Cain handed out burger after burger until he was left with just one, and in front of him was Tali holding out her hands with a grin on her face. He noticed with some amusement that she was drooling but decided not to comment on it, “Here Tali” He said, handing her the last burger.

 

“Thanks!” She said with a huge smile before literally eating half the burger in one bite. Her eyes lit up and her tail swished behind her excitedly, “Wow! The Chief wasn't lying! This is the best food I've ever had, it's not even close!” She said with a laugh. Eating the rest quickly she looked back at him, “So, do all human nobles eat food like this every day?” She asked with curiosity.

 

Cain shrugged with a smile, “They do where I come from.” He said ambiguously.

 

At that her head tilted slightly, “Where are you from exactly?” 

 

“Um, I doubt you've heard of it. It’s not exactly close.” he said, seeing her pout at his answer. However he was saved from the rest of that conversation when he saw the chief walking over.

 

“Cain.” His voice rumbled as a greeting, “I would like to have a discussion with you.” he said.

 

“Oh? Sure, what do you want to talk about?” He asked curiously, seeing Tali also look at the chief in interest.

 

He pointed to the empty food bags, “I would like to discuss a trade for more food. None of us have ever tasted delicacies like those ‘burgers’, and we are hosting a festival this year called the Ceremony of Life, so many other beastkin tribes are going to be arriving soon. It would be an honor to serve this food.” He said with a slight smile.

 

Cain grinned, “Of course! Although one thing," He said. After he saw the Chief nod he continued, “Can I have my stuff back?” he asked awkwardly.

 

He saw the Chief blink for a moment before coughing awkwardly, “Of course” He said, before looking at one of the guards standing around, “Mabu!” He called out, getting the guards attention, “Go get Cain's stuff from storage! Also grab that fluffy shirt that’s in my room!” He shouted.

 

As the guard turned and started leaving though Cain interrupted, “Ah, wait.” He said, making the guard pause. Turning to the chief he smiled, “You can keep the hoodie, uh, I mean the ‘fluffy shirt’ that's in your room.” He said. The guard just nodded and walked away to fetch his stuff.

 

The Chief stiffened uncomfortably, “But… it has to be worth at least 5 gold coins!” he said stiffly, making Talis eyes widen in shock.

 

Turning to him she shouted, “Is it really worth that much!? I heard in the human kingdoms a family can support itself for years with that much money!” she said, her face getting really close to his.

 

Backing away from the energetic girl slightly, Cain shrugged, “You're exaggerating Chief Tian, the hoodie is not worth that much. Besides, I have a bunch of them.” he said, although inside he was actually pretty excited hearing this. If what Tali says is correct, he could live the rest of his life in comfort by just selling some of his clothes.

 

Actually now that he thought about it, he could really get rich here. When he was handing out burgers he talked to Kanuk a bit about the technology level of the human kingdoms and it seems like it’s somewhere in the early middle ages. If he just sells some simple everyday items from Earth here he could make a lot of money, like how much would a noble lady pay for a couple bars of soap? Or some top of the line perfume?

 

Interrupting his scheming, Chief Tian broke him out of his thoughts, “Then I thank you for the gift Cain.” he said, bowing in a surprising show of humility. He guessed the big guy was more down to earth than he initially assumed.

 

He just waved it off, “Don't mention it, it's nothing really.” He said. Besides, he didn't give the hoodie to him out of pure kindness either, it's never a bad idea to improve relations with possible allies when in an unknown situation. 

Cain figured he would have to rely heavily on these people for not only information about this world, but also transportation. He didn’t feel great about his chances of getting out of this damned forest on his own, so he figured having the man in charge like him would be very helpful.

 

“Say, what is that ‘hoodie’ made out of? I have never felt clothing as comfortable or as stretchable as that.” The Chief asked curiously.

 

Cain scratched his chin, “I'm pretty sure it is a mix of cotton and a stretchy material my people call polyester.” He said. He wasn't sure if they were familiar with cotton but he was definitely sure they had no idea what polyester was.

 

Sure enough, “Cotton huh, I've heard that it is a material used in the far eastern continents. However I was under the impression that it was only good for making curtains and stuffing mattresses. I’ve never heard about it being used in clothes.” The chief said.

 

As interesting as this conversation was becoming, it was interrupted by the guard returning with Cain's stuff. In his hands was a dirty and clearly destroyed shirt, a pair of jeans that were caked in dirt, and two still wet socks. Clutched in his other hands was his phone and… ‘Oh my god, I forgot I had that,’ He thought in slight amusement.

 

The guard coughed, interrupting his thoughts. “Apologies for the… condition your clothes are in. At the time you were merely a prisoner so it wasn't treated with the best care.” he said with shame.

 

Cain shook his head with a sigh, “It's fine, they can be cleaned easily. It's the two smaller devices in your hand I'm really worried about.” He said.

 

The guard blinked, “Ah? These things?” He asked, suddenly slightly nervous that he was holding some very expensive, and possibly damaged, items. They certainly looked like a pair of artifacts.

 

Cain frowned slightly as he took his phone from the man, however he quickly let out a sigh of relief when he pressed the power button and the screen lit up. “Yes, luckily the more important one seems undamaged.” He said.

 

Tali peered over his shoulder curiously at the square device, “What is it? Some kind of human magic tool? How did you get it to glow?” She asked.

 

Cain nodded, “Something like that. It's a communication device, and I got it to glow by pressing this button here.” he said, pointing to the side of the iPhone. However he paused as an idea came to his mind, “Actually, I'll show you another feature it has.” He said with a grin. 

 

He put his arm around Talis shoulder and quickly snapped a picture, and with a flash he captured her confused face perfectly. She looked at him in curiosity, “What was that? Did the weird rectangle make that bright light?” she asked with sparkling eyes.

 

“Yes.” He said with a laugh, “Here look,” He said, pulling up the picture and showing it to her.

 

A wide grin split her face, “Wow! Look Cain! We're in a box!” She said with a laugh.

 

“Close enough!” He said in amusement.

 

Tali quickly grabbed the phone from his hand, surprising Cain, although he was getting used to the fact that she wasn't very good with boundaries, not that it bothered him. “Chief Tian! Look! Look! Isn't this cool!” she said with sparkling eyes, and Cain laughed good naturedly at how enthusiastic the girl was over something so trivial to him, it was pretty endearing.

 

The Chief nervously grabbed the phone from the girl and held it like it would shatter at any moment, “Indeed, it’s very interesting. However I must ask you to be delicate with something so obviously expensive. I’m not sure if our tribe would be able to afford repairing it.” He said with a grimace, and Cain was honestly impressed with how well spoken the large man was, his first impression of the Chief was of some sort of barbarian.

 

Tali looked at Cain with a sheepish grin, “Ohhh, yeah sorry. I didn’t really think about that.” she said while twiddling her thumbs, before her mood took a sudden 180 “So what's this thing then? Some kind of ancient artifact?” She asked with sparkling eyes, holding up the stick-like ‘artifact’. Somehow the other device that was in the guard's hand was mysteriously in hers now. The guard in question, alarmed, looked down at his hand in shock, extremely confused on how she managed to snatch it from him without notice.

 

Cain smiled and held out his hand, silently asking for it. She pouted but didn't insist on holding it. Now that it was in his hands he smiled, “This… is my roommates THC pen. I honestly forgot I was holding onto it for him.” he said.

 

Tali tilted her head, “What’s that?” she asked, and he noticed that at some point the Chief had left with the guard so now it was just the two of them. He looked around for them briefly and saw the guard shoot him a discrete thumbs up with a wink.

 

Looking back Cain scratched his head and internally debated on whether or not to get high with this hot amazonian cat girl, however it wasn't a very long debate. After all, who else can really say they got high with a hot babe from another world, her having cat ears was just a bonus in his book. 

 

Besides, everyone around him was in a good mood from the food he brought so he didn't think it would cause any problems. He considered himself a pothead and had some experience helping people through their first high so he was confident he could do the same for Tali. “Have you ever had alcohol?” He asked her, and at her slightly confused nod he continued, “It’s a similar experience to that. You inhale the smoke created by this pen and it gets you ‘high’. It relaxes you and it's often a lot of fun, everyone's experience is different though so it's possible you wouldn't like it.” he said.

 

Tali’s eyes shined, “This thing creates smoke? How? Is it magic?” She asked, visibly restraining herself from grabbing the pen in her curiosity.

 

Cain shrugged, “Close enough. There's a piece of metal inside of it that heats up and vaporizes this liquid. The liquid itself is pretty much a concentrated version of a plant from my home.” he said, seeing her nod excitedly. “So, you want to try it?” He asked with a smile.

 

Tali nodded with a huge grin, “Yes!”