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Ash Lands
i wish you were here. i wish it were morning.
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Post by Askr Mimameith on Jan 24, 2023 1:08:44 GMT -5
The climate of the Zeinav Desert is extraordinarily different from that of the Frost Gale.
It is an obvious observation, an extraordinarily obvious one, and Askr knows this, but he cannot help but note it anyway. The sun shines from the same position in the sky and yet bears down all the harder, golden rays unfiltered through any cloud, and where chill and wind and snowfall once danced and howled freely, now there is only stillness and heat and the occasional wisp of a warm breeze, carrying grains of sands off the edges of the unstable ground beneath his feet. It has only been a few days since he and Nyr last stepped out of the rime-coated edges of the Frost Gale's borders to stumble through the mountain pathways of the Dragon's Cradle, and yet, the difference in temperature alone makes it feel so much further away.
He has long since abandoned his heavy winter-wear, trading fur-lined apparel for the lighter uniform he favors on a typical day-- it is not quite fashioned for daytime desert travel, but it is the sort of thing he is used to wearing in the Ash Lands, in combat, and so it will do. It is not as though temperature will be the death of him, anyway; it is uncomfortable, but it will not kill him. No, it certainly will not kill him.
...he does not know about Nyr, though.
As far as Askr knows, which is not much, Nyr is likely native to the Frost Gale, and thusly accustomed to its deep chill. It had been strange to hear him admit that he was headed to a place like Zeinav, where the sun burned so intensely, in such stark contrast to the home he was likely used to. It was surprising that the other boy was not melting beneath the desert sun, especially in the heart of the White Sand Sea, where little foliage blossomed and water was sparsely available, save for the small oases that occasionally loomed in the distance. It is... worrying, to make this leg of the journey with someone who is likely unused to it. Askr is not sure of what he could do to keep Nyr from overheating, either.
He glances back at the half-tiefling boy trailing after him, expression unflinching, but with something akin to worry flashing quietly in those dark gold eyes. He hesitates for only a moment before opening his mouth to speak.
"...Nyr," he begins, stopping in his tracks, turning to face the other boy. "...are you... handling the sun okay? The... desert sun. It is warmer here, I mean. Than in the Frost Gale. Ah."
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Post by Nyr on Feb 1, 2023 15:40:10 GMT -5
Heat curled around Nyr, sinking its fingers into his skin, burrowing into frozen flesh. The sun was the same sun he had always known; the same light poured down on vast planes of sand and nothingness that had shown down on the fields of desolate snow of his childhood. The scene was so similar to the tundra of his youth, the backdrop of his life thus far, and yet, somehow, he felt a world apart from his beginnings.
Sweat dripped down the back of Nyr’s neck, the pieces of his skin not covered by cloth or the shade of his hood were very likely to burn, and Nyr reveled in it. All of the uncomfortable, brutal heat pressing down on him.
He wasn’t in the Frost Gale any longer. No more would he deal with the chill of a frozen wasteland haunting him, burrowing into his bones, creaking with every step he took. He was not safe. Not yet. And he wouldn’t be able to survive out in a desert like this for very long. But for now? For now, he was free.
For now he was free. Sweating, burning, uncomfortable, alone in the middle of the world-
Except… No. He wasn’t alone.
"...are you... handling the sun okay? The... desert sun. It is warmer here, I mean. Than in the Frost Gale. Ah."
Askr. Nyr wasn’t quite sure why the other boy had chosen to follow him all the way from the edges of the Frost Gale to Zeinav. He hadn’t been expecting a companion when he had told Askr of his plans, but the other boy had insisted. At first, he thought that maybe Askr was seeking another commission as a mercenary, but even Nyr’s offer of gold in return for his escort was turned away.
Why, oh why, had Askr come with him to this barren place? Nyr couldn’t tell.
Nyr’s darker eyes find Askr’s as the other boy peers back at him, though Nyr has to squint in order to make his features out through the curtains of sunlight bearing down from overhead. His first attempt at responding to Askr’s concern goes, well, a bit poorly. His throat and lips feel parched and dry, despite the regular sips he’d been taking from the waterskin strapped to his hip. Licking his lips and clearing his throat does little to ease the feeling, but at least upon a second attempt, he is able to speak.
“I… am alright. It certainly is a bit hotter than I’m used to.” More than just a bit, he thinks with a small and wry smile. “But anything beats the chill of where I’m from… How about you, are you alright? Do we need to take a break? You aren’t feeling dizzy or anything like that, are you?”
Askr was not meant to be here, and Nyr would feel truly awful if the other boy fell to something like heat stroke just because he likely pitied Nyr and did not think he could make this journey alone.
Which.
Askr would likely be right about that. But that did not mean Nyr wanted him to suffer just because Nyr himself was the slightest bit useless.
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