The shed roof hasn't changed at all, but it, and the nearby houses are now in a forest, mighty redwoods stretching up into the sky and breaking the sunlight into shafts of glimmering gold and shifting shadow.  It's almost always like this... when a cat dreams at the Meeting Place, this is usually how it looks on the other side.

The air is filled with the hum of insects (though, strangely, none are visible at the moment) and the scents of wild flowers.  Somewhere nearby, something huge and ponderous is moving slowly and silently among the trees.  A vast, shadowy form glimpsed, indistinctly, through the trunks.

Mister Pig opens his eyes, yawns, and stretches.  Then he looks up at the sky where it is visible between the trees, before crossing the roof.  "The tree... it was this way, I remember."  And he jumps to the ground, landing easily on a soft carpet of moss.

"Downslope to the stream, then follow the water for a while."

Mephistopheles sits still for a few moments, surveying the area for anything out of place.  Out of place for a dream, that is.  He takes a deep breath, enjoying the scents that hang in the air.

"At least it's a nice day here too."




OOC: Mephistopheles rolled 1 evens using 4d6 with the Advantage system with rolls of 5, 6, 1, 1.  Checking area.

Yay!  One even on four dice.  Nice.  :(

Sunny rolled to his feet quickly and slowly peered around the forest. Trees, high places for birds to hide. Shadows, good places for birds to hide. He supposed there might be Boggins as well. Licking his nose, he sneezed violently. Something seemed off. He sat on his haunches for a moment to clean his whiskers a bit and nodded at Mephistopheles, "Indeed it is. A nice day for birds as well."


11:47, Today: Sunny rolled 1 evens using 4d6 with the Advantage system with rolls of 3, 3, 2, 3.  noticing things.

Must have dirty whiskers, must be.

Sir Percy takes his time and looks around carefully, eyes half-closed but fully vigilant.

Roll 5d6

Face 4, requesting to use my "the Vigilant" Reputation for 1 more die.

ETA: I rolled 5,5,4,5,2 in the dice roller. Is there any special way to make that roll appear in a post, or do I just paste it in every time?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:39, Mon 28 Sept 2020.

Mister Pig sits down on the leaf litter, and looks back to see if the others are following after him. 

"It really isn't that far to the tree." states poor Mister Pig, "We can easily be there and sort out this mess before dinner."

"At least I hope we can sort it out."

Midnight follows along with Dreamcatcher.  "Lead the way Dreamcatcher", he says in a voice like a kitten.

Midnight rarely speaks at all but this time, speech is essential and he doubts that other cats would understand the bite language he has developed with the man, who doesn't speak Cat but understand Bite.  On the other hand, his kittenlike voice may just be because he is missing an essential piece.

Miss Cuddles yawned and stretched as she awoke in the Kingdom of Dreams.  She gave her self a good shake, sat down and licked her front paws, one at a time, before rising again to follow Dreamcather.

"Coming ... coming ...," she called to the others as she began following the others, although she surveyed the area around them very carefully searching for anything out of the ordinary or suspicious.

Sunny still watched the trees warily, "I don't SEE any birds. But you never know. Birds are tricksy." Slowly, he rises from his haunches and walks to the edge. He pauses at the edge and eyes the ground while rolling his hips a few times preparing to jump. He then lands upon the earth with a solid thud. It is a most uncatlike sound but Sunny is large and densely built and rather not sneaky unless hunting birds.

His bouncing gait soon followed the others.

Bones Fleabag awoke in the Kingdom of Dreams, refreshed for the good rest he had gotten in the other world. With several odd, stretching steps, he followed after his friends to help Dreamcatcher.

Bones Fleabag did not keep an eye out for danger--if danger was meant to show its face, it would do so whether or not he was looking, after all.

Sir Percy follows the others.

"Mrrrrrr. Be careful," he cautions. "Something is setting my whiskers on edge..."

Satisfied that the rest of the team is following, Mister Pig shakes himself, then continues on his way to the stream, passing through rays of sunlight which shine down from the canopy.

Within minutes, he approaches his destination and stops, surprised, a few yards short of it.

The stream is much as it always was - narrow and fast-flowing, bubbling and splashing merrily as it weaves between the trees, flanked by tall grass and reeds.  But one thing appears to have changed...

"Milk!" gasps the Dreamcatcher, staring at the white liquid surging past in the stream bed.

"At least it's still running in the proper direction."

"Proper direction for what?" snaps a somewhat irritated voice from among the reeds.

Midnight moves up to the nearest tree from which he hopes to get a proper view of whoever can be heard talking, particularly the irritated one.

Shadowfoot, having been busy gently tapping on a pebble set on top of a small rock doesn't react to the others as they start to arrive and talk.  It is not until the new voice is heard that she looks up and over towards its location that she abandons her project.

Taking a seat she tilts her head and waits.

Midnight took some time selecting the best tree and then climbed, nonchalantly and with grace as if he were part squirrel or some other arboreal creature.  Once he reached the top, he hid among the leaves and gazed down upon the speakers below.

"For the trees, I suppose. Who is it?" Bones Fleabag sat down quite politely to wait for the owner of the voice to reveal themselves.

Dancer wasn't that surprised by the river of milk.  He had, after all, seen some strange things while visiting the Dream.  Like the occasion when he ... well, no time to reminisce now - somebody is here!

He hunkers down and does the butt wiggle, in preparation for a devastating pounce attack.

A hiss and a growl escape Sunny at the sudden voice. On edge already due to the nature of their quest and the lumbering behemoth, a sudden intruder was less than welcome. His eyes scanned the river bank slowly looking for the culprit. His whole body was tense and vibrated ready for action.

Miss Cuddles paused in mid-stride as an unknown voice was heard.  Unlike some of her friends, she walked closer to where the voice had come from (but not too close), her head moving from side to side as she scanned for the speaker.  She sat down at what she considered a safe distance, her ears twitching as she listened for any further words or movement that this stranger might utter and her eyes wide and un-blinking as she scanned the area.

Sir Percy shies back, tail twitching. If there is going to be trouble, he's going to sprout wings and fly off immediately. A gentlecat understands that discretion is the better part of valour!

The speaker crawls out from among the reeds.  A large frog, his skin flushed dark with anger.  His broad, batrachian face looks glum, even compared to other frogs.

"This was a beautiful stream.  I lived here my whole life, frog and tadpole." he sighs, "And now it is poisoned with this white stuff, whatever it is.  I can't live here any more.  The water is gone.  I hope you lot didn't do this.  It's just the sort of thing I'd expect from... mammals."

Midnight was about to come down when suddenly he realised there were two voices.  One had been this frog but who was the other.  He peered down to try to get a better view.

"Mrrrr. It wasn't us," Sir Percy says. "Though personally I'd call it an improvement. Water is so dreadfully... common."

He leans down and takes a few enterprise licks from the stream.

"First my beautiful home is destroyed," croaks the frog, "and then you try to drink what is left.  Woe is me!  Alas and alack!  Will nobody help me?"  He curls one of his front feet, they aren't really paws, into something that resembles a fist, and makes a passable attempt at shaking it at the sky.

"Curse you, oh cruel Universe!  You who has always mocked me, and ground my aspirations under your indifferent heel!"

Midnight comes down the tree and approaches the milky river.  He stretches out his pink tongue to taste it.  At last he pronounces, "It's milk.  It shouldn't be milk.  Why is it milk?"

Mephistopheles cancels his attack.  He once bit a toad, which looks a lot like a frog, and it tasted really bad.  Not something he feels like repeating.

Instead he asks the rather melodramatic creature, "When did this happen?  Was it a gradual change, or did it happen suddenly, quickly, and without warning?  Do you have any enemies who could cause this, that you know of?"

Then, as an afterthought, "Have you done anything that might have upset the Universe?"

"I wonder if there could be a connection to our companion's problem."

Fleabag offered this suggestion quite casually, not yet coming near to the milk to inspect it, but only regarding it at a distance. He was, of course, loathe to trust it.

Sir Percy steps back from the stream, though only after a measured pause and without any undue haste. It wouldn't do for one to allow some silly frog to think that he could order one around, after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:48, Fri 02 Oct 2020.

Sunny turns his head to the side to see if the frog makes more sense sideways. Alas, it was not to be. Turning his head the other way proved as fruitless, "Why wouldn't a cat drink milk?" He stepped close to sniff the river but refrained from drinking it. He then stood up and looked up and down the river, "Is it like this all the way up and down? Or just this section?"

Then he sniffed rather suddenly and made an angry sound, "Too many questions. I am not sure the answers will be able to find us." He looked at the others.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:30, Fri 02 Oct 2020.

The frog ignores Sunny's question.  Or, perhaps, assumes that it is intended to be rhetorical... or too dangerous to answer.  Instead he focuses on the facts, as he knows them.  "I don't believe I have done anything to annoy the Universe, though it has treated me most unfairly my whole life.  Nor do I have any enemies, as far as I know.  As for the change... I woke up today, and all was as you see it now, though it wasn't like this before I slept."

"I am a bit lazy, but I can give a flick or two of my tail to try and fix it, if you can help us out a bit, little friend." He trotted forward daintily, slowly, but with some purpose.

Mephistopheles moves aside to give Bones space to work, but not so far from the action that he won't be able to see what happens.

Miss Cuddles sat down on her haunches as several of her friends approached the toad and the river, listening and considering.  As Bones came forth and offered to try and make the milky river back to a proper river, she had a thought which she voiced quietly.

"Perhaps we need to find where the river starts and attempt to change it there - where it is weakest."

"But that could be a long way off, and in the opposite direc - " Mephistopheles trails off as he realises what he's saying.  "Could that be it?  The stream is to distract us, and take us away from our real goal in coming here?"

"Possibly..." Sir Percy says. He yawns. "But at the same time, it's a mystery, and mysteries need investigating. Perhaps two of us should go and examine the spring, while the others press on?"

"I'm not certain splitting up is a good idea, but it may be the best way to take on this dilemma."  Katerina glanced from her four-footed friends to the toad, and then back.  "Perhaps Mr Toad would be useful in helping to investigate the river's origin, as he is well-versed in its normal state."

The thought of working with another creature so different from herself made Miss Cuddles slightly anxious, however, if the toad was truly of the Kingdom of Dreams he may be useful in understanding what was happening.

Sunny still watches the treetops closely. You never knew when a bird might appear. The idea to split their group did not perturb him though. They were out helping a friend solve a problem. It might be big; it might be small. This matter of the river was curious indeed. He sort of wanted to know the answer. Since either path seemed equally interesting, he remained silent and let the others discuss it as he watched the trees and skies.

Il Comandante Midnight saw no problem.  "We're cats.  Splitting up is what we do best.  I shall go with the group going downriver.  We will know when the other group has succeeded and if they haven't, we'll come find them when we have."

"Dividing the group makes sense in this situation.  I will go to the spring." Mephistopheles says, after a brief pause for thought.  "But we should travel there fast so that we can be back together sooner, in case Fleabag's talents are required to deal with the name situation."

He shakes himself, and spreads a pair of colorful wings.

OOC: Today: Mephistopheles rolled 1 evens using 4d6 with the Advantage system ((1, 6, 1, 1)).

"I'll attend to the spring, also," Sir Percy says. "We'll be back in a jiffy."

He flicks his tail. To his embarrassment, nothing happens.

"I have changed my mind," he says with dignity. "I shall go downriver instead."

07:31, Today: Milk-Whiskers rolled 0 evens using 4d6 with the Advantage system ((1, 3, 3, 3)).

Midnight cocked his head on one side and looked at Mephistopheles.  "You know, you might be very helpful in watching for Bogginses.  Can you fly or are your wings for show."

Fluttering his wings, like some kind of giant butterfly, Mephistopheles rises majestically into the air.  "It seems that they are not just for show."

Seeing that The group had decided to split itself and that Mephistopheles had volunteered to go upstream, Sunny purr loudly and nodded, "Downstream it is for me. That way the two tomcats can watch over the smaller folk." Rolling his body as he stood, he stretched his feet out in front of him, spreading his toes and yawning widely, the rolled his body as if shaking off invisible dust.

Sunny then began to amble at a cat's pace, which was exactly as fast as he should go, along the milky river. "It's also quite nice for watching for birds. Beware of birds." Sunny cast suspicious stares at the tree branches.

A ripple seems to spread across the surface of the milk, expanding from where P-P's tail never quite touched the surface, even though, in the Waking World, the stream would be flowing too fast for such a distinct ripple to form.  Briefly the liquid becomes rapidly moving water - a clearly defined patch that is carried away downstream, without breaking up, to be replaced by more milk. 

The frog looks at Mephistopheles curiously, "What name situation?  Is that how my stream changed?  Somebody gave it a new name?"

Mister Pig yowls piteously, staring at the frog with a horrified look on his face,  "What if somebody changes my name and I turn into something else?"

"Who's to say? Names are powerful things, Dreamcatcher. Wonderful wings, dear Dancer." Bones trotted on down to find the source of the spring, giving idle flicks to warm up his tail as he noticed the ripple in the water.

Since it had been her idea, Miss Cuddles joined Bones and Mephistopheles in the search for the source of the river, however, before she turned to trot after her friends, she looked at the toad.

"So, Mr Toad, do you think you might be able to help us save your home?"

Bones took a moment to turn back. "Yes, Mr. Toad. Come help us fix the river. You'll be very glad to see it firsthand."

'We shall endeavor to find out, kind Sir Frog,' says Tickles as she appears to shimmer and grown and suddenly looks as she always seemingly had -- like a large, black panther with fluffy wings and a lick of flames shooting out of her nose.

'I surmise that the tree might be the root of the problem,' she deadpans and blinks at the others before a flap of her mighty fluffy wings lifts her from the ground.  Backpaws briefly dragging on the ground she starts to lazy circle, tilting her head in half a bow to the frog with a river issue.

"Indeed. The more the merrier, mrrrr?"

The frog turns down the offer to travel with the cats.  "I can't travel fast over long distances, so I would slow you down.  I will wait here instead, and watch for when the water flows again.  But you have my thanks.  Both for the help, and for the offer to go with you."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:38, Tue 06 Oct 2020.

"Sleeping in the land of dreams?" Sir Percy says. He sneezes. "Hmm! Most unorthodox."

He walks up to the sleeping woman and pokes her in the side with his nose.

Tickles flies down to hover near the kitten and human.

Maybe they are dreaming that they are awake, and therefor they appear asleep here in The Dream.  Or perhaps they simply are very, very lazy dreamers.  Or part of the Dream.

Sniffing the air she moves in a bit closer, still flapping her wings like any regular old flying black panther with wings and flames licking its nose.

'HellooooOOooo?' she says when Milk nudges the human.

Flying up to the ledge, Mephistopheles hovers a short distance away from the small person and looks at him curiously.  "Good day.  I don't think you'll catch many fish without a hook and line." he offers as a conversation starter.

He glances down at Bones Fleabag and Miss Cuddles before continuing, "I am Mephistopheles.  My friends and I are looking for the source of this river, so we need to come by you, in order to get to the top of this cliff."

Midnight sneaks up behind the sleepy human to see what happens when she awakens and whether she is a boggin in disguise.

The cats regard their new acquaintance...

Tilting her head to one side and then the others, Tickles the Panther studies the girl for a moment.

'Greetings, Dinah and Alice.  Regarding our friends, I think they are running late.  Perhaps even two days late,' says Tickles, 'or perhaps they will be here shortly.  The answer is, I believe, in a dream.'

"A witch, you say? I knew some witches. Dangerous people to have around, Deran. Don't worry about the fish. I think that if we turn the river back to water, they'll come back soon. Maybe, then, you can imagine a hook and a line for yourself. Goodbye, small person Deran."

Bones Fleabag went on, trying to be only slightly careful now that he knew a dream-witch was ahead.

Sir Percy sniffs.

"Humans call me Milk-Whiskers," he says. It remains very much to be decided whether this strange human deserves the honour of learning his cat name! "Who is this king you speak of?"

Miss Cuddles approached the small humanoid cautiously (he reminded her of one of those decorations she'd seen in other humans yards ... a garden gnome?).

"Deran, thank you for the warning of the witch, but is there anything specific you can tell us about her?  Maybe when she appeared here? Or what she looks like?  Or anything else, really?"  Miss Cuddles was surprised, or maybe not, that her two companions seemed unconcerned enough to ask further questions.  She paused near to Deran, her eyes unblinking, as she waited.  She didn't want to lose sight of the others, but maybe there was more information to be gained which would help.

Midnight considered coming down the tree all lickety split when the girl woke up but when he heard the word 'king' he thought it may be worthwhile remaining hidden for a while like a good trickster would and so, aloft he remained.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:21, Fri 09 Oct 2020.

At that moment, a bluebird flies past singing loudly...  Sadly it is moving fast, and is out of reach of potential pouncers...

"Mrrrr. So you say." Sir Percy absently begins cleaning one of his paws. "Let us say we believe you. What does His Majesty wish from us?"

Sunny's head darted as the bluebird winged through the area and his eyes squinted. He then slowly returned his gaze to Alice and Dinah. The names were familiar to him. Then she mentioned the Cheschire Cat and it clicked in his memory. One of his boy's favorite stories had an Alice and Dinah. Still, Sunny would not believe she was an acquaintance of the King of Cats just yet. he settled on his haunches and watched carefully as the others spoke to her. He watched for more birds though. Birds were not to be trusted nor those who consorted with them.

Midnight, satisfied in the nature of the King in question made his way stealthily down the tree, tapping his tail on the lowest branch as he leapt, hoping to catch in his mouth a fish that wasn't there a moment before.  He sits calmly licking what insistently remained acorns before deigning to look up and say, "Miss me?"

He grins a Cheshire grin at Alice even though he looked nothing like a Cheshire cat and said.  "Humans call me P.... P.... because the Boy refuses to call me Prince Precious".  (And we all know, cats and birds alike, that this, while true, is yet more misdirection)

11:11, Today: P-P rolled 4 evens using 6d6 with the Advantage system with rolls of 6, 3, 5, 2, 4, 4.  4 dice for tail and two for reputation 'the Trickster' make a fish appear in his mouth.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:43, Sun 11 Oct 2020.

Miss Cuddles tips her head to one side and appears to nod at the small humanoid.

"Thank you Deran.  We will listen carefully to your warning and hopefully see you again soon."  Katerina gave herself a small shake, which started at the tip of her nose and finished at the tip of her tail, before she trotted away to find the others.

With a flutter of his wings, and fighting down the sudden urge to feed from a flower, Mephistopheles starts to drift towards the cliff top.  As he rises, he feels there is one thing he should make clear.

"Thank you for your help Deran.  While we are in no way, shape, or form, afraid of any witch, wisdom would seem to dictate that avoiding her might make for easier progress in our quest."

Somewhere, far off, thunder rumbles.  Or perhaps it was close, and just unusually quiet...

"Keep your head on, Dancer. I hear witches are different from people. Dangerous, even to us. Unless they're looking for a familiar, of course." He purred at the small person, brushing appreciatively over his leg before hopping up to the top of the cliff behind his friend.

Seeing the ravens in the distance, Bones tensed up. "Bad omen to see that many birds at once. That many birds would fight back against a kitty cat like myself, and pick it to pieces, yes they could. We should see to it that we are quite respectable to such an...unruly gang of lowlife ravens."

"Agreed." agrees Mephistopheles, "Even small birds can be an annoyance in a large enough group."

He drops to the ground, and his wings dissolve into a fine mist that seems to  seep into his fur.

"Walking might be better, for now, instead of invading their domain and attracting more attention."

Sir Percy yawns.

"How terribly bothersome," he says. "Still, the attempt must be made, one supposes. There are standards to uphold, and suchlike. Will you be going with us to the King's palace?"

He is definitely not going to admit that he doesn't know the why himself, but if Alice is going to be coming with them, then he might just find reasons to lag behind a little at every fork in the road.

At the revelations, Sunny's ear flick in annoyance. Weakness and bothersome annoyance abounded in this situation. Still, to help a friend, Sunny would go to the ends of the earth. That meant, he supposed, also going to the King's home. He looked at Mister Pig and nodded resolutely. "A friend is a friend to the end. Otherwise, no friend is he. Let's get you sorted, eh?"

Snorting his mirth, Sunny looked askance at the human envoy, "Aye, be you guide or invitation?"

Midnight waves his tail in the air, the tip curling this way and that, both up and down and left and right and for'd and aft and some other directions that make sense to cats but not by any means to humans and their books, at least no books his people had read.  "Stars and sun", he bleats, all kittenish, "and moon and rain and wind and sleet and storm.  I need to go with these brave cats to see the King of Cats to whom we must all pay homage. I ask you to show me the paths that will take me there."

18:49, Today: P-P rolled 3 evens using 6d6 with the Advantage system with rolls of 2, 6, 5, 1, 5, 4.  4 dice for tail and two for reputation 'the Trickster' - show the way to the King of Cats' Palace.

Not bothering to say or do much, Tickles simply lands near the others and folds her wings, remaining in the form of a winged black panther.

She does, however, step closer to sniff at the kitten, a low, cautious purr barely heard from her.

The thunder continues to grumble to itself somewhere overhead, and the wind starts to grow a little stronger...

Mephistopheles glances at the sky, worried.  "We're close to the witch.  This probably isn't a good place to have to find shelter if there's a storm coming.  Perhaps we should throw caution to the wind - ha! - and move faster."

As well as the potential rain, the ravens, and the proximity of the witch, another worrying thought occurs to him.

"I wonder if that pillar attracts lightning?"

With no particular hurry, Sir Percy gets up and strolls after Alice at a leisurely pace. He quickens it very slightly when he hears the thunder rumbling in the distance, though.

Playfully dodging the fierce attacks by the dangerous foe, Tickles waves a paw in front of the kitten before Alice moves out.  Starting to trot behind them she looks around keenly, but always return to stick her nose closer to the kitten now and then.

Midnight follows Alice having convinced himself that her offer to lead was the answer to his attempted use of his tail to lead the way.

Lightning flickers in the distance now, and the thunder grumbles almost constantly, but, thus far, there is no rain.  Which begs the question, if it were to rain, would it be water, or milk?  Either way, it would be wet...

"Dancer, I feel drawn to that place. Should we head in that direction? It seems prudent to go where our feelings take us, after all." Bones Fleabag was, in fact, already traipsing that way as he asked.

Sunny followed and worried about the storm. Wet was not a proper state for a cat as furry as he was. Still, he followed along and kept an eye on the sky, bot at the storm and looking for birds. Birds were easier to catch on the ground, but a dedicated hunter could take them on the wing if they flew too low and were unwary.

At the hill, he paid it no mind and followed the group. What he might do should he encounter one alone, he left that for tomorrow's concerns. He hissed at Fleabag though, "Another time, Friend. We are to see the King now... mm, perhaps. Well, we need to see what happens following the human."

"I will take that under advisement," says Sir Percy, who prefers to keep his options open in regards to which direction he walks around stone circles in. But he follows Alice around it in a clockwise direction anyway.

The oncoming rain is troublesome. He wonders if he should try to turn himself into a newt or something. It's just that newts are so dreadfully unstylish...

Midnight considers the human's words and then asks.  "So does one have to walk around it shinewise or can one walk straight through the middle?"

Katerina kept pace with Dancer and Fleabag.  She didn't like this place, but forced herself to continue, her eyes constantly looking first one way then the other, and her ears also twitching as she scanned for unusual sounds as well.

"I suggest caution, even if you feel drawn to something specific.

As if on cue, the sky is split by a jagged bolt of lightning...

That does it - Sir Percy is not about to get his nice, well-groomed coat wet. There are standards to maintain! He flicks his tail twice, and transforms into an elegant black-and-white swan. Secure in his new water-resistant feathers, he waddles onwards. True, as modes of locomotion go, this leaves something to be desired, but Alice said to not step off the path so he can't fly, and he's not going to be a newt and that's that.

09:35, Today: Milk-Whiskers rolled 4 evens using 4d6 with the Advantage system with rolls of 2, 6, 2, 2.  Turn into a swan.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:38, Fri 16 Oct 2020.

Midnight blinks at Sir Percy.  He thinks about doing the same but he really doesn't want to be a bird, even if it's a fierce bird like a swan, instead he would try to ask the rain nicely to avoid him.

13:15, Today: P-P rolled 3 evens using 6d6 with the Advantage system with rolls of 6, 4, 2, 3, 5, 5.  4 dice for tail and two for reputation 'the Trickster' - let the raindrops avoid him.

Bones Fleabag remained silent, but looked at Dancer quite urgently with a face that communicated a simple idea something like Dancer, this is very bad--they said eyes, and as I'm sure you understand, people need eyes much more than we do, having only the one good sense of sight, and exceedingly poor senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing, proprioception, and equilibrium. How should we intervene on this horrid plan?

Of course, maybe Dancer didn't get all that, but there was certainly worry on Bones Fleabag's face.

Sunny looked to the sky and then the road and his ears went flat. Still, the boy's father had taught him that perseverance of what the world sends your way is a worthy trait. IF the Dream wanted to make him wet, sigh, he could put up with it. He would not be a happy cat though. That said, he started to move toward the road when, suddenly, a massive bird appeared. Sunny yowled and hissed at the thing before he recognized Percy. He was not a fan of that choice, "Plenty of water-proof things and you had to pick a bird? I suppose it IS slightly better than a dog." Sunny rumbled his way toward the road then glanced left and right and waited for someone else to select the direction.

Trotting along with the occasional sniff at the kitten, Tickles flaps her wings once after the lightning flashes.

'Fare the well, Dinah and Alice,' says she and waves her tail in parting, 'perhaps our roads will cross again.'

Once more she trots onward, starting to follow the road north.  'Come, gentle Mr Pig and my fellow felines,' with a sideway glance at Higgles, 'no time to lose yourself in a Dream or get your feathers ruffled, after all.'  A wink follows.

"This is NOT good." Mephistopheles agrees quietly.  "We need to stop her, but that might be tricky with all of these ravens about.  And we need to stop them too."

He closes his eyes and tries to think of a plan.  This is a dream, but he's not sure if blinding somebody in a dream would leave them sightless in real life.

His fur almost crackles with static electricity after the lightning stroke, and his eyes seem to flash as he opens them.  "We need to stop her completely.  If we stop the scheme and leave her able to restart it, then next time we might not be here to block it!"

"Swans are elegant," Sir Percy says with dignity. "And surprisingly able in a fight, should it come to that." Something he happens to know for a fact, though he of course gave as good as he got in that little scuffle, or at least that's his story and he's sticking to it. "While the feline form is of course superior to all others in most respects, this one is the best one that has no unpleasant odour when rained upon."

Bones Fleabag sat, thinking quite intensely but with a remarkably casual air about him. Shortly later, he cast this look: If we drop the witch in a hole, the ravens will never be able to dig the hag out. He cocked his head, waiting for a response.

Miss Cuddles sat next to Bones Fleabag as he tried to think of a plan.  She shook her head slightly at his suggestion.

"She's a witch, I don't think that a hole would keep her trapped.  If she can control the ravens, she might also be able to control other creatures.  But NOT cats!" The last was added most vehemently as if the thought of being controlled by that thing was one of the worst possible forms of torture that Katerina could imagine.  "We must be able to think of some other plan.  Could we get the ravens to stop helping her?"

"Of course, as you say. I have, of course, never met a witch before, and I suppose you might have." Bones Fleabag gestured rather ironically to the rumor around him, that he had known some witches. If he had, he evidently had a rather dim opinion of their smarts.

"This is a dream.  Perhaps we can change it to change her." Dancer growls, "Restore her eyes, so she doesn't need to work her magic, or something?"

"Well, Katerina Auguste, Dancer, that is certainly something we could try. I have a powerful tail, but I would be hard pressed to do it on that account alone. Perhaps I could grow her some bug eyes?" Bones Fleabag cocked his head thoughtfully, wondering how he could achieve such an end.

OOC: OK, admission, I need to check how to do this. If I'm understanding this correctly, I would roll 5 for tail, and 3 for Bugfriend if I were trying to make her bug eyes. And every even roll would count towards success, right?

Katerina sat down as they discussed the possibilities in how to prevent the witch from going through with her plan to steal eyes from humans.  At <I>Dancer<I>'s words, she growled low in her throat.

"It is a dream.  I had forgotten that and you make a good point.  I don't think that I could affect her so that she would be able to see again."  She looked over her shoulder to her tail that was currently curled around her haunches, its tip twitching, as if in anticipation of ... something. "But if Bones Fleabag can - or thinks he can - it could possibly be worth the risk."

Bones Fleabag flicked his tail back and forth several times, each time more forcefully than the last. He always needed a few good flicks to get going. He pushed himself, trying to imagine bug eyes growing on the witch's face. He closed his eyes at the moment of greatest effort, then peeked for a look. He hoped it worked--and that the witch was glad to have eyes vastly superior to those of a human. Then, she should be quite easy to handle from there on out.

OOC: "04:03, Today: Bones rolled 3 evens using 8d6 with the Advantage system.  grow bug eyes in the hag's face (5 dice for tail, 3 dice for bugfriend)."