War on the horizon

(New addition: Matt C.'s character is Dirk)

We next pick up where we left off;

Ralph, Roger, Thunderheart, Buttercup and the Palmino are trudging north on their way to Sandy Top where Roger's elemental told him to head. On the way there, they encounter Dirk on his way back to Alliance. Dirk tags along in hopes he will find some more magic to learn, he is a Mystic afterall. Their trip takes them to the base of the mountains where Roger senses another elemental. He looks around and finally spots an Air Elemental about 50 feet above him. Roger does some hocus pocus and a diameter of earth raises into the air. It is big enough to accomodate the whole party, however, Buttercup and Ralph jump on at the last second. Roger then expands the diameter to make everyone a little more comfortable. They raise up the 50 feet and Roger than talks to the Air elemental. The talk is interesting and everyone else in the party think he's flew off his rocker because as soon as the conversation started, it ended just as fast. Without missing a beat, Roger then propels them on the disk of earth towards one of the mountains that seems to have a flat top and no snow on it, which in itself is odd, but the mountain is surrounded by other mountains that are not as tall and they are snow-capped.

When they reach the mountain, they find to their dismay that there is no where to set down the disk at their current elevation. Roger spots a small clearing about 30 feet down the mountain and decides that that is a perfect place to set down. They arrive in the clearing and find that they will not be able to take their horses with them. Buttercup volunteers to watch Thunderheart's Palimino while the rest of them climb up the mountain. The climbing is treacherous due to loose rocks and large boulders with small shrubs growing sparcely around them. They make it to the top and see that the top is nothing but a large sandbox with a few boulders around the edges. Dirk and Thunderheart rest on the boulders while Roger goes forward. He walks no more than 20 feet when a large mound of earth errupts from the sand. The others keep their cool, but notice the mound nontheless, it seems to unsettle Dirk a little more than the others.

Roger however starts mumbling to the mound of earth, Thunderheart hears him, but is unable to decipher the language. The earth elemental talks to Roger, as Roger is translating to the others. They find out that there is a war coming and that there is a Simvan army gathering in the south. This news unsettles the group and they believe it wise to go and warn the two tribes and the city of Alliance. The group then climbs down the side of the mountain, with a few of them catching themselves while Dirk takes a nose dive. Lucky he was wearing his armor, he takes no bruises or scratches. The group arrive at the clearing wear the horses have been waiting. They see a trench surrounding the Palmino and no Buttercup. Ralph approaches and looks into the trench. The trench is about ten feet deep and Buttercup is blurring around it and making it deeper. After Buttercup jumps out of the trench, she tells them that to her, the trench was the only thing she could think of that would protect the other horse from predators and such. Everyone blows this off, thinking that she is mentally challenged; they also learn that she has no recolection of her past. Apparently, her memory starts when she woke up in the Stables.

With time against them, Buttercup with Ralph on her back, jump off the clearing and race down the mountain. They visit the tribe of Thunderheart where Ralph meets Grey Eagle and his secretary. Ralph informs them of the Simvan gathering, Grey Eagle informs Ralph that he knew about this from some Earth Spirits. With that, Ralph leaves and races on the back of Buttercup to his own tribe. He meets with his elders and they aren't surprised at the knowledge of the Simvan army either, though they have a genuine look of confusion and shock on their faces. The elders tell Ralph of Old Crazy Snow. Ralph then hurries, with Buttercup beside him, to Alliance where he was to meet the others. They aren't there yet, so he and Buttercup recharge from their exhaustive chase.

To be continued...