As midnight approaches, the party seems to peter out. The band packs up, the refreshments stop flowing, and more people leave to attend private parties thrown by the more well-off recruiters as others just head back to their beds.

And so Anisa finds herself back at the table with Xander and a drowsy Spring Meadow, along with several empty juice glasses and buffet leftovers.

The tired but amused doe sits back in her chair, sipping yet another one of the juice drinks. "Whew! That was fun, I haven't done that much dancing in a long while!" She grins over at the other Lapis. "You two look bushed."

"It's one thing to cast an eight-hour long ritual," Xander explains with a grin, "but you don't have to dance and talk through it." Spring Meadow just lets out a voluminous yawn.

"I hope you guys aren't too tired!" comes a familiar voice from behind Anisa, as Aaron makes his way towards the table, across a floor no longer crowded with members of the faculty.

Anisa gives a long stretch, then sets her cup aside. Fishing into her sash pocket, she pulls out a few coupons. "Well, looks like I got rid of most of them." She turns around in her seat, and smile to the spotted rabbit. "Tired? We're just getting started!"

Aaron chuckles and takes the one empty seat at the table, grinning widely. "Well, I had a great night! Who wants to join me for a pre-breakfast workout in a few hours to celebrate? I hear they've added some new stuff to the gym!"

"Pre-breakfast?" The snow white Lapi rubs her sore legs. "Normally I'd be up for it, but I've gotten quite a workout already. Mind if we take a snooze first?"

"I guess I can wait," Aaron admits, looking over the tired rabbits. "Sunrise isn't for another six or seven hours anyway, and we can always have a late breakfast!"

Anisa grins. "I think if you tried to have these two do a work out right now, their ears would fall off." She winks teasingly at Meadow and Xander.

Xander moans, "I am not racing this time, though! Do you know how long it took for that pulled muscle to relax?"

Spring Meadow just blinks and twitches her nose to show that she's still conscious. "Sleep first. Not putting on shorts until I've had a chance to freshen up."

"Okay then, we can meet up in the morning," Aaron says, chuckling. "Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep myself first!"

Anisa stands up from her chair and gives another stretch. "I think I'd have to agree: sleep sounds good now." She nods to Aaron, and smoothes her ears out with a pass of her paw. "Where do we wanna meet?"

"Just come bang on my door," the other Lapi says, and gives Anisa his room number. "I'll make sure these loafers are up and ready." He grins. "Oh, they've got clothes at the locker-rooms too, if you don't have something with you."

"I can't remember if I packed any or not," replies the white doe. "I didn't expect there to be somewhere to work out at." She stuffs the few remaining coupons back into her sash, and starts to make her way to the exit. "All right then, I'll see you three bright and early! Goodnight!"

After the expected early-morning chaos of getting everyone together, the four Lapis have made it to the gym before the morning rush. Spring Meadow took Anisa to the women's' locker room, and showed her the selection of freshly washed outfits available while picking out a pair of black shorts and a halter top for herself. Xander and Aaron also decided on locker-room apparel, ending up in black shorts as well (black being the predominant color for the school-supplied clothing).

After Anisa selects her own workout clothes, she joins the others at the warm-up area.

The white doe enters the gym, frowning as she tugs at her workout clothes. "Dagh, remind me to always pack a set of my own next time." She looks up, and surveys the gym, looking impressed. "Wow, this beats sparring in the stock room back home. So, what's first?"

There is a deep thumping coming from the weightlifting area, as a large blue and pink Naga pounds away at the heavy punching back, with a smaller robed serpent resting nearby.

"I always like to start with a good run," Aaron says, going through some stretching exercises. Xander and Meadow do a few warm-up routines as well. "Do you run much, Anisa?"

Anisa gives a quick glance at the serpents, then turns just as quickly back to Aaron while keeping an ear tuned on the sparring. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, I always like to run." The doe starts on stretching warm-ups like the others. "I can't run as fast as my brothers, but they're usually running away from me anyways."

"You must be a great motivator then," jokes Xander, who then looks over the tracks. The two innermost ones are brown, while the next pair is red and the outermost set green. "I think I'll stick to brown though this morning. The others tend to give me a headache."

The robed serpent near the punching bag hisses something in a tongue that Anisa can't understand – undoubtedly the Imperial tongue of the Nagai. He seems to be goading the large pink and blue Naga, or else insulting the larger snake, or something rather spirited. In any case, he hardly looks like a match, having red scales and a much smaller stature. His gray robes mark him as a practitioner of the Sphere of Dream – and it doesn't take much for Anisa to realize that this is the same gray-robed red Naga she ran into briefly not long ago here in Caroban.

"Green is best," Meadow offers with a grin.

Aaron looks at the tracks and asks, "What's the difference?"

Anisa blinks at the Nagai quizzically, then turns back to the rabbits. "What are they, magic?" She gives a little laugh.

"You have to try 'em to see; it's better as a surprise," Xander says, and then starts jogging along one of the inner brown tracks.

"Of course they're magic!" Meadow says, and heads for one of the green ones. "You'll love them!"

Aaron looks to Anisa and shrugs, then crosses to a red one and starts to run. As he picks up speed, he whoops and starts leaping over … well, nothing … but certainly seems to enjoy it.

The white Lapi's grin turns into a confused look. She shrugs. "Well, I guess we'll find out!" Following Meadow's lead, she trots over to one of the green tracks, and furrows her brow as she watches Aaron.

Spring Meadow is also leaping and ducking as she makes her way along her own green track. Once Anisa steps onto the starting line for the other green lane … nothing of note happens. It's just a green circular lane.

Still confused, Anisa hunches down, then starts off down the track in a medium sprint.

Once she actually starts moving, everything changes. The track turns into a packed dirt path, and trees and bushes sprout from the sides of the lane. In just a few heartbeats, Anisa now seems to be running down a path deep in some forest, with gnarled roots sometimes crossing it and the occasional low-hanging branch adding further obstacles.

The white rabbit does a double take at the sudden scenery, and almost too late, starts to dodge the obstacles in her way. "What in the… " Clumsily, she stumbles down the track, and only after a little further does she catch on. A small smile spreads onto her face as she speeds up. "By the First Ones, this reminds me of Half-Valley!"

"Great, isn't it?" comes Aaron's voice from somewhere out of sight. "I'm running alongside a caravan in the Himaat!"

Anisa dodges, jumps and ducks her way down the magical pathway. "Is all of the stuff here like this?" she asks between breaths.

The illusion seems to rely on the speed of the runner, since it fades slightly whenever Anisa slows down or stumbles. A bright green Creen bobs in the air ahead of her, just out of reach. "Not sure, I've only ever used the track," comes Spring Meadow's voice in reply, startlingly close as Anisa overtakes her.

The white doe's ears home in on the other doe's voice, and her fur stands on end at the strange disembodied sound. She increases her speed to test herself. "Just the paths? You've never used the punching bags or anything?"

"I just like to run," comes the rapidly receding voice, as Anisa leaves her behind.

Makes sense, thinks Anisa. The rabbit perks her ears forward, trying to determine if the illusion is aural too.

There are a few woodsy sounds, but not the full range one would find in a real forest. The ground feels like dirt, but the traction doesn't quite match … and there's no telling what would happen if Anisa actually hit one of the drooping branches or intruding tree roots.

Nevertheless, the doe keeps dodging her best, going as fast as she can down the illusory trail. She experimentally extends a paw to see if she can feel the leaves of a passing tree.

The foliage swallows up Anisa's hand, but doesn't react to it at all. Nor does she feel anything beyond the passage of air across the fur.

Anisa's nose twitches with curiosity. As the next obstacle in her path nears, the Lapi makes no attempt to dodge it, but braces herself instinctively.

The low hanging branch hits Anisa's chest, and the entire forest suddenly vanishes in a flash of illusory flame and smoke. There's nothing but the green lane now, as the gymnasium returns to her vision.

Disoriented by the sudden change of scenery, the Lapi woman loses her footing, and falls forward in a tumbling ball of white fur and ears. "Oof!"

"Skipped an obstacle, eh?" Aaron says as he stops in the neighboring red lane, and squats down to offer Anisa a hand while catching his breath. "All the sand shot into the sky when I did that. Are you okay?"

Anisa's ears flatten back as she rubs the side she fell on, but she uses her free hand to take Aaron's paw. "I didn't know that would happen," pleads the white rabbit. "I guess that means you lose?"

Aaron helps the doe up. "I guess so! At least it explains why these gym-clothes are so sturdy. A flop like that would shred anything less than zolk." Spring Meadow can be seen in the warm-up area, holding a damp towel and waving the two over to a bench, while Xander has vanished.

The white doe's ears blush slightly as she's helped up, partly from embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess they're not so bad after all. Anyway, that's enough running for today." The Lapine rubs her sore side, starting towards the other doe. "Where did Hotfoot go?"

"He went to get Doc," Spring Meadow explains, and looks over Anisa for any spots of missing fur or scrapes. "Gotta admit though, that was a great flop you did! I nearly busted a gut," she adds as she hands the towel to Anisa.

Anisa's ears turn even a darker shade of crimson, but she takes the towel graciously and applies it to her side. "I think I'm all right. I've taken harder knocks than that before."

Aaron takes a seat on the bench, and says, "I thought you were doing pretty well for your speed. You're a fast girl, Anisa."

A pair of ears appear, followed by the rest of Xander as he comes up the entry ramp, followed by a somewhat short gray and white dappled Rhian wearing a colorful flower-print shirt and long blue shorts. "I brought Doc!" he declares.

The white doe hides her ears, smoothing them back. "Thanks for the thought, Hotfoot, but I'm sure I'm all right." The doe looks to her side for emphasis. "It was a bad spill, but nothing I can't handle."

"No bruising, huh?" the Rhian observes as he stands in front of Anisa and gives her a clinical looking-over.

Anisa moves the towel aside obligingly to give the doctor a look. "A little, I'm sure. But what's a workout without a few bruises?" She grins, hiding any indication of injury.

The horse snorts and pulls out a bottle of ointment from a shirt pocket. "No black eye, like your friend here," he comments, and hands the bottle over. "This'll help, if you rub it in quick."

Aaron snickers at the little joke, until the horse looks at him and says, "I remember you. Take your shirt off."

Nose twitching in curiosity, Anisa takes the bottle and examines it. "What's this?" She looks up and blinks at the strange exchange between Aaron and the Rhian.

"Just some balm, probably," Meadow assures Anisa, then giggles and whistles as Aaron grudgingly takes off his shirt, revealing that his black markings apparently don't extend past his extremities.

"Sorry Doc, no new ones this time," Aaron says, apparently indicating his modest collection of gray scars.

"What about this?" the Rhian says, and grabs the Lapi's right shoulder, eliciting a wince and lowering of Aaron's ears. "Bite mark, still pink?" the horse says, grinning.

The white Lapi uncorks the bottle, and rubs a small amount of the balm into her side. She blinks as Aaron takes off his shirt. "Dagh, what the heck did you do? You look like you ran through a pit of angry Khattas!" She grins.

"Hey, you didn't tell me about that one," Xander complains. "Was that after the balloon thing?" he asks his cousin.

"It's just a Naga bite!" Aaron complains. "A drunk Naga at that. It only hurts when I lift my arm over my head." Looking aside to Xander, he adds in a whisper, "I bit him back though to make him let go. Bleah!"

"Balloon thing?" Anisa puts the stopper back into the bottle, and sets it aside on the bleacher, her ears perking up at the mention of the fight. "You got into a fight with a Naga? I never knew you had it in you." The doe grins.

Meadow nudges Anisa. "Aaron always comes back with a new scar and a new story. You should see the ones on his back from when the skedat jumped him!"

Anisa smirks, a mischievous glint to her eye. "Is that so? I suppose you know how to handle yourself in a fight then?"

"Oh … the balloon thing," Aaron mumbles. "Some Boschian imp got onto the train I was riding, and turned my hand into a balloon for awhile," he says, waving his black-furred left hand a bit. "And a bite doesn't count as a scar! It'll fade!"

Reminded of fighting, the white doe swivels an ear towards the Nagai, curious as to how their spat is turning out.

"Sure, he can handle a fight," Xander answers before Aaron can. "He runs away, or else gets more scars! You mean he hasn't told you about all his misadventures yet?"

The large Naga quickly turns away as Anisa looks their way, and hisses to the smaller one before laughing in that odd reptilian way and moving to one of the weightlifting benches.

Anisa looks at the spotted Lapi with consideration. "No, he hasn't." She smirks. "But I have the feeling I may hafta hear a few." She makes a quick glance at the snakes, inwardly frowning at their antics.

Aaron blushes and pulls his shirt back on. "I don't let everyone know all the embarrassing stuff that happens to me, Xander."

The white doe grins, crossing her arms as she leans back. "Embarrassing? Most girls like a guy that can take care of himself. That is, if you're telling the truth," she teases.

Doc pats Aaron on the head, and says, "You should get those scars removed someday, before you run out of places to get hurt." Turning to the doe, he admonishes, "Use the balm, Doc's orders." That said, he heads back towards the ramp.

Aaron twitches his whiskers. "I'll tell you some other time, when these two goofballs aren't around to laugh their tails off."

Meanwhile, the conversation of the two serpents gets a little louder, as the smaller one seems to be having trouble attaching the heavy sandbags to the bigger one's weight bar.

Anisa suppresses a giggle in spite of herself, and tosses the towel to Aaron. "I'll be sure to ask later. So, what now?" The doe looks around the gym. "You three ever do any sparring?"

Spring Meadow smirks. "Real mages don't need to learn how to fight," she claims, then grins at Xander and says, "especially when they have chitin jaws!"

"I've never done any intentionally," Aaron says, turning to look towards the boxing ring.

Xander glares at Meadow and says, "I've done a little."

"Who said anything about needing to learn how to fight? I meant sparring for fun," the white doe says with a grin. She gets to her feet, and does a stretch. "Well, now's as good a time to learn as any."

"I've seen Fuchsia spar before," Spring Meadow says, nodding towards the large Naga, who has apparently gotten her weight-bar sorted out and is busily "pumping sand", as the saying goes.

"Go on, Xander," Aaron teases as he stands up. "You're young and spry, remember? I'm sure Anisa won't hurt you."

"So Fuchsia's her name," muses the white doe. "She's been going at it all this time." Anisa walks towards the ring, towel around her arms. "Why don't you give it a try, Aaron?" she goads with a smirk. "You seem to be the resident tough guy."

"Tough like Rughrat jerky," Xander snickers, but Aaron follows the others to the ring and picks a corner.

"Fuchsia is the Sphere of Mind's slitherball champion," Meadow whispers to Anisa, and opens up one of the storage bins alongside the ring to reveal a collection of gloves, mouthpieces and padded head guards.

Aaron asks, "Who do you spar with back home, Anisa?" as he picks out some gear that fits him.

"Slitherball?" Anisa looks through the equipment, finds a pair of gloves to fit her small hands, and a mouthpiece. Obviously absent is a choice of headgear. "Oh, mostly my brothers, although that's less like sparring and more like brawling." She puts on her gloves, and takes her place in the ring, opposite Aaron. "My brother Quinn taught me most of what I know. The others just reinforced it."

Aaron takes deep breath, and steps forward, putting his gloved hands up in what he hopes is a defensive position. "My brothers only taught me how to climb trees."

Anisa grins, putting the mouthpiece in place, and dances forward with a quick hopping motion, paws up and on guard. "Tough break!" She playfully makes a few quick jabs at the other Lapi, obviously missing him on purpose.

Eyes going wide, Aaron jumps back away from the mock-jabs, nose twitching rapidly. "Uh … how do we know when to stop?" he asks from a safe distance.

Xander grins and whispers to Spring Meadow, "Still got that bottle of balm?"

Grinning, the white doe hops back a few paces to give Aaron room. "Well, when one of us says 'uncle', or gets knocked out. Whichever comes first!" She resumes dancing around the ring, clearly enjoying herself.

Aaron takes a deep breath, then hops forward and tries a sloppy jab towards the doe.

Anisa makes a "tsk" noise (mutated by her mouthpiece, of course), and dodges low, quickly countering with a fast straight jab to the buck's stomach.

"BOOF!" exhales Aaron as the wind is knocked out of him, and he staggers back. Hunched over, he brings his gloves up into a position that matches Anisa's stance better, and tries another jab at her.

The white doe blocks the jab with her gloves, and shakes her head disapprovingly. "Come on, I've barely broken a sweat!" She bounds backwards to the other side of the ring to let Aaron catch his breath, and can't help but grin from ear to ear. "Now I see why you got all those scars!" The doe crosses her arms, tapping her toe tauntingly.

Aaron hmphs, and closes the distance with a few hops. "They weren't all from fights," he mutters around his mouthpiece and makes a wild swing that actually manages to tag Anisa on the shoulder.

"That was pitiful, Aaron!" Xander crows from the sidelines.

The blow hits her in mid jump, and Anisa is knocked slightly to the side. After shaking the hit out, she counters verbally with, "Hey, you got me! First time for everything!" The doe jumps further to the side, and gets back in her defensive position. "Okay then, splotchy, get ready to get your tail kicked by a girl!"

"I'm not splotchy!" Aaron counters, and brushes back his unruly black ear before getting into a defensive crouch himself.

"But you're about to be!" The white doe hunkers down, then quickly sprints at the buck, throwing a fast one-two combination at his head and chest.

"You haven't seen some of women he's dated, Anisa!" calls out Meadow, trying not to laugh.

Aaron's arms go up to protect his head … which unfortunately does nothing to shield his chest. The bunny lands on his tail, back against the ropes, and wheezes. "Ouch."

"Now see, if you had been one of my brothers," taunts Anisa, "you'd have been tackled now!" She grins, seeming to enjoy the taunts more than the actual sparring. "Which one of us is the girl, anyways?"

"The one who can't take their shirt off," counters Aaron, albeit a bit out of breath. He struggles to his legs … and to his amazement keeps rising, up and back over the ropes at the end of a large pink and blue-scaled arm.

The doe starts to make a retort, but her smirk fades as Aaron is pulled upwards. "Hey, what's the big idea?"

The ropes twang with tension as the large Naga spreads them and slithers into the ring. "I can watch bunnies get pummeled anytime," Fuchsia hisses, with hardly a trace of the normal sibilance common to Nagai. "Never gotten to face one that could really fight before. Or are you afraid?"

Anisa blinks, slightly taken aback and not sure at first what to say. She shakes her head, then crosses her arms. "Afraid?" The bunny smirks. "I think I should ask you that question."

Fuchsia puts on her gloves, and settles into a classic defensive posture. She doesn't "stand" much taller than Anisa, but there's a lot of potential for movement inherent in the long coiled tail. "Curious," is the Naga's reply. "In Sylvania, they have little animal versions of Lapi. Much better than yiffles."

"Gross!" comments Meadow from behind Anisa somewhere.

The doe frowns, her flushed ears set back in an angry posture as she takes up her own posture, much more serious this time around. "I'd expect some barbarian reptile to say something like that. Y'know, meat makes you flabby and slow. I think you need to go on a diet, dear." The rabbit dances, keeping her eyes locked on the Naga.

The serpent doesn't display any footwork, for obvious reasons, but sways back and forth hypnotically and shifts her coils to keep herself facing the Lapi.

"If you beat her, Anisa," Aaron wheezes out of sight, "I'll pay to take lessons from you!"

Back in the Naga's corner, Mage Shift just watches quietly. Only the periodic flicking of his tongue shows that he's animate at all.

Smirking at Aaron's words, Anisa continues to dance around the ring. Then, suddenly, she throws a fast hard jab at the snake's head, keeping her other arm close for protection.

Fuchsia demonstrates her flexibility, twisting deftly out of the way and landing a dartingly quick blow of her own to the side of the Lapi's head.

The white doe is taken off guard, expecting a blow to her midsection. She rocks sideways, reeling briefly, but quickly regains her posture. "Good one, but that's all you'll get." The Lapi quickly sprints back in, throwing an up-down combination at the snake, putting her whole body into the slugs.

The blue and pink serpent manages to block most of the blows, but doesn't get in any of her own. Her coils rasp against each other as she pulls back from the onslaught to give herself more room.

Off to the side, Xander comments, "I couldn't even see half of those blows."

After her short barrage, Anisa darts backwards, breathing heavily as her attacks are thwarted. She watches the snake closely, trying to notice any weak points.

Fuchsia keeps her head down to protect her longer neck. Below her chest is essentially nothing but solid muscle merging into her tail. "Go for the head," Meadow advises.

The Naga's tail suddenly coils tightly behind her and springs her forward at Anisa, right arm swinging into a roundhouse punch.

Without looking, Anisa nods to the other doe, and starts to dance towards the Naga once more. Just as she starts an attack, however, the Naga's tail suddenly coils up tightly, then springs her forward at Anisa. The Naga's right arm swings into a roughhouse punch – and Anisa is clearly taken off guard.

The Naga's blow strikes Anisa solidly on her left cheek, rattling her teeth and promising a bruise. Good thing the Lapi has a mouth protector! Rather than following up with a second blow, Fuchsia pulls back to anchor her coils, giving Anisa a chance to recover.

The snow colored rabbit loses her balance, and falls to the mat on her side. After a few seconds to catch her breath, she rolls to face the Naga while still on the mat, rubbing her jaw. "Okay, no more misses, nice gal… "

A long blue tongue flicks once in Anisa's direction, as Fuchsia brings up her guard once more. "Not many last this long," she comments.

The clip-clopping of hooves can be heard, as Doc returns and leans against one of the ring's support poles to watch.

The Lapi brawler jumps to her feet, bringing her guard back up and setting her ears back. "I'm not many." Without hesitation, she charges the snake, and after faking with her left, throws a hard right hook to the Naga's head.

The Naga brings her guard up to block … but the rabbit's punch barrels right through it to strike the serpent beneath her left eye. Fuchsia pulls back to lessen some of the force behind the blow, and lets out an angry hiss.

Not giving the snake a chance to counter, Anisa quickly follows up with a left cross once again aimed at the snake's noggin. "Graaaah!"

A series of hoots and cheers break out among Anisa's cheerleaders.

Anisa's blow lands dead-center between Fuchsia's eyes with a loud crack, while the Naga's own return uppercut catches the Lapi hard up under the chin! The serpent's long body gives a violent shudder, and she starts to collapse … while the force of the uppercut spins Anisa into a back flip that sends her across the ring.

The small Lapi goes flying across the ring, her eyes squeezed shut in pain for the brief instant that she is actually conscious. With a loud "thud", she slams down chest first on the mat, and just lays there, unmoving.

"AAAAAUGH!" Aaron yells as he leaps into the ring. "Don't die, Anisa! Your father will kill me if I bring you back dead!"

On a much more relaxed note, Doc climbs through the ropes and looks over the two fallen boxers. "Gloves don't make much difference, do they?" he comments.

From Anisa however, comes no response. She's out cold.