OOC[What's this? A Zedd add? ... Celebration! Yay! Hooray! ... um... stuff!]

BIC:

"So, these fellow 'companions' of yours," Gwyn pressed on the little girl, "what did they look like?"

"Look like?" she repeated. "Well, Rook, is my brother. He looks like a boy," she vaguely described, "with a scaly kitty. The other one is pointy and green and stinky." Gwyn ap Knudd kept his eyes focused ahead. "W-why?" Not answering the question, the Overlord galloped ahead, his pack leading the way. 'Ticu saw something in the distance which the hounds swarmed over. She dashed in pursuit, curious to the dogs' quarry.

"What by home?" questioned the Master of Annwn, pulling his beasts away from what they had chased. "Is this a ... stick?"

"I'm no stick," it fiercely protested. "I happen to be a log, thank you very much."

"Oo, a talking log," cheerfully exclaimed Articuno. "Hooray!"

"So, this be one of your companions?" the lord of the Otherworld assumed, holding the log up for closer inspection.

"No, m'lord, I have not met this human today," it humbly spoke to his king. "The one I encountered was much more rude."

"Rook?" the girl gasped, knowing it had to be her brother. "Did he look like a boy?"

"Er... yes?" Filled with glee, she pleasantly danced about, knowing that her brother could no be far away.

Meanwhile, very far away, Rook and Koumori wandered aimlessly, receiving no helpful advice from the faerie couple, as well as no hospitality since it was all "spent" by their prior visitor and new baby.

"Are you sure you know where we are going?" questioned the Tatzelwurm for at least a third time.

"Of course! I know exactly where we are going," the lad poorly lied, walking through the thick mist with his hands out to stop him from running into anything, which did not save him from tripping.

"Gods strike it all!" a familiar voice cursed from the obstacle of his defooting.

"Bimblesnaff?" he shouted in disbelief. "What are you doing out here? Weren't you taking a log's place or something?"

"Oh, Rook, 'tis ya. Yeah, I was," he explained, but then abruptly stopped. "Is yer... sister wit' ya?" A harsh stare urged him to continue with the tale at hand. "I was, but changlin's are very well prepared for in these parts. I tried goin' into a forest to find a gate to Annwn, but it turns out this guy I got the info from sendin' me into a trap. All the villagers had there... ahem "preparations" made for makin' my true parents to take me back." Rook, now suspiciously eyeing the lunatic, made a humorous observation.

"What's that on you," he questioned, "is that-?"

"Yes," bluntly agreed the goblin. "Yes, it is that. Can we drop it already."

"Do I smell salted shovel beatings and poo?" asked Koumori.

"So then," Rook continued in between fits of laughter, "the fey parents saved you from the treatment?"

"Oh, my no, they couldn't care less," the fiend corrected. "They just eventually got tired and left."

"Then... how did you get here?" Unsure one how exactly to answer the question, a sudden and convenient parting of the fog revealed them to be standing near the shore line. Visible from their position was a sign out in the water reading, "Welcome to Annwn! Walk on in... apparently," on which perched a small wyrm with chewed feathers protruding from its mouth. Full from its recent meal, the creature could only manage a growl that sounded like the cross of a yawn and roar.

"Geeer! Geeeeeer!"

"Stupid bird," grumbled Rook tossing a small stone at the rather stupid post. "I wonder where Ticu is?"

"Me too! OUCH!" agreed the poo-beaten ghobling.

"Hey! I've got an idea!for once... We could use our familiars to sniff her out! I hope... Let's give it a shot Koumori! ...and Floppy."

"Flophop," corrected Bimblesnaff. In any case, it worked. Due to Bimblesnaff's horrid stench, anything else could be picked out. They soon found themselves in the dense fog again. Rook and the ghobling each clung to their familiars, so as to not get lost again. Everything seemed the same, until they reached the talking log again.

"Oh it's... the log," Rook struggled to find what to call it by.

"I have a name, you know. It's George."

"That's not a very fitting name in this place," stated Rook.

"Well Bimblesnaff's not very fitting in this place, either!" the log protested.

"Right," agreed Rook. "Well, anyways, I'm looking for my little sister. Have you seen her?"

"Yes,--"

"Which way did she go, George?" interrupted Bimblesnaff.

"Keep yer trap shut and I'll tell you! She went North, to the Palace," it answered.

"Which way's that?"

"Your left"

"Thanks" and with that, they were off.

Meanwhile, Articuno had arrived at the palace.

"Articuno! It is time to give you the crystal." said Gwyn.

"Really? Great!" then' Gwyn opened the door to his mystic treasury. She started to dash in for the Crystal, but Gwyn stoped her.

"As keeper of the crystal, it is my duty to make sure that you are worthy of saving the world,"

"I am! I am!" she whined.

"Then prove it. Defeat me!" with that, he drew a spear from behind his back and lunged at her...

Ticu let out a piercing cry as the lord bore down upon her. The hero froze, failing to do anything other than raise her hands in defense and close her eyes. His swift lance could be heard cutting the air, and then, the distinct clank of metal on stone.

And nothing happened. She mustered enough courage to pry open one eye, and still, she saw nothing.

"Am I..." wondered Ticu, "dead?" The girl was answered by the only sign amid the dark; two, glowing eyes brimming with a cool, starlit aura permeated the shadows and approached. A braver warrior would have cringed from such an omen approaching in the dark, but she knew it to be nothing more than her familiar.

"I applaud you, child," Gwyn praised. "Quite some power lies in that small puffball of yours." The eyes turned face to the voice, directing Ticu to where her opponent stood. "But now, we are both blinded. Neither of us is at any more a disadvantage; I'll still win."

Diamond waddled back, signaling the hunter's approach. Ticu slowly side-stepped out of his path, careful to make no sound. She could hear the frantic thrusts of Knudd's spear, she could see from her familiar where he stood, she still could not strike him to any effect.

"Unless..." wondered the girl. She attempted to hold forward the weapon that had been largely ornamental to her; Gungnir glistened in the black, night air. She took it up over her shoulder and pulled down on the shaft, hurtling it forward with no aim other than that Fate decided for it. The hunter screams were followed soon by the ringing of the spear against the floor.

"Clever again," commented Gwyn, "but now I am afraid I cannot go so easy on you." A whistle came from the unseen figure, summoning a pack of shimmering images throughout the darkened room. Then, a strange, eerie light came from ap Knudd's spear, held high in the center of the room.

Ticu ran straight for her spear lying next to the hunter. One of the hellhounds rushed in her way, snarling at the girl as she passed straight through it. Steps from Gungnir, the young girl was caught, falling just short of reaching the handle. She looked back, seeing only the grim glow given off by Gwyn ap Knudd's spear spiked through her loose, nondescript garment.

"But how did you-"

"Not so much fun when a magic spear is used, is it?" posed Gwyn, secretly holding his stab wound. Before ap Knudd could finish her, the palace door burst open. The silhouettes shone in against the outside light: a sniveling, pointy humanoid; a small, round, horned beast; a lumbering, snarling wurm; and the last was most familiar to Ticu, and someone she had longed to see again.

"Log!" she gleefully exclaimed.

"Hey!" protested her brother.

"I have a name, y'know," interrupted George.

"Why is that thing with us again?" asked Koumori.

"This isn't the orphanage," whined Bimblesnaff, removing his baby bib with a baby depicted on it.

"Heeeeelp!" shrieked Ticu, who was about to beat a very young end due to her fellows' distractions. Diamond came to her keeper's aid, launching an non-lethal but disrupting lozenge of freezing dew onto the hunter. The girl tore her vestment free from the spear's point and reunited with her brother and companions.

"What's going on here?" said a bewildered Rook.

"A battle," announced the Lord of the Otherworld, "to the death!... or for the crystal... probably for the crystal and not that whole 'death' thing."

"You were fighting a little, defenseless girl?" questioned Bimblesnaff. "You're my new hero! Sorry, Log, but you had a short reign over that spot."

"Awww," George complained.

"If you want a fight," told Rook as he approached Gwyn ap Knudd, unsheathing his blade, "right here."

"Watch out for his spear!" Ticu shouted. "Don't worry about the doggies."

"Really? How come?" he returned, distracted just long enough to be tackled quite tangibly by several of the hounds. "Ouch! My stability!" cried he as he fell.

"Um... never mind."

“Gah!” Rook cried out as he tried to swing his blade at the hounds and roll away. Koumori attempted to help by swatting them away, but too many kept on pouncing onto Rook. Bimblesnaff, Flophop, and George were soon in a similar predicament themselves, leaving Articuno and her familiar alone to face off against the hunter.

Articuno attempted to approach Gungnir again, but stopped when she saw Gwyn ap Knudd eyeing her every move, spear at the ready. Out of the corner of her eye, Articuno also saw Diamond moving away and behind the hunter, out of his sight. She decided to take the chance and cautiously approach.

“No more tricks?” Gwyn asked. “Then, prepare to meet your end!”

With that, the Lord of the Otherworld charged straight at Articuno.

“Now, Diamond!!!” she cried as she dove to her left.

Her familiar responded immediately, showering the hunter with the icy dew and throwing him off again. Articuno quickly regained her posture and ran to Gungnir, finally taking it up in her hands again.

“It looks like you do have a worthy partner.” Gwyn commented after the blow. “But now, both of you will go down!”

"Dammit! I'm sick of all these friggin monsters attacking me! Most of 'em shouldn't even be able to touch me! Ow, my logic! Koumori! Them things are spirits! You can't hurt 'em like that! Get Balmung!" he ordered Rook" Koumori lept over the pile of monsters and hraped the great sword in his claw and gave a mighty swing, sending the hellhounds flying. "Thanks," said Rook taking Balmung. He rushed over and swung at Knudd, but missed. Instead, he hit Knudd's spear, sending it flying into the air, and sticking into the ground. Knudd ran to grab it, but as he leaned forward to grasp it, Rook's boot met him in the chin. He was knocked onto the ground, but before he could get up, Rook had his sword to his neck.

"You have passed. You may claim the crystal as yours. I admit defeat. You win," with that, said, he called off his Cwn Annwn, and Bimblesnaff, Flophop and George, who were about to get the holy hell kicked out of them, got up. Well, except George, since he was a log. "Now, let's proceed to the treasure room!" said Knudd getting up from off the ground.

"TREASURE!?!?!?!?!?" screamed the ghobling, and they headded off...