forum The Traveler (closed)

Started June 17, 2023 by @ElderGod-yellowqueen

tune

@FanfictionFanatic

Character sheet:

Name:
Age:
Appearance:
Personality:
Background:
Other:

Character sheet:

Name: Marcus “Marc” Cassidy Malone

Age: 32

Appearance: Marcus stands at about 6’/6’2”, and has short, somewhat spiky sandy blonde hair, grass-green eyes, and a bright smile. He has a broad-shouldered build, very well-muscled but has a fair number of scars from getting into fights in the past and isn't really ashamed of them.

Personality: Despite being guarded on certain things, generally, he has a very warm personality. Can be a bit immature though he does have a serious side, he only shows it at work or when things get really bad. Though he's unafraid to start a fight if someone rubs him the wrong way. He has gotten better at controlling that urge/anger since he’s been on the force.

Background: Marc is the only child of a proud Irish family despite them moving to London but he doesn't let anyone try to convince him it’s a bad thing. He got a boxing scholarship to Oxford and participated in many other sports as well. He applied for the police academy almost immediately after graduation and did well.

Other: He still has an accent though it's a bit blended.

Name: Ariella "Ella" Karrington
Age: Twenty-four
Appearance: Ariella stands at a solid 5'3". She seemed to draw the short end of the stick when it came to her height. Literally. She has chestnut brown hair that she can never quite decide what to do with. Sometimes she prefers it long, sometimes short. She's currently in that awkward phase of growing it out and it's at that awful length of falling just about to the peak of her breasts. She has warm, hazel eyes, a mixture of brown and green, with just a hint of blue. She was blessed with naturally long and curled lashes, making her eyes appear vibrant. She has a button nose and full cheeks, giving the appearance of a younger age. Her lips are just full enough to compliment her features. She has a slender body with an athletic build. But what she lacks in curves she makes up with confidence and attitude.
Personality: Ariella is perhaps a little overconfident in herself. Perhaps its her making up for the fact that she had zero faith in herself and was simply praying to whoever listened to let this work. And somehow, it seemed to work in her favor more often than not. She can have a bit of an attitude and isn't afraid to tell people what she thinks of them. She doesn't back down easily. She can't really, not with her line of work. Or life.
Background: Ariella was abandoned at the ripe age of four. She bounced around a lot int he foster system before landing in the hands of a Traveler. He saw that she had the gift to be one as well and taught her everything he knew. He showed her the different realms and helped her establish contacts. They moved together until he died when she was sixteen. Since then, she had been roaming between realms and picking up odd jobs to keep her afloat. She never put her roots down. And she never stayed anywhere longer than a year, usually only lasting about six months.
Other: On the inside of her left forearm, she has a pale, thin scar from where she cut open her skin to use the blood to Travel. It is currently a scab, however, as she made a jump to another realm, Earth, quite recently.

Ariella had never been to London before. In fact, she had never been to England before. Which was why she most certainly should not be driving. She had never driven a car on the opposite of the road. She knew how to drive in America where everything made sense and wasn't backward. And yet she was doing it anyways. Now, it should be said, she was not doing a very good job of driving. She was suddenly very happy that it was early in the morning and there were very few people out on the road. Less of a chance for her to hit someone. She hated that she was up this early, she hated not getting her sleep. But it was proving useful this morning.

Now, how exactly did she get herself into this mess? She took the wrong job with some sketchy sleaze bag to steal some orb that she didn't even know what it did. All she had known was that the money was good and the crew she was currently in the car with had thought it was a good idea. They were all men so she should have known immediately that it was a bad idea. But the money had been too enticing and she had needed it. So her and her very small crew of three men and herself, had snuck into this governor's manor and stolen this orb out of his home. It had not gone well which was how she found herself back on Earth in a high-speed car chase in a country she had never driven in much less been to. She hadn't been back to Earth in a couple of years. She would have loved to stop and admire this beautiful country but the Dalid currently trying to run her off the road were preventing that.

The Dalid were a near-human species that came from the Iphalia realm. They resembled humans pretty well other than the horns spouting out of their head and their different colored skin. Because of the powers that be, these Dalids looked like just regular humans to anyone that looked upon them. Ariella still didn't know how that magic worked. And she decided she didn't really care. Especially not when she was getting chased by them. And the sad thing was, they were driving better than she was and they weren't even from Earth.

As she thought back about two hours ago, she replayed exactly how this went. Her overconfidence had gotten in the way as she reassured her friends that she could most certainly figure out how to drive in England. It couldn't be that hard. She knew how to drive a to of things, even a plane (though not one on Earth). She was sorely mistaken. And they were losing this car chase as well. Getting the orb back and getting paid mattered most. And her friends coming out alive. She had known them for a little over a year as they had just kind of met up and stuck together. She had grown close to them. She didn't want to see them die. So this was where her self-sacrificing flaw came in. She devised a plan to get them out of this but it would leave her behind.

She knew they never would have agreed if she had told them straight that they would be leaving her behind. So she told them instead she was going to hold them off as long as she could and she would meet up with them as soon as she was able to. They had their rendezvous realm they would got to should they get separated. All she had to do was find a portal. London did not seem to have all that many. It wasn't until they came up to Greenwich Park that she felt it. The rift of a portal. Taking a deep breath, she swerved into the park. Her swerve ended up sending her into a lamppost. She took the most damage, she made sure of that. "Go!" She yelled at them, hoping they weren't bleeding as much as she was. Her nose was dripping and it was throbbing. Likely broken. It wouldn't be the first time. "I'll meet up with you."

They hesitated, but the roar of an approaching engine caught up to them. They ran. As she got out of the car on shaky knees, she watched as they disappeared into the portal. Good. She turned back to look at the approaching car. She wasn't going down without a fight. Her friends deserved to live and there was something about that ord… She couldn't place a finger on it.

But just as she had accepted her impending death, She saw the flashing lights of police cars approaching them. The Dalid peeled off in a rush and she knew they would find the nearest portal that wasn't where she was and jump back through the realms. Which left her, alone, to deal with the consequences of this. Only, her head felt dizzy and suddenly the world was spinning and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious, just as she heard voices yelling at her.

Marcus had been having a strange day. First, that call over the radio about someone committing a B&E in an important house then him getting pulled into a car chase. There just wasn't enough coffee for him to deal with this so early. Since he’s been on the force for a while, he’s been in his fair share of car chases and found that having a siren certainly helped. But he lost one of the cars involved and couldn't do anything as the other crashed in the park.

He quickly called for an ambulance and ran out to the car. It was hard to miss the group running away but… He couldn't catch up to them. He had just glanced over at the car and spotted the driver still inside, then when he looked back they were gone. It didn't make sense before he shook his head, writing it up to not having enough caffeine, before turning back to the driver.

It didn't take much longer for the ambulance to arrive and the EMTs to confirm that she was unresponsive. Maybe concussed, would be Marc’s guess even though his medical knowledge was limited to basic first aid. He watched the young girl get loaded into the ambulance before he realized he had been told to go with her. Apparently, he would have to talk to her to finish this report. He just hoped she wouldn't be too out of it for long.

The first thing Ariella noticed as she came to was that her hand was handcuffed. But just one. That was strange. The reason why made more sense as her eyes fluttered open and she was in a hospital. A hospital? It took a moment for the memories to come flooding back and she remembered where she was and why. Her head was killing her. She had a concussion, that she knew. Her nose had stopped bleeding thankfully but she couldn't imagine what she looked like. Swollen nose, black eyes. Awful. As she looked down at her left arm, she noticed the gauze that was wrapped around it. Hmm, that was not a conversation she looked forward to having.

Her body hurt, though she supposed that's what she got for crashing the car. The lights were too bright and they were hurting her eyes and thus her head. She groaned, knees coming up and she rolled onto her side. The one with the handcuff because she couldn't roll to the otherside because of it.

"Someone turn the lights off," she mumbled from her fetus position. Her head was pouding. That was the worst of it for now. She knew once the headache subsuded her nose was going to be the next problem. She saw a few cuts on her arms and fell a few on her face as she moved around. It must have been from the windshield, she realized. It had shattered when she wrapped the car around a lamppost. Now her brightest moment.

Marcus looked up from his writing when he caught the soft-spoken words. “Glad to hear you're finally awake.” he said, sympathetically turning the lights down as he saw the position she was in. “Unfortunately, I can't turn the lights off but I hope that's better for you. The doctor put some medicine on the table for you.” he pointed out, remembering the little cup and water that had been brought in earlier.

Ariella raised her head from her curled position, staring at him. She hadn't noticed he was there until he had spoken. It caught her off guard. She didn't really like that. She looked at the medicine hesitantly before reaching out with her uncuffed hand and taking the meds and water. She gulped it down rather quickly and then proceeded to sip the water. In that short moment she was drinking her water, she studied the man. She noted his police officer uniform. She didn't know how she was going to get out of this one. Other than the occupation, he was an attractive enough man. Pretty blonde hair and rare green eyes. And he was tall. That was always a plus. Except Ariella had a weakness for pretty men. So she could tell this wasn't going to go very well for her. "I don't suppose there's any way we can lose the cuff?" She rattled her wrist that was cuffed to the hospital bed.

(Sorry this took so long. Work has been a monster today!)

Marcus tried to keep his thoughts on his work and the facts of the incident leading up to this. Unfortunately, one thing that was sticking in his as a fact was how cute this young woman was, despite her injuries. She was obviously growing her hair out but it still looked nice. And her eyes… If he had been off duty and just met her in a pub, he would have already started flirting with her.
He hummed at the request and gave a slight shrug. “They’re really more of a precaution, miss.” he admitted. “But if you promise not to cause any more trouble and answer a few questions… I believe I can take it off.” he nodded

(Same here! You're fine.)

Ariella gave him a pretty smile that most certianly meant she woukd cause trouble. But that wasn't something he needed to know. She was a pretty woman and he was a man. She planned to use that to her advantage. She needed to get out of these cuffs, find some actual clothes that weren't a hospital gown, and find a portal. She could feel the low humming which meant there was one near. Likely one in the hospital or close by. She only needed to get to it. She didn't know how ling it would take for her to get to the rendezvous point. She didn't know how ling it would take the others. She needed to get there as soon as possible.

"I won't cause any troubke," She lied as she held up her wrist. She was ready to be out of the cuffs. Her wrist was irritated already from them digging in when she had jerked it around. She looked at her left wrist and noticed a spec of blood poking through the guaz. Great, it must have reopened sometime during the crash.

(Thank you.)

Marc raised a brow at the coy smile and barely held back a chuckle. He’d been in enough relationships to recognize that look. “Then how about we start with a couple of questions about your driving accident?” he smirked back, pulling the chair closer to her bed. “Just to set the record straight.”

“No one could find any identification when they brought you in, so I’m going to need at least your name, age, and where you're from.” he started gently, wanting to ease her in the more serious questions.

Ariella tried not to scowl as he didn't unlock her cuffs. She dropped her hand back on the bed. She flexed her her fingers for a moment. She didn't like having things on her wrist. Even bracelets. It just seemed to bother her. But she had lived on Earth long enough to understand the laws and customs. And well, she was probably under arrest after the doctors cleared her. But she would be long gone by the time he came to collect her.

She did not like talking about who she was. Her old life from when she was a child. It hasn't been very well for her. She wondered what the system would even say should she give him her real name. She was from the United States. She was born in the south, Texas. Though her southern accent had been lost a little as she traveled through different realms and picked up different languages. "Ariella," was all she gave, "I'm twenty-four."

Marc nodded, noticing how she answered and wrote down what she did say. “Alright, Miss Ariella… Am I right in guessing that you're American? And visiting the country?” he prompted, trying to get more information. “I still need your last name. It's protocol.” he shrugged.

Ariella simply shrugged her shoulders. "You could say that," she muttered. More like visiting Earth. She didn't plan on having a prolonged stay. She was going to leave this place as soon as possible. Despite having been more here it had never felt like home. Nowhere did but she at least felt more accepted anywhere but here. "I don't have a last name," she said. At least not one she felt like she belonged too. Karrington. The name of the parents that died and left her alone. Another issue was what red flags woukd go off when her name was looked up in the system. She didn't even want to imagine it. She had been awol for over a decade.

Marc raised a brow again and looked back at Ariella. “Can I be blunt with you, sweetheart?” he asked. “If my accent didn't give me away, I’m just an Irish Mick who worked really hard to get here. So, let’s cut out the tough-girl act, alright? It’ll be a hell of a lot easier for both of us.” he said seriously, his brow furrowing slightly. “I’m really just trying to do my job.”

Ariella blinked at him in surprise. So he did have a bit of a backbone. It was relieving and irritating all at the same time. She leaned forward, or as far as she could get with the handcuff. "If you want a last name so bad, you may as well right down Smith." Something so common that it would never be found. And she would hopefully be gone by the time her name was looked up and they found out she was lying. "If you want to make your job easier you should just unlock the cuffs and let me go. It'll be like this never happened." Well, her injuries said otherwise and the damage to the lamppost and car.

Marcus rolled his eyes at the obviously fake name but wrote it down. “Sorry, Ms. ‘Smith’, can't do that just yet. Besides, you disappearing would actually make my job harder.” he pointed out. “Besides, the car you were driving, quite badly I might add, is still in the park with a lamppost in it. And since you are the only one of the four people in that car, there are… a fair amount of questions we need answered.” he explained. “Like who were your three mates that were in the car with you when you crashed? And who were the ones in the car that was chasing you?”

Ariella had a feeling that was going to work. And it hadn't. She leaned back against the hospital bed with a sigh. She gave him a sheepish look as he mentioned the car. "Listen, in my defense, I've never actually driven a car here. I think I did alright for it being my first time with no instruction." She ddi not do alright driving that car. It was a miracle she hadn't crashed earlier than she actually did. "You guys have everything backwards here. It's weird," she grumbled.

She did not answer the question about who were her friends. She kept her mouth firmly shut and her gaze looking elsewhere. She couldn't really answer that question. They weren't going to find them either way. And two of them weren't even human. This was why she didn't like returning to Earth. Too much complication. At least most of the other realms were used to this kinda thing and she blended right in.

“Well, since I haven't been to America and tried driving there, I’ll grant you that it's different.” Marc nodded slightly. “But I'm going to disagree with your assessment of how you were driving.” he admitted, trying not to smirk.

He sighed when her apparent stubbornness returned at his last two questions. Honestly, he had suspected she would try to protect her friends but he still found it strange how they just vanished like that. “Ms. Smith, I can't help you unless you answer my questions. Do you know who was in the other car?” he insisted.