Sand shifted under her feet. Sweat streamed down the ridge of her spine. Each step a drag. The fine sand engulfed her ankles deep. Pulling one foot out only to push the other one in deeper. “I hate sand.” the girl complained. She looked back at the distance she had travelled from the tall rocks formation that resembled the fangs of a primordial beast. “Too far in too return now,” she sighed. “Keep your eyes on the prize girl.” she told herself. The skin between her toes was agitated by the abrasive workings of the sand. She kept slogging. The distance between her and that fertile oasis shrinking slowly.

It hadn’t looked that far away when she had climbed one of those rocks as a vantage point earlier. She remembered the gloating expression of her father when he boasted about his stupid floating sandals as the supreme means of transportation. She had cringed so hard, when he said that all the kids would barter their soles for a pair of windwalkers.

She still groaned, thinking of that awful pun. She had even helped him test the various prototypes. It was honestly quite fun to glide around the village. However, solely with that dumb remark he had managed to make it seem so uncool. And yet right now the ability to smoothly fly over this godforsaken land would have saved her a lot of trouble. “Fuck I’m going to have admit that the he was right about his footwear, aren’t I?” She cursed inwardly “No! Don’t ever admit anything to that man. He’ll just use it against you relentlessly.” She shook her head, as to reaffirm her thoughts. Droplets of sweat scattered around her. In the corner of her eyes a shadow shifted. she had barely noticed the quick movement in the sandy dunes.

In between bundles of thin needle-like grass a scaled creature was watching her closely. It stayed at a distance, observing the strange upright being that ploughed through the shifting landscape. Confident in its speed, it came a little closer. Thulla looked at the strange critter suspiciously. It kind of resembled a hare except that it was a beaked reptile with two strong hind legs, two stubby horns instead of ears, and a long thin tail.

As a reflex Frederic poured out of her pores. The white metal covering her body within seconds. The skittish animal instantly dashed away. Sand erupted from where it was standing previously. Within a blink of an eye it was gone. “Damn Frederic, you scared the living daylights out of it.” she smiled underneath her shiny cover. The metal contorted with her facial muscles, creating a rather creepy grin on the pale reflective surface.

Thulla looked around once more, it was still nerve wracking to meet any of the locals, even if they were relatively harmless. She kept dragging her feet through the sand. Step for slogging step. “Mip! Mip!” A high pitched noise sounded right behind her. She twitched, scared of the sudden new sound. The scaled hare had returned.

Thulla looked at it with a questioning gaze. It stared back at her with four eerie pink eyes. “Mip! Mip! it squealed out before it vanished again. Its movements so fast that it left after-images, a spray of sand showered down in its wake. The hare reappeared to her left flank. Announcing its presence with another squeak. “Are you mocking me?” Thulla asked. “Mip!” was its response. “I take that as a yes.” She squinted her eyes at the animal. It cocked its head with an unreadable expression, before it continued bouncing around her.

“Great, that’s exactly what I need right now. A squeaky sand rabbit that is showing me just how out of place I am.” She grumbled. “Mip! Mip! Mip!” Every single cry kept coming from a different direction. She sighed at the overly energetic cheering. At least it was distracting her from the arduous walk. She noticed that every jump with an after-image was mana infused, showing off some kind of innate magical ability. Maybe it was worth studying this animal to learn the secret behind its movements. She kept close eyes on it. Trying to perceive the flow of mana. It almost looked like it was bursting with every step, yet it was much more complicated than that. The after-images appeared to be more akin to an illusion of light. It made her wonder why such a fast creature would need a power like that for. “Don’t think about it too deeply now...” She reprimanded herself.

Thulla tried to emulate the animals abilities. Directing her own mana into her feet to push off the loose sands with a burst. A bubble of air blasted grains of sand from under her. As a result her other foot had sunk even deeper in the shuffled sand. She stumbled and fell to her knees. The creature ‘mipped’ joyfully at her. She threw a handful of sand in its general direction. it just scattered harmlessly in midair. “Mip?” - “Yeah, mip all you want, I’m not giving up.” Thulla said determined to gain something useful out of this encounter.

She tried it again, and again. until the familiar lightheadedness from near mana depletion kicked in. By that time she had almost made it through the stretched out dunes. More, and more of the sharp grass poked through the sands now. It became a lot easier to walk. The scaled hare was somewhere hanging around at a distance now, still curious to what the bald human was up to. Although it was more or less doing its own thing now. Diving into the sand to come out with deeply hidden scarabs, that crunched between it’s hard beak. Thulla made a mental note about the possibilities to go scarab diving, “More tasty bugs on the menu, yum, what I wouldn’t do to fill the endless void that is my stomach.” she said, while she rubbed her belly with her right hand.

Her attempts at emulating the magic infused movement of the miplo, that’s the name she had given it, hadn’t been all that fruitful. It was likely a bit easier to pull off on a hard surface. Nevertheless the sand made for an excellent environment to practice in. Since it punished so hard for any mistakes or mistimed mana bursts, while also giving some kind of visual feedback, about the direction, focus and intensity of the power steps. So far her journey through this sandscape hadn’t been entirely in vain.

She was now looking at the ‘Oasis’ in front of her. A lush garden in the middle of the dunes.

“Oh Pebelot? Did we stumble upon paradise here? Thulla asked the small stone in her hand. Letting it take a gander at the scenery with its ‘eyes’.

“Why yes, it certainly looks promising indeed.” She mimicked a posh noblestone's voice. “What do you say, old chap, shall we steal a glimpse under this green veil?” She held the stone in front of her face, with her pinky finger all prim.

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“A most excellent idea, Let us proceed shall we?.” Pebelot ‘replied’. “Yes sir, we’ve seen enough of these desolate dunes.” - “Agreed, we mingled far too long with all these plebeian sand-grains, which is not appropriate for a demure young lady such as yourself.” Pebelot ‘said’ in the most haughty voice she could muster. “Oh my, you flatter me, Pebelot. Now, let us not be rude, and say our heartfelt goodbyes to our latest acquaintance: Sir Miplo.” Thulla said, still continuing her little play. “Gasp! That sand loving rascal? Are you certain you wish to associate yourself with the likes of him?” Pebelot exaggerated his disdain for the sedimental dregs of the mineral family.

“Pebelot!” she exclaimed. “Sir Miplo has been exceedingly courteous during my travels. That is not very nice of you.” peh! the stone harrumphed when Thulla reprimanded him on his stone-up behaviour. “Back in the pocket you go then.” She said firmly, not about to deal any further with such a hard headed rock. She waved her spear-arm at Sir Miplo: “Bye! Miplo.”

The animal looked at her with a puzzled look in its four eyes: “mip?”

Thulla faced the growth of plants in front of her. It looked a lot more daunting up close. Thick pillar-like trees with dangerous looking bristles rose from the ground. The pricking needle grass mixed with a nettle that grew wildly in between the trees. Brittle crystal capsules grew under the leaves of this particular plant. Long green translucent vines with bulbous growths tied everything together, creating a natural formed fortress of plants.

“Fabulous Frederic, it’s your turn to shine!” Shing, shing! she swiped her bladed arms back and forth in the empty air. As a precaution she had completely covered herself in her armor, before she threw herself in the wilderness.

~

The wind rushed in his ears. Trees passed by in a blur of green. Soft vibrations massaged the sole of his feet till it all felt a little numb. The gradual trinkle of mana that seeped into the board was only slightly more than he’d naturally replenish. All in all it was a comfortable way to travel. Except for the terrifying speed.

The thought of smashing into an unavoidable obstacle kept him sharp on his toes. Cold sweat had soaked the back of his shirt. His control over the board was still abysmal, while it was slowly improving as they were gliding on the road to Varwick. His nerves were too tightly strung to really enjoy the swift journey. Genik had put his ego on the line when he first stepped on the flying board. He had refused to give Ramon the satisfaction of seeing him fail. With stubborn determination, and wobbly legs he had managed to clear the test run without falling off. Yet without waiting Ramon had gone speeding off already. Genik hadn’t been able to catch up to him at all. With a torrent of curse words better not repeated, he caught the man's attention again, only to be told to ‘just go faster man’. The Infuriating fuckwit did slow down a bit, if only a little.

Genik felt that it was only a matter of time till he crashed into something or someone with this breakneck tempo. His entire internal dialogue during this stretch of the road consisted of the repeated usage of the word: fuck, and other creative variations of the word.

“Watch out! Get out of the way.” Ramon shouted to a small group of travelers in front of him.

They were all walking side by side in the middle of the road. Genik had noticed them as well. With fear in his eyes he observed how slow they were reacting to Ramon’s shouting. It took a mighty long second for them to turn around to see what all the fuss was about. With dumbfounded expressions in their eyes they watched two flying men rush at them. The two young lads reacted the quickest and jumped out of the way. but the woman froze in her tracks. The big burly man reached for her to pull her out of the way, but he was way too late.

Ramon forcefully pumped mana into his sandals. With a roaring sound a red glow burst out from underneath his feet. He gained enough height to fly right over their heads. “Hi missus Weap. How do you do?” He greeted them jovially, like he was only just casually running into them. She let out an ear shattering scream. Mister Weap pulled her down in a protective embrace. ‘You insane maniac! you-” He cried out while he shook his trembling fist in the air.

Genik who was right behind Ramon had no possible way to go over them. At this rate he was going to crash into them. Hard. “fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…” He leaned sharply to his left. The board reacted immediately, he steered it over a slanted rock by the riverside. The angle was just right to grind over, it launched him high into the air. He twisted around his vertical axis, the board spinning like a windmill. Time slowed down to Genik senses. He was oddly calm now that he was soaring through the air. Underneath him the wild mountain stream roared. rocks jutting out of the fast flowing water.

It was a simple thing for him to connect to his element. The water rose into a ramp that smoothly caught Genik in his descent. Cold droplets of water hit his face. It took a couple dazed seconds to realise that he was still standing on his wooden board, surfing over the rapid torrents. A crazed laugh came rolling out of his belly. “Woohoo! that was fucking awesome!” Ramon's lunatic voice echoed through the valley.

The adrenaline hit left Genik shaking on his knees. He launched himself back to the road where he joined up with his friend once more. Ramon greeted him with a fistbump. “You’ve still got it old man!” He said with his stupid grin plastered on his face. “Who are you calling old?” Genik replied smiling. Relief evident in his shaking voice.

Mister and missus Heap were slowly scrambling back to their feet. Kibco Heap’s head was turning a dangerous shade of red. He was quite literally fuming. He came running at them, all the while shouting obscenities. In his haste he unfortunately stumbled over his own feet, planting his face firmly in the dirt. Harlica Heap gasped with a hand in front of her mouth. ”Dearest!” She cried out. The two men looked sheepishly at the sorry state of the Heap family. Genik guiltily scratched the back of his head.

“See you later missus Heap, we’ll be going along now, we’re in a bit of a hurry you see. Take care now!” Ramon shouted shamelessly. He prodded Genik to come along. “Let's just go.” - “Wait you bloody bastard, you!-” Kibco sounded from behind them. “I’ll make it up to you later I promise.” Ramon yelled back. “Oh, Okay then.” Harlica squecked. The pitch in her voice bending awkwardly when she spoke.

The two young lads had watched it all happen with their mouths wide open. “Come on, don’t just stand there. Help your father back up.” Missus Heap took the lead. Quickly falling back into her familiar role.

Genik glanced over his shoulder once more as they hoovered away. “Well that was kind of shitty.” he said.

“Yeah, that could have gone a lot worse.” Ramon admitted. “Let’s continue at a slower pace.” he proposed himself.

They glided along. “What’s the deal with you and missus Heap?” Genik finally asked. “Oh, we bonded over our kids.” Ramon answered off handedly. Genik raised his right eyebrow at that. “Not like that Idiot. I sometimes need advice about girly things, you know?” He added

“Right.”Genik cleared his throat after that. “Plus she bakes some mean cookies.” Ramon continued. “Ok I get it, there is absolutely nothing strange going on in serene Yllimni.” Genik said sarcastically. “That’s right, everything is perfectly mundane here.” Ramon said with a smirk. Genik rolled his eyes at that.