Chapter 21 March to the Oasis

I awoke to the long forgotten feeling of hot desert sun beating down on my face. The second I had felt the burn of the scorching sun I knew where I was. I looked to my right to see nothing but sand dunes for miles and miles. Light wind picked up the sand as it gently blew by. The sand grains swirled in the air and then settled as the gale died down. Before the dunes a wavy line of blistering air rested on top of the sand. All the familiar sights and feelings nearly brought a smile to my face. Before a grin could form, however, memories from last night chased it away. I shook my head to rid myself of the painful thoughts.

"Little one, are you awake?" asked Muarim. I had nearly forgotten he had been carrying me through the desert the entire time while I was resting. The sudden realization sent guilt projecting towards me.

"Yeah! I'm good! How long was I out for? Have we stopped at all?" I replied in rapid fire. Muarim chuckled softly and looked towards the sweltering sun. It was far past its highest point.

"It's well after noon by now…and we had left by nightfall yesterday. I decided it would be best just to continue forward and not stop, so we could cover more ground. But if you would like to we can take a break." The guilty feeling squeezed my stomach again. I never intended Muarim to carry me for hours through the desert without even an ounce of sleep after such a fierce battle.

"Muarim! You jerk! Why don't you ever think of yourself? You have to be exhausted by now! How are you even standing up?" I unhooked my arms from around his neck and planted my feet into the warm sand. I jogged in front of Muarim to stop him from going any further. I was shocked to see not even a single bag forming under his eyes. He didn't seem terribly exhausted like I had imagined him to be. "How…"

"I'm fine, little one. It was you I was worried about…I'd never seen you get so tired so suddenly even after a battle."

"Yeah…I don't usually get like that. Oh well, it's not important I guess. So how much further to the oasis?" Muarim put his hand on his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked straight ahead, contemplating how much longer we would have to trek.

"I'd say it couldn't be too far from here. We should get there well before nightfall." I grinned inwardly knowing we were almost at our destination. I moved out of Muarim's way and stood by his side again.

"Then I guess we press forward if we're that close. Plus, an oasis always means water!" We glanced at one another and nodded our heads simultaneously. Oases were like a jewel in the desert. There weren't many of them and they ranged vastly in size. Some were large enough to sustain a town and others were simply a small isolated area of vegetation. Whether it is large or small, typically an oasis was surrounded by a spring, which was crucial for trade and transportation routes out in the desert. It didn't come as too much of a surprise to me that this market Rhys had spoken of was in such close proximity to the oasis.

At the thought of such relief, Muarim and I continued our sweltering march through the arid desert. As I walked I kicked up some sand that whipped the back of my leg. At the point we were at, any normal being would have easily passed out from heat exhaustion but my immunity to heat and Muarim's excessive vigor were what kept us moving. Our limited water supply soon depleted. I squeezed the very last drop of water frantically out of the canteen. The droplet was so insignificant in size that I could barely feel its tickle against my steaming tongue. I could see Muarim struggle to extract his last drop as well. Both of us being out water was unsettling, all I could do was fill my thoughts with the oasis surrounded by water and vegetation. From the absence of water my lips began to dry out and stiffen. Soon enough I could feel with my tongue tiny valleys on the surface of my lips where they were beginning to crack. Licking them became useless.

I picked my head up towards the sizzling sun and squinted my eyes from its incandescence. I sighed heavily and pealed my eyes away from the fiery sphere. Soon, I was able to the feel sizzling on my cheeks where the sun was shining on it. My skin absorbed the burning rays as I winced in discomfort. The sun was never forgiving on skin as fair as mine. Normally I would wear a cloak that shielded my skin from the unbearable effects of sunburn. This time, I wasn't fortunate enough to have it with me. I would just have to endure it.

Before long, I lost track of how long we were traveling through the desert. I was wishing I had my cloak to ward away the sunburn that was spreading quickly to the rest of my skin that was exposed. It would have proven to be extremely useful…and yet there I was scorching under the merciless sun. My lips and throat were completely parched. I tried to relieve the dryness by swallowing repeatedly but my efforts were mostly a waste.

Not too far off, in the distance a patch of flourishing vegetation sprouted from the sand. With each step I could see more and more deep green palms that rustled in the warm breeze. Surrounding the palms was a vast spring of sparkling water. A trim of green fertile grass outlined the brim of the spring. Beyond the body of water were scattered bushes each more verdant than the last. I rubbed my eyes and blinked several times to be sure it wasn't my mind playing tricks on me. Each time I reopened my eyes I saw the same miracle spring full of thick greenery. I stopped dead in my tracks and for the first time since my departure, I smiled with all of my teeth. I slightly bent my legs and drooped my head downwards to catch my breath. "There! There…it is! The…the oasis!" I breathed heavily. I silently said a few prayers of gratitude. Muarim took a few steps beyond me and stared at the jewel of the desert. I picked my head up to take another gander. Past the clump of greens and water I could see buildings…several of them all with similar brown tiling rooftops. "This has to be the place! Thank you everything that is holy!" I dropped to my knees and gazed in wonderment at the oasis. How have I never seen this place before? I've lived in the desert my whole life, I thought to myself. "Look at all that water…so much!" Muarim stayed silent and still. Before I could say anything to him a sharp burning pricked the skin on my knees where I was kneeling. I hissed out loud in pain. I dug my hands into the sand to help myself stand up but as I did so the desert sand scorched the palms of my hands as well. A painful cry escaped my parched lips. My muscles shook as I continued to attempt to pick myself up off the sand that felt more like burning coals. I wanted to hit myself over the head for not remembering the hellish temperature of the sand that had turned red around my knees and hands. After another shrill scream, a tall shadow towered over me.

"Little one! Do you not remember how to survive in a desert? Has it really been that long?" He reprimanded. Before I could reply he wrapped one arm around my back and the other around the backs of my legs. He lifted me up effortlessly and held me like a small child, but I guess that's what I was to him.

"Hey! Put me down! I'm not a baby, I can walk!" I yelled. Muarim shook his head and continued walking forward towards the oasis. I squirmed under his grasp but his grip was too strong for me to break free.

"Look how badly you've burnt your skin," he began. I raised one of my hands up. The skin was cracking and bleeding. The blood cascaded down my wrist. Then, I looked to my knee that was in a similar cracked and bleeding state. I shuddered upon looking at it. "I forget how fragile beorc are."

"But-"

"Protecting you is my first priority. I'm not letting you walk like this, okay?" I nodded my head hesitantly.

It was only a short walk from where we were to the oasis. When we had finally arrived Muarim gently placed me on a patch of grass near the spring. The blood on my hands and knees stopped oozing freely. It was mostly dried up and a shade lighter than it was before.

The water of the spring was crystal clear. On the surface of the water I could see the reflection of overhanging palm trees. As I took in the glistening water a tearing sound broke my concentration. I turned to Muarim who was dipping a piece of blue fabric into the water. The side of his shirt was ripped with a few loose threads hanging down from it. He ringed the wet piece of fabric over the spring and brought it over to me. He carefully grabbed my hand and applied pressure to it with the wet fabric. As he did so it slightly stung but I tried not to grimace.

"Little one…you must be more careful. Even though you are used to heat nobody is completely immune to burns," he cautioned.

"Sorry, Muarim…I wasn't thinking," I replied in embarrassment. Muarim took my other hand into his and wiped away the dried up blood. He dipped the fabric into the spring again and squeezed it free of excess water. He brought it to my knee this time. As he wiped it clean my face twisted in pain. The knee he was cleaning felt especially singed compared to my two hands.

"Does this one hurt?" he asked in concern. I looked up to him and nodded my head. As he took the shirt fabric away from my knee I noticed an x-shaped scar where my skin must have cracked. Muarim sighed disdainfully and began to wipe down my other knee. Another scar to add to the collection. I rubbed my hand against the side of my neck to feel the bumpy claw marks of the feral laguz. As I brought my hand away I noticed Muarim was staring at me.

"What is that?" he asked curiously. I gulped and instinctively brought my hand back to my neck.

"N-nothing!" I shouted back. He moved closer to me and fixed his gaze on my neck where my hand was shielding it.

"Let me see," he said calmly. I shook my head restlessly and dropped my eyes to the ground. "Little one…" If it wasn't for the sincerity and concern I saw in his eyes I would have kept my hand glued to my neck. But I slowly moved it away to reveal the scars beneath my hand. Muarim gasped in shock upon seeing the claw marks. His eyes widened in fear. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday...I didn't fight back," I admitted simply.

"What do you mean you didn't fight back? How could you be so…so…"

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "Stupid?"

"No…not that. I was going to say reckless. Little one, feral laguz are dangerous! You could have been killed…"

"I promised myself I wouldn't hurt any feral ones because it's not fair…it's not fair to whoever that laguz used to be." Muarim sighed deeply and shook his head.

"I see." I was somewhat shocked that he seemed to drop it so easily. I supposed he had agreed with my reasoning or he didn't want to argue with me. He eventually grew completely silent. I was unsure how to fill it at that point without coming off as awkward so I scooted myself closer to the spring. I cupped my hands together and filled them with water. I slurped the refreshing liquid completely dry out of my hands. I greedily shoveled more and more water down my baked throat. Soon, my whole face was drenched but I didn't care at all, it felt revitalizing. I continued to drink to my heart's content. Once I was completely hydrated I stared at my reflection in the water. My cheeks were pink from sunburn and my eyes were tired and dark. Underneath my left eye was a black crescent shaped ring. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. I applied pressure to it and felt a surge of anguish upon touching it.

"That's weird…I don't remember getting a bruise underneath my eye," I thought out loud. Muarim quickly turned his attention to me and then to the ground. His face contorted in pain and something else…it almost looked like guilt. He bowed his head in what seemed to be shame and closed his eyes shut.

"Muarim? Are feeling okay?"

Author's Note: If anyone has seen Tormod's character portrait from Radiant Dawn you may have noticed an x-shaped mark on his knee. You have to look at a relativly big picture to see it, but it's there without a doubt. So I thought I'd incorporate how that came to be into this story, since it's not explained. Anyway, thanks for reading! The next chapter will be better :)