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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1859749" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 50: Desert ShowoffsThe attackers had been human. Or at least, extremely similar. Akan couldn’t tell any physical differences, but then again, he wasn’t an expert on species. To add to that, all of the attackers had been bloodied enough that it was even harder to tell, especially the one that had taken a foot to the face, then claws to the neck. It had been a mess to move it. After kicking over the last of the sand to cover the blood on the ground, Akan turned to Shadow, “The shuttle’s going to have hit a long way back there.”    Shadow nodded slowly, looking back to Loki for a long moment and then to the streak in the sand created by the crash, “Lets get this over with...I don’t like leaving Loki alone.”    Starting forward, Akan looked along the canyon that they’d assisted in carving. On the left, the rock wall went up at least thirty meters, but likely even more than that, with many jagged sections, smaller cliff faces, and cave formations. To the right, it fluctuated more, from even higher than the opposite cliff face to a few large boulders scattered around. This went on for a good while, almost to the horizon, before the wall on the right completely opened up into the desert. Normally, Akan would have been complaining about the intensity of the sun. Of course, ‘normally’ meant ‘if he was human’. His Alraxian body was strangely comfortable in the heat, but it was the sand and lack of moisture in the air that bothered him instead.    Shadow was ignoring it, the only focus on keeping her tail above the ground so it didn’t drag in the sand. That would just be one more thing to deal with. She was busy with wondering why they’d been attacked. No, actually, that one was easy. They were attacked because it was their luck. Then, they’d been tracked, and attacked again simply because it was their luck. It had nothing to do with the Force. Both the Force and luck existed together, with the former having a habit of screwing up the fun that the latter always had. For some reason, though, luck was managing to keep the Force out of any situations concerning herself and Akan.    She blamed him. It was the noble, self sacrificing Jedi thing. She was trained in the use of the Force, sure, but no foolish distinctions that weakened the mind. Dark...light...it didn’t matter. All of it was the Force. Balance was the important thing, and when one only held Light, one was not balanced. Seeing how unbalanced Akan was in regard to both the Force and his mental state in the last few months, Shadow felt justified in placing the blame on him. Not only that, but he was such an easy target and he had a habit of squirming under pressure. Far too entertaining.    It took an hour to reach the actual dunes of the desert that grew out of the rocks. Shadow had taken a seat on a rock, waiting on Akan. He was showing off, though his excuse was ‘trying to see the shuttle’. But the way he’d climbed up the rocks was showing off. No one jumped and flipped around like that unless they were trying to get attention. He was up a good fifteen meters up, standing in one of those poses that the old holodramas would use for the hero. Shadow had only seen a couple of them, but attributed his stance to more of the comedies, and was waiting for the moment when he slipped, tumbled down, and landed with a good ‘thud’ in the sand. Sure, she’d feel it, but the laugh would be well worth it.    Finally, he climbed down, but much slower and carefully. He didn’t fall, and after watching him for a minute, Shadow got bored again. He could have come out here and played around on his own. She had things to do with Loki. Giving Akan a glare as he walked over, she turned it into what he’d started to call ‘The Look’. Apparently, it could burn a hole in durasteel if one wasn’t ready for it. She’d used it to unnerve people for as long as she could remember. But for some reason, Akan had gotten good at ignoring it. That didn’t stop her from trying.    “There’s a dark patch off on the horizon,” he said, pointing and completely ignoring her expression, “We can make it in about an hour and a half if we keep up the same pace.”    Shadow nodded and hopped off the rock to her feet, stretching a little once on the ground. After a moment, she looked off to the bleak, sand covered planet ahead of them, “You could have done this yourself.”    The two of them started walking at the same time, and Shadow nearly stopped dead in her tracks when he responded to her comment, “If there’s anymore of the natives out there, I don’t think I can take them alone.”    Now, Akan wasn’t nearly as arrogant about his abilities as she was, but he’d never once admitted to needing her help. At that, Shadow grinned. That was, in her mind, a victory. And by her count, it was about five to two, with her in the lead.    “You’re still keeping count?” Akan asked over his shoulder, catching onto those thoughts easily.    Grinning still, Shadow nodded and said, “Of course. Just have to prove to you why you should be listening to me. Especially since you’ve forgotten something very important.”    “Oh?” he raised an eyebrow as they stepped across the top of the first of the dunes, relatively small in comparison to the ones they’d soon be walking over. Hm. Forgotten something. Blaster. Lightsaber. Clothes. Shadow.    “I am NOT a possession, thank you very much,” she growled as he allowed his thoughts to be ‘heard’ easily. Of course, he ignored her and kept thinking. Shadow. Her clothes. Her brain. Her—, “You forgot your own brain, Jedi boy. We’re wandering out into the middle of a desert without water. Didn’t that cross your mind?”    Akan stopped, nearly slipping on the softening sand, “Oops...”    “Damn, right, ‘oops’,” Shadow snapped, fighting back a grin for as long as she could before he saw it.    “What?!” he looked ready to turn and go back. In fact, he was. How could he be so stupid to have forgotten water of all things?    That evil grin grew on her face and she laughed, “You didn’t think of it because you don’t need it. Not human, remember? The deserts uncomfortable, sure, but this walk will be nothing.”    “I hate you,” Akan grumbled under his breath, glaring as best he could manage at the moment.    “Hmm...you know, I don’t like the idea of walking all this way anymore,” her grin didn’t fade, “I have an idea.”    He rolled his eyes, “Should I worry?”    As he was finishing the last word, she turned and ran. It wasn’t nearly as fast as on solid ground, as the sand was too soft to truly run at full speed, but it was still fast. [Race ya!]    [Cheating!!!] the Alraxian competitive spirit appeared out of no where in Akan, and he found himself charging after her into the desert. All the while, he was not thinking about the fact that though he and Shadow wouldn’t need water, it was going to be tough on the three humans. If they were alive. They’d find out soon, and the problem was going to be a difficult one. With three weak humans, it would be an even longer trip back. The depressing part is it would be easier if they didn’t find anyone. But then...what would they do?</blockquote>

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