The View From Here

[Brian]

"Well, imagine a cell-phone," Nick says.  "Or a PDA, or whatever you'd like.  Then just think of it as a way to contact people.  Put in a number or e-mail address for someone, and then give them a call."

"Awesome," Jim says.  "This is going to be so useful."

[Halbarad]

"Sounds like a plan," Tim says with a grin. "I guess that covers things for me then. If I have any other questions, I'll be able to get in touch with you later for clarification. Unless anyone else has questions, I'm ready to go."

[Carthrat]

"So, the plan is to hook up with the Order of Symmetry, and help them save the world or something?" asks Tom, looking sideways at Hal.

"Well, yeah, I have a couple of questions. I'm... still not honestly sure what we're supposed to be fighting. Or how we're supposed to go about it. If the Order can tell me, that's great, but I'd really like to know now."

[Brian]

"It's difficult to explain," Pandora begins.  "The Contest is used to determine the fate of reality.  If something isn't done, then the Enemy will invade.  To prevent that, we seek to balance the Dream against reality."

"But we probably shouldn't keep you here much longer," Alan says.  "Say when you're ready to return."

[Carthrat]

"I guess that's true," mumbles Tom. "Yeah, I'm good to go."

[Halbarad]

"I'm ready to go as well," Tim nods. "Like I said, if we come up with more questions I can come and ask you later.

"That said, is there anything we need to do to send ourselves back, or will you take care of it all?

[Brian]

"We'll handle it," Alan says, as everyone's view begins to distort, as though from extreme heat.  Everything wavers into incomprehensibility, and when it fades, everyone is standing on a dirt road.

There's no trees nearby, but the road is atop a ridge that runs towards a mountain, and then back to ... a properly paved road.  It looks to be about two miles back to the highway.  No cars are currently in sight.

There's probably a town city in the mountain, a tiny smudge of smoke is visible from it.  This place, unlike the dream, feels real.  And you can tell because your entire body feels like it just woke up, all pins-and-needles.

Sterling, Walker, and Carlos seem unaffected, everyone else twitches a bit, then waits for the sensation to stop.  Right now it looks to be a bit before noon.  The air is fresh, and a heavy cloud cover promises either rain or snow later today.

[Halbarad]

Tim stretches, getting the kinks out, then nods to his companions. "Good to be back," he opines. Taking a minute or two to stretch (it does seem oddly like he's been asleep for a long time), he starts towards the smudge of smoke. "Time to find out who this Order of Symmetry really is, I suppose."

[Carthrat]

"Well. A few months, eh? I wonder who won the.. um... some sporting event?" says Tom, lamely.

"Uh, yeah, let's start walking before it starts raining."

[Ebiris]

First things first, Daniel checks to ensure all his worldly possessions are still... in his possession. Yeah.

"At least the world hasn't ended, yet. Of course, everyone we know will now be pretty certain we're dead. But, so it goes..."

[Brian]

A breeze rises as Tom starts heading towards the town.  All of Daniel's possessions are intact, and most of Bigfire spends a few minutes getting the kinks out of their muscles before following Tom.

The road is worn, and has two ruts in it.  They might have been deep, and the road does sport a lot of weeds, but someone's filled the wheel-ruts in with gravel.

[Halbarad]

Out of curiosity, Tim tries to see if he can fashion another staff to use as a walking stick. Kyle seems to have the ability to fashion items in the real world, and he's theoretically learning the same ability, so it's worth a try. And no harm done if nothing happens, either.

[Brian]

Tim is able to manifest a sturdy looking walking/clubbing stick.  It seems weighty, and real.

This causes David to raise an eyebrow, but then he scowls, and produces a knife from thin air.  Then another knife.  Ante raised, he looks at Tim expectantly.

[Halbarad]

Tim rolls his eyes and continues his hike down the path.

[Ebiris]

Daniel shakes his head at the interplay between Tim and David. Just wait until next time we're all about to die. Then I'll be able to show off my cool superpower!