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Inches, just barely a few at that. Maybe he was some kind of solider, but in this desert, he was just an ordinary teenage boy. He couldn't life the dead beast, no matter how much effort he put into it. It was degrading for him, since he had no other reason to wear the uniform, if he couldn't act the part. Sweat continued to pour off of him and his breath was heavy. He was going to need some help.

"I hate to do this to you Howl, but I think I may need you to get your hands a little bit dirty. Do you think you can help me turn it over so we can get to the satchel?"

You can do this together!

There it was. That beautiful sensation of encouragement, even if it was just one of many thoughts, it shined brightest out of them all.

On the count of three, the two boys shouldered under the dead camel, putting all their weight into it, and managed to shove it free. It felt disgusting, and smelled worse, but when it was done, they had good cause to be pleased with their efforts.

The half-saddlebag rested on the woven cloth -- which was a prayer mat, a carpet perhaps, with long tassels at two of the corners. A third corner was missing its tassel, and the fourth corner didn't exist at all: a full third of the intricate, colorful weave had been bitten away.

Yet most remarkably of all, the cloth had fluttered up into the air and remained floating there a little lethargically, saddlebag seemingly weightless upon it. At its highest, the carpet hovered a few feet off the ground -- but at the frayed side, the -- wounded side -- it was listing sadly, like an injured, limping creature.

Twenty million alarms were going off in Howl's mind, letting him know how absolutely gross, disgusting, and unsanitary his current actions were. His nose crinkled in an almost graceful manner, and the moment it was all over, he already had his hands buried within Boreas' shoulder fluff.

Sure, Howl was curious about what they had found, but at the moment, his mind was into cleanliness overdrive. He managed to rub a majority of the disgusting crust camel blood off of his hands, but as he pulled his fingers back to inspect, he could easily see the crusty brown along the edges of his nails.

"Absolutely disgusting."

With a bit more fussing, he managed to get his fingers back to a satisfactory cleanliness. It was only then that he truly returned back to this warped desert reality.

"Well... wonders never cease." Boreas had already claimed the carpet which was miraculously floating in the air. So rather than pay drastic amounts of attention to the carpet (though Howl could not help but note the beautiful coloring adorning the rug), he instead paid more attention to the saddlebag.

"Let us see what supplies we might have gained, Mr. Boreas." Newly cleaned fingers snatched up the saddlebag, beginning to inspect the exterior before promptly moving onto the interior.

Boreas was like a kid in a candy store the moment he set foot onto the floating carpet. After everything that happened, he frankly felt like he had been hit by a bus. Just the thought of not having to trek across the blazing hot sands anymore and just be able to feel the wind on his face made him smile an over sized, slightly moronic grin.

"Isn't this thing great, Howl? I mean now we don't have to kill ourselves to get across this desert! Maybe we can finally go home."

The book in his companion's hands didn't even phase Boreas. It wasn't on his radar and though he caught a glimpse of it, he could care less about its contents. He was done, mentally and physically. He needed something to boost his spirits and this carpet was just the thing. Boreas couldn't handle another disappointment so soon after their ordeal with the camel carcass.

"I wonder how you work this thing? Think it has some sort of magic command? Like 'Giddy up', 'Fly', 'Go Go Magic Carpet', or something?"

Boreas examined the carpet carefully, he noted the beautiful, yet worn design it displayed, the carefully woven tassels, albeit one. His gaze then focused on the corner which floated a little lower.

"I think we have a dud Howl"

He then pondered for a few moments, in all the excitement of finding the carpet, he never imagined it would not easily bend to his will and carry the desert duo into the distance. He had to be missing something...

"The book! Howl does the book say anything about the floating carpet?"

Howl was much more intrigued by his own findings than the carpet at the moment, but it was simply because he was enchanted by the designs and the condition of the saddlebag and the newly discovered book. The teal-haired lad definitely had a gentle touch, so he was carefully able to remove the book delicately from the saddlebag, setting the bag itself back upon the carpet.

"To be quite honest, Mr. Boreas, if I were in a position such as the carpet, I would find myself less than inclined to give you a ride with such derogatory commands as you just gave." All of his senshi-companion's attempts had been really simplistic commands. It was almost insulting.

Howl stroked his thumb over the frayed ribbon. It was not the first time he had seen a ribbon being used as a bookmark. However, usually the ribbons were kept in a much better condition. With a careful hand, he opened the book, using the ribbon stub for guidance to hopefully open to the place which was being marked.

The book turned out to be nothing but some sort of a ledger of accounts, transactions. The man who kept the book must've been some sort of merchant -- perhaps initially a vintner, as the transactions at the beginning of the book were mostly wine.

The ledger kept record of buyers, merchandise, and what had been paid in exchange, but it was a fairly huge volume; there wasn't much they could glean from it just flipping through pages. It didn't look like there was much it could tell them.

The carpet yielded somewhat more promising results, however; it picked itself back up into a level surface (all but the injured section) and nudged gingerly against Boreas's leg.