there with his pipes held to his lips.

From behind him, towards the front of the store, the Gallah catches the sound of beating wings and faint "cree! cree!" noises.

The mutt slowly stands and pushes the cage forward with his foot, then he quickly spins around and jogs to the front, sharply whistling through his pipes in a higher pitched "Cree! Cree!" noise.

A threesome of Creens have flitted through the open front, as they needn't go as close to where the Creen repellent is laid in order to enter. One drops towards an open-topped cage of bugs, then hovers in the air as the piping Gallah approaches. Its two companions startle, flit nervously backwards, then spin about, fleeing.

Piper boldly stomps towards the remaining Creen. He drops his pipes and loudly barkbarkBARKS at the Creen instead!

The Creen hovers for just a second longer, blinking at the Gallah, then, drops towards the bugs, darting down with mouth open to grab one.

"Oh no you don't!" Piper huffs and makes a grab at the little winged reptile.

The Creen flicks its tail and drops its wings, evading Piper's grasp even as it manages to snag out a large juicy beetle. It swallows its meal down even as it changes the arc of its dive to swoop narrowly away from the open-topped cage.

From the first level, Piper can hear more feathered wings beating, and the angry, indignant squeaks of bats.

The Gallah makes another swipe at the Creen, whistling a similar call he made from the pipes through his teeth.

This time, his grab connects, fingers closing around the animal's neck, just below the head and above the wings. "Cree!" it squeaks, wriggling and flapping its wings anxiously, tail lashing at the mutt's wrist.

Piper quickly rushes back to his cage and tries to stuff the little creature inside. "Now now, misseur, you must pay for that beetle you ate. But don't worry, I am sure that your new owner will feed you very well."

"Cree?" The winged serpent flaps its wings against the sides of the cage as it peers out at the Gallah when the device is latched. Meanwhile, the cries from below are growing more agitated.

The Gallah hops to the ladder and starts to climb down, his pipes are clenched firmly between his teeth and he begins making the same shrill "Cree! Cree!" noises in hops of scaring off some of the creatures before he arrives back on the bottom.

As he gets low enough to see into the shop, he notices that his piping does seem to have further agitated the pests … but since there's no open window on the first level, and his piping is coming from the entrance; three unhappy Creens flap around at the back of the first level, pursued by a broom-wielding assistant shopkeeper. A fourth Creen seems unperturbed by either the sound or its own pursuer, as it snatches a fruit and loses the attendant chasing it by passing over a high stack of cages.

"Back away a bit!" Piper ceases his playing long enough to get to the back of the store and motions for the other Eeee to stand at the fore. He begins his playing again and tries to push the three Creens out the front.

With Piper at the back of the store and the irritated shopkeeper standing aside, the three agitated Creens soon wing their way out of shop. The last Creen swallows the fruit it purloined, and snatches a bug for the next course, then hovers in the air, perhaps deciding on dessert.

The Gallah responds to this by drawing his bow and aiming an arrow at the Creen. He strides towards it. "Misseur, I would suggest you follow your friends out of here. I cannot allow you to steal from these fine shop owners anymore." Not that the Creen understands a word he's saying, but the Gallah hopes it understands what a bow means.

The Creen appears oblivious to any potential danger, and begins a quick descent towards a vat of aquatic insects.

Piper swallows and lets his arrow fly.

A sprinkle of feathers jars loose from the Creen as the shaft catches it mid-dive, impacting its throat and carrying it straight backwards, thunking into a wooden support beam on the tent and quivering there. The tail of the impaled animal twitches feebly.

The Gallah slings his bow across his shoulders again and heads back towards the ladder. "I'll be back to fetch the Creen in a moment, misseurs. Don't touch it, as the head can still bite you and the smell of blood might help keep more of them away. I'll be back as soon as I know that the rest of your wares are safe."

For a moment, silence fills the shop, while a few startled customers and shopkeepers glance at each other. Then the elderly Eeee starts clapping delightedly, and, laughing, most of the other bats do the same, granting the exterminator an ovation as he climbs the ladder.