The three found themselves thrown onto hard ground. But it was a strange, black ground Faye had never seen before. She ran her finger over the rough texture, then scrunched her nose at a foul scent wafting from somewhere behind her. Straightening, she turned around and spotted a green container, large enough to fit an estin in. A plethora of black bags filled it. She suspected the acrid smell came from those.
Jyri's eyes focused on a man several feet away, who was staring at them. Faye felt grateful that she wore a shirt that covered her wings. She had a feeling that this was a universe dominated by humans.
"What are you doing?" Ran hissed as Jyri walked up to the man. Faye followed hesitantly, leaving Ran behind.
"Where are we?" Jyri asked the man.
The man blinked at him through a pair of glasses. "Dunkin' Donuts." A bag containing something rectangular was in his hand, and he raised it up slightly. "Can't wait to surprise everyone in the office with these! Hopefully they'll finally shut up about the cake."
Dunkin' Donuts? Jyri exchanged a puzzled glance with Faye, then looked back at the man, who had begun to ramble on about dropping someone's birthday cake the previous week. "I mean, what country?"
The man frowned. Not out of being interrupted, but out of confusion. "We're in America?"
"America," Faye repeated under her breath. Such an unfamiliar, strange name. Somehow it seemed to suit the area she found herself in.
"Are you two okay?" the man asked.
"We're fine," Jyri said quickly. "We've just come a long way. Trying to start a new life in the first place we end up in. Nothing out of the ordinary."
As if they hadn't appeared strange enough. Faye had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at his explanation. But the man seemed to fall for it.
"That sounds nice..." The man smiled as his voice trailed off. "You know, my boss has been stressing out over finding a last minute replacement for our receptionist." He glanced at Faye, rubbing his chin, then moved his gaze onto Jyri. "And come to think of it, our purchaser needs a backup too. What do you say?"
"You're offering us jobs?" Faye asked. It was hard to believe some stranger would give them a job opportunity after a brief conversation. Then again, she got the feeling this man was just weird like that. Maybe she should be worried.
"No, you have to talk to Marissa, she's my boss." The man pulled out a small paper from the bag, and a pen from his shirt pocket. He wrote something down, and handed it to them. "That's the address. It's not too far from here. I'll tell Marissa you'll be in tomorrow morning. Does that work?"
"Yes, that's perfect," Jyri said.
The man made a move to leave, but stopped. "Wait, what are your names?"
Jyri and Faye gave him their names. And the man introduced himself as Craig.
Craig was about to turn to leave again, but then surveyed the two. "You homeless?" He shook his head. "No, don't answer that. Here." Craig pulled out a wallet, and handed Jyri several green bills. "See that gym, across the street." Faye followed his finger towards the largest building she had ever seen. "When my friend was homeless... he got an idea. You sign up for a membership, and you got access to a shower, lockers, and a roof over your head 24/7. They have this promotion thing going on. First month is $10." He grinned. "Gotta look your best tomorrow. See you then."
Something about him handing them money so freely seemed suspicious but before Faye could refuse it, Craig left for good this time. She watched him walk away towards a cluster of large, blocky shapes on thick, black wheels. The man pulled a handle on the side of a grey one, and opened it like one would open a carriage door.
Faye's mouth fell as he climbed inside and shut the door. A loud rumbling sound filled the air. She continued to watch, dumbfounded, as the object moved towards them, and out towards what looked like a road. A road filled with more of the strange, giant objects whooshing by.
"Where's all the horses?" Faye asked.
"I think those are the horses," Jyri said.
"I don't know if I like it here." Ran finally came out of wherever he was hiding, and appeared beside Jyri. "It smells bad and I don't know what anything is."
Jyri looked towards the area where the portal had dumped them, but there was nothing. "You'll have to get used to it, because I see no way back." He looked down at the money in his hand, and pocketed it. "Might as well see what this 'gym' place is. I could use a shower."
"And get ready for our interview tomorrow," Faye added, though she still worried there was some sort of catch to all of this. Or that the man was playing an elaborate joke.
"Then what?" Ran asked.
"Start our new life in..." Jyri frowned. "What's this place called again?"
"America," Faye said.
"America." Jyri nodded. "King Lyon and his guards can't find us here."
"What if they discover the portal?" Faye asked.
"Chances of them ending up here are slim," Jyri said. "From my research, it seems that portals are randomized. Rarely will they take you to the same place twice."
"So we're finally safe here?"
"Safer than before, I imagine."
"I don't feel safer," Ran mumbled.
"At least none of us are on the run here," Faye said, hoping she sounded more optimistic than she felt.
"Yet," Ran said under his breath.
"We'll just have to make the best of it. Jyri gave him a one-armed hug. "We could've ended up in a far worse place. I mean, that man seemed nice. He gave us money and a job lead."
"Let's hope you get it," Ran said.
Faye felt as though it was hard to judge how good of a place this was by only being there for five minutes. At least the people miraculously spoke their language. But everything seemed so different, right down to the outfits passerby wore. Thankfully some people looked as grubby as she felt, so she wasn't too out of place. She supposed slobs like herself existed in all countries and universes.
As she followed Jyri and Ran to the "gym" place that guy had mentioned, she thought back on the long adventure she had to get here, and how she had a feeling that there would be a completely new one on the horizon.
ns 18.68.41.174da2
