Shatter EP

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

A few hours of walking north of the Grand Canyon, there is a FLASH followed by a BANG with the immediate appearance of a small, skinny teenager standing where nothing had been standing before. She freezes, dark eyes tracking this way and that, the quickness of the motion the only clue to her panic.

Then, a few feet away, there's a FLASH followed by a BANG with the immediate appearance of a large, floppy bloodhound in mid-distressed bark.

A bark which rapidly transforms into a yap of contentment as it spots the girl and trots toward her, long ears flapping.

Jordan Harper grins at her dog, but it only lasts for a moment. While she scratches the creature's ears, she looks around at the desolate bit of land she landed in.

Nothing that can do this, in her experience, should or could be ignored.

Comments

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

Ai-Ling stands up a little straighter - she's not particularly tall, but she's hoping it'll give her explanation some authority.

"And then I fell through the spirit world into this one. Didn't you do the same?"

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

Jordan can't help it. As much as she's always been reserved and careful with how she acts around others, her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and her chin jerks sharply to the side. It's a very obvious mixture of surprise and disbelief.

"You... fell through the spirit world?"

Perhaps also questioning Ai-Ling's sanity. She'll answer the question once she hears the answer to hers.

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

Ai-Ling is perfectly sane, thank you. She's just about come to terms with the fact that not everyone she meets takes this as just something that happened, but still.

"And ended up on this world. Were you born here, then?"

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

It's more Ai-Ling's transitional world than the other two that worries Jordan. In her head, she's translated 'spirit world' to mean that Ai-Ling died, was dead for long enough to realize she was dead, and then came here.

And she's just not sure that's what's going on. For a variety of reasons.

She shakes her head slowly, reaching up to absently rub an eyebrow with two fingers. "I'm just confused, I think. I've only met one person before you and he wasn't very..."

Reliable.

"Informative."

Human.

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

"Oh."

It does give Ai-Ling time to reassess the situation, her hand settling to scratch Journey's head gently.

"I guess you've got all sorts of questions, then?"

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

Jordan shrugs, glancing at the bloodhound as she wriggles and pants happily in Ai-Ling's direction, licking the other girl's hand.

"I guess, if there are answers to any of them."

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

"I've been here a few months, now," she says. "I could answer some."

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

Jordan smiles immediately, wide and grateful, even as she shakes her hand. "I'm not totally sure what the questions are yet," she explains with a small shrug. Her mind is too much a jumble of WHAT?! without any other words at the moment.

She glances back in the direction she had come from, back toward where the Grand Canyon supposedly is, and remembers something else Mort had said. "Is there a town where people kind of congregate?" she asks. "In Kansas?"

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

"Is that what the place is called?"

Ai-Ling nods, a little surprised. "How'd you know about it?"

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

Jordan hesitates, shouldering her backpack in a gesture that's more awkward than necessary. "That's... another question, I think. It's... I don't really know."

She shakes her head and smiles a little helplessly, offering quietly, "It's weird here."

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it is," Ai-Ling agrees.

"The safe place is... about a month's walk in that direction," she says, gesturing to the East. She knows, because she's walked it. "It's a nice farm, good people."

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

A month. Walking.

Jordan frowns a little, thoughtful, and nods just to show Ai-Ling she's listening. "What about driving?" she asks, because this is something you ask in world where cars are everywhere and always available.

Especially if you know how to jack one.

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

"Probably faster," Ai-Lig admits. "I don't drive."

And though she tones it with some sort of dismissive pride that might come with 'I don't do drugs', she quickly comes to a idea.

"Would you like me to come with you to the farm? You could teach me."

And then she'll be able to drive ad Miki can't!

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

It's the way she asks more than what she asks that surprises Jordan so much, eyebrows lifting sharply. "If you'd like to come," she begins slowly, carefully, "I don't mind the company."

The girl's been competent enough to get this far into the wilderness, and that's good.

As for wanting her to come with? That's assuming a little too much for Jordan.

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

"I know the way," Ai-Ling offers, "and the terrain. I could be like a guide."

And if need be, she can protect Jordan.

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

If she were privy to this last little bit of inner-dialogue, Jordan would have a reaction to it.

But she is not and so she doesn't.

She just shrugs a little, still surprised but not unwilling. "Well... sure. I just need to find a car."

And this straight-forward girl with a sword on her hip probably won't be too bothered by her stealing or hotwiring one.

[blueisboring.livejournal.com]

Absolutely not. Living outside the law is kind of in Ai-Ling's blood, after all, and there's no law or property rights around here to speak of.

She turns and points back the way she came. "There's a few that way, an hour's walk, tops."

Not that she knows anything about conditions.

[littlegal-lost.livejournal.com]

They'll find out. It should be educational.

Jordan smiles and nods and, with a slight nod of her head, Journey gets up to follow them. She doesn't have a problem with Ai-Ling leading the way.