So what's my excuse for not updating in ages? Well, the truth is, i don't really have one. School has been really hectic and i've had our school production but its mainly been......well.......school. I've just been so stressed that i haven't had time to write. I'm sorry. I hope you like this chappie though.

Freakizimi:You are one of the best reviewers a person could hope for. Thanks for all your advice. I'm trying to destress but *sigh* school. Anyway, heres a chappie for you. Bout time i know.

Nakhti: *makes frantic silent signals* Careful! You'll give it all away! I'm not giving you anymore hints because you're getting way too close! Yeah, and the eyes.....sorry bout them, but i always show peoples expressions and emotions in their eyes. And yes, i am putting in the Sabre Dance, so that will come up!

****

Ardeth had never been so thirsty in his whole entire life. Sure, he lived in a desert but still……this was torture. Well, it wasn't torture, his mind reasoned with his body, but his body concluded the debate saying, "It damn well felt like it."

He had been walking for the whole day behind that damned horse, tied to that damned Jawhar with his damned hands tied behind his back and without any damn water.

Ardeth was normally a peaceful, tolerate boy who would be sad that someone had killed a jackal because it had been trying to eat him. He tried to see everyones point of view. Certainly, this irrated some of the more biased people in his village, as their thoughts ran along the lines such as, "Can't he act like a normal person and be biased for once?!?!"

But Ardeth was that boy that every parent dreamed of. Respectful, tolerate, patient, helpful and even slightly rebellious. Parents might not admit it but it gave them pride t know that their boy was out terrorising the village moderately.

Try as he might, Ardeth couldn't see the other side of the story here. He just couldn't understand why this tribe was putting him through this hell. He had never done nothing. His tribe had never done nothing either.

But after a whole day of trudging through the desert without water had made him unnaturally bitter and angry. Why was he the only one walking? It was alright for them on the horses, they didn't have to walk. Their horses did all the work. And they had water. They made sure that he saw it. They splashed it over themselves, grinning like idiots and making obscene gestures and derogative comments towards the boy.

Ardeth Bay, the normally peaceful boy of the Med-Jai was getting VERY angry.

With a sigh, the boy let his head droop and as he stumbled over a small dune and the rope cruelly tore at his skin, he wished that he could just go home.

****

Shahin spat resentfully from his horse once again as he surveyed the open desert in front of him.

How he longed to go home. Oh no, not home to the Shahin but Home Home. Out there, amongst the Spinifex and sand dunes, where the sun itself touched the sand in that glorious moment of time and a man walked in the horizon. Where the jackals howled mournfully at night and the moon shone brightly in the night sky. Where the stars twinkled faintly and each constellation could be easily seen and the elders sat around the fire and told stories to the youngsters about their origins and the legends connected to the very stars that had existed for countless thousands of years.

Oh yes. He could not wait to return. But first, first, he had to accomplish this mission. To see the Med-Jai destroyed.

Then, once they were out of the way, The Creature could be resurrected.

Shashin turned to look at the boy behind him once again. He was glad to see that the boy was suffering immensely in the intense heat. The only reason he had kept his ripped and dusty robe was because he knew that he would wish for it fervently when the temperatures would plummet during the night.

The man beside him, his leader (Shahin spat again), had said that they'd be in the village in a couple of days, a week at the most.

Well, not the village. The village was gone. Shahin grinned mirthlessly. That had been a good misunderstanding. It couldn't have worked out any better. The Sam-Nhie wanted to decimate the Med-Jai, and who was Shahin to stand in the way when he knew only the truth?

After all, when someone has bloodlust they will not rest until blood has been spilt.

And there was no better blood to spill then the blood of Ardeth Bay.

****

Hashim watched the sun sink below the horizon and poindered if he had done the right thing.

Had he been 'right' in telling the lie to his wife? Should he have sent someone out to check on his son?

NO! Of course not! Why would anything happen to Ardeth? The boy had been out countless times before. Admittedly, he'd been in the company of friends, guards or family but still! Nothing would bother him! He had done nothing wrong.

Besides, no one would dare touch him because of the protection he was under, ebing the son of the chief of the Med-Jai.

The Med-Jai. They had such a ferocious reputation dating back for countless centuries. Hashim grinned widely. Wouldn't everyone else love to know that life in the Med-Jai wasn't as terrifying as thought………Although, it had been scary when Ardeth and his little friends had run around the village playing pranks on anyone that was unfortunate enough to get in the way.

Oh yes. They had been the good, old days. When Ardeth had embraced his homelife and hadn't cared about the outside world. Of course, Hashim knew that his son was going to grow up, but he hadn't expected him to grow up so soon. And so quickly.

It seemed overnight that his son had turned from his little boy that he had known to jump into his arms every night and demand a bedtime story into a full grown man, which all the girls fawned over and fantasised.

Oh, his son would return home safe and sound.

He was………slighty sure of it.

****

Days had passed. Ardeth was sure of that, but he wasn't sure exactly how many days had passed. Everything had just sort of blurred, blended into one another into some horrible dream, some terrible nightmare where all that filled his eyes was sand and pain.

He had been looking forward to his hunt for so long. For ages he had sat and planned it, he had discussed it with his friends and boasted to the girls about it. And now he was on it. Well, he had been on it and now he was in the clutches of some insane tribe that wished him dead and a strange, green-eyed dude that couldn't wait to have an excuse to torture him slowly. Same diff really.

His hands were useless. His captors hadn't bothered to loosen the knots and he couldn't feel his fingers. It was scaring him quite a bit actually. The ropes had bit cruelly into his skin and his hands were all bloody. They hadn't taken the rope off from around his neck either and his neck had been rubbed raw to the point of excruciating pain whenever he lagged behind or stumbled. He tried his hardest to do neither of the above activities but it was becoming so hard.

He was just so tired. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to the village, talk excitedly to his mother about his day, argue good-naturedly with his father and run feral around the village with his friends playing pranks on them and innocent villager bystanders.

His mind was becoming so muddled, he couldn't think straight. The sky was blue right? Blue?

Then why was it looking so yellowish? The air also seemed to be pretty gritty……strange that….gritty like sand….His neck was hurting, something was tugging it…He'd stopped walking…he couldn't walk any further….Why was the sky yellow?

Ardeth passed out on the sand where he had fallen, his face pressed into the sand.

He didn't hear the excited voices of his captors or them pointing and gesturing to the horizon.

Ardeth didn't notice anything.

****

Jawhar punched the air in delight. Yes! They had returned home!! He was so excited, he couldn't think straight. He could just see the roofs of the thatched huts in the distance, hazy on the horizon.

He spurred his horse on unconsciously, his excitement seeping through to the sensitive mammal. The rope leading to his prisoner tightened suddenly and Jawhar swore loudly and stopped the horse from going any further. The boy was lagging again – what happened to the strength of the Med-Jai? Jawhar waited a couple of minutes and then without turning around started his horse on a slow walk again. Damn! The line was still taut and tight in his hand, what was taking him so long?? What now?? Jawhar turned around in his saddle, ready to taunt the boy again but his eyes widened in astonishment as he took in the black-robed figure lying unconscious on the sand, his head facedown into the sand.

He swore loudly again and jumped down from his horse.

"Oi! Wake up Med-Jai!" Jawhar with difficulty turned the boy over onto his back and slapped his face. No response. "Hey! Wake up! We're almost there!" The boy didn't even twitch. Jawhar was seized by a sudden fear and gingerly touched the boy's throat, looking for a pulse.

For a couple of heart-stopping seconds he couldn't feel anything. The boys chest didn't appear to be moving. No movement, no heartbeat.

No. No! NO NO NO!!! This couldn't be happening!! Not now!! His father would be furious! Angry! Enraged. Jawhar cringed again, memories of his last beating coming to mind. He couldn't be dead!! Where was his heartbeat?? Why was not he breathing?? Not now! NO!! Not possible! Breath, you bastard!

No movement, no heartbeat.

****

Sorry, I truly don't know when my next update will be. I can't make any promises. School is getting really really tough. Sorry. And i'm really sorry that this is so short. Sorry, sorry, sorry!