Thank you, all you reviewers. In particular: Thanks to Irony, who is inspired to provide this story with art, so if I should find it webspace again it will be illustrated. Thanks to Icka-san and Miss Toggle, for repeat reviews. Thanks to Mynuet, for giving my muse chocolate kisses.

Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.

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Idylls
+=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi
2 +===+ Scatter January

The wind-borne walls of sand stretched as far as Zelgadiss could see in both directions, always the same distance apart. They curved, slowly, in unison, both imposing walls of dark beige with a light beige strip between them.
Zelgadiss looked up and saw white, bright, cloudless sky above his head, in a strip to match the sand beneath his feet. Its edges were neat, as if somebody had cut a strip of the sky out to make a roof. Its glaring white color and sourceless light was disturbing.
There was something else wrong, but he couldn't initially put a name to it.
Then he realized what it was.
There was no sound. The winds that held up the walls should have been roaring loudly; instead, the only indication that Zelgadiss had that the sand was moving was the shifting patterns of dark beige and the quickly altering textures of them.
The only sound Zelgadiss could hear was his own breathing and the white noise of his own blood in his ears.
Zelgadiss stood up, chose a direction, and started walking.

I could walk forever, Zelgadiss thought as he trudged along, and never notice it. He wasn't sure of the time anymore. The 'sky' above his head was still as bright as it had been when he started walking, and the view from horizon to horizon was the same.
He thought about the strange...vision? he had experienced when he had stepped through one of the two walls -- he could no longer remember which wall it had been.
He could vividly remember it.
Five long, lonely, embarrassing years of being on display in a zoo. Sold there by his friends and his pregnant beloved, who was not pregnant by him -- no, he knew that he was still a virgin when it came to women, there, though once sold he was not as fortunate to remain so physically innocent.
Even now, it felt like it was real, his spirit insisted that it was real.
He knew, though, that it wasn't real. It had been only an illusion brought on by something there.
Zelgadiss lifted his canteen and unscrewed its top. He fumbled a few times, his entire body shaking slightly. The sight of Amelia's bracelet on it helped slightly.
Amelia in the vision wore both of her bracelets, having reclaimed the one she had given him -- perhaps to gain his trust? -- when they sold him.
Once he had its top undone, he lifted it to his lips.
From the sound of it, there wasn't much left.
Zelgadiss looked from wall to wall and back to wall.
If he chose the right wall, he might be able to refill his canteen.
If he chose the wrong wall, he might die of dehydration.
Not much choice.
Zelgadiss picked a wall and stepped into it.

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I know, I know, this wasn't quite worth the wait... My muse wanted to work a bit on something else before she'd let me work more on this.
As always, comments and complements wanted, encouragement enjoyed, and they all might, just might, encourage my muse to let me work on this story's next part sooner.