Things have changed and yet somehow remained the same in the Snowshoe household after the Nagai/Babel war. Quinn has married and has a baby daughter, with another child on the way. His wife is an orange-haired Lapi maid named Bessy (who is often called 'bossy' behind her back instead) who,although timid around her husband, seems overly picky and critical of many of the chores Anisa performs during the day. Unfortunately, as Bessy is six months pregnant, she spends less time working and more time nitpicking.

Their daughter, Petal, has become the baby of the household, and Beatrice dotes over her constantly. Unfortunately, a large chunk of the attention that went to Anisa is now being poured over the baby, who seems to spend most of her time sleeping, filling up her diaper, and crying like a beasthound with its leg in a trap.

Tyson hasn't changed much, at least, and manages to be conspicuously absent whenever he's needed; many of his chores have fallen on Anisa's shoulders instead. He's often gone late into the night, and one morning Anisa managed to notice that the rabbit had gotten a black eye from someplace.

Royce has become the resident maintenance man after Abram forced him to apprentice to a former Technopriest for three years. He was absent a great deal during that time, and when he came back he wasn't quite the same. There was a certain "beaten down" air about him … a resignation of sorts. He spends most of his day working on the gas pipes to keep the lights going, hammering the plumbing, and doing various carpentry jobs in the tavern. Snowshoe's has never looked better, but Royce seems like a completely different person now.

Ranit's gotten his act together at least, but at a cost. At the age of sixteen, he fell in love with a Lapi who lived in the slums and who reeked of perfume. He insisted that she was "the one" despite Abram's and Beatrice's warnings, and then vanished for several months. When he returned he had a baby boy in his arms and refused to mention the existence of the Lapi woman anymore. The boy, Coal, is now almost three and has black and white patchwork-colored fur, but has yet to speak a word. Ranit has tried to be a good father and has never neglected Coal, but the doctors who have seen the child say he may never speak.

Benjamin has remained a good boy at least. Despite being in the midst of his teenage years, he has managed to stay away from rebellion and has stood by Anisa, becoming both a best friend and a little brother. He has a girlfriend that he sees from time to time, but she's more shy and timid than he is, and Anisa hasn't gotten much of a chance to speak to her.

This morning, Snowshoes is preparing for the breakfast crowd. Benjamin, Royce, and Coal are cleaning tabletops, Beatrice is in the kitchen, and Quinn has been left "in charge" behind the bar. Bessy is in a corner with Petal in her lap and has kept quiet for the morning at least.

Anisa has the luxury of being able to sleep in a little bit as she's often up late with the dinner crowd, but the noise from downstairs soon tickles at her sensitive ears, and she's finally drawn to the tavern area for breakfast before she dons her apron for the day.

Light but groggy footsteps can be heard descending the stairs, and soon a still-sleepy Anisa comes into view. Still in a nightgown, and fur mussed up from sleep, she makes her way to the table. "Morning already?" she yawns.

Quinn idly polishes the top of the bar with a rag. "It must be nice to be able to sleep in every morning. Makes me almost wish I was single again, or a doe." Bessy shoots him a glare when he's not working and then goes back to bouncing the drooling little kit in her arms.

"Ma has some fruit pancakes made up. Help yourself!" Benjamin quips, almost wiping off the top of Coal's head as well as the tabletop in his morning enthusiasm.

Anisa likewise shoots Quinn a glare as she approaches the kitchen. "Must be nice being able to go to sleep at a normal hour, so quit griping." She smiles to Ben and Coal as she passes them by, giving their ears a playful rustle. "Thanks Ben, my nose is already my guide!" She gives a stretch and another yawn, and heads into the kitchen. "Morning, Mom."

Beatrice doesn't get around as well as she used to, and has gotten even more plump now that there's an extended family to help her with work outside of the kitchen. She points to a plate and a glass of milk sitting at the family table in the kitchen where the Snowshoes can eat without being in the way of the patrons. "Good morning, Christina dear."

"Mornin', 'nisa," Ranit says. He's currently peeling potatoes and is seated at the table as well. "You seen Tyson?"

The white rabbit takes a seat at the table, and takes a quick swig of the milk. "Tyson? No, I just got up." She takes a bit off of her plate and idly nibbles on it. "Whatcha need him for?"

Ranit shrugs and then looks from Anisa to Beatrice's back when she's not looking at them in the universally understood sign of "not while Mom's around". "Sleep okay? Benji's trying to teach Coal how to bus tables, but I dunno if he's up to it or not."

Anisa nods the affirmative, recognizing the sign. She smiles. "Coal's a bright kit; he's already doing a good job. Besides, you started bussing when you were three!" She gives a playful wink, then takes another sip from her glass.

The spotted rabbit dips his head a little. "Thanks." He tosses a potato onto the growing pile and takes up another one, lowering his voice a few notches. "Bessy's in a howler mood today; the baby kept 'er and Quinn up all night. So steer clear of 'em today."

"So I've noticed," grumbles Anisa, taking another bite from her plate. "Makes me want to be a mom oh so soon, with that to look forward to." She sticks her tongue out. She grabs a potato and one of the unused knives, and starts to peel along with Ranit. "How have you been? I've been so busy lately, I haven't got to talk to you much."

Ranit frowns; the mention of "moms" is a sore point for him sometimes. "I've been … busy." His mood lightens a bit as Anisa lends a hand in peeling the potatoes. "Been reading letters from Gibson to Coal every night; they're better than bedtime stories. Da' is talking about retiring, so Quinn says. For real this time."

Beatrice scrubs dishes, making an unusual amount of noise in the process.

Anisa inwardly winces, seeming to always forget about Ranit's ordeal. She shrugs, smirking a bit. "Daddy's said that for years, but if he did, he'd have nothing to do. Although, he probably should." Her ears perk up at the mention of Gibson, and she smiles. "Which letters have you been reading to him? The ones from the Khattan Emirate, or the Savan?"

The white Lapi blinks at the sudden noise, as her mother is usually quiet.

"The Savan. He's been allowed to help rebuild the City of Hands and has been doing some digging around in some of the destroyed areas. He's thinking of visiting Nordika sometime soon and has promised to send Coal a clockwork Korv if he goes." The younger Lapi smiles to himself. "You think Da'll pick Quinn? Not sure if I want to work for him… "

The matron Lapi gathers up several dishes and carries them off to the main tavern. "I'll just help the boys set things up. You two keep doing what you're doing." She smiles sweetly, but there's a hidden emotion coloring her face as well.

"I forgot that Ma' has ears better than an Eeee," Ranit grumbles, stabbing his knife into the center of his potato.

Anisa grins, turning her attention back to her little brother, and picks up another potato. "The City of Hands? Wow, wish I was still out there with him." Her smile goes lopsided a bit, and turns into a frown as her mother leaves the kitchen. "Yeah, he'll most likely pick Quinn. I mean, with Gibson away all the time, and Tyson being … well, Tyson." She shrugs. "And First Ones forbid he should give it to a daughter." The Lapi smirks. She swivels an ear to make sure her mother is in the other room, then bends closer to Ranit. "So what's the deal with Tyson?"

The younger Lapi glances out the kitchen door to make surethat Beatrice is out of earshot and his expression grows more sober. "I think he has money problems, 'nisa. Not sure how I know, but I've seen the walk before. I heard him askin' Quinn for an advance on his allowance and didn't want Da' to know about it. Couldn't make out the details, but Ty' sounded desperate."

The Lapi sister's peeling slows as her mouth turns downwards into a frown. "Money problems? With who?" She sighs and shakes her head, "I swear to the First Ones, he's gonna give Daddy a heart attack some day. And with a wife and baby, Quinn doesn't exactly have the money to spare."

"Yeah. I think Ty went to 'im 'cause he's got his hands in the accounts and everything for Da' already." He shakes his head, causing his drooped ears to sway back and forth. "Could be gamblin' money, could be a lady, could be somethin' else. I dunno where he goes at night. And Quinn… " He snorts. "Quinn's wearing Ma' out with that baby. Every five minutes, Bossy gets sick or tired or sore and plops the kit in Ma's lap … and Quinn just sits there at the bar with that carrot-eatin' grin on his face. I may be half the family he is, but I'm twice the father."

Anisa smiles at Ranit. "Well, that's something you should be proud of. Coal's a little angel. And as for Petal, well, she's just a baby, it's not her fault." She sighs. "Butyou're right, Mama is too old to have to be dealing with kits again, and if Quinn can't take care of his own kid, I wonder how well he's gonna do with the bar."

Ranit chuckles. "I remember when you and Quinn would get into fist-fights. It's a shame you can't just smack 'im upside his head with a glove and take 'im on for the bar. Royce coulda took over, but he's too beat down now. I think Ma's worried, but she don' wanna talk about it and keeps changing the subject whenever anyone brings it up."

Grinning, Anisa nods. "Yeah, I think that's all he really needs – a good smack upside the head. Him and Tyson both, maybe have some sense knocked into them. But I dunno that I'd really want the bar; it'd be a hassle. And besides, it's too much of a taboo, or at least most think it is." She puts down a peeled tuber. "But whoever gets it, I think things'll be all right eventually. Mama worries too much."

"I s'pose that's 'er job. That 'n whacking me in the head with a spoon when I drop the plates. It's why I'm on potato duty and she was washing dishes." Ranit smirks. "Benji might make a good owner, but he's such a pup that I doubt anyone'll respect 'im. That and if he ever got too busy, he'd lose all his time to play with Coal. I think Benji's the only friend Coal has."

"They're birds of a feather, and I think it does Ben good to have someone who looks up to him like that," says Anisa. "It's the 'hero factor'; seems to be common in our brood." She grins. "Ben's way too young, though; he shouldn't have to deal with that much responsibility so soon." She scratches an ear, then goes back to peeling.

"Hey Cristi! You done scarfing in there? You need to get cleaned up for the breakfast rush soon!" Quinn's voice shouts out from the main hall. It's obvious that Abram isn't around today, because Quinn goes into automatic "bossy mode" whenever Dad's gone.

Anisa grits her teeth and splays her ears in annoyance, trying to suppress the profanities that she'd love to be spouting right now. "In a minute! Just hold your Dromodons!" She finishes up with one last potato, grabs a last bit off the plate, munches it down, then gets up from her chair. "I'd better get going so he'll shut up. Maybe after lunch we can talk some more." She smiles.

"Sure 'nisa. I'll be around." Ranit waves tiredly and focuses on peeling his potatoes again.

Smoothing out her gown, the Lapi doe makes her way back out into the common room, and heads for the stairs. As she passes Quinn, she flicks his ear with a finger. "It's not polite to yell, don't you know that?"

"And you know I can't leave the bar, Cristi. I don't think I'm asking all that much for you to hurry up and help us get our work done." Quinn doesn't even bother looking up from the bar as he polishes it. Behind him in Bessy's place is Beatrice with Petal in her lap. The baby is currently screaming like mad and the matron is trying her best to soothe the little child.

Anisa pauses at the foot of the stairs, backtracking a bit to her mother and to Quinn. "I'm so sorry, your majesty, I didn't know you were so put out." She looks down to the baby, and tickles its ears. "Mama, are you okay? Do you want me to take Petal upstairs with me for a bit?"

"Christina, don't snap at your brother like that. He's not your enemy." Beatrice rocks the child in her arms. "Best to let me tend to things here, darling. I've a bit more experience with babies than you. I think that poor little Petal just has a touch of the cold today and isn't pleased with her lot in life. She'll settle down once she's tired herself out."

Anisa catches Quinn's triumphant smirk out of the corner of her eye.

Anisa frowns, biting her tongue to keep herself from making a remark. She shrugs. "If you say so. If you want, she can play with some of my old stuffed animals upstairs." She turns, making sure to glare at Quinn as she does so. "I'm sure certain immature little boys wouldn't mind playing with them either." Smirking, she looks away from her mother and brother, and heads back to the stairs.

On the trip to her room, Anisa catches Tyson's door partway open and a few bumping noises inside that indicate that the elder brother is present. In another room nearby, Bessy's melodramatic moans of complaint about her morning sickness ring in the Lapi's ears.

Each ear swivels to one of the respective sounds, and Anisa winces at the sound of Bessy; that's definitely one place to avoid. She halts when she approaches Tyson's room, however, and swivels her ears to get a better listen in. She sneaks closer to the door, just outside the room.

Flashes of brown fur can be seen walking back and forth from the crack in the door, but it's hard to make out details. Tyson's muttering is incoherent for the most part, but broken down it sounds like he's cursing the world and everyone in it as being stupid. He hisses under his breath as though pained and keeps getting in and out of bed.

Frowning, Anisa raises a paw to tap lightly on the door. "Tyson? Are you all right?"

Abruptly Tyson hurls himself into bed, the loud squealing of his bedsprings giving his maneuver away. "I'm fine, Chris." There's an uncomfortable pause. "Er … could you wake me up when it's my shift in the kitchen? I'm feeling a bit down this morning. Probably got Petal's cold, or she got mine."

The white Lapi pushes the door open a bit wider, and peers into the room with one eye. "Are you sure? Ranit was looking for you earlier … and don't call me Chris."

Tyson pulls the blanket over his head. "Ranit's just being nosy like he always is. If he wants me, he can come and get me. Now let me sleep unless you want me to fall asleep in the soup tonight."

Anisa grimaces, and starts to leave the door when she stops, her brow furrowing in annoyance and new resolve. Turning back to the door, she opens it and steps inside Tyson's room, closing it behind her. Crossing her arms, she puts on a stern look. "Is there something, anything you need to tell me? I can tell something's up, you know."

"Yeah, yeah … you're a smart little bunny, Chris. That or Ranit's been filling your ears up." The lump under the covers shifts around. "What he tell you? I got the Assassin's Guild after me? Or maybe the story about the Temple guards sniffing around?" He sighs one of those faux-pained sighs. "I'm just peachy … but that squalling little bundle of spit keeps me up half the night."

The sister flattens her ears. "No, but he told me about how you asked Quinn for an advance on your pay, and I remember you coming home with a black eye one night." She walks over to the bed, and prods it. "And one little baby isn't gonna make you act like this. Either you can tell me, or I can have Quinn or Mom come up here and they can nag it out of you – take your pick."

Abruptly the blanket flies off and Anisa finds herself glaring eye to eye with her brother. Tyson's gotten leaner and meaner looking over the years, and the fact that one of his eyes is puffy and red lends to the image. "Keep Mom out of this, you hear? You'll kill her if she gets in on this … you'll bust up her and Dad. I can't explain it, Christina. This is one of those things that if word gets out, it'll ruin everything. Go sic Quinn on me if you really feel like it, but unless you want to personally hack this family in half with an axe, you'd best keep quiet to anyone else." His ears go flat against his head.

The sound of a closing door can be heard across the hall. Apparently the noise has gotten to Bessy's sensitive little ears.

Anisa's eyes go wide as she takes a couple of steps back, surprised at her brother's sudden outburst. She stares at him silently for a few seconds, then walks forward, peering at his eye and reaching up to inspect it. "What did you do?" she whispers to him, "And what in Dagh's name do you mean??"

"I didn't do anything; don't you dare try to blame this on me." He grinds his teeth and lies back down in bed. "Go get ready for the breakfast crowd. I'm not telling you another word, and don't try beating it out of me like you usually do, 'cause you can't beat me any worse than I've already been beaten."

The smaller rabbit glares at Tyson, "Okay then, who did this to you? For First Ones' sake, Ty! If you're in trouble, you need to tell someone!"

"I'm not in trouble!" The lump under the bed curls up. "You think that since I asked Quinn for money that I'm in trouble? I just needed a little extra money… " He sighs. "Chris, if you love this family one whit, and if you care about Mom and Dad, then you'll stop asking questions, go get dressed, and help get ready for things. Some secrets are best left that way."

As Tyson says the word "secrets", Anisa gets a chill up her spine – an uncomfortable feeling as though someone just walked on her grave, or some predator were watching her from afar.

Anisa shudders, her mind momentarily racing at the sudden chill, as though trying to remember something forgotten. Shaking her head, she snaps out of it, and lets her arms fall to her sides. "Fine then, but this isn't the end of this, Ty. If you're in trouble, I'm gonna find out." She turns on her heel, and opens the door back out to exit. "I'm still your sister you know, and I care what happens to you."

"Mph," Tyson mumbles, pretending to fall asleep.

The day was busy as any other, although there were an unusual number of Eeee visiting Snowshoe's today. While Anisa was going in and out of the kitchen, Ranit made jokes about catching some of the bugs hiding in the cellar and offering them to the bats, but thankfully he never went through with it.

Like any other busy day, the work sort of blurred into a big haze as the day crept along, and finally Quinn escorted the last customer, a drunken Rhian, out of the tavern while Beatrice locked things up. Tyson kept to himself and ducked out of cleanup duty at the end of the day, managing to sweet-talk Beatrice into believing that he was feeling ill.

Eventually the rabbits wandered off to bed. Coal had fallen asleep in Ranit's arms and was carried off, while Quinn stayed in the tavern to count the shekel box. Anisa's joints were grateful that cleaning duty was over and that a hot shower would be waiting at the end of it all. In the hallway, even Petal seemed content for once, and Bessy could be heard through the door singing the baby a lullaby. Tyson's room was conspicuously quiet. He must sleep an awful lot.

Stepping out of the bathroom, and once again in her nightgown with her ears wrapped up in a towel to dry, Anisa gives a long yawn and a stretch. Brandishing a brush which she currently uses on her arm fur, she can't help but smile at the lullaby. Bessy may be annoying, but even she can be sweet at times. She slows a bit as she passes Tyson's room, straining her ears underneath the towel to listen for anything that might be going on inside.

Once Anisa strains to listen (the rooms have been insulated to provide some relief for sensitive Lapi ears after all) she can hear a soft banging noise from inside the room. It's irregular in its pattern, and doesn't seem like the kind of sound someone could sleep through … yet Tysondoesn't sound like he's moving around or doing anything at the moment.

Anisa blinks, and pauses outside her older brother's room. Furrowing her brow, she reaches up into the towel and pulls out a still damp ear, and places it against the door to try and get a better listen.

*Tap… tapTAPtapRATTLE… tap tap… rattle rattle… tapTAPtap* The noise continues.

Biting her bottom lip, the white Lapi tries to recognize the sound, but is unable to place it. Bracing herself for an earful, she slowly raises her paw to the doorknob, and as quietly as possible turns it to open the door.

The door opens to reveal … nothing. A pillow has been tucked into the bed, but unless Tyson has shrunk to a third of his normal size, there's no way it could be mistaken for him. As Anisa's gaze wanders around the room, she spies the culprit of the sound – an open window shutter being blown back and forth by the night breeze. The shutters have been made to slide open just a little bit, but this one looks to have been tampered with, and is barely hanging on.

Anisa freezes in her spot, blinking in disbelief at the sight before her. Entering the room, she shuts the door behind her and heads to the window. "Tyson? Ty?" Looking around at the room, she stops once she reaches the sill, and gets on her tiptoes to look outside.

Tyson's mattress and the pile of clothes he has stuffed in his bed make for a moderate enough step to look out. A lone figure can be seen quietly strutting away in the darkness, two long ears on his head perked proudly upwards.

Anisa frowns, not having to make a second guess at who the figure is. For a moment she contemplates climbing down after him and following – but her aching muscles, coupled with the fact that she's in her nightgown, convince her to do otherwise. Sighing, she gets down off the bed, and takes another look around the room. "Tyson's a big boy, he can take care of himself," she mutters, but not really believing it herself.

The elder Lapi's belongings are scattered around the room. By the look of things, he peeled off his work clothes the first chance he got. And as Anisa settles in, she also notices that the room reeks horribly. It's probably not been cleaned for weeks, and the clothing smells even worse. There's also a coppery hint of blood in the air, but not enough to suggest that there might actually be copious amounts of it in the room. On the floor are several sheets of paper that have numbers crudely scrawled onto them, and a shekel or two that have fallen from Tyson's pockets.

The younger Lapi's fur stands on end at the scent of blood, the body odors not helping much. Bending down, she picks up the papers and goes back to the window, seeing if she can read them by the light of the Procession. She also tries to pinpoint the source of the blood smell, even though it unnerves her to do so.

The papers are a jumble of scraps, some on parchment, some on bits of paper sacks, and some from unidentifiable sources. They look big enough to fit into the Lapi's palm, but the writing on them doesn't look like Tyson's writing.

The smell of blood is from Tyson's clothes, but not his work clothes. The shirts reek of sweat and adrenaline and blood … the smell of fighting.

Anisa knows that smell all too well, and gives another worried glance at the window. With a final sigh, she places the papers back where she found them, and heads to the door. Opening it slowly, she pauses. "I hope you're okay, Ty." The rabbit slips outside, and quietly shuts the door behind her, turning to head towards her own room.