At The Turth, Again...

You change into your sabre-toothed armor and then lean back next to the stretcher that Lexie is laying on, you bring your hand to her own and just interlock her fingers together with you own. You were scared for your Fiance and truly didn't know what was going to happen, you hope that it would be something simple, some easy fix that Lady Bree knows the perfect potion to give her, but what if...what if it wasn't that straightforward.

Worst case, if you truly had to, you could always leave Lexie in the care of Lady Bree and Zoe and head to Loner's Reach to find Shade, maybe he would know of something that could help her out. You knew he was a little older so maybe he's possibly heard or something, especially from all the ears and eyes he has around the world.

That's also only if it came to that, secretly, you wish Lexie will wake up fine. At this point though, she was still asleep, her breathing a little unsteady and also just very lightly grunting and groaning. "Lexie..?" you whisper out as you bring your face down to her, listening to her breathing. Unfortunately, she was still out, she was still sleeping but you could tell her body was aching bad. Karisi did mention to you that you she should be safe to take one of these salves every six hours and it's been longer then that so as her body was still resting, you lift her up slightly, open a salve up and carefully pour the contents down her mouth. "I hope this helps..." you mumble into her ear before setting the sleeping Sunrider on her back again.

The long game of waiting was here again and as the carriage rode through the dunes of the Syndicate your mind went blank and you began to zone out. You don't know how long you sat there for as time felt as if it was going slow, but it must have been a lot longer because you were suddenly broken out of your trance by a song.

"Darien, Darien, Darien, we made it to the river!" Zoe sings gleefully up front "Darien, Darien, Darien, the view makes me shiver! Darien, Darien, Darien, why aren't you awake! Darien, Darien, Darien, Lexie we will take! Darien, Darien..."

"Zoe!" you pull the little window up and look at the back of Zoe "Enough!"

"Look look look!" she points ahead "The Turth!!! I told you I could do it, you didn't believe meeeeee" she carries her e "but I said I could and I diiiiiid! All me! I'm the best! The horse whisperer! The horse master! The horse...horse!"

"Yeah yeah, you're the best." you play along with her "Now...see those trees off in the distance, go that way, we'll camp out there. I stayed there before and hopefully it should be safe." not wanting to mention the bandits you fought at that very same location.

Zoe breaks out into song again "Darien, Darien, Darien, I will do just that! Darien, Darien, Darien, the ground looks so flat! Darien, Darien, Darien, there is so much sun! Darien, Darien, Darien..." she hears you slam the tiny little window shut. "always is no fun..." her voice trails off as she goes quiet.

Not too long after that the horse and carriage comes to a stop and you hop out of the side door, decked out in your battle armor and ready to **** an army if needed. To your luck, there was nothing but two horses, a Zoe, a passed out Lexie and a shit load of sand. "Here, help me with the horses, we'll tie them up by the trees down by the water so they can drink and rest up." you help Zoe down as the two of you begin to detach the horses from the carriage.

"Wait! Darien, did you hear that!" Zoe jumps backwards, kneels down slightly and has her arms wide out to her side.

You step back immediately afterwards as your mind races of thoughts of more bandits showing up to end your life, the bounty on your head should be void but maybe there were still bandits out here. You bring your hands down to your weapons, ready to defend or attack if needed "What?! What'd you hear?"

"The horses..." Zoe whispers "They told me they need food too, not just drink and rest."

"The horses need..." you squint your eyes and look at the Sunrider "W-Wait, what?" you stand up straight.

Zoe just starts to laugh as she moves back to the horses and continues to untie them "Why are you so on edge, Darien! Haha, I'm worried about Lexie too but we can't just sit around and mope all day long." she pulls the ropes over the horses neck and carefully guides one of them out of their carriage "Lexie wouldn't want that! So put a smile on! Laugh with me! Sing with me! Stop being a mopey dopey!"

You had to take a few deep breaths because your heart was racing at the thought of having to defend Lexie against intruders. "I'm going to kill you..." you grumble out as you step towards the still caged up horse and start to untie it's bounds.

"Horses love water, and water loves horses!! Horses love water aaaaaand water loves horses!!" Zoe's tune is droning on as she walks towards the river "Horses..., sit in the sand and horses..., run in the sand and horses..., sleep in the sand and horses..., walk in the sand and horses...,"

"are ANNOYING in the sand!" you try your best to sing a jingle.

"That's not how it goes!" she throws her head around at you and sticks her tongue out.

"It should be!" you finally loosen up the last tie and start to guide the other horse down to the river "I like that version better."

"Yeah, well....I don't! So we can't use that version!" she takes the long rope and ties it around one of the trees, allowing the horse to have plenty of room to walk around, drink in the river and just rest if needed.

As you move up beside Zoe and tie your horse onto the same tree the two of you stand side by side, looking off into the horizon, seeing the glistening sunlight setting off in the distance. Sparkles of sun are reflecting off the Turth river and causing the sky to bath in a deep amber glow. It was actually quite the gorgeous sight. "Beautiful eh?" you nudge Zoe and give her a smile.

"Wow..." Zoe gawks "First, giant storms and now this...sooo preeeetty." she trails off.

"Yeah, beautiful." you pause for a few moments as the two of you just soak in the sight before you "Anyway, it's just you and I for the night, any ideas?"

Zoe immediately turns to you as her mouth drops open and her eyebrows furrow "Oh my God, Darien!" she lets loose "You're Fiance is RIGHT OVER THERE!" she points her finger at the carriage "Unbelievable!" she begins to pace around.

"W-What are you..."

"I will NOT sleep with you tonight! Goodness, you are relentless!" her arms are out at her sides being very exaggerated "I mean, it's sweet and the sight is truly amazing but come on Darien! Think of your Fiance!"

"T-That's not even...I-I wasn't even..." you stumble over your words.

"You, you, you!" her index finger pokes into your chest after every word "Just unbelievable!" she repeats "First you're all mopey, so sad, so depressed, then you're like..." she lowers her voice to mimic yours as best as she can "Hey baby, beautiful sunset eh? Wanna screw?!" she begins laughing hard after that.

Your cheeks were flush, your hand was in your face holding your eyes shut, you couldn't even think straight.

"You know what we could do though!" her voice beams with joy.

"What..." you grumble out, your face still in your hands as you can't even look at Zoe right now.

You hear the clinking of steel together, slicing across one another before you hear her fastening something "A battle..." she says in a low mysterious voice "A battle in the sunset..." her voice all dramatic "Winner gets to stay with Lexie tonight...loser, with the horses!"

Your hand slowly starts to drop from your face as you grin up at your High Commander "I'll take that deal." you say with confidence as your hands go to your waist and start to grip around the handles of your sword and dagger "Ya know, it gets cold in the desert. Hopefully the horses will cuddle with you tonight."

"Hah, Hah, Hah" Zoe teases you as she backs away a few steps. She takes her wrists and clashes her Ulaks together causing a clinking sound to echo through the air. After three clinks, "The Battle of the Sunset begins!!!" she mocks her best announcers voice.