Tzirret angled his head to one side, thinking. "Most of the time, when Tzirret was around you, he was nervous because he did not want to say something stupid around you." Tzirret swallowed, "He ended up doing that anyway, but...there were plenty of other things. The voyage, the slavers, getting found by Vile's forces...there are very few times when Tzirret is not nervous about something, but he thinks that when he was around Ma'tanza over the past few weeks, he was nervous because of his feelings."

Tzirret looked at the ground ahead of him and added, "Oh, there was also the first week or so that he met you, it was your body." Tzirret immediately got the feeling that he had left his words up to too much interpretation, so he tried to clear the air. His tone became progressively faster and more flustered, "B-but you are probably used to that from other boys. This one is used to it now- um...not his body, but your body. Tzirret never had to deal with people staring." Tzirret blinked hard, widened his eyes, and tried to snap out of it, "Anyway! It was that, then it wasn't, because Tzirret grew fond of you for your kindness and strength, and..." Tzirret let out the rest of his breath. "This one hopes he is not being annoying..."

Ma'tanza could not help but to laugh. "This one would think you would be less nervous now that you are together with her. Yes, Ma'tanza is very used to boys staring at her, mostly her chest. Honestly, it is hard to say how it makes this one feel. Beautiful, yet...ignored might be a way of saying it. You would think that it would make her the center of attention, and it does in a way, but this one doesn't like how her body basically becomes her identity to some people. It's not that Ma'tanza doesn't want to feel beautiful, it's just...there is so much more that Ma'tanza cares about, more that she can do."

With a brief pause, Ma'tanza decided to try to move past the more negative tone she had created. "Ah, but maybe you're jealous of Ma'tanza. Maybe you want people to stare at you?" She said before making an exaggerated motion of looking over his lower body. "But, more seriously, Ma'tanza does appreciate that you tried to be more respectful. She likes that you are more interested in who she is than anything else. Even if you did end up using them as pillows." She teased.

Ma'tanza's exaggerated stare made Tzirret laugh uneasily. He supposed he was glad that he was able to clear things up, but he couldn't help but be reminded of La'khay's liberal voyeurism in the gesture. Thankfully, it was a short point, one overshadowed by the awkwardness of being reminded of the first night on the ship.

He turned his head to her with the fluster he thought he had lost just a moment ago. "Hey! Tzirret was asleep! He didn't mean to!" he retorted, easily baited into the tease.

In an effort to change the subject, Tzirret refocussed on Ma'tanza as a person. He felt like encouraging her, and softened his expression. "Ma'tanza is right, though. There is more to you than just...your breasts," Tzirret managed to actually say the word, albeit furtively, "You are actually everything that Tzirret is not, really. You...have fears and weaknesses, yes, but you are not worried by them all the time. Or, at least you do not seem worried. You are very brave that way. You even helped Tzirret in the hold when we were both afraid. You...also are patient and intelligent. You learned how to use magic, and do creative things with it. You have a loving family that loves you, and had from before you turned. In fact, despite all Ma'tanza has been through, she is much more brave and confident than Tzirret ever was. She just seems to be able to go out an...do things." Tzirret gave a smile, "That is what Tzirret is jealous of."

Ma'tanza maintained her lighthearted grin as Tzirret gave his thoughts on her, but internally, his words were more flattering that he likely realized. By the end of his short speech, she was actually beginning to tear up slightly. Without hesitation, she enthusiastically gave him another hug. "Thank you, Tzirret. That means a lot to Ma'tanza. People never care about what's in her mind."

Still holding him in a hug, Ma'tanza pulled her head back just enough to look him in the eyes. "But you shouldn't be jealous. This one...won't lie. You aren't actually the...bravest person, but that doesn't matter. You care about people. You care about who they are, and how they feel. You care about keeping yourself from hurting them. Ma'tanza wishes we weren't in this war; you're too good for all of the fighting and killing. This one thinks you would be much happier helping people than hurting them, like as a healer, or something else that keeps people safe. Or even just happy and comfortable. Ma'tanza admits, she doesn't like to fight. She likes to study the kinds of magic that makes life easier, instead of more dangerous."

As before, Tzirret returned Ma'tanza's hug, unashamed to hold onto her for longer. He was actually surprised that his words elicited such a positive reaction, but it was at least a boost to his confidence that he didn't mess it up.

Ma'tanza's words in response did not make Tzirret tear up - though he was flattered - rather, they made him look away thoughtfully. For a while. Ma'tanza could feel the latter half of his tail wave from side to side, patting against the ground beside her. "Thank you," he murmured in the close proximity, "Tzirret has never...thought of that before. He has to fight because of the war, yes, but he was only taught to fight in the first place because Gallus wanted to help his confidence." Tzirret blinked a couple of times, "He never thought of trying to be a healer." Tzirret turned to look into Ma'tanza's eyes again, "This one will admit, that sounds more appealing than fighting and killing."

Tzirret felt a pang in his chest. He was so close to Ma'tanza. He could just move his head forward and kiss her right there. In return, his mind screamed that he should keep to his borders for now. He began to move his head, but halted and second-guessed himself. He instead brought his hand to the back of Ma'tanza's head, bowed his forehead forward against hers, and smiled genuinely. "That is the first time someone has suggested that Tzirret does something that is not troubled so much by his worries. Perhaps he should try and learn some magic to help people as well," Tzirret said as he rubbed the back of Ma'tanza's head and behind her ears.

Tzirret felt slightly dizzy from his little decision until he took another breath.

Ma'tanza's eyes widened slightly when Tzirret moved his head closer to hers, but relaxed once he stopped with his forehead pressed against her. "Well, Ma'tanza will not say it is easy, but she does think it is worthwhile. Don't worry if you don't understand it at first, and keep trying. Ma'tanza can help if you need it." She commented.

---

The clan finished stripping the ships of everything useful that night, so they were able to begin the overland portion of their journey the very next day. They had to move carefully in order to cross the border safely, but Colors was able to get them through without incident. From there, the traveling became surprisingly easy. The forests of northern Elsweyr were not nearly as thick as the southern jungles, so the clan was able to move with relative ease. Unfortunately, that lasted only a few days before the jungle transitioned to desert.

For most of the clan, the desert was an environment unlike any they had experienced before. Only those from Anequina, like Ra'jorr and Do'ajee, had any experience traversing its sands. The first day in the desert was not actually terrible for most of the clan, but by the third day, the stresses of the environment became more apparent. It was excessively hot and dry, but despite the thirst they all inevitably developed, they had to keep their water strictly rationed if they were to have enough for the journey. Kaleeth, Meesei, and any other Argonian had a particularly difficult time with the lack of humidity. It felt as if their scales were tightening around their bodies, putting them in a mild, but persistently uncomfortable state. However, they were not the only ones who faced issues. One problem that few in the clan foresaw was caused by the sun itself. The Khajiit's fur, and the Argonians' scales served as protection against the sun's light, but most of the non-beast races, especially the fair-skinned, had to deal with some rather comprehensive sunburn on their bodies. To make matters worse, even if they redistributed clothing to the Humans and Elves, what they had was not nearly enough to protect their whole bodies.

It was starting to reach evening on the third day, so the sun was not directly overhead, but that did not mean it was not still uncomfortably hot. For Peiter, the heat of the desert, even at midday, did not feel as hot as the thick, humid jungle of Pelletine. Rather, it was the other aspects of the environment that were causing most of his discomfort. Other than his bags and pouches, he had nothing to wear, so much of his skin was bright red. The sand was still hot under his feet, though the pain of that sensation had been dulled long ago. He walked along with Sabine, Ciinriel, Tzirret, and all of the other friends they had picked up in the clan. It would not be too long before they set up camp, which would come as a great relief after another day of constant walking.

"My skin feels like fire. Just...pure fire. I don't think I've ever been this angry at the sun before." Peiter commented with no shortage of agitation.

A few comforts allowed for extra preparation as the clan travelled through the last of the green lands. Tzirret and Ma'tanza's relationship had become apparent rather quickly to everyone, provoking the predictable responses. Sabine made a note of the pendant Ma'tanza wore as looking nice on her, but though she knew Tzirret had crafted it, she did not know the significance. Gallus had taken Tzirret aside an conveyed pride that he had taken this chance. Tzirret was visibly happy much more of the time, but the pressure not to push Ma'tanza made him tense sometimes. They had not kissed, let alone shared a bedroll. The pace was manageable for Tzirret, but sensitive. The last thing he wanted to do was make a mistake. Thankfully, Ma'tanza was a forgiving sort, knowing of Tzirret's anxieties by now. Overall, however, Tzirret was glad. Getting to know Ma'tanza beyond just a friend was interesting to him as ever.

A day later, Tzirret took Ma'tanza's advice and tried to learn some magic from her and Irenya. He had intended to learn healing magic, but casting any magic at all proved a challenge. He was progressing even slower than Peiter had been.

As the forests made way for dry badlands and eventually rocky deserts, most people were unanimously pining for the cooler temperatures of Cyrodiil or even just the shade of the tropical jungle. Sabine thought too late to devise a salve to protect against sunburn and found that she would run out of ingredients in three days flat if she tried to make enough for everyone. However, snakes were plentiful in this land, so those that could catch them were referred to her to be taught how to use the skins to keep cool. In light of the scarcities, only Sabine's snake skin was filled with a potion that stayed cool. Everyone else's was filled with re-purposed urine, frozen by mages in the clan. The beating sun meant that the snake skins were refrozen often, but it provided some minor relief, and some protection from heatstroke.

Funnily enough, the danger of heatstroke meant that most of the clan's clothing was being used to shelter the upper body. Sabine had managed to source a pair of breeches that she had wrapped around her head and neck appropriately, but she was just as red as Peiter was. Skin on her arms and shoulders was peeling off like thin paper, or otherwise blistering in the worst areas. Sabine was frustrated, and it wasn't just because she couldn't cuddle up to Peiter in recent days. It was painful to move, painful to sit..."It is painful to speak," Sabine said, trying not to move her reddened and sweat-glistening cheeks. She tapped her shoulder bag, which appeared to be stuffed with long, thick, pointy, succulent leaves. "There are not many plants out here. Just keep an eye out for more aloe."

Despite not have the ingredients to protect against sunburn, treating it with magic when it was so widespread was also infeasible. That meant that the alchemists in the clan were inundated with a demand for soothing balms. The clan's path through the desert, therefore, was reaped of all plant matter that could be used in such balm. Unfortunately, such plant life was becoming less common as they ventured further.

Tzirret had one hand full of aloe leaves and his other around Ma'tanza's hand. The heat was taking its toll on all of them, but he was not envious of his bald-bodied friends. Their trials were the only thing that made him forget the idea of shaving off all his fur to escape the extra heat, other than the fact that it would look ridiculous. Regardless, he had naturally moulted off much of his thick fur since he landed at Senchal, so it probably wasn't getting better. He spoke up after Sabine and Peiter, "Tzirret does not understand. Human skin does not protect from the sun or the cold. Why do they not have fur?"

Uthri, Gallus, and Janius were all clearly jealous of the natural protection that their fellows had from the sunburn. They all marched through without outward complaint, but their fuses were collectively short. Unbeknownst to Fendros until everyone else was debilitated, however, was that he was comparatively unbothered by the sun. He was aware that his race had a resistance to flames and the heat of volcanic ash, but that it extended to the desert heat made him count himself fortunate. This was especially true of Janius as he carried a tired Newt on his back.

"Ow-ah! Ah! Child, please do not pull on dad's skin there." Janius winced as Newt failed to find a spot to hold onto with his hands on his father's shoulders while he was carried.

Fendros was relegated to keeping Leaps in check, but the creature was slow without much water. In an effort to keep him from overheating, he had three snake skins around his neck. "Janius, if you need some spots healed before we set up camp, go see a healer," Fendros recommended.

Janius' eye twitched as he responded to Fendros. "No point, Fendros. It just comes back in-ah! Less than an hour."

"Would you like me to carry Newt for a while?"

"No," Janius said stubbornly, "If I don't endure this now, I won't have a chance later on."

Ahnasha too was carrying Rhazii, walking alongside Fendros, Janius, and Kaleeth. By far, she, and the rest of the Khajiit, were suffering the least out of all of the clan, with perhaps a few exceptions. Their bodies were, unsurprisingly, naturally well-acclimated to the desert. Their skin was protected from the sun by their fur, and even with the fur, they were quite good at expelling heat. Granted, the ability of Humans and Elves to sweat gave them even greater control of their body temperature, but the sun’s light was much more of an enemy to them. Fendros, at least, did not seem to be having much of an issue. He could sweat to keep himself reasonably cool, and his dark skin was unburned by the sun. Unlike some of the non-Khajiit couples, she could actually touch him without worry.

“You will need to pass on the burden at some point, Janius. We still have over another week of this left.” Ahnasha warned. “If only we had more Senche to pull more carts. Then, we could cover them up and let most of the Humans and Elves ride in them. As it stands, we barely have enough space for the elderly to trade out with the carts. Maybe we should have tried to buy camels in Senchal. It would have been harder to justify to the slavers, but we’d be having a much easier time right now.”

Peiter huffed, intending for it to be more of a laugh, but finding that too painful to attempt. He looked over to Tzirret, and immediately hated the fact that he had to move his neck. “Trust me, if I could take your fur right now, I definitely would. I would put on one of those thick, fur coats from Bruma if it meant protecting me from this sun. It’s strange, this place doesn’t feel as hot as the Tenmar forest. Down there, it was so humid, and I was constantly drenched in sweat. I don’t feel as hot overall, it’s just that my skin feels like it’s on fire.”

Ma’tanza looked to be more uncomfortable than most of the Khajiit, but for different reasons. For her, it had started even before they reached the desert, as she did not perform well on these long journeys, not without help. She rubbed her back uncomfortably as she looked at Tzirret. “Ma’tanza’s back hurts, and her chest feels sore.” She commented before glancing over to Sabine with nervous curiosity. “Sabine…the ointment you gave to Ma’tanza before. Does it use any of the same ingredients as your skin balms?” She asked. While she wanted relief, she would not ask for it if it meant taking away from the treatments of the non-Khajiit who needed protection from the sun.

Fendros twisted his brow skeptically, "Well, I can't say I know what everyone is going through, but I am unsure that buying camels would have been the best move in Senchal." He turned his head to Ahnasha, "Would you really want to share the stormy nights with a bunch of huge animals?"

"You say this, Fendros, but even having camels on the cramped ships is sounding more appealing," Janius responded, curiously the less patient between himself and Fendros. "Personally, I would just prefer to have a set of light clothing." It seemed Newt had finally found purchase that didn't hurt Janius. "It is just an hour or two until camp. At any rate, I'll manange."

Not knowing what else to do, Fendros glanced to Ahnasha and Rhazii, shrugged, and then turned to Kaleeth nearby. "How are you holding up?"

Without turning, or even shaking her head, Sabine responded. "Not exactly, Ma'tanza. You can make a similar ointment for pain out of aloe vera leaves, but it is not as powerful. Do you need to make some more? Ahnasha used plenty for her back when she was pregnant with Rhazii."

While he might have been much more nervous about the topic beforehand, Tzirret had accepted Ma'tanza's troubles as a fact of life by now. He was more attentive to Peiter's explanation; it thoroughly confused him. "Peiter...feels that he is on fire, but...it feels less hot than the jungle?" Tzirret found this desert to be very different to the jungle. It wasn't uncomfortable because the air was thick and the insects gave him a headache, it was uncomfortable because of the sheer heat beating down and the way the dry air got up his nose and into mouth and sucked away the moisture. Tzirret shook his head, "This one will never understand how human skin feels."

For Kaleeth, the desert was far more uncomfortable than she was expecting. She knew about the heat beforehand, but heat had never been an issue for her. Indeed, the heat of the desert was not what was bothering her, but rather its overwhelming dryness. The feeling of having almost no water in the air, and being only able to drink so much in a day was awful for an Argonian. "I don't feel great. This place is so dry it causes my scales to itch. They're not burned like Janius' skin, but this is not a place I want to be. I'd give anything just to be able to jump in the water for a few minutes. I just can't fathom why anyone would want to live here. Why on Nirn is there a city in the middle of this desert? It seems insane."

Ma'tanza raised up her hands and shook her head at Sabine. "Oh, no, there's no need to make any more. Not if it needs the aloe leaves. Ma'tanza is sore, but it seems like the Humans and Elves are going through a lot worse than this one. She wouldn't want you to use anything on her that could be used to help them. But...if you have any of the ointment already made, Ma'tanza would be grateful to have it." She answered.

Peiter chuckled. "Well, right now, fire is a good approximation. Usually, though, it's just a lot smoother than fur. I'm guessing that I feel the breeze more strongly, and things like that. It's not bad, most of the time. It's just awful being sunburned. I don't think it's really the heat that does it, it's the light itself. You don't get sunburn from just being in a hot place. It isn't as bad up north, where the sun is less intense, and there's more shade. Sure, I've gotten sunburn back in Cyrodiil a few times, but nothing like this." He explained.

Janius was feeling just as sorry for Kaleeth and Newt, but he couldn't help but let out a cynical laugh. "Perhaps it's to deter invading armies. I don't think even we could survive a trek like this if we were covered in full legion plate. Don't bother with Orcrest and the desert, not worth conquering."

Without answering immediately, Sabine looked to her shoulderbag, opened it, pushes aside all the thick leaves, and rummaged around painfully. She eventually pulled out a small ceramic container and handed it back to Ma'tanza. "Use some of mine now, but not all of it, please," Sabine said, feeling her face stretch as she pulled a sympathetic expression, "The ointment does not use the same ingredients as the burn balm. I can lend you what need to make some yourself when we get into camp, but I cannot make more for you. There is too much balm to make, I do not have time."

"Huh...no, Tzirret remembers people being sunburned if they were in the snow too long on clear days. What Peiter says is correct." Tzirret brought his hand up to run over his head, "But how does a light burn without heat? Ugh, now this one is even more confused."

Sabine gave an answer to at least one question, "The skin feels like fire because there is more blood trying to heal it. It makes it feel hot." Sabine ran a hand carefully down her red upper arm, "Also, I remember Meesei telling me that the Ayleids thought that light and heat were similar things. Maybe that is why they both burn."

Tzirret shook his head, "This is giving Tzirret a headache." Instead of straining his mind any further, Tzirret turned his attention to Ma'tanza. He leaned back as if he would be able to see the source of her soreness on her back, but it gave him a thought all the same. "Um, do you need help reaching your back, Ma'tanza?" He asked cautiously.

Kaleeth huffed. "Unless there is someone who can make gold from sand, there is nothing of value here. We should just let Vile's forces suffer in this desert. Take everything else and leave them here."

Leaning forward slightly, Kaleeth looked to her right, towards Ahnasha and Fendros. Compared to most of the others, she had noticed that Fendros was surprisingly calm, and perhaps even comfortable, in the desert. Neither the sun nor dryness seemed to bother him. "Compared to Janius, you don't look any different from normal, Fendros. The sun is beating down on your skin just as much as his; what are you doing to get through it?"

Ma'tanza gratefully accepted the bottle and opened it up, carefully applying a small amount to her hand. "Thank you, Sabine. Hopefully, it will get Ma'tanza through the last few hours until we make camp. If there is anything this one can do for you, let her know." She offered. Ma'tanza corked the ceramic bottle once more, then started to apply the ointment to her chest.

With Tzirret's question, Ma'tanza looked over to him briefly, then offered him the bottle. "Oh, thanks. You can help with that while Ma'tanza is doing this. Just don't use too much; this one does not want to be wasteful."

"Hm?" Fendros glanced to Kaleeth and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, it's still very hot to me, but Dunmer skin does not burn easily," Fendros clarified, "There isn't a desert in Morrowind, not like this, but our people have always been connected to fire and ash. There are plenty of stories about it, but I cannot point to one and use that so explain why fire does not hurt us as much."

Rhazii was holding onto Ahnasha's back, trying to nap, but the talking woke him up. Ahnasha heard him murmur into her ear, "Mama, can I have some more water now?"

Taking the bottle, Tzirret stepped behind Ma'tanza and began applying the ointment from her middle to her lower back. He found it easier not to stare while she was applying the ointment to herself when he was standing behind her, but it was still slightly awkward to rub the ointment in while walking.

"You know," Sabine considered with a small smile, "If you have time, you could help me make more balm after we set up camp. It takes a while to grind the bonemeal finely enough. I could use the help."

It barely took a minute for Tzirret to lather the substance properly under Ma'tanza's fur. "Is that better?"

Ahnasha turned her head just enough so that she could see Rhazii in the periphery of her vision. "I'm sorry, little one, not quite yet. Once we get to camp, you can have the rest of your water for the day. It will just be an hour or two; try to get back to sleep in the meantime." She answered. She hated to deny him water, but she had to make sure he spaced out his water appropriately, and did not go through all of it at once.

Kaleeth shrugged her shoulders. "Hmm, well I don't really know either. At least you don't have to suffer like the others, though. Since you seem to be able to move around just fine, maybe we can spar when we get to camp? No one I usually train with has wanted to since we got to the desert, since they're hurting enough even without being slapped by a wooden sword."

Once the ointment had been applied, Ma'tanza took the bottle and nodded to Tzirret. "It takes a minute or two, but it should be soon, yes. Thank you."

Turning back to Sabine, Ma'tanza returned the bottle. "And thank you. Ma'tanza would be glad to help you with the balm. You will just need to teach her the process to make it. Maybe she can bring M'ibasa to watch as well? He has been so bored since this journey started, he would be glad to have anything new to do. Personally, Ma'tanza thinks he should just feel lucky to be able to nap up on S'nishi's back."

On the other side of Tzirret, Bheja nudged Tzirret's side. He snickered, then leaned in to whisper into Tzirret's ear. "Hmph, nice. Maybe at this point, you should offer to just follow around behind her so you can reach around and hold up her breasts with your hands. I'm sure that would solve her problem just fine." He teased.

Rhazii did not raise his voice, but he did not drop the issue. "But I'm thirsty, mama. My mouth is dry and I feel dizzy."

"If it pleases you," Fendros responded to Kaleeth with a low, complying wave of his hand, "All this heat and travel takes the energy out of me, but I'll try and spar. I still need to keep my practice up after so long on the ships."

Sabine replaced the clay vessel into her bag and gave as small a smile as she could so she did not hurt herself. "If he does not mind some repetitive work, he is welcome to even join in. There are some sensitive parts of the process, but I will be in charge of that. I will mostly need help processing and preparing the ingredients." Sabine almost laughed, "With the amount I have to make, I will be surprised if anyone watching would not know how to make it before dinner. Still, I'll teach you."

Looking across to the easily spottable S'nishi nearby, Sabine had a thought. "If I make you another bottle of pain ointment, will you ask S'nishi to carry Peiter and myself for half of tomorrow?" Sabine asked Ma'tanza with a joking grin. Ma'tanza could make the ointment herself, and Sabine would not normally presume Ma'tanza to speak for S'nishi, but Sabine found no reason not to ask in a jesting manner.

Tzirret leaned to hear what Bheja had to say, but widened his eyes by the end. He recoiled a bit and furrowed his brow at Bheja. "No! Bheja, th-that...no..." Tzirret became just as flustered as Bheja probably expected. "Tzirret wouldn't presume that. You may have fooled him the day before yesterday, but this time he is not fooled."

Given how humiliating it was, Tzirret did not want to have a repeat of the last time Bheja fooled him. Previously, Bheja had suggested to Tzirret that if Ma'tanza brought her elbows to her sides and then tried to touch them together on her front that it would get rid of her back pain. When Tzirret conveyed this to Ma'tanza, she saw right through it and informed Tzirret of his mistake. Needless to say, Tzirret was mortified. Thankfully, it was communicated that it was Bheja's doing, but Bheja had no end to his laughter when he found out that his ploy actually worked.

Ahnasha lowered her head with a regretful expression. "I'm sorry, Rhazii. It hasn't been that long since you last had your water, and you don't want to run out just yet. Trust me, it will be worth the wait. Just try to rest."

Ma'tanza laughed briefly with Sabine. "Unfortunately, S'nishi has orders just to carry children and the elderly. Trust this one, she already asked. The orders came down from the Champion herself, and, well, none of us can do anything about that. Now, if there was anyone here who could get that order changed, it would be you."

At about that time, Ma'tanza heard Tzirret's frantic protests to whatever it was that Bheja had said to him. She rolled her eyes and sighed as she turned her head towards them. "Bheja, what did Ma'tanza say about tormenting Tzirret."

Bheja held up his hands in front of him. "Hey, I'm not tormenting him. Just giving some friendly advice."

"Right. And does that 'advice' involve any part of Ma'tanza's body." She asked.

"Hmm, maaaybe." Bheja snickered. "Hey, what I told him this time would actually work."

Ma'tanza smiled as she shook her head, then gave Tzirret a curious look. "What did he try to trick you with this time?"

Rhazii lowered his head onto Ahnasha's back again and groaned in disappointment. He didn't care about not having water later, but he knew well enough that he was not getting any water right now.

Sabine couldn't help but giggle, despite the pain on her skin, "I do not think she would agree to that, either."

Tzirret would rather have let the issue go, but he sighed and spoke all the same. "Well, he suggested that if this one stood behind Ma'tanza and..." Tzirret raised cupped hands in front of himself, "...held up..." Tzirret let out an exasperated breath and dropped his hands. He was too embarrassed to elaborate, even if it was not too hard to work out the rest. "You know what? Forget about the whole idea."

"It would give you back pains instead," Sabine said with a small laugh.

Ma'tanza laughed. "Yeah, though it wouldn't be as much of a pain as Bheja." She joked. If nothing else, she was glad for the distraction, so she did her best to keep up the conversation as they continued along.

---

After another hour, the clan finally stopped to make camp for the night. By this point, the area they were traversing was covered in sandy dunes, punctuated by a few scattered rocky outcroppings. They picked one of the more rocky areas to set up the camp, in order to take advantage of the more solid ground they provided. Tents were set up quickly, particularly by those who wanted to get out of the sun. Although, it would not be long before it set over the horizon.

Peiter was particularly enthusiastic about sitting down under his and Sabine's tent once they finally set it up. He laid down on top of his bedroll, cringing as his skin pressed against the leather. "Ahhh, well, better than walking at least. Maybe you should set up all your alchemy equipment in the tent, or right at the entrance, if you want to keep out of the sun. But first...you think I could get some healing?" He asked Sabine.

Elsewhere in camp, Kaleeth was surprisingly quick to grab the practice swords and seek out Fendros. As soon as the tent was set up for Janius, she had grabbed the weapons and headed off to meet up with him. Ahnasha, Leaps, and Rhazii were all in their tent, resting and drinking the rest of the water rationed to them for the day. Kaleeth had elected not to drink until after her sparring match. "You ready, Fendros?" She asked.

The constant sting of the sunburn made Sabine's first priority healing herself. As soon as she had sat down their tent, she brought her hands close together and began to channel a spell of bright yellow healing light. The spell demanded much of her concentration and magicka, but it only took a few seconds to cast.

Once its power was released, the spell coursed all around Sabine's body in an instant, releasing swirling ribbons of light that slowly made her burns fade from red, to pink, to a healthier pale skin colour. She sighed in relief during the treatment as her skin tingled and softened again. Afterwards, she was mildly disappointed to find that her blisters and peeling skin were still present, but she would have to spent the time to bathe and scrub if she wanted to be rid of that.

When Peiter asked to be healed, Sabine looked to him with a smile. "Okay. It might be a bit slower, though. I have not figured out how to cast that spell on other people." Sabine said, shifting to lean over Peiter and bringing weaker healing magic to her hands.

Sabine started at Peiter's feet and worked her way up, soothing and clearing his burns. "You are lucky that I am here to help you. Just like with that thornbush," she said, "Hopefully you do not run into the cacti here. I think that would be worse." She snickered.

Fendros had been taking a quick break with his family while he waited for Kaleeth. He wasn't quite drinking his water as fast as Rhazii and Ahnasha for two reasons; the first was that he didn't want to get a stitch while sparring and the second was that Rhazii had woken up in the middle of the previous night asking for water. Fendros wanted to be prepared for both possibilities.

When Kaleeth came around to the tent Fendros looked to her. "Of course, one moment," he said. He turned to Ahnasha and Rhazii, giving them each a quick kiss, before crouching up and exiting the small tent. When he stood up, Fendros took a sword from Kaleeth and walked with her to find a small open space.

"I take it Janius is going to have a hard time getting used to this place. I hope he hasn't suddenly got too prideful for balm," Fendros said with a grin. "So, did you want to do some drills together first, or get straight into sparring?"

Peiter felt the sting of Sabine’s touch for only a brief moment before her magic started to numb the area. He sat up, supporting his upper body with his arms, tilting his head back, and letting out a long sigh. “Yeah, I’d like to avoid that. Luckily, a cactus is a lot more obvious of a thing than a thornbush. As much as I’m sure you love to practice your healing on me, the pain really isn’t worth it.” He commented.

As Sabine moved higher up his legs, Peiter was able to lean forward and plant a kiss on the side of her head. “I definitely appreciate it, though. There are some parts of me that are really, really painful to have burned. And all the walking along with it…we can’t get out of this desert fast enough.”

Kaleeth chuckled. “If Janius tried that, I’d probably be rubbing him down with the balm within a day. It gets cold in this desert at night, and I’m not going to have him laying on the other side of the tent afraid to touch me. He’s probably more afraid of upsetting me than the actual pain.”

There was no shortage of empty, open areas in and around camp, so they were quick to find a good place to spar. Kaleeth took the practice sword in a two-handed grip and stood in a ready-position. “I think we can just go ahead and spar. I might get exhausted after a few drills.”