A last little bit for Cyber Sunset and Becky Joy. As you can see from the title, a couple of familiar faces show up.

Fahari and Todd share a writer, which makes working with the two quite interesting. As you might know, Becky and Todd share a history dating back to late in Season one when they met early in the Knob Goblin invasion of Seaside Town. Meanwhile, Fahari's grown quite close to Sir Fumblies, as seen in various missions before and after this one.

 
Occasional strong language

Becky Joy almost skipped through the dense part of the Nearby Woods and her young new friend had to rush to keep up. The youngster was all smiles being with Becky, who liked the young girl and felt protective of her even though they just met recently.

"I really like hanging with you," the girl said, causing Becky to smile, jump up and grab a sturdy looking low branch on a large tree and hang from it.

"Hanging out is fun!" Becky said, swinging, which sent her young friend into a laughing fit.

"You're so funny!" the girl said. "You're not like the other adults, huh?"

Becky hopped down. "I am not like anybody else at all!!"

As she neared a clearing, Becky could hear voices raised in argument. She soon found those voices belonged to Todd Blackpaws and Fahari, the Black Panthress from the land Catrina had come from. Becky kept hidden from sight.

"Do you have any idea who you're getting involved with?" The bard seemed quite upset. "By all reports this dude's crazier than Cattaras! Not to mention that bitch Catrina... You do know what she did to Dash, don't you?"

"I have heard." Fahari growled slightly. "But that is the actions of those around him. What evidence do you have that Fumblies is even worse?"

Todd's jaw dropped a bit, but then he smirked. "Well, the dude runs around with the undead. That can't be good. C'mon, babe, he's part of the Empire- he's got to be bad news!"

Fahari shot Todd a glance that made him wonder if this was a good idea. "I am neither friend nor foe of Empire or Kingdom."

The two suddenly heard a rush of movement from nearby. Two figures were beating a hastily retreat!

Todd and Fahari both quickly took the scent of the air- but of course Todd was quicker on the uptake having been around the person involved before. "Hey Beckster! Don't run away!"

"Keep running away, they might wanna beat us up!" Becky said.

"Are they enemies?" The girl asked.

"Nooo, they're friends, now run!" Becky pulled the confused girl along.

Fahari chuckled, hearing this. "She is an ally of a friend of mine."

Todd smirked. "Just a friend huh? Not from what I've heard."

Fahari growled at the fox. "One does not discuss such matters."

Becky and the girl hid behind a tree. Becky poked her head out. "Hey! Are you two coming to beat us up 'cause of the drugs? Cause the drugs say so? I don't want you to hurt my new friend, her name is Amy-Anne? Do you wanna say hi to her and how come you wanna beat me up?!"

Todd smirked. "Never wanted to beat you up, cupcake."

Fahari almost matched it. "He's wanted to do many things- but not violence."

Todd growled at the big kitty. "Shut it- I never ever did that to her!"

"I guess I can trust you," Becky said slowly, ignoring the playful banter between the two. She motioned for Amy to stay behind the tree.

"Don't forget your ice magic," Amy whispered to Becky who walked out, with her hands held behind her head. Oddly, Becky was still frowning.

"I am sorry I said you would attack me, please don't be mad!" pleaded Becky.

Todd smiled. "I can't be mad at you, pumpkin- you're too cute."

Fahari rolled her eyes. "Here we go again."

"Now you're telling me that she's just a friend?" Becky sang, then she giggled and hugged Todd and Fahari. "Okay, my hug sense says you're safe. Did you avoid being drugged?!"

Fahari nodded. "I sensed the... corruption in my body and purified it."

Todd chuckled. "Hey, I'm a musician."

Becky took their hands and said, "Come on, Amy! It's safe! Let's introduce them to your family!"

"What about our job?" Amy stepped out tentatively. "We have to gather up foods and woods."

Fahari smiled at Amy. "We can hunt- or scavenge." She nodded at Todd for that.

Todd bristled. "Hey! I can hunt, too - good as anybody!"

"We can do that afterwards," Becky said. "But we have to tell them the people with us are safe so they don't get worried. Right, Todd Cutiepaws?"

Amy's eyes went wide. "Your last name is 'Cutiepaws?!'"

Todd's look was a mix of humor, surprize- a pinch of annoyance.. well you get the picture. "Blackpaws- only cute girls like the Beckster here get to call me 'Cutiepaws.'"

"I'll stick with Blackpaws," Amy wisely decided.

With that, Becky lead them towards the campsite, where they found Amy's big brother and their parents huddling around the fire, obviously exhausted and stressed out. The parents tensed up at seeing Todd and Fahari.

As he saw the folks, Todd made sure his eyes were not on Amy's ass.. which was one worth watching. Of course, she looked young enough that watching it could get him in real trouble- but Todd liked to live comfortably in cases involving nice asses.

Fahari padded up to the parents almost instinctively and bowed low.

The parents looked at each other, confused. "I don't think they're Zedika Dark's."

"I don't think our friend Becky would bring them here if they were."

Fahari straightened and nodded. "I am Fahari- and this is my... colleague Todd Blackpaws. We have heard of this Zedika Dark- and I assure you we are not involved with him."

"Yeah, they're good guys!" Becky said.

"Well, that's good," the mother said. "We don't... well we didn't see many 'good guys' back in DeRo."

"They have fur!" Becky proudly proclaimed.

"Yeah, we can see that," Amy's brother said dryly. "What's up with that, anyway?"

Fahari raised an eyebrow. "DeRo?"

Todd smiled. "You'll have to excuse my friend. She's not from around here."

"That's where we come from," the girl's father said, finding Todd easier to talk to than the others. "Old men used to say it was short for 'death row,' originally. Town's in ruins now, thanks to the killer bugs."

"How come you wear fur and how do you get it to stick on like that?" the brother asked Fahari, persistent.

Fahari looked at him stoically. "I do not wear fur. I am a Feline. If you would care to check, you would see that every inch of me is so furred."

Todd chuckled and said under his breath. "Been trying to check that since you got here, baby."

Amy's eyes went big immediately although her family members seemed to take a minute to get their minds around the concept.

"Oh, Amy, we better get back to doing our work!" Becky said. Amy just nodded. "Todd's gonna be busy being slapped soon, heehee."

Fahari looked towards Becky. "Why would I do that? He has only suggested an idea that many males have suggested before- the 'slap' comes when they try to follow through on their words."

Becky just giggled. "Do you two want me and my friend Amy to look for any special kinds of foods for you?"

Amy just nodded in agreement with Becky.

Todd grinned. "Well, I can eat whatever I want, but I think Fahari needs meat. Finicky cat, you know."

Fahari shook her head. "Not finicky- biology. Although I can eat a little grain, I do live on meat."

"Lil grain, lotta meat, got ya," Becky said. She turned to go, but jumped back when Cyber Sunset casually strolled in. Apparently Becky is easily startled by such things.

"Phew, I thought you were a lion, or something!" Becky said, grinning. "Isn't that funny? I waited an hour to tell that joke."

"Why would y..." Cyber Sunset began before stopping. "No, I’m not a lion. Nothing to report yet, I think we’re probably clear for the night.”

Todd chuckled. "Good choice, man." Even Fahari grinned.

"It's my funny joke," Becky insisted beneath her breath. "It isn't very funny though."

Cyber Sunset leapt onto a low-hanging tree branch that provided a reasonable view of the nearby forest. "Depending on the weather, tomorrow may be a good day for us to pack up and head out... the sooner we can find the source of our ills, the better."

"We should be safe if you need to leave us and get back to.." Amy's mom paused. "Whatever's ailing you."

"Thank you for taking us this far," Amy's father said. "I'm Stephan, by the way."

"We'll go finish our job," Becky said. She started to lead Amy off into the distance where there were no mountain lions. She turned to Todd. "Hey, Toddy, wanna help us? I don't know what you and Fahari like, and besides, I was telling Amy-Anna how good you are music makin!"

Fahari chuckled. "There is only one thing that Todd likes..." She stopped at a warning glance from the vulpin.

"Maybe, but not in this case." He turned to Becky. "Sure, squirt. I'll come help you."

As the two walked along, Becky couldn't help but bragging about Todd, starting with the story of how they met. "You wouldn't believe how big that fire was!" Becky said, holding her hands apart. She frowned deeply then tossed a few promising pieces of wood into her stick bag.. "I was so afraid when they ambushed us. Until Todd came along to help me!"

Todd grinned listening to her. "All I do is support, pun'kin. Backup. All of the awesome that day was you."

Becky's eyes got wide. "Could you sing us a song about it?"

"Given a week and some privacy, I could come up with something that would rock your socks off. As it is anything I did... wouldn't fit the subject's importance, y'know?" Sensing the girls' disappointment, Todd smiled and 'adjusted his tune,' so to speak. "But if you insist on hearing my musical talents, I've got a couple of favorite old standbys you might like..."

Yup, that was good enough for them!

See, wasn't that fun?!