Nothing was to happen if they all stood gasping at the portal, staring wide eyed and puzzled like lost puppies. Lillian looked at the selected few in front of her. They were chosen for their power and skill, not for the shock value or reaction they'd give. Lillian stepped past them, even past the mind reader and bowed to the king. "We'll never find your daughter staring at the thing." Lillian kept her head bent along with her body as she spoke, showing respect. "I'll be stepping through with or without the others and I plan on bringing your daughter home safely." With that Lillian stood straight. Her eyes filled with determination and aggression, she smiled sweetly at the king. This was the first sign of emotion from her, a genuine smile. "Please don't worry anymore my King." Lillian turned to the portal and in she went.

It felt like water, but you could breathe. The feeling lasted for only a second and then she was out, in the bright shimmering light of a enormous grass field. The grass was high, to her midriff, whisking in the wind as she stood alone. Lillian didn't mind it though, the wind was nice on her skin, and the sun felt good as well.

Lei walked up to the portal and looked it up and down. She didn't have a good feeling about it, but her chances of work were slimming, and she knew she had no choice. Lei had a very skeptical look on her face, but what other choice did she have? Turn down a chance to never have to work again and finally be able to take care of her father? Not a chance in hell... She thought.

With a face that made it obvious that she was bracing herself for any pain whatsoever, she walked through and came out a few feet away from the first woman to step through.

Username: _~Link~_

Name: Arthur Tenish

Occupation: Hunter

Personality: He is a kind man, trustworthy and willing to fight for others to his last breath. His bravery is that of a hero heard only in legends, but he can sometimes be too overconfident and misjudge an enemy by their appearance. When he is usually in the presence of beautiful women, he tends to show a flirty, but almost sickeningly smug side, yet he goes back to normal the instant hes turned down.

Appearance: He's about 5'9'' tall, is quite handsome, has long white hair, his eyes are red, he is of elven blood shown by his long ears, he also has a gold ring piercing in the left ear lobe. He wears a long, green, hooded cloak, as green as the forestry and grass, to hide himself from game when he is hunting, he wears a long sleeve shirt, a light tan color, also fingerless leather gloves, a dark brown color. He wears a leather belt with a golden buckle, the belt matching his gloves, on his belt he carries a small dagger in a sheath, a few bags made of tan silk to carry small things in as well as other necessities for hunting. He wears normal brown leather pants, loosely fitting around the legs, he also wears thick heavy hiking boots for long treks and tracking game. On his back he carries his bow and a quiver of his own custom arrows over his shoulders, used for hunting or for defending himself. His hawk friend Skye looks like this: [Skye]

Bio: Arthur was born in a small cabin with his mother and father, sadly, his mother didn't survive the birth, dying a few hours afterward. His father, Jacob Tenish took great care of his newborn son, slowly trying to move on from his wife's death, but, his elven mother, Amelia Tenish could be seen in Arthur, so he was happy every day with his son. As Arthur grew older, his father taught him how to hunt and to gather food for them both, he was also given a small baby hawk as a pet one day when hunting, since its mother had abandoned it, his father, knowing Arthur would take good care of him. Hunting soon became almost a hobby for Arthur and his new lifelong friend named Skye, by the time he was 18 though he had a certain thing go off in his mind, he wanted to become an adventurer and spent many hours exploring the forestry around his home. Jacob could only grow more proud in his son as he managed to become such a successful hunter in all his years of practice, however Arthur was still yearning for that adventure of a lifetime he always wanted to do.

To this current day, life went on like any other for Arthur and his father, but what Arthur did not know was this day, he was finally going to have that adventure he always dreamed of, with his faithful hunting assistant Skye by his side.

Age: 23

((Hopefully I'm not too late in joining you all))

Staring at the others surprised eyes, she snorted slightly. This only made her remember a time where she had to take down a necromancer. It had been quite yucky, with all the skeletons there kept appearing. But alas, she had learned in her time as a bounty hunter, not to be afraid of anything there seemed different. Most of the time, she also ended up nearly dead because of flying arrows and such, but her armor had taken the most hits.

Her eyes skimmed to the female there went in first, then to the next. They all looked pretty fragile. Placing her boots with metal under their feet, so she could stand even if it was muddy, she walked towards the portal, with her cape swishing after her. Not a single trace of fear was placed in her scared face as she came nearer the portal.

A small pit of excitement was beginning to form in her stomach, kind of like when she was fighting. A thing, she really loved to do. Taking a deep breath, you never know where such a portal ends, she went into it. Her eyes closed for a moment in all the dark, and other colours inside the dark, vortex. Then her face got warmed by the sun as she stepped outside on the meadow. Her black eyes opened sligthly to adjust in the pretty strong sun.

She took a few other steps away from the portal, so the others wouldn't bump into her. Before she skidded to a halt, her eyes concentrating on the ground. The princess couldn't be gone for too long, so the footprints of her kidnappers needed to be somewhere on the ground. Tucking up her hood on the cape, so she wouldn't get sun into her eyes, she begun to look around.

Her lips were set into a slight frown, a trait she had when she was thinking. Squatting down, she sat on a knee, while she runned her hand over the ground. These... princess thieves had been hiding their trail pretty well, but they had slipped sometimes, like right before her. She wouldn't say she was a proffesional in tracking, but she had learned something from being a bounty hunter. Still it would have been nice if they had a hunter with them.

Pressing her hand down into the footprint, she rose and followed it until she stopped with a more... animalistic print. It was large with several toes. So it would either had to be a big lizard or a dragon, she hoped for the first. She betted on the first, as they, if it was a dragon, would have flied. But still, it was upsetting, the footprint indicated that they were going a lot faster than the group would.

I knew I should have taken Devil with me, she thought frowning. Her stallion were a little extra goodie she had gotten from a farmer, when she had hunted down a criminal. It was the fastes and most pureblooded he had. Furthermore he was really beautiful, with noble traits in his face. If she needed to sell him, which she hoped she didn't, she could get a pretty high price.

[[No its not too late just joi in and pretend you have been there the whole time, we haven't gotten to the other land yet. Well some have. :D]]

I looked at the vortex. People had stepped through it. Someone must have went back so its not like its dangerous. I took a deep breath and stepped forwards. I looked at the king and bowed.

"You can count on me sire! I shall rescue the Princess, at whatever cost!" I said and then with a flourish I stepped through the vortex.

I shuddered it was like stepping under a waterfall, you felt all cold and went but a second later you emerged in the other side, in a long, lush grassy field, bone dry. I looked around and saw the others. I stepped towards them. Wading through the thick grass. It clung to my armour and tried to pull me back but I went forwards.

I looked around at this strange new world. The bright colours, the lonely field, the feeling of abandonmant that surrounds it. I stepped towards those who had allready travelled through the porthole.

"Right, so once everyone else comes through we shall begin our search for the Princess. Where do you think she is?" I said, giving the place another quick look over.

Ivan smiled and watched everyone go in and soon he was one of the last ones to go in. He then smiled widely and said "this will be fun" then jumped into the vortex as if he was jumping off of a cliff. It felt like the time he meditated under a waterfall and it brought back wonderfull memorys of him training. He landed in a grassy feild and smiled at it. He looked at the one girl and said "I think we hsould find the nearest village and ask questions, they might know soemthing."

Lillian eyed Ivan again before turning and walking, leaving the one girl to look for tracks. "I think he's right... We don't have time to look for foot prints." She understood she was being cold to the others but she wasn't really one to work with that many people. Eventually she'd warm up to them too, little by little she was sure of that but she wasn't about to let her guard down with a bunch of strangers lurking behind her.

Lillian stepped through the tall grass, her eyes scanning around the path in front of her and her ears open to any noise made. But then she paused... Lillian turned toward the others. "Maybe since we're actually all here now, we should formally introduce ourselves." Lillian bowed to the group of people behind her, when she stood straight she placed a hand on her chest. "I'm Lillian Mori, Assassin." She brushed back a few strands of blond hair as she awaited the others. Her little white skirt rustled in the wind.

Arthur had stayed quiet the whole time, all he could think about was his father the whole trip to the castle and within the room that held the portal. Skye screeched quietly, sitting on Arthur's left shoulder, he looked at Arthur with curiosity, wondering what was wrong.

"Are you sure about this son?" Asked Jacob in concern to Arthur, placing his hand on his barren shoulder, Skye let out a small, almost sad sounding screech, Arthur nodded his head. "Yes father, I finally have the chance to go on the adventure I've wanted in years." He pulled his father in for a hug, which Jacob returned quickly, hugging his son tightly. "I love you son..." Jacob uttered, sounding like he was about to start crying, "I love you too dad, thank you, I promise we'll come home safely and we'll celebrate. I promise..." He let his father go, "I'll see you soon dad... good bye" he gave Jacob a smile, which Jacob returned, "good bye son... I'll miss you."

"Me too dad... say good bye Skye" Skye let out a screech, then Arthur turned his back to Jacob and started to head off to the castle, Skye spread his wings and started to fly through the sky to the castle.

"Hey kid! Wake up!" Said a guard to Arthur, "huh?! Wha?!" Arthur uttered, he snapped out of his thoughts and memories, "you need to join the others in the portal, we can't wait forever!" Arthur shook his head, regaining his focus, he gave a firm nod which made Skye spread his wings and fly straight through the portal, out into the open grassy field with the others. When he entered the field a strong gust of wind blew past the others, he flew up into the sky, screeching, Arthur soon entered, his hood up and over his head, helping to keep the sun out of his eyes.

Arthur laughed slightly, "sorry about that, Skye seems to do whatever he wants sometimes..." Arthur came in just in time to hear everyone was introducing themselves, "my name is Arthur, Arthur Tenish, its nice to meet you all, hopefully we can be friends." He gave everyone a smirk underneath his shady hood, he was surrounded by women about his age, or perhaps older, he was going to like this adventure.

Ivan smiled when he finally got Lillian's name. His smile widen when he got Arthur's name. "it is nice to met you both, I am Ivan silver." he said happly. But when he saw the wind rustle her skirt he relized that she was kind of cutie. He hoped that he could become very good friends with her and everyone else.

Arthur began paying more attention to Skye as he traveled along the wind so high up, gazing over the grassy landscape, he jogged more toward his friend, seeing a difference in his behavior, Skye seemed to be stalking something in a large cluster of trees in the distance. "Skye spotted something!" Arthur shouted to the others, "maybe he found our culprits!" It sounded like an impossibility, but Arthur had a small bit of hope in his heart that it wasn't true, he didn't want the adventure he always dreamed of to end so soon. Soon Skye let out a screech, you could hear it echo all throughout the field, he dove down into the trees like a rocket, soon spreading out his talons, ready to attack prey. Skye then disappeared in the trees, leaves flying wildly into the air from where he entered the thick forestry, you could hear a loud, high pitched screech of pain and then nothing.

Arthur began to grow worried when Skye took a long time to reappear, so he put his thumb and index finger to his lips and let out a loud whistle, soon something burst from the cover of the trees, leaves flying wildly once more, it was Skye, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Skye was flying back to his best friend's side, Arthur squinted his eyes, it seemed like Skye was carrying something in his talons, soon Skye dropped what he was carrying before everyone. It was a dead bird, looked almost like a small owl, its wings limp and body practically mangled, feathers all over the ground when it was dropped. Arthur let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head, "I guess Skye was just hungry..."

Skye was picking at his prey, pulling off the feathers with his razor sharp beak and letting them fly off into the wind, "here my friend, let me help you" he pulled out the small dagger on his belt and got down on his knees to help de-feather the bird. Skye let out an almost angry sounding screech when Arthur reached for his prey, he pulled his hands back quickly, afraid Skye might snap at him. "I guess you don't need my help... oh well" He shrugged and placed his dagger back in its sheath, standing back up, he turned and faced everyone still by the portal. "We still have yet to know everyone's names, perhaps we should finish up our introductions before we get going" Arthur said, walking back to the group, letting Skye tend to his food in peace.

Raising, she looked over at the others, "If that is what we do, we should keep in mind, that this village could be laying a while away. Seeing as the kidnappers could ride chimeras-" she was nearly sure it was such creatures, " -they could be dozens of miles away, by the time we reach the village."

Her eyes narrowed at the thought, she was pretty proud to say nobody had escaped from her yet. Tucking the hood of her head, she glanced briefly at the others. "Salazar Zari, bounty hunter." She was, if she should say so herself, pretty famous in some parts of the country.

She was voting on setting after the trail, afterall something needed to make it. Looking back at the others who came out. She shrugged slightly and keeped her hood up.

((sorry to say but I won't be on for a week))

"It is a pleasure to me you" Ivan said as he bowed to Salazar. He had heard of her and had even watched from the shadows how she did her job. "your very famous." he said with a smile "oh and I forgot to say that I am a ninja." he siad but knew it didn't matter if he did say it. He was sort of famous but only because he left his mark on his kill and never left any clues as to who did it. But to him leaving no clue was half the fun of it and doing a good job was the other.

Lei looked to the others. The man with a hawk was a fair bit of eye candy. But it wasn't time to dawdle on who was the most attractive in the group. "Lei Hawkins. Mercenary and Inquisitor." She said as she placed her right elbow on the handle of the shortsword she had sheathed just above her buttocks. She then noticed that she was shorter than the rest of the group. Probably the youngest. She didn't know. Her eyes moved over to Arthur, making her words seem directed at him. "That is if there is a village. We could split up. Use the hawk to send messages should we find something."

I looked at everyone and nodded at each as they said their names. I smiled and said "It is a pleasure to meet all of you, well for those who were not there when I introduced myself I am Sharina, Sharina Frawst. Royal Regemental Warrior For The King Number 2213. Now I think that all your ideas are good, but I am posotive that the last thing we should do is split up here. We have no idea what this world is, who stole the princess, what creatures inhabbit this place or even where we are. We should stick together, get a bearing, follow it," I said loudly and clearly to everyone, as if I was addressing my fellow warriors as we were about to go on a mission of great inportance.

I looked around the fields again and blinked at the horizon, far in the distance.

"Look, all of you. Is that smoke coming from over there?" I asked staring at the distant grey clouds rising into the crystal clear blue sky. A blot on teh seemingly perfect landscape. I looked at the rest of them.

"Come on, we should go that way."

Lei blew a lock of hair that fell infront of her face away. She still strongly favored splitting up. We'd get more done and anyone that was actually worth something here would be fine... She refused to show discontent with the King's lackey, however. "Just brainstorming." Lei's Green eyes moved to the smoke. She could barely see it, but it was definitely smoke. That, or some weird magical monster that would prove immune to all their attacks. More likely the first. Lei shifted around uncomfortably as she moved gras away from her legs. "Perfect time to wear the armored skirt, Lei..." She muttered to herself.

Danae stared at the vortex. It had been several minutes since the last person had stepped through, and still she hesitated. She hated messing with other people's magic. Each spell was infused with the caster's personal brand of magic and no two kinds were the same. Every time she came in contact with someone else's magic, she felt contaminated, though someone without magic in their blood would ever feel it.

The seer could feel the King's stare burning into her back. She figured she had about 18 more seconds before he said something. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the portal. She felt the cold, water like rush of the spell fall over her skin. She also felt a far less pleasant cold seep through her skin, rushing through her veins, causing her own magic to flair white hot in protest.

Her feet met the grassy field beyond the portal, and she took a few unsteady steps to the side. Then, as she knew she would, Danae fell to her knees and vomited. When she was done, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, got to her feet, and walked to the place the rest of the group was standing.

"Sorry," she said. "Sometimes other people's magic doesn't agree with me." She realized that several people had already introduced themselves, an act of open invitation and thus easy for Danae to see in her mind's eye. "Oh, and I'm Danae. It's nice to meet you all."

"I agree, staying together is our best bet, who knows what could be out there in this unfamiliar place..." Arthur turned his head to where Sharina saw the smoke, "hmm... that smoke could have been caused by many things, perhaps its best if Skye takes a look first? As soon as hes done of course..."

Skye had quickly ate his fill of his prey while the others talked, leaving the remains behind he quickly lifted himself off the ground and slowly flapped his wings as he landed on Arthur's shoulder once more. "How was your meal my friend?" Arthur asked with a smile, Skye replied with an almost happy sounding screech, but then Arthur turned his attention to Danae after she had finished puking. He felt a bit concerned for her health, so he quickly reached into one of the bags attached to his belt, pulling out a small green bottle of liquid, he uncorked the bottle and walked over to her, offering Danae the fluid inside. "Here, drink this, it will help you feel better, its made from special herbs found only in high mountain areas from where I lived, my father made this cure for me when I once had the stomach flu. Its also made with mint for a refreshing flavor, it should take the bad taste out of your mouth."

He lowered his hood to show his face more clearly, his long white hair and also red eyes which looked black underneath the hood, his ears were long, but close to his head, not sticking out straight like tree branches. He gave Danae a sensual smile and look, "You know... ignoring what just happened, you're quite a beautiful woman, perhaps on this journey we could get to know each other more." The smug side of him was showing itself, its like he had split personalities, one was a kind, brave and friendly side, yet the other was full of itself, overconfident and incredibly flirty.

Skye let out a screech by Arthur's ear to snap him out of it, Arthur turned his head away from Danae and gave Skye a glare, but he looked back at Danae, looking a bit guilty. "I'm sorry Danae... I sometimes can't control my thoughts or feelings when I'm in the presence of women, forget what I said. He walked away, toward the smoke in the distance, stopping a few feet from the group, he stuck his arm out forward, Skye slowly scuttled across it, resting on his forearm, "Skye, go check out where that smoke is coming from, then come back and give me one screech if its a village or two if its not, understand?"

Skye nodded his head a few times, he had been with Arthur his whole life, so he managed to learn how to understand commands and English as he grew older, Arthur gave his friend a smile. "Alright then, good luck" Skye flapped his wings and flew off in the direction of the smoke, screeching a few times as he slowly grew smaller and more distant from the group.

Sal eyed the man suspiciously, either he was true or he tried to get on her good side. Studying his face, she decided he wasn't just trying to be toady. She really hated toady persons, they made her want to puke. Hearing the girl going on and on about her title, she snorted. A title meant nothing, when you were facing an enemy with a sword, only your skills could help you then.

Sal didn't really have anything towards titles, it was the people behind them. Usually they would walk around pretending to be best friends, then stick a knife in the others back, verbally, when they weren't looking. It made her want to puke too. She liked it, when people just said what they meant and didn't use long, mazed words. That would give her a headache. She wasn't stupid, her word use was just very.. common.

Seeing as she came from such low places, might have been the answer on why she didn't like noble persons. The many nobles she had been around, all had stamped on them lower than themselves, to get higher up. Then, when they were high enough, they would use words to take others places. That was her opinion and it would be damn hard to change!

Watching as the seeing person, made her stumpling way out of the portal, then puke, made her snort again. It seemed, they would need to use mounts or they would surely not reach them in time. Her thoughts about the others weren't that high, she judged based on the things she saw. And from what she saw, she wasn't impressed.

Watching the whole 'I'm-such-a-gentleman-that-I-help-her-then-hit-on-her' made her want to turn around and step into the portal again. They couldn't seriously be trying to hit on eachother, when they had a princess to rescue. Then again, Sal didn't really have a choice, so maybe they hadn't neither.

"We can't wait for the bird to come back, it could make them get too much of a headstart," she said sternly, then silently added to herself: If they doesn't have already. She hadn't failed a mission yet and didn't want to. Her position gave off a harsh and invicible impression. "Has the weakly gotten good enough to walk or should I carry her?" She snorted coldly.

((Just so you all know - I have nothing against your characters! Felt like letting you know, because of Sal's harsh nature. She's a pearl 83))

Lei could smell the vomit from where she was standing, which was not something she wanted to do. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked to everyone that had at least given ideas as to what to do. "We're already having leadership issues...Let's just vote. All who are up for staying together and heading to the smoke?" Lei raised her hand half-way. She figured that since her idea of splitting up wasn't going to happen, she'd roll with the second most logical thing.

Danae placed a hand to her chest and took a wobbly step towards Sal. "I don't know. I'm still so weak. Perhaps you should carry me."

She turned her gaze to Arthur. "Or perhaps you could carry me." She stepped closer to him, letting her hand trail down his arm. "A big, strong man like you, I'm sure you could manage it." She batted her eyes a few times, laying on the sappy damsel in distress act quite a bit more than strictly necessary. She reached for his hand and placed the bottle of green liquid in it. As soon as the bottle left her hand, she dropped the act, replacing the flirty eyes with a wry smirk.

"I'm actually feeling much better." She pulled a small pouch from beneath the sash around her waist. "Besides, I never leave home without a few sprigs of mint. Dead useful for spell work. Better keep that special minty tonic for yourself."

She almost added on, 'better keep the flirting to yourself as well.' After all, she had no interest in starting anything, especially at a time like this. But then again, it could be a fun distraction if this quest took longer than she thought it would. She had tried again and again to see into the future of how this might all end, but the future was difficult enough to see even without magic portals and sorcerers messing around with it. All she had seen so far were vague flashes of strange rooms. There was no telling how long it would take.

Danae turned to Lei.
"I like your plan. Let's head towards the smoke and stick together."
She looked back at Arthur. "Don't worry. Skye will meet us before we get there." As she spoke the words, she could see the events taking place in her mind. "He'll find us just after we enter a grove of trees, and he'll have good news. Or at least," she blinked, breaking the trance. "News that brings a smile to your face."

Arthur had kept his gaze focused on the direction Skye flew, even after he was no longer in sight, but it quickly moved to Danae when she spoke to him, he blushed slightly. "If I must carry you, then I shall without hesitation..." he grew confused when she returned the potion to him, he then looked down at the ground, nodding his head. Looking back into her eyes with a smile he placed the potion back into his item bag, "very well, I understand... thank you, actually, the herbs used for this potion are fairly rare and hard to work with, but the effort is worth it." He looked at her, confused once more, its as if she wanted to say something but she never did, he shrugged it off though, it must not have been important enough to bring up.

Meanwhile, Skye had flown straight over the source of the smoke and spotted a large village of wooden huts, a giant cabin on the far north end seemed like a mayoral office, where the smoke came from was a giant campfire in the middle of the village. Skye let out a screech and turned around, heading back to the others to deliver the news.

Arthur's ear twitched, he heard Skye's screech faintly, being carried upon the wind, he turned and looked at the others, "come now, we must hurry, Skye is waiting for us!" He started to jog toward the direction of the smoke, his large hiking boots ripping up the grass with every step. Arthur whistled once more in hoping to attract Skye closer so he doesn't miss the others and himself, but he was too far away to hear, so he ran faster, not bothering to wait for the others who could catch up.

[[sorry I was away so I have only really skimmed through the posts I have missed so i appologize if I have missed anything vital]]

I looked at everyone as voices began to get higher and ideas began to get sillier. I shook my head and then spoke loudly so that I could be heard above the general rabel.

"OK, vote if you want but if you people are really set on splitting up, which I persoanlly don't think is such a good idea, but if yes we should go in pairs. And if we vote we have to go now the princess could be anywhere an dwe are running out of time! Plus we can't just wait for the bird to return, as muchfaith as I have in your bird as has been said before it could allert the enemy! Now people we need to make someone in charge and we need to come up with a plan! And fast!"

I looked at them all, my eyes cold and urgent.

I then looked as the rabel started again. News of the bird meeting us and news of whether or nit we were going or not. I shook my head at these people. Honestly, was this the best in the land? I also kept an eye on Danae. She seemed quite odd. Sick one minute and flirty as anything the next. I looked at her, and kept looking at her. I then let my eyes swivel to everyone else.

"OK, are we set to go?" I asked them, loudly still so I could be heard.