It's only matter of Time...

Scales and stone

For the most part, the walk is normal. The further in they go, the thicker the trees seem to grow, however they spread out a little again after a few hours on the second day. Tommy keeps up regular conversations throughout, but not much is truly said. The potion does its work well...for a while. By the time the third day rolls around, Karl becomes increasingly tired, he feels hot, and overall, he thinks infection might be taking hold. He tries to hide it though, reasoning that when they get to this city, he can probably ask for help there. Not like they'd be able to do much about it now, anyway. "Did you hear that?" Ranboo sharpens, ear lifting as he glances around, eyeing the canopy around them with unease. "You're hearing things again. Nobody else can hear it." Tommy sighs, having had to assure the boy that he was only hearing various animals multiple times, now. "No, I heard it too...a roar, right?" Sam confirms, and that sets the rest of them on edge. "Could have been a hybrid. Maybe...other Sam." Karl offers, struggling to find a name for the hybrid. "No. This wasn't the sound of a person. This was a beast. It was catlike but deep, echoed like they had a massive chest. It GROWLED." Ranboo elaborated, punctuated with a nervous warble. "It  sounded far away, though...so I doubt we'll meet whatever made it, if we keep this pace." Sam assures them, but they do pick it up a little. 

Finally, the trees thin out, spitting them out on a hilltop, and they freeze, staring ahead. 

It's a massive city, covering so much land that it would dwarf the entirety of the SMP back home. There's a huge, rolling meadow, flat, long plains, mountains riddled with sharp peaks and caves and sheer cliffs, all sorts of forests, from sparse spruce to dense, lush jungle, an entire section looking out over a sea. There are floating islands dotting the air above the middle of the city, which has collections of building and structures here and there, then clusters closer and closer together the closer you would get to the middle. A massive tree, with pink vines hanging down, is the main feature of the heart of the city, and overlooking it all, the enormous mountains Karl had seen when they first arrived here, wherever–and WHENever–here is. They rise up like sharp fangs, higher than the clouds as though attempting to stab the sun. "Oh, it's beautiful!" Bad exclaims, the first to find his voice. This shakes everyone back into focus, and Technoblade shrugs, starting forward. "Well, it's pretty big, but that means that we just have a bigger challenge of finding this Angel." He points out, and Sam nods in agreement, cantering to catch up. "You doing okay?" Sapnap asks, and Karl looks at him. "You seemed a bit weary, and I've noticed you start to sweat a bit more." He explains. "I'm fine...just tired, is all." Karl smiles assuringly. The truth is, he is far from okay. He wants to collapse, and pull darkness over his eyes to just sleep. His wound has started to throb, and that sick feeling has done nothing but increase. Sapnap watches him a moment longer, before accepting this and the two of them jogging to rejoin the group. As they get closer, Karl takes notice of the hybrids to keep himself alert and focused. There's any number of them around, from centaurs to satyrs, ungulates and bovines, insect hybrids and even a pride of lion hybrids, laying around one another and enjoying they warm sun. Any hybrid who sees them pauses to look at them, some closer ones moving away to collect and murmur of their passing, the group drawing a little closer in their shared unease. Soon enough, Karl can make out the distant figures of hybrids flying from island to island. Then, they enter the inner part of the city. They clump together, moving as a unit to press through the crowds. It's loud, shouts and calls not just in elvish but other languages, ones that they thought were dead, and native tongues of hybrid species. A pair of piglin hybrids, one lean yet muscular, the other hulking and intimidating, pass by, speaking about something Karl can't pick out, but they wear leather vests, open up front, the lean one has wraps of cloth around her torso as well, and they both wear some sort of pants that end by their calves, and a fashion of clothing Karl doesn't know the specific name for: it's like a skirt, connected to a belt around their waist lined with various teeth and claws, but open in front, and over their arms and chests, markings in white paint. Whorls and spottings, like Nether Quartz ore. They appear to be eating a baked treat resembling a scone. They glance at Technoblade, put their hand over their chest while making a fist, before moving on. Ranboo especially stays close to the great warrior's side, many of the hybrids have begun to stare at him. The sparse Enderians they pass give reactions that range from staticky growls to shocked warbles, outright avoiding him. Slowly, they make it through the city without trouble, seeing as nobody will speak to them directly. "So...how do we get up? I'm seeing a distinct lack of path, here." Technoblade speculates, leaning back and shielding his eyes from the sun as he attempts to look for the peak. By now, Karl's clearly struggling, he's slumped against Sapnap, drenched in sweat, and his vision swimming in front of him. "Whatever the case, Karl's clearly in need of help, that wound must be acting up again. Should we just try to climb it?" Punz wonders, just as a shadow covers them all, a deafening sound like thunder rolling, but draconic, causing Tommy and Ranboo to duck and hide at Techno's side, Sapnap and Punz to draw their blades, Sam growls, although he's hesitant, pawing the ground indecisively, while BadBoyHalo just watches, eyes wide and openmouthed. From what Karl can see, a massive beast has landed before them, scaled and with jagged features, dark faded green scales covering it and yellow eyes that seem to glow. Sliding from its back is a face they all recognize.