S(t)and and deliver

Sand from Hak Etme, he had been told. So to the desert Tal went, and in spite of the freedom and joy he usually felt when piloting the Peregrine - when it was just him and Boreal and the open sky - a scowl carved deeper and deeper lines into his face as they neared their destination.

At least thanks to his skyboat he didn't have to trek over miles and miles of sand and stone and bones this time, and the Leafchange days weren't quite as brutal as those of Longheat had been. The courier sailed through the night with the stars as his guide, and then waited for the first light of false dawn to begin illuminating the Boneyard below before he found a safe place to bring the tiny flying ship down and threw out the ground anchor. Boreal, a glacier-pale dragon with the heavy build of a mastiff and the height of a great dane, circled down to make sure the anchor was firmly lodged in the eye socket of some behemoth's skull before Tal threw the rope ladder overboard and scampered down it. The dragon then bounded over to catch the bottom rung in her teeth and fly it back to the boat, securing the ship against most unpleasantly unwanted passengers that might try to crawl, slither, or scurry their way to the deck.

"C'mon, girl. Sooner we get this over with, th'better," Tal murmured to his companion, glaring around at the grey sand as it was slowly lightening to gold, as if it had knocked him down and stolen his lunch money as a child. His shoulder-length dark hair was roughly pulled back and secured with a leather tie and his sun-browned skin was visible beneath a black vest and undyed linen shirt. Strangest of all, perhaps, were the tinted snow goggles that he wore over his eyes in spite of the darkness of the early morning as he struck out confidently across the hardpan, seeking the item he'd been sent to find, Dagger in hand against the local predators that roamed the Boneyard... both above and below the desert's surface.

Miki peeked from her tent at the sound of the ship approaching. Chewing a piece of grass she stood in plain view below, hands on hips and staring straight up at the passerby. Around her were many large skulls, enormous in size, a few scattered home debris like pots, pans, a clothesline. Her tent was tall and circular, shaped similarly to a circus tent but a shorter steeple while the walls and roof were made of pale leather and hide. There was a black flag at the top, triangle shaped, with a pair of red outlined squares with a small red circle in the center, between them was an infinity symbol. There would appear to be a crude area for horses or other beasts to be tied up, she couldn't tell from her vantage point if it would be a large enough area for the ship to land.
'Sure would be nice to get a visitor...'
She thought while chewing her grass, spitting it out as the ship drew nearer. Her face gave away nothing as she waited to see what would happen next. Miki was wearing a white tank top and brown leather shorts, no shoes, she was caught completely off guard by the ship. Although she hadn't been there for long it would seem the land was barren as could be, other than those who came and went either as travelers or merchants. Those people she would peddle important wares to like nails, hammers, fix broken wheels, things like that.

She had amassed over the last few months enough to have a crude forge set up out in the open hidden between a giant bone and her tent, no current protection from thieves or harsh nature other than its obscuring from view. It wasn't enough to fashion anything worthy like swords or armor, but small things like nails and repairs she was more than able to do. A quick glance towards her smithy she realised whoever that was above would be able to see her shop quite easily. She would have to be ready for anything, she decided.

Given the darkness of the early morning and that the sun was not yet up, Tal hadn't seen the tent or smithy below. At least, not as anything recognizable beyond shadowy lumps on the ground that he'd taken for more bones. It was just as well; he'd have flown well past and on to some place emptier if he'd realized there was someone at his landing site. After all the trouble he'd had with land sharks in this area he wasn't keen on someone else drawing the uncanny underground predators to him on his task.

It wasn't until he was trotting past the odd lumps in the pre-dawn shadows that he realized they weren't the usual collection of behemoth bones and sandstone boulders he was used to in the area. He adjusted his goggles, scowling as his magically-enhanced sight picked out the details of the tent and forge before settling on the woman. He wasn't sure if she could even see him in the dim light of false morning, but he dropped a hand to his dagger defensively anyways. "You're not a mirage crab, are ya?" he asked warily. As far as he knew the crabs' illusions only extended to visual traps and not auditory ones.

His dragon had paused atop a large pelvic bone jutting from the sand, looking down at the stranger curiously as she gleamed like a ghost in the last light of the fading stars.

She watched as the passerby landed out of view. Scratching her chin she could tell they didn't land far. Taking her time instead she pulled another tall, dead blade of grass from the ground and stuck it in her mouth. Her bow and quiver was inside the tent, while they were still obscured from view she went to grab it. After strapping her weapons to her back she walked between the bones to find a dragon and... someone right at her doorstep. He moved defensively and she didn't flinch, gripping her bow more tightly in response but otherwise not moving a hair. She narrowed her eyes and chewed her grass, then spoke slowly.
"I ain't no crab, at least not last time I checked. Name's Miki. What brings you 'round these parts?"

He noted the horns and tail like those on several of his acquaintances and he stayed alert but eased up a little when she spoke and introduced herself. "Tal," he responded automatically before tilting his chin back at the dragon that watched the land around them with no sign of her usual playfulness. For once her mind was fully on the task at hand: keeping watch for the tip of a fin cutting through the sand that might be all the warning they would get. "An' Boreal. Generally we're only out here on courier business or trainin', but today it's personal."

He tilted his head at her in a canine fashion, his goggles hiding his eyes but not the curious wrinkle of his nose as he glanced past her to the tent and anvil setup between the bones. "What about you? Not used t'seein' people livin' outside th'caravanserai." Not that the old market town had survived the War or the shakeup of the geography that had accompanied it.

"Tal, then. Boreal. Good to meet you two, or so I hope."
A twinkle in her eye, rolling back on her heels a few times she could be perceived by those who knew her little as awkward. In reality a small smile played on her lips, her mind buzzing with opportunity. Personal business was none of her business, yet neither was any other business.... Although any other business would be easier to ask about. Then again, this Tal had landed directly on her doorstep and that would make him a target. Nothing graphic, of course, a dragon outweighed even Miki's majesty and she knew better than to take on someone with a beast that size. When she said she wanted visitors she was more than surprised to see someone appear directly in front of her. With that in mind, she spoke slowly and plainly.
"You're on personal business, well that makes two of us. Or rather, anything I could possibly say would be a bit more personal than is for sharin' with passerby's. Ya see, I have no idea what Ta'canvasorry is-- I apologize ta' say I moved here about a year ago now and I ain't never seen you around these parts."

Miki's hazel eyes widened as he looked through her to her things behind. She couldn't see his eyes but met the gaze of his goggles.
"I guess I'm ramblin' what I mean is, you happen to trespass yerself and a large beast on my doorstep and I happen to have things to sell, it's my livelihood here in the wasteland after all. Else, you at the least owe me a favor methinks for the heart attack and hassle."
She tried to hide a small, teasing smile, gripping her bow tighter. Her words were light but if he was any good at reading people he would be able to tell she wasn't exactly what she seemed, or there was more than what meets the eye with her. Like a cheetah, she felt wild and wound-- ready to spring into action in a second if he moved wrong at all. She hadn't gotten this far on kindness alone, though kindness alone she would give to those who gave it to her. Who would he prove to be?

"Uh... sure," he agreed, not sure what the lady was getting it by adding 'so I hope' to her greeting, but wrinkling his nose suspiciously in case she was making fun of him.

Tal was, unfortunately, pretty used to being made fun of.

His nose didn't unwrinkle as Miki kept talking and he struggled to follow her accent, and his fingers tapped a subconscious staccato against his thigh, but at the claim that he hadn't been around much he snorted, then gave a shrug. "Yeah, well, me an' Hak Etme don't really get along." His voice was gruff as he scowled out at the desert around them, clearly uncomfortable with all the sand even though the heat of the day was still far off and the night's chill lingered on the bones. "But th'Caravanserai was where people lived out here, 'til they didn't anymore." And he couldn't blame them for moving away! It was too blasted hot for any honest Halovian!

He returned his attention to her as she kept talking and both brows rose above his goggles at the word 'trespass.' His arms rose from his sides to cross defensively over his chest and he scowled at the Ancient woman. His goggles might have let him see through darkness, but Tal was notoriously bad at reading people. "I've already done y'plenty o' favors," he pointed out, chin raising belligerently as his honor was called into question. "Not my fault you weren't here t'see 'em. But y'wouldn't even be able t'set up here safely if I hadn't been part o' th' Landshark hunts." Back when he'd been part of the Monster Hunter's Guild and they'd trained out here against the wily, hungry beasties.

Any blood on the sand at all would call them to the surface, and they were deadly difficult to deal with without magic.

"But if y'don't want us around, we can get what we need elsewhere. C'mon, girl," he whistled up to the guardian dragon as he glanced back to his floating boat, in no mood to be bullied by some stranger before dawn had even properly broken.

The man was more visibly awkward than she felt, after all she was in her home and he was a trespasser. He claimed to not get along with Hak Etme, which she understood to some degree. She wasn't a fool, she had seen the creatures herself and other wild animals out here. Through sheer dumb luck she was able to survive this long.
"You say there was a.... town here?"
She asked, slowly, thinking. Possible plunder. She wasn't above picking the pockets of the dead, they struggled less than the living.
"Where, what happened to it?"
Behind her, her spade tipped tail flipped and wagged. Her first customer in a long time, and he was rich looking!

Then he claimed to have already done her favors. She chuckled, but was intrigued.
"I see, you think somehow you know me. I don't think it's possible to be doin' favors for people y'ain't never yet met, but not everyone is kind enough to help out people in need. If you ain't staying, take the beast 'n' leave. But don't come back to these here parts without reason, and that's looking for ME. Miki Ki'Lirix. Why? Because I asked for you, that's why, and you owe me one. So, it will be nice to see you again Tal and Boreal. Thank yinz for bein' pleasant."
With one last smile and gentle nod she spun on her heel and walked away. Showing her back to him wasn't something she wanted to do, but for the gimmick it would need to work.

He squinted at the Ancient through his Goggles, wondering what rock she'd been hiding under that she didn't know--

Oh. Right. Ancient. She'd probably been a literal rock before the War.

"Yeah, it was, uh..." He squinted to the horizon where the sun was just a few minutes shy of peeking over, then looked to the east. Then the south. Then his frown deepened. "Well, b'fore the continent went tits up it was kinda... east-ish. But th'Boneyard's shifted an' the sunshine pools aren't quite where they used t'be an' the Greatwood kinda slopped over into th'desert an'..." He shrugged. "Y'know. The War happened. Lots o' places went under or disappeared or got flung into th'sky." Stormbreak and half of Haulani were examples of the latter. "Dunno what exactly happened t'the Caravanserai. It might've fell into the sea or got swallowed up by th'earth, or maybe the Suvahasi grew o'er th'top of it."

Instead of being grateful for the information, however, she seemed to be doubling down on her initial demands. Tal scoffed at the monologue, unimpressed. "Just sayin' somethin' doesn't make it so. I don't owe you nothin', lady. But here's a free tip: don't go 'round givin' orders y'can't back up." He'd given her free knowledge and if she didn't appreciate the reduction in the local land shark population that let her run her little tentshop, well, Tal had dealt with worse. Shaking his head, the courier ignored Miki as she walked away. He had Boreal to watch his back in case she tried anything, and instead he bent to scoop up a handful of sand, measuring it in his hand before pouring it into a small bag. He cinched the ties shut and returned the bag to his waist just as the sun leapt over the horizon in a glory of pinks and oranges and golds.

Whistling to his companion, the courier headed back to his ship and cast off into the dawn, glad to be headed back to the icy tundra of Halo.

~Fin~