The Widening Gyre

[Treize Dreizehn]

I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?
T.S. Eliot - The Wasteland When he awoke it was with a sudden intake of breath. His hands searched for purchase around him but found nothing but the yielding sands. Where was he?

He opened his eyes and the bright sun in his face forced them shut again. His eyelids offered little protection against the beating sun, and his pupils contracted as he reached up with one hand to cover them. Was this hell? He'd done more than enough in his life to deserve that. But no. The brief respite offered by the shade of his hand told him that this was a more mundane punishment.

He cracked his eyes once more and surveyed the desert sands that surrounded him. The dunes stretched out as far as the horizon. Treize, at that moment, became very aware of his desperate thirst. Between the sun, sands and searing heat... his body was already beginning to shut down again.

"Oy!" A harsh voice with an accent he didn't recognize caught his attention. "The bloke don't look like much."

A softer, female, voice spoke up. "I'm not paying you for your opinions. Get him on the back of the horse."

"Aye." The first voice said with a hint of resignation. "It's your lucky day. This crazy git thinks you're Treize Dreizen."

Treize Dreizehn tried to speak. His burning throat merely rewarded him with a fit of coughing instead.

"Get him some water!" The woman said with a start.

Treize greedily drank from the waterskin as soon as it was placed at his lips. When he was done, in a hoarse voice, he looked at his caretakers before speaking. "Who are you?"

The woman lowered her hood as she stepped forward. "Ralania Vale. I am first priestess of the Church of the Thirteen. I have come here to bring you back to your people."

The rough fellow leaned in and flashed a toothy grin. "When we first got here you were just a piece of beef jerky buried in tha sands. The priestess here knows her craft."

Treize shook his head and motioned to the surrounding wastes. "Where are we?"

The woman tilted her head down. "Douria."

The rough fellow's grin faded away. "Or what's left of it."

Treize began to stand up on his own, though unsteadily. He looked at the priestess and nodded.

Time to get back to work.

[War Wombat]

You're back??! Epic!

[Yuno]

yay!
Can't wait to rp with you :3