Scorching Sun

[Pyre]

"Er...Gyre? What are you doing? Get up, you look like an idiot."

The galehound slowly turned, eyes narrowed up at his cousin. "You know, Jet, it's really a cryin' shame you didn't grow up like a proper fellhound."

"Oh, so maybe if I had, walking around in the desert on your hands and knees would make sense to me?"

"Yes."

"...Oh."

Gyre kept walking, crawling forward, sniffing the air. "See, Jet. Fellhounds can sense each other--it's the heat, it's like magnetism to us. Being close to the ground just helps the nose."

Jet dropped back. He still didn't see how they were going to find Bane in this place.... It was worse than finding a needle in a haystack. It was finding one probably-dead white dog in the middle of a white-sanded desert that stretched for miles and miles on-end. It was hot, massive dunes hiding most of the desert from view, and forcing them to climb again and again. Not to mention the ice-loving, boyfriend-deprived wolf they had in tow.

It was already a long day...Jet could just see it getting longer.

[Shukko]|]

Refia was walking at the back, but she was keeping up with them she was quiet and definitely worn out from the heat, through they hadn't been here for long and the heat was already taken it's toll on her. She stared down at the sand as she walked silently, thinking, waiting for something to happen, not saying a word or making a single sound.

"Fellhounds are weird, also, wouldn't standing up with the wind in your face help the nose Gyre? Not with your face in the sand?" Aura asked him, laughing a little, she was closer to Refia, ready to comfort her friend at any moment.

[Pyre]

"Well either way I get sand thrown in my face. Hold on..." He paused, looking for all the world like a pointer dog. "Mmmm...okay, no. Nevermind. Sorry, thought I smelled something."

Jet sighed and ran to the front again, brushing roughly past him. "When you start being useful, let me know. I'm gonna try to get a lookout." He left them, hiking up the rolling dune as fast as he could (and if you've ever hiked a dune before you'll know that this is rather counter-productive).

Gyre hadn't moved, head still raised, sniffing the air. He stood up, looking around in confusion. No, something definitely wasn't quite right... What could it...?

"AAAAHHHHH!!!!"

Gyre nearly shot out of his skin, Jet stumbled and slid all the way down the dune, and six screaming, sandy figures were surging out of the earth charging them, screaming at the top of their lungs. Spears and swords and some shiny decor flashed in the sunlight in the storm of dust flying up. Even though he was a formidable character with the power of the winds at his command, Gyre could only think to run.

[Shukko]|]

Refia and Aura were smarter than that, they weren't going to run, the air rippled in front of them, and it got a little cold, or atleast cold compared to the normal air in the desert. A massive gust of wind moved forward towards the attackers, and then they backed off a little, running a bit, but they weren't going to run away. Not from a fight.

[Pyre]

The figures didn't stop running--or one in particular only sped up, charging right for Refia and leaping. There was a flash of fire, bright orange flame, blinding red runes, and a wide dogged grin.

"REFIA!"

He didn't realize until he'd lept, in that split second that seemed to last for hours, that Aura and his victim were building up one heck of an icy desert tornado. Oh crap, she's going to kill me.

[Shukko]|]

Refia backed away, through fortunately she still had enough strength to summon ice right now. It should out of the ground, trying to trap the body of the one who'd leaped at her, just the body, not the head. It might not work through, through she still tried to make the air a little cold, but it was consuming alot of energy. Through, she clearly wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, and wasn't really listening.

Aura was focusing on making the winds spin, just to have a little fun and as a defensive move, maybe throw them into a nearby dune of something.

[Pyre]

The surge of ice didn't quite trap him, but it did something equally effective--he smacked into it and hit the ground, end of story. Lame ending, too.

"Ow...." Sand and dusty brown clothes piled up around and over him. He was starting to hate the sand...


The other figures ducked close to the sand, rushing on towards Aura, but ducking around the sides of her, not actually attacking. They wore masks and thick ox hide so you couldn't even tell the species, but they moved easily through the sand like they were born for it, running swift circles around Aura and her winds. A spear was thrown directly at her face, then suddenly the figures stopped, coming to a standstill.

[Shukko]|]

Aura reacted and grabbed the spear, stopping it and then jamming it into the ground, that was a close one, she could've lost her face right there, or worse, she could've been killed right there. "What do you want?!"

Refia dropped to her knees, blinking. "Bane...?" She asked, tilting her head sideways a bit. "That you...?"

[Pyre]

A small black nose and long white muzzle tunneled out from the mass of clothes and sand, sniffing the air once innocently. With a sudden shake of the head, the hound's head was uncovered. He flashed her an amber-eyed look, giving a mild frown. "Sheesh...I come to hug you, and you try to kill me." Then a grin. "Refia, I missed you!"

"Oh, Aura, don't kill them!" he shouted after her suddenly. "Sorry, it was just a joke."

"A bloody...if Aura doesn't kill them and you, I will!" Gyre snarled suddenly.

A hand reached up and pulled down mask an hood, showing a wide face, sand-colored fur, and a fluffy neck and chest. Feline features and wide but short ears. Sand cats. "Heh...brilliant catch," he said to Aura.

[Shukko]|]

"You could've killed me with that thing!" Aura yelled, angry, but she quickly calmed down after a few moments and sighed, what kind of joke was this, to attack them? "Some joke... I could've died..."

Refia crawled forward and smiled, tail wagging she kissed him on the top of the head. She was the happiest she'd ever been in her entire life. "I've missed you so much... Why didn't you come back? Why did you stay out here?"

[Pyre]

Bane happily ignored Aura, tail wagging as well as he looked at Refia. "I haven't seen you in two weeks and you give me a kiss on the head? Hugs, girl!" He threw his arms around her, pulling her close. Ah, he'd missed her!

"I was working on it, honestly. But these guys jumped me--and they were a lot less nice to me than they were to you--and made my life miserable for a while. Didn't you?" He flashed them a glare. The other cats were taking off their hoods now, shaking sand out of their fur and laughing unabashed. "Anyway, I figured you guys would come look for me anyway, so instead of hiking through the desert trying to find my way back to Westopolis and hope you'd appear at Aura's house, I stayed here for a few more days."

A she-cat was circling Jet, looking him up and down as though to size him up, and the black hound felt a touch uncomfortable. "Um...so who are these guys?"

"Sand cats. Not just in species, it's what they call their group," Gyre said slowly. "They were around way back when with the Seeker Tribe and Aura's own tribe were around. They're in some of the old stories...Not mentioned much, though."

[Shukko]|]

"You have no idea how much I missed you..." Refia hugged Bane tightly, she wasn't cold like she should've been, the desert can do that to people from the Blizzard tribe, they were born for the winter, made for it, the desert wasn't a good place to be in for them. It made them weaker.

"I love you... You little fire puppy..."

Aura sighed. "Sand cats? So, they're kinda like a tribe of their own too? Atleast they didn't kill us... Through I don't see the point of being in a desert, it's too hot out here..."

[Pyre]

"I don't know you'd call it a tribe..." one of the sand cats said casually, dropping down in the sand and sitting with legs crossed. "Not anymore. I think a tribe is supposed to consist of more than nine people." He stared up at Aura, flashing an appreciative grin. "He said ya was a good fighter. That wasn' a bad show ya put up just now, but...I'd like to see more. If ya ever feel like showing off."

"Back off, man, she's taken. By two." Bane said suddenly from Refia's arms.

Suddenly Gyre's eyes snapped on the cat. Great, just what he needed. He didn't need to worry, though, right? I mean...wait, did girls find that sort of thing attractive? Guys like this cat? Crap.

"The old stories say they hunted down fellhounds and even raided the survivors of the Seeker Tribe a few times," he said slowly for everyone's benefit. "Thought it was their personal mission to eliminate the 'disease'. Most of them got wiped out in the process until they eventually disappeared off the map..."

The cat in the sand shrugged. "Past, man, past. I mean, we sure had a scare when this guy showed up at our doorstep, but...doesn't mean we can't be friends now, aye?" He didn't really pronounce the t at the end of "can't". It was more of "ca" with a short, emphasized "uh". Odd accent.

"Right...friends."

[Shukko]|]

"Bane shush! I don't mind showing off at all." Aura smiled, grabbing the spear but not picking it up, it looked like a good weapon, but she wasn't really the kind of person to use a spear, didn't really work too well. "What's it like out here in the desert for you?"

Refia tightened her grip on battle a little bit, but to be more protective, and she wasn't really hugging him too tight anyway, she still felt weak. "Why can't you learn to be quiet? You can't be a cuddly puppy if you talk..."

[Pyre]

The cat shrugged. "We were born to it. It's all we know. What's it like living out of the desert?"

"Cold," Bane said immediately, curling up against Refia. "Speaking of which..." He glanced up at her and, more quietly, said, "Do you need an ice box or something? The last time you were out here wasn't that good for you."

The cat sitting opposite Aura kept talking to her. "You like to show off, then? Perhaps you'd all like to come back to our place? And...you can show me your skills?" He smiled up at her.