Ashen Wastes: The Road to Nowhere?

[Dawnika Snow]

The blank canvas disappeared behind her. The black cracked ground of the Ashen Steppes appeared before her. Dawn looked at the smoky sky that was clouded with ash. It took a moment for it all to sink in, but this felt somewhat like home to her. She couldn't place exactly why.

The noticeable change in heat already had Dawn sweating. She wiped her hand over her forehead and took deeper breaths to compensate for the thicker density in the air. “Fuck, it's hot in here. I need a tanktop and some water.” She held out her hand as the omnilium worked it’s magic shit and a bottle of water appeared in her hand in a handful of seconds. Then she took the time to summon new clothes over her body replacing the clothes she was wearing before, except her beanie which hid her right eye. She wore a loose tank top and a shorter skirt with a pair of white tennis shoes.

Dawn continued on. She didn't know exactly where she was going. This world was big and finding any kind of town or settlement seemed like it should be trivial, but it was actually on the contrary. If there was some settlement, it was far from the gate.

A screech sounded from a distance away. Dawn covered her ears and hid behind a rock protruding from the ground. It was a dragon flying by, and thankfully it didn't notice her. Her dark clothes blended into the scenery quite well. Once it had passed by, Dawn stood and continued on. She should've been surprised by the fact that dragons inhabited this world, but nothing was strange to her. Especially now that her life has changed. It made think of how boring her life was before: A stupid job, stupid bills, stupid people. The only thing she missed was her dog Rouge. The only being in her life she cared about up to this point that wasn't dead or fake. She wondered if she could used her new powers to make life. Could she bring her dog to this world, or only inanimate objects? She took shelter behind a rock again and sat down against it. She focused hard on her furry friend. A bubble of glowing light appeared in front of her. Was it working? It took awhile, but after about a half hour, the Siberian husky materialized completely and shook herself off. “Rouge!” Dawn screamed silently hugging her companion. “I'm glad to have you back.” The dog replied in kind by licking her master in the face multiple times. “Alright!” She laughed and pushed her off. “This place is dangerous, okay? Let's be careful.” She said as she stood again checking to see if the coast was clear. Unfortunately, some scaly fiends had moved in and there wasn't much room to avoid them. “We've got company Rogue, 5 Alpha.” The drakes hadn't noticed the two yet though, they could use that to their advantage. “Let me summon a closer range weapon first, in case things get hairy.” She sat back down to summon her rifle, Oscurità. The black rifle formed in hand and she strapped onto her back. Now she had noticed Mortem had disappeared. “One weapon at a time hunh? Alright then.” She snapped her fingers and the rifle on her back faded away into a black mist and was replaced with the sniper she started with.

Even after another 20 minutes, the drakes had not moved and seemed to be idly looking for food. Dawn wasn’t dumb enough to shoot at them: Skin was one thing, steel was another, but scales? Not even the bullets Dawn carried would go through drake scale. “Rouge, follow Beta.” She said as a code, which the dog understood completely. She lowered her body to the floor and got ready while Dawn pulled her sniper over the rock after applying the silencer. She aimed for the ground by the feet of the drakes and fired a potshot. The whistling of the bullet and rising of the black dust caught their attention. They turned away from the two to investigate while the girl and dog snuck past them quickly and quietly. Once out of range, Dawn relaxed. “This place is very dangerous. Keep your attention focused."