Thorn and Morin were collapsed in resting, exhausted and shivering after their experience. Sadly, there were no Fire Mages in the vicinity.

Fantasia muttered something about Tarzan being a lie, that Disney clearly had stunt doubles involved when they did all the vine-swinging scenes, and dug through her pack for the towel she'd had earlier as well as something else.

"Hey, Thorn," she said, teeth chattering not quite so badly now. "You got anything that can summon up some nice wood or something? Little tree maybe?" She flicked open the zippo she'd taken out and struck the flint.

Thorn grunted softly and raised a hand, and the rock nearby cracked and broke as a wiry tree grew up from it, its branches snaking out across the roof.

"That'll work," Fantasia said.

She muttered to herself a bit as she dragged at the treeling to pull it out of its hiding. She remembered that green wood was smoky as could be, but she'd live with a little smoke if that meant she could be warm and dry again.

She snickered lightly. "Shoulda stayed out in the rain."

The tree was actually perfectly formed for firewood, producing very little smoke and blazing up in a moment. Morin was mumbling deliriously over at the side. Fantasia tossed the lighter back into her pack and dragged the towel over to drape over Morin's head, ruffling and drying his hair with a faint grin.

"C'mon hero, over to the fire and warm up." She left the towel with him and crawled back to the fireside.

Morin didn't move, fairly out of it and still shivering uncomfortably. Thorn was at least in better condition, curling up next to the fire. Fantasia looked over at him, shrugged, and moved back to see what she could do about getting him closer to the heat.

"Dry and warm in no time," Fantasia cooed softly, trying to get him up and moving before he catches more than a cold. Poor guy, he just really wasn't cut out for this sort of thing, she mused.

Morin was apparently the wussiest Void Mage ever born. He coughed and sputtered a bit and spits up some water.

"Sorry I got you into this," Fantasia said softly, just sitting there for a minute and using the towel to dry him out a bit, mostly talking to herself as she did so. "Hey, seemed like a good idea at the time, a bit of fun and a trip through the great outdoors. No problem, right? Riiiight. They always said I had a horrible planning sense."

Thorn muttered, "Okay... why were we crossing the river again, anyway?"

Fantasia snorted lightly, glancing over at her with a smirk. "Well, someone had the idea of going deeper into this tunnel, presumably to lead us somewhere useful... though to be fair we wouldn't have been in here in the first place if I hadn't said something about the rain." She chuckled and sighed, looking down at the unkempt and still damp state of her fur, then sniffed, her muzzle wrinkling. "Ew, right, that's why. Wet dog."

"Well, so much for staying dry," Thorn mumbled. "I don't even remember where these caves go..."

"That's what the fire's for," Fantasia grinned, then looked at Morin. "If I can ever get him over there anyway. Don't make me do something embarrassing to get you moving, hear me?" she scolded him with mock ferocity, though more than a little worried about his continued lack of response. She wasn't a Theurge or even an EMT, she had no clue what might send someone into shock.

Thorn got up and helped drag him over toward the fire. Thorn muttered to herself softly and curled up again by the fire, warming her hands. Fantasia took a moment to arrange him more comfortably, then curled up behind him and draped an arm over to share what little warmth she'd built up.

Her muzzle poked up over the curve of his neck, dark eyes dancing with the reflected light of the fire as she looked over to Thorn. "You don't know where this goes either? Why'd we come down this way then?"

Thorn said, "I don't remember, I haven't been this way for a long time, but there's something down here, and it should certainly come out somewhere where we're going."

Fantasia's nose twitched in curiosity, and she rested her muzzle lightly in the curve she'd peeked beyond with a sigh. "Worth taking a look," she replied. "If we can get past that silly river anyway. Maybe get Morin awake enough to take us over, then get him to go back home before he gets into any more trouble."

Thorn peered about a bit and oriented herself, and said, "Actually, I think we are on the other side of the river."

Fantasia blinked, shifting her eyes to look around without moving otherwise beyond the flicker of sharp ears. "Are we?" she asked, not really sure, as one side looked pretty much like the other as far as she could tell right now.

"I think so..." Thorn peered over the edge of the gorge and tried to make out which direction the water was going. "It looks like it, I think..." She went back over to the fire.

"Well that's good at least," Fantasia replied softly. "At least we can rest, dry out and get warm again, then head deeper into the heart of Moria." She chuckled lightly and smirked, eyes flicking to the nearby face as he'd be the only one who'd get the reference here anyway. Drat the luck.

Morin grumbled slowly, "I'd... prefer... the Balrog."

Fantasia flashed a grin, sharp teeth glittering in the firelight. "True enough," she said, "At least we'd only have to run faster than the slowest in the party to get away from it." She chuckled softly, then simply settled as comfortably as she could to soak up the comforting heat of the fire. Definitely have to do something, she knew.

"I'm.. not that fast," Morin said slowly. "But then... I'd just open a portal in front of it to Sasherey."

"Or one to take you away rather than tumbling into the Grand Canyon," Fantasia replied with a snort. "Think we're definitely gonna have to get you out of here, you're worse out in the woods than I am, and that's saying a lot."

"We aren't... in the woods..." Morin muttered, coughing again.

"Yeah well," Fantasia retorted lightly. "We ain't out of the woods yet, either. At least Gandork knew the way through the mines, we're working on a wish, a hope, and a bit of luck. Hmm, come to think of it, that's better odds than I usually get."

Thorn said, "Ah, how hard could it be, we just keep going until it takes us someplace, right?"

"In theory," Fantasia replied quietly, seeming near on the verge of dozing as her eyelids were half-drawn. "Lots of caves don't have more than one way out, and those that do tend to be in places even more inaccessible than the way we came in. So... maybe." She remembered heading south and playing tag with some of the guys in the Lurray Caverns. Fun stuff, but far away now.

Morin managed to sit up and curl closer to the fire, muttering miserably. "I'm never leaving the city, ever again," he mumbled.

Thorn snickered and said, "Who ever heard of an elf that didn't like the wilderness?"

Fantasia chuckled, sprawling lazily out and settling into a curled half-circle around him, all the better to soak up more heat from the fire and dry out the last vestiges of damp fur.

"Legs he's not, that's for sure," Fantasia remarked. "But nothing wrong with liking cities more than the dark and dreadful. Lots more to do there."

Thorn snickered softly and absently tossed another stick at the fire.

Morin said, "What about an elf that doesn't mind burning trees?"

Thorn said, "I'm practical."

"Nah," Fantasia said, folding her arms and resting her muzzle on them to gaze into the mesmerizing depths of the fire. "Elf-types are always setting up fires, they just do it in practical and elegant ways. Much better than just chopping down a tree and hacking it to bits with a 'Trog SMASH!' before dumping it in the fire pit. Oh yeah, then tossing half a roast beast on a spit to cook." She smirked, the idea actually sounding kinda good.

"I wouldn't mind a roast beast at the moment," Thorn commented.

Morin agreed quietly.

Fantasia groaned theatrically, burrowing her muzzle into the nest of her arms and her ears laying flat. "I knew I shouldn't say that," she replied, muffled. "Now I'm a bit cold and hungry. Where's a fast food joint when ya need one? Rrrgh."

Thorn proceeded to grow a worfberry bush on the other side of the tunnel. It didn't manage very many berries, though.

"Blech," Fantasia muttered, looking out at the faint hint of movement and scent to see the shrub. "I'd take a whole cow, slaughter it, and stick it on a spit to roast right now. Sounds great. But even the candy I have stashed away doesn't sound tempting, to say nothing about berries." She sighed, tongue curling to wet the tip of her nose.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I can't grow steak trees," Thorn said.

Morin did help himself to the handful of berries, though.

"Mmm," Fantasia muttered dreamily. "No steak trees? How bout a nice prime rib one? Ooh! Or maybe barbecue ribs? Hell, ribs of any kind would be great! But if that's not to taste, maybe a shrimp or crab weed?" She trailed off, the tip of her tail twitching this way and that as she imagined the possibilities.

"Sorry, 'fraid not," Thorn said. She silently wishes she'd thought to bring along some rations or something at least.

"Drat," Fantasia muttered, grinning as she looks across the fire at Thorn, "And me without an emergency pizza delivery number on hand!"

She silently chided herself for being so careless, it'd been too long since she'd spent any real amount of time outside the city and she'd forgotten the little necessities that tended to be important out there... like, oh, small things like food. Not all that hungry yet, mind you, but still. Hrmph.

Morin was looking considerably better now at least, and he said, "I could just open a portal to a pizza parlor..."

Fantasia's ears perked at that, eyes darting to stare at him. "True..." she murmured thoughtfully, then quirked a brow as she asked. "But could you get us back here? Tempting as it might be don't wanna leave the snoozing fluffball alone too long. He might get eaten by a grue!" She snickered.

"I could keep it open long enough for that I think..." Morin said.

Fantasia uncurled and leapt to her feet, stretching lazily before grinning. "Okay, let's do it then." A flicker of something else was in the back of her mind, but she didn't examine it too closely just yet.

Morin stood and opened a portal, blackness swirling and coalescing again to a distant location. "There we go," he says. It's difficult to tell just where it leads, however, as it's dark on the other side, but there's trees and the sounds of traffic and what might be a streetlight nearby.

Thorn said, "I'll stay here."

"I'll be back in a flash," Fantasia said, looking over at Thorn with a flickered grin, "With food!"

She turned her attention to the portal, glancing to Morin for a moment before shrugging and walking through. Morin stepped through as well, at least rather drier than he was previously. He continued to hold the portal open and peered about. It was definitely an Earth-like city. There were bright illuminated signs advertising lodging, food, gasoline, and other accommodations. They were also in the middle of the street.

Morin got distracted nearly getting hit by a car and the portal fizzled shut. "Ack! Watch where you're going you idiot!"

Fantasia hopped lightly away from the fast-moving object in reflex, snarling and muttering some rather non-ladylike things under her breath and flipping the driver the bird. "Asshole," he could hear her mutter as she stalked back near, and looked around with shock at the lack of portal. "Ummm, Morin? Where'd the looking glass go?"

Morin momentarily realized that he was standing in the middle of an asphalt strip in which various motor vehicles larger than him were coming toward him, and decided to stand over on the concrete nearby instead. "Lost my concentration. I'll see if I can open one back once we get the food."

Fantasia reached out to drag him onto the sidewalk with a grin, shaking her head, "Whatsa matta? Never been on a busy street before?"

She looked suddenly thoughtful at that and stood on her toe tips to cast about for sight of any of the locals. No telling how they'd react to her or his appearance without a clue.

"I don't even actually know where we are," Morin said.

It was night wherever they were, and not a lot of people were out walking about, but a few could be seen coming in and out of hotels and restaurants and going to cars.

"When in Rome," Fantasia muttered, shifting to the homid form that was no larger or more diminutive than the hybrid, and smoothed out the jumpsuit she was wearing with a distasteful glare at the wrinkles. "Bah. Okay, so first things first, let's find some food and then scoot once we figure out where we are."

Along the street, signs advertised such fine high-class establishments as "Happy Burger", "Pete's Grill", and "Papa Pepper's Perfect Pizza Place".

Fantasia grinned broadly, looking around and rubbing her hands together delightedly at the prospect. "Oh no, no pizza," she said. "I want beef, or at least what passes for it here, and I hope they pay homage to O-Mighty Dolla, or they're gonna be sooooooooorry! Hehe."

"What deity is it you speak of?" Morin wondered, glancing at the restaurants along the road.

Fantasia chuckled and grabbed his arm, tugging him along in the direction of the grill. "Nobody you'd recognize," she replied brightly. "But if they give any hassle about taking cash or credit, we'll have to trick or treat for our supper."

Morin let himself get dragged along, somewhat confused at the situation. The restaurant in question was sparsely occupied at the moment, and a clock on the far wall proclaimed it to be 11:06 PM. A young man in an apron was behind the cash register, underneath a menu listing meals and prices, noted clearly in dollars.

"Oh joy, oh rapture," Fantasia said, casting an eye on the menu as she dug through her pack for her customary stash. Heavy on the meat, probably suit all of them just fine, even ol' grumpy, and she set out to order amply with that in mind.

The guy at the counter didn't seem to notice or particularly care about Morin's pointy ears. "How can I help you folks on this fine evening?" he said in their general direction.

"I'd say make me one with everything," Fantasia replied with deliberately bland expression, "But you're not a zen master or a hot dog vendor, so! Let's see, I'd like..." she set to rattling off a list that should suit all of them quite well, and maybe something greasy and chewy for the next day.

The guy at the counter stared at them as if wondering how the two of them, who weren't exactly the fattest people he has ever seen, intended to eat all that.

Fantasia just grinned at the guy, pretty much figuring what he was thinking, but not going to get into it just now... even if she did bounce once at the thought of the fun she could have with it. "What's the total?" she asked simply instead.

"One-hundred and ninety-four dollars and sixty-three cents," he replied diligently.

"Sure thing," Fantasia replied, digging out a couple one-hundred dollar notes... hey, she wasn't a Glass Walker for nothin'! She giggled at the thought and passed them over to the cashier, the change from cold and hungry to warm, comfortable, and nearly fed bringing all sorts of cheer back.

He looked over the money briefly, put it in the cash register, and counted out five dollars and thirty-seven cents of change, and handed it back. It looked around the same at first glance, but upon closer inspection it would be clear there were different pictures and slogans on the money...

Fantasia was quick enough on the uptake on that kind of detailing, and quietly tucked the change away to wait patiently for the food to arrive... and get out of there before anyone notices! The Monkey King sure seemed to be out in force lately, eesh.

After some minutes, a couple trays full of hot, steaming steaks and various other meat products that appeared to have been the byproduct of an entire slaughtered cow and maybe a couple chickens were brought out to them.

The sight was enough to start the inner carnivore to drooling, and Fantasia hastily started packing away and storing things as well as pushing things off for Morin to carry back. "Thanksomuchaveagreatday, gottagobye!" she rattled off, edging Morin toward the door and heading that way herself.

Morin stumbled out carrying an armful of food and managed to avoid dropping anything along the way. Once outside, he tried to open another portal back to where they were, and slightly distracted by the smell of food it took him a couple tried to manage it, once accidentally opening it into molten lava and closing it again really quickly. But on the third try he did get it open to where they were before.

Lupus woke up to feel a warm fire burning in a small tree near the river gorge and the smell of large quantities of freshly cooked meat. Curled up, the first thing to move on him was his nose. It twitched a bit, and one eye opened slowly.

Fantasia wasn't paying much attention to the comings and goings of the portal and what lay beyond it, more tuned to the idea of being chased and restraining laughter at the moment. As soon as she saw the right one open, though, she stepped through and proclaimed brightly, "Dinner is served!" before breaking into an uncontrollable fit of giggling.

Morin put down his trays of meat and Thorn's mouth waters. Thorn proceeded to grab the nearest plate and a knife and fork and had at it. Lupus half-crawled over to the meat, thumped down near it and grabbed a piece, tearing in to it.

Morin grabbed a plate and started eating also, and said, "I haven't the slightest idea where we were. Although I don't imagine they'll be happy about us running off with their plates and silverware."

Fantasia arrayed what she was carrying, setting it on the ground and giggling and chortling to herself as she shifted back to hybrid form and plopped down nearby. Her mirth continued unabated, though perhaps a bit dimmed by the delight at what she chose from the tray.

Thorn said, "Mmm, this is good. Excellent choice."

Lupus munched away. "Certainly is. Where'd you get it from?"

"Pete's Grill on... whatever planet we were on," Morin replied.

"Oh, just a little restaurant at the end of the universe," Fantasia quipped, snickering to herself as she took another bite and mmmed in delight. Okay, so that didn't go exactly as she might have planned, but at least they took care of the food thing.

"What planet were we on, anyway?" Morin wondered. "Strange place..."

"Who cares, meat is meat," the scout said, grabbing another large chunk as he finished the first one.

"Oh, looked a lot like where I came from," Fantasia replied. "Right down to the blacktop and rude drivers, but not quite the same... heh, almost feel sorry for the kid when he has to go through the till and count at the end of his shift."

"Why's that?" Morin wondered.

Apparently, the change he gave her was stamped with the words, "United States of Devenia".

"Umm," Fantasia giggled again, taking another bite, chewing, and swallowing before answering. "Well, the money I handed off to him looked a lot alike, but it ain't gonna fly at any of their banks. His boss is probably gonna be pretty horked off. Probably better avoid there any time in the near future," she added with a snicker.

"I probably couldn't get back there if I tried anyway..." Morin admitted.

Their guide quickly devoured the chunk he grabbed, and snatched another.

"No worries, hero," Fantasia looked over at him with a grin. "Doubt we're going to need to be heading back that way again any time soon anyway. Hope not. Heh."

Thorn ate some more, grabbing another piece of meat as well.

"So where will we go from here?" Morin wondered. "Further into the tunnels and hope they come out somewhere?"

"Unless you want to try getting back over the river of DOOM! Trademarked by LucasArts, I'm sure," Fantasia replied, still a bit energetic after the trip. "Then we're gonna have to go on and trust to our native guide."

"I think we should just keep heading in and see where it leads..." Thorn said.

"You certainly are energetic," Lupus said.

Fantasia grinned and nodded. "Always fun to get away with a bit of a trick, even when it's not one you planned on. Anyway, we got some food and plenty to keep us going for a day or two more, so all to the good if you decide to boldly lead where no... umm, well, that doesn't work so well." She shrugged. "Whatever way works for me."

The scout burped and stood up, reorienting himself with the cavern. They were on the other side of the river. He saw the odd sight of a burning tree and a worfberry bush growing down here.

"Assuming the werewolf doesn't eat it all first," Morin said.

Fantasia snapped off a silly salute and semi-attentive stance where she was sitting. "Ve are ready to follow, mon capitan!" and then faded into following mode as things are gathered up and prepared to move out.