❝
to stray down from death mountain. well, it was simply not something the reclusive researcher did often, if at all. she had grown to relish it, to feel comfort in the blistering heat near the peak. it was a blanket of comfort, almost. so to be somewhere that the heat no longer suffocated?
it was... strange. if she was to say she was confused, that would be an understatement. truthfully, she had no idea just exactly
where she had wandered. but the frantic scribblings in the journal she kept at her campsite spoke of something that rested in this land. an artifact? perhaps another book, hidden away with secrets, lost to time?
she wasn't sure. it wasn't exactly the most straightforward hint, but...
it was enough.
but while the setting was not far visually from her sacred home... being so low down on the ground... all of this
nature, the the sound of birds and bugs that flew too close to her ears and- it was all so overwhelming. disgusting, it was too cold. or was it just warm enough? clutching her torn satchel close to her chest, pandora shuffles towards the spring. or so she hopes. she is led by only crude drawings of landmarks, and-
...was there someone else standing there...? ah. no, this wasn't what she planned. there wasn't supposed to be anyone here- except. she didn't plan anything at all. ugh... no. this was wrong. stopping in her tracks, her arms wrap tighter around herself as she stares at the back of this mans head.
hoping he didn't notice her as she thought of another way to search the area without being noticed.