The Adventures of Kupita For her Chocobo click here. Chapter One Anticipation ran high among the new recruits. This was going to be their first battle, but more than that, this was a special chance to prove their worth. The Empire had gone to a lot of trouble to keep prying eyes away, but to no avail. High Lord Brand himself would be overseeing the maneuver, and the Empire's troops wouldn't know what hit them. The mounts stamped their feet and snorted in the morning air. Well, all the mounts except one. Kupita sat astride her chocobo, who sniffed and warked to himself. The Green Wing was nervous, largely because they were actually made up of fresh recruits. But the Shadow Knights had uncovered the Empire's plot only the day before, and while the elites were on the way, there was no time to waste. The Green Wing was stationed on the Tulisian Continent and only a day's march away from the point of contention. Brand was confident that they would win the day. The mission was very simple. The Empire had picked up a large force of Werewolves and was leading them stealthily into the continent's interior. At the vanguard of the convoy was a collection of soldiers with some mech suits and standard issue weaponry, led by someone important to the Empire... and thus to the Knights. The Green Wing only needed engage and overpower the handful of Empire Soldiers and detain their commanding officer while Brand and his elites kept the main force of Werewolves away. The Knights drew up lines within the forest, almost on the clearing where the Empire's soldiers were waiting. The Sergeant gave the word to move out and the group made their move. On perimeter duty were a few mech suit equipped soldiers, apparently not ready for any kind of action. Kupita hollers to her knight partner, "Kupo Kupo!" He looked at her blankly. "Sorry," she said, "I keep forgeting that you don't speak moogle. I said 'Time to kick some Mech-butt!'" She digs her feet into HP's side and slapped the reigns, charging towards the Mech. She turns back towards her partner and says, "I'll take the high road!" then she turned to he chocobo. "Kupo kupo kupo." she says to HP. (Which means "Go for the eyes") They fly up into the air and head directly at the mech. She leaps from HP and she flies to the left as he flies to the right. HP flies up to the soldier and pecks him on the head. Soldier takes 5dmg. The other Knight misses. Kupita looks over the soldier's armor, but finds no discernable weak points. The Soldier dashes up to the Knight with incredible speed. Before he can do anything, a puff of smoke escapes from inside his suit. The suit whirs and clicks, freeing the man. He starts running away. With a horrendous boom the armor explodes. HP takes 1dmg. Knight takes 9dmg. Kupita takes 1dmg. Soldier takes 7dmg. The soldier runs away. Giving chase, the party is surrounded by 4 more soldiers. They split off, two against the knight and two against Kupita. Hot Property proudly struts around and Warks confidently. He eyes the approaching soldier, and fluffs his feathers at him. Kupita yells to him "Kupo!" which means: "Hey! Get your act together HP! Quit antagonizing the guy and attack!" HP scratches dirt towards kupita and charges at the soldier, attacking him with a Power Kick. Kupita whips out her sword and flies headlong at the soldier approching her.  Her intent: to drive it through his skull. Hot Property struts up, kicking only dirt and missing the soldier. Kupita slashes the first soldier, giving him a slight wound on the arm. ::6dmg:: Soldiers three and four tackle the other knight, throwing him to the groundand stunning him. ::6dmg:: The first soldier counters with his baton, dealing Kupita 1 damage. Hot Property's Soldier wickedly bashes him with a strong blow.  ::6dmg:: Kupita comes to HP's aid, drawing her blade in a mighty arc across the second soldier's chest.  He groans, staggering backwards. ::11dmg:: As the knight fights his way to his feet, he trips one of his attackers, knocking the wind out of him and preventing his attack.  S3 suffers 1dmg. The first soldier takes advantage of Kupita's over-extension, striking her under the arm.  ::6dmg:: The second soldier follows his comrade, merely grazing Kupita with the baton. ::1dmg:: The remaining attacker swipes at the knight, dealing him a minor blow.  ::1dmg:: HP pecks the second soldier, drawing blood.  ::7dmg:: Enraged, the second soldier tries to step past his partner to bludgeon the chocobo but his wild swing catches the man across the neck instead. ::critical failure S1 takes 7 dmg:: The first soldier stands stunned... Kupita, sensing her chance, slices the second soldier viciously, taking him down. ::9 dmg, S2 defeated:: HP kicks at the stunned soldier, failing to connect. One soldier swipes at the knight, but misses. The Knight slashes his other opponent. ::4dmg:: The soldier counters, sending the knight staggering. ::5dmg:: The knight tries to counter his injury, but the soldier sidesteps, then strikes him across the back, sending him to the dirt.  ::5 dmg, Knight defeated:: HP pecks the first soldier, who falls to his knees, then slumps over. ::7 dmg, S1 defeated:: Kupita whirls, slashing the soldier who felled her partner, dealing him a fast slash. ::4dmg:: The remaining soldier cuffs Kupita. ::1dmg:: HP struts forward, sensing victory... he trips and sprawls out on the ground. The third soldier brings his baton down hard across Kupita's shoulder, numbing her arm.  ::5 dmg:: Kupita is weakened and flails harmlessly. The last soldier swings wide. Kupita rushes up to H.P.'s limp form, and cradles his head in her arms. ^^H.P., please don't die! I love you!^^ She says in Moogle. You're my only friend... she thinks. H.P.'s eyes flutter open, he tries to lift his head, a faint "Wark" escapes his beak. Then his eyes roll back in his head, his lashes flutter and he goes limp once again. ^^NOOOOOOOOOOO!^^ She stands up, tears welling in her eyes, "How could you!" She yells at the soldier. "You Monster! He was just a baby!" She manuevers herself to stand between H.P. and the Soldier. "Go pick on someone your own size!" She yells at him as she wipes the tears away. "I won't let you do anymore to him! Now back off, you big creep!" She squats down like a sumo Wrestler, sword ready. The din of battle begins to wane as the Soldiers gain the upper hand against the knights.  New soldiers stream out of their tents, rifles drawn.  From somewhere amongst the knights a cry of retreat rises.  As Kupita prepares to stand against her attackers, a shadow descends on them, bowling them over.  "To the rendezvous!" comes the voice of the High Lord from atop his black horse.  "Wake your bird," he says to Kupita as he sets his mount for a charge at a group of assembling soldiers.  The soldiers eye Brand and then skulk away. HP blinks, then hops to his feet, casting mean glances around.  "Grab that man," commands Brand, pointing Kupita to her unconscious partner.  After directing her to sling the man over her chocobo, he says, "We have to get out of here immediately.  They're sending in the tanks."  As if in emphasis, a blast shakes the ground.  He points Kupita into the forest and spurs his horse after. For some time they charge headlong through the forest, until their mounts are nearly exhausted.  Brand checks the status of their injured passengers.  After a far too brief rest, Brand insists on traveling again, but at a more moderate pace.  The forest thins, then gives way to plains.  "We're taking the long way around," explains the High Lord.  Soon, another forest comes into view.  Noting the coming of night, he says, "We'll camp there, and better tend these injured." Kupita takes H.P.'s saddle off of him. She runs her hands over his feathers, smoothing them down and feeling for injuries. She tends to whatever injuries she finds. She also wraps a bandage around his head, just in case. ^^Poor, poor H.P. You've over worked yourself. Relax and lay your head in my lap,^^ she says as she sits down in front of him. He does as she says and she massages his head, and plays with his feathers. ^^It could be worse,^^ she says, ^^You could be covered in...Cheese.^^ She whispers the last word. H.P.'s eyes widen in alarm. As Kupita unburdens HP of his saddle and unconscious passenger, Brand climbs down off of his horse and leads it to the forest's edge. "Stay alert, knight," he says, staring into the forest. He puts his hand to his head, concentrating. "There are people nearby. Wait for me here." He carefully makes his way into the forest. After looking over the other knight's minor cuts and bad bruises, Kupita begins to get bored. Brand's horse shies away when she tries to approach it. She tries coaxing it and even asks HP to do something. The horse finally gets tired of her antics and after snorting at her in disdain, takes off into the forest.   Kupita gasps. What have I done? My first day in this platoon, and I lose my commanders horse!  ^^H.P.! Come on! We need to follow St. Jalopei and get her back before Brand notices that she's gone.^^ HP trots over and Kupita climbs on. They fly after the horse. The horse tries her hardest, but can't seem to shake off the pursuing pair.  She doubles back twice, ducking through trees intent on slowing Kupita, but HP proved to be too agile.  Kupita jumped on the back of the horse while HP flew ahead, trying to force the galloping animal to stop.  Kupita nearly lost her grip on the reins as the horse stopped short, leaving HP hurtling into the darkness.  Before them stood Brand, his helm hiding his expression.  His voice made his displeasure very clear.  "Just what are you doing with my horse?" "Uh, High Lord, Hello." She nervously giggled. "I was just teaching St. Jalopei some new moves, you know, for battle. She how well she did!" Then she hollers to H.P.  "Okay, H.P.! You can come back now, the training is over." Brand looked around, watching the chocobo waddle back.  "Where's that other Knight?" he asks finally.  "And your saddle?"  There was a moan from the horse's saddle, where an unconscious werewolf dangled helplessly.  Brand rushed to the animal's side, checking his passenger.  "You could have killed him!"  He rounds on Kupita.  "What's your name, knight?  I'm as patient as the next man, but this kind of insubordination is intolerable.  New recruit, or not."  He gave Kupita a long look.  She still couldn't see his expression, but she knew she was in deep trouble. Another Stupid, stuck up authority figure. Well, I'll show him... "The name is Kupita, SIR... The other knight it fine. H.P.'s saddle was chaffing him, and you are the Sorriest excuse for a commanding officer I have ever encountered. When I signed up for this assignment I wanted glory and...and FUN! You lead us into a virtual kamikaze mission! You are just a big...a big CHEESE HEAD! KUUUUUUPOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" She says the last word as she swings herself back onto H.P. and runs back for his saddle. As fast as Kupita launches herself onto the back of her chocobo, she finds herself dumped harshly on the ground.  "Have a seat," says the High Lord.  He begins to unload the comatose werewolf draped over his saddle, laying him carefully on the ground.  Kupita sat dazed, while HP ran around in circles, confused.  "I didn't get where I am today by being stupid or slow.  You should remember who your friends are.  If they're as slow as you are, you should get new ones."  He breaks out some of his supplies and pokes around a terrible, bandaged gash across the wolf's chest.  He sighs.  "You're right about the skirmish.  If you want glory, however, you need to stay with me.  I need to tend these injuries or this one will die.  Your second needs treatment, too.  You may want to go get your saddle and your friend.  *You* may want to bring him where *I* can help him.  Your choice."  He breaks a leaf and pours some water from a skin, not looking at the moogle. Kupita mutters to herself. Then she and H.P. return for the saddle, and the knight. She places the saddle back onto H.P.'s back. She then proceeds to give H.P. a pep talk. ^^I've noticed that you aren't very good at flying yet. In fact, you can hardly even float. Frankly I think you need to practice. Back in that fight with the Mechs, you were lucky. I saw what you were doing. It was pretty much just flapping about. Now, I'm your coach. ONE, TWO, ONE, TWO, UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN!^^ As she gives the commands Kupita flaps hers wings up and down dramatically. H.P. Looks at her amused. "Wark wark wark," he says almost sarcastically. He then prunes his feathers a bit, and yawns. ^^Pay attention H.P.! What if we were to run into something worse than a mech. Something bigger and faster. You'd never be able to pull that same trick off a second time. You are a Black Chocobo. You were bred to fly. Now start flying!^^ At this Kupita ran at H.P. headlong. He simply side stepped her. ^^Oh you are infuriating! That's it, no kupo nuts for you until you start behaving yourself.^^ H.P. gives her a disgusted look. "Wark Wark!" he says defiantly. Then he trots over to the mostly dead knight laying on the ground and starts rummaging through his pack, looking for food. ^^Get out of there! That's not yours!^^ She starts after him. He grabs the Knight's pack, and starts running back towards the woods where they had just been with Brand. That bird is as bad as I am! Kupita thought with a laugh as she followed in hot pursuit. Kupita and HP played a strange mix of tag and hide-and-go-seek, slowly making their way back to Brand's camp.  They finally arrive to find the High Lord tapping his foot, waiting impatiently.  "All right, where is-- oh."  The injured knight staggers into camp, attempting a weak salute.  He is led over to the campfire and checked over.  "These wounds don't look as bad as I thought.  You'll be fine.  What's your name, soldier?" "It's... Kyle, sir."  The knight, Kyle, sits by the fire.  He doesn't say anymore and appears to have been traumatized. Brand grabs Kupita and examines her.  "You look like you're worse off.  Sit still."  He tends to her injuries.  "There, why don't you both try some of the tea."  ::Kupita, +4 hit points:: "Why don't we all try some of the tea," he says into the darkness.  "Spies or no, we can at least be civil."  He pulls a few small cups out of his horse's bags and begins pouring. The spies walk into camp, Kupita didn't even notice because she was drinking the tea. Kupita, looks up from tugging at her bandages, and upon seeing a werewolf standing in the middle of their camp, falls backwards off the log she was sitting on, ^^What the?! Whoa!^^ H.P. nudges her back up with his head. She leaps to her feet and pulls her sword nervously. She then proceeds to drop it in the fire. She pulls it out again, but it starts to burn her hand so she drops it a second time, this time it lands in the kettle of tea, making a splash but not knocking it over.  Oh, forget it! She thinks as she sits back down. H.P. Chuckles at her in his chocobo way, moving his head back and forth with a, "Wark wark wark wark!" ^^Shut up, H.P.^^ "Wark?" He sticks his beak in the air, turns around and kicks dirt behind him at her. She dusts herself off, retrieves her sword and pours H.P. some tea into a bowl. ^^I'm sorry H.P. Here, drink this.^^ As he dips his head down to scoop up some tea in his beak, she ruffles his feathers affectionately. The whole time looking over her shoulder at the werewolf and her companion. After he is done drinking she walks up to them and introduces herself. "I am Kupita, and my friend here is H.P. Who might you be?"

Forgive my slowness in updating.  It is an arduous task converting so many emails into an indepth story for you.  To the right is a picture of some excitement yet to be posted.  This is the dreaded King of Weeds.  It lives to kill and mame.  OR does it? Left is a picture of the Dreaded Thing from the Instant House.  It has strange morphing powers and can bend time and space.  He commands scores of Ferrets.  More to come.

"Well," The Werewolf said, as she started smiling a bit at the last comment and swirling her tea in a slow motion. "I am Isianu Veenous, sorceress extraordinaire and Mistress of magical beasts. I have fled my land to escape the tyranny of the warlock Bernuka and perhaps find a way to go back to my beloved country to restore justice to it. At the moment I'm merely trying to survive and not be caught up in this war that is brewing in this nation." Giving a glance at her injured companion she said, "I will not put words in my compatriot's origins or desires. He is his own man and I am not privy to all of his secrets." She then stays silent while Burke introduces himself and looks at Kupita in a condescending manner. "So little one," she asks as conversationally as she could, "You just joined this militia did you? What did you do before hand, certainly it wasn't fighting." A small smile plays at the corner of Brand's mouth throughout Isianu's introduction. When prompted, Burke glowers at the man, saying, "Name's Burke," and crouches uncomfortably at the edge of the firelight. The tea is bitter and it burns going down. It leaves everyone who drinks it feeling slightly nauseated for a brief moment. "The tea takes some getting used to, but it has saved lives many times," says Brand. "I care very little for local politics, but this is interesting. This Bernuka turned his army on one of your own cities. That poor soul," he says, pointing to the fallen wolf, "was a very specific target for assassination. It would seem he must be important to Bernuka... and therefore to you. His assassin is important to me." He looks at her shrewdly. "I offer you a deal. The poison may still grip him, since he hasn't awakened. I don't have enough...poultice to treat him again and he won't survive the trip to get it. I need to leave immediately if I want to save him. Someone with a stake in his survival should remain with him. I can be back within three days. What do you say?" Ignoring the conversation, Burke sneaks forward and sniffs the tea. He drinks some, looking around at the others. "Alright," Isianu said looking down at the prone werewolf, the looking up at Brand, "I'll do it. But I don't think it's such a good idea to stay out here in the wilderness for three days with two injured men. Also remember that Burke needs some healing. Is there a small hamlet or farm around here were we could shelter them and meet up with you later?" Isianu just stared at Brand, trying to gauge his reaction to her suggestion. She still didn't trust him, and three days would be plenty of time to call reinforcements to slay them easily. Kupita paced uneasily. This werewolf woman is a piece of work. She thinks she's better than me just because she caught us by surprise. I could surprise her if I took the notion. Big stuffed shirt. "Welcome to the group!" she said cheerfully, then she added ^^I hope you fall into a vat of Cheese!^^ Brand prepared his horse for departure. "Move if you have to, but keep the pace slow. The five of you shouldn't attract any attention. Everyone is... busy." He climbs on the horse, then says in rudimentary moogle, ^^Remember... Glory^^ He spurs the horse and is gone. Burke watches the High Lord's preparations and waits until he no longer hears the horse. "I could take 'im." He looks at the comatose knight by the fire. "What's his problem?" Then he shrugs and looks at Isianu and the moogle. "There were some farms and cabins this far north a long time ago. They were evacuated and burned after..." he looks down at the unconscious wolf. "After the slayings. The Baron s-- well, there's no convenient place to hide for some ways." He warms himself by the fire. "I don't doubt it. But I don't think we could withstand another squad of soldiers coming down our throats..." Looking back at her new teammates, she put her paws up in a defensive position, "No offense to your organization. It's just I know next to nothing about what's going on here and who I should put my trust in, especially in the dangerous situation I am in." She gazes over at Kupita, still taller than the fuzz ball sitting down, shrugs in her direction. "How about you Kupita, is it? Do you trust your commander as a man who would keep his word to a bunch of vagrants in the woods or just use them and arrest them? From what I saw of him, I would say the earlier, but I know that people are rather nicer to a big monster all alone in the woods..." "Although I really haven't known Brand too long, I believe he is trustworthy. His only concern is to rid the world of what he believes is its greatest scourge, Technology. I myself am indifferent towards it, in most cases. I joined up with him and his troupe so that I may have a grand adventure. I think that he is one who sticks with the "If you aren't with it, then you're against it" mentality. I suppose that the opposite is true as well. Anyway, if you will fight beside us, then he will have not reason to lash out at you. As far as arresting anyone... He definitely won’t do that. Most of the black knights that we are associated with are former criminals. Many of us still have the urge to cross the line. Brand included. I once saw him steal a man's sword, then when the man protested, he cut the man's arm off with his own sword, then beat him to death with his own arm." Kupita's deedalee-bobber quivered and her right cheek twitched as she said the last sentence. That should scare her! Kupita thought. Come to think of it, Brand probably IS capable of doing that. I'd better not tick him off again. Isianu sighed and nodded at the moogle's latest comment. "Well being a sorceress I'm not too fond of technology, mostly because the men that use it aren't disciplined enough to effectively use it. Other than that, I couldn't care less. I wouldn't worry about conflicting points of interest little one." Putting a paw under her chin as Kupita went on talking about Brand, she just said, "Hmmm. Well he actually cut it off instead of ripping his arm off before beating him to death. I guess that's a step towards civility. But what did you say about your unit?" Isianu asks leaning a little more towards the moogle. "A company of black knights? I might guess what they are, but what about a few specifics? What was your mission here, who do you serve, and are you part of a larger army?" "Well first off, our Army is called the Shadow Knights, I'm a member of the Green Wing. It is comprised of new recruits. Brand is our leader. You no doubt heard our argument about the mission. We trained well, but in real battle it isn't quite as simple. The Mechs we were fighting were faster than I was prepared for. If H.P. hadn't been there, I doubt we could have made it. Chocobos are SO much better than horses." "Wark Wark Wark!" said H.P. proudly. He trotted confidently around, and tripped over a root. Kupita laughed at him. "Wark!" He said as he stuck his beak in the air and wandered off in the other direction. "Quit acting so silly H.P.! It could've happened to anyone who wasn't watching what they were doing!" Kupita laughed again. Isianu just sat quietly for a while Kupita rambled on and her mount tried to impress her. The sorceress sat there for a silent moment looking at Kyle's wounds and the shape of the werewolf in front of her. "I take it these mechs are some sort of mechanical war machine? From the way your commander talked about it, that would be my first guess." As the moogle went to describe the enemy they had just faced, Isianu's mind was at two places at once. Nodding to Kupita's description of what they were facing, Isianu tried to change the subject. "Well if these things are still around, maybe we shouldn't spend the entire three days here. We should probably move a little into the woods, not to far, just to conceal our presence from unwanted visitors." Looking back down at the prone dragoon she commented, "I only hope in doing so we don't harm him." Kupita thought on it a moment. "I agree. Perhaps we could fashion a type of gurney to pull him behind H.P. I'd suggest just draping him over him, but H.P. is so accident prone I'm afraid he'd drop him. In fact, since Kyle isn't in the best of traveling shape, he can ride on H.P. A conscious man should be able to remain in the saddle. What do you say Kyle?" It was past dusk, and the events of the day were taking their toll on everyone gathered around the fire. Kyle turned away from the fire and stared blankly into the forest while Kupita and Isianu talked, eventually drifting off to sleep. Burke listened with interest to the werewolf and moogle's exchange. He snorted at Kupita's claim that her commander beat a man with his own arm. All the talk about dark knights was beginning to set him on edge. "Maybe... maybe we should think about resting..." he ventured, interrupting. "I wouldn't sleep without a decent watch set, so how about I take a watch and then the two of you can choose second or third?" He looks at the sleeping knight and smirks. Kyle snorted in his sleep, obviously not hearing any of the conversation. As everyone slept, or pretended to sleep, Burke kept watch over the camp. His thoughts drifted back to his childhood, to the stories about these woods. The Haywood. Stories about how all the woods north of the castle were haunted. And now he had a face to put behind the hauntings. The face of intelligent wolf people, who no doubt could come and go as they pleased inside the woods. Who could make people think they were seeing ghosts and frighten them away. Who could kill people and mutilate their corpses. His head hurt from so much thinking. He was supposed to be on watch and all he could see was her sharp teeth and that look in her eyes. He started, sure he heard something in the dark. Was it a voice? He was sure he heard voices. He cursed himself as a coward, ever since childhood he had been unable to prove to himself that he was worthy. His father a hero, and he could never measure up. The night passed uneventfully, with each hearing strange, almost voice like sounds. Clouds rolled in over night, on a breeze smelling of sea air. A light rain began to fall, deflected by the forest canopy. A Fog rose from the forest floor. Kupita was sitting near H.P., the chocobo sleeping soundly and refusing to take any share of the watch. "Leave... this... place,” said the ghostly voice. Kupita looked up, turned around. She blinked. She hadn't heard that. "Kupita," said the voice, raspy and melancholy. Kupita stood, apprehensive. "Good morning," boomed Kyle from behind her, causing the moogle to jump and stifle a scream. He smiled good-naturedly, carrying an armful of firewood. "Didn't mean to scare you. I was just getting firewood. Figured if we're going to be here a while, gotta have firewood. Great day, isn't it?!" Burke and Isianu awoke, groggy and sick. "Ugh," groaned Burke... "Feel like something trampled me. Didn't have any beer." He looks at the smiling Kyle suspiciously. "I'll find us something to eat." He leaves the camp for twenty minutes, leaving Kyle, Isianu, and Kupita awkwardly looking at each other. H.P. continues to sleep. When Burke got back, he fried up a number of sausages and served them with berries. "Eat up, we'll all feel better after..." The need for a plan hung over their heads as they prepared to breakfast. While the night passed uneventfully, Isianu had a hard time going to sleep. The cold, hard ground was quite a change from her Roc down, double thick mattress in her Empress sized bed. Despite the discomfort she endured and when the morning came she was hesitant to wake up. She stayed there, huddled under her blanket and went back to sleep. Soon the smell of browning meat wafted to her sensitive nostrils. Eventually she crawled out from under her blanket and saw her knight companion cooking breakfast. Taking a big whiff she commented, "Wow, smells good Burke. I didn't know you were a chef." Doing her best to daintily eat the sausages and berries with her paws. "Well," she said finishing her breakfast, "What shall we do now?" Looking down at the injured Lupine that hasn't moved since last night. "We should probably be concerned about keeping him safe until Brand comes back. Then concern ourselves with keeping all of us safe. Maybe Kupita should take that bird of her's and scout around the area to see if anybody is nearby or a spot that might be more inconspicuous. Preferably in the underbrush not too far away." Eventually her gaze went back to the injured knight, "Um, does anybody have any medical training, by the way?" Shaking his head as if to ward off his confusion, the injured werewolf on the ground finally managed to gruffly ask, "Who are you?" Burke was looking at his arm after Isianu's question. That was a pretty fine splint, if he said so himself. But he didn't. Instead he cooked. The sudden movement of the prone wolf took him by surprise, and he dropped a few of the 'sausages'. "Augh, the grubs!" he lamented. While the wolf backed away, Burke took the opportunity to scoop the grubs back up onto the pan. Kupita looks at the Werewolf. "Oh! He woke up." Then she walks towards him. "It's okay, we're all friends here." She says hands outstretched in friendship. "I'm Kupita. That there is my Chocobo, H.P. The men are Kyle and Burke, and the other werewolf is Isianu. We are waiting for my commanding officer to return, however we were thinking of moving out of this clearing and into the shelter of the forest. Are you well enough to travel?" Rubbing his eyes with the back of his paws the werewolf got rid of the last of his confusion. Extending his hand he shook the moogles smaller one. "Greetings. My name is Trent. Yeah, I'm well enough to travel. Excuse me, but how did I get here? I don't seem to remember much of anything of the last few days." Trent looked at the group questioningly one by one until he got to the female werewolf. Trent narrowed his eyes and looked sharply back at Kupita. "Did you say her name is Isianu?" "I am not entirely sure the circumstances behind you being so far from your homeland or what happened in the past few days. I can only tell hazard that, for some reason, you were attacked in your travels and these two," Said Isianu gesturing to Kupita and Kyle, "Saved you. Currently their commanding officer has gone to a nearby town to fetch some tonic to help your wounds. He should be back in another day or so, so I suggest you not strain yourself, you must be very weak from such a horrible ordeal." Pausing for a second at the last question, she looked the knight in the eye before responding. "Yes... my name's Isianu... But pray, we have not heard your name?" Noticing she was trying to stare him down, Isianu immediately glanced away hoping that he hadn't provoked him. "As I said, my name is Trent. My city was destroyed then I was attacked. I don't remember anything after that. Thank you both for saving me." Kupita blushed. "You're welcome! It was no easy task I had to use all I had! Swords were slashing, guns were booming, Feathers were flying (that was H.P.) and there I was saving your life! H.P. took out one of the giants all by himself. He attacked and then H.P. gave him a big hard peck and the thing just blew up! You should have seen it. He tried to take out a second, but I had to come to the rescue. But I must remain modest, if it weren't for my commanding officer, perhaps none of us would be here. They swarmed from all sides and he rode out of the darkness and frightened them off with just a glance. As I asked before, are you well enough to travel? There is something ill boding about this clearing. I had a nightmare last night that a voice told me to move on. I've never had a dream like that before. Most of my nightmares involve... I don't want to talk about it." Trent had to hide a grin as his gregarious companion rattled on. Trent carefully schooled his expression when she asked him if he could move. "I'm well enough to travel. I won't know exactly how bad it is until I try to do something but it seems well enough." "Well good knights," Isianu started, "If you are up to it, I suggest we start after Brand. The sooner we meet up with him, the better. We might run into some unfriendly people judging by Kupita's story, so we should stay a bit off the beaten path." Turning back to Kyle and Kupita, she asked "Do you know of the town he would have gone too, or just blindly head in his direction until we run into him?" Kyle answered the question. "Well, our orders were secret, but if the High Lord left us here together, he must have thought it was ok. I remember the map. The first rendezvous point was north of Goranthor, where there was a ship waiting to sail us around the mountains. If anything went wrong, we could meet up at the second point, on the other side of the mountains. He said since we knew..." he looks at Burke, then goes on, "he said we could pick our way south and go around... the city and then we could make our way back north. That's where we're supposed to go. I think he went ahead to get his healing herb. I know..." he pauses again. "I'm sure I can find the way." Kupita had a quick feeling of panic... She hadn't paid attention during briefing. North, up the eastern side of the mountains? That would bring her dangerously close to... home. Kupita shook off a bit of fear. She couldn't, she just couldn't go back there. Especially with H.P. at least not yet. True she fantasized about going home and destroying her parent's farm. But until she hones her skills a bit more she doesn't stand a chance against the moogle elder's guards. If it comes to it, she reasons, she can heavily powder herself, as to appear a white moogle. Perhaps no one would recognize her. But what to do about H.P.? Perhaps some Yellow paint... Burke was lost in thought. When she was sleeping, the first wolf was a monster. But when she was awake, it was hard not to believe that she wasn't just some noblewoman magicked into a beast's form. The second was worse; looking and acting just like a real soldier. Already he felt a kinship with the... man? Burke's headache came back, forcefully. He knew there was something important. Something was wrong. It was the Baron. Something was definitely wrong. He tried to listen to what Kyle was saying, but his thoughts wouldn't let him. Something was nagging him about this man, too. Burke put his hand to his temple and tried desperately not to think. Isianu winced a bit when Goranthor was mentioned; she had come so far and didn't want to go back. "Well, I would suggest the second rendezvous. I wouldn't suggest going through Goranthor, even if along the outskirts. They're not very tolerant of intruders, especially human intruders." Looking at an oddly worried Kupita, she continued, "I don't want to meet up with any werewolf patrols guarding the boarders. If you know of a safe way to get around those obstacles, I think it would be well worth it." "Here is how I see it," starts Kupita, "We need to move on, to find somewhere safe to camp. I say that we go south, following Brand. We'll be sure to find him because when he starts to return he'll find us! We'll run right into each other. Going south will also take us further away from the battle. WHO IS WITH ME?" She ends with almost a yell. Before any one answers, she starts packing up anything of value in the camp. She also adjusts H.P.'s saddle on him so that it is snug fitting. She climbs up onto H.P. "Onward to adventure!" She yells as she trots H.P. over to the edge of the forest, then she turns and looks at the others. "Hurry up! No time like the present." Kyle nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, let's go." He looked around himself. "Uh, I'm ready to go already." He walks over to Kupita and stands, expectantly. Burke looked at the two knights, fighting the urge to give them any grief. "Uh, what do you two think?" Isianu shrugged at this plan not really knowing what else to do. "It sounds like the best plan so far, and since these two know where he would be better than us. That and the sooner we meet up with Brand, the sooner we can get some where else..." She then goes over behind Kupita, but far enough to the side just incase HP had to 'drop' something. "I am willing to go if Trent is." Trent followed the conversation, but didn't talk as he didn't know much of what lay beyond his homeland. As Isianu finished speaking, Trent regarded her closely, unable to dispel the silent naggings he was feeling. "I have no reason to stay here anymore." Trent stated slowly. "So let's go." The party set forth, traveling the day through the forest, making their way south. With his injury, Trent moved slower than he might have even though it no longer really pained him. It just seemed prudent to avoid straining the wound. Other than Kyle and Kupita's chatter and the strange whisper like sounds of the forest, there is little to hear. A solemn quiet descended on them, until Burke finally broke the silence. "Probably ought to bed down for the night, if there aren't any objections. Don't know how much ground we covered, but this isn't a very big forest. South of here is a whole lot of open plain." He sniffs the air. Turning to face everyone, "I guess we keep going, but I don't know of any way to keep hidden on the plains." Trent growled disappointedly. He had really wanted to get as far away from his home as he could, but there was no help for it. "I think we better stop here." Trent finally stated, glancing at the others. "With my wound slowing us down there's a good chance we could get caught out there." For the longest time Isianu reverted back into her instincts of keep running and don't look back, staying quiet so as not to give Trent any ideas about her. Looking around at the clearing Burke has selected with a very critical gaze. "Well, I think this will do for tonight. Tomorrow, I guess we will just have to hope that the Blessed Pack doesn't try and test us." Sitting down on the grass, she dug into her pack and pulled out a ration, basically jerky with some bread baked on to it, and began to gnaw it. Eventually she noticed some of the others watching her eating. With a slightly odd look on her face, she drew out another ration from her pack. "Does anybody else want one? They're nothing much, rather tasteless, but they'll keep you alive. I don't know if anybody here knows how to hunt game or the like, so I didn't know if you would have wanted one." Burke went out foraging, bringing back more berries and grubs. "Plenty to eat in the forest until late spring. I'd hunt, but I... left my bow behind. And I'm an arm short, too." He listens. "I don't know if we want to risk another fire. These are just as good cold anyway." Kupita took her and H.P.'s shares of the berries and grubs. H.P. ate all of the grubs, stealing them right out of Kupita's hand and she started to eat them. ^^Eh! Go ahead and take them, I'm satisfied with berries.^^ Kupita ate them carefully and well guarded from H.P.'s greedy beak.