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Post by Mirei on Feb 3, 2011 13:33:39 GMT -5
"Ahh ... ahh ... this place is so hot!"
"I think we took the wrong turn "
Once the melodrama in the forest finished, the duo finally accepted to travel together and went looking for a place where to find about humans that arrived before. Alas, somehow they ended up picking the wrong path and ended up in the desert of file island, where everything is sand and ground so dry that it had cracks on it. Things wouldn't be so bad if they had a great amount of supplies, but stingmon and lilamon only gave them some traveling stuffs, herbal medicine and water prepared for a travel towards one of the few cities that actually existed in file island, which wasn't enough for a journey through the desert.
"Hey, didn't you get a map of this place from them?"
"No, they had no one with them."
The lack of a map and a compass made even tougher than it is to traverse the desert and both of them were sweating and losing so much water that they could suffer of dehydration or sunstroke if they did nothing about the situation.
Luckily for them, they saw at the distance something that looked like an oasis and decided to run after it. It would be extremely silly if that were a mere mirage, but it if were real they were going to find a small heaven in the middle of hell
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Post by observer on Feb 3, 2011 14:08:15 GMT -5
First rule of traveling through the desert says - if you see an oasis - never ever go after it. It is ALWAYS a mirage. In truth, there are only a few of those throughout the whole barren and lifeless desert, and those are hidden deep in its territory, and only those who know the desert through and through may show you a way to it. Your chances of finding one by yourself are zero. Unfortunately the poor girl and the digimon did not know that, and wasted an entire day chasing a ghost, instead of turning around and coming back from where they came...
... Neither they knew that the drought and hot sun were not the only weapons in this land's killing arsenal. There were also quick sands, sand storms, and inhabitants of course. These deserts ... they were not quite as abandoned and lifeless as one would think. In fact ... they were inhabited. By those you could call the scum of the world. This place was known for the state's practice of banishing criminals there, leaving them to die alone in the sands...
But things just were that not all criminals died. Some survived, and became stronger for it. And their hearts were filled with hate for those who banished them there, hate they often took out on innocent travelers - robbing, looting them, and leaving them alone to die in the deserts, just like they were left behind a long, long time ago... Naturally, it posed a great threat to any unwary travelers, and only bravest ones dared crossing it... Few made it through though...
... It was one of those nights for Soren, when he was not able to got some sleep. In fact, most nights were like that for him, forcing him to stay awake and just gaze in the darkness void which was the night. The renamon just stood on a small cliff, in which one of his small hideouts were dug in, and just stared... waiting. Waiting for whom? Anyone really. Why was he here? Take a wild guess.
Beneath his worn cloak, which already had quite a few holes in it, stitched or remaining gaping, were hidden marks of banishment. They were a clear sign for anyone to stay away and hate the person who bears them, but regardless of these, he was not a raider waiting for a victim to pass through these barren lands. Quite the opposite actually. For a small fee, the renamon offered to lead whomever he met on a safe passage, where one would not fear an ambush... A guide, if you will.
As he gazed down from his surveillance post, he managed to spot a few shadows making their way in an inappropriate direction. The night was bright, the light of moon and stars lit it up well enough for his eyes, which were trained to see in the dark, to spot these two beings from afar.
- Traveling deeper into the desert in the middle of the night like that? Tch... Looks like I have some tourists on my hands again... - he sighed. Tourists. That way he called people who went into the desert without knowing. He did not like them, mostly because they rarely had things to share with him, and often pointed at what marks he bore and cursed him, despite he helped them out anyway. And rarely he heard words of gratitude from them. However, Soren did not blame them either. They had every right to hate him anyway. Figuring out he should give them some sort of a sign, the renamon lit up a crude lamp he filled with a thick black oily liquid which could be found in some places in this barren deserts. A shivering light came out, showing the way to those lost. After that was done, the fox took two weird-looking sticks, and knocked them one against another in a rhythmic fashion, monotonous dull sounds reaching far away from his location. It was a standard procedure, he did it many times before...
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Post by Mirei on Feb 3, 2011 14:36:57 GMT -5
"Eh? What's that sound?"
The girl felt like she was already starting to imagine things. It was true that at night the desert was very, very cold compared with the day and that when the duo arrived it was almost during the sunset, but the hotness of that time was enough to raise their temperatures to dangerous levels and both of them constantly saw mirages and illusions. They had already exhausted most of their water and while both of them worn clothes ... sorta, those weren't made for desert travel and a cloak would've worked a lot better blocking the deadly sunrays.
"Some light over there."
"I can see it too."
After being mercilessly punished by the extreme heat, now they were suffering of the really cold temperatures of the nighttime desert. No sooner the sun disappeared, everything lost heat at alarming rage and the traveler's clothes were still ill fitted, hardly protecting them from the around 5 degree temperature and the casual smack in the face courtesy of the sand brought by the random sandstorms.
They were pretty much exhausted and at the end of their physical strength, so their movement was slow. Eventually they got quite close to the source of the noise and light and luckily it wasn't a mirage.
"Help, we are dying here!"
The girl said. She had just an average girl, now one of those adventure heroes who could go anywhere and as much get a single scratch on their bodies, and she was suffering greatly due the heat, later the sudden temperature change and now the coldness. What's more, she was suffering of fever and only her willpower kept her moving while the impmon did his best sharing with her his own part of the supplies. Digimon were tougher than humans and he could handle the harsh travel ... although he too was at his limit, barely using at all their water and food and prioritizing giving it to Manabi
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Post by observer on Feb 3, 2011 14:56:02 GMT -5
Soren's ears perked when he heard voices calling out to him. And soon, he was able to figure out what the two were screaming out. They obviously saw his beacon, and pleaded for help. He chuckled a bit when he heard it one more time. These were helpless here, like fish out of the water. They would have become easy prey, were he one of the raiders and looters. Really, what were they thinking?
- Yes, definitely tourists. And of the stupider kind too... - the renamon said to himself as he picked up his lamp, and went towards the place he heard shouts for help from. It was pretty casual for him - several times he ran into people who just took the wrong turn and were foolish enough not to turn around upon seeing they were in a place they don't recognize. He moved at a steady, if not a very fast pace, in order to keep the light if his lamp stable, and not to dump the oil over himself and become a living torch. That would have been a stupid way to die...
Upon finally approaching the two, he finally managed to get a better look at those. The sight was ... well, a bit unusual. One was an impmon, obviously, he had seen such before, while the other ... well, he wasn't sure. Looked like a mix between several digis. He too did not recognize a human. With a judging glare he look at them, and at things they were carrying, while holding a lamp close to his face, which lit it up quite well. What he saw did not impress him the slightest.
- Going through the deserts with absolutely nothing to survive out here, are we? Figures. Are all of you outsiders so thickheaded, or is it just you? In any case, welcome to Hell. - Soren chided them for incompetence. Ah, the stupidity of people he had to deal with. It was their won fault they suffered here, they should have brought supplies to survive. And they should be thanking God they were lucky to meet him along the way. The gray fox only sighed again and shook his head at the stupidity...
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Post by Mirei on Feb 3, 2011 15:19:29 GMT -5
And there was no answer to the fox digimon's insults, the impmon was tightly holding the girl, who was slowly succumbing to the stress and fever and was shivering. The journey really took a toll on her average human body and the impmon could as much keep a small fireball floating on his hand, warming a little the ill girl.
"Please, a shelter..."
The impmon was barely in a better state than the girl and talked for both of them. He promised to take care of her and he wasn't going to die until he took her to a safe place .... but then he fell exhausted on the cold sand while the girl simply remained immobile, trying to warm herself and unable to focus in anything at all due the high fever.
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Post by observer on Feb 3, 2011 15:45:18 GMT -5
- Well why didn't you think about the consequences when you decided to come around here, huh? Tis your own fault it ended up this way... C'mon! - Soren sighed out, being obviously annoyed, and passed the lamp to the impmon, while relieving him from the dead weight which was the girl, carrying her out on his own with a groan. Fortunately he was a strong fellow, so lifting a human was not that difficult for him. These two are just pathetic... - he thought as they moved towards the small hill he came from. They would have never survived out here... If it wasn't for me... - he grinned at this thought however. It certainly felt good to be a hero every once in a while, considering who he was, anyway...
They came to his ... erm ... let's call it a hut, several minutes later. A very ... pitiful structure, really. A small home, made of clay, sand and straw, it would barely be able to hold a few people inside, or so it seemed. No windows, only a small hole to allow air circulation. What looked like an entrance was covered by a piece of dry wood ... thing. Not exactly high class, but it was better than nothing.
- We're here... - Soren said, and pushed the wooden block away, bowing down to enter the hut. Inside, it was a bit more spacious, because it was more of a dug-out, the walls were half-way buried into the dry ground. There were no furniture, aside from a flat stone that was probably used as a table, and several holes in the floor that resembled ones of a grave-yard - these were beds. Obviously the place was for made to house several people, not just him - this hut Soren built not only for himself, but for others who might need shelter.
- And you should have taken warmer clothes out here too. At night temperature often goes below zero degrees... Here. - the renamon said, as he put the girl down on the ground, and covered her with his own cloak - it was not exactly made for it, but it was better than nothing. Upon doing so, he turned around, going to dig in whatever junk he had stuffed in the corner, to find maybe some more blankets, and somewhere there was a pot full of oil - it could be used as a heat source for the night...
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Post by Mirei on Feb 3, 2011 16:19:20 GMT -5
"*cough, cough*"
Again, neither of them bothered to answer back to the renamon, although the impmon stand up after collapsing and coughed a little before finally drinking some water from a canteen he was saving up for Manabi, he was at his limits and his throat was dry like the desert itself, begging for the precious liquid to be lubricated. He picked the lamp that desert dweller left and slowly followed him. That renamon might act like a jerk, but at least he was a jerk with a golden heart given that he was helping them. As for Manabi, she was still shivering for the fever and now that she was being carried by the strong fox digimon, she could at least save some energy to resist the harsh night.
A few minutes later they found themselves inside a poorly maintained hut, it was no five star hotel but anything was better than being outside where wild digimon could attack them or a sand storm bury them to death.
"We didn't know we would end up *coughs* traveling for an entire day through the desert"
The impmon finally spoke. The supplies they brought with them was supposed to last at least two or three days traveling through less hostile environments and they assumed that as much they would spend half a day in the desert before arriving to the next area. It was just a cruel trick of fate that made them get deeper into the desert rather than only pass by, a moderate sandstorm blinded them while they were in and eventually they lost their former direction and wandered to a random direction, ending up in the middle of nowhere.
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Post by observer on Feb 3, 2011 17:02:04 GMT -5
- Tch. And what exactly did you know about the desert before considering setting foot here? Nobody ever goes here, every child is being told never to set foot into Forbidden Desert... - Soren sighed out, and continued digging in his pile of useless junk. Seriously, half of it should have been thrown away a long time ago, but the renamon knew that in the desert everything had to be used until it disintegrated into molecules from overuse. And what he said was true, he remembered when he was just a small viximon, he was often told that if he would do bad things, he would be sent here. It was a bit ironic he ended up here anyhow, despite these warnings...
His digging gave some results, regardless. A water-bottle, another blanket, only one, unfortunately, and that pot with oil he was looking for in the first place. He moved around, and tossed the bottle and the blanket to the impmon, he looked like he was just as cold and dry as the girl, and he figured they could share the same bottle. As for him - he could do without any, and the cloak he used to conceal himself from prying eyes was already given to the girl.
- Sorry I didn't offer anything to eat, my food provisions are null. - he shrugged, letting his "guests" know that he won't feed them. He really had no food, and for quite a long while too. Food was even more scarce than water around here. With that said, the renamon placed the oil pot in the middle of the room, and tossed a little blue light from his fingers to ignite it. The oil caught flame, and since there was a lot of it, it could easily sustain the fire until morning comes. The fires coming from the pot lit up the otherwise dark room, so that at least something else could be rendered visible aside from the renamon's glowing blue eyes.
- Where exactly were you going anyway?
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Post by Mirei on Feb 3, 2011 17:19:53 GMT -5
"We were told that we would have to travel through the desert for only a few hours before turning left to reach our destination. A sandstorm caught us and the terrain itself transformed and we ended up disoriented."
That nasty sandstorm, it ruined everything. They were doing quite a good time traveling and almost reached the point in which they would be at a hour as much from leaving the desert, but then the sandstorm hit the area and they had to cover themselves and close their eyes, hoping it ended soon. It didn't, and to make things worse the extra sand changed the shape of the desert, destroying some sand dunes and creating new ones. The travelers were completely lost and only could continue ahead and hope they either were going to the right direction or going back.
"Water ... we only need it, not food ... and we were going to a city we were told it was near the forest and the desert"
Alas, they got so out of route that now it was easier to proceed to the next area than trying to go back or try to reach their former destination. Decisions, decisions ...
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Post by observer on Feb 3, 2011 17:49:51 GMT -5
- Well congratulations on being a day away from your current destination then. You walked in exactly the opposite direction... - Soren shrugged, upon hearing what happened to them. Sandstorms ... those were cunning bastards, and he too often got caught in them. It was true that afterwards in is very hard to find a right path. If you survive it that is... These storms were the bane of the desert, after the heat of course.
The renamon diverted his eyes from the small imp to the girl again. Well, this was a strange digimon, Soren never saw anyone like that before. Weird, very weird, though he paid no heed to his own ignorance, after all, how many digimon he didn't know? Lots, he bet, and was not that amazed to meet one he knew nothing about. In any case, she was not feeling quite well. Her cheeks were unhealthily red, and the fox suspected she had a fever. Putting a hand on her forehead, he shook his head.
- Sickness ahoy. - he stated, and dipped a piece of cloth in water, before putting it on her head. Alas, he had no medicine around, aside from a few bandages, and those were useless here. There wasn't much else he could do. But what if without medicine it would get worse? He didn't know that, he was not a doctor, after all.
- I live here for quite some time now... I could lead you out of the desert. Be that before or after she is completely well - tis your call. - he added, sitting in front of the "heater", and passing a bottle of water to the impmon. Needless to say, Soren was a bit amazed, and ... pleased as well. He was without his cloak for some time now, his marks clearly visible for anyone with eyes, and yet these visitors not even mentioned it once, did not become creeped out or anything. Maybe they didn't care? Well that was rarer than frog hair, and the renamon appreciated it, truly. He simply did not think the two were too tired to try noticing anything at the moment...
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Post by Mirei on Feb 3, 2011 18:15:31 GMT -5
" ... *sigh*"
The horror, they really took a big time detour and now they were an entire day of travel through the desert on foot, with barely any supplies, away from their destination. If what the renamon spoke was right, they had no way to increase their water and food supplies and they were lucky that the desert fox even bothered to share with them what little he had in this rotten hut.
Irmgard wondered what they could do not, but then his attention was diverted to the vulpine digimon, he was looking at Manabi strangely and even put a wet piece of cloth on her head. Felt a bit .. jealous about that, but it was for the best of the human girl and he had to swallow his jealousy and let him do his job ... but then he remembered the herbal medicine lilamon and stingmon gave them, some were for sunburn, others for injuries ... and there it was, one that was good for fever.
"Please, let's leave only after she is feeling well, and give this to her for me, it's herbal medicine from the forest. I was told it works well for fever"
He handed the fox digimon some green beverage inside a bottle he had with him, it was natural medicine that supposedly should work ... or at least it worked with digimon. It was risky to try it with a human but he hoped they weren't that different and had the same effect on them, it was better that simply let her waste away in this place while her fever only got stronger with each minute that passed.
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Post by observer on Feb 3, 2011 18:57:40 GMT -5
- Ewww... Smells like liquid shi--... Must be a very potent cure I'll wager... - Soren said upon opening the bottle and smelling what was inside. And, despite what he said sounded like sarcasm, he was completely serious - in his experience, the yuckiest serums and medicines worked better against diseases and whatnot. After all, medicine is medicine, and not a candy. It is SUPPOSED to be that way, as long as it cures illness.
With that he brought the bottle to the girl's mouth, not exactly sure what to do next. He didn't have a spoon, or any other kind of tableware for that matter, so the child had to drink the disgusting liquid right from the bottle. Soren only shrugged - he never were a nanny before, but it didn't really hurt to try. Maybe he'll get good at this, if he practices.
- Alright... You'll need to drink some of this... Just don't focus on the taste, and think about candy...
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Post by Mirei on Feb 3, 2011 19:14:45 GMT -5
"*gulp, gulp*"
The sick girl couldn't care less about the taste, she was sick enough that she could hardly feel anything else and it also helped a bit to satiate her thirst. She gulped half the bottle almost in no time and then fell asleep on the floor, there was some stray there as if it were used as improvised bed for animals or something and it was better than sleeping on rock-solid ground.
"I'm sleepy too ..."
He walked next to the asleep human and lied next to her. In the coldness of the night time desert, it was better to sleep together to share their heat and keep themselves warm. If the desert fox wanted, he could join too, the more the merrier.
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Post by observer on Feb 3, 2011 19:32:31 GMT -5
- Yes, good for you... - Soren only commented after both his visitors, after he administered the medicine to the girl, went to quick slumber. He envied them for being able to just ... go to sleep like that, and worry not about what they will see after their eyes are closed. He couldn't do that. He was afraid. He knew that whenever he wished to get some rest, he would see something horrible. A sad existence really.
Soren chose not to lie with the others, he was too aware of things he did while being asleep. Screams, whimpers and whatnot, talking asleep. They needed not to know that, and he would have stayed awake, but the tiredness caught up with him eventually - he felt he needed some rest, else he would get sloppy. That could not be allowed. Choosing the "grave-hole" at the far wall, he lied in it, staring for a while in the ceiling, gathering wits to go to sleep again.
- Well... Good night to me... - he said solemnly and closed his eyes...
[thread end]
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