I'll Be Dog-Gone (19)

I'll Be Dog-Gone (19)

JilaCosa -- The day dawns dark and dreary

Three of the four Scoobs walk out the doors of their rooms looking like they haven't had much sleep. Ghost, on the other hand, looks well rested.

"Gods, what a night!" Jila says with a yawn and a stretch.

"How much sleep did you get?" Vi asks the others with as big a yawn.

"Sleep? Who could sleep? I swear there was someone standing in the shadows of my room all night." artic answers looking left and right, the fur on the back of her neck standing straight out.

Ghost hovers beside her friends looking apologetic. "I'm sorry you didn't sleep very well. This really is a great place to sleep at night.... quiet.... peaceful."

Deciding not to discuss sleep (or lack of sleep) any further, the four go downstairs where a modest breakfast awaits them in the dining room. They eat quickly, then Ghost has her uncle’s stable hands prepare a coach and a team of horses to take them to the border of Transylvania. Even though the road is full of ruts and holes, Jila falls asleep as the coach travels across the countryside. It is not long before they reach the border and find the Sequeway train. Jila’s neck is stiff and everyone’s butts hurt, but they are away from Transylvania at last. The group boards the train and Viridian asks The Conductor to make sure they get off the train by the docks as they will probably all sleep during this trip.

Soon The Conductor is tapping there shoulders and telling them that the train has stopped very near the docks.

“How near?” artickat asks with a slight growl.

“Down this street” The Conductor, smiling widely, points past the end of the depot “To that intersection, take a left and you’ll be able to see the boats from there.”

“Thank goodness it’s not too far then.” Viridian, woman of adventure that she is, rubs her hips and thighs thinking of how far they could have had to walk.

“I’ll be sooooo glad to be back on the longboat.” Jila says with a sigh. What an adventure!

With their destination in sight, Jila, Viridian, artickat, and ‘Ghost pick up the pace and walk as quickly as the can, reaching the Longboat in a relatively short time.

“Well it’s about time.” Ragnar says as the four climb the gangplank (and none too quickly by this time).

“Yeah, we were starting to get worried.” Adds KaraS

“Well?!?! It’s a long story. But I think we all need showers first. Those camels didn’t exactly smell like roses.” Jila and Viridian look at each other and chuckle.

“Yeah, well, what about those canvas sacks?” artic pinches her nose and shakes her head remembering that smell.

The three go below decks to their respective rooms and prepare for their showers.

Mouse2000 -- As Rae and Ragnar

work on the comms, Mouse wanders around and takes count.

"It looks like everyone's back. We REALLY need to stay closer together next time! Oh, I forgot..." she says quickly and opens the hold doors to let the dogs out. "I promised them a swim, y'know, to get some real exercise."

Mouse manuevers the dogs off the ship and onto the floating dock with the help of 6th, Artic, Kaybe, and Jila. Kitten, Sweetiepie, Louie, and Thor take the excuse to search the hold for Mr. Duckie, but to no avail.

Soon all the pups are happily doggie-paddling away and fetching sticks and toys. After about a good half hour, most of the pups need help getting out of the water (puppies get very tired very fast), but manage, and they are all herded back up onto the deck, where they dry off in the sun. After they are COMPLETELY dry (nothing worse than a wet dog...) they are brushed, watered, fed, and walked by Kaybe, Mouse, 6th, IQ, Chryse, Spyral, Drum, Sunny, and Artist. It's quite a job, but it gets done in record time. Kara is still belowdecks as are Ghost and Viridian.

Kaybe looks at 6th and asks about giving away the Rotties to Rhett. 6th needs some time to think about it, but promises to make a decision before they get ready to sail.

Mouse ponders silently where they might go to next. Fantasy-land? Romance-land? Adventure-land? (well, that was kind of already done...) SciFi-land? Hmmm...

Raven-Kat -- In the engine room,

Rae and Ragnar were just putting the finishing touches on the new main comm system.

"Do you think it'll work?" Ragnar asked, rubbing sweat out of his eyes.

Rae nodded certainly. "Oh, yeah. No doubts about it." She giggled.

"Oh, just that it's kind of funny: a sorceress and a viking installing a piece of PK technology in the engine room of a long-boat." Rae smiled and shook her head. "You were great. I had no idea you had so much aptitude. Not bad for an erp-man."

*Erp-man?* "So, this should solve our communication problems?"

"Only the ones involving distance." Rae muttered.

"I'm not sure about distance." Rae said. "We may find that it works with less than desirable efficiency the farther we get from the Dominion."

"So it's not totally reliable?"

"Well, what is? Look, it'll keep us connected. It just might need more maintainance the farther out we get. Don't worry about it." Rae grinned at him and picked up the handful of badges they had _successfully_ constructed. "Six."

"That's not really enough." Ragnar said.

"We'll just need to be careful. No more than three teams with two badges each. We'll need to designate team leaders and seconds to carry them, and I'd rather not have to do that on a time-by-time basis."

Ragnar nods. "We can discuss it at dinner."

"Must be about that time now." rae notes, squinting at her watch.

"Okay, I'll assemble the others in the mess-hall then and we can discuss it."

Rae nods. "See you up there."

artickat -- “PIZZA!”

Mouse sniffs the air "I smell pizza!" she cries as the gang rush into the mess-hall to find Vi putting out paper plates and cups.

"When did you order pizza?" The gang ask in amazement as not one of them remember seeing a delivery dude.

"Why...it's not delivery...it's Desoreno!" (sp) Vi flings her arms wide to show off the many different pizzas on the counter and does a little 'Tada!' stance. With a grin she takes merci on the gang as they stand there gaping at her "I'm only kidding...I always wanted to say that. He,he. I called the Scifi-pizza delivery guy…and he zapped it over like that!" Vi snaps her fingers as if to demonstrate.

"I like the way you cook Vi!" Artic grins back at her.

"YEAH!" the rest of the gang chime in and begin to move forward.

"EH-EH-EHHH!" Vi waves a finger at the gang and they freeze "You have to wash your hands first."

All hazmana breaks loose as the gang climb over each other in their race to wash their hands. "OUCH!"

"THAT'S MY HAND YOU STEPPED ON!"

"IF I GET A BLACK EYE!!!"

"YOUR GOING TO PAY FOR THAT ONE BUSTER!"

Vi let out a sigh of relief when they all finally made it out of the mess-hall "Some days I wonder what is worse...the dogs or the gang." Vi chuckles to herself as she puts the drinks on the counter.

Raven-Kat -- Pizza, pizza

"THAT'S MY HAND YOU STEPPED ON!"

Rae hastily removes the offending foot.

*Darn, I just can't win today.* Rae shoves her way through the crowd of hungry Scoobies, liberates a slice of pizza and settles back to watch the carnage unfold. The toppings on the slice of pizza vanish and are replaced by extra pepperoni, extra cheese, and extra sauce. A napikin appears on Rae's lap as she eats. By the time everyone has gotten theirs, Rae is already finished, which makes it a good time to unveil Ragnar's and her new invention.

"Guys, check this out!" Rae holds up one of the comm badges, using the distraction as a good opportunity to magically snag a second slice.

"Comms." Rae explains. "In case we every get seperated again."

"Just in case?" Sweetie squawks sarcastically.

"Yeah, just in case." Rae says. "'Cause I think it's high time we do something about this tendancy we have of getting seperated, then lost, then in deep, deep drenn."

"But that's half the fun of being a Scooby!" Kara protests.

"Right. Which is why we need these." Rae bites into her pizza. Around a mouthful of gooey toppings, she continues. "Look, going off is great, it's... scooby but we need to stay in touch. I figure as long as we never split into more than three groups, we're amply covered in both respects. Of course, if you guys don't WANT to stay connected, I'll abide by that, too. So?" Rae sits down to let the others confer and helps herself to more pizza. "PS, where to next? Me, I could use a break, maybe a nice wild-life documentary."

Sixth Sense Dreamer -- Late that night

No one had been able to decide where to go next. The hour had grown late, and everyone decided some rest was in order after their adventures in ClassicLand. Ragnar had sailed the Longboat a short distance away from Classic Land. They'd moored offshore, both for the quiet and for protection.

Drumheller walked the deck, too awake for sleep. Something was wrong with 6th, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. She'd hardly said two words to him since they'd returned to the Longboat. He would have been worried that she'd hooked up with Artist again, except he'd noticed that she hadn't said much to him either. In fact, 6th hadn't said much of anything to anyone, far from her normal overexuberant self. When Kaybe had asked about the rotties going with Rhett, 6th had only shrugged, saying whatever Rhett wanted was fine with her. Drum KNEW she loved those dogs, but when Rhett had taken Boris and Natasha off, 6th hadn't even been ondeck to tell them goodbye. Drum wondered and worried as he paced the deck.

A shadowy form by the rail caught his eye, and as he walked closer he realized it was 6th, leaning on the rail, staring out to sea. He walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, worrying more as she flinched away.

"Oh, Drum!" she said, startled. "I thought for a second...never mind." she sighed, and looked back out over the ocean. Even in the moonlight, she looked haggard.

"Are you ok, 6th?" Drum asked, concerned, "The others might not have noticed, but I can see how tired you look. Are you sick?"

"I don't feel sick. I don't really feel tired. I just feel...drained." 6th sighed, lowering her head to the rail for a few moments.

Drum stood silently. Something was nagging him in the back of his mind...something he couldn't put his finger on...He slid his arm around 6th's waist, pulling her closer.

"Your'e cold." he said. It wasn't a question, even though the night was pleasantly warm, 6th was shivering.

"I don't feel cold." 6th said. She kept looking out over the water. Drum caught her chin gently in his hand and pulled her face towards his, looking at her.

"Somethings' wrong." he said, as she refused to look him in the eye, "6th, please, tell me, what's wrong!"

6th glanced up itno his eyes, just for a second, but in that second, Drum caught a glimpse of sorrow, and...fear?

"6th!" he said, taking her by the shoulders, "What is it?" He was worried now, really worried.

"I..." she faltered, "you...what's that?" she said, looking over his shoulder. Drum started to think she was trying to trick him, but the abject fear that lit her eyes told him she wasn't playing around. So did the noise behind them.

Slowly he turned around. His eyes followed the gigantic form as it lifted out of the water. It looked familiar, and as the monstrous creature let out a roar, Drum knew where he'd deen it before.

"The Kracken!" Drum yelled, remembering the hideous beast from "Clash of the Titans"

"Oh my god..." 6th breathed.

The roaring of the beast brought the rest of the gang running to the deck.

"What the frell...?" Rae yelled, then spun on her heels, racing for her weapons. She came running back, tossing guns to Rag and 6th. The gun she threw to 6th fell to the deck, as 6th just stood by the rail, looking up at the monster.

Others grabbed at guns, firing at the beast. The weapons fire had little effect other than to anger the monster. Chryse tried he bardic magic to soothe the Kracken, but the creature must have been tone deaf, his thrashing only increased, causing waves to rock the boat violently. The Scoobs were thrown about the ship, Drum found himself thrown into Artist.

"What is that thing?" Artist yelled over the roaring of the monster.

"The Kracken. I have an idea." Drum yelled back, his irritation at Artist forgotten for the moment. "Distract him, it'll take me a moment..." Drum raced away, leaving Artist to figure out some way to distract the angry creature.

Drum raced below decks to his room, hurrying to his small library, scattering spell books left and right. He knew of one thing that could rid them of the Kracken, but it would take everything he had to cast a spell of this enormity.

He scanned the pages of the spellbook in his hands, running full tilt back up to the deck. Tenth level mage spell, he shouldn't even try...but the Kracken would surely destroy the Longboat and all his friends if he didn't...

Back above deck, he paused only for a moment at the illusionary planes that circled the monsters head. The Kracken roared furiously, swatting at the planes.

Ragnar and Rae provided cover fire for the gang, as they dodged the whipping of the monsters tail sweeping over the boat.

Drum passed by Ragnar, hearing him growling "I just got the boat fixed, you dren headed peice of..." as Rae laughed beside him. Drum ran to the railing, knowing his friends didn't fully realize the danger they were all in. Nothing could stop the Kracken, nothing except...

"6th!" Drum gasped, skidding to a stop beside her. She still stood, immobile, staring up at the Kracken, oblivious to the waves that threatened to sweep her off the boat. "6th, I need your help!"

"With what?" 6th said, her voice barely audible over the monster's continuous roaring.

"I'm going to cast a spell. A long distance telekenesis spell. It's going to take a lot..."

"Do it." 6th said, taking Drum's hand in hers. *I know* her thoughts came swirling into his head. *Do what you must to save us.*

Drum took a final glance at the spellbook, feeling the spell take hold in his mind. He could do this! he closed his eyes, chanting, holding one hand in the air, fist closed over nothing.

He completed the spell in a moment's time, feeling something materialize in his outstretched hand. He kept his eyes shut.

"EVERYONE!!! CLOSE YOUR EYES!!!" he yelled, his voice carrying over all the noise behind him. He felt 6th's hand resting on his shoulder. *Close your eyes!* he yelled in her mind, and he felt her squeeze his shoulder.

The Kracken, angry that his sleep had been disturbed, looked down at the boat. The stinging gunfire had stopped, the wierd flying machines had disappeared. He could destroy this little boat with ease now. He leaned down, noticeing the tiny man on the deck holding up...

The head of Medusa!!!!!

Too late, the Kracken wrenched his gaze away. In horror, he felt his body turning to stone once again. He let out a final earsplitting roar, and sank half stoned, back into the depths of the ocean.

Drum threw the Medusa's head into the ocean after it, sighing, and wiped a hand over his face. Odd, he didn't feel as wiped out as he should have, after casting a spell of that magnitude. He should have felt...well, dead...It should have almost killed him...but he didn't feel at all drained...drained...Drum slowly felt a horrible sensation creep up on him. He spun, no longer feeling 6th's hand on his shoulder.

He staggered back a step, clutching at the railing behind him for support. A strangled cry escaped his lips as he took in what lay before him.

6th was crumpled up in a heap a step away from Drum. Her still form was pale and unmoving. Her red hair spilled out across the deck, her hands cluched in limp fists, her arms and legs sprawled where she'd collapsed.

Drum staggered forward to fall to his knees at her side. He picked up one limp hand. "6th?" he whispered. "Oh, 6th, no..."

A hand grabbed his hair, jerking his head back. He looked up at the angry upsidedown face of Rae.

"DIdn't I TELL you!" she practically snarled at him. "I TOLD you to quit! Now look at her! She's just swirling with magic! You've almost..." Ragnar's hand on her shoulder made her pause. Drum looked slowly around to the rest of the gang, who had gathered around him and 6th's fallen form.

"I...didn't think..." he began.

"Obviously!" snapped Rae.

"I didn't think this would happen!" Drum cried. "I...she...I didn't do it on purpose! It's just...I could do so much more with her help...the power I had...she didn't mind...I didn't know it was hurting her!" he was almost in tears. "Rae, help her please, you've got to!"

Rae slowly shook her head. "I can't. I'm no where near powerful enough to do anything." She looked at the group.

"Is she..." came the trembling voice of Kara. Artist slid an arm around her.

"No. But she will be soon." he said softly. "I can't so anything either. This isn't anything I can help with. Chryse may be able to...stall the effects from worsening. Chryse?"

The bard nodded slowly. "I...can...keep it from worsening." she said in a small worried voice. "But what are we going to do? If none of us can help her, who can?"

Drum sat with his head in his hands. He knew of someone who could fix the damage he'd done...people he hadn't seen in the longest time...people who'd be more angry at him for this than Rae ever could be. He scooped 6th up in his arms, and stood, shaking. "I know who can help. I just hope..." he paused, then continued, "I just don't...Ragnar, how far is Fantasy Land from here?"

Ragnar looked from the limp form of 6th, to Drum's grief-stricken face. "Two days." he said, extremely worried as he watched 6th's arm dangling loosely. *Would two days be fast enough?*

Without another word to anyone, trying to ignore the furious glares and hurt looks, Drum walked slowly back down below, carrying 6th. He knew Chryse would join him soon, to try and stall the magic from consuming 6th completely. She was so far gone...all of his spell casting, which should have been affecting him, had been affecting 6th. How long had this been going on? Since their first mindlink? Had she known? Drum felt like he had just let 6th fall into an abyss that she knew nothing about. He should have told her...he should have asked her...he should have kept his desire for power under control...all of this was his fault, his hunger for power, for knowledge, for his magic abilities to grow beyond laughable to aweinspiring...and they had...they HAD! *But at what cost?* his mind wailed, as he looked down at 6th, unconscious in his arms.

Mouse2000 -- A stillness grew

over the Longboat. Ragnar prowled around the boat, making sure the Kracken hadn't done any permanent damage. He didn't see anything, but that was no guarantee.

Spyral looked out over the waves. "FantasyLand, huh?" he said to Mouse, IQ, and SunAeryn. "That should be interesting..." he trailed away. Sunny looked at Mouse and whispered under her breath, "And this land hasn't?"

Mouse grinned wryly and looked out over the waves herself. Usually the combination of night, moonlight, stars, and water would be more than enough to soothe Mouse, but she felt that this FantasyLand trip was different. They started out looking for fun, adventure, and homes for the dogs. Now things had gotten much more serious.

Drum, Chryse, and 6th were belowdecks, with Chryse trying to soothe the unconscious 6th. Drum continued to beat himself up over the incident. As Rae passed, Mouse heard her mutter, "Maybe he'll LISTEN to me next time." Jila, Kara, Artist, and Kaybe, along with Viridian, Artic and Ghost, sensed the still mood overtaking the ship, and soon they all slowly moved to the deck rail, staring out at the moonlit night sky and ocean, lost in their own thoughts.

Raven-Kat -- “Drum....”

Rae let herself into the infirmary where Drum sat, watching over Sixth. She touched Sixth's forehead lightly and looked up at Drum.

"I know!" Drum snapped. "It's all my fault."

Rae nodded firmly. "Yes, it is. And now that we've established this fact, we can move on." Rae eyed him. "Well, _I_ can."

"I know." Rae smiled reassuringly. "Sixth is not blameless and you were not to know. Except if you'd listened to me much of this could have been averted."

Drum sighed. "You want me to apologize?"

Rae smirked. "Will that make this better? Only action can solve this." She held her hands over Sixth's prone form and muttered a brief spell.

Drum rose, alarmed. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Making her comfortable. That much at least I can do, since I am partly to blame in all this." She sighed and took Drum's hands. "Power is a strong drug, wizard. Learn from this that it is not always worth the price."

"How do I make this better?" Drum pleaded.

"Curing Sixth will go a long way towards atonement. The rest of the penance you must work out with Sixth's help." Rae kissed the top of his head and left the room.

In the engine room, Ragnar cursed his slow engine.

"Thirsty?" Rae asked, slipping in and handing him a glass of iced tea.

Ragnar frowned. Rae seemed to have been everywhere at once since Sixth had taken ill, comforting everybody, offering advice and assistance to everyone except herself. "You okay?"

"Never better than when there's a call to duty." Rae smiled wanely. "Need some help with the engines? I could fit them out with some of my brand of technology."

"No, I don't think that would be wise." Ragnar shook his head. "No offense, but it's hard to tell how reliable that stuff is away from the Dominion."

Rae shrugs acceptance. "Then this boat had better fly like the wind."

"Is Sixth that bad?"

"Worse than everyone seems to think." Rae sighed weakly. "Damnit! Just when things seemed to finally be looking up."

RagnarRB -- And things were looking up too.

After weeks of travel, and untold milage on his soul they had finally gotten rid of a couple of those dogs! Two of them! Count them! One doggie...two doggie...gone doggies! Then she had to go and rob him of his eleation! Grrrr.....worse!

Blast 6th, now that she was sick who was going to clean up and take care of all those mutts?!

Ragnar resisted the urge to kick the engines. Who knew which piece of bubblegum might pop off if he did. He hadn't told the others but there had only been enough time to fix the physical bits of the boat. They had departed before much of the engine work could be done! Oh well they say discresion is the better part of valor. It was better to put some distance between them and classic land.

He was almost sad he returned the mechanic. One less theft charge but also one less resource.

He would just have to keep an eye on things. He knew what to listen for. After all the old girl had seen a lot worse than this.

He settled down in the hatchway and passed the time trying to figure out if he was more troubled at 6th for being sick or more troubled at 6th for leaving those dogs to mess up his hold. *Sigh.

He smiled when Rae approached.

Things would be as they would be. He'd been around long enough to get that beat into his head often enough. Best not to worry at all.

Kaybe0 -- As Kaybe peeked in to check on 6th

She saw the anguish in Drum's face. Going over to stroke 6th's hair, she put a hand on Drum's shoulder. "Please don't keep beating yourself up, Drum." she told him softly.

"You didn't do this on purpose. And we just have to have faith that she will be okay. We will make it in time. You'll see." "Thanks Kay," he said patting her hand, "But at what cost." And he puts his head in his hands and shakes it from side to side. "Well, just let me know if there is anything we can do." she said with another pat on his shoulders as she leaves the room. She runs into Jilla and Mouse coming toward the room with Chryse to get another look at the situation. After peaking at Sixth, they each pat Drum on the shoulder and depart. Walking down the hall, they see Rae. "Rae, said Kaybe, those comms are a good idea. Seems to me, we will all need to know how to reach each other at this point. Seeing Viridian talking with Ragnar, they go to find out if the boat will actually make it to fantasy land. Seeing Artist looking dejected, Kay smiles at him as she passes. It would be so great to see all her friends happy and carefree again. Well, it was time to feed the dogs.

Chryse74 -- With a worried sigh

Chryse brought out her most powerful instrument, her silver flute, as she gazed at Sixth's prone form. She smiled at Drum, hoping to get a smile back...All she got was a worried look and a silent plea from his tear filled eyes.

*Poor guy* she thought, *he's really beating himself up over this. I wonder how long it had been going on.... too long I guess. I wonder if he knows...* She decided to finish that sentance out loud.

"Drum?" she asked, "Drum, you *do* know that all sorcerors go through this kind of thing, don't you? It's not uncommon. As Rae said, power is very seductive and you are young in your powers yet. You couldn't have known what it would do to her."

"I knew enough, Chryse. And Rae did warn me... why didn't I listen? You can help her, right? At least until we get to Fantasyland?"

"Of course Drum, I can keep her from worsening. But you need to get some rest. You can't help Sixth if you are exhausted. And from what I know about these things, you will be needing as much strength as you can muster to help her. Go to bed, I'll stay with her." comforted Chryse.

"I'll stay a little while longer, that is if it won't interfere with you," said Drum.

Chryse nodded. It wouldn't hurt for him to stay, the music would soothe him too.

She lifted the flute to her lips and began to play a slow, sweet melody. It was quiet, soft, almost inaudible, almost a lullaby. It was meant to soothe the magic that was swirling in Sixth.....and the turmoil in Drum's heart and mind. She knew she would play like this for hours yet, Sixth was in very bad shape. Later, as the magic was soothed, she would switch to another tune and try to leach off some of the magic. She knew that it would be almost useless, but she felt she had to try anyway. Too bad Artist couldn't help her this time. This kind of music magic couldn't be made more powerful with the addition of his musical talents.

The melody slowly grew louder and louder as Chryse continued playing. Yet it still sounded almost inaudible to everyone who heard it... and everyone on the longboat did hear it. Almost imperceptively everyone relaxed as they heard the music. Even the dogs down in the hold quieted and prepared to sleep.

Chryse's mind wandered as she played the haunting music. It always did when she played this instrument. A part of her was aware that the flute was playing her as she played it. Like Drum's connection to Sixth made him a more powerful sorceror, this instrument made Chryse stronger as well.

She thought back to the time when she first saw the silver flute. Chryse had still been an apprentice bard. A great master had visited her town and she had been in the audience for his special perfomance with this magical instrument. Later, as the visiting bard and her master spoke, sharing news and new stories, the flute had whistled on its own. The bard looked at it and beckoned to Chryse. He had told her that the flute had recognized it's next master in her and when she was ready, the flute would find it's way back to her. Chryse hadn't believed him at the time, but the flute did indeed find a way back to her several years later when she herself had become a master bard. She wondered if she would someday meet the previous owner and learn the full story behind the instrument.

The flute had its own sentience, it's own power that it chose to share with the elfin bard and it rejoiced in the use to which it was put now. It's maker had designed it for healing, although it was capable of a great many other things as well. It drew on it's own stores of power to help Sixth, but it too knew that her illness was beyond the flute's capability to heal her.

The music played on through the night, but Chryse hadn't tired. The flute gave her all she needed in nourishment and rest as they struggled to keep Sixth from being lost to the magic.

Raven-Kat -- That night on the deck,

Rae's veneer of serenity had pretty well crumbled by now as she set about mercilessly knocking the drenn out of her punching bag. It didn't much help her state of mind that the thing kept falling over every time she landed a solid punch.

When a poorly-aimed kick sailed over the top of the bag and landed Rae on her stomach, she gave up on that approach. Instead, she pulled out her side-arm and took a shot at the bag with THAT. *Much better* she reflected, regarding the smoldering remains of the bag. *But what to do next?* She looked around the deck thoughtfully.

"Don't even THINK about it, sister." Sweetie advised from the crow's nest when her eyes fixed on him.

"What, and singe those lovely feathers? No worries on that account, oh my future dream-catcher."

Sweetie cackled, glad to see at least SOMEONE in a joking mood.

"I'm going for a swim." Rae announced, stripping off her clothes. "Care to join?"

"Whatever." Rae shrugged and dove into the cold, dark, peaceful water, glad for the relief it provided to her still-tender hide.

artickitten -- *Sniff..... sniff*

Thor sits in the air vent, tears slowly and steadily sliding down his face as he stares at 6th from his vantage point. Everything had gone crazy on the deck and then his Queen had fallen ill...*sniff*...and Louie's friend had brought 6th here to rest. Ragnar had sat Kitten, Louie and Thor down to tell them what had happened before he told them not to go into that cabin room…else they disturb 6th and make her worse. Thor was very upset...all he wanted to do was be with his Queen...so he sat in the air vent as close as he could get to 6th without actually being in the room.

Kitten and Louie exchange a look *It will be okay Thor…she is a Scooby...Scoobs always come out okay in the end* Kitten smiles at Thor and puts her paw over his claws.

*Yeah...everything will workout...just you wait* Louie encouraged and patted Thor on the back...not really sure what to say that would comfort him.

Thor didn't even look at the mini-Scoobies, he just continued to stare at 6th. *She needs me...sniff...sniff*

Kitten grabs Louie and drags him a few feet away, they whisper back and forth sometimes Louie would shake his head NO and Kitten would shake her head YES. *But he said...* Louie argued.

*Said! Smeed! Are you in or not? I CAN do this without you, you know* Kitten taps a paw while Louie hems and haws for a few seconds knowing that there was no way she could do this without him.

*IN!* Louie puffs up his chest and stands at attention.

*Good...knew I could count on you, stay here and watch Thor...I'll be back before you know I'm gone* Kitten says with a smile *Now lets get this plan into action!* Kitten took off down the vent without another word.

Louie watched her until she disappeared around a corner *sigh...I hope this works* before turning back to Thor, laying his tail over Thor's in an attempt to comfort him.

Elvis is sleeping in front of the air vent Kitten had disappeared into with those two lizards. He just couldn't seem to keep his eyes open with the ship rocking back and forth. *I love this place...I hope they let me stay* he thought before he had drifted off...dreaming of running through fields of doggy treats...his legs twitching this way and that as he dreams of chasing bunnies.

Suddenly Kitten comes flying out of the air vent straight at Elvis. One of his paws twitch and hit Kitten sending her spinning across the floor on her tummy. When she finally comes to a stop her eyes are still going around and around, giving her head a shake Kitten stands a bit unsteadily and makes her way back to Elvis. *WAKE UP! WE HAVE WORK TO DO!*

With all her might Kitten lifts one of his eye lids, barely able to hold the eye lid open with both paws her arms shaking with the strain of holding them over her head, she looks Elvis straight into his eye. *Time to get up buddy…we have a job to do!*

The eye rolls over to look at Kitten "Duh…What are you doing in my dream?" Elvis asks in amazement.

*I'm not in your dream silly!* Kitten chuckles, steps back, letting his eye lid slam shut. *We have a lot of work to do...now listen close!* Kitten begins to whisper frantically in Elvis's ear.

Ragnar is in the engine room debating the best strategy on how to keep the engine going long enough to make it to FantasyLand. Lying on his back under the engine, Ragnar grabs a wrench from his toolbox and begins to tighten a bolt. "If you will just keep going…at least until we get to FantasyLand...I know a really good mechanic there who should be able to fix you up right, baby." Patting the engine gently Ragnar continues to whisper.

Kitten peaks around the corner of the engine room but sees nothing. *I could have sworn I heard voices* Leaning forward a little more to get a better look Kitten is almost knocked over when Elvis bumps into her as he tries to get a look *Watch it! If Ragnar sees us he will have a fit! Your not supposed to be running around loose. Thou I have no idea where he wants you to be because you can't go into the hold with the other dogs...you have to stay with me* Kitten scratches her head *Maybe you can stay in Ragnar's cabin...if your REALLY quiet he won't even know.*

Kitten is congratulating herself on her great idea when she hears Ragnar talking "Don't listen to her...she knows not of what she speaks...your doing great just...all you have to do is last a few more days so I can get you to a doctor."

*Who is he talking too?* she wonders *Stay here Elvis…I'll be right back!* Slowly Kitten makes her way to where Ragnar is working on the Ship's engine. While Ragnar is whispering sweet nothings to his boat Kitten rolls her eyes, shrugs her shoulders and mumbles with a shake of her head. "Men and their vehicles!" Turning she begins to rummage through Ragnar's toolbox with great stealth until she finds what she is looking for *One Phillip's screwdriver coming up!* Pulling with all her might she pulls it loose from beneath a rubber mallet, as the tools shift there is a clanging sound. Kitten freezes in place but Ragnar is too busy chatting up his baby and didn't hear a thing, wiping the sweat from her brow she takes a firm grip on the screwdriver and heads back to Elvis.

"Duh...that was close! I was sure you'd had it!" Elvis shifts from one paw to another.

Kitten just smiles confidently before releasing the breath she had been holding the entire time. *Let's blow this Popsicle stand!*

"Huh...?" Elvis looks at Kitten in confusion.

Kitten chuckles *It means 'let's get out of here'. Now lower your head, so I can climb up* After climbing onto Elvis's head Kitten tucks the screwdriver securely under the collar that Mouse had so generously offered Elvis after his arrival on the Longboat. Leaning forward she grabs one of Elvis's ears in each paw and snaps them like rains! *Giddy Up!* Kitten cries and Elvis lumbers down the hall at full speed.

From the shadows a little yellow fellow watches as a large hound dog with a kitten on it's head goes running past "I tawt I saw a puddy tat! I did! I did!"

Lurkingghost -- After wandering around on deck

for a few hours, 'Ghost goes downstairs into the hold. She's very restless and looking for someone to talk to. She heads toward the engine room, because she thought she heard someone talking to someone.