Welcome to Gaia! ::

Luke had been one of the first through the door. He's one to say "The heck with it." when everyone else debates on entering. Upon reaching the other side, his first inclination was to step foreward as far as he could and take in what was there...and it was absolutely gorgeous! He has never seen anything like this before! A fair breeze blowing through the area blows his hair about...but that's not all. He feels something pulling him back?
What the?! I have a cape?!
A black and red cape is not all. Upon a thorough examination of himself, he notes a rather fine looking vest over an elegant ruffled shirt. Fitted slacks tucked gently into slick black boots rest on his legs. At his waist hangs a long sheathed sword. He does what comes naturally to anyone who discovers a weapon, he unsheathes it.
He lets out a low whistle while marveling at the intricate beauty of this new blade.
The hand guard looks like...a heart?
Indeed, the intricate detailing of the silver hilt swirls around and forms an ornate heart over his fingers. Letting the sword slide back into the sheath, he views his friends. Of course, being the fact that he still is Luke, he grins at Haylin's new get up.
Well, that's quite intriguing.
Unknown to him as he approaches the group, his eyes have altered as well, from the deep chocolate brown, to an almost golden hue.

His eyes soon fall upon a panther off a little ways from the group. Being a cat person, he is instantly amazed that a panther will get this close. He simply stares silently at it for the moment...

Luke waves Valerye and shushes her.
"Careful."
He whispers. His eyes are still transfixed in wonder at the panther. He notes every sleek reflection of the suns off its fur.
"It's amazing...normally a panther wouldn't get this close to a group of loud teenagers. Very curious."
He begins taking slow cautious steps towards the big cat. His ultimate goal is to pet it...he's not the smartest person in the world.
Just a bit closer...
When it finally registers he's inching towards an animal of unknown temper, he stops short, still staring at it. Fighting back urges to reach for it again, he simply stands there, staring at it with awe.

Valerye snorted. Sure, they were lost. At the moment, they were supposed to be going to school! But that didn't bother her as much as another person being here besides them. Were they hostile? Friendly? Thieves? Did they speak English? Questions surged around Valerye's head as she tried looking for an answer. She eyed the panther warily, sure that if she made a wrong move it might pounce on her, and went after Jeni, looking more for a closer look than to find out what's going on.

Marael stifled a gasp as the strange elves called out to her in Elvish, and pressed herself back into the deeper shadow of the tree, hoping they'd think she left.

She could just see a boy walk toward Gaebrial, who was standing still, twitching his tail in impatience. She held her breath as he stopped and held out a hand to the large panther, who moved forward cautiously to sniff the offered hand. After a tense second, Gaebrial rubbed his large head over the boy's hand, then turned away and padded softly back to sit and stare right at Marael's hiding place. Unlike the strange people, he could still see her perfectly. His tail twitched and he cocked his head at her in amusement. She glared at him, her eyes turning a goldish color in annoyance. "Show off." She muttered under her breath, letting go of her weapon. She figured she only had a few seconds before they followed Gaebrial over to see what he was looking at. With one last deep sigh, she took a breath and stepped out from behind the tree to stand next to Gaebrial in full view of the round-eared foreigners.

"You are in so much trouble." She murmured to the cat, resting a hand on his head. He nudged her knee playfully. She looked at the group a little curiously.

Valerye saw the figure step out into full view. 'An elf?' She thought as she saw the person. She raised her bo staff and directed it at the stranger. "Friend or foe?" Valerye asked softly, hoping that the elf would respond in English. 'This happens in faerie tales. This is life! What the heck's going on?' She thought wildly, only lowing her staff slightly, unaccustomed to the heavy weight.

He smiles at the panther nudges his hand.
"There you go. I won't hurt you."
As the panther turns to go, he watches, still in awe of the beast. When an elf comes out to stand next to it, he stands and approaches. Upon hearing the friend or foe comment, he holds his hand out to Valerye with two fingers up as if to say hold on, his eyes still on the figure before them.
"If she was foe, we would know it by now."
He takes another step foreward.
"Hello there."
With his ever so slight english accent, his voice flows eloquently out. Clearly, speaking is one of Luke's strong suits.
"I appologize if we are intruding. We seem to be lost, as my friend here has before stated. As also before said, any assistance you offer will be greatly appreciated."
The fencing team captain keeps his hands in view, not wanting to even seem any level of threat.

"That's why you don't let your guard down."
Luke whispers this over his shoulder. It's true, he is trying not to appear a threat, but he is ever ready to grab his hilt and defend himself if need be. He knows better...at least he thinks. Knowing the panther didn't attack leads him to believe that the owner won't attack as well.

Zachary sighed, feeling left out as the group completely ignored him. 'That's not very nice you know...' he thought glumly to himself frowning. Not one to be ignored, Zachary glanced back at the panther and the pointed ear creature - he refused to call it an elf without any evidence - and promptly walked up to the duo.

"Eh, hello there! Nice to meet ya!" he greeted sticking out his hand. He quickly scratched the back of his head with his free hand and sighed. Maybe the stranger knew what was going on. "Er, do you have any clue what's going on? Everyone's just kinda lost here right now..."