It's only matter of Time...

Scales and stone

The walk is normal, at least at first. 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. Nobody really has much to say except when to rest or confirmation they're going in the right direction, and by some unspoken agreement they refuse to bring up anything that's going on or what happened. Sapnap insists they pause to keep an eye on Karl's wound, too. 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 suspects 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 right now, anyway.

"Did you hear that?" Ranboo asks, posture sharp and 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 other Creepertaur. "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 elaborates, 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.

A little later, both Sam and Ranboo prick up at the same time. "Something's coming." Sam states, then puts out a hand as the group draws out their weapons. "No it's...we need to hide. Quickly!" He snaps, bounding into an especially thick layer of bushes while Bad and Punz get into a tree. Ranboo ducks into some bushes of his own, while Sapnap and Karl take refuge at the base of a tree. They wait in silence, anticipating whatever threat the warden had detected. Nothing moves into the area around them, however nobody moves. Suddenly, an enormous shadow falls over the ground, along with a savage rush of wind and violent reactions from the trees. Karl meets the Pyro Elf's eyes, a silent scream of confusion shared between them. "It's gone, I think." Ranboo announces, cautiously standing up. "What the fuck was that?!" Tommy exclaims, displaying the most of everyone else's thoughts: terror, crazed excitement, and surprise. "I don't know. Nothing that big flies in the Overworld." Bad answers breathlessly. "Wait–there was that little Dragon thing...do you think there's big ones?" Sapnap points out. "I'd have hoped the guy would tell us that!" Punz replies, looking back up at the sky. "But there can't be dragons in the Overworld. Even with the End Dragon, there's only one!" Tommy objects, turning to Ranboo as if to confirm. The tall boy stays silent, flicking his tail. "You said this could be future or past, right? Maybe it's some kind of time where there's more of them. Or maybe it was a machine?" Technoblade muses, to which Karl shrugs. "It's hard to tell when is when. Sometimes I worry they aren't even our timelines. But that's–that's not something to be getting into here. Once we get to the city, maybe we'll get some clues." He answers, and they warily move on.

It takes another day, but finally, the trees thin out, spitting them out on a hilltop, and they freeze, staring ahead.

It's a massive territory, covering so much land that it would dwarf the entirety of the SMP back home. There's a huge, rolling meadow before them, next to flat, long plains, mountains riddled with sharp peaks and caves or sheer cliffs. There's all sorts of forests, from sparse spruce to dense, lush jungle, an entire section looking out over an expanse of sea. There are floating islands dotting the air above the middle of what surely must be the city Other Sam mentioned, which has small collections of buildings and structures here and there, which then cluster closer and closer together into the middle of the place. A massive tree with pink vines hanging down is the main feature of the city's heart, 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. Surrounding it all is Hybrids. There's giants who live in towering cottages and look up to the sky on occasion, packs of wolves and what may be werewolves visiting or wrestling one another near the trees, herds of bovine and ungulate Hybrids that graze and run about, and more that can't be identified just yet. There is so, so, so many more.