It's a Loverly Spring, Charlie Brown! [Open]

[The_Vizir]

((I have edited my post to remove Norad from this thread - it was clear that he was diverting the thread from its intended course and instead of helping it along, he was just causing more problems. So apologies to everyone involved in this thread - it was not my intent to derail it and hopefully removing Norad will help return you to your regularly scheduled madness))

[Sky Lily]

OOC: Viz, are you sure? I mean, it's not like there was anything else to do right now. Any more advancement in the plot mostly depends on what Gaeva/The Voice of Deep Forest does next... didn't it? Norad was providing something to do and a lot of enjoyable drama, in my opinion...

[Windra]

OoC

Server is hating me right now. I have to agree with Sky on this one. Norad is like an antihero, but he is certainly no villain. And the dramatic tension was thoroughly enjoyable. Are you sure?

[The_Vizir]

((It would have devolved into needless PvPing and Norad getting another body blown up or turned against him again - which is fun, you know - that would be the fourth time in Norad's previous two threads. It's just tiring for Norad to be repeatedly damaged for standing up for what he believes in, to keep on loosing trying to be a good guy - even you identify him as an antihero and not a hero, Windy. So yes, I'm certain))

[Windra]

OoC

Though it's definitely sad to see Norad go, we should probably keep on keeping on, don't you think?

Hoping you decide to join us again in here, Viz!

--

She stared at the sky for what seemed like hours. Eventually her arm began to tire, the blade slipping to her side. How strange. Naira could have sworn that something was hurtling towards them only a few seconds prior. Now it was gone. Miffed by the odd occurence, she slowly sheathed the scimitar and looked about. Wandering eyes caught sight of various shadows belonging to various figures, all with pink hair and rose symbols emblazoned on them in one way or another. This caused a blink, then another ... until she finally rubbed her eyes as if coming out of a daze. Were those all Junos? Their own Deep Forest variant confirmed it with his statement. This brought about as much satisfaction to the mystery as a walking fish.

"Right ... " Hearing Simi's voice, the Reaver turned and sauntered over. I'm losing my mind.

I tink ya lost it a loooong time ago, cackled a familiar V-ACT 32 from the depths of her mind.

Hah! I was fine until you came along.

Oh I dun' know about dat ...

Before long she was standing in front of Attor alongside Simi. The poor hippogryph looked sickly at the sight of so much tissue damage. And it was within good reason. The dragon's leg was practically severed. Even the bone had been hacked into pieces. Naira adorned a grim look, carefully removing her gloves and tucking them away in one of the jacket's pockets. There were two circular scars marring the middles of both palms, each about the size of a quarter.

"Don't worry about the bleeding just now." The Reaver gingerly pressed fingers to various injured spots. Attor remained motionless, though his eyes were partiallly open. If he was aware of the poking and prodding he certainly didn't show it. With a more advanced healer in the Prison, his leg might be salvaged. As it stood now there was none, and therein no chance of saving it. "I'm about to teach you some medical stuffs. What I've got on him right now is called a tourniquet. It'll stop blood flow to anything below it, if tight enough." Indeed the bleeding had stopped due to arterial and vein constriction. "The downside? If you leave it on for too long, cells in the tied off limb will die, and you'll wind up having to cut it off. Lucky us ... " She grimaced. " Bad choice of words ... There isn't much left of his leg below the tourniquet. And the damage is too bad for a recovery ... I doubt he'll be able to use it again."

She was really wishing she'd delved into surgical medicine right about now ...

"It's going to have to get amputated." Naira knelt to her ankle and withdrew the short dagger tied there. The blade was made of something black and glassy, its edges sharpened to fine points. Clasping fingers tightly around the string-wrapped hilt, she stood and sized the injury up. "If you could numb the site like you did last time ... getting rid of the pain, I mean ... this shouldn't hurt. Otherwise, I'd advise that you don't look unless you've got a strong stomach. Once we're done you can stop the bleeding, and I'll cauterize it just to be sure."

[Sky Lily]

"Don't worry about the bleeding just now," Naira said quietly as she tested Attor's wound with her hand, a grim look on her face. Simi glanced from her, to Attor, to Naira again as her beak tightened with worry. She feared from the Soul-Reaver's expression that the news wasn't good, and she quivered at just the thought that the dragon might not... might not...

But Naira wasn't one to allow fear to seize her, and she acted fast. "I'm about to teach you some medical stuffs. What I've got on him right now is called a tourniquet. It'll stop blood flow to anything below it, if tight enough..."

"So he'll stop bleeding," she half said, half breathed out.

"The downside?"

Simi froze. "D... downside..."

"If you leave it on for too long, cells in the tied off limb will die, and you'll wind up having to cut it off. Lucky us ... " She paused with a grimace. " Bad choice of words ... There isn't much left of his leg below the tourniquet. And the damage is too bad for a recovery ... I doubt he'll be able to use it again."

"Oh no," the hippogryph groaned as she shook her head. "You mean... you mean we can't save it...?" Again she thought back to what she could have done with her horn, but even that hypothetical hope was dashed. Her horn was more sensitive to the touch of blood, and she wouldn't have been able to get very far with how badly the wound was bleeding... right?

"It's going to have to get amputated." Naira took hold of her knife again and stood to her feet. "If you could numb the site like you did last time ... getting rid of the pain, I mean ... this shouldn't hurt. Otherwise, I'd advise that you don't look unless you've got a strong stomach. Once we're done you can stop the bleeding, and I'll cauterize it just to be sure."

She wanted nothing more than to deny the Chimera's words and beg for another way, to insist that the proud dragon's leg could still be saved somehow. But Simi knew better, and in the end all she could give was a silent nod as she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to Attor's leg.

"I'm so sorry," she said quietly, feeling the spot between her eyes growing hot as it called to the dragon's pain within and dulled it. She waited until her forehead felt cool again before finally standing and taking a step back, giving Naira her space. Simi looked away then-- she knew what was coming next.

"If this is the only way we can... save him, then..." the shiftergryph couldn't quite finish, but her point was clear all the same.

[Luxon Cobrat]

While everything spiraled insistently into chaos, Nei stood wavering indecisively. Norad was convinced that Juno was about to take over the universe, Naira was convinced otherwise, and Nei just didn't know what to believe. She trusted both in that she didn't think either would intentionally misrepresent the truth about such a thing, but one of them had to be suffering a lapse in judgment, and she didn't know Juno well enough to tell for herself.

Nei wasn't going to be able to take a side once this fight broke out. The best she could do was try to stop it from happening, but she wasn't very confident that she could even pull that off. But before she could even imagine any words that might be worth saying, an angry dragon sprang up from his hiding place and attacked Norad's ship. The fight happened, though it was brief, and both combatants went down.

Then Norad's voice rang out announcing apocalyptic doom. Was he talking about a... nuclear launch? Was he going to...

Nei's eyes went wide at that thought, her terror all the greater for knowing what was coming. Her instincts wanted her to run, but she knew there was no place to go. Instead, she froze in panic.

She didn't know how long she stared fearfully into the sky, both lives flashing before her eyes. But as time passed... nothing happened. If the missile was coming, it was certainly taking its time.

Maybe... Norad didn't go through with it? Or had the Forest itself somehow stopped the attack? Or... maybe the missiles had all gotten swallowed up by portals...

Whatever it was, Nei started to think more and more that they weren't coming.

As her panic started to ease up, Nei started noticing what was going on around her. It seemed that Attor's injury was serious. Serious enough that Naira was about to amputate.

... Amputate!

Snapping back into action, Nei rushed towards the scene.

"Wait!" she yelled. "I can heal that!"

She pulled up short as she drew close, a bit out of breath from the frantic scramble.

"Just... let me... she said between hard breaths, holding her hand up in front of herself and watching it as it started to glow with a faint blue light. "Yeah... this is... I still have enough psionics. I can heal this right up."

[Sky Lily]

Simi shut her eyes tight as she pressed her ears flat against her head, waiting for the moment she dreaded most.

"Wait!"

... until Nei, that is.

Startled slightly by the girl's exclamation, the hippogryph turned around with a soft whicker of alarm. What was going on? Was something else coming?

"I can heal that!" the girl added quickly as she finally stopped in front of Naira and Attor, gasping for breath. "Just... let me..." Nei allowed herself a moment to breathe as she conjured up bright blue light within her hand. "Yeah... this is... I still have enough psionics. I can heal this right up."

Now, Simi wasn't quite sure what psionics were, but she could definitely understand the healing part and those words made her flutter her wings in excitement. "Y-you can?! Can you really, Nei?" She glanced from her to Naira, hoping with everything in her that the Newman indeed had the strength to heal Attor's leg.

[Luxon Cobrat]

Nei gave Simi a nod. It would take a lot of energy given the severity of Attor's injury, but she could heal him. Wasting no time, she got down to doing that.

Holding her hand near Attor's leg, she closed her eyes and concentrated, the glow becoming ever brighter and spreading over her entire body. Then it spread over Attor's body and the healing energies went to work, regenerating the dragon's damaged flesh, restoring life and function to rent tissue.

And that was it. And then she payed for it. She'd used a full-strength Nares technique. The old Neithird couldn't have done that without risking letting the Creature free. Dark Core was gone now, but so was the vast majority of Nei's psionic strength. She now had barely enough energy use the power she had just used, and now that was exhausted.

So down she went, hitting the ground in a heap, all the color drained from her skin. She hadn't used Sak, so she was still conscious, but only just. Eyes barely open, and feeling like she had been running as fast as she could nonstop for 100 years, she let out a groan as she tried to move. But that idea didn't work, so she gave it up and decided to remain still for a while.

((Permission given by Windra to heal Attor.))

[Windra]

"If this is the only way we can ... save him, then ... "

It wasn't difficult to understand the shiftergryph's pained expression. Even if Attor hadn't been the most glorious role model, she still thought him a friend. Whether or not the feeling was mutual was anyone's guess. But Naira doubted the dragon leapt at Norad simply because he needed target practice.

"It's only a leg. Compared to his life, it doesn't have that much value," she said, doing her best to reassure the feathered being. "He's got three of them left. And I'll bet his young. Adapting to it will be a cinch. Have you ever seen a three-legged cat before? They can manuever like it's nothing once they get used to it. It's the same for dragons." She actually didn't know if that was true or not, having never met a three-legged dragon before. But for a species that was used to taking beatings and damn-near getting eliminated from the universe, they certainly had a knack of getting back up again. Surely a lost limb would hardly affect him. "But all the blood vessels appear to have been ripped apart from the blow. With no circulation to the rest of his leg, it'll die and simply become dead weight, inevitable leading to an infection that could kill him."

Naira gripped the segment of calf muscle still connected to the rest of Attor's body and held it taut. Slowly bringing the blade's edge to mangled flesh, the Reaver prepared to cut it away -

Thankfully, Nei had been watching and interjected at that crucial moment. After examining the wounds, the Newman announced her ability to mend rended tissue. Naira heaved a massive sigh of relief. "Oh, you are wonderful," she said in a gratitude-filled voice, stepping back to let the woman do her job. She had completely forgotten about Nei's skilll in psionics. Time really did strip away some memory ... when everybody was out to get you.

In no time at all, connective tissue and bone was forged and covered by muscle and gristle. This was followed by the subcutaneous layer, the dermis, and the epidermis. The skin sealed up very well, leaving no scarring whatsoever. Even the dragon's peculiar color pattern was restored as it was, with no alterations. Naira drifted over to Attor's head. He was still not nearly as responsive as he should have been, regarding her with little more than glazed confusion when he should have been attempting to rip her head off. His leg had been cured, that was true. But he still suffered from a concussion. Naira removed a piece of white cloth from her pant's pocket and folded it over many times until it was in a nice square. She then placed it against Attor's ear-hole to soak up the blood. Pulling it back, her expression quickly went from grim ... to calm.

"No cerebral fluid ... so there's no brain injury, though he's certainly in a funk. I'm willing to bet that more from the blood loss than anything else, but with Nei's great handiwork that should be clearing up shortly." A certain spark was returning to the dragon's eyes that made Naira take more than a few steps back. Soon Attor was snorting and growling, dizzy and disoriented. Colors and strange shapes whizzed past him, making his head spin. "I'd steer clear of his head - and those fangs - until he's feeling better at least." Looking back, the Reaver chimed ecstatically, "You did awesome N - Nei?"

The Newman collapsed, probably catering to the same exhaustion they all felt plus the use of her own abilities. It was still enough to prompt a full-on dash to the blue-haired lady. Naira crouched at her side, alarmed.

"Are you alright? You look positively bushed." That last sentence came out after spying Nei's dazed expression and barely-open eyes. Scooting over to behind Nei's head, Naira sat with her legs crossed, gentle nudging the other girl's head on top of them to at least give her some cushion to rest her skull instead of hard rock shrapnel. "I suppose it's everybody's day to fall to pieces."

Directing her gaze to Norad's battered ship, the Reaver felt an immense pang of guilf. She was certain that Juno was not the cause of Deep Forest's reality rip. The woodlands were prone to more disaster than was good. But what about the future of Earth, her own home? Damn it all, what if Norad was right about that? He was probably the only one with the necessary answers, and Attor had all but oblterated what may have been the last vestige of his existance.

No ... there was still the dreadnought lying outside the forest ... Perhaps ... ?

"We still have the issue of Deep Forest's twisting of portals and altered realities." She could not tear her gaze from the abandonned hull. "What now?"

[Sky Lily]

It was...

It was amazing.

All Nei needed to do was to hold her hands over Attor's leg, and immediately it began to heal right before Simi's eyes. Within moments tissue and skin had mended together again, and the dragon's limb was whole once more. The hippogryph had been standing to the side to give Nei her space, but now that her work was done she drew closer to see the newman's work for herself, and was awestruck at how... unharmed Attor looked. It was as if nothing had ever happened to the dragon.

"Nei, that... that's incredible!" Just moments before, Simi had been ready to see a dragon suffer the loss of his leg, but now everything had been changed thanks to Nei and her powers. The hippogryph was ecstatic with relief and she made a quick dance with her legs as she turned back to the girl. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

"No cerebral fluid ... so there's no brain injury, though he's certainly in a funk," Naira added as she inspected Attor. "I'm willing to bet that more from the blood loss than anything else, but with Nei's great handiwork that should be clearing up shortly."

"I'd steer clear of his head - and those fangs - until he's feeling better at least."

Simi nodded as she took a few steps back, herself. "R-right, of course."

"You did awesome N - Nei?"

"... Nei?!" The hippogryph echoed as she ran to the Newman, hovering over her worriedly as Naira did the same.

"Are you alright?" the soul-reaver asked as she gently scooted Nei's head onto her lap. "You look positively bushed... I suppose it's everybody's day to fall to pieces."

Simi rested beside her, crossing her legs underneath her body. She contemplated resting a wing over the fainted girl like a blanket, but then again, she doubted that would help anything. "Was it all the blood...?" she asked a little timidly. "I know that touching too much blood can make me dizzy, too... but thank you, Nei," she said once again with a small smile on her face.

But Naira wasn't so quick to forget what had transpired before, and the Chimera was eye-ing Norad's empty ship questioningly. "We still have the issue of Deep Forest's twisting of portals and altered realities... What now?"

That was a good question.

What were they to do, now?

Simi looked around herself, taking in the faces of everyone there and feeling rather... at a loss. Nothing's been going right... and every time we do try to fix it, something happens... The very thought was rather discouraging. She didn't know what to do, and felt stupid for it. She wanted to help, and here she was with no train of thought whatsoever to rely on.

Simi shifted her talons underneath her, flicking an uncertain ear. "I... I don't know... we tried to see what was wrong with the tree, and help Gaeva and her family... but then Jahran disappeared, and the tree didn't let us get very close anyway..."her lower beak tightened. "I'm not sure what we could..." But then a thought flashed once through her mind, and the hippogryph looked up at Naira suddenly.

"Naira, do you remember when the ground was...not shaking...oh, throbbing? The waves were coming from the mountains. What do you think has happened there...?"

It was a somewhat unrelated question, and all things considered, Simi rathered staying here to try and help free the royal family. But she wondered all the same...

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

"Be careful!! Something is happe...-"

Startled Jahran blinked his eyes as he halted mid shout, looking at an empty spot where only a moment before Nei had stood. What the...what just happened? Did she just disappear?? She was reaching out somehow to his physical form, and Jahran started to feel a familiar tickle and wanted to warn her something was about to happen, but she just poofed in front of his eyes! Had she teleported?

Bewildered the large black stallion took a step back and quickly whipped his head around to look at the others, maybe they knew what had just happened. But again, there was nobody there! Did everybody just spontaneously disappear?! Suddenly he caught movement from the corner of his eye and turned to look a little beyond where the others had been standing. His vision remained blurry, but he could make out shapes, and the general colors told him that they were the ones who had been standing almost next to him a moment ago.

Confused Jahran moved over to them, quickly switching to a fast trot to cover the last bit as his vision slowly cleared up the closer he got to them. Yeah, it was really them! Including the one they called Nei. For a moment he had feared something had happened to her. Then again...she was now lying motionless on the ground, that usually wasn't a good sign during the day. There was also a large dragon on the ground. Not the big one though, he had already spotted her blurry outline against what appeared to be some kind of shiny large rock? Odd he hadn't seen that rock before. Weird shape it had too, but that could just have been his vision.

Coming to a stop amid a small cloud of dust right behind Simi he overheard her last words. Instinctively he looked over to where the mountains were, but obviously didn't see anything. He looked back to them, "What happened? Why'd you all leave? How did you disappear like that?" He blurted out, then feeling a stab of guilt as he suddenly felt those weren't the proper questions to ask right now, he quickly continued, "What happened to Nei and the dragon? Did they fight?" A ridiculous theory, he knew that the moment he said it as there hadn't been enough time for a fight to happen, besides, he would have heard it if it had.

He coughed. "And where did all this dust come from?" He glanced at Barbannis, then looked closer at Simi and Neira, and noticed they had a couple of scratches on them as well, but decided he'd asked enough question in a row.

OOC
In case it's not obvious Jahran has no idea he is the one that disappeared, nor that some time has passed since

[Sky Lily]

"What happened?"

The loud voice behind her startled Simi rather badly. The hippogryph had let out something between a squeak, a neigh, and a chirp before whipping her head around, only to see a pair of very large, see-through forehooves. She then stared upward to the face looming over them, and let out a sigh of surprised relief ... Jahran had returned!

And he seemed to be just as bewildered as they were. "Why'd you all leave? How did you disappear like that?" There was barely a moment's pause. "What happened to Nei and the dragon? Did they fight? And where did all this dust come from?" he added with a cough, and for a brief moment Simi wondered just how an apparition could cough at dust.

But even more puzzling was the pegacorn's stream of questions. The hippogryph's ears went back, confused with the accusation. "Disa... disappea--"

"... wait, but you're the one who disappeared! We were wondering where you had--"

It was then that Simi remembered just who she was talking to, and she glanced to the side in embarrassment.

"I mean... I don't think we're the ones who disappeared. You did, after Nei tried to get near the tree. And then it pushed us all away... and then that Norad man came!" She looked up again, her eyes wide with the still-fresh memory. "And he and Attor fought, but then he left, and Attor was hurt... but Nei healed him, but it was too tiring for her so uh..." the shiftergryph flicked an ear as she turned back to the Newman with renewed concern. "She has to rest..."

"Where... where had you gone?"

[Windra]

Simi drew close. She stammered through her words, but at least her heart was in the right place. In this kind of situation, who could really blame her for her trepidation? They were all at a loss and lucky to be alive - in everbody but Naira's case, at least. That status couldn't really apply to her anyway. Events had gone on that caused great regret and confusion. Multiple Junos. A catastrophic end to one of Norad's battleships. The severing - and healing - of Attor's damn-near-ripped-off leg. Which reminded her ...

The tourniquet was still on, wasn't it? Looking up to the disconcerted dragon's side, she was amazed at how far up his upper leg was while crouched. "Whoops, better get that off," Naira said under her breath, slowly unraveling the blood-stopped before it could cut off circulation for too long. She didn't dare put the bloodied bandage back on her arm where it had been. Who knew if there was venom in Attor's bloodstream? Naira tucked it away in her pocket instead.

When the hippogryph asked about the ground throbbing, Naira found herself at a loss for words. She was certainly not daft, but was Simi referring to the incdents before the Prison formed ... ? The way the earth shook ... The Reaver had been in the company of a laughing cat at the time. When the earth split, she'd been rudimentarily tossed into another world not by her own doing. Tha passage of time in that alternate plane ... well, it was accompanied by the inability to recall what exactly happened.

"I really ... have no idea."

Jahran's sudden reappearance stirred an already boiling cauldron of strangeness. Naira was taken aback, puzzled by the words pouring from the equine's maw. Did he really have no idea ... ?

Luckily, Simi was on the case. " ... I mean ... i don't think we're the ones who disappeared. You did, after Nei tried to get near the tree. And then it pushed us all away ... and then that Norad man came!"

Jumping into the brief break of sentences, Naira pointed to the fallen aircraft as a response to the inevitable question of, "Who's Norad?" "That ship over there was Norad. Or at least it was controlled by him. Attor attacked it, and Norad sent out these missiles - I think they were meant to scare him off, but Attor wound up getting caught by one ... "

"And he and Attor fought, but then he left, and Attor was hurt ... but Nei healed him, but it was too tiring for her so uh ... " Gryphon eyes flickered to Nei. "She has to rest ... "

Nei was barely stirring in her grip. It was like she'd been paralyzed. Or in a catatonic state? "And now we have a bunch of duplicate, alternate Junos ... because clearly one mad scientist isn't enough." Naira's comment dripped with sarcasm, though the corners of her mouth lifted at the attempt to introduce humor to the situation. "And we're no closer to figuring out just what is happening."

"Where ... where had you gone?"

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

For some reason Jahran had not expected the small hippogryph to speak up, so when she did, he had to angle his transparent head to look almost directly below him. He shifted nervously as he wanted to take a step backwards for a more comfortable position for eye contact, but simultaneously didn't want to give the impression he was backing away. Stilling himself he instead remained rooted to the same spot as he listened to her. He had no idea what her name was, it hadn't come up so far. She was confusing though. He had disappeared? He hadn't even moved, they were the ones who suddenly disappeared and reappeared some distance away! maybe they teleported?

Naira chiming in made him shift his attention to her by moving his head just a little. A slow frown started to appear on his face, as between the two of them, they sounded pretty convincing. Also, that description -he quietly shifted his head back as Simi picked up the story again- sounded too far fetched to have been made up in such a short time, not to mention shared between them so it would all add up. Also, there was blood. Again he looked at Naira as she indicated the multiple Junos. He shifted his gaze towards them, but had to squeeze his eyes a little to spot their blurry outlines as they weren't standing close enough for him to see. His vision really was terrible...why was it terrible all of a sudden anyway? He gave a quick shake of his head before finally resting his eyes on Simi once more. Where had he gone?

"I didn't go anywhere..." he mumbled, for some reason feeling like he should be defensive about it, afraid he was going to be called a liar.

There was something else though, with his mind trying to sort this out, while trying to absorb what he was being told about the Norad man -who must be hiding behind that smooth rock indicated by Naira in the distance, way too far for him to properly see- something that had tickled his mind, but was then lost in thought. While staring at Simi without really seeing her, he played their words over in his mind once more. Suddenly it clicked and his eyes widened as he lifted a forehoof in sudden excitement.

"Something pushed you? You said the tree pushed you? It came from the tree?" he anxiously asked her, "As in something invisible pushed you away?" His tone became a little louder in his excitement and he whipped to look behind him at the tree, which was a little blurry to him again, and then looked at the ones in front of him, "That's good! That's great!! That means the tree, that means my sister is still alive and ok!! She must have done that! When Nei tried to scan me, I think my sister was trying to protect me!" He stomped his transparent hoof back on the ground, making a couple of pebbles skitter away from the impact. Suddenly he frowned, "Or maybe the tree was..." Then he grinned, "But that doesn't matter, because it still couldn't have done that if my sister wasn't alright!"

What a relief! If his sister was still in a good enough mental shape to do that, then maybe his aunt and father were also alright somehow. Looking from one face to the other in front of him, a huge grin was plastered on his face -not really the best look on a unicorn, but he didn't care- the relief he felt was overwhelming. This tiny bit of good news was enough to assure him everything was somehow going to be alright. His sister and aunt were alright, and somehow they would fix everything in the end, he was sure of it!

Then he blinked and realized that everything was not alright right now. Not yet. The dragon, Attor? And Nei were still on the ground. His grin instantly disappeared and his ears dropped back in shame. The hippogryph had said Nei needed to rest, so she must know what she was talking about. "What about him? Will he need to rest as well?" he asked her as he motioned to Attor with his horn.

[Barbannis]

Barbannis once more found himself at the edge of the small group, his sword slung back over his shoulder, armor fading a hidden glint behind the new layer of dirt and dust. Light peeked from the edges of his fur, his wings just barely slipping from his form as he stood quiet, eyes over the band of creatures. His sword let off a gentle glow from its blade, eyes peering in, watching them tend to the fallen dragon. His healing abilites were no match for what he watched, knowing that disturbing them would on cause distraction. Instead the wolf began to pace to the small gatherings side, white smoke slipping from his back lightly, flicking at his armor and fur. He could still feel the cold tingle of his power itching at his fingertips, using his barrier had taken it out of him, as small as it had been.

The wolf snorted lightly in surprise, much to the same as the others reactions to the returning apparation of a unisus.

He came to a small pause at the edge of them, still holding his long sword slung over his shoulder.. but it wasn't long until he continued to the side, paws crunching against the foreign broken ground, eyes peering between each of them, even as he caught a glance of Jahran, still not knowing him. Barbannis turned his sights as he paced forward, eyes flicking back to the center of the field. The ground below felt more familiar to the Lost Fields, broken and wounded, but there was always more to it.

The knight remained quiet.

[Sky Lily]

"Something pushed you?"

Jahran's newly urgent voice made Simi look up at him, glancing to both sides a little nervously. "Well, ye-"

"You said the tree pushed you? It came from the tree? As in something invisible pushed you away?" The unicorn's louder voice made her ears flick, but the hippogryph could at least pick up on his excitement. Jahran wasn't being anxious or afraid of what she'd told him; on the contrary, he was elated. She tilted her head questioningly, not really knowing how to react. If he was happy about that, had going near the tree been a grave offense to him? Oh dear... had they done something wrong?!

"That's good! That's great!! That means the tree, that means my sister is still alive and ok!! She must have done that! When Nei tried to scan me, I think my sister was trying to protect me!"

Simi sprang up on all fours again, scarcely paying attention when Jahran's stomp made her stumble. "You mean... they're okay then!" Her wings fluttered against her sides. The anxiety that she had held for Gaeva and the others-- that awful, hopeless feeling she had seeing the family hovering limply around the tree-- had vanished, and she was reveling in the weight lifted off her heart. Simi had a sister too, and the overwhelming relief of knowing that a sibling was safe and sound, was a feeling she could relate to.

"Or maybe the tree was... But that doesn't matter, because it still couldn't have done that if my sister wasn't alright!"

"They're okay!" The hippogryph made a small dance as she turned back to Naira. "Naira, do you hear that, they're all okay! They're just sleepi--"

"..."

"... So why can't they wake up...?" Simi's ears wavered as she turned back to the tree. "At least they're not hurt..."

At Jahran's last question, however, the Shifter's eyes darted from the pegacorn to Attor's sleeping form. "Y-yes... he needs to rest, too. Nei healed him and everything, but I'm afraid he's still tired..." All the same, Simi was visibly feeling much better. Her friends were alive and in one piece; and Deep Forest's rulers weren't in as much peril as she'd originally thought.

[Windra]

OoC

Luxon, I hope you don't mind the little movements forced on Nei ... I figured that sine they were small, it wouldn't really matter ... But if you do mind, I'll gladly change everything around.

--

She turned her attention briefly to Barbannis, watching him from the corner of her eye. Without a real foe to wage battle against, the Tyrai seemed at a loss of what to do. He aimlessly patrolled the grounds. At least he was keeping a watchful eye of the situation. That alone gave the Reaver great enough comfort to mean something. Norad's untimely intervention brought a great deal of strain to their current situation. Now, with the storm quelled ... they could gather their barings again. Get things straightened out. And they could save Deep Forest.

Jahran went on about the tree. At first her own dread mingled with Simi's. Had they unknowingly transcended upon sacred ground? Had they committed a great offence? But when the unisus practically danced with joy, a sudden unexplained weight lifted itself from Naira's chest. Simi was jumping onto her talons with joy, voice picking up grand elation. The hippogryph was greatly happy, and her expression was delighted ... and then it suddenly fell. They were not out of the woods yet. Gaeva, Jahran, Meali, and Gaeven ... they were all still unconscious.

"At least we know they're alive," Naira tried to reassure the feathered gryphon. "Considering we thought Jahran was a ghost, and that the ruling family was dead and all ... All else considering, Simi, that's great news."

Attor's massive body lurched quite suddenly. He was far from asleep. Dwindling now on the precipice of here and there, the dragon was taking everything into account. Unfortunately his mind was still muddled and his vision still blurry. Garbled words presented themselves, but they were so weak and disoriented that what could be made out didn't make any sense in the slightest. Concerned that he might wake from another nightmare and snap at them, as he had earlier, Naira scooted backwards a few feet, pulling Nei with her.

"He lost a lot of blood. It'll take some time for him to recuperate ... A lot of time, considering his size. But with a little rest he should be just fine." Mulling over his previous attitude, Naira had to wonder if him coming out of his current state was the best thing to look forward to ...

Idle wonder brought about a sudden bout of frustration. They were no closer to fixing the big problem. Eyes fixating on a nearby pool of viscous acid, the Reaver dwelled briefly on the notion that perhaps she could force herself into the Spectral Realm and get a clarified answer there. Maybe the solution was right in front of them, but just in another dimension of this place? Without her ability to phase in and out of the living realm, this was an impossible feet. Well ... somewhat impossible. Jumping into one of those raging lakes would no doubt strip the flesh from her bones. Like lava, it would allow no room or time to recover because the damage would be constant. And with no physical body to return to she could easily traverse the dimension of the dead.

Of course, this would also be foolish. She couldn't phase. Therefore she would have no way of coming back. Besides, there was no way of knowing if that would help at all. It would be a senseless sacrifice of a perfectly good body on an unsupported whim.

Sighing, she glanced casually Juno's way. He'd vanished somewhere before. Perhaps he'd found something to alter the scenario?

[Sky Lily]

Simi was startled by Attor's sudden movement, and surprised when he actually tried to speak despite his exhaustion. It was a rather weak attempt, and his words were too slow and quiet to make out clearly, which alarmed Simi quite a bit. It was hard for a dragon's voice to be quiet, wasn't it? She hadn't expected him to be loud, really, but his condition was still worrying.

"He lost a lot of blood. It'll take some time for him to recuperate ... A lot of time, considering his size. But with a little rest he should be just fine."

"Right I... right." Simi took a reluctant step back when Naira did, not wanting to get smacked by Attor's paws either. Still, she hated seeing him so disoriented, or that he was trying so hard to move and speak when he clearly didn't have the energy. "Please, Attor... maybe you should lie down and... and well, rest." Hopefully he'd at least understand what she was saying...

Her eyes wandered back to the tree again, ever-wondering over the royal family's slumber. But as her train of thoughts blurred into ponder, something in her ...gave a jolt. There was something she'd asked before... something about the tree... she'd been wrong about it causing harm, but... still...

"Er, uh...." Simi started as she turned back to Jahran. "Do you... possibly think that it's the tree, keeping everyone asleep?"

[JunoZXV]

C+E+R=O

That is the law that governs reality. Cause + Event + Reaction = Outcome. This cannot be approved or negated. And it is by this law that the Juno's existed in other realities parallel to this one. Or did.

Let me 'splain

No wait there's too much, let me sum up.

The reasons why those Juno's showed up were due to possible outcomes of one particular event playing out. The cause building up for months on end... but If the event ceases to exist in turning, then there's no reactions able to spawn,

Then the other Juno's don't exist.

QED:

As soon as they had appeared... they began to fade.

"I shalt be back!"

Came a waver of the Generallismo as he was lost to the rules of casuality.

"You were, and are. But the dimensions are drifting too far apart to contain you!" Taunted the original Juno with a smirk. As the others of him faded to their respective parallels where that worked. Odd how fickle warped reality could be. But now with that crisis lost to the realms of what if? Juno was free to ditch that subplot and continue forth.

"Yeah, this stuff is weird." Juno replied. "I'd explain how that all would work to you in detail. But now is not the time for that. Right now we have a forest to save..." He paused looking over his shoulder, at everyone whom was in the crater.

Away from his ship.

NOT WITH HIM.

"Who are you talking to?" Asked the Alexander the skull from his perch on the backpack.

"Clearly someone whom was directed at me. Lets get reoriented in this reality thread. I don't want to miss on something important that's flickering in and out in front of us."

"Like that horse?"

"Like that ho- WAT."

Juno spun around to get a good look at Ghost Jahran. His mind focusing on what was going on. "Right new plan. Lets get over there and figure out what the jolly heck were supposed to be doing next. We don't need to bolocks this up any more than it has been."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Deleted extra content:

Juno's ship began to glide slowly over towards the others, sort of a check up in order to figure out what was going on... or what the theories were. Of course this didn't stop the skull on his backpack from piping up.

"So the last five pages were just-"

"SHHHHHHHHH they're not supposed to know we can read these things!"