Jake nods.  "Good point, Raichel.  Let's follow our shadows for a bit.  It'll give me a decent idea of where we are by process of elimination, and it should be easy to find our way back if need be.  And with the sun at our backs, we'll be able to see ahead clearly."

About half an hour later, the group is able to confirm that the scenery is not an illusion. This place is as vast and remote as it looks.

"I've been taking careful measurements and I've noticed our shadows changed size, slighty.  And we haven't reached an invisible wall.  Which tells me we're almost certainly not in a pocket dimension.  But for as big as this wasteland is, we may as well be.  I can pinpoint where in the world we are tonight when the stars come out, but that won't teleport us home...  If only I had some ritual components."

Mara says, "There's still that place that had ritual components for sending a message to your friends... which turned out to be misleading. But still! There are more components there."

Jake thinks on it.  "I may be able to scavenge enough residium from the various magical things we've encountered by disenchanting them.  Or we might find another useful scroll.  Worth a shot, I guess."

He turns to head back.  "Thanks, Mara."

Mara smiles at Jake. "You're welcome."

Fast-forwarding a bit. The group is able to find a means of re-contacting Jake's friends. This time, Jake hears Velocity's voice in his head. "Jake... can you hear me, dear?"

Jake of course was sure to give the location according to his star calculations in the message.  When contacted by Vel he gulps and tells the group, "Velocity is contacting me telepathically."

In his mind and with his voice (so the others can hear) he answers, "Yes, Mrs. Bard.  I've been kidnapped by a powerful mage named Wrashk.  There are other kids with me.  I just sent our location to Eli.  How Wrashk teleports here, I don't know.  I haven't found a teleportation circle, much less a sigil sequence."

Velocity responds with, "Ah... Wrashk. I know that name. What a bother... anyway! Just sit tight, sweetheart. Help is on the way. Is there anything else you learned in your time there that I should be made aware of?"

Jake looks relieved.

"She says help is on the way!"

He answers Vel, "Y... yes.  I'm pretty sure Wrashk is targeting you and your family.  Right now."

Vel responds, "....me and my family? But why?"

Jake informs the group, "Velocity is surprised Wrashk is interested in her family."

On the one hand, goddess of deception.  Feigning surprise would be as natural as breathing for her.  On the other...  Wrashk.  Not likely a paragon of truth.

"He claims to believe that there's more to you than meets the eye.  He told me you're a goddess in disguise.  Admittedly, I don't know if he was just messing with me or just being an arrogant villain who reveals his evil plans."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Sun 14 Feb 2016.

The group is hanging on Jake's words.

Vel says, "Oh... well thanks, Jake. You don't have to worry about Wrashk messing with your mind for much longer."

Just then, a portal opens with Velocity on the other side. She appears to be in some dark, dungeon-like room and beckons to Jake. "Come." she says aloud, able to be heard audibly now.

Jake is still nervous about Vel, but he's not about to turn down a rescue.

"Thank you so much!"

He waves the others to follow and hurries through.  "C'mon!  Quickly!"

JUST as the last of them makes it through the portal, Wrashk appears and says, "Wha? What's going- Velocity? Wait! Noooo!" and the portal shuts.

Vel hugs all the children. Including Jake.

Jake tries not to let it show that he was terrified when Wrashk showed up, but his wince and gasp are dead give-aways.

"Thank you."

He returns the hug but is quick to point out, "We need to get word to the others ASAP!  No reason for them to be risking themselves to rescue us now."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Sat 20 Feb 2016.

Word is sent and soon, the group gets to meet up with the others. Antoinette runs to Jake to hug and kiss him. Jake's other friends wind up swarming him as well, if less kissy-face than his sister.

Jake is in tears and returns the hugs and kisses.  "I was so worried you'd all wind up caught too.  I'm so happy to see you're safe."

Lucky is misty-eyed, tail wagging, and smiling to see such a heartfelt reunion.  "We should get these pretty girls back to their families.  And this beautiful boy too."

He whispers to Angel, "I'm thinking he's a candidate for future brother-in-law."

Eli, Maverick, Miranda, Liberty, Angel and Antoinette busy themselves with hugging Jake or passing him around.

Jakes parents are soon to join the party and soon the room is filled with adults.

Angel blushes and says, "Lucky... we just met this guy. And besides, you've said that about Eli, Maverick and Jake."

Timothius blushes. "Thanks for the compliment, but I'm already married."

Raichel nods, "Not to confuse you, but he's my dad. Wrashk used some powerful magic on him to turn him into a kid like the rest of us."

Everyone present is amazed in their own ways. Which means some show signs of fear, that Wrashk could just do that... others jaw-drop. Others still stroke their chins and even smile some as if pondering the nicer implications of a youth spell.

Timothius says, "But he's certainly right about getting people back to their families. My daughter and I may be together, but the rest of these girls are far from home... at least, I'm assuming."

Serenity says, "Yup."

T'shock sniffles, having a pouty-face that looks like she was trying not to cry. "I miss my mommy..."

Tam says, "It's OK, T'shock. We're safe now. Just a few more days and I'm sure we'll all be seeing our families."

Mara-Kai says, "I think it might be a good idea to send word to our homes to meet us here, if possible. To keep Wrashk from kidnapping us again, we should house ourselves near the more powerful people like Velocity here."

Jake blushes to be made a group plushie to be passed around, but is grateful for the comfort.  His trip to the Shadowfell didn't harden him as much as he thought.  He's intrigued by the spell on Timothius and guesses, "Probably a variation of the baleful polymorph spell.  Which means none of the advantages of youth, but all of the drawbacks plus more."

Lucky is super embarrassed about even thinking of matching his sis with a married man so he hugs her to hide his face and mews.  He whispers to her, "I'm sorry.  I was just thinking, 'What could be more perfect for Angel than an angel?'"

He's filled with sympathy for the poor pouty girl and offers her a hug.

"Aww.  I know how that feels.  Take heart.  You're among heroes!"

Angel reaches behind herself to pet Lucky and says, "Heh... thanks for the thought. He is rather cute." she turns to kiss Lucky's cheek.

Timothius nods to Jake. "Whatever the spell, I'm confident your specialists will figure it out." He then watches Lucky offer T'shock a hug. T'shock is surprised and walks over to get hugged. Timothius then walks over to Lucky and reaches to pet him with an endearing smile. "As mentioned; thanks for the compliment."

Antoinette says, "There are many rooms at my house. You could stay there."

Her parents look like she just pressured them into suddenly allowing a bunch of children staying at their home, but they relent.

Lucky mews and returns Angel's kiss and pet.  To T'Shock he gives a happy friendly smile when she accepts his hug.  Timothius gets a bashful smile and ear-flick in response to his pet.

Ant's offer has him forget all about his embarrassment.  He nods excitedly to her with a bright smile.  "That's a great idea!  A sleep-over sounds like so much fun!"

Jake nods to Timothius.  "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

To Eli he suggests, "The sooner we get started, the better.  It might be something that gets harder to dispel as time goes on."

Shortly, the kids are all ferreted to Jake/Ant's house.

The kids are all separated into groups. While they are permitted to do the "sleepover" thing and all wind up sleeping in the living room, they are also assigned rooms. There are two guest rooms, each with two beds.

As amazing as all the other kids are, Lucky figures the only way he can really contribute is with friendly hugs to help people feel more at ease.  So he's especially huggy with everyone.  Outside that, he's eager to get to know the new girls and asks them lots of questions.

Jake tries to avoid the topic of Velocity.  Or anything else that happened.  He focuses on trying to dispel the curse on Timothius.

The new girls, meanwhile, are happy to be able to talk with others without fear of helping one of Wrashk's many schemes.

Serenity is very bunny-like in that she just wiggles her nose when cuddled, going somewhat limp like a plushy.

Clair noms Lucky's nose when he hugs her. OM!

Tam just gives a gentle hug back.

Mara-Kai is slightly surprised and pats Lucky as if she doesn't know how to deal with hugs.

T'shock squeezes Lucky, blushing, and acts like she hasn't had a hug in a long time.

Raichel smiles, hugs Lucky back, picking him up off the ground! But also tries to show him how to break someone's arm or put someone into a grapple.

Timothius purrs when hugged.

Antoinette smiles softly and hugs back, laying her head on his chest.

Miranda blushes when hugged, but pets the kitty.

Eli is more than happy to receive hugs from Lucky, despite being busy. He simply smiles brightly and rubs cheeks with before continuing work.

Maverick proves his cuddle-hound status and reacts similar to Eli, with a less emphatic smile.

Liberty returns hugs with buddy-hugs.

Angel, like Serenity, wiggles her nose. But returns the hug rather than just going limp like a plushy.

Nobody thinks to dig concerning Vel... sort of. Angel can see Jake is preoccupied with something more than magic research. Eli, of course, is helping Jake as much as possible.

Angel walks over to Jake. "What happened while you were there?"

Jake reacts like Tam to Lucky's hug.  Lucky is so happy his hugs are well received.  Everyone gets purrs.  Plushy bunny gets fuzzy rubs, cuddles, and pets!  So does anyone else he thinks he can get away with it with like Eli, Timothius, Miranda, T'Shock, and Mav.  Puppy nom makes him squeal and giggle and he gladly noms back!  Mara, Jake, Lib, and Tam get buddy hugs and compliments such as pretty hair for the girls.  Rai's bear hug and lessons has him cheering "Whee" and complimenting her fitness and skill.  Ant gets a daddy cradle along with kiss on top of her hair.

Jake thinks carefully about how to answer Angel.  "Surprisingly little, considering the kind of nasty villain Wrashk is.  The boy that was there before me...  he didn't last according to the girls.  I never got to meet him.  I guess Wrashk was too busy or just wanted me to sweat for a while rather than get to torturing me right away.  I shudder to think what the girls must have endured...  I'd really rather not dwell on that.  I'll just focus on breaking this curse."