The Search For Mana

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos growled at his stomach as it cried out for food. One month in this hellhole, and that damned dragon had to burn all the food in the building with the building itself. He shielded his eyes as he scanned the desert. it was rumored that there was cacti around, but he saw none. At this rate, he'd probably starve to death before they spotted the Grand River, though there was nothing "grand" about it. It's the only river to survive in the desert continent because it nurtured the Mana plant. The end of the river's supposed to be a week's hike from the Arena, and it's only been half a day. Unless he found any cactus at all, he might die within 3 days, if he was lucky enough.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember heard Lazaryos' stomach growl for food and glanced over at him. Seeing that he took out no food, she slowed her pace a little as she pulled her bag off her shoulders. She pulled out another orange and put her bag back on as she crossed behind Chrono and Lazaryos to walk on Lazaryos left side. Reaching out her right hand with her palm up, she held out the orange to Lazaryos as she looked over at him. "You're no good to us if you die from starvation." She said with a smirk on her face. The thought of someone who was such a great fighter being brought to their end by such a thing as starvation seemed so absurd and she doubted that that was the way Lazaryos wanted to go.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono glanced behind and saw Ember giving Lazaryos an orange, and realized how long he had gone without food, and still hasn't felt the growl of hunger, nor the parched feeling of de-hydration. Well, I can last for a week since I don't sweat and my scales take away most of the heat... however, hunger is going to be an issue if something big doesn't come by within a few days... he mused while keeping a hand on his only weapon left.

[Srgntcuddles]

Alistair continued to walk through the desert's blistering heat. He kept his hood up and cloak around him to protect his skin from the sun. Even he too was getting thirsty, he lifted his head slightly and looked around the bleak and empty desert wasteland. He hung his head back down and carried on for what seemed to be hours until he stopped; he heard running water. He lifted his head back up and saw a river before him, which wasn't there before but he didn't think anything of it. Alistair walked up to the edge of it and knelt down looking up and down the river which seemed to go on forever. He didn't see anyone, a few plants, a bit of grass and a palm tree here and there. He took down his hood, rolled and stuck his hands in the water. The water was surprisingly cool for being in the sun, but again Alistair thought nothing of it. He cupped his hands and took a drink of the refreshing water.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos accepted the orange with as much dignity as he could muster. "Thank you. it's a little embarrassing to be pretty much the only one who didn't get food while we were all at the Arena. I mean-" He stopped short as they caught up to Alister, who was sipping up sand like it was water. "Is..... he alright? Looks like the guy's already succumbed to mirages. The river's still more than 6 days away. What do you think? Should we help him?"

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

"It's no problem." Ember replied with a shrug then stopped alongside Lazaryos as she looked at Alistair. "I don't care about him." She responded to Lazaryos question about Alistair. She actually had a lot more to say in a rant about the guy than that but there was no point in it. Actually, she figured it would annoy the other two if she went on a tangent and she didn't want to aggravate her alliance.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono noticed the scythe wielder was eating sand, and he was barely holding in his laughter while he lifted up the scythe wielder. "Hate to break it to you, theres no water out here... your best bet is to find cactus." he whispered into the person's ear before letting him down again. He also noticed the marks the scythe left behind when it 'attacked' him. He felt somewhat relieved the armor could actually survive the attacks considering how hes occasionally seen how easily the scythe can kill others. However, the feeling of amazement was brief as he walked through the desert, finding the hot arid atmosphere a much better preference to that of last night. I make this place seem too easy he thought while having one hand hang onto the back of his neck, and the left hand on the blade.

[Srgntcuddles]

Alistair was too busy to notice the others coming up on him. Until Chrono had picked him up...He was too embaressed to kill him having noticed he was shoveling sand in his mouth.  Chrono whispered something in his ear and set him back down. He then flipped back up his hood, pulled down his sleeves and looked at Ember under the shade of his hood before heading off again. This time walking ahead of the others rather than behind them like he had normally been doing.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos chuckled to himself at the little interaction between the muscle-bound nitwit and the undead necromancer. He peeled on the orange and slowly ate each slice, savoring the taste and the moisture coming from each piece and then spitting out only the seeds, careful to swallow every drop of juice. Lazaryos felt better already, and made sure that at no time he would exert himself more than necessary. This might be interesting yet.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Once again Ember felt the eyes of Alistair on her and she sneered. "Offended?" She thought to herself as she looked at the back of Alistair for half a second after he turned forward before returning her attention to the large expanse of sand. "I sure as hell hope so." If he absorbed her true feelings about him now then it just made things a whole lot easier. She wanted him dead and he wanted her dead. Those were the facts and it was simple.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono thought about something for a moment, and looked back for a few moments to adress the two behind him. "Exactly how much water do you two have, because I can last the walk to the river without water..." He started walking backwards while waiting for their answer, but he kept his senses alert for any attack Alister might use. I wonder if my family even knows if I already arrived... or did they assume I died upon landing? he mused shortly after speaking.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos looked over at Chrono after hearing his question, "I don't have any. All my supplies were burned down with the Arena, and we rushed out too fast for me to even consider it. But, this orange will give me enough fluids to last the day." The rest of the day went off without further incident or words. During the day, they had come across more people who had fallen to mirages or death by dehydration. However, the rest of the other patrons could be seen far ahead of them all. By nightfall, the temperatures dropped heavily again and once again, they laid to rest in the sand.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember replied saying that she still had some in her canteen so she'd be fine. She was silent the rest of the day as they trudged on through the desert. All she did when she saw others who had succumb to mirages or died of dehydration was shake her head. They hadn't been prepared and it was their own faults. When night came and they stopped to rest, Ember started shivering slightly. She was fine with hot but she never did well with cold. Removing her sleeping mat from her bag, she wrapped it around herself

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono kept point since the desert heat had little effect, he occasionally strayed from the group to check the bodies of normals for another blade, but they all had arrows or some other projectile. Just my luck, either all the real warriors are cooked, alive, or died when the squids attacked. he snorted after checking the last normal, who had the closest thing to a bladded weapon he could find: five, foot-long kunais. He slid them in where the sheath of his first blade was, seeing no other reason for it other than to collect sand.

When nightfall came, he felt the price of wearing metallic armor as the cold quickly seeped into it and threatened to freeze him unless he found another source of warmth. So, he got as close to Ember's bag as he could, and tried to stay alive with help from her radiating heat.

[Srgntcuddles]

As they walked Alistair looked at the bodies, thinking it a waste they could not have served him and immediate purpose. The night came and he sat away from them like usual, this time glaring at Ember in particular. She looked very cold and seeing her in discomfort pleased him. He continued to sit there and meditated as he usually did during the night. He eventually stopped, looked around at the bodies scattered about the desert and took out his book to read.