FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Note: Goomba and Pokémon are copyright Nintendo.

Chapter 64: Spirit Versus Fey

Geoff sat at the dining room table in his normal seat, having just finished off his breakfast. This morning Avery was at the head of the table since Conor and Dirk were still in Ireland. Last night Conor had phoned a few hours after he'd gone to Ireland to say that he'd calmed the Alpha down, and they were going to be talking things over with Lorena's family to figure out what to do. The Alpha didn't seemed too inclined to silence Muireann but he'd talk to her before making a decision. He was aware of her reputation for gossip and spreading rumours; Conor didn't sound like he was pushing too hard for mercy, if at all. Faelen had been quiet all last evening, obviously lost in thought. He had tried to call Liam just before making supper, around seven in the evening, but couldn't get through. He looked nervous for several minutes before calming down, but he got very tense a few more times and tried to call Liam in each instance with no luck. Liam had phoned back close to nine, saying Snow had brought him over to Nathanial's and he hadn't grabbed his phone. Faelen told Geoff Liam said everything was fine, and had taken his phone to his room to talk in private. Geoff was brought back to the present and stood as Faelen began removing the breakfast dishes, "Faelen, can we take Gwen to see Nathanial's gate this morning? They'll probably go home close to midday and I want to see what she thinks." Gwen's ears were pointed toward them, but she was still ignoring them as she played with her bear. It was finished, the face still lacked the correct details expected in a proper statue, but it was recognizably a bear. Geoff thought it'd be better than the grade ten art class' attempts at making three-dee art. The bear was as long as Geoff's forearm and probably weighed close to four and a half kilos (ten pounds). She must get tired carrying it around like that.

Geoff carried some dishes out as he followed Faelen. Faelen began rinsing the dishes off before putting them in the dishwasher, his voice was quiet, "Yeah, sure. We can go once the kitchen is clean; I'll start mowing the lawn when we get back."

Gwen walked in with a small stack of plates, she put them on the counter and quickly walked back to the dining room. Avery came in with the serving bowl that had held the hash, she looked a little confused, "Are we going right away? Gwen is trying to rush me and is insisting we clean up quickly." Gwen carefully walked in with an armload of glasses. Avery jumped, "Oh!" She stopped herself and quietly spoke to her daughter, trying to keep from startling her, "Now, Gwen," She took half the glasses away, "You know I don't like you carrying glasses like that, you could break them and really hurt yourself." Geoff chuckled and helped clean up the dining room.

Geoff led the way through the forest, taking the back way to Nathanial's. He figured Gwen might appreciate the chance to see some different rocks, and he also preferred walking on the forest debris over the asphalt of the road. Avery took a deep breath, "I love the smell of this forest. It's a pity the leaves are almost all fallen, they would've been so pretty." Avery bent over to look at a small cluster of mushrooms, but straightened up quickly when she heard some high pitched laughter. She tugged down on her short, brown leather coat as she glanced around.

Faelen shrugged, "Sounds like a pixie of some sort." He pointed ahead of them and deeper into the forest, "It came from that way, toward the faerie ring."

Gwen looked disinterested but her voice betrayed her awe, "You know where there's a faerie ring?" She peered off in the direction Faelen had pointed as she rubbed her bear's head, "Can we go see?"

Geoff glanced at Faelen, who looked at Avery and shrugged. Avery looked back at him. Geoff sighed, "Mom, it's your call."

Avery looked at Faelen, "Faelen, you aren't mad at me for telling you not to countermand me are you? Is there any danger?"

Faelen smiled, "No, ma'... Mama, I'm not angry. It is a faerie ring, there's always risk involved with the Fey and their magic. Will there be malevolence or active danger? No, not as long as we don't touch anything or get too close to the ring."

Avery smiled when Faelen called her 'mama', she hooked her arm in his. Seeing them like this reminded Geoff how tall his mother was, she was just a hair shorter than Faelen was. Her voice was full of warmth, "Then let's go show your little sister what's there." Geoff chuckled and led the way with Gwen walking beside him. He could see Faelen was still on high alert even as the bodyguard walked behind him.

They walked for twenty minutes; Geoff had phoned Nathanial to say they'd be a little delayed. Faelen suddenly grabbed Geoff's arm and held a finger up to his lips. Faelen stepped two paces ahead as the McDougal's stayed frozen in spot. Faelen shook his head, he seemed confused about something as he sniffed the air. The high pitched laughter rang out again, followed by a pup's giggle. It sounded like Micah, but he was supposed to be home, grounded. Faelen looked back at Geoff, baffled, and tapped his nose as he nodded. It smelt like Micah, not just sounded like him. Faelen pointed to his eyes and forward, Geoff nodded. Faelen crept forward, soon vanishing from sight in the underbrush.

Micah's laughter danced through the trees, "Ooh, lookie, a naughty doggie! We had spies, now a froggie!" Dancing lights swarmed into the bushes where Faelen had vanished, Geoff manifest as he went to run forward, but a tiny prick stung his legs and they stopped moving. He fell forward onto his face. Avery snarled and manifest, the lights swarmed toward her but fell back as crackles of electricity arced out when they got too close. "Hehehehe, zappy, happy!" The branches above Geoff rustled and swayed as something jumped through the pine trees around him.

Geoff yelled, "Micah! It's Geoff! Get the pixie to leave us alone!" Avery yelped and flew up into the trees, hindpaws first.

Gwen growled, she had fully manifest, now. Micah laughed in the trees above Geoff, "Stone bear, stone lass. Stones wear, stones pass." Geoff rolled onto his back and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He saw the shadowy outline of Micah capering up in an oak tree, a short distance away. There was a pine tree obscuring the pup, but it was unmistakeably Micah. Geoff couldn't make out Micah's expression, but he could see him wind up to throw something.

Geoff called out to Gwen, "Look out!" She turned to run, but several acorns landed in the leaves around her. She looked mildly annoyed, but Geoff could see her chest heaving as she panted in fear. Seven twiggy creatures sprouted from the thrown acorns.

She shouted to her toy, "Bear! Bite attack!" The statue leapt forward and chomped on the similarly sized tree creature.

Geoff growled and created several mini kraken out of the darkness in the shrubbery and hauled all but the one tree-thing under the leaves. The sound of splintering wood followed. A dim disc appeared beside Geoff, revealing Nathanial's basement. Nathanial and Micah stepped into the woods. Nathanial was wearing a pair of boxers inside out and backwards. Geoff gaped, "Micah!? Then who's that?" He pointed up at the other Micah.

"Bear, fury swipes!" The stone beast leapt at its opponent landing five rapid claw attacks, the tree was looking a little beat up, but countered by wrapping vines around it and began squeezing. The attack was ineffective.

Micah was fully dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt, with a leaf shaped pendant hanging off a choker made of vines. He frowned up at the capering figure, paws on his hips, "Stop that or I'll tell them all your name!"

"Bane of fun, time to run!" The figure shrank to a mere forty-five centimetres (eighteen inches) before vanishing. The tingling sensation in Geoff's legs vanished. Faelen hopped out of the bushes on all fours and croaked before he looked confused, rising unsteadily to his hindpaws. Avery shrieked as she started to fall, her descent slowed down immediately and she rotated to float down hindpaws first. The twig beast fell over lifeless and the bear began chewing on it, Micah seemed delighted by that. Gwen walked over and picked up the bear, it became still again.

Geoff looked at Avery and Faelen, "You're both all right?" They nodded, Geoff turned to Micah, "That... who was that? He looked just like you!" The three older Spirits suppressed their powers.

Micah looked at Geoff like he was insane, "Nooo... Uh, he looked nothing like me. You're... feeling okay? He doesn't even have fur." Micah backed away slowly before turning to Gwen, "Neat bear! You look like a statue, too, that's so cool!" Gwen looked down at her bear and hugged it close. Micah reached out to touch the bear and it took a swing at him, making the pup gasp and laugh. The laugh was identical to the other Micah. Micah crouched a bit to look at Gwen's eyes, "I can do that, too!" Micah's eyes turned to solid gold orbs, "See!"

Nathanial sidled over to Geoff while Micah started to talk to Gwen, "It actually didn't look like Micah at all. It was pretty short, like a pint-sized version of Fellwedyr, Micah's grandfather. His voice was pretty high pitched, too. I don't know how you could confuse him for Micah."

Gwen stepped back from Micah, "You're a Spirit? No, you're Geoff's boyfriend's brother, Mikhail. Aren't you one of those Mages who keep my Granny and Poppy prisoner?"

Micah shook his head, "Nope. Well, I am Nats' brother, but I'm Micah, and we don't keep anyone prisoner. We don't get along with the Society, much. They don't like me, well, some don't 'cause I'm a Changeling. My mom is a Fey." Micah stood up and addressed Avery, "Oh, um, why are you all here? You aren't allowed."

Avery and Faelen exchanged glances, Geoff was about to answer Nathanial but spoke to Micah, "We heard that pixie laugh, and we mentioned to Gwen there was a faerie ring nearby. She wanted to see it and we thought it'd be safe as long as we didn't touch anything or get too close. Why were we attacked and why did all of us think the Fey looked, sounded, and smelt like you? Nathanial saw what you did, too."

Micah looked at Nathanial and laughed, "Your shorts are inside out, Nats!" Nathanial blushed as he looked down and wrapped his arms around his belly. Micah sobered up, "That's why. Wearing clothes inside out can block some Fey magic, don't know why it works, but, meh. Don't try it on Granddad or other strong Fey." He scowled, "The pixie shouldn't have been so loud or attacked you unless you tried to mess with the ring, I'll talk to Granddad." He glanced at Faelen, "Hehe... Ooh! Look! A big fly!" He pointed past Faelen in excitement, making Faelen turn his head in surprise. Micah burst out laughing, "Froggie Faelen!" He hopped toward Faelen on all fours, "Ribbit! Ribbit!"

Gwen rolled her eyes, "Can you show us the ring, Micah? I want to see it." She put her bear down and it started to nose through the dead leaves, lumbering around like a real bear. Micah stopped and stared at it, his eyes were silver since he moved into some deeper shadows. "Your eyes changed colour."

Micah nodded, "Yup, so does some of my magic. Um, sure, but you have to stay close."

Nathanial edged toward the portal, "I, um, will be back in a second." He ducked through and ran toward his room. Avery laughed quietly.

Micah stood up and ran over to grab Gwen's paw, "This way!" She hesitated, but followed him quietly through the few trees to the clearing. Micah stopped at the edge of the clearing and pointed to the base of the very large oak tree. "There." Large red mushrooms formed a circle in the shadow of the tree, the mushrooms were hard to see amidst the red of the fallen leaves. "Don't get any closer, the pixie and dryad are watching."

Gwen looked at the ring and then at the black paw holding hers, "You aren't going to try to kiss me, are you?"

Micah jumped and let her paw go, "Eww!! Gross!" He stopped suddenly, "Uh, I mean, no. Uh, you're cute and... whatever, but... Oh, hi, Nats!" Nathanial ran up, wearing pants and a light sweater. "I should get some acorns while I'm here, I'll go ask the dryad if I can."

Gwen looked at him oddly before bending down, "Why? There's some right..."

"Stop!" Micah yelled, making Gwen freeze, "Don't touch them. They're a dryad's acorns, a dryad that's the guardian of a faerie ring. Don't touch her stuff without asking, you mightn't like what happens." Gwen's bear grunted and snorted as it wandered out of the bushes, still snuffling through the leaf debris. It stopped and started digging a bit into the soil. "Um, what's it doing?"

Gwen walked over and bent down, "Good Bear." She picked up a rock. "I don't have one of these. Tiger's eye, I wanted them to make some eyes for Bear. I'd like some black malachite for its nose and paw pads." She picked up 'Bear' and tapped her new rock to each eye. A small bit of the orange-brown rock flowed over and replaced the bit of stone that used to be there to create the polished eyes, Nathanial looked impressed. Gwen looked back to Micah, "I'm glad you don't want to kiss me, it looks gross. I don't know why people want to do it, except boys, you like gross stuff."

Nathanial looked at Geoff and raised an eyebrow, Geoff just shrugged and grinned. Micah laughed, "Yeah, the thought of kissing a girl is really disgusting, but kissing is lots of fun if it's with the right person. Or people. There's a couple of people I'd like to kiss. But a girl? Eww."

Gwen nodded, "You're gay, like Geoff?" Nathanial's jaw dropped, Gwen looked over at him, "I know you two are dating, Nathanial. He's said he kisses you."

Micah chirped, "Yup, we're both gay! I like being gay, it's fun. We should hurry, I think Dad wants to do stuff before we go out this afternoon. Si Fu Jim is coming over before lunch. Let me see if I can have some more acorns and then we can go." Micah spun around, his clothing shimmered and changed. Everyone but Gwen gasped in surprise when Micah stopped and posed, a fist on his hips and legs spread apart. His other paw held a riding crop, which he tapped on the black leather strap of his harness where it passed over his shoulder. Micah was wearing the black harness, which was decorated with small silver rivets, tight leather pants, a small black hat, and tight fingerless leather gloves. He arched his back and unfurled his wings, "Be right back!"

Nathanial choked out, "Micah, what in the world are you wearing?!"

Micah hovered in mid-air, his wings droning like a swarm of bumblebees, "Um, leather?" Nathanial glared at him, "Nick was looking to buy some clothes and he seemed to really like this stuff. He got super excited when I showed this to him." His laugh sounded perverted, "Um, it doesn't get in the way of my wings so it seemed like a good idea, and the pants will keep me from getting scratched by the branches." He slapped the crop on his shin, making a sharp snapping noise.

Avery turned to Gwen as Micah buzzed off, "Gwen, that is not appropriate clothing for any situation. You will never wear anything like that, do you understand?"

Gwen shrugged, "Okay, it's a boy thing, anyway. It looked good on him, but he should make the leather a different colour, it was hard to see against his fur. I wish I could change my clothes like that, it'd save a lot of time."

Geoff struggled to keep from laughing, Nathanial still looked aghast. "Do you think Faelen would look good in that, Gwen? Dirk and Mr. Smith, the da of Faelen's boyfriend thinks he would." Avery kept quiet but glared fiercely at Geoff. She did quickly glance at Faelen with an appraising eye.

Gwen looked at Faelen, head tilted slightly, "Yes. His fur is a good colour for black leather, he has big muscles, too, and it'd show them off. I don't know about the pants, he has big legs. Maybe shorts, or jeans." She looked at her mother, "Mom would look good in leather, too, like they have on some of those movies. The stuff that looks like leather bathing suits." Avery blushed and opened and closed her mouth a few times, taken completely by surprise. Geoff choked and started coughing.

Faelen smiled, "I'm sure Da could find her some, if she wanted it."

Avery called over to Micah, "Are you done yet, pup? I want to get going. Now!"

Geoff pulled Nathanial a short distance away, "What happened last night? Faelen was nearly jumping out of his fur." Faelen's ears flattened against his head as he glared at Geoff.

Nathanial shook his head, "I thought Faelen was going to be back in Ireland all weekend. Why is he home?"

"Ah, there was some... difficulty when he talked to his family. Da had to go and... hey! Don't change the subject! What happened to you, first!"

Nathanial scuffed his paws in the leaves. "I can't say, don't ask, please."

Geoff growled, "We're back to that? Come on, you trust me, what's so bad?"

Nathanial sighed, "Some secrets aren't mine to tell, Geoff. Short answer is Poppy was Gordon's god-father, Dad and Gordon have hated each other for decades ever since Gordon tried to sell Dad to a Nosferatu, and, ugh... I, uh, found out why Dad has a blood phobia." He shuddered.

Geoff pulled him into a hug, "That bad?"

Nathanial clung to him, "N-no. Worse, much worse." Geoff went still, his mind reeling. "Anyway, I got really mad at them and Snow went and grabbed Liam. Liam tried to kill Poppy and threatened to kill both of them several times. They don't like each other much, that's probably why Faelen was... jumpy."

Geoff pulled back a bit to look into Nathanial's eyes, "Liam tried to kill your grandparents? Your grandparents stopped him? Or did you?" Nathanial looked decidedly uncomfortable at that. "Crap. I thought you said your family didn't have any powerful Mages." He remembered what Faelen said last night, "Ohhh... shit." Nathanial lowered his head, Geoff whispered in his ear, "They're Demon Mages, they're the ones that summed the Demon that did that to your da." Nathanial's head jerked up in surprise, catching his nose under Geoff's jaw. Nathanial muffled a yelp and put a paw over the sore black nub. "Sorry. Crap, no wonder Faelen wanted us to stay far away from them."

"How did Faelen know?" Nathanial's wide eyes were watering, and his brow was crinkled in concern and pain. Geoff felt a stirring in his groin, and the familiar need to protect his little pup. Nathanial smiled, "You have that look in your eyes. I don't think your Mom would like it if you ripped my clothes off right here."

"Pity, I'll settle for this." Geoff moved his head forward and pressed his muzzle against Nathanial's. He pushed his tongue into Nathanial's mouth and kissed him passionately, a paw moving of its own volition south to knead that delectable mound of flesh by the curly tail. He subconsciously began to softly growl possessively, holding his pup close to his body.

"AHEM!" Avery's sharp tone cut through the fog of arousal that was settling into Geoff's brain.

Gwen's disinterested tone belied her words, "It looks much better seeing them kiss than those people on TV. They look like they enjoy it a lot more, anyway. Perhaps I should give it a try next time Bobby asks me."

Geoff and Avery snapped at once, "No!" Geoff continued, "Not a chance!" as Avery said, "Don't you dare, young lady!"

Micah zipped over to hover in mid air above them, "Who's Bobby? Is he cute?"

Gwen looked up, "No. He's ugly and mean. He just keeps trying to make me kiss him, he called me a dyke the last time I said no."

Nathanial stepped part way around Geoff, keeping an arm around Geoff's waist, "That is mean. Don't let it bother you, though. That's a bad thing to be calling a young lady, it says more about him than you. Your mother and brother are right, though, you are too young to be kissing like Geoff and I were. If Micah wasn't half-Fey I wouldn't want him to be kissing, either."

"Hey! I like kissing!" Micah snapped his riding crop against his shins a few times as he scowled, "If I like it and no one's making me, what's wrong with it? There's lots of people in school who spend all their time kissing, and, uh, other stuff in the washrooms. No one's making them and they keep doing it, so what's wrong?"

Nathanial shook his head, "I notice you didn't say they liked doing this 'other stuff'."

Micah's head drooped, "Some of them are almost screaming inside, even though they aren't hurting physically. Other ones like it almost as much as you do."

Nathanial flicked a finger at Micah in a 'gotcha' gesture, "That's why we say she shouldn't be kissing. The younger you are the more likely it will hurt like that."

Avery gave him a flat look, "And that's why I don't like the idea of you doing what you are." Nathanial blushed and dropped his head. Avery turned to Gwen, "Don't do anything you don't feel ready for. Only you can tell for sure when you are." Gwen looked up from her bear with a blank look. Avery put a paw to her head, and the other one on her hip, "You stopped paying attention a long time ago, didn't you?" Gwen nodded and knelt down to poke at her bear with a twig and watched it get shredded by the stone claws. Geoff laughed at his mother's expression of disbelief.

Nathanial opened a portal, revealing his stone gate, "Okay, let's go. Dad's looking for us, I'll tell him where we are, but he probably wants us for something."

Gwen darted through, followed by Micah. Gwen gasped as she ran her paws over the gate, "This is pretty! The stone is hurt in lots of places, but it looks like it's been patched up fairly well." She traced each swirl and bit of stone filigree, for as far as she could. The gate was ten centimetres (four inches) thick, and each line of stone was no more than two centimetres (four-fifths of an inch) wide. The thin coils of stone wound around each other in a three dimensional pattern, leaving spaces through which you could peer through to the other side. Stone leaves and flowers decorated the gate, creating the illusion of a petrified tangle of vines. "There's tons of stones glued together to make this, but they don't flow very well. Lots of places you jammed them in place, forced them without picking the best stone to match the one next to it."

Nathanial's ears perked forward in interest, "Really? How can you tell? Remember I don't see stone the way you do, but I probably see it more like you than most Mages or Spirits." Geoff could feel his brain shutting down already. He stepped back a few paces and ran at the wall, jumping up with only one step against the vertical surface to reach the top. He balanced easily on the thick stone.

"I'll stay in sight, Faelen." He could see Faelen watching him with narrowed eyes. Micah flew up to join him on the wall. Geoff stepped toward Micah, turned around, and ran a few steps along the wall before doing a few pawsprings and then a paw-free flip, easily keeping his balance.

Micah clapped excitedly, "You're like an Olympic gymnast! How'd you do that?"

Geoff shrugged, "Practice. I spent a lot of time working on parkour, or free running. I like the idea of being able to get anywhere I want without worrying about what's in my way. Being free of the constraints of my environment." He shrugged modestly, "I'm not nearly as good as Liam seems to be, and nowhere near as flexible." The words were honest and only left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth.

He still winced at Micah's response, "No, not even close. I don't think you can run on fog or do that on a the edge of the wall by the pool. He can stand on water, like that guy I overheard Mom, uh, Lily talking about once. Um, Jose? Joseph? Some guy from the Middle East she worships. Maybe he was a Monk or is an Ancient One; Sensei seems to think some people nearly worship him even after he keeps telling them not to. Si Fu does, he's, like, in total awe of everything Sensei does or says."

Geoff scowled, "Yeah, yeah. He's great and all. It was Jesus, the Christians worship Jesus as the son of their god. No, I can't stand on water or run on fog, but I can do stuff he can't, too." Geoff looked at a hardwood tree fairly close to the wall and ran along the it before jumping forward and to the side to reach it. He grabbed a branch and swung himself up onto it, jumping up to grab another branch, and so on until he reached branches too thin to support him.

He turned around, looking at the view, noticing Micah had flown down to Gwen. Micah hid his wings and changed his clothes; he was wearing jeans, a red and white hat, an open blue short sleeved shirt with white sleeves and collar, and a dark undershirt. He held a paw up, palm toward himself with an acorn sitting between each finger, "I challenge you!"

Gwen looked at him, then smiled and put her bear on the ground, "You're up, Bear!" Geoff needed to get her to name it something better. Everyone gathered around to watch, Geoff swung down to the wall and ran over.

Micah grinned, his Fey eyes gleamed gold, "I choose you... uh, Goomba Dragoon!" He threw an acorn onto the ground between them, it spread out and turned into a winged white and brown mushroom. It was a little bigger than 'bear', and looked a bit more anthropomorphic than a regular goomba. It carried a green spear in one hand and a wood shield on it's other arm. "I have type advantage, Gwen!"

"Bear! Harden!" The stone beast curled up and appeared to become a denser type of rock.

Micah countered, "Goomba! Leech seed!" The mushroom spat a seed at Bear and hit it on its head. The seed immediately began growing and it sent a small vine back to Goomba.

"Fury swipes!" It lunged at the mushroom and swung rapidly. Only two claws hit, leaving some small cuts that healed over as the vines on Bear glowed dimly for a moment. Gwen growled.

Micah grinned, "Stun spore!" Goomba shuddered for a moment and shot a cloud of yellowish dust at Bear, hitting it, and the spores seemed to leave a sticky goo on the stone.

Gwen hissed, "Bear! Stone Edge!" Micah squeaked with wide eyes. Bear pushed down on the ground with both forepaws, several spikes of stone burst out of the earth beneath Goomba and stabbed it, leaving large holes in the mushroom, it appeared super effective. The vines on bear shone again and Goomba healed slightly.

Micah frowned, "No! Goomba! Giga Drain!" Glowing green orbs flew from Bear and into Goomba, the holes healed partially over. The attack seemed super effective against Bear.

"Bear is tougher than you'd guess, Micah!" She pointed at the mushroom, "Bear! Rollout!" Bear curled up into a ball and, well, rolled at the mushroom, hitting it solidly. The mushroom staggered back a bit, only part of the damage was healed by the leech seed.

"Fly!" Goomba leapt up into the air, dodging Bear's next attack. Goomba healed slightly, recovering all damage from the rollout. Goomba dove down and stabbed Bear with it's spear, but the attack was not very effective.

"Hah! Flying attacks don't hurt rock!" Bear kept rolling and hit Goomba again. Bear was showing several deep cracks now, while Goomba had some large dents and holes in it. Bear was in slightly better shape, but the leech seed was keeping things close to equal.

"Razor leaf!" Goomba spun around and launched a small swarm of leaves from its spear. They hit hard, for some reason flung leaves actually left gouges in the rock. Geoff shook his head, confused, there's no way that should've done anything. Must be some sort of Fey magic. The gunk on Bear caught on the ground, forcing it to come to a stop. Bear unrolled and worked itself free. Gwen growled. The last attack and free round left Goomba ahead. "Now, Goomba. Finish it! Solar beam!" Micah's eyes sparkled and faint motes of light appeared around him.

Goomba crouched slightly, shield held in front of it. It's cap began to sparkle like Micah's eyes and the air around it dimmed, making it look like the mushroom was pulling the sunlight toward it. Gwen whimpered, but said, firmly, "Bear, unless you want to be turned into rubble you better pull this off! Rock wrecker!"

Micah's jaw dropped and his eyes went wide, "No. Way." Gwen held her paws out in front of her, they shook slightly as she concentrated. Bear dove into the dirt and surfaced carrying a rock the size of a small car. Micah scuttled back as Bear threw it at Goomba. The rock hit the ground with a thud, squishing Goomba. The attack was super effective, but there was the sound of a muffled explosion under the rock. Gwen dropped to her knees, panting. Micah 'tsk'ed and kicked the grass, but went over to Gwen, "You won, good match." He lowered his head, "Poor Goomba Dragoon. He's all squished."

Gwen picked up the battered golem, still a little breathless, "Sorry. You can make another one easily enough. Solar beam would've turned poor Bear into dust."

Micah laughed, "Yeah, sorry. I got carried away." His eyes returned to normal.

Geoff jumped down off the wall, "That was impressive both of you. How did you know what the other was saying? You seemed to be calling out random names. Why did you take turns attacking, too?"

They both shrugged, "That's the way the battles go."

Nathanial walked over and wrapped his arm around Geoff's waist, "Pokémon . They were pretending to have a Pokémon battle." It seemed he could tell Geoff had no idea what he was talking about, "It's a series of TV shows, video games, a card game, and toy line. Very fun games, I don't watch the show that much anymore." He smiled at the two pups, "That was an impressive battle, congratulations, Gwen. Well fought, Micah, I'm really impressed by the magic you displayed, but solar beam looked pretty dangerous, be careful with that. You left a huge hole under that rock."

Micah's eyes lit up, "Really!? Can I see?" Nathanial didn't answer but just shook his head and faced the rock. He looked like he was focusing hard, the rock quivered and rolled to one side. There was a loud hiss and clattering as sand and small rocks slid out of a large dome shaped hole in the rock, Micah could easily climb into it. The force of the discharge had pulverized the rock where the mushroom was; it had filled an indent where the dirt was compressed beneath the explosion, with the extra sand and gravel making a decent sized pile on top. "Neat! It's really good against rocks, but I was expecting better results on the dirt, too."

Gwen shook her head, "Nope, the grass over the dirt blocked most of it. Grass is strong against grass attacks."

Geoff scowled as he tried to figure out the logic of that, "It was, what, a focused beam of light, from the sound of it? How is that grass? Why wouldn't that light just incinerate the lawn and scorch the earth before touching the huge rock over it?"

Micah looked at him like he was insane, "Because that's what it is, dummy. It's a grass-type attack, not fire." Even Gwen was indignant. Nathanial just shrugged and nodded. Geoff looked at his mother and Faelen, they looked just as confused as he did. Micah started skipping back toward his house, "Isn't Dad looking for us, Nats?" He turned and skipped backwards to wave at everyone, "Bye!"

Nathanial pulled Geoff's head down to his and gave him a deep kiss, "See you later, Geoff."

Geoff gave him a quick kiss before saying, "See you, pup," followed up by another quick kiss.

Nathanial stepped away, keeping a paw in contact with Geoff for as long as possible, "Bye, everyone. Have a safe trip back to Ireland, if I don't see you before that, Gwen, Mrs. McDougal." They all said bye and Nathanial turned and ran after Micah.