Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness

Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness

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Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Dream (GM)
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Mister Pig considers the wisdom of his friends, and is, once more, glad that they are with him. It hadn't occurred to him to wonder about what would happen if they were to kill this owl.

What would happen to all the other owls, several of whom he has never met, and could not, in all honesty, refer to as enemies? Worse... what would happen to him, and his friends, if they were to eat the flesh of the Queen?

Yes, nothing might happen. Yes, they might gain incredible abilities. Yes, they might suffer a terrible curse. He throws back his head and yowls at the sky.

The cats start forward, and the mouse army divides before them, like the parting of the rodent sea, leaving a clear path along the road. The feline adventurers break into a trot, doing their best to ignore the millions of small, squeaking snacks so close to paw.

For a long while the cats move quickly, and the army of mice still lines their way. Eventually they reach a point, though, where further forward progress is blocked. Instead, there is an opening to the side, leading into the forest. The brave cats turn aside, and a short while later they are finally beyond the confines of the army, though the sound of it can still be heard behind them.

Moving through the forest, they come, at last, to a wall. A high, brown wall, covered with patches of moss and ivy, curving away to left and right. Mister Pig studies it for a moment. "We must have gone the wrong way. The mice never mentioned a wall." He looks up, to see if the wall might be easily climbable. "Oh."

The wall, stretching away into the distance, is not a wall. It is, in fact, the base of an enormous tree.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syd looks up, then left, then right. " Whoa." he says, amazed that he cannot even define the subtle curve of the tree due to its overwhelming girth. He reaches out with both forepaws, digging in deep as he kneads and pulls at the bark. Always best to start with freshly sharpened nails before attempting a tree climb. After a few moments he settles back, licking the taste from between his toes as he attempts to capture a scale on his adversary by scent alone. With a tree this big, how big was her nest?

" Hopefully she roosts low." he says, looking up and knowing full well the next direction they must travel.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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"Dis reminds me uh a dream ah' had once. It wuz plum me and dis pizza, about da damn size uh dis puh'ennial woody plant. Best dream I've eva' had, until Ah' woke down hungry," Antonio states firmly and then looks up the tree, as if it was perfectly natural that it was this size.

"I wonda' which would wo'k best goin' down dis baby? Growin' t'giant size, o' growin' win's?" he muses.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Leon
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"Flying might be better." comments Leon. "The owl can fly, but I don't think they can attack flying things themselves." He doesn't add, Though that might only apply to regular owls.

"It would put us in a more even position with her, and it will be faster."

"Oh, and growing a little bigger might help too."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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As the cats discuss the best way to approach the upper reaches of the tree, they are interrupted by a harsh voice from one of the "lower" branches.

"My, my, it seems that I have visitors. Unless you are not merely visitors, but... worshippers, come to offer yourselves in my service?"

There is a movement, and an enormous pair of cruel yellow eyes are suddenly peering down at the group of cats. "Is that it, my little ones? You are here to serve me? I can think of no other reason that you would risk my displeasure by disturbing me."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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Looking up, Antonio looks at the big bird above. Nice size drumsticks, for certain, but perhaps not good to knock the old bird off her peg, as it might mean the end of all owls. Now, if the feathery fowl had been the doggie queen, well, that might have been different.

"Yo, lady. We serve no one but ourselves, and ya' know dat. Cat! Anyway, we dig it youse feastin' on dose little munchies, er, mice. You's realise ya' is goin' t'snatch away some big part uh my food if ya' do dat?" he calls up towards her, his tail curling up around him where he sits in the kind of casual way only a cat can.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syd retracts his claws, remembering their agreement to try more diplomatic means before tearing her feathers from wing. " What our friend here is trying to say, is that there has been some concern among the lesser population that you have been a little hungry as of late. They are concerned that if you decimate them entirely here, you will kill the food chain of the waking world." he says politely enough, sounding neither pretentious nor humbled by her prescence.

He looks to the sky admiring the stars a moment before returning his gaze to her majesty. " If its not too much to ask, might I ask why the sudden increase in appetite as of late? Are you troubled? Or do you have good news of little ones to care for now?" He asks, hedging it with a smile that seems to ask forgiveness for even having phrased the question (as any intelligent male would do when asking a female about her weight or appetites).

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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OGMO, who had been trying to sort out an alternative to growing wings or growing large simply because someone else had framed those two options first, is actually somewhat relieved at the arrival of the Queen.

Her nose wrinkles slightly at Syd's questions, but she stays quiet, looking up at the great Owl with curiosity.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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"I choose to hunt here, because I can." the owl replies, her eyes blazing with malicious glee. "Before, I was forced to restrict my appetite. Now I have discovered the... the motherlode. No longer will I restrict myself."

"The mice can not stop me, and their neighbours, even your own so-called King, simply don't care enough about the concerns of others."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syds face grows expressionless, and he continues to address her as an equal, despite the growing feeling of contempt for the gluttonous queen. ." First, let me say that you have not spoken with our King regarding the matter, so it is foolish to presume that you know of his feelings on the situation." The taste for feathers in his fangs grows stronger, yet still he persists along the lines of diplomacy. " Secondly, this will end, one way or another. Only change is constant. Either you will desist with reason and understanding, or you will eat the last one and find never another delicacy such as 'mouse' in your life, real or waking, ever again." He looks casually to the moon in contemplation, then says, " What I need for you to understand your Majesty, is that this was once heaven for mice. When they die, they come here, only to be reborn to the waking world once more. This would seem to be their only defense in maintaining their blood lines. By your actions, you have made it a literal Hell, and once the last morsel is eaten, there shall be an end entirely to their existance."

He looks her in the wide yellow of her eyes and adds, " Think for a moment about those closest to you.
How do you think they would feel about never being allowed to eat another mouse? Ever?"

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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"Let them eat rats." comes the reply. "And voles. And shrews, and lemmings, and squirrels, and chipmunks, and beetles, and cockroaches, and all the other assorted foods that the world provides."

"Besides... as you may have noticed, there are quite a few mice here. It will be some time before I could possibly eat them all."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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"Some time?" OGMO blinks, speaking suddenly, startled. "What is some time, to the very Queen of Air and Darkness?"

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syd shakes his head. She is a stubborn one. Looking up again, he tries a reverse logic. " Mouse is a flavor all to itself, and can hardly be replaced by another species." he begins, " Sadly, one downside of such a diet is the lack of variety. For how many eons can one eat mice before the craving for a nice fat chipmunk begins to haunt them? Really now, the same thing every day? Such a diet would suit a commoner, but is hardly suitable for the palette of royalty such as yourself."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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"By my estimate, based on what I've seen here, I'd say I could eat my fill of mice, every day for several thousand normal owl lifetimes before I made an appreciable dent in their numbers... and I believe that an owl, on average, can live two or three times longer than a cat."

The queen considers her position for a moment, then tilts her head towards Syd, "You may be correct. While I have not grown tired of mice, as yet, it is not beyond possibility that I might do so. Variety would add more interest, I suppose, and make those occasions when I did eat mice more... special."

She shakes herself, and brieflt stretches her wings. Beyond all reason, for she is, quite simply, not that big, her wingtips seem to brush the horizon at opposite edges of the world, and her eyes seem to briefly burn like golden suns.

"So... can you tell me where the domains of the rats, the squirrels, and the chipmunks are located, so that I can move to one of them, and only visit these delicious mice on special occasions?"

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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Antonio, having once again fought and won a brave battle, is happy to see that the others had talked sense into the feather fowl before he opened his mouth and forced them into fighting the winged menace.

"You's duzn't feed da bud dogs, do ya'?" he asks hopefully, but answers his own question the next moment, "Of course not, whut sane creature would?"

He sighs heavily and then smiles like only a cat can, right in the face off the Queen of Owls. He even manages to refrain from mentioning that she looks to be so fat she covers nearly the whole sky.

Then she cease to exist to him and he looks at the landscape around, wondering if he could find a few mice and pin the blame on the Queen before she leaves.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Leon
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Leon considers this latest development. It might be possible to persuade the owl to move somewhere else, but only at the expense of some other animal. Then again, why should they care what happens to rats?

Truth be told, he's only trying to help the mice so that they will get out of the way and let him past.

A thought occurs to him then, "You must have your own domain, here in the Dream? Was there not food for you there?"

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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OGMO wrinkles her nose, and sniffs. "Of course not," she says to Leon. "I'm sure she could not have provided herself any repast so tasty as the Emperor of Mice can offer."

She tries to keep her tone suggesting only Leon's foolishness, even if the actual words certainly seem to imply a failing in the Queen.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syd looks left, then right, then up. He sits gazing at her sheer size for a moment, and then asks quietly, " Your Majesty? How did you happen to find this one?" At this point he can only stall, as he doesn't have an answer for her question and is loathe to admit as much. He can only hope she found this place more intentionally than he did.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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"There was, and certainly still is, food in my own domain. But not in such high concentrations. I could find as much food as I needed, but not all of it was mice. Also, these mice were, at first, much easier to hunt, since they considered themselves entirely safe here."

The owl regards Syd thoughtfully for a moment, then answers, "How did I find this place? I found it perfectly delightful."

There is a horrible screaming sound, which, it becomes apparent, may actually be owlish laughter, "No... It was easy to find. We animal rulers know the locations of each other's territories, here in the Dream. The original idea was, I believe, that by knowing the territories, we could avoid trespassing on that of an old enemy."

Her gaze turns to Antonio, "Dogs? Why would I feed dogs? Unpleasant noisy creatures. Disgusting too."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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"Dat's 'esactly why ya' should feed on dem! Right on! But da damn taste be of course 'esactly why ya' shouldn't feed on dem," Antonio explains with a happy grin.

"So, ya' hunt here cuz' ya' do not enjoy de drill uh de hunt? Ah' see. Me, Ah' love t'hunt, t'show how supuh'io' Ah' am by hangin' dat, instead uh pickin' de trash fo' food," he says with a bored yawn and begins to wash his tail.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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"Well... when you put it like that... " the owl replies, blinking at Antonio, "It is easier to find mice here, rather than, say, rabbits, or lemmings. It certainly isn't a challenge."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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"Exactly. Me, Ah' love some baaaad challenge, but, Ah' mean, it be not fo' everyone. Snatchs determinashun, puh'sistence and some fair bit uh know-how," Antonio comments in-between two yawns. "Test uh skill and cunnin', it is. Best spo't dere is."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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OGMO gives Antonio an interested look, but stays quiet. His rather curious parlance actually seems to be getting through...

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Leon
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Seeing Antonio's plan, if the other cat, indeed, has one, Leon quickly confirms what is being said.

"Hunting has often been regarded as a noble pastime." he adds, "Are you a hunter, pitting your wits and wisdom against cunning prey, or are you content to take food which is no more difficult to catch than grass?"

Laying down, he tucks his feet in under him, and curls his tail around, close to his body.

"Which do you suppose would be the mark of a true Queen of Air and Darkness?"

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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"'Tis true enough," OGMO says, academically speaking, "The name does not immediately bring to mind a Cow. But if one takes the white markings to signify Air, and the black spots Darkness, perhaps there is sense to it."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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The owl ruffles her feathers, and gives herself a good shake, before settling down again. "I suppose that you could be correct. The fact that mice are so easy to come by here might, perhaps, diminish my stature."

"So, I am left with a decision... To stay here, and guarantee that I will eat the choicest of foods for every meal, while living the easy life... or return to my own realm, and prove myself a great hunter, but accept the fact that I will not always dine on mouse."

The great yellow eyes blink, slowly, and stay closed for a long while, before opening again. "The one is good for my stomach, and the other is good for my status."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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"Dat's no choice, lady. Slap mah fro! Like all doodads rare, dey is far mo'e precious, and valued," Antonio says while studying a particularly stray tuft of fur on his side that repeatedly receives a lick during the battle to level it.

"Beside, all de oda' queens and kin's would soon claim dey scared ya' away," he then mutters nearly too low for anyone to hear, but with the hearing of the owl, it is dead given she will hear it.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syd only nods and smiles up at the Queen as his friends state a perspective that makes her current actions seem unregal and beneath her station. Appealing to her Ego, always a good tactic with those of great power, for what creature doesn't appreciate a little flattery once in awhile? He settles back to sit, looking up at the stars overhead and then back to the luminous glow of her eyes. She truly was an impressive looking bird, and despite the fact that her mouth was smaller than her eyes, he had no doubt the talons clasping the branch beneath her would more than make up for it.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Queen of Air and Darkness (NPC)
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"You make a very compelling case. One which, I will admit, I had not considered previously."

The Queen falls silent, yellow eyes almost glowing with the intensity of her thought. Finally, after several minutes, she looks down at the cats. "Catching the mice here is easy, and I do dine exceedingly well."

"Ultimately, though, they would become unsatisfactory, after some long, albeit finite, period of time. You are correct. I will return to my own domain, where I will live the life of the great and regal huntress that I am."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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OGMO gives a small bow of her head. "We are pleased we could serve you," she replies. "I look forward to hearing tales of your prowess in the future."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Leon
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Leon relaxes. It seems that they will not have to fight the owl, after all.

This is possibly for the best. While she would not be in the same league as the King, she would almost certainly be very powerful, and trying to beat her physically, or with dream magic, would probably end up with a lot of the participants in the battle being hurt.

Even the winners.

"You are certainly wise." he says, addressing the owl.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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"Right on."

Antonio sounds more enthusiastic than he looks where he sits calmly watching, and then nearly yawns again. Maybe he and his friend can have a taste of a regular owl, either in here or in the waken world. This one would be too much feathers to get rid off, and make an awful lot of noise before she went down anyway.

Why make more an effort to bring down food than needed, when it comes to snacks. This, of course, he does not tell the owl.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Dream (GM)
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The owl spreads her wings, once again seeming to grow to vast proportions, as if to cover the whole sky from one horizon to the other, and her yellow eyes blaze, bright as suns. "Very well. I shall depart immediately, of my own free will, for my own territory."

There is a gust of wind, almost sufficient to throw her feline audience aside, and she falls from the branch, only to arrest her descent, and angle away through the woods, diminishing to a more manageable size as she goes.

Her eerie, shrieking call carries back to to the cats, just once, long after she has disappeared from view.

Mister Pig has remained silent through the entire conversation, his eyes as round as saucers, and his tail tucked beneath him. He heaves a sigh, "I'm very glad it didn't come to a fight with her. I'm not sure we could have beaten her."

A moment later, and there is a rustling in the grass, as several mice appear. One of them rears up, and speaks, "On behalf of His Most Lofty and Exalted Emminence, the High Emperor of All Mice, and of the Glorious Eternal Rodent Empire, I am authorised to grant you free passage through these lands."

"However, said free passage will be extended for the duration of one crossing only."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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OGMO walks closer to the mouse, and blinks down at it. "It is as the wise say; if you wish a job done right, you must ask a cat." She reaches out and delicately places a paw over the ~~squeaker's~~ speaker's tail. "I recall correctly that there were no prohibitions to our hunting, throughout this free passage?" she asks, conversationally.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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"Lady, ya' took de wo'ds right out uh my moud. Shall we start da damn hunt afta' eatin' dis one, o' shall we start it by releasin' it?" Antonio purrs quietly as he slides up next to Og, focusing all his attention on her rather than on the mouse. Brushing up lightly against her his tail flicks up and does a little dance of its own, quite unlike the tail held down by her.

After all, she was far more interesting than a dream-mouse.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syd grins as OGMO captures the little messanger, and he saunters over, crouching low to get at eye level with the helpless little rodent. " What is the ettiquette when the host is actually more of a morsel than the offer of his hospitality?" he asks no one in particular. Reaching slowly up, he unsheathes the claws of his right paw, and then suddenly slams it down only inches from the the little mouse caught under OGMOs grasp. He smiles wider, enjoying the fun of playing after having just suffered through such a stressful moment in his life. That damned bird was BIG, and he was never really sure his reputation could have survived the fight considering his opponent. " Lets let him go..." he says, pausing to enjoy the expression of hope in the mouses beady little eyes at his words. " ...and then see who can catch him first." he adds with a malicious purr.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Dream (GM)
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The mouse freezes in OGMO's grasp, and seems to do its best to ignore the danger it is in.

"Certainly, cats such as yourselves are less of a danger to my people than that owl was. Your own appetites, for exaple, can be satiated... your hunger would be gone long before all the mice in the Glorious Eternal Rodent Empire were. In her case, that was not such a surety."

The mouse gazes at each of the cats in turn, and there is something approaching amusement in its tiny eyes, "Considering that owls are famed, among humans, at least, for their supposed wisdom, you demonstrated more of that quality than she did."

"All aspects of the agreement are still in effect. However, I would suggest that eating me, specifically, might not be such a good idea. Only the High Emperor can grant you free passage through this land, and my successor might choose not to honour the agreement."

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Antonio
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Antonio lets out some kind of chuckle, although he seems quite occupied with his right front paw and not even seeming to listen to the mouse.

Then he places the paw on the ground and yawns, wide and long before getting up and starting to saunter off casually, but purposefully. He does not look back.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Leon
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Leon sighs, thrashing his tail in irritation, as he glares at the mouse pinned beneath OGMO's paw, "I believe we have wasted enough time here. The road is open to us now, and time may be running short."

He starts to follow after Antonio, also not looking back.

"Coming?"

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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OGMO leans down closer. "You are, yourself, the Emperor of Mice?" she asks, curiously, not immediately turning to follow the others.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by The Dream (GM)
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"Yes." the mouse replies, in its tiny voice. "It seemed prudent not to reveal that fact while the owl was about, since my death would have left my people bereft of leadership, even if only for a brief period, during a crisis."

Mister Pig watches the situation with some interest. Prior to this he had never met any of the rulers of the animals, in his life. Now, in the space of a single visit to the Dream, he has met the King of the Cats, spoken with the Queen of Air and Darkness, and performed a mission as a personal favour for the Emperor of Snacks... er... Mice.

Mister Pig is associating with royalty. His mother would be so proud.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by OGMO
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OGMO wrestles with herself for a moment. She's long wondered what the effect might be, of eating one like this in the Dreamlands. In the waking world, meat is, by and large, only meat, but in Dream, the long tradition of consuming one's enemies to gain a measure of their power has merit...

However...power is a curiosity; the quest for it, a tantalizing and distracting ball of string. There are more important things.

She lifts her paw from the mouse, blinking her eyes slowly. "A decision of wisdom, bravery, and cunning, if true; a bluff on the same order, if not. It is my honor to have met you." With a final twitch of her tail, she turns to follow Leon.

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Re: Part 6 - The Queen of Air and Darkness by Syd
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Syd inwardly sighs as OGMO releases the little emperor, and then he turns with a grin and shakes his head. It seems no royalty would be caught within his claws this day, so Syd shrugs it off and quietly follows his friends as they continue their journey to the well. Once again on full alert with eyes and ears, he forgets mice and looks for Boggins as they walk.

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