Rosewater Oasis the sands of time

The thirst that came with the desert was cruel and harsh. It drew every ounce of moisture from your flesh, turning your throat as dry as the sand beneath your feet. It was harsh, but it was not new. For Ezen, navigating this landscape was second nature and she knew perfectly well how to conserve water.

An oasis up ahead drew her towards it as it had many others. There were fresh traces of wolves here, a group maybe? Their scents were too muddled to properly determine how many had passed through, and so the desert woman decided to take her chances.

Ears swivelling and fur bristling in anticipation, she slipped to the water's edge and began to drink in long, deep gulps.

for @Arslan / @Samirseti

It seemed that he had been right to assume that their new home would attract visitors.

The sight of a woman unknown to him brought out a snarl that he wasn't too sure belonged to him entirely as he stalked a few feet behind her.

I think you might be lost. He said with a nearly unnatural grin. It's rude to enter the home of another uninvited, weren't you ever taught something so simple?

When a snarl broke the quiet air, Ezen was already on her feet and spinning to face her attacker. Hackles raised and fur bristling, she regarded him with a beady stare, a warning growl ripping from her own throat. Don't take another step, or else. 

The man appeared larger than her, but not by much. She could take him in a fight if she had to. "The water is invitation enough," she countered. Were desert men always this dense? "It's a little stupid to make your home here, don't you think? There will always be strangers knocking at your door."

hope you don't mind the intrusion :3

Samirseti emerged from the shadows like liquid gold, his ebony frame shimmering beneath the warm kiss of sunlight. Though the bite of winter lingered in the breeze, he welcomed it as a fleeting contrast to the heat he so often embraced. His stride was fluid, feline, carrying an aura of regality as he brushed against the side of his husband, a subtle, calming gesture that betrayed none of his inner thoughts.

Golden eyes gleamed with curiosity as he stepped forward, intercepting Arslan’s sharp demeanor with his own brand of disarming charm. He moved ahead, his posture unhurried, deliberate.

“Peace, Nefer,” he murmured softly over his shoulder. His focus shifted to the woman, her bristling stance and fiery gaze met with a warm smile that curved his lips, smooth and serene as a still desert pool.

“Welcome to the oasis,” Samir purred, his tone as inviting as the water itself. He stopped just a few paces away from her, his head tilting ever so slightly. “Forgive my Hasaki's temper.”

“You’ve traveled far, I assume?” he continued, gesturing subtly toward the water’s edge. “Take your fill. Vahanet is nothing if not gracious.”

Not feeling a group thread here, I'm going to take my exit <3

As Samir approached, he turned to slink off. Eyes never leaving the stranger. He would not stay just to be belittled by both wolves alike. There were better uses of his time.

no worries!

As if one man wasn't enough, the oasis had gifted her a second. This one was a tall, obelisk of obsidian studded with sun-touched gold, a far cry from his russet counterpart. Ezen simply watched in smug satisfaction as the red man retreated and all her attention could now be focused on the approaching shadow. 

Perhaps it was just her imagination that the air became colder, shivering slightly though her posture remained standoffish. "Tell that to your hasiki," she jutted out her chin indignantly, almost wishing the other had stayed. While he had been easy to predict, there was a sinister edge to the dark man's voice that Ezen certainly did not trust.

Her chartreuse gaze flicked from him to the water, torn between the urge to quench her remaining thirst and the desire to defy his offer. Thirst won in the end and she quickly scuttled to lap the oasis' lifeblood, pausing only when she could drink no more. "Distances are subjective." With a shrug she turned to face him. "You're in charge of this Vahanet?"

Her defiance amused him. He could see it in the jut of her chin, the flicker of challenge in her chartreuse gaze—a fire that she dared to wield before him.

Such women had their uses. Their disobedience could be tempered, sharpened, turned into something productive if they were willing to fall in line. If not, well… the sands of the desert were no stranger to the forgotten bones of the foolish.

He loomed there at the water’s edge, a king in his domain, the reflection of gold and black shimmering in the pool beside her.

“I am Pharaoh Samirseti,” he answered, voice a silken purr, regal and laced with venom. “And Vahanet is mine. Its waters, its sands, its people.”

A pause. Then, the faintest tilt of his head, the barest spark of intrigue glittering in his gilded eyes. A brow lifted. “What is your name, traveler?”

His reflection cast a dark shadow over the lake, like a cloud laden with rain yet to fall. His words and his name, regal as they were, cloaked a barely disguised threat that Ezen was perceptive enough to understand. It was often the silken-talkers that held the most malice. 

"Then by extension, that makes me yours too," her tail flicked in thought, "Pharaoh Samirseti." Rolling the title over her tongue, she shot him a sideways glance. Better to be prepared for rain than be swept up in its floodwaters. It had been a long time since she had run with the clan, longer still since she had revelled in the protection of others. Perhaps the dark man would take pity on her - a poor, thirsty traveller - if she could prove she was worthy of the oasis' sanctuary.

"Ezen," she relented the information to him, a defiant fire still present in her gaze.

Samirseti’s lips curled upward, a faint, knowing smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. Her words, her tone—there was a boldness to them that bordered on insolence, and yet… he allowed it. Not because he was patient, but because the fire in her eyes entertained him, and Pharaoh Samirseti was nothing if not a man who valued his own amusement.

“Not many wanderers would hold themselves with such poise in the presence of a Pharaoh,” he noted, his smirk softening into something warmer. “Perhaps Ra’s favor guided your steps here.”

He studied her for a long moment, his gaze unyielding but not unkind. “Tell me, Ezen, what is it you seek? Shelter? Purpose? Or do you, like so many others, follow the whims of the desert winds?”

His smirk drew the faintest of smiles from her. Let him enjoy what he was hearing if it meant Ezen had begun to earn his favour. But there it was again - the talk of status, of power - and her brow furrowed slightly. 

"Pharaoh or not, the desert shows no mercy," as if that offered an explanation. It was foolish to rise oneself above others when the unpredictable landscape could shatter it in an instant. "But you know that all too well, don't you? To make this oasis your home is...commendable." 

Whatever god his Ra was, Ezen dismissed it with a wave of her tail. Vahanet with their strange beliefs and pharaohs; it was a way of life that she was entirely un-used to. "Just a weary traveller seeking a place to rest," the half truth slipped easily from her lips and she tilted her head to watch his reaction.

His lips curved into a measured smile, a glint of amusement and calculation flickering behind his eyes. “You are right, of course,” he replied smoothly, his voice rich and unhurried. “The desert shows no mercy, and yet, here I stand."

Her dismissal of Ra did not go unnoticed, but he did not press it. She was an outsider, unversed in the divine truths that guided Vahanet. That ignorance, though, was forgivable—for now.

He stopped just short of her. “Rest, then,” he allowed, his tone almost indulgent.

“But understand that this oasis is not a sanctuary for the lost. It is a kingdom for the strong. If you wish to stay, you will need to prove your worth.” His smirk returned.

“That is the way of Vahanet.”

"And here I stand too," her eyes sparkled in amusement as she watched his languid approach until he was almost close enough to feel the tickle of his breath on the dark hairs of her neck. His entitlement irked her, but Ezen was not in a position to challenge him much beyond sharp-edged humour.

As she had hoped, the obsidian man invited her in, though his words still carried with them a weight of expectation. "In time, Pharaoh. You needn't worry," she assured, taking a few tenuous steps away from where he stood before glancing back over her shoulder. 

"Your Vahanet will be well protected for as long as I'm here." Ezen's strengths lay not in physicality but in an art more fine-tuned and slippery than tooth and claw. Samirseti with his cunning eyes was surely well aware. The curve of her lips sealed her promise, for she would be loath to let anyone take this sanctuary which now was hers to relish.

“Good,” he replied smoothly, his voice dipping into the rich cadence of authority. He let his smile deepen, a curve of indulgent approval, though there was no mistaking the sharpness beneath it.

He stepped forward, his gilded accents gleaming under the sun as he turned to face her fully. “Your tongue is sharp, Ezen, and your promises carry weight. See that they do not falter.” His expression was unreadable now, a mixture of regal charm and quiet threat, yet his tail flicked behind him in a gesture almost too casual for a man of his stature.

He moved then, gesturing subtly toward the heart of Vahanet. “Come. Rest. There is much to see and more to understand.”

Without waiting for her response, he strode forward with the confidence of a ruler certain that his will would be followed.

In Shuruk, no coyote was above another. All that were touched by the sun were equal, no matter of their skills or assets. Her focus did not waver from his face, a rebellious fire still present in her eyes as he spoke again. "Of course." Samirseti too was touched by the sun and an equal in her eyes despite his self-proclaimed status. "You won't be disappointed."

Actions spoke louder than words; he would know soon enough that there was more to Ezen than met the eye. 

Following his lead, she moved quickly to keep pace with the dark man as they travelled further into the oasis, beginning to map the territory as they went. What more was there to understand? While she was largely uninterested in what he had to say, a feigned smile danced across her face. "Lead the way then."