Well, we've been waiting since four pieces ago- it's time to finally meet the mysterious 'ghostly figure' from the end of the last Sebastian/ Vixen roleplay!

Like her living sister, she's shining with personality! It's fun watching the interaction between the two- and the confusion on Dash and Vixen's face. Vixen's confused reaction, honestly, is priceless.

Then there's Dash. Stubborn and focused, as always...

As of this mission wasn't strange enough, Dash mused, now they suddenly found a ghost starring at them!

Only moments ago, Vixen had started playing the grey husk of a harp, which Dash had recovered after the battle with the snow ninjas kept him from entering Hey Daze along with his allies. (That itself, was an oddly twisted story, with a blackened sky and an uneasy ally with Catrina's ex and her brother, hated enemies forced into an uneasy alliance. Dash pushed those memories to the back of his mind to focus on THIS new twist.)

Odder still.. Vixen had just referred to the ghost looking.. vision.. as "Sis.." Dash didn't remember her mentioning a sister. Oddities upon oddities. Heavy shadows fell through the ghost as if she didn't exist, landing with full impact to line Vixen's fur. Her ears were back, and except for a slight trembling, Vixen stood otherwise still.

The air seemed especially heavy. Dash hadn't noticed it before now.

A few still seconds passed. Dash found himself feeling frozen in motion. Vixen's lip trembled slightly. Dash's horse Españolola neigh, a little distraught by the feeling in the air, but otherwise unperturbed.

Dash finally found his voice.

"Vixen? What's going on?"

No response.

"Vixen?"

Vixen just stared, she trembled a bit, starring at the ghost of her sister in front of her "...."

Dash looked at her, then tried again. "Ah... I know how you feel.. what's going on?"

Vixen stuttered a bit. "B-bloody hell."

"What is going ON?" Dash turned to face the ghostly image in front of her. "What is she? A message? A memory?"

"I'm just visiting my sister." The ghost sister said, smiling. Dash's turn to be speechless. Vixen stood there, still stunned. Wondering what to do next. Memories swirled in Vixen's head, of her and her sister. A tear fell out of Vixen's eye.

Dash looked from the live Vixen to the .. ghost. "So if you can speak- explain to us what's going on."

Vixen stood there silent still. She tried to grasp what was going on. In her head she thought Should I say something? What do you do when a ghost of your sister is infront of you?

"Can't a ghostly girl visit her sister once in awhile? Yeesh," the ghost exclaimed.

The ghost laughed and stuck out her tongue out at Dash. (A stranger to the ghost.)

Dash's expression darkened. "I see the resemblance."

"I remember you! You were limping away; how's the leg?" The ghost sister asked, looking concerned.

"Better, thanks to Vixen," Dash answered, trying to block out the weirdness of having a conversation with a ghost. Was that really Vixen's....? "Thanks for asking. So, forgive me for being blunt, but does your.. er.. visit.. have anything to do with what's going on with the Orb?"

"You're smarter then you look," The ghost said, laughing.

Dash almost smiled. "At least one of us is." Before she could respond, he got serious. "So, talk. Can you get us there?"

The ghost sighed. "Slow down there, tiger."

Dash looked frustrated already. "Sorry if I'm rushing you.. but I've got friends journeying to Hey Daze who might need my help."

"Well, if you're not to dumbstruck, aren't you going to introduce me sis?" The ghost asked. Completely ignoring what Dash said.

Dash nodded in silent agreement, curious as to her origin.

Vixen finally said something other then bloody hell. "This-- i-s my sister ar--ia."

Aria laughed. "That's Aria, dumby. When did you start stuttering?"

Vixen's face turned a bit annoyed. "I wouldn't be stuttering if a ghost wasn't standing in front of me. You could have at least made some warning that you were goin to show up as a ghost!"

Dash smiled thinly at the bickering between the two. "In all fairness, things are kind of crazy here."

Aria facepawed. "You're not even happy to see me?"

Vixen yelled, "Of course I am; I would of just liked a bit of warning!"

Aria sighed. "One sec, sis. Yes, things are a bit crazy, Dash. That's one of the reasons I was sent here; sent by the cat lad-- I mean cat goddess.'"

Vixen looked confused. "Goddess?"

Dash nodded sagely. "I've... seen her before, I think. In a vision, when I was fighting Cattaras. I forget what she said at the time, but it helped me when Cattaras nearly .. finished me off." Dash stirred, dark thoughts obviously on his mind. He snapped back to the situation quickly. "So, are you here to help us save our friends, Aria?"

Vixen sighed. "She usually goes by Vex, Dash."

"Thanks, sis." Aria laughed. "Yes, I am here to help, Dash."

"Vex and Vixen?" Dash raised an eyebrow. "Cute. So you probably know the situation. I was the last one left behind when the portal closed, since I'd injured my knee. Which feels much better, thanks to Vixen. Anyway, the others got through.. including Catrina's brother and Him, who we'd forged a rather uneasy alliance with. I found a husk of a grey harp.. but we've no idea how to use it. Or if we can use it to get through to the other side."

Vex looked around for the harp. "Where, or who has it now?" Vex corrected herself. "Actually, I assume someone was playing it or I wouldn't be here."

Vixen held up the harp wordlessly.

Vex took the harp from Vixen. "Hmm, heh I know what's happening now."

"Care to share, hmmm?" Dash asked, after a few seconds of her contemplating in silence.

"This isn't the harp... it's just a husk.. an empty shadow..the one I had was similar." Vex said, still examining the harp..

Dash sounded impatient. "Can it get us to Hey Daze? That's the only thing I'm worried about right now."

"Is he always this impatient?" Vex asked Vixen.

Vixen chuckled. "Yep!"

Dash made a face. "Would you like me to reintegrate how my friends are in Hey Daze, again? Or should I simply ask you if there's a possibility they might be stuck without me? Or maybe I could focus on the fact we're trying to trace down not only our clanmates, but also an orb which has apparanetly caused the sky to go black?"

Vex looked at Dash stupidly for a moment. "Your friends will need our help to get out of Hey Daze. You'll need my help, and I'll need Vixen to help me make it happen."

Vixen looked at Vex confused. "My help?"

"Your help," Vex confirmed.

"Her help?" Dash echoed, since that didn't actually clarify anything.

Vex facepawed. "Yes. My sister's help."

"Your sister Vixen?" Dash asked. "Alright, that makes sense, but would you mind explaining to us HOW we're supposed to help you?"

"If you're done acting like a parrot?" Vixen said, then laughed.

"Remember, you do owe me one, so don't do a half assed job," Vex said to Vixen seriously.

"Alright! Ill do my best, sis," Vixen smiled nervously.

"What now?" Dash asked.

Vixen pondered. "So what do you want me to do?"

Dash sighed. "We need to get into Hey Daze, if you're done catching up."

"First vixen needs to learn how to play Hey Daze Lullaby," Vex explained.

"The wha?" Dash asked, eyes almost crossing for a millisecond. "Alright, don't let me stop you."

"Give me the harp," Vex said, looking worried. "Hope I can remember how to manipulate physical things."

"How can you hold it if you're a ghost?" asked Dash.

"Well... The Cat Goddess gave me the ability to touch physical things," Vixen explained to the confused Dash.

Vixen quickly handed the harp to her sister. Vex's hand glowed.. well more then it already did. She waved her hand over the harp. The harp did nothing for a minute, then quickly starting repairing itself.

The harp turned copper in hue and color. The strings shiny and almost brand new. "That will be 14.54 meat Sis. No family discounts." Vex laughed and handed it back to her sister.

"Thanks... I'll maybe pay you later," Vixen took the harp.

"Heh, black cheque's in the mail," Dash suggested.

Vex chose to ignore both quirps. "Remember the song that I played in the orphanage all the time, to make the pup's sleep?"

Vixen nodded "Yes.. is that Hey Daze Lullaby?"

Vex sighed. "Not even close. Honestly, I don't know why I mentioned it. Being dead messes with your head," Vex explained.

Vex pulled a musical sheet almost out of nowhere. "Here's the song, shouldn't be to difficult to learn."

Dash let out an impressed whistle.

"Heh. Taadddaaa!" Vex exclaimed.

"This is what you need to learn, Vixen" Vex explained.

Vixen nodded. She studied the notes for a few short minutes, as Dash watched, helplessly impatient. Vixen strummed a few notes on the harp. Every so often, Vex would mention a technique, or correct Vex on some small matter or another. The trees stood still. Darkness filled the sky. There was a calm silence, broken only by Vex and Vixen's talking and music. Even with all that was happening, and a feeling the worse was still to come, Dash found the sense of peace sudden and powerful.

The air was still. Vex sighed contently "Alright, it's time. You learn pretty fast, sis."

Vixen simply nodded.

Vex turned towards Dash. "Draw your sword." When he simply looked confused at the request, she nodded. "Trust me. We need your help for this part."

Dash did as she requested, holding it in front of him.. The tip glowed, and suddenly, a portal enveloped the tip of his blade! "Hold it steady- just a little longer!" Vex encouraged as her sister Vixen kept playing, despite Vixen's own confusion and worry. Ghostly swirls and whisps of lights popped up near the sword, as everything around them seemed lost in an ethereal, golden smoke. Vixen sighed as she played the harp. She was confused, a little sad, with a pinch of being tired.

Vex encouraged her. "You can do it; don't give up now."

Vixen said something that would offend a good amount of nuns at that moment, causing Dash to give her a hard glare.

Vex sighed. "Focus guys, we're almost done.."

Huge whisps of smoke and light poured out of the portal into the streams around the three.. the ghostly figure seemed to almost smile.. The sound of metallic devilish guitar drifted it, near silently, from a place, far far away. (One without Jedi knights, we assume.) The whine of a wind sung, sounding, all in all, to be very, very far away. The smoke thickened. Dash wanted to draw his sword, but Vex kept encouraging them to relax and keep going.

The skies above seemed to bellow with fire. The portal flared to life. Vixen was giving her sister that "You CAN'T be serious" look. The portal flared to life in front of Dash. He resisted the urge to draw the sword away, but kept a wary eye on Vex. Dash was just starting to wonder if it was really her or a trap when she smiled at him. The smile was somehow enough to convince him it was no trickster, but the real deal. "Alright, you can take your sword out if you want. Just a few more seconds, Vixen. You're doing really awesome, hot shot. Just keep it up."

Vixen seemed to smile slightly at the 'hot shot' bit, although of course, Dash had no context to place it's meaning. She played more forcefully, and more tenderly at the same time. The smoke around them seemed to solidify.

"All done!" Vex cheerfully called out. "You did great, both of you, but I'm afraid this's where we part ways now."

"So, we just step through the portal, right?" Vixen asked.

"What?" Vex asked, confused. Vixen facepawed.

Dash sighed. "The portal.. that's how we get to Hey Daze, right?"

"Nope, we're already IN Hey Daze!" Vex proudly declared. "The portal's for me to get out of here." She then went to ignoring Dash, gave her sister a goodbye hug, and stepped through the portal as she said, "Keep her safe, Dash, or it's your hide. Oh, hi there!"

Dash and Vixen saw the silhouette of a divine feline figure pounce Vex as the portal drew to a close.. The smokes and mists around the two then evaporated.. the two's eyes went wide as could be as they looked around them to see....

... To be concluded in our next exciting bit...

( Heh- bit of a cruel ending, huh? We get you there- but totally hide their surroundings! :)
(Don't worry- we'll be right back to them, as soon as we cover a Samus's second and final roleplay.. then it's back to Vixen for her first solo roleplay!
(er.. kind of.. ;) )