[o] sigh of heat

And I never wanted anything from you

Despite Deepfrost holding Caido, the desert was still thick with heat. The desert stretched pale and endless beneath the afternoon sun, broken only by the bones. They rose from the sand in impossible shapes and sizes, vast ribcages arching overhead like the remains of forgotten cathedrals. Some skulls were so large she could have ridden straight through their hollow eye sockets without ducking. 

Wren guided Burger (well, he guided her, really) carefully through the Boneyard, one hand resting on the reins while the other steadied the pack of supplies strapped behind her saddle. She wore lightweight clothes from her wardrobe built from trading with Hak Etme natives, digging through Colt's stuff that made it through the fire, and a smattering of the belongings she had in King's End. Today was a long-sleeved linen shirt beneath a weathered leather vest, with durable enough pants for riding tucked into worn boots. A light scarf wrapped around her neck and lower face, while a wide-brimmed hat shielded her eyes from the glare reflecting off sand and bone alike.

Burger seemed entirely unbothered by the shifting sands and scattered bones. His hooves found stable footing without hesitation, navigating the uneven terrain with the footing of something ancient. With him, Wren sometimes felt as though he had crossed deserts like this a hundred times before, carrying the confidence of a creature that had lived a thousand lifetimes and forgotten none of them, despite knowing he had been born and raised on Colt's ranch in King's End. It was just his steadfast ways that amazed her, even now in this place that was so different than anything he knew before -- and so different than anything she knew.

---

 

Open to anyone! Timeline wise this is happening at near the same time as the KQ

Wren

Except everything you had and what was left after that too

The skyport was hardly a bustling hub of trade, not yet, but it was busy enough that it took Noe a moment or two to disembark from her skyship and hop down onto the sand. She wore a wide-brimmed straw hat and light clothing, for even in the depths of Deepfrost, the desert was still warm enough to avoid the many layers she might have needed elsewhere. The sun was bright against the pale, shifting sands, gleaming on the ivory bone of the skeletons lurking nearby.

Noe didn't really have a particular destination in mind for today - just a bone-deep desire to understand this land that she'd tied herself to, in order to make herself useful. She figured she'd start by studying the Boneyard - an area that had stood the test of time even in the ever-shifting sand of the desert. That was enough to have her interested in how and why that was the case. Was it just because the bones were heavy, or were they seated in a special way to keep them in place? Was their placement accidental or intentional? How could she use that information when designing buildings and whatnot for Colt?

She wandered a bit farther, and a bit farther, taking a break every now and again to sip at the canteen of fresh water that seemed to have taken up a permanent residence on her belt. After a while, she spotted a blotch of color on the horizon - a stark contrast to the pale sands and white bones. As she grew closer, she recognized the shape of a horse and rider; growing closer still, she found the rider was a girl not much younger than her. What was she doing out here all alone, save for her horse?

"Hi," Noe called when she was in shouting range, waving a friendly hand towards the girl. "You okay out here?"

Noe

And I never wanted anything from you

Burger noticed her first, his pace shifting before Wren even had a chance to understand why. The desert didn’t seem to unsettle him at all. If anything, it seemed to agree with him. He chose his footing like it was obvious, like the bones had always been part of the path. His ears tipped forward as he threaded them between pale ribs and half-buried vertebrae with a steady, unthinking confidence.

Wren followed that change a moment later, how his ears shifted frrom listening to him to perking forward, her gaze lifting from the supplies strapped at her saddle to the shape ahead. A figure moving through the Boneyard, small against the sweep of skeletal remains and bright sand. Burger angled them closer without hesitation, and she let him, one hand loose on the reins as if she trusted his judgment more than her own. She wondered if it was Colt, and that was why her steed was so inclined to move them towards the figure.

Burger slowed as they drew nearer, calm and certain, until Wren stopped him about two horse lengths from the woman as shecalled out. Wren straightened slightly in the saddle, studying the woman through the glare. After a beat, she called answered, "Yeah... I'm okay. Just bringing supplies back from the sky port." because the girl seemed friendly enough. Burger shifted his weight, idly crunching on the steel in his mouth as he often did. Wren's mind wracked, trying to pinpoint how this woman looked vaguely familiar.

Wren

Except everything you had and what was left after that too

Noe watched as the horse and rider grew nearer, the mount picking its way across the sand as though born to it. And maybe the horse was. Noe hadn't spent enough time in the desert yet to know what was native and what was a transplant. Maybe there were desert horses bred for the heat and the lack of water, just as there were those bred for the unforgiving cold and snow.

The young woman upon the horse's back was dressed for the desert, but it wasn't until she was closer that Noe could pick out details: auburn hair, hazel eyes, a face that looked a few years younger than the engineer. Certainly not someone she'd have expected to see way out here, but then again, she supposed that she cut quite the mysterious figure herself upon the sands.

"Alright," Noe said, satisfied once the stranger had answered. "Good. I just wanted to check." She tilted her head to one side, inspecting the horse again. "Pretty horse. What's it's name?"

Noe