Frost Bitten (BxB)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

(Joseph's POV)

Did I ever mention how much I hated sand? Well, I was going to say it again; I absolutely loathed sand. And seeing as I had been dealing with it for the past two days, on top of the heat of the sun that burned hotly above us...I already made the plan to never ever go to any kind of beach again, if I could help it. Like ugh.

And of course I complained about it, which in turn annoyed everyone else I was traveling with. Well, actually I'm pretty sure Jox felt the same way as I did about sand, if the look on his face was anything to judge by.

On top of sand, and the hot sun, and our reddened skin, we also hadn't really eaten in the past two days, either. My stomach was basically eating itself by this point, and I was surprised none of us had passed out from dehydration either. We were literally running on fumes.

I sighed and ran a hand through my sweat soaked curls, my eyes squinting as I glanced up at the sky to gage how much time we had left before nightfall. Luckily, we managed not to run into anything too bad in terms of creatures, mostly some bunny-like animals and something akin to a coyote. Unfortunately, those little things were too fast for us to catch and cook for food, which was unfortunate, because it was starting to get to the point where when I saw one of those bunny things, they looked more like a drumstick bouncing away.

Oh wow, so basically I was at the point of hallucination. Perfect.

"We're getting closer," Delkele spoke up, his voice raw from lack of water, the sun making his crimson eyes practically glow as he pointed over to the side, towards the city in the distance, "it shouldn't be more than a day before we reach the outskirts of the wall."

"I hope we make it by then," Jox interjected, turning those bright blue eyes towards Del. "I'm sure my stomach is eating itself at this point. And I'm so glad I still have my cooling beads. This heat would have killed me by now."

Teiken nodded his head, having pulled off his jacket a while ago. "As long as we persevere and keep our objective in mind...I'm positive we can make it."

"Ugh, if I don't get any food in me soon, I might actually sacrifice one of you," I joked, causing everyone to shoot me an unimpressed look. I shrugged and rolled my eyes, pursing my lips as I kicked up some sand. Man, does no one here have a sense of humor? Lame. Asurah would have laughed. He seemed to be the only one who liked my bad jokes.

"I think we should take a short break, gather our bearings before we continue on. If we continue to journey throughout the night, we may reach the city sooner rather than later. We may be able to cut it down to half a day, rather than a full day." Jox walked over to Delkele, who had been carrying Ferriah on his back for the past six hours. "Here, set him down for a moment so we can rest. I can take over when we begin to move again."

Something warm flashed across the barbarian's crimson eyes before he nodded and let Jox help him to take Ferriah off of his back, the Tronian man grudgingly accepting the help as Jox gently sat him down on the sand.

He then walked off to the side and began stretching his arms over his head, and when I glanced to the side, I struggled to hide my amused smile when I saw Delkele staring at the Glacic male intensely, eyes drawn to Jox's chiseled back. He then caught me looking at him and blushed, clearing his throat as he tore his gaze away from the other male and looked at the sand beneath his feet.

"So...have you two...you know..." I began wiggling my brows, which caused Delkele's cheeks to darken even more as he stared at me incredulously.

"What? No, Joseph. We're in the middle of a desert on a mission to retrieve Asurah and make sure he's safe. Not to mention we're traveling with company-"

"You could have done it while everyone was sleeping," I shrugged, grinning when Delkele rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"L-Look, can we not talk about such a thing in the presence of others? Gods have you no shame?"

I shrugged and settled myself on the sand, wincing at the brief pain in my side before I was settled comfortably. Well, as comfortable as one could get in the steaming hot desert surrounded by mountains of sand. "I don't think I've ever had shame. Then again, this desert heat is really messing with me. I'm so used to Glacida's colder weather that this is screwing my entire psyche up. That and no food, or water...you know, I think I've been hallucinating about chickens dancing everywhere. Or was that a dream? Gah, I can't tell anymore."

Delkele's brows pinched together and I would be blind not to see the worry flashing through those red eyes of his. "That's rather worrisome. How long have you been hallucinating?"

I shrugged and squinted, dragging an arm across my forehead in an attempt to wipe off some of the sweat that accumulated there. "Well, pretty sure it began sometime yesterday afternoon. I dunno. Why, is that bad?"

"Obviously," Delkele deadpanned, crossing those thick arms over his chest. "Humans aren't meant to live without water for more than three days. Or so I've read. The fact that you're already hallucinating is extremely worrisome."

I snorted and waved towards him in a dismissive manner, scrunching up my nose before I glanced towards him. "What? Nah, I'll be fine. Maybe. Crap is there any water around here? Hey you, where can we find water?"

Ferriah glanced my way, his blond hair a wild mess that stuck to the sides of his face, the Tronian looking about as bad as everyone felt. He looked me up and down and turned his head away from me, shrugging in that irritating way. Gah he was so annoying. Why couldn't he ever just give us a damn straight answer for once? Was there water? Or was there not? All he had to do was say yes or no, not be a damn child about it throwing a tantrum because he failed to kill us. Like really, he needed to get over himself.

It seemed that Jox overheard the last bit of the conversation, for he walked over to Ferriah and knelt down, plastering a sympathetic look on his pale face as he moved his head to catch the Tronian's gaze. "Ferriah, please. All Joseph wants is to get his husband, a man he loves very much, back home. And he can't do that if he's dehydrated. Have you ever loved anyone? To the point where life has no meaning when you are not with them? What would you do if someone stole your love from your home, kidnapped them and fought to keep them away from you? Would you just stand by?" He sighed and placed a hand above Ferriah's knees, the Tronian now averting his gaze as Jox continued to speak. "Please, I'm sure you're thirsty as well. Three days without water takes its toll on any species...surely you don't want to risk a fourth day with no taste of water."

Ferriah was quiet for a moment, and for a second, I didn't even think he was going to respond to that. But after a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke, refusing to look at anyone. "There are...cones buried under the sand, filled with water for the creatures that dwell beneath it."

Jox smiled ever so slightly, relief flooding through that light gaze of his as he moved closer to the other man. "How do we know where to find them?"

"They usually...reside under the darker patches of sand."

"Thank you, Ferriah." Jox stood up from where he had been kneeling and walked over to me, relief flooding through blue eyes as he placed his hands on his hips. "Well, Delkele, want to join me in finding these cone things?"

Delkele immediately tensed up at the thought of them being alone together, but after a moment, he nodded and shot me a brief look before he stood up and followed Jox. And hopefully they found these water filled cones, because if I was already this bad off after a day and a half, I needed that water, and soon.

A/N: Oooooh snappp, seems like what Jox said is getting through to Ferriah. But, is it a good thing? Surely those things aren't filled with, poison or anything....right?

Jk, jk. I'm actually nearing the end, with maybe 5 more chapter left. Maybe 6, who knows, could go on for longer. But it is getting closer and closer to the end, and goodness do I have something good in store for that.

Anywho, what do you think about the story so far? Any questions you have for any of the characters, perhaps?? Don't be too shy to ask! And I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!

Next Update: Tomorrow (yay!!)