Millie could barely hold back her giggles as she watched Moxxie press his face and hands against the window. The man had been out-cold in a deep sleep on her shoulder not even five minutes ago, and now his tail wagged happily as he watched the desert landscape rush by from the train, his wide eyes darting between anything and everything that caught his attention. "There's so much cacti! Millie! Do you see the cacti?!"
A chuckle escaped her and she pressed her knuckles to her lips. "Yes, Sweetie. I see it."
"Millie! Look at the raptors!"
Her shoulders shook and she bit her lip as she leaned over. A flock of six-eyed raptors circled over the horizon, crying out before diving onto a hapless lepus. The prey screeched as the avions mercilessly ripped it to shreds. A sight to behold, but her focus was on her boyfriend, watching his eyes light up as nature's brutality was on full display.
His eyes remained locked onto it until the train passed by a hillside. The view from the window became little more than a display of rocks and arid vegetation that would be missed in the blink of an eye, but Moxxie remained as enthralled as ever, his head whipping from right to left as he tried to focus on as many details as he could before they rushed out of sight.
The train reached the other side of the hills and a wide valley opened before them. Tall mesas and mountains stretched over the horizon and streams of bright lava trickled down from the craters. A warm glow emanated from the mountain tops as large balls of lava began to ascend.
Moxxie gasped and his eyes locked on the nearest one. "Magma sun!"
"Well don't look straight at it, Mox! Yer gonna blind yerself!" She laughed as she covered his eyes, taking the opportunity to pull him into a hug.
Moxxie gave a small whine, but it was quelled when she began peppering his neck and cheeks in kisses. His heart sped up and he melted into his girlfriend's arms, but he wasn't about to give up sight-seeing that easily. "C'mon, Millie! Let go! I wanna see!"
"Only if ya promise ya ain't gonna stare at the sun and burn yer eyes out."
"Okay, I promise! Let me go!" he laughed.
He shook his head to free his eyes from her hand and he gasped, straightening up and leaning back into the window. "Millie! Look! Nightmares!"
She moved to the window and her jaw dropped. She'd seen wild nightmares before but never an entire herd of them. They kicked up a small cloud of dust as they galloped across the plain and their fiery manes glowed in the dim early morning. All the other sights of the infernal desert fell away as their wild beauty captivated the couple. The herd ran along with the train, as if putting on a show for them, until the train slowed and pulled into the station at Frontier.
Frontier was a sizable town for its rustic and preserved historic buildings, and its newer buildings didn't stray too far from its antiquated architecture. The train station was an exception out of necessity as it was the largest one with a direct line to the Ring elevators. Large screens displayed the trains' departure and arrival times, kiosks and ATM machines line the wall the monitors were mounted on, and there were several concession stands between the boarding gates and entrance.
Millie thought that Moxxie was going to make a beeline for the Hellbucks shop, so she was surprised and smitten to see him hopping from hoof to hoof on the offboarding platform, clutching the strap of his travel backpack tightly. Moxxie's heart raced the moment they stepped off the station's concrete floor and he felt the desert's gravel beneath his hoof. His eyes sparkled and grew to the size of tea saucers as he spun around and took in the sights.
"I feel like I just stepped back in time." He twirled as they made their way into the town, so engrossed with the shops and rustic sign posts that he was oblivious to the townsfolk he nearly bumped into and their glares. Millie swooped in and mouthed an apology to them, grabbing her boyfriend's arm before he made himself dizzy. He finally stopped gazing aimlessly at the buildings and turned his focus to her. "Are all the towns in Wrath like this?"
"Most of 'em. Cities like Los Satanio are more like Imp City." She linked their arms together. "Now c'mon before ya hurt yerself or anyone else."
Millie gently guided her captivated boyfriend to keep him from crashing into anyone as they meandered through the streets. They'd booked a humble inn on the edge of the town. Most overlooked it in favor of the modern inn or simply didn't stay in town long enough to need lodging, which gave the couple first pick of the rooms. Millie selected a room on the southeast corner, providing a perfect view of the town and plains that stretched beyond the city limits. She suspected Moxxie would enjoy the view.
She was right.
Moxxie rushed for the window the moment they entered, hands and face pressed against the glass and his tail wagging just as he had been on the train. Millie felt a brief twitch of annoyance at him for dropping the luggage at the door and leaving the task of unpacking to her, but she couldn't stay irritated at that face. She giggled as she watched him whip his head about and scamper from one end of the window to the other.
Millie turned back to the task at hand and somewhere between propping his guitar by the bed and stashing a few things for a fun surprise later that night, the tip-tapping of excited hooves stopped. His gaze shifted from the town to the plains and his head slowly swept back and forth over the scenery.
"It's more beautiful than I imagined." He whispered and the sunlight began to gleam in the corner of his eyes.
Millie walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She rested her chin on his shoulder and scanned the desert with him, nudging him with her cheek when she spotted something in the distance.
"I know a perfect spot just up that hill." She said and pointed, drawing his attention to it. "What'dya say we grab breakfast to go and head out there?"
They packed a picnic breakfast and set out.
Moxxie's wide and curious eyes seldom lingered on anything. An occasional cactus or distant rock formation would hold his gaze until it snapped to an avion soaring overhead or a small critter darting through the brush. Millie smiled warmly at him as they made their way up the hill and settled into a spot at the base of a large Reaper cactus. They laid out the blanket and tucked into their breakfast of egg sandwiches and lattes, feeding each other bites of home fries and pointing out wild wonders on the plains. They finished eating and savored their sweet drinks when a gorgeous blossom broke off from the cactus and floated to the ground between them.
Moxxie's eyes lit up. "Is that a Reaper blossom?"
"Yup! They usually start blooming this time of year but this one's a bit early."
Moxxie picked up the blossom and examined it gently, running his fingers across the soft, red petals that faded into orange and then a vibrant yellow at the center of the flower. He looked up to Millie, then back down at the blossom, switching his glance between them. Millie grinned and nodded, answering his wordless question and scooting over to sit between his legs. He ran his fingers through her hair, working the blossom into her locks until it was pinned securely at the base of her right horn. He pulled her against him and nuzzled his cheek to hers, resting his chin on her shoulder as he pulled out his phone.
Millie leaned into him as he readied the camera. She beamed at her image on the screen, admiring the tiny braid Moxxie had weaved to hold the blossom in place. She gave a sly smirk and turned to kiss his cheek just as the lens flashed.
"Millie! No!" Moxxie laughed.
"Well I can't help it! You can't expect me to not kiss those adorable freckled cheeks!" She giggled back, their laughter only growing at Moxxie's surprised expression in the photo. They took a moment to settle down and got back into their pose. They snapped the photo and then took another one of Moxxie kissing Millie's cheek.
A distant rumble filled the air and the couple looked up from the phone. A glowing dust cloud raced over the plain, steadily growing louder as it approached. Moxxie gasped and his eyes lit up. "Is that?"
"It is!" Millie cheered and the two rushed to the edge of the hill.
They crouched on their hands and knees, watching in awe as the herd of nightmares galloped by. As captivating as the wild hell-horses were, Millie couldn't help but glance at Moxxie. He was overtaken by child-like wonder. Both his eyes and smile were as wide as they could be and his head whipped back and forth, selecting a random nightmare amid the herd and following it as it raced below. Millie's heart swelled as she watched him from the corner of her eye until the last of the herd passed them.
They sat up on their heels as they watched the dust cloud grow smaller and smaller, and the rumbling of hooves faded.
"Wow," Moxxie whispered, keeping his eyes on the herd until it disappeared into the mesas. He turned to Millie with a mile-wide grin. "That was amazing! Have you ever seen that before?"
"No! That was my first time seeing them up that close!" She replied with a grin of her own.
"I guess this day is just full of firsts, huh?"
"It sure is! And there's more where that came from! I gotta mile-long list of places I wanna take ya!"
Moxxie perked up. "I can't wait! Everything's so incredible here! It's more than I imagined it would be! And," He trailed off as tears pooled in his eyes. He scooted closer and took her hands in his. "Thank you, for taking me here."
She cupped his cheek and wiped his tears with her thumb. They leaned in and kissed, weaving their tails together as they slowly pulled apart. Millie kept stroking his freckles and gazed into his eyes as her own started welling up.
"Welcome home, Moxxie."