Somehow Gauche and Droite were not in the middle of that fighting, and Estelle headed over to the twin-like girls when the last bat had fallen.
"Well, now that's done." Lloyd nods, sitting and cleaning his blades.
"We need no succor form our enemies..." Gauche broke Estelle's concentration by knocking her hand into the princess's arm.
"You're not gonna make fools of us..." Droite told the pinkette.
"But, with those injuries...!" Both Leviathan's Claw girls were kneeling, holding wounds, but they stood as one and backed up.
"Let us withdraw..." Gauche said.
"Bye bye for now..." Droite said, as they crouched a little again, throwing up a smokescreen. Lloyd coughs, putting his arms before his face, before Yuri sneezed.
"Man this stinks..." Repede wanders over to take a sniff at the ground. "Where'd this smoke come from...?" Repede whines after Yuri said that.
"They're throwin' our canine friend here off the scent..." Raven notices as the smoke dissipates and the girls are nowhere to be seen. Judith heads up the slight incline to the cave exit, and Rita follows her part of the way.
"Aah... Wh-what is with this heat...?" It was very bright outside the cave, as Rita found out.
"Those are the Sands of Kogorh..." Judith explains.
"Woah... We made it all the way there?" Raven asks, startled.
"The Sands of Kogorh." Yuri repeats, walking closer. "Phaeroh's here."
"I...I'm going on... to meet Phaeroh." Estelle says.
"Wait!" Karol shouts. "We can't just let you go alone. I mean, our job right now is to protect you."
"Well... we did get the stolen box back, right?" Raven muses.
"Yeah, I guess we can't just keep chasing him around." Yuri says. "Hmm, all right, we'll take care of 'em next time."
"Hold on." Rita turns back about. "Are you seriously going? Do you know what you're saying? This is a desert. It's hot. People die here. Get it?"
"I'm ready for it." Estelle says. "... I think..."
"...The desert is divided into three regions." Judith says. "The foothills to the west, the center where it's hottest, and the massive peaks to the east."
"H-hey, hold on..." Rita turns to the Krityan.
"...I think I've got enough stuff for the first too." Lloyd says slowly. "Not so sure about any mountain climbing, though.." He grins as Rita gives him the 'You're not helping so shut up!' look.
"...There's a town between the end of the western foothills, and the central area, if we need a last-chance stop." Judith adds.
"Where did you hear that?" Rita demands of Judith.
"I went there with a friend once." Judith says. "It's a nice town built up around an oasis."
"We can hold off on any major decisions until we get there, then." Yuri decides.
"Sounds good to me." Raven agrees. "Old Raven won't be able ta think straight till he cools off."
"...Rita..." Estelle looks at the worried mage.
"...I know. We'll make that our first destination." Rita sighs.
"First, I'd like everyone to make sure you've got some fabric between you and your armor." Lloyd says, crossing his arms. "No shade means direct sunlight, which means hot metal and cooked people. And if you burn bad enough, and stick to your armor..." No one needed Lloyd to continue that train of thought, and readjusted themselves. "And whether this is the worst part or not, something to cover your eyes. Like a hat or something, that covers the back of your neck too." Lloyd says. "So you don't get burnt, and so you don't damage your eyes."
"... Why do you know all this stuff?" Rita asks, frowning as the twinblade sparked another flurry of movement.
"I've been through a desert before." Lloyd said, pulling some cloth out of his pack and forming it into a lumpy hat. "Nearly killed me, but I learned how to deal with them." Yuri took Repede's collar and shortly they all had pulled out various hat things. "Another thing is to cover as much skin as possible... Sorry Raven." Lloyd smirked at the archer as he said this.
"... Why?" Karol asks, puzzled.
"Don't you take off layers to keep from getting too hot?" Estelle tilts her head.
"Yes, but when you want to avoid sunburns, you put more clothes on, right?" Lloyd asks back. At the princess's nod, he explained further. "Light colored, thin clothes, in layers, allow you to breathe, cover your skin so you don't get burned, and not get too hot at the same time. I think that part can wait until we get to Mantaic, but just knowledge."
"Yer gunna deprive us of Judy's fantastic form?" Raven wails. "Lloyd, you're a cruel man!"
"Would you rather she was a nice shade of red to match her eyes?" Lloyd asks. "And usually, with sunburns, after they turn red, they get white spots and start peeling. I'm sure that will look nice on her."
"Err...No." Raven shook himself.
"...I don't like sunburns..." Judith comments.
"Maybe it will be cloudy?" Karol offers. "You know, overcast?"
"In a desert?" Rita scoffs. "Keep dreaming. It's a sandy wasteland for a reason. No rain. And no rain means no clouds."
"Anyway, let's just see how bad the first bit is." Yuri says, looking over them all. They all looked rather ridiculous with their various hats. "And we can continue preparations at this town up ahead."
"Gotcha." Rita sighs.
"... You were having fun with that, weren't you?" Raven asks Lloyd.
"Oh, maybe a little." Lloyd's smirk wasn't reassuring. And so they left the dark, cool cave system of the Weasand, and headed out into the Western Sands of Kogorh.
After slogging through sand, sand, cacti-monsters and more sand, they found a quiet, palm-treed village in dusty colors about an oasis, the village of Mantaic.
"Seems like a pretty sleepy town." Yuri comments, as they only see two or three people about.
"Well, in this heat..." Rita pointed out.
"You'd want to do as little as possible." Lloyd finishes.
"There are knights even here, though." Karol notices.
"I don't recall seeing such intimidating people here the last time I came." Judith muses.
"All right, shall we each go our own way for now?" Yuri asks.
"I'm for that... Before I do anything, I want to give these feet a rest..." Rita agrees with Yuri's plan of action.
"Okay then, let's meet up in front of the inn after sunset." Yuri decides. Lloyd gives a dark little laugh, turning to walk off with his canine friend.
"If you manage to miss when the sun sets by light, you'll know because the temperature will drop." Lloyd tells them. "To below freezing, usually." Lloyd waved at Karol's yelp.
"Okay. See you then." Judith smiled and wandered off. Although she started forward first, her sedate pace left her trailing behind Karol and Rita, while Yuri knelt to look at Repede's paws, and Estelle passed him as well.
"No easy thing lookin' out fer everybody else." Raven drawls.
"Well, I think we all could use a little time to think things over." Yuri says.
"The kids are all right." Raven laughs, passing Yuri as well. Yuri made sure his hound was all right, then wandered about.
Estelle, found near the oasis, was counseled to decide what she wanted to do.
Judith, was once again found while wandering near the exit. She talked of the desert, and Phaeroh. Vaguely.
Both Raven and Lloyd were at the shop, but Raven was taking advantage of the shade and Lloyd was shopping. Raven talked of how he didn't care if he missed the new moon, because there would be more, and more new moons. Lloyd was still talking with the shop keeper, but his expression had become a bit hard, although the grin he kept up hid it. So Yuri left him to keep up his shopping.
Karol expressed his disbelief at all that was happening and where it left his hope.
Lloyd was frowning and done with shopping when Yuri turned from Karol.
"Something on your mind?" Yuri asks.
"Plenty of things." Lloyd shrugs. "Any in particular you're asking about?"
"Anything you want to share." Yuri shoots back.
"Hmmm." Lloyd tilted his head from side to side. "Nothing much, really. Something about the town's bothering me, trying to remember more about deserts, wondering what could set an Aer krene off, wondering what kind of monster that dragon was." Lloyd paused, then frowned. "And wondering how Noishe went through the caves with us."
"... That last one's a good point." Yuri blinks, glancing at the large 'canine'. "Don't suppose he'd tell you?"
"... Last time I asked when he did something weird, he gave me some spiel on 'can't tell you, sorry'." Lloyd shrugs. "Maybe it's just a Noishe thing." Noishe whines at them.
"What, you saying he didn't get it from you?" Yuri asks, smirking. Lloyd glances rather confusedly at him, so the ex-knight explained. "Mr. I Flew To Ghasfarost." Lloyd blinks once, then laughs.
"Nah, Noishe didn't learn to fly from me." With that wide grin, Yuri couldn't decide if Lloyd was joking or not. "Did you?" Lloyd asked his 'pet', who barked and yipped at them, prompting Lloyd into laughter.
"Share the joke?" Yuri asks.
"Noishe says he totally taught me to fly, not the other way around." Lloyd relays.
"... I'll leave you two crazies to yourselves." Yuri waves and wanders off.
Rita, he found in the inn, trying to puzzle out the box and exactly what the contents was.
And as Lloyd had mentioned, although Yuri was inside when the sun set, the temperature did plummet, marking the time as sunset and for them to meet up outside the inn.
Estelle waits for them on the main street, at the cross roads.
"Karol, this is for you." The princess held a carved flower. Karol blinked at it.
"Huh? What's going on, Estelle...?" The small guildmaster asks. "What's this?"
"This is payment for your services." Estelle explains. "I'm sure you'll be able to sell it for quite a sum." The princess bows. "I want to thank you for everything you've done."
"Huh?" Karol's just plain confused. "What do you mean? You haven't found what you're looking for yet..."
"...I'm afraid I must take my leave from you here." Estelle explains further.
"'Take your leave'...?" Rita repeats. "What are you gonna do?"
"You're not thinking of going alone, are you...?" Yuri asks.
"My desire to meet Phaeroh is a personal one." Estelle says.
"Are you crazy?" Karol demands. "That's way too dangerous!"
"Which is why I must go alone." Estelle insists. "I won't have the rest of you caught up any further in my own selfish quest."
"Do justice, and punish the unjust." Yuri recites.
"..." Lloyd gives him a mildly annoyed look.
"Huh?" Karol blinks. "Oh, right. That's one of the laws of our guild."
"There's no justice in letting Estelle march into the heart of the desert all by herself." Judith agrees.
"I don't think I have it in me to break our laws." Yuri proclaims. "How 'bout you, Karol?" Rita groans, rolling her eyes.
"Right!"
"It seems those are the rules." Judith smiles.
"...I'm terribly flattered, really, but I'm afraid I can't let you..." Estelle finds herself cut off by Rita.
"Have you lost all your marbles?" Rita asks. "We're talking about a force of nature here!"
"Estelle, do you know what kind of monsters live in the desert?" Lloyd asks on the heels of Rita.
"N-no..."
"Then you need Karol. Do you know how to read the sky or stars for directions?"
"No, bu-"
"Then you need Judith, who's been through here before. Can you take out multiple monsters, while healing?"
"...no..."
"Then you need Yuri and Raven, because Yuri's a swordsman, Raven's ranged, and the old Altosk man can heal as well. Can you cast water magic?"
"... no, I..."
"Then you need Rita, who can." Lloyd nods, liking his logic.
"Ya left yerself, Repede, and Noishe out." Raven points out.
"Repede isn't going to let Yuri wander off by himself, I dunno if Noishe'll want to go, and I'm not so arrogant as to put myself forward." Lloyd shrugs. "That, and I dunno if you really need me running with you."
"You need Lloyd, because he's both crazy and a voice of reason." Rita sighs. "Plus, he's also been through a desert."
"B..but..."
"Which is why we're all going together." Yuri announces.
"I'll admit I'm a little scared, but I can't just let Estelle go off like that." Karol agrees.
"You!" Rita turns to Raven. "You talk some sense into them."
"If I start whining now, I'll have ta go all the way back ta Nordopolica by myself, right?" Raven asks. "That's no fun."
"Ooh! There's no reasoning with any of you." Rita groans. She turned to the princess as the group heads toward the inn. "Are you sure you're dead set on this?"
"Yes. I've thought a lot about this." Estelle says. "You all have something that's important to you, a goal you give everything to achieve. I realized that I didn't have anything like that for myself... And I knew I had to find a purpose of my own, something I can dedicate myself to. I made the decision to begin this journey, and I have to finish what I've started. This... this is something I have to do for myself."
"Okay, okay, you win. So we'll be aiming for the desert's center." Rita says.
"...Huh?" It was Estelle's turn to be confused.
"Hey, I tried talking sense into you idiots." Rita turns away.
"Rita..." Estelle starts.
"There's actually no real need for you to come, Rita." Yuri tells the mage. "You've got your Aer krene research to worry about, don't you?"
"There's no telling what you idiots will get into if I don't keep an eye on you." Rita retorts. "The Aer krene isn't going anywhere. I'll go check up on it later. But! We're not leaving until we've taken care of all our preparations."
"I'm sorry to be such an inconvenience to you all..." Estelle says.
"I think we had a pretty good idea things would turn out like this from the start." Yuri smirks.
"Exactly. I've got desert clothing taken care of." Lloyd grins. "I didn't get more food, or canteens yet."
"Yeah." Karol agrees.
"Thank you!" Estelle bows.
"Huh?" Karol looked about. "Where's Judith?"
"Everything settled?" The Krityan left the inn.
"Yeah." Rita says.
"Well, what did you decide?"
"We're going to the center of the desert."
"I had a feeling, so I've made some arrangements. The innkeeper has agreed to help us." Judith relays.
"We'll wanna be good and rested before we leave this town behind, that's for sure." Raven agrees.
"You're always thinking about your next nap, aren't you?" Rita asks.
"Yeah, but I sleep so much better if I have a little company." Raven replies, and for his effort, Rita grinds her heel into his foot. Lloyd gives an amused laugh at this, as the rest pass the pair for the inn.
"Can we stay the night here?" Yuri asks the innkeeper, while Judith headed right on in to the bookshelf.
"Hello. Welcome to the desert oasis, Mantaic." The man bows.
"... What's with this knight?" Rita demands, eyeing the armored man to her right.
"Well, ummm..." The knight shifted a little, and the innkeeper jumped. "Will, will you be staying the night?"
"Yeah." Yuri says, while Rita crosses her arms. "We're going into the desert, so we came into the town to gather provisions and get some rest first."
"Oh, so it's you who wanted provisions for going into the desert." The innkeeper says. "You know it's..."
"We know it's dangerous." Estelle finishes for him.
"Oh, I see... In that case, I'll get your provisions together before you set out. Your stay will cost 400 Gald. Is that okay?"
"Yeah." Yuri nods.
"Have a nice stay." The man says.
"This is what we have already." Lloyd doesn't follow the rest to the beds, handing the innkeeper a piece of paper. "Anything you suggest I dump?"
"Well..." Lloyd and the innkeeper talked supplies, then they all turned in after a chat about knights watching them.
"Yeah, thanks for the help." Yuri looks over the supplies.
"Umm, I don't know your reasons for going out into the desert, but.. it would really be a good idea for you to stay in town..." The innkeeper says hesitantly.
"Thanks, but we've already put a lot of thought into it." Yuri shrugs.
"I see. Well, as I promised..." The innkeeper pulled out the last item, the canteens.
"Our canteens are this small?!" Karol yelps.
"Looks enough to me." Rita eyes them.
"Karol, we aren't carrying all the water for the entire trip from the start." Lloyd says.
"Yes, we refill our water from certain types of cacti growing in the desert." Judith explains.
"Right, if we use them to fill up our canteens whenever we need more water, we should be fine." Rita agrees. "You sure know a lot." Judith simply nods at Rita's commentary on her desert know-how.
"Thank you very much." Estelle bobs a little bow. "You've been a great help."
"It's the least I could do." The man says. "I'm giving the canteens to you, so don't hesitate to use them as much as you like. Go out and turn right where the road forks. You'll find a lake at the end of the road. You'll be able to fill up your canteens there."
"Gotcha." Yuri nods.
"By the way, what was with the knight who was here?" Rita asks.
"He was guarding me all night." Raven complains. "I was so nervous!"
"One lie after another..." Karol groans.
"...That was a supervisor." The innkeeper glances at the door first. "The knights are here to make sure that townspeople don't talk freely to visitors from outside of town." His voice drops as he explains.
"Why would they do something like that?" Estelle blinks.
"I don't understand the reasons, but it's on the magistrate's orders." The innkeeper explains. "People other than merchants like myself aren't allowed out of their homes."
"I see... That's why we didn't see any towns people outside." Yuri mutters.
"I wonder if there's a crooked magistrate here too." Karol muses.
"Sounds less like a magistrate and more like martial law." Lloyd frowns.
"There was no magistrate in this town until recently, and then he finally arrived..." The innkeeper explains.
"Really?" Estelle blinks.
"Yes. The Imperial Knights have started to move into Nordopolica of late. It seems they may've already gone in to arrest Belius. The appointment of a new imperial magistrate to our town seems to be related to that, as well."
"The Imperial Knights are going to arrest Belius?!" Karol yelps.
"They say that Belius had something to do with engineering the Great War behind the scenes." The innkeeper shares.
"Belius did that ...?!" Judith blinks.
"That's what they're saying in town." The innkeeper shrugs. "Well, I don't think the empire will be able to do much so long as Palestralle's there, but..." The door swings open and the knight returns. "Thank you very much for your business." The innkeeper bows a little.
"Wait... but..." Karol blinks, confused, but Lloyd drops a hand on the guild master's shoulder.
"Yes, thanks for the help. Let's go fill up at the lake." Yuri says, turning to leave the inn. Everyone followed, and as there was only one lake, or oasis, in town, they couldn't exactly get lost. Canteens produced, they set to filling.
"All right." Yuri straightens from filling his canteen.
"We've filled up our water..." Karol looks about. Both Estelle and Yuri had white canteens, but Estelle's had gold patterning and Yuri's was simply white. Karol's canteen was patterned with a child's cartoon, while Judith's was pink and brown. Rita's was brown and looked like a pack, while Raven's looked like a flask for something other than water. Repede and Noishe had barrel for canteens, in sizes respective to the wearers, and Lloyd's was, unsurprisingly, red. "I think we're ready to go."