Cryptozoologist

Kori is a part of the Speckled Sky.

Kori Gardener was a young girl when she first read The Mothman Prophecies. You'd think that's a strange thing to give a young girl, but you're not Mr. Gardener, who wanted his daughter to grow up well-read. Depending on who you ask, Mr. Gardener settling on the cheapest book at the garage sale was the most significant event that would shape the path of young Kori's life.

She breezed through Folklore Studies in college and thrust herself out into the world that she thought was much bigger than anyone could possibly imagine. With a little bit of money in her pocket, and with her things packed away in the trunk of her beat up little car, she sped off from home and began her campaign across the continent to discover and catalogue as many cryptids as she can.

You see, Kori identifies herself as a cryptozoologist, a person who searches for animals that haven't been proven to exist. "Yet," she would say. She isn't a scientist, though, and some people would say that her methods of collecting funds are unorthodox. Many days one can spot her wandering into the wilderness, or sitting in a coffee shop, pulling twigs out of her hair while she stares at photographs, scribbling madly in her little notebook.

The scientific world may not ever take notice of the things she says she has found. In eight years of research she has come up with comprehensive reports on several cryptids. Why the scientific community don't look at these is quite the mystery. Perhaps it's because she runs her own blog, and flaunts her own unscientific methods with the title: 'Cryptozoology Peeks!'

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kori groans, and wakes up in an irritated mood. One side of her face was sore from being pressed down onto the cold counter top as she slumbered, while the other was a little chilly, the scarf she wore over her neck having slipped off and onto the floor.

The coffee she had ordered is cold, and the piece of cake next to it is swarming with ants. She grunts and moves over to the next available seat, away from her untouched and spoiled meal. She would have to eat something else tonight.

Now, returning to her notebook, a thing stared back at her. A tall figure with piercing eyes, fingers ending in points while what appeared to be several round objects scattered at its feet. She pursed her lips and began to slowly draw in another one of those round objects.

The lady at the counter glances over at her. She had been a strange one since she came in, moving from booth to counter to booth, taking pictures of everything and harassing the other customers. Falling asleep was perhaps the least activity she had done since she came in. She had intended to give the strange girl a piece of her mind, but as she stood in front of her, she catches sight of the creature staring back at her from the page.

"Hey," she starts. "I've seen something like that around here before."

Kori smiles. She always loved hearing those words.