Welcome to Gaia! ::

Howl listened and watched for a while, gathering important information as it was offered. Sailor Scylla and Lieutenant Raite were the titles belonging to the young lady and young man respectively. It was very important to not land upon the sand, and the sand worm apparently ate people. The Lieutenant (though he seemed a bit young for such a title) then made a demonstration of his own possessions by tossing them to the desert sands. The Lieutenant did not seem like the sort to waste a moment unless it had a point. From behind his sunglasses he easily noticed the change in the sands where the belt landed.

"The sand worm would explain the dead camel we found Nelumbo under." More than anything, it was an observation, not really meant to be a conversation starter. For a moment, his eyes behind his sunglasses flickered to the small stained section upon Sailor Boreas' fluffy shawl.

"Miss Scylla and Lieutenant Raite, is there any particular reason why you should remain in this place? It does not seem to be ample shelter, nor does it seem to have any sort of food or drink. It would be absolutely cruel of us to leave you two here." In a single elegant motion, he moved the saddlebag from another section of the carpet onto his lap before moving himself towards an edge carefully. With his hand, he gently patted the cloth, as if to reassure it.

"I know not how strong Nelumbo is, since she is missing a corner, but if she is able and Mr. Boreas is willing, I would like to invite both of you to join us."

Scylla looked grateful when Raite threw his belt. As the heavy object landed, the sand swirled and shifted. "I suppose that confirms the hunting theory." she swallowed, looking at her light-eyed companion. "Death if we stayed, death if we ran. Frankly, I'm glad we ran rather than catching our breath." But it was him introducing himself as a Lieutenant that threw her for a moment. Raite was a Negaverse officer? She had genuinely thought he was just a normal person, though eccentrically dressed. He had no weapons, a symbol she'd come to associate with the... enemy? Raite, for now... was no enemy. He was a friendly in a strenuous situation. He'd supported her, and she still needed to thank him for that.

"Camel?" her attention was immediately drawn to Howl. "That means more things can live in this desert. Water. Shelter. Nomads? And a carpet with a camel... how far away was it?" she looked to the obelisk. "Did you see tracks? We might be able to..." she paused, her raw voice cutting itself off as she started to speak in a tone too excited. Too fast. Too much. The ring of finger-shaped bruises around her neck were dark, and her skin was feeling tight. Jada worked hard not to tan. She probably wasn't tanning, in this sun. She was probably burning.

"For now," Scylla cleared her throat, "I would like to accept your offer." The carpet was far off the ledge. "Maybe you could come up a bit, or Raite could hand me down? I think just dropping onto the... Nelumbo? would over-strain... her... and throw us off-balance." She smiled faintly. "I, for one, don't want to land in the sand."

"It appears we have no choice but to accept." While he appreciated Boreas and Howl, it was difficult for him to accept that he needed to rely on others. Especially in this strange desert. And Boreas's attempt at jest went unsuccessfully. "It can't be helped." He said flatly. With Raite's response, Boreas was going to have his job cut out for him, judging from the other male's demeanor. How odd, how they contrasted each other. Boreas was the image of happiness and optimism. Raite was frowning, remaining on the darker side of life.

The carpet was still a bit of distance beneath them, but Raite's height could cover the difference in distance. Jada's concern was a valid concern. "Stand back for a bit." Raite lowered himself off the ledge, until he was nearly hanging off the ledge, one hand supporting his weight. His feet lightly touched upon the carpet, and Raite let go of his grip on the platform once he was reassured that he was standing on the carpet.

"You can come down now. Get down soon, or I'll drop you." Raite held up his hands, reaching out for Jada. While he might not have done his latter words... he might have.. no, he wouldn't do that to Scylla, right? Jada was undoubtedly light, or at least Raite had the confidence that he could support Jada's weight.

Stand back, Raite said, and Scylla obediently stepped to the side, allowing her considerably taller companion to lower himself onto the carpet. "Call me... Scylla." She almost said Call me Jada. It was getting to be rote when speaking to Howl Wickham. "Please." she swallowed around the lump of heated air and sand in her throat, watching Raite almost anxiously. Finally he was safe on the carpet. "And I promise, one question at a time."

The teal-haired young man turned his attention to the other senshi, and Raite reached up his hands for her. Scylla sat down on the edge of the ledge, trying to make things easier on her companion, and scooted forward, leaning down to put her hands on his shoulder. It left Raite's hands free to grab and balance her as she let her weight fall towards the carpet. And if he tried to drop her, he'd be coming with her. Hmmph. She didn't weigh that much.

Finally she was safe on the carpet, and carefully she settled to her knees and then planted her bottom in a place on the carpet. "Thank you Howl, Boreas, Nelumbo." her hands stroked lightly over the carpet. "And thank you, Raite." Scylla smiled up at him. Lieutenant or not, he'd been decent to her.

Inside her glove, the small chunk of black stone rested against the inner part of her forearm. Inside her mind rested the last words of a man who may not have been as lucky as she and Raite. Scylla breathed out, and turned her attention to Howl. "Now, you said you'd answer my questions as we traveled." purple eyes were bright with curiosity. "When Raite's taken his seat, I'd love to hear everything about how you found Nelumbo. Everything. Details."

It was time to start picking up the pieces of this jigsaw.

After lifting Scylla down, Raite now occupied one of the outer edges of the carpet. He wasn't used to entrusting his life to a flying cloth, seemingly precarious because of it's missing corner. Both Scylla and Raite would leave the steering up to the two initial occupants, since they seemed much more accustomed to.. Nelumbo. Or Nelumbo was accustomed to them. Either way.

At least, they were no longer stranded on an obelisk, with no way to travel or move in fear of being devoured by the predator of the desert.

"Finding a flying carpet under a dead camel is unusual." The remark accompanied Scylla's demand for their explanation, each pair having their own story to tell of what exactly happened to them in the desert. Meanwhile, Raite discarded his jacket, leaving his white dress shirt on, but the jacket remained in his hand, crumpled. Beads of sweat dripped down from the side of his face, the weather of the desert certainly wasn't helping any of them despite his best effort to ignore it. But all in all, the senshi certainly had the short end of the stick when it came to uniforms, didn't they?

((Posted much belated so Xaki can say FIN. xD))

All four of them were on the carpet and settled. Excellent. Scylla grinned at Boreas, wiggling her bare legs and pointed heels. "I might be better dressed, but I'll trade you." she joked lightly. "I apparently left my parasol back in Destiny City, so my skin is taking the brunt of the deserts displeasure."

Raite spoke up again and jerked her attention back to Howl Wickham and his dead camel. From the corner of her eye, the dark-haired girl noticed Raite was discarding his jacket; that lucky twerp. She didn't have anything so easy to remove. The best she could do was hike up her skirt, which was already tiny and floomfy; Howl would probably die from impropriety, but she got the oddest feeling the other two wouldn't care.

She would.

So that left... tying up her hair, and hoping the carpet generated a breeze. She pulled her hair back, pinning it in on itself to try and keep it off her back. Her mouth was dry, and right now, she would kill for a little water. The shade of the obelisk had helped, granting a short reprieve from the sun. The additional people had helped.

Sailor Scylla had a focus. That was a dangerous thing.

"We can hear the story as Nelumbo moves." she suggested. Once the carpet was on the way, she would settle in to listen to the story. Settle in to ask her questions.

If she was humming Aladdin songs under her breath, hopefully no one would comment.

[[Continued Here, Stage One.]]