[color=8C6868]"It's clear, Mitch,"[/color] said a deep, disembodied voice from behind the shadow of a low border wall. At this cue, two figures materialized into visibility: A small, mousey woman covered so thickly in ash and dust that she looked like an unfortunate sugar cookie, and a man about twice her size in a similar state.

[color=76D7C4]"What was that poem? About dust and death?"[/color] Mitch, the woman, asked, rumpling a hand through her sand-caked hair. A cloud of flakes and powder drifted out, fluttering down to the earth like burnt moths. 

The night had not been kind to her and her partner, Orion, and the couple still sat huddled where they had taken refuge. Just before sunset, Orion had been seized by the nervous spasms he was so prone to, and the two had to stop before they could find shelter for the night. Mitch was neither able to see, nor strong enough to drag Orion to any kind of real safety, and so the two had hunkered down as best they could: Mitch keeping the long night's work of maintaining their invisibility, and Orion with a belt clasped between his teeth to keep from crying out until he fell asleep from exhaustion. 

And then there was the dust storm. 

Orion stood, shouldered his pack, and shook out his shirt. [color=8C6868]"'The world feels dusty when we stop to die,'"[/color] he quoted in reply, [color=8C6868]"'We want the dew then- Honors taste dry."[/color] With a gentleness that seemed impractical for a man of such mass, he reached down to touch the underside of Mitch's arm, and helped her to her feet. She had not taken off her own pack during the night, and already had it slung across her back. [color=8C6868]"But there's no dew, and we're about out of water. If we were on the right track with this place, though, the pipes in here may still run well enough for us to work something out of them."[/color].

Mitch turned her body to face where Orion seemed to be, staring at the great white vastness in front of her. For a moment, it almost looked like there was a line between the earth and the sky; but then her pupils moved with the sunlight and it was lost. She leaned her face against Orion's arm, planted a soft kiss against him, and then nodded. [color=76D7C4]"If that's what you think, Mr. Lazos, then I'm with you."[/color]

Then, with the same soft touch, Orion proceeded to guide Mitch around the parameter of the brick wall to where there was a break entrance, and the two entered the dilapidated town in perfect sync.