Breached Houses And Jungle Paths

“What did you do this time?”  Writer Lady asks.

“Nothing.”  Monitor Man says.

“Then why am I walking through a jungle, looking for snakes, and pushing away branches?”   Writer Lady asks.

“Wait.”  Monitor Man says.

Writer Lady stops walking.  He keeps walking, passes her, and takes the lead protecting her against snakes and renegade branches.

“I don't know what happened.”  He says. “One minute Tinkletoes and I were looking for Dobby and the next...”

“Your ass is mine.”   She says speeding up to fall into step next to Monitor Man.  “Your ass is distracting.”

“Checking things out?”  He asks with a grin.

“It's right there in front of me.  It's practically talking to me.”  The visual image lingers.  “You were saying...”  She says prompting Monitor Man to continue his story.

“One minute I was talking to Tinkletoes and the next I was here, in these clothes, getting drenched.”

“You sure pissed someone off.”

“I don't know who that might be.”  Monitor Man says, pushing his soaking hair away from his eyes.  He does it again and a third time.

“I can't see anything with this wet hair.  How do I look?”

Writer Lady smiles. “Like a drowned rat.”  She says.

He makes a face.

“We're in a jungle, standing in the pouring rain, does it matter?”

Monitor Man begins to answer, Writer Lady covers his mouth with her hand.   She puts a finger to her lips indicating a need for silence.  “Did you hear that?” She asks.

Monitor Man's eyes shift from left to right.   “I can hear a lot of things right now. Could you be more specific?”  He whispers.

“Something unusual.” She says.

“It's a jungle.  Do you live in a jungle?”

Writer Lady looks at Monitor Man without saying a word.

“You do.  Sort of.  But not one like this.”

“It's all new to me.”  Writer Lady whispers.  “That doesn't matter because something is headed this way.”  She stops talking and listens.  “It has four feet. No six.  Eight?”

“Or whatever it is, it's four footed and there are two of them.”  Monitor Man suggests.

“That's not good.”

The sound of the kittens' footfalls meet with the ground in time to chase music. Because...action sequence...where have you been?  The two Grittiest of Gritty Browncoat Kitties run with an energy that they have never had.   New sights, sounds, and smells fill their senses.  Beckoning them deeper into the unknown. Making their way into a clearing, the kittens stop where Monitor Man landed only moments before.  Smudge Mal inspects the mud in front of him.   “He was here."  He says.  Although rain is pouring, the kittens remain dry thanks to their enchanted hats, thick gloves, and heavy brown dusters.   “Tracks head this way.”   Smudge Mal announces with a nod.

“We're gonna get him.”   Spots Wash says holding up a super capacity water gun.

“What do you think you're gonna do with that?”   Smudge Mal asks.

“Force a surrender.   Nobody likes getting wet.”

Smudge Mal holds both paws out, watching as water dances off of his gloves. “He's already wet.”

Spots Wash's smile fades and then returns.  He raises the water gun and blasts a round into Smudge Mal's face watching as his older brother frowns.

“Did you like that?”   Spots Wash asks.

“Does it look like I liked it?”

“I rest my case.”

“We are bounty hunting through a rain forest.  Monitor Man is our prey.   Find something a little bit more...,”  Smudge Mal thinks for a minute,  “...huntery, okay?”

Spots Wash nods and holsters his weapon inside his coat.  He opens the coat from the opposite side revealing a crossbow with sponge darts.

Smudge Mal looks at Spots Wash.   Before Smudge Mal can protest a sponge dart hits him between the eyes.

“Hurts right?”  Spots asks.

“Monitor Man?”   Tinkletoes calls.  He uses a regular tone at first that grows louder with each unanswered call.

“My bridge has been breached!”  House's scream leads the self-proclaimed mercenary back to the living room hoping that this is just one of TP's antics.

“Is that what you two are calling it?"  Tinkletoes asks as he enters the living room.

Carp, Dylan, Ray, Mural Man, and TP are already in the room.

“You have that mixed up.  They call that...” Ray begins only to be interrupted by a tug on his pant leg.

Dylan looks up and shakes his head, “Furnatche's here.  He's too little.” Everyone looks down to see Furnatche curled up by Dylan's feet.

“She is talking about her bridge.”  Mural Man corrects.

“House is a house.   Houses don't have a bridge.”   Tinkletoes points out.

“Castles do.”  TP says.

“Yuh—huh.”  Dylan agrees looking up at Tinkletoes solemnly.

“Her bridge.”   TP giggles.  “Silly human.”

“Something's stuck in her teeth man.”   Ray says.

“Houses don't have teeth.”   Carp says.

“Maybe I should explain.”  Mural Man offers.

“Go ahead.”   TP giggles.

“When a house and a mural love each other very much...”  Carp says.

Tinkletoes glares at Carp.

“Ray can make jokes and I can't?”   Carp asks.

Tinkletoes continues glaring.

“I know, I know.  Shut it.”  Carp says.

“House's bridge is magical.  It leads to enchanted forests, magical lands, and mythical places.  It is bridge between your world and ours.”

“It's an on-ramp to Fae-rie.”   TP announces.

“An on-ramp to Faerie.   Cool man.”  Ray says.  “Can we go?”

“If it's an on-ramp then there should be nothing there.   Just road.”  Tinkletoes says.

“Not necessarily.”  Carp says brightly.   “It is Faerie.”

“TP.”  Tinkletoes says, looking at the faerie.   “What if a guy takes a walk on that bridge?   What should he expect to find?”

“Nothing.   Everything.  Magical lands burst at the seams.  A man would find anything that lingers in between.”  TP giggles.

“He's rhym-ing.”  Carp sings.

“Which means he's hiding something or expecting to see quite a show.”  Tinkletoes says.

“Which one do you think it is?”  The self-proclaimed mercenary asks.

“Expecting to see quite a show.”  Carp says.

“I think he's hiding something.”

Dylan reaches up and pulls on Tinkletoes' pant leg.  Tinkletoes squats down.

“Both.”  Dylan says.

Tinkletoes looks at TP, studies the faerie closely, looks at Dylan and says.  “You know what kid?  I think you're right.  We have two missing kittens, Dobby is gone too, and Monitor Man disappeared right before my eyes.  House says that her bridge has been breached.   TP thinks everything is real funny right now. I think that someone needs to go out on that bridge and take a look around.”