She'd made a grave mistake.
The distant mountains called to her across the desert and she had answered dutifully. A moth to a flame, ignorant of what such a perilous journey across the desert would entail - the warrior was woefully unprepared.
Jet black fur soaked up the midday sun as she trudged onward towards a mirage of palms and pools of glistening blue, body boiling and throat parched. Shade had become a dream of which only existed in the shimmering image before her, now stretching and bending with the sway of her body.
The sway became a swirl of sand - she fell to her knees and retched, staring numbly at the damp sand. By now she knew, her body was well and truly empty
Closing her eyes she willed the spinning in her head to stop.
Saving Arachne from the checker, apologies for post shortness
The Medic carried herself across the sands for many days.
She had yet to interact with anyone else, but that was neither here nor there as of the moment...
Until she saw a form many yards out collapse and vomit.
Arachne quickened herself into an earnest lope to get to the wolf's side as fast as possible, stopping a few paces away to slow down before gently pawing at their shoulder
"Are you okay?" She asked, concern in her tones.
Dark figures wavered on the horizon.
Mirages often lied; but he knew the stagger of a wolf even as it was soaked in waves of heat that rose from the desert's sands like writhing snakes. All creatures looked as though they dwaggered this way and that when they were distant- it was only when they came closer that they revealed the true nature of their health. Tumbleweed saw the figure waver, and crumple to the ground.
He looked up to see the vulture circling overhead. "Not so keen, friend," He murmured, more to himself than anything, before he left the warm shade of the Oasis behind, and trotted out across the desert, noting at that time that yet another appeared in the mirage. The second was a dark creature as well- moving rapidly toward the other and at first, he was not sure if she sought to devour the fallen creature or aid them. He didn't hasten his pace and would simply let them be if it ended up being the former.
The desert was cruel. It was the way of things.
She hovered, and fretted. Tumbleweed neared, and could see the dryness of the fallen wolf's nose and lips. He could practically feel the heat radiating from her dark pelt.
The vulture continued to circle.
"Pay him no mind," He said softly, gesturing toward the bird who had lowered in altitude. "We'll get you to water." He said, looking to the other wolf to see if she would cooperate.
gunkai = p*ss off (sorry idk how to do translations ;-;)
There is a saying that a warrior always sleeps with one eye open, for you cannot sleep if you're dead.
Soft touches to her shoulder and she reacts on instinct, body quivering as jaws snap weakly towards towards the intruder but she is too parched and too hot to do any real damage.
"Gŭnkāi!" she hissed, teeth bared in a snarl. Through the haze of dehydration, the blurred shape of a wolf is registered, its tone of voice held notes of concern. The warrior softens slightly.
"Am okay," she croaks,
"my mistake - you scare me." Another shape arrived, melted into the sand as it approached and spoke in silken honey. Of water. A glance to the bird above as shown by the man was enough to intensify the dizziness. She would die here if she did not follow.
She rose and stood to face him though her vision swam, hoping her legs appeared stronger than they felt.
"Lead."
The girl wavered as the woman growled at her, but Arachne didn't leave, especially as another came to join them.
The warrior-woman apologized, to which the spider shook her head softly "No matter."
Then to the man, who gestured at the bird overhead...
"He is yours?" She asked softly, moving so the dehydrated mercenary could get up.
She offered her shoulder for support in silence nearby as Xiao said for the man to lead.
Arachne would move as they did, towards water.
He might have to pay the vulture later, for taking away his hopes of feasting on sun-roasted wolf. But anything still living was not a part of the bargain, so he helped the weakened wolf stand, and provided support as they made their way toward the Oasis. He felt the burning warmth of her pelt, and as beautiful as it was with its mahogany highlights, he imagined it must make her feel as though she was damn near boiling on the inside.
The other woman had the build of a hardened traveler, and caught his eye with her strength and willingness to help. She eyed the vulture, and he smiled. "He belongs only to himself," He said, keen to keep the true nature of their relationship somewhat exclusive. "But he does enjoy my leftovers," He said instead.
The spider-woman moved away, thankfully undeterred by her outburst and it is the sand man that takes her place. Despite his small size, his build is strong and desert-worn beside hers and she is grateful for his rigidity as they move in step towards the water. Their hospitality is as foreign to the warrior as the sand dunes themselves and should her situation have not been so dire, she was unsure she would've trusted them so readily.
So the bird was a scavenger, reminiscent of the eagles that nested on the mountain and accompanied their hunts only to receive a free meal without lifting a claw. As much as she respected them, why any wolf would choose to ally one was beyond her understanding. "This bird, he has name?" she queries, if only to find out more about her companions. "And you? Tell me yours?" Turning first to the man and then to his shadow. With little practice of the common tongue, her words are scratchy and no doubt inaccurate, and so she tunes into their cadences in an attempt to improve her own as her headache thumps dully with each step.
Arachne shrugged at the man's words.
For all she knew, it was the truth, point blank.
Then the dehydrated woman spoke, her common seeming...broken?
"I'm Arachne." She offered quietly, after some hesitation.
And so she carried on with them, assuming the man and the red-kissed shadow would talk for most of the time without her.