Subj:	 [HillionDynasty] [HD] The Worth of a Moogle Boar
Date:	01-02-15 22:30:14 EST
From:	lwoodruf@iastate.edu (Laurence H Woodruff)
Reply-to:	HillionDynasty@yahoogroups.com
To:	HillionDynasty@yahoogroups.com

The ship rocked violently. The crew was gone and the steel cage Gooshaki
was trapped in slid across the deck as the massive boat tilted this way and
that. The sky was a dark, violent grey. The wind was torrential and the
sweeping rain drenched the cat. The small flame at the tip of his tail had
gone out long ago. He was alone on the ship. Everyone else had left. He was
alone, he was far away from home. He had no friends, and he expected no one
to come to his aid. He crystal he wore around his neck once brought him
comfort, but it now seemed heavy, like his waterlogged coat. He hated
water. He hated the cold. He hated being so far from home, and most of all,
he hated being abandoned. 

Just as his spirit broke, and he laid down in the cage to curl up and take
what fate offered him, he saw a light. It was like a shimmer in space, on
the deck. It looked like a sliver of brilliant light coming from a mere
crack in the air. It slowly widened, emitting more and more light, making
the ship illuminated as if it were one of the most placid days ever. As the
rift opened into a circular hole, a figure stepped through. The
illumination from the portal and the contrast from the dark surroundings
gave the figure only a silhouette. There was no contrast of features, but
the figure was clear. It was an Avariel.

Gooshaki was taken aback. He stood and watched the figure ready to react,
not that he could DO anything, just that, if he were to do something, he
would be ready for it. He was a little dumbfounded as to why an Avariel
would be arriving. Though enamored by their ability to fly, the Firecats
were wary of all races that could wield magic. 

The winged figure extended its hand and a bolt of ice shot from it.
Gooshaki braced himself for the impact. When the shard ice hit his cage, a
crackling of thunder roared around him. A flash of light temporarily
blinded him. The cage shattered immediately, sending thousands of tiny
chunks of metal outward onto the ship. 

A few seconds later, his sight faded back in. The sun was shining. The boat
was gone and he stood on firm ground in a great forest. His tail was lit
and the crystal around his neck comforted him. He saw her again, but only
as she walked back into the portal. Before she winked out, all he saw of
her was her green hair. 

The portal remained. Without thinking he ran. He ran as fast as he could.
He leaped into the portal after her. As soon as he dove through....
He awoke.

*****************************************************************

Gooshaki was disappointed. He awoke from a wonderful dream into a downright
frightening reality. They had been traveling for days. The men talked on an
on about how much moony he was worth. They spoke about this being their big
break, and about how they would live it up in Treno after one the deal was
done. When Gooshaki had awoke the first time, his tail was out, and he was
locked in the cage. He really didn't have any options. They were walking on
a trail in a wet forest. Not a swamp but damp enough, riddled with small
streams and enough still water for frogs to flourish. He had eaten nothing
but frogs for days. He missed his home. He missed his father, his brother,
the bonfire. He was missing the festival of renewal. He started to cry....

***************************************************************** 

Braydon called Edward over and passed him the telescope. The dense forest
really hindered the telescopes usefulness, but Braydon couldn't go an hour
without checking the world through the only gift his father ever gave him. 

"Well, I'll be." Said Edward. "Bless you and your telescope Braydon. What
do we have here?" 

Through the telescope lens was a faint campfire. Tied to nearby trees were
many chocobo's. "I think it's worth investigating Braydon. Get Grayson and
Mulairik. The others must stay to watch the cat.

*****************************************************************

The four crept up on the party. Edward, always in command, took the lead.
as the got close to the border of the clearing, he surveyed the area. The
fire was in the center, and the crackling was the only noise around. If
they wanted to pull this of, they would have to be careful. There were four
bed rolls on the ground. In one of them was a stunning woman and a
frighteningly large man. Edward spent no more than a second looking at the
woman, because he new that man was bad news. In two other sleeping bags
nearby were two men, also large, but not really in the intimidating "I am a
gorilla and you are not kinda way, more in the, "What did you call me? I'll
be taking your arms off now, kinda way." In any case, these men were bad
news too. In the fourth sleeping bag were two small mounds. Children he
assumed. 

It was the moogleboar they were after. 

It was lying on its side, next to the sleeping bag with the children in it.
It was asleep, and was so inviting. The moogle boar! It was an amazing
find. Moogle boars are only ever seen with moogles, and nobody wants to try
to take a moogle boar from a moogle, WHO KNOWS how the moogle will react.
In an effort to prevent as many wars as possible, Edward had a clear "Don't
mess with Moogles policy." But this was different, this was a moogle boar,
without the moogle. It won't be worth as much as the firecat, but it too
would be quite a small fortune in and of itself. With this AND the cat, the
whole gang would all but retire. 

He ordered the others back, and he slowly crept forward toward the boar.
"I'm lucky these things are so dumb." he said. He reached into his pocket
and pulled out a bag of boarnip. It's alot like catnip, in fact, it smells
exactly the same, but when moogleboars eat it, they get higher than a kite
during one of Typhoon's sneezes.  He opened the bag and put a pinch of the
stuff right on the nose of the boar. It Immediately jumped up. It wiggled
it's tail a bit. Edward dumped the bag and the boar immediately began
eating. It wouldn't be long before the boar would be smiling, with his
tongue sticking out and his eyes glazed over. Edward smiled to himself...
this was going to be too easy.

As he turned to the rest of his waiting group, however, he eyes widened. He
saw Grayson on all fours, bent over inches away from the gorgeous woman. It
was too late, he new it. His heat sank.

Grayson kissed her.

"Mmmmmm!" she said in response. 

Edward couldn't belive it. She didn't wake up. She didn't move. The big
gorilla man did not stand up and crush Grayson immediately. Edward was just
about to run and tackle him when he heard a voice.

"Do I smell CATNIP?!?!" 
Edward looked over to see a small cat with a megaphone shouting about the
beautiful goodness of catnip. The woman sat up. The gorilla man sat up. The
two twins of death sat up A moogle started hovering near him.

Edward thought:
"Hmmm, a talking cat."
With that he grabbed the little feline and ran. He ran into the forest at
top speed back toward his camp. He didn't care about the others. He had a
talking cat. The money from this alone would be amazing. Not a firecat. Not
a race of normally intelligent creatures. He had a freaking HOUSE CAT THAT
COULD TALK! With a MEGAPHONE no less. 

Pokey got up, and crushed Grayson immediately.

Pyxie shouted, "Don't just stand there, Go get them!"

Horatian and Bix quickly complied. 

Kennaron, not much for chase scenes, hovered around the warmth of the fire. 

*******************************************************************************
Seeing Grayson crushed so smoothly really motivated Braydon and Mulairik to
hightail it outta there. They turned and fled just behind Edward. The
Oddest thing was that they were sure that right behind them, in fact,
breathing right on their necks, were the death twins. They just KNEW it.
With a effortless air about them, the twins ran with the bandits. In a
comical gesture fitting for the three stooges, the twins each took one of
the bandits heads in their hands and knocked them together. The kept
running without losing a step.

*******************************************************************************

Edward did not expect this much resistance from the feline. As soon as he
got to the camp, the feline appeared to have pulled a giant boxing glove
out of no where. Without realizing what was happening, he flew across the
clearing and landed in a tree. Fueled by his greed, he jumped out of tree
and ran toward his bag where he kept his tranquilizers. As he was pulled a
dart out of its sheath, he heard suddenly heard a loud roar that literally
scared the piss out of him. "Ha! he said, I forgot about the Firecat." He
chuckled to himself as he looked down to see that he accidently stabbed
himself in the hand with his dart. He muttered, "Oh shit!" as he hit the
ground.

*******************************************************************************

Cait Sith saw the other two men that were sitting at the camp. They watched
the whole thing. As soon as Edward went down, they were done, and they knew
it. They Got up and ran. The Twins arrived. 

"You ok kitty?" Horatian asked of Cait.
"I'm fine, and don't ever call me that again." 
"Hey Guys! Look at this! I've never seen anything like it! It's so cool!"
Bix couldn't contain himself. He was dancing and pointing as he looked into
the cage with the big cat. 
"My name is Gooshaki. Those men captured me. I thank you for rescuing me.
Would you please let me out of this cage?"
"WOW! This cat is da BOMB DIGGITY!" Bix's enthusiastic reply.

They key was procured from one of the bandits satchels and the cat was
released. Pyxie and Pokey soon arrived and instantly the mistress was taken
with the animal.  "He's so soft and warm and so cute! I could cuddle with
him all day!" Pyxie tickled the hair under his chin and he arched his neck
upward to give her better access. 

They walked back toward their campsite. Gooshaki related his story. When
they got back to the campsite, Pyxie asked," Join us! If you have no where
to go, and no one to talk with, and you don't know where you're going, come
with use. We'd wuv to hab a cwuddwey kitty come awong!"

Gooshaki, not really being in a place to argue agreed.  

The party went back to sleep. Gooshaki meditated. He spent almost the whole
night relighting his flame. When he did finally lose consciousness, his
last thoughts were of the winged figure with green hair.

*************************************************************************

Gooshi


Subj:	 [ffml] [HD] Visions
Date:	01-02-16 14:20:23 EST
From:	c-jaymie.delacruz@wcom.com (pyxie)
Reply-to:	ffml@yahoogroups.com
To:	ffml@yahoogroups.com

Sorry this is so long! But I'm on a roll and wanna get everything out 
before I get the damn writer's block again. *sheepish grin*


****

[What a confusing mess.]

Pyxie gave a small sigh, glad to have a private moment to think. 

Behind her she could vaguely hear the sounds of the men packing up 
and getting ready for another day's ride. Pokey would have insisted 
on accompanying Pyxie if she hadn't told him it was "womanly 
problems". Without another word, he had agreed to stay with the group 
if she promised not to get into any mischief.

[So much has happened. It's overwhelming me. Why am I so tired 
lately?]

 She curled her knees up to her chest while listened to the sounds of 
the forest, trying to clear her rioting thoughts.

[Where is Rydia? Where is Gage? What kind of a protector am I that I 
should let my family be broken up like this?!]

Without her realizing it, tears gently flowed down her cheeks. Just a 
month ago, she had lived the normal life of the AGSOSA harem 
mistress. With no cares in the world other than teaching her pupils 
and adopted family the pleasures of life. 

Then with the appearance of Arcanis and Lia, her whole world tilted 
lopsidedly. Mind you, meeting those two brought a spark back to her 
life and her lust for adventure to be fulfilled. But the past couple 
of weeks had been draining. Especially that experience with the Gyro 
Bandits.

"I wonder where Arcy is," she brooded. "It seems that everyone is 
disappearing from me. Damn it! I don't like this feeling!!"

Pounding a small fist upon the boulder she sat upon, Pyxie squeezed 
her eyes shut. She will hurry back to AGSOSA and find Rydia. Right 
now, that is the most important thing to focus on. Any other bloody 
assassins that come my way .. I'll slice their balls off and feed it 
to them! Just like what Lia did to the moogles!

Trying to sooth the deep anger welling inside her, Pyxie stood up and 
placed her fingertips together. Taking deep calming breaths, she 
gradually cleared her mind of everything, methodically mending her 
battered spirit.

A cool breeze caressed her cheeks, causing a hypnotizing quality and 
taking her deeper into her meditation. The sounds of the forest and 
human activity faded away until only blessed silence enveloped her.

A small frown creased her brows as faint murmurs interrupted her 
concentration. Whispered voices, so far away, trying to tell her 
something...

Her vision suddenly filled with crimson blood, splattered everywhere. 
Excruciating pain filled her body, causing her to double over gasping 
for breath.

Arcy!!! His body pierced with icicles, staked upon a tree...

Her villagers from home, slaughtered and left in a pile of death and 
decay for the vultures to feast upon...

Rydia, sweet precious Rydia, so alone in a strange world and filled 
with frustration and fear...

And a stranger...self-loathing and dejection...

Pyxie whimpered as all these emotions attacked her body, making her 
spasm in agony.

[What's going on with me? What's happening?!?!]

Hugging her knees to her chest, Pyxie rocked herself back and forth, 
trying to shake away the frightening experience. She heard the 
worried shouts of her men, but was in too much pain to reply.

"Pyxie! Where are you?!?!" Pokey's voice rumbled through the forest 
as he hacked his way in search of Pyxie's whereabouts. As soon as he 
found her, he knelt down next to her and gathered her shaking body 
into his arms.

The rest of the party soon arrived, easily following the beaten path 
Pokey had created. Gooshaki stood dumbfounded at the sight that 
greeted them.  The tiny harem princess with her head tucked away in 
giant's muscular arms and crying her heart out. What's even funnier 
was that he was scolding her about something despite her distress.

"You clumsy oaf!" Bix blasted at Pokey, trying to grab Pyx away from 
him. "Can't you see she's cryin'!! Why the hell are ya yellin' at her 
fer?!?!"

"I told her not to go too far," Pokey tightened his grip and glaring 
now at Bix. "But of course, does she ever listen?!?! Damn it Pyx, 
you're gonna kill me at this rate."

"Blast it, give her ta me 'fore ya'll choke her," Hortian wedged 
himself between the two and made his own attempt at taking Pyx. But 
again, Pokey dodged away.

Pokey gave a sigh shook his head. "Don't worry, I'll stop yelling. I 
just want to know what happened to her."

Pyxie felt rather than heard the commotion wind down. Her body felt 
normal now, just a bit bruised from being held and tugged around. 
Waving a shaky hand to her men, she gave one last sniff and wiped the 
tears from her eyes.

Cait Sith, Kenaron and Gooshaki had cautiously approached their group 
and was now hovering worriedly nearby. 

"I-I'm fine...really," she said, giving them all a wobbly smile. She 
saw the anxiety in their eyes and she hated it. With a resolved nod, 
she decided not to tell them what had happened. She will not give 
them any more worries...if she can help it.

"Then how come you screamed earlier?" Cait Sith stared hard at her 
puffy eyes and saw her guiltily look away.

"As I told Pokey, it was just womanly problems." Fibbing usually came 
so easily to Pyx, but not when her men were only concerned for her 
well being. "A horrible cramp took me by surprise and .. I, ummm ... 
yelled out in frustration is all."

"That musta been one helluva cramp!" Hortian snickered and jabbed Bix 
in the shoulder. "Aren't you glad we ain't got those kinda problems?"

Pyxie just smiled, putting her problems away for now, and turned to 
look at Kenaron. He had a faint flush to his cheeks and wouldn't look 
her in the eye.

"Are YOU ok, Keny? You look like you're about to faint!" When she 
crawled out of Pokey's lap and towards him, Kenaron just put up a 
hand to stop her.

"It's nothing. Just well, that kinda talk is private. You know? No 
need to go into details." 

The rest of the men with the exception of Pokey, burst out laughing 
at Kenaron's embarrassment. His face turned from a shade of pink to 
an angry purple.

"Oh posh, behave yourselves!" Pyxie rolled her eyes and pinched every 
body within her reach. "Now let's hurry and get back home. I'd like 
to be there before sundown tomorrow."

Having eased everyone's concern, the party once again hit the road.

No one but Cait Sith noticed the quick flash of terror in Pyxie's 
eyes as she looked back at the glade. Something was definitely going 
on...