Plumes of smoke rise from most of the cottages and granaries, pinpointed in the night by angry orange flickering lights. There are many more fires around the base of the mountain that holds Tempest Keep – campfires that illuminate siege towers and catapults set up by the Gallisian invading force.

A couple of mounted Gallisian Chevaliers – knights on barded Drokars, bedecked in garishly decorated armor – lead the way toward the camp. Behind them is a small party of three knights, two of which look especially large. That's probably because they're actually Rhians – Gunter and Horus – who have by some miracle managed to cram themselves into enough pieces of Gallisian armor to pass for Chevaliers … from a distance, and owing a great deal to the darkness of night. The third faux Chevalier is Jynx, whose Khatta tail is awkwardly crammed into poodle armor, but concealed by the overly large cape favored by these knights.

The party's "prisoners" follow along – Farmer Poe the Korv, Born-in-Shame the Abaddonian Silent-Ones Knight, and the foppish fox bard (who presently has a great deal of white powder all over him from his scuffle with the poodles earlier – making him look much like a poodle himself, so long as nobody notices the big bushy tail poking out of the bottom of his cloak).

The poodles bark something back at the three "scouts" and one of them makes a hand gesture that looks like a "wait here", before they simply ride off, leaving the threesome on a dirt road in the middle of the smoldering ruins of a village on the crest of a hill that overlooks the siege below. There are several lights here and there, but it's impossible to pick out details at the castle or the siege camp with the naked eye from this distance.

To one side of the road is a partially damaged catapult – two wheels having been knocked off and the whole thing abandoned rather than dragging it any further toward the siege camp. (Any ammunition must have been taken along with the raiding forces. Curiously, it has a few colorful feathers stuck in the works here and there.) A few buildings are still standing, at least in part, offering some possible chance of cover from prying eyes. To the left is a shop with a sign that Horus translates to read "Ye Olde Apothecary", while on the right is a building that has a sign that translates "Ye Olde Pub" – and it looks like the latter has been quite thoroughly raided by the Gallees.

Not wanting to disappoint his poodle "superiors", Jynx keeps his mount right where it is, watching the canines ride off. "I hope they haven't figured us out. I have no idea what all that annoying yapping was about." He looks to the apothecary. "Maybe we can stay in there for a bit, to keep them from watching us too closely."

"Well, actually," pipes up the fox, "they wanted you to guard this catapult here, until they can send someone to put the wheels back on."

Jynx blinks, and lifting his visor, turns to the fox. "They what? How… how did you figure that out?" He frowns, then glares at the vulpine. "Are you telling me that you've known how to speak Gallisian all this time?"

The foppish fox says, "Well, it's quite simple. Yes, I happen to understand that language. It's very much like a language I know from another world."

Both of the horses look balefully at the fox. The crow doesn't look too pleased, either.

The fox runs his finger through his collar. "What? What!? Nobody specifically asked me if I knew Gallisian! And, besides, I don't, really. I just happen to know another language that is more or less like Gallisian, in another universe. So I can make really good guesses, see? And surely you wouldn't expect me to speak to a bunch of poodles who'd tried to relieve me of my tail!"

The black Khatta puts a paw to his face, massaging his forehead as he sighs. "It would have been nice if you'd informed us of that little detail sooner!" The feline shakes his head, and puts his visor back down. "Well, anyways, we know now, so you'll have to be our interpreter. What else were the mutts yapping about?"

"Wellllll… " starts the fox, and he starts counting off on his fingers, "I gather that their leader is a General Saindoux, and they're 'laying siege' to that castle over there. That would be Tempest Keep, I suppose. Not a very cheery place, is it? And there's some Master Plan that General Saindoux has, but they weren't so kind as to blab it in front of me so that I could let you in on their secrets. That would be terribly convenient, so that we could thwart them."

Jynx frowns. "I wouldn't mind some convenience, since there's a lot more of them than there is of us." The feline rearranges his tail, and then dismounts his Dromodon, holding it by the reins. "We have to find out what the plan is, and warn the Count. We may have to make a little change of plan… " He eyes the fox, as though studying him intently.

The fox looks nervously back at Jynx. "Ah … I don't like that sort of look you're giving me. Uhm … what change of plan?"

Gunter whinnies, "Does plan involve Gunter gettink out of armor so he can move again?"

The Khatta lifts his visor again, and after eyeing the fox again for a bit, nods to Gunter. "I was thinking along those lines pretty much. Ever worn a suit of armor, vulp boy?"

The foppish fox says, "I shouldn't! I couldn't! Me?! In armor? How would I play my lute?"

Gunter needs no further encouragement, as he dismounts his Drokar by … falling off of it. There's a crashing noise … but for the time being, it looks as if nobody has noticed, though the Drokars are a bit skittish. Gunter practically drags himself over to the side of the street, and starts prying pieces of armor off of himself.

"You'll just have to stash it somewhere until we return." Jynx walks over to Gunter, picking up the armor pieces as the horse sheds them. "Since you're the only one that understands the yappers, we need you to be our interpreter, and you can't do that if you're a prisoner." The cat grins, holding the armor pieces to the vulpine. "So suit up, commander. If they ask who's in charge, it's you. For now."

"And we need to alter our story," the cat adds. "If they ask what happened to the fox, tell them that this Rhian sprang to his rescue. The fox slipped away, but we managed to catch the horse."

The fox whines, "It'd be a lovely plan … if only it didn't put me at such personal risk! I'm a bard, not a commander!"

The horse gathers up some more pieces, and walks over to the fox. "Suit up!"

The fox whines some more.

Jynx shrugs, and shoves the pieces in the fox's paws, "Life's tough, but you'll cope, Commander… uh… what the heck is your name anyways?"

The fox's eyes go wide. "Ahhhh … Well, my name's not really all that important. Why don't you just make something up?"

The Korv squints his eyes, looking at the fox. "Eh? And just why isn't it important? You aren't some wanted criminal, now are you?"

The fox meeps!

The feline rolls his eyes. "Knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised." He thinks for a bit. "How about… Orange… Red… some color? Commander Orange?"

The fox ponders. "Commander Rouge. I like the sound of that. Mysterious. Intimidating. But best of all … fashionable! I wonder what rhymes with 'Rouge'?"

The fox mumbles, "Deluge? Huge!"

Farmer Poe caws, "Stooge!"

The fox glares at the crow.

Jynx grins at Poe. "Rouge it is, then. If they ask for your whole name, you'll have to make it up on the fly. Now, into the armor with you, then get up on Gunter's Dromodon. When they ride up, you take the lead, and try to be convincing." The cat shrugs. "It'll be your chance to act!"

The fox whines and protests, but when Gunter starts clumsily and forcibly shoving pieces of armor on the fox, the bard thinks the better of it and starts putting pieces on himself … though it takes some help from Gunter to bend the pieces back into shape (or something approximating it).

The other horse, Horus, starts to extract himself from his armor as well. "This won't work. I can't move!" *thunk* He gets off the Drokar the same way Gunter did.

The armored Khatta helps the vulpine as well, turning to Horus with a grimace. "Well, we can't just have one of our knights disappear. You should have stayed put on the Dromodon!" Jynx walks over to the horse, and tries to help him to his hooves. He then looks to Poe. "You up to being in a tin can for a while?"

"What? Do I look like a poodle to you? KAW!" The bird shakes his wings. "I don't have the joints or the muscles in the right places. And, frankly, neither do the Rhians. Gallees don't have hooves, you know!"

The fox stumbles about, his head engulfed by a battered helmet. His muffled voice whines, "Why don't you just hide them?"

Jynx puts his face in his palm, and sighs. "Fine then. Horus, go ahead and take off the armor. You and Gunter take some cover." He looks around the deserted town. "Maybe the apothecary. If the poodles ask what happened to our other knight, we can say he took off after the fox."

"And left his Drokar behind!" yaps the fox, doing his best Gallee accent from within the helmet. He falls over again.

The Khatta walks over to the fox, and helps him with his helmet. "We can say he went off on foot, since the underbrush was too thick. Now hurry up and get situated. They'll probably be back any minute now."

"Oof!" says the fox. "Hey, I just thought of a new idea for a song. Want to hear it?"

The two horses duck inside the ruined apothecary.

"NO!" hisses the cat. "Just get on the Dagh-cursed Drokar! Commanding officers don't sing!"

The Korv puts his wing over his eyes (a vain gesture, since it's night time), squinting for a better look across the fields. "Beh. My eyes aren't what they used to be."

The foppish fox yelps, then struggles to get up on the Drokar. He isn't making much progress. Being only four feet tall and wearing armor doesn't help.

Jynx gives a skyward look, silently asking the Star for strength, and pushes the fox upwards towards the saddle. "Gunter, you and Horus can scout the area after dark and maybe try to find a way into Castle Tempest. If you do, tell Vlad that we're coming, and that the poodles have some weird plan so he'd best be on his guard – OOF! Quit squirming!" He gives the fox another shove.

The fox almost falls off the opposite side of the Drokar. Almost. But at last he wiggles into position, then adjusts his cape. "There! How striking do I look?"

"Stunning," comments the black Khatta dryly. He walks back over to his Drokar, and, with a little bit of struggle, gets himself back into its saddle. "Now come up here and take the lead, and let's go over by the catapult. That's what we're supposed to be guarding anyways."

Jynx gives looks over the damaged siege weapon, trying to see the kind of condition its in.

The catapult seems to be in perfectly fine condition, except that the two left wheels have fallen off. The wooden pegs holding them onto the two wooden axles must have worked out somehow, and the armored Gallees didn't bother to get together to lift up the catapult so that they could be put back on. Of course, they might be coming back for it, hence the assignment to guard the catapult.

The Khatta looks to the fox. "Did they make any mention of how long they'd be?" He turns on his mount, and tries to get a look at the distant Gallisian camp. "We can't wait here forever."

"None whatsoever," says the fox. "Until we get further orders."

The distant Gallisian camp is, well, distant. Alas, the Khatta isn't blessed with Vartan eyes. If only he had a way of getting a better look at what was going on.

"Maybe we should ride up a bit closer to the camp, tell them about our prisoner escaping?" asks Jynx, and then he remembers something. "Do you still have that spyglass that Gunter had?"

The foppish fox says, "No, I don't. But you have one."

Jynx blinks, and looks down to his belt. "Oh… er, yeah… " Hiding his embarrassment the best he can, the feline raises the visor of his helmet, and puts the spyglass to his eye after extending it. "Maybe we can get a little look-see at what our canine pals are up to."

The Khatta gets a blown up view of the sky, then the passing landscape … and then with a bit of adjusting and fine-tuning, he gets a view of the canine encampment.

Campfires illuminate the forms of dogs of various breeds – many of the fancier-dressed ones looking like poodles, while there are a few mutts that look like they've been pressed into grunt service.

Jynx peers about around the camp, trying to get a notion of any activity that's going on. He keeps his gaze focused near the campfires, since that's the main source of light this late.

As Jynx scans the scene, he is able to find what looks like a major center of activity. There is an especially fancy-looking poodle in a uniform sitting astride a Drokar. Next to him … seated on two Drokars … is the biggest poodle that Jynx has ever had the displeasure of seeing! The poodle is dressed in exactly the same way as his counterpart, except that his ample fuzzy flesh pokes out of his uniform and ceremonial armor in several places.

"Yuck!" mutters Jynx as he scrunches up his nose in disgust. "If they were termites, I think we'd have found the queen. It looks like there's two big fat cats – er, poodles. One of them literally." He strains his eye to get a better look. "I can't quite make out what's going on yet, though… "

It looks as if a couple of Gallahs nearby are holding up a wall mirror with an ornate frame, which the obese poodle is gazing intently at, primping and preening. Oddly, the much thinner poodle next to him seems to be pantomiming every action the larger one makes.

Nearby, there are some tents pitched, and there's a large table with some papers tacked down on it. Maps, perhaps? Diagrams? That's a little too hard to make out, even with the spyglass, what with all the bodies moving in the way.

The cat tries to twitch his tail in thought, only to wince in pain as he is reminded of its constraint. "It looks like they have their plans out for all to see. We need to get into that camp and take a look." He keeps on looking through the glass, hoping for some further insight.

The glass bobs around a bit as Jynx's Drokar shifts. For a moment, he accidentally finds himself spying the keep, and seeing a flash of something white, and then he's looking at the camp again.

The fox cracks his knuckles. "You know, if I weren't all weighted down in armor, I just might be able to … ah … borrow those plans… "

The fox peers through his own spy-scope. Where did he get that from?

Jynx lowers the glass for a bit, and over to the fox. "Honestly? Could you get in and out before daybreak?" The cat puts the glass back to his eye, and looks up at the keep.

As Jynx looks back up at the keep, he catches sight of a balcony. Out on the balcony, peering over the edge of the railing, is a white kitten in a nice pink frilly dress. She leans over the railing and sticks out her tongue and makes "nyah" faces, while a big lupine butler stands beside her. He hands her a tomato, and she flings it over the side. Then, she looks like she's giggling as she hops up and down, clapping her hands, evidently quite happy at the result.

The black Khatta freezes, and his jaw drops open. "By Dagh… You have got to be kidding me! Not here, not her of all people!!" He tries to focus the glass for a more zoomed-in view of the kitten and her companion, his heart starting to pound faster.

"Ooo!" remarks the fox, licking his chops. "The poodles have a lot of food! I wonder if they need help getting rid of it?"

As Jynx zooms in on the kitten … the image can only get so clear, but it's clear enough. It's none other than Duchess Eve Kurai … and her Titanian butler, Gnarr.

Jynx frowns, and gives an audible sigh of long-suffering as he lowers the spyglass. "Why does she always have to pop up at the worst possible times?!" He shakes his head, and turns to the fox. "This mission has just taken on a whole new dimension for me. As for the map, could you get in and out without being caught by daybreak? Maybe you could snag some grub too." The cat gives a poker face at the vulpine. "We need some hint of their plans!"

The fox says, "In any case … I am a quite accomplished … ah … procurer of things that other people don't really want that much. I could snatch up those plans in a – " He breaks off. "Ah yes! Some grub, too! Lovely plan! I like it!"

The Khatta nods, and gets down from his Drokar. "Good. It doesn't seem like those poodles are going to come back any time tonight. I guess they wanted us to guard it overnight." He walks over to the fox, offering to help him down. "Do you need the armor off, or did you want to sneak in using it?"

The fox shifts around. "Well … maybe just a few pieces left on, for fashion's sake. And in case they try to spear me. The breastplate is rather nice, at least. And I like the cape. Very, very classy. The Gallisians do have good taste.'

"Let's just hope their tastes don't include fried fox." Jynx helps the vulpine off of his Drokar, and starts to help him out of the larger pieces. "Remember, get in, get the plans, and get out. If you want food, fine, just don't do anything dumb like getting yourself caught."

The fox salutes the Khatta. "Of course not! Don't worry about me!" And then he runs past the catapult, heading downhill, right down the road toward the poodle camp.

Jynx watches the fox head off, then turns back to the Korv and cheetah with a grimace. "I'm worrying already."

Jynx is running through a maze of twisted, menacing-looking trees, chasing after a white kitten who keeps running away. All about, there are sounds of monsters just waiting to gobble up the kitten, who seems to be completely unaware of the danger she's in, and seems to think that this is all just a fun game with her big brother. And then a crow starts cawing from a nearby tree.

The black Khatta bolts after his little sister. "Eve! Come here now! I have to get you home!"

The Khatta wakes with a start, finding himself in the saddle of a Drokar … and just about to pitch himself from the saddle after an imaginary kitten. Fortunately … he didn't quite get that far.

Farmer Poe is perched on top of the catapult, peering through one of the spy-scopes. "That idiot fox! Augh! He's been spotted! … My, I never knew he could run so fast!"

Jynx bristles as he tries to regain his balance in the saddle, his heart still pounding from the fresh dream in his head. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and quickly snaps to attention at the Korv's words. "Dagh, you're kidding me!" The cat takes out his spyglass, and looks in the direction of the fox.

Sure enough, the fox is zipping about. He's still covered in white powder, for the most part … except for his muzzle. The fox must have fallen to temptation and started eating right there in the camp … and rubbed the white powder off of his muzzle in the process, thus revealing himself to be something other than a poodle. And now, with him dashing back and forth, his big fluffy, not-poodle-like tail is quite obvious as well.

"Dagh blast it!" Jynx leaps down from his steed, and readies the fox's armor. "We'll have to try and get him back into this as quick as possible! How close are the poodles on his tail?"

The crow tries to follow with the spy-scope. "Ah … Well, he keeps ducking down between their legs and jumping over their heads and turning their helmets around and such. Ooo! Nice move with the tablecloth."

The crow caws, "Maybe he needs some sort of distraction to get away? Or we could just forget him and figure out how to get the plans while he's providing a distraction!"

"Is he at least headed in our direction?" asks the cat. He stops at the suggestion. "Not a bad idea." He gets out his spyglass, and looks the scene over again. "Maybe I can slip in and slip out while the fox keeps the chaos up. He's tougher than he looks, and can hold his own for a while at least."

The crow reports, "Looks like he's not really getting much of anywhere."

Born-in-Shame slowly stirs from his seated position. He signs, "Battle?"

Jynx lowers the visor on his helmet, and steers his Drokar in the direction of the camp. "Yes and no," he signs. "Not a worthy battle though, so don't worry about it. I'll be right back!" He spurs his mount in the direction of the camp. "Hyeah!"

The Drokar seems to be quite startled at the spurring, having dozed off at some point. It lets out a loud cry and practically leaps into action, careening one way and then the next, bumping into the catapult on the way. There's no chance to see if the Drokar possibly did any more damage to the catapult, as Jynx gallops on down the road, headed straight for the poodle encampment.

Jynx wobbles, trying to keep his balance on the wild steed. "Steady!" He clings onto the beast (no claws, of course), and sets his gaze in the camp.

As Jynx gallops up to the camp, it looks like just about every soldier is busy rushing this way and that to deal with the vulpine intruder. None of the guards bother to halt the incoming knight, even if he is a bit short, and if he happens to have a black tail that peeks out from under his cloak every once in a while. (Seems that it didn't take well to staying in that poodle-tail-sized piece of armor on the back.)

The Khatta in poodle's clothing doesn't notice these details himself, and makes a bee line for where he thinks the plans are. Hopefully, he can tell where it is from memory.

The Drokar barrels ahead, heading right for the table with the plans. Off to the side, Jynx can spot the fox darting out into the open, right in front of the fat poodle. Jynx happens to catch a glimpse of the fat poodle taking a moment to examine himself in the big mirror … hmm … but that mirror is angled all wrong! The poodle should be, by all rights, getting a good look at the other poodle sitting right next to him, not himself!

Jynx blinks as he watches this morbid scene, suddenly realizing the reason for the second, thinner poodle. Snickering to himself despite the current surroundings, he halts his steed next to the table, trying to a get a good look at all the papers before he tries to snatch them up.

The Drokar comes to a complete and sudden stop. Jynx does not.

"Wha – HEY! Myah!!" The Khatta clings on as best he can to his mount as he continues forward through the air!

The Khatta crashes into the table, getting a closer look at the plans than he originally planned on.

Meanwhile, the fat poodle can be heard saying, "You there! Yes, you, you little thief! Come over here, so I can hit you!"

"OOF!" protests the Khatta as he sails into the table. Shaking the cobwebs from his head, he picks himself up off the table. and tries to get a look at the plans. Not so close this time.

The plans show a diagram of the castle, and several catapults. It would seem that the plans involve loading some little bird-like creatures with big eyes and little heads into catapults and flinging them at the castle.

The fox bows and walks up to the poodle. "Certainly! I'd be happy to oblige! Would you like me to stand still, too?"

"You are a most kind thief, monsieur! Now … " The fat poodle draws a blade. "Should I cut you from here to here, or there to there? Or just straight across the middle?"

"Well," responds the fox, "I think this is my better side, and I'd really hate for that to get mussed up. How about from there to there? Oh! You have a spot of gravy on your muzzle."

"Where?" protests the poodle, looking in his mirror and seeing a different poodle's face. "I don't see it."

Jynx's eyes go wide as he recognizes an old tactic that even he's used before. "They're gonna Eep 'em!" The Khatta looks up from the papers, and around the encampment for any signs of the little suicidal birds. He cocks an ear at the fox's direction, trying to keep tabs on him as well.

Well, there is a big tent right next to Jynx that has a sign on it that shows an image of an Eep. In Gallisian and Rephidim Standard, it reads, "Danger! Eeps! Do not Disturb!"

"Oh, it's right there … ah … up a bit … no, no, too high … back … yes, that's it. Up a little more … " The fox carefully gives directions to the large poodle.

On his tiptoes, the Khatta sneaks over to the tent, and peeks inside just barely to see how the Eeps are being contained.

The big poodle looks faintly annoyed. "I do believe you are trying to fool me! Aha, your delaying tactics are useless! I am General Saindoux … and your vulpine tricks will not work on me, renard!"

The fox looks wide-eyed at the poodle. "How – ?" he yelps.

The poodle looks smug, then looks confused. "How what?"

"My name!" the fox blurts out.

"What about your name, you silly renard?" whurfs the poodle. "Now come up here so I can kill you."

Jynx now cocks both ears back at the poodle and fox. "His name?" He keeps his gaze set inside the tent, his brain focusing on both tasks.

Inside the tent, Jynx can see several cages of eeps. In fact, it seems that he has lifted up the tent flap right behind some stacked crates. Oops. It seems he has bumped them. The stack of eep cages wobbles uncertainly.

The black Khatta cringes, and backs away from the tent as fast as he can, back over to the Drokar. He waits, fur bristled, to see if the little terrors combust.

The cages come crashing down. There are some startled "eep" noises from the fallen cages.

This, as experience might tell the Khatta, is not a good sign. Especially since the other cages are similarly precariously stacked.

Plus, there's a sound of a rolling wagon coming down the road. A few dogs bark in alarm.

The fat poodle at this moment looks over at Jynx. "Ahhhh! A spy in our midst!" He points at the black tail poking out of the Khatta's cloak. "So, you've come to rescue your thieving friend, ah?"

Jynx tries to jump back onto his Drokar. "Yeah I am! And we were just leaving!"

"Oho! Well, first … you shall have to get your friend from me!" Just then, the poodle reaches out (the foppish fox got just a little too close) and grabs the fox!

The fox lets out a yelp … and a muffled cry as the poodle grabs the vulpine and stuffs him into his flabby girth. A fox tail pokes out from between the folds of fat.

Several dogs wince sympathetically at the gruesome scene.

Hmm. That's no rolling wagon coming down the hill. It's a rolling catapult. The Rhians must have decided to lift it up and put the wheels back on sometime during the night. Nice of them to tell Jynx, hmm?

Jynx almost succeeds in getting back up on the Drokar. The trouble is … he's now got one foot stuck in a stirrup, and he's facing the wrong way.

The Khatta's heart begins to beat wildly, and he cocks an ear at the eeps to monitor the impending chain reaction, and struggles to right himself on the Drokar. "You need to lose some weight, big boy, and foxes don't make good exercise equipment!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Ah. Much better. Jynx no longer has a foot stuck in the stirrup. But he's still backwards on the Drokar. Right about then, there's a POW inside the tent … and the force is enough to … cause the tent to collapse. More cages fall.

"EEP!" shrieks a dog, and several others follow suit. The loud sound also has a certain effect on Jynx's Drokar. It cries out … and begins to gallop!

Free of the stirrup, the Khatta clings on to the wild Drokar, trying to calm it down as best he can. "Whoah! Whoah fellah!!" The feline sets his ears back, trying to steer the beast towards the grotesquely obese Gallee.

The tent starts exploding as eeps go critical … and Drokars and Dromodons, spooked by the noise, start galloping about. It doesn't help things when the catapult comes crashing down into the camp. Or when Jynx's Drokar smashes into the big mirror held by the servants of the general. Oops. How many years of bad luck will that be?

The fat poodle rages, "Ahhhh! You FOOL! I shall kill you! Come back so I can behead you!" He swings about with his sword, a fox tail poking out of his folded gut.

Jynx dives off of his Drokar, getting nowhere fast, and pulls off his helmet.

Fortunately, the big fat and flabby poodle breaks the Khatta's fall. The sudden force applied to the poodle's gut causes the fox to be shot out.

The fox cries, "YIIIIIIIII!" (crash)

Claws out, the black feline scrabbles as fast as he can off of the dog's gut, lobbing the helmet at his head. "Go on a diet, fatso! Try some high nutrition metal!"

The dog lets out wails and yelps of pain … but even more curious is how Jynx's hands and feet suck into the poodle's gut! Oh no! However, this situation is cured quickly, as the catapult comes crashing through camp, and the general's Drokars suddenly bolt … in two different directions!

Jynx goes flying again.

The catapult rolls past … with several disoriented-looking eeps having landed in the launcher. They look as if they're getting very upset.

"MYAH!" screams Jynx as he in the sky yet again. He tries to right himself in mid-flight, and land on his feet.

Ah! What luck! Jynx lands on solid ground. Well … rolling ground. He's sitting on the frame of a rolling catapult that is crashing through several tents. Dogs scatter all around him. Some eeps peer down from above. "EEEEEEEEEEEP!"

The black cat looks back up at the eeps wide eyed, and, digging his claws into the woodwork, looks around for the catapult lever!

Ah! There it is…

Jynx grabs the lever and pulls on it as quickly as he can, hoping to launch the little combustibles far away!

*CLICK* Yes! That's it! Uh oh … Suddenly, it becomes apparent that the part of the frame Jynx is sitting on is actually part of the catapult arm.

*SNAP* *SPROING!*

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" go the eeps, as they and the Khatta go airborne.

"AAAAARRRGGGHH!" yells the Khatta as he joins the eeps in their flight. The cat struggles in mid-air, trying to… fly, one would surmise, away from the birds.

Fortunately, it appears that since the Khatta was on the arm of the catapult, rather than the basket, his arc of flight is lower than that of the eeps. He's coming back down … toward a tent. There's a sign on it. "Armory."

The eeps, meanwhile, fly overhead, aimed for some other tent out of the Khatta's line of sight. A fox flies past. "AIEEEEEEEEE!"

Jynx braces himself as he makes an descent straight for the weapons storage. "Please don't let me land on something pointy, please don't let me land on something pointy, please don't let me… "

The tent collapses under Jynx's weight, and the whole thing comes crashing down.

It looks as if Jynx was just about to land on something pointy … but just then, some rampaging Dromodons come smashing through the tent! Soon, the Khatta is bouncing around on the back of a Dromodon that has a torn fragment of the tent covering its face and trailing behind it, as it runs around wildly.

Here and there, dogs are running in panic, animals are running loose … and eeps are showering down and exploding.

The Khatta wrestles with the tent tarp, trying to free himself from the tangled mess while he flails and thrashes! "Mmmmrphlebrph!" He clings onto the Dromodon with his claws, not thinking about the sting they give.

The Dromodon panics at suddenly being clawed by an unseen predator … and it begins to buck and kick!

The Khatta goes flying again.

The cat lands on the wooden frame of a catapult. This one isn't rolling. Several dogs charge toward the cat. "Yaaaaaaaaa!"

Too bad the feline can't get frequent flyer miles for this! Once again, the feline "oofs" as he smacks down, bristling as he sees the poodles rush him. Reacting, the Khatta takes the bit of tarp that was wrapped around him, and tries to drape it over the dogs!

The drape falls over the heads of the dogs … and they stumble and fall, flailing about under the cloth and trying to cut their way out. For the moment, though, they're distracted.

There's a snapping sound from somewhere below the Khatta.

Jynx begins to jump off of the catapult, ripping the no longer necessary tail piece from his armor. His ears perk at the snapping sound, and he looks down.

As Jynx looks down, he sees the rope holding the catapult arm back. The rope is frayed, and is about to snap. The eeps that were to be loaded in this catapult must have escaped. The only ammunition would seem to be … Jynx.

Not thinking twice, the Khatta makes a mad dash to try and bail from the launcher!

The Khatta makes it out of the catapult … and it looks like the rope's about to snap any moment now!

The dogs, meanwhile, stumble about blindly, standing in front of the catapult, still flailing about under the tarp.

Jynx runs around to the other side of the struggling poodles, and with a brief run, tries to shove them into the launcher!

It's a valiant effort. Almost works. But about all Jynx manages to do is to line up the poodles further to the front of the catapult, right as the arm snaps free … and the catapult doesn't quite work as it should.

Instead of flinging its ammunition into the air, the catapult arm swings all the way around … and smashes down on the helmets of the dogs. *CRASH* The dogs fall under the weight of the catapult.

The Khatta leaps back as the dogs' heads get walloped, and he takes a second to look around for the fox. "Dagh blast it, where did he get to?"

The fox runs by, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Jynx whips out a paw at the screaming vulpine and tries to catch him by the collar. "Stop you idiot! This way!"

The fox struggles in Jynx's grasp. "Let go of me, you Gallisian … Gallisian … you … Let go!"

Over yonder, a Gallisian tent burns down. Chevaliers on Drokar-back gallop away, howling and yelping.

"It's me, stupid!" Jynx tugs on the fox, and makes his way to the keep, trying to find his allies out in the field.

"Oh! Stupid! I didn't recognize you – URF!" The fox covers his mouth. "I mean, Master Kurai!"

A bit of looking around, and Jynx can pick out a couple of Rhians slugging it out with dogs. There's also an armored cheetah … and in the other direction, Jynx can spy a large muscular human leading a mixed-race group of warriors down from Tempest Keep. It would appear that the tide of battle has turned.

No time to glare at the fox, the Khatta turns him loose, and pulls out his dagger. "Make yourself useful and go get a weapon from the armory tent! Er, what's left of it!" He bolts over to his battling companions, and starts in on the fray.

Much kicking of Gallee tails takes place in the time that follows, and by the time the sun rises, the Gallisian forces are in full retreat.

The sun limns the form of a black Khatta, standing triumphantly with one boot propped up on the groaning body of a defeated Cuirassier. Trumpets sound out, and the forces of Tempest County – warriors with swords, and farmers armed with hoes – cheer out in victory!

The Khatta pants as he waits for the Count's forces to secure the area for the winning team. His now free tail thrashes back and forth in the wind, and his ears begin to droop. Taking his foot off the poodle, the Khatta stumbles off into a secluded area, and makes a few hacking noises. Looks like air-sickness.