345 lines
18 KiB
Markdown
345 lines
18 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: The Oasis
|
|
date: 2022-06-03
|
|
series: malto
|
|
tags:
|
|
- furry
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Tosen did a final check of his backpack. It was a very hot day in Tashei, but
|
|
the river radiated an aura of cool air that protected everyone from the heat of
|
|
the harsh sun. He had his backup cloak, a hydroflask and some fish jerkey, not
|
|
to mention the package for the client. *Not exactly the best equipment but this
|
|
will work. Riltash is a half day away at worst,* Tosen thought to himself. He
|
|
squatted down and fit his arms into the pack's straps. The pack easily weighed a
|
|
quarter of what he did, but as he regained his catlike balance he secured the
|
|
waistband and got ready to head out.
|
|
|
|
The oracle predicted that there would be a sandstorm late in the evening, but it
|
|
wasn't even noon yet. He pulled out his compass, let it settle and then set out
|
|
to the southeast.
|
|
|
|
Walking in the desert always has its own unique rhythm to it. With the
|
|
unrelenting heat of the sun pounding down on the sand, the ground itself can
|
|
feel like a million angry daggers with every step. Tosen thought ahead of this
|
|
issue. He got himself a pair of sandshoes from the fancy magic item store. The
|
|
only downside was that his main connection to the earth was significantly
|
|
weakened. Chee paws are some of the most finely tuned sensory organs on Malto
|
|
(second only to Snep paws), and they were his main warning about sandstorms.
|
|
*The oracle isn't wrong most of the time. I'm fine, I'm fine. I can't feel the
|
|
desert but I'm fine.*
|
|
|
|
He kept walking past all different kinds of cacti. His favorite ones were the
|
|
ones that were made up of a bunch of spiky ovals built on top of eachother. He'd
|
|
never want to get stung by one and risk the wrath of the serrated needles, but
|
|
he'd always thought that they had such a unique look. *If I had a house of my
|
|
own, I'd grow one of them.*
|
|
|
|
As he continued walking he started to focus on the patterns of walking. Every
|
|
step was taken one after the other. With every step, his foot slid to the side
|
|
ever so slightly. The sand wrapped around his shoes and warmed his feet. The
|
|
worst part of the sandshoes was when sand trickled into the back of them. This
|
|
required him to stop every so often to purge the sand out of his shoes, because
|
|
otherwise it would hurt a lot.
|
|
|
|
This continued for what felt like hours. He checked his compass every so often
|
|
and made sure he was on the right path. It started to move a bit weird compared
|
|
to normal. It was taking longer to find north. Normally this would be concerning
|
|
to him, but the desert had entranced him. Left, right, left, right, left, right.
|
|
Each step bringing him closer to his destination.
|
|
|
|
Then the sky changed color. The brilliant blue started to get stained with a
|
|
light brown that worked its way across what Tosen could see. Tosen instantly
|
|
noticed this change and pulled over his face veil. The sandstorm had started
|
|
early. The oracle was wrong.
|
|
|
|
Tosen looked around for some kind of shelter but all he could see was the
|
|
remains of a broken wagon that looked like its better days had seen better days.
|
|
It was barely enough protection. With his spare robe to patch over the biggest
|
|
holes just enough to ride out the storm. He took the leap and hunkered down.
|
|
*It's only a level 2 storm. It'll be over in an hour. I'll make it to Riltash
|
|
today. Everything will work out.*
|
|
|
|
As he sat down he reached for his compass and couldn't find it. He reached into
|
|
the pocket that his compass normally lives in and felt it conspicuously empty.
|
|
He looked up towards the path he walked in on and saw a golden glint in the
|
|
sand. It was so close. If he could get to it, he'd know where to go. He'd find
|
|
his way to Riltash.
|
|
|
|
But the sandstorm started to kick up. The sky started fading towards darker and
|
|
darker shades of brown and he could feel the sand beat against his makeshift
|
|
shelter. The hot sand was whipped up and he could hear it pitter and patter the
|
|
wooden and cloth walls.
|
|
|
|
After an hour, the sandstorm started showing signs of slowing down. *This is
|
|
nothing close to a level 2*, Tosen thought to himself. His spare robe was
|
|
totally ruined, but he survived. As things died down, he remembered his compass
|
|
and tore down enough of his shelter to be able to find it. It wasn't where it
|
|
was before. *Okay, it's made of gold, it can't have gone that far*. He grabbed
|
|
his pack, almost fell over from the sudden weight and started to scan around him
|
|
in 360 degrees. He saw the familiar glint of its knob and walked over to its
|
|
resting site. The looking glass was cracked. Rotating it did nothing. The
|
|
compass was broken.
|
|
|
|
He was lost.
|
|
|
|
It took every ounce of strength Tosen had to avoid shouting out in anger. He
|
|
needed to conserve the water. Miau was huge. He needs to extend his supplies to
|
|
last as long as possible.
|
|
|
|
He couldn't resist the urge. He shouted out in anger for an instant before
|
|
realizing what he did and covering his mouth.
|
|
|
|
It took a while for Tosen to regain his senses. The shock of the event wasn't
|
|
sitting well with him. His mother's compass was destroyed. His rendezvous time
|
|
with the client was surely shot. At least it wasn't the solar apex anymore.
|
|
*Okay, I can deal with this. I should stay put until sunset. The sun sets to the
|
|
east. I can go diagonally into the sunset to get to Riltash*.
|
|
|
|
He more confidently went back to his makeshift shelter. It was in worse
|
|
condition after the storm, but at least it would give him shade. The sun was on
|
|
its way down, but it was still a deadly laser that he needed to worry about.
|
|
*It's just me and you, buddy.*
|
|
|
|
Some time passed and the sun very visibly was in the eastern portion of the sky.
|
|
Tosen grabbed for his hydroflask and took a sip. *It was still cold. At least
|
|
that oracle was good for SOMETHING.* He stood up and grabbed his pack. He left a
|
|
bit of red cloth as a flag on the southeast side of his makeshift shelter to
|
|
tell anyone looking for him where he went.
|
|
|
|
Then it was back to the rhythms of the desert. The desert felt confusing without
|
|
the comforting pulse of nature under his paws. But, he continued taking steps
|
|
and continued walking forwards.
|
|
|
|
Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Things felt more deliberate this time.
|
|
There was a frustration to his walking. He was so frustrated at the whole
|
|
situation. As he walked, he felt his emotions fuming over this whole debacle.
|
|
|
|
He walked and walked. The sunset had started to peek out its head and show Tosen
|
|
a display of fantastic colors as he continued to walk. *This isn't right. I
|
|
should have reached Riltash by now. It's only a few miles from Tashei.* He took
|
|
another swig of his hydroflask and felt it notably lighter than it should be. He
|
|
was low on water. This was especially dangerous out here. *This is going to be a
|
|
long night, isn't it.*
|
|
|
|
The sunset continued and the colors gradually started to fade to the black night
|
|
sky. Starts started to peek out without the sun to hide them. Tosen scanned over
|
|
the constellations and found the North Star. From there he worked out that he
|
|
was going to the southeast like he thought he was. He looked around and found a
|
|
few miserable bushes to use for firewood, but they were in a sea of thorns. He
|
|
had talents in fire magick, but he didn't trust using it with so many dry thorns
|
|
nearby. *You know what, what's the worst that can happen? I get warm? It's going
|
|
to be so cold soon, I need to do something.*
|
|
|
|
He held out his hand and mentally started to trace out the triangles like he
|
|
learned from school. Each triangle stacked on top of each other and then built
|
|
up into a viable casting circle glowing a brilliant orange in front of his hand.
|
|
The area around him was illuminated from the magickal force, the thorns casting
|
|
long evil shadows against cacti and other miserable little bushes.
|
|
|
|
"Toor sha!"
|
|
|
|
A weak puff of flame came out of his hand and tickled one of the thorny vines.
|
|
There wasn't much of a response and it looked like the fire was going to go out
|
|
so he cast a fireball in its place. The triangles shifted into squares and a
|
|
baseball sized orb of energy started to form in his hand.
|
|
|
|
"Toor shaltel!"
|
|
|
|
The fireball formed around his fingers and he chucked it right into the pit of
|
|
thorns. They were all set on fire simultaneously. After a brilliant blaze, the
|
|
fire petered out into nothing as fast as it started. He looked over to see if
|
|
the firewood was still there, his spell circle was still active as a flashlight
|
|
but that kindling was nowhere to be seen. It was incinerated with everything
|
|
else.
|
|
|
|
He had to resist shouting out in anger again. *Okay, okay, calm down. I set off
|
|
a massive signal fire. That should alert someone. I can't keep this spell circle
|
|
up, I'll mind down and then I'll be in worse trouble.* He killed off the spell
|
|
with a flick of the wrist and the darkness crept in. He was alone. I need to
|
|
keep walking. So he started walking, not realizing that he changed direction
|
|
after the incident with the thorns.
|
|
|
|
Left! Right! Left! Right! Left! Right! Each step felt angry and defiant. Tosen
|
|
started to feel legitimate anger at the desert. It was normally his home, he
|
|
grew up in the sands of Miau, but tonight it was his enemy. He defiantly marched
|
|
towards where he thought Riltash was, but got no closer.
|
|
|
|
It was a very long night walking towards town. It was a desperate, angry march.
|
|
He stopped a few times to take a bite of jerkey and swig it down with the bare
|
|
minimum of water he could get away with. He thought it would be colder, but it
|
|
turns out all that fur ended up going towards something.
|
|
|
|
The night continued and was broken by the inklings of a sunrise. Tosen looked up
|
|
in dismay. He had walked all night and he was nowhere closer to his destination.
|
|
An overwhelming feeling of sadness blanketed him and he broke down to start
|
|
crying.
|
|
|
|
He looked forward and saw something different. He saw what looked like the faint
|
|
outline of Riltash's signal statue. His sadness was instantly transmuted to a
|
|
mixture of relief and joy and his second wind started to hit. He trudged forward
|
|
towards that statue. Towards his salvation. Towards his client. Towards his
|
|
paycheck. Towards the next step to move out to Zhalram with his friends. Towards
|
|
his future.
|
|
|
|
He kept up his pace and got closer. The statue looked wrong. Riltash has the
|
|
visage of one of the water goddesses in the region. This looked different,
|
|
almost like a Chee. He wasn't aware of any local Chee deities. He looked down
|
|
and saw shimmers. It almost looked like a mirage, but then he remembered
|
|
something. There were rumors of an oasis south of Riltash. Could this be that?
|
|
Could there be water?
|
|
|
|
His second wind became a third and then a fourth wind. He got close enough to
|
|
take a better look at everything and it was that oasis!
|
|
|
|
*Water!*
|
|
|
|
His walk became a sprint and the sand started to be diluted with grass. As he
|
|
walked on the grass he suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of calm. It was as if
|
|
all of the anger, all the vitriol, all the hatred towards the desert vanished in
|
|
an instant. He paused for a moment but then continued on. The promise of fresh
|
|
water was too great. He was so thirsty.
|
|
|
|
He put his pack down, took off his shoes and tested the water with a paw. It was
|
|
cool to the touch, about 10 degrees celsius. It was the real deal. It was water.
|
|
He took off his robe, folded it haphazardly next to his pack and grabbed his
|
|
hydroflask. He opened it and shoved it under so it could be filled. Once he was
|
|
satisfied that it was full, he bent over and started to lap up the water
|
|
greedily.
|
|
|
|
A figure vaguely resembling the statue was watching from a nearby house. The
|
|
figure chuckled to themselves. They decided they should intervene. They donned a
|
|
white robe and walked out to the weary traveler.
|
|
|
|
Tosen was enamoured by the water. His exhaustion had finally caught up to him.
|
|
He looked back at his pack and saw a figure walking towards him from some kind
|
|
of house. He instantly jumped to alertness, but didn't feel the fear that
|
|
generally came with being startled like that. The figure felt familiar yet alien
|
|
somehow.
|
|
|
|
The figure looked at his pack and his visibly broken compass. They looked right
|
|
into Tosen's eyes. "Rough day?"
|
|
|
|
Tosen stammered a few times and eventually managed to come up with a reply:
|
|
"Y...yeah. I was caught in that sandstorm yesterday. I hid from it in a broken
|
|
wagon."
|
|
|
|
The figure reached out a hand to him. "Come with me. You need a rest. I'll come
|
|
back to take care of your things. I have a spare bed for travelers like you."
|
|
|
|
Tosen didn't have enough energy to argue with the stranger's offer of
|
|
hospitality and followed them into their house. They guided Tosen to the guest
|
|
room and sat on one of the chairs. Tosen collapsed on the most comfortable bed
|
|
he had ever felt in his life. All he could get out was a weak "thank....youuuu"
|
|
before his lost sleep caught up and he was out like a light. The figure pulled a
|
|
blanket over him and closed the shades to make the room nice and dark.
|
|
|
|
Tosen was asleep until the late afternoon. The figure had moved his stuff
|
|
inside, done his laundry, mended a hole in the pack and was lounging in a chair
|
|
for a nap of their own.
|
|
|
|
Tosen woke up, stretched out and yawned loudly. He looked up at the ceiling and
|
|
realized how unfamiliar it was. That angel in his dream was real. Had he
|
|
actually walked through the night? The figure knocked at the door. "Hey, come
|
|
and have a meal. You must be starving." He was. Tosen stood up and opened the
|
|
door. The figure was wearing a white robe and a golden necklace. They looked
|
|
like the archetypal vision of Chee beauty. Tosen noted that he was unable to
|
|
refer to that figure with any pronoun but "they". *That's weird...*
|
|
|
|
The figure started to speak: "I am Shal'tash. I saw you hurting and I decided to
|
|
intervene and help you. Come, I have some food almost ready." Shal'tash started
|
|
to walk towards the kitchen and Tosen followed. He made his way to a rather
|
|
ordinary looking wooden table and took a seat. His stuff was near the table and
|
|
he was grateful for his host's gratuity.
|
|
|
|
They were making pancakes. The batter was being poured into a metal pan in
|
|
little groups. Tosen noticed that the stove seemed to be powered by its own
|
|
magic circle, a non-organic magic emitter was being used to create the fire
|
|
needed for cooking. It was a weak burner, but it was enough for Shal'tash to
|
|
cook with.
|
|
|
|
Tosen was befuddled. He had never seen such a thing in action. He got up and
|
|
looked at it closely. Shal'tash looked back and smiled, "Never seen a stove
|
|
burner before?"
|
|
|
|
"Not like that no, it looks like it's casting a weak fire spell, but
|
|
constantly."
|
|
|
|
"This is a lot more efficient than the coal burning stoves you have. This lets
|
|
you use the energy equivalent of a fireball to get a half hour of cooking heat,
|
|
or an hour or two of torchlight. I'm surprised you didn't know about this."
|
|
|
|
Tosen looked confused. "You mean you can use the square level spell to
|
|
supercharge the triangle level spell? No, they never taught us this. But how is
|
|
the burner even working?"
|
|
|
|
Shal'tash laughed. "It's nothing special. I just rooted the circle under the pan
|
|
instead of on my hand. Here, you try it." They flicked their wrist and banished
|
|
the magic circle. "Now cast a fireball but focus on the pan instead of your
|
|
hand, let it simmer a bit, and then kick off create fire."
|
|
|
|
Tosen was confused but nodded and tried to comply. After a moment Shal'tash
|
|
piped in: "no, don't think about where the pan is relative to your hand. Think
|
|
about where the pan is relative to the pan. You're so close. I know you can do
|
|
it."
|
|
|
|
Tosen nodded and started over. The circle started to be inscribed below the pan
|
|
and Shal'tash's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Toor sha!"
|
|
|
|
The burner was lit. The fire was continuously burning and Tosen didn't feel the
|
|
sting of a continuous cast. "Perfect. See how easy this is? Spend the mana on
|
|
the fireball, then use it for the weaker spell. No need to waste any."
|
|
|
|
Tosen was astounded. It normally took him ages to learn magical skills, but here
|
|
he was on the second try with this person and their vague instruction and he did
|
|
two things he thought was impossible. It was like magic was all new all over
|
|
again. Can I use this to make a bunch of fireballs when casting a firestorm? How
|
|
far does this go?
|
|
|
|
"Be careful with this, you could really hurt someone if you do displacement
|
|
foolishly. They must have stopped teaching it for a reason." Shal'tash finished
|
|
the stack of pancakes and put the plate in the middle of the table. "Now let's
|
|
eat!"
|
|
|
|
They shared a meal. It was just what Tosen needed.
|
|
|
|
The meal was finished. Shal'tash looked over to Tosen. "So where are you headed?
|
|
I can point you in the right direction."
|
|
|
|
"Riltash, I have a delivery that I'm incredibly late for by now."
|
|
|
|
Shal'tash chuckled and pointed towards the statue. "The statue points towards
|
|
Riltash. Just go straight north and you'll get there in 20 minutes."
|
|
|
|
Tosen looked incredulous. "I was really that close?"
|
|
|
|
"Yeah, though it looked like you needed to get lost. It can be good for you."
|
|
|
|
He didn't understand what they meant by that, but he didn't think he needed to.
|
|
|
|
Shal'tash walked with Tosen to the north side of the oasis. Tosen looked towards
|
|
his saviour and was suddenly overcome with emotion. "Thank you so much. You
|
|
saved me."
|
|
|
|
"You are welcome. I saved you because I was in a situation worse than yours when
|
|
I found this oasis. I don't want anyone to experience the pain that I have felt,
|
|
so I saved you before it could get that bad."
|
|
|
|
"What can I do to repay you?"
|
|
|
|
"You don't need to do anything right now. Just save someone else when you can.
|
|
If you want, come back here and give me a visit. It'd be fun to catch up,
|
|
Tosen."
|
|
|
|
"Thanks again! I'll be back!"
|
|
|
|
Tosen walked off towards his payday. He looked back every so often and the oasis
|
|
became more distant and then faded completely from sight into the rest of the
|
|
sands. He was alone again, but not in spirit.
|
|
|
|
He never noticed that they knew his name without him telling them his name.
|
|
|
|
Shal'tash walked back towards their house and stood by their cactus. They
|
|
watched as Tosen faded into the sands and then headed inside. Their job was
|
|
complete.
|