Ze she-wolf 'twas seeking ze hermit, but failed... in ze tower of ze castle however she niticed ze wild raven pecking ze window to get her attention.
So she snuck outside without anyone's notice.

******

"Zen 'twas Joe?" she asked after ze raven described what had happenned.
"Indeed," he replied, "and now you are faced with another choice wolf... his army is not on any specific sides..."
"Aye, but I'm no mercenary."
"You're no minion, either."
Ze wolf looked at her freind, he was right, but she was so confused.
"I don't know... It seems like everytime I start to figure out who's side I'm on, something happens and I'm never really sure..."
"Then you're a loner." He said gravely. Her eyes sparked in fear and in mystery. "But you are a different loner... I've been watching you wolf... you're an oddball few of your kind are cut out to be away from their own, but you have thrived in doing so during ze Spoiler Wars. Yet you are feircly loyal...but you always put your morals-and your instincts- first."
The she-wolf nodded, she was starting to understand.
The raven continued...
"Be wary, Wolf, there is talk of a battle on the horizon... Further more your own loyalties will be questioned if they saw you with me..."
"You not one of their minions..."
"But they don't know the difference. It is better for you if I go..."
"Please, don't... I may be a loner, but I still need a freind I can count on."
"Alright then, Lone-Wolf. I will help you, great things are happening, but the forests are in danger...You can help us- I can feel it."
"But why me?"
"Is that not what they always ask?"
She looked at him bewildered...
"You must, make your choice wolf, what will it be, the tower, the castle, or the guild?"

She looked at him, and suddenly she knew...

"AAAHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And ze almost eerie, yet somewhat triumphant howl echoed across ze land...

Once again with appropriate lights and sound effects, Lady A reappeared.

"The mutiny in the Wyrm's castle," she announced, "is small. And he is not coming here--he is attempting to build his own Overdom, it appears. However, the Tower has been weakened by this internal conflict, and the conflict is beginning to spill out. While I wish we could have more time to train, we cannot."

The Lady frowned and looked around.

"I fear Joe's desertion will do more harm to the cause of light than any of us think."

~~

Lady A smiled at Cpt. P. Took.

"I think our baristas have been falling like flies lately, or falling out of order, so I would most appreciate a Master of Refreshments and Baristas. I would be honored to have you fill that role. It is very important to the castle, and I believe it is quite suited to being in your capable hands."

~~

Button ran into the courtyard, her tail somewhat reminiscent of a bottle brush.

"What is going on??" she exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at wolf.

Pattertwig's Pal listens to Lady A's report. Her heart sinks. Of course she is willing to do her part, but things are happening so fast. She looks down at her shinny new sword and realizes how untrained and unskilled she is in the area of warfare. She overhears Lady A. give Captain Peregrin Took the title of Master of Refreshments and Baristas. Pal makes her way over to Captain Peregrin Took. "Hello," she says. "I don't think we've officially met. My name is Pattertwig's Pal. I also go by Pal, PP, Miss Monday and ... actually I'll answer to almost anything. I heard Lady A. give you your title. I by no means want to take over your job, but I wondered if you could use some help. I don't know a thing about coffee, but I'm a very good baker and a pretty good cook. Most coffee bars have baked goods right? I don't feel I'm ready for battle yet. I might have beginner's luck, but I rather doubt that. I think it would be much safer and more useful for our side if I don't go to battle until I'm properly trained. Based on my athletic ability that could take awhile. I do want to do something to help though so well ... I thought I'd see if there was any use for me in an area I'm skilled in." Pattertwig's Pal looks hopefully at Captain Peregrin Took.

"Button," ze wolf replied ignoring his question- she felt he deserved zat after ze sarcasm he gave her, "I have yet to claim a weapon for myself, do you know if ze Queen would be willing to give me one?"

Ze raven was perched high above and out of site, but watching everything.

When Lady A vanished, Pippin did a double take then cried aloud, "Oh no! She's gone!"
Lady C was immediately reminded of an ancient tape her little sister had once had that was ballet stories read aloud by a real ballerina. She was one of the worst readers Lady C had ever heard and the very most infamous line on the tape was a wooden exclamation of "Oh no! She's gone!" She and her siblings had quoted that for years.
However, the possibly severity of the current disappearance helped her bring her imagination under control. "She'll probably be back in a minute Pip."
"But she's gone!" yelped Pippin frantically, "People don't just disappear into thin air!!"
Lady C laughed, "Then you don't know Dittopia, my dear Pip-er-roni!" (that nickname came from his "peperoni" spot on his back).
Pippin seemed unconvinced, but merely shifted nervously and watched the spot where Lady A had stood attentively.
Lady Courage took this chance to move closer to the wall of bows. She lifted down a long bow that was out of a pale wood, stroked it, then put it back. She tried another one out of a darker wood and put it back. Finally, after much searching (during which Pippin had not taken his buggy eyes off of the spot where Lady A had stood), she found a solitary short bow of a very dark wood, that was about the same height as the measurement between her hips and the top of her head. It was a double recurve of graceful proprotions, though its curves were somewhat sharp. Lady C's eyes lit up and she quickly strung it, unoiled though the string was. Gently, she pulled back the string and took aim at Pippin's bulls-eye, which is the spot right on his tail. He did not notice and she let down the string softly, never taking her fingers off it, because it is very bad for the wood of a bow to be "shot" without an arrow in it.
She next chose a long bow which was of a dark wood, but not as dark as the double recurve. Then came a quiver to sling over her back, but she did not take any arrows. Next came a belt, on which she hung two long knives, about the size of bowie knives but more graceful in shape. She was grinning like a kid in a candy store, but unlike a kid in a candy store, did not continue grabbing weapons. Here she stopped and turned to face Pippin, who was still staring at the spot where Lady A had stood.
Then, suddenly, Lady A reappeared and stated her news gravely. Lady C was, however, delighted at the job which Took had procured for herself and was grinning again. Pippin on the other hand, had not forgotten her promise to him and after jumping up and wagging his tail, pranced to Lady C and put his paws up on her. "Ok! She's back! Let's go! You promised!" he yipped excitedly.
"Yes, yes, I know," said Lady C, brushing him off her leg. She moved towards Lady A with Pippin dancing at her heels and stood nearby, waiting for her chance to speak. When it came, she asked, "Lady A, do you happen to have any sort of portable force field generator? I'm thinking that it needs to be under 16 oz. Also, do you have any, say, gravity negation devices? Or maybe just a jet pack? That would have to be under 16 oz too."

((OOC: Button is a girl. ))

"Of course she will," Button giggled. "Mind answering my question?"

~~

Lady A smiled.

"I'm sure we can find something quite appropriate, and if we can't find it, we'll make it. For what exactly do you want this items?"

She took Lady C's arm and linked it with her own.

"Let's talk about it as we go to dinner. Oh! Yes! Before everyone heads to dinner, be sure to grab a comlink/communicator."

A soft breeze was rustling in the out-doors, warm and sweet, it curled dry crumpled leaves up in it's arms. Lon walked down a dirt path, her hair whisking about in the mid-day wind. Ahead of her she saw the glinting of a magnificent castle in the sun, it's turrets of ivory and gold sparkling like gems. She smiled and quickened her pace, her heart beating a bit faster, wondering if the Great Lady Arwen would except her into her home. Ever since the War of the Over-Domes had begun she had staid back from the impending fights, pledging allegiance (quietly) to Lady Arwen but not officially 'joining' either side.

Her feet brought her to the great doors of the splendid castle and she stood staring up in silent awe at it's beauty. She faintly wondered if the doors were locked or if she should entered at all without permission. She reached up a hand to touch one of the golden handles.

((OOC: oops sorry ))

"Well," ze wolf said, "I wasn't gonna tell you since you've had quite a nasty attitude with me recently, but since you asked... One of my wild bird friends and I were having quite a philisophical conversation, which answered a question that has been driving me mad for sometime now, and I got the sudden urge to howl once it was finally put to rest."

Ze wolf walked out of ze room and back to where ze others were... She approached Lady A carefully...

"Your majesty," she asked, "do you have any weapons that would be of use to a wolf?"

Lady C grinned with gratefulness at the Lady's reply and took the comlink someone handed to her as she cheerfully thrust her arm into the link Lady A initiated. "Well, Pippin here-" she gestured with her thumb towards the dog prancing behind her and wagging his tail "-would really like to do something helpful like the rest of us. So... I'm trying to think of something useful that he can use, will keep him safe and, for now, is non-lethal." She glanced at Pippin with a smile. Pippin's tail slowed in it's wagging ever so slightly, as he tried to determine whether "non-lethal" was a good thing or a bad thing.
"I was thinking that I could try to combine the two to make a little protected flying backpack of sorts. Maybe he could carry messages for me, or something."
Pippin's tail wagged furiously.
"However, I have some doubt in my mechanical abilities..."
Pippin's tail froze and he looked rather alarmed.

Luke and Leia, out on their hourly patrol, heard a slight noise outside the doors. They looked at each other, shrugged, and were about to move on when they heard it again.

"Sit up and let me stand on your shoulders," Leia whispered. "I can look through the keyhole that way."

"You be on the bottom this time! I never get to look!" Luke retorted, not so quietly.

"That's because I'm a lot lighter than you are! And beside, I'm a girl."

"And what difference does that make?"

"I means I'm more capable," Leia replied, sticking her nose in the air.

"Oh yeah?" Luke crouched, his tail beginning to whip back and forth. "Then take THIS!"

He sprung at her, knocking her over and against the wall.

"No fair! I just took a bath, and my fur is all clean!" Leia shook herself and looked with disdain at her dusty (and a little muddy) coat.

"Oh, poor you. Maybe Button will make you take another one."

"You're gonna be just as bad off, buster. Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ya!"

Luke sprung backward, accidentally hitting the disabled person door open button thing. The door swung dramatically back, revealing to Lon two cattens very intent on fighting with each other. As they heard another noise, they stopped, and looked at her, wide eyed.

"Uh....Meow?"

~~

Button sniffed.

"Nasty attitude, eh?" she asked. "Believe me, if you think I'm nasty now, you wouldn't want to see me when I'm actually annoyed or anything. It could be deadly. Anyway, glad you got your answer."

Lady A looked down at Wolf.

"Greetings! We were just discussing building custom armaments for our four footed friends. Perhaps you can give us some input, since you would be one of our first friends to wear it. The cats have their own, but, they're so tiny, I'm not sure if they would be effective for anything over seven or eight pounds." She turned to Lady C, and nodded at Pippin. "Let's see what we got. I think Pip could be a very good message carrier, but both he and Wolf will need something designed specifically for them."

After reaching the next available table, Lady A pulled out some sheets of paper, and, after drawing for a few moments, came up with some neat designs.

"This one," she said, "I think will work for Carrier Pippins. As you can see, there is a shield generator that would originate on the collar of this jacket, and the pockets on the sides of the jacket can be zipped to insure safe carriages of whatever. At the top of each, er, sleeve, is a variation on the concept of anti-gravity boots. This little gadget, which would attach to a foreleg, would be set to voice operation, and we could program it to only respond to certain voices. Wolf, I think the voice operation device might be very helpful for you, too. Perhaps we could set a phaser so that you can voice activate it. Weapons are so bothersome when you have to stop everything else to use them. If we did this, we would need to set up some sort of aiming device, or a sight, for you. What do you three think?"

"Oh yes, zat would be excellent," ze wolf replied, "I always had a thing for phasers. It shall have all of the normal settings correct?"

(OCC: Weapons Aficinado=armourer)

Kat stood out in the main courtyard, she was miffed. She had met Joe before in her previous missions and ventures and she knew he was not the kind of person you wanted to have skulking around your area. Kat, decided it had been to long since she really handled a weapon. Though the monastery had been good to her, it didnt offer when chances to brandish a blade. She walked over to a corner of the courtyard between the great wall and the main Castle entrance. She pulled out her blade-staff and upon pressing the button the blades appeared. She proceeded to whirl into a series of complicated moves and skills, practsing with her new weapon. If anyone dared come near this place, Kat would be ready.

Took grinned at Pal. "Of course! How would you like the name...Royal Victualler?" (("Victuals" is a fancy word for food or provisions, commonly spelled "vittles" here in the US )) Took scanned the armoury again, then turned to Lady A. "You wouldn't happen to have any scalding-hot-water guns in here, would you?" she asked hopefully.

Lady Courage pulled up a chair to the table and sat down to watch Lady A's drawing, pointing Pippin to the spot by her chair and giving him the hand motion "down". With some slight hesitation, Pippin obeyed but grumbled softly, "You left my rug in the saddle bags and it was too big for me to carry by myself." The beautiful stone floor was very hard on Pippin's bony body, as were many other floors, so Lady C always kept a cushy rug for him to lay on. It was also handy in telling him to go somewhere without having to give too many details as to where the exact place was. "Get on your rug" is a very useful command when dealing with a dog like Pippin. However, right now Lady C just waved her hand at him to be quiet. She would get his rug later.

When Lady A was finished, Lady C laughed delightedly, which was a reaction she usually had when something struck her as particularly clever, "Perfect!" she cried, greatly pleased with Lady A's drawing. "It has everything I had in mind plus more, plus it's so much classier in looks!"
"Can I see!?" yipped Pippin, jumping up in his excitement.
Lady C picked him up and set him in her lap so he could view the paper. Pippin craned his neck eagerly to see the drawing and cocked his head to one side, his ears pricked sharply.
To his eyes, unused to processing images that were in 2D, there was nothing all that special about the drawing. However, his Person was happy with it and it sure sounded good, so he wagged his tail happily and said, "I like it! I like it a lot!" He gazed up at Lady A, his big buggy eyes full of gratitude and pleasure, "Thank you!"

Ze raven hath returned to ze wolf and gave her very dark news... Partly out of guilt, and partly responsibility ze wolf asked ze raven to write a notice....

"To ze queen and her minions,

Something hath come up and I regret I am no longer fit for your duties, I apologize for any trouble I have committed and am hereby withdrawing, permanently, from ze castle and, possibly, ze entirety of ze Overdom wars... Here is a small pouch of gold to repay for any damages... Good day.

~Signed,
wolf.
"
Ze raven tacked ze notice to ze wall and ze wolf placed ze pouch below it... and zey both ran out ze castle doors, tears falling... never to be seen again.