In the end, they redirect their efforts.

Beist cannot possibly take care of so many creatures on his own, and although Leni-Aura feels sympathy for the weird little creatures in their temporary care, neither can she. It is best for everyone involved that they find the strange creatures new homes; but how, and where?

Who would take these creatures in, and give them a home better than the awful, cruel place they had been rescued from?

It’s hard to say… but given their direction already after a day’s worth of fleeing Darkveil; Sky Peak Village is right in their trajectory.

Maybe they could find home for the creatures there?

The idea of crossing the border back into Dragon’s Cradle had, initially, given the rabbitaur pause; she had crossed the border multiple times, and had yet to run into any signs of her warren… but she risked it every time she stepped foot back into a land she’d once called home.

She doesn’t want to risk Beist’s safety, though; and it doesn’t take much to convince her to go with the big beast man to Sky Peak; as a companion, and a second line of protection.

Just in case.

The companion thing, though?

She doesn’t make for the greatest companion… at least, she doesn’t think so; but she supposes she’s better than nothing, and she enjoys Beist’s company. She still recalls vividly all the nerves he’d had at the end of the heist, and how upset the beast man had been— and so, she does her best to make the most of the trip and keep his mind off of the worst-case scenarios.

She makes a point to show Beist her progress on writing in common; a feat that she has, admittedly, been trying hard to master despite it all still looking like chicken scratch. She offers reluctant stories of how she and her friend and occasional traveling companion, Ulrich, had originally come across Nimbus— and how she still meets him now and again, and it’s really not a big deal— and she doesn't understand why Beist is so nosey about it. She gets to meet Beist’s new companions; and helps take care of the creatures in the wagon.

And eventually, after some time, they finally arrive in Sky Peak.

Leni-Aura looks out at the town as it appears on the horizon, ears tilting towards it. It's been a long journey through the Lightning Fields, but it's paid off.

 “There it is,” she sighs, running a hand through her bangs; Nimbus chitters from his favorite spot— anywhere in Beist’s robes— and peeps out curiously at the sound of Leni’s voice. She looks over her shoulder, watching a bird-dog-rabbit, maybe? scratch at its long ears from the corner of the wagon. “So… how do you think we should go about this…? Do we just, knock on doors and hope that someone has a place for one of them?”

Beist considered Leni like a granddaughter to him, and what grandparent wouldn't be nosy about their grandchild's special companion? He listened intently as she told him her stories about Ulrich and how they'd first found Nimbus. She'd never mentioned anyone had been with her when she'd found the little drake before, so this was news to him. He was a little jealous. He wished he'd been there when she'd first found the drake, but it didn't hurt him. On the contrary, hearing that she'd bonded with someone over such an event and now was in a relationship with someone thanks to it made him far happier. (Beist took some artistic liberties with Leni's actual description of events.)

Beist has a bit of a spring to his step, his tail swaying happily behind him a little more than usual as he tended to the animals on their journey to Dragon's Cradle. He was happy to hear of Leni's continued studies into learning to read, but he was mostly focused on Leni's (in his mind) love life. He was the epidemy of a nosy grandparent the entire time, asking questions and smiling wide with a sparkle in his eye. Leni had found someone she liked, something he'd never expected, but had hoped for her and encouraged.

His thoughts were brought back to Charon as Leni brought up the matter of how exactly they were going to go about handing out these animals to good homes. He brought his hand to his fluffy chin and stared off into space, lost in thought.

"Hmm. Maybe it would be easier if we drew people to the wagon instead. Perhaps a sign to get some attention." Beist thought about it, mumbling as he stroked his beard before looking to Leni. "Do you know anyone in this village that could help us get the word out?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Catch that thief!
Chapter: Three
Description:
The night has come, the eve of the Winters Crown, the longest night in Charon. People all across Charon are going to be dressing up as the Red Rogue and attempting to deliver stolen goods to poor families. We need you to stop them! Your task is simple, find one of these thieves, either on the way to a home or maybe in the process of delivering the stolen goods and stop them. How you stop them is up to you!

Requirements:
- Requires exactly two people (you and one other, can be doing opposing quest)
- You must make at least 5 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words
- Once you complete this mission you have completed this quest chain and may now purchase items from below.

“A sign?” Leni-Aura repeats, looking up at Beist with her head tilted; she ponders the idea of making a sign to get attention, but what would it say? She looks back into the wagon, watching the strange hybrid creatures interact with one another. “Maybe… How do we even begin to describe this, though?”

It’s not like they are puppies, or kittens—

... Well, some of them might be… half of those things…

Leni-Aura hesitates when Beist asks if she knows anyone here, and the rabbitaur purses her lips while she thinks. It’s not like this is the first time she’s been to Sky Peak— the first time was when she had come here with the merchant party, and then once with Ulrich after escorting Astrid through the Lightning Fields— but she’s reluctant to mention that because Beist keeps making weird faces and asking too many questions whenever she mentions the man.

“The Bird’s Perch?” She suggests after a moment of pause; she looks at Nimbus with a subtle smile when the drake wiggles back into Beist’s robes to keep warm. She looks back up at the beast man, the expression quickly fading into something more neutral, “The last time I went there, there was a dwarf lady who remembered me from when I traveled with Orym… She was nice to us; we could talk to her and see if she could help get word around.”

It's really the only person she can think of; unfortunately, with Leni-Aura being... well, herself... she tends to only make shallow connections with the people on her travel, and... well, Dragon's Cradle isn't one of her more heavily-traversed locations given her own circumstances, anyways.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." Beist nodded and looked around ahead for the sign of The Bird's Perch. It wasn't hard to spot. The Bird's Perch stood out a lot in the village, being five stories tall and located at the summit of the mountain's peak the village was built upon. How a restaurant received such a place of distinction in the town rather than something like a temple or the home of the nobleman in charge of the place, Beist didn't know. Maybe he'd look into it. It was rather interesting, but he didn't want to be sidetracked right now. First priority was finding homes for these animals.

With Dora pulling the wagon, they'd reach the place fairly soon. It was an uphill walk, but with the paths carved from the mountain, it wasn't as harsh as if she had to pull it up a cliff face. The village was used to having wagons. Maybe not any as large as this one though. They received a few stares as they went through town. Honestly, news of their arrival in town might have already spread without any assistance, but they still wanted someone local to help them let everyone know why they were here. It'd be better to have someone the locals had some trust in spread the word than to just start shouting it out as they rolled down the street.

As they went, Beist looked to Leni with a raised eyebrow, having heard something in her words that caught his interest.

"So, you no longer travel with Orym and the others? I would have liked to ask if they're doing well. Have you not seen them in a while?"

Leni-Aura’s ears perk and then lie back slightly in regards to Beist’s question; she seems a little uneasy but nods in agreement, anyways. “Not as much,” she admits; the rabbitaur twirls a lock of her hair, not meeting Beist’s eyes while she speaks. “I saw them…” she trails off, hazel eyes drifting towards the twisting path that Dora’s leading them up. “…Maybe a month ago. Last time I saw them, they were doing well.”

She nods, and finally dares to look up at Beist.

“We are still on good terms,” she says, “Orym has retired to King’s Valley to be with his family, and away from so much travel… He makes me write him so he knows I am not slacking on my studying. Alora sends me things sometimes from the road, when they know I will be in one place for a time.” She turns her head slightly, “They are nice, but after Orym left, I felt…”

She trails off, then corrects herself; unwilling to continue with whatever line of thought she had been going down.

“I cannot rely on other people forever; I know Charon well enough now to make it from place to place. I have been doing odd jobs and mercenary work; and still searching for evidence of that… thing, that we found in the Ash Lands.” She references the Sol Stone, and their journey with Javal, loosely. “I am keeping myself busy, but I still run into the caravan now and then. I will let Orym know that I met you— I’m sure he will be very happy to know that you are thinking of him.”

"Mm. I see. I'm happy for him. Retirement sounds nice." Beist replied, combing his claws through his beard. Retirement sure did sound nice, but he wasn't quite ready for it yet himself. He might be old, but he still had a lot he wanted to do. Potions to invent, connections to make. He felt like he was only getting started. No, retirement was still a long ways off for the beast man, if he had anything to say about it.

Beist put a giant hand gently on top of Leni's head, ruffling her hair and flattening her ears against her head. "It's alright. I understand. It's not the same, being in a group your friend introduced you to without your friend there. You don't have to explain." He said comfortingly. "I'm glad you're keeping in touch though. That's wonderful. If you don't mind, I'd like to know where he settled down so that I can start sending him letters as well."

Beist listened to Leni as she mentioned the Sol Stone and spoke about not wanting to rely on others anymore. He was sad to hear her talk like that. He didn't know what to make of the Sol Stone, historical artifacts like that weren't really his area of expertise. But, he could at least give some grandfatherly advice.

"It's good to not want to rely on others too much, but don't forget that you can still do so if you need to. There's nothing wrong with asking for a little help sometimes. I wouldn't mind if you relied on me, you know. Well, maybe not during a fight, but other than that... You can call me if you ever need someone to watch after Nimbus here, for example!" Beist chuckled, patting the wiggling lump in his robes where the little Drake was climbing around on him.

"Oh! Speaking of seeing Orym again, that reminds me!" Beist suddenly gasped and turned to stick an arm through the window at the front of the wagon. He rifled around for a moment before pulling his arm back, but now he was holding a bundle of green in his hand. He pulled it apart into smaller pieces, holding them up for Leni to see.

"I meant to give these to you and Nimbus next time we met, but in all the excitement I completely forgot! I knitted these myself from extra wool from Leon. I hope you like them." Beist said happily as he gave Leni a sweater, hat, and scarf that were all made from the same green wool. The hat was made with holes in it for Leni's rabbit ears. The sweater was very small, being sized to fit the little Drake, and had slits in the back that buttoned closed at the bottom for Nimbus's wings to go through. They weren't perfect, being some of Beist's first attempts at knitting. They were made with a lot more love and care than actual skill, the knitting being a bit clumsy and the pattern uneven in some places.

Beist also showed her a pair of green mitts that were made with an extra layer of insulation on the inside. "And these are for Orym. They're for picking up hot things without getting burned. I can mail these to him myself if you'd rather not have to carry them."

“Mm,” Leni-Aura agrees, casting her eyes downwards; she, personally, does not understand the appeal of retirement. In her home, there is rarely such thing; and most tend to die out before reaching the age of an elder. At the same time, Orym had been traveling for much longer before she joined them— already well into his twilight years by the time she woke in their care— and even in that short time, he met and pushed through perilous dangers and hazards at his old age.

Though she doesn’t quite grasp the full concept, she can agree that it was probably well-earned; and knowing that Orym is safe at home settles something anxious in her chest at the thought of leaving the other merchants.

Leni-Aura blinks, grumbling beneath her breath when Beist places a hand atop her head; it’s heavy, and it causes her to hunch over slightly while he ruffles her hair. A bit disoriented when he lifts his hand, she claps her hands over her head (hair now fully displaced) and looks up at him with an expression that seems confused at first; gradually, her expression softens somewhat— transitioning from confusion, to slight embarrassment. She smooths out a few displaced strands of hair, turning her eyes down while Beist comforts her about her reluctance to explain.

She’s a little embarrassed that he picked up on it so fast.

Without Orym, things just felt… not quite right, but… it makes her feel a little better to know that it wasn’t out of line for her to do. She clears her throat, nodding slightly, “I try, but… my handwriting still isn’t very good; sometimes he sends me letters talking about completely different things.” She wrinkles her nose slightly, ears perking slightly when Beist starts talking again. “I am not…” She trails off, about to tell Beist that she does not like to rely on others; but he seems to be in a good mood, and the offer that he is willing to help her, at the very least, makes her feel warm.

Instead of finishing her sentence, she chuckles; her hazel eyes growing softer while she watches Beist pat at the wiggling lump that is Nimbus, “Alright.” She agrees with hesitance, ears tilting back slightly; she hears Nimbus squawk from within Beist’s robes, an outline of the drake’s maw poking through the fabric a little while he tries to gnaw at Beist’s hand playfully. Finally, he pops his little head from the cross of Beist’s robes, snorting slightly after he’s done so.

Leni-Aura watches Beist lean back, and tilts her head when he produces a green blob; one which turns into several green blobs. “You… knit them? You made these?” She remarks, taking a few of the green bundles that Beist offers; they’re soft, clearly made from the wool of a woolful. She blinks, looking at them curiously; they were… very clearly made with she and Nimbus in mind; the fact that Beist even put little holes in the hat for her ears…

For a minute, she’s a bit at a loss for words.

He just, made these?

For her and Nimbus?

… Because he, just, wanted to?

She doesn’t quite realize that her eyes have gotten a bit misty until Beist speaks again; she blinks a few times, looking away while she clears her throat, before looking at the green mitts that he’s holding out to her as his gift for Orym. There’s a bright warmth in her chest over Beist’s gifts that she’s finding hard to place.

“Oh, um… I can…” She trails off, about to reach for the mitts before pausing. “Or… maybe you should mail them, I think Orym would be happy to hear from you… I can write— or, maybe you should write, where he stays. I can give it to you… I think he would really like them.” She offers quickly, brushing the back of a hand beneath one of her eyes while she turns away and looks back at the hat, sweater, and scarf that she holds in her palms.

She gives Beist a couple of somewhat awkward side glances, before she finally speaks, her voice a little more sheepish than usual. “Um… Thank you, Beist… these are really nice.”

Beist started to get a little worried when he noticed Leni getting a bit teary-eyed. Were they that bad? He wasn't an expert at knitting, still a beginner really, but he had tried very hard. He looked away and fumbled with his hands awkwardly, a bit disappointed in himself. Maybe he shouldn't have given these to Leni and Nimbus. They weren't good enough.

"I know they're not the best. I've just recently taken knitting up, so I'm still learning, and my hands are too large, so the small details can be a bit difficult..." Beist mumbled to himself awkwardly, his ears drooping sadly. He was making excuses to himself more than he was to Leni, trying to make himself feel better for giving her and her little Drake such shotty work as gifts.

He was surprised to hear her say she liked them and that Orym would like the mitts as well. Maybe she was just saying it to be polite, but it still warmed his heart a bit. He smiled again and looked at Leni "You're welcome. I'm glad you like them. I'd be happy if you wrote his address down for me. I'd like to see the results of your practice for myself. Let me get something to write it on."

Beist reached into the wagon again to retrieve a scrap of paper and an oversized quill pen with a corked bottle of ink. Beist chuckled and handed Leni the quill which looked comically large in her hand. "I'm sorry, I forgot all of my quills are a bit larger than usual so I can use them more easily. I actually make them with Dora's shed feathers. You can keep this one if you'd like, I have a lot of them."

As he was speaking, Dora came to a stop in front of the Bird's Perch. The trip had passed quickly while they were busy talking. Beist hadn't even noticed how close they'd gotten until they were already there. As the wagon suddenly stopped, he looked around in confusion for a moment before realizing they'd arrived.

"Oh, we're here! Thank you Dora. I got a bit lost in the conversation, didn't I?"

Dora just gave a short screech, looking over her shoulder with an unimpressed look.

Beist chuckled and gave an embarrassed smile to whatever the Griffon had just said to him.

Leni-Aura can’t bring herself to meet Beist’s eyes even after thanking him; instead, she studies the knit patterns of what she’s holding. She has no idea what the process is or how long it takes: to gather wool from Leon, to make it into yarn, and then the process of making it. Her brows furrow slightly as she brushes her thumb across the plush material. “I do,” she responds when Beist says he’s glad she likes it. “I do not… I do not think anyone has ever made me a gift like this before...”

She blinks a few times, perking her ears when Beist asks her to write down Orym’s address; she nods, carefully folding the green bundles to tuck them away in one of her saddle bags. She still feels a bit warm and fuzzy, but she wrinkles her nose in embarrassment when he talks about her practice. “It is still not very good,” she admits; surprise crosses her face when he hands her a piece of paper, and a quill nearly as big as Nimbus is.

She takes the quill in both hands, staring at it for a moment, before looking quizzically back at Beist. She has a hard time writing with a regular quill! How in the world is she supposed to navigate this?

“It is Dora’s?” She repeats in slight disbelief; she moves to hold the feather in both hands, and runs down the soft edges with a finger. “That makes sense…” she remarks, a little quieter; Dora is a pretty large girl, after all. There’s a slight sparkle in her eye when Beist tells her she can keep it, and she nods in agreement. “That would be nice, thank you.”

She has no idea what she will do with this quill, but she’s certain she could find some use for it… When the wagon finally comes to a stop, even Leni-Aura is surprised; she hasn’t even gotten to write Orym’s address down.

“Orym’s address… Right… Um… hold on, before we go inside…”

She looks somewhat reluctantly at the quill in terms of writing with it; and gives it her damndest to write his address down.

While Leni-Aura attempts (and struggles) to write Orym’s address on the paper, Nimbus gives a little chuff at whatever Dora’s comment had been. He pokes his head out, cooing at Beist, and wiggling his wings up to rest his claws on the V of his robes while he waits.

At some point, the rabbitaur does manage to get a (roughly legible) version of Orym’s address down; although, she has also created a massive ink splotch on one corner of the paper, followed by several smaller ink splotches, and also crossed out several renditions of attempts throughout the page.

She stares at it for a moment, before looking up at Beist helplessly.

“You are sure you don’t want to write it instead?”

Beist just chuckled as Nimbus and Dora squawked and screeched at each other. He patted Nimbus lightly. Their argument was adorable to Beist, who could understand what they were saying and knew it was just playful teasing from Dora and childish replies from the baby Drake. He did find it very cute that Nimbus had defended him after hearing Dora's joke, but he hadn't minded the griffon's teasing.

Beist took the paper from Leni and looked it over. It really was barely legible, but he could at least read it. That was good enough for him. At least it was a lot better than it had been when he'd first started teaching her. He guessed the words were spelled at least half correct. Quite the improvement.

"Your writing has improved!" He said happily, smiling brightly at Leni. "I'm glad to see you continuing your studies. I'll have to check your reading while we're together as well. After we've finished finding good homes for these little ones." He finished cheerily, but a glint in his eye would tell Leni that he planned to put her through another brutal course on reading and writing, like he had done so long ago in the Lightning Fields. He was already formulating some lessons in the back of his head.

He stashed the paper with Orym's address in his bag and stepped down from the wagon which seemed to groan with appreciation at being relieved of the heavy weight of the giant beast man. He took a look at the front door of the Bird's Perch with a sigh. Of course, the door was far too small for him, as usual.

"Perhaps you should go in and find that Dwarven woman you mentioned who might help us. I'll wait here and watch the animals."

Leni-Aura’s ears lift slightly, “… Has it?” She asks, brows furrowing in slight confusion; she looks back at her hardly legible scrawls, unconvinced. When it comes to combat, Leni-Aura can easily feel improvement; but with something like writing, or reading, its a lot harder to judge.

Her writing is still hard to read, and even if she doesn’t need to stare at the letters so intently to copy them, her penmanship has hardly improved from her perspective.

When Beist adds that he’ll need to check her reading later, she lowers her ears slightly; a soft, nervous laugh escapes her lips and she pulls her spear closer to herself. “Oh…Yes, of course.” She agrees, not wanting to hurt Beist’s feelings again.

But… also she vividly recalls Beist’s literary bootcamp that he put her through in the Lightning Fields… and while she looks up to Beist, his passion about learning is almost equivalent to the Thunderpaw method of training.

Maybe she can distract him with the critters they’re hauling.

She looks back up when Beist mentions finding the Dwarves woman, and Leni-Aura nods. “I’ll be right back. Nimbus, I—” She turns to look at Nimbus, expression falling slightly when she sees that the drake is snuggled very contently in Beist’s robes. He looks at her with a face that says he’s not moving out of his very comfortable spot.

She rolls her eyes.

“—I guess you stay right there. I’ll be back.”

With that, Leni-Aura hops off the side of the wagon, and disappears into the inn to look for a familiar Dwarven woman. It takes a short while; and as she’s gone, people enter and leave the inn, glancing quizzically at the massive beast man and his entourage of animal companions as they do so.

Eventually, however, Leni-Aura reappears; she holds the door open for a stout woman, who walks out after her. “Ho! You weren’t kiddin’, never seen one of those before.” She remarks, voice loud and bombastic.

“No, Miss Copperheart, that’s Dora. She’s a griffon.” The rabbitaur corrects. “She is not part of the hybrid creatures we are hoping to find homes for.”

Copperheart laughs loudly, “Oh! Sorry sweetheart; but my point still stands!”

Leni-Aura shakes her head a little, before looking up at Beist, “Beist, this is Miss Copperheart.”

“Howdy do, hon; I’d shake all your hands, but I’ve only got two.” The auburn-haired dwarven woman laughs, offering Beist a hand of introduction.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of him." Beist chuckled, patting the tiny drake's head nestled in his robes. He was quite used to Nimbus sticking to him like this whenever he and Leni met. He gave Leni a small wave as she went into the building. While he waited for her return, he took some books and started preparing some homework to give her, focusing on what needed the most work from what he'd read of her writing. She'd improved from when he'd first started teaching her, but he'd not stop trying to help until her writing was flawless, whether she liked it or not.

He looked up and put the books back into the window of the wagon when the door opened and Leni walked out, holding it open for a stout Dwarven woman with auburn hair. That must be the woman Leni had mentioned. She sure seemed friendly.

"Not to worry, one hand is plenty." Beist replied jokingly as he took her hand, wrapping his giant fingers around the woman's entire hand and gripping it firmly, but gently.

"The creatures we were looking for help with are in the back of the wagon. Follow me." He said as he stepped down from the wagon and lead them around to the back doors. He opened them to reveal the veritable swarm of creatures hidden within. He motioned with his hand, and all of his companions that he didn't wish to find a new home for separated themselves from the rest and climbed out the window to sit on the driver's seat or Dora's back or climbed up his robes and settled on his shoulder. Awd wanted to climb into Beist's robes, but saw his spot was already occupied by Nimbus. With a chitter, he climbed up onto Beist's shoulder instead.

"So, Leni said you could help us find these little ones some good homes?"

Copperheart laughs, shaking Beist’s hand with what would feel like enthusiasm to anyone else. She gathers up her skirts, stepping back to allow Beist down from the wagon, and follows the two of them around the back. Leni-Aura bounds to Beist’s other side, looking into the wagon as it opens.

Nimbus, meanwhile, sinks further into Beist’s robes and squawks at Awd when he comes to peek at his spot.

“Oh! Goodness.” A look of surprise crosses her face when she comes to realize the severity of the ‘hybrid’ creatures Leni-Aura had told her about. She tilts her head, braids falling over her shoulder, as she raises a curled hand to her chin. “Uh, well… Sure ain’t like finding a home for a few puppies.” She falls silent, observing the nervous animals quizzically— and noticing the largest hybrid with a surprised blink.

She furrows her brows a bit, falling silent in her pondering, before looking towards Beist and Leni.

“Well… there ain’t no one place I could send you to, I’ll tell ya that much; but— oh! Hello there.” Copperheart jumps a little when a winged frog lands on her shoulder and stays there. It blinks one eye, and then the other, with no evidence of a single thought running through its head. She continues, “There’s a farm southwest of here— The Bramblepatch Estate— they got livestock n’ crops, what grows this high anyway… Might be interested, specially if they’ve got good herdin’ or guardin’ instincts. Good people, the Bramblepatches; little halfling folks. Big family, big ranch, lots o’ room to run and lots o’ food.”

That’s a start.

“There’s also Skypeak Sanctuary— orphanage with the lil’ tykes runnin’ around— not far from here. Northeast, that way. They would love the critters. Lose their minds over ‘em.” While she speaks, Copperheart scratches beneath the frog’s chin; it closes its eyes contently. “Only other place I might be able t’send ya to would be… well, here, but most’a my patrons tend to be a little on the tipsy side. Might not trust ‘em on the decision making, if you know what I mean.” Copperheart elbows Beist playfully and laughs, before looking back into the wagon. "Otherwise, I'm not sure who could do with... well, so many critters. More than a basketful of 'em... where'd you find 'em all, anyways?"

"Oh, uh, a very unusual pet shop that, unfortunately, went out of business. For legal reasons. And other... reasons?" Beist floundered. His mastery over the Common language that Leni had come to know from him, sadly, did not extend to lying. And he didn't think telling anyone that the two of them had stolen all of the critters from a secret lab in Darkveil would go over very well.

"A- anyways! Those seem like lovely places for them." He stammered as he turned his attention back to the wagon full of critters. "How many of you would like to live on a farm? Raise a paw, or a leg, or... something." He instructed, addressing the swarm.

A large portion of the animals raised their various appendages. Beist repeated this, asking their opinion on living in an orphanage with some children, and then on finding a home with someone they liked here. Some of them raised their hand again, changing their mind. Some even raised their hand all three times.

"Alright, well, you have to pick one. So of the three, which would you like the most?"

When it was finally all settled on which of the animals wanted to go where, Beist looked to Copperheart and noticed the winged frog on her shoulder that seemed content.

"Looks like one of them has already found a new home, eh?" He chuckled, pointing to the frog. "Would you mind asking your patrons if any of them are looking to adopt any of these little ones?"

A small group of just a handful of the creatures emerged and looked at her expectantly. It looked like just a few of them were interested in finding their own homes individually while the rest wanted either the farm or the orphanage. That was probably for the best, since they had no idea how many people would actually be willing to adopt anyways.

“Oh?” Copperheart furrows her brows a little at Beist’s floundering; but if she catches onto his lie, she makes no outward suggestion that she has. “Very unusual, indeed…” She looks out at the swarm and watches the beast man interact with the creatures. Various of them raise a paw, or leg, or flipper when asked questions— which is curious, and she’s never seen animals respond in such a way.

When Beist addresses her again, she looks up at him with a blink, hands on her hips. She turns her head slightly to look at the frog, who is still perched happily on her shoulder, its bulbous eyes closed for now. She laughs, “Oh! Well, I didn’t have plans to bring home nothin’ today, but…” She reaches up and pats the frog on the back; it opens its eyes and stretches its wings out in response. “…Quite nice company, the little guy. Guess I wouldn't mind lettin' 'im come home with me.” She flashes Beist a grin, and nods. “Aye, I’ll see if I can pick a few out—”

“Wuhhhh, Ava, look!!”

Leni-Aura startles slightly, stepping aside to let a couple of small children rush through to look at the wagon; bright-eyed, and curious. Almost immediately, they bumble into a flurry of questions, mostly translating to different variations of the question, “What are they!?”

Copperheart bubbles into a laugh.

It doesn’t take long for a parent to stumble out after them; a wood-elf, with pink flowers woven into her tightly curled hair. “Ava! Rita! I’m so sorry, miss Copperheart. Sorry.” She gathers the kids in both arms and pulls them away from the wagon and offers Beist and Leni an apologetic look. “They saw the wagon through the window, I couldn’t stop them before they got out the door.”

“Ma, look at that one!”

“Yes, I see it.”

“It’s so cute!”

“It’s very cute, Ava.”

Copperheart offers Beist a pat on one of his arms, “Well, you got your first one; I’ll go see if any of my patrons got a little extra room in their hearts and their homes in the meantime.”