Palmyna

The toons would stop dead on their tracks, their chatter hitting a brick wall. Something echoed in the air around them, as solid as an emotion, but just as powerful. They suddenly felt like the forest was coming alive around them, and it was livid.
"Uh, guys?" quavered Fancy.
"I feel it too," said Max uncertainly, out of place in his normal jaded immunity to fear.
"How big is Cardes?" said Adam.
It was thicker now, the mist of pure hatred of all living things. The type of burning rage only found within the most ancient elementals deep within the earth. It wrapped around them, coiling between Adam's bones, whipping Fancy's paper hair, rustling the Jack's feathers and billowing Max's shirt. It was inspecting them, watching them, hating them.
At the same time, they pulled out their weaponry, although this gave them little reassurance for the overwhelming threat ahead of them.

"Well...Maxwell did not show that but the Gods can reach up into the clouds so...pretty tall I say..." Vargas nodded. All Gods had a true form of course, besides their humanoid form. This was going to be a massive battle. Both literaly and figurativly.

Of course, Vargas noticed Rosa sticking close with him. He simply shrugged to himself, she could walk with whoever she wanted to, nothing strange about that. Granted he was like a good person to hide behind when danger was afoot. But jeeze...would it even be close to a good idea to bring her aith them. Herobrine was a loose cannon sure, but at least he can fight. Rosa on the other hand...

"Hey Rosa, listen...we are going up against Cardes, The Malevolent. Chances are people may die so I am going to ask, you have a chance to turn back now. Randall is a safe place to go to, with how you freeze on fear the last thing we need is you doing just that. Everyone has to fight together to bring down this opponent. If you wish to continue with us then I have two things to say...Grow a backbone! And I promise no one is dying on my watch...wait...Adam is already undead so...um...No one is being destroyed on my watch!" Vargas raised his fist into the air as he walked.

"Well she has a chance to think on it now, we have arrived at the school. You guys can set up your portal, if you need help well...we are on hand. But for now let us rest, but not for long lest the seal weakens more..." Swlena spoke as she looked at the building surrounded by woods. Despite being abbandoned it seemed in good shape. Another reminder of the long faught war in the past.

"No, I'll stay here with you guys, I don't think people would like seeing someone who was once with the god army" Rosa said quietly, and she blushed while talking. Rosa got closer to Vargas while continuing to blush. Herobrine sat down to take a rest, he really didn't realize what was going on so he just dozed off. Rosa walked over to Owru, Rosa was interested in what was going on.

"This school... I suppose was abandoned due to Cardes," Owru asks as she looks around at the buildings before having an unusual thought as she looks at how the trees and plants have taken over. "For what it has gone through, and what it is exposed to, it is oddly... serene."

Although wary of the presence of the waking Cardes, they were game with the idea of resting. The Chosen Few examined the building before them. Judging by the rooms inside, it was a school. Why there was a school in the middle of the forest was beyond them, but at least it was somewhere they could rest for the time being.
In response to Selena saying they can open a portal in the building, Max replied, "Hey, we can't just pull portals outta our asses; if we're gonna open one for John, you'll have to help us. When we thought about where to find a strong enough energy source, our first thought weren't a school."
Adam had an odd urge as they walked into the academy. Just because he was born in the Victorian era, didn't mean he wasn't around when the following eras passed by. A song welled up from his albeit empty skull, from a time not long ago.
"We don't need no education..." he muttered, the tune dying within the silence of the abandoned school.

"Right, I will be assisting you then. Come then, we have to find the center of this place because thats where we can gather the most energy. Vargas, remain on guard outside here." Selena nodded in reply as she went into the abbandoned school as well. She thought she hear Adam say something but maybe that was just her.

Vargas noticed Rosa and her blushing face, he was not sure what was with her...perhaps she was getting sick or had some sort of fever, his thoughts however turned to Herobrine as he fell asleep...at a time like this, sleep was not a good idea. Well at least he was outside to guard the place, he had not much info on magic compared to Selena.

Dawn set out early in the morning, from the abandoned cabin she had made her home earlier in the year, to gather herbs and flowers, and pick berries and fruit if she happened upon them. She first gathered the Comfrey roots that grew near her home, then ventured out to find some yarrow plants, plaintain leaves, Purple Coneflower, Elderberry, Jewelweed, and Blackberry bushes.

By the time she had located and gathered the herbs and plants she had set out for a good part of the day had gone by. Dawn decided to head off to the abandoned school building where there were old black walnut and birch trees where she could gather nuts and barks to use in healing teas and poultices. She strolled through the forests taking in the sparse sunlight that peered through the treetops, her ears swiveling and attentive to the sounds of the forest, searching for any alarming sounds. She heard nothing but the quiet sound of her own hooves crushing the fallen leaves below her.

As she neared the school the air seemed to thicken and become stale, she proceeded cautiously, listening for any disturbances. There was a row a trees near the entrance to the abandoned school building, black walnut and birch trees, that she needed to harvest supplies from, and also a row of annual flower along the side of the school, that continued to grow despite a lack of sunlight. She walked to the trees in front of the school first and bent down to gather the fallen nuts and twigs that littered the ground. Dawn did not notice the man resting outside of the building and lowered her guard as nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She continued to forage, this time in partial cover behind a birch tree. Her human features hidden behind the trunk of the tree, she must have appeared to be a simple doe, unless someone were to take a closer look.

Herobrine woke up to the sound of rustling near by, he slowly stood up when he realized that it was only a harmless creature that was creating the noise, when he looked around the tree, he was a bit surprised to see something else then just a young deer, he saw a half deer half human creature, he then morphed his right arm into a large blade just in case the creature wasn't friendly, but unfortunately his foot cracked a stick which made somewhat of a loud noise.

Owru follows along, her hand held out palm open as she appears to be feeling something, that something becoming obviously the spacial fabric of this area. Where her hand has pressed, only a small ripple is left behind, as if she were running her hand across water.

"If you can find a spot with the most activity, I-I could create a gateway," she says, some uncertainty in her tone as she lifts up her lower right arm and rubs her cheek. "However, b-bad news is, I can only create a hole, not link it as I have no idea where John is... so, some one else would have to bridge a connection."

With that, she began to strike at the spacial fabric in hopes to find a weak and particularly weak spot to puncture through.

Fancy would rub his hands. "Great, that means we won't have to do any arcane stuff ourselves."
"Bridge a connection?" said Max. "What, get a hair from John? I don't think we can do that, considering he's-"
"How about we get John to start up a portal?" said Adam. "Not necessarily to anywhere, just for something for Owru to aim at."
"From what he thaid, I think he already did that," said Jack.
"Right, we'll have John here in no time," said Fancy. "Not sure if this'll help you, Owru, but John would likely be in the Underworld, floor 189. Just to narrow down where to find the portal."
The Chosen Few would start to wander about the building.

"Its not often that we open portals to other worlds, so I can do is help keep a connection stable." Selena spoke as she explored the building. As it appeared, it was just abbandoned. Since not much people lived around these days, they have probaly taken refuge in much more safe zones.

For Vargas, he remained on watch outside the building when he noticed what appeared to be a deer. Not everyday he got to see animals walking around. However Herobrine soon woke up and walked around the tree to probaly get a good look at the deer. However when his arm formed into a blade, Vargas got up. Now what got him all ready to kill?

As Vargas followed behind to peer behind the tree, the deer was actualy a centaur. Half woman, half deer person. He was not sure why Herobrine was ready to fight but one thing was sure...she did not appear hostile, and even if she was there was no need to appear as threatening. Apperaing unpreppared was also a valid strategy. "Herobrine, stand down a bit. She seems to just be a centaur. Granted you dont see them much these days, but nonetheless hello miss." The red haired man waved.

Dawn was putting the bark she had gathered in her bag when she heard the loud crack of a twig being stepped on. She immediately drew her bow and pulled back an arrow, aiming in the direction where the crack came from. She saw a man with a knife and aimed at his chest. She paused, ready to fire if he made a move towards her. It wasn't often that she saw anyone in the forest so she was very much on guard.

Just as she had drawn an arrow at the first man, another appeared. She quickly turned to aim at the red haired man, her eyes darting between both men. The red haired man began speaking to the first man, telling him to stand down. Dawn lowered her bow and arrow to the ground, and released the tension on the bows string, though she did not put away her arrow in case she needed to draw it again quickly. The man then greeted Dawn and waved. Dawn stared at the man for a short moment, eyeing him for any obvious weapons. She didn't see any. "Hello, sir." She said calmly. "What are you doing this deep in the forest? " Dawn asked."It's been a long time since I've seen anyone venture this far. And typically those who do venture this far mean trouble..." She stated, her eyes trailing back to the man with the blade for an arm, and then back again to the red haired man. They didn't seem all that threatening, but dawn knew better than to lower her guard around anyone. No matter how friendly they appeared to be.

Herobrine's arm returned back to its normal state, he then began to walk back to where he was sleeping before, he sat down and went back to sleep.

Rosa slowly walked over to the commotion, she peeked over the corner to see what it was.

"O-oh, right," she responds, assuming that John, like his brother is little more than skin and bones... sans the skin. An open portal is something, but who knows how many other beings could be sitting on the other end of one of those. Being an Outsider, she has some awareness that there are a lot of things out there that can pop out of an improperly linked gateway, things nowhere near as... personable as her.

Owru pauses for a moment, glancing back where Vargas is standing guard, feeling a new presence, but shrugs it off when the sense of tension dies down. She then looks back to the Chosen Few, giving a moment of thought towards how to bring over Adam's brother, until a key detail dawns on her.

"A-actually, there is something better than a hair, that offers a far better imprint," she says before snapping around towards Adam and pointing out a finger mere inches from his skull. At that point there's a familiar otherworldly ring as ripples form out from around Adam through the dimensional fabric, followed shortly by the air behind him beginning to warp before rupturing with a sound like a large stone plunging into a lake. At first the rip in space shows a tunnel of immense length, round, shifting, filled with colors and shapes in it with no sign of rhyme or reason. Like a rubber band, however, the other end snaps forward, the distance between rapidly getting shorter and shorter. "U-um! Probably should step back, the force generated from two d-distant points snapping together can have a lil' bit of initial... oof, to it!"

"Oh, of course, why didn't I think of that?" said Fancy. "Adam, you're practically of the same blood, figuratively, as John!"
The skeleton did not respond. In fact, he was frozen in fear, a grimace of terror plastered on his skull. His mouth quavered as he tried to speak without metaphysical vocal cords.
Just behind him, a ripple in space-time began to open up, a hole tearing through the fabric of fantasy. Colours yet undiscovered or named swirled within the maelstrom within the hole before the arrow of teleportation had reached it's destination. The immense distance within the wormhole was starting to become shorter.
"Adam, move outta the way, you dunce!" yelled Max, pulling the incapacitated skeleton away from the portal. Now they can see the other end, they became aware of a new shape, getting rapidly closer. As it neared the group, they could make out what it was carrying in one hand; a suitcase.
Jonathan C. Skelecoot, Governor of the Skelecoots, attempted to land on his feet as they flew out of the portal. However, due to the immense momentum picked up from travelling billions of light years across the Imagiverse, he instead touched the ground, where he pivoted to the floor with a thud. There was a crowded second of grumbling from the fallen figure before he stood up.
John was the same lengthy height as his brother, although, unlike his brother's habitual lurch, he stood like a pillar. His eyeholes were more involved with his surroundings than Adam's vacant stare, examining the decrepit building around him. He was dressed in an outfit that, a century ago, would have said that this was a man of high breeding; a maroon trench coat, grey trousers, a long-sleeved white shirt under a red, patterned waistcoat. Oh, and he wore a purple bandana.
Another few seconds drawled by as he took in the building and, finally, his comrades. His gaze finally laid on Owru, an expression that, to those who were unfamiliar with him, suggested an almost fascinated horror. "Lads," he finally said. "What is that?"
"That's Owru, John," said Max. "An Outsider. Apparently she is from Nod, one of those places that you say are near the Edge. I suggest you don't try and dissect her, cause any moment now, she might switch to a more aggressive personality. Oh, and she's a schizo."
The well-dressed skeleton would nod slowly before giving the alien a grimace. After a while, she would realise that this was a smile, which was hard to tell with the crooked teeth and almost malevolent look in his eyes. He would extend a gloved hand. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is John Skelecoot, brother of Adam Skelecoot," he would nod to his brother, who was recovering, though still under shock. "He may have had a shock," he continued, "but believe me, his skull doesn't have much space for it; after a while, it tends to leak out."

Selena stepped back as Orwu began to create a portal from here to Adam's world. Wow...such increddible power to be able to easily manage to create such a thing. Soon another figure had appeared in veiw with a thud...She guessed this means of travel was a rather fast means to get to two points...

Soon the skeletal figure who was introduced as John. A brother to Adam...although it was hard to tell differences of skeletons in their world be because well...they were all bones, it did help that the bandanas were both different colored. Red for Adam and purple for John.

Vargas blinked a few times as Herobrine soon went to sleep. He did say to stand down a bit...but that was a little bit overboard. He gave a sigh and decided to tell this woman the truth of why they were here in a dangerious area. "Well, I see reason to lie to you. My name is Vargas! One of the Six Heroes of Grand Gaia! Our mission here is to slay the remaining Fallen Gods that plauge these lands! So in a sense we are looking for trouble, but we are here to finnaly bring an end to the Gods tyrannical grip. So! What about you?" The man replied with energy. He just spoke about killing a god just as easily as if they were to go to a freinds house.

Dawn blinked as the one man stood down and returned to his napping spot. She thought he must be a very unusual man. She listened as the man, who identified himself as Vargas, introduce himself and state their business. She was excited to hear that there was a group of folk striving to end the plague that the fallen gods had brought upon the land. Especially since the fallen gods tyrannical grip had devastated her beloved forests, making them barren and scarce of the wildlife she loved so much. She wished she could help.

Once the man was finished talking, dawn put away her bow and arrow and continued foraging from the tree in front of her. "My name is Dawn, and I live here. Just down the ways a little. Normally I'm a traveling apothecary and herbalist, but I've had to set up a settlement for myself here for the past couple of years, since traveling alone, especially at night here is a death wish." Dawn explained. "And so I've been gathering stock and providing night time shelter for those brave enough to venture out this far. As well as medical attention if needed." Dawn stated as she cinched up her bag full of foraged materials.

Rosa sat down on the ground and started to brush her angel wings.

Owru blinks, looking at the newly arrived John, and then at Adam who has become less an animated skeleton, and more a science lab display skeleton. On one hand she was elated, she did a clever thing and saved everyone a bit of difficulty, on the other...

"Sorry, m-maybe... I should have asked for permission first before... y-y'know, using your brother as a transdimensional key... n-not that there was much... physiological risk," she mutters apologetically to the newly arrived John Skelecoot, rubbing the back of her lengthy neck. She then hears the words dissect and schizo from Max causing her antennae to rise alarmingly, and fall down in dejection, respectively. She then looks as John offers his hand, to which Owru responds by reaching out with one of her lower set of hands. "S-schizo is a strong word, I prefer... multifaceted. A-and don't worry, my most aggressive side is Laadan, and she's no rowdier than a kitten, a... um... big kitten. Also, u-um... he was... j-joking about the dissection thing, right?"

"Oh, don't mind Max," said John. "It seems to him that the first thing I do when I find a new species is take it apart to find the tick, as it were. But I assure you, that's about the last thing I'd do to a sentient being." The skeleton would take a few steps back before crouching down to open his suitcase.
"Really, John?" said Max. "We're going to fight some Gods, and you're thinking of this whole thing as a holiday? It's not as if we're going to stay here for long."
John would look up at the Robloxian and grin. "Max, you didn't think I was packing clothes did you?" He opened the suitcase. Apart from the usual clothes and undergarment that a regular, sane person would pack, there were... devices. And that was the most appropriate description for the metallic contrivances that littered the interior. Some were identifiable as guns and tinkerer's tools, the rest were as alien as the land of Nod. It soon became apparent that the newcomer was not a simple gentleman. This, the Chosen Few knew already. The figure's mind was that of a highly complex clockwork device, with layers and layers of gears and latches yet undiscovered. He wasn't just clever or insane; he had the mind that would tear apart the universe to find the tick.
"I've been thinking about what to bring for the journey," said John, scavenging through the case. "Of course, I decided to bring all of it. You see, I've being experimenting with Hammer-space, so I can take what I need without having to pack it."
"What?" Jack exclaimed. "You can't jutht toy with Hammer-thpace, John. Only the highly-trained can handle it. You can't tell what you'll pull out of that thuitcathe!"
The skeleton would glare at him. "Jack, I've handled things that would make Hammer-space look like one of the four dimensions in comparison. Besides, what would I be if I didn't toy with the unknown?"
Jack opened his beak to say "dead", but he realised that John was one step ahead of him on that.
Jonathan picked up one of the odd devices, a cross between a hand-held Geiger counter and a crystal ball, and closed the suitcase. "Ah, here we go. Always handy to keep a thaumometer with you in case of arcane emergencies. Now," as he flicked a switch on the side of the device, "let's see what-"
The arrow on the thaumometer swung towards "Magic Storm" and shook vigorously. John, to an extent, looked surprised. "Well, that's interesting."
"Yeah, I think one of the Fallen Gods is waking up," said Fancy. "It might be a good idea to leave."
"Fallen Gods, you say?"
"Remember when the sisters told us about the Gods?" said Adam, now fully recovered. It was true what John said; in one eye-hole, out the other. "Cardes is the one nearby."
In response to some survival reflex, John reached behind him and unholstered a shotgun for his back. From the stains and soot, it looked like it has been used frequently. "Well, might as well start my trip with a bit of God hunting, 'ey?"

Selena understood one thing for certain, these people certainly had some great confidence when it came to fighting very powerful beings. They were like Vargas in that respective, ready to take on whatever the universe threw at them. At the very least they had another member to join up with them, and he seemed to be armed with some sort of firearm. There were firearms where they came from...however his looked much more compact.

"Hello John, My name is Selena of the Six Heroes. I am glad to see we have another person to assist us against the Gods. Its not often that any outsider actually assists us, but to go out of your way to actually fight a God with us? I give you my thanks as well." Selena spoke and gave a nod in his direction.

Vargas simply smiled. "Well, after we finish destroying a God then I'm sure most of us are going to get pretty banged up and exhausted. So we'll be sure to return to you and ask for some medical assistance!" He gave a hearty laugh as he was more than eager to fight a God.

Of course there was one thing he had to do. "Well Dawn, we are going to free this land from the Fallen Gods grip! Stay well out there then! I have to talk to someone of our group." Vargas waved as he turned around when he spotted Rosa. Well, that saved him the trouble of finding her.

Walking up to her and plopping himself next to her. He simply stretched. "Hey Rosa! I think now is a good time to train. If you wanna have a chance to hurt a God then you got to learn two important things. Keep your fear in check and fight! I think its time we boost your confidence!" He spoke. It was not a suggestion, it was more of a mandatory training regime. Like heck he was going to have someone who could not even attempt to fight with them. lthough he had to admit her wings were pretty good. Oh! She could use those to fly and attack from the air...although she was still pretty scared of like...everything but them...so he had to drill in some courage.

Rosa quietly said "umm, I'm not sure, uhh.."

Dawn listened to the man speak, and then he turned and started walking away. "Wait!" She said as she caught up with him. "Let me come with you...Ive been a bowman since i was little, and im not afraid of a fight. And i want my forest back! These damn fallen gods have taken everything i cherish away from me..The animals, the plants, travelers..All of it gone because of the fallen god" Dawn explained. "And i know this forest like the back of my hand, you wont have to worry about getting lost...Please? Let me come with you?" She pleaded.

Owru sighed in relief to hear she wasn't going to end up on the cutting table... then again, it wasn't so much she feared for her life, as she wasn't sure if there was anything vital to cut, well, aside from the spot in the center of her chest. It was more she feared what reaction tinkering could have, and hardly wants to cause an extradimensional disaster. That would not help matters any, for sure.

Soon the brainy bone brother would draw something from his back, and soon she was staring at a shotgun, a well used shotgun. The contrast between the two brothers grew more evident, with John seeming to be the more... practical and straight to the point when it came to combat. No block, parry, low swing, high swing, just bang! Owru then suddenly begins to zone out, eyes dulling, staring up into space as she begins to speak inwardly.

Laadan approves of this, bang bang!
Though I wonder how effective that is against a god?
Hey, it works in games! Guh, Laadan misses those...
True, but we are not out getting points here.
Heh, speak for yourself! Laadan aches for clobbering a god! Speaking of which, haven't you had a long enough turn!? Laadan promises to not eat everything!
J-just a little longer, okay?
FIIIIIIIINE!

"A-ah, um, s-sorry about that, w-was a bit of... i-introspection," she stammers, the bright color returning to her eyes. She then turns to look outside. "By the way, w-we seem to have another new arrival."

With that Owru heads out towards Vargas, Herobrine, and Rosa, barely making a sound as she slips out from the broken down school building, antennae perking up to see Vargas hovering over Rosa, and behind him a... deer person. Certainly stood apart from much of the others she has seen here who are either demons or more human-like in appearance. For a moment, she stares until realizing that she could be mistaken for some kind of monster. With that she holds out her four arms and waves them in a small panic.

"U-um, sorry... hi, I'm Owru, I am a uh... actually that is pretty hard to explain," she then looks over at Vargas and points at him, hoping to resolve any suspicion she may have raised to the stranger. "I'm with him! A-ah n-not-! As in, I'm out to... fight the gods too... a-as a friend and ally."

"Smooth, haha," a very distant voice mocks.

Laadan wants to smash the clown.

"And it is a pleasure to meet you too, Selena," replied John, giving her a small bow. "It truly is a pleasure to meet one of the Gaian Heroes. Perhaps, with the combination of us two groups of ragtags, we could slay this Cardes." There was an inaudible mutter from Max.
The skeleton would draw his attention to the group coming in. A stocky warrior with a sort of fire in his eyes, not to mention in the aesthetics of his armour as well. There was a young man who put him in the mind of some of the ghouls he met in the Underworld, with roughly the same level of gloominess. There was a girl in armour that bore some sort of emblem, possibly belonging to an army division, though by the looks of her ground-state anxiety and cowardice, she must have been enrolled against her will. As for the other...
John had heard of centaurs before, and saw them occasionally in several forests, although they were normally hiding behind the trees or, on one occasion, trying to kill him. This one seems less feral than those, though she had a quiver strapped to her back and a bow in her hands.
"Well, it's not often I meet a centaur in person," said John. "I'm Jonathan C. Skelecoot, but you can call me John, as my title as Governor of the Skelecoots doesn't quite hold much ground in the wilderness. I am also a friend of yours, though I mainly came to help my friends here," he would gesture to the Chosen Few. "The other skeleton is Adam Skelecoot - my half-wit brother," which he said with no apparent malice, "the guy like he was made out of basic shapes is Max the Robloxian," Max would make a questionable gesture towards the mad scientist, "The duck is Jack "The Ducky Boy" Quackers, and the stick figure's Fancy Pants."
"Hello." Fancy would give a wave.