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A call rose over distant breeze; Lujing whirled around at the unknown voice.

It took her eyes half a moment to set her sight upon the standing frame. Once the brilliant sunrise rays no longer kept her blind, she took in the form, expecting confusion to subside, but was only greeted with more questions. She was met with unfamiliar eyes, a wolf of shadowdappled snow keeping at length from her. Instinct drove her to run, but she rooted herself in the sand.

There stood a man she did not know; there stood danger, but what else did she have, here in a place she knew nothing of?

I - alright? Her surprise choked past the brine that still burned in her throat. The question was strange to her. She did not know if she was alright; she did not know of the dangers that lurked about, nor of any corners of safety. She did not know if she had landed in some frontier of death or a thriving haven. His question, she could not answer.

But she might as well find out if he had any knowledge of this place, or if he was as dazed as she was.

I cannot say if I am alright, she replied. Kind man, what do you know of this foreign place?