Morning on Rarnday came about without any fanfare or events that were as illustrious as the day prior for the Brownwhiskers. Lem was snoring loudly in bed was Kano rose for his daily ministrations at dawn. The older Capyban was up most of the evening tending to the fires that were needed for pies to come out just right.

As Kano headed down the stairs with his work suspenders on he was keen to have a peek at the final product. This was because the delicious fruity aroma of the baked goods permeated the whole Brownwhisker household. He was even able to smell it from his bedroom when he rose earlier.

Oh the pies were glorious indeed. With Kano finding the trio of pies left out to set on the rarely used living room table by his father. All three came out with a nicely baked crust that was of a majestic golden brown hue. His father even added another coat of ground down powdered sugar just to add more to the allure of the pies. The boy Kano was left salivating and highly tempted as he walked on over with one hand raising towards a pie on its own.

Maybe no one would notice, Kano lied to himself as his hand wandered towards a small Kaholin figurine that was covered in a soft white dusting of sugar. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as the soft patter of two small green appendages affixed themselves to the edge of the table opposite him. Then a small green head with beady eyes peered over the edge of table between the two green appendages. Once the head pulled up enough, came the tiny gaping mouth of Dittat that drooled everywhere as he tried to climb atop.

Do it Kano, I can’t wait anymore! Came Dittat’s childish voice in his head.

Whoa I nearly lost control there! Even Dittat had enough self-control, well at least until I nearly stole a slice myself, Kano thought as he scoffed at his partner. Yeah better not or else father would kill me, he added with a sigh of relief as he left the living room.

NOOO! Kano come back! Eat it first! Whined Dittat to him telepathically as he left the house through the back courtyard.

Yeah no thanks, he briefly paused in his steps to reply. A smile crept onto his face for he was glad that his partner was healed enough to get back up to his silly tricks. Kano then continued on to grab some vegetables to feed the Sowigans and a bucket of seeds for the Chitpulkas. Once done with that he continued on to feed the paddocked Kaholin mare and her foal. For even if Rarnday was a day off, the farm creatures still needed to be fed.

Kano was glad he managed to get his tasks done in quite good time, considering he had no help from Nosal. But he let the issue slide, for his little brother was sure to be sleeping in. The boy was recovering from his Sacamin cap on his stamina and mana, which was highly uncomfortable to begin with. Then Nosal also went ahead and emptied out his mana pool and collapsed, which Kano was sure to knock him out in his sleep. So Kano decided to just let his brother be, also he was sure that Dittat would’ve been dead without Nosal’s intervention. So it was his small way of thanking Nosal for his part in the saving of his partner.

Kano started to think back on the previous day as he sstripped down before beginning to shower by the barrel in the morning light. His brother got a Unsung class and was able to unlock two skills out of three already. One being unrestricted communication with Beasts or Monsters and already leaving the boy quite jealous. But then his brother also happened to be able to heal Dittat in a way that left the Master Healer intrigued enough to make him an apprentice on the spot.

The boy sighed, conflicted between pride and jealousy as he rubbed the soap suds into his fur before washing down. Finishing up, he shook himself dry before giving a quick wash to his suspenders. He left them on the fence of the Kaholin fields to dry as he headed inside.

Kano pushed aside his thoughts as he began preparing breakfast as he grabbed some basics ingredients from the pantry.

Maybe I should check my status after the fight from yesterday? Nah the other two are just recovering, there’s no need for me to be tired too. I’ll just wait till next week, thought the boy as he opened up a cupboard for some wooden bowls.

….

Later on in the morning came the soft footsteps down the stairs that denoted the rise of Nosal. The little Capyban walked in whilst wearing only his underwear just like his brother.

“Good morning Kano, what’s for breakfast?” greeted Nosal with a beaming smile even if he was still scrunching his eyes. He immediately took a stool and began digging into his breakfast.

“Yestherhay with half a Petrichor tuber each,” replied Kano with a smile. Meanwhile he chastised himself for the jealousy he felt beforehand. His brother’s abilities were not to be coveted but cherished, for at the end of the day he was still his silly little Nose.

“Why you looking at me all weird like that? What? Stop it.” complained Nosal with a musk of annoyance.

Feeling slightly annoyed and amused how his little brother ruined the moment, Kano decided to play along.

“What you going to do about it huh? I’ll beat you up!” he threatened with his chin upturned as he pretended to cock an arm back for a punch.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad!” shouted Nosal with a musk of fear as he backed off his stool.

“Wait! Wait! Wait! I was only joking! Don’t wake up dad you little dick!” Kano quickly back-pedaled from his little joke. For he was afraid of the prospect of waking up the beast.

“Yeah I thought so,” jeered Nosal as he bit his bottom lip and wriggled in a little victory dance as he settled back into his seat. Kano was actually tempted to clock the little Rottwood worm one, just for the unbearable expression he had on his face. But with a sigh he decided that the repercussions just weren't worth it.

I can’t wait to tell Dornmit about my class today, I bet he’s going to be so shocked, I can’t wait to see his face, mused Nosal with a smile as he chewed away at the tuber. For now he was finally able to join in with the class boasting with the big boys.

“So when is Dornmit coming over with his dad today do you think?” he asked Kano with a musk of joy whist wriggling his eyebrows.

“I dunno. Probably in the afternoon as usual, why what you thinking?” Kano asked with a smile. He was wondering what his brother was going to suggest they play together today. The usual fruit gauntlet was becoming a tad bit more treacherous. What with the bronze Owlmites fully blooming into their higher evolutions. Plus Kano’s bruise was still giving off throbbing aftershocks of pain now and then.

“Well I want to tell him about my class,” whispered Nosal into his plate of breakfast.

“But father said you can’t tell anyone Nosal!” Kano immediately protested with a musk of anger.

“Yeah well I’m sure he will tell Mister. Tars today, so then I can tell Dornmit after no?” reasoned Nosal. This left Kano visibly deflated for he knew that his father was sure to share the news with Lok-Tars today, if not already yesterday.

“You and Dornmit tell each other everything, and father and Mister.Tars have been friends for….” continued the little boy before hitting a dead end. What’s a really long time? He wondered as he looked about the room for any contextual clues to aid in his descriptive dilemma. Eternity, injected the random thoughts helpfully.

“They’ve been friends for Eternitys!” proudly proclaimed the boy with a musk of joy.

Across the table from him, Kano wiped his nose with his forearm. “What’s an Eternitys?” he finally asked.

“A very long time,like….like ten years!” boasted Nosal as he dug back into his breakfast. Kano only nodded his head before he too, resumed with his breakfast.

“Where did you hear that word little Nose?” he queried after some time, in between the chewing of his Yesterhay.

“Oh, ummmmm, father told me when I asked him how long he’s been friends with mister Tars last Rarnday!” lied Nosal whilst Nodding furiously.

Kano twitched his nose as he was able to detect the smell of his little brother’s musk of fear, a sure indication of lying if any. But he was painfully aware that all of his little brother’s new and fancy words coincided with him waking up from his Calling. He chose not to dig deeper for he was sure that little Nose didn’t have the answers to the questions he had. Even with all the empty bluster and posturing.

“You reckon Dormit finally broke past level twenty and has a skill yet?” asked Kano as he tried to steer away the conversation.

“Oh that would be great! I still remember when he got that leather armor skill and started to spin all over the place when we played the Gauntlet,” Nosal reminisced fondly.

The two brothers continued their chat well into the morning even after having finished their breakfast. They tried to brainstorm up new games to play as they cleaned up and prepared the vegetables for the barbeque that was to be had when the Tars visited. Once done the boys then went upstairs to get dressed before heading downstairs again.

The Tars normally brought their own meat, with how Sarking-Tars was a butcher in profession so the Brownwhiskers provided the desserts and vegetables. It wasn’t that they were vegetarians, but meat wasn’t really a main part of their diet considering they didn’t really butcher their own Monsters.

So with wooden bowls that were laden with a cornucopia of vegetables, the boys left the front of the house. Their destination was an open gazebo that sat in the corner of the front garden. It was shaded from wind and concealed from view via the front path leading to the house by some bushes and hedges. A pleasant place to spend the evening eating foot that was barbecued in the firepit nearby. The fine workmanship of the iron grill that sat over the firepit was obviously the work of Lok-Tars himself.

The boys then deposited the food on the wooden table before heading back to retrieve a bowl that contain the rest of the dried fruits and some waterskins. Nosal then sat down and started to nibble a desiccated fruit that had quite the citrus flavour.

“I’ll go grab some firewood, to get it properly set so we can just get started when they show up, you coming?” asked Kano as he swiped away an errant sweat bead on his brow.

“Nah its too hot,” replied Nosal as he suckled on the dried fried absentmindedly, with his back turned to his brother.

“Alright then, I’ll be right back,” Kano said before turning around. He trotted down the side of the house and towards the back courtyard. In a short while he returned with some kindling and a few larger logs before dropping his load beside the firepit. He then continued to retrieve more and more logs before he was finally satisfied with his amassed fuel, before finally settling down with his brother for some snacks.

“Here little Nose,” Kano prompted as he poised to throw a small Armourgrape raisin from across the table.

Nosal looked on with a frown before understanding what his brother was aiming for. The little Capyban then opened his mouth wide accompanied with an “AAAAHH,” sound.

With a few cocks of his arm, Kano then flicked the raisin forwards like a small dart. The wrinkly little fruit sailed through the air in a beautiful arc before landing squarely on Nosal’s left eye.

“Oi! Heeheee, What the Realms kinda throw was that?” complained the little boy. “Here let me try and show this crippled brother of mine how its done!” boasted the little boy before grabbing a small raisin from the fruit bowl himself. The boy then made proper mock pitching swings with his arms as he waited for Kano.

Kano obliged and opened his mouth, but whilst wincing and presenting only a side of his face. His closest eye was also shut whilst he giggled, for he was afraid that the same fate as before might befall him.

“Hey what’re you two idiots up too without me!” shouted a voice from the path leading to the Ranch and behind the bushes that was directly behind Kano.

“Dornmit!” shouted the two brothers in greeting at their friend. Kano then immediately got up, glad at the chance to skip his turn catch the raisin with his mouth. But Nosal wasn’t quite done with him yet, and the little boy pelted the back of his brother’s head.

“Oiii! Just you wait you little- Hey Dornmit!” shouted Kano as he switched between threatening his little brother and greeting the young Orc that appeared around the bushes.

“Hey guys!” greeted the tall and lanky Orcish boy as Nosal laughed at Kano from across the table. The Orc was dressed in a plain white cotton sleeveless tunic and brown woolen shorts that were at odds with his gumdrop green skin.

“How come you’re here already without Mister Tars?” asked Kano before approaching the Orc to give his friend a hug. The Capyban was a whole head shorter than his friend and only came up to his neck, with the Orc hugging him back with a long green arm.

“Oh Dad said he’s got to hammer out a few nails for Mr. Joantack, something about losing some when he dropped it yesterday,” replied the Orc youth as Nosal came along to join in on the hug. He was even shorter than his brother and only came up to his midrift of Dornmit. But Dornmit returned the hug with his other free hand as the three boys started giggling and bouncing about in their group hug. Eventually the greeting ritual died down and the three boys disengaged with a few rouge giggles as they sat down.

“Nice spread today guys, is that some Buttercorn?” asked Dornmit as played over his budding tuskes with his large green tongue.

“Pffft, wait till you see the pie,” quipped back Kano as he turned up his nose at his friend that sat beside him. A look of superiority was on the Capyban’s face as he squinted his beady eyes at Dornmit.

“Oh yeah! The pie looks amazing! I made the Monsters!” added Nosal as he bounced in his seat with a musk of joy.

“What kinda pie we talking here?” Dornmit asked Kano as he squinted his eyes, crossed his arms and turned his head slight away to emulate his silly looking friend. The large dollop of drool that hung from the corner of his mouth was the only difference between his and Kano’s posturing.

“The good kind,” boasted Kano as he tilted his head down with a leery look in his eyes and a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

“You can’t mean…” replied Dornmit with his eyes oogling out of their sockets and his mouth slightly agape.

“Yeah Orc, tonight we’re gonna be having a Farmpie, boy!” finished off Kano as he wriggled his ass in his seat whilst pumping his shoulders up and down in a weird dance.

Seeing the jolly mood, Nosal copied the dance and started toadying with random shouts of “yeah boy,” and “Farmpie!” as the trio broke out into song and dance. Dornmit himself was on the table soon enough with as he shook his arms wildly above his head whilst madly rocking his head back and forth. He too also picked up the Farmpie chant. This continued on for quite some time before they eventually broke down into laughter with Dormnit having to quench his compounded thirst he had from his trek to the Brownwhiskers.

Eventually the boys died down as they all resumed nibbling the dried fruits.

“Oh yeah I was going to introduce someone to you guys this week, a friend of mine’s from the Guard, he’s our age Kano!” declared the Orc boy suddenly before deflating. “But father said that he had some important stuff to talk with mister Brown today and he’s even bringing mum for it,” continued Dornmit as he looked up at large dark insect that flitted about.

Whilst Dornmit was distracted by the rouge Voidfly above, the Brownwhisker boys shared a knowing look. It was a uncommon sight during the day and normally seen breeding above rivers at night during the summer. But boys were accustomed to seeing Voidflys, living right next to the river and more concerned about what the senior Tars was here to talk about. Which would obviously be concerning Nosal. Well at least now they knew that Lok-Tars was aware, but the boys would still wait for permission from their father before telling their friend.

“So who’s this person you want us to meet?” asked Kano without skipping a beat as he tried to change the subject.

“Oh its Timothy!” answered Dornmit as he broke away from observing the Voidfly. “He’s a reverse centaur, have you seen him about town before? I feel bad for him because he’s adopted by the Fellclaws with him havin no family of his his own. I’ll just wait till next week before I invite him over to play with us. Speaking of which what are we gonna be doing?” Dornmit asked whilst leaning down on his arms.

“Oh I totally forgot to tell you that I’m Bronze now! Just leveled up this week on Yester! Can we do the Gauntlet? I’ll show you my new Double Guard!” He exclaimed before jumping up.

Kano scratched his head whilst looking over towards his brother Nosal.

“Yeah, about that…” he began as he tried to make up and excuse.

“No buts! I’ve got to show you!” shouted the young orc before he bolted off.