Morning brings sunshine and a buzz of activity as Jedd and the other Akwavi see Anisa off with a breakfast of water chestnuts and underwater grasses that are surprisingly tasty and refreshing. Spencer seems eager to return home, and in high spirits… and even Wanda is a little more animated than usual. A leisurely canoe ride returns Anisa to the frosty fields of Half Valley, and into a blanket of the usual morning fog that's rolled over the town. Farmers and fishermen are already out and about, milking Rughrats and getting their boats ready for the day's work.

Anisa walks along quietly and slowly for a change, making a path for the inn. Her eyes are wider than usual, looking almost spooked, all thanks to her new sensitive hearing. Funny, it seems she has no trouble finding all the obstacles, even through the fog. One paw clutches the pendant, and the other the book.

The way is easily picked out, and before long, the comforting yellow glow of the windows in Levitha's Blanket beckons. Wanda and Spencer close behind Anisa. "Whew, it's good to be back!" puffs Spencer, shaking his head. "I'm surprised your brother didn't have half the militia out looking for us when we didn't come back last night. I hope he's not too cross."

The white Lapi nods to the other rabbit. "I'm sure he got his ears in a tie." As they approach the inn, Anisa halts, pointing her ears at the establishment. "That's strange. I don't hear hardly anything from inside."

Spencer tilts his head questioningly at Anisa. "What? Of course you don't; we're outside." He reaches for the door handle.

"Wait!" shouts Anisa, grabbing at Spencer's paw. "I… I have a bad feeling… " She sets her ears back, and gives a worried look. "Something's not right. Let's go around back."

The brown rabbit looks perplexed, but relents. "Uh… if you say so." He watches Anisa to follow her lead.

Ears swiveling back and forth, the white Lapi starts off around back, trying to keep as silent as possible. She keeps her attention on the inside of the inn, trying to make out any voices or any other sort of noise of normalcy. As she reaches the back door, she hesitates a bit.

There's some shifting around in the main room at the entrance, and a couple coughs, but that's about it. The kitchen sounds quiet… and the door is slightly ajar.

Putting a finger to her lips to signal quiet to the others, Anisa slowly pushes the door open, peeking an ear, then her face inside.

The kitchen looks much as it did when Anisa left, except for a few critical things. There's a few pots and pans lying on the floor, as though a stack from the washbasin had fallen over. Lying on one of the counters is Gibson's skedat-shell bracer.

Giving the room a good look over, Anisa tiptoes into the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as possible. She goes over to the bracer, and motions for the others to come inside, and to be quiet.

Spencer does a pretty good job of it, laying his paw on a knife at his belt. Wanda moves noiselessly, staying off to one side. Both of them watch Anisa, an unspoken agreement keeping things quiet. The skedat shell looks quite normal; it's an odd place to have been left, though. Farther down the kitchen aisle, orange light from the fire in the common room streams part way over the double doors leading out behind the bar, and to the bar room.

Clumsily, Anisa puts on Gibson's bracer, her heart sinking. She cocks her ears at the double doors, and slowly makes her way over to them. Like with the back door, she first peeks her ears into the common room, followed by her face to peer in.

The bracer feels odd and unwieldy on Anisa's arm… somewhat heavy, in fact, though she's quite strong enough to move around as though it were never there. There's a coil of cord in it, kept in place by a hook that can be unlatched. On the end of the cord is tied a short, wicked-looking chitin blade with some barbs around the base. There's also what looks like a small lever near the end of the shell, pointed away from the fingers so it can be reached, but not accidentally.

Peering in, the Lapi can see a man in a nondescript cloak standing by the main door. Another hooded person, Jupani by the looks of the tail, sits near the fireplace, watching the door. A third fellow stands at the arch leading to the bar, his back facing Anisa, and a long furred and striped tail peeking out from beneath his cape. Two more figures stand at the southern corners of a table in the middle of the common room, and seated at the table are Gibson, Janice, and Kurt. The black rabbit looks angry, and Janice looks frightened. It's hard to tell with Kurt, since he's facing towards the other two.

Anisa strains her ears, trying to make out any sort of conversation that might be going on in the room. Crouching down, she crawls behind the bar, trying to keep silent.

It's pretty quiet out there, until finally, the man by the door snorts, and looks at the Jupani at the fireplace. "False alarm," he growls.

The Jupani tips back in his chair. "Give it time. She'll be here."

Gibson lays his palms on the table, his ears laid back on his head. "I'm telling you, whatever you're looking for, she doesn't have it."

The white rabbit motions for her two companions to follow her, and to stay silent. She keeps her ears focused on the common room, hoping to pick up any more of the conversation.

The two figures at the table tense up as Gibson speaks, but the Khatta with his back to Anisa just laughs humorlessly. "Don't insult our intelligence, Mr. Snowshoe. You made it difficult to find you, but I think we've made some safe assumptions. I hope, for all your sakes, she found the tome."

"The book?" says Anisa to herself in a rabbit-whisper. She continues to listen in, scooting a little closer to the edge of the bar.

As she scoots, she keeps said book clutched close to her chest, even though it hinders her movement slightly.

The shadows of the bar provide ample cover for Anisa, despite her white fur and the gleam of steel from the tome. Gibson clenches his fists, making a short grunting noise, then speaking through bared teeth. "For the thousandth time… I don't know what you're talking about. Leave us in peace, or the river-rangers will have your hides."

The white Lapi looks wide eyed to Spencer and Wanda. "What do you think we should do?" she whispers lowly to Spencer, "Who in the name of the First Ones are these people?"

"Oh, I don't think you could get that far that fast, Mr. Snowshoe," says the Jupani, a sneer in his voice as he rises to his feet. He strides over to where Janice is sitting, the female Lapi quailing as he reaches out to cup her chin with a gloved hand. "And I think you're smart enough not to take… shall we say… unnecessary risks?"

Spencer's eyes smolder, but he makes no reply. Wanda just shrugs helplessly.

Anisa clenches her jaw in anger, starting to shake. She gets into a crouching position, looking almost like a normal rabbit getting ready to bolt… except in the case it looks more like an attack. "I say we take em!" she whispers.

"Leave… her alone," hisses Gibson, his nose scrunched up above his long incisors.

The wolf ignores him. "Even if you somehow alerted the guardsmen, it'd bring some uncomfortable attention to you and the book that rightly belongs to someone else. It'd be much easier to deal with you when you're really stuck in one place. But I digress. Perhaps we should just take you with us… you and the boss could have a chat. There's really quite a nice view from up there."

The brown Lapi nods grimly, unshouldering his longbow and quiver to get them out of his way. Wanda shakes her head, but reaches into a pocket of her tunic, coming up with a pouch and leather strap of some sort.

Taking the book, Anisa stows it into one of the bar's shelves, then tucks the pendant into the neck of her shirt. Clumsily, she readies Gibson's skedat shell on her paw, ready to toss it to him should she get a chance. Setting her ears back, she crouches for the jump. "On the count of three… one… two… THREE!" Without further wait, the white Lapi bounds from behind the bar, and makes a beeline for one of the cloaked figures near the arch.

Taking the Khatta guard by surprise, Anisa takes a flying leap, and kicks out at the stranger with both of her legs.

Large Lapine feet crash into the Khatta's back, knocking the breath from him as he's slammed to the floor on his front, and skids forward a short distance like a feline surfboard under the rabbit. With a sharp war-cry, Spencer bounds over the top of the bar, scattering glasses as he hits the floor and charges toward the Jupani. All the cloaked intruders raise a cry of alarm, hands fumbling for weapons.

"Gibson, catch!" yells the white Lapi as she tosses the skedat shell to her brother. She then swings to her side and lobs a jab at her nearest foe.

The bracer wobbles over the table like a flying plate, and Gibson claps it to the table. He doubles over the Eeee next to him with an elbow to the gut to buy himself some time, the dark bat grunting and falling to his knees.

The hood of the nearest foe turns to face Anisa, revealing a long, narrow snout with jagged rows of teeth studding its sides in a fixed grin. With the delay to toss the shell, and the need to step off the Khatta to reach him, the strange reptile is prepared to meet Anisa's assault, skipping backwards and menacing her with a chitin short sword.

Reeling slightly from the missed punch, Anisa likewise bounds backwards to put some distance between herself and her attacker. She brings her fists up into a brawling position, and sneers at the lizard. "Janice, get out of here!"

Spencer barrels into the Jupani by the fireplace, slamming him up against the hearth. The wolf grunts, then growls, and shoves at Spencer. The Lapi stumbles backwards, and falls against the table, overturning it. The wolf and human both work at unhooking hand-crossbows from beneath their cloaks.

Janice's paws clap over her muzzle in horror, and she presses her back to a wall.

As the caiman Shiga makes a lunge at Anisa, she dodges to one side, avoiding the stab of the blade. She makes a punch at the attacker, managing a glancing blow – but instead of hurting the lizard, it seems more like punching rock, doing little good. Ignoring the pain in her paw, Anisa tries to make a break for Janice, hoping no one remembers she's there.

"Take cover!" shouts Gibson as the wolf and human by the door raise their crossbow pistols. They start to take aim at Spencer, when a whistling noise builds up from the barroom. With a crack, something apparently made of glass shatters on the wall several feet past their heads, causing them to duck and curse. Gibson leaps over the fallen table to push over another farther down the common room, and Spencer dives behind it as well while the two crossbowmen are recovering. The caiman spins, turning to face Anisa again, but not following as she hurries towards Janice. Janice, for her part, starts to snap out of her stupor, backing toward the doorway and stairs to the southern end of the room.

Anisa keeps on her path to Janice, grabbing at her and trying to pull her into the study as she gets near. "Take cover!"

She's more jerked along than really possessing of enough wits in the melee to follow along of her own will, but Janice ends up in the study. The neatness and orderliness of Piksil's study, with its rows of books, carefully drawn charts, and organized knickknacks, is an odd counterpoint to the chaos going on in the common-room outside. Fwift! A quarrel embeds itself in the wall, followed by another sticking into the doorjamb.

Running over to one of the low-set windows in the study, Anisa pries it open as wide as she can, and grabs Janice. "Here, get out of here! Go and get somewhere safe!" She shoves the lop-eared Lapi towards the window, and studies the room some more, her heart pounding wildly.

Janice stumbles clumsily over the sill as she's practically dumped out the window. She stays on her feet, and seems to have recovered enough composure to gasp, "Sh-should I get help?"

The white Lapi bites her lip. They need help desperately, but if anyone comes, they'll find out about the artifacts. "No, not yet. Just go home and wait for us there. If you don't hear back from us in an hour, then go and get the rangers, now hurry!"

Nodding numbly, Janice scampers away into the fog, nearly tripping in her haste. Outside, in the common room, the fray seems to have reached a lull. The wolf and human keep their weapons trained on the table, and the Khatta is back on his feet, brandishing a crossbow of his own, and sniffing at a bloody nose. "Give up," calls the Jupani. "I know you're in there, girl. Give us the steel-bound tome, and we'll leave."

Anisa runs over to the door, and presses against the wall next to the opening. "Carrots to you! Besides, I don't know what you're talking about!" The rabbit's ears reflexively rotate to the windowsill, hearing a light movement. When she looks, she sees a familiar mouse standing at the sill. "Wanda!" she whispers loudly.

The Skeek leans over the sill, resting the steel-clad tome on it. "I couldn't stay near the bar – they'd have figured out where the marbles were coming from. What should we do?"

The voice of the wolf raises again, sharp and commanding. "You're lying! We know you have it! If you don't have it here, you know where to find it! We aren't leaving without it, and more of us will be on the way!"

The white rabbit's nose twitches quickly in thought, trying to figure out some course of action. "I think I have an idea, hold on one second… " Turning back to the door, Anisa changes her speech to the high-pitched squeaks of the Skeek language, hoping the attackers won't understand. "Gibson, Spencer! Back the table up and get in here if you can! Hurry!" She then reverts back to Standard. "I said I don't know what you're talking about! Leave now, or we'll call the rangers!"

The two rabbits behind the table work at scooting it backwards, and the intruders begin closing closer in with the retreat. "You haven't got the guts, thief!" spits the human.

"They're already on their way," bluffs Anisa. "If I were you, I'd get out of here, unless you want to get beaten to a pulp, you cloaked pea-brains! In case you haven't noticed, you've been attacking the town magistrate's son and daughter, and he isn't gonna be too happy about that!" The Lapi turns back to Wanda. "Have you seen Kurt?"

The Jupani's muzzle twists into a snarl only partially visible beneath the hood. Some of the other intruders glance uncertainly at him. "Ixchel," he growls. "Watch for the militia." The caiman glances back at the Lapis' fortified position, and reluctantly backs out the front door.

In louder tones, the leader barks, "We are but servants to a greater cause! Your pathetic little town and its toy soldiers mean nothing to us!"

Wanda, meanwhile, whispers, "I think I saw him lie down to hide behind one of the benches near the hearth."

The white Lapi darts her head out to take a look at the situation, quickly bringing it back in, and frowns. She didn't expect anyone to go outside. Her frown deepens as Wanda informs her about Kurt. "Let'sjust hope they don't find him out," she says to Wanda. She then yells back at the attackers. "It'll mean something to you when they make your ugly face black and blue, mutt! And I'll be there to help them cut your tail off!" She glances out again, trying to get a look at the other two's progress.

The long table has been backed up all the way to the door to Piksil's study, with a bit of effort. Spencer grits his teeth as another quarrel thunks into the table. "Dagh! If I had my bow, at least I could trade shots with these clowns!"

"Just get in here!" Anisa chitters in Skeek to the two male rabbits, "and make for the window. We have to get out of here, or at least double back for a better attack." She points her ears into the common room, listening to it occupants. "Have they found Kurt yet?"

"I don't think they have… ," begins Spencer, when there's a scream from outside, making his fur stand on end. "Janice!" he and Gibson shout.

The Jupani glances outside through the open front door, and grimaces. "What use is she?"

Anisa grits her teeth, and bolts for the open window, motioning for the others to follow. "Dagh! I told her to go straight home!"

More voices can be heard, a jumble coming together as it becomes late enough in the morning for the peasantry to be out and about, though the fog is still there. "What's going on?!" "Who's out there?" "@#$%!!, we've been spotted!" "Get the Drokar!" "We can tell them, it won't matter after liftoff!" "Fine. Ixchel, get her secured."

Sprinting as fast as she can, the white Lapi makes straight for the front of the building, finding her way with her ears and hoping to reach them in time to save Janice.

Mist and building fly by as Anisa bolts around the side, headed for the front. People and Drokar mill about in the fog, some cloaked, some bewildered farmers or fishermen. The caiman is in the middle of saddling up while the Eeee keeps Janice secure. The leader stands near his mount, glaring and menacing anyone who strays too near. "Stay back, fools! Not a step closer, or the girl dies!"

Anisa skids to a halt, crouching into a fighting position and glaring at the Jupani. "You coward! Let her go and let's have it out!"

The Jupani growls deep in his throat, but steps back as he hears cries for the militia. "Damn you to the bile-filled pits of Necropolis, wench. You may have forced a retreat, but you're only delaying the inevitable… "

"I said let her go, you foul-mouthed excuse for throw-rug!"snaps the Lapi back. "She hasn't done anything to you!"

"Fall back, brothers!" commands the wolf, kicking his Drokar in the ribs, which rears back with a screaming hiss. The others follow suit, except for the Eeee, who spreads his wings. Gibson cries out, and takes a step forward.

Anisa sprints after the Drokars, trying to catch the one that carries the lop-eared Whitewhiskers sister. "Drop her now!"

The wolf hefts himself up onto his Drokar as his comrades circle around on their cantering steeds. The rough-looking Khatta among them takes aim at Anisa with his crossbow pistol, until the more immediate threat of Gibson swiftly draws near. His shot is fired at the black rabbit instead, who's forced to dive to the side to avoid it. The caiman with his arm around Janice spurs his horse as quickly as he can manage with the kicking and crying young woman he has in his grip.

Catching up with the mounted caiman Shiga, the white Lapi makes a flying kick at him, her oversized feet sailing in front of her as she tries to avoid hitting Janice.

The large Lapine foot just barely connects with the Shiga, but its enough to get the job done. Down he goes, with the two female Lapis right behind.

With a grunt, the caiman falls to the side, teetering in the saddle, and sliding off his panicked Drokar. With a squeal, Janice falls off the other side, landing in a heap in the dust. The Drokar trots to the side, snorting nervously.

With a loud thump, Anisa lands on her feet, quickly bending down to grab Janice. "Hurry! Get back over there to Gibson and take cover, now!" She yanks the gray Lapi to her feet, and shoves her in the direction of the black rabbit.

"There's no help for it!" shouts the human, snapping the reins of his mount. "Let's g-… rragk!" An arrow seems to grow out of his side, and he slumps in his saddle, then rolls off, his spooked Drokar dancing away. The others curse, and with the Eeee already gone, they ride into the fog. The wolf's voice cries out from in the distance. "You've made a grave mistake, fools! You won't escape!" The thunder of their hooves fades.

Gibson is there to gather Janice up, hustling her to the side as the Drokar nearly rides him down, then glaring after them for a few moments.

The white Lapi dodges to one side, avoiding the Drokars lumbering by, and pants heavily as she regains her breath. After losing the attackers in the fog, she turns to the human, and walks over beside him.

A dragging noise behind Anisa presents a more immediate concern…

Anisa's sensitive ears pick up the dragging, and she spins to face whatever makes it, her paws in fists and up in guard.

The Lapi is just in time to catch sight of a long, grinning reptilian face, and a scaly fist rocketing towards her own.

With a slight look of wide-eyed surprise, Anisa has just enough time to instinctively block the punch with her forearms, the blow knocking her back slightly. She makes a leap backwards, getting into a fighting position. "Dagh! Forgot about your luggage-candidate carcass!"

The grinning Shiga circles, his fists raised, but backs slowly away as Gibson appears nearby. Lanterns bob in the fog down the street, brightening as they come closer.

The white Lapi makes a quick dash at the reptile, swinging her fist in a right hook at the Shiga's jaw.

Baf! The caiman's head is jerked to one side, droplets of spittle flying off to the side from the creature's jaws. He wobbles groggily, and Gibson takes the opportunity to ram the caiman with his shoulder, knocking the foe off his feet and to the ground.

A clatter of weaponry signals the arrival of men-at-arms, leather armored militia that circle around the rabbits and their downed foe. At the sight of the men, the still-grinning caiman doesn't get up.

Anisa begins to pounce the Shiga, ready to pound him to a pulp, but halts as she notices the arrival of the guard, her ears springing upwards in alarm. "Dagh," she whispers under her breath, while backing away from the caiman. "Arrest him!"

Longbows are immediately trained on the Shiga, though the circle doesn't open to let the rabbits out. A brownish Eeee with a longbow so tall he has to tilt it slightly to aim it properly demands, "What happened here?"

Anisa points an accusing finger at the reptile. "That scaly riffraff and his cronies tried to rob Piksil's, and tried to kidnap the Magistrate's daughter! We stopped them!"

There's a hissing laugh, and the caiman finally speaks, his voice raspy, slow, and deliberate. His teeth click together with every word he speaks. "It … isss a. Tangled. Web you are. Catching. Yourssself in. We. Shall find you. In it. Eventually."

With an angry expression on her face, the white Lapi sets her ears back. "Shut up!" Lunging furiously at the reptile, she makes another swing at him.

"Anisa!" Strong, black-furred arms slip under Anisa's, hooking elbows beneath them while palms press against the back of her neck, the hold checking her momentum forward.

Gibson grunts, "Calm… down! Mph!"

"Oof!" protests Anisa, "Lemme go!! I'm gonna tear that scaly sack of peels to pieces!" She struggles within her brother's grasp for a while, trying to get her paws on the lizard.

Ixchel laughs again, and claps his teeth together once, hissing in his throat. His grin is still on the corners of his gaping maw. "I. Have nothing more. To say." Reaching up to his neck, he touches something, then twists it. His body suddenly spasms, and his jaws open wider, a steaming black fluid spilling over his teeth. The militiamen cry out in surprise, a few backing away while others loose their arrows, impaling the caiman. Black fluid seeps around the wounds, sizzling on the wooden shafts, and black patches spread over the reptile's skin, melting it open. "Aaaahhhhh… ," hisses Ixchel with his last breath. Before astonished eyes, the rest of his flesh melts into a dark, acrid-smelling pool beneath etched bones and a few shreds of cloth and leather that weren't consumed.

The white Lapi's eyes go wide, and instead of trying to get at the lizard, she now pushes backwards in fright to get away from the melting acid. "Whoa! Wha – what the heck just happened?!"

Gibson's arms release their full nelson on Anisa, and instead switch to clutching her around the waist and letting her draw back and away from the heap that was Ixchel. "I… I don't know," he murmurs, half to himself. "The other one, where is he?"

"The human!" Anisa tries to pull free of her brother, and scans around the area with ear and eye, trying to find the other attacker. "Did the arrow kill him?"

Whispers and mumblings of alarm pass around the ring of archers, but cease as the men part. A tall, dappled-grey Rhian ranger steps through them, and he stares grimly at the stained earth. "Keep back from it, men… We don't know what it is." With their attention on him, they don't notice Anisa cast about. The other fellow can't be seen, but labored breathing can be heard some distance away.

The female Lapi points her ears in the direction of the breathing, and tries to slip away while the archers are distracted, making her way to its source.

The general area is found without too much trouble. The breaths are slow, and shuddering. A trail of blood leads Anisa to where the man has dragged himself, not very far away. The fellow lies on his side, the arrow still protruding from a patch of red soaking his side and pooling on the earth. His face is ashen, and he doesn't seem able to really move anymore, but his eyes roll to catch sight of Anisa's shadowy form emerging from the mists. "N… no… ," he whispers. "They're so… heavy… arms so heavy… "

Slowly, Anisa makes her way over to the human, and kneels beside him. "Why were you after the book? What's so special about it?"

"Hhhnnnhh… ," rasps the man. The hand not pinned under his side twitches, and creeps towards his neck in jerks and starts.

"Oh no you don't!" The white Lapi grabs for the furless creature's hand, trying to stop it before it reaches his neck.

It's a simple matter. Held away by the wrist, it barely even feels like the hand can move at all. In fact… it doesn't.

The man's chest sinks, and he exhales. His head lolls to the side, and his chest doesn't rise again.

Anisa's ears lie back in frustration. "Dagh!" She puts a paw to the human's neck, feeling for a pulse.

Nothing. There's an odd lump below his collar, though.

The Lapi blinks, and moves aside the man's shirt so she can get a better look at what's on his neck.

A button or two opened reveals a curious dark-grey stone disc embedded in the neck. There's a white emblem of a sunburst, cut through with flame-like tongues of gray.

Anisa's ears flop to the side in confusion, and she parts the man's shirt to get a better look at the emblem. "This is weird… I wonder what it's for – " The rabbit cuts herself short as she realizes just what she is doing, her eyes going wide in horror as her ears set back. Falling backwards on her rump, she quickly scoots away from the dead body in near shock.

The corpse's hand drops limply to the dust. Off in the fog, milling and murmuring can be heard, various discussions mixing with each other.

Anisa slowly staggers to her feet, still backing away from the corpse. Sure, she's beat up her fair share of punks, but she hasn't ever faced a dead body before. Suddenly, the rabbit feels way in over her head…