Whitewhisker Residence: Mid-Morning
It's quiet but for the occasional call of a Creen outside. Very unlike Rephidim. No hollering from the Bazaar down the street. No grinding of wagons as they creak up and down the cobblestone roads. No march of booted feet, or clatter of chitinous armor from city guardsmen and their zelak patrols. Just a few muffled house sounds, and a few snippets of conversation outside that can barely be detected, even by Anisa's sharp ears. A shaft of sunlight from a semi-shuttered window creeps across the face of a Lapine form in a rumpled bed.

The lagomorph's eyes squeeze shut tighter, and she throws the sheets over her head to block out the light. A long sigh emits from bed as the rabbit realizes the light isn't going away, and she tosses the wrinkled blankets off of her groggy form. Swinging her oversized feet down to the floor, she stands with a yawn. It takes this bunny a while to wake up.

As everything comes into focus, and Anisa's vision clears, it becomes evident Wanda's bed is empty. It's been made, in fact… not immaculate, but tidy enough.

Anisa scratches the base of her ears tiredly, and looks around the rest of the room for her brothers, as well as her luggage. This shirt of Wanda's is probably able to move around on its own by now.

Anisa's luggage sits close at hand. Gibson's cot sits nearby, with his blanket folded into a neat square at the foot of it. Royce's cot still appears to be occupied by a lump about as large as Anisa's younger brother.

The white Lapi gives another yawn, and stumbles over to her luggage, opening it to pull out a fresh pair of trousers and an ash gray shirt. "Royce! Get up, lazy-ears! We overslept," she says, rubbing her eyes as she looks around for a changing screen.

One such screen has been thoughtfully provided in the corner of the room. A hamper carved of some sort of fragrant wood stands nearby to accept and overpower dirty clothing, and it looks like a few things have already been tossed in. Royce grumbles a bit, but makes no move to actually get out of his cot.

Giving another long stretch, Anisa disappears behind the screen, slipping out of the old clothes and into the new. Halfway through, she peers out the side of the screen to find her little brother not budging, and tosses the worn blue shirt at his still form. "I said get up! We probably missed breakfast!" She goes back behind the screen again, and reappears a few seconds later in the clean clothes.

Fwap. The shirt ends up over Royce's head, and the bundle in the cot scrunches up. He remains that way until he finally tosses it off his head and sits up sluggishly, ears lying to either side. "Mngh… whutimezit?"

"Get up and get dressed," the older Lapi says. "Then meet me downstairs. These country types probably get up at the nose-crack of dawn, so they've probably got half of their stuff done already!" She opens the door outside, and begins to make her way out, looking back over her shoulder. "And don't dilly-dally!"

"Oooughh… cripes… " The younger rabbit gets to his feet half-heartedly, digging through a box of clothing to come up with something to wear. "Pft. I don't see why I should care what a bunch of bumpkins do in their own time." He heads for the screen.

"Because you're in those bumpkins' house, so be nice and watch your mouth!" Anisa turns around rolling her eyes, and starts to make her way downstairs to the others.

It's almost as quiet downstairs as it is elsewhere. As Anisa comes down the steps. a smiling blue-clad Skeek down the hall looks up from the kitchen table, waves and beckons.

The white furred Lapi smiles, and makes her way down to her mousy companion, taking a seat next to her. "You sure get up early. How long have you been awake?"

"Not as long as everyone else, sugar," replies Wanda, gesturing at some empty plates in a washbasin. Her own plate has about half a slice of rhubarb pie in it, and there still seems to be a couple wedges of the stuff left in a pan in the center of the table, along with a few crumbly chunks of carrot cake. A mostly-empty jug of water and a couple of glasses sit near it. "I think they must have rubbed off on your brother too, I only saw him for just a little bit this morning."

Anisa nose-twitches at the food, inspecting it as she takes a slice of carrot cake to munch on. "You mean he's left already?" She takes a bite, and pours herself a glass of water. "Did he say where he was off to?"

Wanda shrugs, forking another chunk of rhubarb into her mouth and crunching a bit before replying. "I didn't talk to him, but he was with Spencer, and Spencer was wearing his militia vest, bow, and quiver, so I suspect they both went to wherever the militia is headquartered."

The Lapi folds her ears back sideways in a grimace. "I wonder what they're up to. I hope it doesn't have anything to do with those Nagai up the river." She takes another bite of the cake. "Where is everyone else at?"

Wanda smiles, and shifts her pie around on her plate. "Oh, I figure Gibson's probably just helping out with whatever duties Spencer has. I don't think they'll be gone long." She looks up. "Well, the Magistrate was gone when I came down. Kurt was just finishing up breakfast. He mumbled something, and shambled off to whatever it is he does. Joanne was around long enough to fix breakfast, but I think she bustled off to meet the other matrons, or maybe tend to her weaving."

The Lapi just nods, and places her piece of cake down on the table. "Well, I guess that just leaves us and the brat then, although I'd like to see what Gibson's up to." She takes another swig of water, then places the empty glass on the tabletop. "So, what are you're plans now?"

Speak of the brat, and he shall appear. "Mngh," grunts Royce as he sidles up to the table and scoots himself into a chair. His eyes are half-shut. and his ears still dangle to either side. He just takes a slice of rhubarb pie, and munches quietly.

The Skeek smiles a little more broadly. "Good morning, sunshine!"

Royce grunts.

Anisa grins, "Glad to see you up and at 'em, morning glory!" She gives her brother a look over to make sure he's alright, and turns back to the Skeek. "Well, maybe we should look around this berg and see what it's like? I know the other said there's not much to it, but this is my first time to be on the surface!" She gives a bit of a smile. "It's still exciting to me."

"Sure, sugar, I'm game," says Wanda, still grinning. She pops the last of her breakfast into her mouth, and stands up. After she swallows, she adds, "There's still the matter of the book, of course."

The sister rabbit nods, "Yeah, I know. But I want to wait until we have Gibson with us before we even try for that." She winces, and remembers to lower her voice after looking around to make sure no one's eavesdropping. "Neither of us know the area well, and we'd probably get lost. I mean, I'm not a wimp or anything, but I wouldn't want to be caught out there all alone."

Wanda nods as she takes her plate to the washbasin, and sinks it into the water. "Good point, sugar. Well, I'll follow your lead. You've got more friends here than I do."

Anisa finishes off her meal as well, and wipes the crumbs into her paw, dumping them in the trash. "Well, a few friends. I'm sure we'll run into some more Whitewhiskers sooner or later." She puts her glass in the washbasin, and starts off towards the door. "Come on, Patches, you're coming with us."

Royce mumbles, and rubs one of his eyes. "Oh, fine. Let me at least take a chunk of cake with me."

"Grab it and let's go! Hop to it!" The white Lapine gives her brother a few finger poke-jabs as she passes him by, and walks out into the living room to open the front door. "Maybe we could try that Blanket place, or some shops they have around here?"

After some prodding and coaxing, Royce wakes up enough to accompany the ladies outside. The day is quite crisp, but not too cold to tolerate. Sunlight streams through some clouds left over from last night's storm, and the air smells fresh after the rainfall. Here and there, townsfolk go about their business, occasionally casting curious glances at the trio as they pass. Here and there, wives chat amongst themselves while they hang laundry, and children at play scamper about.

The rabbit and her companions wander around the town, taking in the sights, or what passes for them at least, until they pass the militia station. "I wonder if that's where Spencer and Gibson are." She gives a mischievous grin, "Maybe we should pay a visit?"

"Suits me just fine," replies Wanda, smiling.

Royce eyes the station warily. "It strikes me as a waste of time, but if Gibson's here, I guess we might as well. That's what we came all the way out here in the first place for, after all."

Anisa strolls up to the militia as though it were just a public building. "I'm sure they won't mind us dropping in, and like you said, we're here to see Gibson anyways." She stops at the entrance, and gives it the once over.

The building is squat and blocky, made from large, rough-hewn chunks of stone with windows barred with stout wood. A heavy slab of a wooden door bearing a simple sign identifying the building serves as the main entrance, and a wooden fence extends away from the sides to outline a field obscured from view. It's nowhere near the size of the Temple back home, or really very many of the buildings back in Rephidim, but it has a certain rough, imposing look to it. Behind the building can be heard shouts, grunts, and the clacking of wood on wood and chitin.

The white Lapi perks her ears towards the building, listening to the sounds of battle. "Something's going on in there, I think they're practicing… " She listens for a little bit longer, then tries the door. "Well, they could use an audience."

The door opens with a creak. It's definitely heavy… though it provides no problem for Anisa, she can certainly feel its weight. The inside of the station is somewhat dark. Unlit sconces are spaced along the walls, and the only light for the moment comes from the barred windows. Off to the side sits a desk built rather like the door. Heavy, utilitarian, and durable. Rather like the dappled Rhian who sits behind it now.

Anisa leaps back a bit in surprise when her eyes come to the Rhian. The darkness of the room had led her to believe it was empty. "Oh! Uh, good morning, sir!" She puts on hersappy sweet smile. "You haven't by any chance seen Gibson Snowshoe and Spencer Whitewhiskers here, have you?"

The stony-faced Rhian doesn't move his head, but his eyes look up from his paperwork at the white rabbit. He dips the quill he was writing with in an inkwell, and returns to writing. "They are at the target range," his bassy voice rumbles. "Proceed up the hallway, and through the door at the back. Do not tarry."

The rabbit blinks at the horse's frankness, and nods. "Thank you, sir!" Without a second word, she starts off down the given directions, waving for the others to follow her.

Wanda follows along, as does a somewhat nervous-looking Royce. After they get out of hearing range, the grinning Skeek says, "Wasn't he a grouch?"

Anisa just gives a nod, grinning as she sticks her tongue out in agreement. "Well, this must be the place; now where are the two brave warriors at?" She looks around the range for her brother and his companion.

The door opens into a wide field, fenced off by posts and planks. Various men, all dressed in militia leathers, spar amongst themselves with staves and wooden swords, with plenty more of them racked under a few sheltered areas. Hay bales section off an archery range, and in the distance, straw-filled dummies with bullseyes painted on them stand with arms out. A jokester or two has drawn silly grins on their pumpkin heads, which look all the sillier with arrows sticking out of them. At one of the hay bales stands Spencer, his bow slung off his shoulder, having an animated discussion with a similarly armed Gibson.

The white rabbit looks back to Wanda and Royce, putting her finger to her lips to indicate silence. She then slowly creeps up behind the male rabbits, as quietly as she can. "Hi guys! How's it going?" She says loudly.

"… And so, while you're aiming, you'll want to hold your breath so your breathing doesn't throw you off. Then you just release the bowstring, making sure not to jerk at… uh?" Spencer, in the middle of talk, flinches, and the arrow that he'd nocked and drawn launches off somewhere behind the targets.

Gibson sniggers, and there's a few laughs down the line of archers. "Nice one, Spence!" "The targets are that way, Spencer." "Air arrow! Air arrow!" "BRICK!"

"Oops! Um, sorry about that!" The female Lapi puts a paw to her mouth to stifle a giggle, and looks to the other two rabbits bright eyed. "Just came to see what you two were up to, since no one was around when I woke up." She looks at the others on the range, and at the targets.

Spencer rolls his eyes. "Har, har, har." He smiles sheepishly anyway as Gibson slaps him on the shoulder. "Spencer here was just showing me some bowman techniques while we were waiting for you to get up," the black rabbit says. "I forgot how late we all used to sleep back in Rephidim. Anyway, I've been practicing around here most days, so as to keep in shape. This may be a little town, but the Marshal keeps the militia pretty organized."

Anisa examines the other archers, and then looks back to her brother. "There seems to be a lot of people here today, and I heard some smashing and bashing when I was outside. Does this have anything to do with those snakes by the river?"

Spencer shakes his head, his ears swiveling forward. "Nah, they're way up the river, though I'd imagine they're doing about the same thing." He jerks his head over at a wide circle of sandy dirt nearby, with a number of river-rangers resting around it, talking amongst themselves. Quite a few of them are rather dirty as well, and a few aren't… probably a good idea of how many have been put on the ground. "That was just the guys sparring. It gets rough and noisy, but that's about it."

The white Lapi nods, "Well, I'm glad to see you spend your days actually doing something." She grins. "Is it very hard to shoot one of those things? I've heard of bows, but never seen one on Rephidim."

Spencer raises an eyebrow. "Cheesh, and they say I lived under a rock." Gibson pulls up an arrow from a few sticking out of the ground near his feet, and nocks it to his bow. "You've seen the crossbows the guardsmen use, right? Just like those, except simpler. You put the arrow on the string, you draw the string back, you point the tip at something or someone, and you let go of the string."

Anisa watches her brother intently, splaying her ears a bit in mock annoyance at Spencer, and nods. "Well, that seems simple enough. I bet even Royce could do it!"

"I want no part of your grunting and posturing," snorts Royce.

The sister Lapi grins, rolling her eyes at her younger sibling. "Mind if I give it a try?"

Gibson chortles at Royce, then proffers the bow toward Anisa. "Well, if you want, sis. It's a bit tougher than it looks, though. I don't know how Spencer actually hits anything."

The brown rabbit grins smugly. "I don't spend every morning here for nothing."

Anisa shrugs, "Can't be all that hard, just point and shoot!" She takes the bow in her left paw, and nocks a bow in the string with her right, albeit somewhat clumsily. "Like this?"

Gibson nods, and points. "Like that, only hold it tilted a little this way, or the arrow's going to slide off." Spencer lays his bow to one side, and leans toward Anisa to point at the fletching on the arrow. "And see how one feather is colored different? You'll want to nock it with this dark flight facing out, so it doesn't hit the bow."

The white rabbit blinks, and does as she's instructed as best she can. "Then you just pulls back and fire… " She pulls the arrow back as far as she can, aiming – a bit wildly – at the target, and lets it go! *TWANG!* "Ouch!"

"Well, you want to be careful you don't… " The arrow flies off into the distance, and some fellows down the line laugh, "Was that one of Spencer's too?"

Spencer belatedly finishes his sentence. "… have your forearm too close to the bowstring."

Anisa sets her ears back in embarrassment as the arrow sails off into nowhere, and shakes her scraped arm. "Thanks for the advice… " She hands the bow back to Gibson, inspecting her arm. "Well, this is all fine and dandy, but what else do you boys plan on doing today?"

Gibson takes the bow back while Spencer inspects Anisa's arm. "You okay? Did you want some salve for that?"

The black Lapi sets his bow aside. "Well, part of it depends on you, and part of it depends on… well… " One of his ears lops over, and he stuffs his hands in his pockets, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

Royce tilts his head. "What is it, Gibson?"

"Nah, it's just a little scrape," says Anisa, "Even the brat over there could take it. Thanks for offering though." She smiles to the brown Lapi. "Depends on what?"

Gibson sighs. "Well, I'm trying to figure out where the research I've been doing has to take me. Even if I find it, though, I'm… well… broke."

The Lapi shakes his head. "I burned up my life savings getting this far."

Anisa just looks at Gibson blankly, "You're… broke?" She sets her ears sideways, "You're kidding, right? You're not serious… " She looks to Spencer. "Is he telling the truth?"

Spencer shrugs a little uncomfortably. "This isn't exactly the finance capitol of Sinai."

Gibson nods glumly. "I used a lot of the money I earned from caravaning and from the museum in Babel to buy information on Jipulu's cache of stuff. I'm getting by now with the Whitewhiskers' help. I do enough work here to keep me fed, but I don't have any actual money."

The white Lapine grimaces, and searches her pockets. "Well, that's just nice! I don't think I have anything!" She pulls out a small pouch, and opens it to count. "All I've got is forty shekels!" She looks back up to Gibson, "How did you plan on getting anywhere once Quinn got here?"

"We were going to figure that out when Quinn got here," replies Gibson, putting his hands on his hips. "I didn't originally plan on spending the last of my money on a ticket to get someone out here, but there was nasty stuff going on. Quinn's old enough to have a partial ownership in the restaurant, so he'd probably have brought some money with him anyway."

"Well you could have mentioned that in your note!" Anisa throws her paws up, her ears set back in aggravation. She turns her back on her brother, pacing. "Geez Gibson, I figured you'd be better prepared for this!"

Gibson's ears turn back on his head as well, but he remains composed, folding his arms in front of himself. "Well sorry, sis. If I'd known you were going to read other people's mail, I would have been sure to include a note to you for what Quinn would already have known."

"Known what, to pay your way?" The Lapi sister gives a few more frustrated paces, then stops with a sigh, smoothing her ears back. "I-I'm sorry Gibson… it's just that for a minute there I got a picture of never going home again… "

Gibson runs his fingers through the fur on his head, and his ears sit forward again. "Oh, it's not as bad as all that, Anisa. We could get home anytime we wanted… I'd just owe Spencer."

The brown Lapi in question starts to say, "Hey, now-… " but Gibson continues. "It's a matter of getting enough money for an expedition. I've got a sneaking suspicion of where we need to be going, but we'll need money to be able to finance a trip anywhere, even here on the Seaborne Reach."

Anisa blinks at her brother, "How did you plan on getting more? It's not like we can get the cash from home or anything. And where all do we need to go anyways?"

"That much I'm not sure of," concedes the black rabbit. "I might have to sign on with another caravan, but there might be options around town that we haven't explored yet. I've been around here for about a month, but I've spent most of that time with the Whitewhiskers."

The white rabbit sighs, "Well, I hadn't planned on it, but I guess me and Royce could get jobs around here somewhere." She grimaces, "I'm not to thrilled about it either. What kind of openings are there?"

Royce definitely doesn't look thrilled at the prospect either. Spencer shrugs. "Well, there's always a need for farmhands, but that doesn't pay very well. What kinds of things are you good at?"

Anisa sticks her tongue out at Spencer's suggestion, "I don't think I'd make a good farmhand. Let's see… " she looks up at the sky in thought, her nose twitching, "… there's waitressing, and then there's… well, waitressing." She frowns. "It's all I've done."

"Oh. Um… gee." Spencer twitches his nose once or twice, and rubs his chin. "Off the top of my head, I'd say go to Levitha's Blanket, and talk to Piksil. I don't know if she needs any help, but there's always a chance, and I bet that any news worth hearing goes through her inn."

Anisa's frown deepens, and she gives another sigh. "Well, I guess if we need the money, we need the money." She shrugs. "When is this caravan supposed to show up, and will they let me and Royce join?"

"Well, it's not like a lot of caravans really come through here," says Gibson, rubbing the back of his neck. "Those that do usually aren't threatened by bandits or anything. There's a bad element down south, I hear, but that's pretty far away. I might be side-by-side with you in the inn."

The clacking of sticks and chitin starts up again as the resting militiamen return to their sparring, except for a few that'd been eyeing the rabbits curiously.

"I guess we'd better make our way over there then and see if they have any openings. Maybe Wanda can chip in too-" she stops as she notices the militiamen staring at them. "Um, what's up with those guys?" she rabbit-whispers to the others.

"We were arguing pretty loudly earlier," points out Gibson. Spencer nods. "That and people always tend to notice strangers around here. Especially women who show up on the practice grounds. Not a common thing."

Anisa crosses her arms, setting her ears sideways. "Well, that doesn't give them an excuse to gawk! Besides, we're just leaving." She starts off to the exit, then stops, "You guys coming?"

"Yeah, we better get going," agrees Gibson, gathering up what's left of his arrows. Spencer nods, and slings his bow back over his shoulder, and Royce hops off the hay bale he was sitting on. It's Royce that glances around, and observes, "Hey… where's your Skeek friend, Anisa?"

The white Lapi stops, and raises her ears as she looks around. "I don't know, where did she go?" She scans the grounds once more, then calls out, "Wanda?"

Gibson, the tallest amongst the Lapi stands on his toes, as if that would give him that much better a view. After scanning the grounds, he says, "I don't see her, sis. I guess she got bored."

Royce smirks. "You might say she 'Wanda'd off.'."

Anisa frowns, and flattens her ears against her back. "Maybe she went inside, there's no way she could have gotten over those fences." She starts to make her way towards the building, making a point to swat at Royce as she passes him. "We'd better find her, there's no telling what kind of trouble she'll get herself into."

Royce ducks out of the way. (Barely) "Oh, she's a big girl. If she took care of herself before getting on the Sunset-Hoof, I'm sure she can take care of herself in this backwater."