The Dead Forest (Increased Orc activity due to skirmish)

[Unchecked Twitch]

(Sorry, there's no excuse for my not posting sooner.)

"Is that what that is...?" D' walked to Lazenca and looked out of the window to confirm. She glanced up to him, using her mental voice to inquire about his expression.

~What are you thinking?~

He could "talk" to her from anywhere in the craft, so she moved away and radioed in the precise destination. "I guess that's where we're going, then." The pilots would immediately turn the chopper to the clearing (or one closest to the area they were being pointed to) and make for a landing.

"Oh hey," she suddenly said to Maximos as if an afterthought, "I wasn't really offended. I just want you guys to feel safer and be assured that I'm not trying to crash land anywhere just as much as you. Sorry if I came off too strong. You too, Katie."

She suddenly realized that some of them may not know who she was. Most of them would have seen her in the HOH announcements and all, but not everyone paid attention to those. So for those unawares, an introduction preceded by a shake of her head at her rudeness.

"I'm sorry; all this time and I hadn't introduced myself to some of you. I'm D' Aire, president of The Blazestar Empire... for as long we--"

We?

"--are in this, you can call me 'Twitch.' This is a company plane, and we helped fund this year's tournament, but it looks like we're getting more than we bargained for." She smiled a bit nervously. "Not that I mind. I was starting to get bored with a desk job."  

[The Proclaimer]

Luckily enough, he hadn't quite fallen asleep, or else he would have missed the womans' name. Opening his eyes and blinking as he glanced towards her, he smiled and stood up, offering out his only remaining hand as she introduced herself as D'Aire and then as 'Twitch'.

"It's a pleasure, and yes, those deskjobs can be a bore."  

[Eternal Dirge]

" I feel like a monkey..." Damion managed between breathes, his tone haggard with effort. He was still chasing the noises of the copter high above and doing a damn fine job of it all things concidered. He'd already passed by a huge collection of mist earlier, but thought it best not to ******** with whatever was hiding within. He'd been swinging off tree branches for awhile now, and it was starting to irritate the earth elemental.

" ******** this!" a rough cracking noise erupted into the air, dead leaves and branches flying into the air as a shaft of earth thrust itself into the air. To those watching, it would have been like a bomb going off underground, Launching Damion into the air, through the mostly bare lower branches, and depositing wet and loamy soil back ontop of the leaves that coated the forest floor.

This was the only way to travel! Damion soared through the air, a big grin planted on his face, wind whipping his clothes. Not even narrowly dodging branches and the like brough him down, this was too much fun!

The sudden lack of of trees and such would be the thing to bring him down though, the expected roll across the earth quiet sudden and alot warmer than he was expecting. How he hadn't seen the smoke and such was beyond him, but he had been blind to it apparently, and was now even more blind, scrambling around on the ground as he coughed and hacked. What the ******** had gone on here?!

He didn't have the time to think about it, the copter was faster than he was and if he wanted to keep up he'd have to keep moving. Running blindly through the smoke, Damion continued tracking the Helicopter by sound alone, shoulder bashing into a tree and nearly sending himself tumbling to the ground again. Damn smoke.  

[The Thunder Tyrant]

Deitric pulled his 'cycle to a halt and looked up. Trees everywhere in front of him - he was near the entrance of the forest, and sparse trees and shrubs grew 'round him. It only go thicker inside. The warrior looked back down at his vehicle, then up again at the trees.

Definitely not.

He could still hear the chopper somewhere over the trees. He whipped his bike around and zoomed off to the side - he couldn't go through the forest, but he could go around it. He'd keep his distance from the forest proper so that he could see over the trees in the hopes of catching glimpses of the flying metal hulk, allowing him to follow it on more than just sound alone.  

[Maximos]

Excellent.

He said to Katie, with a smile and a nod. That was one more piece of the puzzle, and in a situation as this one, every piece counted. Immediately following that, he turned back to Quin delivering a stout yet solemn nod, joined by a smiling, and a warmly spoken....

Of course, Mr. Mathadius.

Sleep. Maximos smiled at the thought, his eyes shifting away, and out of the chopper window to the tranquil dead forest below. Alot of things were asleep here, trees, most life had fallen into the sleep of death from which this place took its namesake. Sleep was a blissful thing. Maybe he'd get some tomorrow. For now, his mismatched gaze, was called to Lazenca. He gave the werewolf a stout nod before turning to catch the sight out the of the window. There was indeed smoke, but little else visible. At least to the normal eye.

Raven would feel it first as she was in direct contact with the Shadow. It was a sudden drop in his energy pool as he shut his left eye, and he tried to focus on his right. He activated Eagle Vision, letting him zoom in and see a greater distance away, then gritted his teeth a bit digging deeper to activate Magic Sight, and of course, and finally Soul Sight. He could see through the trees now, past branches and trunks and billowing smoke. A silhouette of Rage's form echoed through against several tress, frozen in green beside the a matching echo of Sunstrike's. He saw the twisted form of the Salamander, only recognizing the godling by the shape of the soul in question. A tail was lost, causing anger, the Salamander's echo appeared huge. Max could not see the events taking place, only snap shots of each emotion at each encounter hanging frozen in the air, slowly dissolving into naught. He followed the fire, and frenzy until it reached a sort of calm. The two headed toward another larger, soul and then..

Suddenly with a grunt, he jerked his head away, his right hand immediately rising up to cover his right eye. If Raven was "listening" she would hear him curse something in another language, and possibly feel the pain swelling around the eyeball. Twitch spoke, and Maximos' gaze immediately met hers. Without missing a beat, a smile spread on his face, And he moved to wipe a streak of black away from his eye, the black tear staining his bandaged arm.

No apology necessary!

He said, his smile indelible. A slight squint to his right eye. He hid it well, but Max was actually trying to catch his breath, that eye took alot! No, of course he couldnt speak for Katie, but he could and did speak for himself. Especially after she confirmed her presidency, and the importance he suspected of her.

I really appreciate you taking the time...

...to help us.

Its what he was about to say, but it felt wrong. There was more than just help wasnt there? No, he couldnt read thoughts, that was an entirely different Sight. But from her words he could gleam Twitch was here for more than just a ride.

...join us.

He said, seamlessly slipping it onto his previous statement. And he meant it too. He had an honest appreciation about him. Maybe he was just used to being stuck alone. Maybe it was nice to see that this world had more than one people willing to risk their lives for its sake. For the first time, he had found something on Gaia that beat a memory of Aria. Other heroes.

And with that, he couldnt help but chuckle at Twitch's last comment. Oh yes, desk work.

Indeed, I've always found carpentry boring.

He said, with a smile and a nod, and no idea exactly how far off he was from what Twitch meant.

(( No worries Twitch! No rush either! ))  

[Pocket Gal]

Laz directed everyone's attention out the window. Katie looked out the window near her. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the smoke and how tiny everything looked below them. She squinted her eyes and turned away, squelching her fear of heights down.

"Rage is the owner of Firebrand. I remember him, don't think we ever spoke, and I don't know the other person you speak of."

Hearing D' apologize Katie smiled and shook her head. She agreed with Maximos.

"You're fine. I didn't get that impression, at all."

As D' introduced herself Katie nodded. She would probably have got up and shook the woman's hand, but she still had food on her plate that she was slowly consuming.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."  

[Uberwulf X]

~When's the last time you talked to your brother?~

The plan was going to eventually land, right? Mean, they had to get out and walk around and assess the damage and make their next move, right? So unless anyone showed so much objection to it that they'd physically stop, Lazenca disembarked once they touched down.

Looking around, he wondered whether or not he should have stayed with Teira, watching her back. Maybe he was hoping for everyone else to do that for him, but apparently something went awry and... well...

"Eden?" Lazenca looked up at the aerial landmass. "I don't suppose we could just fly there, hm?"  

[Eternal Dirge]

The chopper sounds were....back there! Damion had to stop for aminute and turned around, cursing his hearing and the trees around him as he started back towards the landed chopper." Hope I can make it back there in time..." He had no idea what they were doing and why they were landing, but he had to catch up.

" Hey! Hey....crap...hey!!!" Damion yelled as loud as he could, ducking and dodging around trees and trying not to trip over roots he wasn't paying attention to.  

[Maximos]

It was true, Max wondered how this thing would hit the ground without actually hitting the ground. But he had a renewed faith in Twitch and simply say back and relaxed as with a gentle bump it seemed to even out and land.

Maximos waited, a hand which had at some point began petting Rae continued to. Of course it was a cursed, bandaged, energy sucking hand with a beast locked inside....and that just may take away from the calming effect of the petting, but Max couldnt help that.

Either way, when the steel magic flying box landed the Shadow patiently waited. After all, he was going to be making this little show, he needed everyone else off and ready to watch as he knew he'd only be able to manage this once.

His breaths were deep, his heart was racing, his eye was aching and his head felt someone light, but he sat and waited.  

[Pocket Gal]

The chopper landed, and Katie was more than happy to get off of the damn thing, but it didn't seem anyone else was moving, except for Laz. She stood up, glancing towards Maximos and the healer then back to Quinn.

"Are you getting off this tin bucket or what?"

Even as she asked them that she was moving towards the exit, planning on following Laz. She was slightly pleased to get off of the chopper. She didn't want to sit on it anymore than she had to.  

[Eternal Dirge]

" That thing sure makes alot of noise." Damion tried saying over the sound of the choppers blades, his voice lost in the roar. He had made his way back finally, stepping out of the forest and into the clearing proper, narrowing his eyes abit to protect them from the wind. "Bloody ******** hell....Maximos?!!!!" He tried calling over the roar again, cupping a hand overtop his eyes, like the bill of a hat.

" ******** would anyone want to ride in one of those?"  

[Unchecked Twitch]

D' walked out from the chopper, thinking well enough to let the others do what they had to do to assess the situation. She was going to the escort when she looked over her shoulder at Lazenca.

~About a month or two ago, why?~

After a frw seconds, D' went to talk to someone in the other plane before her ears perked and she looked out over the distance.

"Hey, he one of yours?" she inquired of the party.