Blistering H E A T --OPEN!--

[emily]

To put it shortly, it was hot. Like really, really HOT! Emily definitely wasn't used to this kind of heat, nor the unstable footing offered by the sand. But the thought of revealing her wings and flying the rest of the way seemed out of the question, too, since the thin membrane wouldn't stand up to the sudden, violent gusts of sand or the sweltering heat. It was a sticky situation the little fairy found herself in.

How did she get into such a situation? Well That's easier to explain than the situation itself. While wandering around the land of Hyrule she found herself at the edge of a desert. Instead of listening to those pesky things called instinct and common sense the curious fairy ventured forward into the desert, and didn't turn around when it was still possible. Now there was sand everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

Yet Emily wasn't too concerned or afraid. She got into situations all the time, and she managed to find her way out. The interesting part was how that happened, whether it be by the people she met or the places she found. Maybe there was some lost ruin with catacombs that created an underground labyrinth clear across the desert. Or perhaps a secret oasis complete with a lost prince, or maybe...

That last thought never had a chance to finish as, with her head in the clouds, Emily failed to acknowledge that she had crested a sand dune. Her foot went up to continue the trek upward, found no give and came down too fast, throwing her completely off balance. She attempted to catch herself but there was no solidity to the sand and she ended up falling face first and sliding down the other side of the dune she'd just climbed.

Half buried in sand Emily rolled over and looked up. At least the sun couldn't burn her legs if they were under the sand, right?

[Jin Reno]

It was strange. He had spent most of his life hidden in a cavern within the desert. He had spent the last two years suffering and fighting to escape it all. His body was still covered with the scars that the monsters that lived in the desert had given him during the trial to escape.

However, there was a strange feeling about walking through the sands again, his body still used to walking over the ever shifting surface like he had walked along it just yesterday. His face was wrapped up in the cloth, his goggles sat on his head in case of a sand storm, and his shields sat on their respective places on his body.

Though now he walked through the desert with Lisa, the small desert tortoise walking along the sand with ease, moving faster then she normally did, as if she was swimming on the surface of the sand. The small reptile loved it, and Jin kept up with her, going over the crest of a dune only to see another shape in the distance. Jin quickly switched into a defensive state, picking Lisa up and crouching down low, trying to see who this person was in the desert.

It was only after the person fell down the dune that Jin relaxed and put the small tortoise back into the sand. Sliding down the dune he was on he came close enough to see that it was a woman, or at least a young adult, who wasn't a gerudo. "Hey, you had a pretty sandy spill there, you ok?" Jin asked, pulling out a small container of water and offering it to her. "Take a small sip to wash out any sand in your mouth if you want." He instructed.

[Briar Black]

Briar opened her eyes.

It was that simple. Day after day she continued to open her eyes. There seemed to be no end to the cycle. Five years had passed; still the sun rised in this smoldering expanse, and still she rose with it. Most people only got to live one life, but Briar got two-- she wasn't sure if they could even be considered lives. Rather they were like two halves trying to make a whole, but ultimately falling short.

Time didn't feel the same post-mortem: sometimes it felt as if she had been dead for a day, and other times for a millennium. This day it felt like the former, as if she had just been born for the first time. She felt disoriented as the burning rays from the sun met her retinas and illuminated her flesh colored irises. Slowly, her transparent body rose from it's place on the sand, the place where her former carcass had decomposed, unnoticed, years before. She didn't leave the desert-- hadn't for five years, and hardly anybody--save the occasional wayward traveler-- came to this area. The heat was too much for any normal creature to withstand.

And yet today, out of all days-- not that it was really any different than the rest of her dismal days which all seemed to blur together-- she could make out two silhouettes in the near distance. One appeared to be a female, who just stumbled and fell into the sand. Briar cocked her head slightly, her white bangs brushing against her pale eyelids, but her face was expressionless as she watched her tumble into that depression in the sand. She seemed fragile, much like the way that Briar herself used to be. All things considered, the small female would probably dead before night fall.

The girl blinked a couple of times, as she continued to watch. Much to her surprise a second creature wandered into the territory, and appeared to be offering help to the other. Briar's translucent hands unwittingly began to shake; she wasn't sure what she should do, and so she just continued to hover over that mound of sand-- her mound-- and continued to watch, not a single emotion traceable upon her visage.

[emily]

Emily lay there in the sand until a voice spoke up. A voice? Was she hallucinating now? She hadn't seen anyone, but the desert was anything but flat so that could be easily forgiven. A sandy spill? Was that some kind of attempt at a pun? Emily considered it for a moment and decided not to care. She was comfortable with her blanket of sand protecting her from the blistering heat, and she didn't want to roll over to see who was talking.

The offer of water appealed more to her than comfort.

Emily rolled over and, from her back and slightly upside down angle, looked up at the figure standing over her offering water. Well it was better than desert bandits or Gerudo or whatever else might cause all sorts of trouble for the innocent little fairy. She blinked a few times, then coughed a terribly dry cough. Yeah, maybe some water would do her some good. She reached up for the canteen and missed, her hand grasping at the air. Her cheeks tinted red in embarrassment as she shifted her arm and found the canteen, pulling it down.

Water was refreshing, to say the least. Emily wasn't greedy, though, and despite her foolish trek into the desert knew better than to drink it all on the man. She drank what she needed to keep hydrated and passed the canteen back up to him. "You're a nice man, want to lie down with me? It's comfortable," she said in a half-daze, heat stroke apparently working some of its bewildering effects on her already.

[Jin Reno]

As she drank the water he smiled, the small tortoise that was with him moving around Emily, watching her. He took the canteen back and placed it into his bag before thinking about her invitation. After a moment he shook his head and stood back up, stretching his legs some. "Nahh, its too hot out to stay in one spot without shelter. You could shrivel up and die of dehydration on a day like today." He said, rubbing his neck and looking around a bit. He thought he caught a glimpse of a figure in the distance, though it was probably just a mirage.

Jin looked down at Lisa and smiled as the tortoise began to explore around them. "Hey, I have a better idea. I have a little cavern system house thing a bit from here we could head too instead. There is shade, fresh water, and some dried food." Jin said, knowing that though dried food didn't sound too good, he was a good cook and there was some dried fruit rolls waiting for his return. "Dried fruit, dried meat, dried fish, and I have some fresh food with me that I can cook a meal with." He said, smiling at the sand-logged woman.

[Briar Black]

Briar's feet suddenly touched the ground. Her transparent figure appeared to fill out with color; her skin just a bit less pasty, and her eyes flooded with that bright blood red pigment.
Slowly she began to walk towards the pair, no stride in her step, no emotion on her face, just a blank look, and an unenthused demeanor as she approached.

Briar looked young, no more than about twelve or thirteen years old. She wore garb typical of any Gerudo female: a scanty white cloth top that exposed her midriff, short matching white shorts, and knee high white combat boots. Unlike these other two, Briar didn't look perturbed by the heat at all. Her white hair did not stick to her forehead, nor did any sweat escape from her pores. Ironically, even as a Gerudo female in her previous life, it was something that she never could acclimatize to what with her genetic abnormalities and physical shortcomings they came with. It was only after her death that the weather didn't seem to affect her.

She didn't really know what to make of the pair. They both seemed to be affected by the sweltering heat, that much was for sure. The little female, about the same size as she, was trying to veil herself in a blanket of sand, and the male was apparently trying to convince her to find shelter somewhere. Briar laughed internally; there was no place like that for miles. And if there was, there was no doubt the Gerudo women would discover it sooner than later and do with it what they wished.

Briar continued to watch the pair as she drew closer, her pale lips eventually twisting upwards to form a word:
"Water."

[emily]

Emily blinked upward at the man, then covered her eyes because the sun was drying them out faster than she could blink moisture into them. That wasn't fair. Unfortunately her hand had been covered with sand from her fall so covering her eyes did them more harm then good. Eyes now stinging she rubbed at them, digging things in deeper so they started to get red and watery. Finally Emily grew fed up with this and climbed out of the sand, sitting crosslegged as she brushed off her shirt with her eyes closed. Once she thought it was clean enough she grabbed her shirt by the hem and rubbed at her eyes once more.

"Darnit!" she cried in futility before her hand glowed with white magic and she just healed the minor inconvenience. Amazing how handy that white magic was, and it was innate, it was natural, she just did it. The redness disappeared and the whole ordeal was over just as quickly as it started. Now, with fresh eyes, Emily looked up at the man and only shaded her eyes as she did this instead of covering them.

"Are you just trying to get me back to your place? Because I'm not like that, water or not, though that's a nice turtle you have there," she said, then giggled and fell back onto the sand just as Briar came upon the two of them. Emily's foolish, heat-stroked grin disappeared as she lifted her head and looked at Briar, and frowned. "Aww, wow, that's a shame," she murmured before sitting up again. "Sorry about your death, miss," Emily said, every bit as apologetic as ever.

[Jin Reno]

Looking at the girl as she began to rub her eyes Jin let out a sigh and watched as she seemed to only make it worse. "You know you shouldn't really... well... ah... I guess its a bit too late now..." Jin said, rubbing his head as she went to fix it with magic. "Oh, very nice, white magic is really amazing." He said with a smile. However, when she spoke Jin let out a laugh and shook his head, smiling at the way that she thought. "You know, I was simply heading there to check out how it was, but if you don't want to hang out in a cool cavern with fresh water, then thats fine." Jin said.

When the other girl seemed to be there, Jin looked at her before giving her a smile, but when the sandy girl spoke, Jin couldn't help but blink in confusion. "What... her death? Is she dead?" Jin asked, looking between the two, wondering what was up. "Are you dead?" He asked the pale Gerudo. He stood up and offered the canteen to the pale Gerudo with a smile. "But if you want water, here is the water then."

[Briar Black]

Briar stared blankly at the female as she spoke, but chose to respond to the male first. She held out her hand and softly clutched the canteen he offered, before pouring what was left inside of it on the sand.

"I am a Gerudo, and you two are trespassing."

The words were said with barely any emphasis at all; she wasn't even sure why she had come to these individuals in the first place. Was it out of boredom? Out of anger and loyalty? Her own behavior continued to flummox her, but it must have been something closer to the former because she was just certain she wasn't even capable of feeling emotions as strong as devotion anymore.

"My pale skin is a genetic abnormality amongst my tribe, if you must know," she began explaining, her voice so quiet and monotone that it was borderline audible. "But I am every bit as alive as you are. Which I suppose isn't saying much, considering. You resemble a corpse underneath all that sand." She peered down at the girl, somewhat surprised at herself. She wasn't typically this chatty, but she could not help herself as the remnants of a smile began to form across her lips. Her hand slowly let go of the canteen, letting it hit the ground.

[emily]

Emily looked at the girl curiously as she dropped the canteen into the sand. She looked over at Jin, then back to the girl. Pale? Yes. That was true. But that was true of a poe. Gerudo weren't pale. That was a genetic fact. Emily tilted her head and considered the girl's words, then shook it, her wild plethora of hair whipping at the sand behind her and sending it in all directions. "That's not true, even Gerudo need water. You let it drop."

Emily was set on this one. She was a fairy, she specialized in white magic, in life, so she knew a ghost when she saw one.

She quickly got to her feet, her head spun momentarily as she nearly fell over from the blood rushing and the heatstroke. She wobbled on her feet, looked over at Briar, and then stumbled forward. "Don't get up too fast here, it hurts," she said as she stumbled straight toward Briar. "Whoops!" she squealed as her footing slid out from under her, slipping in the sand and reaching for support on Briar.

[Jin Reno]

Jin picked up his canteen and put it into his bag after wiping the sand off, putting it next to two identical canteens of water. He was always prepared for walking through the desert, so loosing one canteen wasn't going to be bothersome to him. However, the fact that she claimed that he was trespassing made him chuckle to himself.

"The Gerudo don't own the desert, they own their fortress, the temple, and the coliseum. For a Gerudo you seem much more possessive when it comes to what the Gerudo calls home." He said, straightening himself out and looking at the possible poe Gerudo and the woman in the sand with the white magic. "And if you are dead, then you might of died around here so hopefully you got some water." He added with a smile, before putting his hands in his pockets.

He continued on the path he had started on and looked back toward the two. "So, you two don't have to come with me, but if you want, you can. I can offer you shelter for the day and food for those who can actually eat."

[Briar Black]

Briar immediately side stepped out of the way, hoping that Emily would topple back over into the sand. It's not like it was a big secret that Briar was deceased, but for some reason this little girl wanted to broadcast it. That put Briar off for some reason-- it was her death after all!-- and it was a sore subject.

"I would like some food," she said innocently, like a child who crossed their parents one too many times, but knew that they would keep forgiving her time and time again. The girl batted her white eyelashes before letting her gaze gravitate once more to the female. "I was born an albino Gerudo. I know I look strange, but can you please leave me alone about it, Miss? It hurts my feelings!"

With that, she happily skipped after Jin, feeling the strangest sort of gratitude for his calm and gentle demeanor. Her boots hit the ground to maintain her facade, though she didn't feel anything at all. She was just certain that she had never encountered anybody else like that. Sometimes Briar acted out with other creatures because she knew she could get away with it-- which was never the case in the Gerudo tribe. However, Jin gave her a very unexpected reaction, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.

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