The beginning to an impossible journey in which...

[P h o b i a;||]

Wolfgang raised his shoulders and leaned closer to Sven, trying to keep balanced on the giant bird. He looked up at Patrick, hair blowing widly in the wind. "Yes, very much so!" He called up. Hearing that, Sven sped up even more.
Through his good eye Wolfgang saw the desert horizon, he stomach churned. "Ohh..."
He wasn't very used to moving so quickly, he was glad he wasn't flying.

Connor smiled lightly, eyes cast behind Buskin. His mind drifted elsewhere, mostly on a raid, and hoping that this time they could travel without one. Connor hated fighting, he only did so unless his life depened on it.
"Wolfgang, you have a weapon with you, right? Or do you got some magic skill up those sleeves?"

He knew that Patrick and Sahara would be ready for a fight, but only knowing Wolfgang for the five minutes since they were introduced, he didn't know what kind of a person Wolfgang was.
"Yes, I do. Have a weapon, I mean." He called up, his weapon was in a holder strapped to his side now, he kept his elbow pinned to his side, in fear of it coming loose.
As for magic... Wolfgang could barley call it that.
"Why are you fighting anyway? I mean, this community outside the village and you."

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

Both Patrick and Sahara bit their lips. The war was not supposed to be discussed in detail with outsiders. Most of the villagers did not even know what the war was about, they only knew that they were being attacked and had to attack back.

"Well, it's complicated. You see, we are not exactly sure why they attacked us, but it does have SOMETHING to do with the sabbia and oiseau." Patrick explained. "They attacked us, and we are simply defending ourselves. To prevent anymore lives from being lost, we are prepairing for a war. The enemy is tough, and...special. That's all I know. That's all I can tell you."

The next few minutes were in silence. Sahara was not quite sure Patrick should have noted that they were special. 'It doesn't really matter anyway.' she thought to herself. 'If we get attacked, he is going to find out real soon why they are so special.'

[P h o b i a;||]

Wolfgang felt a bit more at ease on Sven, and lifted his torso so he sat straight. "I understand." He called up, quickly looking back down to the endless sand. As Sven pushed onto the horizon, the bright rays from the sun made his head ache terribly. The prescence in his mind sloshed back and forth, he could feel it screaming. too light. TOO LIGHT it screamed. Though the day wore on, it seemed to get much brighter than darker. Wolfgang covered his eyepatch with his hand, hoping to block more light, in hopes of settling the voice.

Connor's shoulders raised as he gripped the reigns on Buskin. "Patrick, I think I see some scouts behind. I could be mistaken, though." He kept his voice as hushed as possible, but still made it loud enough to carry over to him. With a tug on the reigns, Buskin dove down to the ground, only to pull up a moment before impact. Wings stretched, Buskin glided beside Sven.

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

With amazing balance and skill, Patrick turned around on Jester, holding the sides of the bird tightly with his knees so as not to fall off. "Scouts... Our scouts or..." He readed into his coat pocket and pulled out a small lense, a scope. He held it up to his eye. Biting his lip, he scanned the hills of rolling sands. The dust was starting to pick up, but one hardly noticed it with goggles on, though the sands behind them were getting violent.

Sahara figured out how to make Strawberry glide on an air rift, and glided down beside Patrick. "What's going on?" She said loudly. "What do you see?" Patrick lowered the scope, glaring at Sahara. He did a quick spin on Jester and put away his scope. He thought he had seen a hint of jealousy on Sahara's face. Not everybody know how to maneuver so easily on a sabbia, especially with a pad on your butt. But warriors needed that skill, because it made them so deadly on the backs of the violent birds.

Patrick cleared his throat. "Sandstorm is picking up behind us, headed in our direction." Sahara frowned. "Is that bad? I mean, for the sabbia?" Sahara had been in sandstorms, plenty of times, but never on a sabbia. "The sabbia are excellent flyers, and very precise. They know where to fly and how just by feeling the wind drafts. Oiseau have thick lashes, so they can see, even in bad sandstorms, but... for amatuers, it isn't wise to ride into a sandstorm. We could get seperated." Sahara nodded. She did not want to get lost in the middle of the desert with nothing but a sabbia to protect her. "So what do we do?"

Patrick sighed. "We have two choices. We stop and rest, and wait out the sandstorm." He paused. 'And risk being attacked where we can't see...' He thought to himself. "Or, we could go fast. There is a good probability that if we speed up, we can avoid it. Though, it's a bit tough for a first time rider..."

Before Patrick even got his thoughts out, Sahara had sped up, well ahead of Patrick, showing off Strawberry's strong wings and quick reflexes. "I say we go fast. Really fast."

[P h o b i a;||]

"Heh, I guess our decision is made!" Connor exclaimed, looking up at Sahara as she sped ahead. He turned his face from the wind, he could hear it wailing from behind them, but his eyes stayed fixed on Wolfgang.
"Alright. You're getting a lesson in Oiseau training right now." He shifted on Buskin, making sure that he went completley parallel with Sven. "Sven can run very, very fast. You need to keep your body close to his and hold on for your dear life. Sven should be able to follow us, I'll stay low so he can follow, don't try and steer him unless absolutley neccessary. We aren't slowing down."
Wolfgang nodded, hearing most of what he said. He leaned in close to Sven, face almost brushing against the thick and sharp feathers.

With a sharp whistle from Connor, Sven shot ahead, leaving the unsuspecting Wolfgang to cling for his dear life. Connor chuckled lightly, then signaled up to Patrick. "I'll lag still, but I'll be going faster!" Connor adusted the goggles over his eyes. They were worn and torn, but they were the most reliable pair of goggles he'd ever owned. They were once his fathers, but that didn't make them sentimental to him, he just liked the way they fit over his eyes.

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

Patrick felt a lively grin cross his face after seeing Sahara rush on ahead. Finally, she was starting to bond with the sabbia, even if she didn't know it at the time. He had even seen a faint smile as she rushed on ahead. "Alright Connor. Give me a shout if anything changes." Which could have meant, the sandstorm was picking up speed, or oh say, raiders were closing in on them.

Patrick wrapped his reins around his hand. "Alright Jester, let's show Strawberry that we can go just as fast." Ofcourse, he knew that if Sahara had any real training, he would never be able to catch one of the fastest sabbias he had ever seen. He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and let out a loud, whooping "JIYA!" (He had figured out a way to teach Jester different speeds with different calls. That particular call meant that he had better fly faster than the wind ever could.

Jester let out a loud screech, answering Patrick's call. His wings tightened up to his body, and the two began to fall, fast. Then just before they hit the ground, he quickly unfurled his wings and flapped down with enormous effort, flapping through the current of strong wing, and quickly catching up to Sahara.

They were having a blast. Even in the face of an enemy, riding on the back of a sabbia was way too much fun. Patrick lived for this moment, when he would be flying so fast that the gel snaps out of his hair, his coat ripping wildly in the wind. "Sahara, I thought your sabbia was fast!" He mocked, flying beside her, the wings of the two sabbia almost touching.

Sahara rolled her eyes. "We have to be watching out too you know." Patrick smiled. "Oh please, you know you are doing this just to have fun." Sahara turned her head away, but Patrick could tell she was fighting back a smile.

[P h o b i a;||]

Wolfgang managed his footing on Sven and finally adjusted to the speed. The sun was blocked out from the sabbia's wings above him, and he could finally enjoy the ride without the heat of the sun. The wind was wild in his hair as it blew back, revealing his face entirley.

Connor watched as Patrick, Sahara, and Wolfgang sped forward, he laughed to himself, but the sound was lost to the roaring wind behind him. He was cautious because he knew if he flew too close, he would be sucked into the Sandstorm. Buskin's wings flattened as he got faster, he flapped them twice to send them shooting far above. Now he could see below.
From the corner of his eyes, he could almost swear that he saw a glint of light, sharper than the rays of the sun. He grew uneasy almost instantly.

ooc. I wanna raid :3 But you start the conflict stuff :3

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

(( OKie dokie. OH! Since I never came up with all the info for the raiders and stuff, they are the people that are fighting the desert folk because they tamed the oiseau and sabbia. (remember discussing that?) All you really need to know about them right now, The men are very bird like (bird heads (most anyway) wings, some have talons, etc.) And the females are almost like angels (they have human heads but bird wings, and their ears are actually feathers (almost like mini wings) and um..yea. The clan are bird like. I will come up with the complete info soon. Just wanted to tell you the basics so you can make some raiders if you wish))

Patrick smiled at the sight. Even though he knew that they could be risking raiders, PAtrick couldn't help but have a blast. That was the thing with the folk who worked on the ranch, they were around such beauy and majesty every day, that they couldn't help but look at the world in a positive way. Even Sahara seemed to be having fun. Maybe he wouldn't need to take her to the oasis after all.

"Sahara, if you want to know how I can do tricks on top of a sabbia's back while flying high and fast, here is my secret... Trust the sabbia." Sahara turned her head, her smile faded into a look of shock. "No, really Sahara, you create a bond, and the sabbia will trust you, and you have to trust it!" But Sahara's fdace didn't change. She wasn't even blinking. "Sahara?"

Then he saw it. he thought it was just darker sand, being tossed from the sandstorm, which was extremly powerful. But now, as the storm approached, he could see bits of green, yellow, blues, and reds in the massive cloud of dust. He reached over and grabbed the sword from it's sheath, Jester still increasing his speed.

"Ok Sahara, your training starts now."

He thought they would have made a small raid, after all, there were only four of them. Unfortunately, all four were riding sabbia and oiseau. "Patrick!" He heard Sarah's voice, but did not turn around. "Patrick, I can see their shapes! There are... almost twenty of them!" Patrick could have sword there were more, but now he could see that most of the shadows he saw were nothing but simple illusion.

"Sahara, get Wolfgang to safety, find a hollow spot in the sand, a big rock, anything, then hurry up!" He flew down lower to talk with Wolfgang. "Raiders. We are heavily outnumbered." But instead of fear, a smile grew over his face. "Take him to safety Sahara, then hurry back, we are going to need you here."

Sahara nodded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." She flew down low. "Wolfgang, hold tightly to Sven, we are going into hyperdrive." Patrick pulled tightly on the reigns and Jester slowed to a near stop in a matter of seconds, and did a flip in the air, facing the sandstorm. "Connor. I hope you're ready for this."

[P h o b i a;||]

A look of neither excitment nor fear creeped onto Connor's face. Only a whisper of regret darkened his eyes. He looked at the reigns in his hands. He had heard Sahara before-- almost twenty. Far too many for the four--three of them." Connor looked up, a large gin spread on his face. "I was ready the moment I jumped on Buskin." he laughed, but immediatley his expression changed, as did his tone. "Patrick! If anything happens... make sure Bo's taken care of."

Wolfgang could see the raiders ahead before Sahara reached him, and was surprised by their plan. Run? Him? "No. I heard Patrick and you, you're outnumbered, having one less won't help your odds. This may not be my war, but let me repay you all for the ride." He smirked to himself as his adreneline started flowing. "This 'freak' has a few tricks up his sleeve."

ooc/ Sounds cool :3 I'll let you start though.
Also.... hmmn... I'm thinking that I miight kill off Connor, since he's a character really only meant for this rp. It'd be epic. Unless you don't want to throw it in there, that's fine too :3

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

((Actually, from the very beginning I was planning (or hoping for) something like that XDDD OH! But Buskin needs to survive atleast. Is that ok?))

Patrick's smirk faded as he turned to Connor, his partner, his ally, his friend. "Connor, I..." He paused. What was he supposed to say? 'You'll be fine'? 'Don't worry'? He well knew that in this job, nothing was certain. "I'm with you to the end Connor, always have been there for my friends. If anything happens, I'll take care of Bo."

It didn't feel like he was telling Connor that IF something happened, he would help out. Patrick felt a heavy lump in his throat. It was like this sometimes, especially with warriors. It almost felt like...a goodbye.

"Till that time comes Connor, let's kick some feathery arse." He reached forward and tied the reigns to his belt, something he had learned from a fallen friend years ago. With his sword held tight, he stood his ground, or rather...air, Jester keeping a steady wingbeat. Even the sabbia knew what was coming, and they were prepared for it.

---

"No Wolfgang!" Sahara protested. "You are no use to us dead. Our mission is to keep our escort alive, no matter what. Besides, even if we wanted to let you fight, you are no match for them on Sven. Oiseau only fight when neccessary, and are pointless in air battles." She pulled up on the reigns, and Strawberry landed softly on the sand. Her first landing. She was a natural. She glanced back, noting that Connor and Patrick were ready. A small wave of unexplainable emotion hit her as she glanced Connor's way, and she held back an odd tear.

The sandstorm was getting closer. She turned back to Wolfgang. "I know I shouldn't be saying this, but... Those people are raiders of the Sunamure clan, otherwise known as the sand flock. They are...bird like. They've lived their whole life in the air. They know nothing but hate for us humans. They want us dead." Her tongue glided across a broken tooth in her mouth, and she made a slight sucking noise. "I want them dead."

She glanced back. There wasn't much time left. "They are fast, but weak. Their bones are more brittle than human bones, and break fairly easy, but it is hard to land a hit. Also, don't let them scratch you. Trust me, it hurts like a bitch." She took a heavy breath. "I'm only telling you this just INCASE." She gave a slight, but meaningful, wink, then yanked hard on the reigns, and Strawberry pulled into the air. She was by Patrick and Connor's side within seconds.

"We can take 'em." She stated. Patrick looked over at her. It amazed him. In these short few hours, riding on Strawberry's back seemed to have matured her by years. She looked stronger. Still, she was missing something. But she was growing. It made him very proud. She looked over at him, and they exchanged a couragous glance. This was it. In a matter of moments, they went from having the time of their lives, to facing death.

"I think the sandstorm itself is an illusion. Somebody must be casting the illusions of the shadow raiders. If we can knock them out first, maybe we can get rid of the sandstorm." She looked at Patrick and Connor. She could see the pride in Patrick's eyes. She was actually leading them.

Sahara pulled out her iron sword, grasping it in her fingers. "Let's see how fast I learn Patrick. Ten gold says I can pull off that turn around trick while fighting off mutant bird people." Patrick looked over at Sahara and grinned only slightly. "You're on."

-----

The sandstorm hit them like a wall of glass, swirling around them and threatening to bleed them to death. Constant clinking sounds came from the sand that was slamming itself against Sahara's metallic leg, however, miraculously, not a grain of hyper-speeding sand dented them.

"I was right guys!" She screamed over the roaring of the storm. "It is just an illusion!" She scanned the blasts of sand. Thankfully, her glasses did more than just keep the sun from blinding her.

Flashes of green and brown swirled around her, and she realized that she was being surrounded. The previous shadows of the raiders had vanished, but she could still tell that they were outnumbered. 'Great.' Sahara thought to herself. 'My first time flying on a sabbia and I have to fight hordes of flying freaks.'

She felt Strawberry buck, and quickly remembered that sabbia have minds of their own. If she wanted to do this right, she had to connect with the sabbia, expect her every move and act accordingly. She ducked just in time as a claw swiped over her head, just barely missing her forehead. She had to get her head in the game, and fast.

----

Patrick was a natural. He was born to fight alongside his feathery partner. "Jester! You're navigating from now on!" The sabbia let out a screech in response as Patrick swung his sword at a swooping talon. Apparently, all warriors, or raiders, whatever you felt like calling them, had talons. Well, it made sense, since they refused to use weapons.

Jester dived for a split second to avoid getting clobbered by a rather large sunahane(the name of an individual person in the sunamure clan), and Patrick kicked out infront of him, almost letting go of Jester entirely. The large sunahane stumbled backwards, then quickly regained his balance. He knew what he had to do. He had to cripple the wings, or giving them a blow to the spine. Any jolting hit could cause the bird freaks to go into a minor shock, which could cause the wings to fold up tightly to the body, causing that person to fall to the ground. It was the easiest way to kill of a sunahane, especially since they were so good at dodging sword swings.

[P h o b i a;||]

(That's fine about Buskin, and great minds think alike!
Lets just say Connor has some weapons though, since I forgot to add them in eariler xD)

Connor's eyes narrowed as the sandstorm surrounded the small team, he took out a long dagger from the shealth strapped to his right leg, he grasped the handle from the sword on his back, it was long and worn, but still sharp like a razor. He pulled it out slowly, but kept it to his side. He could see a talon coming towards him, and as it did he slashed at it. He could see the foot rear back, and the other swooped at him. With little fighting experience, Connor dodged the talon all-together as Buskin soared up. As he did, he swung his sword as hard as he could, managing to snap the spine right where it connected with the Sunahane's head.

Connor wiped the blood off of his sword as Buskin soared towards another Sunahane, this time Buskin was the one to attack, and bit the bird-human's arm almost in two. Like a dog with a toy, he didn't let go, and flung it around before throwing it, slowly the Sunahane fell to the sand.
Connor shuddered at the brutality Buskin had in him, but was releived to know that he was a friend, not a foe.


Wolfgang watched the fight from above, and knew that he had to help, dispite what he was told. Around him, there was little of the Sunahane. "Half bird half human... I can't seem to rid myself weirdos." He laughed at himself before taking out Illus, his weapon. "Expand, glaive blade." Wolfgang muttered to it, and swung it so the bell at the top chimed. As it did, the staff grew to six feet, the bell transformed into a glaive blade.

Connor turned away from his own fight to see Patrick, Sahara, and even Wolfgang in the fight. He knew that he had to find the Sunahane responsible for making the sandstorm, then they would all be revealed, making it far easier for them to kill the bird-hybridds.

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

With precision accuracy, Jester dove in towards a group of confused sunahanes. Patrick swung his sword in a circle like mannor, suprised and proud that the attack hit two of the four sunahanes. The one most hit took a blow to the neck, and plummeted to the ground in ball of feathers and blood.

Jester swooped again, and Patrick managed to attack the already injured sunahane, striking him in the arm. He noticed the sunahane cringe and saw his wings start to crumple, but before Patrick could finish the blow, the sunahane regained his strength and swung at Patrick with a long sharp talon. Jester twirled just in time, and the attack fell apon the quickly thinking sabbia. Patrick noticed the blood and put a hand on his sabbia.

"Whoa Jester, watch it. I know your tough, but if you fall, we are both going down." Jester turned his head to Patrick and glared at him, as if to say 'I'm the navigator, remember? You just sit there and swing your little toy.'

---

Strawberry bucked again, this time nearly knocking Sahara right off. "Watch it!" She hissed at the fast sabbia, who bucked again in annoyance. Sahara clung to the reigns and grunted. "Listen, I guess if we are going to do this, we have to get along. So listen up! I can't fly without you, and you can't kill with out me, not that many sunahanes anyway. So stop bucking and start flying!"

As if on command (and it was on command), Strawberry flapped her powerful wings and flew out of a mess of sunahanes, which were just about to strike together. Sahara looked back at the crowd of sunahanes. Some had wounded each other, and she noticed atleast two of them fall to the ground, caught in each other's attack. Sahara smiled. "Great thinking Strawberry. Maybe you aren't so useless after all."

---

"Sahara! Watch out!" Patrick yelled, noticing a rather monsterous sunahane sneaking up on the girl and her sabbia. Sahara let go of the reigns all together and turned around in her seat with perfect balance, swinging her sword before she could even have time to look. The blade struck the sunahane in the chest, and stuck to the brittle bones. The sunahane grabbed at the blade, and Sahara watched in horror as his bleeding hands froze to the blade. He was the sorcerer that caused the illusions.

Sahara released the blade and watched as both her sword and the sunahane sorcerer fell to their final resting places. In seconds, the sandstorm disapated, and the battle became clear to see. Unfortunately, it was no easier for Sahara. She no longer had a weapon to fight with. "Alright Strawberry, I am really going to need your help now." She unhooked the reigns from the sabbia's beak and dropped them from the sky. "If you're gonna have to fight, you can't have those to restrict you." She took a deep breath and grabbed onto the sabbia's feathers.

Strawberry lurched forward to avade an attack from the back, and Sahara felt her grip leaving the sabbia. 'crap!' she thought to herself. The gloves may have protected her from the sharp feathers of the sabbia, but they made it impossible to hold on, and without reigns, she knew she could easily fall right off. Without giving her any time to think, she pulled the gloves off and threw them down with the reigns, then grabbed the bird's feathers with her bare hands. She felt the needle like feathers cut into her hand, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, since her hands were caliced from working with bare hands.

She pulled on the feathers, feeling more sharp edges dig into her flesh. Strawberry flew up, and came face to face with a sunahane. Without slowing down, Strawberry rammed into the sunahane, knocking the wind, and strength from him with a blow to the chest. Sahara clung tightly to the sabbia, blood trickling from her hands and she saw the shocked sunahane plumet to the ground.

"Good work Strawberry....keep it up." She breathed in a raspy voice.

[P h o b i a;||]

Connor looked around him as the sand in the air dropped like snow. He smiled widley. "Well done Sahara!" He called down. In just a small time she had bonded with Strawberry, it was an amazing transformation that reminded him why he began training Oiseau and Sabbia in the first place. He looked around for more opponents, and saw Wolfgang surrounded by three. "Better help this noob out." he murmured.

Wolfgang swung his glaive, hitting feathers off of the Sunahane's wings. Without a moment's hesitation, he stabbed forward at a larger male Sunahane, the bones in his chest crunched and snapped as it portruded out his back. Before another could attack, he swung the glaive and let the bird-human's corpse hit the other, the force sent them both flying back.

He sighed lightly, he haddn't fought in awhile, and aside from a few slices and cuts he was in fairly good shape. Wolfgang straightened his weapon. "These are going to get infected." He murmured, unaware of the last Sunahane behind him, ready to strike with a deathly silence.

"Hey, Location Guard!" Connor called out, Wolfgang's eyes widened as he looked behind him. The Sunahane planning on attacking looked down at his abdomen, a silver blade jutted out of it. Connor pulled the hybrid off of his blade and wiped it clean, not even bothering to see if he was entirley dead. "Better look behind you from now on. I thought we said stay behind enemy lines, or are you deaf?"

"--Thanks. And I decided that I would help you out, even if it wasn't the original plan." He looked down at Sven, who was growing uneasy. "It's alot easier to see them now, but they're sure damn fast."
Connor nodded. "That they are." He whistled through his teeth, and Buskin flew into the sky once more, Connor gave Wolfgang a cocky smirk before disapearing.

When up in the air, Connor tightened his goggles. "Alright, looks good so far. Not many left. I can't beleive it..." He felt releived, though he knew that the trouble wasn't over yet. A calmness swept over him, he looked below at all the bodies of the Sunahane littering the ground. Buskin let out a low growl, telling him to snap out of it.
"Oops, almost lost concentration. Sorry about that, my friend."

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

Patrick smiled as he scanned the scene. He watched as Sahara and Strawberry took out another Sunahane with no weapon, and felt himself almost tear up. It was amazing how fast battle forced you to bond with a partner. The same thing had happened to him when he was young, and he was a better man because of it.

He caught movement out of the corner of his eyes and glanced over there to find that what was left of the sunamure raid, just six sunehanes, were retreating. He raised his sword high in the air and let out a victory yell, and was joined by Jester's loud, but glorious yelping.

However, something did not feel right to Sahara. Even Strawberry was glacing around nervously. She flew down lower to Connor's side. "That's it? They just...leave? Something isn't right. They have never abandoned a raid before, they would rather die than run away." Moments later, they were met by Patrick, hovering just above them. "Maybe those weren't raiders. I mean, think about how many there were. In the village, they only sent about ten at a time, and they hardly had as much skill as these.

"What are you suggesting Patrick?" Sahara asked. "Well, maybe they were warriors. Maybe they flew off because they knew they couldn't handle us. Maybe they thought it was best for warriors to survive. They are more valueable than mere raiders. Throwing warriors away is a sad way to go." Sahara pondered the idea. "No. Something wasn't right about it. Why weren't they armored? And there were six of them, only four of us. Three that can fight in the air. They still could have taken us. No, something isn't right at all." She pulled tightly on the sharp feathers of Strawberry, and the sabbia rose high into the air.

Sahara glanced around the desert dunes. The fight had taken them well off course. It must have been the sandstorm. Patrick followed her up. "Sahara, calm down, ok? You were great! You should have seen yourself! You were a real-" "Where are we?" Patrick rose a brow. "Well, we are in the desert. But boy! You and Strawberry! A real team, thats for sure!" Sahara turned an angry look to Patrick. "WHERE ARE WE?"

Patrick paused, scanning the area. He noticed that they weren't anywhere near the origonal site of the fight. "We are..." He swallowed. "We seem to be west of where we were...I can't tell for sure." He frowned. "I've never been out here before." Sahara sunk into her seat. "Ofcourse you havn't." She said in a tone of hopelessness. "Nobody ever has. And for good reason." Patrick's jaw dropped. "The sand traps..."

Without stopping to think, Sahara tugged on the feathers and Strawberry dived back down to Connor. "We are in the sand straps. Every moment we are here, we are risking our lives. It was a trap. Some how, the sunahanes knew we were going to be coming out this way. The raiders, the sandstorm, it was all a trap to lead us here. Remember the last two expeditions? They never came back. The same thing must have happened to them. Either they were killed by the sunahane, or they died here."

The Sand Traps. An area in the desert to the north west. Restricted. Dangerous. Deadly. Not much is known about the sand traps. Besides the fact that not many have survived it, and those that did, never talked again.

"Maybe we aren't too far into the sand traps... Maybe we can make it out before something happens. But I know one thing. We have to walk from here. We are too easily spotted in the air. It might take a little longer, but at least we have more of a chance on the ground." A loud screech sounded from the desert, almost like that of a sabbia's, but much, much more terrifying. "And I suggest we hurry."

[P h o b i a;||]

Connor's heart sunk as he looked around. He tightened onto the reigns and cursed. "Bastards!" It was barley a hiss, but he could feel his blood pump through his body, his face, hot from the sun, was now boiling from exhaustion. "The sand traps... Those clever idiots." He watched from where the survivors retreated, then calmly turned to Patrick.
"Walking on the ground may be safer, but our time will be four times longer." he sighed, "but I suppose it is the safest way. Safe." He had to keep safe, he had to.

Buskin and he glided down toward Wolfgang, who seemed suspicious of the retreat and not excited, how Connor thought he would be.
"Sorry, Wolfgang. It looks like we have to walk from here. This is a red zone. Red usually meaning dangerous now means extremley deadly dangerous."


ooc/ forgive shortness ><

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

Sahara landed on the desert sands, kicking her feet over the sabbia and jumping off. "If you're going to have to walk, so am I." She whispered to the sabbia, but Patrick over heard her and smiled. His smile quickly faded as he watched her unbuckle the pad from her behind and set it on top of the sabbia. Blood was dripping quickly from her hand, and had covered the pad. It had just sunk in what she had done. What curage she had... He felt so proud of her, but at the same time, he was terrified. She could have died...

Without hesitation, Patrick unbuttoned his windbreaker and ripped off a long piece from his white t-shirt. He jumped off of Jester and rushed over to help her out. He grabbed her arm and wrapped the strip around the wounds on one hand. Then he ripped off another piece and wrapped the other hand. Sahara cringed as the cloth dug into her cuts, but she stayed calm. "We can't have you bleeding in the sand. There are creatures here that can trail blood for miles, or so I've heard. Best not to take any chances."

Sahara nodded. "We can't leave anything behind. Don't. Drop. Anything." Patrick reminded everyone. "We should also keep our voices low. Whatever happens, we don't want to be followed. " Sahara frowned. Something was going terribly wrong. She felt pain stabbing at her chest, and at first, she thought she had been injured there, but then she realized that her heart was feeling pain. Her heart knew something that her mind did not. "Check your birds. They could have gotten injured too." She suggested, automatically patching up and wounds that Strawberry might have recieved.

[P h o b i a;||]

Connor threw a leg over Buskin and slid off, he looked over at Wolfgang as he stumbled off Sven aswell.
"You kept him out of danger." Connor noted as Wolfgang ran his hand through Sven's feathers, with his glove on, ofcourse. Sven had only small cuts here and there, but the Sunahane didn't manage to cut him deeply.
"Well, he's been carrying me around, I might as well keep the cuts from him."

Connor smiled as he turned back to Buskin. When he recieved the slash on his chest, Buskin managed to get a deep cut in his shoulder. Connor placed a hand over it before taking out a large bandage from a small pouch near his dagger and began wrapping it. "Sorry, my friend."
Buskin looked away, as if the cut was nothing.

After finishing with Buskin's injuries he finally looked at his own. His shirt was ripped from where the Sunahane had slashed at him, but there was only pain, it had stopped bleeding. He grunted as he put the saddle over top of Buskin, he would follow Sahara's example and walk. He gave one last sweep of the area, there was nothing he or Wolfgang had dropped.
"Let's get going now, before it gets any dimmer out."

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

The walk was horrid. Sahara had never felt so much pain in her life. Besides her hands throbbing, her feet hurting, and a new sunburn itching her pores, she had to keep giving some of her water to Strawberry, which she wouldn't have had a probem with, if Strawberry wasn't such a pig. She poured a bit of the water into the sabbia's beak, who grabbed onto it and began chugging. Sahara had to pry it from her beak. "Strawberry, you're going to be the death of me, literally." She stated. The bird just snorted in response.

Patrick was feeling much more fear than anything. Normally, he was an easy going guy. This time, they were all endangered of losing their lives. He had a responsability, not only over Wolfgang, who he promised to take to the border, but also to Sahara. He was her mentor, her teacher, her friend. Now he felt like this was all his fault. He was too busy having fun and smiling to notice that the whole thing was a trap. Even when the sunahanes were fleeing, it was Sahara that realized it was a trap. He felt responsible for the whole thing, and that made him feel terrible.

Jester, noticing how Patrick was feeling, kept nudging him in the back everytime Patrick wanted to stop and sob. Patrick knew he was just trying to make him feel better, but it only made him feel worse. Even the bird was stronger than him. He couldn't focus, couldn't think about anything else than his own failures.

"Patrick? Patrick I think we should stop and rest." Patrick snapped back into reality at Sahara's voice. He glanced around. It was getting aweful cool out. It was a good thing that the desert coats were good not only for keeping you cool in the day, but also warm at night. There were many tall rocks around them. The closer Patrick looked, he realized that they were ruins. VERY old ruins by the looks of it. He noticed a hole in one of the rocks and noted that it must have once been somebody's home.

"We'll camp out here tonight, there." He pointed to the rock, which looked about big enough for a small family to fit in. It was going to be a tight squeeze. "If we stay in there, it should protect us from the wind and cold. We can leave the sabbia outside. They are used to the cool desert nights." Sahara frowned as she took a peak inside the hollow rock. It was littered with clay objects; vases, dishes, and a bunch of rubble she couldn't quite make out. They looked like they would fall apart the moment you touched them, but actually, they were quite durable. It was the only way they could have survived for this long. She picked one up and turned it in her hands. It suprisingly had little dust on it.

"Do you think that's smart? Leaving the sabbia outside? We have to protect them just as much as ourselves. We can't make it without them. If we leave them outside...we might be risking an attack. Not to mention, that they would find us here." Patrick contemplated the idea. It was going to be a hell of a tight squeeze with the sabbia in there as well, but it had to be done. "Alright. We have to stay hidden, what ever it takes. The sabbia's body warmth might just keep us warmer too. Sahara's right, we can't risk losing them. Sven too. I just pray a sand storm doesn't seal us inside."

[P h o b i a;||]

The ancient shrines left enough shadow for Connor to lean in, he mopped the sweat from his brow before looking to Patrick. He peered inside the hole. "It's a tight fit, especially with the Oiseau and Sabbia. But if it has to be done..."
He took out his canteen and took a swig, Buskin looked at him, but Connor didn't even need to see him to start giving him water.

"While everyone sleeps, I can keep lookout. We're going to need to know if there's a sandstorm or another attack, so we can act quickly." He threw his saddle on the ground and loosened Buskin's reigns. Wolfgang pulled Sven along while Sven bit pieces of his hair.
"Is that safe? What if you're outnumbered? We should all stay in there."

Connor shook his head. "I can handle myself, and it's not like you all won't be quick to react. I can spot them easily from the sky, even at night." He pushed his goggles onto his forehead and wiped under his eyes.
"Whadda you say, Patrick?"

[∴♪WolfurChickϗ]

Patrick frowned at Connor. He would have rather him stay inside and be safe, but he was right. IF something was coming, they needed to know. And there was something else too. Patrick still had the same feeling as he did from the fight, as if Connor wasn't even here anymore. It was odd, and very unsettling. Like his fate had been sealed from the moment they spotted the sand storm.

Sahara turned away from her sabbia and walked up to Connor. "Connor, you know how risky that sounds." She frowned. "If your planning something, please, just don't. It is better for us all to stick together." Strawberry stepped up besides her and pushed his head under Sahara's arm. It gave her a few minor scratches, but Sahara didn't even feel them. She was feeling Connor slip away from them right in front of her eyes... fading away.

Then she spotted it, and her heart leaped with fear. "Connor, don't move." She stepped forward and turned him around. Right on the back of his shoulder was a blunt object, hollow and filled with an oozing liquid. "Connor...did you know that they did this? Surely you had to have felt it.. why didn't you say anything?!" She wrapped her fingers around it and gave it a quick tug, but it didn't budge. It was hooked into his skin, the black ooze seeping into his blood. "Connor..."

Patrick looked away. He had seen it before. Once. A raid on the village sent the sabbia warriors into red alarm. Patrick himself was new to the force, much like Sahara was, but he was much less talented. He had flown into battle with one objective, to protect the villagers. He had failed that mission. One of the sunahanes got hold of a girl, hardly eight. He got the sunahane to let her go, and the raiders left. Patrick thought everything was fine, but then he found the blunt object that had been stabbed into her back.

He took her to the hospital, but it wasn't enough. They couldn't create an antidote fast enough to save her.

It was a memory Patrick could never forget, and since then, he has never given up on anything. But faced with the same thing again...the same poison, this time, in his close friend, he felt every nerve in his body freeze up. And what was worse, is that it didn't matter how fast they got him to the hospital, they still didn't have an antidote. The only hospital that Connor had any chance in was in Shifuto Aisu, and they would never help a Shifuto Hiru citizen. Even if they would, it was to late.

Connor would be dead by mid day the next morning.

(( I hope it's OK that I put it that way and stuff... If you don't want it to happen that way, let me know, and I will change my post. But I was kinda hoping that maybe something would find them al and Connor would lead them away for the others to escape in the middle of the night, and that he decided that because he knew he was gonna die anyway. BUT if you don't like that idea, just tell me. ))