[h2][/h2][center][color=red]Alexandria Svet-Yulia [/color][/center]
[I]Blackened blood slowly oozed it's way down nearly identical flesh, the difference only between the consistency and texture of the two. It trickled its way down towards a hand that bared no fingers, replace by midnight colored talons, twice the length of  normal appendages. The creature's breath came out in hot plumes of steam against the coarse desert earth. It was low to the ground, poised on all fours, it's heart beating fast sending animalistic adrenaline coursing through its quivering body. Its claws dug into the dirt, its body pressing low against the soil, unfazed by the sharp rocks or barbs that littered the area. Normally it could barely been seen, stained by the darkness of the very night it was prowling in, but its prey was clever, it had already been seen. Now it was about the combat, the pure primal surge of blood lust quivered through its body in anticipation. It took one step forward, the soft sound of its claw piercing through the packed soil as audible as a gunshot in its focused state. It was a coil ready to be unbound, a tempest of fury to be unleashed at the slightest provocation, not that it needed any. The acrid scent of fear and sweat filled its nostrils, made it salivate with desire. It wanted to kill.

Another soft step rippled across the creature's ears, but not it's own. The girl had moved, a cautious step to one side. Her goggles pushed up, her pale moon eyes squinting to focus on the creature's dark mass, camouflaged against the backdrop of the night, with only the moonlight for contrast, providing the slightest of outlines. The creature flinched a step back as the human girl gave of a bright glow, like that of the afternoon sky. It took the creature a moment to focus on the blurs of moving light, how it crackled like a campfire, how it broke off and danced among itself like a flock of wild birds. The creature bared its teeth, a deep growl passing through it's pointed teeth, also colored one with the shadows. There are no color to this creature, just the inky blackness of night. It was like the grim reaper, the feral bringer of death dressed in it's cloak of darkness, smelling only of despair and decay.

The girl's fingers moved and the blue light danced between her fingers, skating across her soft flesh. The creature's growl grew to a crescendo, the girl tensed up in response, assuming a low crouch. A sudden flash of lightning split the heavens above, follow by a thunderclap of such force that the very earth seemed to tremble beneath its might, small rock and pebbles blown away by the force of the gale it created. Both the girl and the creature acted at the same moment, as if signaled by a heavily director to begin a symphonic dance of death. The girl shot the sky light at the creature, it howled in pain and rage as the light seared a burning path across its body, a plume of dark blood spraying into the air, forming into an abstract pattern as it collided with the ground. The creature met the girl claws first, it's maw open as it prepared to tear out her throat, her arms folding too slowly in a desperate, terrified act of defense against the large beast.

The collision resulted in no blood, no wounds and no death on either account. The creature's momentum did not cease as it barreled into the girl, it dissolved into a cloud of thick black smoke. The girl stumbled back, expecting the radiating pain of the creature's claws and teeth tearing into her, stunned into shocked silence by the resulting cloud of smoke swirling about her as if she were the eye of a gathering storm. It increased in speed, whipping up clouds of dust and small debris around her, encasing her in a whirling sphere of dark smoke. She made a move as if to run out of the tempest around her when it suddenly collapsed onto her body, fabricating a dark covering around her. The smoke solidified into something more, becoming heavy on her skin. She fell to the ground as her vision wavered, a wave of dizziness and nausea sweeping across her small form. The weight increased, the pressure of it squeezing every inch of her body, molding to her form. She tried to pick herself up, struggling to brace herself on her knees and hands. Her breath came out in a hot mist, brushing softly across the rough desert soil. Her body shook with adrenaline, sparked by a mixture of fear and confusion. She howled in frustration.

She was the creature.[/i]
[h2][/h2]
Alexandria woke with a start, her heart catching in her chest. She breathed rapidly, the wave of terror slowly washing off of her. It took her a moment to gather her bearings, squinting against the harsh desert sun peeking in through a partially closed canopy of tan cloth. Alex removed her goggles from her forehead, wiping her brow free of sweat and using one end of her white, dirt encrusted shirt to clean them. She stood slowly, bracing her hand against the warm, metal benches to either side of her. Her pulse returned to a normalized rate as the situation dawned on her. She looked at her hands, wiggling her fingers to make sure she was in control of them. She felt a bit silly for doing so, it had just been a dream after all.

Her scarlet jacket, with its attached cloak and cowl, and her similarly colored pants lay folded up neatly as makeshift pillows. She chuckled at herself a bit nervously, letting out an exasperated sigh, both of which were audibly dry. Alex licked her parched lips, the dry claws of thirst dragging at her throat. Her [url=http://confessionsofaprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pak.jpg]Pack[/url] lay next to her folded garments, positioned protectively underneath the beige metal that once formed the seats for soldiers, and next to that her canteen.


A few moments later and she was once again sweating underneath her brilliant red garments, though not so much as she used to, living the life of a scavenger one does become somewhat become accustomed to the heat. She smiled blissfully as the cool metal of the canteen met her lips, the liquid soothing her dry throat. Clasping the canteen back onto her belt once more, she walked through the back of the [url=https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2239/2098457162_e8ff06a085_z.jpg?zz=1]personnel truck[/url] towards the canopy, the entirety of the vehicle colored to blend in with the desert, at least from a distance. She peered through the thick curtain of fabric, out across the expanse of dirt and brush. The truck was in a small stand of desert trees, which consisted mostly of thorns and bark. There wasn't much tree about them, not like what The Gaens were growing. 

A small puff of dust rose rapidly into the air, curling around Alex's boots as she hopped out of the truck. She scratched her limbs, smiling once more at the relief of her quietly popping joints. She wasn't sure how long she had been out, long enough to become stiff from laying on the hard, corrugated metal. She had left early morning, well before dawn. The night had just begun to shake off its darkest layers, slowing changing its way from deep black to sickly gray. She figured she was only a couple of hours out, bringing her back to an earlier thought. She should really invest into a watch.

A frown pulled at the corners of her mouth as she walked around the truck, absent minded running her hand across the warm, mottled metal of sand, beige, and warm, light brown. A low 'hmm' grumbled from her throat as her mind pressed the matter. This stupid rumor she was following was beginning to interfere in her daily life. Not only did she have to change residences, although her drab little one bedroom wasn't too horrible, she also had to hide from the Guardians, who had her picture plastered on every corner.

[color=red]”Conspiracy... Treason... Terrorism... Murder, Assault,”[/color] She trailed off, slightly amused as she recounted the list of charges in her head. She flung open the driver door to the truck, her calf muscles flexing as she lifted her little body up into the cab, which rested at an ample height from the ground. It had three steps, and even then she had to stretch her muscles to get up the first one. Not to mentioned the adjusted bench seat, so that she didn't have to struggle to see over the dash. Why anybody would make such a large vehicle was beyond her, apparently nobody tried to accommodate the height impaired anymore. Though it was more than useful for carrying her scavenged goods, and even then it could haul a lot of scrap.

The pulled the key from one of her belt pouches, and a moment later the engine roared to life. She cranked the driver's side window down, just as an overly warm breeze drifted through the small stand of trees and brush. She pumped the petal, also [i]slightly[/i] adjusted to better satisfy her size, and the engine growled in response. A puff of black smoke shot out from the rear exhausts, one running vertical along each rear side of the cab. The faint memory of her earlier dream floated across her consciousness. She shook it off, blaming the weird dream on the heart of the afternoon sun. Though she knew that wasn't true, it wasn't the first time she had this dream. It was increasing in frequency too, plaguing her much more often than she would like.

The truck roared to life as it's tires churned up the soil, its massive weight taking only a moment to gain traction. The front of the truck has a large, angled plate mounted on it with cut grooves in the metal at set intervals, a piece which used to belong to the front end of a train, which Alexandria used to its full purpose without hesitation; by mowing down a very unfortunate tree. It's thin trunk, probably about the size of her waist, cracked and shattered, falling beneath all  six wheels as the truck ripped of chunks of bark in it's search for traction. A second letter and Alex felt the truck heave over the tree, her face contorting with a deep smirk in appreciation for the destruction of nature. Or just destruction really. Or perhaps it was just the feeling of owning her very own, scavenged machine of destruction, even if it was mainly for freight.

She found the small trail she had been following out here before she had given up, making a mental note to talk to her contact once she got back. She was getting fed up with this rumor, but she wanted it to be true so badly is actually hurt, deep pangs of longing in her gut. This had made the fourth dead lead in two months, and since word of her [i]'murderous nature'[/i] got out, or plasted on streets corners with her face on it, as hidden and covered as she usually kept it, nobody wanted to associate with her anymore. There fear of Guardians, and probably herself. Most likely it was the fear of her, but that didn't stop her. She wasn't afraid to shake people down, just because she was small...

She stopped herself mid thought, unclenching her teeth as the truck rumbled and bounced down the uneven road. There was supposedly word of a meeting site out here, though the rough terrain had made the journey much longer than a map would anticipate, she was still only a couple of hours west, near the Forsaken border. And she had found nothing. No trails, no clues, no signs, no nothing. Now the only thing she had to walk away with was that dream she had. Maybe she should invest in one of those ridiculous cure-all tonics.

Maybe it would kill her.

The truck plodded along the beaten trail, with Alexandria fuming silently at the wheel. It didn't really make her feel better, but not paying attention to the drive was wasting time quicker than just staring down the road. Though if she had been paying attention she wouldn't have missed the feral hound running by, no doubt trying to find its pack. Usually feral hounds didn't hunt until the night, but there were a few cases of them getting desperate enough to leave their burrows during the day. Though the sun was a hot as ever, causing waves of heat to waver in the distance. Thankfully Alex's goggles were pressed tightly to her face, keeping the sweat from her eyes. Baking inside a hot metal truck, in heavy clothing to shield against the sun's rays probably didn't help her any, nor did it improve her mood. She shivered as a cool bead of sweat eased its way down her cheek, catching across the scarlet hem of her bandanna, tied securely around her mouth and nose to keep out the considerable amount of dust her truck was kicking up.

An hour later, as the sun reached its pinnacle in the sky, Alex found herself as the hollow, smoldering wreck of another vehicle. Some sort of small, four door car had been set aflame, the metal was still warm to the touch, and the upholstery, or what was left of it, still let off little smoldering plumes of charred smoke. She spent a few moment observing the wreck from a distance, you never knew what kind of traps people laid. She spend another few looking at the wreck, from a shorter distance. From her estimate, she figured it was probably some sort of fuel injector leak igniting off of poorly insulated wires. There was no crash, and no signs of attack. Just some acrid smelling smoke, and two badly burned corpses.

Alexandria moved back towards the back of her truck, pulling the latch to let the heavy tailgate down. She grabbed the edge of it, and threw her legs up and over, rolling onto the bed of the truck. At the far end of the bed a section of the seats had been cut away to place a metal box, made from a metal frame and walled with chain link fence. Here she held tools she couldn't normally carry, or had a very selective purpose; like the thick hose she removed from it. Underneath a small portion of the bench seats she kept a row of  [url=http://www.lexingtoncontainercompany.com/NATO_JERRY_CANS_INSTOCK.jpg] gas cans[/url], about five in total, totaling up to a maximum of 25 gallons of gasoline. Which is exactly what she was checking for now. Hopefully the burned out car's gas tank hadn't ignited. Most of the scorched areas were around the front and the interior fabrics. She made her way over to the wreck, looking at the burned corpse of the driver as she passed.

[color=red]”Hope you don't mind comrade, I think I need this more than you.”[/color] She said, rather politely, and a tad sarcastically. She had very little respect for people, she was rather cynical, finding great displeasure in society as a whole. She pried open the slightly bent gas covering, obviously the car had one been a restored wreck. All that hard work only to catch yourself on fire. She stuck the hose into the gas tank, and gently coaxed whatever fluid was left out. She was rewarded with a thin trickle of fuel flowing through her hose, though it was a thin hose, no bigger than her thumb. About 5 liters later she found herself stowing away the gas can and the hose, snapping the large lock back into place on the metal crate. She retrieved her prybar from her backpack, now resting on the passenger side of the cab, and nodded towards the burnt corpse of the driver as she moved to pry open the trunk.

The gas tank was a slight disappointment, but the trunk was not. Whoever they were they had obviously left in a hurry. She found two hastily packed suitcases, one of which was a woman's. Clothes always sold pretty well, people obsessed over fashion, and in a world like this most of it had to be looted and restored. Though there was a couple of nice blouses, and a few good shirts Alex would keep for herself. The male's clothing was a bit too large for her, but she chose a few shirts from that anyways. The two suitcases thumped loudly in the back of the truck as Alex threw the suitcases in.

Additionally she had found a nice watch, two clips of dirty rounds that didn't fit her gun, and a moderately tarnished necklace, though the red gem; either real or finely shaped glass; would fetch more than the two pieces of luggage combined. She had also looted one more item for herself, a small tin can of massage oil, which wouldn't do to badly as a sword polish.

The truck roared to life once more, and the two suitcases bounced against the tailgate as the truck lurched forward. Another hour or so back to town and she would find herself the pleasant owner of some new trade, and a hot meal.

A hamburger sounded real nice right about now. Even if it was expensive, and made with questionable meat. She was mostly in it for the zesty crunch of the pickles anyways. She loved pickles.