A Choice and A Chosen One
On the other side of a portal in the woods... there is a small empty cave, connected to a tunnel, descending deep into the earth. As the end of the tunnel comes closer, light grows brighter. The end of the tunnel opens into a cavern that seems simply too big to exist and not be known. The air is warm and humid, and there's light at the top of the cavern, like a miniature sun, but it doesn't burn the eyes to look at it. It seems to pulse and thrum with a gentle life of it's own, keeping life sustained here.

Those among the X-Men who have seen the Savage Land will feel much the same here. There are vast tracts of jungle, threaded through by areas of plain, with sandy shores along a huge lake that takes up it's own fair share of the cavern. At the center of the cave wall furthest from the tunnel's exit however, lies a village with dozens of huts, and smaller caves carved into the wall. These are all dwarfed by a ziggurat, rising up to an ornate platform. The base of the temple, and each ascending tier, are packed to the brim with bodies, arms and voices raised. Some are singing songs of celebration, some are arguing with one another. At the top however, lays Chris, still unconscious, body dressed in tribal finery that would leave her classified as indecent back in New York. Surrounding her are Elder Shadow and the honor guard that accompanied him.

By the time the X-Men could be within sight range of the individuals, the elder's voice rings out, magic carrying it to every mind in the cavern willing to listen. "My brothers and sisters, I speak to you, as ever, as the servant of your will! The spirits and our people's will have provided for us! We have brought the chosen one into our midst, and the time of alignment for the Ritual of Transformation is at hand. Although one of our kind was brutalized, and their blood perverted for the humans' science, we will not be like them. We will not rise and spill blood. We will make them as our own. They will hear nature's voices once again, and we will rise to live in peace with them!"

Another voice, that male with the moss and mud caked onto him, also carries, as if piggybacking on the magic the elder was using. "Even though there are those among us who feel the Ritual of Cleansing would be more justified, for the horrors the pink apes commit upon our mother... the greater voice of the people will be upheld.."

Elder Shadow wheels around, baring his teeth against the druid. "Cracked Claw, you are our most gifted life-weaver in three generations, and yet your mouth brings nothing but disasters and poison. You will stay your voice. The Ritual of Cleansing is an embarrassment in our people's history, and we will not speak of it."

"But Elder Shadow, they--"

The old male takes a hard step towards the younger, arching his back. "You wish to challenge my place as our people's guardian, kitten?" He does not yell, but his voice speaks with the force of a thundercloud, looking at Cracked Claw with shame and disappointment.

"...no, Elder Shadow. Your voice is the people's voice." His ears flatten, as he lowers his body towards the stones of the temple, before taking his place in a ring around the altar Chris is laid upon.

The elder turns his face out to the crowd. "If there are any who should speak against the great Transformation... now is the time to speak."