I giggle a little bit when the sword tickles, and then suddenly I feel better and less worried. "Thank you... I thought that was all a dream, but that thing, those things must have been real."

I look Casey in his small, beady eyes. "What was that? For a second, I heard something whispering in my ear and then suddenly, you touch me with that toy sword and it's gone."

"I do not know what it was, but it was the shadow cast by the passing of something awful.  You have stood very close to madness and horror in the recent past. But my sword with its healing powers was proof against this."

He pauses.

"IT WAS not Delpin, that is all I know."

He holds his sword up.

"Toy? It is a symbol of joy, and growth, friendship, and protection." But then he pokes you in the ribs again.  "Also a good toy."

"Gah!" I feign, and laugh when he pokes me in the side. "Reminds me of a movie I saw last year about Guardians who protect childrens' wonder and happiness. So, I don't actually know much about where I am right now other than what you told me."

I brush some of the ground's dirt off of my pants and stand up. "How can I help?"

"I think there are many ways.  You as an adult can interact with the Human World in ways we cannot.  For example. Senator Moskov is sponsoring a Bill right now to ban teddy bears as unsafe.  But for now, take my hand. I need to be at my boy's side."

You do, and you feel as if you're being dragged out into a long string, puddled up, and splashed into something warm, and comfortable.

Your eyes are open, and then you realize they are always open.  You are laying on a blanket, and your feet which you can barely see above your huge stomach are yellow and corduroy.

"Just five more minutes, Mom'
"OK, Herbie."

You hear from some distance away.

Banning teddy bears as being unsafe...? Senator Moskov. I make sure to commit the name to memory. Every boy needs a teddy bear, and evidently they're more important than I ever imagined.

Then, Casey whisks me off and I'm suddenly looking down... I must have gained some weight through the trip, and gotten some fancy new clothes-Uh oh, I think.

I keep my eyes wide open, watching and listening to Herbie and his mom. Casey seemed friendly enough. He wouldn't just place me here. Before they get closer, though, I want to try to wiggle the end of my leg to see if I can move it.

It wiggles, and slowly you get control over your body.  Until suddenly you have no control, and Herbie comes running in, looking scrubbed and brushed and in pj's and all of five, and full of energy.

His mom looks harrassed.

"Pray." She says, and he does, and strangely you can hear him pray even when his voice is so low.  His chief prayer is to 'protect Daddy from the bad men.'

He gets in bed after numerous complaints, and it takes a good hour for him to stop hopping up, inventing new tasks, and asking for water.  Once he settles for three minutes tho', he's out.

"Now a wine cooler." His mom murmurs, and turns out the light. And you can move.  And you see a much worn teddy bear that looks different, and has a badge 'Casey' under Herbie's right arm.

My vast experience with Pixar movies makes me feel a little less uneasy when I suddenly lose control of myself. I don't fight it. The first thing I really notice, though, is the angle from all the way down here. It's quite a jump from being over six feet tall to roughly eight inches.

Herbie's dad is in danger; I wonder if he's in Afghanistan or Iraq right now or somewhere else in the world fighting. I watch the mother when she's in the room, and can't help judge her: she's doing everything that she can, and it isn't her fault she's bothered with a child on her own right now. She could probably use a teddy bear looking after her, too.

I take stock of the rules of my current, peculiar situation. I didn't feel like I had control over myself until the mom left, too, so I make a mental note to ask Casey later how he moved in front of me and even talked to me.

Out of habit, I roll my shoulders and stand up, stretching out my back from sitting down (even if I'm not uncomfortable). Then, I look up at Herbie and Casey, waving one arm. Now that I can look about the room, I do (making special note if I see my reflection anywhere and try not to freak out when I do). I'm looking for anything to distinguish where I am-in Great Britain or America-and what other toys are in the room (especially if they're moving!).

Casey squirms out from under the arm, takes a stance, and draws out his sword.

"I promise to protect this boy against the evil in the shadows, under the bed, in the closet, and by the window."  He glows golden for a second.

There is a mirror hung on a closet door.  You look almost like Corduroy to the green overalls with the patch, but your skin is corduroy, not plush.

There is a kid's map of England on the wall, and a big arrow on the NE side says 'you are here'.

You also see a good quality rescue boat toy on top of the book shelf.

OOC: Assuming you ask the questions...

"His father works Coast Guard and Customs at a base thirty miles to the east, and spends a week at a time there on call.  Terrorists, drug smugglers, human smugglers, art thieves, the clueless, and the unlucky fall under his jurisdiction.  Mostly it is the ill turned who are his problem as the North Sea is not much beloved of recreational boaters."

He nods at your question about him moving.

"You get more skilled as you go along.  I can leap to a first story window, and talk a latch into opening.  Ol' Granpa Bear, who's the wisest of us all, he can , well, more than me."

"Follow me." he jumps off his bed, and heads toward the book shelf.

When Casey makes his statement to protect Herbie and glows, I pray silently, "God, watch over us this night and help all throughout the world to stop their sinful ways. Your will be done, Lord; Amen."

While I do ask those questions, my first probably would have been, "How did you put me into this toy, and can you teach me to do it on my own?" I think to myself, without vocalizing it, that Casey must be breaking some sort of teddy bear code by including me in all of this.

I follow him, but keep up conversation. Does my voice sound familiar to me, and is moving pretty much the same or is there a learning curve to it? "So, say we run into any delphins tonight, what should I do? You're the pro, and I don't have a...sword."

I follow Casey's directions when we reach Herbie's book shelf.

You glow as well.

Protection against Evil RS divided by five one at two.

"Its one of our first powers.  See, this is my body, but sometimes I need to help the little girl across the street, or the boy at the end of the road. So I can transfer myself into another body.  I'm better in my own, but ...I've also got a few stashed here and there, talked Rover next door into hiding them for me.  I used one of them to walkover to you."

Your voice sounds 'cuter'.

The walking is different, but easy at the same time.  In ways, it just seems being a teddy bear is easier than a human.  Your body and mind seem more in unison instead of the occasional arguements they have.

Still, yes, learning curve.

You leap off the bed, and belly flop.  Oof.  It hurts about as much as belly flopping off a ten meter board.

He retrieves something from under the bookcase, and wipes it off.

"My first sword." Its two popsicle sticks crossed and glued together.

"Then...where is my real body right now? In that lot?"

I view the popsickle sword and I expect the regular revulsion, but when I don't have it and my body doesn't lean naturally away, I look closer. Casey's first sword that he used to fight the delphins.

I extend my hand to take it, as to admire it. "Did Herbie make it for you?"

"Yes."...."Your body is inside the teddy bear, i think."

When you touch it, you feel a thrill of power reach into the sky, and down into your heart.

"I am your sword. Give me a new name.'  The words seem to come from the sword, and are not heard by Casey.

The closet door creaks...

"I sure hope so..."

Then, when I hear the voice, I go quiet. This feels like a contract, a binding one, between myself and the sword. I name it, and it really is mine, for better or worse. I think of what I represent in this form-the protection of children against evil through goodness (fun, happiness, joy). "Rascal..." I whisper to the sword.

And when I hear the door creak, I stand straight and hold the sword backwards, like I'm fighting with a dagger. I'll move it back if I need distance, but the position just feels right for Rascal.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Sun 17 May 2015.

"YEAAAHHHHH' Your sword hollers, and lightning runs down it. And in that moment its as if the world drew near to listen.  Joy and laughter bloom, then stop...

"Foool." Hisses from the closet. "Dark days are coming.  Did your so trustworthy Casey tell you that? We rise. You could have had power in this world, Man of Three Worlds, but nooooo, you got seduced by the happy talk of the Light."

A distorted shape like that of a walking fish  pokes its grey furred head out of the closet to tower above you.

"Cast down this sword. We can still save you."

"Be saved by the darkness?" I tut, "No thanks. I've been saved by darkness before, and it was no picnic. Better to be true to myself and happy. I would rather drown in the Light before finding any sanctuary in the Dark."

I raise my sword up, still held in the backwards grip. "But it's never too late for you to turn. I invite you: taste happiness and joy! Come into the light!" And I thrust my sword hand closer to the delphin trying to come through the closet, and make a bold step toward it as I do.

"You're bold now, wait until you taste my whip skers and my teeth, until I crush you under by belly, and then swallow you whole."

He comes out halfway, and he's more than two feet long.  Two long whiskers hang, one from the right, one from the left side. The right side is shorter.  They look snot laden.

And his breath is foul.

His whiskers twitch, and his fur on his fish shaped body, held up by his flippers to loom high above, that fur ripples hypnotically....

"He's more afraid of you, then you are of him." Rascal murmurs.  "He knows you are new, and that you're something different than the usual run of Teddy Bears, and that reverse grip worries him too.  its uncommon among the bears."

I try to think to Rascal, Thank you, Rascal. Just in case, how do I fight one of these delphin?

I visibly relax, and make sure not to focus too hard on the rippling fur. I keep my sword up between us and talk firmly. "Come to the Light or go back to the shadows. You're not enough to handle a single bear, and you have found two in this room. The child is safe; leave us or fight-no more words. Make your choice!"

Then, I adopt a defensive position, crouching slightly with the sword held backward but still in front of me.

Basic fish types dislike fire and water.  Attack with your sword, or the use of magic, or once you learn to leap...  Rascal replies.

His whip skers twitch, but he backs up into the shadow behind the closet door, and the door closes.

"Well done. You have the Power of the Adult."  Casey turns and starts to climb the bed.  "And abold heart. Come. We can keep a good eye on things from up here."

1@2 Intimidate Delphin.
1@1 Power of the Adult when in role of protecting children.  RS by five bonus to firstskill.

"Thank you, Casey," I think about climbing up after Casey, but I recall him saying something about leaping. Then, Rascal said the same word... I bend my knees and try to jump up to the top of the bed. If I still have the strength of a human, this should be easy... I hope.

On the way up, I ask Casey what he means by Power of the Adult. "What is the Power of the Adult? What does it really do to fight the delphins? All I did was intimidate it."

Your adult strength seems far off, and whatever skills this bear body has, you don't have unlocked yet.  Still, you manage a ten inch jump, which in your human body would have put you over the basket, and looking down on Michael jordan.

"Adults have certain authority in certain places.  The mother, if she knew how, could make it more difficult for the Delpin by just a word.  You are a Random Adult, thus you have some degree of Authority inthe Child's World.  I don't have this.  I can comfort, protect, inform, and suggest, but I cannot order a Human or a Delpin. Now Ol' Grandpa Bear, he can order me.'

I consider what Casey means by the power of the adult. It sounds like things would have gone very differently had I not been here-probably with a fight between Casey and the delphin.

"Casey, I still don't understand how you got me inside of this teddy bear's body. What if I needed to go in and out of the body myself, or into a different toy's body?"

Then, I show him the sword he gave me. "And Rascal...I could hear him talking to me in my mind and he could hear my thoughts as well. Is all of this normal for teddy bears?" I don't want to be caught off guard by voices in my head again.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:25, Tue 19 May 2015.

There probably would have been a fight.

Casey thinks about what you said, and then draws a line in glowing blue on the bed with his sword.

"A Ward of Warning. It will last an hour.  Now, I don't really know how to explain this...but come with me..."

And again the drawing sensation, and you arrive inside a neat, purple teddy bear.  from the painted pink walls to the frilly dress hanging on the wall, you realize you're in a little girl's room.

And halfway across the room, trying to be stealthy, and looking immensely disspointed is a lizardoid thing with tiny bat wings, and eyes of burning charcoal.  Its about a foot tall.

"Remove yourself from my presence, delphin. This girl is under my protection tonight, and you shall not harm her!"

I run to get between the delphin and the bed, where I presume the girl is sleeping. Do I see any toy weapons in the room?

Rascal is in your hand, and how that happened?

You cut him off, and he snarls at you.

"Its a Delpin of Anger." Casey says, running up behind you.

It pauses.  "Rip, tear, smash....'

A delphin of anger. This creature would know about intimidation and threats all too well. There are some creatures that you have no other choice than to put down, but I want to try one more card before it escalates to violence.

I keep my sword, held backwards, in front of me just in case. Still, I say, "Friend, you must be in such pain. I have felt pain too, loss, and darkness. But I understand your pain; don't make me hurt you. If I must, I will."

Perhaps something it doesn't know well-caring and sympathy-might stop it.