After running into Todd and Alsy, Wildfall and Mary get a piece with all four! (As mentioned in the last bit, Darkest Hour). There's also a new NPC introduced whom voter Ichiro seemed to think highly of, based on his comments. Roleplaying rolls along as we round into the last handful of stories before the Finale!

 
The sun slowly crept up over the domed Council of Loathing building. Now midmorning, the sleepy epicenter of the Kingdom of Loathing, Seaside Town, was just symbolically stretching its limbs and opening its eyes.

Jarlsboris Wildfall and Mary Katherine O'Toole made good time through the streets, heading straight to the Council's headquarters, unhindered by the light congestion in the streets. Wildfall, however, again slowed as they got closer to the building.

"Man, I dunno about this," he said to Mary again.

"Well if I am going to do Council tasks, I think I need to meet the council first," said Mary.

Wildfall frowned. Flawless logic. "Yeah.. okay. We'd better get it over with, then."

With that, he took her hand, and lead her to the door. Wildfall hopefully noted, "At least there's no enforcer penguins outside the building yet."

"Don't tell them I said this, but those guys are pretty good if you know how to handle 'em." Todd Blackpaws chuckled, leaning against one of the pillars outside the building and looking like he was going to stay there.

Wildfall yawned and stretched. "Hey there, Todd. I know ya like to hang out by the hotspots, but you're up early. What's up?"

Todd chuckled again. "Was tryin' to get past my dislike of stuffed shirts and go in to get the scoop."

"Hi Todd, good to see you again," said Mary, smiling.

Todd finally moved away from his place, coming over to bow and kiss Mary's hand- only pausing slightly for a sniff. "The pleasure is mine, beautiful one."

Mary blushed at Todd's comment and bow. "Thank you Todd. Are you going to be with us on this search for the bird?" queried Mary.

Todd smirked, casting a glance at his friend. "I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"I don't think you would be intruding, Todd, and you might be able to give us some new insight on the situation with the bird that we haven't thought of yet," said Mary.

"Come with us, Todd!" Wildfall said cheerfully. "We could use a lil of that music of yours. Plus, hey, adventure party!"

Todd smiled more honestly at his friend. Well, as honestly as he could seeing he was still half teasing him. "As long as she's into it, man I'm there!"

"Okay," Wildfall started. "What'd I just agree to here?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you mean, sir. I simply said that if MK was fine with it, I'd tag along. What did YOU take that as?" Todd gave his best innocent kit look. He could pass it off if he really tried. Really!

Wildfall smirked, taking it in stride, playing up his Ireacan accent more than he did even in Ireaca! "Would an Ireacan gentleman such as myself ever question the moral purity of a Vulpin bard? How utterly ridiculous a thought!"

"Dunno, mate. If I ever meet such a gentleman I'll be sure to ask him," Todd replied with a wink.

"Great," Wildfall answered, in full smart ass mood now. "See if he can hire a couple of questionable rogues and their assistant, too!"

"Don't sell yourself so short, mate. Not good for the ego."

"Good point," Wildfall answered, trying to look thoughtful. "A couple fearless adventurers and their fearless commanding beauty? No wait, I used 'fearless' twice. What's another word for "fearless?" Besides 'Ireacan,' I mean."

"Unmatched, mate." Todd smiled. "Goes well with her beauty."

"I like that one!" Wildfall answered, smiling. "I'll have to tell her I thought of it!"

"Whaddya mean, mate she's right… HEY!" Todd turned and saw that Mary had gotten tired of their act and was heading inside. "Wait up!"

"Hey!" Wildfall called after. "I think she changed the channel on us!"

Wildfall walked after her even as she entered the Council building. It appeared to be almost completely empty except for a couple figures of in a corner who appeared to be deep in conversation. Looking around the lobby, Mary noticed that all the rooms seemed to be sealed off but she figured it was because it was still quite early and the council members had not yet arrived to start their day. Though to be honest, who really knew for sure?

"Do you think we should wait till the council arrives or leave and try to find information elsewhere?" Mary asked Wildfall.

Wildfall shrugged. "Let's poke around here for a bit. See what we come up with."

"Ok where do you suggest we start looking? This place is massive," said Mary.

Wildfall shrugged. "Let's look around. Heh."

"Let's split up to allow us to cover more area and we can see what we find or hear," said Mary.

Wildfall nodded, and wandered over to a nearby desk. Unfortunately, it was tidied up quite nicely, without much left to see. "Hmm.. this ain't helpin, but they are taking a petition to bring back Meatball Mondays.. but on a Tuesday. Consider this one signed!"

"Hey here is something, Wildfall. It looks like a set of blueprints for a 'double-decker couch', laughed Mary. "What in the world would they want one of those for?"

"Um.." Wildfall shrugged. "I dunno. So ya could put people you didn't like on the bottom row and accidentally kick them?"

"Ha, Ha that would be so funny to see one of those couches and would be interesting to see how you would get in and out of it," laughed Mary.

Wildfall laughed. "Maybe it's for a novelty store. Just sell the blueprints, anyway."

"That would be an idea," said Mary with a laugh, "and a novel one at that."

Wildfall smiled broadly. "I see what ya did there. Clever lil girl."

Mary quipped. "Well I can be clever at times, Wildfall, I am not some dumb blonde."

"True," Wildfall snapped back, looking around. "You're a brunette, for starters."

"Okay you got me there. It does seem strange to have a double deck couch," said Mary.

"Ohh!" Wildfall said, sounding like he hit the jackpot. "A list of random professional tips on adventuring!"

"How is that going to help us, Wildfire?" asked Mary

"Let's see," Wildfall said, starting to read. "'Hmm.. to defeat the enemy, shoot them til they die.' I heard this tip was just a hoax. This one says, 'Call your mother to see if your sister got a job yet.' I don't get it. I'm bound to, eventually."

"Sounds to me like someone is trying to play a joke on us," said Mary. "Do you see anything about the Toot?"

Wildfall shrugged. "Maybe we should come back later. Do you wanna look around town or take a trip to Degrassi?"

"Before we decide to leave town, let's go talk to Capt. Horatio down at the docks and see if he has heard anything."

"Of course, Captain Horatio!" Wildfall said, almost facepalming. "How could we leave town without talking to him?! Also: who is he?"

"He is a good friend of the family and was with daddy on a couple voyages," responded Mary, “He might also have word on my parents.“

"Okay," Wildfall said, taking the lead. "They just left, ya know? The only news you could get is if they got a good night's sleep."

"That's right, it just seems longer that they have been gone. Well, we can still talk to Capt. Horatio and see what he can tell us," said Mary, slightly embarrassed.

Wildfall turned to look around. "Should I make us a note to leave for the Council?"

After a moment, he turned to see Mary had already exited the building. "So maybe not?"

"Goodmorning, Mary!" Alys called out as the young Ireacan brunette rushed down the street.

"Hey Alys," Mary called out to her as she passed. "No one's inside."

"Have you seen Wildfall? He's supposed to be looking for the Toot."

Mary started giggling, turned and pointed to Wildfall running down the street toward her. "Yea, there he is lagging behind as usual."

"Ah, there he is. Wildfall, goodmorning." Alys said.

"Hi there!" Wildfall said with a grin. "Follow that Ireacan!"

Alys joined Wildfall in trailing behind Mary as she walked hurriedly toward the dock looking for the Captain. As they walked, Wildfall turned to explain to Alys.

"We're going to see a seaman she knows by the name of Captain Horatio," Wildfall said. He chuckled. "Heh. I said 'Captain.'"

"Why is that funny?" Alys asked.

"What?" Wildfall shrugged. "Nevermind that. We're going to see if the Captain might have any leads on where the Toot might be."

"Shouldn't we be starting with the Big Mountains?" Alys asked.

Todd chuckled, muttering. "Always like to start with big mountains." No one seemed to hear him. More likely they did and were ignoring the double entendre.

"The toot is still missing and they have already been looking for it in the mountains," said Mary.

Wildfall chuckled. "I'm sure every noob adventurer is up there scurrying for clues, anyway. We'll have to think outside of the Toot, so to speak."

As Alys poked fun at Wildfall over his 'think outside the Toot' comment, the trio (with Todd trailing behind) made their way to the docks, which were busy as always. Several of the sailors called out after Mary as she passed.

"Those sailors are friends of my father's. I got to sail with some of them on different voyages. There is the Captain now," said Mary pointing to a lone official looking sailor standing by the edge of the dock. "I'll go say hi."

"Okay, Mary, we'll.." Wildfall started as she walked off. "Um.. stand here, Alys? Do we got anything to do?"

"Not really. I don't think Mary's going to take very long, but I've always wanted to go fishing," Alys said.

Wildfall looked over down to the harbor. "Ahh, you're right, I don't think we'll have time to go fishing before she gets back. Why do you wanna go fish?"

"I could draw you a picture, mate, if it'll help." Todd chuckled, then ducked a hopefully playful swing from Alys.

"I think you need to move along, mister," Alys replied to Todd.

Wildfall just chuckled. "Hey, Blackpaws. Bout time you showed up. Why do you wanna fish, Alys?"

"Never done it before," Alys said.

Wildfall shrugged. "Good enough reason. Ya could climb a mountain next if ya want."

"We're probably going to be climbing a mountain next, haha. No worries on that," Alys laughed.

Alys paused for a moment. "Ya know what I like? The Toot Oriole graphic back on page 4 animates. I didn't expect that."

Somewhere in Lil Canadia, the wall between the third and fifth crumbled into dust.

"Anyway," Wildfall said, acting as if he didn't hear it. "We should find out what Mary's learned."

"I'd be more than honored to show you how, beautiful." Todd smiled. "And, before you take that for what it most definitely deserves to be, I mean really fishing, not playing with…"

Wildfall interrupted with a chuckle. "Sounds fishy to me, Todd! Ha ha."

"I see what you did there," Alys replied sarcastically.

Todd made a face at Wildfall. "Stick to your day job, mate. You're no comic."

Mary shrugged. "Anyway, I want you all to meet a good friend of the family and one that I learned a great deal from in regards to sailing. This is Captain Horatio and if anyone can help us, he can."

Captain Horatio stood about 6ft tall, ruddy complexion. His beard might have reminded one of the poem the old man of the sea. He kept his beard meticulously wellkept considering the old cheap tools he had. His blue eyes twinkled as he smiled at Mary as he took his pipe out of his mouth. "Oh lass you always did give me more credit that I deserve. Nice to meet all you young friends of my lass, Mary. What can I do for you younguns?"

Todd and Alys stood to the side, discussing other matters. Wildfall shrugged. "Not much. Just lookin' for leads on the big council mission. Tryin' to figure out where the Toot might be. If ya got any leads on where it might be, old man, we'd appreciate it kindly."

"First of all Wildfall, if you want the captain to help us, you will speak to him in a more respectful tone and he is not 'Old Man'," said Mary showing her Ireacan temper.

The old man of the sea laughed heartily, stroking his snow white beard as he did. "Aye, always defending me honor, my wee lil lass and rightly, I'd expect nothing less from the first mate of Capt'n O'Toole, but make no mistake either, I am an old man. Although this old man might have heard a few rumors you'd appreciate, young Ireacan lad, s'ya might want to show a little respect as your lady here commands."

Wildfall glanced down. "Right. Sorry then."

"Wait a minute, Capt., Wildfall is not my boyfriend. He is a childhood friend." Mary chuckled.

Wildfall smiled, teasing her. "Breakin' up with me already huh?"

"Wildfall, do you want my father to kill us both by even talking like that? He trusts you to take care of me and keep me out of trouble, not get me into trouble," Mary retorted.

"Into," Wildfall answered with a shrug. "Out of. Same thing."

The captain laughed himself a nice full belly laugh watching the two go at it. "You were askin' about the Toot, though, weren't ya kiddies? I've heard me a thing or two, though I don't know that I'd swear by them."

"Well any ideas would be helpful and give us a direction to go in our search," said Mary.

The old captain paused to reflect on the rumors. "Well, some of the sailors have been saying they hear sounds of the Toot over the oceans a few miles north past Lil Canadia. But there's also a whole pit of rumors sayin' the bird's gone down to Whitey's Grove to wait for the arrival of 'The Golden Chosen noob' who is gonna be savin' the Kingdom from the war between them aliens and the Shinpire. Dunno which part of that sounds the most objectively absurd, but that's the second most popular rumor floatin' around.

"Tell ya, though, young'uns," the old man concluded. "If ya really want the Toot, go adventurin'. And if it means to find you, you'll be findin' it, no question in my mind on that."

Mary grabbed the old sea captain by each side of his beard and pulled his head down and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Capt'n that is exactly what we need to do. Can you take us to the area north of Lil Canadia?" asked Mary.

"Sure, lass," the captain replied. "We got a spare room. Ain't much, but it's big enough for two. You and your friend here might not have much room, but you're welcome to it, as long as you do a lil hard, honest work like always."

"Cozy room, huh?" Wildfall smiled a bit too much. "I like that. I'll let Todd and Alys know they'll be heading to the forest."

"The elven gal?" asked the captain, thoughtful.

"Oh, yes," Wildfall said. "That's the one. And the foxbard. He's an old friend of mine."

"On second thought," the captain said. "Fetch the elf and let her know she'll be me other guest. You and your 'old friend' can head to the forest to look into them rumors."

"What just happened here?" Wildfall asked, blinking.

"I think the sea captain just took yer job." Alys said.

"More ways'n one, I'm thinkin'." Todd growled, then shrugged.

There's two main strengths the voter cited in this one; the ever well written interaction between Todd and Wildfall, and the introduction of Captain Horatio, which helps round out Mary's character and recent past quite well!

I really adore this co-write, personally, since it comes four pieces after Into Rayvon's Darkness and is the piece right after Darkest Hour. Both pieces lived up to the 'dark' titles, and Adenture Party makes a great change of pace from it with all the humor, from Mary's walking off and teasing Wildfall, to Todd's flirting and teasing Wildfall, to Alys's forth wall breaking and teasing Wildfall to Wildfall's classic charm and humor.. oh and he makes fun of himself a little in the mission, so it all works out.

Even though storywise, Todd just met Mary and Alys just met all three (Wildfall the last mission, the other two this mission), they're already starting to bicker and feel like old friends, which is kind of awesome!