I'll Be Dog-Gone (10)

"Is she going to change him back?" Sixth asked. She had changed clothes and was now wearing jeans and a sweatshirt but Kara couldn't get that little leather outfit out of her mind...

"Is that a really good idea?" Kara asked. The last time Drum had tried the shapechanging spell it hadn't worked out too well. He had been supposed to change an enemy of theirs into a frog. He'd ended up changing Kara into one instead. The spell had only been broken by a friendly dragon and Kara still had nightmares about lilly pads. It was not a good memory.

"If you say so." Kara said doubtfully. She looked down at ArtistPuppy in Sixth's arms and patted him on the head appologeticly. ArtistPuppy growled at her.

Sixth dumped him into Kara's arms and went to get Drum. Kara waited for them on deck. A few minutes later they returned. Sixth had Drum by the hand and she was pulling him after her. Louie, back to regular size, was perched on Drum's shoulder.

"I'll stand over by the mast." Kara said, putting Artist down and moving as far away from the casting apprentice mage as she could get. Drum sent her a reproachful look.

Artist Stood there with an expectant look on his face. He carefully checked out his arms and legs-- all back to normal. Then he felt his head and discovered what 6th had been talking about.

Viridian poked her head out of her Groovy Girl Pup Tent and took in the scene. * Un huh,* she thought as she ducked back inside, * I think I'll just stay in here.*

Artist stood there with an expectant look on his face. He carefully checked out his arms and legs-- all back to normal. Then he felt his head and discovered what 6th had been talking about.

Viridian poked her head out of her Groovy Girl Pup Tent and took in the scene. * Un huh,* she thought as she ducked back inside, * I think I'll just stay in here.*

"I don't mind helping you, Drum, if you need it." 6th said, "I like having you in my head..." she stepped closer to him and put her arms around his waist. "I'll help you anytime you want it."

"But it's...I...you..." Drum sighed. The whole time he'd been back on the boat he'd been itching to get back into her mind. He'd never found a more soothing and...interesting place. And then there was the fact that it was 6th's head...and he DID still owe her for the gun she'd given him. And...

"OK. You stand here." he turned her around, facing away from ArtistTiger and towards himself. "I'll stand here." he stepped in front of her, nose to nose again. *Deep slow breaths...remain calm...* he thought. "Close your eyes." She did. Drum touched foreheads with her, and chanted his channeling spell. *Into her mind...ah so nice...* He found the image of Artist he needed. *Why couldn't I come up with this?* Drum thought, *It's not like I don't know him!*

Still locked with 6th's mind, he raised his arms around her and chanted another shapeshifting spell. *Ah, god, the POWER!* he could almost feel it arc through his body as the spell took hold...

"I...need to go lay down..." He said. 6th moved to help him but he shook his head. "No...I'l be ok...Just need to focus..." he started off to his room. 6th shrugged. She'd check on him in a bit. Right after she...welcomed Artist back.

He sat on the deck, his tux glowing in the moonlight, the lining absorbing the darkness with shades of black and purple. He stood, pushing Kara away as 6th came to hug him. He caught her wrists fluidly as she tried to put them around his neck.

"Artist, I..." Kara stood back and watched the emotions rip across her friend's face as Artist stood in front of her, completely ignoreing either of them. He seemed more concerned with his hair than anything else.

6th tried again. "Come on, sugar!" she laughed shakily, "Quit playing around. I know you missed me!" she started foreward and he stopped her, placing both hands on her shoulders and shoving her back.

Artist, left alone on deck, smiled to himself in the moonnlight. Vi stuck her head out of her tent again, wondering what the frell was going on. Artist looked over at her a moment, silent. Vi shook her head and crawled back into the tent. Whatever was up with Artist, it'd have to wait until morning. It was just too spooky to deal with tonight.

6th stumbled through the hallways below deck, fighting back tears. She couldn't believe sweet Artist had just treated her like...like mud on his shoes! She stifled a sob, but just couldn't hold it in. Leaning against the wall she laid her head down on her arms and cried.

"OH DRUM...!" she cried and threw herself into his arms. "I...he...I...oh..." she couldn't form a sentence, she was so upset. Drum led her gently into his makeshift study. She was crying so hard, her breath hitching in great sobs. It took a while, but he finally got the story out.

Rae groans in exasperation, rising from her bunk in the infirmary. What is all that noise? She stops and listens, then tears out of the room, nearly knocking Sixth and Drum over. She frowns at them. "Who made you cry?" she demands of Sixth, glowering at Drum.

"Fine. No magic." Rae shrugs as though it doesn't much matter, though her magic is still far from reliable (one more thing to blame on Artist). In fact, it's not working at all, though she has no intention of telling the others. Like any good operative, she has more weapons than one at her disposal. "You look horrible." she tells Sixth. "Get down to the infirmary. There's a blue jar. Drink it if you want to feel better. Sleep will help, too." Rae pats Sixth reassuringly on the shoulder and stalks up to deck.

"Damn, girl. I'm sorry." Rae shakes her head. "It's just that, well, there's quite a bit of pain, and human meds don't work real well for me. I'm cranky." she smiles weakly. "Sorry." Rae sighs as Mouse walks on. "Hey, Mouse?" Rae calls after her.

Rae smiles back and shakes her head. "Never mind. Talk later." Rae walks up to the empty deck and stares at the reflection of the moon in the dark waters for a very long time. Finally, she climbs up to the crow's nest and curls up in a tight ball. From his perch above the crow's nest, Sweetie Pie is snoring softly. Rae lets the sound lull her to sleep.

Mouse mused on Rae's words. She had never really thought about it. But to be fair, chemistry wasn't something she DID, as much as something she was really interested in.

If Mouse could never really DO anything with chemistry again, she'd be unhappy, but she had many other interests that she could develop. Mouse was born and bred to be a LabMouse, but if suddenly that wasn't an option, she was sure she'd continue on with her other interests.

Following Rae's logical thought path - of which she wasn't really certain - Mouse came across the idea that maybe Rae's fight with Malificent wasn't exactly over. Or, that in the fight, Malificent really hurt Rae in the magical sense. Knowing Rae pretty well, Mouse surmised that Rae identified herself as a PK first, and as a sorcerer second. Both were incredibly important to her, and the loss or lessening of her magical powers would cause her a great deal of personal pain, which she wouldn't show, due to her PK training. *I can't believe I'm trying to psychoanalyze the psychoanalyst.* she thought to herself.

Mouse sought out Drumheller and found him in the infirmary with 6th. They both looked pretty tired and could use sleep after their respective ordeals. Before Drum dropped off to sleep, Mouse asked him quietly, "Drum, did you talk to Rae at all recently?"

"Yes, just a few minutes ago. She was pretty grouc... but I DID try to change Artist back when she had specifically passed on that spell..." He said thoughtfully.

"Did you notice anything different about her? I don't know exactly what I'm thinking of, but did you notice if her magical...aura...or something...was different?" Mouse tried to explain.

"Well, I think something was, but it's really hard to put into words." Drum said. "Oh! But hey! Check this out. Put your head right here" he pointed to his forehead "and I'll try to send the images to you. I was able to see 6th's thought really clearly this way, and maybe it will help you."

"Well, you can see what I'm thinking on a particular topic. I've done this a few times before so I can keep what you want to know up front in my mind. But be careful to keep thinking about what you want to see, as I will. If you go into these things with no real agenda, you pretty much open your mind to the other person, as they do to you, and you never know what you might find." Drum explained. "I'm sure there are ways to block certain thoughts, but I'm just learning how to do that."

"You mean I could see what you thought about almost anything?" Mouse asked, trying to get the whole picture before she just jumped into another person's mind.

"I'm sure there are ways to block certain thoughts, but I'm just learning how to do that." Drum said, yawning. "But this is a specific topic, so we can safely stay on that plane of consciousness. Later, if you're interested, and we talk about it some more, and maybe explore how it works a little more."

*Cool!* Mouse thought. *I'd LOVE to get inside someone else's brain.* The whole idea was fascinating. Unfortunately for our Mouse, she failed to really comprehend that by opening her mind to receive the images, Drumheller could see into her mind also. She was so interested in the fact that she could see into someone else's mind, that she completely overlooked the reverse, even though Drum had explained it to her carefully.

Shaking her head, she cleared her mind and slowly approached Drumheller. She touched his forehead with hers, took a deep breath, and relaxed. In her mind, she saw a picture of Rae before the trip, with her powers as a natural extension of herself. She seemed alive, vital, and powerfull. Then, she saw Rae as she just did a minute ago, and she seemed... smaller. Less sure of herself. Less Rae. Definitely different. She suddenly _felt_ Drum's presence in her mind and was startled. She instantly remembered! He was able to see into her mind also! *Oh no! No! NO! no no no no* she thought. She suddenly felt VERY self-conscious and backed away, breaking their link. Looking around nervously, she backed away from Drum quickly, thanked him softly, and ran out of the infirmary.

Drum wondered for a second about all the closed doors and dark spaces he saw for a minute in Mouse's brain. She had always seemed pretty open and upfront to him, but with that little peak inside her brain (that was necessary - he didn't wander around AT ALL), she had quite a lot that was kept tightly under wraps. He filed that away to think on it later, but now, he needed the rest.

Mouse ran up the staris and almost knokced Spyral and Jila over in her haste. "Sorry" she said quickly and ran down into the hold and found the pups asleep. She crawled over them until she found Juno, and pulled the 80 pound pup onto her lap (no easy feat!) Juno woke for a minute, then saw it was Mouse, and snuggled closer and fell asleep again. With the sleeping puppy laying on her, Mouse felt comforted, and began to think about what to do about Rae, and tried to convince herself that Drum really didn't see anything _important_ in her brain.

Drum stretched. He wasn't so much tired as drained and wierded out over this whole trip so far. Not that it had been all bad, but it still took some getting used to, this gang...

"How would this drink make me feel better about getting dissed by Artist?" 6th said. She handed him the bottle, fighting the urge to throw it across the room instead. Now that she was finished with crying, 6th felt anger welling up inside her. And at the one person she thought she'd never be mad at in her life...

"Maybe it's just a side effect of my spell..." Drum tried. He wanted 6th to be happy, really he did, but he didn't have much idea what he could do to help her.

"Maybe it's anything. It doesn't matter." 6th sighed, laying down on the table, looking up at Drum. "I just don't get it, though. Why would he be so mean to me?"

"Of COURSE I do!" Drum said, "I mean, first off we're all friends here. He shouldn't have treated you like that no matter what. But I've been in your head. I know how much he means to you..."

"I know, but...I know how you...uh..." Drum started to feel like he should quit talking. He blushed slightly. He'd seen a lot more in 6th's head than he had in Mouse's. A LOT.

6th sighed again. "I don't want to talk about it, Drum. If he wants to be a jerk, he can be a jerk around someone else. I just want to go to sleep for a while and not think about it."

"Ok." Drum said, sighing inwardly. He kept feeling like there was something more he could do, but he didn't know what. He lay down on the cot next to the table, as 6th dimmed the lights and lay down on the table.

She grinned. "Gee, uh...do you think this is the time?" she asked in perfect imitation of his voice. He sat back for a second, startled, then grinned back. He didn't know she was that good a mimic.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, girl." he said, laying down and taking her head in his hands. "I just thought that if I was in your head, you'd sleep better."

"How do you figure that?" 6th asked, she figeted a little, scooting closer to him. It was a tight fit, but they both were able to lay side-by-side on the cot without falling off.

Drum smiled as she closed her eyes. But it wasn't all for her that he'd suggested it. He couldn't keep himself from wanting to be inside her mind. The more he denied it, the stronger it became. He was going to have to do something about this...later.

He whispered his channeling spell, and felt himself enter her mind yet again. He felt her essence sqirling around him, and let himself float away in its beautiful soothing power. They fell asleep holding each other, their heads together. And their minds swirled together for hours, until you couldn't tell them apart.

"And am I...?" but she didn't need to answer that. He could feel her in his head. Every thought, every feeling, every mood, every thing she saw and heard and smelt and touched. He could feel it too. And he could still feel her essence inside him.

Chryse climbed up and onto the deck holding two mugs of steaming coffee. She knew Viridian rose early and had brought one of the mugs for her. Approaching the tent, Chryse could hear voices inside. She crouched down in front of the tent and set the mugs by the opening. "Vi!" she called quietly.

Vi poked her head out. Chryse could see that Vi was swathed in her fuzzy pink bathrobe. "Good morning Chryse," she said, "That coffee for me?" Grinning, she picked up one of the mugs and took a sip.

"Oh! nooo, stay here pal, there's someone I want you to meet." Still grinning, Vi Pulled back the flaps of the tent to reveal the blue eyes and blonde hair of a young girl. "Chryse," Vi said, "this is Wendy. Wendy this is Chryse."

"Wendy is thinking of going to college," Vi announced, indicating the pile of brochures that were scattered over her sleeping bag. "She is interested in majoring in science. I'm thinking she should talk to Mouse about it. And..." Vi gave Chryse a serious look, "this means she'll have to leave Never-Never Land and grow up. I have invited her to live with us at the Mansion when she's ready to go."

Just how hungry was that thing? At this rate he'd be out in a few more days. *Sigh... For the moment though he was eating and Ragnar felt reassured that the kidnappping charge would not leap into a murder one. Murder was one thing the viking had never been acused of! Nor did he plan on starting now.

That only left convincing kitten to give him up....maybe he'd have to illicit artickat's help with that one. In the mean time he had stashed all the evidence but a couple of manuscripts he had yet to sneak away from that kat. When the last one was in his hands so was the kitten.

He sipped his coffee and began to relax for what felt like the first time in a long while. Shortly he would journey by the hold to make sure the dogs hadn't been multipling like rabbits overnight,there were already more than he'd started with as it was, then onto the engine room. The mechanic thought they could get her started today. That made him feel even better. Warmed his heart.

"What is it with the women on this boat?" Sweetiepie said. "You've already got Sixth and Kara fighting over you. Two beautiful dolls, you'd think that would be enough for a guy. But no. First you put the moves on Mouse, then you try to enchant Rae (and a dumber move I've never seen). Are you going for ALL of them? Is THAT what it is? And now you've got Sixth in tears and Kara moping around 'cause you've rejected 'em. What is UP with you?"

"So that's why you were lettin' 'em hang all over you before. 'Cause they ain't attractive. That's just dandy. Well, we all have to live and work together cooped up on this boat so you'd better go patch things up. Or Rae really will turn you back into a dog or something even worse."

"I don't need to threaten you. If you offend Rae again she'll turn you into a potato and make french fries. But knock it off with the other girls. Go appologize to Sixth and Kara and leave Rae alone."

"Oh, I get it." said Sweetiepie angrily. "Use 'em to put another notch in your belt and forget about 'em. You're worse than a jerk. You're a real prick, ya know that?"

The brilliant crackling energy surrounding Artist brings everyone to the deck to watch - one Artist cowers on the deck - another hovers enraged in mid-air. The Artist on the deck turns pale green and the white tuxedo begins to show other colors - purple and black . . .

"Your poisonous sorcery is in me, witch queen - deep, sick - but powerful - I've tried to purge it from me - now taste the dregs of your sickness!!!" The Artist in the air gestures toward the Artist on the deck with both hands - waves of energy flowing in glowing golden beams which outshine the sun - and are met by purple waves of force from the pale green Artist on the deck.

"You weakling! Turning you into a dog was not enough - now I will be rid of you once and for all!" screams the Artist on the deck. The waves of purple force make everyone on deck violently ill and quickly overpower the sorcery of the Artist in the air - the glowing apparition screams as he transforms - the Artist on the deck suddenly shrieks as well.

A brilliant golden flash, and the Artist on the deck is back to his proper colors - a tiny dog-fish drops to the deck from where the Artist aparition had been and flops about helplessly.

"I can't believe she fell for that trick twice," Artist mutters - his skin the proper color again - his tux pure white again. "She left a residue of sorcery in this body," he says to Rae. Hang on - I know what's bugging you.

Artist walks to the center of the deck, picks up the dogfish and drops it over the side. "Farewell, Maleficent - you did this to yourself. But I deeply appreciate the irony."

The scoobs stare, slack-jawed as Artist turns around and strokes his beard - to find himself clean shaven! "That dratted woman shaved my beard when she was in my body!!!" He passes his hands over his face and the beard appears. "This will have to do until it can grow back."

Artist turns and touches his forehead to Rae's - again the scoobs look on as she endures his tender touch, seeming to drink the contact in, almost melting into him - then jolts back angrily. "Don't you ever touch me again!" the sorceress glares at Artist.

"As you wish - but that means our link will remain. I recommend you don't use your magic while we're still in Disney. I have unlocked the spell Maleficent put on you so you can use your magic - but it still won't work exactly right in this place."

"Don't use magic, you say?" Rae mutters. "You know what, I don't frelling think so." Rae advances threateningly. "I ALWAYS use magic! It's what I DO!!! You know, instead of blowing things up as my heritage dictates. PS, You aren't off the hook, yet, buddy."

"If I EVER feel you inside my mind again, boy-O, I will have you out permanently faster than you can say 'Oopsies'!" Rae informs him grimly. "In the mean-time, I have a riddle for you." Rae smiles serenely at him.

"Ribbit." Artist responds. It isn't so much that he has heard the joke before, but that he has suddenly become a frog and is incapable of saying much else.

The little yellow fellow had become much more agreeable to Kittens attentions...well...maybe not...but he did start squeaking again when pounced on. ;) Kitten seemed to get great pleasure out of orchestrating sneak attacks on the poor fellow...this was one of those occasions...

Kitten's prey moved about Artic's room unaware that he was being watched. Eyes a glow, Kitten moved ever so slowly...inching forward towards her prey until she was almost on top of him. With a frown the little yellow fellow turned quickly as if sensing something...but when he looked about he saw nothing except for some stuffed animals that Artic collected. With a shrug of his feathers he turned back around and began to read the manuscript that Kitten had snurched from Ragnar's hidden room. Kitten's butt wiggled left and right as she prepared to pounce.

"KITTEN! Stop that right NOW!" Artic grabbed the trounced little fellow from Kitten's clutches. "You know this is Ragnar's Duckie and he would be REALLY mad if he knew you had it agai...OH NO!" Artic hadn't really looked at the object of Kitten's torture until now, she had just assumed since it was yellow it had to be Duckie. "You...it was YOU!" Artic seemed to be at a loss for words...which made Kitten nervous because that didn't happen often.

Kitten ran under Artic's cot and came back out with some 'junk' that she seemed to think was a good trade for the object of her affection. Artic just shuck her head NO…then kitten ran to the other end of the room and with all her might she pushed a box of Crunch in front of Artic…then she had the audacity to look smug. Artic frowned at Kitten "I don't know WHY you are looking smug...that's MY box of Crunch!"

No matter what Kitten said or did Artic wouldn't change her mind…the yellow fellow HAD to go back. After putting him way up high on a shelf, Artic looks sternly at Kitten, her hands on her hips "No Kitten you can't keep Tweetie bird and that's final!"

Kitten's face slowly seemed to sag, as all the joy and mischief melted away. Her cheeks dropped into a frown and her tiny ears drooped in a slow flowing fashion that left them hanging limply alongside her head. Looking at the floor, taking lifeless steps she moved to the corner and scrunched in face first.

Her little frame hit the floor, her tail curled to lay under her sagging rear as a small kitten 'sniff...sniff' that sounded more like a weak moan wracked her form as her paws dropped over her eyes. After a few seconds Kitten peaked over her paws to see if Artic was buying it...NOPE...Artic stood there tapping her foot waiting for Kittens shenanigans to end.

"Are you about done? Hmmmm?" Artic bent down and got face to face with Kitten "You know you where bad…Tweetie has to go back...now wipe your crocodile tears and go play while I try to think of how to tell Ragnar you kidnapped a Toon!" Artic shoved Kitten out the door and closed it tight. Turning, Artic walked over and took Tweetie down from the shelf.

"You did...*sigh*...what am I going to say to Ragnar and the others?" Artic set Tweetie down on the floor…as she was trying to think of the best way to explain what Kitten did, she noticed Tweetie reading something. "What are you reading?" she asked as she leaned forward and picked up the manuscript "OH MY! I LOVE Shelby Loven! Where did this come from?"

Meanwhile...you know who had made her way up on deck after Artic had kicked her out of her room. Mumbling and grumbling to herself about just how MEAN Artic was, how unfair it was to take away her squeaky toy...when low and behold there before her was another squeaky toy! Except this one was green...*Hmmm...never had a green squeaky toy...far be it from me to discriminate!* Kitten grinned as she took a flying leap and landed on the new toy...

But Kitten was having none of that…she had already lost ONE toy she WASN'T going to loose another! Grabbing Artistfrog, Kitten took off with him across the deck with the gang right behind her. 6th almost got a hold of her when KaraS made a flying leap too...KaraS and 6th knocked heads while Kitten ran past Rae and Sweetie playing chess. Sweetie did a double take and then burst out laughing...Rae looked up just in time to see Kitten heave Artistfrog into a duct and jump in after him...and she smiled.

"Maybe after you give me a rematch." Rae waves her hand over the board and the pieces reassemble themselves. "You know, I can't believe I EVER considered turning you into a dream-catcher."

"No. You got those burns fighting with Maleificent. Who sent you to go after him? Me. If you can't blame Maleficient for it, why blame Artist? You should be blaming me."

"So your idea of fixing the problem is to sweep it under the carpet so you don't have to look at it anymore?" 6th chuckled, "Oh Rae, how childish! Instead of talking it out like rational adults, and fixing your problems, you just turn him into a frog so you won't have to think about it."

6th continued, ignoring Drum's thoughts yelling in her head to quit it. "Why, you heard me! So now, are you going to change everyone you disagree with into a frog? Will this boat be populated with small furry animals and kitchen appliances in a week, because you disagreed with us all? Why can't you just sit down and talk to him about it? Act like an adult. Talk it out."

"Have you TRIED?" 6th leaned forward. "I haven't seen you try. I've seen you do a lot of other things to him, but I've never seen you two just talk about it. So he likes to flirt. So he likes to put the moves on people. So do I. Are you going to change me into a frog too?"

"Just because you disagree with one thing he does that you don't like, doesn't mean he's a bad person at all. There's a lot more to him that you haven't given him a chance to show. He's not all about what you think he is, that's just all you've seen. He made a mistake, yes, I'll agree with that. He should never have tried anything with you. So what ever happened to I'm sorry, huh?"

6th stood up, locking eyes with the angry sorceress. "You heard me. You're acting like a child. You haven't fixed anything. Regardless, you at least need to give him a chance to talk. When are you going to open your eyes up? When are you going to give him a chance to explain his side? When are you going to try to work this out between you like adults? You are a child and a coward. That's what I think. Oh, I've disagreed with you!" she said in mock horror. "What are you going to do, RAE? Change ME into a frog too, so you won't have to deal with me slapping you in the head with the TRUTH?"

"What do you think?" she whispered. 6thTreeFrog hopped off into the air duct, following the scent of kitten and ArtistFrog. She'd be safer from feet in the duct than on the deck.

"I don't know. 6th is ok, I can feel her. I can see and hear and feel everything she feels, so at least we won't lose her. But if I change them back..." he looked worriedly over his shoulder in the direction Rae had stormed off in. "I don't want to be a frog!" He didn't mention that, now that 6th was a frog, he had started craving what she did too. Where was he going to find that many flies?

"This ISN'T MY FAULT!!!" Rae moans, sitting down. "I didn't want to turn you into a frog." She starts speaking very quickly, trying to get it all in before they are interupted. "I wanted to hit you, but damned frelling Artist inside of my head, he wouldn't let me. Can't even hit a woman any more because of him. Do you understand that. He's messing with my MIND..." Rae sinks defeatedly onto the chair.

Rae whispers even more quickly. "If it had been anyhting else, anything at all, I could have tollerated it, I WOULD have, becasue I understand how he is, I really do, but my mind is different, you've gotta see that."

Rae continues even more quickly than before. "It's dangerous to have him in there for one, really and truly dangerous. He's not strong enough for some of it, other bits will appeal to him way too much, and in between there is nothing."

The treefrog stares at her and croaks in confusion. Instantly, Sixth is standing there with Sweetie perched on her shoulder. "It's DANGEROUS?" she repeats.

"Yes." Rae nods quickly. "That's why I would never willingly let someone else in. It's not greed, it's not fear, it's just... dangerous." Rae sinks defeatedly onto the floor.

Rae shakes her head. "There's no way that I know. The way he THINKS will get him out will only make it worse for him. He's seen too much already. Anger, hostility, fear..."

"Way too much." Rae leans against a wall, the last of her facade crummlbing away. "It's why I've been trying to keep him an animal. You got a taste of it once. Remember?"

"My MIND, Sweetie," Rae mutters. "The only thing that's ever been only mine, and he's taking it away." Rae collapses face down on the floor. "He'll hurt them all..." she moans.

her eyes bright with surprise as she watched the disagreements and angry magic take place on the deck. Viridian had witnessed it too, coming back from getting dressed. She shooed the child back inside the tent and followed her in.

Viridian finished toweling her hair dry and shook it into place. "It's what happens when you have powerful magicians around who also happen to have BIG issues." She picked up a mirror to check her hair. "And remember, Wendy-- it's Viridian now," she gently admonished the girl. "Harriet has been gone a long time now."

Viridian paused and studied the concerned that played itself out on the face of the child who had once, so long ago, been her best friend. She smiled gently and touched Wendy's soft cheek with her hand. "It might," she finally answered, "maybe not your body, but your mind and heart and soul. Out there," she indicated with a little sweep of her hand, "is far different a world than the one you remember before Never-Never Land. But the Mansion is a good place, a safe place the re-enter the world. Viridian put away the mirror and began to crawl out of the tent. "C'mon. Let's go see Mousie. You two can talk about careers in science."

ArtistFrog hopped as fast as he could to keep ahead of kitten. Not that kitten would deliberately hurt him, but her claws and teeth were sharp and her "play" could be awfully painful. He reached a T intersection and took the leftward, downsloping fork.

Suddenly, he could go no further. He had come to a grate with a room beyond. Quickly (and painfully) he squeezed around the grate and found himself dropping a long distance to the floor. He landed on something soft and furry.