I'll Be Dog-Gone (27)

I'll Be Dog-Gone (27)

Raven-Kat -- “EEEKKKKK!!!”

Raegun shrieks. "N-n-not..." <<dramatic music>> "Horror Land!"

"Wuzz." Rae snaps, dropping him onto the counter. "Stay!"

"We're not there, yet." Rae points out. "Don't get all wiggy on me. I need to go see Sunny." Rae stalks out of the boathouse and into the infirmary.

"You come to give me another dunking?" Sunny demands, toweling off her hair.

"I came to get another temperature reading." Rae replies, picking up the thermometer. "Mouth."

Sunny clamps the thermometer in her mouth and sits quietly, but the look she's giving Rae says it all.

"Back to normal." Rae announces. "Now we just give you a shot and your fit for duty."

"What kind of shot?" Sunny demands. "And exactly how much do you know about first aid?"

"Enough to give shots and set bones." Rae opens the med-kit and regards the row of little vials. "I forget, is this the kill shot or the antibiotic?"

"Kidding." Rae tells her flatly. "It's the Nerve shot. THIS is the antibiotic. And this is the anti-viral. We'll give you both to be safe."

Sunny nods. "Sounds wise. Got an immune-booster in there?"

"Think so." Rae shuffles through the kit. "Here."

"Suit yourself." Rae picks up the injector and slides in the first vial. "You rather I get Mouse to do this?" She asks slowly.

"I trust you." Sunny says. "Hit me."

Grinning, Rae makes a fist.

"You made a joke." Sunny laughs. "Very good."

Rae gives Sunny the shots and appraises her of the situation, then the two ladies walk up on deck where the others are begginning to assemble.

"Where's Rag?" Rae demands, looking around.

"Trying to unlock the controls." Mouse supplies. "He's got Raegun in there."

"Good." Rae nods. "Do we all know the rules for surviving one of these things?"

"Uh, don't split up." Jila ventures. "Safety in numbers."

"Beware if talking dolls." Kaybe adds.

"Objects moving in a mysterious fashion should be considered a bad sign." Spyral chimes in.

"Making love in the woods at night is a sure path to a bloody death." Artist adds.

"And don't you forget it! It's the SIN FACTOR!!!" Rae points sharply at him. "I'm going to go help Ragnar. Who's armed?"

Sunny, Kara, and Sixth raise their hands.

"Great. No one go anywhere without someone who's armed. No one go anywhere in groups of less than three. No one leave this spot if it can be at all avoided. No one say I'll be right back, because you won't." Rae pauses and shakes her head. *How'd that slip in there?* "Better still, everybody to the galley. Rag and I will be down shortly. Remember the rules."

Rae waits until the others have gone below before joining Ragnar and Raegun in the boathouse.

"It's not working." Ragnar announces as she enters.

"We are all going to die." Raegun adds. "But it's better to go down on a swing."

"Let's join the others." Rae says. "We can divert most ship functions into the galley."

Ragnar nods and hands Raegun over. "Yeah. Good idea. You provide cover."

Rae hesitates at the door. "Rag?"

"I'm the cutest one on board, right?"

Kaybe0 -- Horror Land?

"We are headed to Horror Land?" Kay asks the question silently to herself. "Oh Boy, Don't let anyone see your bones shaking Kay" she admonishes herself. "Act brave. Don't let anyone see how scared you are. As long as we stay together. Just stay together. Staytogether." "What did you say, Kay?" asked Rae? "Nothing." lied Kaybe. "I was just thinking out loud about, um, playing with the feather I found on deck earlier." she said peevishly. "Well, idiot" she said to herself. "That was real inteligent." She looked up to see Mouse wink at her, and Jila mouthed "me too." Okay, so maybe there were some others who might be a little nervous about Horror Land, also. She could act brave. Just as long as they staaay together. "Ragnar!" she thought to herself. "He's the biggest." Siding up to Ragnar, she smiled up at him and said in her bravest voice. "You know, Rag, I always thought of you as my big brave brother." "Woops," she thought, "didn't mean to say brave". Outloud. "You are just the best." And she hugged his arm, and kind of didn't let go. At first, a little confused, Ragnar looked down at her huge eyes. She was scared stiff. He grinned and patted her on the back. "Yea, Kay, that's nice". and gently removing his arm from her clutch, he said, "Just let me work here, okay?" "Okay, she said. Just don't go far away, allright?" "Allright," he said grinning at her again, and patting her shoulder once more. Okay, she was calming down. It was, after all, just another make believe land, right? Still, she did a roll call to make sure all her friends were here with her. Besides Rae and Ragnar, was Sunny. She looked a little pale yet, but, fine. Good. Then there was Jilla and Mouse. They looked a little nervous, but calm. Very good. Sixthy looked like she was ready to conquer the world. Great. Artic and IQ looked like they weren't exactly sure what to think, but, could take whatever. Okay. Spyral and Artist. More guys, Yea. Viridian and Kara were talking to Ghost. Ghost. Sweet, loving Ghost. How scary could Horror Land be. Chryse...Where was Chryse? Okay, there she was by Jila. she looked like she was fine. "Okay, Kaybe. Get a grip." Everyone is fine, if only a little scared. Don't be a wuss. Be brave." There, she convinced herself that they would be fine. Still, Rae had laid Raegun down on the table, and Kay found herself patting him, and whispering, "It will be okay Raegun. We just have to stay together."

Chryse74 -- “well, horrorland, huh? this should be

interesting." said Chryse. She started thinking about her childhood and growing up in elven country. Her best friend had been a sweet little girl goblin who had had a pet bat. *Beatrice the bat.... yes, that was her name.... and Goldy the goblin. Goldy had always been really nice... I wonder how goblins had gotten such a bad name among the human realms?* thought Chryse.

As Kay talked to Ragnar, Chryse noticed that Kay, Jila, and Mouse seemed a bit nervous.

"Hey, girls, you know, monsters aren't all bad." she said out loud.

"Huh?" came from several people.

"Well, it's true... Frankenstein's monster was a very intelligent, sensitive creature in the book. He just looked scary and was too strong to really control himself. And my best friend growing up was a goblin and her pet bat.. they were really nice. If you see any monsters, I'd be willing to bet that they won't really want to harm you as long as you don't harm them." explained Chryse.

Ghost nodded her agreement and the others thought it over for a minute.

"But won't they all be acting like horror movie monsters? The ones that do want to kill us and eat our brains?" asked Spyral.

"Uh, oh yeah, I forgot about that... but your horror movies are so silly. All the characters do stupid things and get themselves into trouble. I should think that we won't have that problem." said chryse.

Viridian -- Vi sat inside her Groovy Girl Pup Tent

and thought about their impending arrival to Horrorland. She sighed--- at least the time of year was right. She knew most of Horrorland used to resemble Transylvania, but in the past twenty years that had begun to change. She knew there would be a sign greeting them at the Horrorland harbor:

"Welcome to Maine" it would read and would be signed, "Stephen King- Governor."

Sweetiepie Parrot -- “Release the hounds!”

Captain artickitten yelled.

Thor leaped to the hold and threw open the door. Empty silence greeted him.

*The dogs are not here.* Thor telepathed in panic.

"Hezmana with this." Sweetiepie said. "Let's get the Hezmana out of here!"

Sweetiepie glided down to the control console and started punching buttons. The mini longboat backed up, made a sharp right turn, and headed back the way it had come.

"Hey!" Captain Kitten said. "I'm the Captain. It's my fantasy. I say when we leave, not you."

"You can stay here if you want." Sweetiepie said. "But the rest of us are getting out of here."

<Um, I agree with the bird...> Elvis mumbled.

The splashing of oars fell silent as they left the reality ship and the sailors in the rowboat behind.

*Where are you taking us?* Thor asked.

"Back to the island." Sweetiepie said. "This was a dumb fantasy to start with."

Kitten went to the Captain's cabin to sulk.

Fantasy Island hove into view. Roarke met them on the beach.

"And how did you enjoy your fantasy?" he asked.

"It sucked." Kitten said.

"Now young lady, watch your language." Roarke said.

*She has had a disappointing day.* Thor remarked.

"Yeah." Sweetiepie said. "Where's the real longboat?"

"It left." Roarke said.

*My queen would not abandon me.*

"Artic wouldn't leave me!"

"The longboat was hijacked." Roarke explained. "It is now headed for Horrorland, controlled by the Phantom of Farscape."

"We have to save them!" Kitten said.

So they all piled back onto the mini longboat and set out for Horrorland to save their friends...

Raven-Kat -- “You know,”

Rae says softly, "I don't think this is going to be so bad."

"Yeah." Raegun agrees enthusiastically. "All we need to do is avoid those tired old horror-movie traps. No problem." The lights go out and Raegun gives a little shriek.

"Don't make me slap you." Rae says with a sigh, reaching into a cabinet and pulling out several candles. "It's probably just the lightning."

"What lightning?" Ragnar says. "It's not even raining."

On cue, a peal of thunder is heard. Smiling, Rae begins lighting the candles and placing them around the galley. "Ah, talk about establishing mood!" she tells Ragnar. "It's almost romantic."

"You are a sick woman." Artist says in disgust.

"Thank you." Rae goes to the cupboard for more candles and says, "What's this?"

"You find something?" Mouse asks, joining her.

"It appears to be a book of demon-summoning. Hey, let's read it!"

"I'm kidding." Rae mutters something under her breath in Sebacian. "It's my portable deep-fryer. We can make doughnuts to pass the time."

"Doughnuts are nice." Raegun says. "I think."

"They are VERY nice." Chryse tells him. "Especially when Rae makes them."

"Shall we, then? It'll be a fun way to pass the time until we get the lights back." Rae sets up the fryer quickly and begins hunting around for ingredients.

The mood in the galley quickly becomes considerably more cheerful.

JilaCosa -- Except for Jila....

whose mood couldn't possibly get worse. Fear radiates from every inch of her being. Her heart pounds in her chest as she bites her lower lip to keep from screaming. She can't show the others just how scared she really is.

*Why me? Why now?* Jila slips into a chair, her back to a corner, and tries to make herself as small as possible. Then, to make matters worse, little Pandora appears from nowhere right in front of her.

"Nooooooo!" Jila tries scrambling out of her chair and onto her feet, but ends up falling off the chair instead. The small fire-lizards eye color change and swirl with the fear surrounding Jila. "Oh, Pandora." Jila grabs her new friend out of the air and carefully hugs her tight. As the others come to realize Jila's need, she hurries to her feet and runs out of the galley for her room.

"I Can't Do This!" Jila cries just before she enters her room, and slams and locks it behind her.

Raven-Kat -- “Which part of ‘don’t split up’

are you having trouble with?" Rae yells through the door. She throws herself against the door, only managing to hurt her arm "Jila!"

"Shall I open it?" Raegun inquires mildly.

"Do it." Rae says. "But be careful."

Raegun targets a small blast at the lock of the door which swings open.

"Go away." Jila whispers from the corner. She sits huddled against a wall with Pandora in her arms.

"Drenn." Rae hands Raegun back out to Ragnar and says. "Everybody back to the galley. Move!"

"Uh, Rae, that would be spliting up." Ragnar tells her gently.

"Do you want the doughnuts to burn? Move!" As the others leave, Rae walks over to Jila. "Hey."

"Go away." Jila repeats softly.

"Um... No." Rae walks over to her and sits down next to her. "Time to start talking, baby. And YOU-" she points to Pandora "stop magnifying her fears, thankyou very much."

Pandora blinks up at her.

"You heard me." Rae says firmly. "Be good." Rae turns her attention back to Jila. "Rule number 18: 'don't be afraid to smack the hysterical chick'. Watch me break it." Rae reaches out and hugs Jila instead. "Tell me what's wrong. Tell me what you need."

Jila looks up at her. "I'm scared."

"So am I. But we've got to be brave for the kiddies. Now tell me.”

Kaybe0 -- The dogs!

"Mouse, the dogs!" Said Kay in a panic. "I don't want anything to happen to them. We should lock the hold." Kay took Mouse by the arm. "We can't go alone." Said Mouse. "Come on Ragnar, come go with us.". Reluctantly, Ragnar followed the two women down to the hold, and waited while they fed and made sure the dogs were comfortable. Then, locking the hold, to keep them safe, they returned to the others as quickly as possible. Poor Jila, Kay thought. She knew just how she felt. Horror land, may not be so bad, if you analize it, but, it was based on the movies, and the monstors in the movies were really bad. Kay shivered again.

SunAeryn -- “Rae, where are you?”

Rae could hear Sunny's voice, but she couldn't see her.

"Sun, come on, quit it! You know I don't like it when you disappear with out warning me!" Rae yelled, trying not to make Jila more scared than she already was.

"Rae, sorry, it happens when I get really scared. Remember me telling you about when I was taken...that's why I did it." Sun explains as her voice gets closer.

"Great! Just frellin' great!" Jila exclaims "The two strongest women on this longboat are both scared and one of them, we can't frellin see! I am not staying here! Frell the Phantom!" Jila finishes

"Jila, it's ok...we can beat him." Sun's voice is heard

"Sunny is right Jila, we can beat him. We just have to control our fears." Rae adds, hauling Jila up to her feet.

"Now, the best way to do that is to, STICK TOGETHER! Now, Jila, you know I care for you, but get your eema back to the galley, NOW!" Rae said, gently pushing Jila towards the galley.

"I'm right behind you two. Just promise me one thing...can we please avoid "The Birds" area, at all cost? I really hate that movie. Before my parents took me to the Center...my older brothers forced me to watch it...knowing it would scare me. I've hated it ever since." Sun told Jila and Rae as they walked to the galley.

"FOR THE LOVE OF CHILNACK!! Sun!" Rae yelled, moving rather quickly away from Sun

"What?" Sun asked, not aware that only her legs could be seen.

"WHOA! Sunny, what happened?" Ragnar asked, trying not to freak out the rest of the gang.

"WHAT THE FRELL?! Why are you looking at me like that?" Sun asked.

"Sun, we can only see your legs, and part of your pulse rifle." Rae finally told her.

"Can't you do something about that?" Jila asked

"Yeah, it's really creeping out the others." Ragnar managed to get out, all the while thinking *Man, that's just to freaky.*

"Oh, I didn't know...sorry. I'll work on it." Sun said, starting to concentrate on reappearing fully.

Rae sat Jila down at the table, "Stay together...remember that people? I'm serious...stay together."

"Ok, look, we all know we are all scared. Hiding it from each other isn't going to help us. It might actually hurt us." Sun, fully her visable self added.

"Sun's right. If we let each other know what we are most afraid of...it just might come in handy, if we run into anything that may manifest itself as our fears." Sixthy added.

Sun took a deep breath, "I'll start." She looked at her friends, took another deep breath and started..."The things I'm most afraid of are the movie "The Birds", spiders, and being recaptured by the Scarrens." Sun let out a breath, not realizing that she had been holding it. "Ok, who's next. By sharing this....it could help. We would be able to help each other out." Sun added, grabbing a doughnut and some milk.

Thought Kay, starting to feel better. Somehow, knowing she wasn't the only one so afraid, made her not so afraid.

"Well", she said hesitantly, "I am terrified of rats and spiders and roaches, and can't possibley watch movies with them. But, the thing that scares me the most, is the monsters, and psycho's, who keep chasing you, and showing up no matter how fast or far you run to get away from them. And just when you feel like you put some distance between you and them, they show up right in front of you." I used to dream about a monstor that followed me and my children all over town. And no matter where we hid, it knew. And I am terrified that some psycho, like Jack Nicholas in 'The Shining' is right outside my window sometimes." Just thinking about it made her nervous, and she almost pushed herself into Spyral, who was sitting next to her. "I don't think anyone can top my fears," she added.

Lurkingghost -- I’m scared of.....

not being here. I'm scared that some day my grip on this plain may just disappear, and nobody will be able to see me and I'll be all alone in this weird blur of colors that doesn't make sense. It'd be like being caught in starburst, or being stuck in "between."

'Ghost's green-blue glow dims a little and she shivers.

Raven-Kat -- “Unbelievable!”

Rae snaps, jumping from her chair. "Un-frelling-believable. I am not going to sit here and let you people feed into each other's fears like this. It is NOT going to happen!"

"You people?" Sun repeats. "YOU PEOPLE? Is that what you just called us?"

"You heard me." Rae rises. "This is frelling insane and I will not be a part of it."

"Talking about it makes it a little better." Ghost contributes softly.

"Frell that! Some things should not be talked about. Period." Rae shakes her head and paces around the small room. "Naming some demons just makes them stronger."

"Damn." Mouse sighs. "Rae, stop this."

"NO." Rae shakes her head firmly. "You people do not need to know. In fact, you are better off NOT knowing."

"She may have a point." Raegun offers quietly.

"Oh, like you know anything." Sunny yells. "What could poosibly scare YOU?"

"My pulse chamber over-loading." Raegun whispers. "I think it would hurt very much."

Rae picks the rifle up and cradles it against her like a child. "I won't let that happen to you."

"Rae," Kaybe whispers after a moment. "please tell us. It can't be as bad as you think."

Rae stares at her. "You have not seen the things that I have. None of you! Don't begin for one second to assume you understand me."

"This doesn't work if we don't all do it!" Ragnar shouted at her.

"I'm not playing!" Rae says firmly. "Just knowing could put you all in danger."

"Is that what it really is?" Sunny demands. "Are you being selfless or selfish, Rae?"

"It's about your family, isn't it?" Kaybe guesses. "About the death of your folks?"

"LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS!" Rae screams.

"It's about her family." Vi says, noding.

"No, I don't think so." Mouse says. "Rae, can you tell us ANYTHING?"

"Um..." Rae stops dead, then begins pacing around the room. "I can tell you what scares me more than ALMOST anything else."

"It's a start." Mouse says encouragingly.

"Watching what happened to my people happen to yours. Watchings the Scarrans destroy yet another of my homes. There's only one thing in the multiverse that scares me more. And I'm NOT talking about it."

KaraS -- “Fear of Failure.”

Rae turned around so fast she almost fell over and looked at Kara with a stunned expression.

"Not you Rae. I mean me." Kara sighed. "What scares me most is messing up in a way that puts others in danger. Monsters and psychos and demons and stuff are bad but if we are on top of our game we can defeat them. Hey, Rae and Spyral took care of that demon in Mexico just fine. But what if we've got some kind of plan and I don't hold up my end of the bargain? What if you get hurt or killed because of me?"

"You just need a little self confidence." Artist said, smiling at her with his dazzling teeth.

"Maybe, but that's my fear." Kara said.

Raven-Kat -- “Now That

is the first realistic fear I've heard mentioned here today." Rae says gently.

The others look at her in shock.

"It's pretty much the only thing you can't defeat in a fair fight. It's a good fear, Kara." Rae says encouragingly. "It shows strength that you can admit to it."

Rae grins. "However-"

"There's always a however with this woman." Artist mutters.

"HOWEVER," Rae repeats. "It hasn't happened once yet, so why sweat it?"

"Thought so." Rae nods and gives Kara a quick hug. "You know, sometimes our fears can make us stronger. Assuming we've got what it takes to own up to them. Next?"

Raegun -- “I think we can make it through this.”

"I think that's assuming an awful lot." Rae tells him.

"No, really. Think about the things people are naming as their fears. Bugs and spiders: Yeah, they're gross, but they can't really hurt you, just freak you out. Psychos and monsters: We've got the firepower to take on anything that comes at us. And Scarrans: When's the last time you saw one of THOSE in a horror movie?"

"Those are all very good points." Kaybe says with a surpirsed grin. "We can do this!"

"Duh." Rae contributes, popping a doughnut into her mouth.

SunAeryn -- Sun got quiet

She just stopped talking...she was starring at nothing and everything at the same time.

"Sun? Yo, Sunny? You with us?" Ragnar asked, waving a hand in front of her face

"I hope the shots I gave her haven't frelled her. She is Sebeacen, right?" Rae asked, not wanting the others to know, she was worried

Sun was still not doing anything, but starring.

"Rae, you aren't the only one that has seen things. You are not the only one that has been through hezmana and back, so just get off that trip!" Sun finally said.

Sun got up and started walking out of the galley.

"Whoa, where the frell did that come from Sunny?" Ragnar asked, grabbing her before she could leave

"Remember, stick together, that's the plan." he reminded her.

Sun looked at Ragnar, quickly hiding the pain and fear that she was fighting. Sun had her back to the rest of the gang. <click> was heard and then a low humming noise.

"I know that sound" Raegun said

"Me, too." Rae added "Sun what are you doing?" Rae started walking towards Sun

Sun turned around, she had taken the safety off on her pulse rifle. "I'm going to my bunk. No one follow me. I need to be alone. I'm tired of this. No one believes me when I say that if we know about each others fears we can help each other fight them." Sun said, with her hand on the trigger of her pulse rifle

"Sunny, do you think this is a good idea?" Ragnar asked, reaching for her pulse rifle.

Sun stepped away from Ragnar, away from the others.

"I don't know what to think anymore. Ok? Happy! We've been on this frelling boat for to long. I'm sick of it!" Sun said...having trouble breathing. "Now, I'm going up top, DON'T FRELLIN FOLLOW ME!"

With that, Sun went up top.

Once up top, Sun started breathing again...she sucked in as much air as she could and worked at trying to calm down. She found a spot to sit, before she fell.

"That was to frellin' close." Sun mumbled

Raven-Kat -- “I’m probably gonna get shot for this.”

Rae said softly, "but I'm going up."