Exploration of the Desert Isle (Blaze)

[Aeos]

It had been a few days since the events of the sandstorm. Once their bodies had healed up a bit from their injuries Aeos began to train Blaze a bit in the art of kicking. The training also served as a bit of a refresher for him. In order to help focus on strictly kicking Aeos had kept his hands tied behind his back. This made balance a bit difficult especially on a swaying ship. But after a few falls he started to understand his balances on the ship. He urged Blaze to do the same. Out of safety Aeos had Blaze practice with out his hands tied behind his back. He had the young myrmidon practice his kicks on the wooden mast. Which had been lined with rope in order to be a bit softer. Today started off with some routine morning training.

"Once we hath fully recovered.. or thou feels as if you are ready for it. You shall spar against me. Though I do think we should be doing that after our exploration in the sands."

Aeos turned away to look out towards the island. He tapped into his powers briefly to get a reading of the wind. He closed his eyes to hide the slight reptilian look they took whenever he did a standard weather reading. Today seemed to be a good day to explore. Normally he would push himself beyond his usual boundaries to get a prediction for tomorrow's forecast but he opted against it. The events of the storm had rattled him in more ways then one. The other part of him, his dragon side of him, wished to come out. He was still reeling a bit from the storm. And out of instinct he felt the occasional urge to shift in order to protect himself. Thankfully Aeos had enough discipline not to. He shook his head again. Snap out of it.

"The... weather promises to be good today. So if there is not more that needs to be doing around the ship perhaps we should explore."

[Kazeroï]

The day after the sandstorm, both of the wanderers took a much needed rest. The following days were training, and a very harsh one. Despite being a quick learner, Blaze got to practice more than he can count to master fully his balance even on moving ground. After a few days, Blaze felt confident in his martial art. He was still far from Aeos, but that would do as a base to work on the rest. He eventually got to train his quick movement with fast kicks and spins.
As Blaze was moving around and swinging his sword while constantly kicking and shouting, Aeos finally put him out of his trance.

"A student versus his master? You know that I would lose. We will have the time for that later indeed, for now, let's focus again on our objective. The temple."

Blaze felt that his adventure was now starting anew, but this time, he wasn't alone. His body and mind were fully healed from the storm, but he wasn't sure about Aeos. While he didn't shown any signs of injuries, he did had some time where he was spacing out in a weird way. It wasn't the first time and Blaze didn't knew if it was a natural thing for him or if he was hiding something under it. Unable to be sure of it, he decided to leave it be.

His master mentioned the weather, it was very sunny and windy today, a great weather indeed. But Blaze decided he would check too. After a moment of silence, he had no objection, the weather would be perfect for the next few hours at least. Blaze was taking his time to check his body, everything seemed healed up and ready for another beat down.

"Well, I look ready to get nearly killed again ahaha! Let's hit the road shall we?"

Blaze finished to pack his bag, he put on a large black scarf and his cloak.
"Sword? Check. Knifes? Check. Got that scarf, cloak, water, food. Hum... I'm running low on plants and medical supplies... This might cause problem."
Blaze began to create a large variety of poison and antidote, if the temple was trapped, poison was a possibility. And if it was inhabited even more. After making small potions with the rest of his supplies, he gave one to Aeos.

"Now this... This is very dangerous. This is pure and concentrate adrenaline. If you're about to get killed and you are too tired, drink one glup of this. The effect takes a few minutes to appear, but they are extremely potent. To put it simply, drink this and you will awaken the beast within you in the next minutes. But careful, your heart can stop if you drink too much. The dose is enough to kill you here, don't drink down the whole bottle in one go."

Blaze sighted as they began to walk on the land.
"Last thing, I've noticed that you've been spacing out quite frequently during theses few days. If anything is up, just tell me. We good? Okay, let's wander in the ocean of sand..."

[Aeos]

Aeos sighed softly. Although he knew Blaze meant well, but he was not about to accept mystery potions. Especially ones that might make your heart explode or release his inner beast. Last time he released his dragon self, a wyvern died and he was a mess for weeks. Even now he wasn't still fully back to his old self and part of him might not ever be.

"I.. shall pass. Thank you though Blaze. And while I accept thy complements. I am far from being any master. I am a student of life. Always learning.." He went ahead and got his belongings together. Survival items. Some dried foods, water, a knife, some bandages, a cloak, scarf, rope, a shovel, and goggles.

"I.. am sorry for the spacing. Tis be something... I do after getting knocked around. It's..light reflection.." He gave a soft smile. While it wasn't a lie it wasn't exactly true. His reflections were simply him tapping into his powers... Containing his powers. He couldn't let Blaze know that on account that humans and dragons don't see eye to eye.

"But like all things there is a time and place for them.. if it bothers thee then I shall... Try not to space out as much." He spoke as he walked along the sandy isle.

"Ah. If only one could swim upon the sea oft sand. Mayhaps it would get us to the ruins faster." He gave a light chuckle. Aeos took the map with them and slowly began to guide the pair to the right place. This trip possibly might take, half a day to arrive at the right place. Provided that they don't get lost or get ambushed. And then they has to hope the ruins were above ground. I wonder if we can fall through the ruin entrance like before.

[Kazeroï]

"Really?? I spend resources on theses! But you must be right, they are too dangerous anyway. I still have a few things if you need against pain and some illness. And a strong anesthetic, but that's for when you must calm someone."
(Well, there is one thing where he is right. A true master is an eternal student. Maybe I shouldn't be so confident in myself...)
"It's not that it bothers me, I just didn't knew if it was natural for you. At least I know now. Let's us make way now."

Both began their journey into the desert, the infinity of the orange ocean was a delight for Blaze, he felt comfortable, but not as much as usual. Climbing was harsh, but the fall was the best reward, and Blaze didn't even bothered to walk down, he would just let himself slide or roll, which was eventually making his head spin. But whatever, it was fun.
"You see, when you are a child and you are thrown in this world, you have to take the small things. Rolling down a hill seems childish, but it keeps you happy."

The map was accurate enough so that Aeos could readjust their direction after each hill they climbed. The landscape was different from the main continent , the hills were much closer to each other and the wind was making small tornado of sand. They were harmless and beautiful to see. But as they got closer to the indicated place, the sun got a lot harsher and Blaze usual joy drown in the heat.

"It's not here..." whispered Blaze to himself before realizing Aeos listened to him.
"Oh no, not about the temple... It's... not here. Don't you feel like this isn't like in Nabata? I feel like something is missing. And something important. Maybe it's just hallucinating because of the sun."
Blaze put on a hood and decided to hid his face more to protect himself from the burning star. But soon, the entrance of a temple was in sight. It was still fairly in the sand, but the entrance was clearly accessible and maintained to be so.

"This... is not good. Look, the sand is constantly removed to leave the entrance open. This is by far the lowest point of the desert. They had to dig it. Yeah... They. And that's where the problem is. We will have company."
The temple was maintained in condition to be accessible. Maybe it was already raid. But then again, why moving the sand around to let the door open?
"People might use it as a safe place in the middle of the desert. Or maybe it's a stronghold... Let's move around it to see from a different angle."
As they moved around the temple, they were now technically above it, and guess what.
"The sand. It's not the same as... Oh no."
The sand quickly got drained by something, like a hold in the ground just opened itself. They both fell, Blaze definitely got a hard hit on the head and was knocked out.

[Aeos]

As the pair trailed on through the desert sand Aeos took a moment to appreciate the land. Although the desert isle was a smaller variant of the mainland, it had it’s own little subtle charm. The air wasn’t nearly as dry as it was back in the mainland. At least to him it wasn’t. The air around here carried trace amounts of the sea water. Aeos could smell it. Even the wind spirits of the isle seemed to be different. They seemed calmer. Maybe because they aren’t as hot? Then that oft the main land. As they climbed the the sand dunes a smile etched on Aeos’ face as he watched Blaze roll down the dunes.

“Roll down as many hills as thou wants. I know how important it is to appreciate the small things. I personally am fond oft taking an old sack and placing it upon my stomach before sliding down. These dunes be more pleasant to roll down than the rockier slopes oft the mountains.”

Aeos choose not to roll down hills, he prefered to slide down. When the sun reached it’s highest, Aeos opted to pull his cloak up. He tied a scarf around him so the hood wouldn’t fall as much. The goggles he salvaged off the ship served him well in keeping some of the finer sands out of his eyes. Great.. Our Eyes look like one oft those dragonflies. The other part of him commented. They reached the temple with his guidance.

The entrance to the temple had seen better days. A sandy colored pillar was toppled over leaving a triangle shaped hole to serve as an entrance. Blaze made an interesting point. The hole was dug out which meant that people had used this building. Perhaps to raid it or to use it as a shelter. He also noted small snake trails and several animal prints. Humans were not the only inhabitants of the desert. Aeos took a glance at the remaining standing pillars. He could barely make out the eroded writing on them. S-a-n…? He then shook his head. The rest was impossible to read. This temple was different than the one he saw with Locke.

Blaze opted to find another way in so that the two of them didn’t run into an ambush by.. whoever or whatever could be inside. This is a bad idea.. Aeos mused to himself before following Blaze. Aeos could hear something.. the subtle.. continuous sound of falling sand.. like the one an hour glass. The dragon looked at his feet then at Blaze’s.

“..Wait! Don’t move!” Too late. Blaze had fallen through the structure and into the temple below. Aeos was at the edge of the rooftop before it collapsed in on itself. Blaze fell straight through the center taking with him a large portion of the sand and rocks. Aeos fell down and landed on the stone floor. Out of instinct he was half shifted. The scales of his dragon side now covered a good portion of his body. From the tips of his toes up to the tips of his ears. Fortunately most of it was covered by clothes. His teeth were a bit sharper than normal and his eyes were draconic. His nails were black and his hands had a slightly scaled appearance. This half shifted appearance made him look like a lizard man. Again.. most of the changes were hidden away.

“Damn it! Stupid brat!” He hissed. His half shifted self was different than his normal self. This form of him was.. more.. “honest”... Perhaps jerk ass was a better term..But it was great at survival. Aeos took a moment to adjust to this sudden change. His senses were more heightened than normal. He sighed and went off towards Blaze. He slowly dug out the young myrmidon from the sandy rubble and dragged him to the side. I should let nature take care of you.. and leave you to die. Despite the thoughts running through him Aeos slowly examined Blaze and gently patched him up as best he could.

He then took a few paces back and looked around to assess the situation. It was dark. Really dark, save for the light coming from the hole in the celing. Aeos walked into the shadows hoping to find something to make a torch with.

[Kazeroï]

Blaze was unconscious, but things were moving in his mind. In this trance state, he saw a woman. With long pink hair, a sword at her side.
"Mother..."
"Blaze. My son. Out of Nabata's desert, its spirit cannot protect you. But don't fear, you are not alone. You have a friend."

"... She faded away... The spirit of the desert? I did felt something protecting me during those years in the desert. It's gone now. I must be more careful. What the?"
Flames. Flames everywhere. A consuming fire was burning everything around him in a terrible sandstorm. Both terrifying and beautiful, Blaze was in shock and didn't reacted. He was scared about what was happening. Suddenly, a form appeared in the mist.
"Aeos? AEOS! I'M HERE!! I'm... Aeos?"
The menacing form seemed to look like Aoes, but not exactly like him. He got closer and closer. Blaze felt at ease once he saw his friends face, but suddenly felt a strong pain in the chest. He planted his hand inside him and proceed to pull out his heart.

"!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT!!! I'm your... friend."

The sand storm increased and the shadow disappeared. Blaze was shaking, unable to comprehend what was happening. Was he hallucinating? The pain faded just like Aeos. A feeling from his guys was rising. Anger. He felt betrayed. In this form of rage, he felt like he was going to the surface again. His eyes suddenly open themselves and he awaken from his coma. Blaze stood up very quickly, his hand on the guard of his blade. A small aura of sand was turning around him. His hair were flying in an abnormal way. He was breathing very quickly and his eyes were glowing. It immediately stopped and Blaze fell on his knee, feeling a strange form of exhaustion.
"Calm down... Remember what the teacher said. Deep breaths."
(What is happening to me? This felt so... real! And I'm having this strange aura again.)
Blaze strong affinity to fire ends up allowing him to gather small essence of magic around him. While harmless, it is something he picked up by being so much exposed to anima mages. Besides the cool factor, it had no effect whatsoever.

Blaze drank a large amount of water to gather his senses. Aeos wasn't here, but he seemed to have fell as well. Blaze cursed himself for his foolishness. How did he not see that coming? He quickly checked himself. Aeos did patched him up. His mind was a bit fogy and he looked for Aeos.

"Oh you're here. Sorry about this. I should have known... Thanks for taking care of me though. I'll repay you. What does this look like though? Do we have company?"

Blaze did noticed something odd on Aeos. Just like something was... Off. He blamed the coma for it and came closer to his friend.

[Aeos]

Aeos shook his head lightly. It seemed that Blaze was already awake, much to his dismay. He had hoped the young myrmidon would stay unconscious for a little while longer. Damn it.. what's with the children of men being so damn resilient! He almost felt the urge to hiss at the young man. Their entrance was noisy which meant it could attract the attention of anyone else who happened to be in the ruins with them. He sighed. After confirming and checking that Blaze was ok. He decided that the safest option would be to secure a way out. Aeos instructed Blaze to stay put in the shadows and keep recovering. The young dragon slowly made his way up to the highest point of the rubble and jumped until his hand found one of the edges of the collapsed roof. He pulled himself out and grabbed the rope he carried on him. He tied it down to the remaining standing pillar and dropped it down towards Blaze. As the young myrmidon climbed up out of the hole, Aeos kept his back to him. He needed a moment to return to his normal self. It was a slow process as his dragon self resisted the change, but he managed.

The pair of them decided to return back to the ship. And after a few more days of recovery the both of them returned to the Nabatan main land. Upon his return to the main land, Aeos parted ways with Blaze. He made a copy of the map for his own private records. Perhaps one day he will return to that temple and uncover its secrets.

End Thread