Artenah

II - Meeting People, Discovering Portals

A/N: Sorry for such a long time between chapters, I've been busy and have had a stressful few weeks. I'll try to get updates and new chapters(hopefully longer than this one) out as soon as I can, but for now, bear with me.

Time in this new place went faster. Somehow, the two were there for two hours-- a lot longer than they'd planned. It was supposed to just be a short break, admire nature, and be on their way. Justin tried to remember which way they'd come from, but that inner compass seemed to only last those few minutes. Liam's actual compass he had on him was going haywire, it seemed north was south and east was west, and his phone wouldn't turn on. 

The two stood, confused and lost. 

Their attention quickly turned to rustling in the trees, twigs snapping, and even a grunt; Justin was ready to fight whatever was approaching. 

Liam and Justin stayed quiet, both wanting to see what it was; slightly scared, though, as this was the woods and it could be anything from a rabbit to another person(or worse, people) to a bear. 

There was murmuring from the trees and it sounded like arguing. Justin let his guard drop slightly, as it was obvious the noises were, in fact, coming from people, but he didn't know whether or not they posed a threat yet. 

They approached, not yet noticing the two boys... surely their survival instinct was not that great. When they did finally notice, they stopped in their tracks, staring at them. The four just stared at each other for a few seconds. 

Liam slowly raised his hand. "Hello," he said. 

After an awkward greeting, the four were content with each other's company and had no harsh feelings toward each other. Justin made quick friends with Nathan, the boy wearing orange. Apparently the two were siblings, even though they looked nothing like each other, and were touring the country on a summer trip from Canada. They'd ended up in the woods for a hike before they veered from the trail, and then they bumped into Justin and Liam.

"How'd you... y'know, get here, exactly?" Justin asked. 

"I don't know. Was just walking around and here we are." Nathan said, looking up at the sky. Clouds were covering the view. 

Justin hummed, still trying to piece together why he had the sudden urge to go somewhere if these two were just aimlessly wandering.  

"It feels... late. Look, the sun's going down." Anthony, the boy in blue, pointed out. 

"What? It was just morning. We started walking like... two or three hours ago." 

"I don't know, that's just what's happening." 

"Do either of you have a phone or something on you?" Justin asked.

Both pulled out their phones from their pockets. After multiple failed attempts, neither could get their phones to turn on. Anthony's watch had stopped ticking. 

"Well, not anymore." Nathan sighed in defeat, putting his dead phone back in his pocket. Anthony followed suit. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. Out in the middle of nowhere, in the woods. Lost." 

"Wait, you two came from that way." Liam pointed out. "We should retrace our steps, to see if we can get back..." His voice trailed off, like he was thinking again. It's a good idea, but what if it just got us more lost, Justin thought. He grabbed Liam's bag off the ground anyway.

The other two nodded, and off the group went, back in the direction Anthony and Nathan came from. Justin was looking at the plants, seeing no familiar species, and was too weirded out to document them into his notebook. 

After another 30 minutes of wandering, the woods were still unfamiliar, and it was only getting darker. Justin stopped dead in his tracks after he saw something too surreal.

"Guys, look." He said, looking over a peculiar white flower; it seemed like light was emitting from it. The stem and leaves were gray, giving the ominous flower a more eerie feeling above all else. "I've never seen anything like it." 

"Is it... um, glowing?" Anthony asked. Justin nodded.

"This might seem crazy but I don't think this is the same woods at home." Liam said under his breath, just loud enough for Justin to hear. Justin shakes his head. 

"No, it's not. It can't be." Justin said, rather annoyed. "We don't have glowing flowers. This is some fantasy world bullshit. I've gotta be dreaming. Pinch me." 

"If you are then so am I." Liam said, the other two nodded in agreement. Justin sighed in frustration, he'd never liked not knowing something. Not many people liked being lost in an unfamiliar environment. 

At that note, there was a soft hum coming from in front of the group. Its sound was human, or at least something similar. None of them knew exactly what it was, but it was enough for all of them to get their guards up. They stayed quiet, waiting. The humming kept getting closer and closer, until the mysterious voice revealed itself: A woman in a cloak holding a knife. She noticed the four as soon as she brushed past the bushes. 

She said something in a language Justin didn't recognize, and Liam looked at her with a rather confused look. She noticed the confusion on their faces and sighed, examining each of them carefully. 

"Humans."