World Tree MUSH

It was a quiet day on the dusty plains. Not an unusual thing, seeing as most life in the desert waited until the evenings cooled the sands off to come out. There were those unbothered by the heat of a blazing sun though, and diligently prowled the seemingly endless sands on the watch for trouble. Like the red and tan form rolling along the dunes, like a lone wheel spinning down an endless expanse, unknowing of what could come over the next rise, but undaunted by it either.

Miwa had only just recently left her own world and begun to explore the other worlds connected to the World Tree. So far she has enjoyed traveling and seeing new places and people, but today, she picked the wrong portal to delve into, as it dumped her out at the top of a sand dune, sending the poor Primarina flopping and rolling down the backside of the dune till she finally came to a stop at the bottom. 

     She would lay there for a moment before beginning to stir, sputtering a bit as she tried to get the sand out of her mouth while also shaking her head a bit to try to shake her disoriented feeling. It was then that she finally began to feel the hot sand uncomfortably pressing against her stomach and tail. "Why do I get the feeling this desert is a lot bigger than the one on Poni island" She mutters before finally sitting up on her tail and using Water-Gun to gently rinse the sand off her body and also cool down the sand beneath her a bit. Once that was done, she finally looked around, trying to figure out what to do now. "Well Miwa, you sure got yourself into a mess today."

The sound of water being splashed may be small, but amongst the sun bleached sands it was a rare sound outside the very rare and brief rain showers. So even the light splatter of water against skin is enough to be heard in passing a few dunes over. Dillon digs his claws into the ground as he unrolls and skids to a stop, an stubby ear flicking in the direction the water slosh came from under the brim of his hat. "Odd."

Deciding it was worth investigating he kicked off the sand and clamored up the dune with his claws to get a better view from the top. It doesn't take long for his stout form to become visible over the peak as he reachs it.

     She couldn't see much from where she was, but Miwa knew she didn't want to just lay here and roast in the hot sand. She tried to climb back up the dune she had just rolled down, but it was too steep and trying to climb the hill with her front flippers, the sand wouldn't hold. Suddenly she heard footsteps coming toward her, and was about to cry out for help when she saw a red-backed armadillo looking down at her from the top of the dune. He reminded her of Non-Alolan Sandshrew, and that made her smile a little. "Hello there. I seem to have taken a wrong turn, this place is a bit dry and hot for my tastes. My name is Miwa."

In some weird coincidence of timing a hot desert breeze blows briefly as Dillon rises over the peak of the dune, causing the bandana around his neck to flutter off to the side for a few seconds. Needlessly dramatic for the simple situation though. One brow raises slightly at the voice in the dip between though. "Look a bit out of place." Oh, lost. Explains a lot.

He steps over the peak and slides down the other side on his heels to reach the peculiar individual. Takes note of the dampness already evaporating off her form in the heat, recalling the water sound he'd first heard. "Aquatic?" Not the most elaborate of speakers, this one. Though he does raise a clawed hand to his hat and give it a brief tip by the brim in return to the introduction. "Dillon." Not much of a talker, but at least he's polite?

     She certainly felt out of place, but at least she wasn't alone, and her company seemed polite, though of few words. "Aquatic, yes. On my world I live along the coast of a tropical island. Being out of the water for a while isn't generally a problem for me, but I generally avoid deserts, though there is an island back home that has some deserty spots which I've seen from a distance." She explains, before taking a moment to spray a fine mist from her mouth and re-moisten herself as she starts to feel the hot sun on her skin. "So, where am I, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dillon politely tips his hat down over his eyes as the lady more or less showers herself in front of him. "Huh. Guess those 'Vine' things reachin' more worlds." He slides the hat back up into it's proper position once she's done. "The frontier. Not the best place to be lost." He pauses as he looks up and off to the side, as if trying to gauge some unseen distance. "Should get someplace cooler, miss."

     Miwa nods to Dillon as he mentions the concept of the vines reaching more worlds. "Right, my world is fairly newly connected I guess... I'm still a bit new to this whole exploring thing, which is how I ended up here." She says with an embarrassed tone before following his gaze as he looks about, then back at him as he speaks to her again. "Someplace cooler, yes, that would be nice. Is there such a place around here?" She inquires with a tone of hope. "Otherwise, maybe you could help me get back to the portal to leave this place?"

"Reckon get you to the local settlement and the traders can point ya towards the nearest passage. Maybe a well or such you can cool off in." Dillon pauses a moment, considering just how he's going to get this... well, she's not limbless but they don't really look great from dealing with the gritty loose sand of the desert plains. In the end he just holds out an arm towards Miwa. "Need me t'carry ya, miss?"

     A well might be a little cramped, but compared to sitting in coarse sand under the blazing desert sun, it certainly sounded nice. "That sounds good." Miwa agrees with a nod. Then he offers to carry her and she looks him over for a moment, surprised at the offer. "I had been trying to decide how I would get anywhere around here. This dry, loose sand doesn't seem to do me any favors in trying to walk on my flippers, and while floating along inside a water balloon of my own making is usually an alternative, not sure how long that would last in this dry heat, probably not much, and I should probably conserve the water I have. So yes, if you're able to carry me, that would be most helpful." She replies as she adjusts herself to stand on her left flipper and tail, while offering her right.

He won't be able to roll along like he usually does but this sounds like the best alternative. "Ally oop." Dillon has little trouble lifting Miwa up to sit on his shoulder. It's not the most comfortable of spot thanks to the rough part of his shell coverhing them, but it's the easiest way to hold her up and she can curl her tail around his body for some extra support to his arm holding her.

As he starts tromping his way out of the dunes he opens a larger belt pouch with the other hand and pulls out a device resembling some sort of cobbled together radio. An old and clunky looking handset version, complete with crackly old fashioned static with the transmissions as he's calling the settlement to let them know someone is going to need some special wet needs when they get there.

     Miwa won't be heard complaining about the rough shell of Dillon's back, as trudging through the gritty sand probably would have felt much worse even if she could manage to get anywhere. She would however gently wrap her tail around his torso for balance as she tried to hold onto his shoulder with her left flipper. "Must be tough, living out here, seems pretty desolate, but maybe there are hidden treasures I can't see, being used to warm oceans and tropical islands."

"Hard work makes what ya get worth more." Dillon replies as he puts the radio away. And reachs for a different pouch to pull out a lump of white plant similar to a truffle, which he holds up to Miwa. "Scruffle? Eatin' something might help ya cope. Most critters in the desert get their water from what they eat." There's a pause, and a soft snort. "Sorry. Shouldn't call ya just a 'critter'."

     Miwa nods at his response about the hard life around here. "So it's hard, but rewarding, well I guess that is a good way of looking at it." She says as her eyes are drawn to the white truffle-like plant Dillon offers her. Feeling it would be rude to refuse, and feeling a little hungry anyway, she promptly eats it, finding the flavor a bit odd, but not bad. "I don't know if I can survive off the water in my food, but thanks for that, was getting a little hungry, and that wasn't bad. Anyway, as for what to call me, I'm a Primarina, though the fact that it's probably easier to just call me by my actual name isn't lost on me." She says with a small chuckle.

That someone got lost out here so easily is reason enough they need to expand the watchtower network farther to make it safer for visitors. Dillon makes a mental note to bring it up when they do get to town. "Heh." That she has 'marine' right there in the name gets a faint chuckle out of the mostly stoic Ranger.

Speaking of town once they're past the large dunes the walls of a fort can be made out in the distance, constructed from a mix of stone and wood with a few other materials supporting it. The style actually looks closer to the spanish-american haciendas one would see in the more southern reachs of the West than a military fort. "You weren't too far 'way." It just feels long to Dillon, he's use to moving about faster. But he'll endure for the sake of getting the lady somewhere safe. "No Grocks out today fortunately."

     Hearing what sounds like a chuckle, Miwa can't help but ask. "What's so funny? Besides the fact that you're carrying a singing sea lion through the desert?" She then chuckles a bit herself at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation she just outlined. Soon the town came into view, and she breathed a sigh of relief, glad to hear she would be in a safe place soon, but then Dillon tosses an unfamiliar word her way. "Grocks? What are Grocks? I'm guessing they're not friendly from the way you said that."

"Marina. Water's right in the name." Dillon keeps trudging along, unbothered by the heat or the additional weight on his shoulder thanks to his stamina and experience with the environment. "Definately not. Rock varmints than come from below. Break stuff and try to eat folks' livestock." Not difficult to deduce that they're probably what he was out patrolling for when he came across her.

     "Hey, you're right, never really thought about it." Miwa affirms with a grin. Dillon's strength and stamina wasn't lost on her either, as it seemed to her that he was carrying her almost effortlessly. At the mention of what the Grocks were, and more so what they do, Miwa shudders a bit. "Well I'm glad you found me out there and not one of them, I'm sure they would have happily tried to eat me too!" She says with a shake of her head, trying to get the mental picture out of her mind.

"Probably." They would probably try at least. Terrible creatures but not all that bright.

Fortunately it's still early enough in the day that the gates of the fort aren't closed yet. Inside is about as rustic in style as one might expect, populated by various folks that are much like Miwa's improvised transporter bipedal animals of various species. Dillon ambles over to the public well and sets her down next to it, and gives the rope a yank to pull up a bucket of water. "Cool yerself off miss, I'll go find one of the traders fer directions." He gives a tip of his hat and turns to amble off.