[Fin] Childhood is Fleeting [Lucca]

[Kari Muffin]

Fleur was terribly amused by the entire situation. She poked the snake with a paw. She was rather smooth wasn't she? And what about those ears of hers. She reached out tentatively and ran her paw along them.

They were furry!

She blinked at her brother's remarks finally coming to. "I think she'll be out for a bit... so why not investigate?" She poked at the bag the woman was wearing. "I mean why not see what cards carry with them. I mean we'll hear if anyone's around so we can run before anyone shows up."

Invading someone's privacy was probably going too far. But she wanted to know more about Cards and their backwards ways, even if it was only through the contents of someone's bag. "I mean... aren't you curious to know more about them?"

She started to fiddle with the straps to open the bag.

[Lucca]

Shelby couldn't help but feel shown up when his sister had the courage to not only touch the Card, but actually spend a long time feeling her smooth scales and fuzzy ears...himself, he had already done enough to be satisfied, and was hanging back from a safe distance. After all, who knew when she would suddenly wake up? Cards might be different from Rabbits...he'd heard rumors of some type of Card that never had to sleep! He unconsciously took another step back as he had the paranoid thought that the Snake might just be faking being out in the first place, and any second now she was going to...to bite his sister!

...but then, why hadn't she yet? He pulled on his ears as Fleur didn't seem to want to leave yet. "But Sis," he began in a whiny tone, paws still clutching his ears tight, "We really shouldn't. We could get in trouble! What if it wakes up?" He watched nervously as she started to fiddle with the bag anyway. This was a bit farther than he was comfortable going. If they stayed here too long, they wouldn't just have a risky sort of fun to celebrate their childhood freedom, they'd be DEAD and without any more of said freedom!

[Kari Muffin]

Fleur eyed her brother. What was he so scared about? It wasn't like the snake posed much of a threat knocked out like this. And they could run pretty fast if she woke up. "Why not? I don't think if she wakes up she's going to be angry and try to tear us limb from limb. She seemed pretty harmless to begin with."

As she spoke she struggled to open the pack. "Come on, don't be afraid of everything. This is a once in a life time chance. We ought to take it!"

Once the bag was open the rabbit reached a paw into it. She fished around for a few moments before pulling out a handkerchief and a few other trinkets. She wiggled the fabric at her brother. "See she's harmless."

Viola's ear twitched, causing the rabbit to jump a bit. The snake-deer was still out cold, however, so she really wasn't a threat.

[Lucca]

Shelby looked helplessly at his sister. Did she really not understand? Was she really that unafraid? In some ways Fleur was very much like their mother, though Shelby couldn't see even her attempting something like this. "Snakes can be poisonous," he mumbled, shuffling anxiously in the dirt. Despite that...he knew his sister was partially right. The Snake, even if she woke up, would probably be fairly harmless...

But...he released his ears, though they were still pulled back against his skull, and slowly moved closer, despite every muscle in his body screaming at him to run the other direction and not look back until he reached the safety of the Warren. He ducked his head a bit when she wiggled the fabric at him. Though...she didn't even seem to have any sort of weapon besides her antlers and snake fangs...just when Shelby was starting to believe that maybe they really weren't in danger (though they should still bolt if another Card came along the trail) the ear twitched, and he jumped back nearly ten feet, eyes wide and heart pounding.

"L-l-let's just...let's just leave, Fleur...you saw what she had in her bag, and we scarred her for life. Now...now we should go get some berries before they're all eaten by birds or something."

[Kari Muffin]

"Are cards poisonous though?" She said eying her brother. "And I think she would have bit me rather than pass out if that was the case, don't you think?"

Viola wasn't poisonous, but if she had been awake and coherent she probably would have bitten the rabbit. Just because there was a monster going through her handbag. Of course since she was passed out there was nothing she could do about it.

Her brother's reaction to the ear twitch made the Doe frown. But she wanted to play a bit longer. She was never going to get this chance again. She drooped a little as she debated what to do.

"Fine. We can go back." She eyed the snake with a wrinkled nose. "But I'm totally keeping this handkerchief. I want at least something to remember this moment by."

She carefully attempted to tie the piece of fabric around her wrist so she wouldn't lose it. It took a bit of effort but she eventually managed.

[Lucca]

Shelby's ears went back flat against his head. Now he'd done it. Fleur was upset and her whole day was ruined and she wasn't going to have any more fun because he'd spoiled it by being a bloody coward. Could he help it if Cards were big and scary and weird? Some Leverets, he knew, would actually go out disguising themselves as Cards to interact with them and buy things, but Shelby wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to do something like that. Not after today.

Even though he felt bad, Shelby relaxed slightly as his sister agreed to go back. Even if she did think he was a stick in the mud, at least they'd both be safe, and back in territory where Cards had never come. "That's fine. I doubt she'll miss it very much," Shelby said, shrugging. Sure, it was a pretty little thing, but he was sure the Snake could just buy a new one. He could still barely believe they'd actually pulled that off, and as he hopped back into the relative safety of the bushes beside the path, the whole experience began to feel like a strange dream, though one glance at his sister's wrist as she came to join him was enough to remind him it had been real.

He'd really touched a Card with his own paw. Wow.

[Kari Muffin]

The Doe nodded in agreement with her brother. She seemed pretty well off, she could probably buy another one. As her brother walked away, Fleur took one last chance to touch the Card.

She choked back a giggle at how soft the ears were. Maybe she would try to look up information on different kind of snakes. Perhaps there was one out there with ears out there that she didn't know about? There were cobras so who knew?

She hopped after her brother into the bushes, leaving the snake unconscious with a few of her things scattered about. When she woke up she would be terrified, but otherwise completely unscathed. And she wouldn't notice the fact that something was missing until she arrived at her destination.

"So do you still want to pick berries?" She asked her brother. "I mean nothing could possibly compare to that excitement, right?"

[Lucca]

Shelby hopped away from the Card-traveled path in a daze; his feet seemed to know exactly which direction would take them back to more familiar haunts. It was a minute before he realized Fleur was talking, and another minute before he was actually able to process what she'd just said. He paused, turning to face her, a meek expression on his face. "Yeah, I think we should. Well, unless you don't want to," he said, shuffling his feet a bit. "I mean...I really think we've had enough...'excitement' for one day. Or that could just be me." He mumbled the last part, eyes firmly fixed on a leaf near his paw.

He just wanted to enjoy this day with his sister, but he didn't expect she'd want to do such...dare devil type things. Really, Shelby wasn't cut out for risking life and limb. He was just a poor little male Leveret, and hiding that fact from Jacks when he left home would be hard enough without all this additional risk-taking. That was, in Shelby's mind, just common sense.

But despite all that...he didn't want to be lame and let his own sister do things he was too scared to! So despite his better judgement, he found himself adding, "Unless you have a better idea for the rest of the afternoon."

[Kari Muffin]

"It's only you," she stated softly and flatly. She could have spent a while longer poking and prodding at the Card they had managed to find. She would probably never have the chance to see one again, unlike her brother. He had a leash that was far longer than any Doe's.

It was a miserable sort of thing. Oh well. Nothing she could do about it. And she had to admit that Cards were dangerous.

"But let's pick berries. There's nothing to do at the warren anyway. And you still need a break that doesn't involve having a panic attack," she said with a smile. "I can't help but wonder if Dad was this jumpy when he was younger."

She had heard a few stories about Heike when she was ease dropping on conversations she shouldn't have. And it was hard to miss his paranoia and anxiety sometimes. Especially when he paced. Assuming that he really was their dad (and there were plenty of doubts) it would make sense that Shelby got some of that paranoia.

[Lucca]

Shelby's ears pressed farther against his head at his sister's flat tone. Was she angry with him? That wasn't fair! He was just trying to protect her, the way any good brother should! It wasn't like it was just because she was a Doe...any Rabbit (except perhaps a Jack) was no match for a Card. And it had been ingrained in him from the time he was small that he should never seek out interaction with the strange beings to whom Rabbits didn't exist. He couldn't help but get the feeling that, with as angry as their mother would be if she found out about this (but she wouldn't, how would she? They could just say they found the handkerchief on the ground) she herself would have loved to have this experience if she ever could. Seena certainly talked about Cards enough and read lots of books about and sometimes even by them.

Luckily, Fleur's smile relaxed him, and he tried to smile back, but with possibly limited success. "Heh, yeah...I..." Shelby blushed, the red on his cheeks obvious beneath his white fur. "I dunno, Dad used to go out in Card society all the time. So he couldn't have been this nervous around them." He, too, had overheard some interesting conversations between Heike and his Mom or some of the other Does, or that other Leveret that was Heike's sister.

But...berries! At this point they were very close to that large patch, and Shelby bounded towards the correct bushes, and sniffed at a few of the berries. His whiskers perked forward happily at how sweet they smelled. "Yep, they're all ripe and ready to eat!" he called back, determined to put the other experience out of his mind for now and just enjoy some time off.