Ah, hello again nonexistent audience. I hope the first revised chapter was ok. It was short but it is what it is. Maybe this should be more of a fantasy, comedic story with slight romance considering I'm taking this writing very lightly.
"Katalina! Why did you push us into the portal?" Jaden practically screeched.
"I didn't! I swear somebody pushed me!" I shouted back. Here we were, floating around in what I assume was the time space continuum because apparently portals do exist.
"Well, who would've pushed us in here? That's just horrible!" Heather cried as she flailed around in the air. Our graceful Heather.
Jaden groaned," That freaking hurt! W-wait, is this? Oh, thank goodness. Sweet, sweet ground!"
"My back is already messed up as it is. This is going to make it so much worse," I groaned," Couldn't we land on a mountain of pillows instead?"
"Guys," Heather's voice was so soft we could barely hear it.
Jaden was lying on the ground with her eyes closed and a relieved smile on her face," I will never leave you again sweet, wonderful ground."
"Guys-"
"I feel like I got run over by a truck. Backpacks really don't break a fall, just saying."
"Guys! Where are we?"
We both stopped our babbling and finally took a look at our very woodsy surroundings. Nothing but trees for miles and miles and no signs of civilization anywhere," Well, we're in a forest that's for sure."
"Oh, really, Kat? I hadn't noticed," Heather rolled her eyes and stood up to get a better look of the area," How far did we travel? We could be in another country for all we know!"
I stretched my achy bones and took a look around myself," That's a possibility. We should try looking for a town or something, find some form of civilization. From the looks of it it's going to get dark soon and I definitely don't want any run-ins with hungry animals. Why don't we just use our phones?"
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about them," Heather whipped hers out of her bag, but her face fell in disbelief," Oh, man. No service."
"Same here. Honestly, what did we expect? We're in a forest for crying out loud. Let's just start walking and see where we end up."
After trying to unglue Jaden from the ground, we finally set off to find… something. To be honest, I'm not even sure if we will find anything. We were quiet for the most part, staying alert and looking at everything around us to see if we spotted anything we might recognize." Hey, guys?"
"What's up, Kat?"
"Do you think Lady G was the one who pushed us in?"
"Well, it's a possibility, but why would she do that? Especially without saying anything to us first. Something along the lines of "Hey, girls, I'm going to push you into this weird portal, but first let me explain why." That sounds more like Lady G to me," Heather explained as she tried to fix her hair.
"Well, who else could it have been?"
"She's got a point, but so does Heather. As eccentric as she is, it doesn't sound like her. Look! I think there might be a town up ahead! Hello, sweet civilization!"
"Geez, slow your roll, Kat. The town isn't going anywhere."
"Sorry, but wherever there's food I'm there," After too much walking we finally arrived at the small town I had spotted," Finally! Now, what's the closest restaurant?"
"Oh, is that a humanoid lizard?" a humawhat now?
"Maybe there's a festival going on. Their cosplays are so cool!" Heather squealed," Oh, do you think it'd be weird if I asked them for some pointers?"
"You can ask them for advice later, Heather. Let's look for some food," I say as I ignore the look all the townspeople were giving us.
"Hey! I just wanted to tell you that your cosplay is amazing! Who are you supposed to be?" the stranger just stared at her dumbfounded.
Jaden laughed and pulled her away," Heather, quit fangirling before you get lost in the crowd."
"I can't help it, Jaden. You know how much I like to cosplay. I need to ask them for some tips. Do you see how well put together their outfits are?"Jaden patted her arm," And you can... right after we get something to eat."
"Found a restaurant! I think? I am so glad I actually brought my wallet with me today," as I walked into the building I noticed almost everyone there was in costume," Wow, this town must really be dedicated to it's festival. Now, let's find some tables!"
I saw someone wearing a… Honestly, I'm not sure what they were supposed to be," Hello, may I help you?"
"Yeah, we'd just like some food, please. What's on the menu?"
"Hey, what are you humans doing in here?" did I hear him right?" You aren't welcome here. Get out!"
"Calm down, Tyrus, we've talked about this," strange name. Sounds foreign. We must be in another country.
The man known as Tyrus swatted the woman's hand away," Don't give me that, Geneva. You know I don't appreciate humans in my restaurant!"
Geneva rolled her eyes and crossed her arms," Tyrus, the more people we let in the restaurant the more business we get."
"Yeah, come on. We're just hungry," I pleaded," It's not like we're not going to pay for our food."
"Please!"
"Yeah, please! Oh-" I bumped into one of the waiters. The waiter stumbled and the tray they had in their hand flew and fell onto Tyrus,"I am so, so sorry! We can clean that up if you just-"
"Kat, maybe we should leave," Jaden whispered frantically.
"Yeah, he doesn't look too happy," and Heather was right. His body was shaking and a growl escaped his lips.
"Now, Tyrus, don't go and do something stupid," but he ignored her. He pulled out a dagger from his sheath and began walking towards us," Guys. Run!"
The three of us ran out of the building and into the streets, Tyrus not too far behind us. We tried to maneuver our way around the citizens, making sure we didn't knock anyone else over. Tyrus had no problem knocking anyone over.
"Why the hell is he chasing us with a dagger? I know I made a mess, but at least I apologized!" I looked back and noticed he was starting to catch up to us," Run faster! He's catching up!"
"This guy is crazy! Isn't it illegal to chase people around with murderous objects here?" Jaden cried.
"Apparently not! Take a sharp right! Maybe we can lose him!" before we even had the chance to turn he jumped in front of us," Oh, hello. Nice to see you again, Tyrus."
"I don't play nice with humans," he growled.
"Wow, you guys must really be dedicated to this festival. Come on, human to human let's hash this out," that just seemed to make it worse.
"I am not human!" he launched towards us and we prepared for impact. I've lived a good life. It's sad it had to go down this way. I heard clanging noise and noticed I was still alive. I opened my eyes and saw a guy standing in front of us.
"Getting into trouble again, Tyrus? We've talked about this," the boy taunted.
"Get out of my way! This doesn't concern you, Mushra," Mushra? We are definitely in another country.
"It is when you're trying to kill three innocent humans," he shot back. He knocked the dagger out of Tyrus's hands and looked back at us," Go! Follow him!"
Follow who? I felt someone jerk my arm and looked up to see it was Jaden," This way, Kat."
I ran behind her and noticed we were following someone else, another guy I'm assuming. Well thank goodness for helpful strangers. Behind me I could still hear shouting and the sound of clashing metal. The stranger pointed towards a small building and ushered us through the door. After he made sure everything was all clear he shut the door and closed the curtain to the window. He looked over at us and seemed a bit confused," Where are you guys from?"
"Why don't we ask the questions here. Where the hell are we and what did the guy mean when he said he wasn't human?" I asked. Oh, like I hadn't forgotten that tidbit of information?
Another confused look," What do you mean? Have you guys never seen an Enterran before?"
"A what?"
"So, what you're saying is he really isn't human? He was actually a humanoid lizard? Are you kidding me? Are we on some prank show? We must be! Where are the cameras?" Heather started to look around the room as if she would find cameras hidden somewhere inside.
"Calm down, man. It's not that serious."
"I'm a girl!" Heather fumed.
"Really? With that short haircut I would've assumed you were a boy?" a new voice commented. The boy from before, Mushra, closed the door behind him and began examining Heather," Well, I guess we should've figured what with your-"
"Shut up!" Heather's face grew red.
Mushra walked over to Jaden and took a look at her hair," Why is half your head shaved off?"
"The short one seems pretty normal," the other one commented.
"You know, as much as we appreciate the rescue you guys are total jerks!" Jaden said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah! It's not like you guys look anymore normal!" I countered back until I thought about what I had just said. The gears in my head were working in overdrive and started connecting all the dots. I took a closer look at the two boys in front of us and realized," We're really not in Kansas anymore, Toto."
They really didn't look anymore normal. They looked much different than the three of us. I looked closer at their features and their attire. You could spot Mushra from a mile away with his short, purple hair that seemed to match his blue eyes perfectly. What they had assumed was a costume was actually his real outfit. Orange armor on his shoulders, chest, and waist atop of black tights with orange gloves and boots to match. The one thing that really stood out to me was the small, thin gold crown under his bangs.
His companion, on the other hand, was a whole different ball game. Compared to Mushra's light skin, his was a bit on the tanner side. His short, black curly hair paired nicely with his light colored brown eyes.
He donned a mid-sleeve black coat with a red shirt underneath, and loose black pants tucked into a pair of black and red boots. There was a black sheath on his waist. The reason this guy was so much different from his friend? The set of sharp teeth and claw-like fingernails this guy adorned. A gold band wrapped around his head with a red oval shaped gem in the center.
"What are you? Some sort of elf?" I pointed to his ears.
"What's wrong with my ears? I'm not the one wearing weird clothing!"
Heather scoffed," Us? Have you looked in the mirror lately you ninnies!"
The shouting match ensued until we were all red in the face," What in the world is going on here?"
"Holy. Shit." standing right at the doorway was a big, fat cat. Literally a big, fat cat wearing this adorable pink outfit, a blue scarf tied around his neck, and a green teardrop shaped gem on his forehead.
"Who are these girls, Kai?" Came another voice behind the adorable cat man. He came out from behind him and stared at us. I don't know what he's staring at, because he is dressed quite weird too.
I've never seen a guy wear, much less pull off, a green jumpsuit style outfit and a navy blue cape. The one thing that really stands out from the rest of his outfit is the light blue helmet. An orange stripe ran down the middle of the helmet and stopped in the front where three blue, circular stones lay in a triangular shape.
"See! Weird outfits!" Heather blurted out, breaking the silence.
"Care to explain, Mushra," the caped boy sighed.
"These girls here ran into some trouble with Tyrus, so we went out of our way to help them. What do we get as thanks? They just start yelling at us for no reason!"
"No reason? No reason! You were practically insulting us!"
Kai scoffed," And what were you doing? Complimenting us?"
I looked away, all three of us did. He wasn't wrong," Yeah, sorry about that. We just don't understand."
"Understand what?" Fat cat asked.
"Where are we? First, we're looking for a neighbor of ours and all of a sudden we're pushed into some portal that brings us here? Not to mention the fact that you find out half you people here aren't even human?" Jaden took a seat near the window," It's a lot to take in."
"We don't even know how to get back home. If we can," Heather added in softly.
They stood there quietly, looking at us then at each other. What are we going to do?
"We'll help you."
Did I hear that right?" What?"
"We'll help."
"How? We don't even know where to start or to go? How could you help us?" Heather asked with slight hostility in her voice.
"We don't know, but we could at least stick around to help you not become Enterran food."
"Thanks for the offer, but that still doesn't help us get home," Heather groaned.
"Look, either we leave you on your own to possibly get killed or we tag along with you until you find a way back from wherever you came from. Which would you prefer?" the three of us looked at one another and nodded our heads in unison," Now that's settled how about we introduce ourselves properly. My name is Sago and this here is Kutal. You've already met the other two."
"I'm Katalina."
"My names Jaden."
"I'm Heather."
"Pleasantries out of the way. Is anyone hungry? I was just about to cook up dinner," Kutal grinned.
"Now you're speaking my kind language. Let me help you out. I'm so hungry I could eat the entire McDonald's menu," that didn't seem familiar to them," Stop. You're telling me McDonald's doesn't exist in this universe? Burgers? Iced coffee? None of that rings a bell? Of all the places the universe throws us in it had to be one without iced coffee."
Heather snickered and prop herself against the window," You are being so overdramatic, Kat."
"That was a really nice dinner, Kutaal," Jaden chirped as she started to clear the plates off the table.
"I agree. Quite the chef."
"Why thank you ladies. At least someone is appreciative of my culinary skills," he glared at the boys sitting across the table," Since we're done why don't we show you around so you can familiarize yourselves with the town."
Heather snorted, "Sorry, I'm not trying to die before the day ends."
Kai chuckled and propped his feet on the table," With us around you won't have to worry about that."
I brushed his feet off the table. It wouldn't be such a bad idea," I wouldn't mind seeing more of this world. Everything is so different compared to where we come from."
"Yeah, come on, Heather. It would be fun," Jaden linked their arms together and started walking towards the door," Let's go on an adventure!"
The town was small. There was nothing special to it and a few of the Enterrans weren't too pleased with us being there. Thankfully, we weren't the only humans in the town. We stopped by a food stand and sampled some of their kabobs.
"Wow, I don't know what this is, but it tastes so good," Heather said as she took another bite," It's like heaven."
"Let me get a few more please?" Kai asked.
"This place isn't so bad. Although, they could up the lighting some," something in the corner of my eye caught my attention," What's that?"
There was a building on the other side of the street that seemed so different from the rest. While I couldn't read what the sign said, the outside was decorated with purple curtains across the doorway. Small lanterns seemed to light the way inside as if it were inviting you in.
"Kat?"
After going inside, I was intrigued by the amount of shelves filled with knick knacks and bottles. The candles spread out around the room gave the room a warm glow. In the middle of the room was a small round table and a few chairs. Perched in the center was a gold statue. A snake laying on top of a small boulder with red rubies in place of the eyes.
"Welcome, come inside, don't be shy," I jumped and turned around to see a young woman standing by another door," Very beautiful piece isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's really nice. I've never seen something like that before. I'm sorry for just stepping in like this."
"Don't worry. I could use a few more customers in here."
"Customers? What exactly do you sell here?"
"Just some trinkets here and there. Some remedies, some poisons," that's not alarming at all," Little things here and there. You seem a little lost."
"You could say that."
"Trying to find your way home?"
Alarms started going off in my head. Red flag numero uno. I took a closer look at the shop owner. Something about her seemed familiar to me. Her red hair was pulled into a high ponytail, her skin like porcelain. She wore a long, blue v-cut dress with puffed, translucent sleeves. When I looked at her eyes, something in me felt like I knew her from somewhere," Do I know you?"
"Not necessarily," she smiled and flipped her ponytail back," Go to Shinzo."
"I'm sorry?" Red flag número dos," Do you know who I am? Do you know how my friends and I got here?"
She pulled up a chair and motioned towards the one across from her," Take a seat. Let's talk."
Just as I was about to sit down I heard my name being called outside. Jaden stepped inside, looking relieved," Thank god. She's in here you guys! We were looking for you! What are you doing here?"
"I was talking to the shopkeeper."
"Who? There's no one in here," I looked back and she was gone. Red flag número tres," She was just sitting right here! I swear! Ma'am! Ma'am, are you in here?"
"What's with the yelling, Kat?"
"She says she was talking to someone."
Kai looked around the room," I don't see anyone here?"
"I'm well aware of that now," I sound like a lunatic," I swear she was here though. She even told me how to get back home. I think? She was just about to tell me more until Jaden came in and she just disappeared."
"Well, excuse me for interrupting."
"Wait," Heather pushed through Mushra and Sago," What did she tell you?"
"Go to Shinzo."
Heather looked at Sago," Does you guys know where Shinzo is?"
"That name doesn't even sound remotely familiar," Sago began to look around the room," Come to think of it, I don't remember this shop being here either."
What the fuck is going on?
You know, I felt pretty confident in the beginning there, but that ending just seems so all over the place. I'm trying. It's hard being creative when you haven't seen the show in forever.
