Young Writers Society

Liz and Aquarius exchanged a look.

"If we can figure out a way to get to you, Télos would probably give you gold for that," Liz said. There wasn't really any question about it - Télos hated rulers like that, and he would do whatever he could to help other people.

Aquarius nodded in agreement.

Oh. He honestly hadn't expected an answer like that. Normally Mal had a much harder time getting funds, even though he'd made plenty of powerful friends back in his wandering around the world days.

Mal gave a thumbs up. "Thanks, that'd be neat," he said. He internally winced; he had no idea how to say how happy he was that the god of gold was going hand him a bunch of gold to keep his and Lasan's efforts going, but that wasn't it.

"Can we just get a move on?" Lunis growled, a tinge of embarrassment behind the hostility his voice. "We have places to be."

Aquarius nodded, and the group resumed their trek.

The next few hours slipped away quicker than Mal had been expecting, especially since he wasn't having any fun. Lunis had dropped him onto the ground not long after they had cleaned up, the panther having moved to the back of the group while Mal had walked to the middle of it. The landscape had started to change, though. Sand dunes gradually receded, giving way to gray rocks over a barren, flat landscape. Cracked earth replaced sand, the faint smell of salt hovered in the air, it felt just a tad hotter. More like what Mal was familiar with, honestly.

Still, even after the water and the darkness over his head, it wasn't any less brutal. Mal felt like he was roasting in his fur, and it got a little harder to walk up and down what was becoming an increasingly hilly landscape. In the haze that tinged the horizon, he swore he could see the jagged edges of mountains. Ugh.

Not that the others were doing any better - Kellach and Aegeas had webbed feet, and the only things keeping them ahead of the panther were how they were leaning against each other for support, and how exhausted the panther looked. Whenever Mal glanced back, he could see Lunis slumped, hunched, staring at the ground. The lion had shifted back to a sleep schedule he was comfortable with after the war; the panther had always had a random one.

As the sun dipped lower and lower in the sky, slowly draining the color out of the sky, Mal asked the question that he guessed was on the others minds. "Should we set up camp?" he said.

"I don't think we have any other choice," Apophis said. Pride nodded in agreement as Apophis put him down - he had been carrying him again for part of the trek. Nearby, Ari let out a yawn as Zion stopped her from stumbling, Aquarius looked like he was about to fall asleep, and Liz was doing her best to both stay awake and not sweat to death.

"I hope the night's colder than the day," she desperately said. "I'm dying right now."

Aquarius looked over at her. "...You could take off your coat and scarf," he suggested, only to be given a shake of the head in response.

"It's part of the look," she said. "I don't care about fashion, but I have to wear it. Otherwise I'd just be a strange guy with blue hair - I'm not ready to be that."

With that settled, Lunis look the opportunity to walk off the dark path and flop down on the hard ground, laying on his side and curling up into a fetal position.

Mal sat down beside him. He set a paw on Lunis's side and focused on the gentle rise and fall of Lunis's chest. The panther hadn't quite fallen asleep yet, but, in spite of the ground, he would soon.

"Do we have any food?" Mal said, looking at the others while his stomach rumbled. "Any supplies? Anything?"

"I don't have anything," Pride said. "Homunculi don't technically need food."

"Same with my kind of god," Apophis added. "Though I do need to find something in the next day, or my babies are going to get hungry."

"...Babies?" Liz asked.

He pointed down at his pocket.

Following his finger, she discovered a couple of baby snakes peeking out of his cargo pants. "Awww," she said. "They're so tiny!"

"They're not that old," he said, giving them each a little pat on the head with his pointer finger. He looked up from his snakes. "But they're not too picky, and I'm sure I could find a small mouse or two for them to eat on if I keep my eyes out."

"I found a cactus a little while ago," Ari helpfully said. "Zion says it's safe to eat - we made sure to put it in my bag."

"That sounds okay," Mal said, nodding in Ari's direction. He was a tad angry that the group didn't have any supplies, especially when they'd been so keen to leave the ship. Then again, he'd been afraid of the ship ever since the incident with the light, there hadn't been any guarantee that any food there hadn't already rotted away, and at least there was something to eat out here.

In the meantime, Aegeas sat down by the path. While Aegeas stretched, laid back, rested his head on the ground, and closed his eyes, Kellach walked over to Apophis. "I kinda saw them before, but I didn't ask - what's with the snakes?" he said, peering down at the baby snakes in his pocket.

Zion opened up Ari's bag and grabbed the cactus - they had made sure to get enough pieces for everyone. Once the cacti were retrieved, they handed them out to the group.

"They're my pets," Apophis replied, turning his attention to Kellach instead of Liz. "They're too young to easily tell them apart, but I plan on keeping them when they grow up, too."

"What are you going to do with them, then?" Kellach said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just, used to snakes that can think and talk, so I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea that these ones are pets."

In the meantime, Mal set a piece of cactus next to Lunis; the lion wasn't sure the panther would eat it right away, but at least it was there for him. Mal took a bite of his own piece and grimaced. A tad bitter, though at least it was something.

Apophis blinked.

"...Your snakes can do what?" he said, eyes wide in amazement. That sounded amazing. Having snakes as pets was one thing, but interacting with them on the same level he interacted with other people? That was be an incredible experience. It shouldn't have been that surprising, given what he was supposed to be, but...

"The snakes of my world can't do that," he said. "Except for one, that is, but that's a special case. Our snakes are like the ones in my pocket, though most are in the wild. I just have a connection with them, and even the more dangerous are okay with being with me."

Ah - after the whole otters conversation with Zion and Ari, that'd been about the answer Kellach had been expecting. Well, they'd known otters existed, but they'd been a little surprised that otters could walk (which Kellach had been pretty sure what bipedal meant, since Enide had explained it to him a couple times). It still weirded him out, but that kinda was the "other" in other worlds.

"What does that one snake do?" Kellach said. "And why do they like you so much?"

Apophis gave a smile that didn't look entirely human, though the magic that kept his form looking the way it did stayed in place. "They like me so much because I'm the snake," he replied. "I haven't used my actual form for a long time because of how big it is, and how easily humans get scared of a snake that's larger than titanoboa was."

He thought over the first question.

"...Mythically speaking, I'm supposed to end the world," he admitted. "But myths often have little relevancy for the gods, and it's been a long time since the religion I was a part of had an active set of worshipers."

"Thanks for not ending the world?" Kellach said, squinting and frowning. "Also, are you sure you're not a dragon? I know some dragons that look like really big snakes. With wings, because why not."

"I'm sure I'm snake," he confirmed. "I don't have any wings."