Not in Kansas Anymore {Jmontvale and Seraph}

Her flip-flops hit the soaked concrete with heavy thumps as she tried to run between the buildings to avoid getting too wet from the rain. She ducked under one of the walkways between some of the buildings on her campus and looked around; her hair was drenched and clinging to her checks and neck, and her flimsy tank top and thin jacket had been no match for the sudden onslaught. She should have grabbed her umbrella before she left the apartment, but she had been in such a rush with it being finals. The rather petite red-haired nineteen-year-old leaned up against one of the pillars and sighed, “Fuck my life.”

That was the only thing she could think of to sum of the day she had so far; she had slept through her alarm, been late to her first final, and the professor had promptly deducted twenty points from hers and then gave it to her—she would be lucky if she passed with a C. From there she had another final, which had been marginally better, but then the clouds had rolled in and the sky opened up on the people below. With another sigh, Emily pushed off from the pillar and started to run again—she had four blocks to run before she could make it to her apartment and dry off and curl up with a cup of hot cocoa.

The first rumble of thunder and flash of lightning caused her to jump, and quicken her steps, and by the time the second set rolled around, she was all but sprinting in her flip-flops. She missed one step and went tumbling onto the street and whimpered softly, “Great….” She slowly drew herself up to her knees and sat there for a moment before she looked up at the sound of a horn blaring. Her green eyes widened as she watched the car skid towards her as the driver frantically tried to turn the car away from her as the horn blared and tires screeched. Emily closed her eyes tightly and clung to her backpack as she waited for the sharp pain of impact, only to feel a prick and then an odd floating sensation.

She remained huddled up, before she finally peered over her backpack. “…Wha…?”

She was no longer in the city, and most certainly not in the middle of a road in a rainstorm and there was no car to be seen. In fact, all she could see was foliage as far as the eye could see and dense trees. In the distance she almost thought she could hear a bumbling stream. Emily sat that for a moment, just quietly contemplating her new surroundings as she shook still from her wet clothes, before she finally pressed her fingers against her inner arm and cruelly twisted. She cried out in surprise as it actually hurt and she rushed to rub the pain away before she mumbled, “I guess this isn’t heaven.”

Aldereth smiled slightly when he spotted the green and orange butterfly again. His pale blue eyes betrayed his reserved expression as they sparkled with curiosity. He moved slowly closer, the dark elf's steps were silent. Aldereth didn't want to spook the insect again. He had never seen one like it in the field or even in his studies at the great archive. The young elf thought there was a very good chance that he might have found a previously undocumented species.

At twenty-two, Aldereth wasn't even considered an adult by his long lived people. But, like most dark elves, he had an appetite for knowledge that was insatiable. When he learned that his people seldom used the travel gate at Emerald Vale, Aldereth had decided to mount a personal expedition there to study the huge, green forest that grew there.

The mighty trees that formed the highest canopy of the forest blocked enough sunlight that Aldereth didn't even need his protective glasses even at noon. He had been exploring the forest for two days and planned to stay two more. There was so much to explore and examine, and the young elf was having the time of his life.

Aldereth reached into his pack as he drew very close to the butterfly. He removed an image crystal and prepared to activate it's magic. Like most elves, Aldereth didn't take actual specimens unless completely necessary. He would only capture the butterfly's image, to examine when he returned home. Such life sized images were usually sufficient.

Then, there was a slight thump. It wasn't very loud, even to Aldereth's sharp ears, but it was enough to spook the butterfly. His smile became a disappointed frown, and the elf wondered about the source of the noise.

Aldereth was alarmed to hear the cry like someone who was surprised or in pain. He shrugged out of his backpack and left most of his gear there, taking only his medical pouch as the elf hurried toward the sound.

When Aldereth first spotted the woman, he thought she might be a wood elf by her red hair, but her clothes were strange to the dark elf. They were so unlike the midnight blue spidersilk shirt, black leather jerkin and trousers and soft boots that Aldereth wore. She was obviously wet, which made her thin clothes cling her her shapely body in a way that caused the elf's eyes to widen before he looked away from her body and concentrated on the back of her head, since her face was not yet visible.

Aldereth was surprised when he saw how her ears were round and not pointed at all. He knew then that she could be no elf of any tribe he'd ever heard or read of. She was an unknown, which intrigued the young elf like some sort of wonderful puzzle. She also seemed in need of help, which was more important at the moment.

The elf stepped forward, running a hand through his unruly, ash blond hair to get it out of his face.

Greetings, stranger, he said with a formal bow, his hands out and palms up to show he wasn't armed. Are you in need of help?

Emily took several deep breaths and looked around the clearing, her green eyes still wide and unsure as she patted herself over and tried to see if she was injured anywhere. Beyond the scrapes and bruises she got from falling into the road, she was mostly fine from what she could tell. She was more worried about how chilly it was in the shaded glen and how her shivers intensified. With trembling fingers she can her fingers through her hair and tried to get the thick mass off her neck and dug through her back-pack for a scrunchie before twisting her hair out the way and trying in into the place. It wasn't the most elegant of styles, if she were to be truthful, she probably looked like she had just rolled out of bed with how the wet strand kept falling out and tickling her face and neck. Frustrated, she tucked the strands back into place or tried to. The petite woman looked warily at the foliage as she tried to think of where she could be; had the near accident just been a dream and this was a prank that her roommates were playing on her?

She could see them finding this funny and imagined how that conversation must have happened. It brought a small smile to her lips as she worried her bottom lip into plump redness. She shifted and tried to ignore the way her jeans stuck to her body like a second skin when they were wet, and settled down to sit cross-legged as she spoke softly to the air to work out everything, "So...either I'm dead, or this is some weird coma dream, or Alex and Mark decided to drug me, drench me and strand me in the middle of a forest." The last one sounded the most right out of all of her choices, but if it were right, they would have showed up by now and laughed at her expense before handing her a towel and helping her home.

She tensed at the voice behind her, before she scrambled back and looked at the man behind her. She kept her backpack between them as a shield as she tried to figure out what he said before she took a step back, "Who are you? Where am I? Can I borrow...." She paused, he didn't look like the kind to carry a cell-phone on him and if this was a prank, which she was sure of, Alex would have made sure that she didn't have her cell-phone. He was oddly dressed, she thought to herself, as she looked at him--was he some kind of revivalist actor? Or was he just plain crazy? The petite nineteen-year-old walked backwards another step and found herself looking up at the sky as a rock tripped her up. She winced and made a mild noise of pain before slowly sitting up to stare at the odd man at the edge of the clearing, before she paused--had she heard a crunch from her back pocket?

She tilted slightly to reach the back pocket on her jeans and pulled out her cell-phone, now useless with a cracked screen, and stared at it in mild shock--this wasn't a prank then?

Aldereth was surprised by the woman's strong reaction. She seemed afraid, and the young elf let his sharp senses reach out for any sign of danger. It was possible that the red haired woman had been attacked, but Aldereth didn't detect anybody else.

Once he was sure that nobody was about to attack them, Aldereth looked back to the young woman. He again showed his empty hands to show that he wasn't armed. Then, he removed his medical bad and held it up so that the stranger could see the symbol on the flap.

The dark elf didn't recognize the language the woman spoke, but the symbol for medicine was supposed to be universal. If she recognized it, she might realize Aldereth only wanted to help her.

"I'm not here to hurt you," the elf said in a calm voice. "I only want to help you." He waited to see how she would react. Aldereth didn't want to upset her more, so he didn't move any closer. The dark elf waited to see how the young woman would react.

Emily continued to stare at her broken cell-phone her eyes wide and her breaths coming in short and swift pants as she struggled for air. Her eyes were wide before she looked up at him, her breath coming in faster hitches and babbled softly, "T-this isn't a j-j-joke?"

She watched him point to his bag and shook her head, "Why don't you just speak english?" Her breathing sped up even more to the point she was hyperventilating and struggled to breath as she covered her mouth with her hands and rocked, trying to slow down her breathing. The petite redhead gave off strangled gasps as her lungs didn't get enough air and she struggled to breathe normally.

Her chest hurt and her eyes stung, before she fumbled in her backpack and tried to find a paper-bag or something to breath into.

Aldereth saw that the woman was starting to have trouble breathing. He thought she might be hyperventilating, but he didn't know for sure. Concerned for the stranger's health, the dark elf hurried over and opened his medical pack. Aldereth found the correct bottle quickly, and opened it. The aromatic mixture in the bottle could ease most sorts of breathing problems, including asthma and allergies. The medicine also had a calming effect, since respiratory problems often led to panic or distress.

"Breathe this," the elf said. He tried to smile in a supportive way, but Aldereth hadn't had much practice with such an expression. "I am Aldereth. I do not speak your language." The young elf tapped his chest. "Aldereth. I am Aldereth. He would try to communicate and hope that might help the young woman calm down. He tried to not notice how beautiful she was, since it wouldn't be helpful for him to get distracted.