Jotaro (ex_jotaro467) wrote in antecedents, @ 2011-05-19 23:48:00 |
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Judging by the information they'd been given by that woman, Rachel, they should have only had a day's worth left of traveling to reach the house that was awaiting their arrival in Portland. Things had gone relatively smoothly (travel-wise, at least) since Raye and Kakyoin had joined up with the four of them. They didn't have much money left to get by on, most of it going to gas, but a lot of the places they stopped at said that something had 'already been arranged', and they were allowed to stay with the costs already covered. None of them had any doubt it must have had something to do with that same woman who had told them where to go, but obviously it was nothing to complain about, as unusual as this all was.
With nothing further out of the ordinary having happened between the six of them, as they traveled, it was for that reason it might have been considered especially strange when, upon waking up that morning in the hotel, Jotaro discovered he was alone. In the room he'd been sharing with Kakyoin and Polnareff, both their beds were unmade and the adjoining bathroom was unoccupied as well. He might have thought they'd just stepped out to get something to eat, but their stuff was gone, too. Getting up off the couch he'd slept on, he rubbed his eye clear of sleep as he silently looked around deserted room, patiently taking in what appeared to be going on here. After a minute or two, he approached one of the beds. Squatting, he lifted up the sheets falling over the side of it, checking to see if Iggy was ignoring him under there. But even the dog was gone.
It was then he heard the door open behind him, and saw that it was Mina, who was wearing a curious expression of her own. "They're gone?" he asked her, already putting together what must be on her mind-- 'they' referring to Jolyne and Raye, the ones who'd been staying in the room she'd just come from. As for how he'd come to that conclusion, she only had to look at the state of his own room to see he'd woken up to a very similar situation.
Being that they were so close to their destination, Jotaro had a hard time imagining any of them had just up and changed what the plan would be. He wouldn't expect that out of his friends, at least, nor did he think it likely Raye would do that to Mina. Jolyne-- he still couldn't speak for that girl, but whatever had happened, those four had done it together. Another explanation was that something bad had happened, but that seemed equally unlikely; why would their stuff be gone then, too? In addition, all four of them were well-equipped to handle any trouble that came their way, something both Jotaro and Mina were well aware of. Considering it that way, it was mostly just confusion, rather than worry, that was on their minds as they checked out of the hotel.
Jotaro hadn't been expecting, however, to find that even the car they'd traveled here in would be gone. What really appeared to have happened, then, was that they'd quite plainly been ditched. "...Let's find a bus stop," is all he had to say in response to the vacant spot their car had once been in. They had both decided their best option was just to keep heading for this house where answers supposedly awaited them; maybe that's where the others had gone, too, though as for why they'd gone without them, without saying anything or even leaving a note, that was a mystery for the time being. To take the time out to look for them first just wasn't something Jotaro saw them having the time for.
He was hoping, after all, that at this house he'd find a way to go home, where he was still quite needed-- him and Kakyoin and Polnareff. Were it not his own mother's life on the line, he wouldn't have been as intent to find a way back immediately, not now that he had met Mina, who had become someone that mattered to him. While he might not have been the most forthcoming guy when it came to his thoughts and feelings, that didn't mean he didn't have them, and that the same as anyone else, he would want to have a little more time yet with someone he'd come to care about in a way he never had for anyone else. Additionally, there was the whole matter concerning Jolyne, although currently, Jotaro thought the best place for both of them might be back in their own times; their having met in this world was something it seemed that never should have been intended to happen, something a normal reality never would have permitted. Yet, he wouldn't prioritize any relationship of his own over Holly's health. Maybe once he had finished his business in his own world, he could return here again, if Mina chose to remain awhile longer-- or, wanted to come back later herself. If that were an option, he'd take it. But, those were things he'd be wanting to ask whoever it was who had contacted them some weeks ago, and not things that were on his mind right now.
After waiting about twenty minutes for a bus to arrive, and having searched the map pinned up on the stop's shelter to figure out which one was the right to take, the two of them boarded together, Jotaro letting her go on ahead first, to hand over the last of their pocket change to the driver. If their estimations were correct, this bus should take them right into the heart of Portland, and from there, they should be able to find this house. They hadn't been given an address, but had rather been told that they would 'just know' which one to look for. Cryptic information at best, but Jotaro had heard stranger things, and he'd accepted it for what it was.
Traveling through open road between one city and the next, he found a heat starting to blossom in his shoulder all of a sudden, and he gave it a small rub. When Mina asked about it, he said it was nothing. The feeling, though, was something like what he'd experienced just before they'd found Jolyne: it was that sense of coming closer to those who shared the same blood as him. It was more intense, than before, although it faded by the time the minute was up, not a consistent bother but more like an occasional reminder. He wondered if that was Jolyne he was cuing into, or...
The bus dropped them off in downtown Portland about an hour later, sometime shortly after noon. Standing at a busy four way stop, Jotaro gave the area a look around, seeing if one direction in particular called out to him-- was that how this thing was supposed to work? It was a little hard to focus on listening for some ethereal call, though, when the traffic and the bustle of people were so noisy around them. Well, he had his instincts, too, and those didn't usually lead him astray; they'd saved his life a handful of times, more correctly. Giving those a try, he wasn't indecisive for long.
"This way," Jotaro told her then as he hit the crosswalk button so that they could head down the street across the way. He had said it like he knew it for a fact that was the right direction to go, but that was just his usual way: he made choices firmly, very rarely doubting himself-- he considered doubt, as a whole, a waste of time. If this did turn out to be the wrong way, well, they'd adjust for it once they figured that out, but there was nothing to be gained just standing around, and he did feel that going in this direction may take them where they want to go.