Knothole Village

[Falina]

Falina looks to Giichi and Dulcy as the cat asks about riding up front in the dragon's pouch, then looks back to Chadin for a moment, nods then slings her pack over her shoulder and moves to climb onto Dulcy's back and take hold of one of the the hand-grips on her harness.

[Chadin]

As everyone loaded up onto Dulcy, I threw the satchel of explosives securely over my shoulder and hoped on behind Falina; making sure to hold on tight to her waist since I didn't have any of Dulcy's harness I could hold onto.

Funny how that is. As soon as my mind becomes focused on the mission ahead all the anxiety and nervousness I felt when I was reunited with Falina all but disappeared and it was like we'd never been apart. Somehow though, I doubted I'd still feel so at ease around Falina when it came time to talk about what happened in the years since we'd parted ways.

"Okay, lets do this!!" I exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm and purpose behind my words.

[For sake of keeping things rolling, lets just jump to Cross Country now. Dulcy, how about you post first since you're the one flying us there}

[Dulcy]

Dulcy nods to Giichi as he asks about riding up front in her pouch to give her directions. She thinks it's a great idea considering they would have a hard time all fitting on her back anyway, and she indeed had no idea where they were going. "Sounds like a plan to me! Hop in. Should be more than enough room for you." She says with a smile, then turns to look back at Chadin and Falina, to find them both sitting comfortably on her back and holding on tight. She finally looks ahead at the meadow in front of her, making sure Giichi was situated in her pouch before taking off. "Ok, express route to Soleanna, hold on tight, I'm going to go pretty fast again." She then takes off running, her tail swishing slightly back and forth behind her as she picks up speed. "Just tell me which way to go Giichi, your my guide, cause I have no idea where we're going." She calls down to Giichi as she finally gets up to speed and flaps her wings hard as she leaps off the ground and begins to climb up into the sky, soon clearing the trees around the meadow as she flies away from Knothole.

[Exit to Cross Country]

[Chadin]

[From Road to Knothole...]

Having left the road several hours ago Gerald and Vanessa would find themselves walking through a undergrowth of a dense old-growth forest. Even the bushes seemed to make the trio seem tiny and insignificant. And then there's the trees. The trees even made the BUSHES seem small. Several were almost two metre's around at the base. The tree canopy seemed to reach up into the sky forever. To a forest dweller like Chadin, he was used to such sights; but even to him he didn't find such massive trees back in his mountain home.

Gerald and Vanessa might be finding a bit tricky to move through the dense underbrush, if only because of unfamiliarity with such terrain, but to Chadin, this is his element. If he wanted to he could disappear and reappear on a whim.

Now, if I remember correctly, the entrance to Knothole should be around here somewhere... There it is!! There, hanging from an aged old oak tree hung an unassuming vine. Completely innocent on its own; to the untrained eye. But I know better.

"Over here!!!" I called out to where I could hear Gerald and Vanessa noisily trampling through the underbrush. I stood nearby the tree as I waited for them to catch up.

[Vanessa Blue]

Vanessa was in the middle of the trio. Not for lack of speed or even trouble traversing the terrain. When you could spend 55 seconds out of a minute sailing through the air it was hard to get bogged down. She was making sure Gerald wasn't lost. The blue cat found out Chadin was really hard to spot in the woods, even with his bandages.
Since Gerald was having a sort of hard time with the woods. He became much more interesting to the cat. She would air dash past his head asking him questions. Most of which had no consideration of who was being asked.

"Who's your favorite East Side Gunz member? Which part of Radical city are you from? Beef or Pork?

Gerald, being a scientist, would be the most likely to notice the cat propelled herself with short burst of kinetic energy. Taking the form of flames. Also after two burst Vanessa had to touch ground before she could continue.

[Gerald Robotnik]

Gerald was struggling t get through the dense forest. By now he had taken his hat and glasses off, as they kept on getting knocked off by branches. He didn't notice Vanessa, nor was he paying attention to her questions. He knew she was asking something, but he wasn't paying attention to what. His eyes were squinting even under the shade of the forest and he was too occupied with trying to make his way through. Though he did hear Chadin, if for just the fact that he heard him. Though thankfully, he made it out of the brushes in one piece as he managed to make it through to the large tree.

[Chadin]

"Uh... Vanessa, I hate to point this out, but Gerald probably has no idea who the East Side Gunz are much less the names of all the members." I pointed out with what I hoped was a placating voice.

"And so... here we are." I announced with a satisfied smile as I saw Gerald and Vanessa arrive at the tree. "As I said before, I hope you both will keep this to yourselves. The secrecy of Knothole's location has been the only reason Robotnik hasn't wiped us all out years ago so we need to keep it that way."

[Vanessa Blue]

"Oh come on Glow-face, every one here knows who the Eastside Gunz are, even ol' Thinker there!" She had just came up with Gerald's name. "Oi bet if he ever got roughed up, It was a ESG who put the shake on him. AInt that right Thinker? Hey Thinker! Yoo hoo, Thinker! Ey yo! THINKER!" Vanessa couldn't take the hint, she was determined to get his attention and a response. "Hey Glow-face I think Thinker is deaf, what do we do?"

[Gerald Robotnik]

"What?" Gerald began to start off as he began to brush himself off. "I'm not deaf! Though I have no idea of what you speak of. The only gangs I've heard about were ones involved in illegal alcohol."

By now he was picking away at little twigs that got caught on his clothes and hair. And once he was done with that he placed his glasses back on, hopeing that there would be nothing in this...Knothole that would knock his glasses off. Unlike the immensely dense forest. Looking over at the deer, he gave a small sigh.

"Well, as I said, I don't really know who I could tell this too if I even wanted too. So the secret is safe with me. As of right now Chadin, I'm far more concerned about how your friends are going to react about me. Despite what you say, I've got a bad feeling about this..."

[Chadin]

"Sorry Vanessa, but from what I can tell, your East Side Gunz didn't exist in the Zones where me and Gerald came from and neither did my Freedom Fighters so no, as much as you keep insisting we know who they are we simply don't and that's the end of it!" I growled with more frustration that I really meant to put forward. I guess I was just getting tired of hearing Vanessa insist we know what she's talking about all the time.

"Anyway, don't worry about the people in Knothole. I'll take care of that." I assured Gerald.

"And without further ado... I pulled on the vine, opening up a secret door in the old oak's trunk. "Keep you arms and legs inside the tree at all times and please enjoy the great oak slide. Make sure you tuck yourself in when you hit the hay bale at the bottom." As soon as I finished speaking I leapt into the hole, letting out an exhilarated whoop as I disappeared into the hole and down the twisty curvy slide. Even though I'm not a fawn anymore, I think just about anyone can still have a blast going down that slide.