((I guess we'll start now if no one objects?))

The wind began to pick up as the gate encircling the small desert town came into view.  If you could call a few pieces of sun-bleached wood carelessly nailed together a gate.  Like everything else that existed in the Wastelands, this town, and its' inhabitants, were worn down by the harsh sun and lack of rain.

Rough grains of sand picked up by the wind buffeted her exposed skin, and Kioko pulled the rough fabric of her cloak closer together as she pas.sed through the town gate.  The only living thing that she could see was a old hound resting in the sparse shade of one of the rundown buildings front walkways.  It raised its' head just enough to look her over as she pas.sed, then went back to sleeping.

Kioko pulled the cloth mask further up on her face as she looked around at the buildings in the town.  There were only a handful of real ones in the whole town, the rest being small shanties that other exiles had scrounged together as some sort of protection from the sandstorms that the desert wasteland was well known for.  Looking at the faded signs hanging from each of the major buildings she was able to make out a tavern.  Head bowed and covered by the hood of her cloak, the former shinobi stepped inside the swinging doors.

The inside was dark due to the grime covered windows, and it took a moment for Kiokos' eyes to adjust.  She situated herself at a table in the corner, back to the wall, where she could keep watch over the rest of the bars' occupants.  People who inhabited these desert towns would usually keep to themselves and mind their own business, but only a fool would let their guard down in Kiokos' situation.

The sand was hot, and she drug her feet through it with all of the enthusiasm a picky kid would eat their broccoli. She was mumbling a song under her breath, a gravelly, drawn out drawl. She was on a mission, what that mission was, was... too, too...? Find the exiles, that’s right. Or a exile. One might do. Wensday wasn’t sure why they needed her to find them, or what they were going to do with them. She had fallen asleep during the “briefing” and had earlier used her given as.signment as a handkerchief.  Personally, she wanted to find one of those shapeshifting ones and request a badger. It had been awhile since she had seen one.

She tapped her cane on a rock and sighed heavily, leaning forward to pluck her lace-less shoe off and shake out some pebbles. “Rowww roww ya boat, gently down theee screeeaaam. Merrily merrily Mary-lee life is but a dreeeaammm-muh.” She shoved her shoe back on and clambered onto the rock. “Ahem, hrrm. Propel propel propel your craft! Gently down thee... the, uh, Liquid solution! Something... something something, Life is but an illussiiooooon!” She took a bow, dropped down off the rock, and continued on her way.

There was a town near here, somewhere, if you could call it a town. That would be a good place to start. It was a better idea than scooting around in this awful sandpit. A wide grin plastered on her face, Wensday got a little spring in her step, and she started to hum as she walked ever closer to the nonde shape of buildings in the distance. 

 - - - 

Stuart was sitting underneath an outcropping of rock. The day was dry, but he was thankful for the shade. A book was sitting open in his lap, and he was writing in it with what appeared to be a normal stick. Despite this, his words were being set down in glistening brown ink. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was writing everything completely backwards, it would be an easy thing to read. Stuart was not your typical magician; in fact, he looked like one who would prefer to be messing with machines or some other such thing.

He did not look strong or grand, and he was not old enough to get the respect he deserved (or respect he thought he deserved, anyway), but he was a dedicated all the same to his practice. The desert, he had decided was a good place to keep learning. Being cooped up in those nice houses, well, he’d just go soft. Out here he was learning more than he ever did from simple spells. Stuart stopped writing, staring at the page now full of words. He flicked the stick away, and shut the book. The leather strap was fastened, and he put the book in his bag.

Stu stood, adjusted the strap on his bag and started walking. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he went anyway. He figured he'd run into some problem or another, maybe he would be able to help someone on his modest journey for knowledge. 

Hikari wasn't affected by the beating sun on her back, she wasn't affected by any heat at all, Because of her overly intense flames, she stayed cool compared to some other fire elementist. it was the cold that she couldn't stand. 

Hikari walked through the desert and then came to a small partially deserted town. she found the saloon bar, and swung the doors open. she sat down at the counter, and slung her bag off her shoulder as energetic as ever. she asked the bar man for a vodka, then she rummaged around her pocket and gave him the coins she removed then sat down at a table and started necking the bottle.

a few minuets later, another figure apeared. it was hard to tell what gender they were because of the cloth they had over their eyes. the person stopped in the doorway, then sat down in the corner.

     "How can any living creature survive without water?" Zell croaked, her throat sounding quite raspy. It was true though, the poor girl hadn't seen a single drop of water as she traveled, which was never a good sign. No water, no journey. Right? Oh well. She threw her belongings to the ground, causing a cloud of sand to form around her. She sighed, befor eplopping down next to her possesions. Swallowing hard, Zell cast a glance around the desert, looking it up and down. There was nothing, other than possibly a few rocks and definatly dead skeletons. Shivering, Zell realized that the skeletons she saw might've actually been the skeletons of people from her Clan. Or ex-Clan.

     Shaking her head with sorrow, she looked farther out into the horizon. There was a small darker area, which she suspected could be a desert forest. Was that even possible? "No, it's a town!" She had to pinch herself to make sure. Everyone knew that going to long without water would make you feel all creepy and stuff. Atleast that's what she heard. But up ahead, the image always stayed to same. Leaping up, she grabbed her light bag and started in a slow jog toward the town. "Towns have to have water, right?" she told herself, finally glad to be able to release her thirst. Sooner or later, she'd have her water. Or so she thought.

     Swinging the handle of her bag around her wrist, she whistled a soft tune under her breath, a reminder of her parents.

[I really don't know what to post Dx I'll probably edit this once I have a better iead of what to post.]

Aaron put a hand up to cover his eyes from the blinding sun. It was so hot out that he was shedding. Little clumps of his hair was falling out onto the ground and quickly covered up with sand. Since he was a lion shifter he had really thick hair in the winter but when it is summer his hair becomes thinner. He takes one step after the other, each one taking a lot of effort. He has been walking for hours but now it all seemed worth it.

In the distance he could make out a small cluster of buildings. His stomach growled reminding him how long ago he ate. He runs as fast as he could to the buildings, taking every little bit of strenght he has left. His head begins to spin from the lack of food and water but he finnally makes it to the first building and he goes to the enterence. He is almost there but he couldn't make it, he colapses at the enterence, blacking out.

((sorry I didn't post as much DX writers block))

Hikari finished the bottle then slamed it down on the table causing a few specs of dust drift off the table. hikari lent back on her chair with her hands behind her head and put her feet up on the table.walking in the desert with the heat was fine. it was the actual walking that anoyed her. she found it alot easeyer to run. her flaming energy out burst she had gave her energy boosts. but when she was in the desert with no more vodka, and nothing to entertain herself, it was hard to have her energy bursts.

((writers block O.o))

Stuart wiped his brow with a red cloth, pausing just a moment to cover his eyes and bl
ink blearily at the town proper. He didn't feel like venturing into the "town" but he was low on water. Probably nothing bad would happen. He hoped it wouldn't. For being so enthusiastic about magic he sure was nervous about using it around people. 

"Oy! You! Hey!"

Startled, Stuart turned to his left and watched as a hobbling woman stumbled towards him. "Eh, you goin' over there? Would ya mind walkin' a dear fragile flower to the bar?" Wensday asked, her voice gravelly. Stuart blinked down at her, already a bit disturbed. He couldn't see her face, so he couldn't see if she was pretty, but whether she was or she wasn't, most women wouldn't go walking up to any strange man in the middle of a desert. Alone. And he was sure that accent of hers was fake.

"I...no?" He said, it wasn't like he could really refuse, seeing as they were in the middle of a desert and going the same way. "Reeally? Why thank you, young man." Her grin was unseen, but it was one of victory. And before Stuart could protest, Wensday hooked her arm through his and pointed forward with her cane. "Onwards my good man!" She said, and started pulling him forward. He figured she was just a theif. Oh well, he didn't have anything worth stealing, and besides, he had protections against that kind of thing.

"If you don't mind me asking, Ma'am, but what are you doing out here all by yourself?" Stuart asked, as he was pulled pa.ssed a few buildings in town. "Oh, you know, just an afta'noon stroll." Wensday replied, a... and Stuart didn't want to think so, but she chuckled in a sort of "haggish" way after she spoke. "Oh." Stu said, and was relieved when she let go of his arm. "Weell, here we are!" Wensday said, nodding to herself.

"Ya wouldn' happen to want to buy me a drink, would ya?" Wen asked, stepping over someone who was pa.ssed out in front of the building. Stuart didn't say anything as he followed after her, and Wensday just chuckled "Just jokin'." She simpered. But Stuart hadn't heard her, as he had actually noticed the poor individual unconscious on the ground, and he bent down to investigate. Well, he wasn't dead.

Wensday had paused in front of the door, and was looking back at Stuart and the unconscious one. "What are ya doin'?" She asked, almost shrewdly. Stuart's patience was being pulled by this eccentric old lady, and he suppressed a harsh remark , "Just hold the door open." He muttered and picked Aaron up under the shoulders. And half carrying and half dragging, pulled him towards the door. He wasn't sure what to do with him, now that they had made it into the slightly cooler bar. Wensday suggested a booth, and that was were they went to sit.

"I'll get us somethin' to drink, ya hungry? Be right back." And, with the hobble forgotten, Wensday did just that. Stuart unceremoniously dropped Aaron into one side of the booth, and then sat on the other. Guess they would just wait for him to wake up.

Shortly after, another group of people came through the bar doors. One was a hobbling woman with a cane whom was followed by a man dragging someone backwards through the door way. she thought about offering to help the young ((don’t know if your young)) man but he had dragged the unconscious body into a nearby booth before she had taken her feet off the table. Sure are a lot of people in the middle of the desert. She thought to herself, but she shrugged it off. Hikari picked herself out of the chair, and grabbed the bottle, trotting over to the bar man jollily. She rummaged around her pocket and removed a few more coins and placed them on the counter along with the empty bottle. “Two more please.” She said with a smile on her face. The bar man looked her over curiously, wondering how a young  girl he @ssumed 16, could hold that much liquor and then buy two more, but he did as she asked nodded at her.

Hikari thanked the bar tender, then sat down back at her chair. She took from her bag an empty flask, and poured the content from one of the bottles into it. She replaced the flask back into her bag, then also placed the remaining coins into a pouch in the bag.

Hikari, being an outcast, was quite a well built young girl. She was very skilled in the art of daggers, as she had shown her skills in many fights without resolving it with her elemental ability; which was why she had so many spare change (from all the battles she had won).  She carried a gladiator dagger by her left side, a silver hair pin at the base her pony tail, and a leather bound blade on her leg strap, but she hardly ever resolved in using that one.

The red haired girl was annoying, but harmless looking, Kioko decided as said girl bought yet another round of drinks, using one of them to refill a flask from her traveling bag.  Annoying, and a future drunk, Kioko thought as she shifted her attention to the group of three that had come dragging through the bar doors just moments before.

An adult male, a teen boy who had apparently succumbed to the desert heat, and an old woman... Or someone pretending to be an old woman.

Kioko could have snorted out loud, if it wouldn't have drawn attention to her.  Whoever the person was, they obviously never tried to trick a Shinobi before.  Even with the effort and skill they had put into disguising themselves, Kiokos' trained eyes immediately noticed the small tells that gave them away, like forgetting the hobble as they moved across the bar floor and away from the other two.  Sliding a small dagger out of her pack, she rested it in her lap as she looked over the two men. 

The man who had dragged the teen inside had arranged him in a sitting position in the booth, and he was now beginning to wake up.  Watching them closely, Kioko noticed that the teen boy wasn't much older than herself.  He looked exhausted, as if he hadn't been properly prepared for the harsh rigors of the desert.

"Probably an exile, like myself,"  Kioko thought bitterly.  She had been barely able to properly equip herself before being forced out of her home village.  Sometimes an Exile wasn't even allowed that before being cast out of their home forever.

Following that train of thought wouldn't help her in this situation, so the kuniochi instead went back to studying the occupants of the tavern.  Aside from the four she had analyzed to death, no one else seemed interesting, just unfortunate souls who had somehow found themselves in this desert hellhole.

"It doesn't explain that one, though,"  Kioko mused as she cast her eyes back on the disguised person.  Her senses were telling her to be alert, and Kioko made sure she could reach the dagger on her lap easily in case it was needed.

((Forgive me for the long post!  I got carried away.)) 

[[edited a tiny bit.]]

Stuart cleared his throat. "No one, really. Just travelers. I'm Stuart." He wasn't sure about the woman, but he a.ssumed she was a traveler too. Weren't they all, out here? Wensday nodded enthusiastically, putting two gla.sses on the table. "Ya, we just found you, poor poor thing pa.ssed out on the ground. Lucky such nice folk like us found you." She said, dropping herself into the seat next to Stuart.

Wensday pulled her hood off and shook her hair out- well, as much as she could with hair so short. She wasn't an old lady at all! And of course, she takes the credit. Why, she was just going to leave him out there in the dirt. Stuart mumbled something to himself, and reached for what he a.ssumed was his cup of water.

Wen grinned across the table at Aaron. "Don't drink your water too fast, don't want you getting sick." she said, folding her hands in front of her. "You can call me Gladys, but I am fond of Tuesday as well." Her eyes roamed around the room, investigating everyone. Was there a shifter in here? She wondered if it would be too rude to just start asking people. Was that young lady drinking? Oh my, that bar tender was going to get a talking to. She gave him a glare, before returning her attention back to her own table.

And she immediately felt someone else giving her the stink eye. Who could that be? They must be jealous of how breathtakingly beautiful she was. Despite herself, she let out a small giggle, and pushed a gloved hand to her mouth.

"Thanks, I'm Aaron." he said taking the gla$$ of water thankfully. He took small sips so that he wouldn't get yelled at by Gladys or Tuesday or whatever her name was. Gladys probably thinks names are meaningless. Aaron thought while finnishing his water. His hair shed it's last clump thankfully. Now it seemed rather cool in the bar.

His eyes sweeped over the crowd, looking at each individual in turn. Each one had their own story of how they got there, some of their faces looked sunken in and their eyes looked lost. He wondered of how he looked after his travel in the desert. Did he look as bad as them?

Hikari was headed for the walled city. Even though it had a high death rate, it was the safest place on the desert. It was full of outcast, travellers, thugs, and bounty hunters. Even so, in her opinion, it was better than wandering aimlessly through the dry dusty deserts until she got swallowed in a sand storm, or dyeing of old age. At least when there are fights happening almost every night there would be entertainment. She thought t herself smirking. She took a swig of the vodka then placed it on the table, rummaging around her bag removing a map of the land. She unfolded the highly creased beige paper, and spread it across her table, lifting the bottle making sure not to knock it off.

She scanned the map with some concentration, focusing on the southern plains, trying to figure out where her current location was. The old town wasn’t on the map, it was probably not cl*censored*ed as a lanmark because it was such a dead place. She leant back in her chair and downed the remainder of the bottle.

Bored, she glanced at the few remaining drops that had been caught on the lip. She bit her lip, trying not to give into temptation, but it was too great. Her eyes flickered to red. She had now found some entertainment. She licked the tip of her right thumb, then tapped the drop of vodka on the lip of the bottle, and a small flame flicked into existence. She picked it up with her fore-finger, and pushed it into the bottle. She lay the bottle down on its side with the flame now burning brighter from the fumes, and placed her chin on the table watching them dance. She made the flame appear as a man running round in circles and chuckled. This was the most entertainment she had had in days.