2019.05.17:MoonTrip

Moon Trip
An Umbral Journey to collect Moon dust goes...slightly afield
IC Date	ic date.
IC Time	ic time.
Players	Iris(st), Branton, Sonya, Aidan
Location	location or locations.
Prp/Tp	The prp or tp the log is a part of.
Spheres	Gaian Garou (and Kinfolk), Gaian Bastet
Theme Song	A theme song for the log

So it's the Circle of the Mother, ex-Totem Hill area, because the cats have a great reason to be there tending stuff and things, and making sure the grass grows. Iris and Branton end up approaching the hill, all right out in the open so they're plenty easy to see. Iris is one of them dirty hippy types, with the recycled shoes, dreadlocks, and a bigass purse made of hemp. You know the type. She's with Branton, who she's dragged out on this wild goose chase for who the fuck knows what reason. She, in turn, is taking directions from a floating piece of colorful yarn. See, this is why you don't trust yarn, you end up on an enormous long hike and you don't even know *why*.

Branton has a girlfriend how likes to go on hikes, random dimensional jaunts, and occasional bouts of space travel. So when she says 'We're going!' he doesn't always remember to ask anymore. He just grabs his shit and goes. Even when that means following a demented piece of alien thread through the woods.

Aidan is sick of gardening. He could Google and YouTube, sure, but cats aren't meant to grow plants. Hide under them, eat them, knock them off counters? Yes, yes, and yes. Not grow. He's leaning against a shovel that's driven into the earth and looking at a pine he just stuck in the ground and buried, as if judging how such a little sapling could possible grow to replace the aged giants of the nearby forest. The sound of approaching footsteps up the path makes him look up and over, giving a faint tip up of his chin in acknowledgement. He doesn't move though, and there's a scrutinizing look on his face as he watched the pair and their fibered GPS.

Out in the Circle is Sonya, who is currently wearing a pair of shorts (while they still fit) and a baggy shirt and windbreaker over her body. She is currently planting a row of colorful flowers in the ground in a spot that she deemed would be a beautiful flower bed. At the sound of voices, she rises up to her full height, squinting her eyes. << That's Branton and a woman who I believe is Iris of the Black Furies. >> She says through their shared link together. << I have been meaning to meet with her in regards to these lands. >>

"No, I'm telling you, there should be a swimming pool on the space boat!" Iris is saying while picking her way along the path they're on, "I watched this whole thing about how there's tons of water in space, how could we run out of pool water? And... And *magic*, also. ...I mean if we figured out where upside down was and flipped that way then... Shit." Iris dunno much about science, obviously. She looks up to check on the zigging and zagging string, and holy shit there's people! "Hello!" she says with a cheerful and beaming smile, waving at the pair and then immediately tripping over something. Wasn't watching where she was going.

Branton waves also and then reaches out to catch Iris and goes down in a tangled heap of limbs. Laying there for a moment he offers, completely deadpan "Gravity is a harsh mistress."

Aidan watches the new arrivals fail against cosmic forces and just cracks a slow, one-sided grin. "Yeah, especially after a few. Just don't land on the plants." Big and rather ominous looking men with shovels may frown upon damaging the plantlife. << Well, now they're getting extra familiar with the landscape. >> Is the returning commentary to his sister with a raised brow in her direction. "You guys need a hand up?"

<< They aren't designed like us, to land on their feet. >> Sonya quips back to her brother with a grin on her face, giving a few tosses end over end of the spade she holds in her hand. Brushing her forehead off with the back of her wrist, she heads over to them. "Greetings and warm welcome to the Circle of the Mother." She says with a rising smile on her face. "How are you two this afternoon, besides now a bit more dirty?"

Iris is graceful as a fucking ballarina. Really though, the lack of surprise or complaining from her says this happens often, and probably also involves dragging Branton into her falls just as often. Spitting out a puff of dirt and working on untangling herself from Branton so she can help him up/be helped up, she says, "Nope! Got it! Thank you, though." She doesn't even dust off. "Hi! I'm good, how you doin'? I'm Iris, and this is Branton, and a ball of string said this was the place to be. Whatcha doin?" she asks of both the cats.

Branton is also eventually on his feet, between them he and Iris manage it some how. He grins "Hey Sonya, Hey Aidan. How's it going?"

"We are damned filthy, thanks for asking." Aidan says with a chuckle as he stops leaning on his shovel. "A ball of string told you to find us, huh? Well, that's a joke waiting to be told. We're just working, though the planting up here seems about done. After this it'll just take some watching over and let nature handle the rest. We wouln't likely be around to see it as it should be, but that's alright."

"That sounds like a cat thing to me." Sonya says in regards to the string. "It's nice to meet you, Iris. I was told to run into you at some point." She gives a glance over her shoulder to their work and smiles. "We're just trying to kick start some life, make things pretty."

After a moment of pondering the cat pair's words, Iris exclaims, "OH! Right, right, I remember someone mentioned something somewhere about a thing and I was thinkiiiiiing... Rocks. Yes, a rock, you need a rock. Like a uh..." she spreads her fingers out and slowly juggles air in front of her chest, that desperately trying to vocalize a thought sort of motion while she walks onwards up towards the hill top, "Like *that!* That is a great rock, you need that rock that already exists right there." she points out the cool big split rock in the middle of the place. She then looks back at Aidan and Sonya, "I need to do some stuff before I can fiddle with your rock for you though, gather some components and such. Wanna come with?" She looks to Branton as well, her expression that 'I ASSUME you're going but it's still polite to ask' sort.

Branton nods and grins at Iris "Is it cold where we're going to be going? How should I pack? I'm going but I'm a bit spoiled for choice at the moment."

"You two are going somewhere?" Sonya asks with a raise of her brows as she glances over to the rock for a moment, then back to them. "And, what were you going to do with the rock? Like something to ward the place?" From what, she'll leave unnamed, for now. She leans in against her brother's shoulder, curling an arm about his waist because he's big and strong and she's tiny and pregnant. He's a great leaning post.

"Not as bad as when we went to Antarctica." Iris adds to Branton, and then grins at the cats, "Ward no, fuel yes. What I'd like to do is embed lunar dust into your big lovely rock, and make it a nice little home for a Lune. If it's happy with the rock and the effort, then with the tie of Gaia and Luna one could meditate and become refreshed of spiritual essence. Plus it might also sparkle pretty in the moonlight, but I cant gurantee that'll happen. So, you coming with? Of course you're coming with, I mean who wouldn't?

Aidan is a good leaning post, yes. "Sooooo, you wanna stick moon rocks into this rock? Where are you going for those? Pretty sure you can't just find those at Walmart. Well, maybe you can, but I wouldn't think a spirit would appreciate that kind of stocking stuffer for the holidays. I do like that idea though."

Branton laughs at Iris "So leave the wind-rider gear home. Wait...Lunar dust? Tranquility's staying home then, that'd probably be blasphemy, at least a little bit. Works since I didn't bring her anyway." Then he looks over to Aiden and says "The source probably." like such a trip makes perfect sense to him.

Glancing upwards towards the sky, then back to her brother, Sonya looks curiously over at the pair. "You are talking of actually going to the moon?" She says, pointing a finger upwards. "How?"

Iris just grins since Branton's pretty much handled the answer, and BAMPH! A pair of hugeass wings spring up from the Fury's back and give a little flex and ruffle now that they're free of their tattoo fetish confinement. Big white dove's wings with some spiffy little gold accents in there. "Alright, everyone on board the crazy train," Iris says, gesturing people to gather in, "E'ry body put a hand on the Theurge. Close your eyes, inhale, exhale. Center yourself and leave your earthy bothers here."

Aidan turns his eyes slowly over to his sister and then back to the suddenly winged woman. "...I figured a rocket, or maybe just a lot of drugs and this was just a figurative thing, but... okay. Flying there. I forgot my astronaut costume." He gives a faint shrug and a nudge to Sonya before walking over to Iris. And either curiosity got the cat or he actually believes her, because he reaches out to rest a hand on her shoulder.

Branton chuckles at the look on Sonya's face, its funnier when that sort of surprise is happening to someone else. Stepping around he places a hand on the small of Iris' back "I do have some awakened pot with me, because sometimes realm walking you don't want to be super sober for."

"I'm four months pregnant, I probably shouldn't smoke up." Sonya says as her voice trails off at the sight of the wings. Her head cocks to one side, then clears her throat as her brother starts over to her. "I want to be the sensible one and say that there is no way in hell I am grabbing on to a winged woman and going to the moon, but .. if this ends up being /real/ fucking cool, Aidan will rub it in my face the rest of my life." She says as she heads over, smoothing down her shirt, then reaches out to place her hand on the other shoulder.

"Hey, we all gotta die someday." Aidan says to his twin with a widening grin. "At least this one'd have one weird story behind it."

So this takes a few minutes, as Iris isn't just dragging everyone through the Gauntlet with her, she's also performing a simple little ritual, guiding everyone through a moment's meditation to lighten their spiritual load before liftoff. There's no noticable effect when she does slip everyone seamlessly through the gauntlet though, aside from everyone being tethered to her by silver threads. The garou goes crinos then, wings broadening with her, so that she's got good oomf for a liftoff. Flying is like doing *all* the pushups when you're going for altitude, so the extra strength really helps.

As for the rest of the Scooby Gang, all three also gain liftoff, the cords don't let anyone get too far away from her and whitewolf never considered 'up' when saying they keep beside the Theurge, so, up everyone goes. Depending on people's vertigo or whatever, it's understandable if anyone needs to pee or puke as the ground rapidly runs away from everyone.

Branton manages to hold himself together, especially since he knows he can fly on his own if something goes wrong. For the moment though he stays attached to Iris as he considers aloud "I wonder if my flight spell would recognize your fetish wings as a vehicle...now's probably not the time to experiment though."

Tigers aren't really made to be off the ground, not even in trees. Aidan's composed enough to keep his stomach where it is, but he doesn't look super enthused to be hovering about anything earthly. "Yeah, let's not experiment." He says quickly as he doesn't try to focus on the whole Down thing, instead watching the simple silver thread suddenly stuck on him with a very dubious look. That does not look like a bungee cord.

There's a surprised yelp from Sonya as she is lifted upwards, clinging to the large crinos now. She finds her cheeks puffing up, then /swallows/ with a pained 'blech' in her throat. ".. oh God..."

Iris wuffs some laughter at Branton, but she ain't got the wherewithall to answer yet, just flapping for all she's worth, straight upwards. It takes a hot damned minute to get up to cloud level though, and bursting through them might be a little bit of a trip for those that have never done it. One moment open, HORRIFYINGLY OPEN air, and then BOOM! fog-thick clouds, and then BOOM AGAIN! Open air and an awesome little cloud trail behind them.

The second they're past the clouds, Iris stops flapping so hard, and shifts back down to homid again. "Hey don't mess with those threads," she cautions now that no one can back out, "You'll pop out of the umbra and explode or whatever it is that happens to people in space. Any how, welcome to the Aetherial Realm, home of Birds and Air! Feel free to float about and experience the joys of flight!" Under the group is a vast expanse of white with little holes revealing the earth below. The cloud realm has a whole topography of its own with mountains, valleys, and other curiosities. Up above is a vast blackness speckled with stars, and of course the enormous fucking moon. The realm is habitat to a vast array of bird spirits, as well as elementals of air, fire, and lightning. A bit higher up and there are Lunes, Starlight, and various other spirits of that ilk. And now that everyone's UP here, the ritual effects are visible in the form of a little sigil on everyone's foreheads, gently glowing, that pretty much convinces spirit life to ignore the party.

Branton whoops with delight as the float and he spends a moment just looking around. The others might notice (and Iris recall) that Branton doesn't look entirely human in the umbra.

Aidan retracts his hand from the thread. Explode he does not wish to do. Nope. But concerns about falling are quashed by that view that's something out of a high fantasy novel. "...is this what people see when they say they died?" The question comes out of him like he wasn't even paying attention to the thoughts he was forming. He just stares and stares hard with the moon literally in his eyes, and the Khan slowly letting go and just sort of floats there looking a bit overwhelmed and caught up in it all.

Once they hit that speed in which her stomach isn't higher than her head, Sonya finally opens her eyes and relaxes her grip on Iris' fur. She did't puke! But, she sure came close. Slowly, she lets go and gently floats next to her brother. "Holy crap. This is my first time in the Umbra." She says as her eyes dart about, looking /everywhere/ that she can.

While friends old and new experience the awesomeness of her most favorite place in all of creation, Iris works on step two: actually getting TO the moon. cause like, bitch be a ways off. Wings spread out, flapping one moment and gliding the next while she drags people along by their threads, she tilts and swivels and searches around, "Just gotta find the right solar current..." she mumbles. Her personal turbulence evens out and her speed picks up significantly as she rides a thin road of sunny particals.

"Probably, yeah." Iris tells AIdan, which may not at all have been the right thing to say, but whatever, just blurting this shit out. "Noooooo, this is your first time?? YAY! Oh wow, what a fun first trip this must be for you!" I mean, if you don't count the almost puking part. She shakes Branton spazdicly by the shoulder, "We definitely have to make sure she doesn't die on her maiden voyage!" REAL COMFORTING IRIS.

Branton nods in agreement with Iris "And they fall from here to the lower umbra and wind up wherever human ghosts go. Shifters are different of course." Then he nods at Iris and tries to reassure Sonya "Everything will be fine, we wound up in the flux realm once and still made it home okay. Only slightly mutated."

"We've been to parts of the Umbra before." Aidan says towards his sister, "Oh those trips with Ferdinand, or the Shen... but never *here*." He's still gaping at the moon, but when you're a pretty Ragey beast and the Moon is close enough to touch, it's a pretty demanding sight. He just comes along for the ride quite literally as he's pulled on that silvery thread, though he does have to give Branton a very uncertain look. "Only *slightly*?"

"Those don't really count, that's not like the umbra, umbra. Those are like .. weird Asian places that doesn't look anything like /this/." Sonya says with a laugh as she continues to look about with her wild eyes. "Those places seemed like real places in the world. It wasn't like spirits and space and floating and all of this." She reaches out to grab on to Aidan, clinging to his shirt as she starts finding herself floating sideways.

"Yeah, you cant even tell!" Iris agrees with Branton. Slightly. Only slightly. The enormous waxing crescent above them draws closer in fits and starts as Iris tries to cover ground. A quick in-flight deal with a Lune gets them a Sky Bridge portal here and there, or Iris has the oomf to kick on the nitro for a few minutes and zoom unreasonably fast. Fits and starts though. "I dunno, I mean those sound like legitimate... what, Realms probably? Course, you're right I suppose, there's a difference. We're actually going to the moon's umbra. Well, I mean one of its umbras any how. It'll be great! I've never been myself, but I've heard about it and I've always wanted to meet Aunt Luna. I dunno if we will, but still. I heard she's got a huge castle up there that's always changing and moving!"

Branton nods at Aiden "I picked up the gifts to sense and identify imbalances in triatic energies. Pretty positive experience as such things went." Nodding in agreement with Iris "Sounds like Penumbral realms." Then he offers to Sonya "So this is your first trip out this far. You want a head trip? Look back at earth from up here if you get a chance. It really puts things in....perspective."

"That we're tiny specks who could die if an asteroid went just an inch off course? Yeup, I didn't sleep in all of my science classes." Aidan says as he holds an arm closer around Sonya and keeps gawking at the passing scenery as he's able. "So, people actually meet Selene? Er, Luna? The actual cosmic forces actually meet people like us one on one?"

"I'm totally trying not to freak out here. This is like being on .. a whole different level of cool and weird. Upwards and onwards!" Sonya lets out with a laugh, speaking a certain talking Monkey's (Scientist) catch phrase from Overwatch. "It's so not fair that you wolves can do this while we gotta like ... you know.. not do this... without a ton of tricks and pleading."

Iris nods her head in total agreement with Branton, "This is where I like to come to give stuff a real good think, or if I'm feeling overwhelmed with the earthly stuff. Makes me feel more put together, I think... Stuff's so small, so it cant be smothering, if that makes sense..." Ahead of them, Iris alters course as the moon comes looming large, angling towards the bright crescent of its light. There's lights in places on the moon's dark side, but she doesn't spare any investigation time for them.

Soon they're skimming high over the lunar surface, its umbral reflection not at all devoid of life. Veins of silver run through the mountains and there are lakes of the stuff shimmering softly. "Oh sure! I mean, they're hugely powerful, singular spirits so they've got big planetary sized jobs to do and don't exactly get around and chat, but they'll meet you. Branton, myself, and our packmates Jes and Isla met an aspect of Gaia together. We had to go to Antarctica and work our way super deep into the earth but it was SO COOL, and she was like the nicest lady I've ever met before. Like... Mom. Just... Just Mom all over the everywhere and everything." She grins at Sonya, "Nah, I mean it seems like it but I'm pretty sure there's a balance in there somewhere that we're probably not seeing."

Branton nods and smiles as he remembers "And for a guy that grew up without a mom it was...really nice." WAY TO UNDERSELL IT. Branton looks around again, taking a deep breath "This sort of trip never gets old."

Aidan doesn't comments on the cats versus dogs. It's one of those universal questions that'll never have an answer. "That's insane. I heard of people following aspects like the Sun, but, to know they actually will sit and talk to you... well, my mind is blown." And it just keeps going as he looks down to the strange lunar gardenscape with wide eyes.

"Are you serious? That's insane." Sonya breathes out in regards to them having a sit-down with Gaia. She mimics her brother almost at the same time, slipping in a whispered 'jinx' to him. "I wish my phone worked out here so I can take pictures, record these adventures, then use them for wallpapers on my computer." She chuckles. "So we can breathe on the moon?" She says as she stares at the lunar surface. "We aren't gonna implode."

"OH! We met Helios too! Well, okay we met an aspect of Helios but that's damned near the same thing, I think. See? Touched me on mah forehead. Him too." Iris says with a gesture at Branton's forehead. "I dunno, I mean I figure you can meet anyone if you travel far enough to do it, and it seems like they're usually pretty happy for the visit. Imagine how few shifters really make the trip to the domain of a Celestine. I wonder if they get bored... Ooh, shiny!"

Iris spots something pretty and angles towards it. Drawing closer, she brings it on in for a soft and gentle landingUp ahead are two very bit statues made of some unknown blue stone that gleams with an inner moonlight. (https://tinyurl.com/yxdtxxzd) The distant sun shines up above them in a black and starry sky, the earth distant and small, hanging in the void. "In the umbra yes, you can breathe anywhere. On the physical moon, explosion or whatever."

Branton nods at Iris and grins as he remembers "And then we went on a field trip to climb a mountain in the sky and set ourselves on /fire/. Because he said we should. Dude doesn't even think small ever." The statues get a low impressed sounding whistle but no comment right off.

"Guess it's sorta like the difference between sending your Mom cards after moving out and actually coming home to visit." Aidan says and lets his feet settle down onto lunar soul. Considering he hasn't tipped over yet, he trusts that he can actually breathe. "...geez, now I wish I brought a present or something instead of just showing up. At least I didn't bring my laundry. I never even knew this was possible. Maybe a lot of us don't or... forgot how."

Once she touches down, Sonya gives a few test steps to see if she'll take off due to a lack of gravity. "I'm pretty sure we know how to do our laundry, Aidan. It's like one button these days." She says as he kicks along a bit of moon dust under her sneakers. "But if you're talking about going out to the moon via the umbra, I dunno if we ever could. Maybe Phillipe would know."

There's a certain emotional and soul tie between the shifters and the moon, the same as with the earth though you get blind to that latter one. The Bastet likely feel this a bit more strongly due to that soft spot Selene has for the cat breed, a sense of security and rightness somewhere deep down in their souls. The gravity is light but still present. Strange elementals unknown to earth and some similar but still foreign go about their lives on the dusty, desert-like expanse around them, lunes dancing over head in far thicker numbers than are ever seen from home.

Meanwhile, Iris is all about them hugeass statues, and skips her happy ass in that direction, dragging her friends along with her whether they like it or not. "Anything is possible with enough imagination, or in my case, a big enough tattoo." To prove her point about that, her wings fold and curl inwards, melting into her pack and becoming an intricate tattoo. Now that you know it's possible, you just gotta build a way to do it when you want to."

Branton grins and says "Don't let Iris undersell herself, this isn't the sort of trip just any wolf could manage. She's spent a really non-trivial amount of training and study on world-walking." as he follows Iris along towards the giant statues.

"I dunno. This just feels like coming home." Aidan says aside to his sibling as he walks away, a cat on a silver leash, or a tiger caught by his tail. "...shit, I don't think home will ever feel like this." He looks over to Branton with a look that manages to mesh jealousy, awe, and dismay all in once. "I can't even enter the normal Umbra on my own."

"You and I are so different even though we are twins. This feels more like a crazy vacation to me that Brandon spent a lot of money on." Sonya says as he follows along via the tether she is connected to. She eyes the states a bit warily as she creeps along. She takes in a deep breath, then lets it out slowly as she offers the blue statues a hopeful smile.

"Pfft, limits." Iris says to Aidan with a wave of her hand, "I will build you a way into the umbra, just see if I don't! Well, I mean, if you want. From there, start on the ground and learn that first, and then if you wanna fly you wont get into too much trouble. Excuse me!" Iris stops at the base of one of the enormous blue stone statues and calls up to it, "Can I please have some of your dust? I'd like to make a gift for some friends!"

Surprisingly there's an answer in the form of a fierce roar. It sounds super fierce any how, to those that don't speak cat, although Aidan and Sonya get an old fashioned sort of ~Sup, thou?~ type of a greeting from a fuckofflarge sabertoothed cat that slinks out from behind the statue.

Branton chuckles and watches at Iris addresses the statues and then he blinks a couple of times at the ginormousomghuge sabertooth. Calmly he remarks "Well Shit. That's new." as he focuses his concentration on the language of cats so he'll understand what's going on.

Cat! Aidan looks both overjoyed and deeply respectful as he sees the emerging sabertoothed cat. With a ripple of body and spirit, a man becomes a cat, and a giant of one too. A Khan in Chatro could give even a Gurahl a run for their money, and they have teeth to spare on top of that. Clearly cooler to ride into battle. The giant, striped beast holds a calm but slightly lowered posture in the face of what could be one of their spiritual ancestors. Who knows, this place cray. ~Greetings, are we intruding?~

Blurring her way down into the chatro form, Fire-Runner stands at her brother's side proudly. She gives a rumble towards the new face, her tail flickering this way and that. ~Hello! We bring you warm wishes brother cat. It is an honor to visit you here. Our friends are looking for some moon dust for an important project of ours back on Earth. Will you allow us please to travel safely?~

Do not give Iris ideas, she will absolutely ride a cat into battle, and possibly spout some WoW references to boot. ~Oh, certainly, as long as it will not be used for ill.~ the cat answers while approaching for some sniffing, nose touching and other feline greeting maneuvers. "I am Desert Streak, Bon Bhat of the Silver Folk, or I was in life once. For now, I am just one of Selene's children. Welcome to Her garden, cousins.~ Sitting down on his haunches, the cat looks up at the statues, ~Do you like them? I thought they might make the moon smile. They make me smile.~ Meanwhile, Iris licks the statue's base.

Branton looks over at Iris, having thought he could not be surprised but now baffled when she /licks/ the statue. He mouths at her silently 'what the fuck?'

That little nub tail of Strike of Heaven may twitter-twitch just a bit, as a cat's does when excited. It's not everyday you get to meet one of the ancestors of your own race! ~A pleasure to meet you, Bon Bhat Desert Streak. I am Strike of Heaven, Akaa of the Khan. We join our friends on their journey. She sees the moon's dust to help bless a site my pride recently restored to to fertility that Nala and Gaia intended.~ Even if said Blesser is licking a statue. ~You are a fine artisan. Sphinx? I met one of those once.~

Iris is satisfied with the lick, holding up a finger at Branton for a second when she presses her ear up to the statue and listens. "Theurge." she says, as if that explained anything at all. It's also a handy use of her time while the cats take introduction priority. When the Bastet are well met, she gives the cat a handsom bow worthy of an elder ancestor of any sort, and says, "My name is Iris Tiganites, rite named Mercy's Messenger, Athro Black Fury born on two legs under the waxing crescent moon, and an Amazon of the goddess Diana, and this is my kinfolk Branton of the Black Furies, fire born magic... guy. We're deeply honored and glad to meet you, and I *really* hope we're not tresspassing!"

The cat makes what is essentially a shrug and says, "Well met, Mercy's Messenger and Branton Guy. It's all Her territory, not mine." Back to the Bastet again he says "Oh, well that seems like a fine use, when you put it like that. If you want to collect it, you're welcome to it. There's no wind here, so I'm certain there's plenty from the carving if you look in the crevases.

~I am The Fire Runner. Tilau of the Khan.~ The twin Chatro says as she settles next to Strike of Heaven's side. ~It is a true honor to meet you.~ She says as she gives a regal bow of her form forward. Her ears give a flick upwards as she watches Iris lick about, whiskers flaying in confusion before she looks back to the others.

Branton nods and fishes through his pack for a moment, coming out with a mason jar and a little scooper "This aught to do." and he sets to looking for a good spot to collect from.

Iris gives the cat another bow of respect and a smile before turning to Branton and his sample collection stuff. "Good question!" She goes off to check around nearby, looking in the crevases and notches for bits of the glowy blue stone's dandruff. "Wow, this looks like claw marks. Nice work!" she tells the Ancestor, who answers with a mrowly ~Thanks. I do a little more every time I'm here. They started as cats, then I started adding Selene in, at one point I was trying to work in the crescent moon, but I broke a tip off of one, so they ended up wings instead. No sense crying over broken stone when you can just make something else. Next time I die, maybe I'll see if I can work in a starry crown...~

While the wolf folk are component collecting, the cat looks back to the Bastet again, ~This place you spoke of, the one you need this dust for. How did you come about it? Tell me your story, I don't receive many visitors, it would be nice to hear a new tale.~

~The blue will look great, if some of the dust carries it. More color might encourage the flowers to bloom faster.~ Strike of Heaven says warmly. ~My sister and I will be sure to speak of you when we return. The other Folk will be pleased to know you are here.~ As for the story, there's a tip of his ears and his whiskers draw back faintly. ~I don't know the story of the place, what was called Totem Hill, save is was sacred to the Folk and others of the Mother. A Simba burned it. I don't know if it was in Rage or praise to Helios, I have not spoken to him to learn his reasons, but they destroyed the Hill. Nothing was left but ash. Reasons aside, it was wrong to leave it damaged. We are working to save the Mother, not do her further harm. So my sister and I learned a ritual to bring fertility back to the land and our pride assisted us in completing it. So now we're tending to the new life there and trying to make it a place for us all again.~

Nodding her head as she leans in against Strike's shoulder, Fire Runner rumbles out. ~Our pride, Halcyon, all worked together to ensure the ritual was a success, and now we tend to the lands as guardians, planting and reseeding. We have also asked a powerful and wise Gurahl to be custodian of the land and nurture it back to full health. It will be a place of welcome for all Fera, to come together and celebrate life. We have been so fractured since the war of rage, but we are in a position to build new bridges and form better relationships. With combined talents, we can take the fight to the Cahlash stronger than ever.~

Branton listens to the story with one ear as he starts gathering dust from a couple of different spots, even going so far as to dig down deep in a drift to get some old dust.

~That's very nice of you, and very ambitious.~ the big cat opines, ~People do many things for many strange reasons, but one things's end is just another things's beginning. Feel good about your diplomatic works, I'm sure they'll bloom good fruit.~ Just then, the cat perks up on alert as, from over a nearby rise, a group of large silvery cat spirits come running along, racing each other in a group and flowing like water over the lunar sands. The artistic old Ancestor whirls around, assumes the form of a lean cheetah and rushes after them. After a few paces, he looks back and chirps, ~Well? Come on!~ at the cats. Iris meanwhile assures, "We'll catch up!" They can fly so it's not like they're gonna lose their cat bros or anything.

Aidan watches the cats crest the hill like a wave with his ears pricking forward in interest. As the ancestor takes to a leaner form, the Khan can't help but chuff in amusement. ~Pity for us fat, slow tigers?~ He shoots an appreciative look towards Iris as they're given leave to go, before he drops down into his smaller but still bulky feline form. There's that low, coughing roar of a good-natured challenge before he's pushing off the lunar landscape to race after the cheetah. Bless his enthusiasm - tigers are ambushers, not sprinters.

~This isn't leg day and I'm with cub!~ Fire Runner says with a small whine in her throat, before she gives a feline 'fuck it' under her breath and pushes off once she shifts down into her feline form. She barrels after her brother as her powerful muscles propels her weight along after him. She will be the anchor.

The effects of the 'ignore me unless I bug you' rite that Iris performed doesn't have any more effect here than it does on earth itself, it's more a cloud-zone/in-between-planets sort of thing. So the cats notice the Bastet as they join up with them. The spirits are very definitely feline, though of no known earthly breed, creatures unique to the moon alone. They chirp, mrowl and yowl their greetings at the werecats, happy to have them along for a speedy jog. The lessened gravity and the lack of wind resistance helps the tigers keep up just fine, although they might bring up the rear a bit.

The landscape wizzes by, the herd of cats winding between rocky crags and along the shore of a lake of liquid silver. Juts of odd crystal formations, crazy little plants that are something like a combination of natural desert plants and a Futurama design, and odd little alien prey creatures are some of the sights to be seen, as well as the amazing view of earth in the black and starry sky. The blue statues are left far behind and lost to view. Once pregnant ladies and bulky brothers start to flag, they are left behind. Not rudely, but hey, if you need a break you need a break. It's a nice view though; shining off in the distance is what looks like a gleaming, sparkling... city, maybe? Castle? Hard to say, but it seems big as holy shit.

~If felines can run with a belly of cubs, you can with one!~ Calls Strike of Heaven back to his sister as he joins in a quick mingling with the Mooncats, sharing in their chuffs and whiskers brushing 'handshakes'. And when they're off, so too does he join. He doesn't seem to particularly mind he's rearguard after a few minutes of putting in an effort, he's used enough to playing the role by choice in his pride. And it lets him stick with his sister. As the chase wanes for the tigers, he slowly drops out of his run and lets the other cats be on their way. ~...phew, and I thought I was in good shape.~ Says the male Khan as he pants heavily, paws and breath stirring up the dust. ~Whoa. You see that up there?~

~If I was /born/ a cat, I wouldn't be complaining! I have soft and dainty paws!~ Fire Runner quips back to her brother with a laugh as she attempts to keep pace as she winds in and out of the journey. She will most definitely be the last to cross the finishing line, her breathing heavily, ears splayed back, whiskers twitching. She slows to a trot, then thumps her weight against Strike's shoulder.

Iris and Branton catch up about five minutes later, him in his floaty boots and her with her wings. Fortunately, spotting big orange cats when everything else is silvery is really easy! "Hey guys!" she says while they're getting landed and heading towards them, "Got the dust!" she says, and shakes a mason jar with a fair amount stashed away in there.

Strike-of-Heaven leans over to nip his sister's ear with an amused chuff of noise. ~Look up! Look at that!~ He gives her a nudge and swings his head back towards the sight of the castle-city. At the sound of the Garou and kin, he turns his head around and asks, ~Is that Luna's castle? That place looks like a big silver Oz. It's crazy!~

Tilting her head upwards at the shining city, Fire Runner gives a snuff of the air. ~Wow. That's beautiful.~ Her ears perk at the question of her brother, curious now as well. ~I still can't believe I'm on the moon. And there is castles! And silvery spirit cats! This is so cool. I bet the others will be so jealous.~ Her tail swings excitedly back and forth behind her.

Branton bounces along with big strides (Low gravity plus boots with hare's leap on them) gives a low whistle as he looks over at the castle, clearly impressed "I bet it is, never seen anything like it."

"Yeah but at least you have some cool stories to tell, right?" Iris says with a grin at Sonya. Getting a gander of what indeed is a lot like Moon Oz, Iris's brows shoot way upwards, "WOW! I mean... It's gotta be, who else would have a thing like that on the moon? Although maybe there are, I have no idea but holy shit lookit it! Obviously we have to go look at it real quick before we go home." Iris says 'oh twist my arm' style, walks up to the edge of the nearest rise, shouts "BOING!" and throws herself off the edge to slow speed fall downwards to head towards the shiny thing in the distance.

~Of course.~ Strike of Heaven says with great dignity. ~Maybe visit the gift shop, bring Natalie something home for her little one.~ And since the Fury seems to find it safe to do so, he decides to take the risk and pushes himself off the edge too. Low gravity plus feline grace means it's a delightful slow fall to the ground where he can plant his paws and stick that landing.

Bending herself forward, Fire Runner gives a bit of a wiggle of her rump, then trots forward with a quick one-two and leaps as well after her brother. She coasts through the low gravity air with a whoop! ~Natalie would have /loved/ this! I wish she we could have taken her.~ She paws at the air in a swimming motion, looking to propel herself before landing next to her brother once they begin to slow descent.

Branton chuckles at Iris and tries to get a running start before jumping off after the rest of the group "Well its not like the moon's going anywhere. We can come back when she's good for travel."

"Oh no, it would be *terrible* if the moon went anywhere!" Iris says while trot-boinging along, "And uh, yeah, I mean I do interplanetary flights, so if you need to head up this way again, I'm sure we can work something out!" As the shiny bit gets closer, it turns out to be less of a city or a castle, and more of a castle that is a city. Made of silver and moonstone, it sprawls in grand peaks and towers and frankly swarms with Lunes. There's a large pearly sort of gate set before the group, but no sight of any attendants or guards of any sort. The gate is barred, not solid, and a huge, beautiful garden can be seen beyond it. The gate's locking mechanism is alien and delicate, and involves a lot of moving parts that one can manipulate.

~The pride would love it, but it'll be several months till we cal all make the trip.~ Aidan retakes his human form once they're closer to the city and looks to the gate. "Hmm... I wanna go in, but I'm not seeing a doorbell or anything. I'm not terribly inclined to just pick the lock on Her front door. Unless we're supposed to?" Because that would be appropriate for a fickle goddess wanting to challenge her children.

Shifting up into her homid form, Sonya makes her way towards the door curiously as she pulls her hair back behind her. "Where is your sense of adventure, Aidan?" She says with a grin as she makes her way to the mechanism to study it.

Iris tries to get a look but also doesn't want to crowd things. Lock things aren't exactly her forte anyways. The thing is tricky, that's for sure. Sometimes you gotta moosh your eye right up there to see what the hell you're doing, maybe stick a claw in a hole and get a piece to move, scoot some plaques around, align moon phases correctly, stand on one foot... Maybe not the last part, but still. Team work helps! Sonya then gets her finger stuck in the lock just as the gates swing open, dragging her inwards and off to one side.

The garden's plants are familiar yet alien, not unlike the cat spirits were. Climing ivys, fruit bearing trees, flowering shrubs, they're pale green and silvery colored, the flowers most often white or pale blue. There's strange but beautiful works of art, glittering pathstones and fluttering moths tending to the pollination of things.

Branton gives a low whistle as he looks around, occasionally his eyes unfocus and he starts doing math in his head. Is he appraising the treasures on display? Possibly. Guestimating the properties of some of the plants and things? Almost certainly.

Aidan leaves the others to do the lockpicking, only to watch his sister get her finger caught in the cookie jar. Wincing, he does the Good Brother thing and walks over to help, all while chuckling at her of course. "You need a hand there on your adventure?" He asks, though taking a moment to take in the sights of the lunar city here and there.

Tugging her hand away quickly, Sonya goes 'ow ow ow' under her breath, sucking on it once she detangles from her predicament with the gate. "Ha ha." She says as she bumps her hip against Aidan's, holding her finger out for a boo boo kiss. Taking a good look into the garden past the gates, she lets out a low breath of excitement. "This is so cool. Are we going all the way in?"

"I AM!" Iris says happily, grabbing Branton's hand and zooming inside before the door decides she ought not be there. It doesn't, the gate waits patiently for everyone to get in before closing up again and relocking with a long and complicated series of clicks and gear sounds and what not. Good luck to the next guy that comes by! "Lookit all the night time butterflies!" she says while bounding into the maze of the garden.

The sounds of the place are pretty mellow here, your basic rustle sounds from garden life, a distant babble of spirit chatter farther in where things are presumably more populated. Occasionally there's a sound like a distant scream, or maybe the edge of a sob half lost to distance. The place doesn't radiate any evil vibes at all, but it certainly does house some strange stuff. Now and then at the corner of the eye, the structures can be seen moving, soundlessly shifting and reshaping themselves, sending near towers into the distance and vise versa.

Branton laughs as he gets tugged along and he follows Iris, totally doing the whole tourist thing.

"I am not kissing your finger. You're the one who can lick-heal." Aidan teases his sister and nudges her back before looking back towards the city. "Why not? We're in now. Let's go take a look. We still gotta find the gift shop!" But there'll be no picking of flowers, though he certainly looks. No touching though. He heard enough fairy tales as a boy about what happens if you go ruining the gardens of eldritch things. "Never did I think there were places like this in the Umbra. I always figured it looked like Earth, just, a bit different."

"I am pretty sure a castle on the moon doesn't have a gift shop." Sonya laughs as she follows along after them, giving her stomach a bit of a rub with the flat of her palm. "But if it does, I'm swiping the hell out of my credit card. Brandon will be so mad after that bill." The noises in the distance does cause her some curious concern as she tilts her head upwards and to the side. "Everyone always talks about how the Umbra is so scary and dangerous, but so far it feels like something out of a Disney movie."

Iris did not hear these fairy tails, and pretty much the first thing she does when she's in there is mash her nose right into a pretty flower and smell it like it's going out of style, ending up looking a little bit like a coke head due to white-ish pollen stuck to her nose. No picking though, no. "Hello!" she says to a tiny white mouse spirit, and rubs its li'l head before wandering on. "It's not so bad. I mean it *is* dangerous, but once you figure out the pitfalls, it's not really any more dangerous than the material world, just... differently dangerous. You got your good spots, your bad spots, your occasional wandering bad guys, and now and then you get kidnapped by offshoot realities. Totally just like the material world."

Moving into the garden and looking for the gift shop, access to spirit city down town, or whatever else, the group finds strange and mysterious avenues that, much like a video game, are conveniently blocked off for this level. An opening to what looks like a massive hedgemaze is currently blocked by thorn vines that need taming, a path deeper into castle town is closed off half way down due to the shifting nature of the moving place. Instead, while exploring the group ends up herded deeper into the garden itself where things grow thick and ancient. Stately, glittering moonstone columns appear as their path leads into a clearing in the garden.

A serene pool of silver dominates the space, and floating within it are hundreds of huge, ancient lotus flowers with petals whiter than any snow. Nearby in a simple yet elegant lounging seat is a woman. Her skin is icy pale, her hair a flow of silver-white decorated with a simple silver tiara with white stones set into it. Her form is shielded in shifting layers of living moonlight that flow to her ankles, her feet clad in gleaming silver shoes. She leans on her elbow, eyes closed and a small smile playing at her white lips, serene as can be and just zenned out.

As they head through the garden, Sonya is excitedly looking at /everything/, breathing in deep of the air around her, and looking at all the flowers that line the way. As she spies the woman lounging by the pool, she slows her pace up a bit, then gives a wave of her hand to the others in her party, then points over to her. She starts to mouth: 'Is that her?' She keeps looking at the woman, taking in a ll the details, finding her breath caught in her chest.

Branton is moving through the space very carefully, looking everywhere and just taking it all in. He's fairly concious of the fact that he's so far out of the usual depth that kin-shaman swim in he's trying VERY HARD not to feel overwhelmed. Then he sees who he assumes is an avatar/aspect of Luna and freezes, his brain on the edge of noping out.

Aidan makes his way down the paths and streets along with the others, at first focusing more on the sights but steadily growing fixated on the blockages. No cat likes to be forbidden from someplace that's probably fantastic and full of magic. At least the garden provides some less frustrating mysticalness for him to stare at and ponder. But none of it holds mind-stopping awe, at least until he sees Her. Like Branton, he goes still with his eyes turned upon the moonlight woman. There's a flick of his eyes to his sister and then back, but all he can really do is swallow. He is not qualified to answer that one.

Iris brings up the rear and runs smack into Branton's back when everyone stops to stare. And she does as well! She might get around, cosmically speaking, but you don't just trip over celestine avatars every other day or anything. It takes her a moment before the full impact of the whole thing hits her, and then she flails in place like crazy for a moment, her expression full of 'HOLY SHIT!' while she desperately attempts to not actually shout that out loud. So excited she's practically tap dancing, she gives the cats a light shove to lead the way, and grips Branton's arm, jiggling him excitedly like they're about to meet a huge celebraty. Which they kinda are.

Taking in a deep breath, Sonya braves up and takes a few steps forward. She lightly clears her throat. "Hello. My name is Sonya, Tilau of the Khan tribe of cat shifters. Are you the Mother who lives in the moon? It is an honor to meet you and to see your beautiful garden." She says softly in a tone of respect, biting on her bottom lip as she gives a bit of a formal bow towards her. "We will not stay long and bother yuo."

Branton almost jumps out of his skin when Iris grabs his arm, which given the setting would be a neat trick, but he manages to hold it together. Listening attentively when Sonya adresses the throne.

At the nudge, Aidan shoots Iris one of those looks of a kid protesting a dare. Nuh-uh, you first! Thankfully his sister jumps into the line of fire, and saves him from the indecision of being the guy who disrupted a moonbathing goddess or the guy creeping on a moonbathing goddess. Neither good options. Politely though, he keeps his eyes turned down as the greeting is given with a quick grin that he tried to make look friendly, but doesn't say anything for now.

The Lady opens her eyes when spoken to, turning them on the group of shifter types. Like most things on this almost but not quite monochromatic world, her eyes are a silvery white ringed in black, given just a touch of unearthly light and seeming to reflect the current moon-phase. She turns her pale lips upwards in a smile and speaks in a bed-time whisper that carries just fine despite its low volume. "Hello, my children." Indeed, she probably makes the cats feel the same way the avatar of Gaia made the wolves feel; just... Mom. Enigmatic, distant, but fiercely loving under her icy exterior.

She flicks her eyes towards Iris and Branton, "Hello, niece and nephew." Iris actually squees (very quietly), and bows low in reverence. Selene's calm smile twitches with mirth, but she looks back to the Bastet. "What brings you on such a long pilgrimage?"

Lowering herself down to one knee, Sonya kneels before the woman of the moon. "We have come on an adventure to gather some moon dust to bless and purify a sanctuary that we will use to celebrate life beneath your beautiful light. This is our first time here. We ran with some spirits and saw your palace and found ourselves curious. You are so beautiful, Mother. It is an honor and a blessing to bare witness to you." She says as she keeps her head low, her eyes downcasted and away in respect.

Branton grins and also bows when Iris does, respectful and quiet but also so excited he's almost vibrating when the Goddess notices him.

Aidan will not cry. No. The indignity is too much, but the sense of Motherness to a man who's never known his true mother and who's adoptive mother was slain... well, it's a lot. And those didn't even ring with that same spiritual resonance that hits his heart like the perfect note in a song. He doesn't cry, but there's a look on his face not like a lost kid finally seeing his mother on the other side of the busy, crowded, scary store. He wants to, but the joy is even more powerful. "Our cousins brought us here, and I am very very glad they did." He settles down to his knees beside Sonya and says, "My sister is right. I just hope we didn't disturb you."

Selene regards the bowing and kneeling quartet for a moment before she shifts her legs under her living moonlight gown to stand. Silver shoes ring like soft bells as she walks along the glittering pathstones. "Stand, be welcome." she intones quietly, with equal measures friendliness and command. Her fingers, cool and soft, brush through the hair of either cat, and across the bald pate and dreadhead of the wolf folk as she pauses in their midst. "You're with child." she notes with a smile at Sonya, not in a 'did you know' way, but a 'I just noticed and that's awesome!' way.

Leaning herself into the touch, Sonya holds back a sob in her throat as she swallows it down. "I am, yes. I have a wonderful husband who loves me back home. Kin of our people. This will be our first child together, a son." She says as she rises up to her feet, trying desperately to hold herself back from giving the woman a hug. ".. We want to name him Jae-Il."

Show of hands who is never washing their hair again? Aidan doesn't stand until that hand is gone and looks sorrowful when it passes, like a perfect sunbeam gone behind a cloud, but the news from his sister returns the smile to his face. "And hopefully someday he'll know his cousin outside of FaceTime." He murmurs aside to his sister.

Branton almost puts himself cross eyed as he briefly is consumed by a /need/ to know if he has a moon-mark to go with the sun mark on his head. He probably doesn't though.

Selene gives Sonya her full and individed attention, her tone soft and kind and her words plain and ... 'down to Earth' might not be the right term in this case, but you get the idea. She lightly presses a hand to Sonya's stomach, it's a little invasive yes, but it's like... Well it's like your mom, somehow inherantly pretty much fine. "I think that's a lovely name, and I'm sure you'll raise him well, teach him the old ways and the lost ways." All that moon worship cat stuff! Her hands move then to hold Sonya's and give them a light squeeze. "You send your mate my love, and keep a curtain open at night so I can see your son grow tall and wise." And then yes, there's the hug, the goddess stepping in to wrap her arms around Sonya's shoulders and squeeze her tightly. There's no rush here from the silver lady, the Khan can take as long as she likes in this moment. Also, and this is a little known fact, goddesses are actually snot resistant. When Sonya's gotten her fill, it'll be time to turn to Aidan.

Giving a loud sniff, tears finally spill down Sonya's cheeks as she leans in to return the hug, burying her face into her shoulder as she breathes heavily. "I will, I promise. I have a beautiful view of the ocean from my windows and I can see the moon from them at night. I'll let Brandon know." She finally lets go of her, if only so not to steal her all to herself from Aidan, reaching up to wipe at her face.

Branton blinks his eyes and gives himself a little shake to settle himself as he watches the goings on. Trying his hardest to not be a disturbance or distraction.

Aidan is an angry cat for all he hides it well, and Rage is no less here on the moon. Arguably more, but it feels clean and right. No more so than in the arms of the Lunar Lady herself. The shaky sigh of joy-relief and the sweetest kind of hurt escapes him as he embraces the Goddess, only slowly extracting himself after a long minute. "...I wish our pridemates could be here. Our pridesister is also expecting. We'll be sure to let her know to leave a curtain open too."

There's no rush in her embrace with Aidan either, she just lets her kid hug it out as much as he needs. When he's had his fill and it ends, he takes his hands in hers, and her smile turns soft and sympathetic. "You've had a hard time, haven't you? I'm glad you found family again, and I would very much like to meet them one day. Perhaps you will make something beautiful for my garden together and bring it to me. Take care of your expecting sisters, alright? They cant have all my gifts at once during times like these, so they'll need you and your pride-brothers." She smiles fondly at the man, and then steps back from the pair.

Selene slips a pale hand into the folds of her moonlight dress for a moment, and then passes a small white pouch that's tied closed in an intricate knot to each of the Bastet. "A token of my love for you." And then she sets her sights on Branton

Taking the bag from Selene, Sonya holds her breath for a moment, then pulls them close against her heart as she lets out a happy sigh in her throat. "Thank you, mother." She says as she looks to her brother excitedly.

Branton doesn't snap to a salute exactly but there's a posture of...attention and readiness when the Goddess turns her regard in his direction. And he thinks about the talens of stored moon armor he's carrying on him and the silver greatsword he crafted for an Elder and marked it with one of the Moon's names. In this moment one other thing occurs to him, for only the second time in his life he's somewhere that nothing needs to burn and the flame within quiets just a little.

"Always and forever, in this life and the ones after." Aidan says with absolute conviction, "Even if they could, I'd still protect them with my life. Sisters and brothers. And maybe some particularly cool cousins too." He slants a look towards Iris and Branton with a widening grin. But oh! Presents?! He collects up the pouch with a look of welling gratitude and holds it close. "Thank you, Mother." He at least restrains himself until the Lady is turning to Branton to peek his curious cat eyeball into the pouch.

Getting into those pouches is going to take some doing. She knows *exactly* what kind of critters she's giving presents to, and those knots holding them closed are just ridiculously complicated. (Also it's a swell way to keep them a closed surprise until I get confirmation on the loot request).

Selene looks at Branton, tilting her head just slightly as her lips twitch again with amusement. "Feeling rather out of your element for once are you, kinwarrior? Very few kinfolk have ever walked my gardens, but you're becoming quite the traveler of worlds. Does it live up to the stories of the wolves?" she asks curiously, and possibly with a tiny hint of 'messing with the newb'.

Branton nods at the goddes, actually reassured by the teasing because of course she's messing with him "Sure am. Though I'm already doing better than Actaeon so there's that." He takes a look around again, making a show of surveying the garden before answering Herself in all seriousness "The tales don't do it justice, I will remember this always."

Aidan will eventually stop trying to break into his goody bag - at least until he's home - and returns it and his hands to resting lightly in front of him. He'll be listening and watching, but he doesn't intrude himself on Branton's time. With the looks he shoots towards his sister here and there, the two are probably chattering to one another through their pridal bond.

Leaning in closer to her brother, Sonya reaches out and takes him by the hand, squeezing it tightly after pocketing the pouch. She listens to the others talk, but right now she is on cloud nine. She feels as if she's lighter than air.

Selene makes the softed, most delicate and entirely lady-like snort of amusement at Branton, "Well I'm glad you came." She of course embraces Branton too, but chances are it's less of an emotional THING for him. Iris comes last. The goddess looks at Iris, who beams back like a kid in a candy store, and tells her matter of factly, "You're ridiculous." Iris answers, "Thank you!" That's it, they share nothing more outloud, because what more needs to be said than that? She hugs Iris tightly and presents the pair with a white box from her dress of light. Not super large, maybe 6 inches to a side or so. There is no obvious way of opening it.

"You realize of course that much time has passed? I suggest you go attend your families, they're likely to be worried." The woman then waves her hand lazily and a moon bridge of staggering brightness and power opens up out of nowhere for the group to travel home with. Her farewell may be less dramatic than her greeting, the woman simply strolling off into the gardens on her own, but you don't say farewell to people you expect to see again, right?