The Protectors began to arrive just this morning. Hayao had sent word of the Dragon Zeppelins projected landing times, and Vibrissa had gone teary-eyed at the volume of response to her call for assistance.

Although he tried to be as pessimistic as circumstances would allow, even Grumpus was impressed by the sheer volume of helping hands, not to mention the diplomatic wavers, sonic screwdrivers, crystal-tipped wands, and imposing weapons that traveled with the group and their pets.

Viridia was in a flurry to welcome them properly, a display of too much pomp in Grumpus' opinion, so he had excused himself and went for a stroll through the island gardens.

Not too far in front of him stood Princess Adaysia, Duchess of Portico, the second largest island in the Balihee chain, and first cousin to the missing princesses.

Since this made her the next in line to the throne should the Princesses meet with "accidents," Grumpus should have been inclined to suspicion. He was very likely to do so normally, but something about the open, caring, and downright sensible nature of the duchess, made it hard for him to do so. He liked her quite a bit and was inclined to trust her intentions.

Right now, she was leaning on a low brick wall, watching something out of his sight lines with an expression of concern on her lovely face. She heard his pawfalls as he approached and turned to face him.

"Something amiss, my dear?" he asked as he approached.

"Just call me Daisy, everyone else who wouldn't get banished for it does," she replied, "and yes, just look over there." She pointed to her left and Grumpus walked closer.

From the new angle, he could see a group of kittens at the foot of the garden stairs. He could also hear them, as they were arguing and yowling in front of an adult cat who was tryng to keep them calm without much success.

A pennant in the hands of one uniformed kitten who was holding back tears proclaimed them as the Kipolu Kittenz. Grumpus vaguely recalled they were on the welcoming gala's performers list.

"They're Balihee's youngest award winning marching band," Daisy explained, "and they're really amazing when they're not causing a ruckus over who marches in which order, which they constantly change to get the best possible dynamics. The cat near tears is only the assistant coach, since the head is inside arranging their entrance."

"So chaos reigns," Grumpus observed.

"Absolutely," Daisy agreed. "Just listen!"

Grumpus did and heard each yowl clearly with his keen ears:

"I have to stand DIRECTLY BEHIND the first kitten in the final line!" yowled the kitten currently first in line.

The second in the current sniffed, "I hope for the music's sake that I am somewhere behind the one now standing in third position."

"Just don't stick me next the one that's now behind me," grumbled the current third.

"And I have to be somewhere in front of the current second to be heard," shot back the one now in fourth.

The one holding fifth place claimed not to be able to play if she had to stand in front of the one in last place, where she currently was.

Current number six was more easily pleased and just wanted to stand between two girls.

"Yuck, a pubing kitten," Daisy grimaced, "but only the current two and five, plus the drum major, are housed in the ladies' guest wing. Besides the drum major doesn't count for a place in the line, since she is naturally first."

Grumpus gave a rare smile, "makes the job easy then."

Assuming his customary stern face, he turned to face the kittens.

"TEN-SHUN!" he yowled over them all, shocking the kits into silence. "SALUTE!"

They all obeyed, looking at the Duchess respectfully.

"Shall we, my dear?" Grumpus held out his arm to Daisy and they gracefully descended the stairs. "We only have to make three moves."

"What if it takes more?"

Grumpus shrugged, "then it does, and it's a good funny story for welcoming the Protectors."

At that, Daisy nodded and joined him. smiling all the while.

In less than ten minutes, the Kipolu Kittenz, resplendent in their crisp white pants and tropical print jackets, were formed behind their beaming coach and proud drum major to deliver another prize performance.

(OOC) This is the story thread. PLease stay in character here with any comments, There is an OOC board set up for discussions about this challenge or just chat about the task.

I suck at this ahahh

: : Organized Chaos Can't Resist An Opportunity to Wager A Bet.

Eventually The Dragon Zeppelin landed and Team Organized Chaos had arrived. Sky couldn't help a little mental giggle at the thought of their team name again. Or perhaps that was the pretty, sparkly drink Dace had convinced her to drink on the ship? Drinking and flying don't always mix well after all.

"Didn't someone mention kittens at the welcome ceremony..?" Sky asked those around her, "I can't wait to see them!"

"Perhaps we could do a little exploring before the ceremony?" Dace suggested. Buttercup shrugged her shoulders and gave Dace a look that was dirtier then the greasy ash on the airship’s exhaust port.

Every head in the Chaos team turned when they heard yowling nearby and decided as one to take a look. Cresting a small hill, Zalia spotted the source of the ruckus down in the garden below, "Look! I think I found our welcoming kittens." She pointed down at an adult cat near tears who seemed to be frustrated by six squabbling kittens. "Looks like they're not quite ready.” Zalia was secretly delighted at the cacophony, “From what I’ve been told, that could easily be us.”

"Wait! Isn't that Grumpus?" asked Webby. "Let's spy on them!”

"Some people consider that rude." Kat seemed unsure and called her own Kitten closer.

"Oh pish posh! Consider it stealth training!" Webby teased.

They all hunkered down, peered over the edge of the garden wall and listened. It seemed the kittens were having some trouble getting in order and Grumpus and the Princess had intervened, attempting to help.

Sky side-eyed Zalia. "Bet I could solve it before The Princess or even Grumpus.” She poked Frieda in the tummy, "Or you for that matter.” She set her shoulders and challenged the whole team. “Anybody up to taking my bet?”

Zalia massaged the middle part of her forehead for a bit and exclaimed, "My parents had me do puzzles like this before and I absolutely did not like them, but they said it would be good for the mind in the long haul." She looked at how the others were responding to this puzzle. She noticed similar expressions on the others faces, so she wasn't alone in this feeling of not liking mind bending puzzles that left you with a headache afterwards. Lini nuzzled her arm a bit and sent a soothing emotion into her mind and got a little scratch under her chin. "Thanks Lini." Lini scampered over to Doom to snuffle around some in the area they were gathered around in. “I’ll help out any way I can, but I’m not up for the bet. Though I think the loser has to do something really embarrassing."

Kat watched as the instructor guided the kittens. She kept getting confused as her own cat Kitten had escaped and ran in and out between them here as they formed lines. Her head began to spin as she watched the lines go back and forth. She turned to her other Chaos members, perhaps they knew a better method for organizing the kittens. “I’m not to sure about this, I’ve got to keep my eye on Kitten. But perhaps the loser has to eat a dozen of some really icky cookies.” She thought about something she had tasted once at a bake-sale in her home town, “Something like like bake-less/sugarless/flourless/eggless/raisin/date/quinoa cookie" She thought about Frieda's penchant for dunking gingersnaps in Irish Whiskey, "Dipped in a really foul liquor like licorice cordial.” Kat shuddered as she said it, “Uh!” But eventually, she reconsidered. “I’ll take the bet.”

Dace looked at Frieda. “I’ll take that bet. And the loser has to stand in the city square water fountain.” She gave the weasel-girl the ‘looking-at-you-sign. “Six shots of licorice liquor and eat all twelve cookies dipped in it.” Dace knew Frieda wasn’t any good at puzzles and she couldn’t resist the temptation to get her little cousin in trouble. “In their underpants, with no hurfing.”

Kat, Sky, Frieda, Dace and Webby all took the bet, shook on it and got to work figuring. Frieda pulled out a pencil, quad paper, a slide rule and her lurking device from her satchel. Sky drew little cat faces on scraps of paper and shuffled them on the ground. Kat and Dace turned from each other and wrote out their solutions in strict silence, casting furtive glances at the others.

Webby groaned, “Our first brain teaser of our journey.” She dug through her pack and found her screwdriver. She tried to draw a diagram of the puzzle and attempted to sneak a peak at Sky's solution. Webby followed Frieda’s directions and drew her solution in the sand.

Frieda didn't want to be a looser, but licorice cordial sounded tasty, a refreshing dip in the city fountain was always pleasant and she had never had a quinoa cookie before.

(Stay Tuned for the conclusion to this story after the solution is revealed!)

'ARG! Don't stare so hard or or will know something's up, !" Spring grumbles as Tea sends all too many squinty glances in their direction.

"Seriously?" Sorn sighed. "You lot enjoy," he said as he used his magic to create a boulder to lean on. "I have no patience for this."

'Bloody hell' says Chook. 'no fighting?'

Lypsyl had heard there were going to be kittens at the welcome ceremony and hoped to spot them soon. But so far she only heard them, some minor commotion of yowls, mewls and hissing.

Grumpus and Daisy easily arranged the Kipolu Kittenz in the correct order and the fuss was soon over, the performance would undoubtedly begin soon.

Sky pumped her fist into the air when she recognized that her solution was 'spot on.' She was overjoyed that she had won the bet, but she didn't want to draw attention to her group for fear they would be seen as spies. She crawled to the others to compare her results. She found that Kat, Dace and Webby had also arrived at the correct answer and thus all had won the bet. Sky tapped on Frieda's shoulder. "So, what result did you arrive at, what with all your calculating and figuring there?"

Frieda gave up her three pages of diagrams, charts, and graphic organizers. "I came up with a perfectly workable plan, but not the same one Grumpus used," She grinned.

Dace back-slapped her cousin's chest, "What are you grinning for, like an idiot?" She shook her head, "You little weasels are all such overachievers, how could you blow it this badly?" Dace snorted, "Otter-kind would never go the lengths you did just to fail."

Frieda giggled, "But I didn't fail. I made out like a bandit." She gathered up her papers from the others and explained. "You all took the bet, a dozen cookies each, six shots of licorice liquor each." She shuffled her papers and stuffed them in her satchel. "That's four dozen cookies, a whole bottle of alcohol, and four trips to the fountain for a relaxing bath, a snack and a drink. What more could a little weasel-girl want?"

Webby gave Frieda a side-long stare, "One would think that you planned to fail all along."

Frieda hugged Webby and explained, "Oh, I'm not that devious. But I'm shrewd. Never take a bet unless you could benefit in some way either way. That's what my old daddy used to say." She motioned for Organized Chaos to follow her back down to the main compound for further instructions. "Besides, I'm going to share with you all."

Dace complained, "But that was the whole point of the bet, nobody wants licorice liquor or quinoa cookies."

Frieda nodded, "Oh, I know all that, we'll make a picnic of it and I'll provide the good stuff, I promise. The sweetest tastiest cookies, the smoothest, finest aged wine and we will put on a show for the town folk as we lounge in their fountain in our undies."

Frieda snickered under her breath as she led Organized Chaos back to the staging area. "By the way, the only licorice liquors you'll find in this world are absinth or ouzo and it's absurdly expensive. The have it in the lounge and it's about 2,000,000 credits. I hope you brought lots of coin on this trip."