Welcome to Gaia! ::

Deep in the woods, is a small but quaint cottage. It was the home of Scout and his family for many years before it was abandoned. Now, Scout has given the use of the cottage to his twin Geminid.

The cottage sits by a lake which is always stocked with fish. There is a garden that was planted by his mother who loved wild flowers.

As you enter the cottage, there is a sitting area that his mother used to sit and knit in the rocking chair that still sits in a corner. On the left of that area is a small place where a table a a couple of chairs are for eating. There is a small kitchen and a sleeping area in the back of the cottage.

After it was given to Geminid, Gem took it upon himself to refurbish the cottage, What you see below is the renovations done.

All around the Sanctuary are fields surrounded by a dense forest. It makes for a safe haven away from prying eyes.

:: As the light of morning cascades over the horizon, a swirl of wind forms as it blows leaves around lightly. The wind intensifies as a pinpoint of light forms and hangs in midair. Suddenly, the light explodes open and is replaces with a swirling mass of bluish energy, a portal opening. From the portal, a figure steps through and sighs heavily and rubs his face ::

"Home"

:: Gem turns and raises his hand as the portal quickly closes behind him and collapses, simply winking out of existance as he turns back around and looks upon the structure he and his wife has spent some much time in and he then looks around at the surrounding landscape and sighs ::

"By the Spirits ... it's still beautiful here ..."

:: Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he raises both his hands up as he begins to concentrate. Slowly within his palms form two spheres of swirling energy. The spheres begin to spin within his hands as they lift from his hands and hover in midair. Then, they float over to the middle of the field and explode suddenly open. But they do not stop there. They begin to expand larger than before. Sweat begins to bead on Gem's brow, as he begins to expend massive amounts of energy. He opens his eyes, now glowing a bright golden hue as he makes his way to one of the portals and steps into it. The portal remains open. Minutes go by and the portal remains open ::

:: After a few more minutes, a figure reappears from the large swirling mass of blue energy, followed by a line of other figures. All feline, mostly men carrying equipment on their backs. Eventually, Gem follows the line of felines out of the portal. His eyes still glowing brightly as he stands on a small outcropping and directs 'traffic' ::

"Okay ... let's make this quick ... I don't know how long I can hold this open"

:: He calls over to a young feline standing by a few of the other feline men ::

"Ed!!!! Make sure you get some bottles of water from the house. I don't want anyone passing out. I know these portals cause an ill-effect on most people."

:: He turns to a female feline stepping out of the portal with a bundle of equipment over her shoulder ::

"Ah Sienne! Glad you could join us. Medical supplies can be put near the tents. Take a group of men and women and have then start putting up the tents"

:: Sienne raises an eyebrow and shows a bit of concern on her face as she carries the equipment and sets it down. She noticed Gem sweating a bit and knows he's spending too much of his power ::

"I'll have them start setting up on the north and west end of the field, closest to the edge of the forest, if that's okay with you Gem and we'll make this as quick as possible. You don't look well."

Ritanya appeared from the shadows, holding Lyse in her arms. There was no side-effect of the travel.

"Better than Gem's portals, huh?" she asked with a wink.

:: Lyse smiles as she blinks a few times to readjust her eyes as she now stands next to Ritanya ::

"I wouldn't know ... I've never travelled through his portals. I'd rather fly. But yes, I would image your way would definitely be better"

:: She smiles as she looks around and sees Gem sitting down. She points in his direction ::

"Ah ... there would be our illustrious leader"

:: Lyse looks around and sees the various feline men and women working on pitching tents and unpacking crates with food and medical supplies. White tents dot the landscape as she sees familiar faces of Edwin and Sienne coordinating efforts on the other side of the field ::

:: She turns to Ritanya and takes a hold of her hand and smiles ::

"Having you here with me is a good start. Let's go and talk to Gem. He looks like he's out of it. Then, we can go about seeing what kind of training these villagers are going to need"

:: She proceeds to walk towards Gem still holding Ritanya's hand ::

:: Gem still sitting on the outcropping trying to regain his strength after using up most of his energy keeping the two massive portals open while the villagers transferred equipment and supplies ::

:: He turns and sees Lyse walking towards him with Ritanya. An eyebrow raises a bit as he notices Lyse holding Ritanya's hand but doesn't make a comment on it. He smiles weakly but doesn't get up ::

"Well ... I didn't even see the two of you show up. I would get up to greet the two of you ... but I think it would be best if I just stayed right where I am"

:: He turns his head and looks around ::

"So? Whatcha think? Pretty good huh? Spent the entire day getting them here. Sienne told me that her father hand picked those men and women for the army. They are the best the village could offer on such short notice"

:: Lyse approaches Gem ::

"You look exhausted Gem. You pushed yourself again. But I can understand that you just wanted to get things done"

:: She looks around and listens to Gem and nods::

"I see. So this is what I have to work with. Hmmm. It's not much but I guess it will have to do. Good thing I brought help with me"

:: She turns to Ritanya and gently squeezes her hand and smiles ::