It's still early morning, with the rising sun showing more as a glow through the skylights. Amelia has already dressed silently, and ponders how best to wake up her bedmate. Remembering Elsa's advice, she carefully begins to the scratch the back of Zahnrad's neck.

Zahnrad lets out a mumble and shifts slightly in the bed. Slowly, he stretches out and sleepily mutters, "… rhythmic thump … not … of course … so stupid of me." His eyes blink open and he goes motionless for a moment as he forgets just where he went to sleep. At seeing Amelia though, he says, "Oh, yeah. Forgot I slept here."

"You forgot?" Amy asks, and puts on a mock-indignant expression. "How flattering. Anyway, you need to get up or we'll miss breakfast."

"Er, I didn't mean it like that. I usually, argh," Zahnrad flounders pathetically. He crawls out of bed and stretches, then asks, "Late for breakfast? You have a set time?"

"There's some big to-do going on, so there's a buffet set up," Amy explains, with a bit of hand waving. "It's a really good spread, too!"

"Big to-dos are usually never a good sign, though. Usually means someone important is visiting and you have to look decent and all that," Zahnrad says as he pulls on his shirt and tucks it into his shorts. He then goes about trying to smooth out his hair and fur with his claws.

"Nobody will notice us in this crowd," Amelia promises, and opens the trapdoor before heading out.

"People always say that, and it's never true," Zahnrad says to himself after getting relatively satisfied with his appearance. Down he goes.

The compound is crowded this morning. Two long tables are set out, the benches filled with dozens of Kadies and Lapis (although mostly Lapis) chatting and eating. Another long table is serving as a buffet, laden with breads, cereals, hotcakes and vegetables, and attended to by some Kadie and Skeek women. Set away from the tables appears to be a mock-up, in miniature, of Stonebarrow town, with a few young Skeeks moving tiny blocks and figures around in the square. Overseeing the placement of these items are Jonas Chalk, Johan Streusel and a large black Kadie that is probably Achilles Blacktail.

Near these town elders sits Erik von Richebeau on a small stool, and wearing a somewhat overwhelmed expression. Occasionally he'll nod to the woman next to him – Granny Oggton herself – as the otteress draws in the dirt with a long stick and tries to explain something to the black poodle.

Amelia heads straight for the food!

"Wow. This is major," Zahnrad remarks as he stares rather stupidly at the gathering. Looking nervous, he heads towards the food as well. Lots of people always make him nervous. Too much motion he can't control.

As promised, nobody seems to take special notice of Zahn – until he gets to the buffet. The Skeeks serving out food are none other than Appela Streusel and they're youngest daughter, Insomnia. "Why, young Zahn!" the mayor's wife exclaims. "Are the Wingnuts preparing something special for Market Day?"

"Er, Market Day? To be honest, I have no idea. My father still deals with a majority of the deal closures and such. I tend to just stay in the shops working on whatever the current orders are," Zahnrad babbles. "Er, what exactly is Market Day?"

"Why, it's when the farmers set up stalls and sell fresh produce," Appela says, looking a bit disappointed. "As well as many of the other shops. We have them every Sphere you know. But this one should be special - Lord Richebeau went to Trollhaven and told all the merchants there about it."

"Oh … well … we're not farmers," Zahnrad says and tries to smile forcefully. "And, it's not like a lot of our stuff is generally safe for being out in crowds. All I've got is some prototype engine designs I'm working on. They're not near complete and no one around here would be interested."

Appela piles Zahn's plate with food, then asks, "Well, what does bring you here then, dear?"

"Oh, well, Amelia was helping me get some supplies," Zahnrad tries to explain vaguely and looks down at the plate.

"Oh, that's sweet," Appela says. "She's a very helpful girl." Insomnia stares at Zahn the whole time – but then she's known for hardly ever blinking anyway.

Zahnrad nods. "Yep, she is," he agrees, still looking at his food. "Are there going to be any non-farming merchants coming to the Market Day this year? Some things are hard to get around here and fabricating them myself is horribly time consuming."

"My, I don't know," Appela says, tapping her cheek with a serving spoon. "Perhaps you could ask Erik? They all seem to be taking a lot of precautions and such since the Frog Festival incident."

"They wouldn't have had that problem if … eh, nevermind. Yeah, I'll have to ask him," Zahnrad replies and nods. "Thanks for the food," Zahnrad says as he starts to walk away from them.

"Take care!" Appela calls out. Amelia waves Zahn over to one of the tables, where she's gotten some seats at one end next to several Chalk men.

Zahnrad turns from heading towards Erik to towards Amelia. "Er, sorry. Was distracted. I, well, didn't know there was some sort of Market Day thing," he admits, looking embarrassed.

"We have them all the time," Amelia says. "Your mother gets your food supplies at it, you know. I've never seen all this preparation though. Probably because out-of-towners are likely to come. They even brought out the town model, can you believe it?"

"Well, I've never been to one," Zahnrad counters and nibbles on some bread. "So, never really thought about it. Appela mentioned some people from Trollhaven might be here. I'd like to know if there will be non-farm related items. I really could use a few things and materials that are scarce here." He then glances over towards the model in the distance, and asks, "How accurate is the model?"

"Pretty good, if a bit old," Amy says. "The Cartwrights made it, and each building is carved from a single block of wood. They usually only have it out for invasion planning and militia stuff. I guess they're worried about criminals showing up, or monsters."

"Who knows what sort of people that poodle invited," comments the Lapi next to Amelia. "Can't trust strangers. And I heard Granny Oggton gossiping about Gypsies in the area too."

"I rather imagine you'd clobber any monsters that showed up," Zahnrad remarks. His tail flicks and he chews another bite of bread. "The problem I've found with scale models of anything is they don't scale up. I mean, plenty of my scale flyers work great. They don't when full sized. All the stresses change which … has no bearing on this conversation, does it?" He grins sheepishly.

Amelia stands up on the bench seat to get a better look at the model. "Looks like they're placing the stalls and figuring out where to put watchers."

"I don't see why they had to call out the whole militia though," comments the Lapi. The one across from him says, "Who cares, it's free food!" "It's to impress the poodle," quips another.

Zahnrad peers around Amelia at the Lapi. "Well, not all strangers seem that bad. I talked to the group that came through at the frog festival. The Eee was a gypsy, I think. Nice enough fellow, if a bit strange and somewhat creepy. He let me get a few measurements and some weight calculations to determine lift."

The Lapi gives Zahn a blank stare. "Aren't you the guy that keeps blowing himself up?" he finally asks.

"That's only happened a few times," Zahnrad replies, unfazed. "Every working device has many failed prototypes before it."

The Lapi looks from Zahn to Amelia, and back again. "So, are you selling toys at the market or something?" he asks.

"Me? No. I'm just curious if there will be any out of town merchants coming. I really need some stronger material for the detonation chambers," Zahnrad says.

"Uh, right," the rabbit says, then turns back to his food. "That guy really needs a visit from Merrill or Parsley," another murmurs to his neighbor.

Zahnrad just babbles on, "You see, I'm having issues getting the controlled explosion system well … controlled. So far it just blows the chamber apart." He blinks, then asks, "Who's Merrill? Why do I need a visit?"

"They're just saying you need to get out more," Amelia says to Zahn, and pats his hand.

"I go out lots," Zahnrad says, looking confused. "I wouldn't have enough materials if I didn't," he adds with a shrug. "Plus, I hang out with you."

Half of the conversation stops at the table, as a half-dozen long-eared faces turn to look at the two Kadies. "Hang out? With Amy?" "Amy has a boyfriend?" "He doesn't seem the type." "He can still walk too, you owe me a pound of sugar now Clyde!"

"She's my friend, yeah," Zahnrad says, ears flicking. "What's wrong with that? And of course I can walk. Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"You guys looking for extra training?" Amelia growls at the Lapis. The rabbits calm down and go back to eating. "Never mind, Zahn, this bunch spends too much time underground."

"Training, wha?" Zahnrad stammers, looking totally lost. So, he goes back to something he understands … eating breakfast. "I'll have you know," he says between bites, "She's not some horrid monster."

"Heh, we know Amy isn't a monster," the Lapi next to Zahn says. "We were just worried she wouldn't find someone she couldn't break."

Zahnrad considers that, then grins. "I break myself quite often. She doesn't need to," he quips. His brow then furrows as his train of thought shifts.

Eager to change the subject, Amy asks the Lapi, "Are they going to have you all working the crowd, or actually be visible?" "They haven't decided yet, but I'm betting on a little of both," the man answers.

"Right, you live underground," Zahnrad mutters. "Say, have any of you ever felt a rhythmic thumping in the tunnels right when the sun goes down? If not, would you be willing to try something for me? I'm investigating something."

One of the Lapis snickers. "Oh yeah, but I'm next to Willy and Marisa," he jokes.

"Why do you ask?" one of the older Lapis demands, looking suspicious. "Have you been snooping around the warren?"

Zahnrad waves his hands. "Not that. It's a low frequency and annoying. It may not be audible where you folks are, but I bet it could be detected with the right equipment." He then shakes his head and says, "No, but while gathering some supplies I heard an unusual sound that I couldn't pinpoint the location of. It felt like it was coming from the ground. I want to see how far it seems to reach."

"If there were any weird underground sounds, we'd know about them," the Lapi says, wiggling his long ears.

"It could be out of your hearing range. But if you don't want to try the experiment, that's okay. I'm sure I can find the source with some work," Zahnrad says and shrugs.

"I'd stay clear of anyplace where odd noises come from the ground, fella," advises the Lapi.

"Eeeeh. If you don't explore, you don't learn and find neat things. Or people, like Amy," Zahnrad comments and shrugs again. "How come you're all here, anyway?"

"We're the militia," the Lapi says. "You know, the town guard? The bigwigs don't want any trouble with out-of-towners coming to Market. Or anything else unexpected, either. We got caught with our pants down at the Frog Festival… err, pardon my Gallisian, Amelia."

"At least I won't have to stand around bored," Amelia says, grinning. "Oh yeah, the poodle wanted to see you about something, Miss Frog Princess," the Lapi tosses back.

"Not really. The monster turned out to be a wimp," Zahnrad points out. "It was no threat, it just looked like one."

"The next one may not be though," the Lapi notes.

Amelia finishes her breakfast and sighs. "I'll go talk to his royal curliness then," she says.

"Want me to just wait here?" Zahnrad asks. "I do want to ask him who all may be coming, but I don't want to get in the way, either."

In answer, Amy grabs Zahn's hand. "You'd better come! I may need you to distract him so I can escape or something."

"But, I don't have anything to blow up?" Zahnrad stammers and gets to his feet. He then just shrugs and says, "Lead on."

Amelia takes an indirect course, making sure something or someone is always between them and her father. Finally they reach the poodle, which is nodding with a somewhat glazed expression as Granny Oggton says, "And that's why you shouldn't use a tree with west-facing moss as a terlet."

"Isn't that just superstition, though?" Zahnrad asks Granny Oggton curiously. "Usually, it just grows on the west side because it's more shaded."

Granny squints at Zahn. "How many points are you worth?" she asks, grinning. Her teeth are in good shape, except for a missing upper canine.

"What do you mean, how many points am I worth?" Zahnrad asks, ears flicking.

The old otter just harrumphs. "Nevermind, Emmett's daft anyway," she mutters and wanders off. Erik snaps out of his daze and looks to Zahn and Amelia. "Thank you so much for making her go away… oh, Miss Blacktail! You'll be available to greet people coming to the market, won't you?"

"Greet people?" Amy asks, confused.

"Yes, of course! As the Frog Princess. To give Stonebarrow a friendly face!" the poodle says, excitedly. "You'll even get a sash that says 'Frog Princess' on it."

Zahnrad watches Granny walk away. What she meant hits him and he twitches, looking ill. That passes fast as he hears the Mayor mention the sash and thinks, Wow, that'll fly as well as my block-spinner did. Don't kill him, Amy.

Amelia mulls this over for a moment, tallying pros and cons. "There won't be a dunking booth involved, or a corset will there?" she finally asks.

"Yeah, a corset doesn't suit you," Zahnrad agrees. "It makes you puff up funny."

"We were hoping to get the Frog Prince for the dunking booth actually," Erik admits, and then looks over Amy's typical cut-offs and tied-up shirt apparel. "I think we can work out something more… comfortable for you too."

"Ah, wouldn't that be a rather huge dunking booth?" Zahnrad points out. "The force required to move a lever under the seat would be pretty massive. Sure, you can use wheels and grease, but still."

"I suppose it'll be okay then," Amelia says, guardedly.

"Err, you think so?" Erik asks Zahn. "I don't think there's time to build a new booth… maybe we can just dress someone up in the old Frog King costume instead," he ponders.

"Well, look how big we are. Look how big he was. He has to weigh a lot more than one of us. I doubt the structure could hold his weight, is all. Or if he'd even fit. You might have a situation that's like if one of us sat on a glass of water. I'd have to actually see it to say for sure, though. I think my father built that," Zahnrad says and rubs his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm, I suppose we'll have to consider other options then," Erik says, rubbing his own chin in a mirror of Zahn. "Especially since nobody knows how to actually contact the Frog Prince. But it would certainly be a big draw if he did show up, wouldn't it? People would come from all over to see something like that, I'd imagine."

"Wait, didn't all of you discuss that when he was here?" Zahnrad inquires. "And heck, if I could get one of my airships running, I bet people would come to see that too. Hmm. Could get support from outside sources, maybe… "

"Wouldn't that be a bit dangerous, Zahn?" Amelia asks.

"Well, if I get it right, no," Zahnrad says. "I'd be sure to figure out the blast radius so people would be out of the way if I got it wrong… "

"Blast radius?" Erik gulps. "Perhaps… perhaps it would be better to wait until you had a more proven prototype, eh? Then we could charge for rides in it!"

"Bah, you're all such worriers. The worst that's ever happened is a few broken bones," Zahnrad argues for a moment. "And oh, that reminds me, are any non-farmers coming to the market day? I really need to get ahold of some better materials."

"Well, I did sell space to some of the merchants in Trollhaven," Erik says proudly. "They seemed eager to sell their… uh… stuff. Here, that is. I don't recall exactly what they sold, but it looked interesting, I think."

"What did it look like," Zahnrad prods.

Erik moves his hands around in the air to indicated various vague shapes and sizes. "Oh, you know, stuff. Like you'd find at the Bazaar. Lots of shapes and colors and such. And noises… I'm sure some of them made noises. I'd had a bit to drink when I signed the papers, actually… "

"Did you read the papers?" Zahnrad asks suspiciously. "They might have tried to get you to sell them the Frog Princess, or something."

"Oh, nothing to worry about there," Erik says, chuckling. "I wrote them up with the mayor before going to Trollhaven. They were just for selling spaces."

"They could have swapped the papers on you," Zahnrad comments, then shrugs. He taps his chin, then adds, "Ah, that reminds me. My father wants to speak with you about doing some overhauls to the whole town. It's about time we installed some real water piping around here."

The poodle's jovial mood evaporates quickly. "That sounds expensive," he notes. "Are you talking about actual indoor plumbing?"

"Yes. We have it in the Kettenrad compound in some spots. We built the system. Tank pressure as well as some spiral pumps powered by the dam as an experiment. The valves have caused a few problems, but we're working it out," Zahnrad says.

Amy blinks, remembering things from her dinner with Zahn's family.

"Yes, well… once the problems have been worked out, I'd love to see what you've done," Erik says, smiling again.

"They'd be worked out faster if we had larger scale to work with," Zahnrad prods.

"Ah… like one of the guest cottages the Mayor runs?" Erik asks.

"Possibly, possibly," Zahnrad replies and nods. "Now, think about who that might draw around here. Weren't you wanting to modernize the town?"

"Well, yes," Erik says. "When we could afford it, at least. And certainly for the manor, when it's rebuilt… a bit smaller than it was in the past, admittedly, but rebuilt nonetheless… "

"Mmm, I see," Zahnrad remarks. He then shrugs and adds, "And I've probably taken up too much of your time."

The poodle looks around quickly to see if any crazy old otter matriarchs are approaching, then says, "Oh, not at all! I mean, it's the responsibility of community leaders to be accessible and all, and… and frankly I don't have anything else to do here." He gestures towards Jonas Chalk and the others, saying, "They've pretty much taken it out of my hands, and complained about bringing in out-of-towners and such… but I'm sure they'll change their minds when they see the benefits," he says, somewhat nervously.

"When is all this Market Day thingy supposed to happen? I'll hopefully be able to make it. I've never actually been to one before," Zahnrad says.

"Three days from today," Erik says. "I really should talk to the witches about what the weather will be like, but I don't think they like me yet," he adds.

Zahnrad lifts his hand and flexes it a bit. "Well, no aches so I don't think there will be any rain. Broke my arm years ago and sometimes it aches a bit when it's going to rain. Sometimes not. Probably one of those dorky coincidences that starts a superstition," Zahnrad remarks absently. "As for the witches … well, hard to say. At least for me, anyway. I've never spoken much to Isolde, anyway. Morgan's okay though."

"You shouldn't worry about the weather," Amelia adds. "We've never had bad weather on a Market Day. We're good at picking the right times."

"Ah, that's very reassuring," Erik says, and actually does look relieved. "And I'll make certain the new Frog Princess outfit doesn't have buttons, Miss Blacktail."

"Er, thanks," Amelia replies.

Zahnrad snorts and stifles a laugh.

"Forgot all about that," Zahnrad comments.

"I'll never forget about that," Erik says, then goes a bit pale. "Ah… not that… er… That is… you make a very strong impression, Miss Blacktail," the poodle stammers.

"Hey now. No eyeing Amelia," Zahnrad says, then coughs. "Anyway, I guess if I can be of any help, let me know. I'm not very knowledgeable on farm stuff, though."

"It's mostly just selling produce you know," Erik says, as even he apparently has some experience with markets. "And occasionally livestock, but I don't think we'll have much of that, other than dad," he adds, with a bit of a smirk.

Zahnrad blinks. "Are you selling your father?" he asks.

"Ah, no! No!" Erik says, waving his hands. "I was just making a joke. I don't really think that hog is my actual father but… eh… " He flounders a bit, and Amelia has to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Uh … huh, right," Zahnrad says slowly. "Anyway, I really should be going, I suppose. I've got work I need to finish up for Dr. Pike."

"Yeah, I'll show you out, Zahn," Amelia offers, quickly grabbing Zahn's hand again and dragging him off.

Zahnrad lets out a small squeak as Amelia starts dragging him away.

Amy leads Zahn on a mostly hidden route back to her tree, where he can pick up the rubber and his camping supplies. "So, this will be your first market?" she asks him.

"Uh, yeah," Zahnrad says, glancing backward to see if anyone followed. "I guess that's kind of strange."

"Men don't do lots of shopping," Amelia notes. "Just make sure you keep Gunther at home though, if you can, especially if strangers are coming to town."

"Heh. He'd be stalking everyone, probably," Zahnrad comments, "He's kind of focused on Olivia at the moment. Not sure why, really."

"Well, he can't get into much trouble stalking Olivia," Amy asserts. "Are you going to tell anyone about what happened last night?" she then asks.

"Don't intend to. They'd ask where we saw them and all and I don't think you want that place as common knowledge," Zahn says as he gathers his things together. "Or are you referring to something not involving the monsters?"

"Nothing else interesting happened aside from the monsters," Amy says, shrugging. "You didn't even kick me out of the bed or anything."

Zahnrad laughs. "I sleep pretty still. Comes from sleeping in a hammock or around moving things," he explains.

"Do you need me to show you back to the road, or are you okay on your own?" Amy asks, bouncing on her toes for some reason.

Zahn watches Amy for a bit. "I'd like the company and direction if it's not too much of a problem," he says, though he does remember the way to the road just fine.

"Okay!" Amelia says, and takes Zahn's arm as she leads him out. "Let me know when you're going to see Dr. Pike again too."

Zahn nods and walks along willingly. "Sure. You want to see her again too?" he asks.

"Well, I'm suddenly very, very curious about what's on those voice cylinders," Amelia notes.

"Oh, yeah, I have to finish fixing that," Zahnrad admits.

"Please hurry if you can," Amy says. "Who knows what Pike's great-uncle or whomever found out about those creatures."

Zahnrad nods, "Okay, I'll make that first, then." He pauses, then says suddenly, "Oh, uhm, if you ever want to stay up at my place, you're welcome to. I can pull down a regular bed for you to use. Only fair, you let me stay here." He fidgets nervously.

"Thanks! That'll be convenient if I'm ever stuck there late," Amy says. "I'm not too keen on walking the road at night now."

"Sure. It was, uhm, nice having the company. Comforting," Zahn babbles, then coughs. "And good, I think I have all I need to fix the horn. It'll just be like assembling a puzzle," he says, abruptly changing subjects again.

At the road, Amy gives Zahn a quick hug. "I'm sure you can fix it!"

Zahn nods and hugs back. "Yeah, should be straightforward and I have enough stuff to use as a backer," he says. He looks at Amy briefly, then suddenly leans in and kisses her. A moment later, the Kadie is off like a shot down the road!

"Wow, I'll have to learn to make hotcakes," Amelia says, slightly stunned, before she heads back towards her home.