Welcome to Gaia! ::

Once the world was a sane place. A place a young man could predict without much problem.

Now, the world seemed more like some sort of horrific variant of a Disney classic. Howl Wickham, Sailor Boreas, and their new found companion, Nelumbo the carpet were traveling towards a sun that never set, leaving the sky a deep crimson shade. It didn't change the fact that the whole area was hot and dry, and it didn't change the fact that Howl was thirsty. It didn't change the fact that the Senshi of Winter was most likely sweating up a storm thanks to his completely inappropriate gear for the weather. Even though air was rushing past both at a decent speed thanks to their magic carpet's efforts, it still felt absolutely hot against their skin, bringing very little comfort to both of them.

Things had gotten rather quiet since they had resumed their journey on that path they set on. In an effort to bring back some sort of conversation amongst them, the teal haired lad asked the obvious question.

"So, what sort of place do you think we are in, Mr. Boreas?"

He paused for a moment.

"And I do not refer the obvious 'we are in a desert' answer."

His fingers trailed over the fine fabric, glancing towards the sun that seemed to burn of a red color over the horizon. At least it didn't hurt his eyes as badly as when he wasn't wearing his sunglasses.

"I would not even venture to claim this to be near one of the poles. We have been out here hours. Even at one of the poles, the sun should have at least been able to set."

His fingers eventually touched a section of the fabric which had been torn away upon Nelumbo. "I will concur that this is not Destiny City, or Westdale, or even bloody England. I suspect this nothing like any place you are familiar with as well."

Fondly, his fingers patted their current steed. "Ah, Nelumbo, if only you could speak the language of humans. You, my dear, would probably have all of the answers we are seeking, and then more." It was a logical conclusion out of this strange place. The carpet had obviously been around this place longer, so it probably knew more about what this place was. With a sigh, he scooped up the saddlebag and placed it upon his own lap again.

"Ah, it would be wishful thinking at best to assume our dear Nelumbo could give us all the answers we wanted."

His traveling companion seemed a bit anxious. Part of this assessment came from Howl's casual observation of how frequently Sailor Boreas seemed to look over the sand. In comparison, Howl came across as more calm simply by keeping a steady gaze over the sand rather than glancing back and forth between person to sand.

"I would like to think sand wouldn't change too much in appearance, unless it was the black sand you find in Hawaii close to volcanoes." It was a casual observation, but the observation was something which could easily lead onto other topics, should the ash blonde decide to take that route.

Which it seemed he did not, based upon his next question. "England is rather lovely, but to be honest, I only go there for vacations these days." Since the subject seemed to be less distanced and more personal, the teal-haired fellow turned to face the Senshi of Winter respectfully. "I will confess, I am actually an American. I was born in America, but at a young age moved back with my parents back to England. We moved back into the area when I was 10 years old. My accent never faded though. Probably from frequent exposure to my parents' accents." The mention of his parents caused him to remember something.

"I do wonder..." he uttered in a nearly dream-swept fashion, "...if my parents even realize I am gone?" Of course, this brought back a lot of memories of recent revolving around his mother. After what had happened, would she even care if he was gone? For a moment, he drew a hand up to his cheek, rubbing it as if it was suddenly sore.

"My parents do not live in Destiny City, so I highly doubt they would be affected by any of the goings on there."

He could have mentioned the reason why he wasn't in the same city as his parents, but again, that would be divulging too much information. Even stating he wasn't in the same city as his parents was a bit much, but many people lived in a different city from their parents for perfectly logical reasons.

There were many questions being asked, and to be honest, Howl did not feel inclined to answer them all. So he tastefully picked at which ones would be acceptable for him to answer.

"I was leaving a cafe. And, I would like to point out I blatantly remember wearing shoes at the time." To accent this point, he wiggled his toes which looked rather dry thanks to this desert heat.

"I suspect a carpet would find itself unable to eat. Otherwise it would have probably perished underneath that camel prior. No, I suspect that, despite the fact our friend is an animated inanimate object, that she does not require the same basic supplies for survival."

Once more, Howl slowly turned back towards their path, his sunglasses easily reflecting the red light off of their dark lenses. "Alas, I have abandoned any sort of notion that this place is meant to make any sort of sense. I cannot factor in any logic given the fact we are currently riding on a flying carpet." He paused to pat the carpet affectionately, and added in tastefully "Which we both appreciate, Nelumbo, dearest."

Sailor Boreas was obviously the optimist of the group, and where as the label itself seemed a bit harsh in his own perspective, that left Howl as the pessimist. He was not about to sugarcoat their situation. "I suspect there will be no rescue teams. Just the sand, the sunset, and the castle on the horizon. It really is a shame we did not find a living being to explain to us about that castle."