((oopsy daisy ignore me))

Reuniting with companions

Myra and Shimmershadow arrived back at the Gearloos Goose in unison. The little unicorn flew into Myra´s open arms and she clasped her companion affectionately. Through their telepathic bond, both had known the other was safe all the time, yet being together again for real was so much better! Quickly, they passed thoughts and pictures to and fro and in a blink, both were in the know of each others adventures.

They settled down on a wooden bench, Shimmershadow at Myra´s feet, for a short break, when suddenly all hell broke loose. High pitching screams and thundering grumble so loud you have to cover your ears shrilled through the air and the light in the room was somehow sucked out. Myra and Shimmershadow jumped up and, together with their friends, ran out and looked at the darkened sky.

Krios, Rhea and Kronos were united again at last, too. The fiery-eyed demons bounced up and down, both of them trying to best the other with their tales about their adventures in the tunnel and in the Unseelie forest. The young mage laughed, he was relieved all went that good and that they also were able to gather some information. Soon, he was engaged in a childish ring-a-rin-o´roses, only theirs went like this:

Ring-a-ring o' baddies, will evoke some paddies A-tishoo! A-tishoo! They all fall down.

and really, Krios and the two demons fell giggling to the ground, to the shaking heads of all the bystanders.

And on it went:

Ring-a-round the forest, some baddies to deforest. Ashes! Ashes! The bounders fall down.

Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! All Unseelie tumbled down.

And with the last toppling down of the three singers to the ground, another growling thunder was to be heard, coming nearer.

Krios struggled to his feet, Rhea and Kronos squeaked anxiously and held on to their masters shoulder on their way out for discovering where that noise came from.

Just as everyone began settling down the companions returned, Lilith strained to see if Jasper was among them and as they drew closer she noticed him riding on Rusty's back. Must have snagged a bottle of something for the road, that little mongrel. A smirk warmed her lips as the otter slid off the giant stone beast and scampered his way over to her. Grabbing him up she held him close. “What's this for? I didn't think you'd miss me that much.” The otter scoffed. “I'm just glad you made it back in one piece.” Before they could converse anymore an ungodly sound announces the presence of something wicked. Running out Lilith's jaw drops as her eyes can't believe what is above them in the sky. “Must be thousands...” Her sentence trails off as everyone breaks off to defend as much as they can.

Laughing a bit since Rusty was carrying Jasper on his back, Matthew was excited for the return of his little companion. "Come here Buddy!" said Matthew as Rusty jumped into his arms. So excited to be reunited, Rusty started chittering away as if he were having a conversation with Matthew telling him of all the events in the tunnel. The little fuzzball looked up at Matthew and noticed he was looking directly at him, he could see! "Yeah I still have my si..." His attention turned to the large object in the sky, "what the heck is that thing?!"

Elia was sitting quietly in one of the many windowsills in the Gearloose Goose when she spotted the group of companions returning. Hemlock was among them, a small smile came to her face. Relieved that he had made it home safely, Elia opened the window as he drew near. Not missing a beat, Hemlock's large golden eyes noticed Elia open the window and he hooted softly as he picked up the pace. Pulling in his wings and landing softly next to Elia, she gently rubbed the top of his head and welcomed him.

It wasn't long before the calm relaxed moment faded away, darkness filled the skies above. Getting up to regroup with the others, Hemlock followed suit closely behind his master.

Valera was incredibly nervous and waited anxiously at the bar of the Gearloose Goose for Feng's swift return. Sure he may someday be the death of her, but he had become her guardian and protector. As she drank down the last bit of her glass of ale, her long ears picked up a familiar sound.

Noticing her other comrades jumping with excitement over being reunited with their companions, Valera jumped from her chair to meet up with Feng.

Stepping outside to meet with the giant lug, to Val's surprise he wasn't there... Was he still shrunk? Did he shrink more? Where was he? Panic had set in as the pirate excused herself and went off in search for her stone beast.

Retracing the path the other companions took, Valera kept an eye out for his footprints. It didn't take long for her to find where Feng went off course. With a dejected sigh the pirate followed the large footprints and eventually ended up at the entrance archway to a cemetery. "You stupid blighter... Why didn't you come back to the inn first?!" Valera cursed as she scanned the area for her hungry creature. "FENG! Where the hell are ye?!"

A faint grumble could be heard from the east of the cemetery, without thinking Valera took off running in that direction. "FENG!" She called out to him again. There was no answer still.

Suddenly she saw a stone figure move between the graves ahead of her. Something seemed off, where was Feng's lantern? There was no light or subtle glow. What the pirate thought was stone was actually the thick grey hide of a monstrous creature. The creature stood up and lumbered over in the viera's direction. Not knowing if this creature was friendly or not, Valera didn't want to provoke whatever it was and slowly started to back away. It was too late, the gargoyle didn't appreciate her presence and roared fiercely at her as it bared it's fangs and claws.

((OOC: Isn't he charming? xD))

"Nope... Nope! Nope! SHHHHHIIIIIIIIITE!!" Valera held onto her hat and ran for it. She wasn't well equipped enough to challenge such a creature, right now the best idea was to flee. Unfortunately for her the monster gave chase, it would seem that the creature compendiums Val had read earlier was correct with the fact that gargoyles are quite territorial.

Running as fast as her legs could take her, the gargoyle proved to be swifter and was closing the gap between them quite rapidly. Valera was cursing more than any sailor should as she tried to weave and dodge around the tombstones and grave markers.

A second set of footsteps could be heard catching up to her from behind. Seriously? Was there 2 of them now? Val didn't want to look behind her, just kept running as fast as she could. The heavy set of footsteps was gaining momentum, they also started to sound familiar. FENG! Val's heart almost skipped a beat as the stone beast had caught up to her and tossed her on his back. Feng was able to run faster than the gargoyle and pulled ahead of the beast. As the pair raced through the cemetery gates, Val looked back and noticed the creature stopped right under the archway and let out a load roar at them before turning around and returning to whatever it was doing before Val had confronted it.

Heart racing, Valera didn't know how she felt at that point in time. Happy? Scared shitless? Still panicked? Trying to calm herself down regardless of how she felt, Val was relieved that Feng had found her in the knick of time. Then again she wouldn't have been in that situation if he had returned to the inn first. Deciding maybe it was for the best not to dwell on it, Valera held on as Feng raced back to the Gearloose Goose.

When they returned to the others, Val dismounted and looked to Feng as she patted his head "Ye better not be hungry after all that!" She laughed it off but was interrupted as a steely voice entered her mind. "I HUNGER!" If Valera's jaw could have it would have dropped to the floor, she stared astonished with her mouth wide open at Feng. It wasn't until the beast had a weird smug grin on his face and sat down that she knew for the first time ever he had played a joke on her. "YOU ASSHOLE SHITHEAD OF A BEAST! DON'T YE EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN! I WILL HUNT YE DOWN N' DESTROY YOU!!" The cursing continued for another 15 minutes straight as the rest of the team looked at each other and wondered what had transpired.

Verrek's hair had grown back from his "lazy hawk" haircut thanks to yet another hair-regrowth potion. He hoped he wouldn't have to drink the pulpy concoction a third time for fear of side effects.

The shade was just setting his long rectangular case on his bed next to a business card from Miikaul and his folded outfit from Creeque Alley when he heard joyous shouts from below.

Verrek dove toward his window, almost crashing through the glass when he tripped on a chair leg and fell flat.

Scrambling to his feet he peered out at the familiar surroundings of the Gearloose Goose and immediately spotted it. Far in the distance, down the road a cloud of dust marking the companions' return.

He was just narrowing his eyes to try to make out the shapes when a midnight black form fell across his vision.

Verrek yelped and lurched backwards, toppling to the floor as his leg caught the overturned chair again.

Parting his curtain of black hair he looked up and beheld SilentOne perched smugly on the windowsill.

"Oh you," the shade growled as he lept to his feet, trying--and failing--to feign disgruntlement while in truth he was overwhelmed with relief at seeing his old friend alive and well.

Kicking the chair aside Verrek hurried and opened the window. SilentOne swooped in and flapped his wings in the shade's face in greeting.

"Ack! Wha- pffft, gah! Stoppit stupid!" Verrek snatched at the air blindly in an attempt to catch the crow, but SilentOne expertly weaved around the flailing arms then floated down to land atop Verrek's tousled head with a satisfied "huff".

By now the companions confined to traveling on the ground had reached the Gearloose Goose and were reuniting with their friends.

Through their shared telepathic link, SilentOne conveyed to Verrek what the companions had discovered in the Unseelie realm. Verrek was alarmed and hurried downstairs to join the other members of the Chimeriad just as a terrifying form materialized over the horizon.

________________________________

Outside the Gearloose Goose there was pandemonium. There was a great deal of rushing back-and-forth as everyone began getting what they needed from inside before rushing out to get the ships ready.

Verrek stumbled a bit on unsteady legs, transfixed by the hulking behemoth of the Death Dragon ship and it's hoard. SilentOne made a faint throaty "craw" sound from where he perched on Verrek's shoulder, he too was filled with dread for what lay ahead.

The shade knew he had to help take that thing down, but he couldn't find the strength to move.

So this is how it was going to end.

He fought and clawed and skulked and crept his way through 8000 years of hell and now he would die in a spaceship battle. Verrek was snapped out of his depression by a sharp pain sent from the back of his body's head.

SilentOne had knocked him with the hard wrist bone of his wing to force him back. The crow pushed memories at the shade of their last 78 years together and further reminded him that most of the last 2000 years spent outside the realm of souls were not all bad.

Verrek thought of all his friends back in his homeland, likely worried sick at his unusually long absence. He thought of his daughter off adventuring in deep space somewhere. The shade had to stop himself. Thinking of his daughter was painful, their last encounter had left him with a few new scars, not all of them emotional.

He turned his mind back to the vast armada approaching, it no longer seemed intimidating, but he now saw it as a threat. Not to himself, but to the life he had built for those he loved. The shade knew it was a threat to his friends back home and to his new friends here.

Wait... The shade snapped himself out of his ponderings and looked around. Where were the other Chimeriad?

_____________________

Realizing he needed his equipment, Verrek veered off and ran back to his room in the Gearloose Goose, SilentOne opting to follow in the air.

Once inside his quarters the shade grabbed the long rectangular case he had used to carry his faerock guitar and effects box back on Creeque. He now flipped it over and leaving the set of latches that opened the half holding his guitar alone he popped the second set of latches to reveal a new compartment holding his compound bow and arrows.

The shade reassembled the bow in a few deft movements, and with supernatural strength he restrung it. a feat that usually required a machine or a great deal of time with an allen wrench.

Verrek belted on his equipment: his bifold lockpick set, a collection of throwing knives, his dual daggers, bow and arrows, a suture kit, and his laser spreader. Verrek never used his laser spreader for battle (except in a few rare cases) he mostly used it simply for repairing his bow or working on the speeders. However, as a universal wrench with a laser for cutting, soldering, or welding it was an invaluable tool to have should he run into any technical difficulties and Matthew wasn't around.

Verrek picked up the call stone shard earring and considered it for a moment. There likely wouldn't be much need for it onboard the ship since they had a comm system with headsets and such, but he figured he better take it just in case their communications went down.

The shade rifled through the miscellaneous items he had lifted from bordertown during his few visites and found a thin yet sturdy steel chain. A minute later he had the call stone shard dangling from the chain links held by a simple fastener from a stolen brooch.

He slipped on the simple necklace then noticed the protective lantern pendant sitting amongst his things on the bed. Now that brought back memories. The talisman had been given to him by Aldora whilst they were passing one another by in the portal that first brought him into the company of the Chimeriad. With a small smile he picked it up and dropped it into his belt pouch with his lockpicks and suture set.

[spoiler=You can never be too prepared...] The Gearloose Goose was in turmoil. Everywhere, people tried to gather their belongings and needful things for battling in a hurry. Chairs were turned over, tables shifted and sharp shouts and snatches were to be heard all around, all comrades preparing for boarding the vessel. It was dusky in the room, the shadow of the large black dragon blocking the sunlight and the steamy clouds emerging from his mouth caused a vast veil of mist in the higher atmosphere, slowly approaching.

Myra hurried to her room, heading to the place in the corner where she had stowed her healing items. She had awaited it, feared it, such a full-scale attack. However, she was prepared! Over the last days, whenever she had found time, she had perpetually mixed and blended, crunched and pestled, brewed and strained. The far-seeing alchemist had health potions and healing elixirs at the ready, also saturated burn dressings and foils and salves and unguents, eye, nose and ear drops, even subcutaneous and intravenous fluids for immediate application when a case would be very severe and swallowing drugs not possible anymore. All kind of herbs and globuli waited to be prepared for immediate mixing in her wooden mortar set if the need arises for some special compounding. Myra took her sewing kit, which contained also some useful surgical tools, out of her drawer and put it together with the other healing stuff into a big brown leather bag, already waiting on a peg behind the door. She put some precast b

[Spoiler=Phase 1]

Verrek steered the T.S.I.M. Chimera into formation with the Stone Cold Rogues on their port, the League of Whovians across the way, and the Mischievous Misfits covering everyone’s six. The Tie-Fighters circled behind them as the whole formation flew in to strike the Dragon ship's bridge. The Protectors launched their attack!

Verrek brought the ship in close enough that Krios could easily fire upon the Dragon's head along with the other teams. Verrek worked the controls with fierce determination; he had to keep the ship steady for Krios yet he had to also match the formation’s movement.

There was a huge flash at each shot from the Rogue’s TerrapinGlider big gun. With all the ships firing at once it seemed impossible for the shields to hold up, but when Verrek caught a glimpse of the bridge through the explosions he was shocked to see the shields still intact.

Krios swung his newly enchanted turret around and fired away, deadly blows one for one for a normal ship, yet the dark dragon one never swayed a bit, even when getting blows simultaneously from all the other teams, too. Double double, toil and trouble, he thought, and topped the turret enchantment with an imminent destruction one. Better safe than sorry! "Curtus prestans!" he evoked and tossed his red hair, and to his utter contentment, the blows got harder and the shields seem to be weakened. "That´ll show you, you skunks!" the mage exclaimed and aimed for the dragon ship one last time. He turned the hand crank around, rotated the guns and with the rapid fire of 1000 rounds a minute, tuned with the charms he put upon turret and bullets, he landed a heavy blow and one shield went down. "Yeah! Got you!" Krios shouted, "Whoopee!"

To Verrek's amazement the shots coming from the T.S.I.M. Chimera's turret suddenly glowed a different hue as they flew though space and exploded on the Deth Dragon's bridge at each pass. Verrek's shade eyes let him see the magical trail that he recognized as a damage enhancement spell. What a grand plan to put a mage behind a turret! Verrek was elated as he watched the shields blink out under the enhanced salvo.

"Captain!" Verrek shouted to Valera, "We have an opening!"

Valera opened up the comms between her and Lilith, "We have an opening, git the cannons ready! Shoot his thing down!"

Lilith smiled and looked to Jasper, "It's our turn!" She slammed her command console and the cannons took a moment to charge up before they shot off. Huge beams shot directly at the Death Dragon's Bridge. When the cannon fire impacted first there was a giant dark blue impact radius before anything where it hit disintegrated into nothing.

From the bridge of the T.S.I.M. Chimera a transmission came through:

The team members of the chimeriad rejoiced for a moment but knew there was much more that needed to be done. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Phase 2] There was no time to celebrate, however.

Elia looked at the radar an informed Valera and Verrek about the incoming enemies. "They're coming in fast!" the elf pointed out. Val immediately hopped on the ship's P.A. to inform the rest of the crew while Elia continued to watch the enemies movement.

Verrek spun the T.S.I.M. Chimera around to face a huge swarming mass made up of smaller tie-fighter class ships. Every bit of him screamed to retreat.

"VERREK! STRAFE NOW! Give Krios a clear shot!" Valera called out a sharp order. Opening up a quick comm communication with Krios, "Verrek'll give you an opening to fire on those enemy ships. Git your arse in gear!"

"On it!" Verrek shouted in reply to Valera's orders. He repositioned the ship so he had room to maneuver and straifed side-to-side in long sweeps as Krios blasted away in the turret mounted above the cockpit.

Krios heard Elia´s shout and looked into the direction she pointed to. There were smaller ships coming to attack them! The young mage aimed and shoot, aimed and shoot. Piece of cake, he thought, and took them from the sky one after another. Much smaller ships they were, so not much resistance for his enchanted turret and armor. Metal pieces flew through the sky, one explosion followed another, and it was pandemonium around him, yet he was in his element. With united forces, they would take them down, all of them, and no mercy!

Their tactics and the actions of the other Protectors helped thin the ranks of the oncoming tie-figters but soon the smaller ships were upon them!

Verrek had been backing away from the oncoming ships to give Krios as much time as possible to take out the fighters but the smaller ships soon swarmed around them.

Verrek now moved the T.S.I.M. Chimera closer to the larger-class ships of the protectors, like the tactic of fighting back-to-back when surrounded. Verrek turned the aft of his ship towards his ally's so Krios could fire away at the smaller enemy ships buzzing about them.

Valera was busy communicating with the other Protector ships. It took a lot of coordination, there was a lot of chatter over the comms as hell was breaking lose and the entire fleet was under fire. No real decision had been made so every ship was flying on it's own to try and eliminate the threat in whatever way they could.

"Keep an eye on our allied tie-fighters! Provide some of them offensive support! Elia be our eyes!" Valera called out orders in the heat of the moment, this was the best course of action she could think of. Best defense provided some good offence and some of the smaller ships in the fleet had some good people on board but were more vulnerable than the other larger ships.

From this defensive position the Chimeriad blasted away at the fighters. It was a struggle for Lilith to keep the power levels balanced and for Elia to keep the gunners informed of deadly targets. Krios blasted away and their ally tie-fighters chased and destroyed enemy after enemy. But just as they seemed to be gaining an edge, it happened.

Remaining still and putting shields to front had left the engine intake exposed, and soon some debris from one of the many, many destroyed fighters drifted too close and was sucked in!

There was a sudden jolt as the entire ship's frame shook followed by a series of vibrations as if from a severe case of hiccups. Verrek tried the thrust. Nothing! The ship still had power, as evidenced by the fact that Krios still fired away atop the cockpit, but they couldn't move!

Valera had to stay calm no matter what and think of a plan, quickly she opened up the comms to Matthew. "What in seven hells is going on? We're not moving but still have power! Status report!"

Matthew explained to her that the debris has lodged itself in the engine turbine and would need to be removed but that it was not a part of the pressurized area of the ship so he would need to dawn a suit! In a panic, Matthew ran to a closet and pulled out a suit. With Rusty's aid he was able to put it on in a jiffy. Thanks to the temporary vision, he was able to make his way swiftly to the engine bay's airlock and get outside the ship. He could see the intense fight going on in the distance and knew he had to get whatever it was dislodged so they could join the fight. Due to the outer atmosphere he walked slowly towards the engine and worked hard trying to remove the debris with pain, sweat and strength!

"We need that piece dislodged! Pronto! Do what you must!" With that Valera ended the call and turned to Verrek who couldn't do much until the debris was removed. The two of them tried to brainstorm what to do if the debris couldn't be removed. Hopefully it could be fixed.

Matthew was able to make the necessary repairs, pull the lever to stop the turbine, remove the debris, repair the turbine, and restart the turbine once again using the lever. During the process, one of the earlier pieces he had dislodged struck the side of his leg and cut it open. Trying to stay calm he called Myra in the Med Bay over the comms, "Myra can you come here please?" said Matthew trying to repair the turbine ignoring his injury. It took some time but eventually he was able to do it.

Once back inside the airlock he called Val in the bridge to let her know that everything currently looked stable and the repairs had been done. The wound he took was bad, Rusty ran to his owner's side and assisted him in any way he could. The pair thought it would be best to start making their way to the med bay and meet Myra half way.

Their engines restored, Verrek was able to re-maneuver the ship back to it's defensive position where the Chimeriad were able to continue pummeling away at the small ships.

Working together, the Protectors were able to thin the cloud of enemy tie-fighters. Soon only a few stragglers remained and the Protectors each broke off and pursued the last few fighters.

Myra sat in a rocking chair in her secluded healing room, Shimmershadow in a wicker basket beside her. She wanted him to stay safe at the Gearloose Goose yet the unicorn won´t leave her, and the situation was decided for his idea when he trotted onto the deck with a basket full of dried goji berries which Myra had forgotten in the inn. The berries were good for many healing things and so it was essential Shimmershadow brought them, yet once here, he stubbornly refused to go back. The others are here, too! he thought at Myra through their telepathic bond. I want to help, too! Myra petted the unicorns lovingly, apprehensively taking in his delicate frame, clearly not made for a fierce battle. Yet you never know for what was the use of this if the little one was here, Myra thought, he often sprang a surprise.

Myra summed an elven nursery rhyme she heard long ago and rocked in her chair, trying to relax. Suddenly, a cold feeling of doom crept up her spine. She sprang up and opened the door to a sweating Krios, carrying a very pale and also sweating Matthew who hang limb in the arms of the mage. The bard wore a strange suit Myra had never seen before, looking a little bit like a diving dress yet with the helmet already removed. "Quick, Krios, put him onto the operating table!" the alchemist advised, hurrying over. The paleness of the patient spelled trouble. Krios did like asked, then turned quickly and headed back to the door. "Have to go, girl, the turret is unstaffed and the bastards won´t forfeit!" he exclaimed, and with this, he was already out again.

Myra didn´t spend a thought about battle standings. She bend over unconscious Matthew, feeling for a pulse. There it was, fast and fleeting, yet nevertheless! The healer removed the suit and flung it on the ground. She gasped, seeing the big hematoma on Matthew´s left side, growing bigger with every second. Ruptured spleen, Myra thought, perhaps caused by a blowback. The abdomen was already rigid from the amount of blood flooding in. On his right leg, there was also a big femoral flesh wound, bleeding heavily. So Matthew was loosing a lot of blood on two fronts, and the splenic rupture could lead to prostration and embolism, too. "Shimmershadow, sit on his leg so he doesn´t try to trash when I treat his wound!" Myra requested, and the unicorn leapt up to the table.

Myra cleaned the wound quickly, cauterized a blood vessel and applied a blood stopping gauze pad, soaked in tormentil decoction, and fixed it with mull. And such a good thing her friend brought the Goji berries! They contained a lot of iron to restock the loss Matthew had suffered. Myra would squeeze them and look to Matthew eating a lot of the pulp. The berries were also good for channeling the waste products out of the body and for keeping inflammation at bay. That was that, now to the more severe injury!

Myra checked pulse and blood pressure - still not back to normal! The healer rummaged in the drawers for the biggest venous cannula she had stored and connected it to a catheter with an attached plastic bag. For all she was worth, she rammed the needle into Matthews abdomen, so good he was flat out and only stirred a little bit. A lot of blood flowed back into the catheter and then into the bag, and the abdomen felt much softer immediately. Myra would give the blood back later, that was the reason she stored it in the bag and not wasted it into a bucket. Matthew sighed, perhaps because of the sudden pressure relief.

A flexible endoscope laid available at a small table nearby, and Myra enlarged the cannula hole to a fitting size. She clotted the disruption in the splenic tissue with infrared and sealed the verges with fibrin glue. Afterwards, she sewed up the entry portal for the endoscope with four neat stitches. Like planned, she placed a winged infusion set into the arm vein on the patients right side and let the blood drip slowly back into Matthew. Then, she sat down expectantly on a chair beside Matthew, holding his hand and murmuring encouragement. She had done all she could, now she had to let nature take its course.

Time seemed to hang suspended. First nothing happened. Then, after ten minutes which seemed to Myra like ten hours, Matthew stirred and his eyelids began to flatter. Myra sprang up and bend over her patient, excited. "Matthew! Come back to us!" she said softly and caressed his face.

Then, finally, Matthew opened his eyes, his expression vacant. "Myra! Is that you?" he asked and the healer pressed his hand reassuringly. "Yes, it´s me! Are you in pain? I can help with that!" Myra suggested, already filling a syringe with willow bark extract. "Drink that and the pain will be gone in some minutes!" she advised and positioned the syringe to Matthew´s lips. He drank the concoction, then groped around on the table. "Where´s Rusty? Is he okay?" he asked anxious. "I bet he is!" Myra answered with a smile. She knew, if something had happened to Matthew´s furry friend, Krios would have brought him in, too. "Let´s look if he sits at the door!" and with this, she opened the very one to a nervous Rusty who leapt at once into Matthew´s arms.

Myra looked around, then she saw Matthew´s enchanted goggles lying on the floor near the entrance. Apparently, he had lost it during transport. She stooped and picked up his special vision aid. "Here you go!" she said to Matthew, handing the googles over to a very relieved bard. "If you feel well, you can help the others now. Just go to Krios first and let him give you a magic once over, so you´ll last for the rest of the battle!" Myra advised and helped the bard to sit up.

That´s done, the alchemist thought. What´ll happen next?

The healer hadn´t thought her musings through to the end as the door opened with a loud crash and Krios flew in, a howling Rhea in his arms, Kronos flattering agitated around them. Out of the corner of her eyes, Myra saw Matthew and Rusty leave, slowly and silently, and s

[spoiler=The Fellowship in SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE] The alarm was sounded and the teams scattered toward their ships of choice. The Fellowship had thrillingly been appointed a group of single pilot fighter craft. Apparently Venom’s previous musings of going into battle aboard a fighter jet were about to become a reality. Slipping into the only seat Ven took a few minutes to become acquainted with the interior of his borrowed vessel. The controls looked simple enough, and most importantly the firing triggers were integrated nicely into the steering apparatus. The anticipation had Venom grinding his teeth to get started. Sure it had been a lifetime since he had been behind the wheel of a ship like this, but there was no time for a practice run. Something about this was beginning to feel more and more familiar as Venom checked his sensor array for the fifth time. Pressing the intercom that linked his ship with the rest of the Fellowship he cleared his throat. “This is Ven, checking in.”

Quercus was delighted to see Star and Tipper again. The three friends were a mass of happy hugs with Tipper and Star talking so fast Quercus could hardly pick up all they were saying. The word 'invasion' was said over and over though and the cuts on Tipper's pads spoke of something horrible. The shriek alerted her to the attack as did the intense chill. Dark magic was flowing fast. She took one look at the ship overhead let out a string of words that she would later hope no one understood. She placed Tipper down. "You have both done very well. Stick as close to the Unseelie as you can. It's my turn to do some fighting." She dashed off after the Fellowship, towards the ships. She hoped Star and Tipper would understand they couldn't follow her, not after everything they'd just been through. She lept for her ship and flicked the systems on as she strapped in. The ship hummed as it began to power up. Quercus focused on the weapons and navigation systems. She needed them calculating while she got the systems checked. Better they were up and running the moment she took off. She didn't want to shoot while launching but she could tell the enemy was moving fast.

Jean gaped at the dragon for a moment before joining the dash for the little fighter ships. Sure, she'd only flown a spaceship the one time, but she was a fast learner and there was a limited number of spare pilots. The ones with the waffle-style wings were interesting, but she made her way to one that was more streamlined, a flat wedge-shaped craft suited for upper atmosphere and near space. She saw with satisfaction that the control setup was reassuringly familiar. It had a lot in common with the prop plane one of her friends often took her up in, with a dash of a few other things. She poked her head back out. "I'll be fine," she called, giving the nearest band member a thumbs-up. "Go help someone who is lost." She clambered into the pilot seat, strapped herself in, powered up, and checked her control panels. "Reading you loud and clear, Ven. You ready to fly?" she replied over the radio. The woman could feel the rush of adrenaline, and she took a deep breath to steady herself before taxiing to the liftoff point.

A large toothy grin spread across the warrior's face in response to Jean’s question. “That’s an affirmative Captain.” In no time at all the ships had been launched and row by row the smaller vessels were sent into the sky. When it came time for Venom to launch, he held formation until it was appropriate and then wasted no time testing the throttle. Shooting into an arc he curved around the larger armada and made a circle back to his point of origin to regroup with the Fellowship.

"Quercus reciving you loud and clear. Please confirm my radio is working." Quercus called as she push the engines into life. "System checks complete, launching in three, two, one." The engines roared into life and the ship raced for the skies. Quercus would have ordinarily enjoyed the view. But the large formations of attackers bearing down on them were not encouraging her to do anything other than focus on attacking.

"Woah there, Ven!" Spring laughed as she saw him retake his position. "It looks like you have been doing this for a long time." And to Quercus: "Copy you here, Quercus. You are coming in just fine!"

Selawick sat in a small seat Spring had rigged to the side of her. He would not hear of staying behind. It would be a great adventure, he thought! As for Spring, she was no stranger to flight, but she wasn't in a habit of using the sky as a battlefield. She held her craft steady with the others as they headed towards the battle, but inside she was shaking in her boots. This was it. The big one that would decide the fate of the Protectors...and life as they all knew and loved it. She gripped the control column a bit tighter in determination. They weren't going to let that happen.

Cream tucked Fuzzybottom into her satchel and hitched it up over shoulder. She was ecstatic at the thought of flying one of these single-pilot ships. She knew that the road ahead would be tough, but the Fellowship had never had it easy so that would be nothing new this time. Cream clambered aboard and did a quick check of the system, then flipped on her radio so she could confirm her presence. After a few crackles the radio came to life and Cream lifted the tiny receiver, saying, "This is Cream reporting for duty with the Fellowship. Giving you voice confirmation that I am in my ship and confirming everyone's radio is working." She punched a few buttons and sped off into the air behind the rest of her friends, making a neat V formation as they began to head towards where the battle would take place.

Quercus watched Venom's display and slid into formation behind Jean. "Anyone got a battle plan? I'm happy to help clear these patches of rot but I'd like a clear plan if we've got one." She began scanning the enemies and testing the response of her guns with test targeting. She really wasn't fond of the delay. Her mind could be several steps ahead of the game when she used her bow. It would be harder to slow down shots but she wasn't about to give up. "Everyone ready?"

The smile Ven wore crept into his tone as he clicked in over the intercom in response to Spring's comment. “Muscle memory mostly.” Releasing the accelerator Venom fell back into formation with his team. Jean seemed to be enjoying herself about as much as he was, and both Spring and Quercus seemed to have developed a knack for handling their respective aircraft. Although they had just launched there was no doubt in Venom’s mind that the Unseelie hoard would soon crumble. With this many Protectors on the offensive the bad guys really didn’t stand a chance.

"Selawick, keep a lookout!" Spring said. She shared Ven's hope that the Unseelie had no chance against the joined force of the protectors, but she was cautious and since he had to come, Selawick might as well be useful. "We can't have anyone sneaking up on us, and I could use a second pair of eyes."

Up here close to the ship the thing appeared even more massive and being so far from the ground was dizzying. Selawick, who loved nothing more than a ride with Star, squeaked his disapproval of the light streaks that phasers made as they passed by. He might be brave for a mouse, but he much prefered to do quiet reconnaissance over combat. He was very much wondering why he'd decided to come along. And he'd made the mistake of looking down once when Spring's fighter was turned sharply for a moment. Now he felt sick and wanted to hide. But he wasn't about to let his friends down. "Star is probably loving being up this high," he chittered to himself as he took his position on the back of Spring's seat where he could watch the screens for incoming crafts that weren't friendly.

It took Jean a minute or so to adjust to the control scheme once aloft, and then another to remember her physics and science classes. In space, there was no air resistance and gravity was greatly reduced, changing maneuvers. But ever quick to pick up a new skill, especially with a solid foundation to work on, the woman adapted her thinking without too much difficulty. It was like how you turned on ice, but on three axes. After some hasty radio chatter with other teams of Protectors, Jean tuned her broadcast to her team's frequency and quickly filled them in on the three-phase plan. "The dragon ship has shield generators," she added. "The Trainquility-class vessels are going ahead to take them out. Then we're going to split into task forces for the first phase. We're going after the weapons arrays and targeting systems on the wings. If it can't hurt us, we can finish it off at our leisure."

“Easy pickings.” Venom’s trigger finger was beginning to itch. If he had it his way he would be on the front lines. As things were, perhaps it was for the best that he was assigned as an assist. Now wasn’t the appropriate time to be overconfident. “On your mark, Jean.” To his thrill there was quite the array of color coded firing sequences to choose from. Flipping one lever he checked the scope and pulled into position to make a sweep over the wing.

Quercus remained quiet, focusing on the line of fighters and how the ship felt. She moved slightly back and out of the formation, an invitation to any ships looking to attack the Protectors. I'd rather they went after me than the ships going for their shields. She thought. Before she had fully realized it, she'd sent her ship into a steep dive. Her instincts were reacting faster than her mind was. Her radar was letting out warning shrieks that a ship was closing in. Beneath the force a ship looking to hit at them underneath was suddenly facing an attack. The surprise of the manover caused the pilot to pause. Quercus didn't. As she opened fire the ship tried to turn before exploding. "Watch for attackers. They're trying to come from random directions." She called, heading back to the formation. Thus far the attacking force wasn't looking at them as anything other than a minor annoyance. They were more interested in the larger ships. That would change the second the shields dropped. Quercus scanned the target again. She'd have to fire as fast as she could. "As soon as those shields drop, we're going to have a few uninvited guests trying to make us leave. We need to get in as many good shots before that as we can."

The dragon ship assaulted its opponents with salvo after salvo of weapons fire, but the Protectors dodged and darted around them. The Trainquility-class ships ahead of the Fellowship opened up with a spray of various colored beams and blasts. Before long, a faint shimmer indicated the shields had fallen. Jean adjusted her grip on her controls. "Phase one is go, Fellows. Ven, take us in." She toggled her radio over to the captains' channel to confirm that her team was ready. "Fellowship now targeting port wing weaponry." She fell into position behind and to one side of Venom's ship as the rest of her team completed the V formation. Off her port wing, she saw the ships of the Catnip Thieves rushing forward as well, before they split off to go for the other side of the ship

“Weapons target locked, let’s take these suckers out.” Even if his aim was a little rusty Venom had full confidence that Quercus and Spring would hit their marks without any trouble.

Spring glanced to check the position of the Fellowship's target and the other teams. "Jean, Venom, I've got you covered if you're ready to close in on the target." She aimed at a torpedo that was headed in their general direction. Whatever the Unseelie had prepared to unleash on the waiting battlers, they seemed intensely confident in their power and the systems that they had to protect their vessel. "We have to hit them hard -- and fast!" she said to no one in particular. "It's only a matter of time before they up the game and all of this gets a lot more crazy." She fired away a few more bursts, and moved in to take out more of the targeting systems.

"With you on that Spring," Quercus called. She shot after Venom, blasters already armed. She opened fire, aiming for any gaps or joints in the ship. She doubted her cannons would do that much damage. But a torpedo at close range on already weakened plating? That would be much more likely to take out the wings along with the targeting system.

"Right, it's harder to hit a torpedo than a large target." I think Jean finished to herself, firing her thrusters to angle above an incoming beam, then starboard of another. She spun her ship about at the end of the run, reversing her thrust to accelerate back toward the dragon ship and yet another pass.

Cream stuck close to Spring on the outbound, helping to keep an eye on the more enthusiastic fighters ahead of them. Not very many Unseelie projectiles made it past Quercus, Jean, and Venom’s initial assault, but those that did were met with a barrage of cover fire that put them down and out for good. Lucky for the entire team the vacuum of space sucked up all the sound of the explosions, as they popped into and out of existence almost as fast as they were fired from their housings.

Flipping another fun colored switch out of the array on his dash, Venom let loose a stream of medium sized projectiles that quickly buried themselves into the outer hull of the offending Dragon ship. Whoever weaponized his craft must have known someone with a love for artillery would be behind the wheel, or rather the yoke. Pulling up and around Venom flipped his ship and made a return pass that was blessedly more accurate than his first, he even managed to dislodge one of the gun turrets completely. It was a little embarrassing being up here with such a talented team and having little to show for himself. The space itself was fast becoming a bit crowded, what with all the various sized chunks of the ships they hit floating to-and-fro. Dodging them now was easy enough, but Venom had a feeling that later on it wouldn’t be such a stroll through the park.

Quercus pushed the engine harder. She was on a flat out run at the targeting systems. The weapons had registered what they were up to and were turning to intercept. There were a few seconds left before they got their range. A few strafing shots were already streaking through the formation in an effort to take them out. Quercus judged distance and fired. She kept going, fired a second round and banked hard to avoid the retaliating shots and a possible collision. There were more than one set of sensors but she hit one dead on and the following explosions from the nearby weapons crippled that portion of the wing and the remaining sensors in that bank. However it was clear that it was still minor damage. The remaining weapons turned to take aim again.

"Guys! Watch your sides!" Quercus called as she twisted out the way of incoming shots. She ran some quick calculations. She had enough hard hitting ammo left. But their enermies shots were still dangerous. "These guys haven't had much practice without a targeting system. Not that it will help us if we get a direct hit." Quercus muttered to herself. She banked and set her ship to run the length of the wing. This was going to be close. Sure enough some of the guns turned to fire at her. But their numbers were making it hard to pick out targets. Quercus wove in a bid to confuse the remaining targeting systems. There! Behind the remaining turrets! The last batch of targeting sensors. She opened fire, her guns cutting through the delicate tower. A torpedo to follow took the gun port in front appart. The rest suddenly found themselves firing blind and with little in the way of windows they were sitting ducks. "How are we doing? I'm looking to head for the next wing if I can." But she knew she wouldn't move without the Fellowship.

"The Bohemian Travellers are taking on the starboard wing," Jean replied. "Their captain had indicated they're doing alright."
"I copy Jean. Targeting last of the weapon clusters now." She twisted again and began to fire. With the last of their targets taken out, destroying the giant ship should be fairly easy.

However, that was not to be the case. Curses spilled from Jean's mouth as she saw

[spoiler=Part1 Misunderstandings and Makeups]Part 1 - Misunderstandings and Makeups

‘This is why I am a ranger and not a true healer,’ Leaf thought to himself as he handed over the less than flavorful concoction Ms. Miranda and Ertrude needed for the patients recovering from the death storm. The elf had talents with herbs, but not with a proper bedside manner. The ladies had coaxed and cajoled the members of the other teams, but Leaf was ready to just shake some of them and force the medicine down their throats. It was far easier to commune with nature and treat animals with gentleness and patience than deal with humans. Walking over to the window, he muttered to himself about how foolish people were as he picked up the rose and studied it a moment before moving it again. Thus far the flower had gone from Amdir’s bag to a table downstairs then to a chair near the window in the makeshift infirmary room. Leaf had forgotten to ask Amdir exactly what he should do with it or where he should place it while she was gone. Thinking back to what the vagabond had told him, he mused that any place he laid it would be better than the trash pile where she had ended up after one adventure. With that thought in mind, he carried the rose to an empty cot and laid it down. Then, shaking his head, Leaf said quietly, “No, that won’t work. She doesn’t need to land on it when she returns.” Then again, how did Amdir return? Did she just poof into appearance? Was there any type of sound heralding her arrival? Did she drop from the sky? The elf groaned at all the details he didn’t know and at which he could only begin to guess.

While staring at the rose and trying to decide a new resting place for it, Leaf heard a faint humming buzz from behind him and then a crash. Whirling around, he saw Amdir, crouched beside an overturned chair. “Amdir!” he cried and hurried over to his friend.

“Well that’s just great!” the vagabond scowled. “Someone will be feasting on a fine rabbit thanks to me!”

“What?” Leaf gave her a puzzled look. “Did you hit your head when you fell?” he asked in concern.

Amdir looked up at the elf and said, “No, I didn’t fall. That was the chair. But I was setting a snare. Now if I catch a rabbit, someone else will enjoy it since I’m not there.”

Leaf shook his head. “I’m just glad you’re back here and not there…wherever there happens to be.”

Sighing, Amdir took the hand Leaf offered and stood up. “Where are we and what is going on?” she asked, looking around. “Where are the others?”

“We’re in the Goose still,” Leaf explained, “but we had to turn this room into an infirmary of sorts. You see, there was an Unseelie death storm and several people succumbed to the dark powers. The others…” he paused and then took a breath and continued, “They have gone on separate missions. Each of them is alone. The way they like it,” he added with a touch of bitterness.

Amdir gave her friend a look, knowing there was more to the story but not wanting to pry. She laid a hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Are they due back soon?”

“I have no idea,” Leaf said as a shout came from the front of the building.

The question was soon answered as members of the assorted groups began to pour into the room to check on comrades. The two Misfits looked at each other and then back to the door. Thus far there was no sign of their own group. As the voices blended and reunions occurred, Leaf turned his back with a sigh. What if something had gone wrong? Then he tightened his jaw, recalling the leave-taking. If it had, it had. Jenna had gotten her way after all and that was all that she cared about.

Amdir spotted the others and tapped Leaf on the shoulder as they entered the hubbub of the room. The elf turned and his eyes went to Jenna. The bard gave him a smile as if nothing were wrong. His sharp ears picked up snatches of Anna’s babbling about Jilly and Jenna both winning contests and he heard a name mentioned. A male’s name. His blue-gray eyes narrowed.

Jilly spotted Amdir and gave a little cry. “Amdir! You’re back!” She hurried over to hug the vagabond.

“Yes, it’s good to have you back,” Jenna said to Amdir with a smile. Then she turned to Leaf. “Hello,” she said quietly.

Giving the bard a rather frosty look, Leaf echoed her words. “Yes, it’s good to have you back as well.” Putting an arm around Amdir, he said, “Come on, mellon-nin. You’ve had an experience and need to get away from all this. Let me help you upstairs.”

Amdir looked a bit puzzled at first. She needed no help. Then looking from Leaf to Jenna, who was standing like a shocked statue, she said, “Um…okay. Thanks.” As they headed away from the others, the vagabond said softly to the elf, “I don’t know what she did to hurt you, but I’m sorry.”

Leaf shrugged. “Don’t worry about it,” he said.

Jilly put an arm around Jenna and hugged her friend, staring after Leaf in shock.

Anna scowled and said, “What’s HIS problem?”

“I don’t know, but that was just rude,” Juana frowned, taking a step toward the departing ranger.

Jenna watched her elf and shook her head. “Let him go, Juana,” she said softly. She had hoped that Leaf would see her as a hero and someone who could take care of herself after she brought back Lightning, but obviously her calculations had been off somewhere.

The warrior huffed in frustration, but settled for glaring at Leaf’s back.

Upstairs Amdir looked at Leaf and commented, “You know, you should talk to her.”

Leaf snorted and said, “Talk to her? About what? She made things clear before she left. And did you hear Anna?”

Amdir rolled her eyes. “I try to tune her out when she gets to the over-excited babbling stage.”

“She mentioned Jenna being in some contest…with a man,” Leaf said.

“Oh.” Amdir bit her lip. She had missed that part, but could see why it was important, as well as hurtful to her elven friend. “Well, I still think you should talk to her. I know how you feel about her, Leaf.”

Leaf sighed and looked down. “I thought she felt the same,” he said quietly. “Apparently I was wrong. She told me that she didn’t need me.”

Amdir frowned. That just sounded cruel and she had an urge to go and confront Jenna, but she didn’t want to let Leaf know what was on her mind. Reining in her own feelings, she gave Leaf a hug. “Well, I needed you and I’m glad that you cared enough to stay behind and guard the rose to help me. And I’ve no doubt that Ms. Miranda and Ertrude are grateful for your help with the herbs. After all, not many people know about gathering and preparing the correct ingredients. Thank you for seeing me to my room, Leaf.” She kissed his cheek.

Smiling, Leaf hugged Amdir in return. “I was glad to help out,” he said. “You’re welcome.” Taking his leave, the elven prince made his way to his own chamber. After she was certain that Leaf was gone and wouldn’t see or hear her, Amdir slipped out of her room and went in search of Jenna. She located the bard downstairs with the rest of the Misfits. “Jenna,” she called, “I’d like a word with you.”

Jenna looked up and said, “Alright.” Together the two went to a private area in the back of the room to talk, leaving Jilly, Anna, and Juana to finish their drinks and then head upstairs to clean up after their trip.

Giving Amdir a questioning look, Jenna waited, wondering what the vagabond had on her mind. She didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“How could you be so cruel to Leaf?” Amdir demanded.

“What?!” Jenna asked, slightly startled. “I haven’t been cruel to him.”

Amdir said accusingly, “You told him that you didn’t need him. He feels that you shoved him aside and then immediately went off on this adventure and found yourself another man.”

Jenna’s eyes widened. “No! I didn’t!” she exclaimed. “I mean…I did tell him that I didn’t want to be put on a shelf and protected…and I did find another man…but not that way! I love Leaf! You have to know that, Amdir. HE has to know that.”

“I’m not so sure he does after the way you’ve acted,” Amdir said. “I told him that he needed to talk to you, but he thinks you’ve already made your decision.”

Groaning softly, Jenna said, “That foolish elf.”

“Foolish?” Amdir’s voice held a tinge of anger. “He’s hurt, Jenna. Elves feel emotions strongly whether it’s love or hurt.”

Jenna gave her friend a look. “When did you get to be an elf expert?”

Amdir shrugged. “I watch and listen more than you know,” she said.

Sighing, Jenna looked down. She hadn’t meant to cause Leaf pain. She had only wanted to show him…show him what? She thought. That she could be independent? That she was better off without him? No, she wasn’t better off alone. But would she be able to face her fears and talk to Leaf about everything? Looking up at Amdir, she said, “I think you might be right. I need to talk to Leaf.”

Meanwhile, Jilly had decided to take matters into her own hands. After listening to Juana and Anna complain about Leaf and threaten dire things for the ranger on the way upstairs, the alchemist was glad when they disappeared into their own rooms. She went to her room and hastily cleaned up before heading to the room Leaf was using. Knocking on the door, she waited a moment.

“Who’s there?” Leaf’s voice called.

“It’s Jilly,” the alchemist replied. “Let me in, Leaf.”

Footsteps were heard and the elf opened the door. His face registered none of the usual lightheartedness. “Yes?” he said politely.

Jilly frowned. “What is going on?” she asked. “You aren’t acting like yourself. I’ve never seen you be so rude, especially to Jenna.”

Leaf’s jaw clenched slightly at the mere mention of the bard. “I was not rude,” he contradicted. “I was civil enough.”

“See that’s what I mean,” Jilly said in frustration. “You’re doing it now. Talking…different. It’s not like you, Leaf.”

“I’m sorry, Jilly, but it is like me,” Leaf stated coolly. “Perhaps you do not know me as well as you think.”

Jilly stamped her foot. “I know you’re usually in a good mood…that you like to smile and laugh. I also know that when we first see each other, and most especially when you and Jenna first see each other, after any separation, there are hugs and happiness. It wasn’t like that at all downstairs.”

“Your key word, I believe, is usually,” Leaf said, his tone the polite voice that he used to address those who visited his father’s realm but were not well known to the elves.

Frowning, Jilly tossed her hair back and said, “Alright so what’s not usual about this time. We went on a mission. We came back. It’s no different than before.”

“No different?” Leaf gave her a look, his temper rising despite his wish to remain aloof. “Before we’ve gone on missions together,” he pointed out. “And when we have been separated, it was an amicable parting with the assurance that everyone involved would welcome a reunion in the future.”

“Well you know we had to split up this time,” Jilly said, still frowning.

“Yes. And we did,” Leaf said. ‘In more ways than one,’ he added to himself.

“Then stop acting this way,” Jilly scolded.

Leaf frowned now and said, “What way is that, Jilly? I’ve done nothing but offer the group welcome at their return.”

“You’ve given Jenna the cold shoulder!” the alchemist said hotly.

“She made her choice,” Leaf said. “Perhaps you should talk to her and not me.”

“Ohh…Juana was right!” Jilly exclaimed. “You ARE infuriating!” She glared at Leaf who merely shrugged and turned to go back into his room. That was when Jilly noticed it. The set of Leaf’s shoulders was a proud as ever, but his eyes…there was something about them. “Leaf?” she called hesitantly. The elf half turned and Jilly had her answer. The familiar sparkle was gone. Instead there was a dimness…a haunted sadness there. And it became clear to the alchemist. “Leaf…you think…you think Jenna doesn’t want you?”

Swallowing, Leaf shrugged. “I believe we all heard her thoughts on me before she left.”

Shaking her head, Jilly stepped closer and laid a hand on the elf’s arm. “She was just upset…like you are now. Why don’t you talk to her?”

The elf sighed. “Amdir advised that as well, but honestly I don’t know what good it would do.”

“Please try,” Jilly said quietly, hating to see both her friends hurting and at odds with each other.

“I’ll think about it,” Leaf said. “Maybe tomorrow at breakfast.”

“What’s wrong with now?” Jilly asked. “There’s a saying, don’t let the sun go down on your anger.”

“It already did,” Leaf commented. “And it is past anger now, Jilly.”

Jilly bit her lip and nodded. “Alright,” she said quietly, grateful that she had at last gotten Leaf to say he would at least think about things. After Jilly left him in peace, or at least after she left since he felt far from peaceful, Leaf sprawled on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking that his father might have been right. He shouldn’t have come along this year. It was so different from the previous year. He didn’t fit in anymore. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, at least he’d been able to help Amdir. She needed him even if Jenna didn’t.

Jenna made her way up the stairs and paused outside Leaf’s door, chewing her lip uncertainly. Up until now she knew she had been welcomed in his room. Would she still be? Were all her fears about to come true? Taking a shaky breath, she tapped lightly and opened the door a crack to peer inside. “Leaf?” she called softly.

The familiar voice had the elf sitting up with a start. “Jenna.” Emotions flickered over his face and then in the blink of an eye a practiced mask settled into place. “Yes?”

Seeing the abrupt change, Jenna’s heart sank, but she had to try. She entered and said, “I thought we should talk.”

“About what?” Leaf asked.

“About us,” the bard answered.

Leaf held back a snort. “And what is it about us that you wish to discuss?” he questioned. “I thought things had already been decided before you left.”

Jenna sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. She searched her mind for how to handle it, her hand straying to her arrowhead necklace and tracing the shape.

Seeing the movement, Leaf took a deep breath and said, “Do you want mine back?”

Startled eyes flew to meet the blue-gray ones and Jenna exclaimed, “No! Why would you think…” then she saw it; the hurt that Amdir had mentioned. Her elf could wear a polished mask but his eyes would forever give him away. Reaching out, Jenna took his hand and whispered, “Oh, my Leaf. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Swallowing hard, Leaf held her hand tightly and said in a half choked voice, “Then why? Why did you say you didn’t need me, Jenna?”

With tears in her eyes, Jenna found herself slowly but surely telling Leaf her fears and explaining the nightmares that had plagued her. After only a few sentences, she was pulled into his arms and he stroked her hair as she talked. “So, I was wrong. I do need you,” Jenna finished. “Even if I CAN take care of myself, there’s a part of me that craves you…that needs you. You complete me, Leaf.”

Leaf hugged her close and kissed the top of her head, then her forehead, and then finally their lips met in a declaration of the love they still shared. As the kiss ended, Leaf smiled down at his bard. “You’ve met my father, sweet bard,” he said. “Do you honestly think that he would allow you to continue visiting if he didn’t approve of you? He’s not fond of humans and very few are granted repeat visits to our realm.”

Jenna leaned against Leaf’s chest and thought about that for a moment. The king and the queen had always been kind to her and Leaf’s older brother had even laughed and joked with her on the most recent visits. She looked up into her beloved’s face. “So you’re telling me that I was worrying over nothing?”

Nod

Returning from their separate adventures, SilverLegends seem in tact and happy to see each other.

"Anyone spot him?" Fresh says wiping frosting from his mouth.

"I had a lead on him," Witchy pauses and takes a puff on her pipe, "But missed that slippery chop."

"I didn't see a thing," TerrenaAnimula says while trying to block the lizard she brought back with her.

"What the heck is that?" Fresh stares at it.

"She isn't the only one that brought back something," Lovecraft adds, holding out a box with a few kittens in it. Turning to Witchy, "You know that powder you had in your bag? Well I put some in these sky patrol guys wine to get past them and..." she pauses before continuing with the story..."They turned into kittens. It wears off or something right?"

The kittens start meowing and stare at Witchy as if they know what was being said. She puffs on her pipe and shrugs, "Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to things I created."

"Great!" Fresh says. "Where is Gryffindor?"

At that moment she walks up and smiles. "Worried I took my chance to finally escape you guys?"

"Crossed my mind," Fresh says.

"Nah figured I survived this long and we have to be nearing the finish line," She says. "Oh and I didn't find him on that Sex planet. He had been there, but took off."

They stand around discussing their adventures when they hear the news that Lightening HAD been captured, but has since escaped. Now they have to go fight a giant Lizard machine in the sky.

"Who of Subeta would have helped release him?" TerrenaAnimula asks just as Habeebi walks up with his head down.

"It was me," he says. "You see, Lightening told me he had SEEN Tea_Roll and would help me get her."

"I would have made the same deal," Lovecraft says grinning at Habeebi. "Anything to get that menace of a Rollie Pollie off the streets."

"I have to go face the courts now," Habeebi says and walks off.

"So what are we going to do?" Fresh says.

"I think we should take our ship, use the sails, and rainbow bubble of protection," Witchy says and blows out some rainbow. "Lovecraft and Terrenaanimula can lob/throw bombs, etc. Fresh and I can wield mirrors to help combat the lasers. And Gryffindor can drive the hell out of the our ship, remember?"

"I'm still surprised we survived the last driving experience," TerrenaAnimula says with Fresh and Lovecraft nodding in agreement.

Ignoring them, Witchy continues, "Don't make fun of the bubble! it already protected us from a tornado. SURE We landed somewhere with a Yellow Brick Road and EVIL witches...I mean what was going on with the lady in the PINK bubble. She couldn't tell us at the START all we had to do was click our heels together and say 'No place like home.' Pure Evil!"

Interrupting Witchy's rant, Lovecraft says, "I've got a theory..."

"It may be bunnies?" Fresh answers smiling.

"Um...guys?" Gryffindor interrupts. "I think we should get going. The others are up in the air battling already."

"Oh no! Lets go!" TerrenaAnimula grabs Witchy and starts dragging her to the ship with Fresh, Lovecraft and Gryffindor following close behind.

"FULL SPEED, GRYF!" Fresh shouts at her.

"I'm giving her all she's got captain," she says with a Scottish accent.

"WATCH OUT FOR OTHER TEAMS!" Lovecraft yells at her. "I'd hate to have survived everything else and end up being killed in a crash or taking fire from another team."

"I'm doing my best," Gryffindor says back. "Kinda hard with Witchy in my way of seeing."

TerrenaAnimula grabs Witchy out of the way. "What has gotten into you."

"I'm trying to think of a spell or something to use on that dragon." Witchy replies scrunching her face. "Do you think throwing water at it may work?"

Gryffindor steers and moves the Silver Legends balloon contraption around, trying to avoid getting swatted at by the dragons tail or arms. As well as not getting in the line of fire of the other ships in battle.

"I feel useless," Lovecraft says. "I want something to use my sword on!"

"Hush you!" Fresh says. "Grab onto one of the make-shift cannons and fire whatever you think works."

Listening to Fresh, Terrena grabs onto one of the cannons and starts shooting bottles of exploding gas towards the dragon.

"Ohhh I have an idea," grabbing one of Fresh's cakes, "Get us near the face!" Lovecraft says to Gryffindor as she slides the cake into the cannon. When in close she lets it fly.

SPLAT! covering the dragons eyes as it swishes about wildly taking out some of its own flying support.

"NAILED IT!" Lovecraft yells.

After some long battling and lucky dodges, the battle is over.

"We survived!!!!" Gryffindor yells and shouts up and down.

"You had doubt?" Witchy says letting out a big puff of smoke.

TerrenaAnimula puts her arm around Gryffindor, "You may need some therapy when you get home."

"I know a good person to talk to," Lovecraft hands her a card.

"Has anyone seen our companions? I don't think we saw them after they went off on their own," Fresh seems to notice.

With that Ms. Miranda comes running up to the group. "GO TO MY WARD! TAKE THEM! THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!" she yells at the SilverLegends.

"What is everywhere?" TerrenaAnimula asks her.

"Your companions!" Ms. Miranda replies. "They REFUSED to go on their side mission and checked themselves in. They could check out ANY time they would like, but they WON't LEAVE!" She hurries away from the Silver Legends and yells over her shoulder, "If they aren't gone by time I return, I am calling pest control."

"You have that number?" Lovecraft yells in return, "I am sure Silver Legends has a pest problem and it isn't our companions." She stares at Tea_Roll who has suddenly appeared next to them.

"Isn't Habeebi after you?" Fresh asks.

"Nah!" Tea replies, "He is busy explaining how he let Lightening get away to Lariel. I'm free as can be." She smiles and her eyes light up. "Speaking of free, during my down time, I had SOOoo much fun. I met so many people and saw so many sights. What did you guys do?"

At least this is something.... sigh

[Quote=Vixen]Her head was spinning and she took a moment to clear it and try to calm her nerves as the chaos around her continued. The dragon ship and it's small wispy companions were a frightening sight. 'We've come this far" she thought "we are not backing down now!" She looked over the small little fighters that they were provided. They were fast and manueverable and that was good but they would however need extra protection against that beast of a ship for sure. She began to work up something to provide an extra shield while others ran around gathering things for their ships. She stepped up to each fighter ship with her wand and cast a defensive charm on them that would cover them in an extra shield of protection against magic and gunfire. She also added an ellusive charm to make them just a bit harder to see and lock a target on. Hoping it would help she jumped into her fighter, helped Dragella up into the cockpit and fired her up. She had flown a bit in the past but never in the pilots seat. Looking around at the controls she pushed forward on the stick looking thing and the small ship leapt out of the hangar. She giggled loudly waving to everyone she passed. She received a lot of odd stares in return.[/quote]

[quote=Angelica]It took me a while to get used to piloting my ship, especially since I was learning how to fly it in the middle of a battle. At first, I was mostly concentrating on not crashing into anybody in my flight path - that was really hard. It was harder trying to dodge attacks, fire lasers and perform crazy maneuvers at the same time. I had so many near misses that I couldn't possibly count them all - a couple of them actually caused (as far as I can tell) superficial damage to my ship.

I continued to listen in on the chatter coming into my headset. It was a good way to keep tabs on who was still fighting and as far as I knew, everybody was still alive. I couldn't tell who was in what ship but I'm pretty sure the one firing purple laser and glitter was Vixen.

I smiled, unable to help but be a little fixated on the glitter show when something impacted on my ship and made it lurch. My smile was quickly replaced by fury. "Oh no you don't..." I chased around after the enemy ship that had fired at me, intent on taking it down. At that moment, I didn't ca

The Catnip Thieves fight in the final battle!

[spoiler=phase I]Celeste hurriedly made her way towards the ship, as sounds from up above indicated that the battle was already starting. Before starting the engine, the mage took a few deep breaths to ease her nerves. She had never been in full-out battle (more like war, she mused), not like this, not in a little fighter spaceship by herself. She felt like a little speck of dust floating through space, who could be easily tossed this way and that. The horned girl took a few more deep breaths to steel herself. Just then, Amalia’s voice rang over Celeste’s ansible. “Are you seeing this? Haha!” Amalia roared with much enthusiasm. The sound of laser blasters being fired echoed in the background. “Down to Davy Jones’ locker with you! Or, er, whatever the space version of that is. Celeste, you’re missing out! C’mon, slowpoke.” Just as suddenly as it came, the warrior’s intercom ended. ‘As much as I hate to admit, Amalia is right for once. There’s no use cowering. Time to whoop some Unseelie asses!’ Celeste thought. With that, she zoomed out into the fray. It was a gigantic, all-out, free-for-all. There seemed to be at least nine bulky firefly ships and associated tie-fighters attacking the dragon ship. Celeste couldn’t tell for the life of her which ship the Fallen Angels were on. The mage contacted the rest of her teammates for help. “Where are you guys? There’s like, fifty ships around the dragon.” “Are all protectors present?” An unknown voice chimed in. “Uh, no”, The horned mage hesitantly replied, not sure who it was. “Who is this?” “Atrueheart, captain of the Fallen Angels speaking.” She replied matter-of-factly. “Hahah! That’s what you get for being late.” Taunted Amalia ever-so-helpfully. “Amalia!” Chided Lizzy. “You’re not helping. We’re the tiny ships next to the large firefly ship with the two thrusters, Celeste.” “I see you. Thanks Lizzy!” “You’re welcome. Gotta go!” Lizzy replied, before ending her intercom. Celeste really hoped the sweet polymath would stay safe in this giant mess. In a few moments, the mage was reunited with the Catnip Thieves. But it was no happy reuniting. They were under attack. At least twenty tiny Unseelie ships swarmed the Catnip Thieves and the Bohemian Travelers. “Crap! What now?” Dana fretted. She was starting to get a little dizzy, watching the small ships zoom by. “Ain’t anything but divide and conquer!” Amalia yelled. “C’mon! Let’s herd these bitches!” With that, Amalia dove straight into the midst of Unseelie ships. The rest of the Catnip Thieves followed her lead. “I’ll let the Travelers in on our plan!” Reyna exclaimed, staying behind for a while. Once the Chandie, the captain of the Bohemian Travelers was debriefed on the situation, the ranger charged in headfirst. “Hyaah!” As she zoomed in, the Unseelie ships parted before her like the Red Sea parting before Moses. Aodh smirked as he circled the now divided group of Unseelie ships. “Looks like these Unseelie scum are cowards, too.” “Thankfully.” Dana commented. “Makes our job easier.” “Now for phase two!” the warrior’s voice boomed over the intercom. “Lizzy, Reyna, Dana, Aodh, keep herding them. Don’t let any get loose! Celeste, Gavin, you’re with me. Let’s bomb the shit out of them!” “Gotcha!” Lizzy responded, circling the ships faster and faster. Aodh took this opportunity to tell Sliocach to curse as many Unseelie ships as she could. She bobbed up and down, excited. She was itching to curse something. With that, she directed her pent-up magic at five unlucky ships. They slowed, shuddered, and promptly imploded. “Whoa! Did you guys just see that? What the hell happened just now?” Dana was astonished. “Let’s just say Sliocach here kindly cursed them for us.” Aodh smiled. “Nice going, Aodh.” Celeste’s voice crackled from over the ansible. She was hard at work, firing lasers at the Unseelie ships. A laser beam hit one’s engine, and it quickly spun out of control. Shortly thereafter, its failing engine silently exploded. “Thank Sliocach. She did all the work.” The dark fairy brightened in recognition. “Atrueheart here, checking in on the Catnip Thieves and Bohemian Travelers. What’s the situation?” “The defense is going just fine, thanks for checking in.” Lizzy said. “Same here. How’re things on your end?” Said Chandie. “Coming along, slowly but surely, thanks.” Replied Atrueheart. Gavin loaded a few ice bombs onto his ship. He was glad it was similar to his personal spaceship. He would’ve used that, except it got sniped by a recovering Sky Patrol as he was leaving the Catchment. He was lucky to have made it back to the Squirrel unharmed. It was still under repair. “Watch out! I will fire some ice bombs now!” He announced. With deadly accuracy, he fired two ice bombs at an Unseelie ship. On contact, the bombs exploded, releasing an icy mist that shrouded the ship from view. Within seconds, the mist solidified, solidly encasing the unfortunate ship. He shot two lasers at it, breaking it apart at the seams. “Aw shit. That’s cold, man.” Amalia joked. Everyone laughed. “Positively freezing.” smirked Gavin. It was then that the remaining Unseelie ships realized they would all be doomed if they didn’t try something drastic. With silent resignation, each remaining ship accelerated straight at a team member. Ratte squeaked in terror, alerting Lizzy to the situation. She barely managed to maneuver out of the way as an Unseelie ship flew right at her. “Shit! Guys, watch out! They’re kamekaze-ing!” “Fuck!” yelped Amalia. Another ship missed her by a few inches. “If kiddo here’s cussing, shit just got real!” The warrior half-joked, trying to cover up her worry. Aodh hissed. “Sliocach, do you have any mojo left?” His companion dimmed and drooped sadly. “Curse it all!” The dark fairy looked at Aodh with confusion. “No, I didn’t mean you should curse them all.” The dark fairy sighed. “It was just an expression, Slio.” Dana growled, firing lasers at the small ships in rapid succession. Unfortunately, they were quick to react, as if they now had a purpose--to take out the Catnip Thieves. “Crap! They’re too fast.” The mechanic grit her teeth. Admittedly, her accuracy wasn’t the best. But if this were a fistfight, she could guarantee each and every one of those Unseelie bastards sitting behind the wheel would at least go home with a bloody nose. “Atrueheart once again, calling for cover fire! We’re almost done here!” The red-headed captain rallied the Thieves and the Travelers on. “Everyone! Let’s fly at each other!” Reyna screamed. “Are you crazy?” Celeste hollered. “Hold on. That is actually brilliant!” The alchemist interjected. “Taking into consideration they’re willing to sacrifice their lives to end us, all we have to do is trick them into crashing into each other by flying up instead of at each other at the last moment.” “I’m not too fond of the idea, but that may be our only shot.” Lizzy agreed. “Let’s try it.” Already, a few ships were charging at them. “Ready, set…” Reyna trailed off, waiting until the Unseelie were practically right on their tails. “Go!” On her command, the Catnip Thieves flew straight for each other. The Unseelie ships were right behind them, unsuspecting. Reyna clenched her teeth. If they screwed up now, it was all over. The distant stars blurred together as she focused on the six ships that were her friends. “…Now!” The ranger yelled. Quickly, all seven crew members zoomed upward. It was dizzying. Below them, the remaining Unseelie ships reacted too late and helplessly crashed right into each other. “That…actually worked.” Reyna breathed, disbelieving. “Of course it did. You thought it up, after all.” Dana winked. “Oh, hush.” Reyna rolled her eyes, but blushed anyway. “Hell yeah! We’re awesome!” Amalia trumpeted, completely oblivious to the romance that was in the air. Celeste smirked. “I totall

: Hey, thanks for the shout outs! "Spaaaacccceeee!" LOL. I played that game!

WOW Defenders!! Great Stuff!