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Prentice Journal
✍ entry 1
Buried in the Sand

Oba's blistering sun burned hot on his face. The sun was setting so it was not as unbearable as it could be. It was warming his left cheek, so he knew he was facing north. North was a direction he rarely traveled. He had never gone beyond Oba's borders. He was running face first into the unknown and abandoning all the comforts of the familiar. This would seem unreasonable if the comforts of home weren't threatening to kill him.

His time spent working with the Red Sands had been immensely dangerous. At any point in his training he could have been killed. All of his contacts were dangerous, one misstep would have been the end of him. Fortune had been on his side and he had the time of his life as a young assassin. That fortune ran out when a contract turned sour and his guild abandoned him. He couldn't even trust his closest friends, everyone he knew was a threat now.

Arkesh took anything he could carry and loaded as much as he could on his old xaraan Johari. She really was old, over 23, she was a retired race xaraan. Arkesh won her in a card game from one of his old assassin buddies. She had been his faithful companion ever since. She was his only friend now and he cherished her. She looked back at the city behind them. Sulburi was nothing more than a handful of shimmering lights on the distant sand; its image distorted in currents of heat. Arkesh patted her neck to reassure her.
"Don't think about it now, it's not our home anymore. It's just you and me now." The xaraan seemed to understand and she nuzzled his head.
"We can do anything together Johari. We're going to be just fine."

He did not know if there was any truth to what he said. But he was confident in his abilities to adapt and didn't want to discourage himself or his pet xaraan. Arkesh was a survivor. He was a youngling when his parents passed away and he was placed in that dreadful orphanage. He developed his skills as a pick pocket then to survive and it was those skills that caught the attention of the Red Sands to begin with. They bought him from the orphanage and raised him. He survived when they put him and the other orphans through rigorous training and deadly exercises. He survived his final trials and every deadly encounter and situation since then. He was going to continue to survive, and if he could live through crossing the oban desert, then he would survive in Tale too!

words:462 points: 1 prentice journal entry 1/3

Prentice Journal
✍ entry 3
Missing Comforts of Home

Arkesh had been traveling with a caravan for a few days. They had taken him north to Sauti. The air was crisper and the earth more solid. Tale and Oba were all so soft and sandy. It was a nice change of pace. He was excited to discover springs in Sauti. Natural oasis and springs were rare in Oba and Tale.
He departed with the caravan and they left him with a tent and some supplies to remember them by. He rather liked the wind tribe. They would either let you in their group or not, and made it clear early on. It saved him from trying to bargain his way into things. The ones that let him in generally liked hearing his stories about the gods and oban life. He was always careful not to divulge too much. He was still hesitant to trust anyone with an honest truth.

He started to walk back to a spring they had passed not long ago. It looked incredibly refreshing and he was eager to take a dip. He found a spot near the water and made a quick camp. Once settled he dropped his staff and unraveled his attire. Arkesh took a naked leaping jump into the cool spring water. He quickly came back up with a gasp.
"oh, WOW, that..." He shook the water from his face, "That is colder than I thought it would be." His body made an abrupt shiver and Arkesh swam over to some rocks that were protruding out of the water. After swimming a bit, his body adjusted to the temperature and he started to relax. He was half submerged, half laying on the rocks. He tipped his head back and let out a deep breath. He was surrounded by breathtaking scenery and was safe and comfortable under the Sauti stars, yet all he could think about was where he would be if he had stayed in Oba.

He missed his homeland terribly. He had no friends here, no one he could trust. He was absolutely alone. He closed his eyes and remembered the events that lead him to flee Oba. His mind had been racing when he was in that jail cell. His closest friend Naveed had been the one to visit him and update him on what was happening. Naveed had also been the one that helped him escape his cell. If it had not been for him Arkesh would have been strung from the gallows long ago.
Naveed had been a brother to him, they were taken in by the Sands at nearly the same time. They had fought each other, taught each other, and stood by one another in the darkest of times. To both of them, the Red Sands were their life and their family. Arkesh wondered where his red brother was now. Were the Sands even still up and running? The change in Oba's leadership undoubtedly had an effect on them. He wondered if Naveed had left or was he running the show now?

Arkesh had kept a careful eye on any obans in Tale and elsewhere. None had resembled Naveed so he had a solid feeling that he was still in Oba. If he wasn't there, then he was surely dead from the raids. Arkesh resented that he had been labeled a snitch. He knew someone inside was surely a traitor but he hadn't the slightest clue as to who. He had suspected that it was someone who didn't want him taking over as the Sands leader. That would suggest that it was someone high up, and probably someone he once trusted. The idea haunted him. It could be anyone, maybe even Naveed. It pained him to picture his closest friend blaming him for the exposure of the Red Sands. Naveed was cold and calculated, he would do anything to attain his goal. He was an excellent assassin. But Arkesh didn't see what Naveed would have to gain from toppling the Sands organization. It was a puzzle but Arkesh was missing too many of the pieces to see the picture. He reached his hand up to squeeze his temples. Trying to understand what had happened back in Oba made his head ache.

"I wonder if I will ever see my homeland again." he pondered the question but didn't have any clear solutions.