At Rephidim Temple, a line of cubs and kits stands in their new Temple Scout uniforms, being inspected by the lupine Den Leader, Danae Sapphire. Among the kits and cubs are two with spots that stand out from the rest. One is a jaguar cub, easily the youngest of the entire group. The other is a harder-to-place hybrid, looking feline, with heart-shaped spots, but with a pair of feathered wings sprouting from her back, and standing on a pair of hooves.

Pouncer looks up with wide eyes at "big sister" next to her.

Taliamelle re-adjusts her uniform collar for the hundreth time, and flicks her ears back in discomfort for the thousandth. She has always hated wearing girl clothes, but especially uniforms.

The Den Leader walks by, stopping in front of Taliamelle, and looking down at her expression with mild disapproval. She then moves on, smiling faintly at Pouncer's eager grin, and down the line. "Very good, very good! I see you are all ready." She claps her hands together for attention, then says, "You have all done especially well so far! So well, in fact, that you have been chosen to take part in a SPECIAL MISSION for the Temple!"

Taliamelle calls out after the Den leader, "Then can we go hom'?"

Den Leader frowns severely at Taliamelle, as the winged cub's remark prompts several giggles on down the line. She claps her hands again for silence. "Not until you have completed this most important mission. Do not be so eager to leave, Scout Paradys. It does not reflect well upon your dedication to the cause of the Temple."

Taliamelle crosses her arms. "Stupid ol' Temple," she mutters under her breath.

A couple of cubs next to Taliamelle gasp in shock. The Den Leader frowns at Taliamelle again. "I will have to have a little talk with you later, I see. Now then … to our mission. Today, you are all going to be Special Inspectors. It is your duty to perform a surprise inspection of the Primary Temple Scout Cookie Factory, to ensure that the cookies are up to Temple standards."

"Hard as it may be, you will be required to actually TEST some of the cookies to determine their suitability. I hope that you will be up to the task – " the Den Leader says, before being cut off by several excited squeals and cheers from the young Scouts.

Taliamelle scuffs the floor gently with her hoof and frowns. Then her ears perk up at what the Den Leader is saying.

Den Leader Sapphire waits for the squeals to die down, then claps her hands together again. "Now then. Are we all ready? The wagon is waiting. Single file! Line up now! Drummer, begin cadence, please!"

The drummer, a wolf cub, happily starts a marching beat for the cubs. Some of them are close to being in step, some are in step, some are just stomping happily. That will take some practice, of course.

Taliamelle clomps along behind Pouncer, craning her neck to see where everyone is going.

The line of Scouts heads out of the Temple, and up to a wagon with a ramp set out in the back. There are benches on each side of the interior of the wagon, but as they fill up, the rest of the cubs simply sit on the floor. Pouncer and Taliamelle are among the first on, though, so they have their pick of places.

Taliamelle settles into her seat, pulling uncomfortably on her uniform. "Hate girl' clothes," she mutters lowly again.

The wagon rolls along, pulled by a Dromodon team through the city. It stops at times to wait for cross traffic to pass, then starts again, turns, and goes this way and that. Eventually, it comes to another building, riding into a garage, where a ramp is set up again for the cubs to disembark.

An elderly female wolf claps her hands to her cheeks and says, "Oh dear! Oh dear! A SURPRISE INSPECTION from the Temple Scouts! Oh, please do not be harsh on us!"

The cubs begin to pile out, and the Den Leader does her best to herd them back in line, while some workers helpfully keep any of the swifter ones from straying off too far. "All right, Temple Scouts! Line up, and pick up your Special Inspector Badges here! Just ONE each!"

The badges are made of enameled wood, bearing the sign of the Temple, and, in big serious letters: "COOKIE INSPECTOR".

Taliamelle toddles forward, almost stumbling into several other kids along the way, and picks up a badge. She looks it over and scowls thoughtfully.

The badge has a little clip that should attach to one's uniform sash, without any pins involved. However, the cubs have proven to be fairly creative in where they put their badges. Some go on collars, some on sleeves, some on ears, and a Korv managed to put one on his beak, just to be goofy.

Taliamelle looks over the other kids, shrugs, and clips hers on a wingfeather.

The Den Leader leads the cubs through the factory, past rows of tables where laborers of various species are going through the processes of preparing ingredients, putting them into pre-measured containers, in as close to an assembly-line fashion as one could get short of the industrial age. "Cookie dough inspection!" declares Den Leader Sapphire, and several globs of cookie dough are set out on wooden dishes on a table in front of the Cookie Inspectors.

There are several flavors. Xocholatl Chip, Snackerdoodle, Crunchy Cricket, Sugarfir Delight, Bromthen Cream, and more.

The Eeees in the group, naturally, are maneuvering to get in line for Crunchy Cricket.

Taliamelle hees, and picks up a glob of Xocholatl Chip to work it between her fingers into a little dough fish. "Cookie fis'!" she exclaims showing it to Pouncer, and pops it on her mouth.

Pouncer giggles and squeals, "COOKIE!" She grabs another Xocholatl Chip dough glob, and squawks, "SPOTS!" She then daintily nibbles at it, rather than gobbling it all at once. Actually, this proves to be far more messy, and she soon has bits of dough in her whiskers as well as on her fingers.

A little gray bat, Rally, squeaks, "Want some?" She generously holds out a glob of Crunchy Cricket dough to Taliamelle.

Taliamelle giggles and grabs a small bit of the snackerdoodle dough. She pulls the dough into her mouth kinda like taffy. "Thi' seems fine to me… "

Taliamelle blinks over at the back. "Um, no t'anks" She turns and whispers to Pouncer, "Bug cookie. Bleh" She makes a face.

Pouncer sticks out her tongue, going, "Bug! Ick!" She then proceeds to take the dough offered by Rally, and chomps on it messily.

Taliamelle sticks out her tongue. "Ergh."

Pouncer gulps down the last bit, licking her lips, then mimicks Taliamelle, going, "ERRRRGH!"

More dough is consumed, and at last Den Leader Sapphire leads the cubs through the rest of the factory, giving them a narrative of the processes involved … a narrative which most of them either will forget within seconds or are barely even listening to in the first place.

Taliamelle is among the latter group, barely paying attention. She watches the workers intently, wondering how they can stand working around all these cookies without eating them.

The important part is that they come to a table where several of the FINISHED cookies are set out. Even before Den Leader Sapphire can say, "Cookie Inspection!" the cubs are scrambling for the table. This time, there are wooden cups of milk set out, too. Some are promptly knocked over. There will be much cleaning to do here.

Crumbs fly. Cubs gorge themselves on cookies! Countless dinners are spoiled!

Pouncer daintily takes just ONE cookie. It's another Crunchy Cricket. After that, she declines gorging herself any further with a polite mew.

Taliamelle ignores Pouncer's manners. Crunch "Say, you thin' they let me get a bag to tak' to Zoltan?" she asks at one point, her mouth half-full.

Pouncer looks around, and finds a sack, and stuffs a few cookies into it. She smiles brightly up to Den Leader Sapphire.

Taliamelle looks up after Pouncer, cramming another cookie in her mouth.

Once the cookie carnage has begun to subside, the Den Leader ushers the cubs along again. There are a few more things to see, but many of them are quite happy to see the wagon. Most have quite evidently eaten more than their fill, and are moaning, clutching their stomachs.

Taliamelle bounces along, seeming to hold her cookies well.

Den Leader Sapphire smiles, watching the cubs go past. She pauses, stopping Taliamelle, Pouncer, Rally, and another cub, a boy wolf named Gartuk, as the others get on the wagon. "Now, just a moment. How are you all feeling? Did the cookies pass inspection?"

Taliamelle pauses, looking as philosophical as an eight year old can get, "Need lot' more sugar and gooey stuff, buuuuuut… they pass!" She smiles widely.

Den Leader Sapphire raises an eyebrow at this. Rally squeaks, "Just fine! I LOVE the Crunchy Crickets!" Gartuk just smiles, his tail wagging as his answer.

Pouncer is quiet, but smiles and mews a positive-sounding response, accompanied by the bits of dough in her whiskers that she still licks at occasionally.

The Lieutenant nods. "Very good, then. I think you four are the only cubs who showed the restraint not to make themselves sick. Therefore, I have selected you for ANOTHER special assignment … a TOP SECRET mission!" She stoops down at this last bit, whispering in conspiratorial tones, though it's loud enough for the other cubs to catch snippets and make jealous frowns.

Taliamelle ohs! "And then we go home?"

The Den Leader smiles. "Oh, don't worry. You'll go home first. I think you all have some washing up to do. But don't tell ANYONE about your super secret special mission: You are going to guard a special shipment of Temple Scout cookies! You have shown enough restraint that I think you can be trusted with such a sensitive position."

Gartuk snaps a salute. "Top secret! Gmph's the word!"

Taliamelle asks an important question. "Do we ge' to wear disguise'?" She tugs uncomfortably at her uniform again and hopes.

The Den Leader looks at Taliamelle thoughtfully, then says, "That is a splendid idea. And, really, if each of you do well, and protect each and every one of those cookies … Well, you'll earn your first badge for your sash!" She winks. "You could be the first in the whole group!" This prompts more jealous "awwwwws!" from sharp-eared listeners in the wagon.

Taliamelle mulls that over. A badge would make this ugly outfit look better. "'Kay! And I pick out best secre' outfit ever."

Den Leader Sapphire nods and smiles. "You do that. Now then, take these packets … These contain your instructions, and will teach you all about your secret handshakes and codes… " She hands them each a packet marked "TOP SECRET" in big red letters.

Pouncer SQUEALS happily, and almost tears into the packet right away, except that the Den Leader halts her, then gives her a pat on the shoulder as the jaguar cub begins to sulk.

Taliamelle wiggles her fingers at the edge of the packet and picks at it, trying to get a peek inside.

The Den Leader ushers the last four cubs onto the wagon. "Now, back to the Temple – and then back home!" Despite the distraction, Taliamelle can manage to get just a peek at some papers inside, and some sort of diagrams, but of what, it probably won't be possible to tell until the packet is properly opened.

Taliamelle sneaks a cookie from Pouncer's bag, and nibbles a bit on the way back. "Zoltan not miss jus' one… " She pulls on her skirt the whole way.