Welcome to Gaia! ::

A hand, surprisingly but not uncomfortably, slipped around her waist, before hefting one of her packs himself over his other bad arm. The smell of licorice became strong, even in the biting cold.

"I fear our friend may have taken a shortcut, but it doesn't matter. We'll soon catch them up in the village."

Even as he said this, for Tomorrow, the lights of the small fishing village would gleam in the darkness, and the sound of the waves would be heard even over the howling wind of the snow storm.

Upon reaching the walls of the hamlet he would see that a single light was lower then the rest. A voice came from it, bellowing out a question.

"Who goes out there! Answer in plain Gaian, and you may enter!!" The sounds of many trained bowstrings tightening showed how often this simple task was failed.

Juunikyuu accepted the arm in relief as she staggered forwards with Mere, her breathing ragged and irratic as she clenched her jaw against the pain that wracked her body. She would heal given enough time and rest but she couldn't risk transforming back into her lowest form, not right now, no matter how depleated her energy supplies were.

Their progress was slow. Painfully slow. And soon the lack of energy caused Juunikyuu to pause with a flinch, turning to Mere with a small and apologetic smile.

"I'm afraid... I can't stay like this... Much longer... Sorry..."

The Senshi wavered and keeled forwards, her form melting away in a flurry of feathers and sparks leaving a tiny torteshell kitten sprawled out on its belly in the snow, twitching slightly.

A busy two days had passed since Ryugi had spotted the falling object, and the new direction of his and Vargus' journey had been confirmed. A busy day of hiking and walking to Lament, and a busy day of shopping had passed, and now, Ryugi and Vargus were well equipped to handle most situations that could occour in a frozen environment like the Tundra of Guldor, much to the pains of Ryugi's wallet.

The pair had bought, among other things, an arctic tent for sleeping and shelter, two low temperature sleeping bags, enough dried and canned food for nearly two weeks, a compass, seven fire logs, arctic coats, two beanies of sorts for their heads under the hoods of the coats, waterproof and insulated pants, sunglasses to protect against snowblindness, a scarf for Vargus, a large sealskin cover for their equipment, one hundred feet of nylon rope, two books of matches, two pairs of clampons for walking on slippery surfaces, a single multi-tool complete with various useful devices, and a sled to carry all the stuff on.

The only real problem facing the pair now was exactly HOW to GET to Guldor, AND get all of their gear with them. With the nearest port being hundreds of miles away in Latent, and with Lament not having any means to travel by sea OR air to reach the tundra, Ryugi was faced with something he didn't like to admit. In order to get to Guldor he would either have to hike all the way back to Latent, buy a boat, and sail there, or, head to the tundra by air by flying one of the pair's dragon forms while the gear was either suspended below or tied on top of the flyer's back. In the end, Ryugi wasn't willing to hike all the way back to Latent with all their gear, so he opted for the flying approach. He and Vargus were now on the far side of the Mithral Mountains that bordered the sea, and off to their far left they could see the dreaded peninsula known only as the Northernlands.

The beach they stood upon was cold, the ground sprinkled with bits of snow across the sand. They were standing on the edge of the main Gaian Continent, and beyond, they could see the Continent of Guldor. It was an amazing feeling for Ryugi, who had never been anywhere but his homeland of Angara and the main Gaian Continent. He knew that something was awaiting him across the sea unlike anything he'd ever experienced before.

You know you work yourself too hard...

Vargus stood up the beach aways while Ryugi looked across the sea. She was already decked out in full arctic gear, but Ryugi was still wearing his classic outfit, his large white scarf blowing in the frigid sea breeze that blew across the beach. He had insisted that he pull the sled with their gear, as well as fly the channel between the two continents. He turned and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

I know my own strength better than anyone Vargus. And you and I both know that I'm the stronger flyer. I have more stamina, so if either of us is going to be flying that distance, it has to be me.

Vargus frowned and walked down the beach so she stood next to him.

Look at yourself! You've been running yourself ragged. You've slept maybe a total of four hours in the last two days. I'm worried about you...

She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at her beloved while he stared out across the sea. He sighed and looked towards her as well.

I know you're worried, but I've dealt with worse than this. I know you'd be willing to fly the distance yourself, but you and I both know that with that gear you'd be tired in no time. Its going to be a tough flight, eventhough the distance is relatively short, the winds are going to be freezing and powerful out across that sea. I can deal with physical situations better than you can, so I'm the one who has to do it...

He smiled and kissed her forehead. She smiled softly and walked a bit up the beach.

Just be careful and try not to strain yourself that much. I'll do what I can to lessen the winds around us, but if they're as bad as you say, it will be a challenge.

Ryugi nodded and then began his first full transformation in a very long time. Normally, Ryugi was able to turn into his hybrid form without magic since it was just a simple matter of altering his body, a natural skill among golden dragons. However, turning into his full dragon form required a powerful boost of magical energy in order to complete such a drastic change. Changing into a human form again was easy enough since it was changing a larger body to a smaller one and the dragon body already had enough energy within it to pull off such a change, but going from a small human form to his dragon form required lots of energy.

He tapped into the Elemental realms of fire and light as his body glowed solid white for a moment, sand grains whipping about with the release of energy as the magical power acted as a catalyst to Ryugi's natural ability. The glowing form began to grow in size, as two wings began to sprout from the glowing mass. Next, a tail, a snout, and finally the graceful neck and body of the dragon was visable as the white light died away.

It's funny... I forgot how different this feels from being in a human body. I feel so much more free and natural. Boy do things look different with my full dragon eyes. Everything is so full, so full of color, so clear, even moreso than my usual sight.

Inside, Ryugi was overjoyed. He had been like a caged bird before, unable to fly and see the world. Perhaps the biggest thing he missed in being human was the freedom of flight, and the beauty he could see from up above, soaring through the clouds. He shook his head and stopped yapping as he realized he was carrying on about nothing, and he had somewhere to go. He turned around, his tallons crunching in the sand as he lowered his neck for Vargus to climb aboard. He then lifted himself back up, and grasped the covered sled with his arms, tied together with the nylon rope.

I guess this means we're off. Let's go!

With a mighty push with his legs, and pumping of his powerful wings, Ryugi and Vargus left the shores of the Gaian Continent behind, and headed off on the next leg of their adventure.

Tomorrow eyed the people percariously before following them, nodding to the man who had shot wide. Mistakes happen.

John knew all about them.

Moving into the wooden building, he did as he was told, lying Amber out gently before crouching beside the bed, grasping her hand.

His eyes were closed. He was fighting for calm, fighting to keep the wildness within him at bay. His Berserk tendancies rarely flared, and when they did, they lasted a time - he had been lucky to quash them enough to retain some sanity.

He took in a deep breath and opened his eyes. Looking down at her. Noting her paleness. Panic crept up in him, balled in his stomach and threatening to spasm out of control - but practise wiped it away as easy as a spill was wiped by a sponge.

He simply kept her hand in his, rubbing the back of her palm with his thumb, and tried to focus.

Amber's head was swimming and her lip twisted into a soft growl, body tensed, at this voice that was disturbing her peaceful warmth before her body relax and the snarl faded.

Little one... Hus...band....

Amber's hand twitched slightly in John's grip and her eyes rolled beneath their lids before her eyes flew open in a wild gasp and she sat up violently. Wrenching her hand from John's, twisting her shoulder in such a way that the wolves tooth embedded in it was squeezed out and flew across the room, rebounding off one of the walls and onto the floor with a small clatter causing the anthro to growl loudly as her arms wrapped around her stomach and she stared around the room, her chest rising and falling rapidly in panic as her head sought urgently to clear itself.

((I am totally stuck for what to post for Juuni... Gimme a while eh? sweatdrop ))