Cut off from Command

Tah raised his eyebrow "You two are odd. Of course the humans are aware of the other planes. I know this one man, Merlin. He wrote a thesis describing the planar purification method not three weeks ago. Granted, I was summoned for a consultation about it, but still. Humans are some of the most frequent planar travelers." he turned to Marvin "And there's no reason to be afraid. I'm not an Oni or a Balor. I'm a Pastellion." he turned his bread, cheese, and salami into a crude sandwich "I eat human food, not human souls." he took a rather large bite and commenced chewing.

Jones looked at his creature. "Merlin... as in... Merlin consultant to King Arthur of the Round Table?" He asked. Before shaking his head. "This is... he was a myth, a legend for stories around a campfire..." That however trailed off.... "Unless... alternate dimension... what was Science Fiction to us... might be a reality to them." Jones had turned to speak to Wesley with an excited tone of voice.

"That might explain it, we are no longer in our home dimensions... we are... we are..." He paused as if trying to grasp something... "A... A staging ground? Terminal? Or a place for things lost in the dimensions."

He stopped as another part registered... "Wait..." He slowly turned to face Tah... "Oni.... as in... Japanese demons...." His voice going slower and shakier in fear... "You're... your a demon creature..."

He took a step back and at the eaten apple... "You may eat human food... but... but there are stories... tricks of gaining control over others by offering food or the like... you... did you do that?" He didn't know what to say, or do... but he hunger pains were gone at the moment as he tried to come to terms with this new piece of information.

Tah stopped chewing and stared at Jones. He swallowed his bite, obviously a bit too early as he immediately had a hacking fit. When he regained his breath, he looked at Jones again "Yes...I'm a Pastellion. An art demon." he cocked his head "The Greeks call us Muses." he shook his head "Your plane must be very dull if you have the time to be afraid of an art demon. First off, I can't take control of you. Your mind is too ordered...I can't even bask in what little creativity you have. I live in chaos, not order...you'd make me sick. Second, my controlling powers are very limited. To the point where I control my art and that's it." he painted a stick figure in midair, which promptly started moving. It looked around, then dashed off to the north "I'd have to fill your blood, not just your stomach, with my art. Quite frankly, I don't like animating dead bodies...too dull. Not fun to talk to, always complaining about their trapped soul and suchwhat." he shook his head "I have no reason to take control of you, and you're much more entertaining alive. I'm allowing you to partake in my food because I'm hungry and it's rude not to share. It's not just edible, it's safe." he took a bite, and chewed thoughtfully. He looked at Marvin, and swallowed "Besides...you men apparently don't know about the planes. What's safer, the food of a demon that's been friendly to you, or an unidentified and probably poisonous plant?" he pointed to an ember stick plant "Tell me what that is, and what you do with it."

Marvin glanced up at Jones with increasing interest as he began to mumble speculations to himself, but froze at the word ''. He hadn't really considered that before, and yet, it was the bitter truth. He had no idea where he was... Still, Jones didn't seem to be too worried about it just yet. Marvin was willing to trust his attitude towards the situation more than his own, if he was going to be honest.

Upon the mention of demons, however, Marvin tensed, and his attention immediately fixed on Tah. "I-it would m-make s-sense that someone w-with powers l-like this-" he gestured vaguely to the food "-would have to be a d-demon, or s-something like it... I-I m-mean, I... I-I... er..." He tried to force himself to calm down and stop sounding like a broken record, without much success, and merely mumbled something unintelligible to himself under his breath before finally falling silent again, wishing he didn't panic quite so easily.

But the demon explained himself almost immediately, and Marvin quickly switched his attention over to the last thing he'd said to cover for his obvious shock.

"I-I should probably s-start cataloguing th-those. The p-plants, I mean. It would be beneficial to everyone if perhaps I could find a use for them, but I'd need an assista...nt..." Finding himself sufficiently calmer than he was before, Marvin once again fell silent.

Tah flipped his hand over and snapped off the stick growing out of the middle of the top "I recognize this from Merlin's tower. He chewed on 'em almost constantly." he snapped a bit off in his mouth "Dunno where he got 'em. Told me to watch out for the leaves, though. That means don't touch 'em." he painted another stick figure, this one blue, and it too set off "If you want I'll tell them to find other plants I don't know much about."

Jones looked at Wesley and Tah. "So, you are a botanist, That is good to hear." He looked at Tah, "You know what they are." His voice was calmer having listened to his explanation. "Sorry, but demons to me, mean bad things..." He however was happy to know he was called ordered in his mind. "As for knowing an Art Demon, you are my first time meeting one, knowing about one, or even knowing there is a difference from where you come from." He sat down. "I do not know what that is," But he pointed to a tall leafy tree, "That however is an Apple Tree." He looked at the bread. "But you are right... eating this, is indeed safer then eating things not known to yourself."

He was still wearing his rucksack and ACU clothing. "Thank you for sharing your meal with... us." He looked at the bread... "Uh... is there any costumes? Mores I should know about dinning with an Art Demon? Or may I refer to your kind as a Muse? Mr. Tah?"

"As for plant gathering... I got a memory for what I have seen... I might help... with a little help in return if you do not mind."

The original black stick figure came rushing back with what appeared to be a small corn plant covered in honey. Tah looked at it "Apparently this is the only one of these that it found." he stuck it on Marvin's shoulder and looked at the stick figure. It nodded, then went running off. He then picked up a piece of the maple candy and put it on Jones' head "Yes. If I offer you food, and you're hungry, it's considered polite to eat. If I make a chair for you, and you feel like sitting down, it's polite to sit down." he shook his head "I'm just a demon, not anything special. Call me Tah if you want, muse or demon is fine if you want to be impersonal. And I know what an apple tree is, I've made 'em before."

Jones only nodded. "Very well Mr. Tah, I was speaking on species names wise, I would never call you anything but by the name you tell us to call you by."

He blinked at the action and picked up the Maple Candy from his head, yeah... he was chaotic a little bit. He could tell. "Thank you again for the meal." He took a bite from the odd treat and found it sweet and surgery. "Well... desert before lunch..." He said with a laugh. He was easy to read in some sense and he looked a tad unnerved by the stick figures running around. "So... what can you make with this... paint of yours?" He was thinking a map would be good to have hopefully.

"I do have a question." He muttered after finishing the sweet treat. "What was the planet with the black stick?"

Marvin flushed and reached for what he decided was probably bread, and after slyly bringing it close to his mouth and sniffing it experimentally first, took a bite.
He had to quickly mask his surprise at it not tasting of poison (or paint)...

"I-I'm not sure if I'd call myself a botanist," he said, after finishing his mouthful of bread. "I'm an amateur at best... I just think keeping some kind of record might be useful... t-to someone... maybe." He glanced back up at the demon and thought for a moment. "I-I don't know. Maybe that would help. I don't know," he repeated again. "M-maybe we should explore this place first, though," he suggested quietly, almost inaudibly. He didn't want to seem like he wanted to get away, but remembering that he was so close to a cliff was slightly dizzying.

All of a sudden, he found himself with something being stuck to his shoulder. He made a strangled whine and held up his arms defensively, but as he blinked at the harmless thing stuck to him he felt rather silly. Marvin prodded it carefully, then made a face and began trying to unstick it from his sleeve.

Tah drew another stick figure, this one green, and it too dashed off. He looked from Jones to Marven "Yeah. That's what I'm doing, exploring." he painted something brown on the ground and picked it up...it turned out to be canvas. His tail then sharpened to a point, and quickly sketched over the bottom part, revealing a light green area and a darker green area surrounding it on 3 sides (the portion of the map detailing the meadow and forest) and a line crossing to the other side of the paper "I try to do that whenever I get to a new plane, map out the surrounding area." it was noticable that he had somewhat adopted the speech patterns of Marvin and Jones. He was no longer speaking as if he had just gotten out of the renaissance, he sounded more modern. His head then snapped up "Oh. Yeah. This is a small plane..." he winced "and I do not think we have to worry about falling off the edge of the cliff..."

Jones looked at Tah, "Not... but.... I cannot see the bottom..." His voice was gasping at this kind of news. "It... but, how? Why? Why not worry bout falling off the edge of the Cliff?" He sounded rather worried at this logic train.

"A small... you mean, this is a small... outside my reality zone type thing?" He mentally was finding it easy to believe, as he was unable to communicate with his command back home. He moved to take a small bit of bread and cheese and starting making his own sandwich. "Does your food never spoil?" He asked suddenly.

Tah looked back to Jones "Oh, right, your other question. I don't know what the plant is, but the stick in the middle is crunchy, dry, and sweet. I think the flower's poisonous, though." he turned towards his food "I don't know. I typically clean up whatever I don't eat...I don't think I've ever bothered to find out. I suppose it would, it's edible after all, so mold and bugs could eat it." he looked back at Jones "We don't have to worry about falling off the edge because...well..." he frowned "Because of the limitations of the plane. Right there," he pointed to the mist "That's the edge of this plane. You fall off...as one of my drones did...and you'll fall down into the middle of the plane. Which happens to be a lake. Just don't land in the water wrong, and you'll be fine." he drew a small legend on the map "I'd estimate this plane to be...a couple kilometers wide at the most. I can make...stuff with my paint. Not complex foods, not actual animals or people...but relatively simple things like balloons, parachutes, skis, boats...and yes, my paint is watertight if I want it to be. I can make sponges and soap...I make stuff."

Jones only nodded his head. "Thank you, that answers a few questions and helps me out a lot... You want to stay in a group? Safety in numbers... unless you can make some kind of weapon for us to use against any nasty stuff out there."

He sighed and looked at the mist. "So... what if you drew one of those stick figures with a hang glider? Could we leave the mist that way? Not fall down? But fly through the mist?" He asked, a plan in his head.

He fell silent as he began to eat more of the meal, it soon became appear-ant he was not going to speak while he ate.

Marvin finally managed to unstick the odd fruit-like object from his clothes and held it at arm's length while he attempted to clear up the remaining syrupy mess with his free hand. He didn't complain or even look remotely irritated, but this was probably out of fear that he'd be reprimanded for it.

Once he'd determined that the mess wasn't going to budge any time soon, he sighed and began examining the plant he'd been 'given' with an apparent rise in interest.
Suddenly realising how sweet it smelled, he glanced at his honeyed-up hand and hesitated, then made one of those faces that meant something along the lines of 'oh well, if I die, I die' and stuck his thumb in his mouth, staring off into space.

"...This is... okay, actually." He stood up and began wandering off, suddenly preoccupied and quite detached from the conversation going on between the other two. He set off on a brisk stroll to the apple trees, eyes turned ground-ward to watch for more interesting plants - an unfamiliar glint of active interest in his eyes.

Tah's tail twitched "Why would we need a stick figure attached to the hang glider? Why not just make the glider?" he glanced over to Marvin "Be careful." he said, turning back to Jones "And yes, I can make all sorts of weapons. I just prefer not to." his tail twitched, and he painted what appeared to be two tall mugs of hot chocolate "The queen of England, in one of the planar wheels, recently discovered this. They call it 'Chocolatl'. It's quite good, really." he wrapped his tail around one of the mugs and started sipping it.

(If Jones drinks some of it, it's the old style hot chocolate. Very dark chocolate and spicy, like what the Mayans had. Not the modern creamy and sugary hot chocolate.)

Jones took the mug of hot chocolate and sipped it, and his face showed he was not use to the stype of cocoa that was offered. "Bitter." he responded at the inquizitive look from the Muse. "I am use to this being sweet, with sugar and the like... but... if I recall... this was how it first was made..." he continued to drink it.

I looked up and saw Wesley walking off. "Don't get lost... Meadow is our Base for the moment, okay?!" He shouted before blinking, was it getting.... foggier?

I looked back at the Muse... it now a little harder to see him then before. "Uh.... should we move? The Fog is coming on in and I rather stay away from the edge of the cliffs." He then sighed and spoke again, "As for stick figure with a hang gladder, it is to protect us, what if the winds out there are too strong? Or there is a creature out there that will attack any other flying thing? The reason behind the thought I had, was for Recon, and to see if an idea would work, without risking any of our own lives. I rather not die here thank you very much."

Tah's tail twitched and the fog right around it disappeared. His tail bob weaved a bit, and a few faces appeared out of it before rejoining the fog "No...no, this fog is living pigment. Well...it's sentient, at least. Not like the fog out there..." he pointed towards the cliff "I think we're being haunted." he turned towards Jones "And if you're really worried about losing a limb, I'd be happy to find some pigment to replace it. I'm sure we can find someone I don't like." his eyes glowed a bit and his horns stretched out of his hair "I don't like this fog, though." the fog in his immediate vicinity was glowing orange, his demonic aura reflecting off of it. The most shocking, and probably most evil, part of what he said was probably how casually he talked about taking part of an unwilling subject to heal his companion.

Marvin tensed, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something had arrived nearby, but as he quickly turned his head to glance around, he had the feeling he'd just missed his chance to see it.

"H-hello...?" he ventured quietly, though half-hoping nothing would respond. He felt uncomfortable standing alone, but as he glanced back, he realised with a worried grimace that he could no longer see the others. "I-is there someone there?"

Marvin spoke quietly, just below the sound levels that he thought the others would hear. Even in his apparent fear of the situation, he seemed determined to stay calm - at least for a little while longer. Even if it did look a bit like something nasty was going to jump out and eat him any minute.

I had been about to answer the muse about liking to keep my original pigments and limbs intact thank you very much, but before I could even open my mouth I heard a voice, a distinct and disembodied voice.

"I am here." Spread across the meadow and my hairs on my neck prickled as I moved around as the fog vanished and a... My face paled and went white. "WHAT THE!!!!!!" I squeaked out in a show that I was wanting to scream and yet I was frozen with fright, I couldn't even move to get at my weapon, but I just stared at the being....

"Who..." I stopped. "What... are you? Friend..... or..... ffff....f... foe?" I shuddered the last part out, I slowly began to move towards the one that was more friendly at the moment, and hopefully able to protect me.... I began to move towards the Muse and away from the Phantom. Trying to do it tactfully and not be too sudden movements, my inner body just dropped to a chilly cold that was not because of the fog.

Tah raised an eyebrow "What is it? Didn't I just tell you that we're being haunted?" he shook his head "Humans...never listen...It's a ghost of some sort. It's shying away from my aura, so it's obviously not malevolent." he poured himself some juice "Now eat quickly, before the cold gets warm and the warm gets cold." he proceeded to drink.

Marvin blinked stupidly at the figure that had just materialised out of nowhere and took an unwilling step backwards, folding his arms tightly at his chest to stop his hands from shaking.

"I-I- y-" he stammered pathetically before blinking again and shaking his head as if to rid himself of the abject terror that was threatening to make him seize up. "I-I m-mean, h-hello," he said simply, suddenly aware of the fact that if this person had wanted to attack him, it probably would have done so already. "A-are you a s-spirit?"

He knew he probably looked rather stupid just standing there with his arms crossed, but if he made a move to shake hands or try anything else he felt that he was likely to sink to his knees. Marvin decided it would be better to play it safe and make absolutely sure he wasn't about to die.

I blinked but did as the Muse has suggested and feeling a tad better, after all, if the muse was not attacking me, was telling me that the ghost was not going to attack me, then logic would say I was safe. I sat down and took my cup of hot cocoa and finished it off, before going after some of the finger sandwiches, the food actually very tasty and filling.

"Thank you again for the meal, and well, I misunderstood what you said... besides... I never seen a ghost before today." I sighed, and dropped the hang glider comment, for now, right now was a strategy meeting. "So... your... stick figures, what else did they find? I rather not stay in the meadow here... the weather, I rather not get caught in a high wind, that could cause some problems like being blown off the cliff." I shook my head as I looked at the copies of the maps she was drawing. "Any signs of a civilization here?" I added to my list of questions I had asked. I must have looked strange, wearing the ACU pattern of a US soldier, talking to a Muse or Paint Demon and Wesley was... well he was holding up the conversation with the ghost... would have to ask him later on his opinion on the matter later, but I shivered, from the cold, and everything else that had happened, a part of me wanting to go home.