[Ducky]

This evening a trio of L'zrds had entered the Tavern a half hour or so after Razz arrived, discarding damp cloaks and shaking rainwater from their scales before seating themselves at the next table. Their tribal tattoos identified them as being of high rank, possibly priest. Razz was not a spy by any means, but in times of war, he was not about to let any information that might prove valuable to the GIA slip by him.
He gazed blankly down at his paperwork, ears perked, eavesdropping on the newcomers, and was soon rewarded with a mention of his cousin's name.
"Jazz Jackrabbit was worthless." The speaker was a copper-tinted anole who spoke in the common tongue, but tainted his speech with the L'zrd lisp of long s's. "And the wife."
"Surely they were of no mention in the prophecies," a larger iguana, yellow scales dry with age, objected, "But are they not the sacred parents? Would there not, therefore, be some blasphemy in their deaths?"
Razz tensed at this. The third, a blue scaled L'zrd, queried. "If there is blasphemy in it, do you propose that this explains the dementia of the Chosen One? The Daughter is meant to lead us, in accordance with the prophecy, She is Worthy." Razz recognized the L'zrd title of Worthy; a higher being worthy of L'zrd's affections.
The anole answered tersely. "The Daughter is plauged by demons that blind Her from seeing who She is. In time these demons will be driven out and the lady Larh'ii will rise to lead the L'zrd to glory."
The iguana shook his head. "You speak on speculation. We have no way to know why She is unsound, or indeed if She will ever reawaken. The Prophecy cannot predict an aberration and it is possible it will not be fulfilled by the Daughter."
"But she is the Chosen One!" The anole objected vehemently, pounding a tiny fist upon the table. "Her time will come, I believe it."
The blue L'zrd spoke again.
"Perhaps it is wrong that the Daughter lives among us. The Prophecy only predicts the coming of our salvation. The Daughter is not of our kind, and she may not thrive on our lifestyle." The other two L'zrds flinched and hissed, saying, "Do not speak of them," and the blue L'zrd spread his hands. "What do you wish me to say! We cannot deny that she is lapine. Even The Prophecy declares it."
The iguana hunched over the table. "Brothers, we accomplish nothing here. Let us go from this place and hope that as the time of reckoning draws nearer, our questions will be answered." The anole mumbled a few words of prayer and the three departed, leaving untouched drinks and a confused Razz.

He arrived home that evening late, but unable to still his thoughts. He touched some symbols on his communicator, but before he had finished, he paused, and cleared the screen, thinking better of his decision to call Jazz without affirmation of his suspicions. He dialed a new set of codes, and a stuttering hologram appeared as he set the device on the table.
"Sir," he said, collapsing into a frayed armchair in his living room and brushing last drops of the late-night rainwater out of his eyes. A shower had began on his way home from leaving his girlfriend, and the late July weather was still a little chilly. The head of his department, Captain Delphi, appeared as the floating and staticky torso of a tawny hare and spoke brusquely. "MaTazz, this can't wait? I'm speaking with the Chief."
"With all due respect, sir, I have some questions and possibly information that may affect me on a personal level and everyone else on a ... political level." Razz selected his words so the captain would have no trouble determining he was speaking about the Jackrabbit family.
"Affirmative. I'm opening a comm with the Chief; anything that important should be discussed together. I'll secure the communication; are you alone?"
Razz nodded, and a security shield scrolling with encoded text blossomed into a six foot, faintly pink bubble, encompassing the armchair and the table containing the intercomm. A second head appeared to the left of Delphi on the tabletop, a heavily muscled, tiger-striped serval who was obviously seated with his arms crossed over a broad armored chest, eyes in shadow. "Officer MaTazz," the serval spoke. "You have intelligence pertaining to the Royal Family?"
Razz admired the Chief's attention to duty; never a word from him was spoken without necessity, never a second wasted with idle speech. "Yes, Chief. I overheard a conversation today that may or may not contain useful information to headquarters, but as it affects me on a personal level, I respectfully request some kind of confirmation on the matter."
"You are stationed on Diamondus, are you not?" Delphi appeared to be tapping information into his computer.
"Yes."
"And this information was gathered where?"
"In the Diamondus War Tavern, west side of the planet, at approximately 2100 hours on this day, July 31."
Delphi finished typing and nodded to the Chief, who had not removed his hooded gaze from Razz. "Please relay your information, officer."
Razz began to speak in the military dialect, short sentences with only detailed information, but soon gave up and began to speak faster. "I was seated in the Tavern, waiting for my fiancee to close the bar. I had brought some work to do, but a trio of L'zrds with rank tattoo entered not long after I did, and began to speak among themselves. I overheard the name of Highness Jackrabbit, which drew my interest."
The Chief interrupted. "Did they specify the King? Rank was mentioned?"
Razz furrowed his brow, frowning, trying to remember. "No, sir. Only the name Jazz Jackrabbit was used, followed by reference to 'the wife.' " Delphi nodded nearly imperceptibly as the Chief gestured Razz to continue.
"The L'zrds went on to discuss a prophecy pertaining to The Daughter. The made reference to The Sacred Parents, whom from the conversation I assumed to be Jazz and Eva. They mentioned... their deaths. 'As the sacred parents,' they said, 'would their deaths not be blasphemous?' However, they spoke of this daughter as though she was already here, born, as though they were familiar with her and her whereabouts, even as though her location was among the L'zrd, even with them, and they also made me believe that this daughter was in some way... mentally insufficient. But with all due respect, I think I would have heard if my cousin had had a daughter. And especially if she had been captured by the L'zrd." Razz kept his composure calm, although it was difficult to think about another L'zrd attack affecting his family. "So, sir, you see, if there is some truth to these statements, or if any of this information is new or useful, I wish to be enlightened."
For a moment neither Delphi nor the Chief spoke, but the the serval unfolded his arms and leaned forward.
"MaTazz," he growled in his smooth cat voice, "The information you have gathered tonight may well be the key to a long struggle in unlocking both a prophecy believed to be pivotal in the L'zrd religion and consequently their violence and dissent. Listen to me carefully, because I will not repeat again what I am about to tell you.
'The L'zrds revere a certain individual in their community as the highest being, although she actually wields no power. This person is a princess who is called Larh'ii, who for many years we heard only small facts about, as only recently has she come of age." The Chief's slightly African accent pronounced the foreign L'zrd word with a lilt, Low'ree. "We believed her to be a L'zrd like the rest, kept out of the open by rules and security, revered by all the L'zrd as the Worthy one and who lived, we established, at the center of the L'zrd temple on Medivo. However, recently intelligence has come to us that the L'zrd own a certain prophecy from many centuries past which tells of a lapine saviour that will lead their race to peace and harmony and, likely they believe, power. It took them a long time to establish that their messiah would be a rabbit and even longer for them to come to terms with that information. The people were very distressed by this news and several priests were assassinated under the belief that they were misinterpreting the Great Word. Now, however, they have determined that this prophecy is true and was translated accurately: the one they seek is called The Daughter, and it is predicted she will appear like the sun and her brothers will be as earth and fire. There is no mention of how she will survive the L'zrd or what their salvation will be like, only that their age will come and it will be blessed." He paused.
'Many of our best were slaughtered in bringing us this information, as the L'zrd guard their religious texts and knowledge with all means necessary. We have learned that the princess Larh'ii is not of the L'zrd, nor is even Reptilian. She is lapine, although this will be denied by any L'zrd. The L'zrd were not speaking about the king when they referenced Jazz Jackrabbit. They were speaking of his father."