Lionhearts ||Skephalo||

49

George's cheeks are flushed from the cold and he shudders, stumbling a bit as they touch down. Clay points ahead of them silently.

They had camped on the road a night before passing Gotopia, and George hasn't yet forgotten the sensation of his friend somehow being present, but not there, like a ghost. It lingers in his mind even as they approach the way into the mountains.

He catches sight of a small group moving up the mountain path, towards where the embassy is established. They seem to be relaxed, almost casual, confident in their ability to handle any possible threat. At a closer glance, one of them is carrying a shield emblazoned with an insignia George recognizes from travelers passing through his village.

"They're from Gotopia," he murmurs to Clay, who dips his head in acknowledgement of the information.

"I remember scrying Eret and hearing about mercenaries he was sending to assist Skeppy," the prince replies quietly, "Someone by the name of Punz should be with them, I believe." They close their elytras, folding the grey feathers into simple cloaks, and approach, Clay calling out to the group,

"Hello?" One of them, a younger man with antlers jutting from his forehead, waves in response, and another man, this one with a large green scarf, inclines his head sharply in greeting.

The one who answers properly wears mottled clothing in resemblance of a creeper, his irises set against black sclera and just peering over a mask that hides his lower face. George finds himself transfixed, even though to him, they almost look like dead, dark pits (the red hue of his gaze escapes the brunet).
He waves like the other had, and greets them.

"Hello! You're far from traveled roads, my friends. Are you lost? In search of directions?" Clay shakes his head, and confidently replies,

"This road only goes one way, sir. I believe our destination is the same." The green-clad man cocks a brow, and a slightly shorter blond in back chuckles softly, silenced by a gentle jab to the ribs from a man whose floppy dog ears identify him as another shifter like the antlered man.

"Where might your destination be, then?" Wariness clouds the warmth of his tone. Clay smiles and simply says,

"The Nether. He has an old friend to help, and I have an outstanding debt to pay."

The blond pitches in, amused,

"So how much is he paying you for a suicide attack?" This time he elbows the dog shifter before the other can try to reprimand him again.

The leader, as it seems the green-clad man is, glares at him, retorting,

"Punz. You're not being paid to blab."

"It's not blabbing. Don't you recognize these guys?"

The blond rolls his eyes, seemingly at ease despite the irritated response. Punz. George glances at the prince, but the other is still not looking at him.

"I'm not being paid," Clay says, an edge of exasperation in his tone. George steps in, looking up as he speaks.

"My friends are in danger, and so I'm going to try to help them," he says, and the final member of the group, a tall, elegant man dressed in warm brown furs, speaks up.

"Are you the Ender we were told about? Dream, right?"

Clay nods, and George follows suit. The tension seems to calm, and the leader offers Clay his hand.

"Sorry," he says, "I didn't want to open to just anybody. The name's Awesam."

George can't help raise a brow, hearing 'awesome.' That's almost as silly as Dream or Bad...

"Dream, as guessed," Clay introduces himself, "And Notfound." George jerks at the introduction, still not used to the alias.

The blond steps up,

"I'm Punz," he gestures to the man in the scarf and the reindeer, "That's Mega and Callahan. They don't talk, so far warning if you don't know sign."

Callahan waves again, awkwardly, and Mega shrugs dismissively.

The man in furs introduces himself with a smile,

"And I'm Spifey." George smiles at him, liking the warmth of his voice, and the familiarity of the lilt in his accent. The dog shifter pitches in,

"And I'm just Vurb."

"You're from Gotopia, aren't you?" The pair falls in step with the group as they continue walking. Awesam nods in reply to George's query. "How come you're heading this way?"

"Well, you already seem informed, enough to guess, but Eret told us someone was going to try cracking a fortress for a rescue mission," Punz explains, "So he gave us a bit of gold for compensation if we make it out injured, and sent us on our way. We all have our own reasons to be here."

"Did you get the name of the nutjob who was going to do it near-solo?" Clay asks dryly. "I'm assuming we're all looking for a Skeppy."

Mega nods confirmation, and Vurb mumbles,

"Right insane, but his soulmate's on the line from what we were told. Gotta admire this Skeppy for going to such lengths."

George looks up to Spifey curiously, noticing small, fuzzy ears peeping out from under his hood; another shifter. That makes three in this group— Callahan, Vurb, and Spifey. I wonder, is Awesam anything like that? He seems interesting.

The other man notices his curious look, and smiles awkwardly before looking towards the lightening sky.

"We're nearly there," he comments, as they continue walking.

George soon strikes up easy chatter with Awesam, while Clay hangs back to talk to Punz, finding some common interest for them to discuss while they walk towards the distant shape of the embassy looming over the cliffside, almost precariously constructed so it overlooks the valley below.

It's a breathtaking sight, but George can't shake his unease over it, a pit in his stomach as though something horrible is soon to come.

Perhaps, in a way, he had more of a sense of premonition than previously thought.

-

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter! It's just not really a good idea to cram this and the next chapter together
also PSA I've watched very little of most of these fellows (I do watch Punz and Spife, plus the other Idots simply bc of Skeppy, also Spifey pretty but god I expect them all to be SO out of character)