#undocumented destinations

[portalwalker]

Sometimes it was good to listen to music. It brought back nostalgic memories of more innocent times. Sure, they were tainted into a bittersweetness now, but there was something nice about thinking back.

Which is why Maria's smile is almost sad and mostly wistful as she is nodding her head along to an unheard tune, humming something under her breath. She doesn't have earbuds or headphones, but she's keeping the beat to what sounds like a route or location theme from a Pokemon game.

Was she aware enough beyond the song to react if a passerby came up and talked to her? Or was she lost in her own little world?

[portalwalker]

Out in the Oregon woods, in a clearing just outside a small town, sat a larger-than-it-should-be wood cabin with a cursed sign on the roof -- no matter how many times it was fixed, "Mystery Shack" always turned into "Mystery Hack," which mostly amused the tourists who drove through every summer on road trips up and down the coast.

The tourist season was coming to an end as autumn approached, though, which meant that the people who lived in the large cabin could get to other business.

One of these inhabitants was sitting on the back porch with a brick of a laptop in her lap, one hand on her chin as she scrolled through something on the screen with her other hand. If it wasn't for the shift of energy that accompanied a portal opening, she might not have noticed the arrival of a familiar guest.

(( @white-fire-the-dragon ))

[portalwalker]

(cont from here -- @white-fire-the-dragon )

Maria looked around, taking stock of the houses scattered around her and the skyline in the distance. Looks like she’d ended up in a neighborhood park somewhere...and she was out in the open. Not exactly ideal, but nobody seemed to be running at the sight of her. Or grabbing weapons.

The kid running into her leg jolted Maria from her thoughts, although the collision didn’t seem to push Maria in the slightest. It was like she was anchored to the ground, and had been expecting something like this. Or, maybe she hadn’t, and she was just naturally that sturdy.

Maria looked down at the girl with a blink of surprise, then offered a small, slight smile and shook her head. “It’s fine; don’t worry about it. Running into a person isn’t the worst thing in the world.”

Sure, watching where you were running was a good idea, but Maria had walked in from out of nowhere.

[portalwalker]

Finding something to do in a small community like this was...surprisingly easier said than done, but that was mostly because Maria wasn't entirely sure where to start offering help.

She stood off to one side of the central clearing of the small refugee gathering, hands in her pockets as she watched a few kids playing some tag-adjacent game. A few adults were nearby watching them, but they seemed to cast her the occasional glance as well. Not surprising -- even if Dominic had said she was friendly, they still needed to figure her out for themselves.

Maybe she should find someone and ask about the leader of this group -- Julie, wasn't it? Dominic had said the woman had her hands full.

Maria scanned the people present again. Maybe she should ask one of them to see if they could point her in the right direction....

(( @draconic-hydra ))

[portalwalker]

Somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, a young woman sits on a natural perch, staring out into the horizon. Or, perhaps, past it. Her blue eyes don't seem to be scanning her surroundings, clouded with memory and thoughts that keep some of her focus elsewhere.

If her thousand yard stare wasn't unnerving enough, it almost seemed as though she wasn't breathing. Only her hair shifted with the breath of the occasional breeze; the rest of her sat still as stone, elbows on her knees and her chin resting on closed fists.

Had someone placed a life-like statue in the wilderness, or was there something else going on?

[portalwalker]

@cipher-key ||continued from here

Maria wasn't keen on giving any Ciphers the time of day, much less answering any questions they asked of her. Sure, there might be ones out there that acted nicer than the others, but Maria knew how cruel they could be, too -- in their own way.

"What's it to you?" she replied, tracking Cipher as he circled.

[portalwalker]

A circular, sky blue portal manifested, and Maria stepped out onto the sidewalk of a city street, empty of people. A few overturned cars lay scattered up and down the road, making her frown in confusion as the portal closed behind her. Some of that metal looked melted. That wasn't a good sign.

Was there a fight going on or--

The sound of a loud belch caused her to turn sharply, one hand reaching out on instinct for nothing but air. Her startled expression shifted to alarm, blue eyes wide.

Oh geez that's a big frog!

And it was spitting up more than a mouthful of...what was probably acid.

Which she happened to be in the path of.

Great.

"Of all the slagging--" Maria cursed and moved to lunge out of the way, but she wasn't sure if she was going to make it without taking a hit.

@valiant-au-save-slot-a

[portalwalker]

A portal opens, blue and swirling with the color of a crystalline, clear sky.

The young woman stepping out of it looks almost normal by comparison -- brown hair settling around her shoulders as she scans the horizon with clear blue eyes bordering on an electric shade.

Maria inclines hear head as the portal closes behind her, and adjusts her orange jacket before putting her hands in her pockets. “Hm. Where have I ended up this time...?”