Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-24123288-20150424224910/@comment-25828117-20150425104248

The horizon danced in the distance and dunes simply as far as the eye could see. Arik, now dressed in light silks and a beige face-covering Keffiyeh, bobbed along with his horse as it descended and climbed the mighty Badlands of the Alik’r.

The unrelenting heat didn’t seem to faze the beast as much as it did the Redguard. Arik had been in Hammerfell for about a week now and he still hadn’t gotten used to it, despite being of yokunda origins.

“Heh…” He sounded exhausted.

“Easy there Arabesk” He said while gently padding the animal on its sturdy neck.

“I think we got to stop for a moment.”

The horse whinnied seemingly in response. After which Arik dismounted and felt as if now that he descended his horse it was a lot cooler. As if they few feet closer to the sun when sitting on that stag made such a phenomenal difference. Of course, it’s not actually the sun that causes most of the heat and dry-ness of this desert. It’s the bones of the gods lying underneath, if you believe the stories…

The redguard stretched himself a bit and suddenly was remembered why he needed a horse to cross this desert, the sand around his feet was heavy and loose, like… sand on a beach. Arik didn’t really have that point of reference though since the only beaches he ever knew were mostly frozen black-sand tundras.

“Let’s see here…” Arik unstrapped the canteen that hung around the ass of the horse along with other equipment, like a simple two pole tent, basic food supplies like desert fruits that could stand the heat, shovel, lantern and a pick-axe.

Arik took one swig of the fresh water and sighed afterwards, closing his eyes, savouring the moment of refreshment he so desperately needed. He couldn’t afford to ‘chug’ it all down at ones, and needed to ration what was left. His supplies were good enough to last him two weeks if he stuck to his plan.

The redguard looked out into the distance, though there was not much use for it. Every direction you looked at was the same. No, it was only at night he could check if he was on the right path with the help of celestial coordinates on his map. Like in the navy, the alik’r people use the stars to navigate this empty corner on Nirn. Because what is this huge dune infested desert if not basically a solid ocean.

As he used his hand to protect his gaze he suddenly felt a bump in his back.

“Arabesk...” Arik smiled. Admittedly he was mildly startled.

The redguard looked down at his canteen in his hand.

“You thirsty?”

Arik knew that these horses could go months without drinking but he didn’t know when this horse had last drunk anything. For all he knew the previous owner was a complete dirtbag to the horse, which considering, he scammed Arik out of most of his money, wasn’t a stretch too far to imagine.

Arik looked at his canteen again. It was still fairly heavy and filled.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I guess it wouldn’t hurt giving you a little.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Carefully Arik walked towards the horse’s head, gently brushing it along its mane to instil a sense of comfort. Arik then put the canteen gently to the horses lips and tilted it softly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“There you go” the Redguard smiled down at the horse, its big brown eyes glistering in the sunlight.

<p class="MsoNormal">But before Arik could pull his canteen back the horse violently set its teeth into the top and raised his head so that it could fully drink all of it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No! Don’t do that!” Arik panicked, as he started pulling at the strap of the canteen.

<p class="MsoNormal">Arik pulled hard enough that the horse let go, but it caused him to lose his balance and the canteen to go flying. Leaving a faint trace of water as it hurled through the air. The redguard got quickly back up his feet though, hurrying over to the canteen that had stranded not far off.

<p class="MsoNormal">“no, no, no, no…” He faintly said to himself as he quickly landed next to the canteen and pulled it up from the small puddle.

<p class="MsoNormal">He quickly gave it a shake to get a sense of just how much was lost. Apparently there was still some water in it. But not nearly enough to make it back let alone reach the site of Mazaruk.

<p class="MsoNormal">Arik sighed…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Shit…”

<p class="MsoNormal">