(I meant relax! I don't know why autocorrect put in “reach”)
Marc nodded at her answer as they walked. He understood the need for a safe house with the frequent traveling… Though for Ariella’s sake, he hoped that it was in a place that she could travel to quickly and easily. Or at least had more than one. “How long did it take you to get used to… these?” he asked, vaguely gesturing at the markings.
Ariella hummed softly. "Not as long as it probably should I have. I was a child then. A few months perhaps. Thoigh getting used to slitting my own arm up took much longer. I mean, anyone in their right mind should be scared of causing themselves pain." She finished with the wall and held out her hand to Marc. "Ready?"
“That makes sense.” Marc noted since he knew that children were generally pretty adaptable to a lot of situations and he agreed with her point about drawing blood for this. “I believe so. Lead the way.” he sighed softly, bracing himself for the jump, as he took her hand.
Ariella smiled at him before stepping through the portal and pulling him with her. They appeared on a beach, just as if they had walked through the cliff wall and landed there. "The next portal is in the cave. Hope you're not claustrophobic." The cave was decently sized and they would fit just fine in there. This was one of the few portals that was pretty close to the one they had just come through. Most realms you had to walk a bit before finding the next one.
She didn't need to cut open her arm again as it was still open and bleeding. A blessing and a curse. But after this she'd be able to clean it up and wrap it.
Marc let out a steadying breath and followed Ariella through the portal. It was probably still going to take him a while to get used to traveling like this but he had nothing to complain about. “I’m not claustrophobic, there are just some places that are harder for me to fit.” he chuckled.
Ariella smiled at him. She took a moment to look him up and down and then nodded. "Fair enough." She didn't let go of his hand. Not until they got to the portal site and she had to draw her markings. But even then, it was only for a moment before she was taking his hand and stepping through the portal, stepping out into a forest of luscious greenery.
Marc smiled back, laughing a little as she looked at his height. He didn't mind that she was still holding his hand as they walked, it was somewhat reassuring and probably for the best so that they wouldn't get separated.
He did take a moment to look around as Ariella was drawing the symbols before following her again through the next portal.
Ariella blinked her eyes as the sun filtered in and the air smelled fresh and warm. Her shoulder sagged with the relief of making it here. The safe house was a trek through the woods but it was worth it. And the weather was perfect for a walk. "Welcome to Naotera. We're far enough from civilization that we shouldn't run into anyone out here."
“Incredible.” he commented with wide eyes as he looked around. “It's probably obvious but I’ve never been to a jungle before.” Marc admitted, taking in the sights of the natural plant life.
Ariella smiled up at him. "It is. I haven't really encountered any animals or otherwise here. They mostly stay away. And the fewntikes I have, they've left me alone." She said it just inncase he was worried about any jungle animals that might attack them. "I found the house abandoned years ago and transformed into my safe house."
Marc chuckled a little but nodded at her assurances of this place being safe. “Sounds like you picked a very good spot for your safe house.” he complimented as they walked through the jungle.
Ariella beamed with pride. She had, hadn't she? As they walked the distance to her safe house, she told him litte facts about the realm they were in. She explained the different bugs and animals as they passed by them. Then, there up ahead, there was a break in the trees and a little house was revealed. She almost seemed to bounce at the sight of it. She only prayed her friends were there or had been there.
Marc listened intently to her tour, taking in the almost fantasy-like atmosphere in fascination as Ariella told him about the wildlife. He did ask a few questions throughout but it was clear that he was enjoying this. “Is that your house?” he asked when the building came into view.
Ariella felt her heart sink a little as the house showed no sign of life. No lights on, no recent tracks leading to the house. It didn't mean that they couldn't have been there, but it wasn't looking good. But she forced a smile back on her lips and nodded her head. "This is it." Still having held his hand, she led him toward the front door. She opened it and flipped on the lights, illuminating her small house.
Marc hummed thoughtfully as he took in the look of the safe house. He could tell that it looked empty and that no one had approached it recently. “I don't suppose there is a portal inside?” he questioned as they walked in, keeping his guard up, just in case.
Ariella shook her head solemnly. "No. That's the beauty of it. There isn't a portal too close where someone might accidently stumble across it. But it's not too far away to be completely inconvenient." She ran a hand over head. "This is where we were supposed to go if things went sour. I don't know where they might be now."
“Ah. Good security then.” he hummed, sharing a note of disappointment that the others would very likely not be here after all. “Well, best case scenario is that they ended up needing to take a longer route, depending on which portals they used.” Marc suggested since he didn't know how they left Earth in the first place. And even though he didn't want to say it, they both knew, or at least suspected, what the worst case was. “May I ask, what was so valuable that you and your mates would be… chased down like this?”
Ariella hoped they weren't dead. Not when this whole job thing had been her idea in the first place. She had seen people die before, but nothing would compare to the guilt already gnawing at her for something she pressured them into. "I couldn't tell you. All I knew was that the orb we were carrying was valuable. It's why the bounty was so high."
“So, you were asked to get something that you don't know what it was?” Marc asked, raising a skeptical brow. He wasn't judging her profession… just her lack of information on her last job. “And I’m guessing that the bounty on that orb is still open so anyone can claim it.” he sighed. Well… I'm going to be sticking around for a while longer.
Ariella gave him a not so innocent look. "I did tell I'm more into the black market kinda stuff right? I mean, this is the most dangerous one I've done so far but like, this was why they hired me. I don't ask questions." Well she did, but she knew when to keep her mouth shut as well. "Well, there's a bounty out on this object. I was hired by someone else to retrieve it. But because of said bounty, there are plenty of people looking for it."
“I think you did mention that.” Marc nodded, though he still felt like she should have asked more questions just for safety reasons. “So, you don't think that whoever hired you… outsourced to more than your team? That there are a lot of people who want this orb for whatever reason?”
Ariella shook her head. "No, they wanted the least amount of people to know about this as possible. I had to argue with them on why I needed all three of my…friends to join us. I needed their skills." But that didn't mean other people weren't answering the bounty. She had no idea what this object truly was. And she didn't think she wanted to.
“Alright then.” Marc hummed, understanding that point. And it was decidedly a better alternative to Ariella being double-crossed. Unfortunately, because he didn't know much about all these worlds and what they were capable of, he was very curious as to what this mysterious orb really was.
Ariella gave him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her entire plan had been centered around her friends being here. And now that they weren't, she was at a loss on what to do. "Make yourself at home. Kitchen is through there. I've got provisions in there. You just need to add water. It's kind of like space food but better. Bathroom is there. And the bedroom is back there."
“Thank you.” Marc smiled gently back. “But we should probably start making a plan so we can find your mates.” he pointed out as he headed to the kitchen.