A very simple subtitle.

There's a bunch more Dash and Catrina stories to come. Like Dash, Catrina's a character in City of Heroes. She's also a character in Second Life, and a few other games. The two have a charming back and forth going, and I expect we'll see a lot more of it in the future.

Part one of the Dash/ Catrina story. Check it, yo!

The eerie quiet around the Kingdom of Loathing had left Dash more tense than the fighting.

Sebastian Dash had been looking forward to some peace, but this felt more like the tense silence before a devastating battle. After all, Dash and his newfound allies had set out to stir up trouble between the Kingdom of Loathing's two most dangerous factions, the Penguin Mafia and the Knob Goblin army, some time ago.

Yet, despite the Kingdom of KOL's best efforts, they'd heard virtually nothing in the way of what either side was planning as of late. Something new had come up, though. Dash was almost happy for the change of pace.

Though no student of history, Dash had heard of the legends of the Chrono dragon. Most people had heard the stories at some time or another, yet many dismissed them as pure rumor, and island legends.

Sebastian Dash had never been quite sure what to believe. If there was anything to the dragon reappearing, it spelled serious trouble for him and his.

Sebastian had asked around with some idea of finding out how to get to the island to investigate in the first place, but no answers were turning up. He'd also set to learning what he could about the beast's legacy, and the island they'd be visiting.

The last proved to be the easiest. From what Dash had gathered, it's a small and low populated island of misfits, outcasts, and non doctrinaire social dissentients. An island of rogues was nothing new to Dash.

There was still the question of how to get there.

The whole recent ordeals had left Dash's head spinning. It wasn't that long ago he was still down South of the Border, doing his best to keep things on the up and up there. Although born deep in Kingdom of Loathing territory, he'd spent most of the recent years away from the Kingdom. Combine that with his tendency towards self reliance and his reluctance towards the Kingdom of KOL group in general, and it becomes easy to understand why Dash hadn't done much socializing in his month or three up north.

This'd require something koKOL didn't seem to be able to offer him- a way to get to the Mysterious Islands in the first place, so Dash decided to leave the other warriors to find their own way there and head to Seaside Town.

The fall showers were plentiful, and rather chilly. Dash's horse, Españolola, neighed in defiance against the cold misty rains as Dash encouraged him across the short trip from the Kingdom of KOL to the Kingdom of Loathing's popular seaside port.

Dash had dressed for the wind chilled bite of the rain, with the gray cloudy skies preventing any chance of sunlight dulling the sting of the typical Boozetember weather. Dash had a poncho that helped keep the wind chill and downpour at bay. It helped a little. Upon setting out on his journey, Dash also used a little magic power and a few hotspice-grass blades to summon a spell to keep himself warm, but it ran out with Dash hardly half way to Seaside Town. Dash could tell Españolola was tired, and it was already getting nearly too dark to continue, anyway.

Dash urged the horse towards an area he knew to be relatively safe, unaware that he was being trailed.

Catrina, a figure from Dash's past, panted. Following the horse, even though it had been slowing, had been hard work. But she had been rewarded for her work by a glimpse of her intended target from the tall grasses she was concealed in. Dash already had most of his impromptu campsite set up. She smiled as she saw the horse look nervously over to where she lay. She hadn't bothered to stay downwind- she knew she didn't need to, not for this....

She crept closer, purring at the outline of his silhouette in front of the campfire. she angled around, not wanting the fire to come into play on what she did next. She then stopped, gauging the distance, noting his lack of awareness... She gathered herself and sprung, knocking him back on his back, her body straddling his and looking into his eyes with a wide grin. "HI!"

Dash blinked a few times. He clearly wasn't expecting her this far up north. "Catrina?"

Catrina laughed. She liked Dash. As soon as she had gotten over how she first met him she found him a wonderful person- and an easy mark for her games. She purred softly, stroking his strong jawline as she spoke. "You ran away- and after such a wonderful kiss, too. I decided to follow you and see what attracts you more..."

Dash blinked twice. "You just decided to come find me? Hundreds of miles north of our last encounter? How? Why?"

Catrina looked slightly non-plussed at this question. "How? You ask one of the greatest hunters in the Kingdom how she followed your trail?"

Dash smirked. "Took that great huntress a few months to track me down, I noted." Dash gently shoved her off of him. As gently as one can shove another off. "Tell me now. You know I'll get it out of you sooner or later."

Catrina gave Dash a playful smile, purring and moving in a way designed to tease him. "Oh? And just how do you hope to 'get it out of me?'"

"I'm sure it'll slip out sooner or later." Dash's moods turned darker. "That'll have to wait. I need to finish setting up camp. Staying?"

Catrina laughed and twisted around on the ground- bring her body dangerously close to the human's. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Dash pulled away, pulling himself to his feet. "Would it have mattered if I didn't?"

Catrina smiled, standing herself- still quite close to Dash. "Hmm...Don't know- would it have mattered to have a lioness out in the dark wilderness surrounding your camp while you sleep? Or try to?"

Dash shrugged. "I know the area. It's safe enough, especially if you keep a campfire lit. With a little extra substance that keeps the wild animals away." He paused, then admitted, "Obviously not all of them."

Catrina's grin never faltered. She knew she was, to many of the people she had met, considered a wild thing because of her feline ways. Although she didn't really like the idea of being considered dangerous before people got to know her- it certainly kept the riff raff away. But she could see that camping out here alone would not be the best alternative. "Momma always said it was safer to have more claws facing outward than in...."

"Truer words never spoken," Dash answered, before adding, "Whatever they mean. Alright. I plan to be up early, but I doubt that'll be a problem to you. Then we ride to Seaside Town." Dash stood up, eager to finish setting up camp. "You'll probably want to tag along for this, danger or no, no matter how much I protest the danger. And I will, once I'm awake enough to keep my eyelids open easier."

Catrina cocked her head, not sure of what Dash was speaking of. "Danger? You are going into danger?"

Dash reached for the oversized which duffle-bag Españolola had been effortlessly carrying across the plains. The horse neighed in appreciation as Dash removed it. "It might be. It might be nothing, but I doubt it." He paused. "If it's true, there might be any number of lives at risk, though."

Catrina helped Dash as she could, a serious look having fallen across her face. "Lives at risk? What are you talking about?" Here she meweled something in what she said was Feline.

Dash worked in silence for the next couple of minutes, removing a handful of pots, and dry food, mixing them together with bottled water, and a little bit of liquor for flavor. Just as she was about to press him for an answer, Dash smiled briefly. "I probably do owe you an explanation for the past couple of months, huh?"

Catrina nodded: her entire reason for following lay with this- Why had he left so abruptly?

Dash's eyes showed his regret, and a little guilt. "I hadn't intended to stay up her so long. It was a couple of months Prince Blahking- I'm pretty sure you've heard his name from me a few times- asked for my help up north, when a little incident hit Degrassi Knoll. You've heard of the town, right?" Dash glanced around, obviously worried about being overheard, even in the remote area of the Kingdom. Dark, gray night. The rain had broken up not long ago, but looked like it might return at any second. Dash doubted Catrina would have cared much for venturing in the weather. He looked back at her. "Let's just say, it involves a couple of really nasty factions. That's what's been keeping my attention until recently. This problem, however, might be something far larger."

As he speaks, Dash could begin to hear a growl from Catrina- as he finished, she looked at him. "All this trouble- and you don not ask for my help?"

Dash shrugged. "Your place is down south, or .. so I thought. I'm truly sorry if I offended you. Would you like to hear more about this new threat?"

Catrina smiled. "My place? My home is south of here- far south of your land. But my place is now with you. I will not forget who it was who saved my life- it is an honor debt that can never truly be repaid."

"You're repaid that debt a dozen times over," Dash answered, already building a fire for their meal. He paused to reflect on his mission. Catrina smiled, not bothering to interrupt Dash. Obviously the phrase 'can never truly be repaid' fell on deaf ears.

Dash continued. "Now, as to the mission. There's been a lot of strange things going on on the Island of Mystery. Probably normal for it, from what we've heard, and usually, we'd keep our noses out of it. But there's also rumors of something known historically as a Chrono Dragon. People have been seeing the past playing out in front of their eyes. A couple of pirates even swear it attacked their ships. Now, granted, the local population have a reputation of blowing things out of proportion, but we've got reason to believe there may be some meat to this story. Which's why I'm heading out there."

Having acquired a little idea of the lay of the land around this Kingdom, Catrina had some idea where this Island of Mystery lay, but knew that she would see it soon enough. As for this 'Chrono Dragon', well, dragons were known in her lands only as mythical beasts- things used by parents to keep rambunctious little kittens in line. If this one were real, and if it were anything like the ones of legend.... "It is why WE are heading out there."

Dash paused after removing a bag of ingredients to look her in the eyes. He had to be sure she knew what she was getting herself into, even if he knew the answer in advance. "Just so we're clear, this could be beyond dangerous. Who knows what kind of powers a dragon like this has? For all we know, and some old legends support this, he might be capable of erasing you from existence with one of his attacks. No one'd even remember you were ever in their lives. To say nothing of the fact this's a deadly, dangerous, possibly intelligent dragon. The very least of them are typically capable of knocking down houses, sometimes even castles with a casual swipe of their tail. Are you sure you're ready for something like that?"

Catrina stood, went over to Dash and took the bag from him. She set it down and then took both his hands, looking him straight in the eye and saying the one word she wanted to answer a hundred requests if made by him. "Yes."

"That's why I.. excuse me." Dash dumped a few bottles of water into the pot. "Hope you're up for Knob Peppersausage and rice. That's why we're headed into Seaside Town. I'm hoping we can find a way over to the Island of Mystery before the others. After all, there's supposed to be some pretty sweet incentive for whoever can figure this mystery out."

Catrina helped as she could- even if it was passing bottles and bags to Dash, but her mind was on dragons and mysteries and such. "If it has a scent I can track it, blood I can spill it, life I can take it... by your side."

"Dash glanced over at her, mixing up the food, and adding a special vial to the fire, to keep monsters away. "In this case, those are all big if's." He looked up to her. "We've got three objectives in Seaside Town. Find a way to the Islands. Find out what we can about the creature, and find a way to destroy it, if it comes to that."

Catrina gave a smirk at this. "No swimming, right?" She then returned to being serious. "We should reach this...Seaside Town... tomorrow. Do you think they will have any problem with...well...." Her hands moves, brushing her body in an way that indicated full well what she meant.

Dash shook his head dismissively. "No. They've got bugbears and human lizards in the town. They shouldn't have an issue with you, and if they do, they can live with it, or deal with me."

She had to laugh at his gallantry. "Oh, I have no fears about fighting, as you already know. I just wanted to know if I should keep my claws ready to scratch a few eyeballs out."

"No."

Catrina did all she could, but mostly watched Dash as he finished preparing the meal for them both. At his remark she grinned. "No? Does that mean you will fight for my honor if the need arise?"

Dash glanced up at her as he let the meal set to boiling. "Let's hope it doesn't come down to that. I doubt it will, and don't go picking a fight on me, understand? Besides, we'll have plenty of fighting to do at the island. The factions there aren't known for their hospitality."

"Oh? Things on there other than the dragon? How bad is this place?"

Dash shrugged. "Who knows? For the most part, I'd say nothing we two wouldn't be able to handle. But with the dragon sightings, in addition to whatever danger it represents, I'm expecting we can expect to not be the only ones investigating. None of this is going to sit well with the locals, so we can expect enough trouble to keep things interesting." Dash paused. "I should have enough meat to get us the provisions we need in town."

Catrina nodded. "If not, we can always make more.... What's it like?"

Dash paused. "From what I gathered, it's small. Probably a little bigger than the size of a town. It's also ripe with vegetation, and the animals, for the most, part run wild. There's a small camp of social outcasts there, in addition to a small port, and an Orc college dorm. There's even rumors of pirate ships being known to dock there, due to it's out of the way location. Between the fawning of the outcasts, and the dorm's alcohol supplied habits, it tends to be mostly overgrown forest, with little left in the way of dangerous animals."

Catrina gives him a strange look. "That is the oddest sounding town I've ever heard."

Dash paused. "That's the island. Seaside town's a little more complex. But you'll see when we get there."

Catrina smiled and nodded- then looked at the pot. "You'd better check that."

"Eh!" Dash realized his mind had kind of drifted off. "Guess it's about ready. It's not the greatest food in the world, but for travel food, it's hard to beat. Hope you're hungry. I am."

Indeed she was. The two swapped adventure stories for the past couple of months, then drifted off to sleep soonafter. . .

Tomorrow morning- Seaside Town.