"But all this stupid grass, it's hard to see anything. Plus I don't exactly stare at the ground while I walk, you know?" When you had shoes on you didn't have to worry about what you stepped in so much, you had your feet covered and protected. Hell that's why Takeshi even bothered with them in the first place, well that and he hated his feet getting dirty. You tracked dirt into bed that way and then you were sleeping in it, and bugs, there could be bugs. Frowning at that notion the older boy smirked when Shu toted himself as being quite smart, not doubting him really as he figured the little guy knew a lot about this. "Oh yeah? Well I don't think the grass is poison so we're okay there, and I don't see anything sharp either," Takeshi said as he glanced down at the grass as if making doubly sure. He wanted to stick his boots back on but his feet were gross now, it would feel nasty having his boots on. Lamenting that he slung them over his shoulder and kept moving on, reaching out with is free hand and giving Shu a nudge in the shoulder. "Hey, if we end up stuck here maybe we can play in the trees? I need some more practice with that stuff."

Yumi hadn't a single answer to any of the questions posed by Viral. Hell she didn't have much of an answer for any of what they were doing. When you got right down to it her skill largely revolved around simply fighting, and while not dim by any stretch the whole "alternate universes" thing was well beyond her grasp. The notion they could step through some hole in the world and end up in another realm of existence was unnerving, more so than any beast these things might throw at them. Fear of the unknown, she supposed. "I guess we're going to find out aren't we? That's the one thing we weren't told," Yumi muttered as she smiled slightly, "Whatever is on the other side I'm sure we'll be able to beat it, I'm not worried about that. It's the whole... Traveling through portals business, I don't get any of it. But I guess stressing about it doesn't help anything does it?" Their priority was to kill whatever was causing the rift to appear so that's what she would have to focus on now, not whatever happened after. 

"Then... Then we should go around it, if you can't go in. It's not fair to force you to do this," Haku said, looking to either side of the desert ahead in hopes of finding something else. It couldn't stretch on forever right? They could circle around or something, they didn't have to pass right through. But what if this portal thing was inside? Then they would have no choice but to go in and that meant putting T'charrl in a very uncomfortable position and expecting him to fight. With their approach on the desert quickly coming to a close it was now or never since they figured where they might be going. "Maybe... Um... What if we wait until it's a little later anyway? Not until it's cold, but... When it's a little cooler? We don't know how big it is, maybe we can pass through before it gets too hot or cold?"