all my favorite friends..., ...have vanished in the air.

[Tor Kamenwati]

Sand blew around the basin slowly, stirring up dust-devils that spun into non-existence. It looked like something out of those ancient movies about the ‘old west’. Most of the residents of the desert region had never heard of such, however, the dust blowing in the wind still reminded everyone of that scene of the American west that once existed so long ago. The sand swirled and created images, like creatures in the clouds in the sky. The sand-beast leaned back its head, sending out a silent roar, and disappeared.

There was a single road that lead into the capital of the desert people. The rest were closed down and guarded by various barriers included an army of desert fusionchildren themselves. This was a precaution taken by the leaders of the past and although it cut down on sneak attacks, it minimized their trade with other peoples. This road was rarely used anymore, as it was once an old-fashioned asphalt highway that vehicles traveled on. It was now covered in sand, and the yellow lines that divided the two lanes was visible in spasmodic patterns down the middle. In the distance, padding along in the heat waves of midday, came a dingo.

Dingos and jackals were considered pests for the most part, in other areas of the world. But in the past, jackals were specifically worshiped as the pets of the jackal-headed Anubis: the god of the underworld. This creature that paced up the road was neither obviously jackal, nor obviously dingo. A crossbreed perhaps, too large and lithe to be either in nature. The canine continued its lope up the road, pink tongue extended to loll from the right side of its mouth. Its black claws clicked on the pavement, crunching salt and sand beneath the pads of its feet. His tail trailed behind him, dusting away a path for whoever may follow, it seemed.

This was no ordinary dingo, however. As earlier mentioned, its appearance was quite strange, and its dark eyes were startlingly intelligent. It was obvious that he was really a human, with the mind of a human and the heart of a man beating in his chest. The dingo soon made it to the city gates, looking up at the masked guards and giving them a strange yowl of a bark and they opened the doors for him immediately. As soon as his paws struck the inside of the massive city ruins, the turned to human feet. He was tall, thinly built but powerful and had his face covered except his eyes. They were dark, daunting and full of mischief.

His name was Tor, and he was the leader of the desert people; although no one knew he had arrived just yet. The guards would keep quiet, for they were loyal and would not accept small bribes or tipoffs. Tor had no worries, for people would soon know of his arrival. He leaned against the wall of a building, arms crossed, watching people pass by and taking mental notes of each as they walked down the narrow streets unnoticed. His eyes were bloodshot from sand and travel, as his human eyes were not as accustomed to such as his canid form. The sky was shadowing over with clouds, and he quietly said a prayer to the gods for rain.

They definitely needed it.

[Vincent]

Reaching down into his robe with his left hand, he dug into one of his pockets for money to pay the shop owner for the herbs Vincent had purchased. He took great care to use his left hand in public rather than the cursed flesh that has devoured his right hand, so as not to alert anyone. He hardly understood why people still bother with money anymore. Some people are stupidly greedy, others realized money is paper and metal, but then again, as long as there is some form of economy, money will have its uses. Along with the herbs, he purchased a book, manual if you will, that describes each one's uses and procedures for application. Desert herbs were a bit...rare, if even that abundant, and thus it cost him alot of what he had.

Stepping outside, he noticed the sun had ceased shining as it had so much. Vincent took this opportunity to lower the hood of his robe down and revealed the head of the shade that was this man. His head however was mostly intact from the mistransformation, only the back of the neck and the eyes would reveal anything. A short ponytail covered the back of the neck however with bleached blond, possibly white hairs. His eyes would be noticed by anyone close enough to carry a conversation with him, as the pupils in them bore vertical slits that divided his blue irises with ravines that seemed to delve into the dark abyss. He was a lucky one, his shade-hood had not interfered too much with his maneuverability as a human, though some of his joints were altered, such as his legs which would sometimes bend slightly at the knees when he's not paying attention to them, a characteristic found in the legs of some reptiles.

Looking around, he stepped back to the wall of the building he just came out of, so as to not be in anyone's way. His agenda had about been finished. When he would take his leave though is another matter, it was cloudy as if to rain. That would normally sound like a good thing, travelling in the coolest climate possible while not being brutally cold, but it seemed too good, rain in deserts is something you rarely hear of and possibly could cause interestingly bad effects. He would require more information before he left, as he never would leave unprepared for the elements. But who would he go to for such information? Vincent isn't the kind of person to just ask random people, especially since he's a shade. Under his robe, his right 'claws' held his bible, and he closed his eyes for a few seconds and asked the good Lord for guidance.