Starlight

[The Future Warrior]

Summoning things was, as always, an exercise in patience and concentration that Graowr sorely lacked. It was hard to keep her focus on something that she couldn't see happening in front of her. The fact it took minutes at a time even for the smallest and simplest of objects didn't... It didn't help at all, really.

She had had entire fights that lasted less time than what it took to do something silly like use this Omnilium stuff to summon up a baseball!

Not...not that a baseball would really be helpful in the current situation, y'know, but...

...what was she doing again?

The disgruntlement of the Sage was almost palpable as he reminded her for what had to be the fourth time. The excitement and curiosity with which she regarded what might possibly be a one-way trip into the inhospitable reaches of this mass of sand and heat was exhausting, and it showed on his features as he doggedly struggled along with the seemingly boundless energy of the child-like abomination.

When they finally got underway, it was the old scribe leading the way. He had eventually given up on it and resigned himself to summon two horses, somehow getting the feeling the majin didn't even know how to spell horse, much less properly summon one. At least not one suited to surviving a long trip in the desert, at any rate.

"So it's gonna be about a week, you said?" she finally spoke up after an inordinate amount of time somewhere between five minutes and two hours. When the old man gave his affirmation that that was indeed what he had said, she just cocked her head to one side, lapsing into silence for another sequence of minutes. "How can you tell just from reading over the notes and stuff?"

The sigh that answered her was one of being tired, not exactly of being frustrated. "I can't tell with exact precision, of course. Just some estimations based on the notes and charts that Dupree drew up." He halted his speech as a sharp gust ripped across the sand, trailing a wall of grit and heat behind it. "...the angle of the star's descent and his theorized point of impact, and his own explorations and charting of the area to form an idea of its size. All things which point to a rough outline." He looked back over his shoulder at the diminutive demon. "So it is just a guess, you see, but..." He trailed off, seeing that his companion wasn't even looking at him.

She was in fact staring rather pointedly off to the side. Seated cross legged astride the horse she'd been given, arms crossed over her chest, and a ragged cloak to keep out the worst of sun and sand trailing behind her. And her head turned nearly ninety degrees to her right, eyes staring unblinkingly at something in the distance.

"What are you looking at?" the Sage finally asked, craning his neck around to peer in that direction.

"Lizard," she answered simply, shifting an arm to point off toward the horizon.

Even with her pointing it out, it took almost a minute for him to finally spot it. A titanic thing, the size of an elephant, or even some vehicles that prowled the Omniverse. Dull beige colored scales and hide, letting it sit in plain sight among the sand and rocks, the shimmering hazes of heat during the day making it almost invisible at any real distance. "Yes, it's...certainly a lizard, alright," he spoke up. Though really it looked more like some kind of dragon, given its sheer size. "What's so interesting about it?"

"I think it's a predator. It's been watching us." She nodded to that, as if it should be obvious and turned back to face him. "But it's lazy. If we don't get any closer it should just go back to sleep."

"Yes..." The Sage just adjusted his posture and hold on the reins of his horse. "Let's just leave it be, then." He turned back forward, reminding himself it wasn't just the inhospitable terrain and lack of water that would be dangerous on this little excursion. The Dunes were chock-full of predators, both from the animal kingdom and more humanoid threats.

"This place is weird," the majin supplied, as she craned her neck around to sweep their surroundings. "All this sand and space, and so empty. Barely find anything alive..." She trailed off, tilting her head and snapping an arm up to tap at her scouter. Leaning over to one side and looking toward the sand she gave a thoughtful 'hmmm' and slowly tilted back upright. "Well, above the ground, at least! Plenty around here alive. Just hiding out of the sun, I guess."

"An astute observation," the old man responded, with a brief nod. As amusing as her antics could be, and her general clueless state, there were some occasional moments of surprising clarity. And even such simple observations could prove useful. Reminders that threats wouldn't always be so kind as to come from a direction you could easily see were never in profuse enough supply.

"Hey, hey." She leaned forward in the saddle, hands both planted securely on the horn. Her eyes blinked once, then again. Only when the old lorekeeper craned around in his saddle to look back at her did she continue. "What, uh...whats 'astute' mean?"

He almost laughed at the question. Almost. Instead, an amused sigh left him as he turned back to face front. "It means...being sharp. A clear ability to accurately assess a situation, in short," he supplied. And he swiftly held up a hand, index finger raised to forestall the inevitable followup question he knew was coming. "In this instance, 'sharp' refers to being quick, with rapid perception or comprehension. Not like the edge of a knife or other blade."

"Ooooh." The azure creature nodded to that, leaning back to right her posture again. "That's like some kind of smart person compliment."

"Yes...yes it is," the Sage agreed, hunching slightly in the saddle, returning his focus to their long, load road they still had to trek.

"Smart people use funny words." With that pearl of wisdom, Graowr lapsed back into silence again, staring off into the hazy mirages of the distant dunes.

Word Count -- This Post: 1,047 // Word Count (Graowr): 7,466 // Quest Word Count: 12,436
Character Count -- This Post: 5,933 // Character Count (Graowr): 41,949