Another day, another session of being chased down by a swarm of ferocious felines why- Oh, right, the catnip the Beanies were using as bait to lure cats into a large, hand-crafted cage filled with a variety of dried cat food. Not the safest method, certainly, but definitely the fastest, what with all the posters of missing pet requests they'd seen on the quest boards. With whatever cats they could lure trapped in a cage and mostly occupied with consuming food, if not fighting fellow cats, all they had to do now was work out if any of the cats matched the descriptions provided by all those missing posters and convince the mercurial mittens to actually follow them to their owners' houses. Tedious work all in all, but they've managed to secure quite a hefty amount of Solars as a result of their hard work.

Then there was the matter of releasing all the unrelated felines they'd caught in the process. Which they'd quickly run into an issue with - some of the cats appeared to have taken a liking to the cage they've built, it seems, and they are refusing to leave. In fact, the various cats quite swiftly began literal catfights over what they perceived as their territory. Oh dear. Well... The Beanies should be fine so long as they don't get caught by the city council, right?

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Fur Ball
Participants: Two or more
Location: Anywhere
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Description: A small community, town, or village has been reporting that people have been going missing, with no bodies turning up. They have requested your help in investigating the sudden disappearances. Your investigations lead you to find that a local pet or community animal has been eaten and replaced by a Morphleon, who is preying on the locals while disguised as their beloved pet. Find the disguised Morphleon and kill it before it eats the community, or you. 

    Out from around the corner came the constabulary, as if summoned by the very thought of them. Four to be exact, walking on the other side of the road in the opposite direction the Beanies were heading. They seemed to march passed while distracted with discussing recent events, though.

    "The public are scared, we can't just wait for more reports."
    "Ugh, no sh- I mean, of course. First an elderly man and his cockatoo, then a student. Her cat was not found either."
    "The animals aren't important. There are people not found for days now."
    "With no traces left, we could assume a deliberate kidnapping. Ransom maybe? Where'd they even take the victims?"

    They might not have noticed the Beanies, but one of the strays darted between the two groups and brought eyes with it. The nature of beings from the Land of Wonder were't alien to them, but this was a stretch given the situation. [Such odd visitors to the city? What's with all the sightings of cats chasing after them into cages?]

    One calls out to the plushies as he moved closer, "Hey- hold it! We'd just like to ask a few questions. Do you know anything about the ongoing disappearances lately? What have you been up to today?"

    As if a punchline to a joke, from a forgivingly large entrance to a nearby tavern comes Baird & Mors. He is walking backwards to more easily duck the doorframe while calling into the room, "Thank you! I promise, the rug has been the best sleep I had in awhile!" After which, Baird glances over to see his old friends having a run in with the law. His face immediately blasts through a series of emotions while Mors looks largely disinterested.

"Oh, hello!" Star snapped into consummate professional mode and waved at the constables, prompting Goody and Chili to do much the same, though Goody's nervousness was already showing in their expression.
"We've been... um... finding and rescuing cats!" Star tried to sound as convincing as possible, and Goody and Chili would nod just a tad bit too nervously.
"Really?" The inquisitive constable stared down at the Beanies.
"All we've heard about the disappearances is that pets and people have been going missing lately," Goody would answer with all their honesty to bear, their eyes watering at the thought that they might never reunite again.
"Our small sizes mean they're more likely to chase after us than skedaddle, so we've been using that to find missing pets!" Chili would jump in to interject, hoping that that would stop their biting inquiries.
"And how exactly are you doing that?" The constable had a face that all but said 'I don't trust you'.
The Beanies looked at each other and hung their heads down. They weren't getting out of this, were they?
"Luring them into cages with food, then finding the pets and bringing them home." Goody would confess with a face that screamed 'please don't punish us',
"I don't believe you. Show us proof." Unfortunately for the Beanies, it seemed this constable was too on-edge with everything going on to take them at face value, and his fellows seemed equally wary.

"""Okay...""" The Beanies hoped they could just get away with a fine. Throughout this entire conversation, they were too preoccupied with themselves to have noticed Baird at all.

Demony, meanwhile, had been observing the Beanies from up high as it normally would the entire time, savouring the variety of flavours their antics had presented it with. It was about to move closer to the Beanies when it heard the sounds of blood splattering from the cage the Beanies had built. Now morbidly curious, it descended somewhat to get a closer view and would lay eyes on a feline, split somewhat into two horizontally while hinged on one end swallowing another cat whole. Next to it, a cat's remains crushed so thoroughly only the furs that littered the area identified it as a furry feline. Demony was impressed at the carnage this mysterious creature was wreaking, until it noticed that the creature has locked its sights on it. That can't be good. Demony instinctively bolted upwards, just in time to avoid its vicious lunge. It cursed its possible edibility as the game of monster-and-cat began amidst the rooftops.

Before the Beanies even arrived at the cage, the surviving cats were fast scattering and running off in all directions except up, some even curling around the Beanies in abject fear. The constables would run ahead and bear witness to an empty, dented cage and a pancaked carcass.

    The two groups were at some distance, now moving away. With the distinct pause, Mors looked over to see Baird's series of expressions fading through one after the other like a bad act at improv. Snapping him out of it, "Hello? What, you haven't seen a wonderling before? Probably just some stop-check."

    Without breaking his attention away, Baird replied, "I know those stuffed bears. There's no mistaking the Beanies. Let's just say I was a lot less.. changed the last I saw them." After a second, he locks in on an expression of curiosity, "Wait.. Where's Demony? It'd be gorging on a buffet, judging by their faces. Why'd it miss out on this?"

    The soft patter of the shingles above would have their answer. Being so much taller, the intertwined beastmen tried to get a look at the hurried noise. To great surprise, a cat was chasing Demony! No mistaking that tenebrous creature as anyone else, either. For a split second, Baird smirked at the thought of Demony getting bullied by an animal. Mors, instead, caught something else going on.

    "Those don't look like cats."

    "Yeah, that is Demony, it's sorta a part of the Beanies."

    "Which one: the vague darkness or the freakish creature?"

    "The dark-..." Thus dread pulsed through Baird at the second glance. "We've have to go help it!"

    The chase was being directed the other direction from the Beanies and the guards. Baird & Mors scrambled to keep up with the pursuit. They were all headed towards and open plaza, the rooftops cornering off there. They'd each call out:

    "Demony! We're coming!"

    "We've got you, little guy!"

    A couple of the guards with the Beanies would look up at the commotion. "Did he say 'demon'!?"

It was fortunate that the Beanies were audibly muffled by a cacophony of meows and visibly coddled by a smattering of feline silhouettes, or the constables would have caught the Beanies' visible distress over the mention of Demony. The constables' attention now squarely on the mention of 'demon', they would head off in the direction of their foodie friend.

Demony was woefully unequipped to the role of being the hunted. That was Goody's role, damn it! It found itself having to imitate the panicked evasive maneuvers Goody performed on the regular to dodge its pursuers' vicious, unrelenting attacks, and somehow, it was actually working. Even if those moves were from vague, flitting images of a Goody it never knew. Gah! The blasted trio of goody-two-shoes must never learn of this - the sheer embarrassment it would invoke was beyond whatever confines of imagination it possessed.

Demony soon found itself nearing a dead end. Having little choice but to turn around, it saw that the unholy predator had taken on a form similar to itself. No. A mockery of itself. After all, its current appearance was a literal joke devised by whatever forces saw fit to bestow upon it an undesired form. A cornered rat strikes back, or in this case, a desperate Demony would aim for its hunter's neck. It was then that it found itself biting into what appeared to be a cute, harmless kitten and in the distance, the four constables armed with their myriad weapons moved to surround it. Its deceptive stalker would snatch this opportunity to slip away, leaving its scapegoat to dry.

In the meantime, the Beanies finally managed to free themselves from the undulating walls of furriness and set off to find Demony and Baird, only to find their shadowy frenemy being captured by the constables. Star and Chili would swiftly tackle Goody to the ground to prevent them from preemptively attempting anything stupid.

    Something stupid was Baird's business as well. Mors would have to play the role of Star for this case. "I know what you're thinking, but we can't go up against the authorities right now." 

    "I get that, but Demony is important to my friends!" 

    "Think for a second! We can help them better by not getting put behind bars ourselves." 

    Baird's hands were clenched, but it was an obvious argument. Looking beside Demony, a small few drops of vivid liquid sent a shockwave of thoughts through the boar. That little nip at the throat of the not-a-cat likely did superficial damage, but it did make a scratch.

    With a pointed finger, a single word, and a thousand-pound question, "Blood. Mors, you got this?" 
    
    The supernatural vulture made a face of uncertainty, but even a long-shot was good enough for him to agree, "Only one way to find out. Take a load off, big guy." 

    Baird nodded with a smirk. His eyes rolled up a bit, his jaw relaxed, and in a relative instant, he slumped forward with a heavy exhale as if knocked out cold. Mors, inversely, had his eyes of emerald begin to swirl a phantasmal flame. An invigorating series of cracks and strains pervaded their body, as muscles swelled and bones grew. The wings that had previously been helplessly numb now unfurl into massive feathered limbs. A satisfied growl escaped the more fearsome beak of Mors, the Curse.^[1]

    Looking back, Mors saw the Beanies and made a hitchhiker's thumb at his shoulders. With a swift flap of his wings, he took to the air and swooped down on the plushies. Scooping them with a hawk's precision, he gently passes them onto his back. "I'm Mors, friend of Baird. Hold on tight, we can exonerate your buddy!" The Baird in question is largely limp and dangling, but occasionally twitching in his rest.

    Nimbly twisting to redirect toward the officers now reaching for Demony, Mors first went for the blood. Now wasn't a time for shame, so he stuck the side of his face very close and took a deep, deep sniff. The flames of his eyes dulled. This wasn't his prey, he couldn't piece together the scent! Still, no backing down now. He took the opportunity to make a loud caw. With the guard's attention, Mors makes a plea, "Sounds crazy, but that isn't your culprit! They ran that way, you'll see." A couple crossbows were adjusted to aim at the giant monstrosity without hesitation. "Right.."

---

^[1] Werebeast [Sky Domain]

The Beanies weren't sure how exactly to react to the odd bird creature who seems to be permanently affixed to the body of their foodie friend Baird, but an ally of Baird must be a friend of theirs, right? There was no time to waste, so the Beanies eschewed their usual greeting and instead simply gave affirming nods as they watched Mors do their thing... only to have crossbows trained on him. Oh dear. What could the Beanies possibly do, harmless little creatures that they were? It was then that Goody remembered the fish Chili had bought for dinner sitting on their mini-wagon they'd drag around on their excursions, tightly sealed in a metal can to prevent the smell from seeping. Goody pounced onto it while Star kept Chili from trying to snatch it back by locking their arms in place. Can on one hand, and the most definitely oversized Flying Broom[1] on the other, Goody would make a mad dash with the stick going under Star and Chili's legs and off the trio flew!

With the can opened, the smell of fresh fish soon permeated into the autumn air, luring in the fickle felines that had not left the region for one reason or another and causing the entire litter to swarm the place once more.
"(Sorry misters!)" Goody apologized in Beaniespeak as they threw the fish right onto the constable's head, causing the cats to practically maul the constables as they collectively pounced at the armed humans before devolving into the catfight to end all catfights.

With the constables thoroughly occupied by the mercurial menaces, the Beanies flew to Demony.
"Demony okay?" Goody inquired with a concerned look as they gestured for it to hop open, which it did without a word.
"Demony know where other cat went?" Star asked.
"(Chili fish....)" Chili was mourning the loss of their dinner-to-be.
Demony normally had little desire to cooperate with the Beanies or anyone else, really, but today was different. This was personal, and Demony would make damned sure to have its revenge on that dastardly creature.

And so Demony would lead the trio (and Mors) in pursuit of the shapeshifting monster, arriving at a decrepit manor a distance away from where they were. The manor had tall, foreboding walls laden with spikes at the top, not that it served any threat to a flying broom. Hovering over it and descending onto the floor, the Beanies would bear witness to the carnage wrought to the manor's denizens. Mangled feline corpses littered the walls and floors, the rusty smell of blood ever-present yet ever-shifting in every step they took and the fleshy sounds of swallowing prey could be heard.

"Googaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Goody was unable to suppress the instinctive urge to scream, and the monster shot an unforgiving glare at Goody for disturbing its meal.

---

[1]Flying Broom (item)

    The guards call out as Goody enacts their plan, "Oi! Hold it! It's our job to find out what is going on here, and yours to come with us!" Yet they didn't stop the plush in time from getting into the wagon. The unexpected burst forth on the enchanted broom had shocked the onlookers, the ranged of whom getting ready to pacify the defiant suspects. Mors threw each arm up as he beat his wings to intercept the whistling bolts. Once the cats had inundated the public servants, the vulture took off after his friends of a friend.

    The sound of Goody's wail sent a shudder down the beastman's back. Something horrible was in that manor, likely dangerous. The waves of stench wafting of both fresh and old meat tugged at Mors' hunger. Thinking carefully, he spiraled around the property. A grand an opulent bay window held movement from within! There it was, something much less cat and much more bifurcated aberration had dropped a mangled ball of flesh from its mouth. It was moving away, likely towards the Beanies intrusion. The memory of Baird's voice traced a phrase Mors hated. With beak and talons readied, the cursed giant would dive through the air. Picking up enough speed, he'd redirect towards the window, squarely at the monster.

    Inside the room, a silent shadow would engulf a majority of the space. The morphleon turned to see Mors with wings tucked and arms spread making impact. Glass rained sideways, many slivers cut across the bird's body as he slammed a hand onto the monstrosity. The force of the entrance sent them both into a tumble. Stopping at the wall beside the Beanies as both creatures wobble at the dizzying strike.

The sounds of shattering glass and resulting crash would snap the Beanies out of their paralyzing fear and into 'ahh they need to do something' mode. Mors (and Baird) were bleeding here and there from the injuries, so the Beanies would jump onto performing whatever first aid they could with their medical kit[1] to stop the bleeding, hopping up their giant body and meekly apologizing in advance for whatever ouchies the treatments were going to cause, especially the removal of glass.

In the meantime, Demony was well and truly pissed at the carnage-churning creature christened with curved calcified cutlery carefully cultivated for the creative canvasing of corpses for consumption. There would be no mercy, as it released the bulk of the energies sustaining its existence that it had been stowing away under the Beanies' noses, enlarging itself to a size equivalent to that of an adult tiger[2] and chomped right at the bloodied bastard, tearing away a chunk of its flesh. Of course, the malformed monster would have a masterful measure for such a malevolent maneuver against it. And by 'masterful measure', in this case its claws would dig onto Demony's... well, whatever its molecular structure was. And it genuinely hurt despite the lack of discernible organs on Demony's part. Claws for claws, as Demony did much the same trying to mince away at whatever vitals it had.

---

[1]Medical Kit (Item)

[2]Mounted Feline

    Feeling the Beanies climb up and tug away the shards jolts Mors up onto his hooves. Baird begins to grumble and wince as well, but is still just a bit too groggy to come to. Hearing and feeling wounds being sealed, the chimera holds as still as they can as the fight rages on. Demony scaled to a formidable beast and the small monster shifted into a horrifying half-creature of its own. The thing bleeds, but the abominable teeth and claws ensure it is still going to cause havoc. A whirl of shadow and misshapen flesh roll and swipe across each other around the room so fast that the vulture can hardly keep track.

    The quick work of the plushies practically portends the perforations plaguing the ponderous puncher from prior will not proceed to imperil. Mors gives the Beanies a solid, "Thank you." as he winds up for supporting the fight. A series of heavy stomps shake the fixtures of the manor with increasing menace as the massive beastman approaches. More claws to beat out the few.

    Piecing together a plan, Mors looks to see one of the results of the initial strike. Blood from the morphleon coats his own hands, the sight and scent drives his eyes into a flash of surging yellow fire. He instinctively takes a stance to measure his next strike, waiting for an opening. Soon a power-struggle breaks between Demony and the monster. As they fought to overwhelm the other, a savage rip through the air gouges the pet-devourer.^[1] The heavy blow causes the thing to crumple at the pressure of Demony's assault, leaving it wide open for whatever devoid-mercy awaits.

---

^[1]Savage Impulses

Demony turning into big Demony was news to the Beanies. They didn't know it could do that! Though this was not the time to be pondering about any of that - there's a dangerous monster rampaging around, killing man and animal alike and harming Demony and Mors!

"No problem!" Goody sounded as the Beanies hopped off Mors and considered what else they could be doing. The Beanies were absolutely unfit for combat, and they really weren't even sure if they wanted to become capable of such violent applications of force. Having power meant that it was only appropriate that they make use of it, and with great power came great responsibility.

On the opposite side, Demony watched in satisfying fury as Mors laid upon the malevolent malfeasant a gruesome gouging, the kind it absolutely wished to live for over some sappy saccharine story-like sensations the Beanies tended to bring upon it. Not about to let an opportunity to deal a coup de grace go to waste, Demony viciously dug its claws in on the visceral injury, eviscerating whatever innards it could claw out of this bastard.

Just as the creature screeched out its dying cries, the constabulary, ever too late to genuinely be useful to the people who needed it, finally arrived with the cavalry, replete with a toxic hostility for anyone they perceived to be the threat. Which, in this case, was the Beanies, Demony, and Mors.
"All of you are under arrest for murder and damage of property!" The head constable shouted and fired a bolt at the little Beanies with no hesitation. Goody quickly shoved their fellow Beanies out of its trajectory before the shot could land.
"Hey! What's that for?" Chili stomped the ground angrily while flailing their arms upwards as they got up to complain.
"Preemptively resisting arrest! Use of lethal force is permitted! Now charge!" Oh dear. That can't be good.
"(Chili-plush! That spell!)" Star spoke in Beaniespeak to prevent the beans from spilling.
"(But Chili wanna use it elsewhere!)" Chili was displeased. Precious magic was precious.

"(Chili~! Constable loading fire bolt!)" Goody squeaked and pointed at the constable up and down frantically. True enough, the bolt had a cloth enveloped in burning fire on its edge.

Chili would be pouting if they had a mouth. "(Fineeeeeeeeeee. But you two owe Chili foodie for this!)" Immediately, tall pumpkin vines and wheat stalks sprouted from the ground all over, covering the entire building and the terrain beyond in front of them.[1]

"""Bye Mr. Mors! Thanks for today!""" The Beanies hopped on their flying broom with Demony back to little kitty size in tow. "Maybe we'll see each other again later! Stay safe!" Goody waved their arm as they quickly flew out of dodge through an open window.

    Baird finally started to come to. Head tilting up with eyes half-glazed, "..Ah.. wha..?" The first thing he saw were the Beanies casting an incredible magical power and leaving on a flying broom. Such a sight bewilders the boar into thinking he were perhaps still asleep. If so, it would certainly be a typical dream once his tired eyes had seen the angry guardsmen wrestling through verdant vines to get him.

    "I hope so. You take care too, aerial aces!" Mors notices the stirring head beside his own, "Don't worry, I'll get us out. Just enough time, right?" 
    
    "Mn, yeah. All go okay?" Baird smiled under heavy eyelids.

    "All according to plan. You sure make some interesting friends, buddy." Mors commented as he made a dash out the broken window from whence he came. Another unfurling of his wings and they were off. The scene left behind was filled with the curses of angry officers and evidence of a quick fight against that abominable horror left on the floor. It'll take a bit of time for this to blow over, but the important thing is that no more shall be taken by a thing abusing our trust and affection of beloved animals, for now.

The Beanies flitted between buildings, careful to avoid straight lines as they weaved their way back to the parking lot with their wagon. They were not entirely sure why their survival instincts clicked as immediately as they do at times. The Wholesome Trio's Beanieventures were largely peaceful stories, with the most discord being arguments and disputes over something. Except when Demony was involved, of course, but even then, it was nothing nearly as serious as angering law enforcement. Which they just did to save their own skin even though it seemed horribly counterintuitive on the surface. Come to think of it, their storybook never did feature law enforcement, did it? Perhaps there lied a question worth pondering about. For now, however, they needed to make sure they were safe.

Arriving at their wagon, it seemed they were in the clear as there were no sign of security. Still, it was too early for them to celebrate, and so they got Demony to pull off that enlarging trick it did earlier to secure their escape, which it did somewhat begrudgingly but without hesitation. That cavalry meant business, and it wanted none of that noise.

The quartet would finally stop once they were on flat, camp-friendly land a distance away from the city. Another night in the wilderness wasn't exactly great, but oh well. Sometimes just surviving another day counted as a win.