Another Morning in the Desert [Open]

[Nahali]

Nahali's jaw dropped in astonishment when she saw Ke'sear dashing back to his horse. This was one tactic she hadn't anticipated! While she didn't begrudge him the victory or a drink of goat's milk, she felt silly for not realizing he could simply mount his horse and win any race she chose to propose. I must not succumb to mischievous moods in the future, she mentally scolded herself. This time, it was only a meaningless footrace. But next time, I could be losing something more serious, perhaps even win the disfavor of Yahal himself!

The thought of such a terrible consequence gave Nahali an unexpected burst of energy. She sprang down the side of the dune after her goats, half-sliding and half-running down the unpredictable surface. Sand flew up at every impact of her sandals with the dune. Despite her efforts, though, she knew she had lost once she heard the sound of hooves behind her. No horse in the world, let alone any normal person, could outrace an Eyktolian desertbred on desert terrain.

As she watched Ke'sear go thundering past atop his horse, Nahali managed a good-natured smile. She reached the shelter of the outcropping a good five minutes after he did. With all the animals clustered beneath the overhang, the two of them barely fit in its shadow, but fit they did, to her relief.

"Yahal bids us to remember that there is virtue in doing a kindness unto strangers," Nahali remarked as she unfastened the light pack she carried with her and bringing out a battered waterskin. Instead of water, though, it was brimming with goat's milk from a newly-kidded nanny goat. She handed it to Ke'sear. "And you won most fairly. In the future, I must be sure to be clear and say it is a footrace or a horse race, or else others will always get the best of me. Drink well."

[Ke'sear]

Ke'sear took the milk from Nahali with a triumphant grin on his face, raiseing the skin to his lips he drank deeply. Being carful to only take about a fourth of the skin, Ke'sear handed it back to Nahali, smiling he handed the milk filled skin back to Nahali, "All I wanted was one drink" Ke'sear continued "Cant get to used to rarity's like this." The shade was nice at this time of day, there was no tent to set up or sand to bury himself in, just shade. Ke'sear also had many questions for Nahali, but seeing as he had already won a drink of milk he figured she should get the right to ask first.

Leaning back onto his pack Ke'sear made himself comfortable, "You said you had many questions for me, go ahead and I will try to ansewer them my best" Looking out over the desert, he seemed to like doing that. somehow the endless amounts of sand seemed to capture him. Wondering aloud before Nahali got the chance to say anything "You know, they say in lands to the north there are plants over 20 feet all, and seas of grass where a adventurer can lose himself if he strays from the path." " I can imagaine myself living anywhere else."

[Nahali]

Gratefully accepting the skin back, Nahali creased her brow in a frown as she pondered Ke'sear's last remark. "You mean, you can imagine yourself living anywhere else, or you can't?" she asked, unsure if she had understood him correctly. Compared to Shiber, the Common tongue always left her lost because it contained so many words that were subtly different from each other, and sometimes she couldn't tell which one the speaker meant.

In this case, it was especially puzzling because she could imagine Ke'sear feeling either way. On one hand, she had never known any home but Eyktol, and leaving it was not only terrifying, but blasphemous. On the other hand, the idea of herding goats through a sea of grass sounded rather intriguing. No more of this searching for miles for edible vegetation; the goats could find it everywhere and grow fat and happy munching all day in the same place! Of course, that meant Nahali would be growing fat and lazy as well, and she didn't like that thought as much. Yahal had brought her people to the desert to make them strong and independent, after all, for he had known in his infinite wisdom that no other place tested one's mental and physical fortitude like the burning lands.

However, she did like Ke'sear's openness to answering questions. She couldn't help but be curious about encountering a lone man in the desert. Most of the people she knew who resided in the desert tended to travel in groups, like the Benshira Tents or the Chaktawe tribes. Living on one's own, without the protection and help of others, seemed like a dangerous proposition.

"If you do not mind another question, what brings a man like you to travel the desert alone? It seems a...a harsh life. Very difficult," she said. "Did you choose to live it, or were you..." She paused at this, not because of linguistic difficulty but because she felt awkward even saying it aloud. "Were you outcast from somewhere?"

[Ke'sear]

Looking at Nahali Ke'sear firmly stated "This is the life I have chosen, I have no regrets and do not ask for pity or charity." "Then in a much lighter tone, "I enjoy living alone, just me and Ya-soel. It is nice to have no worries except such of just surviving." Then referring back to Nahali's first question. " I ment that I cant imagine ever living anywhere except the desert, even though sometime in my life I would like to travel. But if I did I would be back before the thing they call "snow" even came close to touching the ground."

Standing up, Ke'sear slowly stroked Ya-soel's head and neck. "my turn." Ke'sear knew very little about Benshira people and was curious. "You said you are of clan, do you only meet with them every once in a while and live here, or is this just a spot of shade you have discovered on your daily travels to feed your goats? Ke'sear was enjoying this more then he had expected to, he was used to talking only to himself for days, or even weeks on end. Human contact was more a luxary to him, it was a privlage. Ke'sear commonly found himself wondering how people could even stand to live in a city. he avoided citys as much as possibal, stopping in only when in need in provisions or repairs to equitment.

[Nahali]

Once more, one of the words Ke'sear used puzzled Nahali, distracting her from analyzing the rest of his response. It was one she had never encountered before and did not know its meaning. "Snow?" she repeated softly, as much to herself than to him. "What is that? Some kind of northern animal, I suppose. Snow. What an odd word."

Quickly, she shook her head to clear her mind and turned her attention to Ke'sear's words. "I am from the tents of Abiel, yes," she repeated. "This means that in my family, the oldest and wisest man is my grand-uncle, Abiel. He leads us through the desert and tells us where to pitch our tents for better grazing and water. Every day, I take the goats out to find food and water, so they grow strong and healthy. It would be very foolish if our shepherds all led their goats to the same place and the goats eat up all the plants, yes? At night, I bring the goats back to the camp and our families gather together to eat and talk. This rock is one place I found when we came to this area about ten days ago. It was on my birthday. I remember."

Nahali smiled. "Now I ask question again. What do you mean when you say you have no worries except for survival? Perhaps you are older and wiser than you look. My grand-uncle is the oldest, wisest man I know and he knows the desert like I know my hand, but he still worries all day long about surviving. He worries where we will find water, where we make camp, where we shelter from night's cold and winds. Why do you say survival is not a big worry?"

[Ke'sear]

Laughing deeply Ke'sear tried in vain to talk threw his laughter. After a minute, when he could speak agian he explained "Snow is frozen water that falls from the sky, it is very cold. I have never seen it before, only heard of it from traders from the north." He should have known that sombody who rarly has contact with people not born in the desert would even had heard of snow.

Ke'sear was facinated through and through when Nahali explained how the Benshira people lived. It was truly amazing to him that only the oldest could lead. Anybody can lead a tribe to survival even in the desert, that one man just needed the right skills. Nahali's answers cleared up a little for him, he knew that the tribes of the deserts herded goats and horses. but it was very new to him that they had to move so often. Their herds must be much larger then he had guessed.

Ke'sear returned to his sitting postion clearing his throat before he began. "I am indeed young, 22 to be exact. But I view survival as just a fact of life, I find it no harder then riding a horse. Once you learn, you never forget. I travel water to water, usually 3-4 days inbetween watering holes. I travel only at night..Usuallly." Flashing Nahali a grin. "Besides, I can imagine that it is not easy to pack a entire clan. It is much easier for me." Taking a deep breath Ke'sear asked "does that answer your question?"

[Nahali]

Nahali had to marvel at Ke'sear's surprising confidence. The revelation of his age had surprised her enormously, as she had believed him to be younger than herself rather than older. For all that he seemed to have no family, responsibilities or even a strong faith to uphold himself and keep him company during the long days and nights in the desert, Ke'sear seemed to possess more youthful brashness than Nahali did, even though he was three years older than she was.

Indeed, while listening to his carefree description of how simple he found survival, Nahali found herself surreptitiously checking the color of Ke'sear's eyes to see if they were the characteristic jet-black of the Chaktawe. She had encountered a few Chaktawe when her Tent sought the shelter of the redstone cliffs in the east. Surely only a Chaktawe tracker could be so sure of surviving from watering hole to watering hole. However, his eyes were instead an almost Benshiran light-blue, a color that her people would have called "eyes like water in the desert."

"I suppose so," Nahali answered at last. "Were you born in the desert? You seem to know many northern things and you are clearly no Benshiran, after all."

[Ke'sear]

"I know not where I was born" Ke'sear said, "Only that I was found abandond on the edge of the desert by a merchant train. I lived with them untill I was 18, then I ran off." Wondering if he was making a impression he looked over to Nahali. After a short but intense bout of eye contact Ke'sear looked away.

"There have also been times I have been close to or escaped death by the very favor of the gods." Ke'sear began, staring off into the desert as he recalled that night. "I had been out of water for almost a day and a half when I finally came upon the watering spot I had been looking for. I spotted the small oaias from a couple miles away but as I got closer I noticed that it was surrounded by tribe.. clan of desert roamers." Seeing the look on Nahali's face he quicky assures her that they were not Benshira people. "I spent almost a day hidden in the sand above their camp, waiting for them to move. I was almost dead when they finally moved."
Reaching down to his hip and grabbing his water tin, rellishing the cooling sensation as the water rolled down his throat. Looking over to Nahali Ke'sear intoned "Do you enjoy tending your herd?"

[Nahali]

Just as Ke'sear asked the question, one of the members of Nahali's flock meandered over to remind her of her duty. As the sun's rays started slanting over the top of the outcropping, one of the older she-goats gently headbutted her on the shoulder. Even with the goat's friendly intentions, the density of its skull ensured Nahali couldn't help wincing at the impact. With a sigh, she patted the goat and bent over to wake her sheepdog, who had been drowsing at her feet. "Come on, faithful one," she murmured softly into his tufted ears. "Time to lead the goats to drink again and then hopefully back home."

At the sound of her voice, Abir quickly regained his feet and darted toward the stray goats nearest the stone outcropping.He barked sharply at them, and the goats responded by bleating and moving out of the shadow of the outcropping. Nahali nudged one or two of them to follow their fellows, and the rest fell into line, aided by Abir's watchfulness and warning barks. Readjusting her shawl to cover her face, Nahali smiled fondly at the milling animals and made her own reemergence into the sun.

"Come with me if you like," she said then, pausing and turning back to Ke'sear. Her voice was slightly muffled by the cloth covering her mouth. "I am taking the goats to drink, before the hottest part of the day arrives. Abir will need a drink too, and perhaps you can also refill your skins as well."

Recalling his question, Nahali smiled briefly, enough for Ke'sear to see the momentary twinkle in her eyes. "And yes, I do enjoy tending my goats. It is my life. And what is life without work?" Her eyes fell to the scimitar he carried. "What work did you do for your merchant caravan before you ran away? If you do not have any other duties, I am sure my Tent could use a fellow handy with a blade. We will be going to Yahebah to trade soon, after the shearing is done. We do not have much in the way of metal and stone coins to pay you, but you would share our tents and gain our protection and company. You would not have to hide from roaming tribes at watering holes while your throat burns with thirst." As the goats pressed on ahead, she motioned him to follow her. "If you walk with me, we can discuss this further. If not, it was very good to meet you, Ke'sear lone-wanderer-of-the-desert."

[Ke'sear]

"How big could her "tent" be?" Ke'sear wondered. He really did not like crowded places, even a good sized tent with more then one other person was only just shy of scary to him. Judging by the size of her herd, her clan couldent be to large. But Ke'sear's stomach got the best of him, it had been a very long time since he had had anyhting but hard tack and the occasional edible plant. Giving Ya-soel a "light" tap on the shoulder and a high-pitched clicking sound Ke'sear started after Nahali. Watching in amusment as the dog efficiently keep the goats moving in the same general direction.

Ke'sear also clipped up his face mask, hiding all of his face except his pale blue eyes. After only a few steps, he realized that his early-day prediction was correct. It truly was a scoarcher today. Sweat dampend his mask and clothes quickly as he trudged through the sand, sending cold shivers down his back everytime a breeze blew in their direction. "I think I will join you, at least untill your tent." Ke'sear said, his mind already going through the possiblties of seeing how a Benshia camp worked. If he could pick up a little of their language that would help alot in later desert travels. Who knows when just knowing enough of a language to commuicate the bare basics could save your life.

while Jogging through the sand to catch up to Nahali he noticed a couple goats veering off towards the right of the herd. Thinking he could be of some help he dashed off through the sand. Scaring the goats that hard veered off into a frenzied run. "Crap!" Walking back to Nahali he said, "Sorry about that, I'm obviously not a shepard" Then continueing "How far is it to yuor Tents?