{RP}Hod's Hut

[Bacchus]

Bacchus watches the massive Hod-bear stand on it's hind-legs and roar at him and Kitty. The bear wiggles itself free of snow and then swats Benjamin pig enough to knock him over. Bacchus casts a spell, hidden from Hod, to heal up the wound from the bear's viciously sharp claws, to remove any physical and emotional trauma and remove the memory of the swat from Benjamin's mind.

Bacchus can't help laughing at Hod-bears antics, all the rolling about is hilarious. After a few minutes he thinks that the animals might be getting cold. ' Come on then bear! Let's get back into the sleigh and off to the tower!'

Bacchus climbs back into the sleigh.

...

[Hodierne]

Hod-bear hears Betty saying it's time to leave. She gets up and shakes off the snow. She looks at Benjamin, Luna, and G'gila then the back of the sleigh. She picks up G'gila's cage with her mouth and stands on her hind legs. She gently places the cage into the back of the sleigh, then pushes it down into the blankets. G'gila was happy that he was kept in a cage, and out of the bear's mouth.

Hod-bear looks down again at Benjamin and Luna. Benjamin, not particularly wanting to be in a bear's mouth, suggests, "Perhaps we can climb up your back?" Hod-bear nods. She sits her rump down and leans her front paws onto the side of the sleigh. Benjamin herds Luna onto Hod-bear's back. She walks up it a little wobbly, but makes it to Hod-bear's head and jumps into the back of the sleigh. Benjamin follows, walking even more wobbly up Hod-bear's back. He makes it to Hod-bear's head and jumps in, on top of Luna, who hadn't moved out of the way. Fortunately, there was enough cushy blankets in the back that it didn't hurt the lamb. "Baa baa," she complained, calling Benjamin a fat pig. Benjamin moves until he finds a comfortable spot in the blankets. Luna moves next to him. They both snuggle up in the warm blankets.

Hod-bear climbs into the front of the sleigh with Betty. "Come on Kit. Betty said time go."

[Kitiara]

Kitty watches the antics of Hod-bear and the animals. She then climbs into the sleigh with Hod-bear between her and Bacchus. Ready when you are Betty.

[Bacchus]

Bacchus waits for everyone to get comfortable on the sleigh and cracks the whip to start the reindeers running. He pulls down his flying goggles to cover his eyes and shouts over the pounding sound of the reindeers hooves. Bacchus speaks into the horn at the side of his right leg, his voice echoes round the sleigh, ' Hold tight folks! We are taking off!'

The reindeers run faster and faster and soon the sleigh is back in the air, Bachhus steers the reindeers into a spiralling climb. He pulls the reindeers to a level a guides them back to their original course. The huge thin tower soon appears on the horizon and the sleigh whizzes towards it!

[Hodierne]

Hod-bear sits between Betty and Kit. She enjoys the wind on her face as they fly in the sleigh. She likes the way it made the fur on her face move. The bear suit keeps her warm, so she doesn't have to snuggle close to Kit or Betty. She raises her front paws up in the air, while remaining seated. "Wee! Wee wee weeee! This fun, Betty and Kit!"

Hod-bear put her front paws down as they get closer to the tower. She lifts up one paw and points towards it. "Look at tower! That where we go? We getting near it. Who live there?"

[Bacchus]

The tower looms up to them as they flash through the air.

The tower is like a giant's needle with the point end stuck into the ground. The tower is miles tall and looks too thin to stand up to the howling winds that must whistle through the mountain valley that the tower stands in. The tower is brilliant white and the upper quartr of the tower opens out, just like a needle's eye. The sky beyond the tower can be seen through the gap in the towers head.

Bacchus leans close to Hod ' I want you to listen to what I am going to tell you okay Hod?' Bacchus continues ' the people who live here are snoths. G'gila's family live here. ' In the back of the sleigh the little demon can be heard leaping and shouting excitedly. Bacchus continues ' what lots of people don't know that a snoth will never ever eat the height of a guest, hey are very hospitable that way!' Bacchus smiles for Hod. ' I have been here many times Hod and made friends with the head snoth who runs the market here, my friend who is called Terraxis, is waiting for us. ' Bacchus leans close to Hod ' I am hoping that G'gila will take us to meet his mother, father and sisters!'

Bacchus grins again ' now Hod, what do you think about that?'

...

[Hodierne]

Bear-Hod nodded and listened quietly to what Betty told her. Her eyes got big as he told her that it was where G'gila's family lived, along with other snoths. "Did you bring enough cookies for all of them? I not sure I can teach them all eat cookies. That's lots of snoths." Hod thinks about it for a minute more. She turns around and looks at G'gila in his cage. "G'gila happy to see family? You teach them eat cookies better than eat height? Then snoths be friends with everyone and not eat height only cookies!"

G'gila looked up at bear-Hod. If only he could speak her language, he could convey his thoughts and feelings to her.

[Bacchus]

Bacchus slows the reindeers to a walk and steers the carriage to line-up with the snoth in the yellow luminous jacket who is waving a red ping-pong paddle in one hand and a green ping-pong paddle in the other. The snoth is waving the paddles in an attempt to guide the sleigh onto the landing strip that protrudes at a right-angle from the Needle.

A massive silver dragon flies overhead and parks itself on a pole that pokes out of the wall of the Needle, next to a window.

Bacchus slows the sleigh and taxis it round to park near a building labelled 'Customs'. Bacchus looks round to the others in the sleigh ' passports out folks please!'

[Hodierne]

Hod stares at the snoth in the yellow jacket as it works the red and green paddles. She gets distracted and starts staring at the dragon. Betty tells her to get her passport out, she looks at him, "What's passports?"

[Kitiara]

That is a good question, Hod. I have no idea either. What kind of pass and I don't see any ports here?