trigons_child | Outside the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

Alligorr had sent word to Raven that it was time to perform the ritual to stop her father from entering this world's dimension. She wasn't expecting trouble, but there was always the chance that there could be an attack by those her father had managed to influence -- not to mention her own fear that she could succumb to her father's control -- so she felt much more confident with her friends there to watch. Their love and friendship gave her strength and helped her overcome her doubt and fear, but she was still nervous.

trigons_child	"Thank you, my friends," Raven said. "If all goes well, my father will never trouble this world. As soon as we are all ready, I will take us into the netherverse."
furnaceface	//I'm ready whenever everybody else is,// Jono decided, crossing his arms over his chest. Rituals and leaping from one reality to another were really starting to become old hat after a year on the island, and so he didn't have any reason to be nervous, at least. Except for the small horde of people, of course. But he was working around that much.
oops_mbad	Diana crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her shoulders to settle her backpack on her bag. Samuel's face peaked out from inside her bag. "Let's do this." The girl said. The cat meowed his agreement.
glacial_witch	Karla was keeping quiet about this whole thing. She'd been having bad feelings about this whole thing since Raven had first told her about Alligator's visit. Far be it for her to usurp Anakin's place as pessimist, but she didn't trust these males as far as she could throw a unicorn without Craft. There was nothing solid she could put her finger on, apart from those nebulous bad feelings. Though she did feel this required an awful lot of trust on Raven's part for nothing beyond glib assurances.
joan_notjane	Joan was definitely hoping that weapons weren't going to be required. She was also avoiding the question of what would happen if all didn't go well. "Are you sure there isn't some way to do this from here?" she asked.
trigons_child	Raven shook her head. "There is not," she said. "The place of power these sorcerers require is within the Netherverse. It must be done there."

brat_intraining	Kennedy adjusted her grip on the hilt of her sword and jutted her chin out, all business and the usual touch of overconfidence. "I'm good to go," she said, more bravely than she actually felt; the teleporting was still a trip.
trigons_child	"You will hopefully not require your weapon," Raven said. Unless the giant lizard was still roaming around in there somewhere.
brat_intraining	Kennedy, truth be told, was hoping for a chance to use it. "I'd rather not take any chances," she replied. "I hear 'ritual,' I think 'complicated.' Someone's gonna have to cover your asses while you do your thing." Never mind that two Jedi were more than capable of handling that without her.
trigons_child	"The possibility does exist that should my father have learned of this attempt to stop him, he will send minions to disrupt it," Raven said quietly. "The chances are small, but...."
brat_intraining	"Not nonexistent," Kennedy finished. "Got that. That's why I'm here. I'm all about the fighting-evil thing." There was also the fact that you couldn't have kept her away, because, as she added with a faintly sardonic quirk of her lips: "Also you're dragging some of my friends and my girlfriend to another dimension. You thought I was gonna let that slide?"
trigons_child	Raven couldn't help but smile back. "I had thought that when I invited Tara there would be no stopping you from coming with us."
brat_intraining	"A-plus and a gold star for you," Kennedy cracked. "I've been wanting to do the team ass-kicking thing with her forever." And because this was Raven, and sometimes it just had to be clarified? "...yeah, that wasn't a dirty joke, actually."
trigons_child	"I should hope not," Raven said, barely managing to keep her face serious. "The Netherverse is no place for such things."
brat_intraining	"And that," said Kennedy, barely smothering a laugh, "would be about the definition of an ironic statement right there. Holy shit, Raven, did you just make a joke?"
trigons_child	"It does happen from time to time," Raven said, beaming as a faint blush colored her cheeks.
brat_intraining	"Color me impressed." Kennedy reached over to punch her lightly in the arm, then thought better of it and turned the gesture into a pat on the shoulder. "Let's go do this thing."

weetuskenraider	"Ready as rockets," Tahiri answered calmly, touching the hilt of her lightsaber at her side. If all went well -- and she'd like to hope it would but in her experience that rarely happened -- she'd never have to power it on; she'd feel wrong without it, though.
sith_happened	Anakin caught that movement out of the corner of his eye and smiled. It was a good Jedi reflex to have. He glanced around at the group and decided this was one of the weirdest Fandom field trips he'd ever chaperoned.
weetuskenraider	Tahiri smiled back, wry but not hesitant. "It's almost like having a small horde of apprentices on your hands, I bet."
sith_happened	"We'll see," he said. "The apprentices I've known have been troublemakers."
weetuskenraider	"You've got me here. So it already is," Tahiri told him, grinning.
sith_happened	"The correct answer would be, 'Master Skywalker, I am extremely boring and I'm sure we'll be home in an hour,'" he replied, "and even if I know that's not true, it's a nice thing to hear."
weetuskenraider	"But that would be a lie, wouldn't it, Master Skywalker?" Tahiri asked, all innocence.
sith_happened	"But a comforting one," Anakin said.
weetuskenraider	Tahiri shot a slightly disparaging look Kennedy's way. "Well, I'd hate to sound overly confident, like some people; Corran already tells me I have problems with that . . . but if it'll make you feel better, I can tell you I haven't had any awfully interesting adventures lately."
sith_happened	Anakin grinned. "On a regular scale, or the one my family uses?"
weetuskenraider	"I've spent far too much time around your family to remember what the regular scale is," Tahiri admitted, grinning back.
trigons_child	Raven gave Tahiri a smile. "Thank you for coming with me," she said. "Your presence makes me feel calmer."
weetuskenraider	"After what you did for me, it's the least I can do," Tahiri answered, raising her hands and making an odd combination of gestures in front of her face. "That's known as us-hrok; by the code of the Yuuzhan Vong I'm indebted to you for that." It was an oddly formal moment, abruptly broken up by a genuine smile. "So I'm happy to be there if you need me, even though I can't remember the last time anyone told me having me around made them calmer."
trigons_child	"You do not owe me," Raven said, though she was touched by Tahiri's words. "I do not hold you to any debt. And yes, you do make me calmer. I am very nervous about this ritual, but the presence of my friends is very comforting to me."
weetuskenraider	"I can't help you with the ritual, I'm afraid," Tahiri said apologetically. "But I'm here for whatever you need me to do, even if it's just to tower over you and look forbidding." See, her propensity for making jokes didn't always have to come at intensely awkward moments.
trigons_child	"If all goes as planned, I fear you may be quite bored," Raven said apologetically. "But there is a chance that if my father knows of this attempt to bar his way, he will send minions to disrupt the ritual. I pray it will not come to that. Perhaps your forbidding look will keep them away." She could joke, too!
weetuskenraider	"And if not," Tahiri replied easily, sending a pulse of reassurance Raven's way, "Master Skywalker's ought to definitely do the trick."

life_inshadow	Tara gripped her cloth bag of spell supplies tightly under her arm, clinging to it like a security blanket. She wasn't sure they'd do any good where they were going -- she wasn't sure anything she could do would -- but their familiar weight and slight, spicy scent was reassuring, as was the girl she kept glancing at. Some part of Tara believed nothing too bad could happen while Kennedy was around. "R-ready when everyone else is," she said, smiling wanly.
brat_intraining	Kennedy shifted a step closer and gave her a quick, reassuring nod, not even trying to keep the excitement out of her expression. Hey, they finally got to go on one of these vaguely mission-like things together. That was cool, right?
life_inshadow	It was cool. It was just a little ... try not to die. Tara smiled back, a little more assured, and turned her attention to Raven.

blondecanary	Dinah gave a Raven a worried smile, but it was a lot less worried than it could have been, now that she knew who else was going along. Major hitters and a lot of magic/other kinds of back-up if something went wrong. "Ready when you are... does your mother know we're doing this?"
trigons_child	Raven shook her head. "I do not think so," she said. "She may have tried to find what we were looking for in the library, but even if she found it she would not know exactly what our intentions were."
blondecanary	Dinah was quiet a moment, then said, "So if it works, you can go back and tell her you're safe. That she's safe." She gave Raven a tentative smile. "Knock wood, here's hoping, not gonna jinx it..."
trigons_child	"If she will listen," Raven said sadly. "And not send me away immediately, like she did before. I will try to resist her if she does so that she will know the truth. Even if I am not allowed in Azarath any more, she deserves to know she is safe."
blondecanary	Dinah reached out and squeezed Raven's hand. "She does love you. I think she's messed up about a lot of stuff, but I do believe that. I think she'll want to know. And be glad." Or whatever pale imitation of 'glad' people in Azarath let themselves feel.
trigons_child	Raven was grateful for the contact and gave Dinah a soft smile. "I think no matter how much she has embraced life in Azarath, she will be pleased to know that Trigon can torment her no more. She has been safe from him for years, but the fear has always been there that he will return for her."
blondecanary	"Long past time, then," Dinah said. "Is there anything we can do to make this easier?"
trigons_child	"Pray all goes well, and my father does not sense this attempt to bar his way," Raven said. "I hope he does not attempt to interfere." She took a deep breath and addressed her friends. "If we are all ready, I will transport us to the Netherverse," she said. "If you have never traveled this way with me before, you may wish to close your eyes. It is harmless, but the journey, while quick, can be disorienting. And cold." Because finding yourself on stones floating in space didn't happen every day. Raven summoned up her Soul-Self, and it grew large enough to wrap everyone there in its wingspan. Then the shadow-raven vanished in a puff of black smoke, leaving no trace behind of those who had stood there just moments before.