12. The different place

There was silence everywhere, only the sound of their footsteps on the desert floor could be heard. The sun was scorching, the heat was unbearable, and their bodies were hot beyond the point of sweating. They had been walking for days on end, enduring the hunger pangs, and the unbearable thirst, but dizzy spell's had began to set in, as their dehydrated bodies had been holding on for too long. Emma used her powers to check if there was an oasis nearby, or if they would be out of the desert heat soon, but here was nothing, only the endless sea of sand.

She fell to the floor, her body too heavy for her legs to carry her. Hei Yue walked to her side picking her up, despite having no strength left in him. He staggered with her weight for some time, and saw a caravan of camels approaching when he wanted to drop to the floor. He waited for minutes before it reached where they were,"please can you..." He began asking when a woman and two men dismounted from their camels and took Emma from his hands,they gave her water, before they placed her atop one of the camels to rest. He fell to his knees shocked at what was going on. The lady was covered entirely by robes, leaving only her face to show. Her face was adorned with a beautiful smile, her blue eyes filled with warmth as she walked to him. She threw a bottle of water for him to catch. She smiled at him "she still hasn't learn the meaning of endurance" she said looking at where Emma rested. "I am Dena" she said expecting his name in exchange, when he didn't respond she smiled and pointed at the camels "Care to join us" she said stretching out her hands to him. He stood up on his own making her laugh loudly as she turned to join her camel.

They were taken to a settlement of people dressed like her, but with their hair open. They were a different tribe of desert people, he had found out while they were showing him to his room in the house of their chief. He wanted to stay up and make sure that this was a safe place to be, but slipped into unconsciousness as soon as he was done taking a bath and lay on the bed.

It had been days since they had been with the Bato tribe, and in these days, he had found that Emma, and Dena were from a select group that were considered royalty, and they were best friends and she had heard from someone prior to their coming, he had also found out that a war had occurred years ago that they all split into different realms, but he knew something was wrong, and he had not yet found out what it was. They were preparations going on for a bonfire at night in celebration of the favorable conditions that they had been encountering in this desrert for hundreds of years now.

He walked through the hallways filled with people carrying things for the upcoming celebration, and others decorating. He smiled faintly at the bustling atmosphere and offered to help someone carry a platter of gold to the office of their chief Dena since he was headed there. "He's human, you know he won't last long" he heard Dena say. He paused at the door, waiting to hear what she meant but there was only silence. He pushed open the door as Dena said "he looks so much like him, it's no wonder..." she paused in her statement upon seeing him and coughed nervously. She smiled at him and stood up to leave "join us tonight at the bonfire" she said as she walked out the door. Emma turned to look at him, a peaceful smile etched on her face. "Is everything to your liking" she asked turning back to the window. She smiled at the sight of little children playing, and wished she was one.

He placed the platter on a table and stood near her, ignoring the statement he had just heard since she also chose to ignore it.