Desert Distractions

Only a few days had passed since Samira was in Oak Town. With her new personal mission on her to do list she went to her first destination, and by proxy towards her first contact that was supposed to somehow help her with the translation of a code that was complex enough to require several translators throughout Earthland. The first one was located in Desierto. Where in Desierto? Who knew? Samira was just given the country and the name. Finding the person was the first step of her mission. But that was for another chapter. For now, a different sort of obstacle would stall her temporarily. She had been on route, using Anhur as a flying method of transportation instead of Kukulkan for once. He insisted, but only because he knew the deserts better and could thrive much more comfortably than the serpent that was used to jungle environments. If he had known that Samira would demand to land in order to check on some abandoned ruins he would not have bothered at all. He had transformed back into his normal form instead of the flying one and stood watch while also getting more and more annoyed as time passed. "How long are we going to remain here? It's hot. You are not suited for desert life or even dressed for it. We should not be wasting time unless you want to fry."

"Not long. I have no intention on passing out in this sun. If dehydration is what you are worried about, do not. He Bo can provide me with enough water to solve that crisis."

"Hmph. Relying on the others as always. Did you even pack water in that pack?"

"Of course not." Samira proceeded to pull out a giant notebook that may as well have taken all the space in her backpack besides the tools to write in it. "I needed the room for this."

The Lion man facepalmed. Technically there wasn't any reason to have a backpack in the first place. The girl could have just put all of her equipment and useless junk in the celestial vault she very well knew that she had access to. Sometimes he thought that she did such idiotic things just to bother him. He was probably right in that theory.

Samira had finished taking her notes and pictures and had stepped out of the ruins to join her spirit companion so that they could get going. "You got your wish. Let's go. It should not be long before..." She stopped as she took notice of a large group of people traveling through not too far off. "Have they been there long? What are they doing?"

"Migrating if I had to guess. Though we both know there is nothing but sand in that direction. Their supplies will run out before they realize this most likely."

"Hmm," the summoner tapped her cheek in thought, recollecting something of minor importance but was relevant to the current scenario. "There are job postings all the time with something similar to this. I wonder if these people also requested help but no one came?"

"Villages like the one those people come from are scattered all over the country. Most not receiving any aid from the grander cities. It's one of many problems in their country from what I understand. Fiore doesn't have enough people or time to help every single posting Desierto sends out."

Word Count so Far since I am incapable of ever writing just 500 words and thus this needs another post to complete the job: 569
500 for D Rank Freeform
New WC: 69

"I see." That was most unfortunate. Lucky for the current traveling party they had chosen the route they had and were passing by someone that was capable of helping them out. If that was what they wanted anyway. Anhur's words were just a theory and it was entirely possible those people had some sort of plan. "Hold this," she said, turning towards her companion suddenly and throwing the book and backpack into his arms. Samira ignored the shocked reaction as well as the growling that shortly followed. How dare she have the audacity to make him her personal bag boy... or spirit... lion... thing! She would most likely hear about it later on, but that was for later. The present version of herself was carefree and more interested in getting into the business of others to see if she could help in some way. Or get information. Both would be fantastic actually. Samira paused, realizing she forgot something, and so she momentarily turned towards Anhur to say something else. "Oh, and stay here." Now she was adding actual orders to it. It wasn't as if she were trying to be commanding, although she did enjoy seeing him get more agitated. The issue was that it was possible his appearance and presence could frighten them all if he too walked towards them unprovoked. None within the passing group had a magic aura that she could sense, so it stood to reason that they were normal people with not one mage among them for protection. The weapons she could see were also pretty basic.

Anhur stayed back as he was told, but the unfortunate book was nonchalantly tossed into the hot sand. She could pick it up when she came back. That'd teach her to give him orders! As for Samira, she made her way to the passing group, waving to get their attention and trying to look as friendly and non-threatening as she could. Surely they wouldn't mistake her for some bandit! She didn't look the part, after all. At least, she didn't think so. The woman didn't even look like she belonged in a desert. Hiding that she was a mage was going to be a bit more difficult. It was common knowledge that the country shunned their own magical residents so an outsider was likely not going to be as welcomed even if they did need help. The most she could do to hide what she was, was tone down her magic aura as she approached. It'd only work for as long as she didn't use any magic, however.

Some of the members in the group stopped, glancing her way and even pointing while getting the attention of others. This kept going until the front of the traveling group heard about the strange weird woman that was walking around in a hot desert without the proper attire. And now she was coming their way. Surely she must have been some crazy tourist from Fiore and had lost her party that was traveling to one of the three great cities. To them it was fantastic in the most sarcastic way. Little did they know at that moment that she would be of some help at least. As she got closer she saw the people and their animals move out of the way to make room for the leader of the group to get through and meet her.

(Total: 568
And this short job continues: 1137)

New WC: 568 + 69 = 637
500 for D Rank Freeform
New WC: 137

And so the conversation between passing traveling leader and Samira began. Sort of. She stared blankly as the man ranted in his own language, probably telling her that she was some tourist idiot that was bothering them. Or from what she could tell anyway. She knew the language partially, but it had been a long while since she had studied it and even longer than that since she had heard it. This required translation! And so, with that conclusion made, Samira brought out that trusty iLac thingy and set it on a translator app just before moving it closer to the man's face like some reporter with a mic. The man stopped and looked at it, confused at first, and then angry. "Oh my...." That was about all Samira could say as the man started talking rapidly again and the translations coming through the magitech device having more than a few choice words that children would have had their mouths washed out with soap for speaking. She wasn't exactly offended, but it still was a tad bit uncomfortable. It was her fault she supposed. Bringing out the iLac probably made them all think that she was wanting to take some pictures with them. Ha... haha... whoops.

An older man stepped through the crowd and most likely demanded the younger one to shut up since that's exactly what he did. He had become quiet almost immediately. Perhaps he was the elder of the people or something and had a bit more respect and power than the other in some ways. It worked this time whatever the reason was. He leaned on the old worn cane he held and politely greeted Samira while also introducing himself and his traveling party. As expected, his village had been one of the ones that had their water supply run dry. It was moving like a plague in that country, infecting the land of a village one right after the other. They had received no aid from the three grand cities and thus far no one in Fiore had come by to help either. Until now, anyway. He was too prideful to ask outright, and even moreso when Samira offered to help. And so a deal was struck. She would aid him and his people and he would give her some information as payment. He had nothing else to give and Samira wasn't going to take whatever they had left anyway. Information was more valuable. He was a little suspicious. The aid didn't seem equal to the reward that would be given. Surely helping them locate a new home and moving them would have been a difficult thing to do and even time consuming. The Saint would prove him wrong in that.

(Word Count: 456
Total So Far: 1593)

New WC: 456 + 137 = 593
500 for D Rank Freeform
New WC: 93

Samira offered to do her side of the deal first. She doubted that he would have given the information she wanted considering how suspicious he seemed to be. It was a difficult task for most, after all, so it was unlikely he was willing to chance the information being given and her taking off right after without doing a thing. Maybe. She couldn't tell if they thought that she was some tourist or not. Plus, she also didn't want to take a chance on his information being false. It was best to do what she could to impress him enough to give her facts. Now there was just step one; find a suitable location. Perhaps she could have made one, but that was a bit over the top, and she wasn't willing to chance that it wouldn't last forever. It wasn't as if she ever made a proper living environment with water in the middle of a desert before.

'Anhur, fly out and see what if you can find anything suitable.' And by suitable she meant a random oasis that was thriving and completely convenient to come across at that time. The woman kept the request mentally rather than command the spirit to come right on over and give the instruction that way. Or shouting at him like some lunatic. That wasn't really her style.

'No.' Still as grumpy as ever and unwilling to do more than he had to. It wasn't his problem or business, and he wasn't going to go randomly flying all over the damn desert looking for some secret paradise.

'Oh... okay. I will ask Kuku-'

'Do not finish that sentence. You have lost whatever senses you had if you thought about bringing that snake out here.'

'So, you will do it then?' Samira already knew the answer. While she was serious about using the flying serpent to be her aerial eyes, she also knew Anhur was not about to let that particular spirit be called on either. He thought of that spirit being more destructive and gluttonous than reliable.

'The faster this is over with, the faster we can move on.'

'Thank you. Also He Bo will be helping you with direction. He can sense the water sources that are nearby, if any. I am sure you will find something with the both of you working together.' And with that statement, the portal belonging to the water spirit opened up near the lion. Glowing mystical water poured out and soon took the shape that resembled an older human man. The watery form seemed to be entirely unaffected by the desert heat, and the swirling watery tornado that made up the lower half moved gracefully along the sand that somehow remained dry despite He Bo moving along its surface. Anhur turned into his winged lion form and took off into the sky in a random direction, likely being told which way to go by the water spirit companion he now had to endure being around.

With those two doing their part, Samira turned her focus back towards the traveling group. "This is a good time for you to rest. It should not be too long before they find something and we can go from there." Locating a new possible home was the hard part. Some would think moving them to the new location would have been just as difficult due to the limited supplies and lack of energy, and that was usually the case for most. But Samira had a plan to make that much quicker, assuming the area Anhur and He Bo located was safe enough. There was a chance it would need to be investigated and cleared out first. Well, she could only hope for the best in order to quickly knock this current task off her agenda.

(Word Count: 634
Total So Far: 2227)

New WC: 634 + 93 = 727
500 for D Rank Freeform
New WC: 227

Night fell over the desert as the two spirits sought out a location that could be a new home for the traveling nomads. They had not moved the rest of the day, taking the suggestion given by the strange woman that wielded magic. Not so much because they really wanted to. Quite a few had their suspicions and concerns for wasting time on what could end up being nothing. However, many were tired from their journey thus far and many agreed a break by that point would not hurt. They could make up the lost time the next day. Camp was made at the ruins that the summoner had been exploring in before, and during the wait Samira helped out in other ways such as taking care of any that had been injured over the course of their journey, tending to the animals, and other chores that could be considered minor to most but were the day to day lives of those people who could not make their journey without it being done.

Further into the night, as they slept, Samira stayed awake with some of the others to keep watch in case any of the desert's predators or other dangers got within range of concern. It was in that period of time the two spirits she had dispatched to find a suitable living environment checked in. A far off oasis had been found, large enough to sustain the people as they built around it and lived there. Aside from a few predators there was nothing else there. It was far enough away that it was most likely no other travelers had ever made it that far to explore or claim it. Not without magic, anyway. Her other spirits could aid in making sure the land was suitable for long term, and because of that, Samira made a mental note to herself once all was said and done she would make a habit of checking in on the place to make sure everything was well within the new home location. For now though, she first needed to get them all there.

Samira waited until the morning, giving time for the nomads to sleep and to also give Anhur and He Bo to clear out some of the more dangerous predators, or at least have them move farther away to a more safer distance. Once the sun rose in the sky and people woke, Samira informed the leaders that a suitable water source and new home location had been found. After much convincing, and even having the main leader take the method of transportation to see the area himself first, the portals of the spirit Janus were used to get everyone and their belongings there. They all seemed pleased and many rejoiced once they saw the fertile land and large section of fresh water. That mission was now taken care of. To help out a bit more, Samira used her connections in neighboring countries to send some supplies. Her own wealth ended up getting involved since none of that was really free in some cases, but she had plenty to spare from past missions and rewarded titles that she would possibly never make use of for herself.

Another side mission complete, another good deed done. Now Samira could get back to the real reason she was in the desert country of Desierto.

(Word Count: 561
Total So Far: 2788)

New WC: 561 + 227 = 788
500 Used for original D Rank job
New WC: 288