The Snow Princess makes its way eastward across Kroz, utilizing a combination of overland rail sections combined with cleverly utilized tunnels of a pre-Krozite long-lost civilization known collectively as "Moltpaa". The Trans-Nordikan rail line starts abruptly at the border between the Diamante Principality and Gallis, and runs eastward, then north, then back around west again until it touches most of the nations of Nordika, save for the sensible exception of Bosch (though the train gets precariously close at times), and the necessary exclusion of Gallis – which refuses to so much as acknowledge the legitimacy of the Sylvanian-owned enterprise, let alone allow it to make rails through the fields of the nobility.

Nonetheless, the fledgling enterprise has become a means of relatively safe access to the Nordikan nations during the harsh northern winters - Airships take considerable risks to try to find ports that far north at this time of year, but a fairly small airfield in the town of Diamante provides an access to the start of the "Moltpaa Express", and the edge of the Trans-Nordikan Line.

Although the train sometimes has to stop on occasion for the Titanian engine crew to clear snow that has collapsed on the railway, or deal with other obstacles, the passengers can travel in style – and warmth. Those with far too many shekels to toss about can even have the luxury of a private car.

At present, the train is in the midst of an overland stretch across Kroz, in the shadow of the Boschian mountains, though the tall trees and craggy slopes thankfully do much to block a view of the eerie glow that crowns the ridge and marks the edge of the feared Forbidden Zone – even more visible now that the day is giving way to dusk.

At present, there are a few of the passengers seated in various spots about the Day Car: Couches and chairs of various shapes accommodate most body forms of sapient species who would bother traveling to Nordika. Bookshelves hold a selection of reading material in a variety of Nordikan languages, and a large harp and piano occupy part of the forward section of the car – a Kujaku couple play them, the husband on the piano, and the wife on the harp.

Wall-mounted lanterns strategically positioned over possible reading places cast the room in a warm glow, and the arched, glass-paneled ceiling lets in the glow of the stars and the Procession far overhead.

A Lapi lounges in one of the chairs, his large feet propped up on an ottoman while he reads through an Olympian guidebook, and occasionally scribbles some notes in a tiny book he keeps close to hand.

Taking a break from his sister's displays, a black Khatta dressed in what could best be described as "relaxed-noble" attire sits at one of the booths, perusing some business papers.

The door to the rear of the Day Car opens up, admitting a couple of robed, black-furred, female Katthas – distinguished from Khattas by their digitigrade leg stance.

Aaron looks up from his reading, and immediately sits up straighter and puts his feet down on the floor at the sight of the two ladies.

The felines are dressed in fairly exotic attire, with something of a Himaatian flare to it, or perhaps Olympian. In any case, the trim of the robes is fairly ornate, and dominated by shades of violet.

Jynx looks up from his papers at the two women, and studies their clothing, arching a brow at the unusual attire.

Standing up, the Lapi bows to the ladies after figuring them for important and/or wealthy travelers from their garb. "Pleased to meet you, Miladies. Aaron Lightfoot at your service."

One of the dark felines nods to the Lapi. She seems indistinguishable from the other, except that a pair of deep green eyes peer out from behind her zolken violet veil, regarding the Lapi.

Just then, the rear door opens again, this time admitting a white-furred Khatta girl, dressed up prim and proper in a very conservative-looking travel dress and jacket, but still with a bit of frills here and there, and decorative touches which are fairly subtle but still belie quality tailoring and high-quality materials. She beams as she sees young Master Kurai, and gives him a little wave and a grin.

The black Khatta smiles, and gives a small wave in return at his sister. "I was beginning to wonder where you were. How's the tour going?"

Aaron turns to bow to Eve as well.

Eve clasps her hands together, and bounces on her toes. "Splendid! We may even get to pay a visit to Prince Kiri in Naochi Principality, and see his pet … Oh! Hello there!" She curtseys to the Lapi.

"Prince Kiri, eh? Are we that far through Kroz already?" Jynx scoots over on his booth to give his sister a seat.

Returning to his seat, Aaron keeps an ear turned towards the siblings out of curiosity, and continues to watch the so far silent pair of Katthas over the edge of his book.

Eve shakes his head. "Oh, no, we've got a long way to go. We haven't even gone underground yet. We'll be going through Cobalt Principality next, then Stiletto. After Naochi, we'll be cutting through part of Dack Principality, and then we'll be out of Kroz, and into Olympia."

Eve matter-of-factly adds, "Really, we could have cut into Olympia from Naochi, but it was a more direct route to get to Parthos if we took the pass in Dack… " She then goes into "entrepreneur-talk mode" and starts rattling off all sorts of trivial details about where her railroad goes and why, and how many "delightful" things there are to see there - or to go shopping for.

Jynx nods. "Good. I have some trading plans I'd like to go over with some of the residents when we get there." He folds up his papers, and puts them away in a small traveling case, listening to his sister chatter on.

Aaron's curiosity gets the better of him, and walks over to the booth. "Pardon me, miss, but you seem very learned in the lay of Kroz. I don't suppose you know as much about the flora and fauna as well?"

The black Khatta brother blinks, and looks up at the rabbitsomewhat surprised.

Eve smiles brightly, then mews, "Now, we should be getting to the tunnels soon. We're getting into the highlands, you see, and that's where the tunnels are the most useful. And … Why yes! I know a few things about it. For instance," she says, pointing out the window. "Those are cageroot trees. You can find them all over Kroz … and Sylvania, too, for that matter. And I think they grow down in the Savan. They tend to grow most in flood zones and swamps. But as for why they'd grow up here in the foothills … well, that's Kroz for you!"

A tooting whistle can be heard outside. "Oh!" Eve mews, "that's the signal that we'll be going underground soon. I wanted them to let me know."

The Lapi smiles and nods. "I've heard there are some mosses and lichens on those trees that can only be found in this region. I'm an apothecary by trade, here to collect some samples and try to find some other unique items." Aaron turns to look out the window at the announcement, wondering about the tunnels.

Jynx looks up to Aaron, "Ever traveled with us before? If not, you're in for a treat." He grins, and offers a paw to the rabbit, "My name is Feli Kurai, and this is my sister, Eve. She owns this train."

Aaron shakes hands with the Khatta. "Aaron Lightfoot, of Lightfoot's Apothecary in Rephidim. Pleased to meet you … wait … Aren't you a famous hero?"

The black Khatta chuckles. "I guess some may say that. I've done a thing or two." The Khatta turns to look outside the window at the passing underground.

Eve nods. "Why, yes, actually there are quite a lot of … oooooo!" The view of the outdoors slips away as the train is engulfed by the earth, descending at a slight incline. For a moment, all is dark … but then, there's a faint glow … there are mineral formations whipping past the train, and while some of them simply reflect the lights coming from the train itself, it's soon evident that some of the formations are clusters of crystals that actually glow faintly blue. The train toots its whistle, and the crystals seem to react to the sound, flickering in brightness at the same time.

"Oh my," the Lapi murmurs, mesmerized by the glowing lights. "Sifran deposits?"

Eve hmms. "Actually … no. I'm pretty certain they aren't."

"Is this really part of Moltpaa?" Aaron asks. "I've heard of all sorts of fantastic creatures living there, even dragons."

Occasionally there are patches of green and green-yellow as well … growths on the interior of caverns that the train passes through, clustered around moisture – as waterfalls illuminated by the running lights and the dim glow of the crystals cascade down over snowy-white mineral deposits. Occasionally, pairs of "glowing" eyes stare back at the train, belonging to various tiny denizens of the caves, then they skitter off.

"Oh, yes … well, at least one dragon," Eve says, matter-of-factly.

Jynx nods, "This is Moltpaa, all right. There's a few different creatures we've met down here, but they're mostly harmless."

Aaron tears his eyes away from the tunnel-scape to blink at Eve. "Really? You know where a dragon is? I'm trying to find some dragon eggshells on this trip."

Eve ohs. "Well, I don't suppose he'd be of much use to you. I don't think he lays eggs."

"Besides," adds Jynx, "you'd have to get permission from his keeper, plus the dragon's pretty grumpy."

The Lapi hmms. "Well, he must have hatched from one, though."

Eve nods. "Well, naturally."

"Grumpy?" Aaron asks, his voice squeaking slightly. "Not as grumpy as a fuff'nar though, right?"

There's a ringing bell, and then a Titanian porter lumbers in. "FIRST DINNER SERVICE! FIRST CALL! FIRST DINNER SERVICE! FIRST CALL! GET YER GOBBLES WHILE IT'S HOT!"

"About the same, only much, much bigger," says Jynx.

Aaron's left ear starts to lop forward at the thought of a fire-breathing fuff'nar, until both shoot up straight at the Titanian's announcement.

The Titanian wanders through, heading to the passenger cars and repeating his call down there – though it's muffled once he's out of the room.

Jynx grimaces lightly. "I understand Titanians for the grunt work, but as the food servers too?" he whispers to Eve.

Leaning down close to Jynx, Aaron whispers, "The chef isn't Titanian also, is he?"

Eve nods. "And a very good one, too! Well, let's eat, shall we?"

Aaron politely opens the door to the Dining Car and holds it for the felines.

Jynx nods. After getting up from his chair, he offers a paw to his sister. "What're we having tonight?" He looks to the Lapi. "Care to join us, Mr. Lightfoot?"

"As long as there is salad," Aaron says with a grin.

Eve says, "Of course! Well, I ordered roasted almond poly. I was able to get quite a deal on polies in Dack, you see." She walks on through, into the brightly lit interior of the dining room, where several Titanians in formal-wear wait on them. The Kujaku couple stop their playing to head in as well, taking one of the tables, but the two lady black-furred felines must be with the second service call.

There's a thump as something bumps against one of the windows. A pair of yellow-glowing eyes stares in … and then the creature – whatever it was – slides down the window, pulling free with a wet-sounding "shlorp-POP!" and disappearing from sight.

Jynx follows after his sister, his own stomach grumbling. He does a double take at the sudden creature's appearance. "There's one of the denizens now."

Aaron follows the siblings, trying to remember what he ordered for this meal. This distracts him enough that the sudden bump of the creature causes him to jump up and hit his head on the doorframe.

"Ouch!" the Lapi mutters, and makes a note to not sit too close to the windows.

Eve looks to the window. "Hmm? Where?" Seeing nothing, she takes a seat at one of the tables, then primly smoothes out the folds in her skirt, lays down a napkin in her lap, and takes up another one to tuck into her collar as a bib.

Jynx sits across from Eve, doing likewise with a napkin. "I think it was one of those honkers, but it looked a bit different. We should have someone come down here one of these days and catalog what they find."

Eve nods. "That's a splendid idea! Of course, you have to be really careful with the grooks and the … uhm … well … those other things."

"Plus," she adds, "they get stranger the further north you get. Comes from being so close to Bosch and all."

Aaron slips into the seat next to Jynx, which seems the safest place. "I don't suppose you trade with the Moltpaa natives? How did you get them to let you run your rails through the tunnels?"

Outside, the caverns show more internal illumination. Thereare countless glowing crystal clusters, which seem to glow more brightly when closer to the train, then dim as they are left behind – and even more so when the Titanian engineer succumbs to the urge to toot the whistle repeatedly to see the crystals react.

Eve sighs. "Oh, that's probably Gnarr up in the engine again. Well, no harm done, I suppose."

Jynx chuckles, "There's not much in the way of Moltpaa natives. All I've met are the honkers, and they're strange as you can get. They just seemed to ride the rails aimlessly."

Eve smiles. "They're rather friendly."

Jynx turns to his sister. "By the way, who were those two ladies back in the Day car? I've never seen anyone like them ride before."

Eve ohs. "Well, they're with the lady who's riding in the second private car. The one in front of mine. We don't usually handle two private cars, but hers was nice enough to have a through-way, so I can still get back to mine, no trouble. They're heading to Olympia, I think."

"Ah, Hookas?" Aaron guesses. "None have ever visited my shop. I don't imagine they're very interested in … EEEE! WHAT'S THAT … er … never mind." The rabbit shudders at the sight of something very Boschian passing by the window, and has to brush his black ear back off of his face again.

Eve looks around. "Hmm? What?" She looks out the window, spies the crystal structures and the moss and the caverns sweeping by, and "oooos" at an especially pretty waterfall that cascades by briefly.

"Someone rented a private car? Do you know who she is?" Asks Jynx

A Titanian waiter comes in, and sets down a steaming hot tray of … well … something in front of Eve. It's got a number of mushrooms and nuts and some gravy in it, but it's unclear just what the portions of meat are. In any case, it would probably smell great to a carnivore.

Jynx smells at Eve's dish, and smiles, "That looks good! What is it?"

Eve nods. "A Lady Kasaris, I think. Someone fairly important in Olympia, I think." The Titanian waiter sets down a thick steak in front of Jynx, along with a baked potato, and some mixed greens, then pours him a cup of hot tea. A salad is placed before Aaron. The Kujakus get some very elaborately prepared bowls of … bird seed.

Eve says, "Spiced nut poly. It's a Dack specialty. I had this once at the Last Resort Inn."

There's another SHLOP-POP as something hits the window, then slides off.

"Lady Kasaris?" Aaron asks, as he munches on his salad. "Isn't that a name reserved for the High Priestess of Kasaris, or some such? Those two in the other car did dress a bit like Olympian priestesses, from the descriptions I've read."

Eve mouths an "oh", in between bites. "That must be it, then. I suppose that'd explain why she's so important, then."

Jynx gets a look of delight on his face as the waiter sets his order down. "Thank you – ack!" He looks to the window, and tries to see the source. "There it goes again. What are those?"

Eve shrugs. "I don't know." She continues to munch on her food, then coughs several times. She fumbles for a glass of water, and after a few more coughs, she manages to recover. "My! Went down the wrong tube… "

The black Khatta turns to his steak, and cuts off a piece to chew. "Eat slower. I swear, sometimes you still act like a kitten!" He takes a drink, and turns to Aaron. "How's the, uh … roughage?"

Eve blinks, sipping some more water. "I … I never have problems with that."

"Nice and crispy, Lord Kurai. Do you know the Dack family?" Aaron asks. "I met the Prince once, at his wedding in Rephidim. Likeable fellow, good taste in brides." He trails off as he catches sight of part of the landscape … winking at him?

Eve aws! "I got a stain on my dress!" Her lip quivers, and she starts to look like she's on the verge of acting even more like a kitten.

The whistle, meanwhile, keeps tooting repeatedly.

Aaron blinks at Eve, and whispers to Feli, "Is something wrong?"

Jynx rolls his eyes. "No," he whispers back, "She does this a lot." He turns to his sister, "Look sis, it's not a big deal. Just finish your food, then you can go change."

From the Day Car, there come faint sounds of a child sing-songing some unintelligible rhyme.

Ears perking, Aaron looks back towards the Day Car. "What an odd song for child to sing."

Just then, Jynx's cup falls off the table, splashing in his lap!

Eve awwws! "Now you need to change, Jy – Feli! This is terrible! It's not usually this bumpy."

Actually, the ride doesn't seem bumpy at all.

Jynx acks! He shoots up from the table, fur on end. "Just great! I just had this suit cleaned, too!" He scoots from his table, and nods apologetically to the others. "Let me go get this cleaned up. I'll try and be back shortly." With that, the cat makes his way out of the car, wiping at his clothes with a napkin.

As Jynx heads through the door and back to the Day Car, just then, a child trundles into the dining room, using the same door. He's an awfully fat human child – or, human seems to be the best guess at his species, that is – whose whole body seems almost egg-shaped, with no discernable neck, and a broad grin and beady eyes, with gaps between his many teeth. He holds a few balloons on a string – The largest and most prominent one is a red balloon that bobs merrily around, though there are also two balloons that are black and purple, one with a couple of green spots on it, and the other with a couple of yellow spots.

Aaron blinks at the sight of the child … and can't help wondering if it is also some sort of inflated balloon from its shape. "You have quite the collection of passengers on this trip, Lady Eve," he comments.

Eve looks up, and blinks several times at the child. "I don't … " The child turns and focuses his unnaturally wide grin on Eve. He looks like a caricature … something that might be carved into a humorous doll meant to make for a goofy representation of a human. To see an actual living being that looks like this, however, is more than a little disturbing, especially the way those beady eyes still manage to stare with an intensity that seems entirely out of place. "Play a game of six eyes," the child sing-songs, "Rip a smile or two! Give a nose and bye-bye, Give your head up too!" Still staring wide-eyed at Eve, he says, "You look nice." His voice sounds like one of those gags that air mages like to pull at parties, to make their own voices sound unnaturally high-pitched and comical. Wins instant laughs, almost guaranteed.

"That's an interesting bunch of balloons you have, young man," Aaron says, trying to be sociable. "I don't think I've seen those color combinations before."

The child turns his wide-eyed stare and overly broad grin toward Aaron. "Bunny!" he says, then reaches out a plump, stubby hand toward the rabbit.

Aaron reflexively leans back away from the hand, then smiles nervously and reaches out to shake the child's hand with his black-furred paw, which he was never fond of anyway.

The child giggles, as a black balloon bounces up from his hand. He adds it to his cluster of balloons. Eve lets out a high-pitched scream at this point, while the Kujakus both faint in the properly Gallisian upper-class manner. (Well, proper in some circles, anyway.) Aaron can't help but notice that his paw seems to have gotten off somewhere without telling him. All he has is a stump, and he feels nothing – not even any pain at the conspicuous loss.

The Lapi's mouth hangs open as he stares at his … wrist. "G-give that back," he whispers tremulously. "Please."

The impish "child" just giggles gleefully, and then fixes his gaze upon Eve. "Kitty!"

Still in a daze, Aaron giggles suddenly. "Don't let him steal your nose." With his remaining hand, he tries to reach for the newest black balloon while the child-thing is focused on Eve.

He manages to snag the string with his one good hand, and just as the thing is reaching toward Eve's face – despite her attempts to squirm back as far as she can away from him – the "child" suddenly twists and looks directly at Aaron with baleful eyes. His mouth opens up far wider than any has a right to, lined with rows of sharp teeth. "NO, BUNNY!" it says in an unnaturally deep voice, as if it were a normal voice slowed down greatly.

Aaron eeps and scoots back into his seat, still clutching the balloon string. He cocks one of his legs up, subconsciously getting ready to kick the creature.

As Aaron shoves himself back, the string yanks out of the "child's" grasp … and suddenly the balloon pops loudly. Aaron hardly even realizes at first that he's steadying himself on the seat with his other hand, rather than a stump. However, it could be because the "child" poses a distraction by letting out a loud bellow and baring even sharper looking fangs, as it grasps toward Aaron with a stubby little hand…

"YAAAA!" Aaron screams, and kicks out at the creature's chest – propelling his own chair backwards in reaction.

There's a strangely hollow-sounding, echoing PHUD as Aaron's foot comes into contact with the belly of the child-monster … and with an angry bellow, it bounces backward like a toy ball, careening up and then onto an unoccupied table, knocking a flower arrangement over in the process.

Aaron hits the floor and gropes through his vest frantically before remembering that his blowgun is in his luggage – one just doesn't go around armed on a luxury trip, after all. "Eve! Eve!" he cries, "Throw a fork or something at him!"

Eve snaps out of her panic, blinking at the sight of the bouncing child-thing, and hearing Aaron's admonition. She fumbles about for a fork … then flings it in the general direction of the abomination. Fortunately, he's a pretty large, round target.

Aaron pulls his ears down and covers his face with his hands, anticipating a nasty pop.

The fork flips through the air … then lands, spines-first, against the belly of the child-thing. The fork dangles there, stuck in the child-thing's gut, as it looks down ponderously at it. Then, it breaks into a wide grin. "That didn't hurt me at – "

*KABLAM!*

Bits of fabric drift through the air, fluttering down to the floor. There's a raspberry sound, as a red balloon sputters around the room, to and fro, slowly deflating.

Pulling aside one of his ears, Aaron risks a peek. "You got him, right?" he asks Eve.

Eve tries to recover from breathing rapidly in panic, then dips her paw in a vase that held flowers a moment ago, and splashes water on her face. She nods, eyes still wide and focused on where the creature was just a moment ago; her ears are still flat back along her skull, and her tail is thoroughly bottle-brushed. The other balloons have vanished, and once the red balloon totally deflates … it seems as if … it was there … and now it's … not. Aside from the toppled items in the room, there's positively no sign whatsoever that the creature was there. And nothing seems the least bit wrong with Aaron's paw.

Aaron takes a deep breath, then rights his chair and sits back down to examine his meal for damage. "I guess someone left a window open. Perhaps you should consider adding screens or bars to them?" The Lapi tries to project an air of calm until his heart slows down enough for him to be able to count the beats again.

Eve nods several times. "I'm … terribly sorry. I'll go … check up front." She fans herself with a napkin, and walks over, then gasps as she sees the two unconscious birds. She splashes water on them. "Oh! Oh dear! Please wake up!"

The lady Kujaku lets out a squawk, which, in turn, wakes up the male. "Oh dear! Oh my oh my, oh … " She blinks a few times, looking around, and seeing no sign of the monster. "Oh! How silly of me. Ahem." She then resumes pecking at her bird seed.

Aaron picks at his salad, inspecting each leaf and veggie carefully before eating it, lest some strange creature be masquerading as a radish or kyootcumber slice.

Eve makes a nervous, fake giggle, and a shrug of apology … then scampers off to the front. "Gnarrrrrrrr!" she can be heard to squeal once she's out of sight.

"All in all," the Lapi murmurs to himself as he finishes his salad, "it's still better than travelling by coach."