Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-25763181-20140814055629/@comment-24304510-20140818181312

Cam pulled the scarf he was wearing a bit tighter around his mouth, only his eyes showing through a small slit in the fabric. The dusty winds of Vacuo beat him around the head as he crested another small rise. It was almost midday, and the heatwaves rising from the desert sands shimmered against the clear blue sky.

He was headed for an old Blackthorn auxilary base; why Yggdrasil would commission a building in this wasteland was beyond him. But perhaps there would be something there to find. And Cam was tired of sitting around Beacon, waiting for Winter Break to end. Vihrea, an orphan like him, had been insistent on coming along, but he'd somehow managed to convince her otherwise.

Ahead, the former mercenary thought he could make out the shape of the building. Shaking the sand out of his pants, he proceeded to stumble down the hill towards it. But when he reached the structure, he wasn't prepared for what he'd find. Instead of reinforced concrete, the walls were wooden and ramshackle. It wasn't long and low, like a building built to be scoured by wind, it was tall and box-shaped, like it belonged in a city. And to make matters worse, it was on fire.

The orange-haired boy stumbled backwards, landing roughly on the hard-packed dirt, Broken Crown feeling immersurably heavy on his back. Screams assailed him as young children and women waved desperately from windows for help, waved to him. Mouth dry, eyes burning, Cam struggled to his feet. The flames seared him, he could feel theme licking at him. Lumbering into a run, he burst through the front doors...

And was in the middle of the desert. The building was gone, and the only sound was the the low whistle of the wind.

''What...was that? A mirage? But it was so real...''

Cam took a moment to catch his breath, and checked his scroll. He was still heading in the right direction. Shaking the memory from his head, he chalked it up to the desert head and began to mount the next dune. It wouldn't be much farther now.