[Jaykobell]

It was strange how this desert kept calling her back. How could she stay away when it always seem to hold so many rare and desirable species of animals? It went without saying that she ought to explore once again: a rather easy feat for her, considering the amount of times she had been here.

With her backpack filled with all of the necessary survival tools for a trip in the desert, she went off into the sandy void.

[Jaykobell]

This time, the target was a brand new species anyone had barely seen so far. They always cropped up, these new creatures. It certainly kept her busy, always traveling this way and that in order to capture the latest animal. It also meant that her income was steady and flowing at the moment: not something she would complain about, that was for sure.

She kept her map in hand as she started her journey into this desert.

[Jaykobell]

The harsh sun spiked her body temperature in a matter of minutes. There was almost comfort in the scorching heat, despite being rather unpleasant. It meant familiar territory, and it increased her confidence in the odds of doing a good job. She knew the sand, the handful of trees, the dunes.

Still, traveling in the desert wasn't nearly as exciting as traveling elsewhere. Even a forest could offer some sort of scenery to look at. An endless sea of sand: not so much.

[Jaykobell]

So she kept on walking and walking, one step at a time, passing one dune at a time. Everything one at a time. A few cacti added to the scenery, but that was one thing about coming back here: the desert truly was a mind-numbing experience.

Still, she made an effort to take note of some landmarks. They would make coming back that much easier later on. Coming here and hunting down the creature was one thing: coming back was another.

[Jaykobell]

Truly, the job had varying degrees of difficulty. The first one was finding the creature, a task that was never quite as simply as the commoners seemed to think. And then, catching the creature: which, to many, was the most difficult part. They weren't wrong: finding a way to get a hold of the animal safely, for both the creature and the poacher, was a sort of art.

But no one seemed to understand that coming back could be just as challenging.

[Jaykobell]

Did anyone even really know how difficult it was to keep a struggling animal in a cage for transport? Difficult: difficult was the answer. Any significant damage to the creature, and that could be the end of the job, and it could bring the necessary evil of catching another one to replace the first capture.

Yes, truly, did anyone really know how difficult her job could be? Not even the clients seemed to get it, sometimes.

What peasants.

[Jaykobell]

In the dead of the sand, a sound echoed nearby.

A flutter of sand made her turn around. Well, what luck; had she found her prize so quickly? She wouldn't be against it.

But where was it? Even as she scanned the area, she couldn't find anything. Had the heat really gotten to her already? Was she already hallucinating sounds? No, no; she had experienced mirages before. That sound had been real, and it had been done by something alive and tangible.

[Jaykobell]

In this frantic search for whatever had caused the sound, she wasn't paying full attention to her surroundings. Still, she was a veteran of this place. Aside from an awkward dune in her way, she couldn't imagine—

The breath was knocked out of her as she felt her entire weight drop. That moment when one's heart stopped from the shock and fear of feeling nothing hard underfoot — she felt it, clear as day.

With a gasp, her body was swallowed by the sand.

[Jaykobell]

The fall lasted for an eternity, but also for only a heartbeat, both simultaneously. The landing was nothing short of unpleasant, her body crashing awkwardly against what felt like stone — in the desert? Not impossible, she supposed, but in that moment, she had certainly been hoping for sand.

It took her a hot minute to catch up and to reorient herself — as much as she could within this newfound darkness. What even was this? An underground set of desert caverns?

[Jaykobell]

Her legs and feet hurt — that was definitely no good. She hoped it was just the pain from landing following the fall, but part of her was concerned that she had sprained something important. To call this an inconvenience was a massive understatement.

At least she still had her backpack. She pulled it off her shoulders and reached inside for a specific compartment. She pulled out a small portable torch, and some matches. If she could create some light, she could at least find out where she was.