Tovii

Today began like each and every other. The sun rose into the sky, and began its march to burn the sand and stone of the Zercan plains. It did this each and every day with little deviation. The quiet, orange light broke through the cracks of Desert Sun’s home: a wooden shack supported by ropes nailed into the hard sandstone beneath, perched near a minor cliff edge.

Desert lifted his head from the “mattress”, his stomach achingly hungry and his lips dry. He needed water, he needed food, he needed money, but this was like most days really. Today though he also needed to see someone. It had been a week since anybody had bothered turning up to the local Aavirk, the old name for a local resting house used by the few remaining travelers of this dust bowl. The lengths of time he had been enduring with no company were beginning to get longer and longer.

Deserts coat was a yellow-gold, which matched the surrounding dunes and hills. His fur darkened to brown and black at the bottom of his legs, his mane and tail were also brown with a lighter stripe going through them. Still in a daze, he rubbed his blurry eyes, which were a dull olive green.

He pushed himself up onto his four legs, swiping a canteen up that he absolutely knew was empty, and poured no water into his mouth. He even shook it in desperation. “I must be going crazy,” he thought.

Eventually the young traveler fumbled open the door to his shack and dragged himself out the door with all his canteens and his saddlebag draped over his back, and his staff at his side. He stood at the cliff edge his shack sat upon and drank the view of the horizon. Well, the horizon wasn’t visible through the dense sand whisked up from the ground, but the red light of morning and the orange ghostly orb that delivered it was always an uplifting sight for anyone, and brought joy to the souls of many travelers, past and present.

“What a waste of a view that is,” grumbled Desert. He scuffed some of the sand off the edge and made his journey for the Aavirk.

Desert marched his way through the swaying sands using his staff to leverage onto higher ground. It is said that the dunes and valleys of the Zercan plains change and move, completely changing on a fortnightly basis. This makes travel and transport a nye impossible task for anybody unexperienced. There were very few landmarks that could permanently be seen at all times of the year, those that did consisted of formations of tall rocks and cliffs. The largest known of these, known as Kalvika Ta, has been used for at least two thousand years as a navigational landmark by the most ancient of folk. Desert would reach it in a few miles.

He had his shack built upon a similar, much smaller cliff edge. That way his home wouldn’t be swallowed whole by the shifting sands while he was gone. This was in large part why the ancestors of this place never settled in one location for long.

Kalvika Ta came into view, another beautiful sight to see. It sat as a blunt spire of gold and beige that climbed up to the clouds and cut through them, it leant slightly at an angle. On its sides peaked smaller points in a sort of spikey wall, like the bottom jaw of an ancient giant with its teeth poking out of the sand.

The stallion passed the north side of Kalvika Ta, traveling between two of its peaks, and made his way. Despite being such a large formation, it didn’t take much distance for most of its details to disappear, with all the dust and sand carried through the air. However, you could see Kalvika Ta’s influence on the horizon for miles and miles.

Desert walked on, before he scuffed his hoof on something. He brushed away some sand from under him and pressed down on something hard.

His interest perked; he brushed his hoof along the hard surface to reveal a completely flat floor of sandstone brick. He smiled at this; while it is likely this site is known, it is one of the few sites of ancient architecture that comes and goes with the will of the sand. He found it comforting to remember that his homeland wasn’t so empty as it is now. He had likely already been here, but sometimes it was impossible to tell.

Still hungry and thirsty, though the traveler walked on, passing over the bricks and likely other ancient examples of buildings, confidently in the direction of the Aavirk. His stomached ached but his mind was elsewhere.

Desert knew he was alone here. There may be a handful of travelers these days, but they were often no more than thrill-seekers and tourists. Sometimes it felt like he was the only resident of the Zercan plains. But it was weeks like this that made him question his stubbornness. He was lonely, maybe it would be truly better to leave for that reason alone. Perhaps, heartbreakingly, this place was indeed a lost cause.

Desert had no friends here. By the time they had finished school they had all left Ozka, the town where Desert was born. It bordered Zerca and the Kurizi forest, and just like anything Zercan, it seemed to be cursed with misfortune.

But that is why Desert stayed. His job here on these plains (while not being ratified in any legal document) was that of a treasure hunter of sorts. He sought no wealth or fame from this as it was purely for his goals of putting Zerca and its history on the global map. His findings of pottery shards, spearheads and even some scrolls had been donated to the few museums that were interested. Though to call these museums wasn’t appropriate; they were more like small fancy warehouses.

But he wanted one thing alone. He had struggled the searing heat and the shifting soil for over 10 years, and it has been exhausting. If he could be the one to make that one discovery, that one adventurer who discovered the meaning of Zerca and make life for its folk of the future meaningful and worthwhile, he could rest a happy man.

While he considered the discovery and preservation of artifacts his main job, he spent most of his days restocking the local handful of Aavirks scattered around the land. But these current jobs were enough for Desert; it paid for his supplies of wood and food after all.

By the time he had got through his musings, the stallion arrived at the resting stop. He sounded like a half-asleep, one-man marching band while he walked. The canteens hollowly rattled, his hoofs scuffed through the thick sand, his bag shuffled. He thudded the door to the Aavirk open and poured himself inside like the sand at the bottom of the door sill. It would have been embarrassing if someone was in here to see him so listless, but there wasn’t. This place reminded him of his own home; dusty and ill-equipped. It served as a place to rest, without any chairs. A place to purchase resources like food and water, without any food or water. A place to contact the nearest town that had something resembling a hospital or police station, and while there was a phone it was not likely charged.

“Anybody home?” he called, dropping his walking staff against the wall as he moved more inside. The place looked identical to how he left it yesterday, and the day before, and so on. He peered his head around the corner to see if maybe by some divine intervention the bulletin board had been updated. It had not. Odd jobs and the such could be posted here for anybody interested in earning some money, like checking the local radio-pylons or delivering resources to settlements in the Kurizi forest.

Desert kicked his staff over with frustration, and a hint of anxiety. “Nobody again?! Where is-!?” He quieted himself down, taking a breath. He slumped into the wall, sitting on the floor messily with his canteen and bag around him. He rested his head into the wall behind him lightly. “Where is anyone? It’s been weeks, or a week…I don’t even know...”

He closed his eyes, before standing once more and moved to the trunk the spare canteens were carried in. 12, including the 5 he carried for his own use, totaled 17 in total he would be carrying. “Brilliant”, he thought sarcastically.

He scooped them all up and threw them over his back, an unhappy frown on his face.

The door creaked open and blew in a gust of sand. Desert had to contain his relief at someone finally seeing him. He could have shouted and hit something, but he just turned to this figure and nodded respectfully.

A stallion pegasus walked through the door. He had a dusty brown coat, with emerald eyes and dark hair. He wore a saddlebag over his back sitting above a short fabric cloth scarf-thing, and had a wide brimmed hat atop his ears. He had let his beard grow out as well.

Desert could remember that face for as long as he lived, since it had been so long since he had seen one other than his own. “Hey. Just stopping?” he asked.

The stallion nodded and took off his hat, hitting the sand off of it. “Just stopping.”

He moved past Desert and checked the cabinets for any water or food, clicking his tongue at their lack of either of those things. Desert needed to use this opportunity to talk however.
“Where’ve you come from? The closest place is a fair trek.” Desert said.

“Ozka.” The stallion replied, likely more interested in getting back home than striking conversation up.

“How are things there?” Desert continued. The pegasus quirked a brow at him and looked annoyed, unrolling some papers from his bag. “What do you think? Terrible.” he replied.

Any semblance of being angry at the guy had faded once Desert saw him pinning the paper to the bulletin board. A job! Once the pegasus had moved out of the way, re-discovered the absence of food and water and promptly frowned, he left. At the doors clicking shut, Desert leapt at the bulletin board and scanned its contents hastily:

WANTED:
Traveler with experience and orienteering skills.
Knowledge and understanding of the geography of the Zercan desert necessary.
Equipment will not be provided.
Needed ASAP, more than one persons may apply.

Phone number, email address and other contact details below. DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL, APPLICATIONS REQUIRED ASAP. Rewards include money, water, food or supplies.

Desert rubbed his chin, “Hmmmm…” he swiped the phone from the desk, and upon predicting its lack of battery charge hurled it over the desk and onto the floor. He reached into his bag, pulled out a large item that could have been mistaken for a cinder block (but was in fact a different phone), and dialed in the provided number.
It ringed.

“Hello, this is Irus from the Ozka Institution of Avian Preservation, how may I help?”
That voice sounded weirdly familiar. Desert quirked his brow, and moved to the door. He opened it, seeing the stallion that just left on his own phone just outside.

“Ah. Yeah, this job thing, I’m interested. Me. The one you just...” Desert chuckled and waved his free hoof. “Back over here.”

Irus shot his gaze for Desert, hung up, and made his way back to the Aavirk, rolling his eyes.

“I had no idea that Ozka was in any position to overlook a preservation project. Don’t you guys have bigger problems than that?”

The two stallions sat next to the window of the shack. This window had no glass or even fabric covering but had a bundled-up leather curtain atop in case the wind began to blow in sand.

Irus replied to Desert, “Sure, that’s true. Ozka isn’t in a good way right now, but the OIAP brings some funding and employment to the region. We don’t just focus on Zercan birds, Ozka is just where it was founded.” He said as he knocked some sand from the brim of his hat. “We keep track of activity all around Equestria.”

“Figures.” Desert said as he slumped back. “I assumed you weren’t from here with that accent. I’m imagining you’re staying there while you do whatever it is you’re doing?” Irus smiled lightly with a nod as Desert continued, “Brave of you to head back without water or food. Ozka is not too far from here but that is still a risky decision.”

“That wasn’t the plan but this place is empty. I have some canteens after all, they’re not just for show.” Irus rattled them at his side. “Wait. You’re not from Ozka?”

Desert shook his head as Irus carried on, “Somewhere in the Kurizi?”

“No, not quite.” Desert smiled.

“Equestria?”

“No no, I live here. In Zerca.” Desert replied as Irus gave a perplexed look.

“What on earth compulsed you to live here?” Irus brushed his hair back and kept his confused expression. “I’ve seen places run down in my time, Ozka being one of them, but it’s a town at least.”

“Someone needs to oversee things.” Desert said as he leant back.

“But that’s different to living here. Is there a town I’m not aware of?” Irus continued his inquisition.

“No.”

“Any sort of farmland?”

“Not that I know about.”

Irus frowned at Desert, “What about company?”

“You’re the first person I’ve seen in weeks.” Desert met Irus’ line of sight.

“You’re crazy.” Irus chuckled, which particularly annoyed Desert, but he continued “This place has been deserted since before I was born, and I think I’m older than you. What the hell are you doing here living on your own? Tax evasion?”

Desert would have laughed at that. “It’s a long sto-”

“How long have you been here?” Irus interrupted.

Without a pause, Desert replied with “11 years.” which caused Irus to rest his head back against the wall dumbfounded.

“You’re crazy, you should get back to Ozka, or hell, even leave this desert entirely. There’s nothing here for you. Heck it would even be safer in some place like Ozka.” The two met eyes. Desert had about had enough; his gaze was furious.

He took a sharp breath. “I’ve got a million reasons to leave for someplace else. Maybe I should, maybe I have made the wrong choice. But nothing’s ever gonna change if I do. If I just went the way of everyone else, just gave up and left all here to be forgotten. What if the ancients of Equestria did that?”

“That’s just silly, c’mon.” Irus brushed him off.

Desert’s gaze narrowed. “Is it? What would they all have to say if they just stood on grass and nothing else?”

Irus scoffed once more and shook his head. “Zerca is too harsh. Look at you, you’re pencil thin.”

Irus was right about that at least. Desert took a moment, and leaned back. “Nothing ever changes if you give up.”

“So you think you can make a difference?” Irus brushed his beard.

Now that was something Desert didn’t know. A short silence fell between the two, filled with the whistling wind of the outside.

Finally, Desert replied. “I hope so.”

Once more the air fell silent for a few seconds, until Irus stood and looked over the Aavirk. “At least you’ll know where you’re going then,” he said to Desert, who returned a curious look. Irus continued. “We need you to locate some eggs for us.” Desert quirked his brow and leaned in to listen as Irus further elaborated. “Last night one of our tagged birds started acting odd on the GPS. Sporadic movement, periods of no motion at all, roaming outside her familiar spots. Unusual activity for her.”

“That doesn’t sound very promising.” Desert’s mind wandered about what this could mean, where the bird was, how it could have been injured, but then snapped his attention back to Irus, who was nearly done with his sentence by this time.

“Then her tracker stopped moving at all and hasn’t budged an inch.” Irus held his hat in his hoof and looked slightly saddened. “We think some sort of animal caught her. Could’ve been a different bird, maybe some sort of animal.”

“Hmm. What sort of bird was it?”

Irus put his hat back on and replied, “A tawny eagle. They’re firmly in the endangered species list, and we know this one had a clutch of eggs. The tracker died earlier this morning so we sadly have no way of recovering her, but the eggs need to be found for our conservation efforts.”

Desert pieced the information together and smiled a confident smile. “Can’t say I’ve got any experience egg hunting but, sure. I think I can do that. I’m gonna need some more information. Any clues as to where this bird may have laid? Is she…a coastal kind of girl or maybe, maybe she prefers trees and…stuff, I literally know nothing about birds.”

Irus leant more against the wall and replied, “We know she spent a lot of time about 5 clicks west of the Great Compass. Look for some high-up rocks perhaps. A nest should be there.”
The Great Compass was the non-native name of Kalvika Ta, to which Desert smiled. He knew exactly where he was going.

“Understood, I know where that is. Don’t go anywhere.” Desert slung his bag and all the canteens over him, and reached for his staff. “As I said it’s a risky trek without water.”

“So you’re suggesting I wait it out until this place gets restocked, huh? How long’s that gonna take?” Irus settled down once more.

“Well I don’t intend on keeping you waiting.” Desert slyly smiled.

“Oh! Well then,” Irus looked out the window as he spoke. “Thank you. This will be a huge help. We couldn’t find anyone willing or brave enough to look for us, even in Ozka.”

Desert nodded at him, said, “Lucky me.” and walked out.