Sophie was the third to fall through the portal, right after Sumedha, who fell on top of Jarrett, followed by Sophie squashing them both, and then followed by Kelvin landing on his back on Sophie's stomach.
Jarrett was basically squashed three times in a row.
Andrew came tumbling out of the portal and Jarrett managed to shove the three of them off and roll away, leaving Andrew to fall onto the hard earth, with Xin Ming, Felicia, Paul and Hanlu falling on him. Sophie got to her feet, staggering slightly, using her bruised hands to wipe off the dust. "Kelvin, you're heavier than I expected," she commented, holding her stomach with her two arms.
"We need to strategise falling through portals," Xin Ming suggested. It was to no surprise that no one disagreed.
"Who goes there!?" screamed a voice. "Everyone duck!" commanded Felicia. Instantaneously, everyone dropped onto their hands and feet as a spear soared past their heads. "WOAH WOAH WOAH!" screeched Kelvin as another spear stabbed the spot next to him. "How did you...know that something was flying at us?" whispered Sophie. Felicia paused, as if she just noticed that. She shook her head, unable to answer Sophie. Sophie couldn't blame her. They didn't know the full extent of their powers yet anyways.
"Who dares trespass the territory of the Nagaul Clan?" bellowed the voice.
"Eh?" exclaimed Sophie. Then, she felt someone shove her head, and her body followed her head as she tumbled to the ground. Fortunately, she was only shoved and not actually hit, because through the experience of accidentally hitting her head, she knew that hitting the vulnerable part at the back of the head was bad. She fell to the earth and managed to roll over, seeing a jaguar baring its gnarly fangs at her. Her heartbeat instantly began racing as terror took over. She used all her might to try and shove the jaguar back, who tried to slam its claws back down on her face, but a blast of fire exploded from her fingertips and threw the jaguar backwards. Her heartbeat exploded widely as terror squeezed her bravery out of her. Not that she was brave. She never dared to talk back against someone.
She managed to shuffle backwards as the jaguar stabilized, growling at her. "Wait! We come in peace!" yelled Felicia as more jaguars surrounded the 9 students. The jaguar stared at her, before rearing up onto its back paws and turning into a human.
"She has the ability to transform too," whispered Xin Ming. "I think everyone in the Other World can do that," replied Andrew sarcastically. "Gabriel, back off," ordered the woman as the three other jaguars turned into their human forms. "You aren't lying," affirmed the woman, looking directly at Sophie.
"Uhm...I mean, what could a bunch of sixteen year-olds do?" spluttered Sophie, her legs trembling as she stumbled closer to her newly made friends. A small sense of pride washed inside her for daring to speak up against total strangers. "You're right. But anyone in the right mind knows not to trespass Nagaul territory," the woman warned. "Abigail, I think they're travelling gypsies. The scholars who seek knowledge from around the world. They probably came into our territory on purpose to look for us," a man prompted. Abigail's eyes lit up in excitement. Sophie swapped glances with Paul, who was right beside her. Did being a travelling gypsy have such beneficial purposes?
"Scholars of mixed backgrounds? Welcome, welcome! We never had scholars visit us before!" she welcomed as she clapped her hands and did a few small skips.
Sophie didn't know how to respond, looking at her friends for affirmation. Everyone nodded eagerly, except Kelvin, who bent down to pick up a pebble. "This...smooth pebble was staring at me," he wondered aloud as Abigail shot him a puzzled stare. "Aha...don't mind him. He's too curious about everything," Jarrett chuckled nervously as he dragged Kelvin towards him.
"Pebble," Kelvin stated simply, placing it into his bag.
"Why did you choose to come study the Nagaul Clan?" Abigail queried. "Oh uh...we were sent here by a Kitsune," Sumedha shared as Sophie glanced at her. "Ah, you're being very honest," Abigail voiced, a warm smile spreading across her face.
"You guys can detect lies?" Sophie guessed. Abigail nodded, Sophie feeling proud yet again for speaking to a stranger. "We are some of the most spiritual people out there. The Nagauls blessed us with the power of the Truth. We gave away our ability to lie and were given the ability to sense lies. Some, like Gabriel over there, are able to spirit walk. It is where we detach ourselves from our bodies and help us see more then the human eyes can," she explained, pointing at a boy with a loose leather shirt.
The students nodded, absorbing the information. Sophie had to note that the Nagauls were way more excited than she expected, because they were willing to share any of their information to 'travelling gypsies'.
The rest of the trip was silent, giving Sophie the chance to reflect. Her confidence has improved ever so slightly, and the warm tinge of joy filled her. She was going to work on it more often.
They arrived at a campsite, which was situated right outside a cave. The smell of soup wafted through the air. "Abigail, you're back!" called a girl, waving her hand to greet them. "Abigail, Gabriel, I told both of you to lead the patrol, not bring back strangers," snapped an elderly looking man. He had wrinkles on his forehead and silver hair which were combed together to make it neat. His hands were wrinkly and his arms were veiny.
"They're travelling gypsies. We already checked them!" Gabriel claimed excitedly. Sophie wanted to correct them, but technically they weren't wrong either. Revealing that they were from a whole other world will probably inflict fear and unwanted curiosity among them.
"Travelling Gypsies? We haven't met one ever since the previous one died," revealed the elder man. Sophie coughed stiffly, a worried feeling crossing her. "Unlike the impressive Empires and Kingdoms that have developed outside the kingdom, us Nagaul's chose to stick to the traditional ways, so we can remain as spiritual as possible," explained Abigail as the Nagaul people ushered them into the cave, seating them down on stone chairs. "Ask whatever you need," the elder man said. "I think we might die here," whispered Hanlu.
"Uhm...how's the rulership like here? The royal family?" asked Felicia. The elder man sat down. "We don't exactly rule anyone here. The older you are, the more people listen to you. Thus, the Elders are the most important in the Clan. We provide valuable advice and leadership for the younger ones. I am an Elder myself," he shared proudly, puffing his chest out. "Elders are wise," claimed Jarrett.
Hanlu began scribbling on her notebook as Gabriel placed a feather and an ink bowl on the table. "Would you like to try our specially made ink? We mash blackberries and huckleberries with squid ink to form our precious ink," he appealed. Sophie reached out to take a feather, dipping its tip into the ink and writing with it. "Woah, the ink is awfully smooth. Are you sure there isn't something else you put you in here?" she inquired.
Gabriel grinned. "We bless the ink with our fervent chanting. Or, that is what the Elders have been telling us," he disclosed. Sophie wrote it down. The ink was smooth and didn't smudge when she shut the notebook.
"You're hurt!" gasped Abigail, startling the people in the cave. She pointed at Jarrett's bleeding arm. "Oh uh, Gabriel scratched me. The sheer force of the attack...I'm surprised my back survived," he answered. "Bring them to the healing hut!" announced the Elder.
The healing hut was built out of mud and stones, held together with a strange lime green material, which Abigail said was woven out of the Truth. Whatever this Truth thing was, it was soft yet very sturdy, holding the entire hut together fairly well.
I didn't know the Nagauls chose to reject development. When I was still alive, they were experts in many things, the most prominent being herbs and building.
"Uhh...spirituality? They did mention wanting to keep the ability to spirit walk," Sophie responded. Radiance let out a whole-hearted chuckle.
It's been about 500 years since I roamed this earth. I didn't know they changed.
Jarrett had to place his arm on the table as Gabriel mashed together some weird looking plants. "A mixture of marigold to ease the bleeding and cotton flowers to absorb the blood. The rest of the wound has to heal on its own," explained Gabriel, noticing her curious stare. He slowly and carefully poured the mixture onto Jarrett's hand, who winced, clenching his fist.
"We have to stay here for 3 days. And it seems like we've already finished nearly all the research. We know about their herbs, healing hut, powers, leadership, etc etc. What else do we need to research about?" whispered Andrew.
As if on cue, a Nagaul boy burst into the hut. "Please send help, a patrol has been attacked!"