The heat had been tempering Tim's companions' voyage while they walked through the soft and deep sand in the center of the 'Golden Wasakona's desert, while the heat haze played with their brain with Tim and Elliott strolling behind them panting.
"It's so hot... I need water..."
"Water, water, water..."
"Seriously? What's with the lack of confidence? You've been complaining about the heat, while I had to take over of holding Ayuka, Tim."
Tim wobbled left and right as he sweated profusely in the scorching heat, barely keeping up with the others, especially Elliott, who kept asking for water. Tim lunged for the water bottle, intending to drink it, but was unfortunate when Karisa snuck behind him and slammed the side of his shoulder.
"Don't drink it! We managed to get that water from the ship and it's our only source of water, so we need to reserve it!"
"But I'm thirsty!"
"Then don't be! If you want to make it to the 'Golden Wasakona' then consider saving our only source of water!"
Tim's arms hung to his feet as he inhaled, his tongue bursting out from his mouth. He cried out loud with a fursturating face and swiped away the bottle to stuff it inside of her back.
Natan stood in the front, his face worn with a tired, bored, and irritated expression, sweat trickling down his forehead to his cheek, then down to the desert sand, where it vaporized in the heat.
"We're going to have to walk for a bit. The nearest town is a long way away from where we are. Hopefully, someone in the neighborhood knows where to go for a doctor or someone who can help Ayuka recover from her injuries."
"Holding Ayuka on my back isn't helping my concentration, but if we continue north from here, we should be able to find a village. However, as you stated, it is not close at all, and walking it could take a day."
Tim's eyes widened as he shimmied to the front of Codey, spreading both arms out in front of him and waving them up and down.
"A whole day?! Codey, please tell me you're joking! There's no way I'm going to be able to stand the heat any longer! I'm going to vaporize in this heat, so unless I get some water or find a shadow soon, you'll be roaming around without your captain!"
While the others continued to go ahead, Codey's wrath swelled in his solemn look and he slammed the top of Tim's head, pressing him into the sand.
"Stop complaining and continue moving! You want to save Ayuka, don't you?!"
"Of course I do! But this heat is messing up my brain!"
"It's not like you were born with a brain! It's most likely simply messing with your idiocy to the point where it's a pain in the neck!"
The rest of them never looked back as they heard smacking and hitting in the background, along with Tim's ranting, while the rest of them continued to ignore them and wave their palms slowly in front of their faces.
"Play it out. Act like we're not here."
"Yeah. At times, I'm happy not to be Tim."
Elliott, enraged and irritated, threw his arms high above his head and violently roared in fury, sweat bouncing off his body.
"Argh! This heat is too much for me! I'm in desperate need of some female company! It makes me sad to think that I won't be able to show them true love!"
He yelled and dashed between everyone, who looked at him with annoyance and disappointment.
"Don't run out on your own! Keep up with the others, Elliott!"
Elliott slipped on the sand and came to a halt in his steps as he turned around, his eyes transformed into love hearts, and sprinted back to Karisa with joy, stepping in front of her.
"Maybe you'd like to be together? Oh, you're such a sweetie! A sliver of affection glimmers between our adoring friendship! Karisa, don't be afraid. Now that Ayuka has kicked the bucket, I'm pleased to accept your amorous sentiments!"
"She's not dead, you idiot!"
Karisa raised her hand, bonked the top of Elliott's head, and turned away with a disappointed expression on her face.
"Yeah, no..."
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As they continued to journey in the bright sunlight, the heat continued to exert pressure on their bodies, and their feet were nearly burned by the warm sand beneath them.
"Can we take a break? My feet feel like they're about to give out!"
"I just don't get you, most of the time, Tim. You can easily regulate and boost the temperature of a hot fire, but you can't cross the desert? I mean, I understand it's hot, but we need to go to town as quickly as possible! We will have a lower probability of surviving if we take a vacation."
Tim began to pull his legs by the grip of his hands as he continued to wobble left and right, while sweating profusely without managing to withstand the heat too well. While he kept his tongue outside, each of them heard a slam behind them, and once they turned they saw Elliott lying in the wet sand.
"This is it. I can't go any further..."
"Holy! Elliott, what the hell happened to you?!"
He crawled on the sand with disappointment and depression, lifting his head slightly with closed eyes and crying out silently.
"I didn't expect the heat to be the cause of my death. If I don't make it out alive. Please tell Ayuka this..."
"..."
"...."
"....."
"I'll always remember her bright panties..."
Karisa and Nina jumped close to Elliott's fallen corpse and hit him on the top of his head after receiving an unexpected message from him.
"For once, I hoped you'd say something intelligent!"
The rest of the group gazed at them with a tired expression on their faces, seeing how Elliott's smack by the two girls resulted in two bumps placed on top of each other, with one of his arms elevated and his body pressed against the floor.
"This guy is way too similar to me, and his name is way too close to mine. If this happens to be me from this universe, I probably would wish that I died a lonely life."
"Guys, we seriously should stop getting bothered by them! We need to get a move on, so that Ayuka can rest! Hurry up and stop halting our course!"
"Hey. Who told you that you're the leader?"
"Well, you're more worried about the lack of water and the process of heat, so who else will step into the captain's role? That's me, and I'm the one carrying, Ayuka, so put those convenient sentences on hold and keep walking! We're running out of time..."
"Tim, he's right. Codey knows what the best course of action is, so keep your nagging complaints to yourself and let's continue."
"Uhh... Fine, I guess he can decide on what to do..."
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They continued to travel through the desert without managing to locate any towns or villages, but the heat was getting worse and the sunlight had been growing harsher as they sweated profusely in response. It cost Codey to lose some of his energy from holding Ayuka's body and instead allowed Tim to hold her, whose body had been pressed against his back, her arms dangling over shoulders while she sweated.
"Man, she's really heavy."
Elliott suddenly burst out in frenzy as he pointed his fingers at Tim with an irritating expression gathered on his face while his vein had been popping from the anger.
"My darling, Ayuka isn't heavy! She's the lightest person you've ever held! How dare you say that to her?!"
"She's also been getting hotter."
"Hey! That's one step too far, captain! While I agree she's hot, you are not allowed to say that to her instead of me!"
"Aw, come on. You know that's not what I meant, Elliott."
"Her condition has been deteriorating for some time now. There's a good likelihood she's been suffering from desert fever as a result of all the head trauma. If this trend continues, she may not be able to make there in time! Desert fevers can be dangerous if they become too severe for her body."
"Y-Yeah, she's soaking wet too from all the sweat."
Elliott's body froze and turned like a statue as he trembled and his eyes widened as a cloud of thoughts appeared above his head, where he envisioned Ayuka's clothes being wet and beaming back with a chuckle.
"Ayuka...? Soaking wet...?"
He smiled with a twisted grin as his stoned heart continued to beat out of his chest, and his body fell to the side and slowly collapsed to the floor like a tree, without moving for a time.
With one problem already slowing them down, another rose from the depths of the sand's desert, spreading through the floor with a violent, rough, strong, and unexpected trembling. The sand exploded into the air like a ball of fire, and a gigantic creature emerged from it.
"Gah! Don't tell me we're being pursued by the world government and its monsters already!"
"This isn't the right time..."
Tim exclaimed, looking up at the height of a giant figure with a massive shell, four legs, and a very long neck that began to resemble an animal. It was a massive turtle that had Tim and his companions perplexed, but many of them expected that the struggle would occur shortly.
"Whatever the case may be! We must not allow it to approach Ayuka! And whatever it intends to do, Tim, don't oppose it! Moving about will only make Ayuka's situation worse!"
"It's a massive turtle! That isn't even a typical shell on it! It's constructed of rocks, and its body appears slimy, which is odd for such a dry environment! Every single one of us is doomed! Protect us, Codey!"
"What the hell are you saying?! If it attacks, you're in for a fight as well, unless you want to be used as a body shield!"
Elliott raised his arms high above his head, spitting saliva from his mouth as a threat was launched at him by Codey's loud scream.
"A body shield?! Anything but that!"
The state of Ayuka's condition was degrading by the minute, causing Tim and his friends to have unsettling thoughts that is hindering their progress. Their problems, on the other hand, are still fresh, and they have no idea who or what else they'll run into.
Their journey continues...