#odyssey

"How about, 'We're off to see the Wizard?'" Piper suggests.

'But.. I'm right here" Zane smiles

Jonas mms "Zane"

"Oh fine" Zane smiles "We're off to see the wizard"

And off they head, singing the tune together. the good nnews? they faced one monster , and that means onen less monser on this quest

Skipping along! This isn't so bad!

The terrain getts a bit more mountainous... a bit more steep even along the path

And Jonas yells, "Step back!"

As a shadow appears on the rod, a dot, and it's getting bigger

"What is it?" She looks up at Jonas, then squints up the road, backing up a few steps uncertainly.

that's when the boulder lands where she was with a thud

"Cyclops" he points

"What the...?!"

Up ahead, higher up in the steep trod, is a Cyclops, near a lot of boulders, "RARRR" He's grabbing another

Piper cups her hands around her mouth and shouts over, "Excuse me, could you please NOT?"

"Why should I?" The Cyclops pouts "You satyrs, you'e almost as bad as CENTAURS"

but he does hold the boulder rather thann throw it

"What did we ever do to you?" She asks, actually asking, not just shouting as a retort.

She whispers to Jonas, "Keep walking..." Sidling casually at a slow pace, just a step here, there, as she tries to distract the Cyclops.

"You get to be dreamed enouggh about that you gett to... do the Changelin thing... is there a cyclops kith? NOOOO. I go out there, I'll be poof the first ttime I meet some insurance agent"

"That's not true, a lot of people remember Cyclops..ses. There's that movie, Clash of the Titans? A Classic! And, um.... you have your own X-Men character..."

Skip, hop, teeny steps..

Jonas keeps moving carefully. Zane already clued in, follows

"Scott Summers is treatted like the bad guy, and he doesn't even EAT People" The cyclops gripes "It's all 'Wolverine Wolverine..' "

"Not true, some of us like Kitty Pryde" Zane says

"BAAH" the cyclops looks ready to throw again

"Who hates Kitty Pyrde?" Zane mutters

"I get it, you got dealt a rough hand. But will beating up on us really help? Sure, you'll feel better for a bit, but then we'll be gone, and you'll still be in your funk. Or, if you let us go, maybe we can spread the word a bit. Get some more scuttlebutt out there for you, tell some stories. Maybe even start a rumor about a Cyclops spotted in the grand canyon, that place is HUGE. Why let Sasquatch get all the press?"

"Do..do you think folks would believe that?" the cyclops says "And, why would you help me?"

"Why not? Dreams don't have to be a finite resource, after all. Someone can be a fan of Satyrs AND cyclops. I mean, I bet there's even Scott Summers/Kitty Pryde fanfiction out there."

Zane blinks "Nah, way too stiff for her and..."

Jonas bumps Zane

they scoot closer

She takes a few more steps towards where they might be out of range.

"I suppose there might be, lots of What if stuff"

The cyclops, distracted thinks it over "I hear the Grand Canyon is nice"

"Next time I make it over that way, I'll be sure to tell people about the Cyclops I saw there!"

"I... whee did you go?" His one eye looks about, and, she realizes, OVER her. She is short, ad nnow closer, he is litterally overlooking her

Is there a way to slip past?

Hunch!

And don't talk

She does so! Squeeze down short, and sneaks, as quiet as her hoof beats can be.

The others follow her lead, though Jonas has to practically get on his hands

Piper whisks her tail in front of his face teasingly, she can't help it.

"ACK..HEY, you tricked me.." He turns to each for his boulders, only to find out they've been turned to Nerf!

"S'go!" She hurries onward!

The cyclops does manage to clip Jonas in the back, but as he hurls NERF, it's not a problem.

"Okay, running away solves a lot of problems" Zane says

"I thought that was the opposite of what I was trying to learn."

A small smile back at Jonas.