Welcome to Gaia! ::

His arm loosened, as if flinching away from her. The look on his face was a mixed one of surprise and annoyance, even as he left her to stand up on his feet.

His mantle swayed with his body, covering up his bare chest once more as he moved forward.

"Let's go already."

He brought the flamberge to rest alongside his shoulders once again, as he stalked up the stairs. Another door... exit from the hallway at last.

Twisting the knob and forcing it open with his shoulder, he stumbled into the new chamber...

Staring down, he could make out a set of small staircases on either side of the chamber, leading to a second level. Beyond that, possibly another door.

From the feeling of the draft in the room, he could somewhat sense that they were going up.

Well...that's good.

He stepped forward, not bothering to wait for the others since they'd follow him eventually.

Oh yea, and he wasn't going to be looking away anymore either.

"Heh..." Jin stopped, laughing softly for just a moment before he turned back halfway.

"The closest settlement is Strata, two days south of here by foot."

He stressed the last two words. The carts were broken, the horses dead, and there was no way that his small craft would support two. Unless she could sprout wings and fly, there was no other way than to walk, and the desert is a dangerous place to be if one strays from the road.

"The road winds south, through dunes, rock formations, and canyons. It passes near any oasis along the way that has been mapped, and some that haven't..."

Jin turned once more, jerking his left shoulder up to throw the weight of his burden a little higher as he held it draped over his shoulder.

"As for which direction is south... well..."

As twilight began to fall, the bite of the cooling wind was pierced by the sound of Jin's whistling as he walked southbound upon the desert road.

Jin would continue... whistling as he walked... He only had one hand free, and that was hardly enough to make decent music with an instrument, so whistling would do as he walked tirelessly along the road. Occasionally he would glance over his shoulder, looking back, but other than that he would simply continue walking until the sun sank below the horizon, and stars lit the night sky.

The interesting thing about the desert is that it can both be extremely hot and extremely cold on the same day. The sun boils anything that stands upon those burning sands during the day; but at night there is nothing to contain the heat or hold back the wind, and the temperature can drop to a chill very quickly.

Jin began walking slower, still whistling.

They were still several miles from where he suspected there would be an oasis. It had been a while since he had used the desert road, but he thought that he recognized a certain rock formation on the horizon; one that looked like an arm reaching into the sky.

*If the siren watching Ra'kar from a distance had an eye for such things, she may have noticed that the elven woman had been tracing and retracing a pattern on the ground with her footsteps.
If she hadn't however, she would shortly, for while the power that Ra'kar was drawing unto herself filled the garden as a whole, it was the most concentrated along these 'lines'.
Her body, twists and bends in fluid movements, almost as if she were boneless, her grace unhindered. Her enchanting song climbing to a rapid tempo, a haunting yet bewitching sound as she drops to the ground in kneeling position.
She holds her arms crossed in front of her chest, fans open and held by her shoulders...
Her pupils vanish, swallowed up by a myriad of flames as the air throughout this strange place suddenly becomes thick. Heavy with power and nearly impossible to breathe. The energy that flooded the area was so thick that one could imagine reaching out and touching it...
It lasted only for a moment though... The 'lines' Ra'kar had traced exploded with shimmering green light, the essence of Gaia poured into a visual seal. The green light blazed across the earth at the elf's feet, forming a pentacle of elvish design. The green energy pulsed a moment before it began to change in colour.
A bright crimson aura was harmonizing with the seal, taking in the energy and overpowering the green light until Ra'kar was left kneeling in a seal of Gaia, that was now rendered her own, and along with it... the power that her 'mother' had lent her.

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The pentacle represents the five elements: earth, air, fire, water,and spirit, or the five stages of life: birth, youth, adulthood, old age, and death.

The neverending line that forms the pentacle itself, represents eternity and rebirth.

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The elf's eyes remain unfocused and her body doesn't move with the exception of her ankle length hair being tossed about her in a crimson tempest, blown by the winds of power... and her lush lips, still echoing her song... calling.*

Hollowed out footsteps sounded, even as a slender male appeared, walking through the gardens without sparing a look in either direction. Nature had no effect on him.

His appearence was like that of a typical emo boy; complete with sad eyes.

However, appearences could be decieving, as he was apparently far stronger than Samuel, blocking away an attack from both Dain & Nahara together. Based on his attitude alone, he was presumably one of the few stronger 'devils' under Victor's command. When Vahn was being disturbed by his inner-self during their encounter he mentioned that at one moment Vahn was trash and the next moment Vahn was more powerful than him. Ezekiel was a very cold and callous figure, impaling his comrade Samuel on his arm in a simplistic effort to get his attention and bring him back to Babel.

This extreme action may have been a double incentive, both intimidating his foes and saving Samuel. Ezekiel had long since reported back to Victor, by withdrawing his right eye from its socket and shattering it with his hand, forming a mental link with them.

Quite some time had passed since then and now he found himself here.

"....?"

Sunstrike grinned back at Hono, enjoying a smile between the two of them, before his attention was caught by Vahn moving on ahead, and the clatter of Tellus' weapon against the floor.

Again he and Hono's eyes caught, and while he just shrugged in responce, walking next to the beautiful lady, there was a kind of sadness in him when he looked towards Tellus that'd be hard to miss.

"The longer we travel during the night," he replied to her, "the less we will have to travel in the heat of the day."

At least, that was what most people crossing the desert would say. But from the way that this Adrienne of the Desert was slowing down, it would seem she would not be able to go much further tonight.

Jin stopped whistling, the silence of the night quiet enough for his footprints along the rough road to be heard from quite a distance. "Are you tired?"