::Time for chapter 2! I haven't had any feedback for this (at least not on the site), but for the one person I know is reading, hope you enjoy it!::

Sarasa sat at a small round table covered in a purple, silk tablecloth, waving her hands over the crystal ball she was focusing on. Sakura perched on a large chest on all fours behind her (signifying her feline attributes), looking on curiously.

"So what's up?" she asked. She looked at the divining object for what she felt must have been the millionth time, only to once again see nothing but a distorted view of the room behind it. "Are you even seeing anything? Or have you been kicking back the elven wine again?"

"Very funny," her companion answered, sparing an eye-roll. "I know you can't see anything, you have to know how to use magic for that." Sakura gave a 'mew' of acknowledgement just as a grin split Sarasa's face. "Ah, it seems my widdle chubses found two unsuspecting trespassers! Shall we go get them?"

"Might as well," she said. She hopped off of her perch and strapped on her twin ninja-to. "Anything to free me from the cabin fever that's starting to set in." The black mage picked up her staff and led the way out of the cave-home.

*****

Ryu and Jorn sat waiting for the coffee they had put on the fire to finish brewing. They were looking forward to their hot beverages so much, they didn't even notice, until it was too late, that a ravenous beast the likes of which had never been seen was about to strike.

The creature came bursting out of the brush, roaring and growling. It appeared to be a small orca, only it had the eyes, nose, fangs, arms and clawed hands of a werewolf, and a constant spray of water was being shot from its blowhole.

"What the hell is that?!" cried Ryu. Before any answer could be offered, the monster was on them. Acting fast, Ryu drew his katana and ran at the beast, slicing in an upward-diagonal attack as he passed. Jorn followed up by firing all six shots from his revolver, all hitting the abomination dead-on. Ryu nimbly made his way back to his friend's side, bringing his blade to the ready.

"I think we got it," said Jorn. They both started to smile, but their smiles quickly faded as they saw the beast howl at the gibbous moon as the wounds they had inflicted closed up and vanished as if they were never there. "Aw, now that's a load of shit!"

"Don't worry," Ryu assured his companion. "We'll just have to get serious and attack again. Besides, anything that ugly wants to die." Encouraged by Ryu's words, he and Jorn readied their weapons and attacked.

…..it's hard to say what exactly happened next. However, if anyone had been walking through the forest that night, they would have told you that the sounds of flesh rending, bones breaking and organs rupturing could be heard, along with screams that could only result from unbearable pain and agony. They might have also mentioned the generous amounts of blood splattered on the surrounding plant life. Simply put, whatever happened did not go well for the two adventurers.

*****

"Aww!" Sakura cooed. The ninja and her mage companion walked into the clearing to see a swordsman and a machinist almost literally being eaten alive by the abomination that was present. "They're gettin' eaten! But no time for that now, make with the magic to call it off."

"Yeah, yeah," Sarasa answered with a sigh. She bowed her head, closed her eyes and raised her staff. She began chanting a spell that would make the monster she had created stand down and release its prey. It did just that. "There, that was easy enough. Now come help me lug these two back to the caves so we can loot 'em!"

"Yay! We get treasure!" exclaimed the feline-ninja. The two of them put out the campfire and attempted to lift the two hapless travelers. Discovering that to be a nigh impossible task, they resorted to dragging them. Had they stayed just a few moments longer, they would have noticed yet another rustling in the surrounding brush. However, this time a small being jumped out.

He was about three-and-a-half feet tall, very thin and had a large, ski-slope nose and a huge, perpetual grin on his face. He had red hair that was barely longer than stubble, blue eyes and wore a very oversized, baggy forest green tunic, equally baggy brown pants and an oversized brown leather belt and shoes. On his head was a long, baggy hood that matched his tunic, and in his hand he carried a wooden spoon that was taller than him.

"I'm a spoon-gnome!" he stated, seemingly to the very air around him. He stuck a pose, slamming the end of his spoon onto the ground and placing his other fist on his hip, before running off after the two bandits and their unfortunate prisoners. He kept to the shadows the entire time.

When the five of them finally reached the caves (four, perhaps, as the elusive gnome was nowhere to be seen), Sakura got a mischievous grin on her face despite how heavily she and Sarasa were both panting. "Damn, they were heavy," she said. Sarasa simply nodded her agreement as she caught her breath. "No time to dwell on that now. Let the looting begin!"

*****

'Ugh, what the hell happened?' thought Ryu as he slowly regained consciousness. He opened his eyes, pleased that the light source that met them was low and soft. The first thing he saw was the face of a girl with short bleached hair, large blue eyes and brown cat ears wearing a black headband and black-framed glasses. She smiled down at him. 'Jorn? No way, Jorn's not nearly that pretty…or female. Who is she? Wait a minute; Jorn? Where is he…? That-that…thing! WHOA!'

"Easy there," Sakura said as she grabbed Ryu's shoulders. The samurai gasped for air and looked around; he was now sitting on a large, soft bed, the cat-girl kneeling behind him. "Relax. You're okay now," she said with a warm smile.

"But, Jorn," he began. "We were attacked by that…thing!"

"Oh, you mean the whale-wolf!" she answered with a giggle. "Don't worry, we took care of it. You and your friend are fine. He's resting in the other room, my friend is watching over him."

"So…you saved us?" he asked. Sakura nodded. It was then that Ryu noticed he wasn't wearing his armor or coat, and that his daisho was missing as well. Still, given the news he just heard, he put it in the back of his head for the moment. "Wow, thanks," he said with a blush, partially due to his awkwardness around women he found attractive and that he figured out his head had been resting in the girl's lap. "Um, what's your name?"

"I'm Sakura. Sakura Shikyono, nice to meet you…?"

"I'm Ryu Sorano," he replied. He was about to ask about his belongings when he heard the 'BANG!' of a gun. The next thing he knew, there was a flash of sparks from the plate on Sakura's headband and she fell back onto the bed. Jorn came walking into the room backwards, his gun aimed down the corridor. "YOU SHOT HER!"

"You're welcome," said the half-goblin. He threw Ryu's things onto the bed next to him. "Here's your stuff, we can get out of here now…I don't even want to know why you two were on that bed."

"What are you talking about?!" he yelled. "What's gotten into you?! She was being really nice to me!" At that moment, Sakura gave a growl as she sprung up, kunai knife in hand, and stabbed Jorn in the back, forcing out a 'GKK!' from her victim as he fell to the floor. Ryu simply shrugged. "Eh, fair enough."

"Ryu…!" Jorn managed to grunt. "They're…trying to enslave us!" Ryu rolled his eyes and offered Sakura his hand, which she readily accepted.

"I'm really sorry about that," he said as he helped the ninja up. "Are you alright?"

"Thanks," she answered. "I'm fine. But…" she wrapped her arms around the samurai in a hug and whispered in his ear: "You should've listened to your friend!" At that moment, in the cave's far corner, a redheaded gnome poked his grinning head out from behind a rock.

"The plot thickens!" he said, seemingly to no one in particular.

::There ya' have it! R&R please; later!::