Lucy stifled a giggle as the man jumped a little at the sound of her voice, feeling a little bad for startling him.  He seemed to recover quickly, however, giving Lucy a look over before beckoning her forward once he finished his analysis.  Obediently, Lucy stepped closer to his backpack as he introduced himself as Alec and explained that he was lost too, but could tell that they weren’t near the equator or the poles.  While his conclusion hadn’t been the answer that Lucy had been looking for, she supposed that knowing where they weren’t could be helpful.  It was certainly more helpful than not knowing anything about their location.

[color=gold][b]”It’s not like any place that I’ve ever been,”[/b][/color] Lucy said in response to Alec’s question about her thoughts on the area while he rummaged through the pockets of his black jeans. Now that she was standing closer, she noticed that Alec possessed short black hair and light brown eyes and that he was wearing glasses.  It also appeared that he wasn’t quite as tall as Lucy had originally thought, though he was still significantly taller than her.  [color=gold][b]”The forest seems…”[/b][/color] Lucy said, pausing to think of the right word for the air the forest seemed to project. [color=gold][b]”I dunno, unfriendly?  It’s really creepy.”[/b][/color]

After he finished rummaging through his pocket, Alec held out a pocket knife, a flashlight, and a pen and explained that they were the only items he had that would be useful in their current situation.  [color=gold][b]”All I’ve got is some painting supplies,”[/b][/color] Lucy responded, taking her backpack and opening it towards him so that he could see the assortment of paints, brushes, and small, rolled canvases in the bag.  When she thought that he had looked long enough to get the idea, she closed her backpack and put it on again.  [color=gold][b]”Though I’m not really sure how useful they’d really be.”[/b][/color]

Lucy’s eyes, appearing golden in the afternoon sunlight of the clearing, widened noticeably as Alec mentioned that he could possibly tell where they were based on the stars at night.  [color=gold][b]”You can tell that kind of stuff from the stars?”[/b][/color] she asked somewhat incredulously.  She knew, of course, that that was how people used to travel, especially across the ocean, but the idea that she would meet someone who knew how to do stuff like that in the modern day was a little surprising.

Alec’s question as to how Lucy got there distracted her from her amazement at the depth of his wilderness survival skills.  [color=gold][b]”This is going to sound crazy, but I’m pretty sure that I was sucked into a painting,”[/b][/color] she replied, idly pushing some dirt around with her boots.  Before she could explain further or ask him how he got there, they were joined by a tall girl with fiery red hair that was dressed in a black jacket and jeans who was asking if either of them knew what was going on.  

Lucy shook her head and opened her mouth to say that no, neither of them knew what was going on, when they were joined by another plainly-dressed man with dark hair and, almost immediately after he managed to ask his own questions, another tall girl with very light hair.  Before Lucy could introduce herself or explain that she didn’t know anything about where they were or what was going on, they were interrupted by another girl with dark hair calling out to them as if answering the pale-haired girl’s statement-question.  As she approached the group, Lucy noticed that she was quite a bit taller than herself, perhaps even taller than the pale-haired girl and the redheaded girl.  She was also dressed rather strangely compared to their motley gathering, as she was wearing clothes that, while dirty, seemed to belong in a medieval painting, an impression that was only reinforced by her curtsy as she welcomed them to this place called Astoria.

[color=gold][b]”Hello, my name is Lucy,”[/b][/color] Lucy said, introducing herself to the the group as a whole, though her focus was on the newest arrival.  [color=gold][b]”Could you tell us who you are and what’s going on?”[/b][/color]