A day has passed since the unsettling encounter with the echoing creeper-laden tree and the fallen Nagai soldier. The forest seems to continue on forever in its twists and turns at an achingly slow pace. There's a disconcerting sensation of going in circles (though at least there's no sign of stick effigies or rock piles). Gibson has been mostly smiles and encouragement, but even his show of good cheer seems a little forced, while Royce has retreated to the Tome, taking comfort in working with something he's at least a little familiar with. Weariness seems to have taken a toll on the Whitewhisker brothers, but they stoically keep pace, though Spencer seems outwardly more morose than Kurtis, while Kurtis keeps a bland mask on his face and a fatalistic approach to things when he talks. Wanda is as quiet as ever … but while she seems to need frequent stops to rest, her attitude is comfortingly stable.

The sun sits high above the tree canopy, shining brightly – and hot – down upon the group of rodents. Noontime finds the party taking a break, cooling their feet and catchingtheir breaths. Anisa, a little worn but still in good spirits, stands by Periwinkle the Dromodon, gently stroking his muzzle. "You guys need to get into better shape, this was just a light walk!" She smirks slightly, secretly glad for a rest herself.

"Tuh, kids and their boundless energy," jokes Gibson, leaning up against a tree. His grin looks genuine, a rare sight for the past day or three. A dirt-smudged Royce just mumbles, and finds a clump of tree roots to sit in, carefully making sure (as everyone has learned on this trip) to be sure it isn't hiding anything that bites, stings, or causes a rash. One can almost see the puff of steam Kurtis blows as he settles himself down as well, and Spencer next to him, who doesn't look quite so worn out. Wanda leads heavily on Periwinkle's flank, and after she's caught her breath, she says, "Sugar, you'll be the death of me… are we going to take a break here, or keep going until my legs fall off?"

"We'll take a short break," responds the white Lapi, "but then we probably need to get on our way. We still have pursuers, you know." The female rabbit gives the Dromodon a few last pats, then walks over to Royce, plopping down next to him. "So, bookworm, found anything else out? I'm amazed you were able to keep your balance when we were walking."

The others look glad at the announcement, and begin milling around to find comfortable spots to rest and swat at blood flies for a while. Royce sets his jaw, and snorts. "Pfeh. It's the only thing keeping me sane. I've just followed Periwinkle; she seems pretty sure-footed." His ears raise up, and his sour look eases a little bit. "But now that you mention it, I did piece together a few more interesting things. Not a lot, mind you … sifting these pages is like trying to squeeze water out of a rock. But one or two drops did come out."

Anisa nods, "Well, what is it you found out?" She grabs one of her brother's ears playfully, and peers inside in an exaggerated manner. "Maybe I can see it in here… "

Royce flips the book open to where he's book-marked a page, swatting ineffectually at Anisa's paw. "Get your own brains, oaf! Pump some stone with that sloped forehead of yours! Anyway, see here… " He points at a jumble of lines that look like a schematic, with neatly angled lines,carefully tracked with radials and noted here and there in oddly flowing script. "The text at the top of the page reads something like this, though the dialect has mutated a lot, for reasons unknown to me, this far into the book… "

Gibson sidles over toward his siblings curiously, but stays politely silent, instead peering over his younger brother's shoulder.

Anisa flicks Royce's ear with a fingertip. "Be nice to ladies. What does it say?" She peers at the book.

"These keys open the way to many paths, but turn no locks: other keys (untranslatable) for simple (untranslatable) it is actual locking. These are more abstract: the Node will recognize the bearer, and [spears] will [turn away]," paraphrases Royce, pausing at points where he can't decipher something or has to substitute a close definition. "These keys long to unlock, to [come home], and will guide those that are attuned to them."

A puzzled look comes to the white Lapi's face as she scratches an ear confusedly. "Um… that really clears things up." She looks the page over again, trying to make anything out, but obviously failing. "Any idea what it … means?" A small shiver runs down her spine, the Lapi's fur standing on end eerily… somehow, this seems familiar…

Royce's face is oddly grave as he pulls a folded piece of parchment from his pocket. "Well, I fiddled with the schematic a bit. There's a bunch of stuff about harmonics and vibration that I don't understand, so I just traced the lines that said 'flow cycle'. I don't know what that means, but it seems that all that stuff on the schematic page is tied together, so if I understood those well enough, the diagram I assembled from the instructions would have looked pretty much the same… " He unfolds the sheet, and lays it on the page.

Anisa arches a brow at her little brother's expression, and looks down at the sketch. "What's so special about that?"

The charcoal is smeared, and is littered with notes and a few aborted lines, but the shape is quite clearly a rhombus.

The white rabbit's heart skips a beat, and her ear shoot upwards as her eyes widen. "It had… that?" She blinks, and takes a few paces back. "That was in the book?"

Gibson's nose quivers a moment, and Royce just nods earnestly, eyeing his sister. "I figured you'd want to know, what with you hanging onto the First Stone and all."

Anisa blinks a few times, shaking her head to come back to reality. "Well… i-it sheds some light on a few things, but makes some more confusing still." She sighs, walking back to the drawing. "Did it say anything particular about the rhombus? Is the First Stone one of those… keys?" She clasps the stone around her neck.

The splotchy younger rabbit shrugs helplessly. "These fellows seemed to like geometric shapes. It could be, though. It says some other things about it here, too… it looks like a footnote that was added a lot later after this page had been originally finished … the dialect has mutated almost completely past translatability… " He places a fingerpad back on the page, and begins paraphrasing again. "The sickness [seeks] … the keys yearn to [come home], thus will they [guide/protect]. Be it known [guiding/protection] is [finite] … beyond its [limits] will danger [follow] from the Black one. Ones? Ones? Ones? Ones? Ones?"

"I … uh … I don't know why they repeated that word at the end," mumbles Royce.

"Black one, or ones?" The Lapi girl shivers, "I'm not sure what they mean, but I don't like the sound of it." Walking back to the Dromodon, she pulls out the machete, and gazes at it, trying to mask her discomfort. "Anything else?"

Royce fidgets, and closes the book as though he expects 'one' to come out of the pages. "Um, that's about it. I still don't know how we're supposed to find the place. I don't think we ever dared get to climb any trees after that… that thing back there."

"I know I'm not exactly too eager too," Anisa agrees. With a sigh, she gives a look upwards, and nods to herself. "Okay everyone, break time's over, back on your feet!" She picks up her pack and slings it across her shoulders, still brandishing the machete in one paw. "We still need to make some time, even if we're not sure where we're going!" She grins, and starts off slowly into the jungle. "C'mon, slowpokes!"

There's a collective groan, but everyone rousts themselves to their feet and assemble their ragged 'train'.

---

A number of hours later, the slant of what few rays of the sun make it through the jungle canopy indicate it's nearing evening. The trudging is pretty much the same as usual, but Spencer's voice, somewhere in the lead, can be heard to say, "Hold up, lads."

Anisa, trudging along somewhat contentedly up front, screeches to a halt with a grimace. She sighs, and turns around to look back at the brown rabbit. "What is it? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, but look up there." The brown Lapi points up at some lower-hanging branches over a wider portion of the path.

Anisa turns back around, and peer at the branches. "What is it, another one of those strangler trees?"

It doesn't look like a strangler tree… rather, it looks like an oddly carved little symbol of some sort. Like a miniature wooden kite shield painted red. Behind it are crossed two sharpened sticks.

The white Lapi perks her ears forward, and her nose starts to twitch rapidly at this new object. "What is that?" She starts to make her way towards the shield, to get a better look at it. "Maybe it's a clue of some sort."

The rabbit makes her way, trying to get directly underneath the shield for a better look.

There's a strangely unnatural noise … a soft creak, then a series of 'swiff!' noises. The rabbit's hearing translates these sounds into directions … a number of small objects approaching her very rapidly from all directions.

Eyes widening and ears shooting upwards in alarm, the white Lapi reflexively dodges backwards just in time as somedark, ring-like objects on tethers sail by. "Aiie!"

There's some whipping noises as the rings flail in all sorts of directions and abruptly retract to wherever they came from. The rest of the group stands there stunned, except for Gibson who dashes forward. "Are you all right?!"

Stumbling backwards onto her tail, Anisa scoots quickly backaway from the booby-trap. She takes a few deep breaths, still on the ground and staring up at the rings. "I'm fine… I think. What was that?"

"Looked like a trap, sugar," muses Wanda, finally catching up. She looks over the path thoughtfully, now that the group has paused to look it over more carefully.

Anisa gets to her feet, and dusts herself off. "Just out here in the middle of nowhere? Why?" She peers at theshield again. "And how can we get around?"

The Skeek tilts her head thoughtfully. "Your guess is as good as mine, sugar. Want me to get a closer look, or should we just try to go around?

"If you think you can, go right ahead," replies the sister Lapi. "Did the book say anything about this kind of stuff?" She looks at the First Stone, "Maybe this'll do something to it."

"The tome talked about the Node being capable of defending itself," comments Royce, scratching behind an ear as he observes the oddly clear path. "But I don't remember seeing anything like this. It doesn't seem to have the same 'feel'as what I've read about, though I haven't seen everything, not by a long shot."

The Skeek, meanwhile, nods and begins rooting around in the brush. She eventually comes away with a long leafy branch from some kind of gargantuan fern.

Anisa blinks in puzzlement. "What are those for, Wanda?"

"I'm gonna poke this thing around in that part of the path," replies the mouse, hefting the long stalk up as well as her diminutive frame allows. "It should be long enough to where I won't get bothered, I hope … then maybe you can get a look at what it does."

Anisa nods, and follows along behind the mouse, peering into the trap. "Maybe we can see how it works. Let's try it… "

Wanda edges carefully down the path, the large fern stalk held out in front of her. She swishes it back and forth, here and there, careful not to edge too far down the path. "Hmm… I wonder if it was set off by weight." She moves in a little closer, and the stalk crosses between the trunks of the trees. Swiffiff!

Anisa's ears shoot up again, but she fights the instinctive urge to bolt so she can get a look at the contraption.

The Skeek grunts and steps away, holding her forearm as bits of vegetable confetti cover her head and shoulders. Near as Anisa could tell, the instant the fern crossed between the trees, some small moss-like plants contracted. A moment later, the black rings shot out from either side of the path, past each other and jerking to a stop like the ball at the end of a flail. Soon after, they were yanked back to hidden positions in the branches and brush near the sides of the trunk.

"Are they just plants?" Anisa steps back from the clearing, trying to see the origin of the rings. "Maybe the shield was a kind of warning." She turns to the mouse, "I'd like to get a better look at it, but I don't know if we can get to it. Maybe we can find a way around, from the side or something."

Wanda nods, and uncovers her forearm to watch blood well up from a neat cut in it. She immediately puts her paw back over the cut. "You can probably get near the trunks without triggering the trap for a closer look. I didn't see much because I blinked, but I think it's not entirely plant-based."

The white Lapi stops, catching sight of Wanda's wound. "You're hurt!" She rushes to the Skeek's side. "How bad is it? Are you all right?"

"Someone hurt?" Kurtis can be seen to hustle over, moving uncharacteristically quickly, though still fairly level in his voice.

Wanda nods her head again. "It doesn't hurt much … I think the cut was really clean, and not that deep… it just grazed me a bit."

Anisa waves Kurtis over, "She got herself cut." She lightly nudges the mouse towards Kurtis. "Let him fix it, and I'll try the trees." She gives the mouse a few more concerned nudges, then starts off to the trunks, rolling up her sleeves. "All right, let's see what all this is about… " The Lapi looks for the best course of attack to avoid the moss.

The moss seems to grow mostly on the side opposite the other tree … fairly close to what appears to be a hole carved into the trunk. A series of tendrils extend beneath the moss up and down the trunk to some leafy concealed positions in the branches above.

Slowly, the rabbit makes her way to the trunks, trying not to set off the moss, and attempts to peek inside the hole.

The hole is fairly shallow. Inside is some strange sort of lumpy glowing fungus. It puts out a considerable amount of light, which appears concentrated mostly in the direction of the other trunk by the bole, which seems to have been polished and varnished inside. Though how anybody could fit their hand in there to do that is anybody's guess.

Anisa looks about or the source of the tethered disks, and any machinery that may run it.

That appears to be the concealed areas farther above. Indeed, there are some odd pieces of machinery up there… what looks like a cluster of wound up clock-springs, connected to spools which gather up the tethers. They're pulled tight and latched into place with what looks like miniature crossbows… and on the ends of these launchers are what appear to be rings of smoky volcanic glass, their edges chipped jagged and sharp. A few are smashed, but there's more than enough to mince up anything that gets in front of a volley.

Eyeing the contraption, Anisa readies her machete. Aiming as best she can, she brings her arm back, and mutters a silent prayer. "Please let this work… " With that, she lobs the blade at the crossbows' tethers.

Sprongity! With a twang, the tension release causes the coiled springs to unwind abruptly, and the jolt causes the rings to fire. They fly off into the underbrush somewhere, shredding some bushes, and this time, they don't reset.

Anisa leaps backwards, hoping to dodge any stray bolts. When she opens her eyes and realizes she's all right, she takes a few cautious steps towards the moss. "I guess it worked… " She passes her paw in front of the small hole, bracing just in case…

The moss shrinks back, retracting its tendrils, but other than that, nothing happens.

Anisa grins, and after retrieving her blade, leaps from the trunks out to the others. "That takes care of that! Come on, guys, back on your feet, break's over!" She smiles, beaming at her own perceived ingenuity.

The entourage gathers itself together, most looking relieved, except for Spencer, who keeps a weather-eye peeled for any more signs. By the time that the wound Kurtis has bound for Wanda has stopped bleeding, the river-ranger spies another of the orange shields. It's over another convenient-looking area in the path, nice and clear, in a bend around a large tree.

Anisa, lagging back with Wanda, smacks her forehead as the shield comes into view. "Not another one!" She inches up to the trap, keeping a respectable distance. "Royce, is there anything in that book about these traps?"

"I really haven't seen any-" begins Royce, when there's a rustling from the brush around the path. Anisa's heightened hearing tracks many small feet scurrying through the undergrowth, just on the edge of sight range out into the thickets.

The white Lapi shoots her ears up, and turns to the source of the sound. "Did you guys hear that?" Readying her machete, the rabbit starts to move quickly towards the source, looking unnatural as a rabbit stalking prey.

Gibson starts to say, "I … uh … well, something, but I don't really know what… " The scurrying sounds move away from Anisa, and scatter. There's some fluttering in the branches above, a few leaves drifting lazily down to the forest floor, and a small, somewhat high voice says, "Cease and desist! Stay where thou art, interlopers! Thou hast been surrounded!"

Anisa screeches to a halt, then does an about face and bolts back to the group. "I know you heard that!" She looks up at the trees, trying to make out any figures overhead. "Who are you? Come out and show yourselves!" She waves her machete around as fiercely as she can muster.

"Drop thine weapons, fools! Thou art trespassing in Faed Schrumreng territory. Explain thy transgression!" The voice would ordinarily be hard to pinpoint, but for Anisa, it's easy to tell it comes from a spot near the shield symbol… slightly to one side, actually, in a denser portion of leaves. It's still impossible to make anything out.

"Faed Schrumreng?" The Lapi female whispers to the others, eyeing the area around the shield. "If we drop our things, will you show yourself? How do we know you won't attack?"

"No idea." "No clue." "Never heard of them," comes the chorused reply from Anisa's comrades. The imperious little voice from overheard calls out again, "Thou dost not know. Thou wilt have to taketh mine word as task-leader of our scouts."

"They don't sound very fierce," Anisa whispers to the group. "Okay, fine," she calls out, lowering her blade to the ground, "we'll do as you say." She motions for the others to do likewise. "Now, please show yourself!"

"Very well." A small bird sidles down the branch towards the shield. Wait … it looks more like a miniature Kujaku. Surely he can't be more than six to eight inches tall, not counting his tailfeathers. Though it's difficult to tell from this distance, he appears to be wearing a deep green tabard embroidered with white thread, and a finger-length sword is strapped to his waist. The rustling in the bushes calms, and the plants seem to practically bloom withvarious other small folk… Eeee, Korv, Skeek, Skreek… even a Lapi or two, some bigger, some smaller, but none taller than a foot in height. Most of them seem armed with tiny bows or crossbows, impossibly fine in their construction for their size.

"Thou mayest call me Taer Villegre," asserts the miniscule Kujaku.

Anisa's jaw drops, and she stares at the small creatures for a time. "You… you are the ones who set this up?" She stifles a giggle, putting a paw to her mouth in an attempt to keep from busting out laughing. "You're so tiny!" The rabbit isn't known for her tact.

Taer's face tightens, and his iridescent blue brows crease and darken. "And thou art a great clumsy oaf. Dost thou seest me bringing that to light in diplomatic conversation? Speak now, knave; what art thou doing in our land? My patience with thee grows thin."

Still grinning despite the comment, the female Lapi takes the paw from her mouth to speak. "We've come here to find the source of some artifacts we've come across, and to find some answers to some questions of ours. Are you people native to here?"

"That doth seem a reasonable conclusion, given all this prattle I hath spouted about thine trespassing on our land," snaps the little peacock, and his bowmen shift uneasily. Taer's voice evens out a bit, however. "Yes, we doth live in this area, though the exact location is not to be known by outsiders. I must admit surprise that we discovered one of our defenses sprung and destroyed without finding an imbecile cut to ribbons in the middle of the path."

Anisa crosses her arms, looking up at the little peacock. "We had to get by somehow, and we weren't going to let that stop us." She leans closer to the tree, nose twitching curiously as she peers at the little Kujaku. "I could fit them in my dollhouse!" she whispers in Lapi to the others. "Are all of you this … er … small?"

"Doth all of thee be so large and ungainly?" counters the scout leader, flicking his tailfeathers angrily. "This is no time for thy rude and unseemly questions. Thou art to be brought before our court, and questioned thyselves, that we may determine whether thou shouldst be allowed to leave, or if thou dost present a threat to Faed Shrumreng."

Anisa's grin fades as the words escape the Kujaku's mouth. "Look, we don't pose any threat to you, and we don't have time to spare! Now please, just let us pass!"

Taer Villegre doesn't look moved. "Thou hast no say in the matter. Come along peaceable, or by force of arms, the choice is thine."

The white Lapi frowns, and turns to Gibson. "What do you think?"

"In all my days roaming from one side of Sinai to the other, I have never encountered anything like this," replies the black rabbit, unsure of whether he should be amused or concerned. "They don't seem outright hostile, and we are in their neck of the woods, so to speak."

"But what about Vandringer?" replies Anisa. "Can we spare the time?"

Gibson shrugs. "It's this, or try to smear all of them… and frankly, if they're the ones that built that twin-tree slicer trap back there, we might want to take them a bit more seriously than we ordinarily would at first blush."

Anisa sighs, and nods. "I suppose you're right… " She turns back to the Kujaku, lowering her ears to her back. "We submit ourselves to you, if that's what you want."

"A wise decision, long-striders," squawks Taer crisply. He signals at another section of the canopy, and a small cloudof tiny Eeee descend from above with long strips of linen, two to a person. One of them flies around Anisa's head, twittering, "Please remain still while we blindfold you. The path to Faed Shrumreng is not to be known by outsiders."

The Kujaku also calls out, "Phalanxes withdraw. Cogsmiths, disable the traps."

Reluctantly, the four and a half foot Lapine allows herself to be blindfolded by those much smaller than even her. "All right," she sighs, "Lead the way."

The linen shrouds Anisa's view of the Pearl's lush forests, and she can feel two of the Eeee settle onto her shoulders. There's a brief pause as the rabbit can hear her friends being given similar treatment, with various amounts of complaining from some of them, then the voice of Taer Villegre, farther away than before, can be heard to say, "Very well, Scouts. Let us return." In Anisa's ear, a tiny Eeee woman's voice, higher than any Eeee she's ever heard, but thankfully gentle and not piercing, whispers, "Forward, then… there doth be a root about as high as thine ankle, step over it… then the path is clear, and thou wilt want to turneth left until thou hearest mine mark… "

Anisa nods, and starts to move forward with another sigh. She finally meets people smaller than her, and they get to do the bossing around…