The travelling group had crossed the ocean aboard the black ship, and after finding some kind of teleporter they had arrived at Dragnier. There, they learned about the history of the brood, and Ryu was to receive the true power of the brood, which he did in the form of the kaiser dragon after the group fought the dragon elder. After that, they had set off towards the north, and after crossing through a factory in a mountain, they had now arrived at the Desert of death, which the goddess allegedly resided on the other side of.
Ryu, Garr, Rei, Nina and Momo would hopefully get their questions answered, whether they concern why the brood had to be eradicated, finding out more about the techno age, or philosophical questions about might, or something else.
Noone better to answer all your questions than the goddess, right?
"Walk north until the evening star is directly to the west, then turn and walk until it goes down below the horizon, then walk north until we arrive at the oasis, correct?" Ryu asked Horis, the man who had been sent with them to give them instructions about the desert.
"Correct. Make sure to not mix up any stars, and to conserve your water. Oh, and walk at night, try and sleep during the day. Use the rakda to get back if you need it, y'all are not exactly in a rush after having travelled for this long."
"Yeah, and the sand will explode if you look at it for too long, so don't do that."
"No it won't Rei, and that wasn't funny"
"Relax Momo, I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit, we will have plenty of time to feel grim while we are struggling through the desert."
"Seeing as we are going to be walking mostly north and a bit east, couldn't we just walk north-northeast?" Suggested Nina.
"Maybe, but the oasis is not exactly a huge place, and if you miss it you are going to be between a rock and a hard place. Well, actually between sand and some more sand, but you get my point." Responded Horis.
"Have you been to the oasis yourself, and if so was the proximity to the Goddess noticeable? Just asking out of pure curiosity." Asked Garr
"No, but there was someone who came from the oasis a few years ago, and he gave me a description of the place as well as the route to get there. Can't answer your second question, but you will find out when you get there, I suppose."
"Thanks. Does anyone else have any questions or something else they want to say before we depart?"
"No"
"Nah"
"Not really"
"Can't really think of anything"
"Pukyu?"
"Sorry Peco, I doubt that even the goddess could answer that one."
"Alright then, do you want the travel instructions written down?
"Yes please, it would be appreciated."
"Alright here you go." Horis handed over a note to the group. "If you all have everything in order, then get some rest before departing. Nightfall should come in a hour or so. Also, as a last resort, rakda meat can be used to rejuvenate a person."
The group did as suggested and rested until nightfall, and then they were off. They walked straight north in silence, as there really wasn't anything to talk about, and no one was in the mood for idle conversation. The ever present noise of the wind would have made conversation difficult anyway. Occasionally they glanced over to the west to look where the evening star was, but it still remained distant in the northwest, barely getting any closer to being due west.
They were attacked twice by some huge scorpions as well as a living boulder, the battles went the usual way. Ryu fought with his sword, opting to save his energy in the desert by not transforming into any dragon forms, Nina cast a variety of different elemental spells, eventually concluding that ice spells were the best for the current situation, and sticking with that. Rei, Garr and Peco all attacked physically, with daggers or spear or claws, Momo mainly stuck in the back and used various magic, and occasionally tried to take a shot with her bazooka, with varying levels of success.
Eventually, after walking the entire night, with the most excitement that was had being the water ration they had allowed themselves, the sun started to rise. The evening star was still not directly west, so the group concluded that they would still be walking north the next night. Then they made camp, not picking any spot in particular as the desert was all the same monotonous sand anyway.
"How is everyone holding up?" Ryu asked as they were setting up camp for the day.
"I'm fine, just a bit tired and thirsty, but that's to be expected in this heat I think."
"That is probably the sentiment that everyone has here, unless anyone has anything different to say."
"Hey Ryu, how are you holding up yourself?"¨
"I'm fine Nina, just a bit worried about anything happening to us. Same as usual, although I am extra worried seeing as we are crossing the desert."
"Well, we are on the right path currently, not really much we can do except continuing to follow it."
"Thanks Nina, and you are right, I just always overthink things a bit seeing as the reason why we are out here travelling in the first place is me, kind of, and I would feel guilty if something happened."
"Damn it Ryu, you know that everyone that everyone is here because they want to be, and we all take responsibility for ourselves."
"Yes Rei I know, still, thanks."
"May I suggest we should sleep now?" Garr said.
Sleep they did, or at least tried to, the heat wasn't really helping, although at least it felt a little bit cooler inside the tent, without the sun shining directly on them. Peco opted to sleep outside for some reason incomprehensible to the rest of the group. The day passed, and then night fell again. The group awoke, had a bit of water, and then they were off again.
The second night passed in similar fashion to the first. They walked, they walked, and then they walked a bit more. They were attacked a few times by some of the scorpions and living boulders from the previous night, but also by some cacti and a large yellow lizard, although the lizard was seemingly paralyzed by the heat. A brief conversation after the battle was had about how it managed to survive in the desert if it was paralyzed by the heat, but the mood for conversation died down as they went onwards. Another one of the water rations was had. As the end of the night approached, the evening star was now directly to the west, and rejoice was had at the noticeable progress. After a quick check of the starry sky to see what direction they would be walking the next night, they decided to make camp for the incoming day, as it was fast approaching.
"Hey, what's with all the bones on the ground anyway? You would think the monsters here would try and eat them with how little else there is to eat here."
"I, for one, am just glad that the monsters here don't eat bones."
"Fair point Momo. So what do they eat then? Travellers like us, out for a walk in the desert?"
"I don't know, at least not without doing some research, I am good with machines, not really with biology. Also, you sure are thinking a lot more than usual, Rei."
"Gee, thanks. Well, what else to do while we are mindlessly walking forward?"
"Anyway, we are walking east tomor-, err I mean next night, right?"
"I think so Ryu, we were supposed to walk until the evening star goes below the horizon, and that star is to the west, so it makes sense we would need to walk east."
"Ok, Momo I guess that makes sense, I just tend to mix west and east up sometimes."
"We all really should be getting to sleep." Garr stated.
"Geez old man, no need to remind us to sleep everyday, we are all responsible adults."
"Mayhaps so, but concerning looking after oneself I trust Peco more than you Rei."
"That's kind of a low blow."
"That was my intention. Get to sleep."
Sleep came a bit easier that day than the previous one, maybe because they were getting used to the heat. Or maybe it was just exhaustion from the walking slowly kicking in. Either way, after they woke up some water has had. Then they took down camp, and after looking at the stars to affirm their direction, they were off walking again. The desert looked all the same still, even as they walked in another direction from the previous night.
Some attacks from monsters happened, but the battles passed by smoothly without any issues, and in fact they were almost welcome to break up the monotony of the walking. They looked backwards at the evening star a few times, and while it was getting lower on the horizon, it was still high up in the sky. The night slowly passed, and then the sun started to rise yet again. Camp was made once again.
"Hey Nina, are you all right? You haven't spoken since two nights ago"
"I'm fine Ryu, just a bit tired. But we should be about halfway there right? Just got to keep trudging on"
"Alright if you say so, and yes, there should be about four nights left. Or at least that is how many nights we have water left for. We have probably drunk a bit more water than we have needed to."
"Even less water than before, great…"
"We can always use the rakda to get back if we need-"
"Oh for the love of- I said I'm fine Ryu."
"Alright, if you say so."
"Does anyone else have something they want to say? If not, we should probably sleep."
"Yes Garr, no need to remind us, and I do actually have something to say."
"Well, what is it Momo?"
"I thought over the travel instructions a bit more, and we were maybe supposed to turn west when we turned east."
"Horis told us to walk east, didn't he? Did he give written instructions?"
"Yes he did, here, I think we all had forgotten about it until now"
Nina pulled out the note with the instructions after a bit of digging in a pouch.
"It says here that when the evening star is to the west, turn west."
"Doesn't that just beat all? We have been walking to the east, thanks Momo."
"I am sure that we were told to walk east, besides, it's not like you have helped with making sure the directions are correct Rei."
"Well, at least I'm not getting them wrong!"
"Both of you, chill out. Even if were supposed to walk west we don't have the water to turn around and do that, so the best we can do is to stick to what we have been doing, and if it turns out we have been walking the wrong way, we just use the rakda to get back. Although I will admit that the thought of walking in the desert without being sure about the directions makes me very nervous, and it's not like the rakda can perform miracles." Ryu, said as he looked over the pig- and camel resembling rakda.
"Puki." Peco nodded, seemingly in agreement with Ryu.
"I second what Ryu said", stated Nina.
"Well, looks like you have the onion and the princess on your side, and I guess that what you said is true. Oh yeah, sorry for getting angry at you Momo."
"It's alright Rei. We should probably all get to bed now."
That they did. However, there was now a looming uncertainty hanging in the air that had replaced the relatively happy and confident mood from the previous nights, and worry was making hard it to sleep. As they woke up, the lack of sleep and the exhaustion starting to kick in from the continuous desert walking was noticeable for everyone, although to a varying degree. No one wanted to admit this though, and as such nobody mentioned it. Some water was had, a bit less than previous nights, and camp was taken down.
Begrudgingly, they started walking again, for the fourth night. Eastwards they went, although not before some arguing whether they should turn around was had. Walking was the same repetitive motion as always, with the ones in the party who wore shoes starting to get really annoyed at emptying their shoes of sand.
As per usual a few monsters attacked during the night, this time consisting of some of the yellow lizards and the one-eyed cacti. The battles went smoothly, but after one of the battles they got temporarily disoriented, and started walking in the wrong direction. Fortunately, the mistake was quickly realized, and they didn't up so far off the route that they would miss the oasis because of it. Still, the incident added to the tension and anxiousness that already existed.
After a night which had felt a lot longer than the previous ones, the sun eventually started to rise, and as such camp was made. While the evening star was getting low on the horizon, they would need to continue walking east the next night, much to everyone's dismay, as they hoped they would have been closer to their destination.
"Hey what's up Ryu."
"Nothing much Rei, worrying as always. Teepo also has been on my mind lately, I don't know why, and I also have a bad feeling about that. Yeah, I know, he most likely died when Balio and Sunder attacked our home, but still."
"That's probably just you worrying too much spreading into your other thoughts. Look, should there happen something involving Teepo, which I doubt, at least we will know for certain. I can't think of anything that would be worse than as things are now, concerning Teepo."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Wish it wasn't so damn hot in this desert. Aren't deserts supposed to be kinda cold at night?"
"Weather is not something I am especially knowledgeable about, but I think so?" Responded Momo.
"A zenny for your thoughts, Garr?"
"Maybe the goddess is testing us? You can keep the zenny Rei, give it to a faerie next time we visit the village or give it to Ryu to use as manillo bait when fishing or something."
"Any chance of any faeries or flower rings in the desert? If we could visit we could rest and get water there"
"Doubt it Nina, judging by the faeries in the colony expecting any of them to survive in the desert is a disaster waiting to happen. Although maybe someone like Meryleep could manage, as she lives on her own, I still doubt it" Stated Ryu. "Won't deny it would be nice though."
"Makes sense, dunno what I was thinking. Chalk it up to being tired and making an error in my thought process I guess. I should probably try and sleep."
Nina fell asleep pretty quickly, but barring some arguing between Rei and Momo over whether Rei's fur or Momo's coat was worse in the desert heat, nobody else had anything they really wanted to discuss, and soon the rest also had went to sleep. The day passed by with everyone sleeping, as usual at this point. The feeling of uncertainty was still tangible, but so was the feeling of being tired, and everyone slept decently well.
The sun went down, and soon it was time to start walking again. Expect when they looked outside the tent a sizable amount of sand had piled up outside the tent opening during the day, which took a bit of time to clear out. Other than that the routine that everyone had settled in of having some water and then packing down camp before setting off was followed.
The fifth night started off on a bad note, when there was an attack by some of the scorpions and the living boulders, with Rei getting a rather deep cut wound, from one of the scorpions, although luckily there was seemingly no venom that had gotten into the wound. Nina got a broken wrist along with some broken bones in that hand after one of the boulders just barely hit her on the hand with a flying tackle, thankfully not hitting the rest of her. Both Rei's and Nina's wounds were healed easily enough with some healing magic, but it still left everyone on high alert.
The feeling wore off as they walked, being replaced by boredom over the monotonous walking, and then being replaced by anxious thoughts over whether they would get to the oasis or not. These feelings were alleviated substantially after roughly half the night had passed, when Garr noticed that the evening star was no longer visible, and as such the group turned north, with renewed confidence that they were going the right way and that they would make it. The rest of the night passed by with nothing of note happening, and then soon enough the sun started rising, as always. Which meant time to make camp.
"Just two more nights to the north right? I think we are going to make it!"
"I think so too, Nina." Agreed Ryu.
"Probably we will, but do not get overly excited before we actually arrive."
"C'mon Garr, no need to be a downer."
"I am just being realistic Rei."
The conversation died after that, and as there really wasn't anything else to do but get to bed, that they did. As per usual they woke up roughly at sunset, had some water and took down camp, and then walking started, this night still to the north.
The sixth night started with Rei noticing what looked to be like the oasis to the northeast.
"Hey, ain't that the oasis over there? Looks like some palm trees and buildings with light inside."
"The oasis should be to the north, but that looks like… something at least."
"I would trust what I see with my own eyes more than the instructions with how what was said before we started our desert trip and what we got written on the reminder note was different and all."
"That's a good point honestly, but I feel a bit sceptical about being able to see something in that much detail that should still be one night's worth of travel away."
"I agree with Rei honestly, also the supposed travel time is not very exact, we could very well have been walking slightly quicker than Horis thought. On an unrelated note, right now I feel like having some 'words' with him the next time I see him."
"Unwise to shoot the messenger, Ryu. This desert is enormous, so no matter who is tasked with giving the way, it will not be perfectly reliable. And I agree with Momo, that feels too much like an illusion or mirage of sorts.
"Pukyu.", Peco nodded at what Garr had said.
"I have no clue which direction is right, but shouldn't it be a shorter distance to walk northeast to where it looks the oasis is and then walk northwest afterwards if needed, compared to walking north and then east-southeast? And unless I am forgetting, Horis didn't mention anything about mirages."
"Both your statements are admittedly correct Nina" Momo stated.
"Well, looks like opinion is evenly split , but we really don't know, so I say we walk northeast, because of the distance argument that Nina brought up."
"Ok fine, Ryu"
"Guess I yield as well."
As the group more or less had achieved a consensus, they started walking to the northeast. The usual rhythm of walking was settled into, but having yet another split in the path where they had to make a decision was weighing upon their minds, and worry slowly creeping up on them, the optimistic mood from camp the previous morning was gone.
The rest of the walking itself during the night passed smoothly, they were attacked twice by some of the one-eyed cacti, but both times the cacti were by their lonesome, and as such easily dispatched. However, as the night went on, what looked like the oasis wasn't getting any closer, and worry was steadily rising. Eventually, they reached roughly where the oasis had seemed to be, but it wasn't there, having apparently been an illusion. The sun was almost up by then, so camp was made.
"See, we should have walked north" Said Momo halfheartedly.
"Well, with our luck it's not gonna be there either. Damn it all!"
"Calm down Rei, we still have water left for one night which should be enough to get to where we were should have gone according to the instructions. If that turns out to be a bust as well, we use the rakda and hopefully get back to the beginning of the desert."
"What Ryu said." Seconded Garr.
"Well, sure hope so" Sighed Rei.
"We are all just going to be anxious messes if we stay up and think about it longer, let's try and sleep." Nina said as she was yawning.
A day of unpleasant, worried sleep it was, with the tent feeling even more uncomfortably hot than it had felt in the desert so far. Night came quickly, and while more rest would have been welcome, they didn't have the water to stay in one place and take time to rest up. Which meant walking they went, for hopefully their last night in the desert.
After what they had estimated to be about halfway through the night, they drank the last water they had brought with them, and still not seeing any signs of the oasis, except the mirage from last night. which lay tauntingly behind them. The second half of the night, worry steadily increased, and as dawn was approaching, so was full-blown panic. At the break of dawn the group arrived at a small hill, which they tried to use as a vantage point.
But the 'hill' turned out to be a some monster that had been below the sand, and which had the general size and shape of a tiny hill, along with a larger and a smaller set of red tusks, a tail, and two arms with fists, the beast also was covered with white fur that vaguely made it resemble a circular mammoth.
The monster proceeded to attack the group, to little surprise for anyone. It started off with plainly trying to punch the group, Garr and Peco both got hit but didn't really receive any crippling injuries, and they both promptly felt healing magic pour over them immediately over them, thanks to Momo. Rei flanked the monster and got in a few hits with his daggers on the beast's back, and Nina summoned a huge chunk of ice, which hit the monster. Ryu stayed in the back and cast protective magic over the rest of the group, and then transformed into a myrmidon dragon, and joined Rei in trying to flank and hit the monster from behind, both using their great speed to advantage against the slow and large beast.
The monster then howled, whether it was out of pain or an intimidation attempt was unclear, noone in the group was really affected by it, whatever it was. The monster then went on the defensive for a bit, mainly trying to guard itself and counterattacking by punching when it got the opportunity. Ryu, Rei, Peco and Garr who all were attacking head on got struck by the punches, with Rei in particular suffering rather heavy injuries. Still, Momo kept the healing magic coming, and while they were slowly getting worn down and out, the beast seemingly was going to go down before them as it was.
The monster was apparently smart enough to realize this, and started using some combination of magic and it's own great weight to create some earthquakes. This struck everyone hard, with both Nina and Momo being caught off guard due to being at safe distance from being punched earlier. They, along with the rest of the group toughed it out however, and the monster soon started punching again, which was relatively harmless and easy to evade. Ryu, Peco, Garr and Rei all got in some heavy hits during this, with Momo also getting a few hits with her bazooka, and Nina continuing to fire off magic, now using some kind of magically summoned sword from a distance. Just as the beast was seemingly defeated, it started doing the quakes again, hitting everyone hard. Nina managed to fire off a concentrated blizzard however, which hit it's mark and the beast then seemingly died.
Even though the battle was over the group was still lost. Worse still, Nina soon after suffered a heat stroke…
"Sorry for slowing you down…" Nina said weakly, as she was laying down on the tent floor.
"Can't say I blame her, this heat will do a number on anyone eventually." Momo stated, also sounding a bit exhausted.
"She is not to be blamed, but this undeniably poses a problem."
"I know, no need to remind me Garr"
"What do you think we should do Ryu?"
"Let me take a moment to think." Ryu stepped outside the tent.
"The princess is in really bad shape, huh" Ryu spun around and saw Rei leaning against the tent.
"Yes. Any thoughts on what we should do, Rei"
"We could use the rakda and get back, but I don't know if the princess would survive the journey back."
"I would prefer that that wouldn't happen."
"I know Ryu. Well, there is a last resort that you might not remember."
"What is it?"
"We were told back at base camp that if needed rakda meat contains a lot of water and nutrients."
"So, kill the Rakda and use the meat to revitalize Nina?"
"Pretty much. You'll have to decide though. I feel that's what the others would want"
"Alright then." Ryu proceeded to look over the rakda, and thought over whether he should risk everyone's life to hopefully save Nina's. In the end, he had made his decision. He went over to the rakda, and killed it with a swift slash to the neck.
"Ballsy move Ryu, but I guess it's no secret that you're in love with Nina. You should hurry and confess it to her by the way, you never know when something like this will happen and then it will be too late."
"I will, if we make it out of the desert alive. Now, could you help me skin the rakda?"
"Of course."
Soon after, the meat was fed to Nina, whose condition improved enough that she was lucid and able to walk at least, but struggling to do so. Ryu, Momo and Rei split the rest of the meat between them, as Garr insisted he was fine, with Peco seemingly agreeing with him.
Walk they did yet again, and so they struggled on, step after step, with the presence of the risk of death being felt strongly. They walked for what felt like an eternity, with Ryu providing support to Nina as she walked, as otherwise she was barely capable of even standing up.
Eventually however, as they walked over a small dune they saw the oasis, which looked like heaven itself from their eyes. They were spotted by a group of children.
"Daddy, come quick, there are people who need help!"
A collective sigh of relief was released. They had made it.
Author's note: This is my first fic, so all feedback is deeply appreciated. Realized after writing this that this reads more like a chapter out of a novelization than an oneshot, but ah well. I also posted this on archive of our own, but under a different username.
