This is the eighth mission we've seen Sassy in!

Her crew's back for this one as well. Icy, Linger and Bristle.

 
We are standing around in Seaside Town after the meeting; Bristle, Icy, Linger and me.  We all seem to be having deep thoughts and it must show on our faces.  I decide to break the silence we have slipped into.

"You know something?  I have never really liked this town much.  A bit too noisy and crowded for my tastes.  Each time I come here, I always seem to get into trouble."

Icy smiles. "Anything you want to talk about with us?  Share your troubles?"  She teases playfully.
"No, not really.  Well, at least not right now anyway.  I was thinking of a nice quiet mountain getaway.  That Toot Oriole must be out there somewhere, might just start looking for it in the cold mountains."

"Linger live dere once."

"Huh?  Where?  Where did you live Linger?"

"In da Bittah Cuulde mountains.  My fambly drive me away.  Make me leave my cave.  Now me have no home."  He begins to cry, but I gently hug him and comfort him.  "But me now have friend.  Sassy is friend. She say she wants to go to the mountains, I go with her."

"Well, I won't.  My name may be Icy but that is as far as it goes. I have no interest in seeing ice or snow or even freezing for that matter."

Bristle takes a new tack; "Just how exactly are you going to try to find this crazy bird anyway?  Wander around the mountains saying 'Toot Toot?'"

"Um, well, actually I . . ."

"You haven't thought it through yet, have you?"  Bristle says.  "And what is going to happen if and when you find him?"

"Well, I don't know, but I would rather be doing that instead of trying to find the tiger cub."

"Who says you have to do either one?"  Bristle says, "So, what's wrong with relaxing for a bit and enjoying what we have here?"

"I think I could use the retreat in the mountains," I say.

"And I could use a break from all these quests and adventures and so could you, couldn't you, Ice Baby?"

"Uh, Ice baby?" I ask.

"That's his pet name for me," Icy says with a giggle and bats her eyelashes at Bristle.  "But I do think that Bree is right."

"Bree?  Ice baby?  What is going on with you two anyway?"

"Not much," says Bristle, "Only a little thing called 'love.'  We have been seeing each other and we would like to take the time to get to know each other better."

"So, you probably won't be going with us then?"

"No probably in it.  We are going to stay here.  You enjoy traipsing around the mountains and chasing the Oriole and we will be here when you come back."

"Well, I wouldn't want to break you guys up and neither am I going to force you to come with me.  Bris, I will miss you.  That sling of yours might come in handy and I know you can sling stones as well as an archer can shoot arrows."

"Yeh, that's fine for me,"  he says, "But have you thought about Icy here?  All she has to protect herself from attacks is a cudgel and she has to be close up to use it.  It isn't really very fair to ask her to deal with the hardships she might encounter up there, is it?"

"Good point, Bris.  Well," I say, turning to Linger. "How about it Linger?  Want to join me on a trip to the mountains.  I liked it the first time I came through there but didn't have the time to look around and really find out what is there."

"All that is up dere is ice and snow, rocks and hard ground.  And my fambly.  You better hope we don't find dem."  His huge frame seems to shiver and shake as he thinks about this.

"They can't be that bad, Linger?"

"Dem not bad, Sassy, dem is terrible.  Dey like pain and suffering. If you chopped off an arm from dem, dey would laugh like you just told them the funniest joke in the world."

"You see, that doesn't sound so bad."

"Den when dey stopped laughing dey would crush your skull with a rock."

"On second thought, you may have a point there."  Now, I start to shudder and shiver.
Bristle says, "It's no cake walk for sure.  Why are you going anyway?"

"Why?"

"Yes, why?  What are you going to get out of this?  Fame, fortune, popularity, power, wealth?  You never used to care for those things."

"I guess I need a change and I want to go."

Icy smiles at her, "We need a break and so we will stay.  Bree and I would like to share each other's company."  She blushes and giggles.

"Well, I guess that's okay too.  On the 'morn'row, we will get supplies and head for our first stop in the mountains.  I wish both of you a lot of happiness until our paths cross again."  I shoulder my huge knapsack.  It is stuffed full of flyers.

"Are you taking those useless leaflets with you, Sass?" asks Bristle.

"Sure, they will burn.  Up there they will come in handy for fires to keep us warm."

We all give each other hugs and wish each other well and goodspeed.

I start to walk away from the group when I look down and see a turtle.

"Oh, how cute!  Look at this you guys, a turtle!  Bet he's hungry."  I find some lettuce leaves and feed him and he eats them up.  "Well, this must be someone's pet." I look around and see a girl crying beside the road.  "Hey, little girl, is this your turtle?"

"My what?  Oh, him?  No, I don't have a turtle."  I pass the girl a bit of sweet candy I have and ask whether she will watch out for the turtle and she agrees, but she says that her family doesn't like pets, so she will have to keep it here.

Linger and I head off to some smaller shops to get supplies for our trip.  Bristle and Icy head for a quiet little cafe close by where they continue to talk to each other in hushed tones and hold hands under the table.

Linger, seeing this, says to me, "Sassy, what is love anyway?"

I shake my head sadly, "You know, Linger, I really wouldn't know. Maybe someday I might be lucky enough to find out."

"When you do, please tell Linger."

"You can count on it," I say and smile a big broad smile at him. "Sassy, you see what you may be up against."

Since the four of them had been together since Sassy assembled them last mission, I suggested to Sassy's handler that he consider splitting them up sometimes. I like how he goes about it here! It really sets up some interesting stories for this mission and beyond. You get a *lot* of Sassy this mission. Our voter Ichiro said his highlight was anytime Linger spoke, citing "accent and sentence structure (that) really painted how he sounded in my head." The best part is, we get plenty of Linger in this mission as well- and he really manages to shine.

Next up though, we're bringing the first four missions into the KOKOL Quest! Read up, there is a lot ahead.