Missy

Story

"Yup! This is where all the fun takes place when it's time to trade in our loot," the fiery male telenine explained to their newest recruit. Syberia was carrying a heavy bag of loot, and she adjusted it across her shoulders.

"If you find something you really want to buy, just ask us! We like to try and barter for trades where we can, it saves the guild financially. Ragna and I will be at the blacksmithing vendor for a while if you need us. Have fun Juni!" And she gave the glade ontra a gentle nudge forward.

As the pair of Telenines headed for their vendor, Juni walked around slowly, taking in all the sights. She thought the little stands were quaint and cute with their humble decorations. There were vendors for all sorts of things; some were expected like local fruit and vegetables for sale, but also honey and Bumbus keeping for the curious, homemade Sheeta milk soap, and even a lady who sold little wood carvings in the shape of pets.

The vendor that caught Juni's full interest though was one that specialized in making fairy homes. She approached the old lady who was putting the finishing touches on a recently finished carved fairy home she made.

"Oh these are beautiful ma'am! Do they really attract fairies to come and live in these little homes?" she inquired. The elderly lady smiled.

"Why yes, they say, if you provide dwellings for fairies and other mythical creatures, they will kindly return the favor with good luck and prosperity. See anything you like?" Juniper was so intrigued. They were tiny little homes, some decorated with mushrooms and moss.

"They're all so beautiful, but I like this one the best. It reminds me of The Forest of Rebirth," Juniper carefully picked up a little fairy home that was mostly barren, but had little fresh saplings growing out of the roof and around the home. The previously named Deadroot Forest, where Stryker had lived for many years (possibly longer, but he'd never tell), had its curse lifted after a wildfire broke out, and new growth finally returned the forest to its former glory. It had been a remarkable tale told by lieutenant Asch.

"Ah yes, the forest is quite beautiful these days now. That reminds me, I came across something a little odd on my way here today. A little pink Malticorn was tied to a tree. She seemed to be waiting for something, and when I approached to ask her, she said her human would be back in two days. He had left her some food, but it was almost all gone. She looked to be okay, but leaving a tied pet alone in the wild is very irresponsible of her owner," the lady recounted to Juniper. The ontra nodded in agreement.

"It's also strange that her owner would leave her for more than a few hours alone, never mind a couple of days," Juniper added her own opinion on the matter. The lady looked past Juniper to the forest's edge.

"I worry about that poor Malticorn, and I was planning to to bring her some food at the end of the day, in case her owner still hasn't come back to claim her. But I fear the worst," the woman's voice wavered with uncertainty as the ontra handed back the fairy home to her. "I can hold this for you if you'd like."

"Thanks miss, I'm going to go find my lieutenants and tell them about the Malticorn first. Maybe we can help her out!" and with that, Juniper left to find Ragnarok and Syberia.Just as they had said, they were still at the blacksmithing vendor, and Syberia looked slightly bored while her mate argued with the vendor.

"I'm telling you, Llindworm metal scales are malleable if you heat them up a little!" Ragnarok tried to convince the vendor. The man shook his head in disagreement and refused to take the scales Ragnarok was attempting to trade to him for a new sword stone mold. Syberia perked up at the sight of Juniper.

"Find anything interesting, Juni?" the icy wolf asked, hoping the trainee had been enjoying herself.

"Actually, one of the vendors told me something very interesting. There's a Malticorn tied to a tree in the Forest of Rebirth. I was thinking maybe we should check it out? Make sure the Malticorn is alright?"

Syberia tapped Ragnarok's shoulder. "Dear, you're gonna have to hold off on that stone mold for now. We've got to go investigate something." Ragnarok's ears drooped sadly, but he sighed and nodded his head. He'd be back for that stone mold another time for sure though.

The forest was filled with full green leaves that rustled quietly in the breeze. Ragnarok led the way, his nose high in the air as he sniffed for the scent of a Malticorn. Syberia and Juniper looked down branching paths to see if there was anything unusual, like a footprint of a human shoe or of a Malticorn hoof.

Suddenly, Ragnarok let out a small bark and ran ahead. Sure enough, along the main path, tied to a tree, was a tiny pink Malticorn. She looked to be in good shape thankfully, considering there was no more food to be had. All that remained were cores and pits from fruit. Ragnarok made his approach.

"Hello, we heard you were stuck here in the forest," he gestured to the rope tied to the tree. The Malticorn looked at it and then back to Ragnarok.

"Hmph, I am not stuck. I am simply waiting here on my own accord. I do not need rescuing from a bunch of locals," she huffed, snootily turning her nose up to him. He was taken aback by this. Juniper stepped up beside Ragnarok.

"But, you can't get loose with that rope tied around your neck," Juniper tried to reason with the Malticorn.

"And you have no food either," Syberia pointed to the scraps of fruit cores and pits that were left behind. The Malticorn simply huffed again.

"My owner may be late, but he will return. It's awfully rude of him to keep me waiting, but I am also no stranger to his rudeness. He will be back any time now, so I am quite fine."

Ragnarok turned to walk past a stunned Syberia and Juniper, quietly whispering, "Let's go, maybe her owner will return soon," and he motioned for them to leave. Syberia padded after her mate, but Juniper held back momentarily.

"Could I at least untie that rope around your neck? Then you can at least leave to get food and water if you need to. There's a market nearby that might be able to help you if you need do end up needing it. Or..." the ontra's words drifted, turning her head back to see Ragnarok and Syberia still walking away. "You could come with us!"

The Malticorn raised an eyebrow curiously.

"You live nearby?"

"Yeah! You should come along, we have plenty to eat at the castle," Juniper explained. The Malticorn's eyes lit up in wonder.

"A castle? Well..." the Malticorn chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Alright, but just for a little while. Long enough to eat a tiny snack but then I really must come back here to wait for my owner."

Juniper hummed approval at the idea, and motioned for the Malticorn to stick her head out further so she could bite the rope loose. The Malticorn obeyed, and in one quick chomp, she was freed.

"My name is Juniper, what's yours?"

"Missy."

"Alright Missy, let's go catch up with the others!"

The trip back to the castle was proving to be quite a battle in its own right. Not because of monsters, but because of Missy.

"Are we there yet? The sun is so hot and I'm tired of walking; why isn't there a faster means of travel? Also the fruit you bought smells icky. I wouldn't trust anything from the locals personally. All my food at home is organically grown and is the absolute ripest it can be," Missy whined the entire trip. Ragnarok's ears burned from being pinned back for so long in annoyance, while Syberia walked close to him, hoping to keep him cool.

"We're not too far from the castle! It's just over that next hill, I promise. When we get there, you can have a glass of fresh water to cool you off," Juniper tried to placate the Malticorn, for the sake of her lieutenants. The ontra caught up to Syberia to whisper, "She's probably just in a bad mood from having not eaten all day. It'll get better."

"OWW! I just got a pebble caught in my hoof. This is such terrible terrain!" Missy complained as she tried to pull the pebble out of her hoof. Syberia sighed, hoping that that was all it was. All the while Ragnarok marched forward, anxious to be home already.

But once they arrived back at the castle, the complaining did not cease.

As they entered the foyer, Breezy was there to greet them. She had her easel and paints out, and a bowl of fruit sat across from her. She was practicing her art as usual."Welcome back! Oh, I see you brought a guest. Welcome to you too!" the spectrum Kumos happily greeted them, wagging her tail excitedly. "Juni, you want to see my painting?"

The ontra stepped over to look at what Breezy had drawn. It was a remarkable composition as always. Missy joined to look, and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"All wrong, you used the wrong shades of color for the fruit. It looks nothing like the real fruit at all. Needs more work if you ask me," Missy criticized. Breezy looked like she was ready to cry.

"I'm sure it's not finished, Breezy is working hard on it! Let's uh, go to the kitchen and see what's being made for dinner tonight," Juniper intervened and pushed Missy down the hall, away from Breezy. The ontra heard Breezy tear the painting down and crumple it up in devastation though.

In the kitchen, Axel and Celosia were there. Axel was at the stove, stirring something in a deep pot, while Celosia chopped carrots.

"Hey, you guys are back in time for my famous bog rat stew! Hope you're hungry," Axel said as he lifted the spoon to his mouth, tasting the stew. Hmm, maybe needed a little salt. Missy held her nose though.

"What an awful smell. I wouldn't dream of eating rat!"

Axel looked absolutely heartbroken at the comment, which made Celosia very cross.

"If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say it! Go drink lake water for all I care!" the female Tigrean yelled as she comforted her boyfriend with shoulder rubs. His minion was there, assisting the Tigreans, a Floofsum named Ratface, and Axel seized her into a great big hug. Her eyes bugged out from the squeeze and tried to catch her breath.

"We have other meals we can make if you would prefer. Do you like fish?" Juniper got between Celosia and Missy, trying to coax the female Tigrean to back down.

"Pah! Just show me your pantry, I will make my OWN food instead. I don't trust you lot to get it right," Missy lambasted. Juniper was too shocked to say anything else and silently pointed to the pantry cabinet. Missy helped herself to all that she needed.

Celosia gave Juniper a foul look before dragging a defeated Axel out of the kitchen, while he still clutched his dear Ratface for support. Juniper sighed. This wasn't going well at all.

"Hey...Missy, I um, need to step out for a minute. Are you going to be alright on your own?" Juniper asked when the Malticorn came back with some rhubarb, a bag of raspberries and a mixing bowl.

"Yes, yes, I don't need supervision. I'm quite capable in a kitchen. Go do whatever it is you need to do," the Malticorn waved her hoof at Juniper while she busied herself reading a recipe card intently. Juniper grabbed fish out of freezer, one for her and a few for Jade, the sea monster that lived in the castle lake. It was their dinnertime, and she didn't want to be late. Missy seemed to be in her element now, so the ontra left the Malticorn to her own devices.

In short time, Missy had put together a most glorious raspberry rhubarb pie. It smelled divine and it wafted through the entire castle. Hailfire and Warforged waltzed in, intrigued by the smell of fresh warm pie.

"Heyyy, that looks delicious," Hailfire complimented as he reached out for the pie, but his paw was slapped away by Missy, who held a pie server. The telenine rubbed his hurt paw before indignantly looking at the Malticorn.

"No! Shoo! You must clean up before you can have a slice of any pie!"

Hailfire scowled. Who did this chick think she was, telling him to clean HER kitchen mess? But that pie smelled so tantalizing. Frustrated but determined to have a slice, Hailfire collected all the dirty baking tools and mixing bowl, and shoved them into the soap-filled sink. He pulled them out immediately and began to set them on the towel to dry, but Missy was having none of it.

"No no no! You savage wolf! You must scrub the dishes clean, you cannot just dunk them in soapy water and think it's perfectly sanitized. Who raised you to be such a lazy slob?"

That did it.

"Screw this, I'm out. I hope you choke on that pie," Hailfire swore as he threw his arms into the air and stalked out of the kitchen. The Malticorn pretended not to notice. Warforged had been sitting silently, watching the fiasco unfold. His minion, Steve the Hlpr bot, tapped his notepad angrily with a pencil, and began to scribble something. He showed the notepad to War after he was finished. It was a crude drawing of Missy's angry face shouting expletives. "Erase that immediately," War scolded his minion quietly.

"YOU!" Missy suddenly pointed to War. The Cadogre straightened up. "I want you to leave as well, because you will only dirty the clean dishes otherwise with your greasy oil! And tell everyone too they might as well stay out if they can't be bothered to clean properly either! I will handle it myself. And this pie is for no one else as a result. Do you have all that, or does your little robot have to write it down too?" Missy crossed her arms, and tilted her head in disapproval. Steve crumpled up the paper on his notepad, ready to throw at her, but Warforged stopped him with a claw, and nodded to Missy, leaving the room so that she was all by herself.

Down at the lake beach, Juniper and Jade were having a lovely fish dinner. The solitude was interrupted though by a shout approaching from behind Juniper.

"This is all your fault, Juni!" Hailfire accused loudly, and it surprised both Juniper and Jade. The sea monster ducked deeper into the water, ready to flee.

"What on earth are you talking about??" Juniper asked, alarmed. Hailfire wasn't alone, his parents, Axel, Breezy and even their commander Elfric had tagged along with him.

"You brought that heinous witch here, so you get to take her back where you found her!" Hailfire retorted.

"Juniper, I wish you hadn't invited Missy along with us when we left the forest. She should have...well, I don't know whose problem she would have been, but it shouldn't have been made ours," Syberia tried to calmly explain to no avail. Both her mate and son were beyond their breaking points.

"She's awful! She took one look at my painting and said the colors were ugly together," Breezy sniffled.

"She wouldn't even try my stew," Axel was still torn up about it all, deeply hurt.

"She probably would even make our commander look like he was an idiot!" Hailfire finished, while Elfric awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I must admit, from what everyone has been telling me, she's quite a spirited Malticorn. But she certainly...does not seem to fit with the nature of our guild. However, even I don't know what we can do now. We cannot kick her out to the streets, her species is too domesticated to handle living in the wilderness these days. That's why you never see a wild Malticorn," Elfric explained. "It would be cruel and unusual to turn our backs to her....even though she's ungrateful."

"I don't think even the streets should be subjected to HER," Ragnarok bit out.

Juniper sighed sadly and looked over to Jade. The sea monster was still quite shaken up but based on what he had heard, it sounded like this Missy person was bad news. The ontra really had put the guild in between a rock and a hard place.

"I will talk to her," Juniper promised. She hurried from the beach up the hillside, climbing back up to reach the bridge. But as soon as she got there, Missy was stomping down the bridge towards her.

"Missy! Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving. I'm going back to the forest to wait for my owner, no matter how long it takes."

"But--!"

Missy shoved past Juniper rudely, adamant about returning to where she had been earlier that day. But the Malticorn paused for a moment.

"Besides, I know I'm not wanted here. So really, it's okay," though there was a hint of sadness and quietness in that last sentence, as if Missy herself did not believe in it. Still, the Malticorn kept her head and tail held high and marched off. Juniper hesitated but soon ran after Missy.

Before long, Missy needed to stop and catch her breath. It was going to be a long walk back to the forest. She sat down on a rock, and Juniper sat beside her.

"What's wrong, Missy? Why do you think you're not wanted at the castle?" the ontra probed gently. The Malticorn huffed a sad sigh.

"Because I'm not a nice person," she confessed. Juniper wrapped her arm around the Malticorn's shoulders.

"I think you're nice....in your own way?" Even Juniper was struggling to remain positive. Missy shook her head in disagreement.

"I wasn't always like this. You see, my owner...he adopted me from the pound, I thought, 'wow, a human wants me as a companion!'. But ultimately, he just wanted someone to clean up after him and cook for him. He was a busy stock market holder. I thought, if I could make the most extravagant meals and keep the place clean as a whistle, he'd notice. But it never felt enough or good enough. If I added too much salt for instance, he'd complain. If I forgot to wash up dishes in the evening, I'd get reprimanded. But I endured it because I kept hoping for something to change, but also because I feared going back to the adoption center if I refused to keep him happy," Missy explained. The Malticorn fumbled with a rock in her hoof.

"I guess in a way, I became exactly like him. I talked back to him the way he talked to me, and that was how it was," she finished as she flicked the rock across the path. It bounced for a few strides then came to a stop.

Juniper realized, this is the real Missy. A soft-spoken individual with an incredible work ethic and resounding endurance.

"But...what happened then? Why did you end up in the forest?"

"Well...the other week, my human got an alarming phone call: the stock market was closing down. He changed. He stopped eating, he stopped taking care of himself. I tried everything to make him happy again. But then, he said, 'come on, let's go for a walk. We can have a picnic in the forest. We deserve that.'"

"I was relieved. I thought he was finally turning around for one, but also, it was the kindest I had ever heard him speak. I had not been beyond the city, so I had no idea what a forest was or looked like. And when we got out there, it was beautiful. It was quiet except for birds singing their songs. I had never seen such green trees. I didn't like the mud I had to walk through at one point, but we found a little creek to wash up in and it was amazing to see such pretty rocks and pebbles underneath the clean clear water.We found a nice sunny spot with a hollow log nearby. Then...he tied me up. And left the food on the ground. 'Oh, I forgot to bring the picnic blanket. I will return, you stay here.' was all he said and left."

"The hours went by and soon it was dark. I..." Missy paused and chewed on her bottom lip. She dare not say the words.

"...You knew he had abandoned you by nightfall." Juniper finished for her.

"Yes. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew in my heart, he was gone for good. But I was too stubborn, too proud to admit it! So when that kind old lady passed by and found me, I turned up my nose to her and lied that he would be back." Missy grabbed another stone and caressed it.

"Missy..." Juniper began.

"I didn't want people or anyone to pity me!" The Malticorn angrily threw the rock, not caring where it went. She folded her knees into her chest and buried her face, hiding from Juniper, from the world around her. She hated crying in front of others.

"I can see why you'd be angry. You were hurt by your owner, someone who promised to take care of you, no matter what. And that betrayal hurts."

"...but, it's no excuse to be so rude to everyone," Missy sniffled. "I know what everyone in your guild is saying about me behind my back. And they're right."

"No they're not! They just...don't know what you've been through yet."

"But what use am I to your guild? Cooking and cleaning, ha, that's not exactly useful to what your guild does for a living," Missy said, her voice muffled as she continued to hide her face.

"Well, let's not worry about that right now. We should head back though. For the time being, my commander would not want you to be out here, alone and unarmed. We can figure out the rest later. Please, give everyone a chance though. Let them know what you've been through, just like you told me. They'll understand."

"Okay...I don't like being out in the wilderness at night. There were so many scary sounds that first night I was abandoned. I don't want to go through that again," Missy finally lifted her tear-stained face to meet Juni's. The ontra smiled and held out her paw. Missy accepted the gesture and together, they headed back to the castle.

Juniper found her commander was waiting for them at the bridge. He had seen the two run off earlier, and waited out of concern for his trainee.

"Everything alright?" he asked Juniper, as Missy slowly followed up from behind. Her head hung low sadly.

"Yeah, I think it will be. Sir, can Missy talk with you for a minute? I think there's something she'd like to say."

Elfric waited for Missy to begin. The Malticorn looked up to the wolf and anxiously dug at the dirt.

"I would...like to say I'm sorry, to everyone, for how I was tonight. It wasn't nice of me to barge in and criticize everyone like I had. I have nowhere to go now, and need somewhere to stay. If it's any consolation, I know how to cook and clean, and I'm really good at it! I just need somewhere to stay for a while, if possible," Missy rambled on. Elfric smiled and placed a paw on her shoulder, giving her a moment to pause.

"As long as you apologize to everyone, you're more than welcome to stay as long as you need. You can even join if you'd like. I don't object to the extra help in maintaining the castle's cleanliness. It's admittedly not our favorite thing to do," Elfric confessed as he scratched the back of his head self-consciously. Missy's eyes brightened up.

"I will make myself as useful to you as I can! Uh, sir!" Missy remembered to say as she saluted to Elfric respectfully.

"At ease. Come on, let's get you settled in," he chuckled, and the three walked down the bridge, the sun setting behind the mountain across from the enormous castle.

In two days flat, Missy had the entire castle cleaned from top to bottom. It was immaculate what she could do in short time.

"Damn, not even a speck of dust," Hailfire noted as he ran a paw along a fireplace hearth. He had to admit, this was kind of impressive. And she was also a great cook to boot.

"We're really living like royalty now!" Juniper replied as she hung up a new painting by Breezy across the way from the fireplace. It was a beautiful piece of art, a recreation of the bowl of fruit Missy had criticized the other day. As if summoned, Missy walked in, wearing a bandana to keep her ears tucked back.

"Well, as long as I continue to stay here, I will keep this place in tip top shape. So don't go ruining it any time soon with your grime from battling," she pointed her feather duster at Hailfire and Juniper, smirking playfully. Just then, Axel poked his head in through the door.

"Hey Hailfire, Juni, there's a Blossom budlouse down by the lake. Lieutenant Jade's requesting you both come take care of it at once before it poisons the lake."

Hailfire cheered, "Alright! Let's go!" and ran for the armory. Juniper stepped down from the chair she was using to tack up the painting and dragged Missy along, who was a bit surprised.

"You've wanted to see us in action, what we do here, right? Come on Missy!" Juniper encouraged the Malticorn, who proceeded to drop her feather duster as she tried to keep up with the sprinting ontra.

"But what's a budlouse?!" was all Missy could get out as she tried to keep up with the enthusiastic battlers.

Outside, down at the beach, Jade was splashing the water angrily. The Blossom budlouse wasn't a full-grown Blossom yet but it was still large enough to be a pest. It was resting comfortably in the water, partially submerged, its revolting poison seeping into the lake quickly. Hailfire, Juniper and Missy were soon on the scene.

"Juniper! This one is for you to fight on your own. Hailfire, stand by for support if she needs it," Jade called out to them. Juniper nodded and unsheathed her Forest Blade, and with a battle cry, lunged at the passive budlouse. Her sword barely cut deep into its thick hide, but the action got the budlouse's attention. It stood up, roaring in annoyance at being disturbed, and using its heavy tail, it slung muddy sand at Juniper in retaliation. The ontra dodged, and instead, the muddy sand completely drenched Missy from head to toe.

The Malticorn felt something snap inside her just then.

"You..." she began to growl. "You FOUL LOATHSOME CREATURE!! HOW DARE YOU DIRTY ME WHEN I SHOWERED ALREADY TODAY!" she exploded in a rage. A piece of driftwood floated nearby. The Malticorn snatched it and began to smack the budlouse with it.

"HOW DARE YOU! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!" she screamed as she continued her onslaught. Though her attacks did minimal damage, she kept at it, slapping the budlouse repeatedly across the face. Juniper stood there dumbfounded as she watched Missy unleash her inner rage.

"YEAH, that's what I'm talking about, GO MISSY!" cheered Hailfire from the side. The budlouse had had enough of being smacked by the Malticorn wielding a piece of driftwood, of all things, and threatened to charge at her. The Malticorn braced herself for the impact, using the driftwood like a shield now, when Jade surged forward and grabbed the budlouse with his massive monstrous jaw. The budlouse yelped in surprise, and Jade, with all the strength in his neck, flung the budlouse across the beach. It skidded along and bounced, before coming to a halt. It quickly got to its feet and scampered away, terrified for its life, and done with its bath.

Hailfire hopped over to Missy, still excited from the battle.

"Hell yeah, that was awesome! Wasn't it Juni? I didn't know your friend here could fight," he patted Missy on the back, but the Malticorn shoved him off of her.

"No offense, but you stink enough as it is. And now I'm absolutely wretched, smelling of lake water and it's going to take forever for this sand to leave my silky fur!" Missy whined. Juniper sheathed her sword and splashed water at Missy playfully.

"Don't worry, we'll get that sand out of you right now! Hold still!"

The Malticorn howled in agony at the torture of being splashed, and Hailfire laughed and joined in as well. Jade shook his head, but had to admire the Malticorn's sheer determination just now.

"Alright, alright, STOP! I'm clean now, I guess," Missy shook the water everywhere, making sure to soak Hailfire in retaliation. "I can see why you guys like to battle. It's kind of a thrill," she admitted as she squeezed excess water out of her normally-fluffy pink ears.

"Yeah, and you're gonna get dirty," Hailfire warned. Missy let out her usual huff.

"Hmph! As long as I get first dibs on the shower afterwards...bring it on."