River stopped by her usual haunt at the docks, still in otter form. It was a pain to transform back so quickly, and Sam’s cowled cloak would be uncomfortably heavy on the hollow bones of her natural shape. The anonymity of being just another otter was icing on the cake.

It was time to check in and see how her project was doing.

As a part of her practical exercise before becoming a druid, she needed to take on a project. The full druids had been vague about what it was they’d done when it was their turn, but when her mentor had given her what felt like carte blanche to prove herself? She’d embraced it.

So much so that she was developing her own network of eyes and ears in and around Yellowrock. Perhaps they had meant this to be a part of it, but it had made her… no, forced her to gather information the hard way.

One such way involved speaking to her contact.

A reed tied upside-down would indicate that her contact had information to share. Normally she asked him for important news, nothing trivial, but he had taken to the latest assignment - gathering info on the fast food competitors - with aplomb.

Just beyond the rabbit’s door, she found the reed tied neatly upside-down.

Affecting her best casual swagger, River passed by the rabbit’s house and then swung around, checking surreptitiously if she'd acquired a tail, apart from the obvious. After a few more minutes of dallying, she continued to the rear of the house, knocking twice on the door. It was dark inside, the lock clicking shut behind her as she crept down the hall.

"Spring let you out to play, huh?" said a gruff voice.

River tensed.

The back door opened directly onto the study. A tall rabbit with a goatee sat in a high backed chair beside a roaring fire, his coat drab and unassuming. He would never attract a second glance, but his gaze was unsettling in its sharpness. A tea set sat perched haphazardly on a coffee table.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Agent Capybara, it's good to see you too."

The rabbit puffed a cloud of fruity vapor from his pipe. "As much as I love playing with apprentices, I really do wish that Spring would come around more," he mused.

He gestured to the opposing chair.

"You could just ask her, you know," River said, sitting down. "She is looking for a ranger."

River never thought that she'd seen an agent blush quite so hard.

"I can’t say I’m much of a fighter," Agent Capybara hedged.

River grabbed a teacup.

"You know that not every ranger is a fighter. Some are spies, like the one I'm trying to court now." River sipped the dark brown liquid, as the vinegary smell touched her nostrils for the first time. Tea this was not, and the tart aftertaste made her glare at the rabbit. "What is this?"

"I... well, I made some special mother brew. You should feel a tingle on your tongue as the fizzy 'buch hits your tastebuds," Agent Capybara said.

River flashed a glare at him before inhaling deeply. Her otter whiskers spasmed.

"It's complex...tangy, fruity, ... I can smell the fizz... I just wish that I'd been warned," River said.

Agent Capybara leaned in.

"Consider this your warning. Don’t just drink whatever’s handed to you, especially when you don't know what is in it. That's one of the rules of spycraft. Capybara's Spycraft Rules number one: security above all else!"

"Where does brewing your own drinks fall on these rules?"

The rabbit frowned.

"Anyway, you came here for something," he said. "Did you want to hear about the competition?"

River leaned in expectantly. She swirled her cup, smelling the tang, the aftertaste that underwrote an earthy aroma. The fire jumped as she considered the meaning of life and bad jokes, and she grinned.

"You're all ears," she said.

"Don't you mean, 'I'm all ears –' oh, for the love of Raven..."

Agent Capybaras Rules for Maximally Effective Spycraft

1. Security above all else.