Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Agreed. I do not have much experience in Sahara, but--"

A soft sound, an exhale sharp. "Have heard stories."

There was no sight of Jack anywhere-- how could someone so tall get lost so fast?

"I've heard stories too" Rep offered.

"Maybe there was a ******** beanstalk."

Rep tried to keep upbeat as they hunted, and was about to make another fairy tale pun when he caught sight of a distant figure over a dune of sand. He pointed.

"Look man." he said with a grin. "Think its a horseman or our ******** giant killer?"

It was obvious Jack was suffering from the heat even at a distance: his steady gait had devolved into a sort of zombielike shuffle, and he was currently tilting a little to the left. By the time he noticed silhouettes breaking the uniform look of the desert before him, his first instinct wasn't rescue but danger; it took a solid three seconds of staring before the voice registered and he lowered his weapon and immediately forced himself to straight up.

"Here," he croaked as he made his way over, relieved but two steps from begging for water or straight up stealing it off someone's person. "Didn't miss anything, did I?"

Once Rep's was empty, Kostya offered his as well, with a small bag of dry, bland granola. "Fortunately," Kostya said, dry, "nyet."

He took Jack's face in hand, inspecting him much like a stablemaster did a prized horse, checking for signs of harm beyond dehydration and a bit of madness.

"Come. Can get back this vay," Kostya explained to Jack, gesturing at the wire that was ready to be wound up once more.

If he had the will to feel embarrassed he might have. But guzzling water was a far more productive use of his energy, and after draining Rep's and most of Kostya's, he cough out water from the wrong pipe and smeared what ran past his lips over his face and neck. "Oh. Good," he managed as he was examined. Every movement reminded him that in spite of his attempts to prevent it, he was still going to have one hell of a sunburn. "Not good, but good. Hate to miss a party. She was just awful as a host." Another hack, and then more lucidly, "Thank you."

Unsure if he could stomach the whole bar, Jack took to nibbling as he followed the pair back, quietly impressed as well that they had formulated a backup plan. Note to self for future reference. But even in his heat daze, Jack could feel the tremors beneath them, and with an inarticulate yelp that actually did embarrass him in hindsight, the giant threw himself out of the way of the hidden hole. "Oh god damn—"

Rep was just beginning to truly savour the victory that was the retrieval of the other man from the endless desert, patting himself on the back for once in his life being the hero when the sand shifted perceptibly and began to sink.

Sometimes Rep's fighting style had its advantages, it generally meant that he had the capacity to jump very high very fast. This time the sand ate most of his upwards momentum but not enough to stop him from seizing hold of the side of the pit and scrabbling desperately up.

When he looked back, Jack was still visible but now Kostya was gone.

"OH FOR ******** SAKE." he yelled to an uncaring desert and a cavernous and ominous pit.

A new and thin layer of sand clung to him as he got up, and when he was panting audibly he was coughing it out again. His eyes flickered to Rep, standing. Kostya, down below, he found immediately afterwards. "This is okay," Jack found himself saying, a mild contrast to Rep's roar. He licked his lips. "This is fine. Wire's still there. Easy pull."

After offering to help Rep up, he skirted the edge of the hole warily and squinted. "Still alive, comrade?" he called. "******** sand pit ant lion skeletal ********..." And then he saw the body and froze.

"...Bingo...?"