A very tired (but desperate) Korv flaps along, carrying a fennec with his talons, following the floating ball over the Aelfin Ridge.

The mountains finally give way to foothills, and fields beyond that. This is as flat as it's going to get for a while.

Fortunately, the floating ball hasn't gone all the way up to, oh, Rephidim level, or something absurd (and low air pressure and cold) like that. It's still a long drop, though.

Kensington closes in on the ball as best he can, panting heavily. "Reach out, 'ealer! See iffen ye can feel somethin' solid enough ta stand on!"

Roho starts carefully probing at the large ball with his toes, feeling for any solid spots…

The flesh feels squishy at first … but then it tenses at Roho's touch. Yes … it's … well … kind of solid. Sort of. Squishy, but … well, it should hold his weight, anyway.

Roho bites the bullet, and lets go of the talons, hoping he doesn't sink this time…

The fennec sinks down a little … but stays afloat on the fluff.

And, thank the First Ones, it doesn't roll.

Kensington lowers himself gingerly, keeping his wings spread to boost him up lest he start sinking instead.

The same holds true for the bird. It's not exactly solid ground, but it holds. Just then, though, there's a tremor in the white flesh, which pokes at Roho's belly.

Roho squeaks, "Ack! I just got poked!" He hunkers down, trying to feel what might've done that…

Nothing but fuzzy flesh under Roho. It just … convulsed somehow.

Roho cups one of his ears to the ball, trying to hear anything at all…

The corsair stares at Roho, still keeping trying his best to keep his balance. "What d'ye mean, ye got poked? Is there somethin' in 'ere?"

The flesh convulses again, but Roho can't really hear much of anything through it.

Roho shakes his head, "I don't know… It keeps having these tremors of some kind."

"Well… shall we be droppin' this thing?" asks Kensington uneasily. He peers over one rounded side of the ball at the ground below.

It's hard to see the ground, since it's night-time, but judging by the reflection of the Procession far below, it looks like the ball is now drifting over a lake.

A tremor rocks Kensington.

Kensington scrabbles around a bit to try to maintain his perch, his brow pinching together. "Hoy! This 'ere thing's movin', just like ye said!"

Roho shivers. "Kensington… I think I just heard Scarlet's voice in there, saying she's alive!" He stands up, "Can we really drop it if she is?"

"She is?! Well, I'll be a bosun's booger." The avian glances down again, squinting. "I think we be o'er a lake… Can't get a much softer landin', I guess."

Roho nods. "Better here than on a rock somewhere. Do it."

Taking the wand from a baggy pocket in his breeches, the Korv touches the tip to the surface of the fuzzball, braces himself, and rasps, "Fall."

A few sparks fly from the wand … and then the fluffy ball plummets so quickly that for a moment, the fennec seems to float in midair before gravitational acceleration has a noticeable effect.

Roho yelps, "Let me grab on to you, fi – " His words are cut off as the ball drops, and he starts tumbling after it.

"Oh, right!" The corsair dives after Roho.

Down, down, down goes the fluffy not-floating fleshy form, and the falling fennec. Down goes the Korv, too… until Kensington at last manages to catch Roho.

Roho rasps, "Yee-OW!"

A twisting dive brings Kensington close to the fennec again, clutching at the healer with his talons. "Sorry about that, old man! Don't usually gotta worry 'bout ye ground pounders!"

The sphere falls and falls and falls…

The ball of flab swells and spreads outward for just an instant as it smacks the surface of the water, hard, resulting in the largest belly flop that Sinai has (hopefully) ever seen. The rest can't be seen for the massive spray of water sent flying into the air – not high enough to hit Kensington and Roho, however, thanks to their altitude.

Roho hears the boom of water. "Guess that was impact, huh? Is it floating? And still in one piece?"

The Korv watches the cloud of spray settling. "I… I be thinkin' so… Let's go in fer a closer look… "

As the spray clears … there is now a big ball of white fluff bobbing in the water. Several fish lie on the shore nearby, flopping about and suffocating in the air.

Roho nods, keeping a good grip as the bird swoops down…

A series of lazy circles glides the unlikely pair toward the bizarre sphere. As he comes in for a landing on the surface of the ball, he rasps, "Yer a doctor, ain'tcha? Ye heard the mage in there? Could we cut 'er out w'out hurting 'er?"

As Kensington lands on the ball of fluff … well, it's back to the way things were before. Suddenly … they sink.

Kensington gawks! His reaction is quick enough to keep from going in, so he tries for a quick grab at the disappearing fennec. "Aw, grief, not again… "

Roho grabs at the Korv's talons as he sinks in, "Yipe! This ain't good… "

The Korv's reactions are good this time, and he manages to pluck the fennec back out.

Kensington releases a sigh of relief. "We gotta remember… perch over t'the side… and… uh… don't surprise the ball, I guess. Let's be tryin' this again… "

Roho waits until the Korv has them airborne again, then answers the earlier question, "No, I don't think she's in there, so much as she is there. The way it's floating, and the way it kept moving, I think all that is her body. If we cut it, she could die."

Roho tests the ground carefully first, this time.

His foot sinks. Here we go again. Fennec sinks in … Kensington has time to react … Fennec gets plucked out.

Roho sighs, "Hey, Kensington… I think maybe we'd better try the shore over there for now."

"Hoboy… well, she's talkin'… that mean there be a – " The Korv makes sure the wand isn't touching him in its pocket. " – face on this thing somewhere? Hey, we can't be perchin' on this thing no more?" He tries lowering himself enough to give the sphere a push toward the shore, then decides it'd be easier without a passenger, and makes for shore himself.

At last, the Korv sets down with the Zerda … and his wing muscles are aching fiercely from the over-exertion.

A few dying fish flop and flounder nearby.

"Well, at least we gots supper," mutters Kensington, rubbing at his sore wings. "Anyway… yer th' doc… any ideas?"

Roho shakes his head. "Surprisingly enough, I haven't had a case like this one before. I don't think normal medicine will help this. I think we need to find a way to un-fill her."

Kensington flops onto his back wearily, staring at the sky. "Gaaah… I hain't gots no dictionary… an' I really hates magic now. Well… 'least she be alive."

A gull flutters down, inspecting the floating ball. It daintily lands on the surface … then immediately disappears. The ball quivers.

The corsair lifts his head up long enough to witness this before laying it back down. "I envy yer blindness, Roho… 'cause I just saw somethin' I didn't wanna."

Roho tilts his head at the Korv, "What happened?"

"Methinks she ate a gull."