-A few minutes later-
Lucas was desperately trying to process his current predicament.
It was rather overwhelming, and his breathing was turning irregular.
"Didn't the coach teach me a breathing method?" Lucas recalled how his personal trainer handled stress.
'Exhale, Inhale, Exhale, Inhale...'
'And repeat ten times.'
'Then...'
"WHY AM I IN A FUCKING DESERT?!" The last part of the 'breathing' method was an uninhibited scream.
However, this time, it wasn't in the soundproof interior of his small apartment, but in a goddamn desert!
Nonetheless, his shouting rippled through the vast and quiet dunes, and then slowly diffused into the void.
Lucas collapsed on the ground.
He had perceived something strange about this place.
The sand had an unusual dark color to it, and when he sifted it through his palm, it turned into a normal beige tone.
Now, instead of looking down, he looked up.
A layer of brown smog concealed the sun, and a thin concentration of it was present at ground level.
Lucas knew this because the air felt suffocating and saturated.
"Isn't the desert air supposed to be clean?" Lucas rolled his eyes.
He hadn't come to terms with this situation, but to avoid going mad, complaints and ignorance were the best coping mechanisms.
Though, his complaining could only last so long...
"Ouch...!" He felt a burning sensation on his elbow.
Then, on his bare thighs and calves.
Droplets accompanied the burn, and when he looked up, Lucas frowned and his jaw opened wide.
Brown-ish rain was falling from the sky, and although it was sparse and thin, each droplet burned his skin.
"What now? Acid rain?" Lucas quieted down because a droplet fell on his tongue and burned it.
Looking in the distance, he noticed that the smog didn't extend too far and that he could make a run for it.
And thus, he boldly ran and climbed the dunes like a Greek hero climbing Mount Olympus.
...
In truth, his limping legs and slow pace made him look rather comical.
"Phew...." Lucas had managed to reach the summit of a tall dune after a long struggle.
From here, he could get a clearer look at his surroundings.
'I hope I can see some vegetation..." The endless fields of sand made him sick.
Unfortunately, reality did not care too much for his feelings.
No matter how far his vision extended, only dunes of sand and sterile soil were visible.
Even as the horizon blue-shifted his vision, there was only desert...and desert...and...oasis?
His eyes fixated on a strange reflection in his peripheral vision.
'If that's a mirage, I might as well give up...' Lucas swiftly slid down the dune.
Then, another problem presented itself.
In his earlier location, smog blocked sunlight from passing through, so the ambient temperature was comfortable.
But here, in broad daylight, the sun was now like a deadly laser...
The only thing in his favor was that the dark color of the sand meant that it didn't reflect as much sunlight, so he wasn't going to be baked alive.
However, it was a much different matter for his sandals...
'I need to find shade, or dehydration and sunburns will make this much harder still.'
Lucas collected his thoughts and briskly walked in a way as to preserve his stamina.
Soon, he was nearing the 'oasis'.
As he approached it, he prepared himself for a horrible surprise, as it would maybe turn out to be just a mirage.
Yet, this time, the dice rolled a high number.
A few dying shrubs were growing around a puddle, and shade from a few palm trees concealed the body of water.
He immediately plunged his hand into the water and the relatively cold temperature of it was a pleasant surprise.
Though, as he brought it up to take a sip, he instantly spilled it back up into the puddle.
'Isn't this water...rather dirty?' Lucas had seen images of oases in his life, and they always looked pristine and had a beautiful clear green color.
This one, however, was brown-ish and reminded him more so of swamp water or mud.
He then pooled the water back into his cupped palms, and looked closely at it, in a dilemma.
'Dehydration? Or potential water-borne disease?'
'Choose your poison.'
As he was thinking very hard on this, he didn't even notice a transformation in the color of the water.
The water that was in his palms gradually became more pristine and clean-looking.
Lucas did not even pay attention, and eventually, he reluctantly closed his eyes and drank the water.
'It tastes...fresh and clean...' His pupils dilated in surprise.
He took another palmful of water and immediately gulped it up.
Though, this time, he puked it all out into the dry sand.
"Why was that disgusting?" Lucas was very confused.
How were two palmfuls from the same puddle so different...?
Then, he heard a strange noise and looked up.
On the opposite side of the puddle, a familiar animal observed him.
"A sand cat?"
The animal wasn't very hostile, but its fur was wretched, and it didn't look to be in the best state.
'It's attempting to drink?'
The cat licked a bit of the water and started licking frantically to drink more of it.
Then, it began making loud meows, and they were clearly pained cries.
Lucas slowly and steadily approached the cat.
Though, a long way before he could circumvent the puddle, he began running.
The sand cat had abruptly collapsed on the ground.
Lucas crouched in front of the cat and noticed that it didn't move anymore.
On closer inspection, the cat had patches without any fur, and its normally beige and gorgeous fur cover was an ash-grey color instead.
He placed a hand on its upper side to see if it still had a heartbeat.
A dozen seconds later, a somber expression emerged on his face.
'The cat is dea-
*Thump!*
Lucas jumped out when he felt the sudden vibration on his fingertips.
He looked at the cat, and weirdly enough, the fur had a renewed color in the spot where he had placed his fingertips.
Lucas now placed his entire hand to verify if it really had a heartbeat, and he was right.
When he removed his hand, his doubts grew even more, as a hand-shaped patch of healthy fur replaced the ash-grey tattered fur from earlier.
'This is crazy...' Lucas soon saw the sand cat open its eyes.
Then, the non-domesticated cat did the unthinkable and rubbed its head fondly against his knees.
'Cute!' He smiled and rubbed its head.
Once again, as if it was the work of divine magic, the fur on its head now looked majestic.
'Do I have a superpower?' Lucas tried to rationalize this.
Then, he attempted to connect the weird phenomenon while he was drinking water to this...power of his.
He took up a palmful of dirty water, and under his very eyes, the water slowly turned clean and pristine.
However, he also started feeling some nausea in his head.
As he was thinking of this, he saw a pair of eyes stare fixedly at the clean-looking water in his hand.
"You want to drink?" Lucas held out his cupped palms to the cat.
The cat frantically dug its head into his palms and quickly finished all of the water.
"Meow!" The cat seemed to like him and purred whenever he rubbed its head.
"It's nice to meet you too!" Lucas playfully took up the cat's front paw and pretended to do a handshake.
After that, some time passed, and the cat remained with him while he laid down under the shade and thought about this crazy day.
When he stood up and face to the side, Lucas couldn't help but exclaim in awe "Wow...."
Due to the lack of any fog in this desert, the orange sun setting on a faraway dune looked large and clear.
"It's breathtaking..." Lucas somehow felt his eyes redden.
The process of moving away already overwhelmed him emotionally, and until this time, even as he thought about it, he still tried to deny the reality of his situation.
Yet, now, as he looked at the setting sun, reality and shock dawned on him.
Lucas held his large hand over his face and tried to block out the sound of his sobbing.
"Meow!" The sand cat jumped onto his lap, and playfully grazed his face with its predatorial claws.