â€œAah- Ooow!â€ Lolita bounced once upon the hard ground before tipping onto her side, the portal just overhead shrinking to a point before disappearing with a loud, somewhat comical â€˜pop!â€™ Though the drop was short, only about four feet, it still hurt like the dickens to slam so forcefully into the ground and she did not at all appreciate it.<br/><br/>â€œDamned thing!â€ she shouted towards the approximate patch of sky she just fell from. â€œCouldnâ€™t it be just a little gentler?â€ She griped and grumbled some more, rolling onto her stomach to rest with a huff. Her bottom hurt. Stupid portal didnâ€™t know how to treat a lady. It was always dropping her like that, always! Never once had she had a soft landing, not even when she was in that marshmallow dimension!<br/><br/>Stupid thing.<br/><br/>Still grumbling she sat up and looked around, rubbing gently at her sore behind. â€œWellâ€¦â€ she clicked her tongue and gazed ruefully at the lake just a few feet away â€œat least it didnâ€™t drop me in there.â€ Her eyes went to the trees and rocks â€œor on one of those.â€  All things considered sheâ€™d gotten an okay deal and grudgingly apologized to whatever powers that be who dictated her means of travel.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">It could always be worse</span>she reminded herself with a tired smile while she dragged herself to her feet. â€œIt could always be worse.â€<br/><br/>This thought in mind, she dusted herself off and took in the remainder of her surroundings. A forestâ€¦ apparently empty.<br/><br/>Her brow creased as she frowned thoughtfully and crossed her arms over her rather ample, if not hidden, chest. An empty forestâ€¦ Not to interesting currently but, it had potential.<br/><br/>Reaching into her endless bag of random she drew out a rather prettily made and decorated leather bound book, latched but not locked, and a quill tipped pen but, oddly, no ink. She flipped to a seemingly random page, waited for a moment, flipped to another page and then began writing, that thoughtful look still on her face.<br/><br/>â€œAlrightyâ€¦â€ she paused in her writing, began to walk, and then started again. â€œAnd so begins the next chapterâ€ she smiled.