Mariella Snippet 2

She was shaking likea leaf. Trystan almost felt bad for her. He could see so much of his old self in her that it'd made him feel bad for suggesting that they leave the girl to her fate. From the way the barrel of her pistol, rusted with age, shook to the tears welling up in fearful eyes. "We're not here to cause trouble, I promise." Trystan had said softly, raising his hands up placatingly as he took careful steps towards the girl. He glanced at Mariella as he went and she nodded once, indicating that she'd let him handle this. He was much better than she was at working with people. She hadn't yet learned the subtle nuances of human communication just yet. "My name is Trystan. The other voice is Mariella." He took a step to the side to avoid having a barrel levelled right at his head. "We're travellers, just like you." There was no telling if the gun was loaded, but with the way her hands shook and how scared she was, an accidental discharge was all but waiting to happen. "We're going to Eden too."

Once he was close enough, he grabbed the barrel of the gun and gently pushed it downward. He grabbed her shoulder and gave a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "We're not the bad guys, I promise." With his free hand, he reached behind him and grabbed a bottle of water and a bar of chocolate. "Bad guys don't have chocolate, right?" He said with a smile as gently took he pistol from her grip and replaced it with the candy and bottled water. He looked down at the pistol and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

The safety was on. Thank goodness.

He set the pistol in the empty holster on her hip and glanced back at Mariella. "These woods aren't safe." He said. "Origin has agents on the highway nearby. How good are your ears?"