Eren surveyed the ship and its occupants with an air of casual indifference, which he had gained from years of political training and pondered what exactly it was that they were supposed to be doing. Pavel was at attention at his side, his glowing golden eyes tracked every move going on about the ship, calculated any possible risk to himself and looked for weaknesses in the crowd. While Pavel 'knew' that the ship was safe and everyone on it was an ally of sorts, he could not turn off his predator instincts. Eren buried his hand into Pavel's nape, leaned back against the railing and waited for something to happen.

As Lady Frieda boarded the Flying Frenchman, she blushed as soon as she realized she had been staring at Lucien. Nothing Kitcher had told Frieda about Lucien and Izzy had prepared her for how strikingly handsome and beautiful these two vulpines were. "Greetings from Kitcher Wheezle, Captain Lucien and Lady Izzy. I am Lady Frieda of Omen, Kitcher's older cousin, and alchemist for the Rogues in her stead. I am honored to meet your acquaintance." She bowed, then offered her paw in friendship, as was the custom of her tribe. She just hoped that her perfume had worn off by now, the last thing she wanted to do was to appear smelling like a tart or floozie.

Dace looked at each member of the newly assembled team and swallowed hard. The only person she knew was Frieda, and this wasn't exactly a cocktail hour where she could go around eating wieners and introducing herself.

Teislyn scowled a little at Lini who was trying to burrow into her jacket for safety. She told the Lure to find another place and to stay away from the ship railing. Lini jumped down and ran off in search of a better hole to bunker down in and Teislyn knew that she’d be okay, so she turned to the task at hand, she wanted to meet the rest of the Stone Cold Rogues.

Lini scampered about the deck of the ship and poked her nose into every empty space. She was a sensitive little creature, instinctively aware that danger was in the immediate future and she diligently searched for a good hideout . She spotted large linen cloth that someone had dropped in a corner and was about to nose her way under them when she stopped and sniffed the air. Some scent had caught her attention and she turned this way and that tried to figure it out. It smelled familiar, but strange at the same time. She turned around again, stopped and blinked in surprise. Standing right before her was a creature she could have sworn she'd seen before. Lini took a couple of wary steps toward it and sniffed once more, stepped forward again, then let out a sound of pleasure the moment she realized who the creature was. She quickly ran forward and poked it in the backside with her nose. She was so happy to see her friend from their last adventure, it had been a long time since they had seen each other and she had missed the honey badger. Lini nudged the larger creature with her head and uttered a series of squeaks, she felt a bit safer and decided to stay near Doom.

After Lady Frieda had introduced herself to all her team mates, she asked one of the deck hands where her bags had been stowed. Satisfied that they could be easily retrieved if needed, she observed that Doom was nowhere to be found. She sensed Doom's emotions and it was quite obvious that, wherever the honey badger was, she was quite excited and happy. When she finally caught up with her charge, Doom was capering around a small porcupine-like creature that Frieda recognized immediately as a Leaf Lure. Doom had found Lini, Teislyn the Bard's companion and Frieda knelt down to make her introduction to the diminutive creature. Frieda sensed Lini's happy mood and that she was eager to make a new friend with Frieda. Lini seemed to radiate warmth and contentment toward Frieda, which cheered her and caused the alchemist to relax a bit. Teislyn approached looking for Lini and Frieda looked up and smiled at Teislyn, "I'm glad that Doom has a friend here. I just hope that I can make friends as easily. I'm glad I've met you."

Teislyn smiled in return and saw Lini and Doom chatting away in their own language. "Glad they found each other, hopefully they will introduce themselves to the other companions.", she chuckled. Grasping Frieda by the hand, she gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be happy to be friends and we'll do proper introductions later. Maybe then we'll all be more relaxed and not all frantic." Teislyn squeezed her hand again, smiled and turned to see what the instructions where from Izzy.

Izzy's Instructions:

Izzy McGuiness took charge and explained the mission to the team and Frieda's cheer was slightly dampened after Izzy's instructions. She had seen Izzy's small craft docked alongside the Flying Frenchman and had admired how similar the Victorious Vixen was in size and shape to her own small fighter pod Passion Flower. Issy had instructed the others with similar small craft and had detailed the mission parameters for their use in rescuing the Wayward Squirrel. Frieda suddenly felt that she might have made a mistake that could possibly endanger her team mates and her mood sank. She muttered to herself, "Why did you send Passion Flower home, silly?" Why had she thought she wouldn't need her most precious possession on this adventure. She may have studied Alchemy on Terra, but on Subeta she was known as a very competent pilot with two combat missions and one-eighth of a kill to her credit. Frieda quickly halted her mini-weasel pity-party, she was well-bred and knew better then to wallow in self-pity. She wasted no more time chiding herself but called to her team mates and asked for a quick conference. It was time to determine what each of the team members was willing or capable of doing to help rescue the Wayward Squirrel.

Dace was the first to volunteer, "Lady Frieda, I volunteer to help secure the cables. I believe my expertise in mechanics and hauling things with my barge will help us get the cables into the correct positions for optimal weight distribution!" She gave a mischievous smile and added "But there's no way in hell that I'm going to rappel down that steel cable in the face of lightning monsters, or what ever the heck those things are, unless the cables are insulated." Which was her way of saying that she would ride down one of the cables to attach it to the Wayward Squirrel. "Is there a way to insulate a cable without having to use rubber?" It was a good question, it was doubtful that the Flying Frenchman had the capacity to vulcanize liquid latex rubber.

Alphonse looked from team mate to team mate and spoke next. "I would offer to help with the cables and such, but I'm best using a sword. Unless there is any objection, I think I'll stick with what I know." He went on to explain that the fog monsters might have lightning as one of their weapons, but that fire, ice or wind might be useful ways to combat them. He asked if there was a special oil that could be used to help their weapons be more effective against the wraiths referenced in Izzy's book. Alphonse thought a flaming sword might be effective in burning off the fog. "Lady Frieda, you're the alchemist, could you concoct such an oil?"

Teislyn was next to volunteer and offered to handle the cable mechanism and act as a messenger between the Flying Frenchman's wheelhouse and the cable-runners as they approached their target. She knew that she was somewhat clumsy sometimes, so that ruled out climbing out on a cable. But a machine that had buttons on was sort of like a musical instrument. She certainly wasn't going to wave a flaming sword around.

Aicha sighed. "I guess you'll be needing my help a lot then, yes?"

Frieda turned to the Mage and nodded. "I think that the group could really use your skills, yes Ma'am" She didn't feel very comfortable in the position of spokes-weasel, but she sensed Aicha's emotions, and felt it her duty as an empath to help keep things calm, "I think Izzy was quite specific, all team members needed to combine their skills to accomplish this task. I certainly could use some help with the cable insulation, a spell to make it durable perhaps? And we could use somebody to relay messages between the wheel house and the cable runners."

"Help insulate the cables further, enhance the weapons, cast a minor spell on the weather, and communicate orders between the group?" Aicha laughed. "Is that all you want me to do? Just that?"

Frieda cocked her head with increasing disbelief in Achia's mood. "Yes, I think those tasks are reasonable, don't you think so? For the good of the group?" The fur along the back of her tail bristled.

"How pathetically simple!" Aicha laughed loudly and reclined backwards on her chair. "I could blow the creatures all away in seconds, turn the weather into into a rampaging tornado, and take care of the ship with just one pinky. But, if you don't want me to do that, fine."

"It's not that we don't want you to do all that," Frieda breathed in deeply and slowly to calm her spirit, "but in a border dispute, which is what we appear to be heading into, don't you think that such a display of power would attract attention to all of us and possibly bring all of us great harm?" Frieda held out her paws, as a sign of deference, "We need you to fit in with the rest of the group if we are to succeed as a group, don't you agree?"

"I don't like being treated like the rest of you - unlike you guys, I'm not worthless." The mage rubbed her arm in irritation. "I guess as long as I don't actually have to get dirty, that's fine."

Frieda nodded in agreement, "Thank you for your offer of help. I think you will find that we all have worth."

She smirked. "Just don't change your minds later - I won't be too keen on listening."

Shasa looked at each of her team-mates skeptable of what her role might be. They were likely deciding on the part they would play in the rescue and it soon became apparent that her role was fairly obvious. There was no way she could fight those overblown storm-clouds, and she didn't have the expertise to give directions. What she could do was climb, even in her fox shape, and her slight mass meant that the cable could easily be manoeuvred in whatever direction was needed. She sighed with relief as Dace volunteered to ride the cables before speaking up. "I can ride the cables. But I'll need an extra push if I'm to make it to the Wayward Squirrel, I'm not a very big critter so... yeah." She shot Lady Frieda's Honey Badger Doom a nervous glance before she shape-shifted into her fox form and trotted towards a nearby pile of cables to check if her paws could fit around them. Kiska coiled around her neck, and looked for Wraiths with unblinking eyes.

The idea of having to tow a floating saloon through something called "dark fog" past marauding lightening monsters with a team of people she had just barely met made Dace a nervous wreck. Luckily, she liked Shasa already and when she heard her volunteer to go down the cables she knew they could be close friends, that is, if they both lived through this little adventure.

Eren blinked at everything going on around him and quickly formulated the plans in his head. 'Wraiths, nasty creatures.' He thought, 'Especially the ones of Dark Fog.' He flicked his hand, ushered Pavel away from the rails and towards the other companions before he slung his bow off of his back, pulled an arrow out of his quiver, notched it and held it in position. Yes, this would be a good place, he thought to himself. He watched as the fox-girl changed into her fox form and inspected the cables while the snake coiled around her neck. Pavel did not much care for foxes, or snakes, for that matter, so he backed away as they drew closer, not stupid enough to start a territory fight during the middle of a battle. That did not, however, mean he did not wish to do just that. Eren returned the arrow back to his quiver and spoke in a thick Russian accent, "Eren will fight. Little female magister, you make oil for warrior's sword? Then you make fire for arrows too, please."

As he was speaking, the rest of the group glanced worriedly in different directions and all including their companions prepared to fight or flee as needed. Dori has an illuminating mechanism for deep water that can be voluntarily activated as needed. It only lasts minutes at a time, needing to recharge in between uses. "We Transphibians are never alone, so when light is needed, we take turns with this". Dori's planet is aquatic. Dori will call on an eel from the sea. Watching the efforts of Kronus had Chandie attempting to assist though may have gotten in the way more then help as she sighs... "I am good with some things but not putting things together" Yet seeing Dori's attempt with the eel, finally makes the bard smile...something she can help with! Chandie adds to the performance of the creature by playing a enticing yet strange sounding tune with her lyre, the notes so clear and sharp they could be heard under the water. Occasionally a bright light as if a shock is seen from the now enhanced eel and as a result, along with the mage's powers the motor was assisted to start.

Bloody Frenzy (Frenzy for short) and her companion gathered the docking hooks into their arms. Talking telepathically they communicated to each other. "I will try to get one in position over each corner of the Wayward Squirrel. As soon as one is in place you scramble down the rope and manually attach a hook. Then climb back up and we will do in again on the next corner. You will have to do this four times in total. Is this acceptable to you?" The bear looked at Frenzy and gave a reassuring smile. With the aid of the extra laser beam floodlight which cut through the darkest and thickest fog easily, we maneuvered our way to where we would attempt to secure our first hook. Tendrils of thick fog were whipping wickedly through the air and seemed to be electrified. Suddenly shimmers of water were seen and eyes that were two orbs of light appeared. These were the dreaded electrified, flying fog creatures.

I thought of turning tail (even though I do not have one) and running for the hills (even though I was on Frenchman's prow with no hills to be seen). To do that would mean failure so I had to think of a way to put them out of commission for a while. There was no way that I could put them permanently out of action. I am only able to do that with meat and bones, not fog and electricity. So I drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled again and again until my lungs were full. Rapidly I turned to face these creatures and I huffed and I puffed fast and furiously, keeping my fingers crossed that this would work. IT DID!!!!!

Elne watched as Frenzy bravely exhaled at the ghoulish fog creatures. If the wind didn’t take them out, the strong garlic breath should work. Elne recalled Frenzy consuming mass quantities of garlic fries at the tavern but had no idea it could be used as a weapon later. She looked on helplessly until she remembered the rare Gunbai war fan she carried in her bag. She reached for it and also grabbed her sonic screwdriver. She attached the fan to the sonic mechanism and flipped the switch causing a gust of wind that took all of her strength to aim at the creatures. Frenzy's strong, aromatic wind had already weakened them and the Gunbai fan helped to finish them off. The fog began separating into little particles of water droplets causing a mess on deck but no danger to Frenzy or her companion. Before they could reform we had better get to work.

This is where Galadeth and Dori would certainly be of help. We needed the motorcycle to be able to become airborne if necessary. The Mage was up to that task and Dori's illuminating mechanism with the eel along with Chandie's music could be very helpful if all went to plan. Galadeth took out the wand that was tucked up her sleeve. "Abracadabra, alakazell, illuminate not just water but air as well." With that the air took on an incandescent appearance and we could see what we had to achieve. Quickly she began to murmur words that were incomprehensible but very uplifting, as we all saw when the motorcycle began to slowly levitate and then fall to the ground. Up and down the cycle went until it was finally in the air. With the way lit, Kronus took a flying leap and landed on the seat. He maneuvered the cycle to one corner of the back-end of the Wayward Squirrel. Then Elne suddenly became airborne also. No spell this time, just a bit too much "happy juice that makes you high." She positioned herself over the Wayward Squirrel or as close as possible without knocking herself out on one of the hooks. Chandie stood on the ground shaking her head as she petted Ninja, her companion dog, nonstop and the freckles on her face stood out with the reddened blush while murmuring in embarrassment. "I'll help on the ground, I'm scared of heights"

Very carefully Frenzy attempted to slowly drop the hook into position with the quiet assistance of the mage Galadeth in finding the exact position as she felt the magic calling. When it was in the right place the bear carefully descended the rope hand over hand until he reached the hook. With precision he placed the hook in exactly the right spot then ascended to the deck. This they repeated 3 more times until the 4 docking hooks were securely attached to the corners of the Waywood Squirrel. Now all the team had to do was ensure that the Wayward Squirrel was positioned safety within the protective beam field which was easily done with the help of Galadeth easing through the field with her wand helping.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/7M6F0SC.png [/img] Wandering through the galley, Clara plucks rope and tape off the shelves, handing them to Kyo. "We'll need to somehow attach the floodlight to my shuttle." Clara looks at Gaston and smiles charmingly, "I don't suppose we could utilise the help of a couple of your crewmates please. I could do with some help with the floodlight."

[img align=right]http://i.imgur.com/2CafHh4.png[/img] "I've bought my bow and arrow with me. I suppose your ship has a vent that I can shoot out of, doesn't it?" asks Kyo. "I was thinking that maybe I could take the hooks and feed the long cables through the vents into your shuttle. That way, as we are flying to the Squirrel, we are bringing them with us. I can attach them to my arrows, then as we get close, I can just shoot the docking hooks/ That way Izzy doesn't have to manually attach the hooks to the Wayward Squirrel."

As Clara sets about directing the crew to jerryrig Izzy's spare laser floodlight to Clara's shuttle. Kyo takes the opportunity to look around the shuttle, picking out the best place to shoot out of. She takes some more of the tape and begins affixing the docking hooks and cables to her arrows. "I tweaked the docking hooks slightly with a seeking device so they should only hit the Wayward Squirrel" explained Gaston. "Oh that's a good idea. I'm fairly confident with my aim but with your additional help, these should attach with no problem then." replied Kyo, happily.

With a final shout to the rest of the Whovians, wishing them good luck and to make sure they are ready, Clara and Kyo climb aboard the shuttle. Expertly, Clara snaps on the laser floodlight, starts up her shuttle, and pulls out of the side of the Frenchman. Following the beam from the Vixen, Clara pulls up alongside the sloop with the Frenchman close behind them.

"This darkness is really creepy" murmurs Kyo, who is in the co-pilot seat, trying to peer into the fog."Oh, I can see the Wayward Squirrel now, let me go and get ready" Kyo scuttles out of her seat and settles down next to the vent, preparing her bow. As they get closer, Kyo draws the string back, takes aim and lets the first arrow fly. The arrow whips through the air as if the fog has suddenly tried to take a hold of it to steer it away from the building. But true to Gaston's promise, the seeking device kicks in and the docking hook fights back determined to find its target. With a thud, the arrow embeds itself into one of the wooden struts of the building. "Bullseye," dances Kyo, but her excitement is shortlived as she is suddenly thrown to the floor. "Kyo," shouts Clara, "we are getting attacked by the Wraiths. I'll try and keep her flying straight but you're going to have to buckle yourself in. Hopefully the rest of the team can get their part of the plan into action soon!"

A huge grin spreads across Raw’s face. She throws her pack down and starts frantically rummaging through it, pulling out a Large Gutting Knife. “Can I stab it?” she looks at her other teammates, not wanting to run into the fray, learning her lesson from too many times before. "You need to be able to block electricity if you're going to do that" says Sera, wondering if this was the best time to leve home after all. “I need to do what? I have a shield!” She turns around and pulls out a Mirroring Shield of Brilliance, “Would this work?” "Maybe it should be, you know, more reliable?" Pipes up Sazi. [img align=right]http://i.imgur.com/naH3P6K.png[/img] “Oh, I need something that is more reliable, as well…hm…” She searches through her pack and throws on some Amazing Emo Glasses, “What? I grew as a person in our time away…or I murdered a hipster, your choice.” She gleefully takes off towards the wraiths, knife and shield in hand, calling out a crazed battlecry that somehow sounds less scary coming from the Halfling emo warrior.

Hane stifles her giggles about Raw's new look long enough to shout, "maybe you should wait for me to set up a lure first?"

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/R9qf212.png[/img] She opens her suitcase of supplies. "Good thing I brought plenty of salt for grounding this magical electricity." She sprinkles enough for Sazi and Sera to stand on. "Raw's on her own-- don't think you want to stand too close to her! Now where was that...ah! Here it is." She pulls out some Copper and Strong Acid to start an electrochemical reaction. "Now, a sprinkling of fly wing to amp it up." The air around the mixture starts to sizzle and crackle as she steps back, laying magnetic stones around the mixing vessel to direct the energy and to protect herself. The wraiths pause, as if the smell had caught their attention. "Ha! The negative charge gets them every time."

As the enemy gets closer, the team notices gaps forming between the component creatures. "Looks like the charge is pulling them apart. Anything we can do to keep that going will make the fight much easier."

Sera pulls out her DEM 3.0 and starts fiddling with some of the settings. "What on earth is that?" asks Sazi. [img align=right]http://i.imgur.com/vKSQVRB.png[/img] "My Deus Ex Machina or DEM for short. I saw an old programme once where this guy had some sort versatile tool that could well do a lot of things. For extra credit, I built my own. I've been working on improving it though, hence the 3.0! I think I can use it to help Hane boost the charge" Sazi appears deep in thought "So you just point and it zaps stuff?" "I think so." "Can I borrow it quickly" says Sazi, delving into her bag and pulls out a Freezing Baguette Crystal. "If I can get into this, maybe I can get it to draw some power from the Crystal. Those wraiths look like they are made in part of water, so if we can freeze and solidify them that makes Raw's job a little easier at destroying them." "Oh here you go," says Sera, opening a compartment in the side. With a bit of effort, they jam the crystal inside and with a few adjustments, Sera points at one of the cloud-like shapes. It freezes just as it heads towards Clara's shuttle.

"DEM meet Ol Blue, it my handy thingamabob does a bit of everything and doubles up as a torch!" Sera looks skeptically "but can it work on so many targets at once?" Sazi points to the back at the Mages Magical Net "thats why i made that" Sera blinks "is that a fishing net? seems a bit off, or is it a tennis net and why is it so small? Wait a minute, is that my Hammock? Really? I need that to sleep in!"

Sazi replies "its not a Hammock, technically. (wont you get all sea/airsick swaying all the time on a ship like this, anyway?) at the moment its a bit of both...... and we are playing Hockey!!!!!" She hands a wooden pole to Sera ands wields an identical stick.

"Huh? we dont have time for that, there are those creepy wraithfog to deal with" [img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/cJM69bV.png[/img] Sazi takes a practice swing "now, thanks to Haneway's alchemy those things have broken into individuals, which are easy to deal with. Here is the gameplay -- when those fog creatures approach we try and freeze them and toss (or is it hock!?!) them into the net, the 'hockey sticks' are wooden so we wont get zapped by them and are excellent to bonk them on their heads or knees or feet......"

"Oh, I get it. Did Hane make the net?"

"Nope, it's a Magnetic And Gamma Ray Infused Concentrate Net aka M.A.G.I.Cal Net! The negative magical charge diffuses the wraithfogs electric charge and the Gamma ray concentrate separates the ice from those creatures. End result we get is just a wandering blast of wraithbreeze !?!?! Also, just a small side note -- dont touch the net or get within a foot of it or you will get a bad burn and become a walking cling wrap"

"Nets, I don't need those prissy things!" Raw says as she smashes her shield into a frozen wraith. "On the other hand, these make a very satisfying Smashy-Smashy sound when you stab and bash the ice cubes!" The others attack the remaining creatures, freezing, then bashing or stabbing them. Hane tries to help by chucking magnetic stones, but they don't seem to do much. "At least my lure worked!"

Seeing the Whovians fighting the wraiths, Clara manages to level the shuttle out. "Okay, Kyo, I think we can try and attach the rest of the hooks." Kyo takes her bow once again and fires another arrow at the Wayward Squirrel, followed by two more in quick succession. She then lights up a flare to send up as a signal to the Floating Frenchman; that the hooks were attached and that Lucien could start to pull the inn into position.

The information within the book about the wraiths had Turf on edge, he was hoping for a grand adventure but this seemed like imminent death. Reaching deep down within himself he gathered enough courage to at least try to help out. He remembered why he was doing this, to become a great mage, Eurus was counting on him to protect his friends and so he would do just that.

He looked to the clouds in the sky for any sign of the wraiths and shouted to his comrades, "I'll keep the wraiths busy so that the hooks can be attached to the Wayward Squirrel... Armina, you look more than capable to assist me in the matter, please fight with me." Without any warning, the clouds began to shift and move around the Flying Frenchman, then tendrils of fog began to whip at them, narrowly missing Fern.

Armina suddenly dropped the book about the wraiths on the deck of the Floating Frenchman, the unrest in Turf's voice startled her at first but she quickly readied herself for battle. The electrifying tendrils of the wispy beasts took the warrior back to a previous mission in which she fought an enormous armor plated creature, also capable of emitting a lighted jolt. The sound of a voice that seemed somewhat distant and Fern's near miss instantaneously brought Armina back to the present.

Turf chanted something in an ancient tongue and it seemed at first that nothing happened. Then suddenly earth and rock began to float in the sky around the flying ship, creating stepping stones. Turf looked to Armina and nodded as he jumped from one stone to the other, hoping she would follow suit. He twirled his staff at the wraiths as they descended upon him using the earth and rock to ground their electrified tendrils.

As if she could read the satyr's mind, the warrior drew her battle axe and promptly followed Turf up the make shift stairway, swinging wildly at the creatures who were trying their best to steal her balance. Armina was completely awed by the new mage's ability, that was until the stone she stood upon began to falter just a little. “Whoaaaaaa there Turf, hold it together”, she shouted.

Keeping an eye on his team members while they were busy trying to attach the hooks, Turf’s concentration faltered and the earth he summoned to the skies began to tremble. Seeing Arimina jumping from one rock to the other as she battled the wraiths, he knew her life was in his hands so he concentrated even harder to keep control over the suspended rocks.

Ravensong watched the dark clouds forming around the Frenchman and was glad that Turf and Armina seemed to have an idea of how to take care of the wraiths.

Watching the Squirrel come into view she swallowed hard and took a deep breath to calm herself. Talking with Max and Fern they'd come to the decision that it would be best to slide down the cables to the Squirrel and attach the hooks and wait there to protect the inn should the battle up above go badly.

Kabe who hated storms was hiding out below deck and a part of Ravensong wished she could join him, she had suggested to her sister and Max that their owls go below deck as well as she worried that they would be swept away in the winds.

Max agreed with the plans and glanced at Tinker who had fluffed herself into a ball of feathers on his shoulder. He didn't need to say a word as Tinker understood the conversation. She imposed herself upon Fern's other shoulder to motherly shoo Fern's little owlet down to Kabe, where the three of them would spend the evening together till the battle had passed.

Trusting in Gaston's plan to get the hooks guided down to the inn below, Ravensong grabbed hold of one of the cables, gave one last nod to her fellow adventurers and leaped overboard.

Fern, shaken by the battle taking place around them looked on worriedly as Ravensong dove towards the Wayward Squirrel, and grabbing one of the cables she braced herself before jumping after her.

Landing atop the inn and nearly losing her footing Fern held on to the cable for dear life as she looked to her companions, "Where should we attach them?" She asked, praying that Turf and Armina would be able to distract the wraiths long enough for them to secure the hooks into place.

Max followed last of the three to travel down the cables, and none too gracefully as he dodged a tendril and leapt from the ship. He grabbed the cable in time, but only his foot catching the hook actually stopped his fall. When he was low enough, Max stepped off the hook, mumbling something about rope burn and maybe a curse or two under his breath. "There should be something around the base to hook these too. Anything else, and we might pull the Squirrel apart."

Once her companions were down as well, Ravensong tried to avoid looking up at the fierce battle above, knowing that she didn't have time for distractions, "Let’s get this done. Everything going on up top will be for nothing if we can't do our part," she called to her friends, using a trellis to aid her in her journey down from the roof of the inn. Reaching the ground, she hurried around the building to where some of the support stones were located, and quickly worked on securing her hook.

With a nod Fern dared to look over the edge of the roof, experiencing a bout of vertigo when the open sky around the Wayward Squirrel’s base seemed to go on for an eternity. Looking up didn't help to ease her nerves either as she watched the stone Armina stood on threatening to crumble beneath the warriors feet, "Earth-mother save us..." she breathed, hoping that any great deity that might have been listening would guide them all to safety.

The wraiths began to flee, or so it seemed, but just as they began to fly away they formed into a larger version of themselves with a storm burning in its eyes and teeth that seemed to spin for an eternity. Turf’s stomach churned and he knew what he needed to do, “Frink, I need your help. I know you trust me and I wouldn’t ask you to do this otherwise but these wraiths are going to be the death of us all. You know what to do?” Frink nodded and flew out of Turf’s cloak where he was hiding, looking somewhat scared but sure of himself.

Turf shouted to Armina, “Get back to the ship, I have an idea!” Turf began to chant a spell, his staff glowed brightly, as the giant wraith creature started to close in on the Frenchman. His concentration was all on this spell, which caused the earth and rock that he summoned earlier to slowly descend back to the ground below. Armina jumped from one to the other and landed back into the Frenchman safely.

His spell was the same one he had shown to Eurus to impress him, a ball of fire perfectly shaped into a sphere. Frink took a deep breath and flew directly into the orb of flame. It exploded again, like it had before, but this time as the explosion happened it was absorbed by the little sprite. Frink grew in size a bit, taking on the aspects of the fire, “Now Frink, fly,” shouted Turf. Frink took off like a comet, leaving a trail of flame in his wake. He flew directly into the mouth of the giant wraith creature.

Turf winced as the creature seemed to swallow him. Then after a second or two fire light began to emit from the creature as the flaming sprite burned up the atmosphere within it. The creature dissipated into harmless wisps as Frink collapsed and reformed into his true form. Turf waved a hand in the air and the wind answered back, bringing Frink back to him.

“Thank you, dear friend, you rest now,” said Turf as he tucked Frink back into his cloak. He then turned to see that his newfound friends had safely attached all the hooks and the Wayward Squirrel was stable enough to bring to safety.

Max glanced up in time to see the fireworks in astonishment. "Remind me to buy the kid a drink later," Max awed to no one in particular. "That is, if he drinks."

[spoiler=Waiting for the Storm] Phineas, looking only moderately worried, listened to Ayla's instruction's as to what they had to do. He very nearly declined, seeing as personal danger was not one of his favorite things, but when he was assigned to the ranger woman, he decided to stifle that sentiment. She looked sort of dangerous. "Well then," he muttered, to no one in particular. "Guess I'll go get a quick nap while someone steers us toward our doom, eh?" Katja, for her part, has already found a place to roost and Phineas was feeling a might bit grumpy.

“Such a slacker,” the ranger accuses the bard, a trace of annoyance in her voice. She stalks to the starboard side of the ship, wherein a store of rope was housed, an idea having percolated in her brain.

Nightshade can only agree with the ranger, and uses his time to talk to the mage. “If what the book says is correct, I am going to need something on my sword to help me battle them. Do you think you have something that will give it an ice or frost edge?”

Amaryllis considers for a moment before nodding. “A frozen tear crystal should do it. Hold the blade. No, higher. There.” The mage delves into her pouch and produces the artifact. “It won’t last more than a day, I’m afraid, but then that does not matter. If our plan does not work, we likely won’t be here tomorrow anyway.”

“True,” Nightshade uttered, watching with interest as his blade grudgingly gives over to a glacial state. It would be interesting to see how long the enchantment will last, overriding the blood lust of the blade. He doubted her twenty four hour time limit- it would not hold that long. Hopefully, it would hold long enough.

Ayla stared out into the fog, deep in thought. She'd defended herself with her craft before, but never against something as odd, or nearly intangible, as this. "What kind of preparation can I make to weaken water vapor?" she thought. "The most obvious elements are heat and cold. It's simpler to generate heat via a chemical reaction than cold. Perhaps copper sulfate is the answer." She heads to the galley to visit with Gaston.

Kaiidth comes up with a way to anchor the ship. She sits as she ties rope around an arrow shaft, just below the fletching. Before doing this to the rest of her quiver of arrows she stands across the ship and tests out how the arrow will fly. Howie curls up under a tarp until Kaiidth calls him over. Feeding him some of her rations she continues to practice.

Once comfortable enough with the new trajectory of the altered arrows she continues to make a good baker’s dozen the same way just in case she misses she has a couple back ups. Kaiidth once done attaches the hooks to some rope so the animals or herself can run it across to hook into what they need to anchor into. Once done Kaiidth looked around. Now for the hard part, waiting for the attack to befall them.

Phineas lounges, as is his wont, arms behind his head and back to the railing. It is with a lazy air that he watches all the preparations being made, and he even ponders, at least once, if he should lend a hand somewhere. "eeeehhhhhh...." Katja eyes him with a modicum of feline disgust but otherwise makes no move to roust herself from her own nap.

Ayla emerges from belowdeck with the chemical compositions for Lara’s invention. The Alchemist is not precisely sure how the Vagabond will morph her hair dryer into a weapon, but she is confident her solution should work on the fog, if not the electrical aspect. She sits on the deck and begins to work feverishly with a mortar and pestle. "Thank goodness Gaston had some bluestone! I just wish it was easier to grind."

It is then the bard pushes from his laze, quite easily balancing on his feet despite the sway and dip of the buffeted ship, to approach Kaiidth. "All right, show time, Ranger," He calls above the howl of the wind. "Well, once everyone is in position, I mean. You know." He turns then to squint through the fog, awaiting the positioning of Nightshade, the readiness of Amaryllis and Lara, and above all, the go sign from Ayla.

“Are you ready?” Kaiidth moves toward the rail. “Once I am over I’ll tug on the rope twice. When you have all the hooks set, pull on the same rope twice so I can start pulling the ship closer. Okay?" She asked Phineas as she knocks an arrow back. Taking a more proper footing, she releases the bow. The arrow hits a nice strong surface, Kaiidth tugs on the rope before going to transform. Kaiidth transforms painfully, her vision clouded with spots. After what feels like an eternity, but is really only a few minutes later, she's a black fox. The markings almost completely disappear in the dark fur only viable in the right light.

Kaiidth uses her head to slide the bow and quiver over her. She nods at Phineas before getting up onto the rope. she waits for a second for wind to stop before heading across the rope onto the other side. She takes her time to make sure not to fall. Her ears are held back against her head to tune out the noises behind her worried about her friends and comrades.

Arriving at the other side, Kaiidth takes off her pack and shakes out before transforming back. She pulls on the rope two times to communicate she'd arrived fine on the other side and was going to start shooting rope over to tie the hooks with. Kaiidth starts to make slip knots so she can tighten the knot and bring the ship into safety. Knocking back the arrows one at a time she shoots checking to make sure They all hit a solid taget. Kaiidth sits waiting by the rope the walked across to be pulled on twice to start bringing the ship closer And into the safety.

Phineas nods to Kaiidth, trying to effect a calm, casual air and only shuddering slightly in the expectant doom about to rain upon their heads. "Got it," he confirms, ever so suavely, barely a quiver in his voice. He assumes his position, fingers only a little whitened in their grip of the rope when she turns into a fox. He also tries, and mostly succeeds, in ignoring the pulsating storm about to break, because peeing his pants would be soooo not cool. Thankfully, there is something to distract him- a tightrope act in mid air.

He watches the ranger cross and near about faints in fright. "Maybe we should have tied a rope about her waist or something?" the comment to Katja. Her kittihood feigns indifference to the entire proceeding of course. Phineas watches the remainder of the crossing, heart in throat, hoping very hard that Kaiidth should not fall and leave him with the balancing act. When she does not, he breathes a sigh of relief, and at her signal, he carefully secures the hooks to the rope, using a double hitched knot because they look so cool, and tugs twice in response that all is ready.

"If it's a force field you need, I think I can make it work," Amaryllis says. Burnsley scrambles from the mage's feet to her shoulder. She shuts her eyes and focuses, chanting a spell repeatedly, and moments later the floors glow creating a protective barrier. The barrier shimmers slightly in the air, settling over Kaiidth, to protect her in her important work. It is draining for the mage, this field of protection cast at such a distance, but she is not done yet. With a twist of her power she wrests part of the shield to the rope, and to the Dancers currently franticly trying to get the hooks across to the ranger. She is not sure how long she can hold as she feels the wraiths beat against the barrier. Lara grimaced as she set about chopping up a plastic milk carton from the galley to fit under the end of her hairdryer, using duct tape to secure it. Glancing at Amaryllis, the strain of the magic keeping her new found friends protected was tangible on her face. "Ayla, do you think these chemicals will work on a cool setting? I'd love to use the dryer on 'hot' but it might just make a melty mess. I’m sorry to see my trusty hairdryer get wasted, but needs must".

The Runes on Nightshade's cursed blade change from blood red to an eerie pulsating blue. He's eyes however remain focused on the wraiths watching for the shimmers of water. Suddenly and without warning he moves forward and swings his blade at the fog. A shrill howl of pain rang through the air and for a split second the entire group managed to see a wraith fully materialized in front of them clutching his chest in agony before he vaporized again.

Nightshade immediately returned to his post and his icy blue eyes kept sweeping the deck for any stray wraiths without even a glance he called out to Lara who was aiming the DIY wraith blaster (as she calls it) she made at random points.

"Henderson, make sure that contraption of yours actually does what it's supposed to do, even I can't hold back all of these things on my own."

Before she could even respond Nightshade threw his blade at Ayla the Alchemist! The blade barely missed her by an inch "HEY! WHAT'S WRONG WITH..." the howls of a wraith alerted her to it, they being pinned down by the sword... only for a second before it's body turned back into vaper.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE EDGES! MUST YOU BE TOLD?" The minute Nightshade grabbed his sword he felt the familiar pain of the curse, it won't be long before the sword breaks through Amaryllis’ ice spell and reverts back to its original blood state. His eyes glared at the leader of the wraiths, quickly finding its vulnerable watery spots.... just incase... the watery shimmers had a strong current going through them and every so often their crackles can be loudly heard. A jab at those would slow the thing down but it'll probably electrocute him as well...

Hoping Nightshade wasn't shouting at her, Lara leant as far as she dare over the edge of the Flying Frenchman, the acrid smell of the electrified fog made her choke. She aimed the battery powered 'Wraith Blaster' as far as possible into the fog, determined to disperse at least some of the foul wraiths with the chemicals Ayla had mixed, hoping at the same time to make the way a bit clearer so Kaiidith can see to perform her task.

"Damn it looks like its running out" Lara yelled across to Phineas, "I'll come and help pull the lines back, that's if I dont get walloped by these ugly brutes."

Turning to Lara, Phineas beckons to her, shouting, "Please do, if you can!"

"I've got another batch almost ready!" Ayla yells over to Lara. "Keep it on the cool setting, please. Adding heat to this compound would be counterproductive." Glancing around at the bustling team, she freezes as Nightshade's sword lands an inch from her nose. Hearing his warning, she moves away from the rail.

Lara nods and sprints over to the alchemist, quickly refilling her weapon of choice. She then dodges around the deck, narrowly missing a tongue of electricity and turns, mid dodge, to fire on the offending creature. As she nears the franticly tying bard, she takes aim for another arm of wraith that seeped in around Amaryllis’s shield. Turning her head, she notices Nightshade battling back another. The shield is weakening. “Hurry!” she urges.

“This is the last one!” Phineas calls back, letting the hook go to the strong pull of Kaiidth on the other end of the rope. It is all up to the ranger now. Hand over hand, with what seems like excruciating slowness, but is in reality steady determination, the ranger pulls the hooks to the un-seated inn. She deftly unties it from its rope and anchors the last into place. It is the same two- tug signal she gives to Phineas to let him know all is ready.

“All right!” screams the bard, “She’s got them set! Let’s pull it into position!” He hauls on the line himself as if that will do anything at all, as the Frenchman slowly draws the building along. Just then he sees a flash of light. “Nightshade- behind you!”

Nightshade hisses as a jolt of energy barely glances him yet burns a scar upon his arm. It is but one of many, he is well accustomed to pain and yet the shocking slap jolts him momentarily. Lara uses the last of her blasting powder to beat back the fiend that struck him, giving him just enough time to recover from the shock. Rather than pausing to give thanks or some other unnecessary pleasantry, the dark elf growls his defiance to his enemies and unleashes a frenzy of frozen strikes, seeking to find the center whether or not he dies of a full on electrical shock. So ferocious is he that the wraith is briefly forced to retreat- just briefly. The thing seems to double in size as it comes right back against his adversary. It is just at that moment that the magical shield begins to fail and crack against the might of the horrid host.

However, Nightshade’s maniacal attack earned them the necessary moment needed.

“Now, Lucien!” Ayla calls out for the Frenchman’s captain. The ship plunges forward, moving the skyward Wayward Squirrel into position between the beacons. The wraiths howl in hatred as they try to penetrate the double triangle of protection but they cannot get through.

“Well,” sighs the alchemist, rubbing her wrist across her brow, “That was difficult but we made it. Is everyone all right?”

“Nightshade is injured,” Lara points out, “Amaryllis is nearly spent.” The mage accepts help from the ever gallant (when not in danger) bard in setting down to rest, murmuring her gratitude.

The dark elf scowls, reluctant to admit to any weakness. Kaiidth produces a gentle, healing poultice to cool the burn anyway, and over Nightshade’s objections, sees to his injury. “Don’t be like that,” chides the ranger, “none of us are untouched and if there is something we can do to ensure we are in top form, that is our duty.”

Ayla hides a slight smile behind her hand, and turns from her companions to glance over the rail. Around them is calm, and yet just outside the protective beams- no, she will not dwell on that just yet. She is relieved they had made it through and are all more or less in one piece. She knows too soon they will be in action again, but for this brief respite, she is truly grateful.

So everyone dug through their packs and got out their rope. Lucien's crew flew the Frenchman through the fog, following Izzy's laser.

"There it is!" Shouted Anna as she pointed to an oddly familiar shape. The inn was indeed spiraling slowly through the darkness. They needed to get a bit closer if they had a chance at tethering the Wayward Squirrel.

Leaf tied one end of his rope to a grappling hook and then tied the other end to one of the masts of the ship. "We may want to coordinate our throws to the inn. I'm worried if we only do one, the rope would snap under the pressure."

Amdir and Juana nodded and got their ropes ready as well. Jenna hopped on Kwixis and turned towards her companions. "Kwixis and I will fly over to the inn. As soon as you guys throw your ropes over, I'll make sure they are tightly tethered to the inn." And with that, they flew off towards the spiraling structure.

Anna and Jilly stepped back and watched as the trio coordinated themselves and threw the ropes towards the inn. Kwixis and Jenna could be seen, swooping towards the one that Leaf launched. The grapple hook found purchase through an open window of the inn and the line pulled tightly. There was a sudden jerk on the ship and those that weren't prepared fell over. Amdir's hook found the door knob, but it threatened to snap off as soon as the rope wrapped around it.

Amdir shouted to Kwixis, "Check my line, quickly! I don't think it will hold like that!" Sure enough, the knob snapped under the pressure and the rope fell downward. Thankfully it was still tied on the other end, so Amdir was able to retrieve it.

Juana's hook did slightly better. It found the rain gutter on the corner. It seemed to be holding, but you could hear the strain as metal, wood and rope groaned in unison. Kwixis flew over to it and Jenna stood on his back to see if she could tie the rope tighter around it.

Amdir tossed her rope back over to the inn, this time it grabbed another window sill. Kwixis and Jenna flew over to inspect it and make sure that it was a good grab this time.

Everyone was so distracted by what was going on that they didn't notice the long wispy tendrils creeping towards Jenna and Kwixis. They were nearly upon them when Jilly cried out, "Jenna, Kwixis! Look out!" But it was too late. As soon as Jenna turned, she was face to face with one of the wraiths. It appeared to be laughing as it came closer to her. "Kwixis, let's get back to the ship" she murmured quietly. But when he turned to fly, they found more wraiths closing in on them.

Then Jenna heard a whoosh and a thud. Next to her head she saw an arrow stuck in the wooden door of the inn. She then heard Leaf curse as he realized his arrow had no effect on the creatures. Juana then recklessly grabbed onto her rope and slid over to the inn and grabbed onto the rain gutter. She pulled out her sword and started waving it wildly at the wraiths. Once again, they saw the futility of their actions as the sword harmlessly cut through the tendrils as though they were nothing more than smoke. The head wraith chuckled and shot a bolt of lightening towards the warrior. Her sword was like a lightening rod and the current traveled down into her and she got a massive jolt. Jenna screamed, Amdir gasped, Jilly and Anna covered their eyes and Leaf gritted his teeth. Juana tried desperately to hold onto the gutter so as not to fall off and plummet to the ground that was so far below.

But thankfully Juana distracted the wraiths long enough for Jenna and Kwixis to slip out unscathed. The angry rreign breathed fire at one wraith that discovered their escape but it did not shy back from the heat. Instead it gave him a quick zap that both of them felt. "Yeowch!!" cried Jenna. "This is horrible! We can't hit it, we can't burn it, how the heck are we going to defeat it?"

Then to their horror, the wraiths begin to gather around their leader and one by one it begins to absorb them into it's body. The monster grew into a terrible form that was bigger than the inn itself.

Anna then looks at the big creature looming ahead and just stares. "Hmm, I wonder what is fueling the electricity? If we turn off the electricity, we may be able to harm this thing." Jilly looks on from her corner and says, "I think you might be on to something."

Anna continues to study the creature while she muses and suddenly looks up, "Y'all I think the electricity is connected to it's eyes. I think if we can disable the eyes, then we will have an easier shot at it. I recently read about a spell somewhere in one of these books about a way to do that." Amdir speaks up, "Oh Lord, she's gonna get lost in the world of books. We better help her. What spell are you looking for?" Anna mumbles something about an orchestra and keeps digging. Leaf impatiently rolls his eyes and says, "We probably should've had her organize things better. We aren't going to get anywhere with this hot mess and we need to act fast."

Anna quickly stands up and holds up a tiny thin purple book, "Found it! See Symphony. Well, it's really called Dark Symphony Scroll and it is suppose to incapacitate your foes. Give me a few minutes and I will blind that sucker and y'all can have your shot at him."

Anna walks to the edge of the ship, looks out at the giant wraith and reads the words writeen on the scroll out loud. The monster hears her voice and a long tendril starts reaching towards her. Kwixis tries to divert it's attention by breathing fire on it again, but he was only successful in attracting another smokey arm towards him and Jenna.

Juana came back to her senses and saw what was happening. She was, thankfully, still hanging tightly to the rain gutter. She noticed that Kwixis was trying to divert the monster's attention away from Anna. So she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small string of fire crackers that she happened to have from last weeks celebration. She yelled out to Kwixis, "Hey Kwix! Help me light these up!" She then tossed them into the air over the wraiths head and the rreign swooped in close and shot a small breath of fire towards the fire crackers. The fuse was lit and the air was suddenly filled with very loud crackling sounds. The wraith looked upward at the commotion and the tendrils stopped moving towards Anna. It worked!

Anna finally finished the chant and a swirl of magic flies from her hands and shoots towards the eyes of the creature. The orbs suddenly grow dark and the wraith howls in distress.

"You did it Anna! The creature is blind!" Juana laughs and slashes at the creature with her sword again, but discovers that she still can't harm it. Suddenly lightening begins to shoot out in all directions. Juana ducked as one bolt zaps over her head. Unfortunately it struck the metal gutter that she was clinging to and so she once again felt the jolt go through her. This time she let go and started to fall. Jenna saw this and turned Kwixis downward towards the warrior. He grabbed her leg and carried her back up to the ship.

The others were busy dodging the random lightening bolts that were striking at them. They were also getting drenched by the water that seemed to be raining from the creature.

Leaf had had enough. "Jilly, we need to somehow turn this creature into something we can hit! Do you have any potions that can turn air and water into a solid?"

Jilly nodded. "I can create a powder potion that will turn this monster into a gelatin mass. She then runs down below deck and rummages through the cabinets in the galley. Amdir comes running in “Jilly have you figured this out yet we have to hurry.”

"I’m looking for ingredients that will work. It's not like I haven't done this before. I have a list of what I need to make this work." She hands the list to Amdir.

The two of them quickly find the items needed. A small container on one shelf holds some baking soda. Another jar has some borax powder. Amdir finds the seaweed powder in the corner and some bone dust in a bottom cabinet.

Jilly then grabs a mortar and pestle from her bag and pours all of the items into it. She grinds all the ingredients together while saying a few magical words. She then grabs several bottles and spoons powder into each one. "One, for Jenna, Juana, Leaf, Anna, Admir and finally my own." The two of them gathered up the bottles and run back up on the deck. "I got it! Everyone grab a bottle and we can throw them at the monster."

The misfits take the bottles and they get ready to throw them at the creature. "Make sure to aim directly inside the monster. I put a spell on the bottles so that the potions will break upon impact with the water." Jilly instructed.

With that, everyone threw their bottles at the creature. The potions burst and the strange powder scattered within the wraith. The water began to change into a weird gelatin-like substance. It spread throughout the tendrils and the lightening strikes and downpour ceased. The wraith struggled with it's new form. It couldn't move like it used to and floating in the air was becoming very difficult as it began to feel heavy.

"Now's our chance! Attack Misfits!" cried Leaf.

Leaf launched a volley of arrows and they pierced into the head of the creature. The creature shrieked in pain and tried to lash outward. Juana and Amdir hacked at the tendrils until they came clean off and fell to the darkness below. Jenna and Kwixis flew around the wraith, breathing fire, and burning the gelatinous beast until it shrivelled into a smelly lump of goo. With the wraiths defeated and the hooks in place, the captain of the Floating Frenchman maneuvered the Squirrel to it's proper position within the awaiting protective beam field.

As Anna and Jilly stand back and watch the rest of the group slowly eliminate the big glob of jelly, Anna turns to Jilly, "I think I'd better find some healing spells. That hit Juana just took looked vicious." Jilly nodded her head in agreement, "I agree. Amdir and Leaf look frazzled and Jenna's hair is singed. Even poor Kwixis looks burnt on his tail. I have a burn salve that will help nicely with that."
Anna turned to her bag. "I'm going to rummage through this to see what scrolls I can use." After several minutes she finally finds the one she's looking for. "Aha! How about this Soothing Current Scroll? It should work nicely for our friends." The mage and alchemist begin to help the others with their injuries. But while Jilly was applying the salve on Kwixis' tail, they heard a creak and a snap. They looked up in time to see that the rain gutter had given way. Apparently Juana had loosened it from it's brackets and the tug of the rope had finally torn it away. Juana was too exhausted and hurt to do anything, but Leaf was able to grab the rope and pull it up. He untangled the gutter from the hook and he tossed the hook back towards the inn, this time it found a satisfactory hold on the rock chimney. The inn was resecured before it floated out of the protective field.

He then turned back to Jenna and he sadly looked at her singed hair. It will take weeks for it to grow long again. Jenna teased him, "Oh, so now you're worried about how I look?" He frowned and replied, "Of course not! I'm just glad you're okay. You almost gave me a heart attack out there!" Jenna groaned as she tried to sit up and give Leaf a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry, Love, next time you can fly on the rreign and I'll shoot arrows at your head." Leaf glared at her, then burst out laughing at the absurdity of it. Jenna started to giggle too but the sharp pain in her side prevented her from having a full out laugh. She laid back down and waited for Anna to finish with her healing spell. She smiled happily. The inn was secure, the wraiths were defeated and her friends were all safe.

Fresh shaking his head in disapproval, walks over and picks up the book and apologizes to Gaston, "She has anger management issues. She will gladly help." He glares at Lovecraft as he walks back over to the group.

"Fine," she finally says, "I'm sorry. We will gladly help."

"He gets an apology and I never get anything from you," TeaRoll says mocking feelings being hurt.

"Tea, don't push your luck," TerrenaAnimula urges.

Gryffindor stands back unbelieving how disjointed the team appears to be. "I'm going to die with them," she thinks to herself. "This team is going to get me killed."

Having stayed very quiet and to herself, Witchy has started to think of the best way to dock a moving vehicle through space, "Hmmm, that sounds familiar... have I done this before?" she silently wonders, puffing away on her pipe.

She idly listens to TerrenaAnimula and Lovecraft discuss how they're going to fight off the monsters, and curiously watches TeaRoll sitting on the floor then dumping out her bag that contains a bunch of dolls. She also wonders why Fresh is being so silent and not dividing labor out to everyone.

"I suggest we take one of the other teams and toss their members out into the sky and let the..." Lovecraft stops, grabs the book from Fresh and looks over the page that was bookmarked, "...Wraiths of the Darkfog have them. That may stop them from attacking us long enough for Witchy to dock the out of control Squirrel."

"MAYBE," TerrenaAnimula suggests, "getting my arrows tipped with something that could draw the electricity from them giving you a chance to slice and dice."

"Did you just say 'slice and dice'" Lovecraft asks and then suddenly notices TeaRoll playing, stops her current discussion abruptly and turns to Tea, "Dolls? You packed DOLLS?!"

Ignoring Lovecraft's displeasure, TeaRoll begins playing with her Firebrand Reborn Sheeta and several other toys, scattering them about the deck.

"Aren't those the same dolls she had from the start of our last adventure?" TerrenaAnimula asks.

Fresh finally looks down at TeaRoll and shakes his head, "It appears so. I vaguely remember telling a tale of Firebrand."

Gryffindor remains quiet just watching them all. Not sure what to do. She is slightly amused that they are so dysfunctional and have yet survived together on missions this long. Still concerned about the tale of their missing vagabond from their last mission and how she is recovering from feather loss, she reminds herself not to get to close in case something befalls her. Growing hair back is rather difficult and it is never the same way as it was the first time (anyone that shaves can attest to that).

After watching TeaRoll play for a bit, Fresh returns to just look out into the sky watching for anything to appear, while Lovecraft and TerrenaAnimula turn back to their conversation on the best way to protect the others while docking the Squirrel from the Wraiths of Darkfog. Terrena seems adamant about not allowing Lovecraft to toss people from the ship. Witchy still listening to see if perhaps something useful for her to use may be mentioned, but only one thing has really stuck out to her.

Hearing only parts of what Terrena and Lovecraft are saying about Wraiths, Tea_Roll interrupts her private telling of the Epic Adventures of Firebrand story to jump up and shout, "OH BOY! I bet I can capture one of those thingy's you all are talking about! It would make a GREAT Pet!" Noticing no one even react to her this time, she sits back down and returns to Firebrand.

Witchy grins down at her.

Gryffindor smiles at this news hoping that TeaRoll has forgotten all about the idea of her being a pet. Werewolves aren't pets.

"Since you won't let me toss other people from the ship, Terrena, do you have any suggestions?" Lovecraft asks. "I am thinking Reaper would be FINE if we tossed her."

"No," Fresh says. "There will be no tossing, or throwing or hurling or any other word that describes removing someone from the ship. I am sure you two will find a very good solution to dealing with the Wraiths of the Darkfog. While Witchy, Gryffindor and I help secure the Wayward Squirrel to dock it." He steps away seeming to watch Witchy and Gryffindor discuss ideas.

"Well then?" Lovecraft asks.

"I say we use our weapons and do our best to keep them off the others long enough," TerrenaAnimula finally replies. "We will do our best."

"Fine," Lovecraft replies. "Better be prepared, cus here they come." She nods her head towards the sky and sure enough there are incoming. Along with the Wayward Squirrel coming into site.

"Hope Witchy and Gryffindor are up to their tasks," Terrena adds getting out her bow and arrows and aims towards the sky while Lovecraft pulls out her swords ready for battle.

Deciding to stop watch Tea, Witchy turns toward Gryffindor, "Do you have any ideas? Because I have to tell you, that idea of TerrenaAnimula and Lovecraft's about shooting bespelled arrows at the monsters has given me an idea."

Puffing some more on her pipe, she continues and begins to wonder what Gryffindor will think of this idea, considering she didn't know Witchy very well... or how Witchy's ideas usually worked out.

"What if you hold up the rope and I'll bespell it so that when it's thrown, the end will split into a grappling hook? I happen to have some extras here with me, from the last adventure. I turned them into these cute little earrings. Aren't they adorable?" Witchy grins, pleased with herself and turns her head side to side trying to show Gryffindor her earrings.

Gryffindor looks at Witchy very skeptically. It couldn't be that simple could it? She mulled it over for a few moments before nodding. "I'm not one for magic" she grunted "but it sounds crazy enough to work."

Witchy grins and puffs on her pipe. The fact that Gryffindor used the words 'crazy enough to work' sounds very much like how EVERY plan she came up with was. Witchy glanced over toward Fresh, wondering why he was being so quiet. He had a worried expression on his face and was staring down at Tea, who had gone back to playing with her figurines.

"TEA!" Lovecraft yells at her. "Get up and HELP! Stop playing!"

Tea doesn't give the slightest hint that she heard anything and continues to spread her mess around as she pushes forward in her version of the Firebrand story, tossing toys all over the place.

"Tea," Terrena turns towards her while letting another arrow fly, "If you really aren't going to help, you may want to keep the mess closer to you or someone is going to..." She didn't finish because at that very moment, Lovecraft took a step back and stepped on one of the toys, tripping and falling onto her butt.

Tea_Roll suddenly becomes very aware of what is going on, stops playing and gets up off the ground. "I HAVE an IDEA!" she announces and grabs her bag up. She starts pulling out some items: Wine, Candy, Pink Feathers...

"How much room is in that bag," TerrenaAnimula asks amazed at how much seems to be in there, while she lets another arrow fly towards an incoming beast, while Lovecraft tries to get back to her feet.

TeaRoll shrugs. "Not sure. I got it from some lady named Mary Poppins at a yard sale. Something about retiring and being tired of snooty kids. Or was it Snotty kids? I have yet to reach the bottom of the bag."

Lovecraft finally gets back to her feet and starts heading towards Tea to dispatch with her instead of the creatures, but a beast gets in her path heading towards Witchy and what she is doing, so Lovecraft's attention has to turn. "Tea! I will deal with you later!" She starts battling another creature. "And if you have an actual idea, GET ON WITH IT! If it works, I may forgive you... MAY!"

TeaRoll sits mixing the wine, candy and feathers together. Witchy grabs the left over bottle of wine from Tea and drinks it then hits a Wraith that has gotten to close in the head with the empty bottle, then returns to her task at hand. Tea stands up and throws the mixture over the edge. "That should bring some added help," she says proudly then returns to playing with her toys, keeping them a little closer to her not to trip Lovecraft again.

Shaking her head, TerrenaAnimula can't believe what she just witnessed. "Really? That was help?"

Suddenly in the sky appears Flamingo, flying directly towards the ship.

Fresh suddenly appearing near by notices Flamingo in the sky, turns and says, "I don't think that is allowed. Adding extra members to our team."

While swinging her swords in front of her Lovecraft replies, "I'm sure there are loopholes somewhere that will allow us to get away with such behavior." She laughs as her blades strike into one of the creatures.

Flamingo swoops over head and drops down a string with a key tied to the end.

"What the heck is this?" Terrena looks at it confused.

Taking a closer look into the sky, "That's not the real Flamingo," Fresh decides.

"Of course it's not the real one," Tea says looking up from her toys. "She is busy with the wine and candy I sent her."

"What the heck are we to do with a kite that looks like Flamingo and a key?" Lovecraft shakes her head at Tea.

Putting down her toys again, TeaRoll yells, "DAMN IT JIM! I'm the alchemist not a genius."

"That's for sure," Lovecraft quips as she hits another Darkfog that was coming in towards them.

"I think if you guys just distract them long enough it will give Witchy and Gryffindor a chance to help secure the squirrel so it can be docked," Fresh says to Lovecraft and TerrenaAnimula already knowing TeaRoll was as much help as she was going to be.

"Actually," Terrena says still holding onto the kite, "If we can move this Flamingo kite into the paths of the creatures they may start going after it especially if we can get the big one distracted long enough by it."

"That may buy Witchy and Gryffindor enough time," Lovecraft nods in agreement sword hitting another Darkfog. "My swords just seems to temporarily send them off course, but they come right back. A distraction may be of more use here."

Putting one of her blades away she grabs the kite from Terrena, who is able to shoot her arrows again with both hands free, Lovecraft starts moving the kite around in the sky. Using her other hand to slash at any that get to near.

"It seems to be working!" Terrena yells over to Lovecraft.

Before she has a chance to respond, "Of course my idea is working," Tea says looking up and into her bag, "I swore I packed a victory cake."

Keeping the Wraiths busy, Terrena shooting her arrows and Lovecraft moving the kite around in the sky seems to be helping Witchy and Gryffindor come up with a plan. Fresh seems surprisingly absent again.

After taking a nice long guzzle of some really horribly cheap wine, knowing that Flamingo is not going to approve of the offering Tea just sent overboard to her, Witchy realizes EXACTLY what is needed to catch hold of the Squirrel.

Looking at Gryffindor, she wonders how fast the werewolf can put together a gadget?

Watching (and dodging) the other legends, while they fight the Wraiths, Gryffindor feels a hot poker hitting the back of her head. Slapping at herself, and whirling around, she doesn't see any one behind her. But suddenly, she notices Witchy staring at her.

She is STARING! "omg. Is she going to throw me overboard? wonders Gryffindor. Because suddenly, Witchy's normal slightly dazed, confused expression, is NOT dazed or confused at all! And she is definitely STARING at her. Gryffindor starts backing slightly towards the edge of the ship.

"Can you make a gun?" she asks Gryffindor. "Gun?" "Yah, yah...only instead of bullets, I want a spring action type of load. Here, let me sketch it out for ya. Quick..." Witchy uses some of the spilled wine and cake crumbs from Tea's mess, to draw out a gun that shoots plungers.

"YES!" screams Gryffindor "Finally! something I can do, that actually makes sense!" she thinks.

Quickly pulling tools and items from her pockets and travel bag, she throws a contraption together.

Grabbing it up, Witchy pushes a plunger into the end, while Gryffindor makes up another one, and does the same thing. (Thinking to herself...where the stars did these plungers come from?) But much to busy, trying to dodge the Legends as they shoot at the Wraths, she shoots a plunger at the Squirrel, watching it, as it catches hold.

"I can't believe that worked" she says, as her and witchy start wrenching the ropes tight.

Glancing at her, but mainly concentrating on getting the lines tied securely, Witchys says "Of course it worked. My ideas always work. Just not sometimes how I mean for them to."

With that, Witchy steps back to look at what they had done. Skidding a little on the drawing that she had made with the mess from Tea's bag, she catches her self, and thinks..."Oh yeah, where did all those crumbs come from?"

As she watches Gryffindor put her tools away, witchy remembers Fresh. WHERE was he? He doesn't usually disappear when things are so hectic, and lives are on the line.

Looking again towards the Squirrel, Witchy sees Fresh sitting braced up against the boat railing. Shoving food into his mouth. "What's This?" Witchy yells at Fresh "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT CAKE!? Fresh! you know I'm always sharing my cake with you, BUT NOW? We Don't Have TIME For that!"

Glancing up at Witchy, Fresh mumbles around a mouthful of cake, "When Tea dumped her bag out, a WHOLE CAKE rolled out, Right Into MY HANDS! I HAD TO EAT IT! Before someone stepped on it or realized it was here. Must save the cake" he mumbles, as he chews and swallows as fast as he can.

"Oh Fresh!"

"You ate MY CAKE!" Tea exclaims at Fresh. "While we all were busy saving the squirrel."

Finally, his mouth clear, "You weren't busy helping, you were playing with toys."

"DOLLS!" she yells. "They are much more sophisticated."

"Either way," Terrena says putting away her bow and arrow, "It looks like Witchy and Gryffindor got the Squirrel secured enough that it can be docked onto the ship."

"Job well done everyone!" Fresh says hoping that the cake will be forgotten.

Witchy just stands there going back to a relaxed state, puffing on her pipe. "Glad my idea worked," she thinks silently. "If not I am sure Gryffindor would have been pulled out into space by one of the plungers and the Squirrel." She smiles over towards Gryffindor glad that the newcomer has no clue that it was a lucky guess.

Gryffindor was amazed she survived. She lived thru the first step with the group. Feeling more confident that it had to be a misunderstanding that caused their last vagabond to loose her feathers. Had to be.

"I don't understand what the key on the end of the kite was for..." Lovecraft begins and before she gets to finish the last word, a Wraith of the Darkfog ZAPS the Flamingo kite sending a bold strike of lightning down the string of the kite to the key and sending her flying across the deck.

"Um..." Tea says, "You don't think I will be blamed do you? That is when she wakes up."