[color=orange][u]Jacob Instin[/u]
[b][i]The Guy With an Earpiece[/i][/b]

  Waking up to tree branches swaying gently and casting thin shadows over him was not something he had expected to do in the morning. He blinked, his mind slowly registering his current predicament. Then he blinked again.
  
  "[b]Is this what they call a lucid dream?[/b]" he wondered aloud. Content to simply lie there for a few minutes, he raised his hands to tuck them underneath his head, cushioning it with his palms. As soon as he did so, the sound of someone cursing close by reached him and he tilted his head to the side. He sat up, just about ready to introduce himself to who seemed like a dream character but he stopped himself. What if it wasn't a dream? How many times had he read of characters in fantasy books reacting to their situation as if it were a dream and had made themselves look stupid? Shaking his head, he sat up, stretching his arms out in front of him. In which he proceeded to pinch himself in the arm. Twice. His eye twitched from the slight, sharp pain but he didn't make a sound. Jacob looked around, for real this time. He drank in the surroundings, breathed in the strong earthy scent of the forest, the fresh air, and brushed the grass with his fingers, feeling the dew from them wet his fingertips.
  
  Jacob stilled. So he really was in a forest. He had fallen asleep late at night, without changing (or showering for that matter), exhausted after returning from the library and having to break up yet another stupid argument between Broses and Leon, and had woken up estranged into an utterly unfamiliar forest.
  
  Oh.
  
  [i]Oh.[/i]
  
  The teenager could feel panic rising in him so he numbly shoved it back down, getting up with his hands in his pockets. That was right, he still had his favourite maroon hoodie on. That was nice. A small smile appeared on his face, though his eyes were carefully blank. Going into a kind of autopilot, he walked towards the source of the strange voice, which sounded strangely feminine. A blank look glazed over his eyes and his footsteps crunched the dark brown fallen leaves that littered the forest floor. In a few quick moments, peering around a tree with a particularly knobbly trunk, he caught sight of a girl with glittery hair. Well, it wasn't [i]glittery[/i] per se, but it did shine a nice white and glinted a pleasing green tint. Jacob blinked. Or was it blue? He blinked again. It was purple now. Distracted by the strange girl's iridescent hair, he jumped, brought back to reality when a knife suddenly slammed into the tree trunk that he was partially hiding behind.

  "[/color][color=hotpink][b]Who the hell are you?[/b][/color][color=orange]" rasped the girl, her right hand clutching her bloodied shoulder. Her left hand lay limp on the damp grass. She had brown skin and was wearing a cloak with the hood down, a dark grey one with no particular eye-catching design. It was rather plain. Underneath her cloak was a dark blue vest, with a hardly noticeable swirly pattern the same colour but outlined in black. Her trousers were not of significant notice either, being a dark brown. Strangely, she was barefoot. Jacob would've thought that wearing at least slippers when in a forest would be sensible. Then again, nothing had made sense since he'd woken up here.

  "[b]Jacob. I'm Jacob Instin[/b]," replied Jacob, worry pushing forward so as to further distract himself from the panic that was threatening to break out. "[b]Are you alright?[/b]" For all the worry that was currently pulsing through him, his voice sounded strangely distant. His question was ignored.

  "[/color][color=hotpink][b]Don't care who the [i]flip[/i] you are[/b][/color][color=orange]," the girl retorted through clenched teeth, her words contrary to the ones she'd said earlier. Her eyes, which were a pale green Jacob realised, were staring at him, full of vehemence and suspicion and edged with pain. "[/COLOR][color=hotpink][b]But get me my damn knapsack a-and maybe I won't kill you.[/B][/color][color=orange]" There was a slight hitch in her voice as she spoke. Although she seemed to be incapacitated to carry out her threat, the grim promise of hurt in her expression told Jacob not to tempt fate. With a submissive shrug, he looked around, quickly spotting a brown cloth bag with one strap lying limply on the ground. He picked it up and proceeded to walk towards the girl, his steps a little more cautious in case she decided to try something. When he was about to pass it to her, he stopped. The girl raised an eyebrow at the action, a wary expression on her face.

  "[b]I...your shoulder. You're injured[/B]," started Jacob, feeling stupid at his words. At the girl's flat expression, he hurried to finish. "[b]I mean, you can only work one hand.[/b]" At this, the girl let out a short bark of laughter, only stopping to wince as she inadvertently jarred her shoulder. Her glare returned abruptly.

  "[/color][color=hotpink][b]Don't be ridiculous.[/b][/color][COLOR=orange]"[/color]