Hidden Sands

Orpheus, Dragoon and Phoenix set out of the outpost and headed East. They had to cross the desert and head to the volcanic region in order to meet up with Maccabeus.

"How long are we going to have to travel before we reach the outpost were heading to?" said Orpheus in a surprisingly optimistic tone.

"Probably a good month on foot." Phoenix muttered.

"What's wrong newbie, never walked across an entire region before?" Dragoon chuckled.

"I traveled across the Jungles and the Forest and Hills regions to come to the Outlands."

"I bet that took a while." Phoenix muttered in a nervous tone.

"Not really, I was able to travel with a caravan that was delivering supplies to the Outlands outpost."

"That doesn't count you lazy bastard." Growled Dragoon.

"Sure it does." Uttered Orpheus.

"No it doesn't! I said did you ever 'walk' across a region, not travel by horse." Dragoon laughs quite loudly.

"Can you try and keep it down, Dragoon?"

"What's wrong? You don't seem to like the desert all that much." Dragoon

"I don't like the desert because almost everything thing that lives here attacks out of no where! Right out of the sand!"

"It's not as if they're going to declare themselves like it's a duel." Dragoon chuckled.

"Oh, just let me try to relax, Dragoon. Besides you don't need to go scaring Orpheus like that." Phoenix said nodding his head in the direction of Orpheus.

Dragoon looked back at Orpheus. "What's the matter..." Dragoon cut in mid sentence and yelled. "Orpheus! Phoenix stop!"

Phoenix instinctively drew his sword and shield and spun around. "What's the matter?!"

"Orpheus is gone!"

"I didn't even hear anything! Stay quiet and spread out." Phoenix said quietly shushing Dragoon.

They were in completely open desert sands not even a high dune in sight, no where to hide. Thats when the sand began to vibrate.

"You feel that?" Phoenix said talking just loud enough to be heard about 20 feet away from Dragoon.

"Yea, feels like Cephalos. I hate these bastards." Dragoon pulled his massive two handed sword off his back and prepared himself.

The ground began to shake violently and the sand started to cave inward very close to Dragoon.

"Oh hell!" Dragoon yelled diving away.

A Cephalos came leaping out of the sand arcing about 10 feet in the air. It dropped to the ground clumsily and fell on its stomach, not moving.

"What the?" Dragoon said lowering his weapon with a bewildered look on his face.

Phoenix ran over to the beast ready to stab it in a vital point when he hesitated and, laughing, yelled at Dragoon. "Come on over, seems this Cephalos was hungry!"

Dragoon holstered his weapon onto his back and jogged over.

"Look familiar?" Phoenix said poking a blade like object sticking out of the Cephalos' neck.

"Guys!? Is that you?!"

Dragoon laughed so hard he put his hand on his stomach. "How is it in there, newbie?!"

"Get me out of here guys!" Orpheus yelled from inside the Cephalos' throat.

"Sure thing." Phoenix took his sword and carefully stabbed the creatures neck and cut a long incision along it's esophagus.

Orpheus came tumbling out of it's neck covered in blood and slime. "That... was so not cool!"

Dragoon still laughing reached out his hand. "Want a lift up?"

"Thanks." Orpheus said trembling for a second.

"What're you doing?" Dragoon asked turning to Phoenix.

Phoenix was carving at the chest of the Cephalos. "I'm trying to get to the liver. It's a very good filter, we can use it to clean out water if we find a stagnant pool and nothing else."

"I don't know if I can trust anything to clean out stagnant water." Orpheus said in a questionable tone.

Dragoon smacked Orpheus upside the head. "It can filter sand while the thing is swimming through it. You think water is going to be a problem?"

"Oh. Didn't think about it that way." Muttered Orpheus laughing.

"Alright, I got it." Phoenix said holding the freshly cut liver in his hands.

"Euw, that's gross, man." Dragoon muttered in a disgusted tone.

Pointing Phoenix says. "Anyways, lets head north. There should be a cliff formation we can make camp in for tonight."

The light began to fade as the party walked north for a few hours.

"Here we are." Said Phoenix pointing at the cliffs in the distance.

"How is this place safe?" Orpheus asked.

Phoenix takes a deep breath. "Well, for starters, notice how there are some pretty large dunes around us now. The Cephalos have serious troubles going through them. There are also some very isolated parts of those cliffs where theres only one way in, so it makes it easy to hear something coming and get ourselves ready."

"Lets get moving I need to rest." Dragoon muttered.

"What's the matter, Dragoon? Getting too old for this work?" Phoenix laughs.

"Eh, shut the hell up!" He growls back.

Phoenix and Orpheus laugh. They made it to the cliff formation and begin to ascend to an old camp.

"Let's take it easy guys, I haven't been here in a long time. Never know when some Genprey might set up a nest for themselves." Phoenix draws his sword and shield.

They make it to the old encampment and silently creep into the camp site.

"I don't hear anything." Dragoon mutters.

"Same here." Phoenix signals. "Alright lets get some rest. Keep your armor on just in case and your weapon by your side."

They each set up a tent for themselves and fall asleep.

Phoenix wakes quietly without moving and glances his eyes over to the right of him. "I guess he's back." Phoenix thinks to himself.

He slowly reaches into his pouch on his waist and grabs some rope. He leaps at the thief and binds his hands at the wrists to the pole holding the tent up.

"Gotcha this time! Do you have nothing better to do with your life other than try to steal my hide?" Phoenix reaches for the thief's face mask and rips it off.

"Well well, look who it is!" Phoenix says quite loudly trying to alert his friends.

Dragoon suddenly leaps through the tent entrance carving blade in hand. "What's going on!"

"Recognize who this is?"

"Hey... that's the girl back from the outpost that was checking you out." Dragoon notices the bound hands and sheathes his carving blade.

"This is the second time someone has tried to steal my Kirin Hide. Would it be chance that two people know about what I have or has it been the same person twice?" Phoenix says as though he was at a local interrogation.

The woman stays quiet.

"Fine then, you can just stay tied to that pole for a few days and we'll see if you talk to us then." Phoenix sits back down in his bed.

"Seems like you got this under control. I'm going back to bed." Dragoon walks out of the tent yawning.

"Well it seems we got quite a problem here lady. You've tried to steal something very valuable from me not once but twice. I wonder if I should let you go and give you another the chance to get this hide, should I leave you here to rot, or should I turn you into the authorities when we reach the outpost we're heading to?"

"Don't leave me here!" She quickly yells.

"Keep your voice down woman, you might wake my friend and my friend isn't as nice as I am."

She shuts her mouth and looks down again.

"Are you afraid to look me in the eye?"

She looks at Phoenix, then looks back down. "I can't believe you killed a Kirin." She mutters quickly.

"Me kill a Kirin, Ha! I don't think I could kill one of the Elders even if my life depended on it!"

"Then how did you get that hide?"

"When I was on a trip into the canyons back in the Outlands I ran into a dead one."

She laughs. "Then I'm a better hunter than you are."

"Is that so? I guessed it didn't die from hunger or thirst when I examined the body. You must of some how wounded it and it got away, huh. So much for you being a better hunter than I, you can't even keep up with a wounded creature." Phoenix laughs.

"Shut up!" She growls.

"Oh seems I struck a nerve, huh? Well, I'm going to get some sleep have a nice night."

"You can't leave me tied up like this!"

Phoenix ignores her and falls asleep.

Phoenix wakes the next morning and looks over. The woman is still tied to the pole.

"Whoops." Phoenix gets up stretches and gets more rope from his backpack laying on the floor next to his bed.

He walks over to the sleeping woman and ties her hands together and her feet. Then he unties the rope holding her to the pole.

Phoenix tosses her over his shoulder and walks to his bed. "There you are." He lays her down on his bed and ties her to the frame of the bed. He then gathers his equipment and heads out of his tent.

Dragoon and Orpheus are sitting around the fire cooking some breakfast.

"Well how was she, Phoenix?" Dragoon chuckles.

"I didn't sleep with her! I just tied her to my bed after I woke up."

"Oh so your into that sort of thing, eh?"

"That's not what I meant. Shut the hell up, Dragoon!" Phoenix smacks Dragoon's shoulder.

Dragoon laughs. "I'm just kidding! So you say she tried to steal your hide twice now?"

"Yea, I guess by what she told me before she fell asleep. She apparently wounded the Kirin but couldn't keep up with it when it ran away." Phoenix laughs.

"Well, that's not a very good hunter." Dragoon mumbles.

"Anyways, I don't know what I want to do with her."

Dragoon grabs his carving blade and smiles evilly. "Want me to take care of her for you?"

Phoenix rolls his eyes. "You need to calm down, we kill monsters not other humans, Dragoon."

"Says you. I can't seem to have fun when you're around." Dragoon sighs.

Orpheus raises his hand. "I say you just let her go, Sir."

"You don't need to call me Sir, Orpheus, just call my Phoenix."

"Sorry Sir, I mean Phoenix. I don't think she did any harm to you."

"She tried to steal a 'very' valuable item from me, Orpheus. If it was just money then yes I would let her go, but this is a completely different story."

"I guess it's up to you." Orpheus goes back to eating his food.

"Let me go dammit!" The woman yells from inside the tent.

Everyone looks over at Phoenix's tent.

Phoenix sighs. "Mind if I take some of this food?"

Dragoon shrugs. "Go for it."

Phoenix takes two hunks of meat and walks over to his tent.

He enters the tent waving the meat. "Care for a meal?'

"Untie me and yes I am hungry!"

"Quite the feisty attitude you got there lady. I think I'd rather leave you like that until I figure out what I'm gonna do with you."

He walks over and holds the food next to her face. "Here yo go, eat up."

She hesitates but then takes a bite out of it. She mumbles something.

"Didn't you learn not to talk with your mouth full?" Phoenix laughs.

She swallows the food and mumble very quietly. "Thank you."

"What was that?" Phoenix says sarcastically.

"Thank you!" She yells out.

"No need to be that loud, I was only kidding."

Phoenix takes a bite out of his food and thinks for a second.

"You know, if you promise to not hit me I'll untie you."

She takes a moment then says. "Fine."

Phoenix stands up and sets his food down. "Now if you're a good girl I'll go get some water."

She doesn't say anything.

"Oh alright then." Phoenix goes to sit down again.

"I'll be good, I promise." She quickly says before Phoenix sits down.

"Alright then." He walks over to her and unties her from the bed and picks her up so she can sit up.

"What no kicks to the groin?" Phoenix puts his hands over his crotch.

She laughs a little.

"See, isn't that better now. It's better to be happy than grumpy."

"Can I have another bite?"

Phoenix holds the food up to her face and she takes another bite.

"Eat slow now, don't want you to choke to death on that now."

He reaches over for the water and opens it up and lets her take a swig.

"There you go. So what's your name anyways?"

She hesitates while trying to swallow the water and food. "Keira, what's yours?"

Phoenix smiles. "The names Phoenix. I got two friends out there, want to meet them?"

"I don't want that Azure man to hurt me!"

Phoenix laughs. "I won't let him. By the way, if you behave yourself. I'll split the hide with you."

She looks him in the eyes with a surprised yet happy look. "Really?!"

Phoenix goes into a slight trance for a moment. Her green eyes somewhat tearing up and glittering with her vibrant red hair.

"Are you alright?" She asks after a few seconds.

Phoenix shakes his head trying to clear his thoughts. "Yea, sorry. It's just you're quite beautiful when your happy like that." He laughs nervously.

She blushes. "Whatever!" She says trying to act angry again.

"Lets get these ropes off you." Phoenix stands up and unties her.

She rubs her wrists and ankles.

"I'm sorry if I tied those to tight. I'm used to wrapping up monsters not humans."

"It's fine. I'm just..." She stops and looks at the tents entrance.

"Hey Phoenix, if your done hitting on your new girlfriend. We'd better head out"

She blushes instead of screaming.

Dragoon looks kinda puzzled. "Anyways, get your ass out here already."

Phoenix reaches his hand out. "Want help getting up?"

She grabs his hand and stands up. "I'm so sorry for what I've put you through. It's just I went through hell trying to kill that creature."

"And I'm sorry for tying you up like an animal." Phoenix smiles.

"I acted like one." She says laughing nervously.

"Anyways lets head out and I'll try to formally introduce you."

She nods her head and walks out with Phoenix.

"Hey guys, I'd like you to meet Keira. She'll be traveling with us."

Dragoon growls. "Why the hell would I want a thief traveling with me?!"

Keira flinches and grabs Phoenix's arm.

"For goodness sakes she took down a Kirin? I don't believe that for one moment! She is scared of me for gods sakes!" Dragoon snaps accusingly.

"That's because your scarier than a Kirin!" Keira mumbles behind Phoenix.

Orpheus suddenly cuts in. "Hey guys, come on now lets just get along!"

Phoenix raises his arms. "Calm down. This friendly guy over here in the sharp blue armor is Orpheus."

Keira walks over and shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you. What are you here for?"

"Phoenix is my instructor for this quest to help me learn more about being a hunter."

Keira smiles at Phoenix. "Such a nice man. Helping out other hunters and tying up women." She laughs.

Phoenix smiles. "Yep... hey wait a second. I don't just tie up women..."

Keira laughs cutting him off mid sentence. "I'm only kidding!"

Dragoon laughs. "Never mind I kinda like her... kinda."

Phoenix points at Dragoon. "And this frightening beast over here is Dragoon."

Keira and Dragoon refrain from shaking hands.

Phoenix tries to lighten the mood. "So what weapon do you like to use Keira?"

She lets go of his arm. "I, uh, I like to use a Light Bowgun."

"Well that explains why you didn't get hurt fighting an Elder like Kirin." Phoenix nods his head.

Phoenix throws his backpack on. "Well then let's head out!"

The party welcomes the new member and they set out once again towards the volcanic regions outpost.