Valdar and Astralis

~History~ Aeons ago, Tarsanis was an Archangel driven mad by the explosion of the Spire of Damnation. After trying to summon his fallen master using black rites, his soul was torn away by a goddess protecting her people. His spirit wandered between worlds for centuries trying to find his soul and return to life. Meanwhile, Valdar was born on Terra – an elf with an unusual talent for black magic and a periodic illness that would incapacitate him for weeks with strange dreams and visions. He first made contact with the dreamer after summoning something that tore three drow assassins apart and left him wandering in the garden stark naked. You dont want to know. Really. In any case, that started his apprenticeship with the Dreamer. Valdar was forced to confront the spirit of Tarsanis, who wanted his soul back and succeeded in destroying the dread spirit once and for all. Several years of self learning followed, with occasional lessons with his master and an extended visit to Norrath. Valdar was finally tested by the Dreamer in June, 2455. His old body was destroyed, and his current form forged in the raw fires of creation and destruction. He has aged little since then.

~Valdar~ ~Brief Description~ Valdar is a planewalker child, but recently returned to the pen from his final change. His form is that of an elf child of around 5 or 6 with flexible ears that stick up well over his head. Most of his time is spent collecting, polishing or otherwise playing with shiny objects and toys. Other times, he can be seen studying some book or the other, be it a bed time story or complex magical theory. He is almost your average child if you ignore his unusual magical abilities.

RUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNEEE SIGHTING! *bounces*

The trolls never noticed as the others vanished one by one into the side room. They had larger problems. The battlefield was strangeley quiet without the groans of the injured and dying. Another scream split the silence, suddenly cut off as Bubble brought it's massive jaws down on the skull of the Troll it had just tore apart at the waist. Seeing the demon distracted, one of the less bright creatures leaped at the apparently undefended child standing on it's shoulder. Bubble did not even bother to turn from it's meal, swiping the troll out of the air as one would a bothersome insect. It splattered against the wall and slid down in a mess of blood and organs. There was a ring of gore nearly four feet high around the demon. This did not stop Appy as she bounced neatly over the slippery pile and ran between Bubble's legs untouched. The Troll who followed was not as lucky. *** Sailing towards a rampaging demon was not an sport for the faint hearted. It was impossible to tell if Daryl went pale under all that fur, though Bubble noted a definate expression of relief on his face as he sailed past with Valdar in tow. The demon's eyes narrowed for a moment, decided his master would be safe enough with the mortal, then turned back to it's still twitching meal. It vanished, quite literally, from under it's nose, as did the remains of at least twenty other trolls. The demon bit into empty air, and roared in rage. "Hihi Puppy! What'cha doing here? Shush, Bubble!" The demon shut up immedetly, and sat down with a crash. "Uncle Gyr!" Valdar cried, distangling himself from Daryl and running over to hug the half-elf. Then he turned to look at the others emerging from the room in amazement. "Hihi! Wow, you found an rescued them! What happened to the room?" "Er -" Gyrfalcon paused for a moment and thought very carefully. "That was Bubble." The little elf immedetly rounded on his demonic pet. "Bad Bubble! You had to go make a big mess, didn't you?" Gyrfalcon and Sweetcherrie shared a slightly alarmed look. "Valdar, do you remember what happened?" The little elf gave his uncle a curious look, before answering. "I think I was playing hide'n'seek with Appy (Hi Appy!), then I fell asleep. Bubble must have brought me here an messed everything up. Bad Bubble!"

Jabbering jesters jinx jittery Jaguar jurors, juggling judges jump joyfully

Vicious ventreloquists vixens veto vexed vipers veiled view, vanish.

Salicious sticky samurai sunders several sternums, subsequently sincerely sorry.

*grumbles* wish they'd open up server transfers to anywhere. . . my warrior isn't going to move, but I could shuffle my mage o'er to muck around

Pretty pink ponies pranced playfully, pillaging purple prune pancakes.

Badges badges badges badges badges Quill! Quill! badges badges badges *gets yanked away by one ear*

Great galloping gorrilas gagged, guzzling green gorg - "GAH! ghastly!"

The little Planewalker froze. A sudden wave of intrusion made Valdar's eyes narrow for an instant. His inner defenses brushed aside the weak attack easily, but it startled him. "Woooah! Did you feel that?" Silence was his only answer. Valdar blinked a few times to make the world shift back into solidity, and looked around. The sunny glade had vanished, replaced instead by the gloom of deep forest. It was utterly silent, without the normal sounds of the woods. The small elf turned around slowly on the spot. "Ummm, Appy? Are we playing hide and seek now?" There was no answer. Clear blue eyes flickered with a shadow of doubt as he considered switching to magesight or mindvision to search for the others. "Appy?" He spun around to look at Bubble. "Did ya see where they went?" The enormous demon shrugged, growled something in it's demonic tongue that made both of the little elf's ears stick straight up. "Summoned?!" A moment later, the empty glade melted back into the thick fog. *** They arrived in the midst of a chaotic battlefield. The small Planewalker stood on Bubble's shoulders, perfectly balanced on the rippling muscles of the eight-foot tall demon foot soldier. He seemed to hold himself differently. Perhaps it was the unsheathed Katana held in one hand, with blazing silver flames reflected in the steel. Bubble roared as it smelled blood, a challenging cry of insatiable rage and hunger that did not _quite_ match the dozens of shiny ornaments attached to it's body. The melee froze with the exception of Gyrfalcon, who skewered one of his three opponents and staggered back to a ready position, bleeding. Nor could Tzimfemme stop the nail-studded plank's graceful arc that ended with a sickening splat in the side of another Troll's head. No one was close enough to see the clear blue eyes of the Planewalker momentarily fill with red clouds. His expression remained absolutely neutral as he calmly addressed his mount. "Bubble. . . Feed." The demon grinned beatifically as twin midnight blades slid from their sheathes with a menacing whisper.

Valdar stared at the were-owl for a moment. “Aww, you mean it’s all not real?” The owl-turned-human nodded, still somewhat dazed, and Valdar’s ears drooped in disappointment. Just then, Bubble gave a low rumble, startling both Patham and Appy. The sky changed hue, from cheerful blue to a threatening red, and small tendrils of smoke started to rise from the ground. “Stop it!”-Valdar commanded, reaching for a small bag tucked under his belt. A terrible chorus of despairing squeaks filled the air as the little elf reached in and withdrew a handfull of glowing orbs, which he offered to the demon. The demon tipped the small handful of mice souls into it’s fiery maw with undisguised greed. The ruckus died as Valdar stuffed the bag back under his belt. “Feeding time.” he explained apolageticly. They stared at him. “I guess that kinda makes sense” He admitted. “Reality cant hold on properly so close to the madness so it bounces around what’s inside people ’s heads!” “You mean they’re stuck inside their dreams?” Appy asked. “More like nigntmares” Patham muttered. Without waiting for the others, Valdar bounced towards the nearest tree, and poked it hard. “Lets see what it really looks like!” Reality around them evaporated into mist. “Ohhh.”

Kitanue wept. Valdar frowned at the useless trinklet in his hands. The golden fire surrounding the cup covered the elf's entire body, giving him a blazing aura of chaos. Nevertheless, it was not the grail. He admired the golden finish for a moment longer before pocketing the cup. The light vanished at once, and he turned to regard the grieving angel impassivley. Even as he watched, another gray feather drifted from her wings. She ignored him, continuing to weep in the corner, head resting on the pommel of the white Katana with flames reflected in it's blade. For a long moment neither said anything, surrounded by the vast, but useless wealth of worlds. Valdar seemed to take a deep, rattling breath, before speaking gently. "Kithane Talamesc`Ruthen" The Angel suddenly snapped out of her greif with a startled squeak. She looked at him fearfully, frozen in place. "I do not command you, Kitanue. I just called you." He looked up to meet her eyes. "There are many mysteries woven around you it seems, Kitanue Talesia of the first Cohort of Angels, however out of practise you are. I'm sure many, myself foremost would like to know what happened here today.” The angel lowered her eyes and began to speak.

The characters you can contact me on are: Kitanue, Alywen, Valdar, or Kenami. Unless I'm on some really obscure character I play every 6 months or so that is. I'll usually respond to any whisper that does not begin with "BUY CHEAP GOLD!!!..." unless I'm hip deep in trolls or something, so if I dont respond n 5 minuites, poke me again

Well, Shiny is complete, save the epilogue, whee \^_^/. Dont expect that really soon (though who knows?). There _may_ be a new (continuing) story after that, but I'm not too certain if that will come to be. PS: If you find the *'s confusing the fight scene (it was sort of meant to be), please post your displeasure and stuff here I can post the two sections of the fight apart here, so you can make out what's happening to who, when.

Valdar blinked twice, then stared. The angel that stood before them could have been Kitanue's twin sister, if not for the oily black wings on her back. She was clad in heavy obsidian plate that left the head bare, her once beautiful face made pale and twisted into cruelty by the falling. A Katana of obvious power was gripped in her armored fist, with white flames reflected within pale metal. The inside of the vacuole had been crafted into a gothic basilica, far larger than it looked from outside. No pews lined the floor but each alcove contained a single statue of heroic proportions for past champions of the Holy Grail. Dim light seeped through twenty-seven dusty stained glass windows, each representing one of the grail virtues. In the distance an altar stood bathed in light from above, obscuring what lay on it. "What have we here? a high mage- A present for Ar'feluth hm?" Someone- or something hissed in pleasure. One of Valdar's senses suddenly alerted him to the presence of a powerful planar creature in the chamber. Both ears spun into a ready position and he hastily began re-weaving his wards, drawing deeply from his mana reserves. "You have much gall, sister. I really wasn't expecting an all out assault after all these years. How on earth did you escape Nekkeroth? That fool swore he left the two of you dead in his bed last year." "A gift, Kaithila. A gift from our old master." The expression of the Fallen Angel tightened. "Take the mage. I'll deal with the harlot." "So he chose you after all, much good it did him." Kitanue gave her a thin smile. The two Angels stared at each other for a long moment, black knight against bloodsplattered Amazon. Kaithila quivered in rage, plate creaking as she shifted her weight slightly. Kitanue's knuckles paled as her grip tightened, but she continued to stare back in cool defiance. The first strike happened so fast Valdar never saw it. In an instant, the dark angel had closed the distance and cleaved the empty space Kitanue had occupied a moment before. She spun in a flurry of feathers to block Kitanue's sweeping counterstroke. An explosion of light and the gray angel leaped backwards, grinning. * A large shadow moved in the dark cupola, and dropped gracefully. The demon's crown burst into fire as it's feet slammed into the ground and strode towards the elf - a minor prince of the abyss. Its face was hidden in the unnatural darkness of a rough iron visor. Long spikes adorned its heavy armor, somehow not hindering movement. It closed the distance between them steadily, and an enormous bladed mace rose to crush the apprentice planewalker. * "You're not worthy to bear our master's blade, sister. The very blade rebels against your tainted hand!" * Rather than take the blow square on, Valdar dodged to one side, releasing both earblades as he did. The demon prince twitched its head sideways, and the blades cut twin fissures in the visor. It roared and swung the mace in a backhanded motion that smashed into Valdar's wards. He flew across the floor, losing his sword and smashing a sphere shaped imprint into the walls. Raising his hands, a bolt of pure lightning split the air between elf and demon. The demon's charge faltered a moment - long enough for Valdar to roll free and summon his sword. * She responded with a flurry of blows that pushed Kitanue back. The two angels spun in the same instant, Kaithila's bladed wings sweeping around with lethal force against Aurel's blade. Then she staggered back with a stunned expression, brought a hand up to touch her bleeding face. Kitanue pressed forward to attack from the flanks but barely avoided being bashed by her opponent's wing. * Molten metal trickled down the creature's sundered armor, not slowing it the slightest. The next sweeping strike smashed through a decorative column to dent one of Valdar's wards. He ducked the next cleave and lunged under the prince's guard, but his unholy blade merely glanced off, leaving a minor scratch. Muttering a few choice curses, he rolled free and released his earblades again. One was parried in a shower of sparks, sent spinning into one of the columns where it stuck, quivering. The other embedded itself in the demon's armor. Enraged at the slight wound, the demon swung it's enormous mace with shocking speed towards Valdar's ready sword, shattered the black blade in one fell blow. * Candles flickered in the sudden gale as Kitanue flapped her wings and flew backwards. A trickle of fire poured from the wound in her leg as the other angel rushed forward with a roar. The gray angel seemed to cower in panic for an instant, completely exposing her side and taking another cut to the forearm. * He stared for but an instant at the now useless weapon, and threw it at the creature, slowing it long enough to back away and summon a blazing staff of magefire. The demon prince smashed it aside and crushed half his wards in the same blow. Again, it slammed the mace against Valdar's fading protection, pummeling a semi circular dent in the flagstones. Just as the last of Valdar's wards spluttered and broke, the elf unleashed a mental blast that sent the prince staggering backwards. Dazed, the demon launched a wild backhanded blow that caught Valdar in the shoulder as he tried to slip behind. The elf was thrown across the chamber, leaving a red streak on the floor until he crashed against a column. "That's going to leave a scar..." * As Kaithila strode forward for the kill, the gray angel's wings swept in from her blind side, obscuring her head for an instant. The fallen angel suddenly stiffened and faltered, blade cleaving the stone floor as Kitanue gracefully danced around her. She let the blazing Katana fall and jerkily brought her hands to the plain steel knife stuck in her temple. Her eyes glazed slightly as she tore the blade from her skull, and looked at it disbelievingly. Then she turned slowly to face Kitanue. * He forced his mind clear just in time to see an enormous fist close on his voidspun chainmail. The demon prince picked the elf up easily and brought him directly to face the darkness behind it's visor. "That's right demon. . .closer" Two tiny flames appeared in the blackness, infinitely deep and growing brighter. A howling gale tore at the wards around Valdar's soul as it brought him closer to the fire. When his nose was within inches of the twin holes to the heart of the abyss, he suddenly grinned. Faster than the eyes could follow, both ears- which had been lying limp, lashed forward into the visor. Valdar squeezed the final quontas of magical energy from his reserves, and the back of the demon prince's head exploded in blood and gore. * Kitanue’s voice was almost sad behind centuries of rage. "A whore thaught me that, traitor." Aurel's blade flashed triumphantly as it cleaved the fallen Archangel from shoulder to hip.

"You really have no idea where you're going, do you?" Valdar demanded angrily. A grin was his only answer as Kitanue neatly gutted another demon. Tentacled shapes reeled in the distance, sillouheted against the harsh light of the Abyss. Another squad of demons charged at them with an earth shattering roar. Unlike the lesser creatures above, these were the rank and file of hell's forces - bulging muscles rippling beneath red skin as they bore down on the pair. Valdar grunted the words of a spell, and pointed an ear at the nearest attacker. Two demons suddenly froze in their path, cracked and crumbled to dust that was blown backwards. Kitanue rushed forward with her ears laid back, decapitating one and kicking another in the groin. Her wing flashed over a third, and the creature staggered backwards trying to hold in its entrails. Valdar stamped up in irritation and clubbed the bent-over demon with a maul of pure force. His ears blurred, and the flash of a blade flew forward. A demon died clutching it's throat and another's head jerked backwards, eyes already dimming before a third of it's head slid off. The elf's ear absently snapped out to receive the blade, and sent it whirling into the melee again. "Over there! The vacuole!" Kitanue shouted over the din. Valdar blocked a blow with his black sword, and unleashed a psychic blow that sent the surviving demons into terminal convulsions. Only then did he squint into the reddish glare. Perhaps a hundred demons milled around a hemisphere that somehow managed to absorb the hellish light to remain a solid black. It looked out of place amidst the demonic architecture, with no leering spires with gargoyles perched on them, nor twisted half-alive walls of tormented souls. The small army of demons spotted them - a vanguard for their prize while the rest stampeded wildly in the surface world above. They saw the two figures, too small to be demons - one radiating the raw power of the paths, the other surrounded by an aura of flawed sanctity. To a demon, they charged. Valdar turned to look at the angel with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged, raised her blade and rushed at the wall of horns and red skin. Blue wards blossomed into existence around them, and Valdar pointed his corrupted sword at the charge. A pulse of white energy flashed down the blade and smashed the front ranks apart. Burning body parts rained down on the survivors, but the stampede never faltered. Another pulse followed an instant later, ripping through the flank. The two charges met. Kitanue slammed into the broken stampede like a small tornado and plunged deep into their ranks, leaving broken bodies in her wake. Valdar's eyes narrowed in execration as he aimed at the other flank trying to close around the angel. A black orb flew from his free hand, striking through to the middle of the vanguard. It exploded soundlessly, with a pressure wave too low to be heard. A cloud of tiny razor sharp shards turned a score of demons into a bloody mist and ripped through dozens more. Only then did the elf charge. A few endless minutes later he was by the angel's side, the two retreating backwards towards the doorless vacuole. The surviving twenty demons were veterans, and pressed hard while spreading out to wear down their wards. The shield he had woven around Kitanue flickered uncertainly as another blow slammed into it. Valdar grabbed her shoulder and dragged the angel backwards into the black barrier. Pain stabbed into the elf's brain as the last of their wards sheared away, and the two passed beyond the reach of time. *** A feminine voice greeted them. "Why hello whore."

{Space reserved for future post}

The pulsing red light continued to grow brighter as the cracks propagated. Appy and Valdar stared at the broken button with an air of expectancy for a long moment, waiting for the inevitable and cataclysmic explosion. They were not disapointed - The entire chamber vaporized in an instant, as did most of the fortress. Valdar "oooh"ed at red shinies as they mingled with green sparkles in a purple haze, and Appy cheered. Secondary explosions rocked the Planewalker's shield, adding pink, yellow and green hues to the conflagration before dying out. Bubble merely sighed another jet of flame as the two children clambered back onto its shoulders. "Well? Now what?" Valdar asked brightly. Appy frowned, trying to remember what they were supposed to be doing. "Ummm, lemme think. Oh yeah, we came here to resc-" She got no further as the grey fog rushed in to fill the void where the fortress once stood. Latching on to the children's thoughts, the world around them immediately resolved itself into rolling plains of grass, under a grey sky. What caught their attention however was the REDDER and SHINIER button sitting right where the old button had been. "Another bouncy button!" they both exclaimed, leaping off the Demon's shoulders and on to the button. Unlike the ancient button they had been jumping on, this button was brand new, and clicked and clacked crisply. At the apex of one of his bounces, Valdar looked up. "Hey, WOW look at the sky!" Appy looked up, lost her balance and did a backflip to land on her feet. "Hey, it's Myn-no wait, that's Gyrfal-ummm- wave!" "Hiiiiii!" Valdar shouted as a visage of uncle Gyrfalcon, Mira and Knight gaping in astonishment at them. A heartbeat later, the image vanished, and a startled owl as big as the sky hooted in alarm and careened off-sky. A battle raged across the heavens for an instant, before being replaced by a hooded lich. Appy squealed in alarm as an enormous eye blotted out the sky. It was a metaphor of course, but Valdar waved cheerfuly at it anyway. Moments later it was gone, replaced by Sweetcherrie again. She looked up from the piece of paper she was holding in surprise before vanishing.

*Valdar sits giggling on the edge of auntie Yui's mile long scroll with a silver quill. He gently poked out individual letters from different sentences (grossly mispelling them) and dropped them to the bottom to add: "No geld yet!".*

Can't see the AVV either. Checked from home (firefox) and campus (IE). (Edit) - oops, I r dum (about fast reply)

The Pen has returned! will to live returning! 3 cheers for might Yui! *Sleevetugs* can we have earemotes now pleaseplease?*

Valdar sat very still for a moment, eyes reflecting the dark blue clouds of the Astral as he sorted through the many lines of magic passing through the pen. The Dreamer's magical field blazed in his mind's eye, obscuring the lesser traces of passage. Rivalling that brightness was what could only be the result of the cascading resonance from the AVV. He sent a gently probing thought towards it, felt it try to draw him in and pulled back thoughtfully. "WOW" He exclaimed to the curious Appy. "We’re not going that way, nuhuh. It's so foggy I dunno where we'll end up. Let’s go by the Astral!" Without a further word he extended his protective wards around Appy and their mount, then sidestepped Bubble and it's passengers into the Astral. Appy's gasped at her first sight of the Pen Keep, Astral side. Defensive wards formed bright stars in a massive nebula of visible mana surrounding the plane. The Astral harbour was visible, jutting out into the darkness and protected by wards unseen. Valdar's own lesser entrance was nearby, a heavy oaken door with runes scrawled all over it. "Yeah, Pretty" Valdar agreed absently as he followed the thin trails leading into the darkness. "They went that way! Let’s go Bubble!" The demon roared and spread it's leathery wings. Guided by Valdar's thoughts it leaped towards the closest path as the two children shrieked in excitement. ** "Are we there yet?" "Nuhnuh" "Are we there yet?" "Nuhnuh" "Are we there yet?" "Nuhnuh" Bubble snorted a small pillar of fire as it clawed it's way along the lost paths. The Planewalker's blazing earblades cut through the darkness, leaving two narrow trails into the territory of chaos. "Are we there. . ." Appy trailed off into an awed "wow". Valdar also stared, ears bent in concern as he drew Bubble to a halt. The trail led directly towards a dark band of cloud stretching as far as they could see in both directions. Red and purple lightning flashed from within, strange worlds silhouetted in the dim light. "Ummm. . .I really hope we don’t need to go in there." Valdar said worriedly. "Why?" "Because that’s . . . the madness." Appy gave the elf a strange look, having never seen him this fearful before. Valdar nudged Bubble forward again carefully. The demon moved warily as they approached the madness, blazing eyes tinged with what might have been fear. "Yay! We found it!" Valdar exclaimed, pointing both ears at a hazy looking sphere of a world. Appy looked dubious. "How'd cha know they're in there? "Their trail leads right in, anna few others too! We gotta be careful though, that thing's right on the edge of the madness." He poked Bubble hard and the demon reluctantly obeyed, moving them to the pearlescent border of the world. Valdar hesitated again and gently stroked the misty surface, eyes distantly reflecting the dull white. After a long pause, he withdrew his hand, an awed look on his face. "Cooool - this is an old Planewalker house! It was made from pure thought an magic. It's really old though, so the magic is all crazy. The whole place is unstable, but I found a steady bit. Sorta. C'mon!" Without waiting for a reply, the little elf slipped Bubble and Appy into the fabric of the ancient world. They appeared just inside a dusty hallway. White mist obscured the exit, while the other direction led deeper into the old stronghold. Valdar meeped as Bubble stepped on an unseen rune. The demon growled the ward fizzled and spat beneath bare hooves. "Whew, It's all really old. That spell would have hurt a bit!" The little elf hopped down, motioning Appy to stay mounted. "I'll walk in front an disarm stuff! I think we gotta go this way." Valdar led Bubble forward on a shiny leash, both ears pointed at the walls and eyes on the floor. Occationaly he would stop to trigger rotted wards in a shower of sparkles. Eventually they came to face a rusty iron door, runes of deflection and strength all but eroded by plain rust. The little elf flared his ears, and the doors exploded inwards to reveal a large chamber with a bright red alter of sorts in the middle. Appy dismounted as Bubble stooped to enter the chamber. "Wow" She whispered as the room responded to the presence of a Planewalker. Faint illumination came from above, revealing the walls to be covered in runes, with three large characters arrayed around the huge circular alter in the middle. She carefully approached the strange structure while Valdar scrambled around the floor trying to read the huge runes. "This is oldold Planewalkerese! This one is- Um." On closer inspection, the circular object was painted bright red, and looked very tempting to Appy. She poked it curiously, and found she could push it downwards and it would spring back up. "DOOoooooooooooooo" "Hey, it's bouncy!" She called out to Valdar, who was busy with the second rune. She pushed harder, gave up and sat on it. The thing sank partway down as she climbed fully on it. "NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooott" She hopped experimentally a little, causing it to sink further. Then she gave it a full fledged bounce with an excited "Wheee!" as it sprang back up, throwing her into the air. Landing harder she bounced again, and the thing sank into the floor with a loud CLICK. It sprang up again with a CLACK, sending Appy airborne again. "It's a bouncy button!" She yelled at Valdar, who had just started examining the last rune. The elf's ears perked up at the word, and he abandoned his examination, alarmed that someone else was bouncing and he was not. Within moments, the two children were happily bouncing up and down on the springy structure. The rune "Press" remained undeciphered.

Ashbneil'Kalladtd shifted its massive shoulders uncertainly vainly trying to hold on to some shred of demonic dignity. It threw an involuntary glance upwards, then glared balefully at the gaggle of grey cherubs that lounged nearby, giggling loudly at its appearance. "Hold still!" Valdar snapped absently. A terrible screeching accompanied the command as the little Planewalker industriously screwed yet another shiny into the Demon's horns. The sound suddenly stopped, and Bubble chanced another upwards glance. His Master's eyes were distant and his ears stood straight up, listening intently. … "Yay! An adventure!" He announced happily before leaping off the Demon's head. Bubble released a great gout of flame from its nostril’s-the demonic equivalent of a resigned sigh, while the Angels got to their feet in concern. "Sweetcherrie an Gryphon are stuck inna Plane somewhere an we gotta find them! Nuhnuh, I'm going with just Bubble, can you saddle him please?" The elf ran over to a chest and started digging before one of his guardians grabbed him firmly by the earcaps and led him away. ** A few minutes later, Valdar reappeared dressed in his Astral raiment. Gone were the blunted earcaps, replaced by brilliant crystal earblades that cut the very air when they moved. A Katana was strapped to his back, far too large to draw easily from its smoking sheath. To top it off, a pointy wizard's hat sat atop his head with slots cut into the brim to allow free ear movement. He climbed up Bubble's proffered arm and sat down heavily on one pillowed shoulder. Grabbing a horn to steady himself, Valdar waved his ears in farewell to his angelic servants. "Okok, lets go!-wheeee!" Bubble surged forward self consciously, trying to ignore the tinkling shinies about its person. It crouched as it reached the door, stepped into the corridor and nearly squished Appy as she bounced past. "Oooooooooooooops! Sorry Appy! Say Sorry, Bubble!" The tips of Valdar’s earblades blazed as he waved them apologetically. ". . .Sorry, mistress." The Demon cringed. Appy was staring wide eyed at the shiny adorned demonic footsoldier. "Umm, were you going to look for auntie Sweetcherrie an uncle Gryphon? We can look together if you want!" Bubble's eyes flickered*, and another gout of flame exploded from it's nostrils as it lowered its other arm. . . *-The equivalent of rolling one's eyes in resignation