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

[Luxon Cobrat]

((And again, not as much of a post as I would have liked, but this thing just didn't want to happen.))

Once again, Entropy went through a portal, and nothing happened. She was starting to get tired of that. It had to be that troublemaker Nei's fault somehow.

Just as she was about to go let the newman have it, another movement caught her eye. Off in the distance, a sizeable chunk of ground was rising into the sky. In fact, the same thing was happening in four different directions. And before her mind could wrap itself around this development, all that ground started flying in towards her.

The sound of Naira shouting her name hit her and pulled her out of her mental gridlock just moments before Naira herself hit her. Followed by Simi. Between the two of them, the stunned succubus was carried away from where she had been standing. For her own part, once she pulled herself together, she started tossing up a spray of fireballs like a flak cannon at the incoming debris, each exploding with enough force to knock the bits it hit off their course, just barely managing to keep the path the through took safe.

Once they were all finally clear, Entropy stumbled along a few more steps until she caught her balance and her breath.

"Um... thanks, guys," she finally stuttered out to her rescuers.

[Sky Lily]

Funny that Entropy would be hurling fire at the incoming rocks; Simi's own fur and feathers were ablaze with the sudden adrenaline of the encounter, and she watched with fearful, wide eyes as the succubus knocked each missile off-course. It was only long-after the assault had ceased, and Entropy had taken a few steps forward, that the shiftergryph remembered to breathe again. Her mind was still reeling with what had just happened. All those rocks had been far too deliberate in their path, and if she and Naira had been too late... E-Entropy could have died!!

Entropy could have died, and... I think it's the tree who did it!

"Um... thanks, guys," the succubus said a little awkwardly.

"Y-you're... uh... welcome..." At least the gratitude was enough to break Simi out of her frozen shock. As the hippogryph stood to her feet, she was pleased to see that she had regained control of her blue flames and that they had finally vanished from her body. But one look at the ground beneath her told the shifter that she was very, very wrong about that.

The fire had not 'faded' as she had first assumed, but simply fallen off of her. Surrounding her was a pile of molted feathers, all still ablaze at her feet.

"Eeeeeek!"

The creature standing before those at the Prison was no longer a hippogryph, but a very panicked unicorn frantically stamping down what used to be her feathers. It took a good long moment for her to realize that the fire a) was not going out, and b) was perfectly harmless. Simi found herself standing still with the most pitiful dumbstruck look on her face, taking deep, long breaths before finally shaking her mane in frustration and storming toward the tree. The joy of returning to her true shape was overshadowed by the anger that had finally overtaken her.

"You, you I-- I don't understand! You give us no signs, yet you take away Jahran! You hold our leaders yet you push us away! You give no answers, but you can throw rocks at us?! All we want is to help and you won't let anyone try!"

"... We have to do something," the unicorn said as she turned to her companions, her voice pleading. "Anything!"


Simi still stood by what she had said earlier. If the tree really couldn't take water, wouldn't it just push it away anyway? What was to stop them from trying?

[Voice of Deep Forest]

Besides a small scattering rain of dusty loose earth and sand, and the occasional leaf descending on them, no more rock or wood projectiles appeared from beyond the scorched clearing. The single burst of attack was not renewed. But it was not over. While the three figures had time to regain their composure, Simi's sudden storm towards the tree was accompanied by the growing sound of bubbling, produced by the acidic streams flowing around them.

Small little fountains of orangy yellow acid were being belched up, barely noticeable at first, yet increasing in both size and frequency in tune with the newly formed unicorn's tirade towards the tree. It even broiled in a pause as Simi paused, then as she finished on the word "Anything!", the acidic stream closest to her erupted into belched-up splashes of acid, spitting them towards the pleading unicorn.

Unlike the attack on Entropy however, the aim was really bad this time. While there could be no doubt that the unicorn was being targeted, enough acid was being flung around randomly, missing her easily, and turning the area around her into a mine field. The acid that touched the ground burned itself a little crater, and the little that reached the tree burned through the outer bark, leaving marks as well.

[Sky Lily]

Simi paused at first when a soft, bubbling hiss flew just behind her ears. Confused, she turned... only to shriek and duck as another spit of acid catapulted right for her. And it wasn't the first, either. Within moments the area around her became a battlefield of exploding acid, and despite the poor 'throws' the unicorn was rendered a panicked mess as the bubbling earth continued to aim at her. She twisted and leaped, ducked and side-stepped, all the while tossing her mane and letting out little exclamations of surprise and distress.

"H-hey stop, stop! Please!" She whipped her head behind her to eye the tree she felt was the cause of this assault, but to her horror, the tree had wounds of its own. Just a few droplets of acid had already hit some places, boring shallow holes into the thick bark.

Simi found a small opening of escape when the lava-bullets made a particularly high arc. She made a sprint away from the tree, not knowing whether it'd be enough for the forest to stop trying to burn her to death. Maybe the acid would stop now, or maybe it wouldn't. How was she supposed to know? But she did know that the tree had been hit with acid, and as tiny as the acidic damage was, the Shifter couldn't help but feel as if something needed to be done for it.

"Th-the tree's been hurt! Someone give it water!"

W... Was it her fault? Was it all her fault that Meali's tree had been harmed in the first place?

[Windra]

Somewhere beyond the fourth wall ...

"Check!"

"What the hell? That's not a legal move!"

"Heh ... I'm barely legal ... "

There was a long, drawn out pause as Naira glanced across the chessboard-laden table with a look so muddled with disgust and unamusement that it caused Windra to chuckle. The troop leader pulled up a seat beside them, sipping slowly at her simmering hot cocoa.

"You know? Necrophilia?"

" ... Pretty sure the maggots got there first."

Windra set the mug down. "Annnnd, there goes my appetite."

"At least I get a warm body every now and then! More than you, oldie."

Naira hesitated for a long moment before finally uttering, "I'm vintage. Screw off."

A series of screams struck high chords nearby. Scarlet waved a clawed hand, surprisingly clear eyes shining with anticipation. Windra stood, bowing her torso and extending an arm. "You're being summoned, my lady," she said cheekily.

Naira suddenly brightened. "Wait, we're actually moving?"

"Looks like it."

The Reaver gathered her things with haste, rushing out the door ... returning not a moment later to trample a King with her Knight.

"Checkmate, ass."

She vanished through the entrance before Scarlet's scowl could completely spread across her face.

-+-

The half-dragon returned from an apparently idled position. Eyes half-lidded and drooping snapped to life as soon as that pulse raced through her veins, striking her heart with a dash of white lightning. But it wasn't the shrill yells that woke her from her perpetual state of slumber. It was the suddenly melting flesh on her left bicep, the misfired acid that sprayed on it hissing and searing through muscle and tissue like a hot knife through butter. Her reaction to blistering pain was immediate and she drew back grumbling. She moved to cover the wound with her hand, realizing in time that it would be unwise. Unless she wanted another hole forced through her palm.

Today was not a good day ...

But at the very least, everybody was left unscathed. Acid gorges pocketmarked the landscape. more now. Had the venom rained from the sky?

Shaking her head with great force to shatter the remnants of narcolepsy, the Reaver was glad that at least the headache was gone ... It took a couple of blinks for Naira to register that where Simi once was now stood a unicorn that spoke with the same voice. And was the tree burning?

Wait. Burning?

"But ... the barrier ... ," Naira managed to sputter out. This didn't make a whole lot of sense. Did it suddenly up an leave, or was the acid so strong that it could burrow straight through? Either way the Reaver rounded on Rekka, shaking a scolding index finger at the vampire's face. "Don't suppose a smoldering tree will do us any good either, do you?" she queried with bemusement. "One way or the other, the tree has to be touched. Would you rather it burn or get wet?"

Naira couldn't confirm what the vampire's response would be, but she hoped that Rekka would see enough reason to let certain actions be taken. Casting a wary glimpse over her shoulder brought a particular succubus into view, to whom she grinned.

"Entropy, if you'll please do us the honor?"

[Luxon Cobrat]

Before Entropy could even recover from almost dying, another attack erupted from the ground below. This time, though, she flew a ways up into the air immediately to get out of harm's way. But when she turned to assess the threat more clearly, she saw that Simi was the target of this one. And also that Simi was now a unicorn. Before she could react further, the attack ended, and Simi was talking about the tree being burned.

The mention of the tree brought Entropy's thoughts back to the argument at hand. If the tree getting burned by acid hadn't done Gaeva in, what could a bit of water do?

Even Zom (who, by the way, wasn't Rekka), was having trouble staying convinced of her own case, and the internal conflict showed clearly on her face. But when Entropy landed and stepped forward to take up Naira's invitation, a hard look returned to the vampire's face.

"You're still not convinced?" Entropy asked. "Something obviously doesn't want us watering that tree, and I don't think it's Gaeva."

Zom seemed to relent for a moment, but then tensed up again.

"Or it's playin' us for fools," she countered. "Makin' us think it don't want us doin' that. Why do you think... it would send such a precise attach your way, but miss Simi by a mile?"

But Entropy just growled in frustration at that.

"All these convoluted theories!" she shouted. "What I think is that this monster of ours is about to get loose! We're out of--"

But she realized, in mid-sentence, that she was wasting her time by arguing. With that, and with no warning, she flew headlong at Zom, throwing an outward swing with the back of her fist that caught the vampire unprepared and sent her careening no less than forty yards off to the side.

By the time Zom managed to stagger back to her feet and set her jaw, along with a few other joints, back into place, Entropy already had a fairly sizeable ball of water formed. Zom took to the air herself and rushed back towards the succubus with blinding speed, but Entropy had already thrown the water before the vampire could even get close. She could only watch with trepidation as the sphere flew towards its target...

[Voice of Deep Forest]

Simi's flight to escape the acid flung in her general direction made the flowing stream settle down again, but the unicorn's path came near another, smaller rivulet of acid, which spontaneously started to bubble and spit up globs of the yellowy stuff after her. Again the aim was not very good, but it's intention of separating her from the area around the tree she had occupied before was hard to miss. Eventually even this smaller attack settled down though, and the unicorn was left alone.

When Zom went flying through the air, the acid started bubbling again however. As Entropy worked to produce the water, the bubbling of acid also increased in intensity, but other than making it's surface go wilder and wilder, it did not eject any of it's contents. The moment before the globe of liquid was thrown however, exactly as Entropy bunched her muscles to execute the movement, all the acid surrounding the tree exploded up- and outwards, creating a momentary huge wave of potentially deadly liquid. It reached as high as the tree itself, and surged further than the current location of Naira and Entropy before crashing down to the ground, ready to take out anyone not fast enough to move out of it's way. Everything beneath the blanket of acid, projected neatly in an almost semi circle outwards from the tree, dissolved into stinking plumes of smoke as soon as it touched, disappearing into the now even more damaged ground.

The water reached the tree without incident, though it crossed part of a stream that, while bubbling, did not spew out any of it's liquid. Neatly hitting the base of the tree, only very little was wasted by splashing away. The water trickled down the trunk and roots, leaving the bark darker where it was wet, yet leaving no mark where it disappeared into the very dry earth. While substantial, somebody not having witnessed the event, would have only know it was successful due to the wet trail on the tree itself.

The small acid mote around the tree had emptied itself. Except for a few leftover drops, nothing remained in the immediate area, though other streams a little further away flowed and bubbled as normal, their continued existence a silent warning. The entirety of the tree, along with the four forms suspended around it remained unharmed.

Then something happened; the form of Jahran floating in mid air under the tree suddenly twitched violently, the black wings jerking upwards as the head shot up from it's hanging position, the eyes flying open. Then whatever had kept his body up, disappeared, and the large stallion fell down heavily to the ground with a gasp.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

His massive body hit the roots directly beneath him, but as he'd had no time to react in any way, Jahran could not protect his legs as he did. The crunch was audible, as was his following scream. His wings flopped clumsily next to his body as he rolled off the tree's roots uncontrollably, onto his side. The angle of the lower part of his front legs clearly showed they had both been broken, as did the bone sticking out of his back right leg. Breathing heavily Jahran stared intently at his front legs in shock, not even noticing the recently burned ground not so very far away from his outstretched golden hooves.

"Where are we?" came a calm but deep voice right next to Naira. Without any warning, there now stood the transparent form of an equally large winged unicorn, dark blue in color, and black eyes like Jahran's; identical to the dark blue unicorn still suspended in the air beneath the tree. Geaven calmly stood next to the reaver, observing the tree.

[Sky Lily]

The wave of acid rising against them was as tall as the tree itself. Simi's dark indigo eyes widened in a moment of terror before the unicorn took off into a run, feeling no need to warn everyone of the very, very visible threat approaching them. But being the creature that she was, Simi wasn't one to flee without looking back, and that was her mistake.

The Shifter skidded slowly as she turned back around, wanting to make sure that her companions had also fled the scene just in time. But she was only just barely out of the acid-moat's way, and as the wave finally came crashing down, several droplets hit the side of her flank. She leaped away with a cry of pain, tears blurring her vision of the acid slowly sinking away into the ground and out of sight once more.

Everything was quiet again.

Panting, the unicorn rubbed away her tears with a foreknee before stiffly making her way to Entropy, eyes still fixated onto the tree. From here she could see the wet lines trailing down the tree's trunk, and one could only assume that the succubus' ball of water had worked...

... Especially when Jahran-- not a specter, not a ghost, but the real, true Jahran-- was suddenly released from his slumber and cast down. He hit the ground of the tree with a thud and a gasp, but when a scream escaped the pegacorn's mouth Simi's joy turned to that of alarm. She made a start as if to rush to Jahran's aid, but halted when she remembered the protective acid lying in wait just underneath the surface... and the burns on her side.

"J-Jahran, y-you're here! I know you're hurt, b-but we can't help you until you come over here. The tree isn't letting us come close anymore!" So full of excitement was she that the unicorn hadn't even noticed Gaeven's presence yet, instead turning to Entropy again.

"Entropy, I-I... I know that... whatever is around the tree was... angry... when that happened. But your water freed Jahran. Maybe... maybe every time you give the tree water... it will free someone else. I know it's dangerous, I-I know it's a big thing to ask..." Simi glanced down at her hooves. "But... do you think we should try?"

[Luxon Cobrat]

Entropy felt a certain victorious elation as she threw the water ball, knowing that Zom wouldn't make it back in time to block it. That victory was quickly cut short,however, as a new wave of acid surged forth out of the ground. Luckily, Entropy was ready to react this time, darting back through the air out of the wave's range. But then, hearing Simi cry out sharply in pain, the succubus spun around, seized by fear that the creature who had just helped save her life had been caught in that acid bath.

That fear calmed as soon as Entropy saw that the unicorn was still standing and mostly intact. She was still concerned about whatever injuries Simi had sustained to make her scream out like that, but...

But that thought was interrupted by another scream from closer to the tree. That one, she saw, came from Jahran. The real Jahran, injured by his drop from suspension.

"Okay..." Entropy said as she took in the new problem and started the process of thinking up a solution. To address Simi's subsequent requests to both herself and Jahran, though, "Those breaks look pretty bad. I don't think he's going anywhere on his own. And... I'd probably best not mess with that tree anymore until he's out of the way, but that might be worth doing again."

She left it to Naira to answer Gaeven, since that seemed to be who the large male unicorn had spoken to.

By that point, Nei and Isala had come up beside Entropy.

"Nei, do you think you can handle Jahran?" Entropy asked.

"If I can make it over there," Nei answered.

Nei then closed her eyes in concentrationas the light blue shimmer of her psionic shield wreathed her form. She took a few heavy breaths immediately, the effort of keeping that defense up proving to be much more taxing than it had been before. She believed she could make it in to heal Jahran and get back out before it became too much, though. She hoped so, anyway. Tentatively, she started to walk towards Jahran, ready to turn and run back if she felt that the acid was about to rise again and threaten harm to the unicorn.

Isala, meanwhile, was visually looking over the burns on Simi's side.

"I would not leave that injury unattended," she told the unicorn. "I am able to heal it for you, if you are not. My abilities in that regard are not as great as Nei's, but I am equal to this, at the least."

As Isala spoke, she held up a hand already beginning to glow a soft yellow as an aura of healing energy charged around it, waiting for Simi's permission to proceed.

[Sky Lily]

"Those breaks look pretty bad," Entropy said skeptically as she took in the situation. "I don't think he's going anywhere on his own. And... I'd probably best not mess with that tree anymore until he's out of the way, but that might be worth doing again."

Simi nodded, feeling rather stupid for having not considered that before. She had simply assumed that Jahran would be protected like before, but now that he was awake... he just might be 'rejected' from the tree's benevolence.

Ah, well, at least Nei had the means to reach the wounded unicorn, though the journey there was still quite a risk. Simi watched her nervously-- so nervously that had the Shifter been born with hands instead of hooves, she'd be chewing her nails down to their beds by now. But it was then that Isala came to Simi's side and gratefully provided a small distraction.

"I would not leave that injury unattended," she said, referring to the still-smarting burns on Simi's flank and ribs. "I am able to heal it for you, if you are not. My abilities in that regard are not as great as Nei's, but I am equal to this, at the least."

The Shifter was both touched and shyed by the stranger's concern. "O-oh, there's no need t--" Ach, don't do that! I could do it myself, but I should save the energy and... she wants to help.

"Th-that would be really nice, thank you." Isala was strange, in an intriguing way. She had a 'wintry' feel to her that Simi, as a creature of winter herself, couldn't help but notice. Then again, she could be wrong...

[Voice of Deep Forest]

Nei's actions triggered neither attack nor defense. Everything remained as still as a tree and a piece of land should be.

A slight breeze gave everyone some momentary cooling comfort while blowing up some dust, but then even the wind died down.

[Windra]

There was just enough time to look up, widen her eyes, and utter a, "Ah, shi - " before that wave of acid came crashing down upon her head.

Or it would have been. But Naira wasn't a slowpoke, and she certainly wasn't about to stand still long enough to become nothing more than mere naked bone. Sense was abandoned for adrenaline. Taloned feet commenced a force-start that had her lunging out of the way in the nick of time. A few splatters of the burning goop caught the tip of her tail, leaving scorching holes and the grotesque, albeit faint, smell of charred flesh.

"For Kamiri's sake!" she yelped, grabbing up the long coil of dragon parts. Naira cooed a string of obscenities in a hushed tone . At least the hole in her arm was healed already - bits of ash cracked when a breeze hit them in just the right way. But blast, the fresh stuff stung more than the sting of twenty wasps! "I've had about enough of this."

A very-near-sickening crunch made her nerves twitch. It was the scream hat made her turn her head. Jahran was lying by the tree. The real Jahran, all fleshy and boney. Dropping her tail with abrupt shock, Naira's mouth opened to a small 'o'.

"You're kidding," she muttered with disbelief. A little dose of water and the young foal was released from his hovering prison? The Reaver swelled, pointing a taunting finger at not-Rekka-but-Zom. "Told you!"

From her current angle, Naira couldn't see Jahran's grievous wound. She could tell by conversations all around her that something was amiss, but before a query could be launched, a very masculine, very deep voice boomed beside her. "Where are we?" It was so sudden and unexpected that the Reaver bounced back a foot in surprise. There was a horse next to her that hadn't been there before. And was that - oh yes - it was Gaeven.

She heaved a sigh. "Finally ... " Naira was a little disheartened of the adult unisus' rather ghostly complexion, but that was a very little price to pay. Gaeven was bound to know more of what was going on than the somewhat terrified Jahran. "Good to see you're still kicking, in a manner of speaking ... These were woods until everything went haywire. The land's trembling every so often. Reality is bending in ways that nobody can predict, and ... well ... " Gesturing to the tree that Gaeven stared at, she hoped the biggest problem was obvious enough. "Your family's real physical forms, including your own, are floating around limp and lifeless, protected by some kind of a barrier. Jahran came about earlier as you are now - ghostly and transparent like a projection - and he helped us out as much as he could. Entropy splashed some water on the tree and he came to." A subtle grin graced her features. "Your son may not have known exactly what was going on, but he was very brave to help the way he did."

Her expression suddenly became grim.

"And then there were three," she said quietly, shaking her head. "I'm guessing the more water we toss on the tree, the more progress we'll make. But we're following blind leads without really knowing what kind of repercussions will come from our actions. If you know anything that might be able to help us ... Where you were just now ... What the last thing you remember was ... " One green eye darted to the acid, then the forest. When would the next random attack come their way? "I don't know how much time Deep Forest has left."

[Luxon Cobrat]

There didn't seem to be anything trying to kill her as she approached the tree, but Nei kept the shield up all the same until she reached Jahran. Then she let it drop and started building up another round of healing energy. Luckily, Jahran wasn't nearly as big as Attor had been, nor was there quite as much to repair, so this time wouldn't take as much out of her.

"Okay, try to stay calm," she said. "That was a bad fall, but this should take care of it."

Then, holding her hand close to the unicorn, she let the healing energy flow into him.

--

Isala, meanwhile, gave a nod to Simi. Holding her own hand similarly close to the burns she let her own healing power flow into that unicorn.

--

Zom, meanwhile, just let out a frustrated sigh at Naira's taunt.

"Well, I just hope you were right," was all she said.

[Gaeva Winged Unicorn]

Jahran didn't notice Nei's approach until she was right there with him. Looking up from his legs at her as she spoke he gave her a blank stare in reply. Staying calm wouldn't be very hard while still in shock. Almost mesmerized he instead looked at her hands, the motions she made while talking captivating him, her near touch as she healed him mesmerizing. A sudden discomfort made him shift one of his front legs, inadvertently aiding the healing process with his new position. Not speaking he simply stared at Nei's hands while discomfort and comfort replaced each other. Then he sighed in relief.

And it was only then that his mind kicked back in, and Jahran realized where he was, and what had happened. Or at least, that he was no longer hanging in mid air as he'd observed his physical body doing before. Quickly he looked up, then showed disappointed when he could still see the still forms of the other three still there. So much for hoping.

"Thank you...you," he said to Nei. Which one was she again? His memory was being annoyingly fuzzy on his short-lived ghostly adventures. He looked at his legs, a little afraid to use them, though he thought it would probably be ok. He decided not to risk it and just stay as he was until given an all clear.

"What happened here, how did you get me down?" he asked her directly, the only one he could communicate with without shouting.

***

Geaven, or his transparent form anyway, didn't really respond to Naira's reactions. Neither her almost violent surprise, nor her slight relief at the sight of him, or her detailed update on what had happened.

"...I don't know how much time Deep Forest has left."

Geaven snorted once, and let out a short "Hmm" with an absentminded nod. Then he finally turned to face Naira directly, "So what forest are you talking about exactly?"

[Sky Lily]

The unicorn watched as the glowing energy from Isala's palms both warmed and healed the burns along her sides, the wounds gradually giving way to healthy skin and light blue fur once again. When the elf was finished, Simi couldn't help a grateful sigh as the pain finally diminished.

"Thank you, thank you Isala..." she said as she craned her head to marvel at the work, herself. Those burns had been very stingy, and she was ever-thankful to be rid of them. The unicorn turned her attention again onto Jahran and Nei, and to her great surprise and joy, the stallion's leg was fully healed as well. But there remained an anxious knot in her stomach, and a worry that continued to gnaw at her insides when unseen dangers remained all around them.

"N-Nei?" Simi called out, not knowing what else to say that wasn't already glaringly obvious. However, she was very eager to see the both of them as far away from that tree as possible before it could grab hold of anyone's consciousness again. Oh, if only she wasn't such a coward and if only she could help! But if she came near, would the acid come again...?

[Luxon Cobrat]

"Neiz-th-- um..." Nei stuttered, trying to remind Jahran of her name but finding herself pulled in two different directions. Thinking that probably sounded weird, she quickly feigned a cough like something had gotten stuck in her throat, then tried again. "Nei."

And as soon as she said it, she realized that the unicorn might take offense if he didn't realize she was telling him...

"My name!" she quickly added on, trying to make it sound as seamless as possible.

Oh, but she'd missed the verb.

"Is," she finished.

And that was quite a sentence she'd patched together. A moment of awkward silence followed.

"Wow that's a lot of... pollen... in the air!" she finally blurted out, and followed this with some more coughing.

Then she heard Simi call out to her and leapt at the distraction.

"Yeah, we're fine! We're both fine!" she called back perhaps a little too quickly. Then she looked back to Jahran. "You should be good to go now. Uh... this tree let you go right after Entropy got some water to it, but a big wave of that acid came up out of the ground as soon as she did. So I think we should probably be getting away from it."

--

Isala just gave a nod to Simi's thanks, doing a better job than Nei at retaining her composure. She then moved to join Naira and Entropy just around the time Gaeven asked what forest Naira was talking about.

"Um... Deep Forest?" Entropy answered, though she seemed a bit rattled. "You know, that forest that's... all... deep?"

She looked at everyone else around her, starting to look quite nervous.

"That was the forest that was here, right?" she asked, worry growing now into panic. "I didn't just imagine Deep Forest, did I? Why doesn't he know about it! Did I just make it up? Oh God, my whole life is a lie!"

"I assure you, you didn't just imagine Deep Forest," Isala informed her. "It is our ethereal friend who is confused."

"Are you sure?" Entropy replied. "What if you're delusional too? What if it's a mass delusion!?"

"Doubtful," Isala answered.

"But I don't see Deep Forest at all right now," Entropy objected. "Usually when you can't see a forest, it's because there's too many trees. But there's only one tree here right now, and I still can't see any forest. How do you explain that?"

"We are standing in a blasted-out crater," Isala explained that.

"Yeah, well, I've never heard anyone say anything about not being able to see the forest because of a blasted-out crater," Entropy refuted.

Isala was silent for a moment.

"Actually, I can see the forest perfectly well," she said. "As should any person of decent moral character, I should think."

At that, Entropy paused.

"Oh... yes... of course," Entropy stammered. "Now that you mention it, I can see the forest perfectly well," Entropy lied. "There it is being all... foresty," Entropy observed. "You can see it too, can't you Zom?" Entropy asked.

"No," the vampiress answered.

"Well, that must be because of your moral shortcomings," Entropy surmised dismissively.

"Must be," Zom conceded.

[The_Vizir]

Speaking of moral shortcomings...

A rustle of a jacket, or maybe a flap of giant wings... and the Preacher was there, kneeling at the edge of the prison. His hand spread out on the ashen soil, glowing golden as the touched the wound in reality.

And then staggered back, clutching hand.

That hurt.

It wasn't supposed to hurt.

Flickering golden eyes glared at his hand, and then at the soil.

Evil.

Evil beyond measure.

Evil enough to hurt him.

Not that he was surprised, given who he encountered at the forest's edge, but still...

His eyes squinted at the gaggle of strange creatures near the centre of the still-bleeding wound, gathered around the lone tree that stood there. The seal, he supposed, locking the elder evil in. But... was it the means of freeing itself, or was it the last thin veil between it and the multiverse.

He couldn't tell... and that worried him.

He didn't have enough information, enough knowledge, enough... was that a plane?

A moment later, the Preacher's gloved hands were running over the smooth metal frame of the fallen, dragon-crushed fighter jet. Its design... was alien to him, but the symbols on the hull were in Latin letters and Arabic numerals. Earth-made. From when though? Drawn from the future, or from some alternate timeline? The emblem looked reminiscent of the United Nations, but that meant nothing.

Why was it attacked? He could see the claw marks of a dragon upon its hull, so it was obvious one of the two dragons attacked it, but... why? What was the story here? He lay forth his hand, trying to sense dark magics... and there. There it was. Shadow. A horror. Somebody unleashed one of Big Brother's spawns on this machine. Could have malfunctioned, or could have been something worse.

It was an elaborate game of chess, and somebody managed to take out a rather valuable piece - but hero or villain?

He needed to find out more.

The gunslinger crawled into the vacant cockpit, ignoring the shards of glass scattered therein. It seemed fit to fly... did the pilot eject? Was it one of the creatures out there? Some of them looked moderately human. Or was it now dead? The Preacher lay his hand over one of the screens, and it flickered back to life.

OH HOHOHO! SOMEBODY THINKS HE'LL PLAY WHILE MASTER'S AWAY! A distorted electronic voice cackled as screens powered up around the wanderer. Forcefields powered up, wrapping themselves around his chest and collapsing inwards, trying to suffocate the being heaven-sent.

"I don't have time for monsters like you..." the Preacher growled, reasserting his hand, the golden light running over the entire dash before him A digitalized scream of rage and tormet cried out for a few seconds, before cutting short.

UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED. PLEASE STATE NAME AND IDENTIFICATION NUMBER OR SECURITY LOCKDOWN WILL BE TRIGGERED. ONLY AUTHORIZED PERSONAL ARE PERMITTED ACCESS TO DOMINION SPACE FIGHTERS

Dominion. There's a new one. At least the un-haunted personality seemed more... reasonable? It was giving him a warning at least. However, that cry likely alerted those at the pit's centre. He had to be quick.

"Right-o, little computer. All you need to know is that I'm a friend sent from a higher power."

INSUFFICIENT IDENTIFICATION. PLEASE ENTER A VALID PILOT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER AND NAME

"Even if I knew one, I'd have to lie..." the Preacher muttered, his hands continuing to wave over the flickering dash "And that's one thing that Heaven doesn't approve of at all." Casting a nervous glance over his shoulder towards the direction he presumed any guests would be coming from, he groped for something that would trigger what he wanted... "Where is your master?"

THERE! Remote... locked out through... through a satellite. Ingenious. Shielding itself beyond the evils of this world. But it wasn't in orbit, no... it was... in the desert, beyond the woods. That's where it was, locked away, a firewall between itself and the horror's infection. He felt something else... a particular scent. A horseman was involved in this. A horseman had taken this specific piece out of play.

Based on Death's earlier comments, and the cloying scent in the air, he could only guess which one.

Which meant that those out there... worked for him?

The Preacher's hands stilled, and a slight flicker of fear crossed his eyes.

And then he was gone from the cockpit, hiding in the trees beyond the edge of the gaping pit. In his hands rested his carbine, scope primed and cartridges ready.

Why did they always send him to world just before the shit hit the fan? It would be nice to stop that from happening, for once.

[Windra]

Without the slightest idea that they were being watched from afar, their peeping tom ducked away and out of sight, Naira only stared at the deep-hued alicorn with her mouth slowly growing agape. She shared the same sudden trepidation, suddenly very afraid ... and really not liking it.

"Deep Forest," said the Reaver, enunciating both words as if the firmness of her voice would stir any slumbering memories within the large stallion. "Your home. You've been here for years with your sister and niece ... Don't you remember?"

[Sky Lily]

Simi... wasn't quite sure how to react to Entropy's loss of composure. At first the succubus' panic was rather contagious and the unicorn looked about herself with a nervous dance, whimpering out a "Wh-what do you mean the forest is gone?!" ...only to realize with growing mortification that the forest hadn't gone anywhere. Simi slowly came to a stop, standing in place with a very shamed look.

Oh. Okay.

Ah well, it seemed as though Entropy was already calmed down, too. And, to Simi's surprise, there was another unicorn there with her. Her face fell at his specter-form, but she was relieved all the same to have another one of Gaeva's family to speak with. And the fact that he was here was miraculous enough! At least he wasn't dead, and he didn't seem to be harmed at all by the water from earlier. So this was.... Gaeva's brother, right? And Jahran's father, if her memory was correct... was it?

She was going to join Naira and the others to see what he had to say, when something drew her attention away from the main crowd, and Simi found herself staring questioningly into the treeline. Had she... heard something? She could have sworn that her ears had caught something like the echo of footsteps...

Perhaps she wasn't thinking, or perhaps she had subconsciously grown weary of being afraid of everything that came the adventurers' way. Or perhaps, after facing lava and rocky missiles, something as mere as a newcomer wasn't so frightening anymore. But the unicorn found herself stepping quietly through the edge of the Prison all the same.

"H... Hello?" she called out quietly, tentatively, as she glanced about herself with wary curiosity. She didn't see anyone... not yet at least. Maybe she'd been wrong?