A couple of hands, despite the surrounding heat that slithered in the fired-up air and distorted the landscape of endless sand-dunes remaining hidden underneath thick black leather, pulled up the edges of a ragged scarf. With short, shallow breaths, he inhaled the hot air, filling his lungs. The thin layer of fabric stopped most of the humidity from escaping and dissipating into the air, thus lowering the water intake necessary for survival in this desert. Not even a drop of water got through his clothes...<br/><br/>It wasn't a good idea to go this easy. This map was shit... He'd get there sooner if he just followed his nose, he thought while trudging through the sand, though far faster than any ordinary traveler would have. He was almost out of food, and only drank water scarcely, refusing to rest except for the noon, when the sun was on its highest point - then, he pulled all his garments over his skin, hiding even his eyes, and coiled up on the ground. Like that, he only got a few hours of sleep till the burning ball of gold begun to descend from the sky once more, the shadows grew long, and he started walking once again. It's been long... So long... Where was that goddamn sink in the desert? He desperately needed a drink... And a bath...<br/><br/>But hey, what doesn't one do for gold and treasures?<br/><br/>He locked his thoughts onto that subject and sped up even more. His hands were aching from how much he clutched the rein of his bag, hitting him to the side with its emptiness by every step he took. Sometimes, he took the map out to check the directions, but that always had him simply furrowing his brow, and tossing it back into his bag. That scrap of paper was only good to wipe his ass with. He just went forwards, stepping onto the tops of sand dunes, and shadowing his head with his arm, bent above his forehead.<br/><br/>Something dark appeared somewhere on the horizon. Was he hallucinating? That shape stuck out against the yellow of the dunes... Was that the oasis? Or just an illusion? Not even caring about that, he launched himself forth, running like a bolt of lightning across the sand. Clouds of dust arose beneath his feet as he flashed between the sandy scenery, running faster than he could even imagine to run were he an ordinary human.<br/>Bad luck that Grian Aidu was no ordinary human.<br/>He was a five-star example of a tomb-robber, mound-raider, artifact thief and adventurer without a backbone.<br/><br/>It truly was the oasis... At the end with his strength, he pushed himself forwards to reach it, though the sun was frying him alive. The trees were getting closer and closer by every moment...<br/><br/>Finally. He came to a halt, sliding down a particularly large dune and leaving a long ridge in the sand, and quickly pulled the scarf off his head. From a cliff in stone, a waterfall streamed, crashing into a lake, surrounded by lush green. Somewhere there should be the entrance to a deep and old tomb. A smile spread through his lips, revealing his sharp canines, and he finally found shadow under the tall rocks, towering above, and the trees that rustled their leaves in the breeze. Dropping everything and pulling his clothes almost entirely off, he knelt down on the side of the lake.<br/>His fingers unbuckled his thick gauntlets, and dropped them by his side, revealing the black surface of his hands, slightly cracked at the joints. They were so heated up from this heat... So heated up it hurt. Dipping them into the lake, he could almost see the steam, rising from the hot meeting the cold. Shirtless leaning in, he drank from the water like a tiger, and proceeding to sink his entire head in. How refreshing... The water was so cold, shadowed by the tall cliffs from all sides.<br/><br/>He's not slept since yesterday...<br/><br/>After he refilled all his water canteens with the fresh water from the lake and took a short swim, he buckled his gauntlets back on, to go to sleep under a large tree nearby with the rest of his clothes and supplies, stacked underneath his head like a pillow. Soon enough, he'd be sleeping there - obviously on display to anyone else that would walk into the crack. But off course, who could<span style="font-style: italic">possibly</span>even think about coming here?