The wind whipped up clouds of sand, swirling it around at a speed that was slowly rising. A sandstorm approached on the horizon and yet, the figure slowly making their way across the desert didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Clouds, not rain clouds no it never rained here, covered the sky and sun, the figure didn’t seem to notice the heat. She just trudged along silently with her gray cloak wrapped around her. The hood was up to keep the sun off her face and the sand out from her off-white braid. Her nose and mouth were protected from sand by the dull tan scarf she had wrapped around the lower half of her face.

The red pools that were her eyes shifted all around her, scrutinizing every thing they took in. She wouldn’t take the chance of being jumped by other bandits... No, that’d just make her seem weak and stupid, unaware of her surroundings. She could never live with that but then, who could? A stray bit of wind came to her, caused the sand to swirl up all around her and then to push back her hood. A soft laugh bubbled up in her throat but it never passed her mouth and even if it had, her scarf would’ve muffled it. She never really laughed though every now and then she did have the urge.

The wind pulled up the sand, throwing it in all directions. The sandstorm was getting closer and she’d have to take shelter soon. She brought the hood of her cloak back up before scanning the area in front of her. There to the left... There was the small stand of rocks she knew to be. That was good, they could help protect her from the harsh hands of the storm but she would have to get there first. A glance was cast behind her. Good, she couldn’t see the storm yet. That didn’t mean she shouldn’t hurry though and she increased her pace so she was moving at a jog.

Master Ace walked slowly in the eye of the storm. Sand storms usually didn't have an eye, but this one did after all it was his creation. The sand whirled around him as he pleased. His shaggy scarlet hair felt none of the wind. The ruby scales of his wings and tail shined from the little bit of light that came through the storm. He had no need of his robe here. Once agian it would only get in the way of his travels. His flame red eye looked around at his creation as he walked. "This is the perfect place to work with my spell. I can work in extreme heat and extreme cold. No one realy comes out into the desert. The list goes on. I wonder if I can get this thing moving faster," Master Ace thought to himself as he walked. He casted haste. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He doubled his pace and made the storm match his pace.

She cast a glance behind her and her eyes narrowed as she saw the storm. A moment later she had reached the stand of rocks but instead of going between them she climbed up one and sat, her hood falling back down around her shoulders. She studied the storm as it approached her gaze hard and sharp. It was moving too fast for a normal sandstorm; she should know she had frequently been in them. And what was that?.... She looked closer, was that an eye to the storm? And there, as it grew closer she thought she noticed a red glint coming from the eye of the sandstorm.
Though it wasn’t visible under her scarf, her lips curled in slight disgust. She should’ve known. It was just a mage playing with his spells. She stood after a moment, when the storm and whipping winds with sand was closer. She took a step back off the rock and then landed in a crouch with the stand of rocks around her and her peering out through the space between two rocks. Why was it that she always seemed to encounter others like this? She shrugged off the question then retreated further into the rocks, her cloak pulled back up over her face.

He waved his hand and the winds began to slow down. With in seconds the winds had die out all together. He wondered what else he would test out here. He decided he would take a break for now. He noticed a small stand of rocks in the distance. It would be a nice place to take a rest. He spread his wings and began to make his way over. He didn't notice that he still had his haste spell in effect. He began to wonder what spells his class would learn if he were to have a feild trip to the desert. "Well, Zorgn was the most active student and given that he was a vampire, half of the fun of the desert would be lost. Maybe we'll have to go else where for such training," he thought to himself.

While thinking to himself he failed to notice that he had past the area which he had planned to rest. He quickly noticed his error and turned around. After turning around he noticed Anarela huddled between two rocks. "...And I thought I wouldn't meet anyone out here. Maybe my sandstorm scared her," he thought as he slowed to a hover and stayed within her veiw. "Hello, I'm sorry if I scared you with my sandstorm." He called out to her.

When the sandstorm died out she shook her head. Definitely a mage playing around with his spells she decided. A half-dragon mage or something of the sort, she added to her thoughts as she watched him fly past only to return a moment later. She slowly rose to her feet with an easy grace as he slowed to a hover and called out to her. Her head cocked to one side as she listened to him, only her red eyes visible within the depths of her hood. Why would she be scared of a sandstorm?

“I have no fear of sandstorms mage,” she finally stated, each of her words chosen with care. Her head righted itself and she pushed her hood back with one hand. A dull tan scarf covered the lower half of her face, everything from the nose down wasn’t visible. Everything from the nose up, however, was. Her skin looked to be a mix between peach and tan, her eyes a piercing red. Her off white hair was pulled back in a tight braid, a style she favored.
She brought both hands back into the folds of her gray cloak, pulling it closer around her so that nothing under it could be visible. Not that she had anything to hide, it was just a habit.

She studied the other, the half-blood mage, after she had fallen silent. As she guessed before, he was something along the lines of a half-dragon. He looked to be fifteen or sixteen, maybe seventeen.... A youngster to her in other words, he looking about fourteen years younger than her.

"Well, then I suppose you are used to these parts then. I am Master Ace," He said as he slowly brought himself down to the ground and then bowed. He then straightened back up and took a good look at her. He had a better view of her now that she had gotten from under the rocks, but he could not see much over her thanks to her attire. He scratched the back of his head with the tip of his tail. "I wonder why she is out here. Prehaps I should have picked a better question to start a conversation. Why would she be afraid of a sandstorms?" Master Ace thought to himself. He combed his claw through his scarlet hair, and looked into her red eyes. "What is your name?" he asked.

(sorry for shortness I've got to go.)

She had continued to study him and a few moments of silence followed the other’s inquires as she pondered over whether or not to reply. When Anarela finally spoke her voice was slightly muffled by the scarf covering both nose and mouth. “All deserts are much the same so I suppose you could say that.” Pausing, she weighed the pros and cons of telling the other her name. Hell, it wouldn’t hurt to at least try and find an ally or two within this land. She studied the man’s face for a second before extending a hand to him from her cloak to shake. “Anarela Desamino though most just call me Fox.”
For the sake of conversation she put in a question. “So Master Ace, what brings you here into the desert? Any other reason than to play with your spells?”

ooc: its alright, mine is about just as short. *pokes post*

"I have other reason to be out here besides working with my talents and playing with with my spells, altough I must admit that is the main reason I am here. I am a magister at the academy of magic and I was scouting this place out for a field trip," Master Ace said as he shook her hand with his claw. After they were done he moved over to the stones and sat down leaving her with room to sit down, but not be too close to him. "It seems as though you are a wanderer of the world, Anarela Desamino. What brings you to this part of the world," he asked as he looked towards her. He made slow circles in the sand with his tail.

She tucked her hand back in her cloak. “Field trip?” She questioned thinking she hadn’t heard right, she eyeing him. “You’re looking for a place for a field trip? Might I suggest the Desert City instead. Bandits wander this area and even with spells, it’s often dangerous.” She held back her surprise as she settled down onto the sands, her legs tucked under her. What had gotten into her? She rarely ever talked but since coming to Imythess she had suddenly started talking more... Definitely not the best thing in the world.

“Any number of things could bring me here.... But I suppose I can say that wandering is the greater part of them.” He didn’t need to know the exact reason why she had left. He didn’t need to know that it had become too dangerous to stay, that too many had been after her.

"The desert city isn't good enough. Most of my class is rather skilled. They could beat up a bundle of bandits with or without spells. One of my students won his match in a melee tournament. Sure there are risked involved, but I dislike working in the classroom. It gets boring quick. I prefer to work outdoors. Besides it is fun to think of spells to teach for the new enviorment," Master Ace explained. He swirled his tail behind him as wondered about her last remark. "How can you wander around alone, and think a class of mages cannot?" "Why would lady like yourself be out here wandering where bandits wander, of all things alone?" he asked instead.

A few minutes of silence had passed after he had finished speaking. One might think that Anarela, or Fox as she preferred, wasn’t and hadn’t been listening but she was. She was just thinking more than she was speaking. She pulled one hand out from her cloak and began to absentmindedly draw in the sand. “The new environment, as you call it, has other inhabitants. Be careful that you don’t harm them.” She hadn’t even looked up from the drawing when she spoke, her gaze fixed upon the sketch of a fox in the sand. But her sight was the only sense she wasn’t using to focus on him, she making it appear as though she wasn’t paying much attention to him.
“Sandstorms for instance,” she added. “Don’t have them suddenly appear and sweep across the desert before anything can realize it... You’ll kill off more than a few animals that way. You must be careful when casting spells that can effect the environment and creatures around you. Though,” she cast a glance up at him before looking back down at her picture. “I’m sure you already knew that.” By the time she had finished speaking she had also finished the picture of the fox. She studied it for a moment before clearing away the image with a sweep of her hand and then starting anew.
Oh.. She had forgotten about his question. It might be considered rude if she didn’t answer, not that she cared but she might as well. “Because I enjoy being out here... Because, despite the fact that this is one of the first times I’ve been here, I know where most things can be found. Like shelter, a few edible things and even the oasis.” She shrugged, “And if you’re fated to die, not even an army can stop it. So why bother to bring others?”

Master Ace was looking at the fox she was drawing as he spoke. "Now I'm sure she thinks of me as little more than a reckless mage... But then again I suppose I am little more than that when I'm by myself. I should have thought about the enviorment instead of what spells I should work with first. But, when he was around others he found it easier to think about the world around them. When I tend to forget the rest of the world exists," He thought to himself as she spoke. He wanted to defend himself, but knew that no words that could change her thoughts of him. Fox seemed one who was impressed by actions not words.

He listened patiently as she began to speak again. "Not exactly answering the question, but still close enough. She somewhat anwsered the question. An interesting philosophy life," Master Ace thought after she had finished. He looked up from her drawing in the sand and turned his gaze back towards her. "Why is it that most call you Fox?" he asked with a hint of curiosity.

She leaned back against one of the rocks behind her, pulling her hand back into her cloak. She hadn’t bothered to erase the picture of the sun and the moon she had drawn in the sand. She turned her gaze upwards to meet his own. “It mostly has to do with my race I suppose.” She paused in her answer to raise her other hand and, hooking onto her scarf with a finger, pulled it down so that it hung around her neck. She’d had to talk louder so that he could hear over the muffling effect the scarf had had and it had been starting to get on her nerves a little.

“As I said, it mostly has to do with my race and my chosen form. I’m sure that there are other reasons people call me by that, not that I would know of them.” And I’m sure one or two of those other people call me such because they think Foxes are thieves and that I deserve such a title, she added mentally. She suppressed a laugh, she finding the thought amusing. They’d be surprised at how I would take it as a compliment to be called Fox. They are lovely creatures after all.

"I'm supposing since it is your chosen form and a part of your race, that you are a shapeshifter of some sort," Master Ace replied. He looked towards her new drawing of the sun and moon. "She might tkae offense or prehaps it might make her more at ease. I'll give it a try, nonetheless," Master Ace thought to himself. He then polymorphed into te form of a fox with bright scarlet fur. He waved about his bushy tail. "I'm supposing it is nice to turn into a cunning fox without the use of magic," he said as he began what she had meant by 'I'm sure that there are other reasons people call me by that, not that I would know of them.'. He scratched at his ear as he waited for a response.

“Not of some sort, as you said but other than that you’re correct. I’m a shapeshifter.” Her head tilted to the side as she watched him shift, a faint, very faint smile stretched across her face. She pushed herself to her feet and closed the distance between them, settling down beside him so that she could gently stroke his head. “I don’t normally describe all foxes as cunning but yes I do find it nice that I can change when I want... Of course,” she added with a soft but somewhat humorless chuckle. “Its more difficult when you change not using magic though.” It was as though she had almost forgotten that he wasn’t a fox. She was treating him like she treated any other fox she came across that was friendly; stroking and petting them, talking with them freely, and often enough playing.

“I’ll show you what I mean though it’ll make changing back a mitebit difficult.” She chuckled again though there was more humor in this one. She took off her cloak to make it a little easier, revealing the off-whitish gray shirt she wore along with her dull brown pants she had tucked into her boots. She carefully folded the cloak and set it down to her other side then unbuckled the scimitar that was at her waist and set it atop her cloak. “Its not the actual changing that’s difficult, that part is easy, it’s after the changing and then the changing back.” So saying she changed into her ‘other half’; a fennec fox. And she then made it apparent at what she meant when she had said that this way was a little harder; you didn’t change with the clothes you were wearing. She managed to wriggle out of the pants relatively easy but she had a little bit more of a problem struggling out of the shirt. When she finally did get out of them without ripping anything, she nudged them over to her cloak and weapon with her small pointed muzzle.

She was smaller than him but that wasn’t surprising; fennec foxes were the smallest of all foxes. She was about eight inches tall at her shoulders and her ears, like all fennec fox ears, were near six inches tall. Her coat was a creamy tone and her eyes a dark shade of brown that looked almost black.

(Sorry it took so long. I couldn't think of a good response. Sometimes lengthy post help generate writer's bolck instead of dispell it.)
Master Ace watched her closley and listened to her reply "Well, she's become much more sociable. She's even stroking and petting me. And now she's going to show me what it means to be a shape shifter. I'm glad I did changed into a fox. She no longer seems to think of me as some meddling mage or at least so it seems." Master Ace watched her turn into a fennec fox. He had never really seen anything like it. He looked her over with his flame red eyes. "I see what you mean. You have to worry about your equipment. I know what you mean. I can never find anything that will fit over my wings. It is really quite annoying. I must say you do look very beautiful, as a fox," Master Ace said as he beagn to sratch his other ear.