“Damn this body; wish it were like the old days, in my nice body of fire, then this blasted sun wouldn’t be so lousy.”

The blistering sun reigned down on the desert floor, which Abenforthe currently was walking across, having heard that most beings were crazy to even think of walking across. He was ‘up to the challenge’, even though no challenge was made to him directly, but little things like others telling him what he can’t or can do wasn’t going to stop him from doing what he wanted to do. Right now, he really didn’t want to do what he was doing, but turning back now would just make him another semi-mortal creature.

“I was made of fire for eons, how can a little heat from a ball of fire billions of miles away be affecting me this way. I was born of fire…and if I don’t find some place with shade, it looks like I’ll die of fire. Blasted dirt!”

Abenforthe kicked at the sand as he spoke to it as though it were a sentient being, attacking his captor, since in every direction all e could see was more sand, and he had no sense of direction. For all he knew he could be walking towards the town he had left, and it could be just over that sand dune ahead, but every time he thought that and got to the sand dune he thought of he was always let down, to see only more sand stretching out to the horizon.

“Oh ye torturous gods, how could you betray me so? What did I do to deserve this fate? …Oh right… I don’t deserve this!”

Abenforthe screamed out to the large vast desert wasteland ahead of him, as if though he knew someone could hear him, but there was nothing, oh how he wished for even an echo.

His water supply was running thin, though at least he was able to survive longer than a normal being out in this desert he still felt delight in the smooth and soft touch of water on his lips. He had never thought that such an element could be used to keep something alive in this environment, though it used to be an element adverse from his own.

There was no choice left but to keep pressing forward, and to continue until he found some sort of shelter, at times even seeing trees off in the distance, but when he got to where they looked to be at, there was nothing there but sand.

The urge to adventure had stuck him once again, and just like before, he was unable to quell the temptation. He was unlike many in this world, and he lived forever. A little thing like heat wouldn't bother him, although it was extremely bothersome, especially to an Ice dragon. Well, Half ice dragon. Normally, Farrahgo would keep his leviathan-like traits to himself, but here in this desert, who would see? The only items of clothing he wore were his traveling boots and pants. His two-handed sword hung over his back, but between his flesh and its searing metal, he kept his traveling cloak, although it did little to help ward off the heat.

His large, scaled wings were held above his head, giving him shade where ever he went, and his long tail dragged behind him in the sand, leaving a long, drawn out impression, showing exactly where he went. His thirst was unbearable, but he was able to stunt it every few hours. He would breathe ice onto his cloak and let it melt, and let the water drip into his mouth. It was not the best tasting water, but it was water none the less.

He had been traveling for days in this state, running on little to no food, and minimal amounts of water. He had no idea which way he was traveling, but all he knew was he needed to get through, to continue to adventure. He was dragging himself through the sand dunes when he heard a cry.

His head picked up, and looked in the direction he thought it had come from. "Another," he said quietly to himself, a little amused another, probably a mortal, would attempt to cross the desert. He immediately headed in that direction, although taking a slight angle, to hopefully come upon them unaware. After a brief stint of traveling, he looked up once again, and on a dune, far on the horizon, he saw a vaguely human shape standing, just looking. He made no attempt to hide. Another human shape with wings was not hard to miss in the desert. He just stood and watched, waiting to see if this other shape would approach.

Abenforthe looked all over the desert on his high dune, seeing many things as his eyes passed over the horizon and vast desert in between. There he saw a large tower off in the distance with water bursting out the top of it and flowing down onto the many beautiful women below, another was a tavern sporting quite tempting drinks, in man sized mugs, and another was a winged man standing in the desert looking up at him, not trying to hide.

“Damn mirages, I’m going to go crazy if I spend any more time in this infernal heat. I really never though I would hear myself say that…”

He took some of his water from his water skin and poured it on his eyes, licking the drips from his cheeks and then rubbed his eyes, opening to see that the tower had disappeared, as did the tavern, and so did the…

“What the heck, that can’t be right?”

The winged man that stood in the desert was still there; perhaps he was not a mirage, and perhaps Abenforthe was saved, meaning a town must be near, a town with food and water and barmaids.

“You! Non-Mirage person, have you come to save me?”

He started running down the dune, towards this new face, seeming to be in a hurry, as if he was desperate to get out of here. When he came within clear eyesight of the man he stopped for a moment, to look a the wings and the now visible tail; they were of draconic nature.

“Ah thank goodness you aren’t a mirage, though I can’t say that I am surprised to see you in such a climate. Please tell me you are some sort of sand angel that is going to lead me to the nearest oasis or town or anything that will get me out of the sun. I may be attuned to heat, or at least was at one point but this body isn’t very functional in the desert with the sun out.”

Sweat was pouring down his arms and was scattered across his brow, yet he was able to hold a smile and keep his posture up. Abenforthe still wore all of his clothes, and hadn’t thought of taking any off to reduce heat, but for all the time he was here and the distress in his voice, he did not seem to be in too much danger. There was no signs of his skin burning nor any sign of heat stroke, he just looked very warm, as if a mortal had been out in the desert for less than an hour or so, but he was much farther from any city he had been to, that he knew of.

Farrahgo stood and watched as the form slowly drew closer, his eyes never blinking. He watched as it poured its remaining water over its head and into its eyes, swallowing what it could. It looked back up, and when its eyes finally came to rest on Farrahgo, a look of surprise was obvious. It was a man. Farrahgo could tell that now. He walked as if nothing bothered him, like the heat was nothing to him, although it did take its toll on him in other ways. He was sweating, but not profusely, not like someone who would normally be cursing the desert. Farrahgo didn't think him to be dangerous, but he was still cautious around this newcomer, because as he himself has proved, looks can be deceiving

The man called to him. He asked if he was to be saved. "Saved," Farrahgo chuckled, "don't make me laugh." He took a few strides towards the man, smiling. "You see, I was drawn to adventure. Whether or not that will save you is another question. And as for angel," he shook his head, "that I am far from. I am an Ice Dragon." He spread his wings wide, a proud look plastered on his features. "Well," he said, his wings drooping a bit, "Half an Ice Dragon. But no, I am not here to save you, sir. You see, I am attempting to pass through this desert to reach the next city, where I would acquire work as a stable hand or adventurer. I adore gold and glittering prizes."

He cast a wary glance around the dunes surrounding the two. "How far out of town did you travel? I have been but a few days. You look like a few hours at most,' he said, motioning to the small layer of sweat on the man's arm. "Surely you jest at being rescued." He chuckled to himself again. "But if you are in need of assistance, I will do everything in my power." He bowed, careful not to knock the man over with his wings. "Farrahgo at your service." He stood back up, smiling, small fangs glittering in the sunlight. "And who might you be, friend?"

Abenforthe’s shoulder slunk down when he learned that he was neither being saved or close to a town, making things look dire, but at least there was another person to talk, not having anyone to talk since he left the town four days ago.

“Well I was trying to walk this desert myself, but I think I got lost about two days ago, and unfortunately I don’t know how far the town I came from is, though I have been away from it for four days and counting. I am starting to think that coming out here was a mistake.”

Upon being notified of his own state, Abenforthe looked at his own arms and at his chest, wiping his forehead with his hand, seeing that he was sweating. He hadn’t noticed this until it was pointed out, never having sweat enough to notice it, and this being the first time he thought he was sweating.

“Ah, now this is different, I am the one sweating…Oh, I am only about four days away from a town, but I am not sure what direction you’d have to take to get to it. I am terrible at keeping track of where I am going, because I usually become too focused on where I could be going. But yeah, I think I need to be rescued, but now I don’t think that is going to happen.”

He put his hand to his chin the think as he looked over this creature before him; thinking for a moment that even though this man before him was an ice dragon, or half-blood, he did not seem to complain about being out in the desert, even though Abenforthe figured ice would melt in this heat.

When the man introduced himself as Farrahgo, Abenforthe shook his head slightly as if zoning back into the conversation. He took a step back to return the bow to Farrahgo, giving him a slightly odd salute.

“Greeting Farrahgo, I call myself Abenforthe, and I am a fire elemental, or at least I was. I have been given the ‘blessing’ of having a mortal body, for the time being I hope. I too like a good adventure, but really everything in this world is new to me so everything is an adventure. I head that this desert was hard to cross so I tried it myself, and I must say, there is nothing to do but walk, I had no idea it was so boring, i.e. my needing of rescue.”

Farrahgo adjusted his wings so not only did it provide their owner with shade, it also provided his acquaintance as well. He listened as Abenforthe told his story of the 'blessing' he had recieved, and how he hoped to be rid of it, and how he needed rescue. He nodded at the end. "Ah, yes. I understand now why you need rescue. I myself am not too much the worse for wear. My ice heritage gives me a cooler body temperature, allowing me to travel longer in this heat, although I will admit that it is extremely bothersome.

He turned and followed his own footprints back towards where he came from, taking mental notes of certain dunes and their approximate distances. "Well, as I said before, the town I left is a few days travel in that direction." He pointed. "I cannot tell which way is North out here. I can't even tell what time of day it is, other than the fact it's not night." He looked back at the man. "Now, why did you receive this mortal form?" He looked him up and down, scrutinizing the body. "I'd find it appalling to have to live as a mortal." He shook his head. "And you have my apathy."

When Farrahgo spread his wing to cover Abenforthe, the elemental born-again mortal smiled, welcoming the shade, his eyes shifting to the subtle darkness. A sigh of relief escaped his lungs to be out of the bright sun, feeling almost a cool breeze coming from this man. Abenforthe thanks his lucky stars that this wanderer happened to wander in his direction, but then again the fire elemental was a big believer in fate.

“I must admit, this is quite the situation, I am not sure if I were a fire elemental that you would be as kind, so I suppose I have something to be thankful for having this body. Though I do miss being a lit, and I don’t think that I would enjoy it as much in this form.”

Abenforthe followed Farrahgo, staying under his wing, and smiling as he stuck his thumbs in his belt, feeling relaxed being out of sun for once. The fact that they were heading towards a town also made him happy, able to get something to eat and something other than water to drink, hating the lack of taste it provided.

When he was asked about how he came to be here, Abenforthe’s smile slowly turned to a grimace. His tale was not one to be told lightly, and not told by himself, but there were ways to tell a story that was true without having the full truth in it.

“Well, I am customer of misfortune, having crossed the wrong Elders of Fire, taking a moment to breathe and they scorning me for doing so. Calling me irresponsible, an irrefutable slacker. Tell Farrahgo, have you ever stood still for a hundred years, and if so have you ever done so more than once? I can honestly say that I have, and after a while, can you blame me for taking time to breathe?”

He was unsure of the response he would get, fearing that he would lose the path to town and the comfortable shade, as well as the companionship of another for the long trip, but he would not let a question go unanswered.

“And yes, these bodies have some quirks that you have to work through, but you get used to them…well, at least most of them. But I thank you for your apprehension of my fate, not many would understand it as well as a dragon.”

The fire elemental gave a thankful nod to Farrahgo, and a slight bow in gratitude.

The half-dragon continued on his way, always making sure to keep one wing above his companion. Mortals died. He was not sure what would happen to Abenforthe if his mortal body perished, and personally, he did not want to find out. It was a momentous occasion when an immortal soul was ripped from a body that had been slain. He had witnessed it once, and did not wish to repeat. Being half-dragon made Farrahgo feel slightly responsible to be sort of a 'Keeper of the World' so to speak, so when something that immense happened, it caused him great pain, and he hated that feeling.

He listened to Abenforthe's tale of standing still for centuries. He listened to all he did was take a breath. To move slightly, and for that, he was reprimanded. Cast out from his normal form, and made to live among men. It angered him that the other races could be this hot-headed and irrational, but he respected them. He was sure that if he was born any different, he'd have been the same way. Hot-headed. He laughed to himself and remembered to tell someone that at the next best time. Right now, telling his companion might not be the best. He was sure that, even if it was better, his temper would not be that forgiving at present.

He breathed in deeply and exhaled though his nose. Ice shot forth, but shortly after leaving, melted into water. He watched as it struck the hot sand, where it proceeded to evaporate into steam. Farragho jumped at this occurrence. "Oh, I apologize," he stated. "It does not normally happen. I admit, I can breathe ice, but it does not normally happen without my trying." He blushed a bit from embarrassment, but said nothing more on the matter.

"So," he began shortly after, "why were you asked to stand for centuries? Why are these elders so unforgiving, and why can't you breathe during this time?" He was genuinely curious, as it was human and dragon nature. "I just can't see why your kind would do this, especially if there are such consequences for breathing..." His voice wandered off at the end, his mind taking over, thinking of any reason, any at all, that something would put itself through so much.

Abenforthe seemed to be thinking of something else as Farrahgo pondered the story he was told. He was thinking of how silly it was, how the real story went, and that for something so little he was shown a new world, a world full of adventure and new experiences. His nose crinkled slightly as he smiled, and thought; wasn’t that what he wanted all along.

When the ice left Farrahgo and hit the sand, Abenforthe too, jumped back at the sight, not having expected it to happen, but not because he was afraid of ice. It’s evaporation on the sand reminded him as to what his old body would have done, and for some reason that bothered him slightly.

“It is alright, a sneeze is nothing to worry about, though it might mean you are…catching a cold?”

Abenforthe snickered at this lousy pun, but he was never good at joking nor was he good a realizing that he was not good at it, though his snicker turned to laughter once Farrahgo continued the questioning.

“I meant taking a breath as a figure of speech, taking a breather, taking the time to smell the roses as humans say. Though I suppose I was a bit lacking in my explanation. As for why I was asked to stand for centuries, it was just what I was supposed to do, I really had no other true purpose. I suppose they were angry because no one had done what I had before, everyone else was happy just standing still, but I sought out a life of adventure. I suppose I should thank them, since they gave me one. THANK YOU!”

He laughed again, trying to lighten the situation and pass it off as being for the best, even though there was a part of him that missed the ‘good ol’ days’.

“But enough about me, how have your travels faired? You said you sought out for treasures, have you found any such spots where you were able to satisfy your rich palate.”