[IMG]http://i62.tinypic.com/21ae61i.png[/IMG] Talwyn furrowed her brow as she analyzed the situation. “This river is quite wide and rapid, and there isn’t any foliage around…” The pixie surveyed her surroundings one last time before coming to a decision. “I don’t like how we’re going to have to do this.” Talwyn chewed on her lip, evidently uncomfortable. Gilbert stared at her with dread. “Oh hell no. Don’t tell me you’re thinking what I’m thinking.”

The Nightowls complete the task

Alanna thought carefully about the task the river goddess had given her and Mal to complete. It sounded simple enough - cross the river without getting wet. There were no trees in sight though and nothing in the surroundings presented itself as remotely useful. While she was still in deep thought about the task at hand, Vár tried to reach for a drink from the river and pulled on the reins still in Alanna's hand. It then occurred to her. "Why of course... Vár, you clever boy!" She patted his neck affectionately and loosened her hold on the reins to let the oblivious horse drink. Turning to see Mal looking at her strangely, Alanna smiled. "Don't you see? Vár can help us to cross the river without ever getting wet. It will be a little tricky but it can be done." Mal said nothing as she waited for Alanna to start making sense. "Vár can carry us across the river one at a time. The tricky bit is standing on his back while he wades through the river but I know you can do it. Being such a big boy, I know Vár won't let us get wet. Assuming the river isn't too deep that is."

Hmm, Mal mused and stared at the horse. She didn’t have anything against horses, per se. But they were huge animals and not always the smartest. Its head was bigger than her face. It was bigger than her whole arm. If it wanted to it could open its mouth and literally bite her head off. She pursed her lips as Alanna went over the pros to this plan again. She sighed.

“I know, I know, it’s just…” The sentence petered off as she looked around her. They were surrounded by flat countryside, waving green grass, and flowers dotted the far off hills, but there wasn’t a tree anywhere near them. There wasn’t even a scrap of driftwood. The Goddess kept her shores tidy. Her stomach knotted. If she did this, it wasn’t going to be pretty that’s for sure, and she might end up falling and ruining their chances anyways. Right now it was the only choice she could see though.

“Fine. But just for the record, I’m only doing this because you forced me to.”

"Come on Mal... where is your sense of adventure? It will be fine! Vár is very well-trained. And I'll go first to show you how to stand on his back." Mal just kept mumbling unhappily. "I just hope you got a good sense of balance though, and remember not to pull too hard at the reins, he doesn't like that." Mal's face was now completely sullen at her comment. "Come now... we need that shard and are running out of time. Here goes."

Without further ado, Alanna expertly mounted Vár and trotted him into the river until the water started to lap at his belly. The river was moving too fast for a human to stand upright in it but it was no problem for a four-legged animal of Vár's weight. "Alright Vár, you ready? Here we go..." Alanna spoke soothingly to the horse as she slid her feet out of the stirrups and used her hands to push herself up to stand on the saddle. Vár swayed from the fast currents but Alanna was able to steady herself, standing with her knees bent and feet apart while her hands held the reins loosely. "Let's move Vár, come on." She urged the large white stallion to wade onward and smiled as they passed the halfway point. "Good boy... just a little bit more..." They had a third of the way left when something brown streaked right past her head to swoop right in front of Vár. The stallion was so startled by Mal's hawk that he started to rear in the water and Alanna had to do all she could to stay balanced on his saddle.

Screeching came from the beach. “OMG ALANNA! HANG ON! You little bastard bird! What the hell is wrong with you?! I’M GOING TO ROAST YOU OVER THE FIRE TONIGHT. I’m going to-”

Her words caught in her throat as she watched Alanna teeter back and forth on the horse’s back. The warrior tried to catch her balance and all Mal could do was watch helplessly. Her eyes darted around and caught sight of her wayward hawk-owl hybrid winging upstream with a silvery fish in his large talons. She still wanted to yell at him some more. He couldn’t hear her now though, not that he would listen if he could. She loved him but he certainly had a mind of his own and a unique sense of humor.

“If you did that on purpose, I swear to gods I will clip you,” she muttered under her breath. Várs was stepping forward again slowly.

With the river safely behind them, Alanna let out a sigh of relief. That was too close for comfort. Hopefully Mal wouldn't have the same trouble. She let her horse calm down and rest for a moment before sending him back across the other side of the river where Mal was waiting for her turn.

The horse moved much more quickly without a rider, the water churned and splashed up his sides leaving a wake of froth behind him. He came out of the river, water dripping down his sides and legs. Mal cringed when she realized that his back was wet. Would getting her clothes wet count, if she was just drying off the horse? She didn’t want to chance it. She grabbed a few handfuls of grass and begin rubbing it on his saddle. She thought she could hear Alanna yelling something about, no, not on the saddle, but she pretended she couldn’t hear her.

“I can’t tell if this is working,” she said to herself as the saddle turned slightly greenish. Luckily, the sun was out and soon it was dry again. The big horse tossed his head and Mal took a deep breath. I can do this, she thought.

“I’m heading over!” She yelled across the river. She put her hands on the saddle, one foot in the stirrup, and then vaulted up using the balls of her feet. The world seemed a lot further up now. She brought her legs up underneath her. She wasn’t going to be able to stand up but she could manage to crouch.

The bottom of the river made each step across perilous as it was a mix of sand and pebbles and she jolted up and down. She kept her hands firmly on the saddle and didn’t even bother with the reins, trusting to Vár to get there. When he finally stepped onto the beach Mal jumped down quickly. Not a drop of water touched her and the Goddess was waiting for them.

With Mal and Vár safely on her side of the river, Alanna patted her horse affectionately. "Good boy, Vár! We did it! Here, have a well-deserved apple." She fished the fruit out of her pack and held it out for him to munch on. Vár happily ate his treat, his great body still shivering a little from the cold river water.

Well, he seems much more well-mannered than Sionan, anyway, Cronus thought to himself. Ambrose seemed to like this Ratatoskr more too. That was good. Cronus suddenly remembered how tiring it was to deal with difficult people. He remembered something from a distant past, or was it just his mind creating a memory? He wasnt sure...

He was standing in front of a woman. Was this woman his mother? She looked somewhat like him, her long silver-white hair shining in the high noon sunlight, brown eyes staring right into his. She was angry with him for something. She pointed a finger at his hand. He looked down and saw that he was carrying a book. He remembered this was his favorite strategy book.

"Do you delight in making me sick with worry?? Do you realize how many sleepless nights I've had? You have no business out in the battlefield, Cronus! Do you want to share the same fate as your father?"

"You are overreacting, mother. I've learned from---"

"You think you are wiser than he was? You are a fool."

Dise brought Cronus out of his flashback. He told her that he was alright and it was nothing. Looking at the items laid out before them, he carefully studied them for clues for the riddle that was presented before them.

After crossing the river and the meeting with Ratatoskr, Irith was now staring at the clues she was given for the puzzle. "hmm, well it could be......" she started talking. "But wait, that item wouldn't fit in then....but maybe...." Irith looked up from the list of clues. "Never knew a puzzle could be this hard" she said to anyone that might be able to hear it, before sighing about it all. "Why did I decide to go on an adventure in the first place?"

Zarith came flying down. "You have any ideas on this puzzle" Irith asked him, already knowing he wouldn't be of much help to her this time. "I mean I already solved a bunch of them with the clues" Irith said to Zarith "but there are 2 riddles that I just can't seem to figure out". She pointed at the two respective riddles on the clues paper. "Wait a minute...." she then screamed "of course.....this must the thing they have in common". She lifted her head and stared in Zariths eyes. "I know" she said "you don't have a clue what I'm talking about".

A puzzle? Howl sighed. Of course, being just given the shard meant that information required work. He thought of Sophie as he settled down to solve the quandary posed. She was far better at this than he, but maybe it wouldn't be tougher than he could work out. Fortunately it didn't seem to be, and before long he had his answers for the squirrel.

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After reaching the other side of the river bank, Elethia proceeds to do her patented victory dance. As Dise looks on in amusement they then hear the sound of someone awkwardly clearing their throat. Elethia stops her antics and they both gaze up towards the creature who introduces himself as Ratatoskr.

He tosses the piece of the shard to her and Elethia gazes at him in shock. It can't really be that easy right?! she ponders. In the next instant though Ratatoskr tells her what is required. "Aargh! I hate puzzles! Why can't someone just let me blow up something?!" Elethia sputters. Ratatoskr looks at her warily and proceeds to calmly wait for her answer while she's throwing her hissy fit...

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Oh no really?! We just crossed the river Kathyrine cried This is an emergency, and emergencies are supposed to be serious, not games

Even though she was complaining, Kathyrine began to read the puzzles clues closely.

Go away ugly dog, you are disturbing me

Mjrn caught her breath for a moment after having vaulted herself over the river. Brushing herself off she rubbed her arms, they too were a bit sore from having thrown poor Kathryn over the river, it's been a while she she had to use her strength like that. Skarn returned to the warmth of the hood on Mjrn's cloak. "You lazy creature Skarn..." she sighed. The wolpertinger growled softly in response to the comment.

Taking Kathryn's hand she helped her partner to her feet. Kathryn looked unamused by the fact she was sent flying through the air without something cushy on the other side to break her fall. Mjrn thought it was funny to see the elegant ballerina cursing her name as she was sent flying. Trying not to laugh at the situation, she looked to Dise who started on the path towards Yggdrasil.

Reaching the immense tree Mjrn looked up in awe at the supposed tree that connected all nine realms. She heard stories about it and the creatures that protected the tree when she was a child. The tales seemed to pale in comparison seeing the tree close up. Mjrn's thoughts were interrupted when Ratatoskr made its appearance. Rejoicing slightly when he handed them a shard for the bifrost, the excitement dissipated quickly at the mention of a puzzle. Mjrn was terrible at puzzles... Sighing dejectedly she looked over at Kathryn who was already examining the pieces closely. Picking up the puppy so it would leave Kathryn alone to concentrate, Mjrn sat down next to her partner and pat the dog. "so umm.. Puzzle huh? I hope you have an idea..." The two of them bounced ideas off each other until they finally solved the puzzle.

Nightowls

Alanna took a look at the puzzle Ratatoskr presented to them, her brows furrowing in concentration. "What do you think, Mal? On first glance, there are no similarities between all the items in each row. So they must be similar beneath the surface somehow."

Mal looks at the random objects in front of her.

"If you say so.."

A loud whoosh breaks the silence as her bird swoops down, instinctively Mal raises her arm and he settles on to the ever-present band of thick leather and metal. Wash looks at the squirrel, than the shinies on the ground, and back to the squirrel. He brings his wings up but before Mal can do anything Ratatoskr is chittering angrily at him and shaking his staff at the big bird. Wash ruffles up and and tucks his head back, then begins to preen himself like nothing happened. Dise's mouth hangs open before she starts laughing as Ratatoskr crosses his arms over his chest and proceeds to give him the glare of a century.

Mal sighs and looks at Alanna.

"I should have picked a horse."

You're welcome!

You made me giggle, too!

[IMG]http://i62.tinypic.com/21ae61i.png[/IMG] “Ratatoskr, Sionan told us that we could find the next Bifröst splinter in a mountain cave. What do you know about this?” Talwyn asked. “Ratatoskr will not say anything without your completion of a gētō --puzzle-- first.” The squirrel showed Talwyn a seemingly random assortment of items. “Tell Ratatoskr what is similar about the items in each group and Ratatoskr will tell you more about the cave.” The squirrel sat, nibbling an acorn as it waited. “Hmm…” The pixie rubbed her chin as she thought hard. She had never seen such exotic items before. She lifted up a sketchbook and flipped through its pages, hoping to find its connection to the rest of the items in its group. But all she found between its covers were assorted sketches of odd creatures. Gilbert rifled through the rest of the items. “I’ve got it.” The frog announced. “What is it?” Talwyn looked to her companion for answers. “Well…” Gilbert whispered his thoughts into Talwyn’s ear. Talwyn’s eyes widened in understanding. Of course, how could she have missed the connections?

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Howl looked around the room for a clue as to what would be a fair trade. His eye was caught by something in the corner, and with Calcifer at his side, he moved to take a look at what proved to be a little memorial. The flowers indicated care, and he wished he had access to his castle right now, or a way of making a portal easily. Access to that field with all the lovely flowers that Sophie used for her shop would be a perfect gift, so that Buareinech could give this person, whoever she was, the very best. Unfortunately, that wasn't feasible here. However, considering what the rumors said about this man, and how very different from them he seemed to be, Howl though he might have a solution.

"Give me thirty minutes or so," he told the man, as he pulled his spare shirt from the small pack he carried. The first task was to widen the neck-hole, so it wouldn't tear when pulled over Buareinech's larger head. Then he set to work giving it a solid enchantment, with Calcifer's help. Permanence was more difficult, and took the majority of the time, but he thought he'd done well, considering his heavy-duty supplies weren't present. "Here," Howl said, holding out the now-magical shirt. "This will allow you to pass among people without seeming out of place." He knew from experience that even if one enjoyed having a monstrous reputation, one still wanted to be ordinary now and again. "You can use it to go into a town, or to keep stray travellers from bothering you while you gather flowers for your memorial. And on the topic of flowers, should I ever be in town with my castle, I will stop by and give you some. Sophie would have my head if I didn't."

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