Oh Look. A Lake. (Open)

[Alexander Sears]

✗✗
"I hate random encounters."

An exhausted Alexander lazily sat himself down in front of the crystal clear lake as he let out a sigh. Finally, he had gotten enough information to get out of that freezing city and head someplace a little more useful. Apparently, there was a large library in some town called 'Kesho'. They promised it wouldn't be as cold, but he wasn't going to take their word for it. He kept his heavy jacket with him, just in case. It would be a shame to have to acquire another when he finally arrived. He dropped it down beside him as he closed his eyes for a moment. How much longer was this going to take? The last thing he wanted was to have to sleep in this monster infested forest. Eyes slowly opened as he tilted his head back to get a look at the sky. The sun was pretty high at this point, so it was probably only about noon. Plenty of sunlight and plenty of time.

With this knowledge fresh in his mind, he decided to take his time with this little break. He just wasn't built for this kind of hiking after all, considering he was just an engineer. Exercise wasn't exactly the first thing on his mind. Had he known he was going to end up in this... whatever this place was, he would have gotten training of some sort. It was a little late for that, though. A slight groan rumbled in his throat as he leaned forward, looking into the serene waters. It looked like it might be clean enough. It shouldn't hurt to take a drink. After removing his thick leather gloves, he cupped his hands and dipped them into the water, allowing them to fill before bringing them up to his mouth. Eyebrows rose as he looked down at the water in surprise. Much better than expected.

After a few more drinks, he sat up straight once more, satisfied smile on his face. If he wasn’t in such a hurry to get out of Koori, he would have grabbed a canteen… And maybe some food. Instead, all he had with him were his creations and that coat. If only he was thinking straight back there. Would have been nice if all that ice didn’t freeze his brain. At least it was all thawed by out now. Besides, there had to be plenty of things to eat in this forest. Albatross was removed to be set aside as he moved the jacket behind him and fell backwards onto it, using it as a cushion. Thoughts turned to the many things he was going to have to do when he finally reached Kesho. "So much to do. How will I even find time to find that library?" Eyes closed once again as he took in a deep breath. This world was a pain in the ass already.

Eyes instantly snapped open as he heard something moving around in the bushes surrounding the clearing. Before even checking the to see source he sat up and reached to his side, grabbing Albatross. Legs straightened up as he stood and turned to face the sound, both hands holding the rifle steady. Stock was lifted up to his shoulder, one eye closing to look down the barrel of the rifle before dropping to a knee. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't going to take him by surprise. There was a brief silence before the creature revealed itself. Charging out from the bushes came a large boar like creature, covered in purple and brown fur with forward facing tusks. Alexander panicked when he saw the speed of the monster. Rather than take his shot, he instinctively rolled to the side. "d**n it. Albatross is too slow to be any good at such close range..." Scrambling to his feet, he backed away from the Elephossus as it turned towards him. "Tch. How am I supposed to survive out here if I'm intimidated by some smelly swine?"

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[Lottie LUCKETT]

[atrb=border,0,bTable][atrb=cellSpacing,0,bTable][atrb=cellPadding,0,bTable][atrb=style,background: url(http://i738.photobucket.com/albums/xx24/cyyne/fg_bg.png); width: 450px; border: 2px solid #000000;,bTable] The sun was hot. Too hot for a certian white-haired women's liking. Despite having being born in Sabaku, one of the hottest areas of Surien, Lottie was still rather intolerant of the heat. It wasn't that she couldn't deal with the heat, it's just that she didn't want to. Being in Sabaku for so long, she had just about enough with the heat, and would much rather be freezing her ass off than dealing with any temperature over seventy degrees. As such, she would take any opportunity to keep herself cool. Today's opportunity came in the form of a low hanging willow branch. Despite being rather close to the ground, the branch was still heavily shaded by the tree's hanging leaves and concealed the strange girl behind them. Now, not only was she cool, but safe from possible enemies as well. Sighing, Lottie layed back aginst the branch. She had been sitting here for quite some time now, and was growing a bit restless. Her child-like mind didn't like to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. But, it was either stay here and be comfortable, or get moving and risk the discomfort of sweating. Lottie hated sweating. This was most likely brought on by her dislike of water (she was a fire elemental, afterall. A dislike of water is to be expected). As such, the young women decided to such up her restlessness and hang out in the tree for a while longer. Maybe she could get a bit of shut eye before she decided to leave again. With that thought in her mind, Lottie slowly closed her crimson-like eyes. Mere seconds after shutting her eyes, Lottie opens them to find herself in a famaliar city. Kessho? Why was she in Kessho? She could have sworn she was just around the Lake of Reception or whatever the locals called it. Shaking her head, the ivory-haired women's eyes soon landed on a smaller figure of a girl...a girl with hair as white as freshly fallen snow. Lottie reeled back a bit in surprise. That was her! She was younger than she was now, but she was certian that she girl in front of her was, in fact, her own self. How was this possible? As she took a shaky step towards the familiar figure, a broken echo of voices soon bombarded the girl's eardums. "Sawyer? Sawyer, where did you go? You can't just leave me! " Lottie was forced back by the intensity of the voices, causing her to double over and cover her ears with her palms. "Please...please! Don't go! I promise I won't be a nuisance anymore! Just don't leave me alone." Suddenly, the loud echoing stopped, allowing Lottie to regain her composure before a single voice came to her, caused by the small girl in front of her. "...I'm scared." Staring at the small figure, the women could see she was crying, a long sleeve brought up to catch her tears. Lottie could feel a knot begin to form in her stomach, and a burning feeling came to her throat. She stummbled backwards, tripping over her own feet and falling to her butt. No! She wasn't going to cry. No matter how miserable this moment was for her, she couldn't give in to this emotion. The women took a tight grip of her hair and curled her body inwards, biting her lower lip. She couldn't, no, she wouldn't be weak again! Suddenly, Lottie's eyes fluttered open. A dream? No. It was much too real to be a dream. It was more like her mind was replaying her memory of the moment like a film. Either way, it had made Lottie extremely unsettled. She didn't want to stay in this place for a second longer. Slowly sitting up on the branch so she wouldn't fall off, the white-haired women pushed aside the hanging leaves in front of her so she could finally see the lakeside. However, she was not expecting to see what she did. There was a man out there! Freaking out a bit, she immediately drew back behind the cover of the leaves. When did he get there?! And, more importantly, why did she not sense him come? Sawyer would not have been pleased. Grinding her teeth a bit at the thought of her brother being disappointed in her, Lottie slowly peeked her head around the leaves again to get a better look at the man, this time noticing the weapon he had with him. A gun? That certianly wasn't a weapon she saw often in Surien. Like a small child, the women immedaitely grew curious of the man. She needed to know more about him...n-not like she cared about him or anything! She was just curious about him weapon... However, Lottie's contradicting thoughts were soon interupted as a monster charged out of the bushes and towards the man. Her interest was now at it's peak. She almost felt disappointed as the man dodged the boar-like monster's attack. She was hoping to see a good fight, but from the looks of this, this guy was in no position to be fighting this monster. Suddenly, the women rose a brow, and a devious smirk appeared on her face. Time for a little fun. "Hey!" Lottie called out as she pushed aside the cover of leaves and made herself visible. "You look like you could use a little help there. Y'know, I could help ya... " Now, I know what you're thinking. Lottie helping someone? Perposterous! But, that devious smile was still plastered on the girl's face. She had something up her sleeve, and she was just waiting for this guy to take the bait. credit `` columba of on the edge

[atrb=style,background-color: #010101; opacity: 0.8; -moz-opacity: 0.8; padding: 5px; width: 28%; margin-right: 10px;][atrb=vAlign,top] Lottie! The world may have the firworks, but I've got the friggin' match.

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