A new day, a new danger

The next morning, Collette awoke and crawled out of the tent, yawning as she made her way over to her sleeping sister. "Hey! Wake up."

"Hmmm... Ten more minutes, Mommy." Clarisse muttered, still half asleep as she briefly removed her thumb from her mouth. "The Centuar Princess and I need to stop the cheese men from stealing the moon before we can..."

"Wake up, Clarisse!" Collette shrieked as she yanked the rock out from under the younger sister's head, causing Clarisse to hit her head on the ground as she woke with a yelp.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Clarisse shouted as she got to her feet. She then groaned as she flinched away, "And please stay within ten feet from me until you can wash that stench off, Ms. Bed Wetter!"

"I told you last night, I'll get rid of the smell once I get the rose puree, vinegar, and access to boiling water." Collette spat, narrowing her eyes. "And I do not wet the bed, Ms. Clarisse the Thumb Sucker!"

"You seriously wanna argue that..." Clarisse said as she pointed down at Collette's wet cloth diaper.

"..." Collette growled as a blush came to her face. "Firstly, okay. I do not wet the bed a majority of the time, if that makes you happy! Second, I woke you up because we need to get going if we're to track down those idiots."

"Not before we retrieve your brother." Integra said as she approached the sisters from the woods. "I'm more than certain he will want his **** as -"

Integra paused as the sounds of galloping was heard, the three looking up to see Cevin dressed in Tiffany's shirt and skirt while riding Tiffany's horse...

Clinging tightly to a butt naked Olga as the half-orc pulled on the reigns, the two dismounting from the horse as in came to a stop.

"Cevin?! What the hell are you wearing?" Clarisse asked, fighting back her laughter.

"Hey! Mate Cevin's Sister not laugh at Mate Cevin!" Olga spat, placing her hands on her hips with a glare. "Not Mate Cevin's fault Ex-boss Tiffany burned Mate Cevin and Olga's clothes!"

"'Mate Cevin'?!" Collette asked, looking between the two before stopping on her baby brother. "You bred this thing?!"

"Don't you call my sweet and sexy Olga a thing, Collette!" Cevin snapped, wrapping an arm around his new girlfriend defensively. "She's not the one who left me behind! Even if you doing so is what led me to being with this beautiful, emerald skinned woman in the first place..."

"Excuse me?" Integra interrupted, getting the attention of the four. "As I was saying, I'm more than certain that Cevin would still want his **** on that succubus for making him a laughing stock at that bar for making him wet himself and exposing his little shame. Am I correct, Cevin?"

"You bet I -" Before Cevin could finish, a loud cracking noise was heard as the three looked towards Olga, the half-orc shaking in rage as her hands balled into fists.

"Where succubus at? Olga make succubus pay! Olga make succubus pay hard for what succubus did to Mate Cevin!"

"Now, hold on." Integra said, holding up a hand. "Let's not get too excited. From my knowledge, this woman is the chosen one who was destined to defeat Intectus in battle, so we know where she's going. If we hurry, we can shorten the trek to two days and then cut her and her group off at The Emperor's castle. Any questions?"

"Olga have question. Why Mate Cevin's Elder Sister in diapers and smell like burning manure?"

"Oh shut up, you green freak!" Collette snapped as Cevin and Clarisse chuckled. "I just need to find some hot water, rose puree, and vinegar to mix with this dragon root to remove this skunk smell! And, as far as I know, there's nowhere to find something like that around here at the moment!"

"Olga know where to find them." Olga said, taking Collette by surprise. "Olga's old band raided old supplies bunker just past clearing. Supplies bunker still fully stocked with supplies and bathing cauldron."

"A supplies bunker?" Integra asked, "Then they should be coming across it while heading to the castle."

"We can kill three birds with one stone." Clarisse said with a smirk.

"Well what are we waiting here for?! Let's get a move on!" Collette exclaimed as she quickly packed up the tent and turned on her heel before marching forward.

"Hold on!" Integra called out as she and Clarisse followed, "If that succubus camp up ahead has any relationship to the succubus in The Chosen One's party, we should go around the clearing!"

Olga helped Cevin back onto the horse and grabbed the reigns, leading the animal after the three women. As she was walking, Olga raised an eyebrow and cutely cocked her head to the side. "Why Olga feel like Olga forget something important about supplies bunker?"

"Maybe we just weren't meant to be..." Lucile said to Tara as the group made their way through the forest, having left the succubus camp an hour prior as they followed Integra on the beginning of their two day trek.

"Hey! C'mon! You can't give up now." Tara replied. She already saw two of the future visions come true, and she'd rather not see the third one happen and see a friendship fall apart.

"Tara. Look at me." Lucile said with a sigh, "I subjected myself to a complete makeover involving being bathed, scrubbed, and polished like a prized pig at the fair. And all Talrach said was that I looked 'different'."

"Maybe it was a compliment." Tara suggested. "I mean, you look really hot right now. Hell! I'd date you if I wasn't already a loyal girlfriend."

"Gee, thanks."

"Why don't we try the pick up lines again? Just try to avoid any that are kinda... sensitive subjects to her."

"I think it's a waste of time, but if you're sure..."

"Go get her, Tigress!"

Lucile took a deep breath as she walked ahead, walking next to Talrach before clearing her throat. "Uh, hey, Talrach."

"Hey, Lucy." Talrach replied with a smile.

"Uh..." Lucile stammered before clearing her throat again. "I had something to ask you. Was your father an astrologist? Be-"

"Silly Lucy!" Talrach said with a giggle. "We grew up together, remember? You know my dad's a minstrel and a baker."

"Um, right... Let me try another, er, question..."

"I know that that wasn't a naked picture last night! She's hiding something!" Emily whispered to Helena as she eyed Integra.

"..."

"I don't know what, and I don't know why, but Integra must be planning somethig."

"..."

"... And you're still mad at me about what happened last night, aren't you?"

"No!" Helena gasped sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "What gave you that idea?"

"Look, I know I'm not your favorite person right now, but you gotta believe me. Something is fishy here."

"And it was worth humiliating me like this because...?" Helena challenged, gesturing down to her body.

"I'm sure nobody noticed."

"Three incubi and a succubus who hit on me last night looked at me uncomfortably before walking away this morning." Helena spat, "And one of them offered me candy for the road."

"... Okay, maybe a few people noticed." Emily muttered. "I said I was sorry about five hundred times already. What more do you want?"

"Okay, how about this?" Lucile asked to Talrach as Desiderata and Tara watched on. Clearing her throat yet again, she asked, "If you had a chance to rearrange the alphabet, how would you go about it? Because if I could, I would put U and I together."

"That's an interesting choice." Talrach replied as she placed a finger to her chin in thought, making Lucile fight back a sigh as the tiefling missed the point again for the twelfth time. "I think I'd probably place E and W behind Y, just because. That way, you get three hidden words that make a sentence: 'Hi, no yew'."

"Heh. Good... Er, good choice, I guess."

"I just... How is she not getting any of this?!" Tara whispered as she placed a hand to her forehead. "Is she really not that bright?"

"You don't become a beast master with low intelligence, Tara." Desiderata replied.

"I know you hate raisins, Talrach, but can I offer you a date?"

"Thank you, Lucy. However, I recently discovered that dates are too sweet for me, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

"... Although, even I'll admit that I got the point of most of those faster than she did." The succubus said. Desiderata was about to say something else when she looked looked up and raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

The group looked up to see what looked like a small house built into the side of a large hill, the door broken off it's hinges and laying on the porch.

"Geeze, did Bilbo Baggins get raided by The FBI looking for Sauron's One Ring?" Tara asked.

"'Bilbo' Who?" Talrach asked.

"What the hell is an 'FBI'?" Emily asked.

"What would my sixth cousin twenty-five times removed need a ring for?" Desiderata asked.

"Nevermind..."

"It's an old supplies bunker." Integra explained, "It's used by travelers, merchants, and soldiers as a place to store provisions to collect for long travels, even having a special enchantment that makes sure that it's well stocked by replacing what was taken. It can also serve as a temporary shelter on some occasions."

"So, anyone can just waltz right in and take anything they want?" Tara asked.

"Pretty mu- Wait. Is something moving in there?"

The group stepped back as a strage looking creature stepped out of the door. This creature had the body of a tiger, the wings of a bat, the tail of a scorpion, and the face of a man with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

"Stand back!" Talrach whispered to the group. "Don't make any sudden movements. It's a Northern Manticore."

"That thing is hideous!" Tara said in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, and they're just as mean too. No beast master has ever been able to tame one." Talrach said, "Fortunately, they have very poor eyesight compared to their larger, less aggressive, and easier to tame cousins in the south. Don't make any loud noises or quick movements."

"Crap! That what Olga forgot!" Olga whispered as Cevin clung to her fearfully, Collette nearly fainted, and Clarisse snuck behind a tree in an effort to not wet the only pair of pants she had at the moment. "Olga forgot manticore had moved in after last raid."

Integra merely smirked and nodded as the Integra with Tara's group caught sight of her, slowly returning the gesture. An act that did not go unnoticed by Clarisse...

... Nor Emily, the elf being the only one to catch what Integra was doing out of the corner of her eye. Just as she began to move her head, however...

"Don't! Move!" Talrach hissed, causing Emily to freeze.

"Um, Talrach?" Tara whispered, "I can’t open my almanac right now, but is this thing... Y'know..."

"It's a man-eater, yes." Talrach whispered, "However, it's mainly the claws and teeth we have to worry about. The tail is venomous, but said venom isn't lethal. If anything, those lucky to survive an encounter and only getting stung as damage will just be... Very irritable for a few hours, easily lashing out and exploding at anyone who makes them the tiniest bit annoyed or frustrated."

"Uh oh..." Tara thought as she connected the dots, turning her head to look at Lucile. And unfortunately, the naked woman had done so just a little too quickly...