Without looking away from the predator woman he talks to the witch.  "He may be an ugly chse, but I aint gonna gack him without cause."

Standing up and turning to look around the woodline, he draws his trench coat aside to offer easy access to the mini gun.  "I be gettin out of this place, ifn any yus wants to come along fall in behind me."

Max snorted and rolled her eyes again. Yeah.  She did a great job of that earlier.  She glanced around.  She didn't like this man, but he was not dumb and while confident that she could best him, she was equally confident he would pose a challenge.  Thus, there was no need to challenge him unless necessary.

When she came with us and when she came with you, it was not in the same spot. I don't think the portal is stagnant. She said to Cinder with a glance at the others, not sure if they would follow or not.  She made no attempt to move, but watched, ready.

Aubria nodded, saying, "Alright, I'm coming with." Glancing back at Kelris, she added to herself, When I get my stuff back, I'll come back to help him. She turned around and drew closer to Cinder. When Max said the portal probably wasn't stagnant, Aubria replied matter-of-factly, "Of course it probably isn't. It's difficult for a magic user to place himself in exactly in the same spot of a location twice because of the shifting land."

The fire spit and crackled a bit, but the area was quiet.  To one side, the deepest dark still loomed.  To a third, the dark was slightly less dense and in the distance the spots of light like houses still flickered.  But in the other third of the sky, the dark was lighter.  The blue of pre dawn, but in all the time they debated, the light had not changed in that direction.

He knew Aubria was on board for getting out of there and this playboy as well would follow along, it was Max he didn't know about. "Ya just gonna lie there or ya wana join us?" His eyes narrow as he looks at her and makes a calculated decision.  "We all be doin better if ya be wit us, all of us, including your bad ass self."

He stands up straight and starts to look around, pulling out the .22 mini-gun and chambering a round.  He checks the battery and runs the barrels for a second.

Wordlessly Tauri took a couple steps toward Cinder, assuring himself that this man, too was competent and indicating that he would come along for the ride.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he still believed that this was a dream. It was simply too surreal for it to be anything else, but as time wore on he found himself more inclined to believe it to be reality. My dreams are never this...complex, anyway.

She glanced around not likily any of the options that presented themselves.  But she was getting restless. I'll come with... at least for a while. She shrugged nonchalantly and stood.  She glanced down at Kelris who was still out like a light.  We should leave him. She said matter of factly.

With a nod to Tauri and Max he glances down at the orc.  "I no fraggin know him.  Unless someone wants to and can carry his fat ass, I no see any choice."

He looks into the darkness and his eyes change in shape and structure, adjusting for the light.  "I kin lead us through this, but I cant see the portal.  Kin any of yuz?"

"Please tell me you're kidding. Even I'm not that heartless." Tauri said, and then frowned in Kelris' direction. I guess that's what makes me different from all the other CEA members. I actually care about what happens to other people. The concept made him proud. Plus, the ork didn't look too heavy. Certainly enough to cause a bit of trouble, but the boy couldn't weigh more than the equipment Tauri normally packed around. He walked over to the ork and hoisted the limp form onto his shoulders. Then he straightened himself and walked back to where he'd been before with steps that were obviously heavy, but lithe enough to show that the burden of Kelris' body was one Tauri could handle.

He grins at the predictability of the man.  He wasn't going to carry the slab of bacon, he needed both of his hands free.  With that taken care of, he takes the glove off of his hand, showing a low burning almost invisible blue flame.  The column of fire dies down and he turns to look at the others, his pupils slits and reflecting the light.  "I'll take point.  Keep all light hind me."

He looks at the three different directions debating on which way to start. "Which way?"

Tauri glowered in Cinder's direction. I hate acting like an adult, really, I do,  but with this crowd I don't have much of a choice. Stupid...
"Eh. You choose, Mister High-and-Mighty. I don't see the point. If we're stuck on a different world, what does it matter where we walk on it?" As soon as I get out of this mess, it's back to the beer, and no pills. He might've even tossed the canister away to prove his point, but both his hands were busy steadying Kelris.

Max watched the scene unfold with mild amusement, and fell in behind all others.  It was less that she cared about protecting these snippy ones than she didn't want to get glared at by Cinder, who would be the one who knew. Plus, it allowed her to be as far from him as possible.

Hey girly, you two wandered off once already, what'd you find? Anything helpful? She called to Aubria.

Smiling gratefully at Tauri, for once, she turned back to Max and replied, "There's some sort of creature down the darkest path. It said it was hungry, so... I don't think we should go down that way." As she took a step forward, she noticed a slight sound she hadn't heard before- a light clink from inside her golden disk. "That's weird," she murmured to herself as she held the disk horizontally and opened it. In one half was the sand her disk ran on when it communicated with others.

And on top of the sand was a diamond-looking gem about double the size of the usable end of a hammer.

Aubria's eyes widened. "Uh, I think I just figured out what she was looking for," she said in a normal volume voice to the others. "And I am so dead in more ways than one."

He doesn't even glance back at the others as he starts to move out towards what might be some kind of settlement.  He holds the mini-gun securely and scans the darkness, his eyes absorbing every last little bit of light.  He doesn't look back as he talks.  "No more noise  less you see sumtin.  And if'n ya give me any more lip pretty boy, I'll seal yur damn yap shut and pop yur blinkers."

Well, then. I consider my fate sealed. Tauri was tempted to stick his tongue out at the man, but couldn't suppress the odd feeling that he'd notice, even behind his back. He even considered telling the man to pop his own 'blinkers', but decided that, too, was a foolish choice, so he had to satisfy himself by merely rolling his eyes and adjusting Kelris' weight on his shoulders.

Closing her disk with a small click, Aubria turned to look at Tauri with the orc across his shoulders. "Here, let me help you carry him," she whispered, walking over to him and taking one of Kelris's arms. She hefted Kelris until she was supporting him under one arm and shoulder and Tauri was with the other. Aubria noted that Kelris was rather heavy and was mildly surprised that Tauri had been able to support the orc's weight.

Max rolled her eyes, not that it could easily be seen, but said nothing. Falling in at the end of the group and keeping an eye out from behind.  She would not have traveled toward what looked like a settlement, but then she had not volunteered to go first.  Of course, upon reflection, she had not volunteered for any of this exactly and found herself immediately a little more sympathetic to the silly young ones.  They did not seem used to such circumstances and her dislike of Cinder made her a bit sympathetic for the moment.

The surroundings are dark.  A slight breeze blows and there is a musical quality of it in the air.  A sound that reverberates like a series of gongs.

"What's that sound?" she asked softly, fairly certain none of the others knew, either. It seemed to her rather... eerie, yet peaceful. She couldn't make heads or tails of that fact.

He has to grin a little at the silence behind him.  A little grunting but that couldn't be avoided.  Having that woman Max behind him did bother him a bit, but again... unavoidable.  The noise of chimes was somewhat creepy, but he didn't slow and didn't bother wasting words responding to Aubria.  Continuing to move towards the possible settlement but angling slightly towards the sound.

A shimmering appeared before them and a figure appeared as if forming from the mist.  As it became solid, it was an adult woman, though she was not old.  Her hair was a mass of black curls and she wore flowing robes.  Fluttering around her appeared to be bright colored moths.

Ohmygawds. Her voice had the nasal grating quality of squawking sandpaper. I cain’t believe yous are wandrin’ thru the woods.  Don’t you folks know? It’snot safe out here, hon.  Yous guys need to come in. She nodded for emphasis her arms folding across her chest.

"Come in where?" Aubria asked the woman, looking around. As far as she could tell, there weren't any buildings. This woman seemed kinder than the sorceress. "And..." She paused, then decided not to ask her other question. She shifted Kelris's arm slightly, adjusting to his weight.

Leaning forward to whipser to the girl, Tauri and the out cold orc, I don't like this. She said. Never trust one who befriends the butterflies.  They're... flighty and disloyal. Useless in a fight. She growled.

"Well..." Tauri shifted his arm on Kelris' back so he could turn his head toward Max and return her whisper. "She hasn't tried to kill us yet. That's a plus, but if she does decide to, hopefully she's as--how did you put it?--useless in a fight as the butterflies."

Where? The house of course. She turned and there in the same shimmering way, a brick town house appeared.  Warm welcoming lights in the window, the door left open.  The smell of food and the sound of music wafting from within.  C'mon. She she gave a toss of her head.