Kanu raised an eyebrow at Sloane, but said nothing. He knew that the Heavens was in the air, meaning that most of the people there had adapted to living in the skies and had wings, but he'd never seen Sloane fly without Gryphem before. Whatever the case, they didn't even have to fly the whole way regardless. So even if Sloane did have some magic fairy dust that could allow her to fly, she might not even need it if she didn't mind quite a bit of walking on their journey.

Kanu was practically done with his meal by the time he spoke again, dragons were well known for their ravenous appetites and Kanu was no different, which was quite obvious from the way his plate was practically clean. "Yea, the winds in my realm can change in a split second, in the coldest parts flying isn't even an option unless you want to get slammed into the ground at terrifying speeds. Trust me, I would know." Kanu grinned before downing the last bit of his coffee, his plate completely empty now. "Ready to get going?" As he spoke, he pulled out his coin pouch, leaving a nice tip for the waitress on the table before slipping the small, but heavy pouch back into his bag.

Sloane threw back the last of her drink, and paid for her own meal and coffee, the few coins a sharp contrast against the dark wood of the table, "You bet. Are we gonna need to fly to get to our starting point?" The pair slipped out of the inn, people parting the way to let them out. Sloane would admit that the two of them cut an imposing figure - one that wouldn't be tested by many people, especially not mortals.

If they had to fly, then Sloane would ride Gryphem there, and inform him of the plan during the flight. If they weren't, then she'd call down the griffin and let him know the plan before going through the portal. There was no way in hell Sloane would leave her faithful companion to wonder where she had disappeared off to. Kanu would just have to wait a few moments longer.

~~~~~

Kanu paused for a moment, before swiftly nodding his head. "In order to get to the portal we have to cross quite a ways. If we were walking it'd probably take the whole day. If we fly it'll only take two hours tops. Tons of hills that slow down everyone that walks. By flying we can get past all that shit." Kanu didn't even seem to notice the people parting before him. He'd grown used to it on Earth, in his own realm though, he'd be in shock if his people moved for him. Unlike his father, Kanu had rather befriended his people through kindness.

They respected him, and he respected them. Truthfully, Kanu didn't really want the mortals to be afraid of him, or in awe. Unfortunately, it was either that or they tried to kill him with pitchforks so he preferred this.

Sloane nodded along, pulling out a whistle from one of her pockets, and blowing it when they got outside. It didn't make any apparent noise, but based on the shouts of surprise from the townspeople as a large shadow - a griffin's shadow - flew above them, it was easy to guess what it did.

Sloane pocketed the whistle once she saw the shadow, "Lets get to a clearing then, so Gryphem can get closer to the ground."

Kanu watched with interest as Sloane used a whistle to call her beast. He was relatively surprised when he didn't hear it, but also a bit amazed by it too. His mother probably would be able to, with her dragon hearing and all, but with his own dragon blood a bit muted by his father's shitty genetics, his hearing wasn't as good as her's.

Kanu nodded as Sloane spoke, hurrying out of the town, he didn't want to linger. As he walked, his wings slowly appeared, and he couldn't help but smile a little. In the palace in Hell, he never had to put away his wings. Here, with all the small hallways and crowded spaces, his wings tended to get in the way, and he absolutely hated it.

Once there was enough room, Gryphem dove down low, and even as he was still 10 or so feet in the air, Sloane suddenly broke into a small jog, then leapt into the air, catching one of his front talons, then with a practiced move, swung herself up onto his back. While that occurred, Bulla had flown into the air, and waited for Sloane to settle before settling down in front of Sloane.

"Hello there, bud," Sloane greeted, patting his neck fondly. He hadn't stayed low for long, and the two were now higher above the town. As they waited for Kanu, Sloane filled Gryphem in on the plan.

Of course Sloane and her big bird just had to show off, they always had something to prove when Kanu was around. He rolled his eyes as Sloane flew away on Gryphem, his two feet still firmly planted on the ground. Unlike Sloane, Kanu made sure all of his belongings were safely secured to his body, he didn't need to have another broken bag, shit gone, incident. The one had been enough to embarrass him enough for the rest of his life, and he never planned on taking off without checking that his stuff was secured ever again.

With a flap of his powerful wings, Kanu took off, a smile on his face as the wind howled around him, now these milder winds were defintiely something he could get used to. Flying on earth was much simpler than it was in his home. Kanu stayed well away from Gryphem, not wanting to get his shit rocked by the big dude. "Ready to head out?"

i absolutely love the phrase "shit rocked by the big dude"

---

Sloane nodded, looking up from Gryphem and Bulla, "Lead the way."

Sloane could tell that while Gryphem wasn't fond of being left in the overworld while she and Bulla were in Hell, but he understood why. Although Sloane couldn't talk to either Bulla or Gryphem, they had a way of communicating that just worked for them.

--

go to their arrival @ the portal?

Kanu spoke little on the way over, he was enjoying the kind winds of earth for as long as he could before he returned home. Once they got to his realm, he didn't know how long he'd have to stay, with the whole war thing going on, it had been a miracle to avoid it for this long. Now that he was back, and entering through a well guarded portal, his people would expect him to finally join the fight. The problem? Kanu had no idea which side to pick in a civil war that had reasons to fight on both sides.

For now he just had to think about it.

They'd been flying high for awhile, in a peaceful silence that Kanu very much enjoyed. Unfortunately, the peace was coming to an end. Kanu began to head down, his eyes scanning the ground below as he finally seemed to spot what he was looking for and dove down towards a clearing in the forest below them.

The clearing was pressed up against a large, rocky hill, and the turn to land was quite sharp. Kanu was pretty sure the big beast behind him would be okay but he turned his head and spoke over the wind just to be sure. "Watch out on the landing, the rocks are sharp and the turn to land can end up with you impaled on the rocks, take it slow." With that, Kanu turned back around and glided down, his wings disappearing into his back with a flourish as soon as his feet touched the ground.

Sloane didn't visible address Kanu's words, but she heard them, and had Gryphem decide his landing spot. He eventually lightly set down on the hill a little above the portal, not wanting to risk setting down in a space he wouldn't be able to take off from. The rock shifted shifted underneath his feet slightly, but didn't move more than that. Sloane slid down from his back, and walked around to Gryphem's face, "I'll see you around buddy, okay?" Pressing her forehead to Gryphem's beak, he warbled softly, and Sloane's smile was soft, "I'll miss you too. Stay safe." With that goodbye, Sloane took a few steps back, and Gryphem rose up on his hind legs, caught some wind under his wings, and took off in the air.

Bulla, from her perch on Sloane's shoulder, chuffed, and nipped at the air, "Yeah, yeah. Time to get to business."

She turned back to the clearing and jumped down into the clearing, walking over to Kanu to inspect where the portal was. "So we just jump in it? And fly through?"