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...