Snowshoe's Restaurant, Evening – Though the restaurant is still open, the dinner crowd has largely moved on, and cleanup has proceeded as usual. The establishment is dimly lit with candles, and for the Snowshoe family, work is largely done. Abrahm attends to the few latecomers that come in for drinks, and more often than not, they join the game of Airships he has going over the counter beneath a haze of pipe smoke from other patrons. Beatrice is busying herself with some friends of her own, who sit around a table gossiping away while she sips at rosepetal tea. The couple's children entertain themselves as best they can before it's time to head home, though given the general lack of choices, it's pretty quiet.

The couple's only daughter, a white furred twenty-something waitress, sits in one of the sofas near the fireplace. Her busy workday of bustling about and getting customers' orders over, she simply takes time to relax and sink her mind into one of her adventure novels.

The murmuring going on over by Anisa's mother breaks into subdued laughter, the women nodding at each other over a joke that can't readily be heard. One of the ladies, a prim looking Kujaku, gathers up her purse and gets to her feet. "Well, that's wonderful to hear, Beatrice. My own daughter had a wonderful experience with it, and returned as a proper young woman. Tell me more about it over tea tomorrow, won't you? It's getting late, and I've got to be going."

Still reading her book, one of Anisa's ears can't help but perk up and swivel towards the conversation. Are they talking about her? She listens intently.

With that ear tuned in, the tail-end of the conversation comes in quite clearly. "I'm delighted to hear that, Mayvin! I just think it's the most wonderful oppourtunity," says Beatrice, her rounded face dimpled with a pleased look. "I never thought there'd be side benefits to registering with the Merchant's Quarter association."

Another one of the chatters, a younger Skreek woman, nods. "The boon to business for my shop's been nice, and these little added perks have been icing on the pastry. But I think I'll be walking along with Mayvin too, I should be getting home."

Beatrice nods, and begins taking teacups back to place on her tray. "Well, I'm glad you both stopped by! I should let Anisa know the news."

The Skreek clucks her tongue. "You haven't told her yet? For shame! With-holding such a nice surprise is criminal, Bea."

The white Lapi sets her book down in her lap, tuning both ears at the conversation while keeping her eyes set on the fire. Slowly she swivels her head to look towards the matronly group, a sinking feeling emination from her stomach.

The three women are all smiles. "Geraldine is right, Bea… share the news! You can tell us how it goes tomorrow," says Mayvin.

The Skreek nods. "Francis will be so jealous of her! Maybe next year, she can go herself. But enough chit-chat, it's dark enough. Come on, Mayvin."

With that, the ladies exchange farewell pleasantries, and the Skreek and Kujaku shuffle through the door, their chattering becoming incomprehensible as they pass through it.

Anisa just looks at her mother as the other two women leave. As soon as they are out the door, the young rabbit gets up from the couch, walks over to Beatrice, and simply stares at her expantantly, arms crossed.

The older Lapi pauses in assembling her tea set, glancing over at Anisa. "Oh! Tsk, don't stare like that, dear, it's impolite. I suppose you overheard?" Beatrice tries and fails to suppress an excited grin, and she's got enough pep in her step to nearly upset the tea-kettle when she begins taking the tray back to the kitchen. "Come along then, Anisa! You'll love this, I'm sure."

Arms still crossed, Anisa follows behind her mother. "I heard something, but what that something is I have yet to figure out, since you haven't told me!" She gives a sigh, "Are you going to let me in on the secret?"

"Of course, sweetie!" The swinging doors admit both the Lapi to a clean kitchen, lovingly kept spotless. Beatrice places the tea set near a water-pump, and begins pumping water into a wash-basin, talking while she does so. "I don't know if your father ever told you, but our restaurant is registered with the Merchant's Quarter association. For monthly dues, all the business people have a place to meet, and the association advertises for us, organizes events, and offers accounting help. You know how much your father hates doing the bookkeeping. Almost as much as Quinn when he makes Quinn do it." The matron laughs to herself.

The younger Lapi nods, "Yeah, I know about the association, but what does that have to do with me?" She picks a piece of lettuce from the table crisper, and idly nibbles on it. "I'm just a worker, not an owner."

Beatrice nods, her ears flopping a bit. "I'm getting to that, dear. Anyway, the association is often able to get business discounts at various places for registered members. Just recently, they had one that I thought would be wonderful for you." Her attention goes from the tea set to Anisa's face, her own nearly glowing with happiness. "It would have been far too steep otherwise… but with the help of the association, I've enrolled you for the spring quarter at the Royal Chronotopian Ladies School of Refinement!" She can't help but clap her paws gleefully. "Isn't it exciting? It's so exclusive, and there was only one discount slot, but the associate's board said something about 'us needing it the most out of any of the members'."

Anisa's ears shoot up in alarm, and she begins to choke on a piece of the lettuce as it goes down the wrong pipe, thanks to the sudden shock. Quickly, she pumps herself a glass of water, and downs the stray bit of food. Coughing, ears red, she glares at Beatrice. "You did *cough* WHAT?!" A few more forced coughs, and the villanous piece of vegetable matter is downed. "Refinement school?! How could you!" She slams the cup down on the counter, "That place is just a factory for producing little prim and proper snobs!"

Beatrice looks rather startled, and her nose begins twitching in alarm. "But… but Anisa! This is a rare oppourtunity to attend one of the best schools on Sinai! I know you might find some of these things boring, but be practical! I know you have it in you to be a fine wife for the right man. A man who'll take care of you! Maybe even a noble!" She holds out her paws imploringly. "Dear, you're my only daughter, and I only want you to be happy… I'm trying to do what's best for you."

"A fine wife?!" The white Lapine's ears are bright red, her nose twitching almost as fast as her mother's. "I don't need to be taken care of by anybody, let alone some blue-blooded panty waist! And I'm perfectly happy, see how happy I am?" Needless to say, she doesn't look to happy at the moment. "Why didn't you even ask me first?"

Anisa's mother reaches out to hold her daughter's shoulders. "I wanted it to be a surprise. Besides, we didn't have much time to take the offer, and if we'd deliberated too long, someone else would have snapped it up. The Chronotopian school is very exclusive, and any one of the other members would probably have tackled the chairman of the committee if they thought it'd mean getting this slot. Anisa, you NEED this. You can't spend your whole life scuffling in the dirt with hooligans, and waiting tables. You're worth more than that!"

Anisa just stares at the floor, holding in her fuming at the moment. "I know, but its just not me… I don't know if-" Suddenly, a voice in the back of her head informs the rabbit of a certain key word in the name of the school. She looks up at her mother, the angry expression momentarily fading. "Did… did you say Chronotopian?"

"Why… yes, it's a boarding school in Blitzheim," replies Beatrice, somewhat uncertainly.

The young Lapi's face goes blank, then she stares at the ceiling, deep in thought as her mind weighs the options. It means going to a snooty school that specializes in breaking a girl's spirit and making her all nice and submissive… but its in Chronotopia: a chance to finally get out of Rephidim! Finally, with a slow, defeated yet refined sigh, Anisa looks at her mother. "Okay, you win."

The relief on Mother's face is evident, and is chased away be the return of her previous happy look. "Oh, I knew you'd come around eventually, Anisa. You're a smart, smart girl, and I know this school will be good for you." She squeezes her daughters shoulders, then wipes at one eye. "My little girl is growing up… (snff)… "

Anisa flares her nostrils and rolls her eyes at Beatrice's melodrama. "Well, don't think I'll be like those little snoots when I come back, because I won't." She starts to help her mother with cleaning the tea set. "And for that matter, when do I get shipped off? I'll need to tell Andrea and Candice and the rest of the gang before I go, and I'll need to go shopping for some new clothes and some soaps and things… "

Reminded of the neglected tea set, Beatrice starts soaping the kettle with a washcloth. "You're right! Well, the quarter starts in a few weeks, but the school representative suggested you start on your way in five days or so, considering the air travel time. Oh, but that should be plenty of time for us to order a nice dress at Mayvin's Clothier… that woman is a wizard with a needle."

Out in the commons room, someone can be heard yelling, "WHAT?!" It sounds like Royce.

"Five days? That hardly gives me any time at all!" She slumps her shoulders, still working on the set, "That won't give me any time to go shop! And as for the dress-" She stops speaking abruptly, stooping down to peer out the bar service window. "What in the First Ones… ?"

"For the Star's sake, son, you've got to do something." This time it's Abrahm. "Just sitting around here, reading books… it's unhealthy! You need something hands-on! The MQA got us a great rate on this."

Royce can be heard replying, "Dad, I get enough bossing around just helping out here. I don't need a technopriest slapping my knuckles with a yardstick too."

"Don't get smart with me, young man. Save it for the initiate's camp." Instead of a reply to this, Royce can be heard storming through the back door. The door slamming behind him rattles some windowpanes.

Anisa winces at the slam: one of the fallbacks to having such big ears is that everything tends to be much louder. "I see that the Association had other discounts too… " She perks her ears up, listening for her little brother outside (the ears come in handy as well). "Sounds like he's up on the roof." She rinses her paws off, drying them on a towel. "I'd better go talk to him."

"Hmm? He is? Oh, my." Beatrice sighs, and continues scrubbing at some teacups. "Well, your father is probably about ready to close up. I'll help him with that."

The white Lapi simply nods to her mother, and walks to the back of the employee hallway, exiting using the back entrance. Looking for a way up to the roof, she spots a few trashcans stacked in the alleyway, and hefts herself up as carefully as she can, peeking up over the ledge. "Hey, you up here Splotches?"

Seated near the chimney, a brooding Lapine shape is silhouetted by the Procession, hunched with arms over knees, and looking out over the other roofs of the district. Though the roof is slightly sloped, the rough shingles composing it seem to afford good traction, to where Beatrice's brief word of protest could safely be ignored.

The shape only moves slightly at Anisa's words, and replies, "Go away."

"Thought so," replies the white Lapi. She pulls herself all the way onto the roof, grumbling under her breath at her stifling barmaid's uniform, and walks over to her brother. Silently, she sits next to him, and gazes off in the same direction as he does. "They got you too, huh?"

Royce is quiet for a bit, just letting the wind move his ears and whiskers a little. Finally, he just looks at his feet. "… Yeah. It's already paid for, so I don't have a choice, either."

Anisa toys with an ear, not saying anything for a while. "Well, they got me too, and it doesn't look like I have any choice." She turns to look at her little brother, "Did you say they were sending you to the Technopriesthood?"

"Kinda. It's an engineering trade school." Royce sighs, and leans his head back until it lays against the chimney. The bricks are still warm from the fire below. "I guess it's a pretty good one… I think the Temple selects promising initiates from it, from time to time. It's just… I don't know… I don't think I'm ready for this."

The elder sister pulls a brush out from her apron's wait belt, and starts in on one of Royce's ears. "Well, why not? You're smart enough, probably smarter than all of those snooty poodles and Rath'ani, and you're old enough too." She shrugs, "I think mom and dad are just trying to look out for you, you're smarter than any of us could ever wish to be. Besides, it could always be worse," she gives Royce a strange, almost comical look composed of a smirk, and a look of disgust, "they could be sending you off to charm school like me."

The base of Royce's ear relaxes as the brush passes over it, and he holds still. "Charm school? Ouch! I have to admit… I got the better end of the deal there. Are you really going to it?"

Anisa continues to fuss with her brother's unkempt ear fur, and nods grimly. "I guess so, I mean, what choice do I have? When mom and daddy get their minds and finances set, there's no changing their minds." She gives a sigh, "I can't say as I'm looking forward to being stuck there with all of those snobs, but it is in Chronotopia, and it's achance to see some bit of the world." She stops working on her brother's ears, and begins on her own. "You should just enjoy it I guess, you have the brains, and we all know you'd succeed."

"Maybe… I just wish I had a little more time." Royce shakes his head, and his de-snarled ear flops over one eye. He puffs it out of the way with a snort. "I mean, what if I want to become something else? What if I feel more like learning outer mysteries instead of inner mysteries? I… hey… " The Lapi stops gesticulating, and squints at something in the street in front of the shop. "What's that?"

The white Lapi shrugs, "All I have is a week." She looks down to where Royce gestures, squinting against the dim light, and perks her ears in the direction of the street, "What? What do you see?"

Off in the darkness, there's a bright blue sparkle. It slowly cycles to green… then back to blue. It vanishes for a few seconds, then returns again as green, just appearing to hover in mid-air. A Dromodon-drawn cart passes by, likely a merchant… and in the dim glow of the merchant's lantern, a familiar salt and pepper shape can be seen near the odd light, which winks out again.

Anisa furrows her brow as she spies the strange sight. "Is that Ben down there? What's he doing out this late?" She stands up on the roof, and peers down. "Mom would have a fit if she knew he was out this late on his own!"

"He's just out in front of the restaurant, and it's not like this is Darkside or anything." replies Royce, standing as well. "I wouldn't have worried much… I think Mom thought he was hiding in the pantry again. What's that he's holding?"

"I can't tell, and it doesn't matter where we are, its late and still dangerous out!" The white Lapi starts to make her way over to the trashcans, "I'm going to go see what he's doing. He's such a little weirdo at times."

Royce nods, and begins clambering down the eves as well, making his way over some discarded crates. "I guess I've had enough sulking anyway."

Anisa grins, "Good, its bad for the whiskers anyways." Anisa makes her way down from the roof, clumsily thanks mainly to her despised dress, and lightly leaps to the ground. Starting down the alleyway, she rounds the corner to the front of the Tavern. "Ben? What are you up to?"

Benjamin's attention is raptly focused on the object in his paw, and he doesn't notice when Anisa comes up behind him. At the words, however, he jumps, and turns around, looking surprised and guilty at the same time. "Ugh! 'Nisa! Don't sneak up on me like that, you scared me half to death!" His fist curls over the item he'd been looking at, but there's a fine copper chain, almost thin enough to be called a wire, dangling from it.

At his feet lies a small wooden box, about the size of a bread loaf, with some papers and such in it.

Despite the fashion, Anisa's ears perk forwards at her youngest brother, and her nose twitches in curiosity. "What do you have there? We could see it from the roo- er, window." She puts her hands on her hips, "For that matter, what are you doing out so late? You know the rules."

"I… um… nothing! It's just something I… er… found. Around." Benjamin gestures lamely at some discarded boxes left out by the shop keepers for garbage pickup. Royce rolls his eyes.

The older sister crosses her arms. "Not quite, little bunny-boy. She me what you have right now."

"Hey! Don't call me b-" The youngest Lapi is silenced by a light cuff from Royce, who smirks. "You're going to need about four more years before you can lie right, twerpazoid."

"Twerpazoid?"

"It's a technopriest term."

"Nuh-uh!"

The denial earns Benjamin another cuff. "Just hand whatever it is over to Anisa." says Royce.

Anisa grimaces at Royce's rough treatment, but doesn't protest just yet. "Yes, let me see it. You shouldn't just pick up strange stuff off the street."

She holds out the palm of her paw expectantly.

With a whimper, Ben does as he's told, dropping his find into Anisa's paw while Royce picks up the box. As soon as it leaves his hand, all three of the Lapi's faces are dimly washed in a soft blue glow. It comes from a small chunk of shaped crystal, about the size of a walnut, shaped into a rhombus and set in copper fittings. A simple copper chain turns it into an odd sort of pendant. Along with the pendant, Benjamin's story pours out, in a rush of guilty babble. "I'm sorry, oh I'm so sorry, Anisa, please don't tell Quinn, the courier gave this box and said it was for Quinn, and I heard rattling in it, and I saw it was from Gibson, and he always sends you all really hopping stuff, and I just wanted to see it, I swear I was just looking, please please please don't be angry… "

Anisa stares at the pendant, only barely hearing her brother's story as she is enchanted by its strange beauty. Coming to her senses, with ears flushing, she stuffs the stone back into the box held by Royce. "Ben, I'm surprised at you! You know better than to open other people's packages, especially when they're from Gibson!" A scolding look on her face, she still can't help but glance at the present, and the papers surrounding it. "We'll have to go give it to Quinn… "

Royce looks over a sheet of parchment in one paw, the wooden box still in his other. He idly glances back in the box, rattling it around a little. "Yeah, it's from big bro alright. There's a couple other things in here too. Some kinda chunk of glass with squiggly things in it for you, sistwerp. Hey, I got something too… aw cracks, it's just a stupid black block of something. Anyway, yeah… I guess the letter and that… glowing thing was for Quinn." He glances at Anisa slyly. "C'mon, sis… don't you want to want to know what Gib's letter says? Look at the box, it was sent by bonded courier."

The white Lapi bites at her lip, nose twitching in agonizing curiosity. Ears drooping, she finally gives in, rewarding Royce with a light punch to the shoulder as she yanks the box away from him. "Okay, fine… but I get to read the letter!" She balances the box in one paw, and holds the parchment in the other, eagerly perusing the document from her oldest brother.

"Oof!" is all Royce has a chance to say before the box is wrenched out of his paws. He says nothing however, and both his and Benjamin's ears perk up.

Making sure she has her brothers' attention, and giving a small smirk of pleasure at Royce's reaction to the slug, Anisa begins to read the letter aloud:

Dear Quinn. I hope this letter finds you well. I'm afraid I'll have to spare the pleasantries, as this has to be quick. I'm writing this from Abu Dhabi, where I'd been tracking down some relic trafficking in the markets. I'd been following a lead for a year or two, and I think I'm on the verge of discovering something fantastic, but things have been getting weird lately."

Anisa furrows her brow as she reads on, seems this letter was meant for Quinn only.

"This letter has been sent by a personal courier, so I can be assured of its reaching you safely and securely. Recently, a black market relic trader named Jipulu had refused to sell some of his wares to someone. I don't know who it was, but Jipulu turned up dead under mysterious circumstances about a week later. However, he'd been paranoid, and hidden his cache before this had happened. I got lucky in tossing a little money around, managed to get some clues, and found the stash. I'm worried, though. I'm pretty sure Jipulu's death wasn't a coincidence, and I'm not sure I can trust hired help anymore. In particular, I caught my guide trying to make off with a sack of loot. I'm sure he was bribed to do so, and I bet the only reason I'm still alive is because no-one knows what I've done with a lot of the relics. Someone wants them, someone with some influence."

Anisa's pauses in her reading for a bit, her tone becoming a bit more worriesome as she continues. The furrow in her brow deepens as she tries to decipher the letter.

Royce and Benjamin exchange glances, and their ears tilt forward a little to listen as more of the letter is revealed.

"This is where you come in, Quinn. The only people I can trust now are family, and a few select friends I'll be meeting. I know you must be busy with the restaurant, but you're the only one I can ask. Tyson, bless his soul, just isn't the kind of take-charge fellow like you who'd be up to this. The other brothers are just too young for this sort of danger. It's a lot for me to ask of you, I know. I'll understand if you refuse. Just don't tell Mom and Dad. I'm old enough to make my own choices, but they'd still have heart attacks. I'll ask you about it at the end of this letter."

Anisa grimaces as her name isn't mentioned, but continues.

The two brothers present wince slightly, perfectly aware of just what's rankling their sister.

"Anyway, I sent some gifts from Jipulu's stash. Things that I couldn't make heads or tails of, mostly. I couldn't get any use out of them here, but I thought some of the sibs would enjoy them. I'm sure Royce will love pondering the mysteries of that black brick I sent him."

Royce rolls his eyes at this. The letter goes on to read, "I'm sure he'd roll his eyes at what I wrote, but that brick is still pretty interesting. I think it was some kind of ancient building block. As far as I can tell, it's totally indestructable."

The white Lapi smirks at her black and white brother, still reading all the while.

This last actually causes Royce the glance at the brick curiously. He quickly hides the look under a neutral face.

"For Anisa, I sent that chunk of glass, with the squiggly coloured bits in it. It might've been some kind of old art object. I thought she'd appreciate it, because she doesn't often let herself admit when she thinks something's pretty. Too girlish, I bet. Tell her to try shining a light through it."

Anisa's ears turn bright red as she reads this part, Gibson knows her too well. She fights the embarassed look back in front of her younger brothers though, and keeps the part about the light in mind.

"I think Ranit would just have scoffed at anything I could have sent him. Teenagers, huh? He outgrew any appreciation of wonder, but it should come back to him eventually. I'll send him something at that point, if I'm still kicking."

The Lapi sister continues to read…

Royce smirks at that particular passage, and the reddening of Anisa's ears. Fortunately, he keeps his comments to himself.

"I bet Benjamin thought I forgot him. There's nothing else in the box, is there? Tell him to look at the box itself. In fact, have him shut the box, then turn it over, then turn it on its end, then twist each end. Then open it again. What's this? Looks like I sent Ranit a presant after all."

It's Benjamin's turn to look surprised. He looks at the box in Anisa's paw, then looks at the Lapi herself questioningly.

Anisa pauses her reading to look over at little Ben, and hands the box to him. "Well, go ahead, try it!"

The salt-and-pepper rabbit takes the box eagerly, and follows the directions. Turn, side, twist. There's a clattering from inside the box, as if something fell loose, and when the panel is slid open again, something curved falls out of it, about as long as a finger, lying on the cobbles and glinting. Royce stoops to pick up, then almost drops it when he realizes what it is.

Anisa clutches the letter to her chest, and looks down at the object. "What is it?"

Royce holds it up, and the dim light from surrounding buildings and the Procession glints on a wickedly curved fang of some sort, serrated on the inside. "It looks like a tooth, Anisa… from what, I couldn't possibly say."

The white rabbit makes a double take at the fang, the fur standing up on her neck as her Lapine instinct kicks in. She quickly surpresses the feeling, and look back down to the parchment. "Maybe the letter will say what it is… "

It would seem Gibson isn't sure either, because the letter reads, "I don't know what that tooth is from, but I don't want to meet it, whatever it is. Benjamin gets to keep the combo-box. Tell Benjamin to do me a favor, though. If he ever figures out how to get my pocket-watch out of that thing, I'd really appreciate it. It was my 25th birthday presant, after all. I still don't know how many compartments are in that crazy box."

Anisa grins at the letter, quickly peering at Benjamin, then continuing her reading.

The youngest Lapi looks delighted, and his attention is already mostly absorbed by the combo-box.

The letter goes on. "Finally, Quinn, the pendant is for you. This one is important, though. I sent it to you so no-one would find it on me. Legends I've researched called it the First Stone. I'll explain more about it when we meet. That's right, I want you to meet me in Half Valley. Tell Benj to hold the box level, turn it three times, shake it until he hears a click, then open the panel. There's your ticket to Half Valley, and that's where I'm shipping out next. All will be answered when you get here. Like I said, if you don't wish to meet me, I understand. Just keep an eye on the First Stone, or turn it over to the Temple, because I won't have a use for it otherwise."

The white Lapi's ears droop back more than normal at this part, and she begins to chew on her lip again in worry. She continues…

"That's about it. The airship is about to board, and the courier is getting antsy. Give my love to Mom and Dad, and all the sibs. I miss you all. Love, Gibson."

Royce, for once, is speechless, though the way his jaw is working, it seems obvious he wants to say -something-. He just doesn't seem to know what it is.

Anisa looks up from the letter at her two brothers, silently at first. She looks at Royce and grimaces, trying to hide her look of worry, then turns to Ben. "Well… gonna give that box another try?"

Ben seems to have got the concern in his sister's voice, but unsure of what to do, he follows his directions. He holds it level, turns it, does the shake and the click responds. The panel is slid open, and a small slip of paper drifts out, which Royce quickly snatches. He reads it. "It's a ticket to Half Valley, all right. It's actually -from- Half Valley. I'm not sure how Gibs did it, but here it is."

Anisa makes a snatch as well, taking the ticket right out of Royce's hands. "I'll take that, thank you." She peers at the ticket, squinting to read it as best she can in the dim evening light.

"But… hey!" As usual, Royce is no match for his sister's reflexes, and he just frowns, staring at his new black brick. The ticket seems pretty simple. It reads, "Airship Sunset Hoof, commissioned of Half Valley – Debarking from Rephidim 10 days before Unity Day, destination, Pond Airfield. The bearer of this ticket entitled to second-class bunk, and cargo space." There's a fancy-looking border around the edges, a date, and an illegible signature in a space marked 'Captain' as some sort of authenticity guaruntee.

The white Lapi continues to gnaw at her bottom lip, nose twitching furiously in thought. She suddenly realizes what she is doing, and looks back up at her brothers almost startledly. "W-well… I guess we had better give this stuff to… Quinn… " Her voice sort of trails off as she looks at the assorted trinkets.

"You know Quinn's going to give birth to a Rughrat over this," replies Royce flatly.

Curling an ear around a finger, and looking back at the ticket, Anisa is slow to reply, her face seemingly in thought, and a mischevious glint in her eye. "Well… yeah… if we tell him… "

Ben's childish voice chimes in a sing-song. "o/~ I know that look, and 'Nisa's thinking up trouble… o/~"

Royce gives his little brother an annoyed look, and folds his arms. "All right, Anisa… a shekel bit for your thoughts?"

"I am not!" retorts Ben's older sister as she makes a swipe at him. She looks to Royce. "Well, it did say in the letter that Quinn only had to come if he wanted to… " She shrugs, trying to look nonchalant, "And, well, if hto… " She shrugs, trying to look nonchalant, "And, well, if he never knows about it, then he can't get the desire to go, right?" She gives a solemn look with a shrug, trying to look for all the world serious.

"And besides," Anisa continues, "Quinn would have Ben's ears if he knew that he opened the package first… "

Salt-and-pepper instantly claps his mouth shut. Splotches rubs the back of his ears. "Not tell Quinn? But… I mean, but… Gibson needs help!" He sidles nervously from side to side, and despite what control he tries to keep over it, his nose begins wiggling with agitation. "I know he wouldn't be able to go… Mom and Dad would have the life shocked out of them, and they need Quinn as it is… but… Gibson!"

Anisa fusses with one of her ears, looking as though she were attempting some sort of inward rationalization. "Well, he can still get help… " She locks gazes with Royce, a strange look in her eyes…

"You're… " Royce gapes as realization sets in… then laughs. It's not a laugh with any humor behind it. "You're nuts! How do you think you can get away with this?!"

Benjamin fidgets uncomfortably, still silent.

The white Lapine takes a few steps back away from her brothers, her paw, with ticket, slowly headed towards her apron pocket. "Well, I'm headed off for Chronotopia next week at about the same time anways… " She shrugs, looking up at the procession. "It's not like momma and daddy would know the difference as to where I go… "

The splotchy one just points at Anisa, but no words come out of his mouth. He turns away, releasing a sigh of resignation, even as he throws his hands in the air. He faces away for a few moments. "Well… I guess you're right. But… "

Anisa promptly drops the ticket into her pocket. "But what? As long as I'm on an airship, they're happy!" She gives a small mischevious grin. "And Half-Valley sounds alot better than some snotty charm school. Besides," her expression drops a bit, "I miss Gibson."

"But… " Royce turns around, looking his sister in the eye. "But you've got to take me with you."

The white rabbit looks a bit startled at this. "Take you with me? But there's only one ticket!" She pulls it out, and waves it to demonstrate. "I don't have the kind of cash to get you a ticket on such short notice, and mom and dad would know!"

"You have to take me with you!" Royce shoots back, poking a finger into the center of his paw by way of emphasis. "Gibson needs all the help he can get… especially without Quinn! I'm supposed to be going to initiate camp… but they're not going to teach me anything I don't know, and I bet I can get one of my friends to fill in for me. I'll stow away in your luggage if I have to! I mean… you need me!"

Ben continues to say nothing, but he looks distinctly worried. His large eyes look between brother and sister, as if he were watching a wall-ball game.

Anisa just stares at her brother, then blinks. "Trouble? We don't even know what trouble he's in!" She crosses her arms. "And what would you do to help?" She fails to mention exactly what she plans to do, but that's besides the point.

Royce smirks at this point, and crosses his arms in return, the two rabbits facing off. "Do you even know WHERE the Half Valley is?"

Anisa points at her brother, and begins to say something, only to cut herself off. She searches for a retort, but not finding one, goes back into her stubborn posture, ears red with embarassment. "Okay, no, I don't! But that has nothing to do with it!"

"Anisa, it has everything to do with it!" Royce holds up his smooth black brick, shaking it. "I've read all sorts of stuff that could be useful… legends, maps, encyclopedias… what in the Star's name do you think I'm doing when you're fighting with the other idiots over whose turn it is to drag the trash barrel out to the alley?"

Royce throws the brick at the cobblestones. "Dagh take it, I bet I know more than Gibson in a lot of ways!"

Benjamin jumps as the black brick strikes the street. A chip of stone has flaked off one of the cobbles, and the brick looks none the worse for wear.

Begining to fume, Anisa's eyes shoots into one of shock as Royce lobs the stone down. She quickly scoops it up off the ground and holds it close, glaring viciously at her black and white brother. "Don't you ever treat something Gibson gives to you like that, EVER!" Tears of anger almost seem to spring to her eyes as she looks daggers at Royce. "And never talk about him that way!"

Royce throws a paw out to point at the chipped cobble. His voice is still under control, but strained. "That's your problem, Anisa! You don't think logically! Gibson said that stupid brick was indestructable, and if that chipped cobble isn't an indicator, I don't know what is. How do you think you're going to help Gibson blowing up like that all the time? Huh? HUH?!"

With teeth clenched, Anisa begins to angrily step towards her younger brother, looking for all the world like she is about to pummel him into the ground, but stops just at the last minute, arms slumping with a defeated sigh. She doesn't want to admit that Royce is right: she may be tough, but she doesn't know hardly anything about the world beyond Rephidim, and her brother is many times smarter than she is. "Okay, fine, you win." She turns from her black and white sibling, putting the brick in her apron pocket with the ticket, and wiping a few tears from her eyes. "I still don't know how we'll get you on board."

Royce releases his breath in a shakey sigh… evidently not altogether sure he wouldn't end up with a black eye. "Don't worry… you're in a second-class cabin. You get a room to yourself. Just sneak me in there in a trunk, and you can let me out when the airship's away. I'll sleep on the floor."

Collecting the other items into her apron pocket as well (which is begining to get overloaded), the white Lapi sits on the rim of a rainwater barrel, and looks over to Royce. "Can you fit in my luggage? I might have to take one of momma's bags." She picks the gift meant for her out of the pocket, and idly gazes at it, turning it this way and that.

Royce can be seen on the other side of it, except with the white patches of his fur coloured in vivid yellows, blues, greens, and more. The glass cylinder is perfectly clear… and seems to be a rare specimen, for glass. No bubbles, no flaws, no warping. But inside, ribbons of color twist and pass over each other, forming a rainbow soup and somehow not managing to blend together into mud. "I'm betting we get an allowance before we head out. Doesn't Mom want to take you shopping? Dad'll probably let me pick up some stuff. I bet we might be able to put together some supplies if we play our dice right."

Anisa tries to let the light of the procession shine through the cylinder, as per Gibson's directions. "I suppose, but mom will want to get me new dresses," she sticks her tongue out at the thought, "But I might be able to get some luggage." She looks from the trinket to the splotchy brother, "But how will you manage to get to the luggage if they're going to see you off too?"

"Easy. I'm gonna look like I'm heading off in about six days," replies Royce, the smug look of a planner on his face. The light of the Procession passing through the cylinder is faint… but remarkably, it's enough to see the effect Gibson was talking about. The light passing through is projected onto the stones of the street, washing them with faint hues bordered by the pale light of the Procession where it missed the cylinder. "I'll spend a few nights with one of my friends, an initiate I've been helping with his exams. After a few days, I'll be ready to hop the ship with you. You can have them dump my junk in the cargo hold, and I'll stow away into the cabin with you."

The snow colored Lapi looks a bit skeptical at the plan, her eyes gazing at the multicolored light the cylindar projects, but finally she gives a nod along with a sigh. "I guess it'll have to do, if you're so insistant on coming." She puts the strange prism back in her pocket. "We'd better go back in now, so they don't worry about us, and we can plan better tomorrow, when we're not out in the open." She stands back up with a stretch, her apron considerably heavier due to excess baggage. Just as she is about to turn on her heel back into the Tavern, she remembers something else. "Oh, and Ben," she looks at the youngest sibling directly in the eyes, "not a word of this to anybody! Not mom or daddy, Tyson or Ranit, and especially not Quinn!"

"Yeah," says Royce. "I'm surprised they didn't hear us shouting out here as it is. They're probably done closing up in there." Benjamin doesn't say anything, just staring wide-eyed at his siblings, looking unsure and uncomfortable.

Anisa crosses her arms and taps her foot, looking at Ben with one pierceing eye. "I mean it, baby-bunny-boy! Promise you won't tell!"

Benjamin raises his paws as if to ward off the gaze. "I won't, I won't! It's just… " He looks down, and stares at his feet, shuffling them back and forth. In a voice almost inaudible, he whispers, "It's just that… you're going away, and… and it's dangerous, and… " A hiccup interrupts the boy, and he keeps his face down.

The white Lapi's stern look melts away, and she bends down to hug her baby brother, "We'll be okay, don't worry. Royce is a big boy, and I can take care of my self, and when we get back, we'll have all sorts of stories to tell you, and maybe some new stuff from Gibson too!" She smiles at the younger rabbit.

*Sniff* Benj doesn't let anyone see his face until he's wiped a forearm across his eyes, at which point he looks up. "All right… I won't tell… but I want to help! I'll… uhm… you can send me mail from Half Valley, right? And I'll send stuff back!" As impractical a gesture it might be, he looks hopeful.

Anisa playfully wiggles one of Benjamin's ears, "Of course we will, but you'll have to keep them secret." She smiles, "and you can fill us in on what's going on back at the home front."

"Okay… I'll do it. But be careful, okay?" Benjamin's ear flops over Anisa's paw, and he smiles tentatively. "I mean, if we thought Momma and Da would blow their tops with Quinn galloping over to Half Canyon… with you two going there… chee… "

Regaining her feet, the Lapi girl nods to Ben. "All the more reason for you to keep it a secret." She looks up at the dark sky. "We'd better get back inside now, and hide this stuff."

Royce nods, and takes a deep breath. "This is pretty crazy, but in a way, I'm looking forward to it. C'mon, Benj… maybe once we get home, we can see if there's anything else in your box." The youngest Lapi nods enthusiastically.

Giving a small smirk, Anisa watches her two brothers reenter the Tavern, but she herself lingers a bit. Pulling the cylindar out of her pocket, she gives it another look. "I'm on my way, Gibson, don't worry." With a small sigh, she replaces it, and goes back into the establishment, giving a tired yawn.