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Stories about a world where animals talk and human beings do not exist |
| [Introduction] WRITERS: This campfire consists of tales that are each about 50 additions long. We will take turns coming up with ideas for the tales. Here is some background information for Anthromorphia... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** GEOGRAPHY ▼ INHABITANTS ▼ TECHNOLOGY and MAGIC ▼ FOOD ▼ HISTORY ▼ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Clickable Links Tale #1, The Missing Prince Tale #2, Food For Thought Tale #3, The Marriage Tale #4, Fight Against Supremacy Tale #5, The Ruins of Elrar Tale #6, To Make A Baby Tale #7, Unite To Once Divided Tale #8, The Case of the Kidnapped Cubs |
| Name: Trevor "Swift Blade" Grayson/ Sally "Long Shot" Bobtail Age, Gender, Species: 35 year old male grey wolf/ 33 year old female lop-eared rabbit Appearance: Trevor is grey in color, with a white chest. He is well-built, and very strong. Carries a sword, plus an axe, and a hammer, and a knife. Sally is cream colored, and very slim. Carries a bow and a quiver full of arrows, plus a knife. Both of them have plenty of scars, though Trevor has ones that are more obvious, and impressive, compared to the ones that Sally has, though some of her's came from more serious wounds. Backstory: Trevor and Sally are mercenaries, who will hire themselves out to whomever pays them the Right Price. Of course, this Right Price depends on what you are hiring them for, and the reason. On one occasion, a wealthy noble offered each of them a castle filled with servants, and more money than they could spend in a lifetime, in order to wipe out a troublesome village - at the same time, the villagers offered them all the food that they could eat, because their harvest was the only thing of value they had, if only the pair could protect them from the noble, who was terrorizing the villagers for his own amusement. The pair sided with the villagers, and the noble soon found himself with out his head, and his life. There are many rumors about the pair. Some claim that they are lovers. Some say that they are immortal. Some claim that they have contracts on each other, which is why they protect each other so, so that they can kill the other themselves. Some claim that the Contract Rumor is false, and that Sally is pregnant with Trevor's offspring. Some claim that the pair can kill you just by looking at you. The truth to these rumors is unknown, as those trying to sneak into their camp soon have more pressing matters, like dodging arrows and sword blades. Trevor gazed at the fire, as he watched the fish cook. At least the fishing was good, if nothing else. He glanced at Sally, who was blowing on some vegetable soup. "How are we for money?" The rabbit got out a pouch, and checked the coins. "I'm afraid we don't have that much. We'll need to take another job soon." Trevor chuckled. "And here I was hoping to sleep at an inn tomorrow." "Well, maybe if they have a position open," said Sally. "I don't like working at an inn for a bed to sleep in," said Trevor. "I don't like seeing you clean other peoples' dishes." "I clean yours," said Sally. "And I cook the food," said Trevor. Sally pulled out an object from her soup. "For a little too long." She then sipped at the broth. "And you use too much salt." Trevor pulled his fish from the fire, and took a bite from it. "You don't have to eat it if you don't like it. There's always fish." Sally glared at him. "I'll eat fish when you eat a carrot." Trevor grinned. "You sure about that?" Sally rolled her eye, and took another sip of soup. "You would do just that." "You know you love my cooking," said Trevor. "Yeah right." |
| Name: Jacobson 'Plainclothesman' Rael Age, Gender and Species: 30 Year Old Male Common Snapping Turtle Appearance: A large, bulky, homely snapping Turtle Backstory: As a Reptile who can't survive in the Western Desserts Jacobson born and raised in Jungleville where the Swamp Reptiles are second class citizens compared to the ruling Cat Class, Jacobson has found his niche as a Detective of the Jungleville Police where his slow and steady ways always get the job done. Jacobson was basking in the sun by the swamp, one of his few pleasures in life was basking, it was his day off today and he was determined to enjoy it. |
| Name: Captain Recardo Marcholas Age, Gender and Species: 35 Year Old Male Jaguar Appearance: A regal looking Jaguar with royalty heritage Backstory: Hired by King Walter Bravepaw when he was about 19 as a guardsman, now he was permoted by King himself, now 35, one of the King's subjects found the King dead in his bed, and now his son Prince Alexander is missing, if he's not found within a week, then the king's brother Gerald takes the throne and he's mad with power, and Recardo refuses to serve a tyrant. Captain Marcholas, is searching the jungle and spots Jacobson, "You there? Has Prince Alexander been by here lately?" |
| The sun basking of turtle Detective Jacobson was interrupted by the gruff voice of the jaguar, Captain Marcholas. "Have you seen Prince Alexander?" "No," said Jacobson, "not since yesterday." "Well, he seems to be missing. I suggest you get your ass off that log and get back to work. We have to find the Prince." "Find him? Missing? How could he be missing?" "I don't know how!" Marcholas said. "If I knew that I would know where he was." "Maybe he just wanted to be alone for awhile." "No, the Prince is never alone. I always have at least two bodyguards watching him. In case you haven't noticed, Jacobson, we live in dangerous times. Many people believe King Bravepaw was assassinated by agents of Alexander so Alexander could gain the throne." "That's utter nonsense," Jacobson said. "Alexander would never harm his own father." "I know it and you know it, but that's the bullshit that the king's brother Gerald has been shoveling to the people. And now many of them believe it. Gerald has sworn if Alexander is still missing at the end of the week, then he himself will take the throne." Yegads!" Jacobson said. "That cold-hearted bastard as our king? No!" Two weeks prior, a rabbit named Eric had set out on a journey to Jungleville City to see the big cats that he admired so much. Of course, he was blissfully unaware of the seething internal politics of the Southern Jungles, an area divided into several kingdoms ruled by warlords of the jungle. One of the most important was the Kingdom of Jungleville, a large city of great power and wealth where for many years King Walter Bravepaw the Lion King had ruled with generosity and kindness. But now he was dead, some say killed by his own son. After a week on the trail from Centralia, Eric had finally reached the border with the Southern Jungles. There he had bought a ticket on a river boat at Peepaws Landing. He was glad to just sit back and let the Purring Mango River carry him to Jungleville City. On the boat he met a pair of mercenaries, a wolf and a rabbit know as Swiftblade and Longshot. After he told them about his childhood dream of going to Jungleville, the wolf said, "It's an exciting place, but it's no dream. More like a nightmare sometimes. Be careful down there, boy." "And why are you two going to Jungleville?" Eric asked, innocently unaware that he was sticking his nose into other people's business. |
| "There's money in killing people that people wish to see dead," said Swiftblade. "Funny thing is, not all of them have the stomach for doing the deed themselves." Eric gulped at this, and leaned away from the pair. Longshot rolled her eyes. "Relax. We don't kill innocent travelers, or common folk who are innocent. Of course, if someone tries to hire us to kill such people, they themselves might turn up dead. So, you're safe enough, providing you're smart enough to keep yourself to yourself." "Why? Would your friend kill me?" Eric asked. In the blink of an eye, the rabbit found himself looking at a knife, quivering in the seat, between his legs. "It wouldn't be him you'd have to worry about," Longshot said, as she retrieved her knife. "The Necessary Room is on the other side of the boat, in case you want to keep your drawers from staining." At this, Eric dashed for the Necessary Room on the other end. "You're worse than me," said Swiftblade. "You don't know male rabbits," said Longshot. "They think they can bed every female they see." "You never complain when I ask if you're interested," said Swiftblade. "You don't press me when I tell you I'm not interested," said Longshot. "More than one male has learned the hard way that I mean it when I tell them no." "I've noticed," said Swiftblade. "I remember the guard in Longtails - you were pretending to be a washerwoman, and I was in the laundry hamper, both of us trying to sneak inside to kill the Lord. He tried to sweet talk you into going into his room when he got off duty. You turned him down. He pressed you against the wall. I was about to spring out when you took his knife and split him from groin to neck! Then his buddy came, saw the body, saw you with the knife, drew his sword, and then - goodness, the things you did to him, and you complain about me being brutal." "He insulted my mother," said Longshot. "Doesn't justify dismembering him, to say nothing about what else you did," said Swiftblade. "Me, skull splitting and bashing, and stabbing. You - I still get nightmares from that incident." |
| Jacobson wasn't pleased his day off had been canceled however he hated the idea of Gerald ruling more then he hated his day-off canceled so with a stretch and yawn he as he quickly as he could for a Turtle hopped off his log and made his way to his office. No one was there at the moment his secretary, a Tiny Thread Snake named Lula was probobly Sun Basking herself trying to be one Tiny Tan Line |
| Meanwhile, Captain Marcholas is doing his own investigation, he's in the king's chambers investigating for clues and noticed a goblet on the floor by the bed, "Hmm, his nightcap could've been poisoned, that means this will rule out the prince as the killer. He doesn't even know how to mix drinks. Gerald must've hired someone who specializes in poisons. Why would he frame the crowned prince?" |
Marcholas sat down in one of the king's chairs. For a moment he imagined what it might be like to have a whole kingdom at your beck and call, everyone anxious to do whatever you asked them to do. King Walter had been a good king, never arrogant, always kind, but firm. He believed in the law. Marcholas sighed. He represented the law himself. The king's murderer must be found and punished. He suspected Walter's brother Gerald had something to do with it, but he had no proof. Gerald was on the other side of Jungleville when Walter died. And the idea that Prince Alexander killed his father was absurd. The two had a great relationship. But why was Prince Alexander missing now? Did he leave on his own or was he abducted? Marcholas had nothing to prove which it might have been. In his office, Detective Jacobson dragged out the big book where the name of every known criminal was kept. It often inspired him to look at the lists of names. Sometimes a name would seem to glow as if to say It was me! I'm the one that did the crime! He knew it was only his imagination, but somehow it occasionally worked. No names jumped out at him today. He closed the book and thought for a moment. Marcholas suspected kiing Walter's brother Gerald had something to do with Walter's death, so why not snoop around a little and see what the buzz was on Gerald? Jacobson slipped into his disguise of "I'm just an old farmer" which was actually just overalls and a straw hat and a corn cob pipe. He would check out a few drinking spots and see what people were talking about. He left a note for Lula: Gone drinking as an old farmer and wondered if she would figure it out. Eric Bunny watched the docks of the Jungleville port area come into view. There was a lot of activity, not only from riverboats which carried people and cargo up and down the Purring Mango River, but there were also some large ocean-going sail ships which traveled around the coast of Anthromorphia to the deserts and the forests and the highlands. He parted ways with his two mercenary companions, Longshot and Swiftblade. He could tell they didn't want him along wherever they were going. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulders and started walking into downtown Jungleville. Already he had seen more big cats in just an hour than in his entire previous life in Centralia. Kind of surprising how ratty some of them looked. For some reason he was expecting all the cats of Jungleville to be big, strong, healthy, and well-groomed, but it seemed cats could fall on hard times just like any other species. |
| Swiftblade looked around. "Now, to find an inn. I want a bed to sleep on." "It won't be a very good one," said Longshot. "We don't have much in the way of money." "There's always some fool who is about to lose their money," said Swiftblade. "And I just located three of them." The wolf pointed down an alley, where a large lion, and a huge tiger, were holding onto a smaller ocelot, while a lanky cheetah talked to the smaller feline. "The boss doesn't like people who don't pay back money that they borrow from him," the cheetah said. "He gets rather upset about that." "Listen, I mean to pay him back," the ocelot said. "But my shop hasn't been doing well. Not many farmers have been coming in with their goods." "And is that the fault of my boss?" the cheetah asked. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but could you spare some coins?" The three big cats looked down the alley, and saw Swiftblade at the other end. "Run along muttface," said the cheetah. "This doesn't concern you." "I only asked if you had any money you could spare," the wolf asked. "After all, it can be difficult to get established in a new city." "Yeah, we have plenty of money," the cheetah said as the lion and tiger chuckled. "But none of it is for you." "Plenty of money, I guess that solves one problem," the wolf said. "That leads to the other problem; getting it from you." "What do you mean?" the cheetah asked. "I'm of the philosophy that one needs but ask for it," the wolf said. "My partner is more of the taking philosophy." "What do you mean?" the cheetah asked. The wolf stepped to the side of the alley, revealing a rabbit, who had a bow, with an arrow notched in it, aimed at the cheetah. "You can either give us the money of your own free will, and toss the coin pouches to the ground, and no one gets hurt," the wolf said. "Or, we can kill you, and take the money from your corpses. Oh, and let the ocelot go, while you're at it; a store keeper shouldn't be held by an out-bullied bully." |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Unlike most detectives, Jacobson hated smoking,he really did, everything he ate tasted like ashes for days, however, the Reptile Farmers who hung out at the Pub Scale 'n' Tail were die hard smokers,so Jacobson had to light up his pipe if he wanted to convince then he was one of them. Most of the Reptiles however had no interest in talking about the Missing Cat Prince, to them the Felines were all Prissy Furballs who looked down their noses at anyone who wasn't them, the Reptile Farmers were much more interesting in betting who would win the next mud wrestling championship |
| While Switblade and Longshot were counting their money, a cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows "You two are bold to stand up to those three. Most of the locals fear them, but they'll be back and won't be alone. Gerald doesn't like anyone who stands up to him and his henchcats." Longshot says "Who is this Gerald?" Swiftblade says "Most importantly, who are you?" The figure says "Sorry, let me introduce myself." He pulls back his hood revealing a regal looking lion. "I am Prince Alexander, and Gerald is my evil uncle." |
| Swiftblade looked the prince up and down. "Should I believe you? I've seen stranger scams. How do I know you are really Alexander?" "Take a look at this," Alexander said and thrust forth a paw bearing the royal signet ring. "Looks authentic," said Swiftblade. "Why do you lower yourself to speak with two peasants like us?" "In case you didn't notice, I am officially a low life myself at the moment. I'm in hiding. My uuncle Gerald wants to kill me and he has a dozen ways to do it. I need some bodyguards I can trust." "And you would trust us?" Swiftblade said. "Two strangers who just wandered into the area? Why not someone you know?" That's the problem," Alexander said. "So many have been corrupted. I don't know who to trust. When I found out my best friend was planning to betray me to Gerald's men in such a way that my death would seem like suicide, complete with a note 'confessing' that I killed my father... it was too much to handle. There was no one I trusted more than him. Please help me. I have no where to turn." Swiftblade and Longshot exchanged glances with each other. Though no words were spoken, much was said between them by their eyes and faces. |
| "Do you have money?" Longshot asked. "I don't have any money," said Alexander. "We'll take the ring then," said Swiftblade. Alexander covered it with his other hand. "It's all I have." "If you can't pay us, we don't work for you," said Longshot. "It's that simple." "Listen, I've heard of you two," said Alexander. "You've turned down offers of money and castles from the wealthy, to work for farmers who offered you their crops, because that was all they had!" "Because we could see what the farmers had, which my friend could eat, or that we could sell so that I could buy something to eat," said Swiftblade. "The noble offered promises, but wasn't working on the additional castles, and the money he offered as token of Good Faith was insulting." "I can give you titles," said Alexander. "You can't eat a title," said Longshot. "Nor can you sell it for food." "Think of it as a guarantee, that you will pay us, when the job is done," said Swiftblade. "You get restored to your throne, or whatever, you pay us a good amount of money, and then you get the ring back. Otherwise, someone will cut it off your hand, after they cut your head off." Alexander looked at his ring. "It's all I have left that belongs to my father, and proves that I'm the rightful heir." "Then you can be known as a dead heir," said Longshot. "Or, you could give it to us, and we'll keep the ring safe, along with your own self." |
| At the Scale 'n' Tail various Snakes,Lizards and Turtles were gathered around the bar where a Black Caiman was polishing a glass |
| A cobra is coiled by one of the tables. He grins fiendishly at one of the patrons telling about the death of King Walter Bravepaw. As he drinks his ale, he sees a note on the table. It says, "Greyhood, something came up and I need to see you to tell about it. Please come to my secret lair. Gerald" Greyhood immediately crumbled up the note and left the bar. |
| Jerry, the Black Caiman tending bar, said, "He sure left in a hurry." "That's Greyhood," one of the lizards said. "He's Gerald's toady. When Gerald says come running, he thinks it means he actually has to run." The other lizards laughed. Detective Jacobson in his farmer disguise listened with interest. On the other side of town, Prince Alexander reluctantly removed the royal ring from his paw and gave it to Swiftblade. "I accept your deal. For some strange reason I have faith in you. I think it's some kind of aura you seem to have about you." Longshot snorted. "Oh, please! That's not an aura, that's the stink from him needing a good bath." |
| "Listen to the pot calling the kettle black," Swiftblade said with a laugh. "You took a shower same time I did - during that rainstorm last week! Also, it's not like the last inn we spent the night at had a tub - just a bowl to wash your hands and face with. Heck, you had to go out back to do your business, and not the kind of business that involved money." Longshot groaned at this. "Yeah, and they had a few windows where drunkards could watch you as you tried to find a good bush, or tree, to hide behind, to preserve some sense of privacy. At least you have the decency to turn the other way when I tell you I need to find a bush." "So long as you do the same when I need to find a tree," said Swiftblade. "Is that really important?" Alexander asked. "Very, important," said Longshot. "You need to know where you are going to go when you are traveling." "Alright, enough about that," said Alexander. "You are going to protect me, right?" Swiftblade placed the ring in the money pouch. "Just don't get yourself killed, or else we will have to sell this to make money off of it, and most shopkeepers don't pay full value for loot, as they need to make money like anyone else." "You'd seriously sell a royal ring?" Alexander asked. "We're mercenaries, and we like to be paid," said Longshot. "That being said, once we make an agreement, we keep it. You don't need to worry about your uncle hiring us, unless you get killed." "What about honor?" Alexander asked. "Can you eat it?" Swiftblade asked. "We do this stuff for money, not honor, not glory, not titles, not fame, just gold, loot, and food. Actually, food's most important, as the rest can be traded or sold for food. If you don't have food, you end up dead, regardless how good you are with a weapon." |
| Greyhood goes into a blind alley and comes up to an unmarked door with a sliding latch for looking out. As Greyhood knocks on it the latch slides open and two cat eyes peep out, "What's the password?" a voice says, Greyhood responds, "Hail Gerald! The true king of Jungleville!" The latch closes and the door opens, when Greyhood slithered in and door closed immediately. |
| Jacobson was close enough behind to hear the exchange of challenge and password. So there really was a conspiracy headed by Gerald. When he got back to the police station, Marcholas was anxious to hear his report. "Just as I feared," Marcholas said. "Gerald is at the center of this. Undoubtedly he had King Walter killed and now he's dome something to Alexander, all to guarantee that Gerald will take the throne himself." "What should we do?" Jacobson said. "That's a tough one. If we go against Gerald now and then he becomes king..." "We'll be hanged." "Yeah," Marcholas said. "Or worse." "So we're just going to do nothing and let Gerald get away with stealing the throne?" "No," Marcholas said. "The thing is, we don't really know about Alexander. Maybe he escaped and is trying to organize a resistance movement. Get back out there and see what you can find out. Meanwhile, I will investigate that unmarked door with the sliding latch." "I really don't like smoking and drinking," Jacobson said. "Eat a meal if you have to, but listen, listen, listen." |
| "So, do you have any plans?" Alexander asked his two new bodyguards. "You have a couple of options," said Swiftblade. "Hide, run, or kill." "What?" "You hide yourself, or you run away, or, you kill your uncle," said Longshot. "You know an assassin?" Alexander asked. "Yeah, Deathblade, she's the vixen you'd want for the job," said Swiftblade. "She has a few methods on how to kill someone - poisoned daggers, suffocation, strangulation, and shoving them out the window." "That last one was an instinctive response," said Longshot. "She tried to kill me!" Swiftblade looked at his partner. "It was an accident, and she apologized for it," said Longshot. She looked at Alexander. "We got hired to kill the same mark, by different people, and we both thought that the other was working for the mark. She's got one scruple - she doesn't want to harm or traumatize a child - if the mark is a child, is pregnant with a child, or there is a child in the room, she won't do the deed." "Don't forget her brother," said Swiftblade. "A farmer who knows his way around a pitchfork, and knows how to use it, along with other farming tools, and not in the manner most farmers would use them." "He's got to support his wife and child somehow," said Longshot. |
| Jacobson went back to the Scale 'n' Tail and ordered surströmming a Dish invented in the Highlands a stew made of fermented fish guts. Birds enjoy it as most species of Bird have little to no sense of smell,Turtles like it because...Turtles like fish guts, but most other species find the smell absolutely disgusting. Jacobson liked it because the strong flavor was the only thing that could overpower the taste of tobacco after smoking. Unfortunately when the surströmming was brought out, all the Non-Turtle Patrons fled the Pub clutching their noses, leaving not a lot of patrons to gossip with. "Still can't stand smoking eh Son?" Croaked a Familiar Voice "Hey Dad." Jacobson saw his Dad Cooler in the corner smoking his pipe and drinking his ale. "Hey Jacobson." Said the Old Snapping Turtle "You on a case?That's the only reason you come to Pubs." Jacobson couldn't tell his Dad everything, but he did mention he saw Greyhood and what he heard about him being Gerald's Lackey. "Gerald succored Greyhood with promises of a better life for the Reptiles." Said Cooler "I knew he was lying of course, no Cat really wants to be equals with a Reptile, but Greyhood was in really die straights in Gerald came to him...Gerald provides free daycare for the Reptiles that work for him." "Really?" Asked Jacobson "Apparently." Said Cooler "Greyhood said it beats having them play too close to the stove and catch fire." Sure enough when Marcholas peeped into the hideout by quietly drilling a hole in a far wall, he saw two Toddler Cobra playing in an indoor sandbox |
| Inside the hideout. Greyhood meets up with Gerald, "A new problem has came up, while 3 of my henchcats were shaking down one of the shopkeepers, two new arrivals intervened. A wolf and a rabbit. It's bad enough that we need to find my nephew for my late brother's ring. Now we have to deal with vigilantes and this I won't allow." Greyhood asks "You want me to poison them like I poisoned your brother?" |
| "Quiet!" said Gerald. "You are never to speak of that, not even to me." "It happened," Greyhood said. "Do not speak of it!" Greyhood rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. Our philosophies differ. I believe what is what is. I don't know what you believe." Gerald stared at Greyhood. "You are getting on my nerves, my little scaly friend. Now let's consider the wolf and the rabbit. Everyone has a price. Find out theirs. I'll pay them to go back where they came from. Well? What are you waiting for? Do it!" |
| Swiftblade and Longshot soon located a cheap inn, which they dragged Alexander inside of with them. The beer tasted like piss, the food was terrible, and as for the beds, the less said, the better. As for the name - "Bad Dog House," Swiftblade said. "Lives up to the name." "We could go to the Regal Lion Lounge," said Alexander. "My father went there all the time. The only reason he allowed this place was so that the riffraff wouldn't go to the Lounge." "Hence why we are staying here," said Longshot. "If your uncle thinks you think like your father, he'll have someone waiting for you there, and you'd be dead." "That, and it helps the money we stole from those three goons last longer," said Swiftblade, as he took a bite of his fish stew. "Could use some salt and pepper to cover up the taste of mud. Maybe a little garlic." "Yuk," Alexander said, as he looked at the contents of his bowl. "You expect me to eat this slop?" "We've done enough traveling to eat most anything," said Longshot. "If I died of something that didn't involve poison, Trevor would eat my body." "Trevor?" "That's my real name," said Swiftblade. "Trevor Grayson, and she is Sally Bobtail." "You'd seriously eat her body?" Alexander asked. "Hundred pounds of meat, if prepared right, and stored properly, is three to four months worth of food," said Swiftblade. "A hundred pounds?" Longshot asked. "Are you saying I'm fat?" Swiftblade grinned. "No, I'd say you're well trimmed, with plenty of muscle, and you'd be delicious." Longshot chuckled. "Just remember that I clean the dishes, and help keep you warm at night." "Hard to forget that," said Swiftblade. "The ground would be much colder if it wasn't for you." "Alright, got a question, would there be any way that my uncle to bribe you to leave me?" Alexander asked. Longshot pulled out the ring. "Only if you died, or decided to go back on your promise. Thus far, your uncle hasn't made us any offers, and we like to see what is being offered. This ring, with the gold and gems, if we took this off a corpse, me and Trevor would be able to swap this for easily a month's worth of food, for both of us. If we could prove it was indeed a Royal Ring, as it were, maybe a year's worth, if not more." "You'd seriously swap that ring?" Alexander asked. "If one has to chose between having a lot of jewels, but no food, or having a lot of food, but no jewels, you'd be better off taking the food," said Swiftblade. "You have that right," Longshot said, as she put the ring back in the pouch. "Better to be poor on a full stomach than rich on an empty one." |
| Meanwhile Jacobson was still talking with his Dad. "When you're as old as I am..." Said Cooler "...You learn a few things." "Such as?" Said Jacobson "Such as when someone has never traveled abroad before." Said Cooler as he saw a Young Male Rabbit enter the Pub and the look of shock on his young face when he saw this was clearly a Reptile Pub. "Um...Hi." Said Eric "Could...I have a glass of water? I'm really thirsty." |
| Captain Marcholas is at the Regal Lion Lounge, he then went to the front desk where the host is at, a snooty-looking panther "Excuse me, has Prince Alexander Bravepaw ever checked in?" The Panther says "Captain Marcholas, it's been a while sense I saw you. It's a shame the king died, I do enjoy his company. As for the prince, sorry, he never checked in yet, but if he does, I'll tell him you were looking for him." In another room a shifty looking hyena is overhearing the conversation, "I better tell Gerald about this, this could be a problem." Then he slipped out the door without notice. |
| At the Scale 'n Tail, Eric Bunny was given a glass of water, which he sipped slowly as if it were a fine wine. The initial shock of being in a bar full of reptiles wore off and he began to observe his surroundings more closely. It seemed in general that snakes hung with snakes and lizards with lizards and turtles with turtles, but there were a couple of tables that were mixed species. They were the loudest tables in the room, generating plenty of laughter and raised voices. "Stranger in town?" asked a voice from nearby. Eric turned to look. It was a farmer turtle, middle-aged, and another turtle old enough to be that one's father. "Yes," Eric said. "Just got off the river boat today. Jungle City is quite a place. It's a lot bigger than I expected." "Just think of it as a lot of small towns crammed together," said the turtle. "My name is Jacobson and this is my dad, Cooler." |
| Alexander sat on the, for lack of a better word, bed, while Longshot counted out the money. "He'll need a shirt and pants, and a cloak," said the rabbit. "I know of a place where they make some fine clothes," said Alexander. "Fine Fabriques is what they are called. Good quality, and bright colors, and they use real gems." "What you are going to get are traveling clothes, all of second-rate materials, all plain brown," said Swiftblade, as he stood watch at the window. He then looked at the lion. "Stand up." Alexander stood. "Put this on," Swiftblade said, as he tossed a rain cape at the Prince. Alexander looked at it. "This thing has blood stains and dirt stains, and its more stitches than cloth." "Put it on," said Longshot. "Or I'll put it on you with an arrow pinning it to you." Alexander groaned, as he put the cape on. All it did was shield the wearer from the worst of the rain, and was heavy enough to act like light armor against arrows and knives. "Now, walk," said the rabbit. The lion moved around the room. "His posture will be an issue," said Swiftblade. "He stands too tall, and walks too proudly." "I am royalty," the prince said. "Hunch your shoulders and back, and walk as if you have a limp," said Longshot. "The less you look like you, the more people will think that you ain't you, including the ones who work for your uncle." "She's right," said Swiftblade. "To survive, you must become invisible, and since we lack the means to actually make you invisible, the next best thing is to blend in with the crowd." "What does that all mean?" Alexander asked. "Plain, yet serviceable clothes, weapons that exist only to kill, and not look pretty, and forget about extensive grooming with servants filing your claws," said Longshot. Alexander looked at his claws, and saw the ones that Swiftblade had. Longshot held a hand up, showing off her claws. "Never forget that your most important weapon is your body. Break a sword, you can get another, break your arm, it's going to take some time to heal. Knives can be stolen, but claws are part of your hand. Also, worst comes to worst, go for your attacker's throat, and tear it out." "Trust her on that one," said Swiftblade. "There was this big guy, twice my size. He had picked her up, and pressed her against a wall. She grabbed his throat with her teeth, and tore out the blood vessels." Alexander's eyes widened at this. While the wolf was dangerous, the more he heard, the more the rabbit seemed to be the deadlier one. "So, any ideas?" "Yes, hold a big coronation event, which will let Deathblade be able to come unnoticed, so that we can meet her," said Swiftblade. "The vixen owes us." |
| Jacobson walked over to Eric "You need to be careful around these parts." He said "Things have been getting real dangerous, crime is on the rise." Eric's eyes widened "Really?" He squeaked "Yes." Said Jacobson "Follow me." He led Eric to the Alley that Greyhood went to. "Hide in that trash can." Said Jacobson Eric did as he was bid. Jacobson hid disguising himself as a rock At that point Greyhood was done with Gerald. He left the way he came That was when Jacobson struck, With his powerful Snapping Turtle jaws he snapped Greyhood in two! |
| "Holy Smokes!" Eric said. "Why did you do that?" "He had it coming," Jacobson said. "Sometimes you have to take justice into your own jaws. I told you it was dangerous around here." "I didn't know you meant HERE right where we are!" |
| "A coronation?" Alexander asked. "My uncle is trying to kill me, and you're telling me to hold a big party?" "At the palace," said Swiftblade. "With everyone invited." "Even in the best of times a coronation takes months to plan out," said Alexander. "Are you trying to get me killed." "If it does take a few months, we have time to teach you how to not be you," said Longshot. She then threw a knife right between the lion's legs. "That and teach you how to use a weapon, or two. Besides, need to set things up, so that Deathblade will have an opening." "This assassin, where does she live?" asked Alexander. "You have to contact her through her brother," said Swiftblade. "He's a farmer up the river; grows mainly berries, of all sorts. Good berry bushes last a good thirty years, with careful maintenance. Decent fighter in a pinch, although he is, mostly, retired from that line of work." "Mostly?" Alexander asked. "Sometimes he needs money, and will hire himself out as a guard, although he comes in his farmer outfit, and armed with a pitchfork or some such tool," said Longshot. "Still, when you see him fight, you see him in a new light - he seems a little slow minded, but he's real good at the thinking, and calculating his attacks. He moves only what he has to, and does only what it takes to stop his foes." "What do people call him?" Alexander asked. "Berry Farmer." "Berry Farmer?" "Real name is Barry Swifttail, but everyone calls him Berry Farmer, on account of him being a berry farmer. Folks used to call him Deathspear, as he used to use a spear as his weapon of choice, until he got married, and swapped his spear for a pitchfork. Used to be real deadly too, if the stories are any indication. Being married calmed him somewhat." |
| Jacobson took Eric back to his house and gave him some hot lemongrass soup. "Sorry Kid." Jacobson said "But things are REALLY dangerous at the current moment in Jungleville and I felt you had to see that first hand in order for you to not get yourself killed." Eric sipped his soup quietly "Why is it so dangerous." "As a detective I'm in no position to discuss that with an outsider." Said Jacobson "You can stay with me for a while until things cool off." |
| Captain Marcholas went back to the alley and saw the corpse of Greyhood and analyzed the cobra that he his bitten clean through, "Jacobson, I hope you have a good reason killing this snake. Then again." He takes out a jar and milks the venom from the dead snake's fang. "Let's see if the venom matches the poison sample I got from the kings nightcap?" |
| Barry SwiftTAIL used a wooden spade he had carved himself to turn over fresh earth for an expansion of his blackberry patch. The fox worked slowly and carefully, as was his way, each spadeful of earth as full as the spade could get, but no fuller so that nothing was lost to wasted effort. Far down the road he saw three animals approaching, a wolf, a rabbit, and a lion. He couldn't imagine who they were, certainly not any of his neighbors, until they got close enough that he recognized Longshot and SwiftBLADE, the rabbit and the wolf, but who was the lion? "Hello, Berry Farmer!" called Swiftblade when they got within hailing distance of him. "Greetings, old friends," said Barry. "What brings you out of the city and up river to my little farm?" "We have a taste for blueberry pie," Swiftblade said, "and you grow the best blueberries in the jungles. Do you recognize our friend here?" Swiftblade pointed at the lion. "No. Should I?" Swiftblade tossed him a coin. "Look at that." It was a Jungleville 10 centavo coin. On one side it said 10 centavos and had 10 stars engraved in a circle. On the reverse side was the portrait of a lion and the words Prince Alexander. Barry Swifttail studied the coin. "Your friend is a moneychanger?" Swiftblade laughed. "Allow me to introduce his royal highness, Prince Alexander." |
| Barry spat on the ground. "Doesn't mean a thing to me." He dug up another spadefull of dirt. "Seen lots of nobility, been hired by many, and killed a few in my time." He then flung the dirt at the three, who all ducked, the lion being pulled down by the other two. "What was that for?" Alexander called out, from the ground. Barry grinned, as Swiftblade and Longshot stood up. "Well, at least he didn't take it full on in the face. You'd never know what an assassin might put in something as ordinary as dirt." "I recall Lord Serval died from swallowing some arsenic that was in the dirt some farmer accidentally tossed on him," said Swiftblade. "Something you and your sister did together." "You killed someone, with dirt?" Alexander asked, as he stood up. "He had a habit of insulting farmers, and being more cruel than necessary to them," said Barry. "I called it poetic justice." He turned back to his task. "What do you want?" "To secure your sister's services for two roles," said Longshot. "The primary one is to ensure Alexander's safety. The secondary one is to kill Gerald, his uncle, but only if the opportunity comes up. The prince has to be protected from him." "I see," said Barry. "But, supposing that my sister already has a contract with Gerald to kill Alexander, what are you going to do about her then?" "Easy, kill her," said Swiftblade. Barry grinned. "I'll tell Victoria that you stopped by with a job offer." Swiftblade took the money pouch off of Longshot, and poured a quarter of the contents into an empty one, tied the smaller bag, and tossed it at Barry's feet. "That will be her sign-up fee, if she joins us." Barry picked up the pouch, and looked inside. "Hmm, I make thrice as much money during a bad harvest season." "Its more than what we've earned so far," Longshot said, as she pulled out the Royal Ring. "You know how merchants don't pay out full value for things." Barry chuckled. "I know. I'll tell her you stopped by, and I'll see to it that the money is returned to you, if she declines your offer." "Thanks," said Swiftblade. "We hope to see you later." The two mercenaries began dragging the lion after them, as they left the farm. "Why didn't you ask him where his sister is?" Alexander asked. "Because his sister was hiding in the trees, with a good crossbow, that has a bolt tipped with poison, trained right at us," said Longshot. "Anyone who makes a wrong move around her family is dead." "The only reason you're not dead is because she hasn't been paid to kill you, yet," said Swiftblade. "Most don't see her until they are dead, or are lucky enough not to be her target, or protecting her target. Good thing is this, if she takes up our offer, she won't take up one from Gerald - conflict of interest." "Of course, it would be a shame if she took up an offer from Gerald," said Longshot. "I'd hate to have to kill a fellow female mercenary." |
| Meanwhile Jacobson was sipping some hot tea after Eric fell asleep, Jacobson head a knock on his door and he opened it, no one was there but someone had left a note on the door |
| The note says "Jacobson, At first I don't know why but camparing his venom and the poison that killed King Walter it matched, call it poetic justice but Greyhood was the one who killed the king, but we're not out of the woods yet. Two Mercinaries are in the area and they go by the names are Swiftblade and Longshot. See if you can find them before Gerald does. Captain Marcholas" |
| Jacobson groaned. Never a moment's rest with Marcholas constantly assigning him to new taskes. He woke up the rabbit. "Hey! Eric Bunny, you need some money, don't you? How about hiring on as my assistant for a day or two?" Eric shook himself awake. "Me? A police detective's assistant? Sure! Sounds exciting." "Yeah, well don't expect too much excitement. Detective work is mostly grunt work. Go here, go there, ask questions. I don't think we'll be doing much exiting." "I don't care," Eric said. "I still want to do it." "OK," Jacobson said. "You've got the big picture, right? Our King Walter was murdered. His son Prince Alexander was blamed, but we in the police department thin it was his brother Gerald that killed him." "Got it," Eric said. "And it was Greyhood the cobra that did it with his venom. Presumably under orders from Gerald. If you hadn't killed Greyhood yourself we could ask the snake about that." "Don't remind me," Jacobson said. "I can be impulsive sometimes. Let's go find Swiftblade and Longshot." |
| "Wait, Swiftblade and Longshot?" Eric said. "Are we talking about a wolf with a sword, plus a few other weapons, and a rabbit with a bow and quiver?" "That would be about right," said Jacobson. "Um, is it alright if I just stay here?" Eric asked. "Why?" "Because the last time I met them, the rabbit stuck a knife between my legs, right close to my, you know what," said Eric. "Is the rabbit a female?" Jacobson asked. "Yes," said Eric. Jacobson chuckled. "Son, a piece of advice, never mess with female warriors of any sort. They tend to fight dirtier than male warriors, and don't hesitate to turn male warriors into eunuchs." "Can I just stay here?" Jacobson grabbed the rabbit. "No, because if they didn't kill you last time, they might not kill you this time, and I might be able to talk to them. Do you know where they went?" "No." "Did they have any money?" "They talked about looking for a job." "We'll try the Bad Dog House," said Jacobson. "It's a cheep place to stay if you don't have money." |
| At the same time as they headed off to the Bad Dog House, on the palace grounds Gerald was walking along when his foot got stuck in some spilled tar. |
| Gerald looked down, foot is stuck in fresh tar. "Okay, this is embarrassing. There should've been a warning about this unless." He yells out, "If this is some kind of joke. I don't find this a bit funny. Now show yourself." |
| There was a giggle behind the bushes and two tiger cubs tumbled out. One said, "Looks like somebody doesn't look where he's walking." "Yeah, whatever," Gerald said. "Help me out of this mess." With the cubs help, Gerald managed to free himself. "Why are you two cubs running loose on the palace grounds? You're Lord Redclaw's children, aren't you?" "Yes, sir. He's here to talk to somebody." "Probably me," Gerald said. "Take me to him." "I see Scott and Darby found you," said Lord Redclaw. "Scott and Darby?" Gerald said. "You couldn't give them traditional names?" "Ha! There are already too many tigers named Striped Menace, Fierce Competitor, and Junglemaster." "We like our names!" Scott said. "So what brings you to my palace?" asked Gerald. Redclaw chuckled. "You already feel like it's yours, don't you? We have a problem. Alexander seems to be making plans to take the throne himself. Don't you think we should do something about that?" "Of course," Gerald said. "What did you have in mind?" "Didn't you once have dealings with a very competent assassin, the sister of a berry farmer, I believe?" Gerald rubbed his chin. "Yesssss, I did. Think I should hire her for a little job?" "Unless you know someone more capable." |
| "She is highly competent, I've seen her work before," said Gerald. "One of my more ambitious rivals was planning to take the throne for himself. My brother had a meeting with him, where both of them drank from the same bottle. A few minutes later, my rival started choking, and eventually stopped breathing, despite the healer's attempts. As for my brother, nothing what so ever was wrong with him. The wine was tested, it was fine, and so were the glasses. That was when I noticed the healer, she wasn't the usual healer - seems the normal healer was sick that day, and she came in her place. The assassin simply took my rival's misfortune to be choking at the time as the opportunity to poison him. Apparently, she was planning something else for him, but was willing to use the situation to her own means." "Who hired her?" Redclaw asked. "I'm not sure," said Gerald. "I suspect my brother. The other was, popular, with some nobles, who would have supported him in the event of a civil war, which I'd prefer for myself." "You might still have a civil war," said Redclaw. "According to my sources, your nephew has hired the mercenaries Swiftblade and Longshot." "I've heard of them," said Gerald. "I heard that they hired themselves out for food." "It's not just food," said Redclaw. "It's the value that they can see, and perceive. They were offered a good deal of money by the local lord to kill the villagers, plus a castle for each of them, but failed to produce the workers building the castles, the stone for the castles, and the token payment was what your average guard made in a month. The farmers offered them half of their harvest - they could see the quality of the crops, as well as the amount - seems that job set them up with plenty of money for a year's worth of basic supplies, food, weapons, and the like, and they even gave the late lord's money to the farmers, aside from a small amount of course." "So, what has my nephew offered them?" Gerald asked. "They are holding the Royal Ring as collateral, or so I've heard," said Redclaw. "If a ring like that came off of anyone else, it would set them up for food for a month, an actual Royal Ring, at least a year." "They are holding the Royal Ring for ransom?" Gerald asked. "And they'd swap it for food if my nephew doesn't pay them?" "It would seem that way," said Redclaw. "Interesting," said Gerald. "I wonder how much it would cost me to get the ring off of them." |
| That night the Berry Farmer's sister, Meander, met with Longshot and Swiftblade and Alexander. "I wanted to see for myself," she said, "just who is this prince that everyone makes such a fuss about. You say the throne is rightfully yours and your uncle is trying to steal it?" "That's what I say and that's what is the truth," said Alexander. "The son inherits the throne. It has always been that way, but Gerald spread rumors that I killed my father to get he throne." "Then the solution is simple," said Meander. "Kill Gerald. And I'll tell you what. I like your looks so I will do the job for free." "Hold on," said Alexander. "I can't be known as the prince who killed both his father and hos father's brother to get the throne." "But you said the throne is rightfully yours?" "Yes, but the people must see it that way." "They will," said Meander, "because Gerald will confess everything in his suicide note." "Let my sister handle this," said the Berry Farmer. "She is very good at what she does." "And what does she want in return?" asked Alexander. "No one does anything so risky without seeking a reward." Meander laughed. "You're wrong, Alexander. There are those of us who take risks just so we'll feel fully alive. But I do want a reward. I want to be the one you turn to first for any special missions you need accomplished. And I want my brother's berries to be the berries that the court declares are the best in the land. "What do you think?" Alexander said, addressing Swiftblade. The first tale draws near to an ending. BBWolf, please think of a story for the second tale. It should take place somewhere in Anthromorphia. It could be at a different time than the time of the first tale, if you desire. Before or after. If existing characters will fit, that's fine. Otherwise, we'll come up with new characters. |
| "Don't agree to the second part," said Swiftblade. "Barry's berries should be judged fairly." The farmer chuckled at this. "He's got that right, sis." "Alright, fine then," the assassin said. "Just make the produce on his farm your first choice when it comes to buying fruit and vegetables for the palace." "I suppose that is agreeable," said Alexander. "And of course, once I'm restored to the throne, I'll see to it that you are paid handsomely." "I suppose some money would be nice," said the assassin. "Just remember to keep your word, or I'll find you, and see to it that you suffer from a little accident." At this, she walked away, disappearing into the night. "She always does that," said Barry. "One moment you see her, the next you don't. She'll see to it that things are taken care of. As it is, I need to see if the store is open, so that I can sell some of the crops I brought - should get a good price this time of the year for some of them." At this, the farmer left. "I guess that takes care of things," said Longshot. "We'll find out what happens in the morning." "Say, there's a question I'd like to know the answer to," said Alexander. "Is there any truth to the rumor about the two of you being lovers?" The wolf and rabbit looked at each other, before bursting out in laughter. "Lovers? Us? That's a good one!" said Swiftblade. "We aren't lovers," said Longshot. "We just have sex with each other when one of us needs it." "We are very good friends though," said Swiftblade. "Oh, I see," said Alexander. He then went up to the room. "The stories people come up with," said Longshot. "Like the one where we allegedly have a contract out on each other," said Swiftblade. "Okay, so we tried to kill each other when we first met, but that was because someone had heard of me, and hired me to kill an expert rabbit archer." "And that same someone hired me to kill an expert swordswolf," said Longshot. "Funny how things turned out for him in the end, especially when we figured out the truth, and then he tried to kill both of us." "Do you think they are still searching for his head?" Swiftblade asked. "We did throw it in the swamp." "They probably are," said Longshot. "Still, it was nice of him to have the money on him." "I never did like folks who abuse their authority too much," said Swiftblade. "It's one thing when it is needed, but I don't like being hired to kill someone just for kicks." "Same here," said Longshot. "Think this lion will be alright?" Swiftblade asked. "Only time will tell," said Longshot. "Otherwise, we know what to do." "Get someone to pay us to kill him," said Swiftblade. "Still, I hope he doesn't turn out too bad - I'd hate to kill a former client." "He's not a former client until we get paid," said Longshot. "Right." |
| Jacobson and Eric were on their way to the Coronation Ceremony. "How good are you at fighting with your natural weapons?" Asked Jacobson "I've never fought before." Said Eric Jacobson sighed "We may have to brawl if things don't go according to plan." |
| Outside the farm, a combination of Gerald's and Redclaw's forces are planning to storm it. "Is this the place?" Redclaw asked, Gerald says "Yes, this is the Berry farm owned by Barry SwiftTAIL. Swiftblade and Longshot are reported to be here. I want that ring they are holding by any means necessary." Redclaw says "What so important about that ring?" |
| When there was no answer from Gerald, Redclaw asked again. Then he looked around behind him. Gerald had mysteriously disappeared. Redclaw asked his top men if they had seen Gerald and no one had. How could he just disappear? Something was very wrong. He called for a retreat while he tried to determine what was going on. Finally, after several hours and no Gerald he marched all the men back to the palace. There he found Alexander. "Greetings, Lord Redclaw," said Alexander. "I trust you have heard the sad news." "What sad news?" asked Redclaw. "About my uncle Gerald's suicide." Later, Redclaw counted himself lucky to still be alive. Alexander could easily have had him executed for treason. Instead, he was banished. Once the contents of Gerald's suicide note were revealed to the public, they again embraced Alexander as the rightful heir to the throne. As they were leaving the coronation ceremony, Eric Bunny said to Jacobson. "That was very impressive and colorful and exciting." "I thought you would like it," Jacobson said. "But you know something, I realize the big cats are no different from anyone else. They aren't superheroes at all. They're just people like you and me." "That's true," Jacobson said. "That's why I am going back home to Centralia," Eric Bunny said. "I want to see my mom and pop again and my old friends. Thanks for all your help here." "Have a good trip, Eric Bunny, and if you ever come to Jungleville again, be sure to look me up." * * * * * |
| NEW CHARACTER!!! Name: Vivian Vulpine Age Gender and Species 25 Year Old Red Fox Appearance: Very Sleek and well groomed, has bright scarlet fur with pure white underparts, likes to dress in white silk to highlight her scarlet fur Backstory: A Member of a Wealthy Family of Red Foxes in Centralia, sort of like the Hiltons or the Kardashians of this world, Vivian is no Brainless Beauty though and strives to become a Famous Actress Vivian and her mom and dad were staying at their vacation cottage in the Eastern Forests, not far from Bordertown. Vivian was sleeping in her bed when she heard something thump downstairs. She lit a candle and went downstairs. In the kitchen she saw something large and black...Black Clothing not Black Fur...Vivian's Nose smelled the Creature was a Wild Boar underneath that black cloak. The intruder turned and Vivian Screamed! He was eating her Dad! |
| NEW CHARACTER! Name: Sheriff Barry 'Grizz' Grizzly Age, Gender and Species: 27 Year Old Male Grizzly Bear Appearance: A well muscled urson who wears a uniform Backstory: The well respected sheriff of Bordertown, he is sworn to his duties to protect the town from all kinds of criminals. Sherrif Grizz is baffled from all the deaths most of the townspeople encountered by a gang of killers calling themselves the Carnivorous bunch, one of his deputies, a raccoon, comes in with a severed head of a fox. "Hey Sheriff, look what I just been handed." Sheriff Grizz says "Ah, looks like Sylvester Redtail has met his match. Who brought this in?" |
| WRITERS: Check out the "FOOD" section in the header to see what animals normally eat in Anthromorphia. Any cases where an anthro eats another anthro should be considered as going very much against the standards of society. It never happens in a restaurant, for example. Of course, the wilderness is wild and unpoliced and who knows what goes on out there. "I don't know, Sheriff," said the deputy. "It was an anonymous gift. Rumor has it that there is more than murder involved in these recent deaths." "I've heard them. Cannibalism! Hard to believe in this day and age, isn't it?" "Sometimes when an anthromorph stays too long out in the wilderness he goes wild." "But this is a whole gang of degenerates!," said Sheriff Grizzly. "Beasts! We'll catch 'em. And we won't eat them. We'll hang them!" |
| At that moment, Grizz's stomach chose to grumble. The sheriff sighed."Talk about eating, and this happens." "Well, it is about that time of the day," the deputy said. "If I'm needed, I'll be at Growler's," Grizz said. "That food's all third-rate at best," said the deputy. "Yeah, but it makes up for it in quantity, and it is cheap." The bear walked out of the office, and headed for Growler's. Growler's was the place where folks without money in Bordertown went to eat at. Their specialty was The Bowl - it was something that was too thin to be stew, and was too thick to be soup. As for what was in it, it wasn't prime rat meat, or prime reptile meat, or prime chicken, or even prime fish. Basically, it was the worst parts of all of them. And it was best not to argue about the quality of the vegetables or the fruit that was in it. The only thing that was good about it was that it came in bowls big enough to just about bathe in, and it was cheap. While omnivores had no issues eating the contents, theoretically, a herbivore, or a carnivore, had to enter the place with someone of the opposite diet, with each ordering a bowl, eating what they could eat in that bowl, and swap it for the other person's bowl, to eat what they couldn't, before paying for one bowl. Grizz sat down at a booth for those his size, and a Bowl was plopped right in front of him, by one of the waitresses. "Thanks," he said. "No problem, Sheriff," the waitress said. "Your usual?" "Yes, please." The waitress walked away, calling out for his usual drink. Grizz looked at the patrons. He knew most of them, for one reason or another, but there were two that caught his eye; a rabbit and a wolf. While they weren't armed, in accordance to the place's "No Unnatural Weapon's" policy, something told him that they were dangerous. He noticed the packs that lay by them on the floor, full of supplies by the looks of them. He sniffed the air, and while there was a number of scents in the area, he detected trace amounts of salt, and fox - specifically, the scent of Sylvester Redtail. He stood up, and walked over, some of the other patrons edging away. "You get into Bordertown today?" Grizz asked. The rabbit looked at him, and resumed eating. The wolf looked at him, and gave a friendly smile. "Yes. Just this morning in fact." "Any trouble out there on the road?" "Some, but we handled it." "Any problems with outlaws?" "No, but they had problems with us." "Really?" "One found out the hard way that she wasn't interested in his offer of raping and eating her. He lost his life, and then his head. I'm sure your deputy got it." Grizz looked at the packs. "Do me a favor, and don't open those in town." The wolf grinned. "A reasonable request." |
| I read it I figured since BBWolf started this Cannibalism thing I might as well follow That was when Vivian came into the Restaurant...She was shaking her plain white dress was torn exposing her left shoulder which was wounded. "Sheriff!" She gasped "A Mad Boar! In our cottage! I caught him eating my Dad! I barely escaped with my life!" |
| Sheriff says "I'll investigate it right away Miss Vulpine, if I do see him, I'll put him on a crash diet my way." He leaves the restaurant and goes back to the office to get his sword. The deputy says "My you ate fast." Sheriff says "We have another one, a boar at the Vulpine resident." Deputy says "Lord Redd Vulpine?" Grizz says "He could be dead so if you want to help, bring your rapier, this one is dangerous." |
| NOTE: Additions from 51 on have been slightly edited to place the story in Bordertown. Sheriff Grizzly and Deputy Horace approached Lord Redd Vulpine's vacation cottage with caution. "Can you smell him?" Grizzly said. "I sure can," replied Horace. "Ain't nothing stinks more than a wild boar. You think he's still in there?" "Only one way to find out." |
| "And that way is to peak through a window." Grizzly turned his head, and found the wolf from Growler's standing beside him, with the rabbit on the other side of the wolf. "What are you doing here?" The wolf turned his head to face the bear. "Checking to see if this boar is one we're after. Of course, since this is your town, we'll respect the fact that you are the law here." "What do you mean if this boar is one you're after?" Grizzly asked. "Got a contract to hunt down a group of outlaws that have been abducting travelers with the intentions of raping or robbing them, before murdering them, and then eating them," the wolf said. "Certainly you've heard of this?" Grizzly gulped. "I thought it was just a rumor, the cannibalism aspect." The wolf frowned. "I wish it was. Personally, I have nothing against the Nomads' practice of eating the dead, same with others who also do so - hunting isn't always easy, and the fishing isn't always good - but they got Rules about it, one of them being that you can't kill someone just to eat them, unless you have no alternatives. Someone dies in an accident, acceptable. Someone dies of old age or disease, cook the meat first. Someone tries to kill you, justifiable. Found a dead body, check to see if it is fresh first. Murdering someone just to eat them, or to keep them from acting as a witness against you, Marked for Death - no questions are asked if someone brings your head to those you wronged. Like I said, there's a group of these killers, all Marked for Death, and I've seen evidence of their handiwork. Hard to forget, and it turns my stomach, and I've done a thing or two in my time." "What are you?" Grizzly asked. "A mercenary?" The wolf nodded. "Pays the bills, when I have bills." "If you don't mind, I still have to-" "All clear Trevor," called out the rabbit, who was standing by a window. "Got a fox though, still alive, for the moment." "Good work Sally," the wolf said. "Let's see about saving him." "Trevor and Sally?" Grizzly said. "What kinds of names are those for mercenaries?" "Some folks call her Longshot, and they call me Swiftblade," the wolf said, unsheathing his sword, as the rabbit took out a long knife. "I've yet to figure out why they call us those names though." "Um, did you bring a Healer?" Grizzly asked. "We're a fair hand at that stuff," said the wolf. "Although I'll say she does it better - smaller hands make the stitching easier, as does a good drink of the good stuff." |
| Vivian meanwhile was at the Healer's Getting her Shoulder Wound treated, the Local Healer was a Brown Hare named Mirabelle (Hares and Rabbits have a certain rivalry with each other, each species believing their kind to be the superior kind.) "So it was a Boar eh?" Asked the Hare as she stitched up Vivian's wounds "That is incredibly odd, while Boars are omnivores their not known for actively hunting." |
| Sally manages to get Redd out of the cabin, Sheriff Grizz says "Lord Vulpine, are you alright?" He only groans with response, Trevor says "He's too weak to take now, let's see if we can heal him." Deputy Horace says "First let's find someplace safe, just in case that boar decides to come back for seconds." |
| A snorting sound not far away in the underbrush informed them that Deputy Horace's premonition had come true. "You take Lord Vulpine to safety," Swiftblade said to the Sheriff and his deputy. "Sally and I will handle the boar." He waited until the three seemed well on their way down the road. Longshot was scanning the forest, her tall ears upright and alert. "Sounds like a big one," she said. "I'll flush him out," said Swiftblade. The wolf circled around and entered the woods. After a few moments Sally heard him yell. That was to hopefully surprise the boar enough to make him run out into the open. Sally had her arrow ready when the boar came crashing out of the woods. She let it fly and it hit him in the chest, but he kept coming. Quickly she notched another arrow. He was almost on her now. She saw Swiftblade come running out of the brush, his sword held ready. |
| Sally loosed her arrow, and got out of the boar's path. The boar kept charging for a while, before turning. Trevor got beside her, and passed his sword to her, as he drew a double-bladed ax from his back. The boar charged again. Trevor swung his ax, and got of the way, as the boar's body rolled an extra five lengths, and the head an additional six. "A spear," the wolf said, panting with effort. "A spear with a crosspiece. That is how you deal with a pissed-off boar or bear. Crosspiece keeps the other guy from charging up the shaft to kill you." Sally chuckled as she also caught her breath. "Next blacksmith, or weapon-smith we find, I'll buy two of them. They'll save us a bit of effort when it comes to walking." Trevor grinned. "Are you getting old, friend?" "Been together ten years," said Sally. "You've never heard me complain." Trevor smiled, as he stood up. "You've complained about your injuries." Sally waved a paw. "Everyone does that! I've just never complained about our lifestyle." Trevor nodded. "I'm with you there. We've seen some wonderful things, and a few scary ones." Sally smiled. "That we have." She looked at the boar, and pulled out the collection of posters from her pack. "Now, let's see if he's on our list, or if we just helped out the locals with their own issue." "I'll get the head," Trevor said, as he walked over, and picked the object up. "Not a bad-looking face, that's for sure. Still, you never judge a scroll by the seal." |
| Vivian was still with Mirabelle, when they saw something strange, Outside was floating lights, like fireflies but more ghostly and ethereal. The lights were headed to the forest, Vivian and Mirabelle went outside and watched they were gathering above one specific part of the forest and the Vivian felt a feeling of cold fear for some reason despite the Beauty of the Lights, something felt evil about the lights |
| Then a stag in a robe suddenly rushed towards Vivian and Mirabelle "Don't look at the lights or you'll be under a dark spell!" Mirabelle asks "What will happen, we would turn to stone?" The stag says "No worse, those lights will make anyone who looks at them completely feral. Results of dark magic." Vivian asked "Like that boar that attacked my father?" |
| "Perhaps," said the stag, "although some say there is a part of the forest here that is enchanted and all who stray into it turn wild and lose the power of speech. My name is Donovan, by the way." Mirabelle, the brown hare Healer, said, "Do you believe there really is such an enchanted wood?" "I think there might be," said Donovan. "I know this part of Anthromorphia seems to have more people that can do some magic than any other area. Perhaps the forest itself is magical and those who are born here sometimes share in it." "Pshaw!" said Vivian. "Foxes don't believe in enchanted forests. It's all coincidence and chance. Those floating lights were probably some unknown species of insect, a variation of fireflies." 'Don't be so cynical, Vivian," said Mirabelle. "My healing abilities are partly magical, I think." "Believe or don't believe," said the stag, "but at least heed my warning not to stare at the lights." "I will!" said Mirabelle. Sheriff Grizzly and Deputy Horace got the injured Lord Vulpine back to town and found him a room at the inn where he could recover while the Healer worked on him. "Where is my daughter?" Lord Vulpine managed to say. "Is she alright?" "Yes," said Grizz. "She's fine. Just a minor wound. She'll be here soon." Then the sheriff turned to his deputy. "Better go check on those mercenaries and see whether they got the boar or the boar got them." |
| However, before the deputy could open the door to the inn, it opened, and Trevor and Sally came in. "How did you get here so fast?" the deputy asked. "We're good at what we do, and we weren't carrying someone," said Trevor. "Get the sheriff, and clear the kitchen." "Why?" "Because we don't want everyone to see what we have," said Sally. "Now, move your tail." A little while later, Grizzly was in the kitchen, looking at a sack on the table. "Something tells me this isn't roasted chicken." Trevor opened the sack, revealing the boar's head. "Do you know this guy? He isn't on our list." "Why would that be a concern?" Grizzly asked, as he looked at the head. Then, he frowned. "Yeah, I know him. Gerald Hogg. Minor criminal around here. Sticks to conning folks mostly, though he's never done something like attacking someone, or trying to eat him." "Tell us there's a bounty on him," said Sally. "He broke two of my arrows, and those cost money to replace." "Yeah, Alive, at twenty pieces of silver," said Grizzly. "Like I said, just a minor criminal. I would have collected him on a slow day. He wasn't a violent person - believed in nonviolent ways of robbing people, if you know what I mean." Trevor sighed. "Yeah, we get what you mean. Still, it was us or him, and we pick us every time." "Why did he attack Lord Vulpine?" asked Grizzly. "I don't know, but there was something wrong with his eyes," said Sally. "Take a look for yourself." Grizzly opened an eyelid. "What the hell? That's not your usual boar eye." "Seen a lot of peoples' eyes, but none like that," said Trevor. "And we've seen crazy eyes, the eyes of deranged cannibals, eyes of cold-blooded murderers, cult members and leaders. Nothing like this." "Might want to get a healer," said Grizzly. "Thankfully we have a good one." |
| Meanwhile deep in a Cave Under the Forest, a Mage was watching Border Town through his enchanted Mirror! "Drat!" Said the Mage "That Stag has gotten wise to my tricks!" The Mage was Daru an Albino Great Horned Owl, Daru was a Bird Supremacist as Birds are only one one third of the Total Population compared to the much more fecund Reptiles and Mammals, Daru had decided that for the Birds to live he must eliminate the Reptile People and the Mammal People He watched as the mirror shimmered and changed scene. Mirabelle was asking Vivian where her Mom was "Mom's been having back issues, so she went to see the Famous Rabbit Cyropractor Eomer to see what could be done." |
| Grizz says "No offense Sally, but the town healer, Mirabelle is more experienced. Horace and I will take Lord Redd to her. I know this Inn may be pricy for you and Trevor but I already arranged with the innkeeper for your stay, it's at least what I can do for your heroism.." |
| "Thanks for that," Trevor said. "Does that include meals?" Sheriff Grizzly laughed. "Three days of room and board, okay? This town is not wealthy." "Good enough," said Trevor, "and we do appreciate it." "Come on." Trevor said to Sally. "Let's see what the innkeeper has on the fire." In his cave under the forest, Mage Daru, the Great Horned Owl, sniffed incense and consulted his enchanted mirror. Sometimes he would spend hours spying on the citizens of Bordertown and he felt he knew all their habits quite well. The inn could be most interesting as guests came and went. He watched Sally and Trevor sit down at a table and order a meal. For some reason, Daru was disturbed by the two, as if they had a role to play that he would not like, but the enchanted mirror could not predict the future. It could only spy on the present. |
| Sally looked at Trevor. "I'm getting a funny feeling," the rabbit said. The wolf looked at her. "The feeling we're being watched?" Sally nodded. "And I'm not talking about by the people here." "You got that mirror we got as payment for helping that mage find those rare medicinal herbs?" Trevor asked. "Oh, yes," Sally said, as she opened up her pack. "Use it every morning to check on things, like if my injuries are healing right, of if I need to brush my teeth better." "I do that to, same with signaling," said Trevor. "Of course, he did say it was enchanted to show us the face of whomever is watching us." "Too bad we never tested it out," said Sally, as she took the mirror out. "Still, I hope his herbs are doing well; folks do need something to relieve the pains they get when their body is too old to heal right." "I hear you there," Trevor said, as he took the mirror. "Never did like the look of this thing, but it has its uses. Show us the face of whomever's watching us." Daru soon found his mirror showing the face of the wolf he'd been spying on, and the wolf was looking right at him. "This is unusual." "You mean you normally don't have those you're looking at looking at you?" the wolf asked. The wolf looked up. "Damn thing is a two-way mirror." "Actually, you showed up on my mirror," said Daru. "Whatever," the wolf said. "Me and my partner don't like folks spying on us, so it would be best if you stopped watching us." "Alright," said Daru. He canceled his spell. "Strange." Trevor looked at the blank mirror. "I think he was looking at you." "Why do you say that?" Sally asked. "Because there was no way he'd want to look at me," said Trevor. "Of course, he might have been looking for a few mercenaries to do a job for him." "Mages tend to pay good money," said Sally. |
| Vivian is concerned about his father as Mirabelle tends to patch him up. She faces Sheriff Grizzly, "What about that boar that attacked Dad?" The Sheriff says, "Dead, thanks to a couple of mercenaries. What puzzles me is that was a criminal named Gerald Hogg. A kind of criminal that robs from travelers." He faces Donavin, "and you said these strange lights turn anyone completely feral?" Donavin says "Yes, as if it was some kind of spell of unknown origin." That's when Lord Redd came out with a bandage where a bloody stump from his left arm used to be. Mirabelle says "This is the best I can do, sorry, but I can't replace the arm." Donavan says "If you like Lord Redd, you might want to travel to Azfargo, there is a trio of mages that might magically grow back your arm but for a price." Lord Redd says "And how do you know this?" |
| "They have a reputation," Donovan said. "They are known as the Apple Brothers, although they are not really brothers, but they live on an apple orchard about three miles outside of Azfargo. It's a place like a commune and they take in the down and out and the homeless and give them food and a place to sleep. However, although many go in, no one ever seems to come out. Some say it's a cult. But in general, the Apple Brothers have a reputation as being the best healers in the East. They are the only ones I know of who can regrow a limb for you." "What about in the West?" Vivian said. "I've heard the healers there are better than anywhere." "That's true," said Donovan, "but it's a long journey to the deserts and Azfargo is much closer." At the Bordertown Inn, Trevor an Sally were finishing up their fish and chips. He had the fish; she had the chips. "So what's our plan?" Sally said. Trevor licked his fingers clean. "You stay in touch with the sheriff so we know as soon as he gets a report of any more Carniverous Gang activity. I'll snoop around and see what I can find out." "I don't want to sit in the sheriff's office all day." "You don't have to. Just check in with him now and then. You do some snooping too." |
| "Have you noticed those lights outside?" Sally asked. "There's something about them." "Noticed them myself," said Trevor. "It was like they gave me some rather dark thoughts." "What kind of thoughts?" Sally asked. "The kind where I'm eating you." "Well, we did make arrangement where-" "I'm not talking about if you died out on the trail," said Trevor. "I'm talking about tearing your throat out, and watching you bleed to death." Sally blinked. "That's disturbing, even for you. What kept you from it?" Trevor shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not certain. That being said, I had thoughts of other people; people whose funerals I'd dined at, if you know what I mean, plus a few others, including that fox from last night." "You didn't even know him," said Sally. "Had some of the meat though," said Trevor. "Maybe it was the fact that you eat the flesh of others that kept you from doing something savage," said Sally. "Still, that would be unusual." |
| Vivian and Mirabelle were talking Donavin "When I was very young." Said the Stag "A similar thing happened in my Village which doesn't exist anymore...One night of terror and bloodlust rendered it burnt to the ground." |
| Sheriff Grizz says "I know that town, it was Deerville wasn't it?" Donavin says "Yes, but how did you know?" Sheriff Grizz says "I was part of that investigation, Sheriff Socks of Bruno's Crossing and Sheriff Ringtail of Northport are still trying to find answers to that incident. If I recall, It was a raccoon farmer that did it." |
| "Raccoons are half crazy anyway," said Deputy Horace. "He must have flipped out." "He was a family man," said Donovan. "Had a wife and kids, didn't drink, and he had been farming there for years. He seemed happy enough and very stable." They had all been walking out of the Healer's Home while they were talking. When they reached the street, Trevor and Sally were just leaving the inn. "Excuse me," said Sheriff Grizzly and left the group to go talk to Trevor. "Any luck yet?" he asked Trevor. "We've barely gotten started, Sheriff," said Trevor. "I know. I just thought of a lead you might want to investigate. A little place called Deerville some years ago. A raccoon farmer went beserk and did some unlawful eating." Trevor turned to Sally. "That's a good one for you to check out." "Deerville is not far from Bruno's Crossing," said Sheriff Grizzly. "It's on the Jungle Trail to Northport." |
| "There's something you might want to check out," said Trevor. "Have you noticed some strange lights floating about?" "Lights floating?" asked Grizzly. "Can't say I have." "If you do, don't look at them, not unless you've dined at a funeral, if you understand my drift," said Trevor. "What do you mean?" "I noticed them on my way here, and I got some dark thoughts about tearing my partner's throat out," said Trevor. "The thing that stopped me was images of those past meals." "That is strange," said Grizzly. "You're saying because you're a cannibal, you're immune to going savage?" "Ever been to one of those funerals?" asked Trevor. "I haven't." "In that case, I'd advise you going to our room, opening up my pack, and having yourself some of my meat rations," said Trevor. "Think of them as meat donated by a criminal fox." "The one whose head you turned in," said Grizzly. "There's always the boar's body," said Sally, calmly. "Should still be good, with at least a hundred and fifty, or more, pounds worth of meat on it." "I can't believe you'd suggest something like that," said Grizzly "Better to know you've done it than to lose your mind to it," said Trevor. |
| Vivian meanwhile was feeling antsy she was terrified knowing that there was the potential there was a cannibalistic animal somewhere in the village |
| Daru looked through his mirror to find the next potential threat and he spots one, Webster the frog traveler, he's hopping west towards Bordertown from Bruno's crossing. "With my curse on you, you will soon eat more then just dragonflies." Webster was enjoying the forest. "I do love the forest at night, everything here is so peaceful." The floating lights soon appear above Webster catching his attention, "Wow, what pretty lights." As Webster watched, something happens. He began to get the same crazed looks as the boar. |
| Webster hopped all night until he reached Bordertown. It was almost dawn. When the sun came up, Suzy, the little duck girl, jumped out of her bed and ran outside. She loved the sunrise. It was so pretty. "Oh look!" she said. "A frog! You don't see frogs around here very much. Hello, Mister Frog! Good morning!" The frog stared at her with strange eyes that were red and dead-looking. Suddenly his long tongue flicked out, snatched Suzy around the waist, and pulled her into his cavernous mouth. Suzy managed to get out one scream that was cut short as the frog's mouth slammed shut. Suzy's mother woke up from a troubled sleep. "Suzy? she said. She had a vague memory of hearing Suzy scream. Was it a dream? She got up and looked for Suzy. Nowhere to be found. She opened the door and there in the yard was a large frog. Dangling from its mouth was the blue satin ribbon Suzy liked to wear in her hair. |
| The scream was heard by Trevor, Grizzly, and the rest. They ran to the scene, where they saw the frog, with a struggling belly, and the mother duck screaming. Trevor saw the ribbon, and put two and two together. "Grizz! You grab a hold of him and open his mouth! I'll reach in and get the kid out!" "This is impossible," said Grizzly. "He swallowed a child? Whole?" "You can argue about the evidence your eyes are telling you after we get the kid out!" Trevor exclaimed. "Just hold onto him and open his mouth; I don't want to kill him if I don't have to. Sally, you got rope?" "Twenty feet worth," said Sally. "Let's hope it's enough to tie him up," said Trevor. "Now move before he tries something else!" |
| With effort, Trevor and Sally got Suzy out of Webster, Trevor says "Are you alright young duckling?" Suzy says "A bit scared, but I'm fine." Suzy ran right to her mother, Sheriff Grizzly says "This is getting out of hand, we need to find the one responsible for all this." Donovan says "it's an educated guess, but I think I know who may have done this." Trevor tied up Webster and used most of the rope to keep his mouth shut. "Let me guess, an old mage white as snow." Donovan says "Yes, but how do you know?" |
| "Sally and I have traveled all over Anthromorphia," Trevor said. "We've been everywhere, even to Birdopolis." "I hear the birds aren't too friendly to strangers," Donovan said. "That's a fact," Trevor said. "At Birdopolis first they said we couldn't enter the city, but we raised enough stink about free trade and reciprocal travel agreements that they let us in. Once we were in they said there were no rooms available. So we had to go through another long hassle just to find somewhere to sleep." "Long story short," said Sally. Trevor gazed fondly at her. "I do like to talk. Anyway, we stayed there in Birdopolis long enough to learn quite a bit about their current opinion and politics. Did you ever hear of a group called the Bird Supremacists?" |
| "I have," said Suzy's mother, as she held her daughter close to her. "A very dangerous group in my opinion. They claim that birds are superior to all others. Thankfully, my husband had done some traveling, as a merchant, and came to the opinion that birds were just as idiotic, and selfish, and brutal, as everyone else. Of course, he also came to the reverse opinion that everyone else was just as good as birds." "Sounds like a smart bird," said Trevor. "I wouldn't mind meeting him, especially if he needs a guard on his trips." "You're a little late for that," said the duck. "He was killed by bandits last spring." "My condolences," said Trevor. "What do you know about the group?" "Very dangerous, very radical, even for birds, and very militant, even for birds." Trevor nodded. "Sounds about right." "So, how do you know the mage?" Donovan asked. Sally pulled out her enchanted mirror. "Did a job for another mage, getting some special herbs, and this was part of our payment. Lets you see who is spying on you, and if it hooks up with another enchanted mirror, you can talk to them." "May I?" Sally handed the stag the mirror. "I've only heard of these mirrors, but I've never actually seen them," the stag said. "You need to be fairly powerful to enchant them properly. You can use an ordinary mirror for spying or communicating, but the spell wears off soon afterwards. This mirror, its spell will easily last a hundred years, if not longer, so long as the mirror stays intact, or at least most of it." "Nice to know, because I'd like to change the design on the frame," said Trevor. |
| Meanwhile Vivian was speaking with Mirabelle, inside Mirabelle's clinic was a painting of a Famous Fox. "Why!" Exclaimed Vivian "That's Richard Reynardo!" "You related to him?" Asked Mirabelle "No." Said Vivian "In Centralia there is a very large Fox Population, but Richard is Famous for being the Master of Ceremonies at Centralia's Annual Midsummer Festival (The Midsummer Festival is a bit like Mardis Gras or the Festival of Fools in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame with Richard playing a role similar to Clopin in the Movie) "Richard Reynardo was born and raised in Bordertown." Said Mirabelle "I was a teenager when he was a Cub, he was always so creative and had so much imagination, unfortunately sometimes his imagination got the better of him, when he was 8 years old he and his friends believed that in a certain part of the woods an evil monster lurked, one day,Richard decided he would kill the monster and he decided to do that by taking a board of wood, hammering in some rusty nails and leaving by the edge of the wood, covering up his trap with nails, he didn't catch a Monster but he did catch a Wolf, Madame Lupine in Fact, the Grande Dame of Bordertown,she was strolling with her Pack when she stepped and a nail went into her paw." |
| Vivian ask "Did Richard get in trouble?" Mirabelle says "Lucky for him, she didn't even know who left that board. But my mother did treat her wound." |
| Daru watched through his mirror as the group figured out it was him who had enchanted the frog that tried to eat the duckling. "They think they are so clever," Daru said, "but they don't know who (it was a strange speech habit Daru the owl had that whenever he said the word who it came out sounding like whoooo) they are dealing with. They might know my name, but they don't know how powerful I am." Daru decided he would activate his "lights" again that night. The "lights" were actually mutant fireflies with telepathic qualities. Get enough of them together and they could hypnotize a person, but one firefly by itself was weak and harmless. |
| "The solution is quite simple," said Trevor. "Locate Daru, hunt him down, and kill him, or whatever punishment is appropriate for his crimes. After all, while me and Sally may not be up to date on all of the legalities of magic, and what not, I'm certain that forcing people to kill others against their will is breaking a law somewhere. After all, hiring someone to do your killing is one thing, but forcing them to do the deed, that's just wrong on a number of levels." |
| Meanwhile Lord Redd made it to the Apple orchard, fortunately the Apple Brothers are friendlier then he thought and are well aware of what's going on. "Lord Red Vulpine," said the Bobcat brother, "We know what's going on and we will help you." A Moose brother says "But in return, you must do us a favor." Lord Redd says "I'll do anything, The third brother says "The boar that attacked you was put under a spell by Daru, a Bird Supremacist, powerful mage and a very dangerous adversary. We will supply some charms help break the spell he used for his mutant fireflies. Now without further ado, let's see about restoring your arm." The Bobcat says "Oh where is our manners? we know your name but you don't know ours yet." |
| "My name is Smokey," said the Bobcat. "I've always assumed it was because of my grey color, but sometimes people assume other things. And this moose here is Malaguin. The third member of the Apple Brothers is an iguana named Panama." "That's unusual, isn't it," said Lord Redd Vulpine, "to find a reptile working so closely with mammals?" "Quite unusual," said the bobcat named Smokey. "But Panama was raised by mammals and he hardly knows what a reptile is. I believe he thinks he is a mammal emotionally, even though he knows he is not. But it all seems to work out somehow. Anyway, that's the Apple Brothers: Smokey, Malaguin, and Panama." "Let's get your arm repaired first," said Malaguin, "and meanwhile we will get to work on making some charms to defeat Daru. We have to be careful because a mage as powerful as Daru can sometimes make a spell backfire onto the one who created it. We'll have to build in safeguards so that we don't become victims of our own magic." |
| "I say we have some fun with this Daru," said Trevor, as he looked at the mirror. "Sally, remember that eagle mage in Birdoplolis?" "The one that tried to take over the city and summoned that fire-breathing lizard?" Sally asked. "That's the one," said Trevor. "I remember it took forever for your fur to grow back right," said Sally. "To say nothing about the hole in my ear, when you missed the creature when you tried to throw your knife at it, and I was on the other side!" Trevor chuckled nervously at this. "Right!" "A little lower and I wouldn't have had to worry about my ears!" "I wasn't that good at throwing knives then, and I told you that!" "What happened to this eagle mage?" Donovan asked. "He got caught on the wrong end of a flame discharge," said Sally. "Extra Crispy is what we call it. Simply put, he wasn't paying attention to his own creation. Basically, make Daru overuse his magic, and that will kill him, one way or another." |
| Meanwhile Vivian was reunited with her Mom "Mom." Vivian said "When Dad returns we need to get back to Centralia." |
| "Of course, darling," said her mom. "I'm afraid this hasn't been the pleasant vacation we promised you." "I'll say! I've been scared out of my wits. Dad got his arm chewed off. It's been hell!" Her mom smiled. "But at least you'll have some exciting stories to tell your friends back in Centralia." Sally thought about what Trevor had said. "But how would we make Daru overuse his magic? He's a pretty tricky old owl. I don't think he's going to just oblige us by dropping dead." "You know," said Trevor. "I keep forgetting that Daru may be listening to us right now with his mirror." "Oops," Sally said. "Hey, Daru! If you're listening, you big hoot owl, we're coming for you!" Three days later Sheriff Grizzly and Trevor and Sally were saying good-bye to Lord Vulpine and his family. The Apple Brothers were there as well. Lord Vulpine climbed into the stagecoach with difficulty. His arm was just beginning to grow back. "Are you sure there is nothing more I need to do? No medication to take or rub on my arm?" "Don't worry about a thing," said Malaguin the Moose. "The healing process relies on magic and once begun, continues until the arm is regrown." "Thanks again!" said Lord Vulpine as the coach lurched into motion. Vivian and her mom waved from the window. "Good-bye! Thanks for everything!" After the coach had left Bordertown in a cloud of dust, the beginning of its long journey across the Central Plains on the Azfargo Trail until it reached Centralia, Sheriff Grizzly turned to the Apple Brothers. "I hear you have good news for us." "Yes, said Smokey, "but first let me activate this anti-spy counter-mirror. There. Now Daru can't spy on us. We have created some charms that we think will put Daru back where he belongs." "And where is that?" asked Grizz. "Birdopolis, of course!" said Smokey. "We modified our Homesick Charm so that he will suffer severe nausea whenever he leaves Birdopolis. And Panama came up with something very cool." The iguana grinned. "I call it my Strange Stink Spell. It makes a visitor to the Eastern Forests smell a powerful odor that is less than pleasant." "Don't let the tourist board know about that one," Grizzly said. "It sounds like the inverse of the Homesick Charm. One makes him want to stay in Birdopolis and the other makes the Eastern Forests an unpleasant pace to visit." "I'm curious why you guys are so gentle with him," Trevor said. "If it was me, I would come up with some magic that would hurt him real bad." Malaguin shook his head. "No, Daru is an extremely powerful mage. We're lucky the three of us working together can do what we did. If we tried to physically harm him... well, I'm not sure we would live to tell about it. This way, he's put in his place and we feel relatively safe from any blowback." NOTE: Tale #2 should be ending very soon. Twiga, you are responsible with coming up with an idea for Tale #3. It can be before or after the current time as long as it's somewhere in Anthromorphia. If it's a different era we need to know because the current characters would not be alive then. |
| Trevor looked at the three mages. "Well, see you around. Me and Sally best get going." The wolf and rabbit started on walking the trail. "Hold it," said Grizz. "Are you sure you want to leave? We could use you here." Sally chuckled. "Sorry, but we still have a contract. Still got those cannibalistic killers to bring to justice, one way or another." "But, we will come and visit," said Trevor. "Tell Growlers to keep two Bowls warmed for us." "Ha! Will do." Half a mile down the road, Trevor got out a map. "I've been thinking about something." "What's that?" Sally asked. "Let's see if that mirror will pinpoint Daru's location on the map," said Trevor. "Thinking about hunting him down and killing him?" Sally asked. Trevor nodded. "We don't kill without a contract," said Sally, as she got out the mirror. "Still, I suppose we could make an exception in this case." "He got that boar killed, almost got two others, including a child, killed, and we don't know if that frog will recover from what happened, even if his mind does heal," said Trevor. Sally nodded. "Some people deserve to die, and there are those who deserve it sooner than others." "Bound to be a Bounty on his head somewhere," Trevor said, as he took the mirror. "Show us Daru's location." A beam of light shined upon the map, and the mirror showed Daru traveling along a path, in a well-made carriage. Daru blinked, as he looked right at them. "You!" the owl said. "Enjoy however long you have," said Trevor. "Me and my partner will be the last faces you see. Later." The wolf ended the spell. Sally chuckled. "This mirror is going to make things easy you know." "Let's not use it too much," said Trevor. "I don't want things to be too easy for us." "Always someone to kill," said Sally. "Still got a few hours before we make camp." "Ever think of settling down?" Trevor asked. Sally grinned. "Never." |
| Daru is enraged when the Apple brothers' counter magic caused his mirror the show only snow reception, "Damn those Apple brothers and they're anti-spy mirror. They will pay for their interference. I can't even find a decent victim for my fireflies. I'll just have to take care of this myself." |
| When the Apple Brothers got back to their apple orchard, they sensed something was wrong. Smokey was the first to realize what it was. "Dammit!" he said. "Dammit to Hell!" "What is it?" asked Malaguin. "Look at the apple trees." All of the little green apples had fallen off the trees and the trees themselves had lost their leaves. It was obvious they were dying. "Daru did this!" Panama said. Malaguin sighed. "Well, we knew there might be a price to pay. At least we ourselves are unharmed. We can grow new trees. There might be some tough years ahead, but we'll make it through." "We'll have to," Smokey said. "You know what? Now might be a good time to switch to growing something that matures faster, like berries and grapes." "And we could make wine!" Panama said. "Maybe this is a blessing in disguise." Sheriff Grizzly treated Mirabelle and Deputy Horace to a dinner at the Bordertown Inn. "That was quite a lively set of visitors we had." "I'm kind of glad they're gone," said Horace. "I didn't know what to expect next." "That poor old man with his arm chewed off," said Mirabelle. "I guess he won't be suggesting Bordertown as a vacation spot to any of his friends." "We worry about tourists too much anyway," said Grizz. "This town has got more going for it than just tourism." "I'll drink to that!" said Horace, and they all clinked glasses together. * * * |
| Name: Greyus Lupis/ Moria Legos Age, Gender, Species: 30 year old male grey wolf/ 28 year old female rabbit. Appearance: Greyus is a black-colored wolf, while Moria is a brown colored rabbit. Greyus carries a good deal of weapons, while Moria carries the supplies. Backstory: It is hard to pinpoint what Greyus wanted out of life, as he was groomed to take over his father's position as the leader of one of the Wolf Packs. This changed after he attacked the members of another pack, who had tried to attack the rabbits that had served his father's pack, during which, he killed the son of the other pack's leader. To prevent an all-out war, Greyus was exiled from the Pack, his only companion being Moria, a rabbit he personally saved from the other pack leader's son. His fate is to wander the paths of the world, until such a time his punishment is lifted, never staying in one place for long. Greyus looked at the fire burning in front of him. Twelve times the cold times had come, as had the times of growing and plenty. He pulled his much mended cloak around him, trying to stay warm. He'd done what he'd had to do, to survive. Those who tried to kill him, died. He looked across at Moria, who was stirring the stew she'd made. She was his servant, but she was free to leave whenever she wanted. He wondered why she never did. She looked at him, and smiled. "Stew's ready." Greyus accepted the bowl, and drank the contents. It was made from fish, and a few other things. He watched Moria as she had the contents of a different stew she'd made. She had her uses, though he always wondered why she followed him. True, she was good at cooking, and fixing clothing, and helped keep him warm on cold nights, but there was always the question of why. |
| Name: Sabrefanng Age, Gender, Species: 22 year old male Sabretooth Tiger Backstory: Almost the youngest of his tribe, Sabrefang has reached an age where he has to prove himself as an adult to hunt game, for not only for his tribe's survival but to prove himself a worthy hunter. His feline body is covered in tan fur and his mouth has 2 sabre-shaped fangs to show off what he is. Sabrefang along with another tribe member are by a river, each of them fashioned a spear out of a sharp rock tied to a tree branch. The tribe member asks, "Are you sure you can catch a fish that way?" Sabrefang says "Relax, I know what I'm doing. Soon we'll be eating fish tonight." The tribe member says "This, I have to see." |
| At their campfire, Greyus the wolf and Moria the rabbit were slowly eating their stew while they watched a sweet bread bake in the coals. "You're a good cook," Greyus said. Moria smiled. "Because I like to eat. I learned a long time ago if you want something done right you have to do it yourself." In the cave of his tribe, Prince Rumfuss the boar awakened with the smell of smoke in his nostrils. "Fire!" he said. His brother Foofaraw punched him. "Shut up! It's a small fire and it's in the distance." "How do you know that?" "Because I have a good nose. The nose knows." "Hmmph!" said Rumfuss and got up to step outside the cave to see for himself. There was certainly no fire visible nearby, but he could smell the smoke in the air. "What matters if it is a small fire?" he muttered. "There should be no fire at all." |
| Rumfuss knew fire was dangerous he was determined to find out where it was coming from,so armed with nothing but his tusks he left the cave to find the fire |
| "Tell me," said Greyus. "Is that hole ready for sleeping in?" Moria turned her head slightly, to look at a hill. "Yes. It's out of the wind, and dug so that rain won't seep into it, and there's a back way, just in case." Greyus nodded. "Good." He looked at her. She was his servant, there was no love for her in him, although he felt better when she was nearby. She was the only connection to his home, and could go back any time she wanted to. It was he who was forced to wander the world, not her. Her kind were little more than servants and farmers, while his fought those who tried to take the crops, and meted out justice upon those who broke the law. While there were times that lower-ranked wolves called higher-ranked rabbits their friends, it was unheard of for a wolf of his breeding to consider a rabbit farmer his friend, although plenty of female servants had been brought into the room of one lord's son, or another, to keep the bed warm, in one manner or another. He looked away. He did not love her. Yet, she would not leave him. |
| Soon Sabrefang and his partner was at their campsite with an open fire on a pit and over it, a dozen mackerels on spits cooking sending an aroma of fish cooking. "I'm impressed," said the tribe member, "I underestimated your fishing skills." He takes a whiff of the aroma, "And they sure smell delicious. How soon are they done cooking." "Give them a few minutes," Sabrefang says, "And we'll soon be eating fish. Let's hope we don't get any unexpected guests." Unknowingly to the both of them, the smell of fish cooking soon travels throughout the jungle. |
| Foofaraw watched his brother Rumfuss go stumbling off into the darkness. "What's he up to now?" he said. "Why can't he just sleep peacefully through the night? It's always something with him. He's the most restless boar in the tribe. And now I can't sleep because I will worry about him." Foofaraw sighed. There was nothing to do but follow Rumfuss and see where he went. Now that Foofaraw was outside, he could smell that there were two small fires burning. One was of driftwood and accompanied by the smell of cooking fish. The other fire was hardwood coals and the smell of baking bread. "I have such a wonderful nose," Foofaraw said, proud of his good health and excellent sense of smell. |
| Greyus stood up, and walked around the fire, until he stood behind Moria. "Do you see something?" the rabbit asked. "There's another fire," the wolf said."Over by the lake. I also see two individuals, one following the other, over by the jungle." "The bread is ready," said Moria. "Get it and put the fire out," said Greyus. "Then, get in that hole." |
| Sabrefang says "The fish is ready." The tribe member says "Great, I'm starved." Sabrefang says "Let me put the fire out first, don't want any out of control fires here." He then uses a makeshift shovel to smother the fire with dirt. Both are about to eat their fish dinner until a voice behind them says "You two, what are you doing around here?" |
| "We are living our lives, friend," said Sabrefang. "Do you object to that?" He turned around slowly to see who was speaking, but there was no one there. "I'm over here," said the voice. Sabrefang looked down and there was a mouse. "A mouse! A mouse dares to challenge me, Sabrefang, the best game hunter of the Winowski Tribe?" "You don't hunt mice," said the mouse. "I would only be a tiny snack. My name is Bartleby, by the way, and I am on a mission of great importance." "Oh really," said Sabrefang. "And what might that be?" "It's a secret. I must tell no one. But it's a very important mission." Sabrefang's companion was a tiger called Danny Boy, who now spoke up. "I think you're full of hot air, little mouse, but I admire your spunk. It's not many creatures your size who would stand up and talk to guys like us who are big enough to smash you with a quick swipe of the paw." |
| After a while Rumfuss realized he couldn't find his way back to his home cave,he began to panic! |
| Greyus looked at the figures. The one had stopped, but the other was moving closer to the first. "Fool," he muttered. "They'd best hope the other one is friendly. Fools don't last out here." He walked to the hill, got down on the ground, and crawled into a hole, which was just behind a bush that grew close to the hill. The hole was just big enough for him to fit inside, as he crawled his way along, until he got to a chamber that was just tall enough to crouch in. On the other side of the chamber, Moria waited with the bread. Next to her was a rock that gave off a dim glow, allowing them to make the other out. "Everything alright?" she asked, as she broke the bread in half. Greyus took the offered bread. "So far." He ate his bread, as Moria did the same with her's. "I guess we'll see in the morning," the rabbit said, as she laid down. Greyus crawled over to her. "That we will." |
| Bartleby asks "Still, I do not wish to challenge you but do you know Rumfuss?" Sabrefang says "Rumfuss you said? I don't know him personally but I do know of him by reputation." Bartleby asks "But do you know where he lives?" Danny Boy says "Our leader, Shadowclaw sometimes meet with the boar tribe leader Razorhoof, their cave is somewhere to the west." |
| Foofaraw clamped his hand on Rumfuss' shoulder. "Calm down! You're not lost." "Where did you come from?" Rumfuss said. "I followed you. Why are you out here by yourself?" "I just wanted to see who was lighting these fires." "Curiosity killed the cat, you know," said Foofaraw. "And speaking of cats, I can tell you one fire has tigers sitting by it. Their smell is very distinctive." "Sabretooth tigers? Then they might be members of Shadowclaw's tribe, friends of ours." "I'm not sure sneaking up on them in the dark is the best way to get on their good side." A loud roar resounded through the countryside. Then a big cat called out. "You boars couldn't sneak up on a dead rabbit. Have you forgotten tigers have great ears? Stop whispering and come to the fire. I think you will find something interesting here." "So much for stealth," Foofaraw said. At the fire, Bartleby the mouse was happy to have found what he was looking for. "So you are Rumfuss," he said. "I have a message for you from Queen Mellowind." "I never heard of Queen Mellowind," Rumfuss said. "Nevertheless, she sends me to you with this message." He handed Rumfuss a sealed scroll. |
| (Author's Note: I did kind of say, Rumfuss's Dad's name is Gruff Beard but whatever. Razorhoof can be the nickname he uses when dealing with other tribes.) Or his full name could be Gruff Beard Razorhoof. |
| Back in their cave, Moria thought about her life with Greyus. She knew her place with the wolf. She knew that Greyus had no love for her; no wolf had love for a rabbit. The wolf needed her, she did not need him. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and rolled, so that she could face him. She looked him in the eyes, as she felt his hand slip to the cord that held her sole garment of clothing, and stop there. She looked him in the eyes, as his hand remained still. She knew what he wanted, and knew he wouldn't go any further, unless she allowed it. She set her paw on the cord of his sole garment, and undid the knot. |
| Rumfuss broke the seal of the scroll and read it. You have been selected to be the husband of Princess Aurabora of the Scheneshi Tribe. The wedding will take place on Huntersday at the palace of Queen Mellowind. The messenger who brought you this scroll will show you the way. It is a three day journey from your tribal lands to ours. If you don't remember me, I understand, since you were only a baby the last time I saw you. Your Uncle Bigtusk's wife is my sister Geraldine. So I am the sister of your Aunt. Looking forward to your arrival, ___Queen Mellowind of the Scheneshi Tribe Rumfuss rolled up the scroll and looked around. "I think I'm going to get married." |
| Bartleby laughed. "No, you're marrying a hog." "Oh, it's just that, you are a mouse," said Rumfuss. "You ever hear of mixed-race groups, where certain people tend to get certain jobs because they are better at them than others?" the mouse asked. "Not really." "There's a wolf Pack that has a working arrangement with a group of rabbits - the wolves are the group's fighters, while the rabbits fish and grow crops, though this doesn't stop wolves from being farmers, or rabbits from being warriors," said Bartleby. "In fact, the son of the Pack Leader is around here with a rabbit servant, whom he cares about, not that one such as him will admit it." "Then, why are you a messenger?" Rumfuss asked. "Because I'm good at sneaking around," the mouse said. "If you wish for a guard, the wolf is in a hole in the hill over there, although I'd wait until morning before trying to recruit him." "Why is that?" the boar asked. The mouse looked him in the eyes. "You'll find out for yourself." |
| Let's spice things up. In the east one of the volcanos erupts, although it currently doesn't cause danger but in one of the abandoned caves in the mountains lie a Tyrannosaurus and two Velociraptors each frozen in a block of ice, but alas a river of lava passes through the cave and it passes by the three dinosaurs, melting the ice and each of them let out a roar as they free themselves from their icy prisons. "CURSE THAT TRIHORN!" bellowed the T-Rex, "HE AND HIS HERD SHALL PAY FOR WHAT THEY DONE!" "Master Terra, much time has passed sense we were frozen. I don't think Trihorn and his Triceratops herd is no longer around let alone the other herds." One of the Raptors said. "Let's explore this new land shall we Veloci?" said Terra, "I want to see what kind of line that I shall rule. You too Riptor." |
| The three dinosaurs , after much struggling, found a way out of the cave and into the open air. "Ah! Smell that fresh air!" said Terra the Tyrannosaurus. "Spicey!" "It sure is!" agreed the two Velociraptors, Riptor and Veloci. They had a natural tendency to be subservient to Terra because in reptilian ages, Tyrannosaurus is King of the Beasts. The three dinosaurs head west because in prehistoric times, Western Anthromorphia was the Land of the Reptiles. It was lush and green back then, not a desert. Even in the time of our Tale #3, which is set in the Stone Age, Western Anthromorphia has grass and trees, but nothing like the rain forests of the Age of reptiles. Of course, the three dinos immediately noticed the difference. "What the hell?" said Terra. "Has a drought descended upon the land?" Meanwhile, Rumfuss was getting more and more excited about the prospect of getting married. Even though he was a teenage boar, he hadn't given much thought to mating. He seldom looked at the females, preferring to tinker with things instead of other boars. But now with a marriage before him, he was getting interested. "I wonder what she looks like?" he said. Foofaraw shrugged. "Does it matter? In a few days you will marry her no matter what she looks like." "I don't know. If she is ugly I might refuse to marry her." "Oooo, that would cause so much friction between the tribes." |
| "Well, in any case, the way there is dangerous," said Bartleby. "That being said, there is a wolf and a rabbit who might help escort you there. The wolf is a very fierce warrior, who is unbeaten in battle thus far. His father is leader of one of the Packs." |
| Sabrefang and Danny Boy are in the jungle honing on their hunting skills, "Sabrefang," Danny Boy says "Over here, I think I found trouble." He is at an edge of a cliff, Sabrefang looks below and sees a Tyrannosaurus with two Velociraptors, "Didn't Shadowclaw told stories about them when you were a cub?" Danny Boy asks, Sabrefang nods, "Yeah, they said the T-Rex was supposed to be the King of the Dinosaurs but this one from what Shadowclaw described is more of a Tyrant then King. Go back to the tribe and tell Shadowclaw, Terra is back. I'm heading to the Scheneshi Tribe and tell Queen Mellowind the same." |
| Shadowclaw listened calmly to Danny Boy's excited description of the T-Rex. "Yes, that sounds like Terra," he said. "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to build us a dinosaur trap. If those dinos think they can cause trouble around here, they need to think again." Bartleby took Rumfuss and Foofaraw to meet Greyus and Moria. "My friends need help," Bartleby said. "They need protection as they travel from here to the lands of the Scheneshi Tribe. Are you interested?" |
| "Huh?" Rumfuss was born a bit too early to know anything about Dinosaurs and Gruff Beard never told him anything about them. Bartleby sighed "You're a strange Piglet aren't you...There are these things called Dinosaurs..." |
| Greyus looked at the mouse. "It's going to cost you three weeks worth of food, a good knife, and a good spear." |
| Bartleby, Rumfuss, Greyus and Moria soon see Sabrefang as they trek north to the Scheneshi Tribe. Rumfuss says "Fancy meeting you here." Bartleby asks "You certainly have an odd way in hunting, friend. Where's your partner, Danny Boy?" "He is back at the tribe warning Shadowclaw that Terra is back and I'm on my way to warn Queen Mellowind about Terra and his two minions." |
| "What a coincidence!" Foofaraw said. "We ourselves are on our way to see Queen Mellowind." "I'm getting married!" said Rumfuss. "We can all travel together," said Bartleby. "There is safety in numbers." "There may be safety," said Greyus, "but there is no stealth. The more in the party, the more noise they are bound to make." "You need not worry about stealth," said Bartleby. "Queen Mellowind is expecting us and besides that, the valley of the Scheneshi Tribe is very peaceful." Since it was a three day journey, they walked at a steady, but not too fast to be tiring, pace. When evening came they decided on a campsite near a stream where they could catch brook trout for supper. There were six in the party: the boar brothers Rumfuss and Foofaraw, the mouse Bartleby, Greyus the wolf, Moria the rabbit, and Sabrefang the tiger. |
| Sabrefang watched how Greyus and Moria interacted. He noticed how servile Moria was to the wolf, cooking his food and such. He then watched the wolf walk off. He followed him. Greyus soon stopped, and looked at him. "What do you want?" "I just want to know your relationship with the rabbit," said Sabrefang. "What is she to you?" "Her family serve mine by farming," said Greyus. "Grandfather, back when he was the leader of the Pack, took over the area where her family resided and farmed." "Did he enslave them?" Sabrefang asked. "They were free to leave if they wanted to," said Greyus. "Most stayed, from what I've heard. That and a number serve in the house itself." "How are they treated?" Sabrefang asked. "Better than most rabbits in other places, I believe," said Greyus. "After all, most of my cousins have learned that, if you take a rabbit into a bed, you don't force them to mate with you, unless you wish to be castrated." "Does that really happen?" Sabrefang asked. "It's part of why I'm exiled from my Pack," said Greyus. "The son of a rival Pack's leader tried to rape Moria, only for her to dig her claws into his testicles, and rip them out. He tried to kill her for that, but I killed him instead. I guess she felt grateful towards me for saving her life, because she has never left my side since then." "So, what is mating with a rabbit like?" Sabrefang asked. "Don't ask me if it compares to mating with a wolf," said Greyus. "I didn't get that chance before I got exiled, and I can't just take another wolf for a mate until my punishment is lifted." "How would it be lifted?" Sabrefang asked. "I'd have to be the sole heir to my Pack's Leading family, or, if my father was murdered, I'd have to kill his murderer," said Greyus. "Otherwise, I'm not allowed to settle down, unless I want to mate with the daughter of another Pack's leader, and that isn't easy, as I'd have to beat each of her male kin in single combat, because my father hadn't made any agreements with another pack before my exile." "So, the rabbit follows you out of some obligation for saving her life," said the tiger. "I don't know," the wolf said. "She's free to leave me any time she wishes, but chooses not to, for some reason." |
| Meanwhile, Terra and his two stooges find themselves near the Village of the Winowski Tribe, "Here's a village," Riptor says. Terra says "Excellent, let's show them who their true leader should be." As they got closer to the village, they got a quite an unpleasant reputation... |
| Shortly after dusk, at Winnowsend, the main village of the Winowski Tribe, Shadowclaw, the clan leader, and Danny Boy had a huddle with some of the warriors of the tribe. "By now you have all heard of the three dinosaurs," Shadowclaw began. "They have been destroying farms!" complained one warrior. "We must spend all our time now protecting farmers from dino attacks." Shadowclaw held up his hands for silence. "The solution to our problem is near at hand. At the edge of the village, as you know, we have constructed a deep pit and put a false ground across it. It's big enough to hold all three dinosaurs and there are sharpened stakes at the bottom." "What good is a trap if there are no dinosaurs in it?" "I admit," said Shadowclaw, "that we didn't count on them going after farms before they attacked the village. That has been a big problem. We will have to lure them into the trap. A group of warriors will attack the three dinos, then pretend to take fright and retreat to the village." "And how can you be sure the dinos will follow? What if they smell it's a trap?" "Trust me," said Shadowclaw. "I know dinosaurs. Once they get the excitement of the chase in them there is no stopping them. Into the trap they will go." |
| Veloci says "Distorting those farms is quite a blast." Riptor says "Yes, smashing all those vegetables in the gardens was quite fun indeed. You should've seen the expressions of disappointment from all those cat farmers." Terra says "Now let's some have some real fun, we're going to attack this village, and by the time we're finished. They'll beg us to be their leaders." Veloci says, "Ooh, I can't wait." As they got closer to the Village, Terra soon finds himself falling into a pit cleverly hidden in the middle of the road followed by the two raptors. |
| "Goddammit!" Terra said. "A stake pit! Anybody hurt?" "Yes," said Veloci. "I'm hurt bad and I think Riptor is dead. You fell on him. I guess he saved your life." "I guess he did," Terra said, "but I'm in no shape to climb out of this pit." A couple of tigers appeared on the rim of the pit, looking down at them. "Thanks for dropping in," one of them said. "We hope you enjoy your stay." On the second day of their journey, Bartleby's party was attacked by an enchanted rhinocerous. Greyus and Moria leapt smoothly into action while Rumfuss and Foofaraw squealed in terror and Bartleby remained frozen with fear, unable to move or make a sound. |
| The Enchanted Rhino threw a spell at them, which the Wolf and Rabbit quickly dodged but the Two Boars were hit with gluing their hooves to the road |
| Greyus and Moria looked at the rhino "You can't hope to defeat me," the rhino said. "No magic has been made that can best me!" At this, Greyus rush in, and stabbed the rhino with his spear, piercing his heart. "I don't use magic," the wolf said. The rhino blinked, and fell over. "Should of stayed out of the way," said Moria. |
| Sabrefang looked over the dead Rhino, "Too bad his hide is too thick. He'll make a good meal for all of us tonight." |
| Bartleby quietly vomited at the side of the trail and Moria looked a little green. "Uh, bro," said Greyus to Sabrefang, "we aren't all meat eaters, you know? But a little advice for you... This rhinoceros was enchanted. It's not a good idea to eat enchanted meat." "I knew that," Sabrefang said. "I just got so excited by the smell of blood that I forgot. Let's dispose of this carcass so no one will get sick from it." On the third day of their journey the little party reached Scheneville, the main village of the Schenesi Tribe, and the place where the Queen of the Schenesi, Queen Mellowind, had her palace. They could see the town was decorated to celebrate a wedding. Rumfuss felt his palms strat to sweat. So this was it. He was finally going to meet his future wife, Princess Aurabora, for the first time. He hoped she would be beautiful. |
| Both Rumfuss and Sabrefang are surprised to see both Gruff Beard and Shadowclaw along with their tribes here. "Shadowclaw?" Sabrefang says "Didn't Danny Boy tell you?" Shaodwclaw says "About Terra, oh yes. We took care of that." He points to the side and there both Terra and Veloci in binds. "We set a trap for them, there we three but one got killed, now we got him here for his sentencing and punishment. I also heard there's a wedding." |
Twiga, too late for anything serious to be rumbling.  Hertzman, get ready to start your tale #4 soon. This tale #3 will be ending in about half a dozen more additions. Queen Mellowind and Princess Aurabora had planned for the wedding to be truly magnificent. There were flowers everywhere and expensive gifts for all the guests. And of course the guests brought gifts for the bride and groom. Rumfuss and Foofaraw had been given a room in the palace to sleep in that night. The wedding would be the next day. "I can't do it," Rumfuss said. "Huh?" said his brother Foofaraw. "What do you mean?" "I'm not ready to get married. I don't want to get married. I will not get married." His brother grabbed him and shook him. "Rumfuss! You can't back out now! It would shame our tribe. You should have thought of this before you left our home grounds." "It all happened so fast. I didn't have time to think." |
| "Arranged Marriages are always crazy," Greyus said, as he entered the room. "My parents' marriage was arranged, and it was five years before they spoke to each other outside of bed and meal times. Didn't stop either of them from seeking alternative mates, after I was born of course - mother had to wait until she produced my father's heir, as it were." "And what about now?" Foofaraw asked. "You're an exile, right? Who replaces you?" "Father shares two more sons with my mother, and has five others from other females, and that's not including daughters," said Greyus. "As for mother, she has at least eight other sons and daughters, eleven all total, including five offspring with males besides my father." "So, what about you and the rabbit?" Rumfuss asked. "You ever think of marrying her?" "There have been plenty of wolves who have taken rabbits into their beds, but not for marriage," said Greyus. "Besides, I have nothing to offer her. I have no position, I own nothing, I'm a fighter." |
| Moira says "Greyus, your companionship is all I need." Greyus just smiles, "Thanks Moira." Moira then turns to Sabrefang, "How about you? You must have parents in your tribe." Sabrefang says "In a way, the tribe is my family. My mother is Amberfur, Shadowclaw's daughter." Greyus says "That means Shadowclaw is your grandfather." Sabrefang says "Amberfur is free spirited, every now and then, she slept with almost every male warrior in our tribe. Like I said, my tribe is my family." |
| On the day of the wedding Rumfuss was terrified... NOTE: What Twiga wanted to write before Steev edited it out: On the day of the wedding Rumfuss was terrified. He was sweating profusely as he slowly marched down the aisle feeling like his life was over. And that's when it happened. And Earthquake! Every Beast crouched close to the Ground for Dear Life and the Earthquake loosened the walls that held the water in the lake and thus a flood of water flowed down to the wedding, not too much, just enough to carry everyone ten miles away, Rumfuss caught a piece of driftwood in the torrent and rode it to freedom...He found a tiny Island and was never seen on the Mainland again And that dear cubs is how Rumfuss invented the surfboard. On the day of the wedding Rumfuss was terrified... |
| Rumfuss fell on his knees before Foofaraw. "I can't do it, brother! I just can't! Go tell the Queen for me because I can't face her. I'm a nervous wreck." Since Foofaraw had already tried seven times to persuade Rumfuss to go through with the marriage, he realized it wasn't going to happen. Dreading the consequences, he dragged himself to the main hall where he asked to speak with Queen Mellowind. She had him sent in to her right away. After he explained how his brother would not be getting married to the Princess that day, Queen Mellowind stared thoughtfully at him, drumming her fingers on the arm of her throne. "What about you?" she said. "Me?" Foofaraw said, not know exactly what she meant. "Yes, you. You're single, about the same age as your brother. Same father. I think it would work." "Me?!" Foofaraw said, finally realizing she meant for him to marry Princess Aurabora instead of his brother. "Yes, you. I know you find her attractive. I've seen the way you look at her." "But would she agree?" "It doesn't matter. I'm the queen. She will marry who I say she will marry, but don't worry. I happen to know she thinks you're cuter than your brother." "Gosh!" Foofaraw said. "This is so sudden. I don't know what to say." "I would suggest you say yes. Think of all the unpleasantness that will be avoided and you will have a princess and a castle of your own." "Yeah, that's right. A princess and a castle of my own. I'll do it!" And so a wedding did take place that day, and because to many of the animals that were not boars, one boar looked pretty much like another, they didn't even realize a switch had been made. One giraffe nudged another with his long neck. "I thought the groom's name was Rumfuss, but in the program here it says Foofaraw." "Who cares?" said the other giraffe. "Have you seen how many bottles of champagne they have on ice? Whoooee! I'm going to drink bubbly until I get the hiccups." "Or until you puke," murmured the first giraffe under his breath. But the drunken festivities came later at the reception. Meanwhile the wedding went off splendidly, and Prince Foofaraw and Princess Auraboara had a long and happy life together. * * * |
| Name: Samuel Grayson/ Susan Bobtail Age, Gender, Species: 35 year old male Grey Wolf/ 33 female rabbit Background: Samuel and Susan each come from a long line of Mercenaries, Soldiers, Renegades, and Police. They are not related to each other, although their families have plenty of shared history. Posing as Exchange Teachers from Centralia, they are working at the University of Birdopolis, trying to, covertly, bring down the Bird Supremacists by exposing their own hypocrisy and corruption. Samuel and Susan were sitting at a table, eating lunch, by themselves, grading their students' homework, and listening carefully. "Have you located the agent from Jungleville?" Samuel muttered. "The Exchange Teacher from Jungleville is an obvious possibility," said Susan. "However, the janitor did live there before coming to work here." "Isn't the janitor a bird?" Samuel asked. "Families move around," said Susan. "We know this for a fact." "You have a point there," said Samuel. "You've been reading these papers?" "Someone is trying to influence the students, and not in a good way," said Susan. "Avian Superiority; it's a real joke you know," said Samuel. "Anyone who has done any real traveling will know that we are all jerks, no matter our race or species." "We're also capable of the same good things," said Susan. "We know this to." Samuel nodded. "It's amazing what you see when you travel." |
| Name: Stella Polaris Age Gender and Species: 16 Year Old Snowy Owl Background: Ever since Daru,Owls have been known for being among the most staunch supporters of Bird Supremacy thus Owls have been frequently viewed with suspicion Stella and her Family of Snowy Owls are against the Bird Supremacy Movement but are terrified to speak up, Stella is a quiet soul, and Artist and a Poet, she fears for her Future. Stella was sleeping in her bed (As Owls are Nocturnal this was during the daytime,) When it happened, she woke, finding herself levitating off the bed, she wasn't flying in her sleep, it seemed gravity had stopped working on her at the moment, she freaked out and promptly fell on the floor Her folks came in and she told them what happened, the Two Owls looked at each other "First Levitation." Said Her Mom "Stella." Said Her Dad "There is something we need to tell you...We...Meaning our Family Line are Mutants...Are Powers Manifest in Adolescence." |
| Stella's mouth fell open. "A mutant! I'm a mutant? How could you do this to me? What will the other kids say when they find out? I'll become an outcast!" "They don't need to find out," said her Dad. "We're comfortable with keeping it secret." "Oh, they will find out alright," Stella said. "You don't know how kids are. Some of them already think I'm weird because of my poems." Penelope Peacock knocked on Dr. Goodtalon's office door. "Dr. Goodtalon? Are you in there? I could use a little help if you have time." |
| Dr. Goodtalon looked up, "I hope this doesn't involve more of those Bird Supremacy propaganda, because I'm getting sick and tired of hearing those lies." Penelope says "You and me both, but it's about one of your students, Stella Polaris." Dr, Goodtalon says "Ah, the gifted young owlet. Something she did wrong?" |
| "It seems she might have some magical abilities," said Penelope. "Hmm, it's not unheard of, even in this day and age," said Dr. Goodtalon. "Magic often runs in families, and I've heard a few stories about her great-great-uncle, and how he was allegedly a wizard. So long as she doesn't use her abilities to do her assignments, I have no issues with it." "But, you know how owls tend to support-" "And you have a cousin you refuse to speak of," said Dr. Goodtalon. "We all have a black feather in the family; some have more. Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading down to lunch." A little while later, Dr. Goodtalon was in the cafeteria, where he saw the Staff tables; one crowded by almost all of the birds that worked for the University, and the other had the two Exchange teachers from Centralia - Samuel Grayson, Survival Education, and Susan Bobtail, Centralia History. He sighed as he saw how empty the second table was; even without the Bird Supremacists' propaganda, there was a lot of specieism against mammals and reptiles. "Got any issues with me sitting here?" he asked, as he came up to the table. Samuel looked up at him. "It's your cafeteria." "I guess you're not used to being isolated so much," said Goodtalon, as he sat down. "Wolf have their packs, and rabbits have their warrens." "We've been mostly solitary, and on the move," said Susan. "Our families have a long history of that sort of thing." "Our families don't settle down too easily," said Samuel. "Hard to find someone who spent more than a few years in one place, before packing up and leaving, sometimes bringing the family, and other times paying a separation fee, before heading out onto the trail. As for the offspring that stay behind, they become restless when they become teenagers, and soon enough, start traveling." "So, you've seen a lot of people?" Goodtalon asked. "Most are the same everywhere you go," said Samuel. "You have the good, the bad, and the folks stuck in the middle." "Ever travel with the Nomads?" Goodtalon asked. "They were our escorts here," said Susan. "Nice people, mostly." "I've heard stories that they still practice cannibalism," said Goodtalon. "They do, but they have rules and reasons," said Samuel. "It's like a religion for them; they believe that by eating the body, they are keeping the person's wisdom and knowledge in and among the group, and it's a rare honor from someone from outside the group to partake in this custom, as the person has to give their consent for an outsider to join their friends and family in it." "Of course, if you're worried about them eating random travelers, they don't do that," said Susan. "In fact, they see it as their duty to hunt down, and kill those who kill others for the sole purposes of eating them, or some such thing." "Saw it on the way here," said Samuel. "We came across a family that had been slaughtered for food. After they gave the family a decent funeral, the Nomads left us with two guards, and went after those responsible." "What happened?" "Let's put it this way," said Susan. "They don't eat the bodies of cowards." |
| The three of them ate silently for awhile, then Goodtalon said, "I didn't intend to bring up this subject, but you seem like honest, straight-forward people. Have you heard of the Bird Supremacy Movement?" Susan Bobtail laughed. "We've heard more than we want to hear. Are you a Supremacist?" "Good Heavens! No!" She laughed again. "I know you're not or you would have never sat down at our table with us. Well, it's good to know there is at least one sane bird in Birdopolis." "Oh, I'm not the only one. It's just that the Supremacists have gotten so much power that it's risky to say you don't agree with them." Goodtalon looked left and right, then leaned across the table and whispered, "People who disagree sometimes disappear, if you know what I mean." |
| One of the other birds, an Australian brushturkey, went up to Dr. Goodtalon and said "Traitor." Dr, Goodtalon says "What do you mean by that Mrs. Gobblebeak?" Mrs. Gobblebeak says "Your fraternizing with the enemy." "These two? They may not be birds but they're teachers here." "I don't know why Dean Pinkfeathers hired these two, but we say they got to go." |
| "Who is this 'We'?" Samuel asked. "The other teachers, or the Supremacists?" "It doesn't matter," said Gobblebeak. "We don't like you." "I don't like birds all that much myself," said Samuel. "Funny thing is, I don't like reptiles, or amphibians, or mammals, as all of them have some major assholes. Of course, there's a lot of good in all of the races." "Birds are superior," said Gobblebeak. "Ever hear of General Ioh Ironbeak?" Samuel asked. "Hundred years ago he tried to take over some of your mammal cities and failed to do so," said Gobblebeak. "Everyone knows this." "Hear about the part that, while on the run from his defeats, he was captured by cannibalistic brigands, who were intent upon roasting him?" Samuel asked. "No, I heard that he was captured by mammals and had his wings broken, while he spent time in their prison, breaking his spirit," said Gobblebeak. "Well, his wings were broken, but not because of those who turned him over to the authorities, but because of the cannibals," said Samuel. "Funny thing is, Ironbeak was rescued from these cannibals by a pair of bounty hunters who were looking for that group, and while the bounty hunters tried to treat the general's wings, the only ones around who could do so properly were the doctors at the local military hospital, who were busy treating the bird prisoners from his failed campaign. Now, the bounty hunters knew that he was an officer, but didn't know who he was, due to being knocked out, but they knew he needed help, and took him there. Of course, his own birds recognized him, and gave him away by accident, which meant that the bounty hunters were due an even bigger reward." "Figures." "Even funnier; a soldier who lost their brother during the fighting tried to kill him," said Samuel. "You mammals would attack a wounded soldier," said Gobblebeak. "Actually, it was one of his own," said Samuel. "Thing is, those bounty hunters restrained that soldier, and tied him to his bed, before taking the general to a more secure room. When the general came around, and found out about how the bounty hunters had saved him, twice, he asked them why did they do it. They told him, 'Because if you found another person in the same position you were, you wouldn't feel right it you just left them to die.' So think on that one, the next time you try to spread your rhetoric." "How do you know that story?" Gobblebeak asked. "I've never heard of it." "Heard it from my grandfather, who heard it from his mother, who heard it from her husband, after he brought home the money from capturing said general," said Samuel. "Susan here is a direct descendant from the other bounty hunter as well. You'd be surprised at the stories our family has been part of." |
| "Nevertheless," said Mrs. Gobblebeak, "the sooner you go back where you came from the better." Then she waddled off back to her table. "That's a nasty old biddy," Susan said. Dr. Goodtalon nodded agreement. "I'm afraid there are quite a few more just like her teaching here. What irritates me is that their prejudices get transferred to the students. It's not a healthy situation." Stella Polaris, the young Snowy Owl, was gradually getting used to her new knowledge about herself, that she was a mutant with some magical powers. For days she said nothing, just wandering around the house with a droopy look on her face. Then one day her expression changed. She looked her father in the eye. "Dad? There is something I have to know." "What is it?" he said. "I'll always try to answer any questions you have. You know that." |
| "Why are we Mutants?" She asked "Um...Well.: Said her Dad "Long ago...One of your Ancestors was a Wizard..." |
| Somewhere in the woods, near a pond, Samuel was teaching his class some Primitive Fishing techniques, specifically, making a fish trap out of reeds. "This can save you some energy that you can put into other things," he said, as he weaved the plant fibers in a funnel shape. "Fish go in through what they think is a good sized hole, which gets smaller, until they end up in a chamber with other trapped fish. Thing is, when they try to escape, they have difficulty finding the exit, as they try to go up, or down, but not in the middle of the trap. In many cases, you don't even need to bait the trap." "I don't understand why we have to know this," said an osprey. "I can just fly out over the pond, and snag whatever fish I see." "True, you could do that," said Samuel. "However, what if you need to utilize stealth? If you are tracking someone, or if someone is tracking you, flying over the pond would give you away, and could get you, and your friends, killed." The wolf picked up a finished trap, opened it, put a good sized rock in it, tied a rope to it, closed it, and carefully tossed it into the middle of the pond, well, twenty feet away. He then tied the rope to a tree, and pulled in another rope, revealing yet another trap, which he lifted up. "This is what you hope to get," he said, as he opened the trap, letting his catch escape back into the pond. "That trap had enough food for at least three, if not four, of you for supper, and all you needed to do was just bide your time for a few hours, during which you could be doing something else, like sleeping, or gathering medicinal herbs. Now, let's do some plant identification, so that you know what would have gone good with those fish." |
| When Professor Goodtalon got back to his office, he locked the door. From it's hiding place he carefully removed a box and sat it on his desk. "Project Stop Them Now," he muttered to himself. Inside the box was a project Dr. Goodtalon had been working on for a long time, something that he hoped would slow down the Bird Supremacy movement or possibly even stop them. One of the items in the box was a big log book. He found Mrs. Gobblebeak's name in it and entered the date and "unkind to visitors" next to her name. The log book had hundreds of pages filled with names and incidents. he hoped one day it would be presented as major evidence in a court trial. He put the log book back in the box and took out one of the notebooks that described one of his inventions. He had a new idea to make the invention even better. |
| There was a knock on the door, "Dr. Goodtalon," A male voice whom he recognized is Dean Pinkfeathers says "Can I come in?" Dr. Goodtalon quickly put his invention away and unlocked the door and opened it, the Flamingo came into the office. "I spoken with Mrs. Gobblebeaks, she won't be much trouble anymore. I won't let segregation ruin this fine academy. Those Supremacists think we birds are more Superior just because we can fly, did you know bats can fly too." Dr. Goodtalon nodded, "and they're mammals." "How about my friend, Dr. Spitfire from the Paradise Oasis labs. A dragon, she could fly too." |
| Since Owls are Nocturnal Stella took the Night Classes at the University along with the Nightjars and Whip-Poor-Wills |
| As it was, the class was Centralia History, being taught by Susan Bobtail. The rabbit watched her class as they came in. She soon noticed the young owl; her features reminded Susan of a painting she'd seen of one of the various criminals her and Samuel's families had hunted down through the generations, specifically, a wizard who had forced carnivores to act in a bloodthirsty manner, or so the story went, until his head had been cut off. Still, she knew that plenty of families had, as the birds would say, a black feather in them, and the Grayson's and Bobtail's were no exceptions to this; the last assignment she and Samuel had been on had involved capturing a murderous cousin of hers, and prior to that one, Samuel had been forced to kill his half-brother, who had taken to raping and murdering children, which took him a while to get over. |
| Susan tried to make some small talk with the young owl, but Stella Polaris seemed to have no knack for it. It was obvious she preferred to be left alone. For a moment, Susan wondered if the girl was a bird supremacist and just didn't want to talk with a mammal, but then she decided no, it was just that Stella was a shy, young owl. Owls were known to have a difficult time socializing. They were nothing like the crows or the pigeons who flocked together with plenty of chatter. In Dr. Goodtalon's office, Dean Pinkfeathers continued to reassure Goodtalon that the school would never give in to bird supremacist pressures. "I don't know how such a philosophy could ever become so popular," he said. "The important thing now is to put a stop to it," said Goodtalon. "If there was only a way to do that..." "Oh, there's a way, I believe." |
| Dr. Goodtalon got out the box with his invention and puts it on his desk "This, I call it Project Stop Them Now," |
| Stella just then felt a small tingling sensation in the back of her head,that's when the lights flickered on and off for a few moments Stella gasped knowing that this was her budding powers doing funny things |
| Susan looked at the flickering lights, before looking at the owl, and noticed her nervousness. "Always seems to happen in big buildings when there's a lot of power flowing, and not enough things to use it up." |
| "It's me," said Stella in a small voice, looking down at her feet. Susan frowned. "You? How could it be you?" "I have powers..." Stella whispered. In Dr. Goodtalon's office, Dean Pinkfeathers looked at the box. "Project Stop Them Now. What's in the box?" Goodtalon explained the Bad Deed Logbook and a few other things. Then he produced a gadget that looked like a cross between a compass, a protractor, and an hourglass. "This is my Mutant Detector." "I'm intrigued," said Pinkfeathers. "Do mutants really exist?" "There have always been a few born in each generation." "But what does finding mutants have to do with stopping the Bird Supremacists?" |
| Dr. Goodtalon says "I believe they have powers to help defend themselves against all attacks, l example, one could have the ability to knock down someone with a simple EMP blast right from his or her hand talons." The dean says "Interesting concept but how does this doodad work?" Goodtalon says "Once I turn this on, it will make a noise once it detects a mutant." He points to the compass, "A light will guide us telling us which direction the mutant is. And we turn it on," He flips a switch just under the hourglass "Here." As it powers on the machine makes a noise sounding like a loud chirp with an amber light showing on the compass "Looks like we got a live one, shall we go out and find it?" |
| "To be honest, I already have a possible suspect," said Dr. Goodtalon. "Stella Polaris. Her great-great uncle was believed to be a wizard, and there is a clear history of magic in her family." "She'd be taking Centralia History with Susan Bobtail," said Pinkfeathers. "I'd advise some caution here, and not because of Stella." "What do you mean?" "Haven't you heard of the Bobtail rabbit clan, or the Grayson wolf clan?" "Who hasn't? Bounty Hunters, Mercenaries, Hired Killers, and more," said Goodtalon. "Most of the stories are probably exaggerated." "Yeah, but all of them are good fighters, and it's not wise to cross them," said Pinkfeathers. "Also, more importantly, and I hope I can trust you on this, but Samuel and Susan aren't exactly teachers. The Police Chief told me to hire them, for the students' protection." "Undercover security guards?" Goodtalon asked. "Something like that," said Pinkfeathers. "They're trying to take down the Bird Supremacists, and it's believed that the best way to do that is to deny them the possibility of recruiting young followers. They want the members to grow old, and die." |
| "Ha!" said Goodtalon. "Like I want to wait that long! I'll grow old and die myself. Why does the bureaucracy have to do everything the slowest way possible? No, I want the Bird Supremacists to fail much sooner than that." Dean Pinkfeathers frowned. "I'm a little alarmed at the intensity of your desire for that. You always seemed like such a mild-mannered fellow to me." "I am mild-mannered," said Goodtalon, "but this Bird Supremacy thing irks me in a way nothing else ever has. I feel it's my mission in life to bring them down." "This academy was not founded to teach fanaticism." "You needn't worry about that," Goodtalon said. "I don't preach to my students. If we discuss Bird Supremacy, it's always in a rational, objective way." "That logically shows why it is wrong?" Goodtalons laughed. "You can't fight logic." |
| It was then in the Classroom where Stella was, two Black Eagles in Uniform came in "All Right Mutant!" Said One of the Eagles "You're coming with us!" |
| "Excuse me, but do you have a slip of paper giving you permission to take her?" Susan asked. "This isn't your business rabbit," said one of the eagles. "Sorry, but unless you have permission from her parents, or the school, I'm afraid I can't let you take her," said Susan. "And what are you going to do about it?" the other eagle asked, thrusting a wing at Susan, shoving her back to the chalkboard. Susan grinned. "Since you put it that way." She grabbed the eagle's forewing, and squeezed real hard, causing the bird to shriek with pain, and slammed him into the wall. "Oops! I forgot that bird bones aren't as strong as mammal bones, due to being hollow!" She looked over at the first eagle. "Keep your wings where I can see them. Don't even think about reaching for the knife. Otherwise, I'll use your friend's knife, and I'm fairly good at knife-throwing. It's hard to be a Bobtail without knowing how to do that." "A Bobtail rabbit?" the first eagle said, as he watched his partner squirm in pain and discomfort. "There wouldn't happen to be a Grayson wolf around?" "Teaching the Survival Education class," said Susan. "I'd safely wager that he's on his way back to the school with his class." "I see," the eagle said. "Let my friend go, and we'll leave." Susan turned her captive around, and shoved him towards the first eagle. "Why you little hairball!" The second eagle reached for his knife, only to find it wasn't in his sheath, and was instead being held by Susan, who held it in a stance that said that she knew what she was doing. "Another time," said the first eagle. He looked at the rabbit. "We'll be back." The two eagles left. Susan looked at her students, who seemed to be in shock. "Now class, to place this, in its proper location." She walked over to the trashcan, and dropped the knife inside. "Any questions?" "How did you do that?" one of her students asked. "Work behind a bar, and you learn a trick or two," said Susan. "Now, back to your lessons." |
| "So what do you think?" Goodtalon said. "Shall we go find that mutant or not?" "Alright," said Dean Pinkfeathers. Let's find it. Since it might be one of my students, I guess I better be in on this." Goodtalon adjusted his Mutant Finding gadget. "This way," he said, and strode off down the corridor with Pinkfeathers following him. |
| The device lead both Goodtalon and the Dean right to Susan Bobtail's class, Dean says "Just as I thought." Susan looked up, "Dean Pinkfeathers, checking up on my class?" One of her students, a young woodpecker says, "Dr. Goodtalon, you should've seen what Miss Bobtail did 10 minutes ago, these two guards tried to take Stella away. She took care of them." Dean overheard this and went up to Stella, "Are you alright?" |
| Stella was sitting at her desk with her head cradled in her arms. "I'm alright," she said in a small voice. |
| "She should be fine," said Susan. "Providing that people give her some space." |
| Dean Pinkfeathers drew Goodtalon aside so no one could hear their conversation. "This is your mutant? How is a shy young girl like this going to help us? She is terrified." "It's not about her personality," Goodtalon said. "It's about her powers, and we don't know what they are yet." "Well, I suggest we bring Susan Bobtail in on this because you and I are not going to be able to deal with a shy young girl and Bobtail seems to have formed a bond with Stella." "I agree," Goodtalon said. "Why don't we set aside the school's guest visitor suite for the next few days. Susan and Stella can stay there and we can conduct a few experiments on Stella under controlled conditions." Pinkfeathers nodded. "You think you can figure out her powers so quickly?" "We've got to at least try." |
| Dean Pinkfeathers went up to Susan Bobtail, "Could we have a word with you?" Susan says "If it's about the knife in the trash, I took it from one of the guards that was disrupting my class." Goodtalon looked at the knife and recognized the insignia on the handle "Bird Supremacists, they've must've known about Stella." Dean says "Could you talk to Stella? Tell her that she's in danger." Susan says "I can take care of the guards, no problem." Dr. Goodtalon says "Except they'll be back, with re-enforcements." Susan says "I need Samuel's help on this, except he's teaching survival class right now." Dean Pinkfeathers consults the teacher class schedule and looks up Samuel Greyson. |
| "I could talk to him about it tomorrow," said Dean Pinkfeathers. "I've heard about your families' various escapades and deeds, both good and bad," said Goodtalon. "But, what can you and Samuel do?" Susan chuckled. "Let's put it this way; if those two had made the mistake of touching one of the students, Samuel would be teaching his class the Nomads' custom of cooking, and eating, the dead, and I'd be personally dining upon those eagles' wings." Goodtalon blinked at this. "I didn't know that rabbits ate meat." "Small amounts if you're a pregnant female, or if you're a buck trying to bulk up to impress the females, or something to that effect," said Susan. "Normally I don't eat meat, but every now and then, one needs a little extra protein that doesn't come in a pill." "What about the stories where opposite-sex Graysons and Bobtails have sex with each other?" Goodtalon asked. "That's a little out of line," said Pinkfeather. "Most of those are true," said Susan. "Better to have sex with someone you know than someone you don't when the mood hits you big time, and better to do it with someone who can't get you pregnant when you're not ready to be a mother. As far as I know, there are no wolf-rabbit hybrids or rabbit-wolf hybrids in our family trees, and Samuel has never gotten me pregnant in all the times we've done it." |
| "Well, really," said Pinkfeather, looking daggers at Goodtalon. "I don't think we need to be discussing that sort of thing." The arrangements were made for Susan and Stella to occupy the guest suite and after a little persuasion, Samuel was put there as well. "I'll feel safer with him here," Susan said. So Dean Pinkfeathers had given in and allowed it. On the first day of her testing, Stella tried to explain to Goodtalon what had happened to her so far. "Sometimes when I am sleeping I will wake up and find that I am floating above the bed." "Levitation!" said Goodtalon. "Let me write that down. What else?" "Sometimes I will feel a tingling in the back of my head and then the lights will flicker on and off." "Oh my!" Goodtalon said. "Electromagnetic psychokinesis! That's very rare. There is only one case in recorded history." Stella started crying. "I'm an oddball! I'll always be the weird one. Boohoohoo!" "Don't cry," Goodtalon said. "Susan! I need your help here." |
| Susan came to the crying Stella, "There there, I know what's your going through. Think it almost gotten worse if those guards took you away." Dr. Goodfeathers says "Yeah, it would be more of an interrogation then just asking questions." |
| Susan glared at Goodtalon. "I'm going to take her for a walk, alone." She gently grabbed a hold of Stella's hand, and walked out of the suite with the owl girl. Goodtalon tried to follow them, only to be stopped by Samuel. "She's in one of those moods," the wolf said. "That rabbit wants to be alone with the young bird." "Aren't you going to go after her?" Goodtalon asked. "Only if I want to lose my ears," said Samuel. "Susan knows what the girl is going through, because she's been there." "She can use magic?" Goodtalon asked. Samuel shook his head. "Worse; she's a Bobtail, just as I'm a Grayson. Outcasts and outsiders, both our whole families. A male rabbit gets interested in her, only to find out what she is, they go 'I want a doe that will stay home and raise my kits, and not hop off with some wolf.' A female wolf gets interested in me, her father's like 'I don't want some mutt to leave you to go hump rabbits.' That's not including the fact that our families are full of hired killers, mercenaries, bounty hunters, assassins, and others you wouldn't want in your typical family tree. That and we've both been in our fair share of fights while growing up, all because of who our parents were." |
| As Stella and Susan walked along on one of the school's sidewalks, a few flakes of snow drifted down. "That's odd," Susan said. "It's not the time of year for snow." "I feel cold," Stella said. The flakes began to fall faster and there were more and more of them. "I think we better get back to the room," Susan said. By the time they did, the wind was blowing fiercely and the snowflakes were so numerous they could hardly see where they were going. |
| Inside the room, Goodtalon, Pinkfeathers, and Samuel were staring out the window. "I've never seen snow this early in the season," Pinkfeathers said. "It's Stella," Susan said. "You can add weather-making to her powers, Goodtalon." Good talon pulled out his clipboard. "Will the list never end?" Samuel chuckled. "What's so funny?" Pinkfeathers asked. "I was thinking what a scare we could put into the Supremacists with these powers. Stella appears before them while causing a storm to rage. She tells them they must change their ways or else. Then she points at the lights and they go out. To seal the deal, she levitates a few feet off the floor. Those old birds will be scared out of their gourds." "Yeah," said Pinkfeathers. "Too bad Stella is so shy. She could never pull off that kind of scene." "Right," said Samuel with a grin. "She needs a partner. We let Susan do the talking while Stella does the tricks. Susan, could you think of anything to say to the Bird Supremacists?" "Could I?! There's plenty I would like to say." |
| "That and there's our bag of tricks," said Samuel. "Smoke bombs, noisemakers, pepper bombs, and more. The only issue is numbers; they still have fifty in their main base around here, plus supporters." |
| "I have an idea," said Dean Pinkfeathers. "I'll could call for an assembly of all students and teachers. Then we could pull off our stunts there while we had everybody together." "It sounds like you are getting very enthusiastic about this," said Samuel. "I've always wanted to stop the Bird Supremacists. I just never believed it was possible before. Now that I see what Goodtalon and Stella and you and Susan are capable of, I realize it's not impossible after all. There might be a way." "There IS a way!' said Dr. Goodtalon. "This is what I've been waiting for, a plan and a group capable of actually doing something." "I'm scared," Stella said. "I want to go home." |
| Dr. Goodtalon says "I know you're scared but sending you home could prove dangerous. You may end up walking into a trap set by the Supremacists." Susan says "Yes, If the soldiers are here for you, chances are, they could be waiting for you at home and I shutter to think what may happen if they may do to force you to use your powers for them." |
| "Send her home," said Samuel. "Samuel, what are you talking about?" Susan asked. "The Supremacists would follow her." Samuel grinned. "Exactly. She flies home. The observers fly, and then fly back to base, and which point the family takes the back route and walks here, just as we take the back route to her place." Susan chuckled. "They wouldn't expect that." "They never think down-to-earth," said Samuel. |
| Stella then heard the Snow talking to her "Stella!" The Snow said "Who...Who are you?" Asked Stella "We are the Spirits of the Winter." Said the Snow "We are at your service." Stella was unsure what to say The Snow blew around her,lifting her up. |
| "Oh!" Stella said as the Winter Spirits lifted her up and then set her down again. "Alright, Sam," said Dean Pinkfeathers. "We will do it your way. Stella, are you ready to fly home? Goodtalon, maybe you better fly with her." "I'm ready," Stella said. "Then let's leave now," said Goodtalon. "Sam, is there anything special you want us to do?" |
| "Just head to her place, and then walk back here," said Samuel. "Make sure to bring her family as well. Remember to walk along the back route." "Why walk?" Goodtalon asked. "It's so that they don't see you," said Samuel. "That's one thing about you birds I've noticed; you don't see something if you're not looking for it, or if it's not where it should be. If you fly, you'll be spotted; if you walk, you'll be ignored." "Anything else?" Pinkfeathers asked. Susan handed him a list. "Call these numbers, give them our names, and tell them the girl's address." "Who are they?" Pinkfeathers asked. "Have you noticed an increase in mammals, reptiles, and amphibians in low-paying jobs recently?" Samuel asked. "Well, I've noticed a few hundred; trash collectors, street sweepers, package deliverers, and the like," said Pinkfeathers. "One never really looks at them." "Exactly," said Susan. "And a number of them are agents from the various law enforcement agencies from the whole of Anthromorphia; this is a joint mission with all of the various agencies working together to deal with this issue." "How are you going to do it?" Goodtalon. "By exposing their own hypocrisy," said Samuel. "For one, the leader of this group has been known tho visit this cat who, shall we say, know how to give a really good massage, among other services." Susan gave Goodtalon number of pictures. Goodtalon looked at them, before handing them back. "She must be really good at it." Samuel chuckled. "Well, she is a physical therapist, among other things; of course she was off the clock when these pictures were taken, and it isn't the kind of physical therapy most doctors give their patients. Nice lady otherwise." "Got plenty more of various other higher-ups doing things their organization likes to denounce," said Susan. "And we have copies. It has been found that the best way to kill a group is to starve it of members; keep the young from joining, and the remaining members grow old, and die, and the group fades from memory." "But, why not go out and arrest them?" Goodtalon asked. "Funny thing about that; arrest a whole bunch, they recruit more, and even get radicalized even further," said Susan. "It might seem counter-productive, but shaming them seems to do more than arresting them. Peace works where violence doesn't." |
| "That sounds like good advice to me," said Dean Pinkfeathers. "Dr. Goodtalon, I think we better accept the fact that this wolf and this rabbit know what they are doing." "I accept it," said Dr. Goodtalon. "That's the difference between the normal bird and a Supremacist. The Supremacist would deny the ability of any species to do anything better than a bird could do it." "Such foolishness," Pinkfeathers said. "I'll be glad when the Supremacy Movement has been suppressed. Let's hope our plan works." Pinkfeathers and Samuel and Susan watched Stella and Goodtalon fly off toward Stella's home. "May their efforts be successful," Pinkfeathers said. "If this works they should be walking back into here in a few days." "That's when the fun begins," said Sam. |
| "Are you sure the photographs will do the job?" Pinkfeathers asked. "Personally, I'd like to go kick them all in the head," said Samuel. "But, do that, and they laugh. Show them a picture of their leader having sex with a cat, and you'd think they just saw a horror show." |
| Stella looked at him. They were in the air about halfway to her home. "You're asking me?" she said. Goodtalon blushed. "Did I say that out loud? Sorry. I'm just worried that this scheme will now work." "That's Sam and Susan's problem. All we have to do is get my family and walk back." They managed to accomplish that simple task without incident. Three days later they were back at the school with Samuel and the rest. "We will all be safe here at the school, I hope," said Dean Pinkfeathers. If there is any trouble we have basements and cellars to hide in." "The only trouble," Samuel said, "will be in Birdopolis when the public finds out the truth about the Bird Supremacists. Let Operation Bird Stomp begin!" |
| "So, just what is the plan?" Goodtalon asked. "You know how the Bird Supremacists like to use the Public Messaging services to broadcast their propaganda?" Samuel asked. Goodtalon groaned. "I know. One hears and sees it, all the time." "We will turn their own weapon against them," said Susan. "When the public sees these images and hears what's going on, they will avoid the group." "Does it work?" Pinkfeathers asked. "Works in politics all the time; folk are more likely to follow someone who has been accused of embezzling funds than they are to follow someone who has a known reputation for molesting females," said Samuel. "Even better, these stories have proof." |
| Goodtalon takes out a picture of a Panther being beat up by a couple of guards, "Will this do?" Susan grabs the picture and looks at it with a surprised expression, "Where did you get this?" Dr. Goodtalon says "At the train depot, a college of mine from the Jungleville University decided to come by to discuss a student exchange program. I had no idea that the Supremacists didn't like such an idea and beat the truth out of him, latterly." |
| (And, given the timeframe, here are my two mercenaries - Trevor "Swift Blade" Grayson and Sally "Long Shot" Bobtail.) Trevor looked out over the berry farm he'd stayed on for the last few years. He hadn't planned on settling down, but getting a busted leg during the course of killing a murderous mage would make anyone incapable of walking more than a few miles, at least for a few months. Then, there was Amanda; her family owned the berry farm he and Sally had been taken to, and there wasn't a whole lot to do when the winter hit, except keep warm. Amanda had gotten pregnant while keeping warm with him, and he was the father of two wolf cubs, a boy and a girl. Trevor looked over at Sally, who was holding onto a small rabbit that looked like her. She too had gotten pregnant, while keeping warm with a rabbit named Josh, who worked on the berry farm, and now had five children with him. "Funny how things work out," he said, as he looked at her. "Neither of us wanted to settle down, but we have." "Not hard to do that, especially since your ribs were busted," said Sally. "You were lucky this village had a healer who could set both them and my leg up." "At least Josh is good, for a buck," said Trevor. "Amanda's good, for a bitch," said Sally. "Still, I feel the urge to leave this place, and get on the road." "Been getting bored guarding this village," said Trevor. "We could leave for a few months, and then come back." "Got to talk to Josh and Amanda though," said Sally. "How's your sword?" "Sharp and sturdy," said Trevor. "Your bow and arrows?" "Got a good string, and the quiver is full." Trevor looked at the berry farm. "We'll come back here when we're done. Might make some good money this time." Sally chuckled. "Only if we don't get killed." |
| Name: Calabi Diamondback Age, Gender and Species 23 year old male Rattlesnake Background: Ever sense he was a hatchling, Calabi always dreamed of adventure one of his favorite stories is the Tales of Elrar and always wanted to visited it, but that got dashed when he heard Elrar is closed to the public, now mature he plans to see the ruins and see the treasure and plan to join an exposition team. Always eager to explore and risk almost anything to satisfy his goals. Appearance: A humanoid rattlesnake almost grey in color, whears cool comfortable clothing to survive in the desert, he sometimes wears a vail over his face during sandstorms. his giveaway is a 3 foot long tail with a rattle on the tip, he sometimes shakes it to grab attention Calabi is at Paradise Oasis refilling his waterskin. "There we go, plenty of water for my quest fo the Elrar ruins now to check the map and decided the best route." He consulted the map, "Hmm, I can go south to Five Point, then Northeast on Slashfoot Pass then North, but then again, go North, East then South where the distance is shorter but that's Coastal Settlements will I risk arrest if I go there?" |
| Name: Dray Age Gender and Species: 18 Year old Wild Boar (descended from Rumfuss) Background: After narrowly escaping an arranged marriage Rumfuss invented the sailboat and found a Tropical Island inhabited by Tropical Boars, their he married the Island Princess and lived the rest of his life in Paradise Dray is the 151st descendant of Rumfuss and he's finally decided to leave Porcine Paradise to see the rest of the world. Dray's Mom was bidding her Son a fond farewell she gave him plenty of beans to eat as she didn't know how long he would be at sea |
| Although he tried and tried, Eric could not talk his good friend Jason onto going to the Elrar Ruins with him. "I'll go without you, then, and it will be your fault if I get killed in the desert." "Hey! Don't blame it on me!" Jason said. "You don't have to go there." "I know, but I need a break from all this boredom around here. Don't worry. I won't get killed and I will be back in six months." "Why six months?" Jason asked. "Because my Dad said if I make that promise then he will give me some money for the trip." After traveling across the Central Plains, Eric reached the mountains and crossed them at Slashfoot's Pass. That night he stayed at the Slashfoot Inn. "Who was Slashfoot?" he asked the innkeeper, who was a Stegosaurus with purple-tinted scales. "A dinosaur hero of many centuries ago. A Tyrannosaurus Rex with a wicked kicking technique. That's how he got the name Slashfoot. He was an explorer and conqueror. In his attempt to cross the mountains he discovered Slashfoot's Pass." Eric's room was tiny, just barely big enough to hold a bed, but the price was right, very cheap. After an equally cheap meal of stewed root vegetables, Eric climbed into bed and immediately fell asleep. The last thing he heard was the innkeeper talking with some new arrival who wasn't a dinosaur, but whether it was a wolf, a snake, or a boar, Eric couldn't tell. |
| The innkeeper looked at his latest guests; a male wolf and a female rabbit. Both were armed, and battle-scarred. "Will you be sharing a room, or are you separate?" The wolf looked at the rabbit, who looked at him, before looking back at the Stegosaurus. "Is a group rate cheaper than a single rate?" "Single rate is ten copper coins, while a couple's rate is seventeen coins, with an additional six coins per additional guest," said the Innkeeper." "Good," the wolf said. "One room with one bed will do us fine." "So, you are together," the Innkeeper said. "Most herbivores don't like sharing a room with a carnivore." "When someone has saved your life as many times as I've saved this mutt, you learn not to argue too much," said the rabbit as she got out the coins." "As many times as you've saved me?" the wolf asked. "I know damn well I've saved your life more times than you saved mine!" "And who dragged you when your ribs got busted, all with their own leg having been broken?" the rabbit asked. "Well, who was it that jumped in front of you, covering you from most of the blast when that mage summoned that final spell in an attempt to kill us both?" The rabbit grinned. "I still dragged your furry tail to the village." "And I still covered you!" The wolf chuckled. The rabbit chuckled. "Let's get you our room, and get some sleep." The Innkeeper watched as the two went to a room. "Strange pair of hired-claws." |
| As Trevor and Sally head to their room, they experienced a commotion. An angry-looking Volociraptor is pounding on one the doors, "Calabi! You owe me a great deal of money and I expect my payment right away! Calabi! Open this door now!" Sally came up to him, "Hey, that's no way to see other guests. Could you be a little more considerate?" The Raptor faced Sally with an angry glare, "This is none of your business rabbit. I will not leave here until I receive my payment from Calabi." |
| Dray was currently at sea...He remembered the day when he was a Piglet that he broke wind in front of his entire class and ever since that day he's had trouble keeping in his gas |
| Eric Bunny woke up with a start. There were loud voices in the corridor and a pounding on a door. He cracked open his door and peeked out. In the hall were a wolf, a rabbit, and a dinosaur. The dino was some kind of raptor Eric thought, although he was still learning the names of all the many different dinosaur species. There had been very few dinosaurs back in Centralia and most of them were Hadrosaurs, a group that traveled all over Anthromorphia as merchants, often in large caravans with their families accompanying them. A snake opened the door that the raptor was pounding on. |
| Calabi opened up his door and recognized the Raptor, "Leechfang, give me at least a couple more days time, I'll have more then enough money to pay you back. I'm close to finding the Treasure of Elrar." Leechfang just chuckles, "You believe that myth? Face it Calabi, if there were treasure in thiose ruins it'll probabley looted by grave robbers." Calabi noticed that he had an audience, "Hello, my name is Calabi Diamondback and you two are?" |
| "Just a couple of travelers who'd prefer to have a quiet night's rest," said Trevor. "Then leave and don't bother us!" Leechfang hissed. Sally grabbed the raptor by the collar, dragged him to her level, and pressed the tip of her knife to the overgrown lizard's throat. "Me and my friend have had a long walk today, and my leg is bothering me. If you don't keep it down, I'm going to turn you into a pair of boots." She shoved the raptor back, and walked towards the room she and Trevor had been given. "I'd listen to her," said Trevor. "People who annoy her tend to end up dead." He walked past the dinosaur, only to stop at a familiar scent. He turned, and saw a familiar male rabbit. "There's a familiar face." Eric's eyes widened. "Swiftblade?" Trevor rolled his eyes. "Yes." "Um, does she remember me?" the rabbit asked. He remembered her, and his maleness was trying to do the opposite reaction from what it usually did when he saw a female rabbit. "You wouldn't be the first she's threatened to neuter," said Trevor. "Just be glad you weren't someone who tried to rape her. More than a few would-be rapists have found out the hard way why attempting to do so is a bad idea." Eric chuckled nervously. "Right." "See you in the morning," said Trevor. "Me and Sally have had a long day, and my ribs are bothering me." He walked into his room. |
| A couple of dino kids who were fishing in the surf with a handheld net spotted the boar and called out to him. "Where did you come from? How did you get here?" "It's a long story," Dray said, "and I'd rather not go into it right now. Is there a town nearby?" "A town?" said one of the kids, looking puzzled. "Yeah, you know, like with an Inn and a store. Where do you buy your groceries?" "We don't buy them, we catch them!" Dray sighed. "Where can I clean up and buy a few things I need?" "Papa Pagoda's Boat Shop is down that way about half a mile. He sells fishing supplies." "I guess I'll go talk to him then." Eric Bunny went back to bed. He was so exhausted he fell quickly asleep without thinking much about Sally. Something made him wake up while it was still dark and he sensed a presence in the room. "Don't be alarmed," said a voice. "I have a message for you from the Old One. You will visit his tomb. You will meet a snake, a wolf, a rabbit, and a boar on the way. You will be rewarded with great treasure when you complete the task the Old One has set for you." "What task?" mumbled Eric, but he sensed the presence was gone. In the morning when Eric woke up, he remembered what happened, but he wasn't sure whether it really happened or it was a dream. |
| After the rabbit's threat over Leechfang, he began to get nervous and said his goodbyes vowing to return with friends, Calabi closed his door and went to bed, but during the night, he heard a voice calling his name, "What?" Who's there? What do you want?" The voice says "Who I am is unimportant, but my message from the Old One is. You will visit his tomb. You will meet a wolf, two rabbits, and a boar on the way. You will be rewarded with great treasure when you complete the task the Old One has set for you." Calabi says "Task? What's the Task?" but his question is unanswered as the presence is gone. In the morning Calabi woke up puzzled what happed was real or a dream. |
| Trevor watched as his partner got into the bed. It was barely big enough to fit both of them, but they'd slept in worse places, some being barely little more than holes that Sally had dug out. "Saw a familiar looking rabbit." "I saw him," Sally said, as she scrunched herself along the wall, so that Trevor could sleep in the bed as well. "Still wet-behind the ears in my opinion." "They usually are, until they find out if they have what it takes to actually survive out there," Trevor said, as he got into the bed. "How's your leg holding up?" "A little sore, but nothing a good night's rest won't fix," said Sally. "Not that I'd be able to get any here. How's your ribs?" "About the same," said Trevor. "Of course, a little bit of exercise would help them out." He placed his hand on Sally's waist, right where it would be easy for him to open her pants. Sally grinned. "I'd love to, but I doubt that the bed could survive you." Trevor chuckled. "Alright. Another time." |
| It was only a few minutes of walking until Dray reached Papa Pagoda's Boat Shop. Papa Pagoda was a grumpy old Komodo Dragon. His scales were encrusted with algae and spilled beer. "Hello!" Dray said. "Is there a town nearby?" "A town?" said the big lizard. "You won't find many towns in the desert. There's Five Points and Paradise Oasis and Slashfoot Pass, but ain't none of them close by." "I don't understand how you people live without towns." "Well, we eat fish and we make the things we need ourselves. Pretty simple, really. So I guess you grew up in a town, eh?" At the Slashfoot Inn, Eric gathered his few possessions into his backpack and began the long hike to the Ruins of Elnar. A farmer came by with his wagon of hay and said, "Hey, buddy, I can give you a lift for a few miles unless you prefer to walk?" "No, I'll ride," Eric said. "Thank you!" They had only gone another mile when they rode past a wolf and a rabbit walking beside the road. "Stop!" Eric said. "Those are friends of mine. Can they ride, too?" |
"You know those sell-claws?" the farmer asked. "More or less," said Eric. "What's a sell-claw?" "Part of the time they hire themselves to some powerful pack, and fight for them," the farmer said. "The rest of the time, they are little better than bandits." "These two aren't bandits," said Eric. "As it is, if half the stuff that's said about them is true, bandits would be better off staying away from them." "What are their names?" the farmer asked. "Some folks call them Swiftblade and Longshot." "Swiftblade and Longshot? I heard that they were dead! Killed by some mage a few years back!" "So, you've heard of them?" "Hard to find someone who hasn't," the farmer said, as he slowed his wagon. "Tell them they can climb on. I don't want to risk making an enemy of them. Their enemies tend to turn up dead." |
| Calabi then walked beside the wagon, "Mind if I join in on this ride?" The Farmer says "Sure, why not?" Eric looked at Calabi, "Aren't you the same guy that dinosaur was after?" Calabi asks "Stayed at the Inn too eh? Yeah, sorry if he woke you, Leechfang isn't the type visitors I normally get. He's just a muscle for a bigger pain named Malodius Rex." The Farmer says "I heard of him, he's the one that us farmers struggle to get our crops to market." Eric asks "Worse then Gerald?" The farmer asks "Who's Gerald?" |
| Dray was given a free canteen full of water as he made his way across the desert to find whatever he was going to find |
| "What's that cloud of dust up ahead?" Sally said. The farmer stopped his wagon. "Looks like a herd of triceratops. We better wait until they finish crossing the road." Then he turned to Calabi, "So who is this Gerald of which you speak?" |
| Calabi says "I was wondering that myself, besides it was him that asked." He points to Eric. Eric says "Gerald was this tyrannical lion that nearly took over the Jungles," Sally says "Now I remember, Prince Alexander hired us to help him for his downfall." Eric, Sally and Trevor explained the entire situation. Calabi says "So an evil uncle situation, thank goodness my father was an only child." Trevor looked out in the desert, "Hmm, either that's a mirage or I see a boar crossing the desert." |
| (Sorry for any confusion, but the female rabbit's name is Sally - Susan is her descendant.) Sally took a look. "It's a young boar trying to cross the desert. Doesn't know the first thing either about desert travel." "You mean he doesn't have any water on him?" Eric asked. "Lack of water isn't the issue, if you know where to look," said Trevor. "It's quicksand. You think you've found a nice pool of water to drink, and next thing you know, you get stuck in the sand and dirt." "Does that stuff suck you under the ground?" Eric asked. "You can escape it by swimming, very carefully," said Sally. "Problem is if you get too tired to do so, or move around real fast. You don't really sink so much as float. Still, you could die of thirst and exposure. Then there's the cleaning of the muck off of you; the stuff gets everywhere, including places where sand shouldn't go." "Have you ever dealt with it?" Calabi asked. "One person we were after thought he could escape us through a swamp, only to get stuck, and due to the fact he was carrying a good deal of stolen gold, he did start to sink, although he managed to grab a branch from a tree, and was able to hold on for his life," said Trevor. "We decided to set up camp, and wait until he begged for us to rescue him. Sally, being both lighter and a better swimmer, went out to him, cut free the stolen loot, and, using a rope, I pulled him out, followed by her." "The only thing about it was that I didn't want to get my clothes covered in that muck, so I had to rescue him in my bare fur," said Sally. "Took us a little while to find a safe stream to bathe in, and a little while longer for me to clean myself." "Um, what about the gold?" the farmer asked. "At the bottom of the swamp, and I didn't fancy getting it," said Sally. "You're better off with a reduced bounty than to lose your life fishing for treasure." Trevor nodded at this. "We did let the townsfolk know where the loot was, just in case they found someone who could retrieve it for them. It was the least we could do after loosing it." Sally looked at the boar again. "Might as well give him a lift." |
| When our Heroes came over to Dray he waved happily at them. "Hi there." He said "My name is Dray." |
| After they introduced themselves and Dray had been invited onto the wagon and they were on their way down the road again, Eric said, "So what's a boar doing out here in the desert by himself, Dray? Are you looking for something?" |
| "I'm from a faraway place." Said Dray not wanting to give away the location of Paradise Island "I came here to explore." |
| "The Ruins of Elrar," said Dray. "I've heard of them. It was some kind of ancient city, wasn't it?" "It was a fabulous city," Eric said. "It was the largest city that ever existed in Anthromorphia." "But who built it?" "The First People," Eric said. "They were all reptiles. In those days this area was not a desert. It was lush and green. They grew all kinds of crops - corn and grapes and peaches and tomatoes and beans and some say many foods that no longer exist. They built a mighty city. They had no enemies so the city had no walls. It just grew bigger and bigger with each generation." "And now it's just ruins?" Dray said. "What happened?" "Climate change. This area gradually became a desert. It took a long time but crops failed. People starved. They had to spread out far and wide to find enough to eat. Living in a large city was no longer practical." "And all of you are going there? Why?" "Treasure," Eric said. "The First People were master craftsmen and they made things from gold as well as other metals. If we can find one unopened tomb then we'll all be rich." Dray's eyes grew wide. "Golly! Can I be a part of this?" "You do your share of the work and you will get your share of the treasure. Right, Trevor?" |
Trevor took a wide-brim hat out of his pack, and placed it on his head, lowering it slightly. "Treasure would be nice," he said, as he leaned against the hay, along with Sally, who had a similar hat shading her eyes. "However, you're likely to encounter nothing more than a bunch of ruined buildings, and a pack of bandits with a price on their heads. That's why me and Sally are out this way." "So, you're out to collect a bounty," said Eric. "There's this lizard who had been making things difficult for traders heading towards this village known for its berry farms," said Trevor. "Sally and I have been staying there the last few years, raising some kids, and well, when you get to know someone, you can't just stand still when someone has attacked them, and stolen their goods. Some of those traders are good friends, and the berries the village exports include some that are rare and valuable, not to mention medicinal." "What a moment, you have kids?" Eric asked. "Happens," said Trevor. "Find the right female or male, or any female or male, and children tend to be the result." "You have kids, together?" "No. That's nearly impossible," said Trevor. "I found a female wolf, and she found a male rabbit." "I never thought you'd be the type to settle down," said Eric. "Bust your leg and ribs, and tell me how much traveling you plan to do," said Trevor. "Had to deal with a mage, who had a tendency to alter the personalities of carnivores, from being upstanding citizens, into bloodthirsty beasts. He tried to kill us, but we killed him, and then he tried to take us with him. That part didn't work out for him, although he came close to it." |
| At the Ruins of Elrar, s large herd of dinosaurs, made up of mostly Raptors and other carnivores are searching though the ruins among them a vicious looking T-Rex and Leechfang is with him, "Calm down and describe who is the one threatened you?" Said the T-Rex, "Yes Malodius, A rabbit, grey in color." Malodius Rex says "Was there a wolf with her?" Leechfang says "Yes, you know them?" "Only by reputation, they're Mercenaries. Sally Bobtail and Trevor Greyson. This is going to be a problem. Even if we find the treasure, chances are. we will not live long enough to keep it." He calls to his guards, "Fortify the entrances, don't let anyone in." |
| On the wagon, Dray broke wind loudly emitting a smell that only boars can produce. Everyone glared at Dray who blushed. "Sorry." |
| "Get off my wagon!" said the farmer. "But I said I'm sorry," Dray said. "Yeah," agreed Eric. "He couldn't help it. Sometimes you have to fart." "I don't care," said the farmer. "I don't want to carry a load of stinky hay. Anyway, this is where I turn off. All of you are on your on now. The ruins aren't much farther down the road. Less than a day's travel if you are walking. Good luck!" Trevor and Sally and Eric and Dray and Calabi watched the farmer continue on his way. "It's well past noon," Calabi said. "If we keep walking it will become dark before we get there. Should we make camp?" "I say keep walking," Eric said. "We're all rested from riding in the wagon and I don't think I could get any sleep tonight knowing I was this close to our goal." "What about the rest of you?" Calabi said. "Trevor? Sally? Dray?" |
| "Set up camp, and have a light meal," said Sally. "After that, have some water, and sleep until evening." "But, we could get there sooner," said Eric. "I want to get the treasure." "Do you know of a safe place between here and there?" Trevor asked. "A place that you've been watching, a place you can keep watch from, a place with food and water nearby?" The wolf pointed to a small oasis. "There's water right there, plus some shade. We'll check it out, and if it's safe to stay at, and safe to drink, we'll set up camp, and have a light meal, before getting some sleep. It will get cooler later, and that's when we'll travel." "Why later?" Eric asked. "It's only going to get hotter until evening," said Sally. "We've done this sort of thing before." "They have a point," said Calabi. "Even reptiles rest until dusk in this heat. Too much, and you fry. Most people do their tasks in the morning and the evening, when it's relatively cooler. Even bandits sleep during the heat of the day." |
** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** At the ruins, Malodius Rex is in it what's left of a royal palace. Looking at the twisted metal of what was once a throne, "Fix that up, and I'll have someplace to sit and oversee my new empire." A Dilophosaurus says "It's well suited for you boss, but the others. Shouldn't they be finding the treasure room here in the palace instead out in the hot sun? Castles like these are often have a treasure room." "Nonsense, besides they can take the heat." "By the way, the battle towers are up and Arrow and his flock are watching from the skies." |
| "Good," said Malodius Rex. "And you, Dondell, will command the battle towers group." The two crests on the Dilophosaurus's head swelled with pride. "Thank you. I will strive to be worthy." One of Arrow's Pterodactyls came in for a landing nearby, scrambling clumsily to keep from falling over as it folded it's leathery wings. "A campfire has been spotted less than a day's travel from the ruins." "Ah!" Said Malodius. "Visitors!" "A group of mammals," said the Pterodactyl, "about five of them." "Mammals, eh? Hmmm, mammals in the desert. They must be treasure hunters. Just like a mammal to have hope where there is no hope." "What do you want us to do?" "Nothing now," said Malodius. "Wait until tomorrow and see if they are really headed here." |
| Trevor sat down, watching the fire. Two stews were cooking. The water in the pool was good to drink, and combined with some of the dried meat and fruits that he and Sally had in their packs, they would have a nice lunch. The real trick was making sure that the young ones had some dried food in their packs, as well as water. Thankfully, the oasis had some fruit that was ripe, and the pool had some fish, both of which were now drying. "You're going to slow us down with a lot of this stuff," said Eric. "Better to have too much food instead of not enough," said Sally. "This may not be a spring salad, but it will keep you alive on long trips. Also, always bring twice as much water as you have food. You can always find food if you look hard enough. Water, that's a bit more difficult, especially if you don't recognize the signs." "I've never had to deal with this before," said Dray. "Well, if you came from an island with plenty of fresh food, you probably never had to prepare it," said Trevor. "I didn't say that I was from an island," said Dray. "You didn't have to," said Sally. "Your outfit tells us that you're from an island west of here. Trevor and I have been to a lot of places, and while I can't say that we've been to your island, they tend to dress similar." "Now, for a more important question," said Trevor, as he looked at Calabi. "What do you know about Malodius Rex?" Calabi blinked. "What makes you think I know him personally? I mean, I only know the one who works for him." "Nothing really," said Trevor. "I thought that, you being a local, you might have heard something." "I've heard he has over thirty bandits and sell-claws working for him," said Calabi. "I hear that they are an evil lot." Sally chuckled. "They've never had to deal with us." "They say he's unbeatable," said Calabi. "They say he eats those he defeats." "In that case, I hope he has an appetite, for pain," said Trevor. "I like beating those with an ego. It's rather satisfying." "But, he has all those fighters," said Calabi. "As the old strategists say, 'Avoid your enemy where he is strong, Attack him where he is weak,'" said Sally. "If he really does have a lot of fighters, we trick them into chasing us, and watch as they wear themselves out. Then, as the fighters exhaust themselves with the effort, we cut them down, one by one." "But, what if they hold their ground?" Eric asked. Sally fiddled with her bowstring. "They might take issue with their friends being made into pincushions." "Are you going to use fire arrows to burn them out?" Eric asked. "Waste of arrows, unless you're trying to hit a wooden target, and you have the right arrows," said Sally. "That, and it gives your position away." |
| A voice says "So, you all here, the Old One awaits for you. But beware, there's enemies at the gates." Both Eric and Calabi recognized the voice, Sally says "Who's there?" "A friend." says the voice. Drey was a bit frightened but Trevor says "If you're a friend, please show yourself." The voice says "If that what you want, here I am." Soon small speck of lights appear over the campfire like fireflies. Then they flew to one side and came together and as soon began to take shape. As the presence manifested, it was a... |
| "Do not be alarmed," said the Protoceratops. "I am not a ghost. My name is Ralkan. I am the enlightened spirit of an Old One." Ralkan's voice was deep and resonant. It made Eric feel calm and at peace. "You spoke to me in a dream," Eric said. "Yes," said Ralkan. "Those of you who I could speak with that way, I have done so, but the rest of you can only hear me if I manifest an image of myself as I have done now. I know you all seek treasure in Elrar. Be warned that there is no gold to be found, but only doom. However, I am offering you an even greater treasure than gold if you are interested." They nodded their heads and Eric said, "Yes, we want to hear what you have to say." "Elrar was a Holy Place for many and still is for the Enlightened Spirits, a small group of Old Ones who managed to leave their bodies and transcend space and time before the Final Collapse. Elrar was more than just a city of bricks and stone. It was also a spiritual center of great learning." Ralkan paused to look at each of them individually. His head was oddly shaped and his eyes were small but very wise. "The Holy City of Elrar has been desecrated by a gang of bandits. Their leader is a Tyrannosaurus named Malodius Rex. Though the gang is large in number, most of its members are dim-witted rejects from society. You should be able to outsmart them. Your mission is to make them leave Elrar forever." "Should we kill them?" asked Eric. "As an Enlightened Spirit, I cannot urge any being to kill another being. How you get them out of the city, whether dead or alive, must be of your own choice. The Enlightened Beings will help in any way we can, but since we have no bodies, there isn't much help we can give. And now I must go. The energy required to manifest me this way is considerable and I feel it waning. Good-bye and good luck on your mission." Ralkan's image dissolved back into points of light which drifted away. "Wait!" Eric said. "What is the 'greater treasure' that you mentioned?" Calabi chuckled. "Looks like we'll have to take that on faith." "You don't believe him?" Eric said. "No, I believe him. It's just that his definition of treasure might be different from mine. That's all." |
| "There's all kinds of treasure," said Trevor. "To the starving person, a loaf of bread is a treasure. To he who is thirsty, water. To one who has been in a battle, life. To one who is lonely, a friend. Gold and jewels are nothing compared to any of those." "We would know this from experience," said Sally, as she looked at Trevor. "Out in the Wilds, gold won't feed you, quench your thirst, save your life, or comfort you." |
| Calabi says "I guess I would never pay off my debt. Oh well. I also got a feeling Malodius Rex does find the treasure, it won't be as he expected. He's more driven on greed then hunger, thirst or even friendship." |
| They broke camp early the next morning, before sunrise, and shortly after noon they got their first glimpse of Elrar. They came over a small hill and saw the first signs. The ground was littered with rubble, rectangular rubble that must once have been the building bricks of a city. It wasn't long before they encountered recognizable walls even though time and the weather had reduced them to looking almost like natural rock formations. In the distance could be seen even larger structures, large buildings that had somehow survived for centuries without collapsing. "Those Old Ones knew how to build," Eric said. "This place is even bigger than Centralia." One temple seemed particularly well-preserved. "Let's check it out," Eric said. As if that were their cue, a group of a dozen raptors rushed out and surrounded Eric and the rest. The largest one motioned for them to go inside. "I guess we found the bandits," Calabi said. Dray farted. "I'm sorry! I do that when I'm afraid." "Just stay calm," Sally said. "If they were going to kill us they would have attacked us instead of surrounding us." |
| They were soon brought before Malodius Rex. "Well, well, well," the overgrown lizard said. "If it isn't the famous Swiftblade and Longshot; I heard that you were dead, killed by a mage." "Some mage dies in an explosion, and everyone thinks you're dead," said Trevor. "They never think to check the nearby villages for someone with severe injuries." "You're also old," said Malodius. "Happens when you're real good at surviving," said Sally. "Otherwise, you end up dead." "You have a point there," said Malodius. "Too bad it's all over." "I don't think so." In the blink of an eye, Trevor grabbed a knife from his belt, and threw it, only for the knife to land in a beam just above the lizard's head. "You missed," the lizard said. "Run!" Sally shouted, as she and Trevor grabbed the younger ones, and dashed towards the entrance. Malodius chuckled. "After them." The bandits gave chase. "Fools." Then Malodius sensed something, and looked at the knife, which turned a bright red. "Oh-" A strange, and somewhat painful sound, followed by some loud screams, entered Eric's ears. "What was that?" "Combination of saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur, and a few other thing, in a hollow tube with a heat source," said Trevor. "If the knife shards didn't cut his face to pieces, the flash of the powder igniting certainly burned him. Either way, he ain't going to look pretty!" "Is he dead?" Calabi asked. "Doubt it," said Sally. "Knife handle isn't big enough for that much powder. More of a distraction than anything - look!" Eric took a quick glance - the bandits were running back inside, to see what was wrong. "I guess that's useful." "Now to find someplace safe," said Trevor. |
| Soon they find themselves in a building that was once a harem. "This'll do," An Allosaurus doctor was treating Malodius' face, "I admit, that's the first time I see a knife explode like that but the damage is quite extensive. I manages to get all the knife shards out, but your face would never be the same." Malodius bellowed "I can't believe I fell for such a trick, Swiftblade and Longshot proved to be so tricky, no wonder they servived. Next time they won't survive my full wrath!" "Right now, stay calm while I treat you of all of your cuts, bruises and burns." |
| Dondell the Dilophosaurus was mad with rage. "They won't get away with this, boss! I'll fix them!" Eric found himself facing an enraged Dilophosaurus. He almost peed, but then something came over him, a strange calm that gave him strength. "Stop!" he said, in a deep voice that didn't sound like his own voice. He held his hand out and for some reason, maybe sheer surprise that a rabbit would be so bold, Dondell stopped. "You must leave this place," Eric said in the deep voice. "The Old Ones command it." Dondell looked skeptical. A thousand sparks of light gathered around Eric and shimmered until Eric became a Protoceratops, but a huge one, twice as tall as Dondell. "You and the other bandits must be gone by nightfall, never to return, or a terrible fate awaits you." Dondell stared at the giant Protoceratops with its strange head and beady eyes. Then he turned and ran away. The Protoceratops dissolved with a fizzing sound as all the sparks of light scattered. Eric collapsed in a faint. When he woke up, he was himself again and Sally was wiping his brow with a damp cloth. "Are they gone?" he said. "The bandits? Yes, they suddenly ran off. Didn't even say good-bye." Eric looked around. "Ralkan? Wherever you are, we have done your task, thanks to your help." But there was no response, only silence. BB Wolf, your next addition is the last one for Tale #5, then it's your turn to invent Tale #6 with your next addition after that. |
| Eric walked out, and saw Trevor looking at the tracks in the sand. "Do you know where they've gone?" the rabbit asked. "Not anyplace I want to go," said the wolf, as he pointed in the direction the tracks went. "They went in the direction of a toxic swamp." "Toxic swamp?" Eric asked. "Never heard of one." "Let me put it this way - you don't want to stop to drink the water, or eat any plants that grow there," said Trevor. "It's said that the Gods cursed it due to the locals' greedy, and murderous ways, as they'd lure travelers there, kill them, and take their stuff. It's said they still live there." Sally came out. "Are we going after them?" "Toxic swamp," said Trevor. Sally nodded. "They're as good as dead then. Let's get to someplace nicer, and less hot, and less sandy." |
| Both Calabi and Dray came out, Sally says "How about you two any plans?" Calabi says "I don't know, Centralia perhaps heard many opportunities there." Trevor says "What about your debt?" "From what I overheard you two, Malodius Rex and his band of bandits are as good as dead, So why should I pay someone when they died of toxic poisoning?" |
| Eric said, "What about the 'greater treasure' that Ralkan promised? Why haven't we received it? Ralkan! I know you can hear me! Ralkan!" Dray patted his shoulder. "You can't always get what you want, bro." "But he said there would be a greater treasure for us. Ralkan!" The only reply was the echo of his own voice from the ruins. Eventually he gave up and ran to join the others who were leaving. It was years later before he realized what the greater treasure was... but that's another story. * * * |
| Name: Dr. Juan Mandez Age, Gender and Species: 28 year old Maccaw Story: This time and age, Birdopolis has became a welcome place for mammals and reptiles. Bird Supremacy is now considered a crime and with science anything is possible including interspecies relationships, Dr. Mandez is one such doctor, a brilliant scientist who specializes in helping interspecies couples bare children. Dr. Mandez came out of the lab and sees his assistant "Just got a letter from Kevin Stripe." His assistant said. Juan says "Ahh, the tiger who married that fox, Jasmine. How are they doing?" The Assistant says "They are doing great, especially Brandon. They are taking the Anamalia Express from Jungleville for Brandon's yearly check-up." Dr. Mandez says "Can't wait to meet them, meanwhile what's next in my agenda?" The Assistant says "A wolf and a rabbit, Greg Greyson and Betty Bobtail." Juan says "Sounds like a challenge, okay let's check their records and we'll go from there." |
| Name: Dinky Doodle Age Gender and Species: 27 Year Old Male Thread Snake Story: An Oddly Small Snake born with Strange Powers Dinky Doodle aspires to be a Superhero |
| Dr. Juan Mandez, the old Maccaw said, "Nurse, bring me those Bobtail Greyson records please." Nurse Dinky Doodle, a Thread Snake, slithered in with the files. "Ah," said Mandez, I see Dr. Ballington is the lead doctor on this. That eagle does some fine work... when he isn't drunk. Hahaha!" Dinky Doodle laughed along with him. It was well-known that Dr. Ballington never met a bottle he didn't like. Dr. Mandez studied the records carefully. Both Greg Greyson and Betty Bobtail had a tendency toward using extreme violence to solve their problems. Presumably they would want that same aggressive quality in their child. But better ask. Sometimes parents wanted children that were the opposite of themselves." |
| "Greyson and Bobtail," said Dr. Mandez. "Now, there's two families with a history. Hard to find a conflict that doesn't have them showing up, in one form or another. Mercenaries, soldiers, police officers, explorers, the occasional criminal or two; they've done all of it from behind the scenes, while others get the glory." "Makes one wonder," said Doodle. "Are they the same pair? Immortals?" "No, but they, and their family members are tough, and hard to kill," said Mandez. "It has come in handy in their history, as someone always tries to kill them. This pair are law enforcement officers from Centralia. More than a few criminals have tried to kill them, and have failed. Their families are real good at surviving." |
| Dr. Ballington went talked to both Greg Greyson and Betty Bobtail, I looked up both your family records and you two have quite a history. Descendants of Mercenaries, Trevor Greyson and Sally Bobtail, but that doesn't matter. What matters it's possible for you two to produce such a hybrid offspring." Greg says "You mean you could do it?" The Eagle says "I can't do it but I'm sending you to a doctor who can, I already sent the copy of the records to Dr. Juan Mandez." Dr. Ballington presses the button on his intercom "Dinky Doodle? Could you kindly come to my office and escort Mr., Greyson and Miss Bobtail to Dr, Mandez's office if you please?" |
| Dinky Doodle was sitting by himself reading a magazine about new breakthroughs in medical technology |
| One that particularly caught his attention had the headline Snakes Grow Legs!. Interesting, thought, Dinky Doodle. Oh the places I would go and the things I would do if I had legs. The intercom buzzed again. "Dinky!" said Dr. Ballington. "I told you to come escort my patients to Dr. Mandez!" After examining both of them, Mandez said to Greg and Betty, "You are in excellent health. I think we can make this work." "Exactly what do we have to do?" Greg asked. "Oh, not all that much. We'll need an egg from Betty and some sperm from you and then after that it's all magic and science." "What's our child going to look like?" asked Betty. "That's difficult to predict," said Mandez. "There are a lot of random factors." |
| "Such as?" Greg asked. "Different genetics for one thing," said Mandez. "Let's take teeth, for instance. Greg, as a wolf, you are a carnivore. Betty, you are a rabbit, a herbivore. In the case of a rabbit, you primarily have two types of teeth - incisors for snipping off pieces of vegetation, and molars to grind it up. In the case of a wolf, most of your teeth deal with the rendering and tearing of meat. Your child's teeth will be a mix of this." "So, our child will be an omnivore," said Betty. "Most likely," said Mandez. "However, that's the only thing we are certain of. The rest gets tricky. With one couple we're dealing with, a monkey and a bald cat with no tail, one of the possible predictions for their child showed a nearly bald monkey, with some fur on their head, and minimal fur on the rest of their body, and no tail." "What happened?" Greg asked. "Still too early to tell really," said Mandez. "In any case, we have a device that can show us possible outcomes, so that we don't have to try and come up with images right out of our imagination." |
| Dr. Mandez pulls out a lapton device and types on the keyboard "Let's see what your child may look like. If the father is a wolf and the mother is a rabbit, you get this." On the screen it shows... |
| ...a wolf with unusually big hind legs and unusually big ears. It's muzzle was shorter than normal and it had buck teeth. When Greg and Betty didn't say anything after a few moments, Dr. Mandez said, "Well, what do you think?" Greg and Betty looked at each other, then back at the display image. "You're sure this is what it would look like?" Greg said. "That's one of the possibilities," Mandez said. "It's the most likely one." |
| "And, other possibilities?" Greg asked. "Here's another," said Mandez. The image changed into something that looked like a rabbit, with the teeth of a wolf. "The next most likely possibility," said Mandez. "That being said, we're not exactly sure." "What about birth defects?" Betty asked. "Now, that I can speak about with more confidence; I don't foresee any real medical issues with your offspring." Greg looked at Betty. "That's good to know." |
| Then a Tiger/Fox hybrid cub burst into the office, "Whoa, someone's impatient to see me." A tiger accompanied by a vixen then arrived "Sorry Dr. Mandez, Brandon is anxious to see you." said the tiger. The vixen says "Come Brandon, we need to go back to the waiting room for our turn." Dr. Mandez says "That's alright, why not let him stay for a few minutes." Greg says "Is that a hybrid of Fox and Tiger?" Dr. Mandez says "This is Brandon Stripes, along with his father Kevin and mother Jasmine." Betty says "Jasmine, a very pretty name." Jasmine says "Thank you, Miss uhh..." Betty says "Betty Bobtail and this is my partner Greg Greyson." Keven asks "Thinking of getting an offspring eh? don't worry, Dr. Mandez is the best." Greg says "Speaking of which, do you mind showing off your son to us?" |
| "I don't mind at all," said Kevin Stripes. "We're proud of our boy. Brandon! Growl like a tiger and then bark like a fox." Brandon did as asked. Greg said, "Interesting. So for some traits, a hybrid has both of them instead of choosing between them?" "Oh yes," said Mandez. "Did I not mention that? So Brandon here is not only clever as a fox, he also has the aggression of a tiger. He's like a fox on steroids or a tiger with a brain implant." "Hey!" Keven said. "Tigers are not dumb!" "Sorry!" Mandez said. "That came out wrong." |
| "Needs to work a bit on that one," said Jasmine. "I didn't like the steroids part myself. Brandon is himself; some of the best of the both of us, along with some of the worst, although we're trying to work on that one, especially the part involving scratching the furniture." |
| Greg then looks at Brandon's physical looks, he has tail, stripes and eyes of a tiger. but he has ears, muzzle and fur of a fox. His feet are feline while his hands are canine. When Brandon noticed Greg looking at him he just grinned showing off his feline fangs. Betty saw this and was nearly startled "Whoa, that's quite a physical trait. Dr. Mandez, do you think our child may look like that?" Dr. Mandez just shrugged, "It's possible, but sometime I can't predict the outcome." |
| The next day Greg and Betty were back in Dr. Ballington's office. The old eagle examined their records. "Everything looks good. Dr. Mandez says you are in perfect health. Shall we do this?" "What's the rush?" Greg said. "We might want to think about it some more. It's a big decision." "I'm going to let you in on a secret," Dr. Ballington said. "It's a decision a lot of people might have to make soon." Greg could smell the whiskey on the eagle's breath. "Why is that, doctor?" "This is secret," said the eagle, "so keep it to yourselves, but there is a virus loose that is slowly reducing the population by making reproduction impossible. The only way we've found so far to counteract it is to make hybrids. The hybrids are resistant to the virus." |
| "Tell me you're joking," said Greg. "I wish." Dr. Ballington sat back in his seat. "This virus isn't your typical virus; it doesn't make you sick, like in the usual sense, but it will kill us all in the end. In fact, even if the two of you were of the same species, you'd soon have to resort to artificial reproductive assistance to have children." "Is there a cure?" Betty asked. Dr. Ballington sighed. "We do not know. There's some egghead working on trying to crack the mystery behind it, but here's what I do know; it has been predicted that, within ten years, it will be impossible for any of us to breed within our own species. That being said, natural hybrids, such as wolf/coyote-crosses, and lion/tiger-crosses, and other such crosses, including back-crosses, like a lion/tiger-cross breeding with a full-blood lion, will produce offspring, even if the pure-blood has the virus." "How do you know about the hybrid resistance?" Greg asked. "Let's just say that one of my patients is a Golden/Bald Eagle-Cross hybrid, and has a Bald Eagle mate, and they've successfully had offspring, even though the Bald Eagle has the virus," said Ballington. "The child, however, as well as the hybrid parent, do not carry the virus. Then, there are others, who have all checked out free of the virus." Greg looked at the eagle, but the bird betrayed nothing more. "I think we understand. Even natural hybrids with related species will reduce the odds of having the virus down to zero." "The possibility for the virus to mutate is there, but yes; the natural hybrids we've examined, of all sorts, have proved to be immune, thus far," said Ballington. "Bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian; all of us have those subspecies, and it's only by breeding between the subspecies, will we have a chance." |
| Betty says "If that's the reason to have a wolf/rabbit hybrid, then we'll just do this even though we may not have the virus yet but it never hurts to be prepared." Greg nods "True, but in the meantime we should get examined just to be sure." Betty says "What shall we call our child?" Greg says "Hmm, depending on the gender. If it's a boy, we'll call it Jack, but if it's a girl, Jacklyn. What do you think?" |
| "If it's a girl, we could name her after my sister, Stephanie," said Betty. "Are you kidding?" Greg asked. "I don't want to name the kid after her, especially after what she did! I still have the scar in my ear!" Betty chuckled nervously. "Well, it's not like she did it on purpose. You were the idiot who walked onto the field when I was teaching her how to throw knives, and you walked out from those trees." "A little lower, and I'd of had a lobotomy," said Greg. "How about we name her after my cousin Tiffany then?" Betty asked. "Her husband still wants to kill me for that misunderstanding three years ago, when she jumped me, while naked, just as he showed up," said Greg. "She was expecting him, not you," said Betty. "He still wants to kill me." "He does not." "He gives me that look every time there's a family picnic." "He has allergies to pollen, meaning his eyes always get red." "Well, in any case, let's get back to the hotel," said Greg. "I don't want to stay here the whole time." |
| Mandez and Ballington were sitting in Dr.Ballington's office, each sipping on a cup of coffee. Ballington's coffee was spiked with rum. "What do you think of the Grayson/Bobtail hybrid possibilities?" asked Mandez. "Looks good to me," said Ballington. "I hope they go for it. Say, did you hear about the alligator/flamingo hybrid they attempted?" "No. What happened?" "They got a big pink lizard with wings and long legs." "Can it fly?" "No, and it can't walk very well either." Dr. Mandez sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if we are doing the right thing experimenting with the reproductive processes of nature." "It's either that or extinction." |
| Dr. Mandez says "Let's discuss the origin of this virus." Dr. Ballington says "Such as?" "Who do you think engineered it, the Bird Supremacists?" "Can't be them, they're against all reptiles and mammals and this virus effects birds too, why would they release a virus that effects all species?" |
| "I guess you have a point," said Mandez. "Not even they are crazy enough for this." "In any case, we need to make sure that the hybrids we create are viable, and can survive," said Ballington. "Our work will do us no good if we don't make sure that our offspring can't live long enough to create their own offspring, one way or another." Some time later, Greg and Betty were in their hotel room. "It's funny how things are," said Betty, as she took her clothes off. "There we were, thinking the only way we could have children was to make arrangements with another rabbit/wolf couple, and here's this group of scientists working on creating hybrids, all because of some virus." "That's the part that worries me," Greg said, as he finished taking his clothes off. "I guess it would be scary," said Betty. "I mean, you try for years, only to find out that you can't! That's just horrible. I mean- Hey! A little warning next time Greg!" Greg chuckled, before he kissed his now-pinned lover. "You should have expected that." Betty chuckled. "I guess I should have." She then kissed him back, and slipped out of his grasp, only to tackle him. "I should of expected that." "You should have." Downstairs, the desk clerk was smart enough not to look up as he heard the sounds drifting down to him. "Need to make those rooms soundproof." |
| Dr. Ballington handed Greg and Betty forms to sign. "This just says you understand everything is risky and you won't hold us responsible for anything that might happen." "I've been treated by doctors before," Greg said. "They do like to protect themselves with legal documents, but no document can protect you from my blade." Dr. Ballington gulped. "Well, of course we are hoping nothing will go wrong. Any reason why we shouldn't begin right now?" |
| Whoa, he's not even Trevor, I guess these Greyson wolves are badass through the bloodline. Betty says "Greg, calm down. He's a medical doctor not a criminal." She turns to Dr. Ballington, "Sorry about Greg's outburst, he gets overprotective at times but I don't see any reason why we shouldn't start don't you Greg?" |
| "What? Oh! No," said Greg, as he signed the forms. "Mine's the easy part. They give me a cup, a dirty magazine, and lead me to a private room, where I can fill the cup up. Yours is more difficult; I hope their hands aren't too cold." "Oh, you!" Betty said, as she punched the wolf in the shoulder. "Easy," said Greg. "You made me mess up my name." "Sorry," said Betty. "I'll just have to make you mess yours up." The rabbit chuckled. "Good luck there." |
| After the samples had been collected, Dr. Ballington and Dr. Mandez took them to their laboratory. "Where's Dinky Doodle?" said Ballington. "I don't know. I thought you sent him on some errand." Ballington made a phone call. "No answer at his house. Very strange. He's usually reliable." Mandez adjusted a large complicated-looking piece of equipment. "Ready to put the samples in the Hybridizer?" "Did you double check your settings?" "No errors this time." |
| Unaware to the rest of the staff, Dinky Doodle is still in his hiding spot, unfortunately died from the virus. Dr. Ballington says "Let's hope we don't get too much for the machine can handle, you know how rabbits multiply." Dr. Msndez says "Dually noted." Soon both DNA samples into each slot marked with a male and female sign, as each DNA coding was put in a the machine scans each of them "DNA 1: Male Wolf, DNA 2: Female Rabbit, ready for hybridization." Dr. Mandez presses the button and then the machine starts up. Dr. Mandez, says "I hope this is successful as Keven and Jasmine Stripes with Brandon." Dr. Ballington says "I hope so too, but we'll find out in the few minutes." |
| "I just hope everything is going alright," said Betty, as she and Greg waited in their hotel room. "I mean, what if there's multiple offspring? I mean, mother had me, my sister Elizabeth, my brother Arnold, and my brother James, when she was pregnant with us four. Then, there was the time she had six, when she was fifty-three years old, and I was thirteen, and I still don't know who their real father was. That's saying nothing about my older siblings. I mean, you know how our families are." "I know," said Greg. "I've been busy tracing the family trees, trying to find the records of all of the Greysons and Bobtails, including the ones that don't share the name. Hard to find adults that stayed in one place for more than a few months - children were often left with the other parent." |
| The undiscovered corpse of Dinky Doodle, dead from the Virus, began to decay. It was infiltrated by scavenger microbes causing the tissues to liquefy and fall away from the bones. Meanwhile, in the laboratory of Dr. Ballington, a new life was forming. "It's alive!" said Mandez, Ballington frowned. "I wish you wouldn't say that every time we do a hybrid." "I can't help it. It's exciting. Life! From our hands, Dr. Ballington." "Looks like I was right about the long legs." |
| "Actually, this embryo isn't the only one," said Mandez. "Take a look over here." The eagle took a look. "Four?" "One looks looks like a mixture of rabbit and wolf, with the rabbit DNA being more prominent, the second looks more wolf than rabbit, the third is mostly wolf, with a few rabbit genes, and the fourth is mostly rabbit with a few wolf genes," said the macaw. "To be honest, you could do this with the DNA of just one person, and create a clone. Of course, one utilizes the DNA of two individuals to get around that loophole." "I see," said Ballington. The eagle looked at the embryos. "Of course, the next part is placing them back inside the mother." "That's true," said Mandez. "Of course, an artificial womb would be cleaner, but the bonding between the parents and offspring, that is highly important, and takes those months inside the mother, so that the bond is natural. That, and the parents are ready to care for the child." |
| Dr. Ballington says "I'll contact Greg Greyson and Betty Bobstail and give them the news, meanwhile check the cafeteria. There's reports that a foul stench in coming from that backroom. Dr. Mandez says "It could be Jerry Forsyth's cheese stash. That rat orderly always keeps them as his lunch. I told him only keep enough or they'll go bad." |
| "Four!" Betty said. "Yes," said Dr,Mandez, "but don't worry. Inserting them is very quick and painless." That night Greg patted Betty's belly and smiled. "Four cupcakes in the oven." At the cafeteria a gruesome discovery was made, the rotting body of Dinky Doodle. "Don't touch it!" said Jerry Forsyth. "It might have died from the Virus." "I wasn't going to touch it," said co-worker Elvin Threesaw. "Touching it was the last thing on my mind." |
| (I think I mentioned that the Virus affected reproductive capabilities, and thus wasn't 'Lethal', save for the fact that no new offspring, and thus no continuation of the species. Of course, it could of been something else.) Dr. Ballington came up from behind the pair. "I doubt this was the Virus we've been dealing with," he said. "That's right," said Dr. Mandez. "The Virus affects your ability to have offspring. It doesn't kill you. This is something else. See which of our staff is a pathologist or a virologist, because I don't know what this is, and I'm smart enough to know that someone else is better at diagnosing diseases than me. I mean, if it was some common thing that even a clinical doctor could diagnose, sure, I could figure it out, but I deal with reproduction, not virology. As it is, we need to get the body transferred to the morgue, and contact his family, to see if they have a history of dying young." "I'm surprised we didn't find him earlier," said Ballington. "I think it's because we don't use our noses for smelling things," said Mandez. "A canine, or feline, or another predator-type, would have sniffed out the body, or even a scavenger." "I'm just surprised he died here, instead of at his residence," said Ballington. "I mean, if I was sick, I would have stayed home." "It could of been a sudden thing," said Mandez. "But, I'll leave that to the pathologist and virologist to figure out. Of course, it might be best if we have this room closed off for the next day or two." |
| "Eating cheese," Mandez said. Ballington looked up from his desk where he had been working when Mandez walked into his office. "What's that?" "The snake died from eating cheese. Snakes can't digest dairy products." "But why would he eat some cheese?" "Don't know," Mandez said. "I'll leave that for the police to figure out. It's either a homicide, a suicide, or something else." "Have you heard from Betty and Greg?" "Yes, it will be any day now. Dr. Knowles is handling the delivery." |
| Greg was busy looking at a list. "You seriously want me to get all of this?" "Yes," said Betty. "Oh, and don't forget to get those hot peppers, the really spicy ones." "You mean, the ones that don't agree with you?" Greg asked. "Yep. Them ones." "I guess I'll be out somewhere else tonight," said Greg. "I know how your body reacts when you have those. A fella has to open a window to get some fresh air in the room." |
| The Pathologist, Dr. Brighteyes, a snow owl comes in "Dr. Ballington, I found the results on why Dinky Doodle died. It seems that I found traces of Gouda cheese in his system. Don't know why he ate it, snakes can't digest dairy." Dr. Ballington, "Any signs that he was force fed?" |
| "I don't even know what those signs would be," said Dr. Brighteyes, "so I can't really answer that question." Mandez was in the room also. "Wait a minute. Did you say Gouda cheese? That's Jerry Forsyth's favorite cheese." "Who is this Jerry Forsyth?" asked Brighteyes. "He's a rat that works as an orderly here. We're always on him about hiding his cheese stash in the supplies." |
| Jerry comes in with a piece of Gouda cheese, "I'm not curtain, but I think I know how Dinky died." Dr. Mandez says "Okay, let's hear your explanation." Jerry says "Let's take this piece of cheese for example. By itself it's just cheese." He breaks of a piece of it and crumbles it up, "Crumbled up, it almost looks like caviar, fish eggs and eggs are on most snakes' diet." Dr. Brighteyes says "So, he mistakes that for caviar. Interesting." |
| Greg managed to get the requested items, returned them to the room, and then wisely, walked to a local bar, to sat down at. "The usual?" the bartender asked. Greg nodded. "One bowl of meat, coming up, followed by water." "So, how's that rabbit of yours doing?" one of the patrons asked. "Is she hopping along?" "She's doing good." "I guess that's nice." |
| "You only guess it's nice?" Greg asked. The bartender scowled. "I've got seven kids, mister. It stopped being nice at about number four." "That's how many we're expecting - four." "Take my advice. Stop while you're ahead. Four is a handful but seven is impossible. At least one of mine will grow up to be a criminal, I'm sure." |
| "Well, speaking as a law enforcement officer, I hope they don't," said Greg. "But, speaking as someone, who has a lot of family members who are borderline, if they do break the law, let's hope it's for the right reasons. I know a few of my relatives were outright murderers, but most of them were more vigilantes, or mercenary fighters, than they were criminal types. There's a difference between killing to protect those you care for, or are hired to protect, and killing for some sort of sadistic pleasure." "Ever deal with that sort?" the bartender asked. Greg nodded. "A few of them. Your average criminal, you can bully them into submission, or, worse come to worse, inflict enough pain upon them to render them harmless enough for the healers to take care of. The sadistic types, sometimes the only thing you can do is kill them before they kill you, or your partner." "'Been there, done that, hope to never do it again,' sort of thing, right?" the bartender asked. "You've heard the story before?" Greg asked. "One form or another," the bartender said. "Some wackjob is threatening your partner, and you've got to make that choice; to kill or not to kill." Greg nodded. "Well, enjoy your drink. Best of luck with your children." |
| Greg nodded and took a big swig, meanwhile Betty took a nap when she felt a kick in her belly. She woke with a start, "Ooh, You have quite a kick. That's a good sign." |
When Greg got home Betty told him about the active babies inside her. "I think they want to get out." "That's my kids," Greg said. "Can't wait to see the world. Do you think they are going to come early?" "Not too early, I hope. That just causes problems." |
| Greg looked at his wife. "Mind if I feel?" Betty smiled. "Of course." Greg placed his hand on the rabbit's belly. "Hmm." He got down, lifted Betty's shirt slightly, placed one of his ears on Betty's belly, and listened. Then he chuckled, and kissed his wife's belly. "Kissing the babies good morning?" Betty asked, with a chuckle. "Yeah, although we might want to go to the doctors' now," said Greg. "That way there's no rush to get there when it is time." Betty chuckled. "You have a point there." |
| Dr. Mandez took an Ultrasound on Betty's belly, he noticed the fetus are moving. "Oh yeah, active movement. That's normal. It'll still be a while until they are born." Greg asks, "Roughly, how much longer doctor?" |
| "Oh, about 5 or 6 minutes," said Dr. Mandez. "What?!" "Just kidding!" said Dr. Mandez. "It's very close, though. Just a matter of days. Why don't you stay in a room here at the facility? That way we can take care of everything quickly." "Can Greg stay here, too?" Betty asked. "Of course! And your room will have a private bath. It's very nice. Maybe not as good as a luxury hotel, but not so bad." "Don't worry," Greg said. "I've spent many a night sleeping under the stars. Just being in a real bed is luxury enough for me." |
| A few days later, Greg was gritting his teeth in pain, as his wife yelled out once more. "Are you sure everything is okay?" he asked. "She's doing just fine," said Dr. Ballington, from his position on the far end of the bed. "I can see the head. Just one more big push, and - " Betty yelled out once more, squeezing her husband's hand as she did so. "There were are," said Dr. Ballington. "Are you sure?" Greg gasped out. "I think three of my fingers are broken!" "My babies?" Betty asked. "All here," said Dr. Mandez. "Give them to me," said Betty. "I'd do what she says," said Greg. "I want to be able to use my fingers!" A moment later, Betty was holding onto her new children. "Just beautiful." Greg flexed his fingers, as he gazed upon his children. "That they are." He then got next to his wife, and picked one of his daughters up, the one that looked like a wolf. "Just like their mother." "The boys are just as handsome as their father," said Betty, as she kissed the one that looked like a rabbit. Ballington and Mandez stepped outside of the room. "They'll be able to breed with either rabbits or wolves," said Mandez. "That being said, there's still a lot of mixed-couples we have to work on." "Nice to know that this batch is successful," said Ballington. "Now, let's get to work on that sparrow-iguana couple. How many are they expecting?" "At least three." |
| Greg looked at his children, "Now let's work on their names. Who do you think the first one should be?" |
| Betty looked at her four babies, each a different body shape. She petted the head of the little girl that looked most like a rabbit. "I want to name her after my mother." |
| Greg's eyes widened. "Oh no! We are not naming any of our daughters after her, especially since everyone knows that she burnt down that catnip farm." He then picked up the male wolf-like one. "This little guy reminds me of my father." Betty's ears stood straight up. "We are not naming our sons after him! We all know he destroyed that one food storage facility!" Greg chuckled, as he looked at his wife. "Of course, you and I, along with everyone else in our families know the real reasons they did that stuff." Betty sighed, as she held onto her children. "That we do; cults, poisoned food, and all of the other things." "Those would be tough act to follow," said Greg. "Our families have done it all; defend kings, kill kings, put down revolts, assist revolts, and more. There will always be a Greyson and a Bobtail somewhere out there." Betty smiled. "That there will be. Now, let's get back to their names." The End of Part 6 |
| OK, Hertzman, it's your story now. If you want to give us any info about it just put that in red and I will delete the red words in a few days. |
| Name: Nickerby Lupe Age Gender and Species: 22 year old Male Black Wolf Story: Nickerby comes from a reasonably well to do Wolf Pack o f the East he is soon to be a student at University |
| The Apple Brothers had planted a new orchard near Azfargo after Daru, the bird supremacist mage, had destroyed their old one. They were all older now and still lived together in a big house. Smokey the Bobcat Malaguin the Moose Panama the Iguana They still had a reputation as being healers. In fact, they were getting to be quite famous, sothat even in the Western Desert some people had heard of the Apple Brothers. Smokey was excited. "Look at this letter I received!" "It's not a bill, is it?" asked Malaguin. "It's from a distant cousin of mine, a Bobcat named Thomas Kingston.. He's planning to build a railroad from Azfargo to Iguana Bay." "He must be rich," Malaguin said, "if he can build a railroad." "I'm sure he would ask people to help with the financing." "Like us?" Smokey frowned. "Hmmm, do you think that's what this is about? Soften me up before asking for cash?" "Could be." Panama yawned. "I've always wanted to visit Iguana Bay. If there was a train going there... cool!" |
| Thomas was sore from his ride on the cart. It had been three days traveling, and one thing he knew was this; the seats on his trains were to have cushions, and at least one of the cars was to be used for people who had to use the toilet. That and some sort of meal car would be nice on really long trips. "Sarron's Village," said the cart driver. "All other stops past here are Dino territory." "Are you sure this is where Swiftblade and Longshot live?" Thomas asked. "Looks more like a farming community than a place where legendary heroes would live." "All the better to hide out at," said the cart driver. "You'll find them over at the inn; they spend most of their days there." "Thanks," Thomas said, as he got off, paying the driver. He saw another cart coming down the road, which had some more passengers, but thought nothing further, as there was always other carts, some of which had passengers. He headed towards the inn, and entered it, and heard someone talking. He turned his head, and saw a wolf, who seemed to be in his fifties, talking to the younger males enjoying their drinks, an equally aged rabbit nodding her head, or occasionally disagreeing with him, saying that she'd been the one to do whatever he'd tried to claim credit for. He walked up to them. "Swiftblade and Longshot?" he asked. "That's us," the wolf said, with a grin. "What do you want? Do you want to hear the story about how we protected Prince, well, King, Alexander of Jungleville, or how we fought this one Mage, or of the desert bandits we've defeated?" "Actually, I'd like to hire you as Security Consultants," said Thomas. "I'm being threatened by the Bird Supremacists, as I'm trying to expand trade between the lands." "Wrong wolf," said a gruff voice coming from a chair on the other side. A heavily scarred face looked back at Thomas. "Me and the ugly rabbit next to me are the ones you want." He glanced towards the stairs, as he stood up. "We'll talk upstairs. Jethro, good stuff." The scarred wolf shook the rabbit next to him. "Come on, Sally. Some idiot wants to talk to us about a job." "Oh, alright," the rabbit grumbled, as she got out of her chair. "Anne, let me know when it gets good." A few minutes later, the three were upstairs. "Who were those two downstairs?" Thomas asked. "Her sister-in-law, and my cousin-in-law," said the wolf. "They keep the story-seekers at bay; natural storytellers, both of them. Lets us rest in peace, and not get disturbed all the time. Tell us about the job; I hope we won't have to kill anyone, or do much activity." "Well, I guess it's mainly advice, and help training guards," said Thomas. Trevor nodded. "We can do that." That was when they heard a scream. The three rushed downstairs, where they saw several birds, standing before the bodies of Jethro and Anne. "So much for the legendary Swiftblade and Longshot," one of them said. Sally growled, grabbed a knife, and threw it at the speaker's throat. "Wrong wolf and rabbit!" "She's pissed now," Trevor said, as he pulled a sword off of the wall. He then ran one of the birds through. "And you are dead!" |
| Thomas just stood there astonished as Trevor and Sally finished off the rest of the birds, "Wow, remind me not to get you two angry at me. My condolences to your storytellers though. This is why I'm hiring you. I'm planning to build a small railroad network from Jungleville to Birdopolis, and from Azfargo to Iguana Bay with Centralia as a transfer point but it's the north/south rout that concerns me. I want to avoid an incident like this happen to my railroad workers." |
| At the Apple Orchard, Smokey was reading the Birdopolis Times. "Did you guys see this?" he said. "A wolf and a rabbit slaughtered a bunch of birds at one of the desert settlements. I wonder if it was our old friends Swiftblade and Longshot?" "The Supremacists won't like all those dead birds!" Malaguin said. "For sure. We'll probably be seeing WANTED posters." Panama grunted. "Why do you even read that bird crap newspaper anyway? It's only good for lining bird cages." "I have to," Smokey said. "The Azfargo paper never carries anything but Azfargo news. I like to know what's going on in the world." |
| Trevor and Sally stood by the freshly filled-in graves in the nearby cemetery, along with everyone who was related to the slain storytellers. "Jethro and Anne were great storytellers," said Trevor. "They could tell our own stories better than we could. We enjoyed listening to them, even though we ourselves were the ones they were talking about. They were also good people, and even better friends, the likes of which some don't deserve, but are grateful to have. They were brave, in their own ways, such as when the healer's house caught on fire last year, and they helped rescue several of the patients - it was something that they did on their own, and didn't ask if we ourselves were doing the same thing, and for that, we are thankful, for because of them, we were able to rescue everyone trapped inside. They never carried a blade, or used a bow, but they are heroes. If you needed someone to talk to, they would listen, and give you advice. We must always remember them." Thomas stood outside the cemetery, along with the rest of the town. As he watched the funeral, he heard the villagers talk. "Fought just about as good as they used to do," said a horse who smelled like a blacksmith. "Haven't seen them move like that in years." "Well, you know how in emergencies your body does things you don't think are possible normally," said the healer. "They just ignored their pain, and did the job they had to do. That being said, I'll be seeing them later." "They look fine to me," said Thomas. "Shows what you know," said the healer. "Take another look." Thomas looked again, and noticed that Trevor was holding his right arm, which seemed to be held close to his chest for some reason, as if to keep it from moving. Then, he saw that Sally was wearing a dark veil, something that a widow would normally wear at a funeral. Then, he noticed an extra bit of cloth. "What happened?" he asked. "Trevor's right arm is broke, and Sally lost her right eye during the fight," said the healer. "They are past their Prime, and don't heal from injuries like they used to." "I'm sorry about all this," said Thomas. "I didn't expect someone to come after me like this, and kill innocent people, and get your main guards injured like this." "It would of happened eventually," said the blacksmith. "They trained us how to fight though." "No offence, but I don't see you using a sword," said Thomas. The horse grinned. "No, but I'm very good with a hammer, and more than a few bandits have found out that pitchforks aren't just for moving hay, and shovels don't just dig holes. They taught us how to use anything as a weapon, just in case we got caught off guard." "Why didn't anyone help out at the inn?" Thomas asked. "That was personal, and you don't interfere in that sort of a fight, until it has been decided," said the blacksmith. |
| The Blacksmith then says "Judging by the way your dressed, you look important." Thomas says "Well in a way, I'm Thomas Kingston, heir to the Kingston fortune. I'm trying to build a railroad network to make travel a little more convenient, but there's one obstacle that's currently in the way. The Bird Supremacy." The Healer says "I understand your situation, we had a bit of a run in with one of them 15 years ago, big mess that was." Thomas nodded, "Oh, tell me more." |
| Smokey and Panama were on their way back to the Apple Orchard after spending several hours at the University of Azfargo where they volunteered their time to give talks about healing. "Look at that young black wolf," Smokey said. "Did you ever see such a newbie?" Panama laughed. "You mean because of that big plaid suitcase he's carrying and that lost look in his eyes? Let's help him out." "Good morning," Smokey said. "Can we help you find anything?" Said the wolf: "This is the University of Azfargo, right?" "That's what the big sign says." "Oh, I didn't notice that. My name is Nickerby Lupe. I'm going to be a freshman here." Smokey reached out a hand. "I'm Smokey and this is Panama. What's your major." "I haven't decided, but it will be either healing or railroad engineering." "I couldn't think of two fields more different," Smokey. "Why railroad engineering?" "Haven't you heard? Thomas Kingston, the billionaire, is going to build a railroad that will link all of Anthromorphia." "Well, if you decide on healing we'll be glad to help. We're healers ourselves." |
| "Well, fifteen years ago, this owl came into the village," the blacksmith said. "The way he dressed, and acted, just told us he was a Mage, but none of that bothered us out here, with us bordering more than a few lands, you get all sorts coming and going, and only a fool turns down money. But then, things started becoming weird." "Weird, in what way?" Thomas asked. "Neighbors fighting each other over the slightest thing," the healer said. "True, you might see the odd fistfight, arguing over who owns what on which side of what fence, but it was usually something that one could come up with an excuse for, like tripping and falling, and accidentally dragging the other down, and accidentally hitting his nose with your balled-up fist. This was the sort of thing where you grabbed your scythe, and cut the other person's throat with it, or stabbed them with a pitchfork, or some other such thing. There were a few deaths." "It was a puzzle, that's for sure, especially when folks couldn't clearly remember what they did, or why they used something other than their fists," the blacksmith said. "That was when they showed up. They'd been tracking the owl down; seemed he'd done this sort of thing before, and they met up with the owl in the street, and that owl, he just ran, right into the jungle, and they went after him. Some hours later, we heard an explosion, and the next morning, the rabbit, with a busted leg mind you, came back into town, dragging that wolf with her, saying that the owl was dead, and the wolf was yelling at her to be careful with his tail. We figured it best not to ask what happened, but one can guess that the owl used his magic up, blew up, and the wolf threw himself on top of the rabbit to protect her from the worst of it." "Since then, they've mostly stuck around," said the healer. "They do the odd job of protecting the merchants when they have something valuable with them, but mostly they just stay here, taking care of the children they've had with a few of our locals. We don't ask them too much about themselves, about if they really are lovers or not, especially since that sort of thing wouldn't be too wise to ask. The way I figure, they are biding themselves for that last grand adventure we all have in life." "What would that be?" Thomas asked. "The one that Jethro and Anne have gone on," said the blacksmith. "Death." |
| Thomas whistled and said "That's quite a story." Unaware, Sally and Trevor was listening in on the Blacksmith's story, Trevor then said "Sense then, we were targeted by the Bird Supremacists." This spooked the Blacksmith, "How long were you two there listening in?" Sally says "About a minute ago, you forgot to mention about how Daru turned most of the villagers into mindless cannibals and how we were aided by the Sheriff of Bordertown." |
| As Nickerby entered the hall for the First Time he was approached by a Female Wolf "Hey Handsome..." She said "...Want to join the Revolution?" "What revolution?" Asked Nickerby "The Revolution of the Mind..." Said the Female Wolf |
| "Uh... I'm not sure," Nickerby said. She linked her arm through his. "Why don't we sit over here and I'll tell you all about it." At the Apple Orchard everybody was excited about the idea of a railroad being built. "We can ship our apples all over Anthromorphia!" Smokey said. Malaguin stamped his feet. "We'll become rich!" "I'll finally get to see Iguana Bay," said Panama. |
| Thomas looked at Trevor and Sally. "Mindless cannibals?" "Daru used a spell that affected the carnivores," said Trevor. "Had to knock some sense back into a lot of heads." "Did it affect you?" Thomas asked. Trevor grinned. "The spell had one weakness; can't turn a cannibal into a cannibal." Thomas blinked. "What?" "Participated in the funerals of a few Nomads, and I'm sure you've heard those stories," said Trevor. "I thought that those were exaggerations," said Thomas. "Not all of them," said Trevor. "They dine on their dead; they claim it keeps the deceased person's knowledge with the group. I don't believe it does, but it would of been disrespectful to refuse the offer, especially when, while on their deathbed, they gave you permission to be one of the Main Guests of the funeral." "Helps the fact that he saved the leader's daughter, and it was his mother, who was the past leader, who was dying," said Sally. "Now, if you don't mind, we have an appointment with the healer for my eye and his arm." "Um, right," said Thomas. "Um, will you be able to come?" "Whenever you are," said Trevor. |
| "And besides," Thomas says, "I have a cousin to see and he too his a healer. I hope Smokey remembers me." |
| "A letter from Thomas Kingston," Smokey said. "He'll be here at the Orchard tomorrow." "We better clean up the place," Malaguin said. "We don't want a billionaire to think we live like slobs. What kind of food does he like to eat?" "To tell you the truth, I don't know that much about him. I only met him once at a family reunion years ago. And we stopped having family reunions after dear old Gran-Gran died. She was the driving force behind them. After she passed, we just got out of the habit of having them." |
| Later that day, Thomas was traveling in yet another cart. He looked at Trevor, and glanced at the sword the old wolf had. The leather scabbard was worn and battered, and yet, it was well cared for. The handle was worn smooth, just like the hand grips on the other weapons that the two aging warriors had brought with them. He looked back up at Trevor, and saw the scarred wolf staring at him. "I've heard a lot about your sword." Trevor scoffed, and drew it easily with his left hand, before passing it to Thomas. "What do you see?" "Nothing special, really," said Thomas. "The blade's sharp, and in good condition." "And that's all that matters," said Trevor, as he took the blade back. "There's no magic on it, and it will kill anyone whose head you chop off, or stab in the heart, and I've had to get part of it repaired or replaced many times. One of those Philosophers would argue that this isn't even the same sword I started my journey with, while another would argue that it's still the same sword. Me, I just look at it as a sword, and I'll use it to kill anyone who tries to kill me or those I care about." "Sounds like a pragmatic approach to looking at things," said Thomas. "That's one way of looking at it," said Trevor, as he sheathed his blade. "It's gotten old and worn, and I'll probably have to fix it one more time before I die, but it has always served me well, just as it served my father, and his father, and the only reason I got it was because I killed the bastard that killed my father, and I'll wager he had to do the same when his own father was murdered by some Lord whose name I can't remember at the moment." "And your son, he'll get that sword after you're gone?" Thomas asked. "Amanda wants our eldest son to become a scholar of some sort," said Trevor. "That being said, I've heard of another young wolf, who goes by the name of Jerald 'Deathfangs' Greyson, who might be one of my bastard issues, who seems to be doing fairly well, and I'll have to check out for myself. Travels with a rabbit, that much I know, same with a few others, who claim to be from places I've spent some time at, same with Sally. Neither of us were exactly monogamous, if you understand what I'm saying, except for where it comes to being life-long partners." "So, how did you meet?" Thomas asked. "Some guy hired us to kill each other, and when we found out that we had the same employer, and found out that it was just for some sick amusement, we went and killed him," said Sally, who looked right at Thomas. "Now, shut up, and let me sleep." She laid her head back down on the hay, and turned to one side. "She always gets touchy about certain things, and betrayal is one of them," said Trevor. "I've never asked her about her past, and I'm smart enough not to ask, but I suspect it involved something between her and some lord, who, when he was done with her, decided to get rid of her, and not by paying her with money or goods. That, and she hates rapists, that much I know for sure." |
| Meanwhile, a meeting takes place at an unknown location in Birdopolis, Headquarters for the Bird Supremacists. group made up of Falcons, Eagles and all sorts of Birds of Pray. A Black Eagle says "To my all members of the Supremacists. I know there's a high price to the death of Trevor Greyson and his partner, Sally Bobtail. Has been ever sense Daru died. Now we face a new problem. Even now King Goldcrown is considering to have this pass. A railroad station is going to be built here in Birdopolis and that means reptiles and mammals will soon be visiting and I will now allow that!" The Members chat, "Birds superior, birds superior." The Black Eagle then says "I will welcome any ideas to halt the construction of the railroad!" |
| Meanwhile at the University,Nickerby was walking with the Female Wolf when suddenly a Maned Wolf ran screaming down the hall! He was cloaked in flames! But he didn't seem to be burning, He ran screaming "I HATE EVERYONE! I'M GOING TO KILL EVERYONE! AHHHHHH!" "What the heck is that?!" Asked Nickerby "That was Brother Zo." Said the Female "That was part of his mind expanding experiments." |
| "Wow!" Nickerby said. "It would be so cool to be able to do that." At the headquarters of the Bird Supremacists, Black Eagle said, "Come on, don't be shy. I know some of you must have some ideas about how to stop the railroad." "Blow up the tracks!" yelled one bird. "They would just repair them," Black Eagle said. "And we want to stop them BEFORE they build a railroad." Another bird stood up. "Intimidate the construction crews. Gangs of birds telling them to go back home." "It's an idea," Black Eagle said, "but they might just hire security to protect them from the bird gangs." |
| "I have Seen," said a voice, which one had to strain their ears to hear. Black Eagle lifted a wing for silence, before looking at the speaker, an old grey-feathered crow, who was blind. "What have you Seen?" Black Eagle asked. "You See true?" The crow chuckled. "I See true. I See Death." Then, the crow muttered, in a voice that only he heard. "Not that any of you will Listen to me, like always. This too I have Seen." Somewhere in the forest, the cart carrying Thomas and his new advisers stopped by an encampment of Nomads. "Are you sure they'll let us in?" Thomas asked. "They never turn down a fellow traveler's reasonable request to join them at a fire," said Trevor, as he got out a supply bag. "Especially if said traveler is offering something to go into the pot." "What do you have in there?" Thomas asked. "Salted beef, various root vegetables, and dried fruit, plus some spices and seasonings," said Sally, as she grabbed the bag. "Everything gets added to the pot, served in bowls, and once you eat all that you can eat in your bowl, swap with someone of the opposite diet, and finish off what they couldn't eat." "What's it called?" Thomas asked. "The Bowl," said Trevor. "You'll find it being served in a number of trading posts and villages, and the like. It isn't normally served in big cities, except in poorer areas. It's very good, I'll tell you that." "But, what if it's a funeral?" Thomas asked. "You wouldn't be the Guest of Honor, unless the deceased knew you," said Sally. "Besides, their funerals are much louder, as they like to tell stories about the person. Now, get down here." Thomas got down, and grunted in shock, as the sack was tossed to him. "This thing is heavy." "You're younger, and therefore stronger," said Trevor. "Besides, we have the weapons, and unless traveling alone, it doesn't look good for a warrior to carry supplies, and offer them to some stranger. We do have a reputation to uphold." At this, the cart driver started to chuckle, before turning it into a cough, as Sally looked his way. "Oh, alright," said Thomas, as he started walking. "You smell them too," Trevor mumbled under his breath. Sally gave a careful nod. "The young buck and the young bitch over there." Over be the fire, a young male rabbit, and a young female wolf turned their heads, and looked at them. "They've got our scent," Trevor muttered. "Funny how fate is." "What's it been since we left that town?" Sally muttered. "At least twenty years, right?" "Twenty-two, and, uh oh." The male rabbit got and pushed past Thomas, with anger in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing in these parts?" Trevor slapped the rabbit with his left paw. "Don't you Dare talk to your mother like that, you pup!" "Don't you touch my friend you coward!" the female wolf yelled, as she ruched up, only to stop in front of Sally, because she was between her and the two males. "Settle down," said Sally. "Don't make me thrash you like you deserve. Your father is no coward." "Oh boy," Thomas muttered, still struggling with the sack of food. "Um, some help here?" |
| Then another male wolf grabbed the bag Thomas was about to drop "Here, let me help you with that." Then he turned to the Male Rabbit and Female Wolf "Bobby, Abigale! That's no way to treat your parents from especially with the offerings they gave us." He put the bag at an empty spot near the cookfire. "Yes Uncle Jacob." Jacob then faces Trevor "Trevor, it's good to see you and Sally again, who's this helping you with the supplies?" |
| "Thomas Kingston," Trevor said. "He's going to build a railroad." "He is?" Jacob said. "That's a lot of work for a bobcat his size." Trevor shook his head. "I'm sure he will have a lot of help, Jacob. He's just paying the wages of the workers who will build the railroad." Jacob lowered his voice to a whisper. "He claims to be rich but he has to eat his meals in Nomad camps? Listen, Trevor, I think he might be a phony." "He doesn't have to eat his meals in Nomad camps, Jacob. We asked him to join us as a guest. How did you get to be so suspicious of people?" |
| Jacob frowned. "You remember Sarah, don't you? She was my wife, remember?" Trevor grinned nervously. "I remember her, and I remember that it was cold in those mountains." Jacob chuckled. "She knew how to keep a male warm at night." He glanced over at Abigail, who, along with Bobby, was back at the fire, where the offering of more food was being added into another pot. "She takes after her mother, mostly, although she does have some of you, when the need arises. Bobby also has some of Sally's personality, as you've noticed." "I remember his father, and I remember those huge pumpkins of his," said Trevor. "What happened?" "Do you remember that group of bandits you killed?" Jacob asked. Trevor nodded. "I remember them; took half of your crops every year, and raped your females, and killed those who refused to pay up or cooperate." "Turns out that they were just a small part of yet a larger group," said Jacob. "Our village was burned down, and a good number of our people were killed." "Damn!" exclaimed Trevor. "Listen, if me and Sally had know, we would have helped you guys out, and we would of taken care of that other group too." "From what I've heard, you did," said Jacob. "Although at the time, they had attacked someone else, and they had hired you to deal with them." Trevor frowned. "What happened after?" Sally asked. "Sonan's group was traveling in the area," Jacob said, as he glanced towards a very old lizard. "He and my father were friends, and I knew him well enough; he let the survivors join his group, although it wasn't easy adjusting from farmers to nomads." "I see," said Sally. "And your wife?" "She died after Abigail was born," said Jacob. The wolf looked at Sally. "Your mate was killed in the attack, and I've taken care of Bobby since then." Sally frowned. "He was a good buck, even if he did like digging in the ground." "So, what about you two?" Jacob asked. "I head that you were dead. Of course, I've heard that you were dead, a lot." "More like waiting," said Trevor. "We both got pretty banged up during an incident with a Mage, and, well, let's just say that neither of us can run very fast any more on a regular bases." "I see that you've got some recent wounds," said Jacob. "Bird Supremacists killed a couple of our friends; a couple of storytellers who pretended to be us to keep the story-seekers at bay," said Sally. "Said group is also after Robert over there." "I've heard of those fools," said Jacob. "Spend enough time traveling, and you see that everyone is the same all over. Where are you going?" |
| A young bear went up to Thomas "I heard rumors that your planning a railroad throughout Animalia, is this true?" Thomas smiled and yes "Yes, it's true err..your name?" The bear responded "Call me Cubby, but why? We have the cart system." "Well Cubby, the cart system isn't too comfortable and it only takes only few passengers at the time. My trains will house dozens of passengers with more comfortable seating." Cubby says "That does sound better, when are going to have it built?" Thomas says "I wrote letters to each of the 5 leaders, when I get a respond to get the go ahead, I'll hire railroad workers to help build the tracks and the trains will be built at a warehouse I have back in Centralia." "Aren't you worried about the Bird Supremacists?" |
| At the Revolution Club the Female wolf handed Nickerby a pipe to smoke "Want to join our revolution?" She asked with a smile? |
| "What's in this pipe?" Nickerby said. Meanwhile, Thomas smiled at the bear. "The Bird Supremacists are doomed to fail. They can't stop my train." "How do you know?" asked Cubby. "I feel it in my bones. It's the flow of history. The time for a cross-country train has arrived and I am the one who will bring it about." "But what if they kill you?" "They won't, but if they did someone else would carry on. Are you afraid of the Bird Supremacists?" "My Dad says they are the worst thing that ever happened to Anthromorphia. He says if they aren't stopped they will turn Anthromorphia into a living hell where everyone is unhappy and suspicious of their neighbors." Thomas patted the young bear's shoulder. "Your Dad worries too much. The Bird Supremacists are just a fringe group with little power. Most people are opposed to them." |
| "Same with a number of birds," said Trevor. "The king himself is against them, especially after his one Head Mage turned out to be a member of the group, and tried to overthrow him. He was real happy to see us then, especially after the Mage took out the Royal Guard." "That was an interesting job," said Sally. "First he tried to toss us out, then he begged for us to come back, we save him, he rewards us, and then he kicks us out." "To be fair, a number of buildings were destroyed when that Mage overdid his magic," said Trevor. "Still, it will be interesting to see him again; I wonder if they got that giant statue of his fixed - the nose was broken, remember?" Sally chuckled. "You broke that one." "I was thrown into it by that giant lizard thing," said Trevor. "I still get nightmares about that thing." |
| A cloaked figure came up to the trio, "Thomas Kingston, did you know the Bird Supremacists has hired an assassin to kill you?" Thomas says "Err no, but thanks for the warning mr...." The figure removed it's clothing revealing to be a turkey vulture wielding a Katana "The name's Vulturo and I am the assassin they hired, well, I get to kill Trevor Greyson and Sally Bobtail as a bonus." Trevor wields his sword "Not likely, Jacob, quickly take Thomas to safety while Sally and I take care of our would-be assassin." |
| Nickerby smoked the pipe, and in an instant his eyes became blazing as his saw a rainbow of colors spill before his eyes |
| "Whoaaaa!" Nickerby said. "I can feel my eyebrows breathe." Meanwhile, Vulturo made a flashy move with his Katana, spinning it over his head. "Really?" Trevor said. "Are you an assassin or a circus act?" "Heeee-YAH!" screamed Vulturo as he lunged forward swinging his Katana. Trevor managed to sidestep out of the way and bring his sword around, but Vulturo was very fast and already out of range. "Let me handle this, old man," Sally said. And she quickly notched an arrow and set it zinging toward Vulturo. Surprisingly, he knocked the arrow out of the air with his Katana. "He's fast!" Sally said. |
| "This isn't going to be any fun," said Vulturo. "A one-armed wold and a one-eyed rabbit, neither of which is skilled in changing up their methods." "Tell us, are you one of those sporting types, who likes to give their prey a chance?" Trevor asked. "After all, I should be fully recovered in about six months, and Sally should have figured out how to shoot with her left eye by then." Vulturo chuckled. "Tempting offer; it's been said that you were the best in the business, but, while I'd love to fight you when you were at full strength, those days are long past for you. No, I'm being paid good money to kill all three of you." "What if we were to match, or beat the offer to kill us, for you to just walk away, or perhaps join us," said Sally. Vulturo looked at them critically. "There's no way you're carrying that much money on you, by any chance? After all, there's time and effort to find you to think about." "Our offer to you is your life," said Trevor, as he adjusted his stance, and Sally placed her bow in her right hand, and sighted with her left eye, pulling the string slightly. Vulturo looked at them; gone was the clumsy and uncomfortable look, and in its place was the look that had killed dozens, if not hundreds, of others previous to him. "So, you prepared to fight crippled." "A necessity of the job," said Sally. "There's always the possibility that someone might get lucky enough to cripple you, even if they don't kill you." "Hell of a training regimen too," said Trevor. "Fighting with one arm behind your back for six months, and her trying to use her left eye and whatnot. Good enough to survive if need be. Hell, you ought to try learning how to fight while stuck in one of those wheelchair things - that was a challenge and a half!" "Sounds interesting," said Vulturo. "Of course, I'm not foolish enough to make those sorts of mistakes; I'll just kill you." "Did you hear about what happened to the last group that tried to kill us?" Sally asked. "I heard," said Vulturo. "They killed a couple of storytellers that were pretending to be you, and were friends of yours; a very foolish, and rookie, mistake. One should always be sure of their target." Trevor grinned. "I agree with you there." Vulturo sensed something, and moved, just as a spear stabbed the air, just where he'd been standing. Turning slightly, and defelcting the spear being swept at him, he came face-to-face with Abigail, who managed to punch him in the face, knocking him to the ground. When he tried to get up, the vulture found a crossbow bolt being pointed right at his throat, with the crossbow being held by Bobby. "Make one wrong move, and I'll pin you to the ground," the rabbit growled. "Very well," said Vulturo. He then swept the rabbit off of his feet, and ran into the woods. "Another time!" he yelled. "I'll get you another time!" "Smart bird," said Trevor, as he walked up to the younger couple. "You don't get paid if you're dead." He then looked at Bobby. "You hurt?" "Just my pride," the young rabbit said. "Next time, just kill him, and you'll save yourself the embarrassment of falling for a trick older than me and your mother put together," said Trevor. |
| Jacob came out "Is he gone?" Trevor says "For now, but I got a feeling he'll be back. Assassins like him won't give up until their quarry is dead so we better get a move on." Jacob says "Where will you go?" Trevor says "To Azfargo, there's a trio of healers who have an apple orchard there." Jacob says "Ahh, the Apple Brothers, I heard of them." |
| Black Eagle, the head of the Bird Supremacists movement, read the message from Vulturo: First attempt failed. Second attempt will not. Black Eagle crumpled up the note and tossed it in the trash. "Damn vulture assassins! It will take him three tries to get it right. He's lucky he's not already dead. I need something more subtle. Arnold! Get in here!" A fat goose waddled in. "Yes, sir?" "Didn't I hear you talking about something called Weary Berry Juice once?" "Yes, sir. It's the opposite of coffee. Makes you slow and sluggish." "You know about the Thomas Kingston problem, don't you?" "Yes, sir." "Think you can arrange for him to consume a lot of that Weary Berry Juice?" "I can try, sir." "Good!" said Black Eagle. "He and his friends are not far from Azfargo. Find him and slow him down, Arnold. Slow him down." |
| Trevor looked at the tracks that had been left behind. "He'll be keeping an eye on us," the wolf said. "From now on, stick to water that has been boiled twice." "Water that's been boiled twice?" Thomas asked. "Maybe even three times," said Sally. "Most poisons break up, and tend to be rendered harmless, after being boiled twice." "Do you think that's really a possibility?" Thomas asked. "His job is to kill you," said Trevor. "Our job is to keep you alive. When direct approaches don't work, use indirect; knife or poison, you'd still be dead." "But, what if he slips more poison in after you boil it?" Thomas asked. Sally grinned. "He'd have to be really good at that." She pulled out a small pouch, and tossed it to Thomas. "Pour a little of that into your drinking water, and it will neutralize most toxins, natural and otherwise. That, and it helps you fight off infections of all sorts, and promotes healing. Plus, it makes a nice tea." "That, and it makes your breath smell nice as well," said Trevor. "Always useful when you're kissing some barmaid, who may or may not have brushed their teeth that day, or if you yourself have yet to do the same." "Seriously?" Thomas asked. "That being said, make sure the next three cups of water you drink don't have the stuff, as it will counter the toxins in those as well, but if you have the stuff in them, you'll have an issue," said Sally. "What kind of an issue?" Thomas asked. "You'll need to find a tree more frequently, and drink more water that doesn't have the stuff in it," said Trevor. "Three cups of pure water to every cup that has the stuff in it.That, and you'll need to find more trees." "But, one cup in four will be fine, right?" Trevor asked. Sally nodded. "That's right," she said. "That stuff will expel most any toxin in your body, and then some." |
| On a branch just behind the trio, Vulturo is carefully watching his 3 preys, "I may have lost the first round thanks to those interfering kids, this time I got a sure fire way to kill Kingston." he holds up a small vial of cyanide, "Sooner or later, they'll stop by a spring or a fresh water lake to cool off, when they do, it'll be their last." A voice says "Vulturo!" Vulturo looked down and sees Arnold. He slid down the tree and says "Quiet, you want give us away?" Arnold says quietly, "Sorry, Black Eagle sent me to give you something." Vulturo says "Okay, what is it?" Arnold held up 5 blue containers, "These are Weary Berry Juice, make sure Thomas Kingston consumes them." |
| Just then it it seemed like the sky turned all sorts of weird and gross colors over the Bird Supremacists terrifying them. At the University the Revolution of the Mind Club Members were all tripping out and and they had formed a collective mind that was able to manifest the hallucination into the real world |
| It didn't last long because manifesting hallucinations in the real world takes a lot of mental energy and they were just college kids, not experienced mages. "Whew!" Nickerby said. "I never dreamed stuff like this was even possible!" At the headquarters of the Bird Supremacists the sky resumed its normal colors. "What the Flying V was that?!" said an Albatross. "I don't know," said an Owl, "but I hope it never happens again. Some freaky weather pattern, I guess." On the Azfargo Trail, Vulturo looked at the 5 blue containers that Arnold wanted to give him. "Keep your berry juice," he said. "I've got something better than that." He held up the vial of cyanide. "But I'm glad you're here. Go around to the other side of their camp and make some noise in the woods that will distract them so I can slip the cyanide into Kingston's water jug." |
| Trevor looked up at the sky. "Strange." He then sniffed the air. "He's nearby, along with someone else, and two there's we know of." Sally sniffed the air. "A Greyson and a Bobtail, that much I know." She chuckled. "Might be worth getting some sleep." |
| Thomas asks "How about that assassin and company? What if they strike while we'll asleep?" Trevor says "We'll take turns watching you and besides, Sally's a light sleeper, it'll be a big surprise if they got close to her when she's asleep." Sally remarked "Yeah, last person who tried to kill me ended up bitten on the nose. Correction, ended up having their nose bitten off." Thomas winced "Ooh, bad day for him." Sally says "Don't forget that pouch I gave you." Thomas taps it on his belt, "I won't." Thomas goes into a makeshift sleeping bag, puts his water jug just next to him as he goes to sleep. Sally sleeps in another sleeping bag while Trevor makes a capfire and takes the first watch. |
| Nickerby went to sleep that night feeling awesome. The next day however he had an awful hangover |
| Late in the night Arnold stirred in his hiding place on the opposite side of the camp from Vulturo. They had agreed to act as soon as the moon rose and it was just peeking over the skyline. Arnold stepped on a twig and snapped it. Trevor, the only one awake, swiveled around to face that direction. Carefully he crept over to investigate. Vulturo chose that moment to quickly tippytoe over to Kingston's water jug and slip the cyanide into it. Then he tippytoed back to his hiding place and hoped nothing bad happened to Arnold. |
| Believing himself safe, Vulturo let out a quiet chuckle. An old wolf and an old rabbit, both fools and half deaf, both too easy. It was then a shred of fear trickled down his spine, as he felt someone breathing on him. "Arnold?" "No." The voice was ice cold. "So, you only made it look like you were asleep; how?" "Log under the blanket, and then I burrowed over to here," said the voice behind the vulture. "What was the poison?" "Cyanide," said Vulturo. "Nice to know." It was but a moment's work, and the vulture's body was laid out on the grass, with Sally cleaning her knife on his clothes. She then stripped the bird of everything of value, before walking back into camp. She grabbed Kingston's water jug, and poured it out. "What are you doing?" Thomas asked, as he woke up. "Our friend paid us a visit, and slipped cyanide into your water," said Sally. "The powder would have saved your life, but you'd of been real sick." "Where is he?" Thomas asked. Sally pointed with her knife. "He's dead." "And Trevor?" Suddenly, a loud scream was heard. "Taking care of the other one." A few minutes later, Trevor came into the camp, dragging behind him a struggling goose, who was yelling and screaming in fear. "I wasn't going to kill you! Honest!" the bird yelled. "I didn't do anything wrong!" "Right, and I assume that this was for hyperactivity?" Trevor pulled out a pouch, and tossed it to Sally. The rabbit opened it, and took a sniff. "Weary Berry juice," she said. "Not lethal, but you'll feel sleepy for a few days." Trevor grabbed the goose by his shirt collar. "I smell that vulture's scent on you." "Vulture?" the goose asked. "What vulture?" Sally held up her knife. "The one I killed with this knife. The one who tried to poison our client. The one who lies dead over there." She pointed towards where she came from. The goose gulped. "Listen, I was just supposed to distract you, that's all." "Too bad," said Trevor. "You're an assassin-wannabe, and you've failed in your mission to kill us, and you've failed to escape, and now you have to pay the price; death." "What?" the goose asked. "I'll give you a choice; tell us everything you know about who had you do the job, and your death will be quick, and I'll see to it you get a mention in our stories," said Trevor. "Your other choice is to keep quiet, meaning that my friend will torture you for the information, before killing you, slowly, after which, we'll toss your body by your friend's, and not even mention you to anyone who wants to know what happened here. Your choice." "But, I wasn't going to kill you," said the goose. "There's an old saying about birds of a feather flocking together," said Sally, as she pointed the knife at him. "Talk to my friend, or talk to me." |
| Looking into Sally's eye, Arnold knew she meant it. So he explained everything about Black Eagle and why he wanted to stop the railroad from being built. Thomas says "So that's why that vulture was hired to kill me, to prevent the railroad from being built." Trevor says "That wasn't so hard, now do me one more thing." Arnold says "What?" Trevor says "Go back to Black Eagle, tell him his assassin failed and died, and he'll be next if he doesn't leave us alone." |
| A month later Black Eagle mysteriously disappeared. No one knew whether he was dead or alive, whether he had left on his own, or been abducted. There was turmoil among the Bird Supremacists, but the number two, a Condor named Wild Bill, took command. Like all Condors, he wasn't inclined to look for trouble. He preferred cruising lazily at a high altitude, above the fray. His favorite line: "I see the big picture. I don't need to know the details." Wild Bill wasn't concerned about a railroad being built. "In the end it will help the birds. Besides, I have relatives living in the West and with a railroad they will be able to come visit Birdopolis, the best city in all of Anthromorphia." Sometime after that there came a day at the Apple Orchard when many friends and neighbors were invited. Sitting at a long table set up under the apple trees were Thomas Kingston and Trevor and Sally and the Apple Brothers (Smokey, Malaguin, and Panama) and Jacob and Cubby and even Abigail and Bobby. "I know what we're having for dessert!" Bobby said. "Apple pie!" Smokey stood up and raised a glass of apple wine into the air. "The railroad is nearing completion. Soon Azfargo will be linked to the rest of Anthromorphia. Here's to the Bobcat whose vision made it possible... Thomas Kingston!" There was a loud cheer as everyone joined in the toast, lots of happy faces drinking lots of apple wine, and a golden sun shining down on the Land of Anthromorphia. * * * |
| Name: Rachel Greyson/ John Bobtail Age, Gender, Species: 28 year old, female, grey wolf/ 29 year old, male, rabbit. Occupation: Law Enforcement officers. Rachel looked at the polar bear in front of her, before glancing at her slightly shorter partner, before glancing back at the polar bear. John, however, kept looking up at the polar bear in front of him, who was looking down at him. It was an age old routine; who would blink first? It was then that the door opened, and another polar bear showed up. "He'll see you now." "Nice to know," said John, as he and Rachel entered the the room. "One moment, it you don't mind," the bear said. The bear patted them down, being extra careful with Rachel. "We are not fools." He showed them a knife. "Very nice, but I'd feel safer letting you keep it, along with the rest." "Smart," said Rachel, as she slipped the knife back into its hiding spot. "Does it show up against my clothes?" "Barely," said the polar bear. "Did you enjoy searching her?" John asked. The bear kept his face straight. "Just doing my job." "Good to know," said John. "Now, follow me," the bear said. "The Boss is expecting you." A little while later, the rabbit and wolf were sitting in some rather comfortable chairs. In front of them was a shrew named Arctous Fridgidum. "So, what is it that the police wish to speak to me about?" the shrew asked. "I am very busy. I do have a business to run." "We know," said John. "Like the pawn shop on Fifth and Reed Paths." "Well, it is easier to get a loan from me than it is from the bank," said the shrew. "That being said, I had nothing to do with the fire there; I was across the city when it happened, and none of my boys were there." "Nice to know, but that isn't the real reason we came here," said John. "You've heard about the cubs that have gone missing?" "I might have heard something," the shrew said. "What's in it for me?" Rachel put down an envelope. "Pictures of the missing cubs; if you see anything, or know anything, give us a call." The shrew opened the envelope, and took a look. "I will." A few minutes later, the duo were in their car. "He had nothing to do with it," said Rachel. "I knew that," said John. "That being said, folks like him don't like others shitting in their fridge, as it were. With any luck, he'll be able to ask the questions we can't. Might even get a package." "So long as the package isn't dead," said Rachel. "He doesn't go for that," said John. "Loansharking is that shrew's main way of making money; same with most of the other big-time criminals - you don't make your money back if the other person is dead." |
| Name: Nick Stripetail Age, Gender, Species: 29 year old male striped skunk Occupation: Police Detective As Nick entered the precinct, he noticed two reporters from the local news sprucing up near the briefing room entrance "Detective Stripetail, there you are." The commissioner said, a regal looking lion wearing a suit. Nick says "I just got back from the Fletcher's, it seems both parents are worried about their daughter, Milly as they called her. This is the 7th. kidnapping, No ransoms and no clues this is frustrating." The commissioner says "I know how you feel, I'm going on air to make a broadcast, hopefully the kidnapper will watch it." |
| When Milly woke up she panicked for a moment because her eyes were blindfolded and her mouth was gagged. Then she took some deep breaths and calmed herself. Her hands were tied and so were her feet. She was in some kind of moving vehicle. She felt the bouncing and heard the sound of the motor and the road noise. |
| Indeed the News did report the Kidnappings and the Kidnapper saw it. "HAHAHAHA!" Laughed the Mastermind A Morbidly Obese Wild Cat ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** "Those Commoners!" Laughed the Feline Felon, they shall never find me...They would never look for a Cat...UNDER THE SEA!" Indeed Fat Cat's base was deep under Anthropomorphia's Sea Guarded by Whales and Dolphins it was a Sweatshop where Kidnapped Cubs made electronic toys that all the other Cubs of Anthropomorphia enjoyed |
| At the home that they shared with members of their extended families, Rachel and John were busy putting in fruit trees and berry bushes. Rachel looked out towards the forest that surrounded the city, which the home was next to. "John, do you ever get the urge to just pack up, and leave the city behind, and just travel the forests?" The rabbit chuckled, as he carefully placed an apple tree into the ground. "Everyone in our families gets that from time to time." "I know," the wolf said. "I mean, it used to be that we could just pick up a sword, hunt down the bad guys, kill them, rescue the cubs, and get medals for it. But now, we can't even kick down a door unless we have probable cause." "Had them feelings to," said John. "That's exactly what our ancestors would have done. Now, come on. Ricky has that mixed-berry wine he's been wanting to sample." "Yes, my husband's contribution to our families' legacy," said Rachel. "The fermentation of fruit into alcoholic beverages." "Well, his family is big when it comes to that stuff," said John. "He's just trying to do it in the homemade style, which I think adds to the experience of a good drink." Rachel chuckled. "Oh yes, making an illegal-styled drink does taste much better when it's done legally." "Nothing illegal about making your own spirits," said John. "It's the selling that requires a licence." "I know, although he could of warned us ahead of time that he was going to set up a workshop here on the farm to make the stuff," said Rachel. "Fresh ingredients," said John. "That being said, I like the grape varieties he's introduced to the farm; they go well with the rest of the others, and help to extend the season. He's even planning to import other varieties of the other fruits as well, so that they can be grown here." "Always tricky growing foreign varieties," said Rachel. "Because of the environment." "He plans to make what he calls a Cold House and a Hot House, for plants that can't handle our environment," said John. "Smart," said Rachel. "Still, I hope he uses his money, and not ours." John chuckled. "I'm just glad he doesn't mind playing second fiddle." "Could say the same about Tammy," said Rachel. "She's a lucky rabbit, you know." |
| Nick is busy watching the security camera footage from the park where Milly Fletcher was abducted trying to identify the kidnapper, only to discover that the kidnapper his wearing an outfit with hood to keep from identifying him except for two spots, his ears and his tail judging by them Nick knows the kidnapper is a rat. "Hmm, if I can identify that rat, I can identify who is the kidnapper. That's the best lead I got and it certainly rules out the Bird Supremacy. I have to go through the rogues gallery for rat crooks, or rat henchmen." |
| At Fat Cat's base under the sea, a ragged-looking rat hesitated before knocking on the boss's door. It was unusual to be asked to come to Fat Cat's office and he had a bad feeling about it. "Come in, Hasheed!" boomed Fat Cat. "Good job getting that Komodo Dragon. I don't know how you did it. She weighs as much as you do." "I'm stronger than I look and I had a little help." "Help? What kind of help? I told you to do the job alone." Hasheed began to tremble. "It was just my cousin Philmore. We can trust him." "I don't trust ANYBODY, Hasheed! You screwed up bringing him in on this. Does he have a record?" "Just a little one. For shoplifting, I think." Fat Cat groaned. "Get out and let me think how to fix this!" After Hasheed left, Fat Cat made a phone call. "There's a rat in the city named Philmore. I want him terminated with nothing left to ID him. Right. Call me when it's done." |
| The Whales and Dolphins didn't like being part of Fat Cat's scheme but they felt they had no choice as Fat Cat offered to protect the Fish they needed from Land Animal fisherman |
| Meanwhile, Philmore had just exited a jewelry store. It was amazing; yesterday, they ignored him, but today, with his expensive suit and clothes, not to mention that cologne, they were head-over-heals trying to satisfy his desires. Life was good. It was then that a hand grabbed his neck, and dragged him into an alley. "Phil, nice to see you," said the hand's owner, a polar bear. "We heard that fortune smiled on you, giving you some money." "Yeah! I was just coming by to, um, make a down-payment on what I owed your boss," the rat said. "I was just picking up some essentials first." "Good and comfortable clothing I understand," the polar bear said. "But this seems to be excessive; nice cologne by boss the way. The boss uses it; costs a thousand per bottle, and you owe the boss over a hundred thousand, because of your bad bets." "Let's see what all you've bought with our money, and let's take a look at our money," said a second polar bear. Philmore reluctantly pulled out the cologne, and the fancy jewelry. "Can I keep my clothes on?" "Suit, pants, tie, shoes, shirt, socks are all good quality items," the polar bear said. "Tell me; the underwear you have on wasn't bought from some really expensive place, now was it?" "That is indeed mine, from home," the rat said. "But, if you left me with just that, there could be trouble." "Right, Public Indecency," said the first polar bear. "Lands you in the Perv database. Let's just take a look at the money." Philmore got out a big wad of cash, and gave it to the bears. The bears gave it a quick look-though. "Between this and your purchases, this was worth about 50K," said the first polar bear. "How did you make this: you don't have a job, and no one would just give you one, so how did you get this much money?" "I did a job for my cousin, alright," said Philmore. "What kind of job?" the second polar bear asked. "It involved heavy lifting," said Philmore. "He needed my truck to move a package from the park to the waterfront." "What was the package?" the first polar bear asked. "I don't know, and I didn't ask," said Philmore. "Hasheed works for some scary people; makes you and your boss seem like an insurance company by comparison." "Who?" the second polar bear asked. "I don't know," said Philmore. "Hasheed told me to help him put the package on a boat, and then he drove off. That's all I know." "You'd best hope that package wasn't a cub, as the boss would have us do more than just strip you, especially with his grandchild missing like he is," said the first polar bear. "As it is, you're coming with us." "What for?" Philmore asked. "I'm sure the boss has some clothes in your size," the bear said. "After all, it would be a shame to let those expensive clothes go to waste on you." |
| Unknown to Philmore and the Polar bears, Nick is parked nearby in his car eavesdropping on their conversation with a listening device, "Hasheed eh?" He picks up his radio, "Snakebyte, this is Nick Stripetail. Requesting information for a rat named Hasheed. I want to know who his associates are, I believe this involves the kidnapped cub case." |
| After Snakebyte checked the data base, he called back. "Nick, we don't have much on Hasheed. He's a low level crook, but managed to get off the few times he's been in a courtroom. Always on burglary charges. One of the detective thinks Hasheed is involved in bigger things, but that so far he's been slick about it and covered his tracks. Hasheed has a cousin in the city named Philmore who's been in jail a couple of times on shoplifting charges. I'll let you know if I find out anything else." "Thanks," Nick said. "But what about an address or phone for him?" "Sorry, Nick, the address from his arrest record is no longer valid. I checked it. There's a dino living there now." |
| Milly found herself in a dark room...She smelled metal all around her, she could barely move. Meanwhile Fat Cat received a message from one of his Dolphins "Boss." Said the Dolphin "Your security counter measures aren't working we're still losing our fish." |
| "Takes a while for those things to work," said Fat Cat. "But, you'll be surprised by the end of the year." He then looked at his phone. As of yet, his hitanimal hadn't called him, on whether or not his rat problem had been taken care of. Meanwhile, Rachel and John had driven to Fridgidum's business. "It's so good of you to come," the shrew said, one of his polar bear bodyguards standing next to him. "It seems that, one of those who owes me some money, has come into some information that might be of use to you." "I hope you and your associates didn't, shall we say, coerce him into giving us false information," said John. The rabbit looked at the shrew carefully. "Now, why would I do that?" Fridgidum asked. "I'm just as interested in finding out who kidnapped those cubs as you are." "Especially since your own grandson is among those missing," said Rachel. The shrew sighed. "It hasn't been easy, trying to consul my daughter, what with her worrying, not getting any good sleep at night, and a thousand and one other things. She's been losing weight as well, and not in a good manner. What is a father to do, when they are forced to take care of their fully grown daughter, trying to cheer her up, trying to tell her that little Charlie will be coming home soon; I don't want her to do something foolish, thus one of my associates is staying at her place, to prevent any accidents, as it were. Some call me a criminal, and yes, I am one, but I'm also a familyshrew. I doubt my son-in-law, or my grandson, will become part of my business, but I don't want anything bad to happen to them; my Tina, may she rest in peace, she'd kill me if something really bad happened to the rest of the family." "So, where is this debtor?" John asked. "In the other room, although he could use some help getting home," the shrew said. John and Rachel entered the room, just behind the shrew, and saw Philmore sitting in a chair, wearing little more than his underwear, looking nervous, and surrounded by three more polar bears. On a table was a set of expensive clothes, cologne, and jewelry, plus a big wad of cash. "You think he's involved?" John asked. "He's a perpetual thief," said the shrew. "There's no way he earned that money the hard way, through honest work, legally or illegally, if you understand my meaning, and I doubt he got lucky with his bets on the sporting events. Besides, if the guy his cousin works for is really scary, I'd hate for them to meet me, for they'd see just how scary a grandfather searching for their grandson can really be." John nodded his head. "Understood." |
| Nick was about to start the engine and head back to the precinct when he heard gunshots, he looked around the wall and saw Philmore dead with multiple bulletholes on his chest and his muzzle completely removed, then he saw an alleycat dressed in a ratty blue vest and toboggan facing the other way and on a cell phone. He overhears the conversation "Fat Cat, this is Mepps Jr. The target is taken care of, they won't recognize him at all." Nick quickly went back to his car, he picks up his radio "Snakebyte, I just got a new lead. Request information on Fat Cat, and call the meat wagon, Philmore has been slain." |
| Fat Cat hung up his phone after taking the call from Mepps Jr. "That's a problem taken care of. Since they can't ID Philmore, they won't connect him to me through Hasheed." He called Hasheed. "Sorry to hear about your cousin's unfortunate accident." "What accident?" Hasheed said. "Has something happened to Philmore?" "Yes. Be happy, little friend, that you yourself manage to avoid such unfortunate accidents." Hasheed hung up the phone and shivered. "Working for Fat Cat could be terrifying sometimes." |
| One of those she saw was a young shrew, who was trying to comfort the others. "It will be alright," the shrew said to a scared tiger cub. "My grandfather will find us. I know he will. He always finds people." "Who would your grandfather be?" Milly asked. "A very wealthy businessshrew, with powerful polar bear guards," the shrew said. "I'm Charlie." "I'm Milly," the young komodo dragon said. "Are you sure your grandfather can find us?" "Last year, someone robbed my next door neighbor, Ms Planters, of some crystal nutcrackers," Charlie said. "The next day, I saw my grandfather meet her, and showed her the thief, who his guards were holding, and the thief apologized to her, and promised to never do it again." "What happened to the thief?" Milly asked. "Grandfather dropped him off at the police station, with a box of doughnuts, and a nice card," said Charlie. "At least, that's what he told me, and he wouldn't lie to me about that." "What does he do for a living?" Milly asked. "He helps those who need help," said Charlie. Meanwhile, across town, Hasheed found himself in a room, surrounded by polar bears, and very unsure about how he'd gotten there. Then, some more bears entered the room, and between them, was a certain shrew. "Mr. Fridgidum? What are you doing here?" "I could ask the same thing," the shrew said. "What are you doing in my territory? I told you to never come to this city after what you did." "Well, I needed money, and my work took me here," the rat said. "Your cousin Philmore was killed yesterday," the shrew said. "He owed me money, a hundred grand. Last I saw, he had managed to get fifty of it, and claimed that you'd paid him for some job that involved heavy lifting. What was that job?" "If I say anything, I'll be killed," said Hasheed. The shrew held out a hand. "Boris." The polar bear next to him, passed the shrew a knife. Hasheed screamed as several polar bears grabbed him, and strapped him to a chair. "Let go of me! You can't do this! You don't kill people!" "Who said anything about killing you?" asked Fridgidum, as he walked up to the rat. "I think I'll carve you up, and leave you with nothing but a torso with a head that has no eyes, no nose, no ears, and no tongue! But first, I think I'll cut off your reproductive organs, and shove them right down your throat!" "Please! Don't hurt me!" the rat pleaded. "Tell me what you've been doing, and perhaps I'll settle for just cutting your face up," the shrew said, as he placed the knife's blade between the rat's groin. "I've been cubnapping cubs for Fat Cat!" Hasheed screamed out. "Fat Cat!" Fridgidum hissed. "You've been working for Fat Cat! I should gut you like a fish!" At this, Hasheed passed out. "Spineless coward," the shrew said. "Sorry about your knife Boris." "He pissed on it," the bear said, as he reclaimed the weapon. "And now the chair and the floor are a mess." "Get them cleaned up, and drop the sack of shit off for the police," said the shrew. "After that, arm yourselves for War; we're getting my grandson back." |
| At the precinct, two beat cops, a rabbit and a fox bought in a bound and gagged Hasheed, "Commissioner, look what ridgidum's henchbears dropped off?" said the fox. Nick says "Well well, Hasheed wrapped in a little package." The rabbit gave the commissioner a note and it reads... This little sack of garbage works for Fat Cat. He and Philmore been cubnapping cubs for him, I'm sure you'll give him what he deservs." When the commissioner read the note he roared in anger "Fat Cat! I knew this case was masterminded but I never expect that Felonious feline is behind this!" That drew Rachel and John into the commissioner's office. "If you like we'll arrest Fat Cat for you." Nick says "Slight problem, we have no idea of Fat Cat's current whereabouts." Rachel points to Hasheed, "Leave it to us, we'll make him tell us where he is if he works for him." |
| "You don't have to make me," Hasheed said. "I'll tell you willingly. It's too late for me now. When Fat Cat gets me he will kill me, so my only hope is if you get Fat Cat first before he can get me. He has a base under the sea." "The sea is a big place," Rachel said. "Bring me a map. I can narrow it down for you." |
| As the Cubs lay in the bunks, some of them revealed injuries either from the overseers or from assembling the electronics |
| Meanwhile, Fridgidum was busy checking on the weapons, he was going to give to his guards. There was a certain amount of anger in his eyes as he assembled each weapon himself. "What's wrong with the boss?" one of the bears asked, as they watched the shrew, from a safe distance to not get their ears chewed off. "You haven't been with us very long, have you," said Boris. "Not really," the guard said. "Last six months." "Been with him for over twenty years," said Boris. "And while the boss is normally an easy going shrew, even if you owe him a lot of money, or an enemy, there is one animal who makes him act like this; Fat Cat, his one-time partner, and now hated enemy." "Why is that?" the guard asked. "The boss doesn't kill those who owe them money," said Boris. "The dead can't pay debts, or be used for favors. If you are a healer who owes the boss money, the boss will reduce the debt in exchange for taking care of someone who works for him, or whom he cares about. Fat Cat, well, if you were a healer who owed him money, after Fat Cat got a hold of you, no healer would be able to help you heal. When the boss found out what Fat Cat was doing, the boss supplied the police with enough evidence to send Fat Cat to the Chambers, but Fat Cat managed to escape before they could flip the switch and have him executed. Heard he'd been Marked for Death, and you know what that means." "Not really," the guard said. "I haven't really checked up on that sort of thing." "A criminal should always know the law, just in case the police try to trip you up on something," said Boris. "Being Marked for Death is very simple; you're dead. It means that, if you see Fat Cat walking down the sidewalk, and if you kill him by strangling him with your own claws, the law will not charge you with murder, even if you do it in front of a police officer, and will instead give you money equal to the price on his head, for as far as the law is concerned, Fat Cat is already dead. That is what Marked for Death means." "And, if the law finds him?" the guard asked. "He's already been judged and sentenced," said Boris. "If an officer should kill him during the execution of his duties, his superiors won't question him too much; they might give him unpaid leave for a few weeks as a token punishment, and see one of those head healers, just in case, but your average officer has little to fear from punishment." |
| John and Rachel got the full information on Rasheed, "This is all we needed, just one more thing. A sub to Fat Cat's underwater lair." Nick says "While you did that, I managed to get more information from my contact Snakebyte on the cubnapped cubs. It seems all but one is a son or daughter of a juror that was in Fat Cat's trial. The 7th. one is Charlie Fridgidum, grandson of his now enemy. Knowing Mr. Fridgidum. He's staging an attack on Fat Cat to rescue his grandson." |
| Meanwhile, not far off the coast, a police boat had arrested two dolphins for swimming while drunk. "We didn't do anything!" said one dolphin. "Yeah!" said the other. "You lousy cops are always pushing people around. I'd like to see you push Fat Cat around." "Did you say Fat Cat?" "Huh? No! I said... uh... Chat Rat. You know, the rodent with the talk show on TV?" "No," said the cop. "I'm pretty sure you said Fat Cat. We're taking you downtown for questioning." "Aw, Geez, can't you just ask me here?" |
| "Here's a piece of advice," the cop said. "Tell your friends to stay away from Fat Cat." "Why should they?" the dolphin asked. "He was Marked for Death," the cop said. "He committed a number of murders so gruesome, his own partner sent evidence of his activities to the police. He managed to escape custody before he could be executed however. That being said, sentence still stands; ether the city will execute him, or someone will take the law into their own claws, or fins, or wings, or whatever, and the result will be the same in the end, for he's dead as far as everyone is concerned, and so is anyone foolish enough to willingly work for him, especially if they know that he'd been sentenced to die." The dolphin gulped. "Didn't know he got into that type of situation." The dolphin looked at his friend, who was now in a state of sober shock, or something. "He said he was going to help protect the fish," the other dolphin said. |
| "Don't believe a word he says," said the cop "they're all lies." Meanwhile on the docks, a strike team is boarding a licensed police submarine which involves John Bobtail, Rachel Greyson and Nick Stripetail. They are all briefed by the commissioner, "Listen up everyone, your mission is clear. Infiltrate Fat Cat's lair, rescue the cubs and arrest Fat Cat so he can once again face his execution. If Fridgidum kills him first, then bring back his body. The important thing is cubs must be rescued alive. Any questions?" |
| Rachel raised her hand. "Can a whale stop this sub?" The Commissioner exchanged a glance with his assistant who nodded. "A whale can stop it, but it can't crush it. You won't drown. But if a whale is determined to keep you from moving forward, he can do it." "So then what do we do about the whales?" "I can answer that," Nick said. "The sub has guns and torpedoes. Don't worry about the whales." |
| "You wouldn't happen to know the location of Fat Cat's lair, now would you?" The police officers turned, and saw Fridgidum walking down the dock, his guards at a respectful distance behind him. Each of them carried a duffel bag. "Our sub doesn't have enough room for you or your bears," the Commissioner said. The shrew grinned. "I already have a ride." At this, a large sub surfaced, making the one the police officer had been looking at seem like a toy. "This is military-grade equipment," the Commissioner said. "Are those torpedo tubes functional?" "Give my guy twenty minutes, and they will be," said Fridgidum. "As for how I got this, base had a yard sale, and I bought it at a good price. Useful for transporting certain goods of questionable legality, that is, if I was into that sort of thing, which I'm not. Can hold two hundred personnel and the means to support them for six months." "Nice to know," the Commissioner said. "And I wager that you've got this thing all registered, right?" "Of course," said Fridgidum. "Along with the various weapons I've brought; permits and everything." One of the bears stepped forward, put down a bag, opened it, and pulled out a military-type of firearm. "Semi-auto, with a thirty round magazine, but, with a little bit of adjustment, and a file, this thing can fire over a thousand rounds per minute," said the shrew. "Fine for such modification is fifty per weapon, but these are not modified, yet. Of course, give me twenty minutes, and I'll pay the fee for twenty illegally modified weapons, which I'll turn over to you, after we rescue those cubs." "What else do you have?" the Commissioner asked. "Did you remember to bring some submersible suits and the like?" the shrew asked. "Knowing Fat Cat, the base is underwater, and he could probably flood any section he wanted to." "Explosives?" "Not bringing that, due to the risk of flooding," the shrew said. "That being said, he's not very smart where his electronics and such are concerned; I have a guy who can easily take control of his systems, and we can take care of the place later, after we rescue the cubs, and whomever else is being held there." |
| One of Fat Cat's henchbeasts, a Jaguar goes up to Fat Cat. "Boss, I'm picking up activity on the docks." Fat Cat says "Put it on screen." Soon a huge monitor shows the Police and Fridgidum with his bears boarding two different Subs, "It looks like my old partner-in-crime is gonna pay us a visit along with the police." Fat Cat says, "Signal the whales, have them turn those subs into scrap iron." A Leppard says "That's going to be a problem, the Dolphin and the Whales left about 5 minutes ago." Fat Cat bellows out "WHAT!!!? WHY WASN"T I NOTIFIED ON THAT!!!?" Fat Cat then calms down "Okay, sense we can't use the whales. Release the mines, those subs mustn't go through." |
| Fortunately, the bigger sub was the first to hit a mine. "Full stop!" yelled Frigidium into his captain's microphone. The loud buzz of the engines suddenly dropped to a whisper. "Any damage?" "Checking now," said the First Mate. "No leaks. The tip of a fin set off a mine. That fin is gone now. It will make keeping a straight course a little more difficult." Nick came on the radio from the smaller sub. "Hey, since our sub has this big transparent viewport and grappling arms, why don't we take the lead and find a clear way through the mines?" |
| "I think that's my grandfather," said Charlie. "He told me he had one of these huge underwater boats." "I just hope it's someone coming to rescue us," said Milly. |
| With Nicks help, both subs managed to get through the minefield without further damage. As the subs manage to reach the sub bay in Fat Cat's underwater base, it was soon infested with Fat Cat's henchcat's, all armed with automatic weapons with the boss cat overlooking in the control room "Okay everyone, as soon as one of those hatches open, open fire." |
| Nick's skill with the grappling arm of his sub came into play as the long arm rapidly unfolded in the direction of Fat Cat and managed to snag his collar. He was dragged off the ledge of the sub bay and left dangling over the water. "Don't shoot," Nick said over the sub's loudspeaker, "if you want to keep your boss alive." |
| "Why, if it isn't Fat Cat," Fridgidum said over his ship's loudspeaker. "I told you I never wanted to see you again, after the police took you away the first time. But now, you are stupid enough to cubnap a bunch of cubs." "Fridgidum! You are nothing but a coward, and a traitor!" Fat Cat yelled. "You murdered a masseuse, all because they owed us money, when I distinctly told you we weren't to kill those who owed us money, and it was in writing under our contract for our 'Collection Agency' not to harm those who owed us money," said Fridgidum. "I liked that masseuse, and so did a number of our associates. I even had a bit of a deal going on with them, to help them pay off their debt. A little hard to do that if they are dead!" |
| "Fat Cat!" The commissioner said over his loudspeaker, "I'm sending two of my officers to free the cubs you cubnapped. If your minions fire on them. The officer operating that grappling arm your on will swing you directly into the line of fire. Now if your smart, you tell your henchcats to lay down their arms!" |
| The grappling arm was creaking ominously as it tried to hold up Fat Cat's great weight. "All right!" Fat Cat said. "You henchcats lay down your arms and show them where the cubs are! Hey, Nick! I'm afraid this grappling arm is going to snap in two!" |
| "In that case, swing him over the water," said Fridgidum. "Last I knew, he wasn't that good of a swimmer, although he might of taken a few lessons from the dolphins, but I doubt it was anything beyond a doggy paddle. It will force him to go to whatever land is nearest, including a police sub. That being said, if he climbs aboard your sub, knock him out, tie him up, put cork on his claws, and a gag in his mouth! Not only is he good at escaping, he's a freaking cannibal; that masseuse he killed, let's just say that she was missing a few critical organs, like her heart and lungs!" "Explains a few things," said John, back in the police sub. "Alright Rachel, let's get on board that base, and get the cubs out. I'd like to get back home as soon as we can, and have some more of your husband's wine." "I think we'll all need a drink after this," said the Commissioner. |
| Nick had a better idea to subdue Fat Cat, "Commissioner," he says, "you might want to wear a gas mask for what I'm about to do." He carefully swung the grappling arm over the open hatch, puts him down into it, Fat Cat says "That was a fatal mistake, now I shall..." Fat Cat finds that he's looking at Nick's tail "Oh no." Nick then sprays him, overwhelming him with a fowl odorous musk. "Ahh, that's putrid!" Fat Cat says before falling unconscious. Commissioner says "A little extreme on that, but quick thinking. He calls in three fellow officers. "Take this trash over to the holding cell until we get back to the city. He being sent back to death row." |
| With Fat Cat in jail, the city decided to confiscate his lair and turn it into a Marine Studies Center. The dolphins were hired as guides and the whales as guards. The cubs were all reunited with their families, except for one orphan cub, a little lack bear named Grizz. "What are we going to do with this one?" asked the Commissioner. |
| "I know that she and her husband have been working on trying to have a kid," John said, as he pointed at his partner. "Nice idea," the wolf said. "Of course, not necessary." "What do you mean?" John asked. "Let's just say it isn't showing, yet," said Rachel. "Congratulations," said the Commissioner. "Still, someone has to take care of the cub." |
| Nick just returned from the Fletchers when he saw Fridgidum's Limo parked in front of the Precinct. One of his henchbears says "Mr. Stripetail. the boss wants to see you." He opens up the back door where he got in and faced Fridgedom. "Mr. Stripetail." he says, "thanks to your quick thinking, my grandson is free and Fat Cat is back where he belongs." Nick says "Just doing my duty as a police detective. So, how is he doing?" Mr. Frodgdum says "Reunited with my Daughter Chrisy and my Son-in-law, Michael. About to join them. Even businessfurs like me need to spend time with family, all I wanted to do is to thank you for what you done. Now if you excuse me, my grandson is expecting me." Niick gets out of the Limo as it leaves, "I suppose heroism has it's rewards." Nick says before entering the precinct. |
| Do you guys want to switch to Monster Mashers campfire? Or do another tale here? Or both? The little orphan bear cub had been at the police station for three days. The officers noticed how the Commissioner seemed to check on it every hour or so. "Commissioner, why don't you adopt the little fellow and give him a good home?" "Huh? Me? Adopt? Hmmm... Gee, I don't know. I guess it would be possible. My housekeeper would help take care of him." |
| I want to switch to Monster Mashers! I'm bored with this one! Milly was finally reunited with her family, |
| Twiga, you always get bored after a hundred additions. Meanwhile, John and Rachel were busy planting blueberry bushes. "Shouldn't you take it easy?" the rabbit asked. The wolf chuckled. "I still have a few months before I need to worry about anything. Besides, I don't want to get fat too soon." John smiled. "You, fat, unlikely. Still, I can't wait to try the blueberry wine your husband has in the cellar, among others." Rachel grinned. "Same here." "Not too much though," said John. "Don't worry about that," said Rachel. "I won't drink a whole lot." |
| I want to switch to Monster Mashers too, besides I can't think of another story to add here anyway. At the prison, Fat Cat is in his cell when a guard opened the door "Fat Cat, it is time." Fat Cat faced the guard, "Am I being released?" The guard says "No, it's time for your walk on the last mile." Fat Cat was soon put in shackles, "You are not going to escape this time, and to make sure, the warden doubled the guards and placed a sharpshooter somewhere on the prison walls so if you do manage to escape, you won't go far." The guard escorted him out of his cell where three more guards were waiting and then they all started walking towards the execution chamber. "Dead cat walking." said one of the guards. Along the way, they pass many cells filled mostly with Fat Cat's henchcats and allies, and Hasheed who's only charged with 7 counts of kidnapping. He watched as his employer is being sent to be fried in Old Sparkey. "I knew I was in over my head when Fat Cat killed those two bears from that first kidnapping." As they entered the execution chamber, the Warden, A bull elephant smiled "Fat Cat, I told you your killer instincts will cost you, first you killed a Masseuse, then you killed a gym trainer and a nutritionist leaving their son, an orphan. Guards, strap him into Old Smokey." Fat Cat was soon moved to the chair, the guards removed his shackles and placed him in the chair, his arms legs and body was soon strapped to the chair, afterwards his head was covered in a hood where it's soon buckled in. Wires are attached to the head of the hood a guard then step back and says "Fat Cat, your body will now be electrocuted until you are dead in accordance with state law. May god have mercy on your soul." |
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