The three walked down the path between the dunes in silence. The massive red sun took its place in the sky. Shortly, the blue sun broke the top of the dunes and followed the larger red sun as they both made their way overhead. The temperature rose noticeably and sweat soon beaded on his forehead and neck.

He’d not had a chance to talk to his new companions the night before and didn’t know if they even spoke a language he could understand.

He finally felt Penny nearby, which was a huge relief, but she didn’t make an appearance as they walked. Oskar decided to introduce himself, at least, and if they couldn’t understand him or reply, he’d just have to go from there.

He didn’t know if they knew where to find water, but he’d already passed one place he suspected had plenty. His mouth was bone dry and his throat burned at the thought of slaking this thirst. The Kobolds might be capable of walking for the entire day without more water, but he was a few hours from being dangerously dehydrated.

“My name is Oskar. It’s not… not Stupid Pink. In case you were wondering.”

The Kobold with the orange streaks laughed. The laugh was surprisingly feminine. It was musical, but for a moment, the vocalization was interspersed with high-pitched sounds like a hyena laugh. Her strange face showed none of the wildness usually associated with someone who’d lost control, though.

“I thought not, Oskar. I am Foxune… not Useless One. Please call me Fox, and this is Touwon,” her voice sounded like it was not used to speaking much, but was friendly.

“Forgive me, we usually communicate in our own language. The sounds of your speech are known to me, just unnatural.” Her voice varied in pitch and was sharp in some places, again, much as if someone had taught a hyena to speak human languages.

Oskar smiled and looked at Touwon, who kept a friendly demeanor as he watched Fox and him converse, but remained silent. Oskar decided after a moment that the other Kobold was distracted by his own thoughts, barely paying attention to him at all.

“Do you know how to find water out here?” Oskar asked.

She offered a sigh and said, “There are a few possible places or ways nearby, but the odds are never great. We often find water deep underground, and so it is safer to simply go to the most likely and save the energy of many failed digs. Places where the water is close to the surface are easier. It is dangerous to waste so much energy. This is why we leave so early.”

Oskar nodded, unsure if it was safe to let them know he was pretty sure he could feel the water underneath them when it was near, but he didn’t get the feeling that this was a common ability. He wasn’t sure he'd long have the luxury of choice, however. According to his PUB interface, the heat was already rising to yesterday’s temperature, and so he had a sinking feeling it was going to be much hotter than the day before.

His lips were already dry and cracking, his throat was parched, and he'd had a headache since he woke up.

It doesn't need to be hotter today to finish me off. I don't have a day of walking in this dry ass heat left in me.

Tiny wisps of clouds hung in the sky. They were so small and transparent that he was sure they held no tangible moisture. This was a desert, after all. A very dangerous desert with intelligent humanoid creatures, bugs that could probably kill him, and heat that was going to be the end of him if he didn't do something about it. Resolute; he took a chance.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“So, uh… what if I told you I could find water pretty easily? I don’t know how to get to it, but I’m certain we passed water about twenty minutes ago. It was deep, probably ten feet or more, but I felt it.”

Fox stopped dead and turned to face him quickly. He danced back a step and had his spear up crossways between them as she stalked forward at him, her orange streaked, purple face intense.

“Are you a trap? Am I to believe you are a Dowser who just wandered into camp last night?I am obligated to tell Vulk. Or Valla, more like it. If you have any brains yourself, you know by now she is the only one with brains in that Collective. Who sent you?” she demanded, her voice an admittedly intimidating growl.

Confused and wide-eyed, Oskar turned to Touwon, who looked just as unsettled as Fox did about what he'd just revealed.

I might have made a huge mistake.

Oskar cast a glance back at Fox, who was still glaring at him.

Oskar blinked. “Collective?”

Her expression didn’t change as she watched him for several moments. She didn’t relax, but the edge was gone from her voice as she spoke.

“If it is a truth, if you are a Finder... or as you claim, a Dowser... you must belong to one of the Tribes. If you are truly as ignorant as you seem to be, let me tell you a truth. This is immutable. You are a fool. You are a dry fool for telling me. You are a bone-dry fool for telling me in front of another,” she tossed a hand back to point at Touwon.

“So… either you are the worst, most foolish, dry boned spy I have ever seen, or you are just a dry-boned fool. Tell me a truth.”

Oskar was almost as angry as she was by the time Fox finished accusing and berating him. He was just as concerned as he was angry, though, and realized the danger in admitting his ability to find water was very real, inevitable or not. If the Crocs had even suspected he was what she called a Dowser, he would have been tucked under Valla's tent with a spear pointed at him for the foreseeable future.

They already knew enough to damn him, and if he was honest with himself, he was feeling a little defensive and he saw no point in holding back.

“Listen, I’m about two hours from passing out from dehydration. This time yesterday, I was barreling headlong in a foot of snow, God knows how far away from here. And when I say far away from here, I don't mean go twenty dunes and hang a left at the first cactus! I mean, far away from this stupid planet.” He stabbed his spear towards the sky to make his point.

“I was not born here, so I have zero idea what’s going on. I’m only keeping it together right now because this whole thing keeps getting more and more ridiculous.” He threw his arms out. “Here I am, sitting here arguing with a purple Kobold while lost in the middle of a huge desert. And you’re mad at me for not wanting to die of thirst!”

He was out of breath by the time he finished yelling. Maybe it was the wild look on his face, or the anger, but the heat was gone from her face, replaced by calculation.

He sarcastically added, “I guess I’m just a bone-dry fool.”

She relaxed, and he heard her short, wild laugh.

“I’m not a spy, Fox. I’m not… but I’m also not lying about the water. If I don’t drink something soon, you’re gonna be burying me in this sand and heading back to Big Blue with no water.”

She smirked at the name but spoke, kinder than before. “You have us in a difficult position. That is a truth. If Vulk… if Big Blue,” she said the name with a smile, “if Big Blue finds out you are a Dowser, he will sell you for enough to live like a king… if he survives the selling. Valla will ensure he will. She is crafty.”

She got serious and continued, “And you will be a slave. Sure, you will have all the food and water you could want, if that is all you want out of life. The first time you speak to a guard, they will replace them to ensure that you do not form a friendship or bond that could compromise their control over you. That is a truth. It is also a truth that they will kill you rather than allow anyone else to possess you.”

She stared at him, her eyes foxlike and serious through her Goggles. “If you truly can find water, I suppose it is more likely you are not from this place. This planet, as you said. They would never risk you just for an excuse to kill me when a few unlucky water runs would do the trick much cheaper. The difficult position is this; we would be killed for not telling Vulk. And we would die slowly.”

Oskar was speechless after everything he’d just learned. His ability was even rarer than he’d imagined. Not powerful, but rare enough that if anyone found out, the Kobolds might pay the price, and his life as he knew it was over. He stood there waiting on his heart rate to settle down as he weighed his options. Deep in thought, his brow furrowed, but Fox’s question interrupted his train of thought.

“What is a snow?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”