Chapter 16: "Finding Diamonds in the Desert!"

"It's no good… I keep trying, but nothing happens…" Alaylle sighs as she sits down with a whump on one of the benches leading up to the altar. She glances down at the ground sadly.

Father Renauld rests his palm on Alaylle's shoulder. "It's alright Alaylle, I'm sure one day the light will listen to you!" He glances at the paper cut on his right pointer finger and puts the injured finger into his mouth. He mumbles quietly, "Then the adventurers out there will be pestering you from dawn until dusk for healing…" He takes the finger out of his mouth and glances at the paper cut. "Why not try again?"

Alaylle looks up slowly and gets to her feet just as sluggishly. "I'll try again…" She folds her hands together like the other acolytes do and tries concentrating on healing the paper cut. "Heal!" Alaylle looks at the paper cut and sighs. "Nothing…"

Father Renauld sticks the finger back into his mouth and mutters quietly to himself, "She should be able to heal even something this minor by now…"

Alaylle looks up at Father Renauld. "Did you say something Father Renauld?"

Father Renauld takes the finger out of his mouth. "Alaylle, don't worry about the paper cut… Why don't you go home and rest your head for a while? Things will be okay here."

Alaylle nods and quietly walks down the aisle and out of the church.

Father Renauld watches Alaylle walk out of the church and looks back at the paper cut. "Nah… I won't heal it… it's a good reminder to take care of the books… and of how Alaylle is feeling…"

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"Aww, why so glum, chum?" Corin gently taps the bow in Alaylle's hair with his spanner. "Cheer up!" He smiles cheerfully at his sad daughter.

Alaylle's gaze is downcast, and she sighs quietly once in a while.

"Hey, great impression of Kaori!" Corin grins at his daughter, but then notices how his attempts at cheering her up aren't working. He quickly sneaks behind her and starts tickling her sides. "Come on! This glum attitude doesn't suit you!"

Alaylle bursts into giggles upon being tickled and tries to squirm out of his tickles. "Daddy, that's not fair!"

"Bwahahahah! Gotcha! I saw a smile!" Corin grins triumphantly, but then has to quickly dodge Alaylle's tickling fingers. The two quickly get into a tickle fight.

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Alaylle gasps for breath and sits down on her knees.

Corin plops onto the ground right next to her and grins. "Feel a bit better now?"

Alaylle manages to say in between breaths, "A little…"

"Just a little, huh?" Corin fishes through his pockets thoughtfully. He takes out two 1000 zeny coins and gives them to Alaylle. "Here… I know just the person to cheer you up! Go visit Karian! You haven't seen her in a while, right?"

Alaylle gently takes the two coins and nods. "Yeah… I haven't seen her in a while… Thank you Daddy!" She jumps to her feet and hugs her father suddenly.

"Eh heh heh… no need to thank me! Just go and have some fun!"

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Alaylle shudders at the sudden temperature change experienced from entering a warp portal from Prontera to Morroc. Knowing better than to wander around Morroc, she quickly makes her way to Karian's family tent. "Anybody home? It's Alaylle!"

"Ehh? What's a rootfoot doing in the middle of the desert?" Karian's loud voice is tinged with sarcasm. She pokes her head out of her tent's flap. "Kyahahah! It is you! Come in before you bake!"

Alaylle nods quickly and enters the tent. "Hello Karian!"

Karian looks at Alaylle and shakes her head. "Hiya Alaylle." She grins and shakes her head, as she looks Alaylle's clothing over. "And I thought you stood out in Prontera… Here you stand out like a 5 foot tall Poring!"

Alaylle blushes lightly.

"Hey hey! Don't get all hot, or you'll faint!" Karian thinks for a moment and looks around the tent. "Family's out gathering merchandise… I had something in mind too, but… I can't get it alone! You're perfect for this job!"

"I am?… But what job is this?"

"We're gonna gather the diamond of the desert!" Karian grins.

"There are diamonds in the desert?" Alaylle looks confused.

"Not real diamonds, but something just as valuable!" Karian waggles her pointer finger. "Water! People will pay absurd prices for a drink of pure, clean water!"

"I don't see what's so special about water… there's a whole fountain of it in Prontera…"

"Well, you've seen the heat around here! And I just so happen to know that there's a secret clean oasis north of Morroc!" Karian brings out a cart full of empty bottles. "Lets go find the diamonds of the desert!"

Alaylle sweatdrops. "Uhh… okay!"

"That's the spirit!" Karian shoves the cart in Alaylle's direction and Alaylle quickly stops the cart. "You bring the bottles, and I'll lead the way!"

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Alaylle and Karian make their way out of Morroc and make good progress north of Morroc, slowly making their way to the oasis.

bloop bloop bloop

"Ahh crud… I forgot about those…" Karian grumbles as she notices several Drops making their way to the bottle-filled cart. "Darn it! Not my bottles!"

Alaylle notices the Drops' getting closer to the cart and whips out her chain. "No stealing from Karian!" She dashes over to a Drops that's particularly close to the cart and swings her chain, sending the Drops flying away in a wide arc. She goes from Drops to Drops, flinging them away without hurting them.

"Whoa!" Karian runs up to Alaylle once the last Drops is flung away. "How did you learn to do that!"

Alaylle blushes lightly as she puts away her chain. "Oh no… it's nothing! I've just been practicing with the chain the church gave me…"

"But that's soooo neat! That's it, I've gonna go learn some neat things too!" Karian smiles happily as she starts helping Alaylle push the cart north. "And I know just the place to learn some new tricks too! I'll go to Geffen and learn magic there!"

Alaylle looks at Karian and nods slowly.

Karian grins. "I'll learn really flashy magic… yeah, that's the ticket! Oh, we're here!"

Alaylle looks at the oasis and thinks for a moment. "This place feels familiar… I think I delivered a package here before…"

"You? Deliver a package in the desert? That's kind of a farfetched story, coming from you Alaylle." Karian grins as she takes a bottle from the cart. "But after seeing you with that chain… it doesn't sound like that much of a stretch…" Karian bends down to fill the bottle with water when a person's hand stops the bottle from touching the water.

"Are you trying to take this water and sell it again, Karian?" Sister Matilda frowns at Karian.

"Oohh! Hello Sister Matilda!" Alaylle smiles happily.

"Hello Alaylle. Hmm… are you friends with Karian over here?"

"Yes I am!"

Meanwhile, Karian is grumbling to herself about being caught.

Sister Matilda glances at Karian and thinks for a moment. "If you really want this water… ahh, I know! You'll have to do a service for me!"

"Whaaaat! Why should I have to do a service for you? It's free water!" Karian crosses her arms in front of her body.

Sister Matilda shakes her head. "I purify this oasis every day and use some to make holy water for the Prontera Church. I think it's a pretty reasonable deal."

Karian keeps grumbling to herself while Alaylle walks up to Sister Matilda. "We'll do it! What do we need to do?" Alaylle smiles happily.

Sister Matilda glances again at Karian and then looks back at Alaylle. "What's reasonable… let's see here…. ah yes! Some Desert Wolf Puppies got lost here… could you walk them home to their burrow?"

"Oohh… okay!" Alaylle smiles happily. "Where are they?"

Sister Matilda leads Alaylle and a rather reluctant Karian over to a tree where three Desert Wolf Puppies are leashed. "Here they are… be sure to remove the leashes once you get them home."

Alaylle and Karian take one look at the puppies and both quickly go, "Awww… cute!"

Karian quickly catches herself after saying that. "I mean… uhh… that's something that Alaylle or Kaori would say… yeah…"

Meanwhile, the puppies sniff Alaylle and start yipping happily and wagging their tails. Alaylle is happily petting the puppies and untying the leashes from the tree. "So cute!"

"Yeah… I'll leave the puppies to you, Alaylle" Karian still looks slightly irritated at having to do this.

Sister Matilda smiles at Alaylle, "The burrow is east of here… just follow the cliffs and you'll find it. Once you find it bring back the leashes and then we'll see about the water, okay?"

Alaylle happily sets out, following the cliffs, while tugging the puppies along with her. Karian seems less excited, and walks after Alaylle, kicking the sand.

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Alaylle unleashes the puppies happily as they run into their underground burrow. The puppies poke their heads out of the burrow's entrance to watch Alaylle, but then quickly whimper and hide in the burrow. A loud buzzing sound is quickly heard.

Karian pales at the sound. "Th-that's the Dragon Fly!"

Alaylle pulls out her chain and dashes towards the sound.

Karian startles. "Hey! What in the world do you think you're doing! It's dang-errr?" Karian blinks her eyes quickly and then rubs them with her fingers. "Hold on just a minute! Practiced just a little, huh?" She walks over to Alaylle, who is blushing while putting away her chain. Karian looks down at the swirlly-eyed and twitching Chonchons and Dragon Fly. She suddenly starts jumping up and down on them, stomping them with her shoes. "Take this, and that, and that! This is for chasing me around all the time! This is for trying to eat me! This is…"

Alaylle sweatdrops at Karian while she stomps on the Dragon Fly and Chonchons and blushes lightly at Karian's cussing as she stomps and squishes. "Uhh… Karian? I think that's enough… I think they got the message." Alaylle smiles awkwardly.

"Heh, you'd think that, Alaylle… alright… I'll stop." Karian stops jumping and walks back over to Alaylle. "Well, now that this is taken care of… let's get that water!"

Alaylle nods happily but then stops, as a Desert Wolf Puppy has exited the burrow and is tugging on her hakama. "Hmm? What is it?" Alaylle kneels down and pets the puppy.

The puppy quickly dashes into the burrow and comes out carrying a piece of paper in its mouth. The puppy places the paper in front of Alaylle and then runs back into the burrow.

Alaylle picks up the hard paper and looks at it. One side has a strange design on it, and the other has a cute picture of Desert Wolf Puppies in a burrow.

"Whaaaaat!" Karian quickly looks at the picture and the paper. "That's a monster card! Those are sooooo rare! Lucky!"

Alaylle takes out her book while she and Karian walk back to the oasis. "Hmm… let's see… there's so many card entries… Ahh… 'Baby Desert Wolf Card… this card usually bonds with a person's clothing. It creates a constant comfortable temperature inside the clothing, keeping the wearer warm when it's cold and cool when it's hot. Helps with concentration slightly.'" Alaylle puts away her book and puts the card into a pocket in her hakama. She blinks her eyes, as the desert heat seems to dissipate. Alaylle smiles softly and quietly decides that she likes this card.

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"That was quick!" Sister Matilda smiles at Alaylle and Karian. "I filled up your bottles for you, Karian."

Karian grins happily and gestures Alaylle over to the cart. "Yahoo! Let's go!"

Alaylle waves happily to Sister Matilda. "Thank you Sister Matilda!" She quickly turns towards the cart and helps Karian pull it back to Morroc.

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Alaylle and Karian walk into the Morroc Bazaar after delivering the water back to Karian's tent. Karian keeps a careful eye out for any thieves (and does a bit of thieving of her own) as she leads Alaylle to the part of the market where warp portals are being opened.

Alaylle happily pays the acolyte to send her to Prontera. "Bye bye Karian!"

"Eh heh heh… see you soon, Alaylle! I'm gonna soooo be a mage!" Karian grins as she hops into someone else's warp portal to Geffen.

Alaylle sweatdrops as she watches her friend take someone else's portal. "Uhh… well… good luck Karian…" Alaylle says softly, but then eeps as she's warped to Prontera.

End of Chapter 16
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Chapter 17 Preview!

Alaylle: "It's terrible, it's terrible!"

Corin: "They're at it again… but this time… this is taking it too far!"

Alaylle: "Dead branch monsters are everywhere! We gotta do something!"

Alaylle: "And… something big and scary visits Prontera…"

In the Next Chapter: "A Night of Chaos"

Alaylle: "Eehh? You're going to do what!"
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