Artemis chewed thoughtfully on a strip of dried meat when a cat-shapedpiece of darkness melted out of the woods and padded over to where she sat, bumping her arm with its head and burrowing in for petting.

"Wow! He's huge!" said Wilycub in awe.

"She, not he," replied Artemis with a smile. "This is my goddess-familar...her name is Lepraa."

"Lepraa the leopard," said MDG unnecessarily, admiring the creature's clustered spots.

The Avatar chuckled slightly. She supposed the name *was* obvious, but it suited. "She's such a baby...full-grown, but young. Bast says she'll help me in battle. I haven't done any real fighting yet, but she certainly found me a path into the woods while I was trying to keep an eye on those mutants."

Artemis' voice trailed off and she turned toward the woods where there was a faint rustling. A lighter shade of darkness detatched itself, following Lepraa. It was of a smaller size, but also a leopard. A small band of metal flashed at its tail as it approached Artemis and bumped her arm with it's head.

"Seems like Lepraa made a friend," mused the Avatar.

"Or two," added Wilycub, ears twitching.

Further rustling could be heard from the rest of the group now and they watched intently as a third figure slipped silently out of the dark of the wood. Well, she *tried* to be silent, but it was obviously a difficult endeavour if the muted growlings of a fourth newcomer were any indication.

"Oh, stop your growling!" hissed the one in the lead, female by the sound of her voice. "Honestly! You want an enemy to hear us?"

"That would be just fine by me," snapped the other. "All I've done since I've got here is crawl through the woods! You'd think Bast would have an idea of how to run a game!"

"Well keep it up and I'm striking out on my own! Let's see how well you do*without* someone who knows her way around...eep," yipped the woman, turning to face Artemis' bow, nocked and ready.

"Who are you?" asked the Avatar simply, ignoring the pair of cats who bumped her thighs in an effort to get her attention.

"Telly..." began the female.

"Thunderwolf. What's it to you," snarled the male.

"We're players in Bast's game...aren't you?" finished Telly, elbowing the lion behind her.

"I am," replied Artemis, "but believe me, I have more than enough reason to doubt *your* word...Lepraa, what's *with* you?"

The leopard gave a rumbling purr-growl and projected an impression into her mistress' head:

**Safe** **Safe** came a second thought. **All players.**

Artemis risked a quick glance at the second leopard from the corner of her eye. Evidently her companions had also heard the "voice" as both Wilycuband MDG turned their attention toward the cat.

"She's telling the truth," said Telly, now with some irritation. "Woodstock's a player too!"

"Woodstock?" asked the Avatar.

"The clouded leopard. She can project her thoughts," replied the new comer with exasperation. She risked movement enough to adjust her ponytail and prop her hands on her hips. "She's already made friends with *your*kitty..."

"Point taken," said Artemis, lowering her weapon. "If Lepraa thinks you're safe, you probably are. If not, you'll soon regret any sudden moves."

"You think you can out-fight *me*?" snarled Thunderwolf, flexing his claws. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Oh, settle down," sighed Telly, relaxing visibly. She reached out to scratch behind Lepraa's ears as the big cat came within reach and did the same to Woodstock who was projecting a low-level disapproval at everyone's behaviour. "It's not like we're enemies...at least not yet. We should be trying to help each other out."

"You can camp with us!" declared Wilycub, willing to make the first step."They can, can't they, Calypso?"

"As long as Artemis agrees too. We should all be in this together, or not at all."

"They're welcome," nodded the Avatar after a moment's hesitation, "as long as their willing to help. We still have a lot of work to do."

"We wouldn't dream of shirking duties," scowled Thunderwolf, insulted. "We have our honour."

"Just point me toward a cookfire," grinned Telly. "I can do killer things with wild food." When the others gave her questioning looks, she shrugged. "What can I say? It's good to be modelled after the Warrior Maidens!"

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

"It's a woman!"

"And what a woman!" "Not the right woman...but beggars can't be choosers."

"You *are* the man, J-man."

"Call me Darrell."

"Will you two give it a rest?" groaned Ian, casting a significant glance atDarrell and Capresono.

"You have to admit, she's pretty hot..."

"Thank you, boys," grinned the object of desire as she arrived in the midst of the group. The woman was a Thunderian feline, of no distinct clan.

"Okay, okay," snorted the woman's jaguar-headed, male companion. "You can't turn off the charm. Casca," he continued, jerking a thumb at his chest. "This here's Auroara. She uses sex appeal to get her way."

"Hey, Auroara...Casca. I'm Ian," said the soldier. "These are Darrell...known as JackalMann on the mailing list...Capresono, and GBJazzMan." The group muttered various welcomes and the JazzMan added a casual salute.

"Sex appeal, hmmm?" asked Capresono, sidling up to Auroara. "Does it work?"

"Do you see her carrying her own backpack?" replied Casca somewhat bitterly while Auroara chuckled. "I keep trying to dump it, but I can't seem to come up with a single reason why I should."

"Ooooh...but you're such a big strong man and I'm such a delicate young flower," cooed Auroara with a sexy turn of her head. Surrounded by males, she was now in her element.

Casca sighed and reshouldered the pack he was about to drop on the ground. "See what I mean? It's something in the voice."

"I think I know what you mean," agreed Capresono, glad about Casca's immediate obediance. It saved him from having to shoulder the pack himself.

"You're listening too hard," said GB JazzMan. "You have to hear *around* her. Kinda like picking out individual instruments in a song, you know?"

Auroara gave him a dirty look. "What do you mean?" she asked dangerously.

"Maybe your powers aren't entirely developed," shrugged GB JazzMan, "but whatever you're trying, I'm not getting it. I just...listen differently and your voice sort of...changes."

Auroara opened her mouth to protest, but Darrell interrupted her. "Look, it doesn't really matter. I don't even have powers. You don't need them either. Save it for when it might save your life...it must take a lot of energy to sound that cheap."

Auroara gaped in horror.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch...he gets off on proving that he can stomp people flat without fancy skills," grinned the JazzMan.

"Heh, yeah. He's just yanking your chain," half-grinned Capresono.

"Tweaking your nipples," added Darrell under his breath.

"What did you say?" snapped the female. "Nothing," the 80s refugee grinned slyly.

"If it's a power, shut it off," interrupted Ian. "Those that can resist will give you grief and those that can't won't get anything done." He adjusted his collar slightly, trying to deny his own attraction to the woman.

"You can't tell me what to do," sniffed Auroara petulantly. The move was practised and guaranteed to make men melt.

"Not listening...not listening..." muttered Casca, hands cupped over his ears. "Just you wait until I'm in the company of my evil cronies..."

"You're right," said Ian stiffly. "And here you insist on telling *us* what to do. Most of us are just looking for our friends...and if you plan to stand in our way, I, for one, will find a way to leave you behind."

"Well," reconsidered Auroara. "I *would* like to find Gatotrueno..."

"Great...so we're all on a similar mission," exclaimed Capresono with a smile. "Help us and help yourself! Although if you really want to practise, you can do so on me..."

"Hey! You're a married man," joked Darrell."Married...not dead," replied the other. "And it *was* a rather unofficial ceremony..."

"We might consider stopping for the night," said GB JazzMan.

"Is that what I just said?" exclaimed Capresono. "Practise!" Darrell smacked him upside the head."

Okay...I'll stop," grumped Auroara, "but only until I find Gato...we agreed to meet in here if possible.

"Great...glad to hear it," said Ian. "Safety in numbers and all. As to the idea of making camp...it sounds like a good one. We should see what we have in the way of shelter equipment."

"Soldiers," sighed Casca to himself as he unshouldered the packs he carried and rummaged through his own, "...too practical by half."

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