Chapter One ~ Dancer Girl

Griping his camel's reins Haru dragged his feet through the desert sand. Sorting out his head scarf he let out a small sigh. He'd been out here for almost two days now and he was almost out of supplies.

Grabbing his water flask he raised the tip to his cracked lips. Tipping the bottle into the air he felt a wave of disappointment wash over him as only a sliver of water rolled over his lips. Scowling he pulled the flask away from his lips before shaking it over his outstretched palm.

Nothing.

Scrap that, he was out of supplies. Sighing he returned the flask to its usual place on his side. Well wasn't this just brilliant? He was, most likely, lost in the vast desert out of water and out of food. Out of all the ways to die, dying of heatstroke and dehydration was not one of the ways he wanted to go.

Had the man in the last town lied to him? He'd told Haru that if he headed straight east from here he'd reach the town of Akhmim with two days. Haru being Haru he packed for a two day walk and no more, things were expensive here and he didn't want to waste more money on things he wouldn't need. In hindsight maybe he should have bought some supplies for a third day. It just doesn't make sense, what would that old man have to gain from lying to him? It's not like Haru gave him anything in return for his information, he didn't have anything to give. Well it's not like it mattered now; chances are he's going to die out here.

A faint growl from behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking over his shoulder he spotted his camel smacking its lip together its usual blank expression plastered on its face. Haru was almost jealous of the creature. Once he's dead there's no stopping that animal from leaving him and it will. That thing will survive for years without him. Not to mention it'll give some lucky thieve a welcome break due to the fact its carrying everything Haru owns. Lucky bastard.

Direction this attention in front of him he spotted yet another sand dune looming over him. What was the point? What was the point in climbing it? He was just going to die in this hell hole anyway. Then again what else did he have to do? He might as well at least try to find the promise town before he keels over for the last time.

Gritting his teeth together he forced his legs to begin the long climb to the top of the sand dune. Slowly but surely he made got closer to the top. After his third false summit Haru was about to call it quits. Before he could this he spotted a summit right above him. Determined to reach it he forced his acing legs to carry on moving.

When he reached it he full expected to be greeted by more sand. Instead the sand dune came to an abrupt stop. Hope filled Haru's heart. He was quite high up; maybe from here he'd be able to see Akhmim. Sure enough as soon as he cast his eyes upwards he was greeted by the wonderful sight of the town of Akhmim in all its glory. Haru had to rub his eyes just to make sure he wasn't imagining the glistening city. Over the past couple of days he'd been tricked by numerous mirages and the likes.

This time however when he opened his eyes again the glistening city was still less than half a mile away. Haru couldn't help but smile at the sight. So the old man hadn't lied. He wasn't going to die alone out here! Giving the camels reins a quick tug he pulled it over the top of the sand dune before racing down the dune.

The town of Akhmim was just as grand as it looked from above. The small streets with pristine white-walled, decoratively carved buildings on either side. The brightly coloured cloths draped between the buildings to provide some relief from the relentless desert sun. The sweet smell of fruits from the street side stalls. The brightly dressed people. The beautiful women. The golden palace towering over them on the other side of the town. All of it. It was like something out of the most wonderful dream.

Haru could not simply believe his luck. He'd stumbled across heaven. All he could do was wonder the streets in awe completely forgetting about his supply situation.

He hadn't gone far before he spotted a small crowd gathered in the middle of the street, the sound of music drifting over their heads. Deciding to investigate he moved closer ignoring all the looks and abuse that were being chucked his way about bringing a heavily packed camel this far into town.

That's when he saw it, the most beautiful sight he's seen so far.

In the centre of the crowd was a small group of people. On the leaning against the wall three people were playing numerous different instruments but that's what caught his attention. Just in front of them was a young woman dancing along in time to the music. Her face was calm as she swayed and bent in almost unnatural ways, completely absorbed by the music.

Haru's heart leapt into his throat as she leant down before flicking up sending her dark purple hair flying backwards. He could only sit and watch her elegant dance mouth hanging. He was positively enchanted by the beautiful belly dancer. Half of the dancer girl's face was covered by a thin, light blue and gold decorated veil. On her top half she wore a light blue and gold decorated bra to match her veil. Hanging from her hips was a light blue skirt with slits on either side for her legs to go through when needed with a thick triangle, gold decorated shaped band running around her waist keeping the skirt up. On her feet she wore a pair of brown sandals that were barely ever seen beneath her full length skirt. Around her wrists she had two thick gold bands which had a piece of light blue cloth hanging between them and one other around the bicep of her left arm.

In front of the dancer girl was a small pot people were chucking money in throughout the performance although most were too amazed to look away.

Suddenly the performance came to an end with the dancer girl head down, leaning on her left leg. The girl panted heavily as the crowd, including Haru, began to clap wildly. Once she'd recovered slightly dancer girl stood up straight giving a small curtsy before clapping to her musicians. Although you could barely tell due to her veil but one look at her heavily made up eyes and it was obvious she was smiling. As the crowd began to disperse the dancer girl sashayed over to her bronze water flask half watching as people chucked money into the pot.

At the sight of the water flask glistening in the light Haru suddenly remembered his supply situation. Pushing his way through the crowd Haru stood behind the dancer girl coughing lightly. At the sound the girl turned round jumping slightly at the sight of the camel.

"Can I help you…" dancer girl asked before looking him down and quickly adding, "Traveler?" Haru froze up slightly. Was it that obvious he wasn't here?

"Do you have any water?" he choked. The dancer girl sighed before turning her flask upside down, slowly shaking her head from side to side eyes closed.

"Sorry Traveler, I'm all out," she sighed. Haru let his head fall slightly. What was he expecting anyway? For the dancer girl to let him take her water?

"If you are looking for water though I have a friend in a shop just down there who may be able to help," she explains pointing down the street, "Down the street and take a right then go to the second shop window on your right, goes by Makoto." Haru looked down the busy street to where she was pointing. With that said she lowered her hand before chucking the ornate flask onto the ground.

"Thank you…" Haru nodded before turning to walk away. He'd barely taken two steps before he turned back to her.

"What's your name?" he asked. At this the dancer's lilac eyes shot wide open.

"My name?" she gasped.

"Yes," he nodded. Haru watched the dancer girls face carefully as confusion starts to grow on it. It remained this way for a minute before it suddenly relaxed.

"My name can be whatever you want," she shrugged. Haru frowned at her slightly. What was that meant to mean?

"What's your name," he repeated. The dancer girl scowled at him again before responding.

"Kyoshi, Kyoshi Haruta." she responded firmly. Haru glanced the dancer girl up and down. Kyoshi Haruta, somehow it seemed to fit her perfectly.

"Thank you for your help Ms Haruta," he responded. Turning on his heels Haru walked away but not before dumping one of his few remaining gold pieces into the jug. He hadn't gone far before he heard a man shout.

"One more dance girl and then we're back to the club!" he cried.

So this is my first non-Marvel fic I've put up here so let's see how this goes. For those of you who are waititng for my Marvel fic I promised I'm sorry, it is coming but I needed a break from it haha.

Anyways if anyone wants to see Kyoshi's dance the link will be in my profile