(Quest) Trouble beneath the sands

It was an interesting weapon, Leere nodded to that. "Blades of lightning, huh? Not bad yourself." Leere reached toward Kerum's clothes and plucked off a blue feather, examining it. "And do these fancy feathers make you like that a bird?" After finishing his question, Leere let go of the feather, waiting for the wind to blow it away from the two of them. "Or are they useless, like most things of this world? Just waiting to be carried off."

Kerum glared at him as he ripped off one of his feathers. "Excuse me, this was not easy to come by." He stated with a bit of a snap as he took a step or two away from Leere. "Its a blue phoenix suit of armor, its resistant to fire and it can heal wounds as well as poison." Kerum stated his hand coming back up to his mask as he mentioned the fire part. It was the primary reason he had sought out the armor to protect himself from further fire attacks. "Plus its better then wearing normal looking clothes." Kerum shot back as he continued to march forward increasing his pace.

"Well, well, struck a cord, did I?" Catching up to Kerum, Leere began walking backwards while he looked over the fellow's mask. Afterwards, Leere gulped down more of his water, still feeling warm, but mainly just from the sun and not from the acid that was spit on him. "Normal clothes, you say? I have no need to hide behind fancy fabrics. And just where did your fancy suit get you in that last fight? I seem to recall you getting thrashed around just as I did, even with your phoenix feathers." Leere plucked another feather, sticking it into his jacket pocket, the same pocket that held his orange Angel feather. He would examine it more later, and compare the two.

Kerum growled coming out much more sinister and less human then he had wanted. "Stop that. It healed me several times from the goblins attacks and the sand rash. It might not protect the best but it will repair what it lets through." Kerum stated as he continued walking trying to calm himself down. It was unlike him to get riled up but this guy ripping feathers off his armor was pretty agitating. The sun was starting to lower, as they could see the lights from Kiru city in the distance. "Either that is a mirage or we are getting fairly close." Kerum stated.

"Ooh, scary. Nonetheless, whether it truly helped or not, your existence wasn't ended by the wurm nor the goblins, so perhaps your little feathers aren't just for show." Leere looked to the horizon, the sun beginning to set, and a city looming over the edge of the desert.

"Perhaps you should tell me if it's a mirage or not. After all, I may still be under the wurm's acid effects." Leere continued on to the horizon, even if it were a mirage, it was at least something to walk toward, instead of just standing in the desert all night.

"Well we both see it, my guess is its real." Kerum stated as his feet glowed blue and then demonic feet replaced his boots, electricity rippling underneath. "Last one there is worm fodder." Kerum stated as he took off running across the air the sand no longer slowing him down, plus the nice speed boost helped. He looked back to make sure Leere was still coming, he was worried because the poison was probably still in his system and they needed a antidote.

At the sight of KErum's somewhat flight, Leere's mind remembered how boring it was for him to fly above the clouds in heaven. As for the request of a race, Leere rolled his eyes, not falling for such foolishness. His pace barely quickened as he let his feet hit the sand one step at a time. "Each step erases the past." Leere said to himself as he continued walking. The life of flying he once knew had ended, and this new existence of walking was all that remained. "Someday this man will experience how foolish it is to fly, believing he has purpose in his existence is nonsense." With that quiet comment, the city grew ever closer with each step.

Leere was still moving but had not really picked up his pace, slowly his pace he continued to walk on the air still a ways ahead of him. The height did allow him to realize they were not far from the edge of the desert and they would make it before long. Not to mention now he knew that it was not a mirage. Yelling back towards Leere, "Not a mirage, I am going to be back as soon as possible." Dashing off at top speed he went to go find some antidote.

Not too long after Kerum raced on ahead to find an antidote, Leere arrived at the edge of the desert. The ground of the city felt different from the desert, much more stable and easier to get footing on. "Antidote, he said? Does he assume that I fear something as inevitable as death? It is the end that awaits us all. But perhaps I'll continue existing for a bit longer, just to see what this man who fears fire is capable of." Leere drank what was left in his canteen, knowing that it wasn't such a dire situation anymore. He sat on the ground, and closed his eyes, breathing in the city air.

It was not hard for Kerum to find a store, a few were closed but most of them were not. Finally he found one that sold the type of antidote he needed and snatched it up before heading back out, his power having failed he was now running on the ground. He knew that the poison was not deadly or so the information he had gotten before leaving had said but he did not want to take any chances.

REturning to where he had came in he found Leere there and smiled, "Fresh antidote." He tossed it to him and smiled. "So, apparently now days they have these things called party's want to join one with me." Kerum asked as he sat down, he enjoyed the man, well found him interesting and knew he was hiding stuff from him, not on purpose but just because it was not brought up.

Without opening his eyes, Leere caught the bottle in his hand and opened the vial, followed by consuming it in one shot. "Tastes better than the sand, but still not great." He tossed the empty vial aside, hearing it shatter a few feet away from where he was laying. With the antidote now working its way into Leere's system, he hopped to his feet and thought over Kerum's proposal.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Kerum's blue feather that he had plucked off of his clothes. He walked over to Kerum and stood next to the man, looking the opposite way Kerum was looking. With one quick motion, Leere stuck the feather into Kerum's hair and answered his question. "I no longer require this feather. Studying you in battle will be a much better evaluation of your powers than anything I could learn from this feather. It seems our existences are intertwined as of right now. We'll see just how long it lasts though... Kerum." After giving Kerum an answer on his offer of forming a party, Leere continued walking . He had accepted Kerum's offer, but only time would tell if it was the correct decision.

Kerum smiled and held the feather out to him, "Keep it, as a sign of our newfound friendship. Let's go turn in the quest and find a inn." Kerum stated as he put his hands in his pockets and started to walk after Leere. It had been a long day and he was in need of good food, not to mention a nice long bath.