GESB: Sanctuary Dimension

[General Squall Leonhart]

((Never mind the size I got a better plan))

Grun looked up at the sound of Sami's voice and was startled by what he saw. A large black bird was right in front of him and it looked like Jocun was on it's back and Noah was climbing on as well. This had to be Sami and from the looks of it she was clearly the faster flyer. Grun spread his wings to their four foot span, caught a head wind and flew up onto Sami's back. He found a place to nestle down in front of Jocun, but was a couple of feet away so the man couldn't reach Grun. If Grun were to lose his grip however the man would provide safety. He gave a loud caw as if to signal his eagerness to get moving.

[Chad32]

"Go ahead and grab on, Noah." Jocun said, not mentioning the last time she got really close to him. This wasn't really the time for that. "Now that we're all set, let's go." He lowered his body, and tried to get a grip on Sami's skin instead of feathers so he wouldn't accidentally pull any out.

[SamiChee]

Sami nodded, feeling Grun nestle into her feathers, quickly changing them into soft feathers as well. "I have to warn you, because I am so large right now, and I am keeping some feathers smooth and others sharp, I will only be able to carry us a short wat. But hopefulle it will be enough for a while." She opened her wings to their tremendous wingspan, stretching them up so as to not hit too many trees. She had to bend them in some to sweep them downwards, her wing tips shredding a few branches off nearby trees as she flapped up until they were above the trees, then soared higher, letting the wind catch her. She drifted upwards until she was as high as she could go, turning towards the mountain some more as she soared, flapping occassionally.

[Chad32]

Jocun noticed there were still some creatures on the mountain. He wasn't sure if he should try shooting them so they wouldn't be able to report their position to the imp's master, or leave them alone in the hopes that Sami and them would go relatively unnoticed.

[Twilight_Pixie]

Noah wraps her arms around Jocun not too tight but just enough to stay on. Her hair blows in the wind as Sami lifts off the ground sweeping behind her in a red wash. She notices the creatures below them as Jocun does and nearly reads his mind when she speaks.

"We should leave them be. We need to focus on what is in the air and save them for a future problem. Besides, I personally don't want to waste the ammo on them." She has to yell into the air to be heard as it tries to take  her voice backwards.

[SamiChee]

Sami spotted the creatures just as the others did, but did not hear what Noah said. She soared higher until she knew she was far enough away that they only looked like a bird in the sky, instead of a huge bird with passengers. She flapped on, the mountain steadily rising above them, making her have to fly higher, into the thinner atmosphere. When she reached about as high as she could go, she leveled off and soared around the side of the mountain. "This is about as far as I can go for now. We are about..." She tried to gauge the distance, but wasn't sure. "Maybe between a fourth and a third of the way up the mountain. Help me look for a safe spot to land."

[Chad32]

"Agreed!" Jocun said to Noah over the noise of wind and flapping wings.

"Can you see the ice caves, Sami!? Or perhaps the barbarian village!?" He kept a sharp eye out for both of those, as well as any flying beasts that may come. so far it had been easy enough, but they were just getting started.

[General Squall Leonhart]

As Sami flew on with Jocun and Noah and Grun on her back the Barbarian village came into view below them. It was nothing more than a half dozen wooden huts laid out in a wide circle. There was a large clearing in the middle of the circle and a few Barbarians could be seen walking about.

[SamiChee]

Sami nodded and let out a loud caw as she spotted the Barbarian village, letting Jocun and Noah know she did, but also warning the Barbarians to an extent. She didn't want them to think some huge creature out of nowhere was dropping in on them. Even if that was the case. She began to circle downwards, tightening the circle as she went until she landed in the clearing in the middle of the huts. Sami bent her head forward and body to the side so her companions could slide off, before her form began to melt back into her own body. The cloak had fallen off of her when she first turned into a raven. so she was now naked before the Barbarians. Not that she cared. Grun was now sitting on her shoulder, because she shifted underneath him.

[Chad32]

Jocun got off Sami, and seeing that she didn't have any clothes, began taking his armor off so he could give her his shirt. Because of their size, the shirt would also droop down to cover all her private areas. Though she didn't seem put off by being unclothed. "Here. You can wear this." He said, handing her the shirt.

[Twilight_Pixie]

Noah saw the little huts right after Sami cawed and had to squint her eyes to make sense of it. She shook her head shook off the nerves of meeting more potentially dangerous people and slid off of the large bird once they landed. She smiled slightly as she watched Jocun strip down to offer his shirt to Sami.

"Gentleman? Really? I'm learning something new every step I take here." Noah remarked light heartedly, not meaning it as an insult. She had a feeling she would get to know them both a lot better than she had expected on this journey. She looked out at the barbarians for their leader to give them more instructions.

[Chad32]

"It's so it's not distracting. Where I come from, the term barbarian isn't used to describe virtuous and noble people." Jocun said.

[General Squall Leonhart]

When the large bird had appeared the Barbarians watched it warily. The scout Qual-Kehk had sent out earlier had told them that the portal had appeared and they knew to expect comrades of the Druid Larry to come soon after. This was unexpected, but they knew of shape-shifters so they were not alarmed. They watched as the large bird transformed into a young woman that had an unhealthy green tint to her skin as well as being nude. They watched as a Paladin took off his armor and handed her his shirt to cover her. There was also another young woman as well who looked like an Assassin and wore a strange object over her eyes to indicate she was perhaps blind.

A tall, voluptuous woman walked up to the trio and having heard what the Paladin said replied "Well forgive us noble Paladin for not being able to live up to your high standards, but you will find that Barbarians would gladly lay down their lives rather than dishonor someone." she said in a cynical tone of voice. She looked back at the crowd of Barbarians and immediately they dispersed and went about their work. She looked back at the trio and saw a raven sitting on the shoulder of the ill looking nude woman and recognized it as Grun.

She then spoke to all of them "Greetings, comrades of Larry, I am Haleth of the Mountain Barbarians. We reside here because we wish to live closer to the Wild Land. I am somewhat surprised that I see you here now for it has been at least three weeks since Larry passed through here to the Summit. Please feel free to rest a while before you continue your journey as I am sure shifting is tiresome. I would also gladly offer you a Barbarian cloak for you to cover yourself with." Haleth said while inclining her head slightly towards Sami. She looked to Noah and said "Although I have heard of your people, Assassin, this is the first I have ever laid eyes upon one of your kind. It would be an honor to perhaps spar with you one day to see if your skills are as good as the stories say they are."

Haleth pointed towards a large alcove in the mountain that allowed the Barbarians to gather in one place and be able to look out upon the expanse of nature. From the alcove they could see an endless forest, similar to the one at the Bar, as well as a large lake in the far distance. "I will gather the tribe there so that way you may ask any questions you have about the mountain. I would also like to inform you that my scouts have reported to me on the approaching storm and someting worries me. They told me that it is not behaving like a natural storm would. It seems to move at varying speeds and at times seems to stop completely and it also changes directions irrationally." Haleth spoke with worry in her voice as she glanced at the small village. A village that may not survive the coming storm as well as the people that could be killed during the storm was what Haleth saw.

"I have concluded that it is the product of serious dark magic and I fear that Larry may be involved with the way that it is behaving. My theory is that Baal has sensed your arrival and fears that you may change the outcome of the battle in Larry's favor so he created the storm to prevent you from ascending Mount Arreat. I also believe that Larry is using all of his power to try to drive off and divert the storm, but I am not sure how much longer he can last." Haleth says with concern in her voice as she walks towars the alcove.

((Thanks to Sami Chee for the proofread))

[SamiChee]

Sami smiled and took the shirt from Jocun, nodding her thanks as she manged to slip it over Grun and onto her body, letting it hang down to cover her private areas to. The fabric was itchy against her skin, but she would probably have to get used to it. Sami noticed avery well endowed female Barbarian approach them, and she bowed slightly to her. It was a custom on her home planet to bow to those with higher power. She watched the woman closely with her piercing green eyes, gasping when she said it had been thre weeks since Larry had arrived. Her eyes grew dimmer and dimmer as she listened to the woman's report, starting to lose hope that Larry was alive. But the woman said the cause of the storm fluctuating was due to Larry, so he must still be alive. She followed the woman immediately as she moved off to the alcove where she would gather her Barbarian tribe. "I actually would prefer a cloak." She looked back at Jocun apologetically. "They usually seem to be smoother than shirts." This was all she couldsay, her voice small and sad, as she followed the Barbarian leader.

[Chad32]

"I'm sorry if my statement was too offensive, Haleth." Jocun said. He hadn't really meant to be heard by the locals. "In any case, walking around without clothes is typically odd for Humans."

He really didn't like the news that it had been weeks in this dimension. what kind of hardships must Larry have gone through as his friends didn't even know time passed faster here? Did he even have hope yet that they would come? Haleth thought he was still alive, so Jocun wouldn't abandon his mission.

"You can wear what you want, Sami. Haleth, we come from a different place where apparently time passes more slowly. We didn't know about the difference, so we thought we had more time than we really did." He said as he followed her.