Life was quite rich following that trip to Tawantinsuyu and connecting with her extended family in the area. She'd even hosted Kestrel's twenty-first birthday as a private event at the pub, and they had an absolute blast. What's more, Briar was careful not to let the young lady get too plastered... just enough to make a modest fool of herself.

It was only fair payback for the modest fool that Kestrel had let her make of herself when she took her out on The Sparrowhawk for the first time. Still, by the end of it, she was starting to get her sea legs, and at least she'd never landed herself in the water. She'd had enough fun with it to go out with Kestrel several more times, and it really wasn't long at all before she was living up to Bran's legacy to a certain degree.

But no, the years went by, and the two wound up as fast friends. They even worked together putting on pirate-themed parties on The Sparrowhawk, with Kestrel piloting as needed, and Briar serving up the drinks to the revelers on the boat as it rocked along on the waves. They even found a knack for some of the more traditional instruments for shanties, and whatnot. Briar on a mandolin while Kestrel played the fiddle.

Some of Briar's girls even showed a fair knack for pipe and a curious instrument called a Hurdy Gurdy. Suffice to say, they made a truly remarkable crew, and many was the night that an inebriated sing-song echoed across the lake, with passing boats sometimes slowing to listen along for a spell before continuing on.

Some nights, the revelers could have sworn they saw an actual pair of pirates on the boat with them. Briar and Kestrel knew better, but they managed to pass it off as a bit too much to drink, and nothing ever really came of it.

One night, a few years later, Briar was at the bar, all dressed up for a fine show. The patrons at the bar had already had a few of her potions, and she was getting to the big show-stopping climax. “And with this..." she said with a great burst of smoke, “The potion is complete!"

There was the start of applause, but as the smoke cleared, one of the women at the bar screamed and recoiled. The other patrons at the bar were soon following suit, stumbling out of their chairs before starting to run for the front door. Briar stared in surprise. That had never happened before.

But, before she could react or try to stop them to get them to pay, there was another scream that came from the game room, followed by another and another. Soon, patrons were rushing out of the pub like it was on fire. “Woah! Woah! Woah! Please! There's no need to panic!" She called out in a powerful voice, but any who turned and looked at her only ran faster.

As she was standing there in shock, she saw something... truly unexpected. At first, she swore that it was a person in a fursuit who came out of the game room, but who would make a fursuit with a look of fear on it like that... and they were dressed in one of the pub's uniforms. And she hadn't seen any furries come into the pub tonight... they weren't strangers to the place, but tonight wasn't one of their usual meetup nights.

The fox looked at Briar, her mouth open as she was trying to put words together... and Briar's sharp eyes could tell that... this wasn't any suit... “Oh, God, Briar..." Alisa's voice said from the fox, and Briar's eyes went even wider, her own heart starting to race as she realized that Alisa had... changed. “I don't know what's going on... but... we're not the only ones..." she said as other frightened animal-people came out from around the bar... and with a quick uniform count... there wasn't one member of the staff who hadn't changed, but there were also patrons who had changed as well. Some of her favorite regulars, by the look of their clothes.

She brought her hand up to her face, afraid of what she would feel... but also deadly certain of what she would find. She wasn't disappointed when she felt a muzzle growing out from her face before her black and white furred hand continued up to feel that her ears had moved to the top of her head, and become fuzzy and rounded. Briar had to fight off a panic attack of her own, but it was only a moment before she said, “Alright, everyone. I don't know what's going on, but we need to stay calm. We're safe in here. We're none of us alone. Maisie," she said as a younger fox perked up, making her wince inwardly, “Go ahead and lock the doors and put the closed sign up. Keep an ear out, in case any other furries show up needing somewhere safe."

Her voice was full of a confidence that she... only partially felt. Still, she was a good actress by this point, and she was able to project that sense of calm authority to the room, and she really began to feel a sense of relief as it had the desired effect, heart rates visibly settling back down. “Okay, I need to check on the kitchens. I haven't heard anything from back there yet, so either no one has changed back there... or they all have," she said with a little laugh that got a nervous chuckle from the furs... but at least they had that much to break the tension.

As she made her way back to the kitchens, she pulled out her phone from one of her costume's hidden pockets, grimacing with her back to everyone else. She looked at the time and the date, and she knew that there was no use in calling Kestrel. She continued walking as she fired off a message to Kestrel. “I need you to call me ASAP," she wrote, hitting send just before she got into the kitchen, where her gut instinct was proven right.

The entire kitchen staff, who she'd bonded powerfully with had changed as well. She took a deep breath and nodded her head. “Right, you lot. You might as well join the rest of us out in the dining hall," she said, putting enough emphasis on the collective noun that it would be clear what she'd meant by it.

They all filed out into the pub, where some of the waitresses rushed to give hugs, a powerful look of relief on their faces. The head chef was a rather unassuming beaver, while many in the room were various forms of cats and dogs. It was so strange, but as she processed who each of them were, she couldn't say that what they had become didn't suit them. More annoying was that her dress was... snugger than it had been earlier. She'd gotten a look at herself in one of the windows, and she was a badger... much like Bran's label. That was a cruel joke of whatever had caused this.

Briar did her best to organize those who were present, sending some of the kitchen staff back to get some things for them to eat while Alisa and Maisie set to work getting drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic for the furs in the pub. She even saw that one or two more furs had joined them. She pulled out her phone once more to send out an email to everyone on the pub's mailing list. She sent it with the subject line “Safe Haven", letting everyone know that the pub was a safe place for anyone who needed it.

Over the next hour, or so, the place became actually kind of packed as furries filtered in, many of them with tear-stained cheeks, but when they saw the gathering inside... well, many of them started crying all over again as they embraced one of the welcoming furries. The kitchen staff returned to work without even needing to be told to, understanding that the others would need food, and well... that was their job.

As Briar was making her rounds, checking on people, her phone started buzzing in her pocket, a trill of pipes playing as her ringtone. She rushed to a quiet spot, pulling it out of her pocket and swiping to answer the call from Kestrel. “Briar! Are you alright?" Kestrel didn't sound panicked, which was either a good sign or a bad one. She was fairly certain that it was a good sign.

“About as alright as I can be right now," she said, taking a deep breath, “Kestrel... A lot of us here have... changed..."

“I know, Briar. Everyone here, the whole, bleeding family. We're together though, and we're safe. How are things there? I saw your email. Did a lot of people come?"

Briar couldn't help but laugh and sigh, “The place is pretty packed tonight... after most of the customers who were here at the start of the night ran like the building was burning down around them."

Briar could almost hear the grimace on the other end of the line. “I don't doubt it... Briar, this is going to be bad. We're really going to have to look after each other," Kestrel said. There was a little pause before Kestrel got a playful tone in her voice, “So... Briar... mind if I facetime you?"

Briar groaned and grinned, answering by sending the request to make this call a video-chat. She made sure she was in decent light as the cameras came on, and she saw... a surprisingly intimidating squirrel on the other end of the line. Kestrel's eyes went wide before she said, “Oh... my... god... if there was ever any doubt that you took after him..."

Briar blinked and looked at the phone. “What?"

Kestrel didn't have a chance to reply before a great big hand clapped onto Briar's shoulder, “Aye, lass. She means that you really took after me," Bran said with a laugh as Briar turned her head to look at him, seeing a hulking great badger standing over her with Bran's signature warm smile.

Briar started to laugh as a squirrel stepped in beside him, “Yes, and Kestrel has always been very interested in me... so it's no surprise she takes after me in this way, too," Janelle said, only making Briar's laugh get so out of control that her eyes started to water.

“Oh, God, that's too much!" She said, shaking her head as she looked at Kestrel, “So, is the rest of the family there? Going to turn your phone so I can see 'em all?"

Kestrel grinned and turned her phone around, sweeping it across the room, where her family was talking away with one another in reassuringly calm tones. “Alright, everyone, say hi to Briar," Kestrel called out, and people turned to look at the phone, their faces lighting up as they saw the badger on the other end.

Briar was confused, though, and more than a little concerned as she looked around the room on the video, not seeing anyone who looked like Aldrich. “Where's Aldrich? Don't tell me he..." she started to say before a squirrel, who was thoroughly in his prime, perked up when he heard his name, and he came over to the phone.

“Briar! Don't worry, it seems as though I've gotten a new lease on life," he said with a laugh.

Briar's jaw dropped at that, her eyes going wide. “Well... looking pretty good, old man," she said with a laugh, sighing as she shook her head. “Hey, Kestrel, give me a sec," she said, stepping away from Bran and Janelle, heading back out to where she could see the room, turning the phone around to sweep across it. “Hey, Alisa! Maisie! Get over here!" She called out, prompting the two vixens to bound over to them.

Alisa looked at the squirrel on the other end of the line for a moment before her eyes went wide. “Kestrel?!?" Her surprise quickly turned to delight as the phone was snatched from Briar's hand, while Maisie squeezed in beside her sister. “It's so awesome to see you! And a squirrel? You're so cute!"

The three of them chattered away a bit, and the excitement was noticed by those in the room. “Who are you talking to?" The one who's spoken up was a very sweet looking doe. Briar couldn't quite remember her name, but she was fairly certain that it was something that started with a “D."

That got Alisa to bring the phone over, talking about how they were on the line with a whole other household that had changed. Briar rolled her eyes and laughed, shaking her head as she waded over and plucked her phone out of the vixen's hand to a disappointed “Awww..."

She smirked as she looked at the screen, “Kestrel, do you still have the thing set up on your television?"

“Yeah, give me a sec, and I'll fire it up. Are you calling or am I?"

“You call when you're ready. See you in a moment."

Soon after, the panels covering the pub's giant flat-screen in the game room were pulled out of the way, and there was the alert of a call coming in, which Briar answered. The Morgan family was crowded around the living room, waving hello to the furs in the pub. This was good... the people here needed to know that they weren't alone... and this was probably one of the best ways to accomplish that. Briar drifted back over to Bran. “I know you've got more people to visit tonight," she said with a sigh, looking at the two of them with concern. "How bad is it?"

“It's not great," Janelle replied, letting out a breath, “But it's not too crazy."

Briar grimaced, “Given what happened here at the pub... it's going to get crazy. There was serious panic... that's not going to get better..." she said, her gut already twisting into knots.

“You're right, lass. But we're not in this alone. None of us. We'll make it through this. We just have to stick together."

Sticking together... became easier from a certain perspective. Though, as it played out, it was infinitely more squeezing together than sticking together. Briar fought hard to not be taken from her pub... but there was no saving it. She tried to get her equipment brought to the district with her... but they weren't about to go to the trouble of lugging it all over there for a bloody transhuman. Even her former boss turned his back on her, saying only that he would do his best to make sure that her belongings at the pub were looked after.

Briar started fresh, at least as best she could. The district director, Christine, at least helped her get a space to set up a new pub. It was with a heavy heart that she and the others set to work clearing the space out, getting it ready to build her new pub in. Once they had cleared the space, they went home to sleep before they got on with the next step. The next morning, Briar sat at her table with the television on, playing the news, which she had been following with grim resolve.

She wasn't paying particularly close attention to it, but as the report rolled on, she heard something that caught her attention... the mention of Briar's Cauldron. Her attention snapped straight to the report on the screen, and a moment later, she rushed right up to the television, gripping the sides of it and tilting it to look directly at the video.

“Reports seem to confirm that the establishment formerly known as Briar's Cauldron, a business owned by a now Transhuman individual has been... completely emptied out. Nothing remains of the establishment, save for the building that it was in."

Briar roared in rage before she heard the pipes and buzzing of her phone going off. She stormed over to it, still seeing red as she picked it up and saw Alisa's new picture (she had made quite certain to update all of her contact pictures) appear on the screen. She answered the phone, doing her best to calm herself down. “Yes?" She didn't mean for her tone to be so intense, but she hadn't been able to help it.

Alisa didn't seem bothered, but she said, “Ahh... boss? You... you're going to want to get down here," she said, her voice full of shock.

Briar blinked, her mind racing a mile a minute. “I'll... be right there..." she said, finishing getting dressed, abandoning her breakfast as she stormed over to where her new pub was going to be built. Only... she didn't make it all of the way there before she was stopped in her tracks. Not by anyone... but by the sight down the road.

She stared at it in disbelief, not wanting to walk forward any further, lest it vanish before her eyes. But there was Alisa standing just outside, and when she saw Briar there, she dashed over, her eyes wide and wild, “Can you believe it? It's... it's all here!"

Briar took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before she opened them again, “Yeah... I kind of can... the old bastard..." she said, shaking her head and laughing grimly as she walked to her pub... which seemed as though... it had simply been transposed into the space they had just cleared. She ran her hand over the wood of the bar top, unable to help but smile. She'd helped to make this piece... she'd insisted that the carpenter show her how and let her help. She even found the little nick she'd left in it. “And the back? That's there too?"

Alisa nodded her head, giving Briar a lopsided smile. “Everything. And yeah, you're right. He even left a letter for you," she said, holding out the envelope with his sigil on it.

Briar took it and broke the seal, opening the envelope to draw out the letter. Hand written, of course. He was old fashioned like that. “I couldn't let them ransack it. Your former boss was going to sell it all off, and pocket the revenue. Now, at best, he'll have the insurance... for a little while. That'll make it over to you, too, though. Can't let them steal from us. Not our family. He'll not do well going forward for how he's treated you. I'm going to see to it. But you've still got your crew, and now you've got your pub. You have your family and your home. I may have made a small change, though. I've built apartments over it, so you'll have to move your things again. As will your crew. I'm sorry about that, but a family should live together. I told you that we'll make it through this. Stay strong, my lassie. Bran and Janelle."

She almost wasn't able to finish reading it from all of the tears welling up in her eyes. Her free hand came up to wipe her eyes as she turned to look at Alisa. “Go and round up the others... and we'll help each other move in to our new home."