Morning Desert Sun

    The desert is a strange place. It is arid and dry, winds carry the loose sands into the air, even when you can't see it. The Sunlight can be intense and unforgiving, and yet, in the early morning hours... Its casts a beautiful light across the morning sky.

Painting the pure blue sky with rays of red, orange, pink, and even a slight tint of purple, and with no clouds in the sky, it is a beautiful thing to behold.

    One person watching the sunrise, as a dark scaled Salamander rests his arms up on the railing of the upper wall. While guards do their patrols up here as look outs, he has managed to find a nice little spot where he wouldn't get in the way.

Though given how many Salamanders there are in this city, Xander might be slightly easy to pass up if one didn't know him from another Salamander.

Almost as soon as the Second Floor of Aincrad had been defeated, word began spreading within the New World Alliance. Another hourglass had turned, the sand counting down to ... something. If the last encounter is any hint, danger would be heading in the direction of the Holy Empire. Thus, Mikage and her traveling companions had come, making the long trek across the desert.

In the early hours of morning, the white-haired Were Fang emerges from one of the nearby inns. Likely, they had chosen to rest there rather than camp out on the dunes. Her clothing is a bit lighter, perhaps because the edge of cold usually wains in as the desert sun beats down during the day.

Rama, however, seems to be on a mission. The lynx goes running up the roadway almost immediately, leaving Mikage to follow, though at a slower pace. Thus, it is Rama who finds Xander first. The lynx bounds up with his usual enthusiasm and starts to rub up against the Salamander's legs. Then, a comment follows, "I knew he had to be on the trail of someone." Her voice is amused, but obviously glad to see him. "Fancy meeting you here, Xander."

    The Lynx was one the move, probably causing a few Landers to get out of the way, before Rama eventually makes it up to Xander. Xander blinks a few times, "Rama?" He then smiles, "Rama! Hey there!" Then he kneels down to give the Lynx a few good pettings around the fluff.

Before he could ask where Mikage was, he hear her voice, then see her legs, before he eyes would trail up. "Mikage! It is good to see you as well." He ruffles the top of Rama's head before he goes to stand up fully. "Like, seriously good to see you again. How have you been? Your trip been alright? Find anything exciting?"

The subtle tilt of Mikage's head is followed by a smile, "We've been good." Rama purrs his own response, butting his head up against Xander's hand. "Spent most of the past few weeks up in Ninetails Dominion, but with the hourglass counting down, we decided to head this way."

A smirk plays on her lips as she laughs, "Cyrus has been complaining most of the way. He hates the desert. Hates the heat, hates the sand in his fur." She rattles these off as if they were familiar mantras from the Cait Sith. "Sassaral is her usual sweet self. She could look at a latrine and fine something good about it."

Her blue eyes look out at the sunrise, stretching her arms up above her head. "What about you? I never thought I'd see you anyplace but around the Tower."

    The black scaled Salamander continues to give the Lynx a few more hand scratches before he goes to lean his back against the stone railing, arms crossing over his chest. "Came here for concern about the Hourglass /and/ because S.E.A. is going to be holding a tournament out here. So, figured I'd get out here early and see what I could see."

"After all, as my character creation goes, this is my 'Xander's'," He does little air quotes, "Homeland. Seem kind of wrong to not ignore it, you know, and again-- Tournament."

The Salamander then lifts up his hand, wiggling his fingers, "Also thanks for the gloves. They been really great." Before lowering his arm to cross them again.

Once Xander stands back up, Rama returns to Miki's side, the girl bending down to ruffle her own hands through his fur. "Good boy." From one pocket, she pulls out what looks to be dried meat, likely made by one of her companions since the girl has claimed not to really be much of a cook. The lynx greedily gobbles up the morsels.

"I guess Ninetails Dominion would be my homeland, since they were the ones that created Were Fangs, but I don't really have any hard ties to any NPCs there." Miki explains, looking up towards the Salamanader from her crouched position.

"I heard a little about the tournament. I think Cyrus is going to sign up." As she pushes to her feet, the girl seems to think to herself, moving to lean her forearms on the railing next to Xander. "I might join, as well. It's something new to experience." Though she doesn't really look like the sort to be into pit fighting.

Of course, when he comments about the gift, she just blushes slightly and looks away, drawing a few strands of hair behind her ear with one hand. "You're welcome. I never really had many friends back home, so I figure I should try to show my appreciation. I made a hat for Cyrus, and a pendant for Sassaral. Got some feathers for Shiruba, and some furs for Gwen." She shrugs, as if such things were normal. "I gave some catnip to Mizuki, but I don't think she liked it. She seemed mad at me the rest of the night."

Her brows furrow in confusion.

    "Why-- would you give someone catnip?" Xander asked as he peered over to Mikage, watching her play with her hair a little. "I mean, if you gave me lizard food, I be kinda frustrated too." He laughs a bit with a slight grin.

"Hey, Mikage," He gently bumps her with his arm. "When we get out of this mess, if we ever do get out of this mess, let's try to stay in touch yeah? Though I admit..." Xander laughs softly, "You make my life an interesting one."

"You remind me of someone I had a crush on, maybe cause I was actually get a bit of one on you as well... But that was probably because of how you reminded me... and That. That isn't any good, so I realized while you were away, maybe with the help of someone else... That I needed to /honestly/ let that person go."

    He looks over to Mikage, "You are not /her/ after all, you never will be, and... I'm glad for that. You-- are a gorgeous young lady. You have beautiful eyes and any man who can wrestle that wild heart of yours, will be a lucky man." Xander smiles warmly to her. "I'm glad you are my friend, Miki, and you are right," He looks up. "... I need to take advantage of things while I can. Heal where I can heal and ... Move on. So," He looks back at her. "Thank you. Seriously. Thank you."

"Because Cyrus likes it?" Mikage offers up, still seeming confused about the whole situation. "Sassaral puts it in his evening tea and it sort of mellows him out." She rubs at the back of her neck, seeming sheepish, "I guess I shouldn't assume all cat-like avatars are the same, but it wasn't as if I meant anything bad by it."

The bump to her arm breaks her from this line of thought, causing her to blink. "Huh?" Then, she pauses, her expression shifting into a smile. "Oh, definitely. Though, I'm not quite as outgoing in the real world." She smirks, "I guess I got into the habit of being quiet. I never wanted much attention on me, because if people looked for too long, they'd see something wasn't right."

As he begins to explain the situation with his crush and how that... was deflected onto her, that hint of color on her cheeks returns as she looks away. "You're right, I'm not her." She shakes her head, white strands of hair hanging down across her forehead. "As for this wild heart of mine, I don't know." She shrugs, eyes looking out at the desert, expression uncertain, "Honestly, it's not something I ever really expect to find." Her eyes flick over towards him, then away again.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it. The idea of finding someone in here." Miki explains, "Can you imagine? Just being able to live and love like a normal person?" She laughs then, "But the fact is, I'm not normal."

She reaches a hand up, touching her chest, "This wild heart belongs to a shy girl who can barely walk, with a condition that is likely to get worse over time. A person would have to be wiling to accept that person, too, and everything else that comes with it should we find ourselves back in the real world." Miki nods to herself. "Like I said, it's not something I'm likely to find. But that's okay." She doesn't seem bothered by this realization.

Then, she actually gives him a look, offering him a smile. "I'm glad. You deserve a chance here as much as any of us do." She nods this time, affirming his statement. "The past is something we can't erase, but we can at least influence our future by making the choices that put us on the right path."

    "That is something we both feel the same on." Xander says to Mikage. "We are both two disabled souls, given the gift to walk again in this virtual world. Given a chance to live a life-- we never would be able to live outside of it."

The Salamander looks over to her, "So, don't we deserve the chance to explore that which we know we could never have in life? Love?" He looks away from her, out over the town. "It is something I've been asking myself on and off... since I've met someone. Funny accident that, but, it got these old gears turning, and I've been asking myself on and off."

"Even if it doesn't come true in reality, wouldn't it be nice to love someone, even for a short time-- Like normal? Just to hold someone, kiss someone, /be/ with someone?" Xander looks at his hands. "I've been alone for nine years... so much of myself lost in those nine to ten years of my life."

    The Salamander lowers his arms and goes to stand up. "I think...I think I'm tired of not having what I want in life because of my fears and disabilities. I think, while I can-- I'll take what I can get, even if I wake up and knew it was a dream, but hey," He looks over at Mikage, "Isn't that why we play this game? To live a dream?" Xander looks away from her.

"Anyways, I probably should get some training in, you and Rama take care and," Xander shrugs as he goes to step away, "You know, think about it yeah? Might even do you some good." Then he goes to fully turn away and head for the steps.

The Were Fang folds her hands slightly, the warm breeze coming in off the desert lightly blowing her hair back from her face. It's enough to show her tattoo, which is usually mostly covered by her hair. "I wouldn't really know much about it, to be honest. I've never been in love, or even had a crush on someone. Heck, I've never even been on a date." She laughs, seemingly amused by just how little experience she actually has in that domain.

"Still, I'm not saying it's impossible, even for people like us. There's plenty of disabled people in relationships." She explains, "I just think it's important to find someone who accepts both sides. If someone really cares about you, they should, right?" Some confusion is written on her face at that, as she simply doesn't have a frame of reference on what a relationship 'should' be. "I guess, for me, I don't want something that's just for now. If I'm going to invest my heart, it has to be the real thing, with someone who can accept everything that goes with it."

She smirks, then, "But I could be wrong. It's hard to miss something that you've never had." She lifts her shoulders again in another of those shrugs.

Some of that shyness ebbs away as she talks, perhaps because what he is saying isn't focused as much on her. "I think you've already figured out your answer. I'm just here to bounce your thoughts off of." Miki laughs at that, her smile genuine as she inclines her head. "In the end, I'm the worst person to give advice about love. But it seems to me that you know what you want. So, go get it?"

As he excuses himself, the girl nods. "I should finish fetching breakfast, then maybe scout what sort of animals there are to hunt out here. I imagine it's slim pickings." At the suggestion of thinking about things, "When and if it gets to that point, I'll think about it."