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

[Windra]

OoC

100th post!

--

Right! This sitting-around-doing-nothing thing was getting very old, very fast. Her legs ached for movement. And flexing her toes wasn't doing anything to sooth it. Without a word, Naira shrugged off her long coat and rolled it up into a bundle. She slipped it under Nei's head in place of her legs. The Reaver stood and stretched. With her good eye, she casually watched the other Junos vanish into nothing and mused about how this was becoming more and more of an episode right out of Doctor Who.

"You know, crossing into established events is strictly forbidden," Naira said as the pirate approached, curious to see if he would catch the reference. She paused for a heartbeat before adding thoughtfully, "Except for cheap tricks."

Restless limbs got the best of her. The half-dragon casually strolled about the group in a tight-knit circle at sluggish speeds. There was no concealing the exhaustion etched in every line of her face, but when faced with the inexplicable paradox that was Deep Forest's current constraint, caving into physical enervation was something that simply could not be allowed. Her stroll was more to get the blood pumping than anything else.

Rounding the spot where Attor lay, the Reaver was sure to give him a wide berth in case he decided that anything moving was worth an extermination jaw snap. His eyes rolled lazily about. They focused at first on Naira ... then swiveled to meet Simi's averted gaze. Swelling in the pit of his throat was a deep thrum. A buzzing. Like the swarm of a thousand angry wasps. For something so ominous-sounding, there was a strangely soothing element about it. The dragon's tongue lolled about thoroughly, toying with different vocalizations before finally settling on one that matched his current mental state.

"Funny how you all have looked after me so ... On a normal day, I wouldn't consider extending the same courtesy ... " His voice was very faint and often drifted off at points, becoming inaudible. But it was clear that he was growing aware of his surroundings and the timeline of events within them. Any attempt to raise his head was hampered by sudden nausea and vertigo. He was restrained to remaining prone, and the weakness aggravated him.

"You can thank Simi and Nei for that," Naira told him while slipping away from Attor and towards Jahran, rubbing a bit of dried blood off her brow. "Magick powers and what have you ... " She decided it was for the best to skimp on any details surrounding her earlier incentive to amputate the beast's leg. That would probably be met with bad reception ... "They both did a marvelous job. You look almost fully restored. Just ... shocky. But that'll wear down soon enough."

Attor rumbled something under his breath. But he nodded. A hard exhale kicked up dust around his nostrils. The gryphon's advice had been to rest. Though he desired motion, the dragon knew better than to go against his own weaknesses.

[Sky Lily]

Simi was still waiting on Jahran's answer to her question, for she really did want to know just how powerful his sister's tree was. But Attor's rumbling was very hard to ignore. It had startled her at first, but when the hippogryph turned to the dragon, she was surprised to see a rather peaceful look on his face.

"Funny how you all have looked after me so ... On a normal day, I wouldn't consider extending the same courtesy ... "

"You can thank Simi and Nei for that. Magick powers and what have you ... They both did a marvelous job. You look almost fully restored. Just ... shocky. But that'll wear down soon enough."

Naira's words warmed Simi quite a bit, and she lowered her head with a shy smile, pawing the earth once with her fore-talon. She hadn't done much, really, it was Nei who had saved Attor's leg after all. But the praise was nice to hear all the same.

It may have sounded a little scary at first, but to be honest, Simi found that Attor's thrums weren't so bad. In fact they were rather nice to hear.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

They seemed to unanimous in their opinion that the dragon Attor was going to be alright and though he had no reason to, he trusted them to speak the truth. He felt relief where he hadn't even realized he felt worry before. After a quick internal survey Jahran could conclude that everything seemed less desperate than previously thought, and everyone was, or was going to be, in a better shape than they appeared. His transparant tail did a happy flick at this, before he wondered if the list included himself. Looking down at his transparant chest, actually seeing the ground below, he frowned. While he was feeling a lot more optimistic about his family's current condition, it still didn't explain himself right here, nor his pysical body over there. Sighing he shook his head, he'd just have to take comfort in the fact that he was unconscious, not dead. Unconscious and awake.

Thankfully Simi pulled him out of these confusing thoughts, "Er, uh....Do you... possibly think that it's the tree, keeping everyone asleep?"

He almost instantly started to shake his head 'no', but stoppped himself from doing so. His thoughts went inwards again. Initially the question seemed to ask if the tree was doing his family harm, or purposly creating a problem, but that wasn't what she was asking. Was this possible? Glancing towards the blurry shape that was the tree, Jahran tried to reason through it, while silently cursing himself for being the one standing here, instead of one of his relatives. He was the only oneof them who had mever bonded to a tree -or anything really- before, the only one without all the answers. Lowering his head a little he tried to recall if his aunt had ever taught him anything like this before. It wasn't so much that Jahnran thought it was impossible, he was fairly sure it was a possibility, but how likely was it? What would it mean? And if it was, was it a fluke? A mistake, or somethin1g done on purpose? By whom? Would it be tree acting? Or The one bonded to it? He simply had no, no idea. He should have paid closer attention to his aunt, and his sister, maybe one of them had mentioned something like this before and he had missed it!

Suddenly he realized the dragon was making sound. No, speaking! Wow, they were totally right, he must be alright if he could talk! See, he knew they could be trusted to tell the truth. He looked at Nei, then Simi as Naira praised them. Finally he made the connection of the name with the smaller hippogryph, "so that's what she's called".

And he hadn't answered her yet. Oops. He felt silly speaking up now, it made him feel like he was interrupting Naira's praise, not that she was still talking or anything, but still.

"Ehm, I don't know if the tree is keeping them asleep. I mean, no, I really don't know. Maybe? It could be, but I don't know. Maybe not. But..." He stopped himself. He was pretty sure he'd succesfully conveyed his lack of knowledge. But just to make absolutely sure... "I just don't know what is going on..." Including with himself.

Jahran looked up then, was his vision getting worse? Or..."Is it getting darker already? I can't really see the sky..." He didn't feel sleepy though. But then again, now that he thought about it, he didn't feel hungry or thirsty either. In fact, he pretty much didn't feel anything at all. Right, no pysical body.

"It seems I won't be getting tired, hungry or thirsty any time soon," he mumbled, then pointed his head towards the tree, "But my body might...I don't think that's good?" He turned to look at Naira, Simi, Juno and Barbannis, hoping one of them would firmly disagree with him.

[Sky Lily]

"Ehm, I don't know if the tree is keeping them asleep," Jahran finally said a little awkwardly. "I mean, no, I really don't know. Maybe? It could be, but I don't know. Maybe not. But..." a pause.

"I just don't know what is going on..."

Simi winced, feeling bad for having put the pegacorn on the spot like that. He was just as lost and confused as they were, not to mention walking around outside of his own body.

"Is it getting darker already? I can't really see the sky..." Jahran raised his head, pondering aloud.

"Not... really..." Simi replied, looking up with a puzzled expression. "It's still rather bright..." Perhaps Jahran was tired?

But that thought was quickly disproven. "It seems I won't be getting tired, hungry or thirsty any time soon,But my body might...I don't think that's good?"

Simi felt guiltily helpless under Jahran's pleading stare. His situation could be far more dire than anyone else here, and no one knew how to help...

"I... well... if the tree or, your sister... whatever has you all asleep. If you ever do get hungry or thirsty, maybe it would wake you up then. Whatever's holding you there, surely it wouldn't want you to... to starve..." The hippogryph's eyes wandered back to the tree and Gaeva's family underneath, a habit she could no longer help.

"Er... J-... Jahran? Have you tried... touching any of them? Your family, I mean. The tree doesn't trust us but... it must trust you, right?"

[Brandr]

Aianna watched, confused and bewildered as the persons she'd just addressed just... faded away. She frowned, looked to the sky deep in thought. Some kind of magick? Things were way, way beyond her understanding now.

She shuddered lightly and folded her crests, the scorching gusts of wind from the erupting earth did not feel at all pleasant and her crests had begun to ache a dull, throbbing pain that slowly spread up to her head. She briefly closed her eyes, suddenly feeling tired. This was all so confusing, the female dragon felt completely out of her depth.

Her ears perked as Attor spoke, noting that he seemed alive and almost well, everything considered. She didn't bother with the words, too focused on other things. A pounding head. Aching crests. Ringing ears. Her senses weren't happy at the moment. She groaned lightly and lowered her head miserably. Must be all the feedback, the chaos in the atmosphere and some kind of aftershock due to all the physical and mental stimuli she'd been receiving. Oh how she hated battles.

The world "tree" caught her ears among the general mumble that was currently the horned horse (Jahran, was it?) talking. She quickly threw a glance at the tree, before turning away her head. Another puzzle that seemed to only make her mind more confused. She almost felt like taking to the air, flying away from all the trouble. But that would mean leaving the others. No way.

She made an effort to focus and caught Simi's last words. She was telling Jahran to touch the tree? Her gaze turned to glance at the tree once more. "What if the tree doesn't trust anyone?" The moment the words left her mouth she realized she'd sounded more snappy than she'd intended. Almost irritated. Must be the headache, affecting her words. She closed her eyes with a sigh, willing the slight pain to go away. It was stealing away all her focus. Not that she was very focused to begin with... She glanced up at the sky, idly watching the clouds drift by.

[Windra]

So much confusion, so little time ...

It wasn't long before Attor closed his eyes, chin resting against the firm, hardened earth. Far from comfortable, to be perfectly honest, but it was better than cacti ... and it was certainly better than being surrounded by electric ants. At the very least he had the comfort of knowing he was protected. The dragon had no idea who half of these creatures were. And to be frank, he really didn't care. Except for Simi. The blue-feathered hippogryph was a very special case.

Taking a final snort of the dense, choking atmosphere, Attor slowly let his weakness take him and drifted off to sleep. At least this time it was voluntary. Any traces of poison had long since dissolved within his acrid bloodstream. Now could come the long awaited recovery, taking the form of a very pleasant and quiet sleep. Or at least he hoped that was what it would be. Nightmares would do little to quell an already troubled and irritated mind.

The first thing I do when I wake up is kill the hors ...

Zzzzzzzzzz ...

Naira still considered the dragon's space as she rounded his area a second time. There a pang of worry that the beast would awake with the sudden craving for human heads. And Naira really didn't want to have to go through that a second time. Getting it blown off was bad enough. To have it eaten? No thank you. Taking note of Aianna's rousing in the distance, Naira felt guilt surge through her very core. Had it been her fault this had happened? Pushing Norad to the edge ... tempting him to eliminate them all, even if that wasn't intended ... ? But it had been Attor who slammed against the steel hull and brought him down, not her. The missiles had been the result of the dragon's aggression, not Naira's attempted reasoning.

At least there were no casualties. Barring Norad, that was. His empty shell carried a silence that was far more chilling than their current predicament.

The Reaver halted by Jahran's side, carefully studying his translucent hide. "I guess we won't know until it's tried," she stated with a complacent nod in Simi's direction, then Aianna's. "Maybe it'll inform you of what's going on ... Maybe ... something ... But it's worth a shot when we're going nowhere fast." She raised a brow, swallowing. "Would you be willing to ... try going near it? We could follow you until it pushes us back, if that'd make it more appeasing."

[JunoZXV]

"Whelp only one thing to do in my opinion" Commented Juno as he somehow managed to produce a burning torch. There was a long pause in the air as he could feel a glare of incredibly bad taste shot at by everyone.

"Juno! Too soon!"


"Oh alright, suit yourself. But I have no idea what we can do to figure out what's going on with these equines without doing SOMETHING to that tree."

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

"It's still rather bright..."

That came as a big surprise. Jahran's head shot up a little with a snort, he'd convinced himself it must either be the evening twilight, or some dark clouds passing by, but if there was nothing up there blocking the light, then why..."It looks darker to me." he softly stated, tipping his head sideway as a dog might do.

But at least the smaller female was still thinking clearly, and Jahran kept his thoughts from wandering as he contemplated what she said. Of course neither tree nor his sister would want him to starve! It almost made him laugh, until he recalled he was in this freaky, unexplained transparant state, while seperated from his pysical body. Right now, anything could be possible.

"Er... J-... Jahran? Have you tried... touching any of them? Your family, I mean. The tree doesn't trust us but... it must trust you, right?"

For a moment he didn't follow. Of course he had touched his family. While he was an adult now, he loved to play and horse around so to speak with his relatives. A lot of nudging and pushing was usually involved. Then it clicked. Oh. She meant recently, as in while they were in this unconscious state. Thankfully he could not blush, so he managed to more or less hide his embarassment at not getting something which should have been obvious.

"Uh, no. I didn't know they...we...were there until you guys showed up. And then you all disappeared...I mean, I guess I disappeared..." Well, they'd been there, no need to tell the story they already knew. "So, no. I guess I should try that..." Even to him it didn't sound like something he wanted to do.

"What if the tree doesn't trust anyone?"

Jahran visibly jumped. He knew the big dragon was there, but her size along with her relative distance from him made her a blurry thing to his impaired vision. Folding his ears back he looked up at her -not often did he have to look up at anymore anymore- and gaped. Of course the tree would trust him! It was bonded to his sister! Then he reminded himself of his earlier drawn conclusion, there was no way to know for sure without trying. It made him even less hesitant to go near it and find out his own sister would block him.

Apparently he wasn't being too subtle either, as Naira obviously saw right through him, "Maybe it'll inform you of what's going on ... Maybe ... something ... But it's worth a shot when we're going nowhere fast."

He couldn't hide his doubt. The tree was bonded to his sister, not him, it had no reason to share with Jahran.

"Would you be willing to ... try going near it? We could follow you until it pushes us back, if that'd make it more appeasing."

Jahran quickly nodded, then stopped as he felt incredibly stupid for doing so. He was acting like some little colt! It was just a tree! Just his sister! "Way to show you're willing to contribute like a normal adult, Ran," he mentally reprimanded himself, his tail flicking angrily.

Then one them ones that had remained largly quiet so far lit a torch so fast Jahram didn't even see him set it on fire. He actually liked it, as things were getting a little darker for him the firelight was welcome, but judging from both the torch bearer's stance and the general vibe around him, Jahran felt like he was missing something.

"Oh alright, suit yourself. But I have no idea what we can do to figure out what's going on with these equines without doing SOMETHING to that tree."

"AHH!! No!" He finally caught on to what Juno had intended and nearly tripped over himself leaping over to him to physically hold him back. "No fire! That...eh....." Having tried to grab Juno's sleeve with his mouth Jahran's muzzle had instead gone right through the pirate's arm. Right, he'd forgotten about that. He pulled his head back and smiled sheepishly, "sorry..." He took a few steps backwards. "I'll eh, go over there then. And hope none of us disappears this time..." The last bit was said in a soft mumble.

Eager to prove he wasn't scared or unwiling to help, Jahran didn't waste time and quickly trotted over to the tree. Standing in front of it he found himself looking up at his aunt, the smallest of the four levitating unicorns. Quickly he swallowed and pushed away any thoughts that could distract him again and slowly reached forwards with his nose. His heartbeat rapidly increased, and his expectations and nerves shot up. For a fraction of a moment he hesitated, then moved his nose directly to his aunt's neck.

But he felt no skin. A stab of disappointment followed as he saw his muzzle disappear, going right through her, just as it had happened with Naira and Juno before. Pulling back he sighed softly, and flicked his tail hard again. He didn't look back towards who had followed him however, as he was afraid of seeing disappointment. Instead he took one step closer to the tree and reached out again. "Might as well try this as well," he mumbled.

Behind Jahran the nearest white portal to the group suddenly started to behave erratically. It still swirled at the same speed, and remained the same bright white color, but the misty tendrils it was made up of were individually writhing in al directions. It was impossible to miss. Unless you had your back tured towards it, as Jahran was right now. His muzzle went right through the bark of the treetrunk, nothing happened that he could see. He pulled back and lowered his head, still not wanting to face any of the others. "Sorry, I guess none of that worked. I didn't even feel anything."

[Windra]

Juno produced a torch out of nowhere. Naira immediately balked. "Did you just pull that out of your - " As soon as his intentions became clear, she slammed her mouth shut and was tempted to join the glaring bandwagon. Had to admit, though ... With their options running out, anything was sounding like a good idea right now. Sure would make things simpler if it were that easy ... Regardless, it'd be unwise. There was no telling if harm done to the tree would cause reprecussions felt by all of them. Besides, there was no way of getting close enough. At least Alex had a level-head (hah!) enough to warn the pirate against taking any actions that would be rather ... ill-fated.

Jahran's alarm eventually subsided long enough for the equine to move on. He got close enough to the tree to nuzzle Gaeva: vain attempts to spark some sort of reaction. But nothing happened ... save for the spasming portal floating not far from where they stood. Naira started hoofing it in that direction, curiousity overwhelming caution. The last portal spat out Jahran. Maybe this was another of the family? Hopefully Gaeva. She hated to say it ... but Jahran was young and still learning. Gaeva at least would have a better grasp on the situation. Possibly. She hoped.

"Sorry, I guess none of that worked," came the horse's ghostly voice from afar. He was disappointed. And, from a quick glimpse over her shoulder, staring at the ground. "I didn't even feel anything."

"Try turning around. You certainly stirred something up."

[Sky Lily]

"What if the tree doesn't trust anyone?"

Simi had winced at the dragon's tone, but Aianna had a good point, as well as every right to be frustrated. Did the tree even trust Jahran, or was it loyal only to his sister? And if so, what was it going to take to find any answers? Answers that the tree must surely have...

... aaand Juno seemed to have just the thing!

... Except that particular solution rather terrified Simi.

While some glowered with disapproval of the neko's torch, the hippogryph had joined Jahran's boat of panic, bringing the wrists of her wings to her face the way an anxious person might grip their own hair, as she let out a frantic and flustered protest which was something along the lines of "Agh Juno no no no no!"

However, she quickly realized that the act had been all in good fun, though Juno's skull was right-- a little too soon for her, as well as probably everyone else here. Simi let out a sheepish whicker as she covered part of her face with her wing. Right. Of course Juno had just been joking. He wouldn't really burn down a tree. Burning trees were bad.

"Oh alright, suit yourself," Juno shrugged. "But I have no idea what we can do to figure out what's going on with these equines without doing SOMETHING to that tree." A statement that most everyone here would have to agree with. Simi turned back to Jahran, wondering if he would take to the idea of testing out the tree himself, and it seemed as if he was willing to try- hesitant as he looked.

"I'll eh, go over there then. And hope none of us disappears this time..."

I hope so too, she thought nervously before joining Naira and accompanying the pegacorn for as far as the tree would allow them, an idea that did seem kinder to her. It wouldn't be nice to make Jahran do this completely alone.

Simi only stopped when dragging marks appeared on the ground, a grim reminder of what had happened earlier when the tree first deemed them unworthy. She then waited with nervous, shuffling wings as Gaeva's nephew made his way to his family, allowing himself a moment of hesitation before cautiously nuzzling her.

Her jaw tightened. Nothing had happened. In fact, Jahran's muzzle had gone right through her, just like it had everyone else. She held back from saying anything that might sound hopeless, instead turning away to keep her worrisome thoughts to herself. If nothing could wake the family... if all the answers were locked away... what were they to do? Who could they possibly turn to now--

Simi leaped backwards with a startled cry when the white swirl-storm behind her began to unravel.

Or rather, not unravel, but spread. Tendrils of light creeped out everywhere, waving gently as if under a gentle breeze coming from every direction. The hippogryph looked about frantically, wanting to warn her companions if this could get dangerous, and that was when she saw Jahran pushing his muzzle into the tree itself. As she glanced from the unicorn, to the portal, to the unicorn again, it wasn't difficult to put two and two together.

Wait, did he do that?!

"Sorry," Jahran mumbled as he finally pulled away. "I guess none of that worked. I didn't even feel anything."

"B.... bu..."

"Try turning around," said Naira, who was certainly far better at communicating under shock than certain people. "You certainly stirred something up."

Simi could only stare wide-eyed at the swirling portal, wondering, hoping, and fearing that something may happen. The last time it had, Jahran had come from these. What would arrive now?

[Brandr]

Aianna kept her focus after having asked the question and therefore noticed that one of the people present had lighted a burning torch. Out of pure instinct she quickly and automatically raised her wings in a smooth motion, providing some... quite strong winds for those smaller in size.

"If you'd please not wave that in my direction I'd appreciate it." she said, barely hiding her annoyance, eyes fixed on the flame.

She didn't even notice Jahran approaching the tree, her gaze fixed on Juno's torch only, warily watching it burn. She did however notice how a nearby white-light started behaving very oddly, swirling with weird tendrils of light. Her gaze flickered from the light to the flame and back again, not sure which one to watch. Her head quickly turned to Jahran once, just to check that he and all others were still present.

Naira pointed out the obvious to the oblivious unicorn and Aianna shifted nervously, feeling too close to the portal due to her size. What if the white-light decided to do something weird and magicky? She felt horribly out of her own depth and only hoped nothing special would occur.

"Maybe that light is supposed to do that? Storms also behave in a similar manner, reacting to things in the air and evolving." She voiced her little theory out loud, trying to understand something with the help of the knowledge she already posessed.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Dutifully Jahran looked back as suggested by Naira, and watched her run away. Confused he frowned at the display, then shifted his gaze onto Simi and saw her wide eyed look in the same direction. His frown deepening he lifted his head in the general direction of the dragon's voice coming from.

"What light?" he asked.

Looking over at Naira again, who seemed to be everybody's sudden center of attention, he could detect nothing out of the ordinary about her. She'd kind of gone beyond his limit of clear vision, but he could make out the white portal near her, which was the same one he'd been inspecting when they come upon each other. He saw nothing different about it though, it was still a smooth white oval light.

"What happened??"

And why was it getting darker if it wasn't nighttime yet? Was there a storm coming? Clouds? Is that what the dragon was referring to? But why did Naira run away then? Hesitantly the large stallion turned his body to walk closer to her.

The white tendrils of energy kept up their erratic movements, but as Naira got closer, a few seemed to gravitate towards her, without actually growing in length. Reaching outwards.

[Windra]

"What light?" Jahran's voice was wary, confused. Could he really not see the obvious resting just ahead of them? "What happened??"

"Maybe that light is supposed to do that?" Even Aianna was uneasy. For such a large dragon to be cautious of something so small ... It was almost funny. Almost. "Storms also behave in a similar manner, reacting to things in the air and evolving."

"Last time we got near enough to one of these things, Jahran popped out," Naira reasoned without stopping. She heard the equine's hooves clop against the earth and slowed her pace so he could catch up more easily. "Maybe it'll happen again?"

To be perfectly frank, she hadn't the slightest idea of what was going to happen next. There were ideas, theories ... all whirring about in her head, but none of them wanted to stick. Or none of them made sense in this situation because events were constantly disproving them. But when a reaction was received by the portal, perhaps this was the right way of doing things? At least they were getting somewhere now. Sort of. Naira wasn't sure how she felt about the light tendrils stretching forward for her. Maybe she was a fool for continuing onward. But damnit, somebody had to do something.

The Reaver came to an abrupt halt a mere two feet from the portal's gateway. Folding her arms behind her back, the woman observed each stray piece of glowstuff with bemusement. Something struck her brain with ferocity and she gaped, wondering why it hadn't crossed her mind before.

"Now that's food for thought ... What if it's something like a one-way mirror?" Scratching at her head, she extended a clawed finger as if to touch the flailing beams. "Back on Earth, ghosts could use mirrors as looking glasses to peek in on living relatives from time to time. They could watch you, but you'd never see them. Kind of a window between worlds. You think there's a whole other dimension on the other side?"

[JunoZXV]

Juno threw away the torch into the acid with a hiss as it melted away.

"Well if nothings going to happen here I'm just gonna try my hand at giving this whole 'what the hell is going on here' thing."

Juno approached the tree, placing both hands on the trunk, running his fingers on its length.

"Juno, what are you doing?"

"Gootchie Gootchie goo!"

I work with idiots... Juno, wouldn't it make more sense to try that out on the horses?

"Good question... Hey Jahran! Are you ticklish?" Juno asked as he began to approach the caporeal body of where Jahran was supposed to be.

[Sky Lily]

For some strange reason or another, Simi had an odd feeling that things were about to take a climactic turn... and she couldn't tell whether this was good or bad.

The portal was swirling, its tendrils swaying to the movements of those around them, and the more its presence and attention grew, the more anxious she felt with the passing minutes. According to Naira, there could be an entirely different realm hiding within. That portal could be a door to another world.

It would have been a strange concept to her were it not for earlier today, when she and Attor had found that strange pond that brought them here in the first place. But... but that was different, in a sense. Wasn't it? All that had done was to bring them to another part of Deep Forest. Not some other, well.. existence! What a thing to... well... exist! It was both alluring and frightening.

And playing with such a door might not be a very good idea. What if Naira couldn't come back...?

The hippogryph began to approach the Soul Reaver, intending to voice her concern, but alas, her constant hesitance over her own actions had allowed room for more comedy relief. Her ears flicked as she heard Juno talking again, and as she turned to the neko she found him at the royal family's tree, trailing his fingers up and down the trunk. Simi's first reaction was that of alarm and sudden dread. She didn't want to see that tree exercise its 'vigilance' on Juno. It might do something worse this time!

"Juno wait, I don't think--"

"Gootchie Gootchie goo!"

Wait... was he tickling it?

Yes, as a matter-of-fact, Juno was tickling Meali's tree. The very idea caught her so off-guard that the hippogryph began to laugh, bringing her fore-knee to her beak to try and keep herself quiet. It was a silly and pleasant relief from the building tension, though she failed to notice when the Neko suggested doing the same to the unicorns hovering at the tree.

[Luxon Cobrat]

Finally, Nei felt the world coming back into focus. She wasn't sure how much time had passed since she'd dropped, but... as she pushed herself up from the ground and took a quick look around, it looked like all the same people were still there. Maybe it hadn't been that long. Feeling stronger than she had felt earlier, she started to climb to her feet. Then something fell on her from directly above and knocked her right back down.

"Um... Look out below?" came a familiar voice as whatever had fallen on Nei picked itself up off of her. Or whoever, apparently.

Entropy took a moment to reorient herself as she returned to her own feet after having been unceremoniously dropped from a portal somewhere overhead. It seemed that she was back at the crater again. One of Norad's flying contraptions was laying on the ground nearby, but Lev and Leigh didn't seem to be here. Two other familiar faces were, though. There was Naira over by one of the glowing swirly things that seemed agitated like it had been when Zom had stepped into one. And on the ground below her, recovering from her valiant effort to break the succubus' fall, was...

"Nei?" she asked. "What's with the new color?"

"What?" Nei asked, a bit more annoyed than usual that Entropy wasn't at least helping her back to her feet. That girl was oblivious sometimes.

"Your hair," Entropy said, tagging Nei on top of the head and almost knocking her back down again. "Dyeing it green now?"

"I don't dye--" Nei started to answer.

"Wait a minute," Entropy said, suddenly struck with a revelation. Then she grabbed Nei into a tight hug that the pointy-eared girl couldn't have escaped to save her life. "I haven't seen you in two years!"

At that, Nei's annoyance gave way to confusion.

"You haven't?" she asked, frowning with confusion. It seemed like it had only been a few days at most since the last time...

But before that question could be explored, yet another person fell out of the sky and knocked Entropy and Nei both down again.

"These portals, I swear to God..." growled a pink-haired girl with a green helmet on her head that didn't match the rest of her outfit at all.

Looking around as she sat back up, Zom noticed Entropy and Nei picking themselves up once again. Entropy didn't seem to be making anything of all these trips to the ground she had been taking, but Nei was plainly becoming quite irate. For her own part, Zom decided a sheepish grin would be the best idea at the moment, so that was what she greeted them with.

[Barbannis]

For a while he had stopped in motion, stopped pacing back and forth, directing his major attention forward and watching closely at the tree. He felt and itch at the side of his neck, tingling lightly, his long sword still casually slung over his shoulder. Every little inch of his armor that moved caused the metal blade to scrape against his armor just barely. He smelt the air once more, as if waiting for the tree to react, or the others levitating around it to twitch.. blink.. show any sign.

The knight slowly turned his head, a flicker of white light spiraling from his back gently, his wings small, lightly simmering like flame.

The others were still gathered around the only active unisus... well, spirit as it were. Though the spiraling portal that Naira moved for did catch more of his interest, the reactions to the nether seemed bemused by the movements of Jahran... or perhaps something else? The knight slowly looked up through the tree, gripping his blade tighter, lightly tilting his head,

"Tempting just to cut it down.." he muttered to himself. He had the sword strength and arms behind it... though noting the erratic reactions that had happened prior to their intervention, it wouldn't be the best method. The knight remained where he was, watching the tree, he had no suggestions to add to their questions.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

A sense of anxious dread was slowly started to fill Jahran, though he could not explain why. Just moments before he'd practically felt euphoria when reasoning his family was most likely fine, and yes, he'd failed to do anything helpful -no matter what Naira was jabbering on about with mirrors and what not- that was still no reason to feel like he did now.

He'd already caught up to where Simi was standing when he heard Juno behind him cooing to the tree. The large transparent stallion stopped and looked back to see what he was doing. Though the small hippogryph gained amusement, Jahran just frowned. Maybe it was his sudden changed state of mind, but he didn't understand why Juno was doing that. Come to think of it, thinking in general seemed to be harder. Like this slow twilight growing around him was damping his ability to think. "I don't feel so good," he mumbled softly. His head felt heavy.

He started to turn around back towards Naira and see if he could understand anything she was saying, when Juno called his name. Jahran turned his head once more, then blinked out of existence.

[Voice of Deep Forest]

Juno's movements towards Jahran were accompanied by a small build up of static in the air, enough to move a hair strand or three, no more. Then as before, a sudden invisible force radiated out from the tree, slowly but steady, which pushed both Juno and Barbannis away. This time this slow, but insisting force kept it up until it reached where Attor and Nei were, now accompanied by Zom and Entropy of course. Then it disappeared. Neither the tree nor the unicorns reacted in any visible way to what had just happened.

The white swirling energy on the other hand simultaneously seemed to be going crazy. Dozens of white tendrils reached for Naira, some even stretched out so far out as to shoot past her, then curl back as if to grab her. Nothing happened however, as soon as the white smokey tendrils would have touched the reaver, they just dissolved into nothing, quickly replaced by new ones, possibly even more frantic as they reached out and danced around her body. Nothing happened.

[Windra]

With her back turned towards the rest of their rather large group of onlookers, Naira didn't see Juno approaching, though she heard his voice as plain as day. His query to Jahran was amusing enough to prompt a titter under her breath, rasping a quiet, "Somebody lost a few brain cells when he got shot ... "

They were a decent length away from the others by now. The Reaver had no idea that Entropy and Rekka had made simultaneous entrances just seconds ago. Her eyes were locked on the portal, its glowing tendrils ... and she tensed when drawing nearer, half-expecting the wildly desperate whips of light to grab at her and pull her in. Or smack her backwards. Yet each advancing beam was met with a demoralizing degradation as they vaporized, one after the other, just before touching flesh. The portals outlash seemed to became more desperate. Each proceeding wave came quicker and quicker, frenetic at Naira's close proximity. Or was it Jahran's?

Speaking of ... She wasn't hearing the clop clop of his hooves anymore. Thinking perhaps the horse had stalled to stare, Naira turned and was shocked to see that the perplexed pegasus was nowhere to be seen.

"Well that's ... ," she blurted out, glimpsing either which way to see if he'd materialized somewhere else, "unsettling ... " This wasn't the first time Jahran poofed. With her reappearance after the first event, it was relatively safe to assume he would come back in due time. Hopefully. Dashing away nagging doubts, the Reaver swung to face the portal. Brilliant and bright, it was the only beckoning thing in this dismal place. A grim expression settled on her face. Naira took a deep breath. "Ah ... to hell with it."

Being a Reaver, she wasn't beyond the experiences of teleportation and portal-jumping. But there was no way of knowing where she would wind up ... or if it would even work at all! Yet she sprung over the last few feet remaining between herself and the whirling mess of light, casting off whatever caution she retained with reckless abandon while barreling through the strange vortex.

See you on the other side!