It's only matter of Time...

Bonding and binding

After the revelation, Wilbur leaves without any further comments. Philza sighs and looks away, flipping through a book. "Is it true?" Dream asks, not accusatory but curious and sincere. "Yes." Karl nods. Wilbur would most likely prove it eventually. "Where from?" "The future." Technoblade replies, arms crossed. "I think it'd be best we avoid that topic, then. I may not be a god of Time, or an expert, but even I can tell that is not something to be trifled with unnecessarily." Philza suggests, closing the book, and cawing something to his crows, one of which replies in a more authoritative manner than the rest. "That would be for the best." Karl agrees. "Well, you'll be living here until whatever brought you here sends you back to whence you came, or you accomplish whatever task it is you have here...that means that it's for the best you learn how to live like one of us. From what Skeppy said, you lead a somewhat different life from ours." Ranboo nods, twitching his tail, but doesn't elaborate. "That being said, finding housing for you may be diffi–" a low, thrumming hum reaches them, slightly vibrating the ground beneath them. The mass of crows takes off, flying up and through the skylight in a mess of excited chatters and cries. "That was convenient. Wasn't it tomorrow?!" Dream hisses to Philza, who shrugs. "Whatever the case, it's happening now. You, come. You'd best see this if you want to understand this place." With a sense of anticipation and urgency, they all follow the Angel back into the tunnels, through the passageways until they reach a massive cavern, with holes leading out through the sides and bottom, spires of rock and hovels where scaly beasts and gryphons perch and/or lay. A massive, gorgeous black-feathered beast lands in front of them, mewing similar to a cat, staring intently at Philza. "This is Crowza. He'll be helping take some of you where we are going. Dream, how many can Nightmare carry?" The warrior shrugs. "He can manage about four." He answers, just as the green, rough-scaled wyvern he appeared on comes into view. "Very well." After a quick debate, they figure out who goes with who: Sam is apparently not a species meant to ride, so he'll be carried by Crowza, but Ranboo, Tommy, BadBoyHalo, and Technoblade will ride with the Elytrian. Karl, Sapnap, and Punz will ride with Dream on Nightmare. Dream climbs onto the beasts' back first, in order to help the others. The scales are smooth, though its features would have suggested otherwise, and cool to the touch. Once they're all set, Dream makes a sharp whistle, urging Nightmare forward, the dragon crawling with frightening speed over to the hole in the cave floor ad diving into it, which opens out into space overlooking the hybrid's city, Sapnap giving a loud 'whoop' noise as Nightmare banks to head for a massive amphitheatre. The seats are filling with hybrids, and the space in the middle is full of sand, a collection of small objects near the far side. Nightmare dives, landing outside a dark tunnel. Dream facilitates everyone's sliding off, and leads the group into the tunnel. The Angel and Crowza arrive shortly after, catching up quickly. 

At the end of the passageway, they stop, hiding in the shadows and dark. Had they gone further, they would have entered out onto the sands, where Karl can now identify big eggs, most about the size of a person's head, though some are a bit smaller or larger. "What are those?" He asks, having to raise his voice over the intense hum, coming from the dragons themselves, as they intently watch the eggs. "Dragon eggs. This is a very important ritual to the people here in Cinna.  We call it a Hatching. The eggs laid are collected into a group, and when they are ready to hatch, we send candidates to go forth and obtain a dragon. It's a very special connection they forge, and to this day, remains a mystery as to how it exactly works." Philza answers, leaning to pat his own beast proudly. Crowza purrs in reply, but doesn't beak eye contact with the eggs. As crowds and hybrids stream in, Tommy suddenly gives an exclamation and grabs Ranboo's arm. "Look!" He says, pointing at the stands. It takes a few moments of Ranboo narrowing his eyes and searching, but then his eyes widen and he steps back. "It's us!" This catches Karl's interest. He had assumed the young boy had seen something that caught his eye, but he found himself? "Where?" Dream inquires, also scanning the crowd. "Uh...near the top left, about five rows from the top." Ranboo answers, still watching his replica, if Karl had to guess. Curiously, he looks for them too. Granted, Ranboo's eyes are far sharper than Karl's human ones, but if Tommy had spotted them, he gives himself a fighting chance. Sure enough, he manages to pick out a black and white figure, in plain, simple clothes, staying close to a winged boy with blonde hair and a goat with four arms and long, dragonfly-shaped wings. The similarities are impressive. Occasionally, there can be some differences to a person in between their appearances in the world, but it's still unnerving to see them at all. A shadow sweeps over the stadium, a blue version of Crowza landing on a rocky outcropping near the eggs. It's a bit smaller, with a slim, lean figure, but still just as gorgeous. The feathers are a rich, deep blue, and it's eyes are golden. Sliding from its back is Wilbur, wearing a big, elegant hat and clothes that must help protect him from the sun, somehow. After about an hour, the stadium is packed, and the humming ceases. A group of 30 young hybrids walk out onto the sands, probably between the ages of 13-19, if Karl was to guess. Silence is thick, like the air itself is holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Something Karl doesn't see makes the hybrids in the arena perk up, shuffling closer to the collection of eggs. He hears the sound of something, almost like a rough, scratchy bird's cry, but still high-pitched before he catches a glimpse of wings, a tail, and small claws. One of the hybrids, a female fox, crouches down, as the others step back. A few more moments later, the onlookers erupt into cheers and applause, the fox stepping away, proudly  cradling a small creature about the size of her torso: a dragon. "I remember something about this...a sort of tradition I read about. The people chosen by a dragon would join a special rank of soldiers known as the Nejovik. Dragonriders, put simply." Ranboo says quietly, watching with extreme interest. Something seems to be bothering the young enderian, still, but whatever is on his mind, he doesn't share it. While initially exciting, it's a repetitive process, and Karl loses interest shortly. Instead, he starts looking at the crowds. There's a stunning amount of hybrids here, more than Karl suspects live anywhere near the Dream SMP, at the very least. And there's some hybrids he thought were gone: Axolotl, Chameleon, Giant, even Avian, to name a few. They all share seats side by side, uncaring of species or abilities. The same thing they'd attempted in the Dream SMP. Of course, that didn't work exactly as intended, but at the very least, they're safe from hunters, like these people are. Karl wonders what caused this city to disappear, considering the fact there's no such place back in their own timeline anymore. Did they finally get overrun? Or did they just leave? Maybe he'll find out.