Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Sept 29, 2012 12:13:03 GMT -5
Red had always wanted to go to China, home of the iconic Asian dragons. They were everywhere in the culture, and while they did not share all of the same traits as their western counterpart, they still possessed great power. Of course she still had a preference over the Western Dragons, finding the Eastern counterpart a bit too snake-like. She also found the western variety more interesting with their winged appendages, something which she envied. She always wanted to have wings, to have the freedom of flight. They seemed to disregard gravity so easily, something Red wanted more than anything.
Days ago, her life's work had found much more meaning, with the discovery of her first real dragon, Ancaladar. Now she couldn't help but figure that there must be others, as she found it hard to believe that he could be the only one of his kind. And with his assistance, she was capable of reaching other parts of the world, without needing cash. And perhaps with his help, she could have more luck on documenting the different species of the world.
Having set up a small camp just east of Shanghai, Red had been studying local bodies of water, investigating one of the older stories of the four Dragon Kings. Since the East China Sea was supposed to have been created by a dragon named Ao Guang, she figured that would be the best place to start her search. She would find it hard to work with her laptop in such a remote place, so she had brought printed materials with her in case her power ran out.
"I should have brought a generator." Red frowned, closing her laptop before looking out at the waters before her. They seemed to clean and peaceful to her. Even if this trip wasn't a success, at least it was nice to get away from the ruckus of the city. With a small smile, she put her computer aside, before falling onto her back, looking up at the clear and cloudless sky. "...I should come here more often." Red mumbled.
Post by Craig Jamerson on Sept 29, 2012 12:28:27 GMT -5
Craig crept carefully throught the crazily crafted Chinese terrain. This place was rather remote, yes, but regardless, Craig realized that running into another person in this area raised the odds of his own failure. If anyone found out about this, he could be in deep shit. Like, dabbling with nature, illegal, go directly to jail do not pass go do not collect $200 with no chance of parole for 150 years deep shit. Therefore, Craig was being careful. With his eternally present laptop at his side, a few syringes in the padded front flap, a walking stick, and a pocket knife, Craig was ready for-- well, very little, actually. He frowned at the thought. While it was true that he wasn't well-equipped to handle anything that was not planned, he didn't intend to get into any bad situations. Besides, this new brew might do the trick he needed to. He walked up a river bank, dreading the general sogginess of the area, but knowing that he had to do this.
That was when he spotted the female. He inhaled sharply, surprised at the sight of another Human way out here. What could she possibly be doing? He grimaced and decided it was of no concern and that he needed to work his way around her. As he took his first step to do so, he SO LUCKILY stepped on a stick. A loud one. Cursing the stick mentally, he quickly jumped behind a nearby tree, hoping she hadn't caught sight of him before he could get to cover.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Sept 29, 2012 12:39:09 GMT -5
He wasn't that lucky unfortunately, the loud snap of the nearby stick causing Red to bolt upright. Since the bear attack a few days ago, she had found herself to be a little more alert with her surroundings. Ancaladar had a habit of staying invisible, so it was sometimes hard for her to tell if he was close by, or farther off into the waters.
Slowly she got to her feet, packing her laptop up in her bag before grabbing the makeshift bamboo spear she had crafted during her expedition here. It wasn't much, and likely wouldn't protect her from too much, but it gave her some comfort in knowing she wasn't entirely helpless. She had considered trying to improve herself intellectually, to better protect herself if she was alone, but that would have to wait until she got some of her research done.
"Is someone out there?" Red called, holding the bamboo stick in both hands as she walked forward toward the source of the sound. She wasn't certain where the sound had actually come from, going only by her best judgement. She hoped that it was just nothing more than a passing critter, the odds of it being another person seeming unlikely. She had chosen this location mainly for the isolation it would provide, and would hate for it to be spoiled by someone. Of course if they were just passing by then she had no problem, but she needed to be certain that it wasn't something dangerous.
Post by Craig Jamerson on Sept 29, 2012 12:51:07 GMT -5
"Is someone out there?" The woman called out. Craig mentally cursed the stick again. He weighed his options quickly. He could reveal himself to this woman but that would potentially endanger his research. Though... she didn't seem too much a threat. If she were to attack him or try to follow him, he was sure he could kill her...
Craig shook the thought from his head. He wasn't killing anybody. He was not that type of person. Let alone a lone female in the wilderness... that was wrong. Though, he wasn't keen on having someone discover him, either. He looked around for a way to conceal himself further and found nothing. He could bury himself in the mud but that would be so dirty and how would he hide his laptop bag? He couldn't without risking the valuable information it held and contaminating the items within. He frowned, finding himself in between a rock and a hard place.
Craig jumped out from behind the tree, hand behind his jacket in the best shape of a gun he could manage. "That close 'nough!" He barked, trying to make his voice sound like Chinese was his first language. "I come here try kill for food. You in my land!!! LEAVE NOW!" It was purely a gimmick and he doubted it'd work flawlessly, but it was worth a shot and a hell of a lot better than nothing. Hopefully she would think he had a gun and leave... he jabbed his hand forward in his jacket, reminding her of his "weapon" warningly as he stood his ground.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Sept 29, 2012 14:48:54 GMT -5
Red stumbled back as the man seemed to have jumped out of nowhere, and with a weapon at that. She couldn't fully make out the shape of the item he was carrying, but she couldn't help but think that it was some kind of gun. Certainly something that her measly little bamboo spear wasn't going to protect herself from. Dropping her makeshift weapon, she quickly rose her hands, taking a few steps back.
"I mean you no harm." she protested, trying to show the man that she had meant no harm to him. "I'm only here to study the legend of the Ao Guang." She hadn't even spent that much time in the area anyways, and the idea of being kicked out already was not something she looked forward to. After all, she was causing no harm, and she was here as a peaceful visitor to the land.
Slowly lowering her hands, she thought back to her dragon. If things were to end up violent, then Ancaladar could always help her. However she had no wish to kill anyone today, especially if it was over a misunderstanding. "Just allow me to return to my work..."
Post by Craig Jamerson on Sept 30, 2012 10:44:21 GMT -5
Craig watched the girl. She was definitely not a physical threat. She even placed down her bamboo pole as a sign of good faith... Good. His gimmick worked. However, simply because she was not a physical threat did not mean she couldn't report him or follow him or something. He grimaced, disliking what he was about to do.
"Ao Guang!! Ao Guang!!" He screamed at the girl, still pretending to not be a native English speaker. "You no disturb AO GUANG!!!" His face was contorted in anger, rage, and fear... he hoped. "Leave now or I shoot! No disturb Ao GUANG!!" He screamed fanatically, looking ready to shoot any moment. He didn't like having to threaten a young girl like this but he simply couldn't allow for the risk of being discovered. Besides, no matter what happened, Craig was NOT going to hurt the--
Something hit him. Hard. That was all he knew before he fell face-first down the hill and landed, unconscious, a mere four feet from the woman, laptop bag still miraculously on his shoulder. Whatever had hit him...
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Sept 30, 2012 11:11:01 GMT -5
(insert facepalm here)
Red was about ready to make a mad dash away from the camp to get away from him, when he suddenly crumpled to the ground, out like a light. She blinked, scratching the back of her head before quickly scanning her surroundings. She hadn't heard anyone else, so could not place her finger on what had knocked him out.
The first thing she did, after seeing nobody else, was to drop down by the man's side and check to see if he was okay. He was still breathing, just not responsive. Red knew she couldn't leave him in the middle of this jungle, whether or not he knew his way. Carefully, she wrapped her arm around his waist, hauling him up with all of the strength she possessed. slowly carrying (rather, dragging) him back to the camp.
Managing to get him settled into her tent, she set aside his possessions, noticing the laptop and the strange syringes in his coat. Something told her that this man wasn't a local, but then who was he? She would have to find out later, leaving his things at the entrance of the tent, before sitting just outside, her own laptop in hand as she started taking notes on paper about her findings.
Post by Craig Jamerson on Oct 1, 2012 10:31:48 GMT -5
Craig groaned as he woke. His head was throbbing and he wasn't sure why. He didn't drink and he wasn't exactly a socialite, so there was no way he'd thrown any parties the night before or anything. He rubbed his eyes and opened them and realized he was not, in fact, at home. Rather, he seemed to be in a tent... which explained why his bed was suddenly uncomfortable. He sat up quickly, remembering the events of the-- wait, how long had he been out of it? And how had he gotten into this tent?
The girl. He'd fallen and she'd been there. Had she brought him here? Or perhaps whoever had hit him from behind, maybe. In which case, he wouldn't be in friendly hands. He could even be a hostage, for all he knew. He continued to muse over these things as he pulled himself to hands and knees and quickly crawled to the tent's entrance. Hesitantly, he lifted the flap just enough to peek at the immediate outside world. The female was there, scribbling something on paper. What, he wasn't sure, and didn't care an awful lot. What he did care about was if she had brought him here to protect him or to get her payback. Though, if she had been doing this out of malevolence, he doubted she would've been stupid enough to not bind him with rope or somesuch. So probably friendly.
He frowned. This little meeting was going way too far and he was not interested in being entangled with some female tourist. While he needed to know when it was, he could find that out on his laptop after he'd gotten away from this woman. He leaned forward to look over her shoulder at what she was writing... perhaps it would be useful information. but no, it seemed to be something about the Chinese legend Ao Guang. So she was a historian or mythologist or something like that. A distant cousin of his profession, but a kindred spirit of sorts. No need for fear, then.
He burst from within the shelter suddenly, scooping up his laptop bag as he made his way out. He called over his shoulder with an accent, deciding to maintain appearances, "Thank, have good day!" and trotted towards- wait. Where was he? He stopped and turned, a quizzical look on his face. "Um, where exactly am I?" he inquired, accent forgotten in his confusion. He promptly realized his mistake and stood there awkwardly, face turning redder by the moment.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 1, 2012 13:17:59 GMT -5
The scrawling of Red's notes suddenly became skewed and illegible as the man burst out from the tent, much to her surprise. However she quickly recovered her grasp on her pencil, turning to look over in the direction he started in. Following this, she watched as he glanced around in confusion, before asking in a non-native accent about the whereabouts of their location.
"I already know you're not a local, there's no need to hide it." Red started, putting her things aside and getting onto her feet. All it had taken was a quick glance of his belongings, in particular the fluid-filled syringes and the laptop bag. The locals she found weren't all that interested in such technology, being more isolated from the larger cities. Most of them couldn't afford such things anyway. She hadn't noticed this before because of the threatening guise he had put up, but now she knew better.
"I would also advise against travelling until tomorrow, unless you want to come across those that knocked you out in the first place. Not only that, but nightfall is only a few hours away." She took a look at her computer's time, which had been altered upon changing time zones. It read out as 6pm, which meant that it would also be time for a meal soon. Plus whoever had tried to attack him would likely still be out there, meaning that he could get knocked out again, or something worse.
"If you would like to stay, I'll be making something to eat soon." she offered, giving him a small smile, despite his earlier attempt at trying to scare him off. She couldn't just let him run off on an empty stomach after all.
Post by Craig Jamerson on Oct 1, 2012 23:04:48 GMT -5
Craig turned red as could be when the girl spoke. "I already know you're not a local, there's no need to hide it." Another mistake on his part. She continued. "I would also advise against travelling until tomorrow, unless you want to come across those that knocked you out in the first place. Not only that, but nightfall is only a few hours away." He frowned visibly. She had a point... whoever had attacked him was likely still out there and it wasn't much of a stretch that they may've followed them here.
The subject of food came up and Craig's stomach gave him it's thoughts on the matter. He contemplated the idea and, ultimately, caved. "Alright. I suppose I'll stay for now. I--" He scratched the back of his head and squinched his face almost hesitantly, "I guess an apology is in order... sorry about that earlier, I just... I've been doing research out here and I didn't want anyone contaminating my work. I suppose it was rash and uncalled for, but you must understand as you seem to be someone with higher thought yourself." He trodded over to her and carefully placed the laptop bag inside of the tent. "Don't touch that and we won't have problems." He forewarned.
"So. What did you have in mind for food?" He looked to be in thought, brow furrowed and lips pressed tightly against each other. "Also, what's to say that whoever attacked me isn't going to try and do so again? And why wouldn't they have attacked you?" He mulled the question and hesitantly suggested, "You know.... logically... it sounds like it would've been a friend of yours." What he said, he posed as a statement, but it was obviously an inquiry more than anything. "How do I know I won't wake up with a slit throat?"
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 1, 2012 23:14:39 GMT -5
"It's alright, sometimes people think you're crazy for doing something they dont understand." Red smiled, knowing that exact same feeling. She had friends and relatives who thought she was crazy for wanting to believe that Dragons existed. And as much as she wanted to march right up to their face and prove them wrong with evidence, such an act could go horribly wrong horribly quickly. All she wanted was for them to think more of her. She didn't even want to get started on her dream of having wings.
"I'll respect your privacy and wont ask any further about your secrecy, but just know that I'm an open-minded person. Anyways I don't have too much left as I'm almost out of supplies, but I have enough to make some soup if you'd like." she offered, walking over to her bag and digging out a couple of cans. She had already dug out a firepit when she first set up camp, making sure to keep it on the sand, to prevent any fires. Beginning to open them up to pour into a pot, she paused at his suggestion of working with whomever had knocked him out.
"I have no idea on the motives of whoever had attacked you, so I can't say for certain." she started, glancing over at him before digging through her pocket, pulling out her knife and tossing it by his feet as a gesture of trust. As long as she was unarmed, he could put his fear to rest. "If I had some reason to kill you, then it would have been after you were out. However I'm not a violent person, so I don't see that ever happening." Red explained, giving him a small smile. "Just try to relax."
Post by Craig Jamerson on Oct 2, 2012 9:38:12 GMT -5
So she thought he was crazy. Wonderful. He inwardly groaned, reminded of why he wasn't a social person. People were not his favorite cup of tea and he was just fine working instead with his experiments and at his career. He wasn't completely convinced that he wanted soup, but it wasn't the worst thing, he supposed. He eased himself down onto a log close to the fire pit she'd made.
She, naturally, proclaimed her innocence. Of course, it didn't mean much as even if she were guilty she would profess innocence. Though, her tossing her knife towards him and presenting such logical information was very true. If she meant him harm, why not cause it while he was out? He stooped and reached to his feet, picking the knife up from the ground and weighed it in his hand as he looked it over. "I suppose I don't have any reason to distrust you." He stated matter-of-factly. "But that doesn't mean I trust you either." He added as he brought his gaze up to her and stuffed her knife into his left pants pocket.
"I'm Craig, by the way." He offered her with a small smile, obviously expecting the same from her. "What exactly are you doing out here, anyways?" He asked, curiosity winning out.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 2, 2012 9:48:30 GMT -5
"Fair enough. You can't trust everyone you meet." Red replied with a slight shrug, moving a few twigs around some of the larger pieces of wood, lighting them to start a small campfire to heat the soup she had poured into the pot, which hung over the now-small flames of the fire. As much as she wanted to be friends with everyone, she knew that would never be possible. She could at least try though.
"I'm Blair... though really everyone just calls me Red because of my hair." she stared, running her fingers through her longer hair. Satisfied with the fire, she turned to her bags and pulled out a few of her notebooks. "I've been out here for awhile to study some local legends, but I figured I would take the time away to study a bit about genetics."
Though having never really touched the subject before, she couldn't help but feel that this was the one shot she had at fulfilling one of her dreams: the ability to fly unaided. If she could somehow give herself what she wanted through science, then it was at least worth a try to do some studying beforehand. "Anyways, it's nice to meet you."
Post by Craig Jamerson on Oct 2, 2012 10:13:12 GMT -5
He watched as she poured soup into the pot over the newly-kindled fire. Chicken noodle from the looks of it. From his experience, that would mean she was most likely from North America, probably America itself.
"I'm Blair... though really everyone just calls me Red because of my hair." the woman said with a strange look as she touched at her hair. He smiled politely and nodded at her. "Nice to meet you, Red." Hinging on his soup observation, he asked, "You are an American? Where from?" She extracted some notebooks and started, "I've been out here for awhile to study some local legends," He was about to ask about her chosen vocation, but she continued, "But I figured I would take the time away to study a bit about genetics." His eyelids opened wider at this. Another person interested in genetics... how very interesting.
"Anyways, it's nice to meet you." She finished, leaving the rapidly-cooling air to it's silent state of rest. There was a few moments' pause while Craig played with a stick with his right foot, debating the validity of her statements. So far, everything made sense and she didn't seem the type to run her mouth to the first authority. "I'm a bioengineer, you know." He blurted, almost a little too eagerly. He looked at her awkwardly and diverted his eyes back to the stick as he played with it more aggressively. "I know quite a bit about genetics, actually." At which point, he raised his head to make eye contact again. "What about genetics fascinates you? I see little correlation between ancient legends and the field of genetics, so it's a bit boggling, really. Of course you don't have to tell me, I'm just a curious person." His sentence was complete, but it didn't sound like it... he sort of left it hanging in the air and turned his attention back to the stick as he waited for her response.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 2, 2012 10:21:56 GMT -5
"Actually I'm from England." Red corrected, not seeming to take much offence to his words. She didn't seem to care too much about the mistake, as she didn't have as much of an accent as her parents. Part of it had to do with her family doing a lot of travel during their life time, so she never stayed home long enough to develop the accent.
As he explained about being a bioengineer, she failed to make the connection between that and his secrecy, though the chance to do so would come later. Though she hadn't studied the subject for too long, enough time could reveal such reasons. That was when he asked about why she was interested in it, which caused her to give him a weak smile.
"Well... to do the impossible I guess. I know it sounds crazy, but I've always wanted to be able to fly, since I was a little kid..." she started, glancing back at her notes once more. "And I've seen enough...'strange things', in this world, enough to make me think that I may actually have a chance. So I figured that I would stop moping around and actually see if there was anything I could do." However after saying this, she frowned.
"I haven't had much luck yet however, I just haven't found enough information through traditional means to really get anywhere." Most of her notes were relevant to drawings and sketches taken from notebooks about birds, though she hadn't found much about actually applying such knowledge.
