This is a fun little meeting of PC's, NPC's and PC's turned NPC's.

And if that didn't hook you, who knows what will?

 
Warning Harsh language, including FBomb Risque language and/ or humor and / or situations

 
Todd smiled, looking around him. He was in one of the better appointed rooms at the Weeping Tree- a luxury sweet with a king sized bed which the foxbard could see was crowded with women of every color fur and skin-- all of them competing to get Todd ready to go (not that the bard needed much help there what with all the female body parts rubbing against him.)

One of them, a Lapine, smiled up at him with her tongue riding up.. wait...

Todd's head turned sideways. Something wasn't right....

The Lapine looked just as puzzled for a different reason. "Is something wrong, sirrah?"

Todd stroked one of her ears, causing her to moan in that way she always did... no.. "You are not Cecille. She's not in the Kingdom and, besides, Cecille died before I left Aldara to a mugger!"

With that he grabbed her ear tight, causing the Lapine to shriek and shimmer- becoming a certain succubus that he thought he'd just destroyed!

His shock loosened his grip- and the vixen was on top of him in an instant- the room becoming the battlefield he had just left. "Clever Todd... I was going to be nice to you and suck you dry as you came- but now.. it's gonna hurt alot more!" She kissed him roughly- and it was as if his soul was being ripped from his body. He then heard a growl that caused her to sit upright as if her master disapproved. And he did- or at least the two red eyes Todd could see in the murk did. "Just kill him- you can feed off his friends at your leisure once he cannot protect them." With that her paw closed around his neck- squeezing with demonic strength. Todd felt himself go woozy- saw the room go black.

He then gasped, sitting bolt upright in camp. Sebastian Dash shh'ed the bard even before his eyes finished open. "Katherine's resting," Dash explained. "Looks like she hurt her ankle worse than she initially let on. Good job back there, by the way."

Todd looked around- a bit wild eyed to start but he soon calmed down. "Fuck.. was a dream... Gods what a dream though!" His eyes fell on Katherine and his tail wagged despite himself. Most women asleep were beautiful and Katherine... He turned his eyes back to Dash before he showed off something that might make his friend angry. "I blacked out again, didn't I? What happened after?"

Dash nodded. His eyes scanned the distance as if he were expecting something. Maybe an attack. Maybe something else. He kept checking something in a small bag, hidden from the view of the other two. "Right after you took the succubus out. Impressive showing."

Katherine stirred, her eyes opening. "Oh, good, he's awake."

Todd smirked. "Yeah.. and I like the view out here alot better than the one in my dreams for once."

"I did a little hunting," Dash said, pointing to the husks of a couple white vamprabbits. "I hope no one minds extra blood in their meat."

Katherine just groaned. Todd chuckled. "Hey you know I like em rare."

"Well, make sure you cook mine and add veggies," requested Katherine.

"What's a carrot ever done to you?" said Todd with a smirk that said he'd used this tease on Lapine before.

"Fed me," Katherine muttered, eyes slipping shut.

"Guess I should do a little gathering," Dash said. "I could for for some vegetarian goodies myself. Feel up to joining me in a bit, Todd?"

The bard. "Can't trust me with your woman, man?" But he was getting up.

Dash smiled weakly. "For your own safety, bard."

Todd managed a smirk- but his eyes weren't in it. "Hey- you saw how the chicks just melt for me!"

"Alright, take your time, bard," Dash said, not looking at the two. "Let me get this started while you recover. I'll be back soon. And again, take your time."

Todd watched as Dash, well, dashed off into the brush. What's his rush? the bard thought, and then hurried to catch up, knowing that this was probably a big mistake.

Once out of view of the others, Dash pulled a small map from the bag, quickly scanning it. Yup, no question about it. A small glowing dot on the otherwise nearly featureless map caught Dash's attention. Other than the dot, there were a handful of faded lines on the map which shifted slightly as Dash moved. Along with the dot, quite faded moments ago but now glowing and almost pulsating, the map itself almost seemed alive.

There was another dot which didn't seem to move. A light blue spot which Sebastian knew to mark the map itself in relation to the lands about. It was said if the map stayed in one spot long enough, a detailed map would form but Dash was forced to keep moving so he'd had no opportunity to test that.

Dash picked up his pace. Todd would likely be at a loss to find Sebastian, but that worked to Sebastian's favor. He wanted to make first contact first before having to explain what was going on.

Dash made his way towards a clump of trees, causing the faint blue dot to overlap with the pulsating dot. Yet Dash saw nothing. He almost panicked. If this was a trap, he had just walked into it blindly and unprepared. He reached for his sword but didn't yet pull it out.

That's when Lapine and Runic darted in front of him, bearing fire in both hands. "Took you long enough Dashie.."

"Greetings," said a man who appeared out of nowhere, a man wearing a toga and sandals.

Lapine and Runic stood face to face with Dash, who's eyes remained on Lapine. After briefly sizing up the situation, Dash glanced around. "Where's the other two?"

“Right behind you!” Vixen shouted from behind him, walking alongside Bandit. She carried a lance with her, a rather large and sturdy looking one at that. Oddly, Dash broke into a wide smile.

"That's it, isn't it? Your goal." Dash leaned in tentatively to examine it. Vixen nodded. Dash turned to the toga'd stranger. "Who in the world are you?"

"I go by Angel," the olive-skinned man said. "And I bring a message from Konall. He will arrive shortly with some of my companions to aid your quest."

"Good," Dash said. "I've got some news he should be very interested in. Where's he at? I'll have my friends here stay behind so I can explain to him what's going on."

A gruff voice shouted "I'll be there in a minute." True to his word, Konall came over the ridge a moment later, riding a massive warhorse. "Finally," he said. Dash moved to greet Konall- and to make sure he didn't attack Vixen and the others. Unfortunately, Konall was already drawing his sword. "What's she doing here?"

"Don't worry, she's on our side."

"Ayiiie, get him away from us!" Runic yelled, preparing a spell as Bandit got her infamous bat ready.

Konall growled. "You sure, Dash?"

Mr. Skye came over the ridge next. He scanned those around him with his good eye. "I don't foresee these people being a threat."

"And if you're wrong?" said Konall.

Skye shrugged. "We can take them."

"They're on our side," Dash said, turning to Vixen. "Get control of those two!"

"Calm down, you two.." Vixen said, rolling her eyes.

"It's a long story," Dash said, glancing from the two alternate world rebel furries to Konall. "I'll do the quick version, so try not to start killing each other before I finish."

"Okay." Konall sighed.

"Look, here's the story," Vixen said, holding the lance for Konall to see. Probably not the smartest response. The lance glowed slightly.

Konall knocked the lance out of her hand with a sudden sword slash. "You said she's not a threat!"

"Ow, why'd you do that for?!" Vixen grabbed her sore hand.

Dash sighed. "She's not. She's also not subtle. Anyway, she approached me a while ago. Said she went undercover with Dark to try to figure out how he was getting between worlds seemingly so easily. This goes back to her going undercover with the Feline Empire to feed me information. That lance is the answer."

Konall nodded. "So we can use it to visit other worlds?"

"With the right attachment," Bandit said. "My master.. well technically my former master could use it to do almost anything with the right mana energies in the right slot. He almost froze our entire world with it. It was awesome!"

Bandit reached to pick up the lance, but Lapine kicked her in the rear. Bandit yelped and jumped back.

"Don't you pay attention?" Lapine asked, shaking her head.

"What?!" Bandit jumped back.

"Anyway," Dash said. "If Vixen is here, she must have some big news. We agreed she'd only get in touch when we had something in our favor. I don't know the story about these two, though."

"So what's the drawback?" said Konall. "Is it cursed? Possessed? Saps your life energy? Turns you into a newt?"

Runic shrugged. "It's kind of worthless without something powering it. And without something powering it, it attracts dark spirits to you if you don't keep moving."

"Wait, what?!" Vixen asked. "Why didn't you mention this sooner?!"

Runic pouted. "You never asked. Maybe the life sapping one too. That would probably fit."

Vixen facepalmed. "Anyway.. I don't know about drawbacks, but I do know the current power supply for transitioning between worlds is almost dead. It had one charge yet. That idiot Dark was going to send us on a suicide mission to steal a new source from Jester King. We.. had other ideas."

"Hey!" Runic complained. "Don't insult our.. um.. that guy."

"Oh quiet down," Bandit said. "She's right, he was a jerk to us."

"What's it run on?" Konall asked. "Magic energy, bunny tears? Virgin blood?"

"Wateria," Runic said with a shrug. "It's a kind of energy no one really understands, but can be found in weird places. Sometimes treasure chests. Jester King of Beasts probably has some. Whoever he is."

Skye spoke up. "So you're searching for more Wateria?"

"Like she said, Jester King had it and Dark wanted it," Vixen said. "Right now, we're just getting this sword to Dash here so he can decide what to do."

Dash shrugged. "Then I was going to tell you and the others about Vixen's activities. I'd have done it sooner but I couldn't risk putting her and the others in danger. Any thoughts on it, Konall? And.. who are these allies of yours anyway? I don't believe I have seen them on the Committee."

"Not sure exactly. Some people. They're good fighters. The one with the eyepatch is Skye. The one who can outrun either of our horses is Angel. And blue chick coming up behind us is Killa."

Killa rode over the ledge. "I stopped to kill a den of rabbits. I'd apologize, but I'm really not sorry."

Lapine gasped in disbelief and gave Killa a dirty look.

"Anyway," said Konall, "they're great fighters and I was shorthanded."

Skye interrupted, "And he's keeping some of us in sight at all times because he still doesn't trust us or know what we're capable of."

"That too," said Konall.

Dash shrugged. "Most people don't trust people with codenames. Something I know a little about. So they're the backup you're taking to the tower?"

"Among other things," said Konall.

"You know about the uprising in Degrassi, right?" Dash asked. Konall nodded. Dash continued. "Catrina, Jen, and a few others are going to take care of the dragon. You're heading to stop Kadlin. I'd like to make sure someone takes care of the Elite 8, and that Kadlin's hold on the Knob Goblins is broken. Otherwise, even when we defeat her, she might be able to come back and set the whole thing back into motion."

"Whoa," Lapine said. "all of that's going on at once?"

Dash shrugged. "Not to mention the airship weirdness going on."

"Well, Fumblies says he'll deal with the Elite 8 and.." Konall was interrupted as strangely enough at the mention of the 'airship madness' a growl issued from a nearby bush- a growl that quickly tried to cut itself off.

Lapine sniffed the air. "Todd?! I can smell you over there!"

"Come out you weasel!" growled Konall.

"He's a fox, not a weasel." Instead it was Katherine Swift who came out next, whip in hand.

"Yeah, if I were a weasel I'da slit your throat in your sleep. " He looked at the group, an eyebrow raised at some members and a smile showing for three... Maybe four but he'd have to see about Runic.

Vixen swooned for a minute, then seemed to remember there was business. "We don't have time for friendly flirting, Todd."

Todd shrugged. "Quite a party, when were we gonna get invited?"

Dash nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to get make sure it was safe to explain Vixen and Lapine's little escapade to you. Turns out, it is. The other two are a surprise to me. I'm not sure if I trust them."

"She freed us from Dark's control," replied Runic. "What else is there to be said? He was going to get his world and ours destroyed. We figured we could do better."

Todd growled again, the bard in an uncharacteristically sour mood. "Yeah, we'll after meetin' up with that jackass who looks like me I wouldn't want any of you left behind. Good call there."

Lapine rushed up, wrapping her arms around Todd. "I'm so sorry I had to lie to you, Todd."

Todd's stern look didn't last long under Lapine's attack. Soon he smirked and wrapped an arm around her, squeezing her butt. "No problem, honey buns. " He turned and smirked to the other ladies. "Anyone else want to apologize?"

"If you do," Dash interrupted as Lapine jealously elbowed Todd, "do it in a postcard. We've got a mission. We need to lead towards the Knob Goblin stronghold. Once we take care of the smaller issues, we can hopefully proceed directly to the stronghold to deal with Kadlin. Are you with us, Konall? Or are you going straight to the tower? Pick your poison, I'm cool either way."

"I'm in," said Konall, hefting his axe. "But when we're done, I'll need your help on the tower."

"Of course," Dash said. "We're with you. To be honest, I'm surprised you're actually asking for help. It must be bad."

"Yeah." Konall sighed. "Now that dying is a bad thing, I need to make sure it doesn't happen to me."

Leaving Todd to wonder idly when dying had ever been a good thing.

I should mention Lapine and Vixen are basically NPC's here as the handler had gone inactive.. but I needed them for the story.

Plus we finally got them back in the light after so long! With this being meant as the final AIL mission ever, I wanted to go all out. Thus, bringing in Fluffy, MTiger, Vixen and the others as NPC's to help wrap things up. Having Konall and company show up was a nice twist too. I really like how the different characters played off of each other.

Next up: Zed Shinestone!