Ease On Down The Road {OPEN!}

[Captain Eo]

The depths of space could only be described as majestic, with its spray of gleaming white stars dotting the jet-black expanse and accented by splashes of color thrown off by various gases and radiation, but this quaint, charming village was something else entirely, and beautiful in its own right, Captain Eo thought. He and his friend, the diminutive Fuzzball, strolled down the broad boulevard, past small buildings of different kinds.

Eo and his crew were excited when Commander Bog had given them their latest excitement: exploring this new world and making contact with the locals. It wasn't hard to notice the large elegant castle, and his navigators Odie and Idey had landed their ship in a large forest clearing and, on Eo's orders, activated the cloaking system, concealing the starcraft before everybody got out.

The castle was their true destination, but right now Eo and his friends just wanted to explore. Eo's eyes shone brightly as he studied his surroundings. He enjoyed seeing new sights and going new places. Major Domo and Minor Domo had taken notice of a smithy, and were currently speaking to the curious blacksmith there. Idey, Odie, and Hooter had run off somewhere together. Hooter was probably getting into trouble, Eo thought with mental laugh. As trying as the elephant-like alien could be at times, he was also a part of his crew. Eo could never stay angry with him.

Fuzzball flittered around, never straying far from Eo's company. That is until something caught the orange-furred alien's eye and he flew after it, leaving the young captain behind. "Hey, Fuzzball!" A surprised Eo gave chase after his errant sidekick, white boots pounding the dirt pathways as he did. "Where you going?" He wasn't sure what Fuzzball had seen, but he didn't want him accidentally getting lost. They still didn't know very much about this place.

[Robin]

Hopping through the village was a small frog named Robin, desperately trying to make his way to the castle. He had caught sight of the tall towers from the forest, brightly coloured flags waving from the top as if beckoning him to come that way. Surely there must be a princess there, the little green amphibian thought, and on he hopped. Poor Robin. Some time ago, the hulking villain Gaston had knocked the creature senseless and he now suffered from amnesia. As a result, Robin believes he is a prince turned into a frog by a nasty witch and only the kiss from a princess could free him from this enchanted spell! In his travels he met a kind young woman named Briar Rose who sadly knew no princesses and after spending some time together, Robin found himself journeying solo once again.

The frog was tired however; after all, if one hops long enough, one’s feet are bound to get sore. Just as he considered stopping to take a break, a creature resembling a very strange and pink cat came zipping up the path toward him. Robin’s eyes widened in fear and he immediately scrambled to pick up the pace.

“Oh d-d-dear!” he stammered, glancing behind him. “Help! Help!” Even a prince needed aid sometimes; especially if he was trapped as a frog. He could hear more sound behind him, heavy steps closing in and though he was terrified, Robin stole a glance behind him. “Oh, please don’t hurt me!” he called to the spaceman.

[Captain Eo]

As he drew closer, Eo could see Fuzzball whizzing after a small green creature rapidly hopping away, the alien's large dark eyes curiously examining it. From what Eo remembered reading in computerized books before, he thought that the smooth-skinned creature was an Earth animal known as a frog. He had never seen one in the flesh before. The little guy was obviously frightened by all the unwanted attention.

As fast as the frog was moving, Eo's longer stride allowed him to effortlessly catch up with the amphibian in no time. Gazing down at the creature, he suddenly realized how intimidating his taller height must have made him look. Eo knelt down so that he was closer to the frog and raised his hands, palms facing outwards to show that he meant no harm and wielded no weaponry.

Likewise, seeing that the frog was actually scared of him, Fuzzball backed off to give him some space, looking on with concern as did.

"Sorry about all that," Eo began, his voice calm and level. "Fuzzball's just too curious for his own good sometimes. We're not trying to hurt you."

"Yeah!" Fuzzball chimed in his squeaky voice.

"We're not from around here," Though Eo was sure that the frog had probably figured that out, what with his clothing and Fuzzball's overall appearance. He grinned at the frog. "So what's your name?"

[Robin]

There was no way he could out hop the grown man, no matter how hard he tried and breathless, Robin came to a stop, encouraged by the display of friendliness before him. Still, the frog was much smaller than the winged tangerine cat and being so easily overcome by the pair made him a cautious, despite the strange man’s demeanor. With a curious glance he met the gaze of the flying Fuzzball who seemed to speak the same language as they did.

Returning his gaze as well as shy smile to the man, Robin cleared his throat. “They call me Sir Robin… the Brave.” Feeling as if he should explain further, the little frog continued, singing gently, “They call me Sir Robin the Brave… and history one day will rave… I’m valiant and daring and noble and caring, courageous and gallant, a mountain of talent… no wonder folks curtsey and wave; I’m Robin, Sir Robin, the Brave.” And he certainly did feel braver now, speaking in the same affable tones the man and his companion used. “I’m not from around here either. I’m actually a prince who’s been cursed by an evil witch and I must go to the castle to try and find a princess to break the spell! It’s been a very long journey. What’s your name?” he inquired and with another look at Fuzzball, “Where are you from?”

[Captain Eo]

Eo's brown eyes widened slightly as the frog, Sir Robin, began to sing. He loved music of all kinds, and being a singer himself, appreciated someone with a good voice. He nodded appreciatively as he listened to Robin, eyes sparkling and a broad smile etched on his face.

When Robin had finished, Eo held out a hand for him to shake. "Well, Sir Robin the Brave, I'm very honored to meet you. I'm Captain Eo, and this is Fuzzball."

When gestured to by his friend, Fuzzball fluttered a little closer to Robin, giving a little wave of his paw. "Hi!"

"We're all actually from outer space, believe it or not," Eo resumed speaking. "Though originally I'm from Earth -- an alternate Earth in the future." He quickly clarified.

When Robin said that he had been cursed, frowns darkened Eo and Fuzball's faces. So this little frog was actually an enchanted prince? It sounded just like something out of the fairy tales his mother would tell him and his siblings when they had been little kids. Still though, Eo wasn't willing to call Robin a liar -- he was a stranger here, and he and his crew had witnessed many odd things in their travels before. So who was to say that Robin was fibbing?

"Who's this witch who cursed you? And why did she?" Eo asked. He had many questions that he wanted to ask Robin, but knew it'd be less confusing and overwhelming for Robin if he asked one at a time.

[Robin]

When Eo offered his hand, Robin placed his own web-fingered one in his. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Captain Eo! And you too Fuzzball.”

Of all the people he could ever meet, the frog prince would never guess any of them would have come from outer space! He looked up at the sky so high above and marveled at how someone could have come from so far away and end up here; suddenly he felt much smaller than he already was. “Wow…”

It was even more difficult to understand how Eo could have traveled from the future and so many questions ran through his mind when the subject was brought up, but the man was speaking again and he quickly had to push his own thoughts aside to reengage in the conversation. The looks of concern made Robin anxious and he wondered if Taminella had crossed their paths once before.

“Her name is Taminella, a scary, purple old hag! She cursed me because I tried to kill her ogre. Oh I’m not normally violent,” Robin assured the fellows, “Although princes are taught to do battle, but you must understand that this ogre tried to attack me and I was only defending myself. It’s very rare to come across a kind ogre, you see and even so I do not think any exist. And so she cursed me and vowed to feed me to her ogre for breakfast but I escaped! Now I must befriend a princess and have her kiss me if I ever want to be human again.” The poor amnesiac frog had quite the vivid imagination for a life not lived!

“Well now that I’ve told you why I’m here, why have you traveled so far to come to Earth? Well our Earth that is.”

[Captain Eo]

Eo gave Robin's hand a shake, being mindful of his strength (Eo wasn't incredibly strong or anything, but figured that as a human, his strength might be greater then Robin's own).

The awed look on Robin's face when Eo explained they had come from space didn't escape Eo or Fuzzball. Eo supposed to that to someone who had never traveled the galaxy before it was amazing. Truthfully, sometimes he and his crew took it for granted. "Yeah, it is pretty cool."

The captain gave a nod of his head, his face solemn as he listened to Robin's story, and Fuzzball let out a chirr of dismay. "That's terrible!"

If Robin was in need of help, then it was Eo and his friends' job to help him. It was the duty of every member of the Intergalactic Corps to render aid to anyone in need of it. "Hey, don't worry Robin. If it's a princess you need, then we'll help you find one. Right, Fuzzball?"

Fuzzball's response was to flutter up to zip around his head, nodding eagerly.

Robin prompted them to explain why they had come to Earth, so Eo happily obliged. "We're on assignment, actually. Our commander wants to us explore, forge alliances with the local rulers, that sort of thing." Other officers might have scolded him for freely giving away such information, but Eo couldn't imagine Robin being a threat to them. "So far we're liking it here. It's different from space, but in a good way."

[Robin]

Robin was more than willing to accept an offer of assistance at this point. Princesses were far and few between , living in distant lands or trapped in towers that were hard enough to scale for a prince, let alone a frog.

“Thank you very much! I think we’ll be able to help each other.” Eo could not have stumbled across a more perfect companion considering his assignment. “You won’t find any single ruler of Earth but Kings and Queens reign in their own domains,” he explained. “If we find a princess, maybe we can introduce you to the King and Queen of her realm and you can complete your assignment! And when I’m a prince again, we can do the same in my Kingdom.” The frog strained to look the spaceman over and laughed a little. “Do they still have kingdoms in the future? We must seem very backward to you here, but I am glad that you like it.”

Robin started hopping along the road again, though at a much more casual pace, not that he was the one who needed to worry about keeping stride. “Will you stay with us very long, do you think? It must awfully exciting to travel among the stars.”