Anfauglir Desert. It was an unforgiving place, the barren landscape giving no protection from the intense heat, and no rivers to quench your thirst. Only the strong survived here. That was why it had become a haven for the most dangerous individuals in Ea. Cutthroats and vagabonds were the only people that called this place home, while the rest of the population stayed away. They did so with good reason. The desert had claimed many lives of foolhardy adventurers that sought riches within this world of eternal danger. Buzzards and crows were a common sight here, the scavengers always on the lookout for their next meal.

So it would come as a surprise to see that there was someone traveling through the desert, his face flushed with sweat and his lips cracked from dehydration. He was on the back of a beast of burden, a camel. The beast wasn't the most noble of creatures; it snorted, it spat, and quite often it would stop right in it's tracks, causing the rider to give it several good kicks to get it moving again.

The man that was seated on the camel looked fairly uncomfortable. He was frequently shifting about, trying to maintain some level of comfort, and every time his mount began jostling him, he winced and to hold hard on the reins to keep his balance. Despite the fact that this man clearly had no idea how to properly ride a camel, he could be recognized as a warrior. A scabbard on his hip bounced about with every erratic movement of the beast. A crossbow, along with a small dagger, could be found on his belt. In one hand, he held a fine spear, the point facing forward, making him look like some kind of knight, albeit one that had a camel instead of a horse.

This man, who was known as Lyon Camaris, leaned over and spat, sending a spray of saliva from his mouth. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he looked around dismally, the unwelcoming terrain around him causing him to groan.

Why did I ever come to this horrible place?

He wasn't too sure of the answer. Lyon had never been to the desert before. It was surprising detail, considering that he was a mercenary, but true. Perhaps curiosity had guided his mind. Or maybe it was simply a desire to something, to take upon himself an adventure, to allow himself to accomplish something for reasons other than money. Or maybe he just wanted time to think. His feelings had been muddled lately, and he really needed to sort himself out before returning to mercenary work.

As the camel trudged onwards, Lyon turned his head to the side and spotted his companion for this trip. With a casual movement of his hand, he gestured to the surrounding region.

"So, Hattie. What do you think?" It was a empty question, with no true purpose behind it. The mercenary simply wanted to break the silence that had settled upon them.

(Er…My writing’s changed a bit. See if you like it?)

Well…It had to happen, really, Hattie and Lyon, dynamic duo, had traversed to the coldest corner of the globe - from that point on, it had only been a matter of time until frisky little Hattie whined, begged, and was annoyed the mercenary (where did he get all this time, anyways?) enough to explore the hottest place in Arda. Weell…There was the tantalizing prospect of volcano diving, but even Hattie’s insanity had limits. A frightening prospect. Wait a minute, if a trip to the frozen lands of the North meant a journey into the sun-baked land… did that mean their cruise across the ocean was only a prelude to a ride across a landship? Or a flying ship? That would be so cool!

No, insanity was not quite the word for it. There was something beneath the lightheartedness of it all, something that translated only into an itching of Hattie’s paws. Perhaps it was nothing more than the cat’s stereotypical curiosity after all, or perhaps it was an ancient magic manifesting itself after hundreds of years. Whatever it was, it drove the sage cat across the lands again and again. As if trying to satisfy something, As if searching for something. Someone, perhaps?

But, well…To be honest, there was nothing amazingly interesting in this sea of sand, or anything remotely close to not boring. It was hot. There was nothing to see. The sand was hot. Hattie was hot. Her fur was hot. It was boring.

“I’m boooored.” she whined, “Are we there yet?”

But of course they weren’t. Hattie didn’t expect an answer, and fell silent again. It was too hot to talk - opening her mouth would hit her parched throat with painful heat. And so, Mother Nature spared the creatures of her world these brief hours of blissful silence, having conquered the indomitable feline at last. Or…had it?

Of course Hattie was at the most lethargic she’d been since well, forever, but eventually her extreme boredom and she hopped off of Lye-Lye’s lap. Ouch, hot hot hot sand! Owwie! Ahh…Within a few seconds of hopping about, Hattie had adjusted enough to…hop about without yelping. Since Superduckie was being a boring poopy-head, she had to amuse herself! She tried to talk to the weird humpy camel thing…Newfangled animals…

“Hi, I’m Hattie! What’s your name?”

Silence.

“You don’t need to be shy! I think you look so cool! What’s in your hump, anyways? Is it like a hiding place for criminals? Are you an alien from the Sun? Is your leader watching me from the bump? You should tell him that he needs a more camouflaged hiding place. Everyone can see it from here! And-“

The camel spat in her eye, obviously irritated with the noisy orange fur ball juming about in front of it.

“Ow! Eww, that’s gross! Bleh! Lye-Lye, your meany-head alien spat on me just because I was onto him! Eww, wait, is alien saliva acidic? Aaaah! My brain! I’m too young to die! Waaa!”

Hattie rolled across the burning sands, trying to get the corrosive out of her eye. It was a second, no two, before she realized how hot the sand was.

“OwwieowwieowwieowwieowwieowwieoweeieowowowLyeeeeelyeeeee”

((OOC: Yeah, it's good, as always. As for me...well, I'll just have to ask you to forgive me for this uber-sucky post. :())

"No, we're not there yet." Lyon answered, his voice dull. He then counted in his mind. This was the, what, fifth time he said that? Shoot, he couldn't even remember. But it was a lot, he was sure of that. Maybe.

Oh, whatever.

Seeing Hattie bound in front of his mount, Lyon opened his mouth to point out the potential dangers of this. Camels were stubborn and easily irritated animals, and a cat bouncing around surely wouldn't be something they would enjoy. "Hattie, I don't think that's a good i--," Too late. Lyon had to struggle to compose himself as the camel decided to eject some of it's saliva-right into Hattie's face. The mercenary's whole body shook with mirth, and he had to quickly compose himself when the feline turned to him for help. He just shrugged.

"I think that's his way of showing that he likes you," he reassured her, grinning. "Or her. I didn't really check." The cat didn't hear him, she was too busy rolling around like a madwoman. Or madcat, the more accurate term would be.

"Oh, come on, it's not that hot," he said, pulling on the reins to stop the camel before jumping off. His boots hit the hard-packed sand, and there he stood, his arms crossed. He gazed at Hattie with his eyebrows raised.

"See? I can stand it, so can you." Even as he spoke these words, however, he began shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. It was difficult to notice at first, but slowly the burning grounds heated the bottom of his boots, searing through the leather and proceeding to scalp his bare soles.

"Ah!" he shouted, jumping from one foot to the other before leaping onto the back of his steed. He sat there for a moment, struggling to regain some sense of dignity, but there really was no way to act cool after what he had just done. Glancing over at Hattie, he grimaced and simply lashed the reins, causing the camel to start forward again.

"Why don't you turn into a lizard?" the mercenary offered after a moment. "They're native animals, it should help with the heat." He smirked. "Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about someone pulling off your tail."

“Not that hot?” Hattie squealed indignantly. “How ‘bout you try it with a fur coat!”

Well, Superduckie didn’t seem very inclined to dress up at the moment, but he did succeed in making himself look just as silly. He felt that hot hot sand even through his big superhero boots! Hattie could only giggle uncontrollably at the mercenary eating his words, but her mirth quickly overpowered her and she fell on her side, rolling with laughter. Except…

“Youwch! This is your fault, Lye-Lye! You got sand in my hat!”

Why was Hattie wearing that big bulky hat in a desert, anyways? Maybe because without it, she’d only be “Tie”? Actually, that did sound kinda coo- no, no, stop right there. Hattie had learned her lesson the last time she tried to change her name, and did not wish to get chased by another angry mob. It wasn’t a memory to be revisited, anyways. Good thing that elephant had been there. And that lasso was so convenient! And - oh, right, sand, hot, ow, move.

Hattie scowled as the mercenary then suggested she be a lizard. Pfft…It wasn’t that easy! Out here in the desert, there was so little magic, so little energy! It was like picking up light flurries all day to pack a snowball. It would be hard. It would take effort. But well, this little kitty would do it, not for the heat relief, and not for Lye-Lye, but…

Hattie called out to the sparse nature around her - the cacti, the lizards, the other denizens of this boiling land - and they responded, each answering the druid cat’s call and radiating its energy. Hattie breathed it in, and began to morph.

She grew bigger, taller. Her fun shrank away to reveal a tank hide. She grew a hump. She had mimicked the camel’s appearance!

“See how you like this, meany!”

She spat, although she then found out that there was much more to spitting at someone than expelling saliva - for Hattie’s simply dribbled down her chin uselessly in a gross blob. She tried again, this time hitting the camel on its side.

“Hhmph!”

The cat was more or less ignored, as Lyon, sitting straight-backed in his saddle, began to whistle. The tune wasn't anything particular, he just made it up on the spot. He had to admit, it was pretty good. He went through the tune a couple of times, and grinned. Amazing, how simple it was to entertain yourself when you had absolutely nothing else to do.

"Hah, maybe I should become a composer...eh!?"

Looking over, Lyon did not see his feline friend, but a large camel, an exact replica of the one upon which the mercenary sat. Every single detail from the size of the hump, to the haughty expression, was the same. Lyon stared. Was that Hattie?

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Lyon said, his grin even more broad than it had been before. "Hattie?" In response, the camel walked over to the side of Lyon's own camel, and spat upon the real camel's side. Or tried to spit, anyway. It's first attempt wasn't very successful. After this, it opened it's mouth to talk. Yep, definitely Hattie. Lyon shook his head in disbelief. Then a wicked idea came to him.

"You know, I don't think I should have ever even bought this camel," the mercenary commented, his faced screwed up in an expression of innocence. "I could just ride you, instead!" He looked at her, grinning. "What do you think of that?" He looked at the camel staring back at him for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing, harder than he ever had before. He rocked so much that the camel, irritated, let out a loud snort, showing it's displeasure. The mercenary glared at it, but said nothing.

It was at this moment that a dark spot in the endless sand appeared. Frowning, Lyon urged his mount to trot faster. What could it be? After several minutes of silence, he had his answer.

Dismounting, Lyon knelt to the ground, ignoring the hot sand. Before him was a corpse. Not of a human, however, but a monster. A huge purple worm, one side of it nothing but a giant, ,gaping hole that allowed one to see it's jagged teeth, sharper than fine sword. The thing was obviously dead, the blood coating it's body making that clear. Teeth marks marred it's body, making the cause of death just as obvious. The mercenary turned to Hattie, his face grim.

"A sand worm. These things are real monsters, I've heard what they've done to merchants. Thank the gods this one's already dead...must've gotten eaten by it's own kin. I hear they're cannibals." He kicked the dead thing with a foot, grimacing. It really was a disgusting sight, looking into it's mouth gave him the urge to vomit. He probably would have, it it wasn't for the fact that his stomach was empty.

"Hey, maybe we can eat this guy!" he suddenly exclaimed, amazed by his own idea. "Hattie, can you make fire? I know that you really only use life magic, but..." he looked at her hopefully. It was an expression of how terribly hungry he was.

Then again...he was always hungry.

((OOC: Uhh...yeah, just improvising. Doesn't have to do anything with the plot if you don't want.))