Ranewen stumbled and fell, the heat from the desert being a bit too much for her. She collapsed onto the sand and forced herself to move up. She was very tired - fatigued. She had been walking aimlessly, seeming to follow mirages or something of that sort. She had no more water left and she didn't see an oasis anywhere. A few steps and she fell again, to her knees. She looked up at the sky, the sun burning down on her face. Her skin was well-tanned, and soon enough it would be burned from the sun. She thought she had seen someone in the distance. She began chanting a song she had learned in the Drow language, hoping that someone ould hear her. Soon, though, she forced a few more steps out of herself and she collapsed onto the ground once more, leaning on her elbow, her feet sprawled out on either side of her. She was breathing heavily, licking her lips, wanting water badly. She sighed, wondering how far she was from where she had come from.

Ace walked slowly acroos the desert the heat and dry conditions were only painful to him for the first few minutes. Bruno energticly ran circles around Ace in the form of a red panther. There was no wind at all. Ace combed his his hand through his crisom hair and scaned the area wih his flame red eyes. His eyes caught hold of Ranewen in the distance. She was sprawled acrossed the ground. It seemed as thought she was in need of help. Ace quickly flapped his ruby wings and flew to her as quick as he could. Bruno quickly saw Ace Flying to her and tried his best to match Ace's pace.

Ranewen had heard the falpping of wings coming from behind her. She turned her head slightly and saw someone coming towards her. Her vision was a bit too blurry to figure out who it was, but she struggled to her feet and staggered a few steps before falling backwards into a sitting position, where she stayed, watching in fornt of her at this appraoching being. She wodnere who it was, but she was too tired and didn't wish to waste her energy speaking to him form this far away.

When Ace finally reached her he quickly landed and dropped to his knees. "Are you, okay Ranewen? What's the matter?," Ace said as he looked over body to see if he could find out what the problem was. She seemed to have accuried quite a tan. "She must of been out her hours," Ace thought as he looked at her lobster red skin. Ace knew it was water that she needed when his eyes came across her dried lips. Ace could not cast a water spell in his current state. He was glad he had gotten a canteen of water just in case. He pulled out the canteen and held it to her lips. The water was warm, but nonetheless drinkable.

She took the water and when she had enough to her own liking she pulled away from it before deciding to talk to him, still too tired to get up or change her position. "Tired... Can't walk... anymore... Following... someone..." This someone she was following was a mirage, of course, but she didn't know that. He would have been long gone anyhow. She was breathing heavily still and she tried to move her position to make herself as comfortable as possible. She looked at the ground and then back up at him. "I followed a mirage... I can't find my way back..." she finally stuttered out.

"I suppose can help you out. I believe I recall my way back out of here," Ace smiled as Bruno sat beside him. "I'll let you ride Bruno. You don't mind do you Bruno. You'll have to be very careful and not go so fast," Ace said as he looked to Ranewen and them Bruno. Bruno looked Ace with a strange look, but laid himself down so Ranewen could get on his back.

She looked at Bruno and used most of her strength to get on his back. She was pretty light and short. "He can go as fast as he wants... I can hold on..." she said and nodded, ready to grab a hold of Bruno's fur, but definately not hard enough as to hurt him. "Thanks, by the way... Second time you've saved me, no?" She wondered for a bit what she could do to repay him. She left the silence between them and waited for him to say something.

"Well the first time was mutual. You propably saved me back there as well, so we can leave that one off the record," Ace replied as Bruno stood up and started to walk the way they had come from. Ace turned and walked alongside Bruno. "So what brought you to the desert in the first place?" Ace asked as he turned his head to Ranewen.

Ranewen shrugged her shoulders. "You know me... Curious... Stupid... So, yeah, I've never been to the Tehyr Desert before, so I thought I'd come check it out. I wasn't expecting to walk into it, though. Then, I saw a mirage of my assassin and I ran after it, but he disappeared at times. 'A shadowdancer,' I thought, thinking nothing about mirages until I came here. Fatigued. Tired. Down-right dehydrated. What brings you out here?" she asked him as well.

"Not stupid all though a little bit of preperation would help, but not stupid. I am mostly out here for Bruno. He likes play in the sand aswell as running around in warm places. I figured he would be able to have some fun here. (it kind of feels weird referring to dead unfinished topics) On my last visit, also my first, walked through the desert. I saw a mirage.... of my mother. I was very disheartening to find out that she wasn't really there, but I survived," Ace replied. Bruno started to slowly pick up the pace. He hated going slow.

She grunted at him not calling her stupid. She let herself slide down a bit on Bruno, resting her head on his neck, looking at his fur as if it was the first time she'd ever seen anything like it. Sighing, she listened to what he said. "Yes, I am stupid. Not preparing to go into the desert is stupid itself. Believing that the person you were after appears right in front of you in the day light is stupid too." She shook her head, not removing her gaze from Bruno's neck. She listened to what else he had to say and nodded. "How can I repay you for this? You saved my life. Is it even possible to repay you?" she asked, getting herself quite confused. She guessed she had been out in the sun for far too long. Every move she made hurt, for her skin was really sunburned.

Ace tried to change the subject to something a bit more cheerful. He knew it would most likely be fruitless to argue with her over how stupid her actions were. He decided that he could answer her question and then move to a lighter topic. "You don't need to repay me. The only payment I need is seeing you safely out of this desert... How are things with you? Anything special happen since last we meet?" Ace said. He couldn't think of a light topic at the moment, but maybe she would be able to come up with one. Bruno speed up more and force Ace into a jog to keep up. Ace flapped his wings and strated to fly beside Bruno.

Ranewen didn't even bother to tighten her grip on Bruno. She had ridden bareback on Maral, her nightmare, plenty of times. When he had asked her how she had been, she looked towards him and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm pretty good, besides tired and that. As for is there anything new... I'm applying for the Goddess of Darkness position. Many people wish me to win, but I hope for my friends to win. I couldn't care less about my position or stuff like that." She paused, turning away, not wanting to see his expression if he made a face about it. She continued on anyways. "But, no need to worry. I'm only evil to those I do not like, or I do not know. You're one of my friends, so there's no need to be afraid of my evil nature." She nodded her head, still not looking back at him. "What about you?"

Ace's face was unphased by her words. He knew that at times the light could be as dangerous as the darkness. "Well I can't say I'm doing anything that special. Mostly taking care of things at the academy. We've found that as Draco likes to read minds, Bruno likes to fight in the arena. I've taken there on a few occasions. He is pretty good...," Ace said. His voice trailed off as he recalled bruno's first match. Bruno's slaughtering of his first oppent wasn't the best conversation peice even for one who could be the future goddess of darkness.

Ranewe nodded her head, taking in what had been said by Master Ace. She looked down at Bruno beneath her. I hope he has half a mind as to not try and hurt me... she thought and shuddered slightly. She let her head hang low, her against her chest. She thought about what she had to come this far out int o the desert for nothing. She sighed slightly and shook her head in anger. Covering it up, she finally stated, "I see. A good fighter can always be of good use, no?"

"Well I see what you mean. I never thought he would be one for fighting. His mind tends to float around freely. To him it is all just a game," Ace said recalling how Bruno had nudged skorne's lifeless body with his paw as if to waken his new playmate. It was now that Bruno worked his way into a sprint. Feeling the wind against his face was a feeling that Bruno liked. Tethyr City slowy came into veiw in the distance.

"Death is a game. We all play a part in it. None of us know it, though. Or we do not acknowledge the fact that none of us are innocent. There is eivl in the most pure of hearts," she said half-heartedly, as if she didn't care anymore. She rose her gaze as Bruno sped up the speed, clutching to hsi fur. She watched as the City of Talas came into view. It looked wonderful form where they were. And it meant "red wine" when she went to the Bloodseal Tavern. Although as disgusting as it was, it was still her favorite tavern. It was the only one which offered her her favorite drink.