As the two began to walk through the city, Amuun became more and more perplexed with just how beautiful this new city really was. The buildings were all made of grey stone that looked almost as if the rock had always been shape it was now. The roads all led either across the city in small narrow alleyways or in wider forms toward the ocean. The port was clearly visible from any part of the town. Its shimmering blue water cast rays of light about the city dancing about its walls like nobleman at a ball. Behind the small city was a large fjord. Cliffs reached high up into a mountain range that looked almost unclimbable. The first place that Lester walked into surprised the tattered fox, however, as its interior was, yet again, incredibly formal. The floor and walls were bright red just as the carriage. Golden edging glinted along the molding as a small bell tolled upon their entry. The center of the room was filled with ornate clothing hung upon carefully designed and complicated iron displays. A lone clerk sat at the back of the store, and to Amuun's surprise, he was another kine, a border collie in breed.

"Greetings Lester," the clerk welcomes smiling and perking his brown ears a bit with his white muzzle showing his flawless white teeth off even more. "Welcome back! This must be the boy you told me about. The one from the capital yes? It's an honor to meet you, Amuun. Me name's Chadwick."

Amuun's expression to this other male's gregarious greeting was on of surprise. He had never met a kine that dared to be so bold in public around humans. They were expected to be quiet workers, mindless and opinionless. It was considered very inappropriate for one to act so flamboyant in greeting.

"How did you know my name?" Amuun asks giving a bit of a confused head tilt to the clerk.

"I told him," Lester cuts in giving a chuckle to the fox's confusion. "I sent him word ahead of time. I can't have you wearing rags when you meet the others now can I?" He says the last statement without even a thought to whether Amuun would be insulted, but at the same time his ragged attire did look as if it was made of straw. "Chadwick here is the best clothier in town. He'll be doing your fittings."

Amuun gave an even more bewildered expression to the others as Lester began to walk out of the door again. The small bell rang again announcing his exit.

"I'll go ahead and speak with the xahoh to not keep them waiting. Chadwick you'll be a gentleman and take him to the rendezvous point when you two are finished won't you?"

"Of course sir," the collie replies wagging his tail quickly and nodding in response, "next time you see him he'll be fit for the royal ball."

"Good, then I'll see you two then," Lester answers walking out and closing the door behind him. In so doing, he also left Amuun all alone with this new stranger.

Amuun stood in simple shock as he watched Lester leave. He had no reason to trust this new individual. He was still trying to decide why a kine had a position as a clothier at all. He had heard of those that managed to gain their owners fortunes through scandal before, could this one have done so in the same way?

"Now," the collie sneers looking disapprovingly to the fox standing before him, "shall we get you out of those wretched tatters before they taint my shop more than they've managed already?"

"I... I suppose," Amuun replies following as Chadwick walks back into a different, closed off section, of the store.

"The showers are down the hall and to the right," Chadwick instructs pointing down the stone hallway. "Just come out when you're ready and I'll do your measurements."

"Ok," Amuun replies walking down the hallway and turning into the shower room. Within the room were 3 stalls and a table for placing your clothes and any other miscellaneous items. Towels rested on the center of the table with blank white fluffiness. Amuun took no hesitation to pulling back the shower's deep red curtain. He turned the nob, to his surprise, hot steaming water flowing from the spigot. The fox stood simply in awe for a moment before shaking himself out of his impressed trance. Showers with hot running water were unheard of amongst the kine species. Even the humans were forced to use cold water, unless they brought the heated water from a fire they prepared themselves. Out of sheer curiosity at this point, he had to have a whiff of the shampoo. He took the bottle slowly with his paw and opened it holding it close to his muzzle taking in its sweet minty scent. He hadn't ever been allowed this before. As he set the bottle back where it was, he noticed the material the shower's curtain was made of. The cloth that it was comprised of was a fine, smooth silk. Of all the materials that it could have been made of they had to pick the one that was of the utmost indulgence. This drew Amuun's attention to the rest of the room that was within the stall. The floor was made of grey marble and the walls of arranged grouted stone. The light was allowed in by a small skylight in the ceiling and a small hanger to place the towel on was made of an ornately designed silver. How had this Chadwick chap managed to land such a cushy position? Did it have something to do with Lester? Perhaps he had some other connection. Was all of the luxury bought with stolen money? Regardless, as Amuun finally removed his rancid clothing to bathe, he couldn't help but long for such a life as this. The grime and dirt that had been forced upon him in the city was finally being washed away, finally allowing him a chance at cleanliness that he hadn't been allowed in so many years. As he walked out opening the curtain however, he stepped onto the cold marble to reveal that the tattered cloth he had been wearing before was now gone. He turned off the water as the steam began to fill the room and looked around for a second wondering if he had them misplaced the cooler air of the rest of the room beginning to chill at his now naked fur. This only startled him as he looked to see the collie male standing leaning, arms crossed, with one foot propped up against the doorway.

"Ready for your fittings I see," Chadwick chimes in a completely calm if not overly giddy tone. His expression seemed to be one of amusement as Amuun scrambled frantically to cover himself with a towel.

"Do you not knock before you enter a room?" Amuun yelps lowering his ears back as his eyes widen from surprise and embarrassment. He finished wrapping his towel around himself like a kilt shaking his head. "You nearly scared the living daylights out of me!"

"I assure you that was not my intention," the collie replies raising his eyebrow and one ear a bit looking to the fox as if he was overreacting. "You're far from the first customer I've seen out of his clothes."

The fox paused a moment as his ears raised up and down several times trying to process the other's statement.

"Well I'd rather not be completely exposed if I have the choice," Amuun finally replies in a slow and awkward manner.

"A self conscious one are we?" Chadwick asks keeping his eyebrow raised pushing off the door frame with a slight chuckle and swish of his tail. "Well just what clothes do you expect to wear? I've already thrown those wretched things you were constrained to earlier in the furnace."

Amuun could feel the blood rush to his face to that statement. If he didn't have such a dark furred face than perhaps this would even show, but as it was, the only thing screaming out his embarrassment was his expression. Ears cocked back, and tail hanging low seemingly trying to wrap around his leg, he looked around a bit before finally answering.

"Can I at least wear the towel?"

"If that makes your feel better," Chadwick answers beginning to walk back down the hallway. He, in opposition to Amuun, seemed perfectly comfortable with the situation. His hands dweled calmly in his pockets as he walked with an expression of complete content. Nothing was out of the norm for the collie, but the fox's world was still being turned upside down, even now.

"It very much much so would," Amuun answers uneasily following Chadwick down the hallway. They didn't go much farther before they turned to the left into a new white room. This room however, had an elevated stage of sorts lined with an edging of gold trim.

"Stand up there," Chadwick commands motioning to the small elevated stage at the back of the room. He pulled out a bit of measuring tape that he held in his hand shaking his head a bit as he watched Amuun carefully step onto the platform trying meticulously not to expose himself any more than he had to an unsure look still on his face. "Oh come on," Chadwick chuckles, "I assure you sir I don't bite. Just stand still a moment will you?"

Amuun gulps and tries to think of something to occupy his time as to not think about where the hands may wander. The oceans? Maybe what the ship would be like? Nothing seemed to work for the task however. The whole situation was very odd to him. He had never been fitted for clothes before.

"So how did you land such a cushy job?" Amuun asks, looking to the other as he began measuring, putting one finger awkwardly against the side of the fox's waist and rolling the tape down along his leg to his feet.

"I was Lester's only real friend when he was a child," Chadwick replies still not letting his eyes stray from the fox's figure now measuring the length around his waist. "His parents bought me intending for me to be a work dog, but their child took a liking to me as he got older. We've had a couple falling outs, but he granted me my freedom."

"Freedom?" Amuun asks tilting his head a bit. "You mean you gained the same rights as the humans?"

"Oh heavens no," Chadwick replies shaking his head and chuckling a bit as he measured the width between Amuun's shoulders standing slightly too close for the fox's comfort. "Simply the freedom to do what I wanted and have the funding to back it, but that's as much freedom as I ever heard kine's getting. What other dogs do you know that are able to own a business eh? You have some nasty wounds on your hands though... what happened?"

"I suppose," Amuun replies watching uneasily as Chadwick measures the length of his arm looking to the still red wounds on his wrists. "Typical human brutality happened."

"You know," Chadwick continues measuring the length around Amuun's neck again still standing too close, "you have a very firm figure for such a lanky creature. I'm quite envious."

"Uh... thank you?" Amuun replies watching the other back off a bit only to walk around to his backside.

"You're welcome," the collie chimes giving a grin. It didn't last long however looking down to the towel he shook his head. The cloth blocked him from the next thing he had to measure. "I know I said you could wear the towel," he chuckles, "but could lower it a bit. I'm afraid I need to measure your tail."

"I... I guess," Amuun replies loosening the towel a bit and raising his tail out where it hung over. The other took it worryingly fast and measured it quickly releasing it just as quickly allowing the fox to cover himself more comfortably again.

"See it wasn't that bad," Chadwick chuckles walking away again towards the door. "I'll get your clothes ready and we can be on our way to meet up with Lester again."

"Great," Amuun replied unenthused. He didn't really have much trust nor liking for Lester and therefore felt no urge to be lead into a room full of tribesmen with him.

As Chadwick walked back into the room with a bit of a disappointed expression. He placed the clothes on the platform as Amuun steps off.

"I'm afraid these aren't quite as nice as Lester may have preferred, but it's all I had that would fit you. It's actually an old outfit of his. I'd thought we'd gotten rid of the sodding thing, holds bad memories."

Amuun looked down to the starchy fabrics set before him tilting his head slightly. The undershirt was made of yet another fine silk, but the overcoat, shirt, and pants were of a more average and coarse fabric. They looked familiar however. Amuun had seen them somewhere before. It looked like military garb.

"Well?" Chadwick asks. "You planning on putting those on or not?"

"After you leave the room," Amuun replies, "if you'd leave me to it."

"I see," Chadwick replies with a bit of a snicker. "You really /are/ self conscious."

The collie then walks out of the room shaking his head slightly. As the fox begins dressing himself he smiles swishing his tail a bit as he feels the soft smooth texture of the silk pulling the undershirt over his head.

Once he had all of his clothes on, they didn't feel quite as comfortable. The starchy character of the dark over shirt felt tight, and fairly similar to the handcuffs he was wearing only hours earlier. The wounds he had from those were still fairly fresh, and the tight cuffs of the shirt hid them well, but they didn't help the pain. The tan pants were also fairly rough in texture. They were probably made of wool, and though they looked far better than the clothes he wore previously, they were only slightly more comfortable. The only fabric left sitting on the platform was the dark black overcoat. It was adorned with golden buttons and thread looking almost like a general's uniform, but by far the most uncomfortable part was the bit that wrapped around his tail.

"You like the outfit?" Chadwick asks leaning against the doorway in the same fashion he had before.

"It could be more comfortable," Amuun answers moving his arms further into the sleeves of the trenchcoat noting how the v shaped cape of it managed to be slightly easier on his tail than the pants. "But I suppose it is certainly much better than most other things I've worn."

"I'd say so," Chadwick replies giving a bit of a chuckle. "That was the uniform Lester's old captain's uniform."

"I thought it looked rather official," Amuun replies pulling the surprisingly heavy coat more comfortably onto his shoulders. The fabric was incredibly thick. It was almost as if it was meant to help deaden blows, and in truth, it probably was. "Why does it have a tail hole then?"

"When Lester left the ship to do diplomacy with the draythus," Chadwick responds giving a bit of a proud look, "I was put in charge of his fleet."

Amuun gives a bit more of a surprised look to the other looking down to the outfit and back up to Chadwick.

"You were the captain of a ship?" Amuun asks tilting his head a bit.

"I was indeed," Chadwick replies standing up a bit straighter. "The King's Raven sank sixteen enemy ships under my command."

"Wow," Amuun replies, "I never would have pictured you as a ship captain."

"You wouldn't picture Lester as one either," Chadwick replies motioning for Amuun to follow, "but he sank over 50. The ship she'll sink with you aboard will be the most important yet though."

"Yes, but I'm not in command," Amuun replies following the other out the door of the store. "Where are we headed if you don't mind me asking?"

"The rendezvous point," Chadwick replies bluntly.

"I figured that," Amuun replies taking a few steps outside as Chadwick locks the door behind him, "but I want to know where that is. Is that so blasphemous?"

"I suppose not," Chadwick answers giving a bit of a chuckle again. "We're going to the outskirts of town, and that's all you really need to know for now. The townsfolk are the eyes and ears of the golden spikes. Let us not alert them to the bomb we have attached to its feet."

(Yet again the awesome art above is by my friend who does the illustrations for all my stories.)