Somewhere in the Desert

[Eolia]

Closed to Mynah as we explore this wonderful desert! Bunnies approved. Yeah...


Camels - why do they always have to smell like a mixture of urine, manure, and something that you can't really put a finger on? Frankly, anything that smells worse than me on a decent day is pretty fucking horrible in my opinion. Water, after all, was much too precious for someone like Eolia to wash with. Without warning, the four-legged companion striding beside Eolia turned its head and bellowed loudly at her, spraying a bit of spittle against the young woman's face. "Agh, what the hell's your problem?!" As if it would alleviate the problem, Eolia slapped the face of the beast in a half-hearted manner. Its response was just to spit more onto the girl's face.

Scrubbing off what she could with some of her sleeve Eolia took another survey of the caravan she was travelling with - twelve beasts of burden in all with just as many guardsmen plus three and the caravan master. They had been travelling for three days now with little to no excitement towards Irrakam and in Eolia's mind that was all right. Less excitement meant a higher chance of getting to their intended location without the merchant's profits being cut into. More profit for the merchant meant a better cut (usually) for those who were hired for protection. Would be nice to buy an actual meal one of these days. Wonder what's for dinner anyways...

Conversation with most of the other guards had been awkward with most of them eyeing the young woman's blade with a hint of scorn. "Dirty Scavenger..." she had heard some of the older guards mumble behind her back. Eolia might have been offended if she had actually cared enough about any of those that she traveled with. Though, there was one of the younger men that nagged her incessantly, as if seeing her talk was a marvel in itself. Shihab was what he called himself. Almost half a head shorter than Eolia, he was a lanky fellow with a shaven head. At the very beginning of the journey when the two met during a brief introduction, Eolia had decided she'd rather kiss a camel than have to listen to him ramble. Speak of the devil...

"Heey!" It was a nasally voice that sounded more like the man was trying breath while taking at the same time. "Heey, Eeolia!" Jogging up behind his target, he placed a hand on her shoulder in a friendly gesture. Eolia immediately brushed it off and glared her silvers upon the man. "Whooa, I'm on your side, reemember?" he asked while quickly pulling back his hand, as if Eolia would have bitten it off. "Besides, aren't those blessed by Suravani supposed to be kind?"

"What do you want, Shihab?" Yet even as she asked this, Eolia was already grimacing at her response she chose. She knew Shihab wasn't trying to be annoying, probably, but he did have a special way of accomplishing it. To Eolia's horror, his eyes were excited beyond belief at the reply he received.

"Not what I want!" he shouted as he pounded a fist on the chest of his toughened leather cuirass. "It's what news I can offer!" Eolia offered a grunt of acknowledgement. "Oh come on! You must want to know what I know!"

Rolling her eyes skyward before hammering them down on the young man, Eolia managed to seethe out, "If it would get you to shut up and bother someone else, sure! What is it that I want to know?!" The frown that Shihab gave could have stretched to the desert sand had it not been attached to his face. Just as quickly, a smile plastered itself onto his features.

"We're almost to Irrakam! In fact, last night when I was looking at the stars and the maps we have, I can judge we're about two days away!"

"Shihab."

"Yeah?"

With a smile, Eolia reached a hand out as if to wrap it around her comrade's shoulders, before suddenly grabbing the man's face and shoving roughly. With an alarmed yell, Shihab fell backwards, bounced once on the sand dune before flopping and rolling a small ways down. All the while, the man flailed his limbs in a vain attempt to steady himself, much to the laughter all along the caravan train. Sighing to herself, Eolia continued to march with a shake of her head. Just two more days of that idiot, apparently.

[Mynah]

Mynah cast her gaze along the horizon again, looking for odditties, noting only scattered, long-dead cactus skeletons and sparse ruins. She kept her wings at a very slight beat to ward off some of the heat, but it wasn’t as overbearing today as it had been in the past.

“This is a dry zone,” the Caravan Master, Si’drahli, had mentioned earlier. “It’s a shortcut I’ve used before. Not many travel here, man or beast, so it is free of many of the trials of the desert. It is dangerous, however, if you do not have the supplies to sustain you.” She left it at that; not much else needed explaining. The unforgiving sands were home to a thousand and one treacheries, from bandits and beasts to the mystical ghosts of Mitra’s followers whose tales no one lived to tell, but were somehow told anyway in hushed tones around campfires and watering holes.

She caught sight of something out of place - a small bird flying high overhead, its yellow body seeming to hover in place in the shimmering heat, likely just out of arrow shot. A little far from home, I think, and lost at that, Mynah thought, never having seen such a bird in an area like this. She took her gaze back down to note another clump of ruins on the horizon ahead, this one with an especially tall spire sticking up and striking out at the blue, almost as if in contempt for the pure sky.

“What is it you see?” Si’drahli was curious.

“Just some more ruins,” she commented, not even bothering to point them out, discarding the bird as an unimportant note.

“Good,” Si’drahli grunted, apparently happy to have no incident.

Mynah almost wanted something to happen. She was bored. Si’drahli was more conversation than most of the other travellers, but there were others among the caravan that Mynah was far more interested in. She fiddled with the clasp that held her flask shut tight against the elements, fixating on the slight jingle it made, and then opened it to take a sip. At least it’s still half-full, she noted, recapping the thing and leveling her gaze on the caravan master subtly. “Sooo~ what’s the haul like, eh, Si’drahli? How much’re we gettin’ paid?”

Si’drahli sighed, returning the girl’s sly look with one of exasperation. “You know I will not know the answer to that question ‘till we have-”

“Yeah, yeah-” she paused and inhaled, inclining her head, then spoke in the woman’s voice: “‘till we have arrived at Irrakam, of course.” She looked at the woman for some reaction. The wizened Caravan Master seemed far more trusting of Mynah than was necessary, but that was refreshing; the majority of the guard, especially, were about as agreeable as a den of angry horned vipers.

Si’drahli managed a slight laugh of well-hidden annoyance. “Yes. Well put,” she replied.

“So what’s for supper, then, ‘ay?” Mynah grinned, tilting her head and spreading her wings.

“That is something you will find out when it is time to eat.”

Si’drahli shifted the tether of the camel she was leading from her right hand to her left and the creature made a slight bellow as its bit was tugged in the exchange, but it quickly settled down. It seemed that Si’drahli had picked the most well-tempered beast as her companion.

Another camel further down the line bayed in some discontent and a somewhat familiar voice cursed aloud. Mynah glanced back in time to see the scaled Eolia cuff the dull creature, only to be showered in its rebuke of abhorrent saliva. It seemed that the girl liked the beasts about as much as Mynah herself did. Simple, sluggish, smelly things, they were, really. No more interesting than an old pair of sandles.

She returned her gaze to the horizon, recalling her purpose for this caravan's venture.

The bird was long gone, but the tall ruins remained, closer now, and more vivid. The spire appeared to be a great support column, still upright after all these hundreds of years. She wondered if Si’drahli could see it yet.

“Ah, there it is,” Si’drahli said calmly. “Those ruins signal that we are close to the end of the drought. We are making good time.” She extended an arm out and pointed at the spire, far off in the distance.

So the ruins had been an important development, after all. “Good, good.”

“Once we pass those ruins, we will be out of the protection of the drought.”

“Mm.” Mynah was staring at the pillar, having already found something far more interesting to fixate on.

“That means we will need your sight more than ever, Mynah.”

“Mm,” she said again. Something was strange about that ruin in particular, now that they were closer. It seemed that something moved around on the great pillar - or more accurately, many things. Given the nature of the structures, they were already foreboding enough, and anything moving amongst them was bound to be cursed... but Mynah found herself only that much more fascinated.

“Mynah,” Mynah's thoughts were cut short by Si'drahli's raised tone, and once the Caravan Master had her attention, she continued. “Go and refill your flask at the reservoir. And give your eyes some rest, as well. We will all need to be in peak shape before we brave the dangers ahead.”

“Oh! Right, of course!” Mynah didn't try to veil her excitement as she turned to mingle with the caravan, forgetting about the strange pillar as her wings popped open in excitement. After spending so much time at the front with the now-dull Si’drahli, she was eager to talk with some of the other travelers. It was sure that Shihab would be up for conversation, at the very least.

She could hear the Caravan Master growl a few orders at some of the guards near her. “Make ready,” she'd begun, her voice trailing off as Mynah distanced herself, making leg for the most intriguing member of the caravan - the tenacious-looking Eolia.

[Eolia]

While deserts were all that Eolia had ever known she did wish that there was a little more to the landscape aside from never-ending stretches of sand with only the occasional ruin off in the distance or rocky outcropping. Still, it perhaps it was better the way it was. It certainly was easy to see things being attracted by the caravan, for the most part, and just as easy to get lost. Eolia chuckled slightly to herself as she thought back to what someone had told her to do if one had ever gotten lost. "Follow the sun," or something close to that. Turning her gaze to the fiery orb dangling above, Eolia only snerked to herself at the thought before averting her eyes to survey her surroundings once more.

"Heey!"

Heavens be damned! It was no use pretending that she couldn't hear him and so with a forced smile that looked more twisted in pain than happiness, Eolia faced the most irritating adversary she had had to contend with yet. "What is it now, Shihab?"

"I wanted to make a peace offering! I figured I must have gotten off the wrong foot with you somehow." I'm pretty sure you breathing is the source of my agony. "Sooooo, I brought you something to drink!" Needless to say the gesture did surprise Eolia and his smile was genuine enough as he held out his canteen. Then again, Shihab always looked genuine and Eolia silently wondered if he had just been born with the face of someone too dense to realize when they're disliked.

Still, Eolia was suspicious as the man had only mentioned something to drink and not specifically what it is. Even so, she took the canteen and opened the cap slowly while Shihab looked on expectantly. One whiff, however, had Eolia jerk it back. "Gods, what is this!?"

"It's alcohol," Shihab stated matter-of-factly, "I bought some from a merchant last time I was at Irrakam. Says it's imported from Corone or somewhere exotic you know?"

"Hnn..." was all Eolia managed to muse as the two kept in step with the caravan.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to drink some?"

She shrugged with a grimace and tossed the thought about in her mind for a moment longer. Guess it can't be worse than drinking scorpion blood. Steeling her nerves, Eolia quickly upturned the canteen against her lips, gulped down several large mouthfuls and immediately regretted it. Without much grace, Eolia pushed the nearly empty container to a very stunned Shihab as she coughed and sputtered.

Fumbling to accept the container, Shihab suddenly burst out in amazement, "I've never seen someone drink that quickly! I've only ever seen people sip when they drink!" Now he tells me!

"Water!" Eolia choked out.

"What? Oh!" More fumbling. "Here!" Eolia snatched the water skin, torn open the cap and began drinking deeply for a moment. Finally able to wash out most of the taste, she pushed the drained skin back to Shihab, who looked at it sheepishly. "Better?"

"Yeah... I think I'll just stick with water."

An experimental shake of the water skin in his hand revealed a lack of content as barely a slosh sounded from within. "I better go get more water. Oh I know, maybe Nameera might need me to help her with something!"

"... I'm sure she does." With great relief, Eolia watched the man wander away down the line towards the camel and keeper that was entrusted with the water. Well, one of them anyways. There was great value in silence and one that Eolia had never really appreciated until this particular caravan trip.

"Heey, Eeolia!"

Suravani, grant me strength!! "What do you want now, Shihab!?" Eolia snarled as she whipped around to face the man. Only this time it wasn't the man that exasperated her patience to new and previously unknown levels. Much to her surprise, it was the only other non-human in the caravan, Mya-something or other. She was a harpy woman or something that looked like a harpy or maybe just a bird. "Oh. Uh, I thought you were someone else..."

[Mynah]

“Hehaha! I gotcha,” Mynah declared triumphantly, this time in her own voice. Her wings were in full spread in her excitement as she extended her hand sidelong in greeting. “I’m Mynah. Sorry that we haven’t formally met!”

“Uh. Yeah.” Eolia took the bird girl’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “Eolia’s my name,” she finished, still a bit off-guard at her mistake.

“Wah! Your hands’re like leather!” Mynah held on to inspect the strong, scaled limb before Eolia snatched it away. “So, what are you made of?” She looked back up at Eolia expectantly, head cocked to one side.

“Psh. I could ask you the same.” The taller of the two looked down her shoulder at Mynah. They both stood out like a pair of sore thumbs stuck to one hand.

“Ya could, yeah! Sure!” She looked even more ecstatic. “But I’d have to tell you the secret truth.” Her voice was suddenly a rasping whisper, and she had leaned up as close as she could get to Eolia’s ear without losing pace with the caravan.

“Oh yeah?” Eolia looked almost intrigued, and she leaned down a bit to listen.

“I …” Mynah paused for dramatic effect. “ … haven’t the slightest idea what I am! Ahahaha!” And as she laughed aloud, she leaned away and spread her arms out above her head and then let them fall flat against her sides, her wings following suit in a fashion all their own. She ended it off at an expectant walk, her hands clasped behind her as she stared up at Eolia’s cockeyed glare.

“Well, fine, then. I don’t know what I am either,” she retorted after a moment.

“Aha, then we’re not so different, you and I,” Mynah mused, her posture flat as she propped her chin with her hand in a pensive expression.

“But,” Eolia continued bluntly. “Aren’t you a Harpie or something?”

“Aw, c’mon! Do I eat children!?” It was Mynah’s turn to look exasperated.

Eolia met her vexed look with only a questioning stare, as if to beg the question anew.

“Of COURSE I don’t! Gosh!” She ruffled up all her feathers in a classic show of flusteration, thrusting her fists toward the ground and scowling up at the drake-scaled girl.

“Well, I didn’t mean to-”

“Aw man, you should see your face!” Mynah giggled, cutting her off mid-sentence. “You thought I was all offended and mad! Gahah!” She wiped a bit of mirth from the corner of her eye.

The face Eolia made next was one of confusion, and then of annoyance as an easily remembered voice made itself apparent. This time, it was accompanied by Mynah’s laughter, so it had to be the real deal.

“Heey!”

“Ha!” Mynah spun and continued walking backwards, waving at the approaching Shihab. “Shishkababahab!”

He looked taken aback. “Heey, I thought I told ye not to call me that!”

Even Eolia had to stifle a laugh. “Seems like a mouthful to say for him,” she muttered toward Mynah, who was grinning like a possum.

“Yeah, sure, but it’s worth it; gets him all flustered.”

“Aw, don’t both’a ya start with it,” Shihab sighed, shaking his head as he slowed to keep pace with the other two.

“Aww, alright, Shiba,” Mynah relented, casually. “So what’s up!?”

“You know that it’s Shihab…” he trailed off. “W-well anyway, you two have full waterskins? I am making a water run.”

“Oh! I was supposed to do that,” she laughed, remembering the task the Caravan master had given her. “Right, right, I should probably get back up front. I’ll uh.. head with ya back there, Sherpa.” She looked to Shihab and grinned again.

“Mynah! I pronounce yours right! See!?” He waved his arms to no avail.

“Later later, Eo’!”

Eolia looked as if she were about to contest that nickname, but the winged girl was already off, Shihab trailing behind her.

[Eolia]

The sun drifted high above as if the effort itself was tiring for the celestial object. White stones of the ruins off in the distance reflected the light and heat from above, making the sands seemingly sizzle more than usual. Eolia noted to herself that the caravan itself was steering clear of the dilapidated structures and skirted just beyond viewing distance of them. Wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead as she kept her eyes ahead, Eolia quietly wished that she time would move faster. Dinner was something she was looking forward to and would certainly be better than the usual salted meat now that they were close.

A movement caught the corner of Eolia's eye from the direction of the ruins. Gazing off towards the area did little to confirm it and if anything it could have been a trick of the light. The desert was known to be terribly fond of playing tricks of the deadly kind upon travelers and no one knew better than Eolia. Shrugging off whatever she saw, Eolia returned to looking out at the rest of the endless sea of sand.

With nothing else of real interest to her, Eolia stared ahead to the front once more. Suddenly, something small and white fluttered up and away from where the caravan master sat. For a few moments, Eolia followed it before losing interest again.

... I want dinner.