[Yomegami]

It was a nice day to be out for a stroll. The sun was shining, and yet the cool wind blowing in from over the sea kept the temperature comfortable. Perhaps most enjoyable, at least to two of the creatures walking forth today, it was a change of scenery.

Sykes had grown weary of the darkened halls of Basantha Shrine, where he had mostly gone on his previous outings. He wanted some sun. And at the Dead Coast, there was plenty of sun. Not to mention, there was the sea as well. Heck, he might even see one of those palm tree-like creatures they called "Palmies."

An even better indication of his fairly chipper mood was the fact that he was not alone. On his left flittered the desert nagi known as Desnaki. The snake had rarely left the Ruins since that chaotic first trip to the shrine, due to Sykes's wanting to find a lifemate and feeling Desnaki somehow distracted him. For many bored days, he had nothing to do but flit around aimlessly about the Ruins. At long last, he was off with his best friend on a trip to somewhere new. He loved it, and illustrated this with happy hissing and glancing around at this new world with wonder in his eyes.

On Sykes's right, with a water pouch hanging around her neck, was a Translucent Kuhna. Tiamat, much like Desnaki, had only been out of the Ruins once in her lifetime, on a trip to Craiss with her brother Oroki and her "Aunt" Skye. Her father was the demon known as Ankara, Sykes's worst enemy, but despite this she was actually quite a peaceful being who found Sykes's calmness preferrable to Ankara's womanizing and rather violent attitude. Perhaps because of this, relations between her and her family had soured since she came of age. Wanting to escape it all, she had decided to accompany her foster father to the Dead Coast. Presently, she turned to Sykes.

"Well, we're here now. But what are your plans when it starts to get late? I fancy you don't want to stay out too long." she asked of him.

Sykes frowned slightly. "I'm thinking about heading for that city they say is around here. Perhaps we can check out a hotel room or something." He glanced up at the sky. "I'm not sure what the moon's going to be like tonight...."

"I'm pretty sure the full moon was yesterday, but then again I'm not really in your position." Tiamat responded, doing her best to comfort her foster father. She knew all the too well of his condition.

Desnaki, sensing something was wrong, flittered over to Sykes and glanced at him, emitting a worried and questioning hiss.

Sykes smiled. "Don't worry, bud. It's nothing. Just an awkward subject." This response sufficed for the nagi, who cheerfully flew off somewhat inland.

Tiamat followed him with her eyes. "Well, we're here now. Let's enjoy the sun while it lasts." she said.

((No more than 2 people, please?
Tiamat: 4/2, Sykes: 2/6, Desnaki: 3/2))

[Yomegami]

Desnaki didn't need to be told that he was free to do whatever he wanted. Currently, the tiny, flying snake caught sight of a grove of palm trees. Interested in these "palmie" creatures Sykes and Tiamat were speaking about while on their way here, and thinking that would be a good spot to find them, he quickly headed towards them. The problem would be talking to the thing once he found it, but he figured he would leave that to Sykes and Tiamat.

Sykes turned his gaze towards the sea. A smile crossed his face.
"I don't know about you," he began, "but I feel like going for a swim!" With that, he raced full speed towards the sea, and proceeded to perform a leaping dive into the water. After a few moments, his head reappeared above the waves.
"Come on in, Tiamat! The water's great!"

Tiamat poked the water with a forepaw warily. "I don't know.... I'm not sure if water's good for us demons or not."

Sykes looked confused. "Isn't your brother a water demon?"

"He is, but that's him. I'm a light demon, so it might be a different story." Tiamat responded. She turned just in time to spot Desnaki vanish into the palm tree grove. "I think I'll see to it that your snakey friend keeps himself out of trouble."

Sykes shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, before he vanished underneath the water again. He hadn't had much time to experience large bodies of water like this, so it was probably time to practice his swimming lessons.

((Tiamat: 0/3, Sykes: 3/6, Desnaki: 4/2))

[Yomegami]

Desnaki glanced around the area he found himself in. In comparison to the area out in the sunlight, this was shady and cool. It almost felt like he was somewhere else. Surely, there had to be a palmie here somewhere.

That was when the nagi realized something. He had absolutely no idea whatsoever on what a palmie looked like. Heck, he knew nothing of palmies except for the facts that they were called "palmies" and they could be found somewhere around the Dead Coast. Maybe he should have payed more attention to Sykes and Tiamat while they were talking about it.

From somewhere down below, he could hear rustling. He looked down quickly, expecting to see one of the palmies beneath him. Instead, it was only Tiamat, coming in from the outside of the grove.

"I'm here to make sure you stay out of trouble," Tiamat said, "I take it you're looking for one of those palmies?" Desnaki responded with a bunch of happy-sounding hissing Tiamat took for a yes. She hadn't had as much time as Sykes did when it came to understanding this snake, so she had to make guesses to what he meant.

She glanced around the shady area. "If you're looking for one, the first thing you should know is that they resemble a short palm tree. I hear they like to hide around real palm trees, so I'd say you're off to a good start here."

Meanwhile, Sykes was below the waves, paddling with all his might against the force of the waves. He was not a water creature by nature, and most of his natural strength only came out when he had absolutely no control over it. However, he had enough now to make sure he at least was able to keep his position while under the waves.

Feeling a sudden need to take a breath, he headed for the surface. When his head broke the water, however, he had the misfortune to time it exactly when a rather large wave was beginning to crash. The wall of water hit the kuhna smack dab in the face, making him lose control of his muscles.

A few moments later, the wave lapped against the beach, despositing a very wet kuhna onto the shoreline. For a few moments, he looked like he was unconscious, but in a few moments his eyes were open and he was on his feet again.

"So that's how you want to play, is it? All right," he said, before charging back into the water for another go.

((Tiamat: 1/3, Sykes: 4/6, Desnaki: 0/3))

[Yomegami]

Now that he knew what he was looking for, Desnaki was quick to furiously scan the entire area. In roughly five seconds, he found what he assumed to be one of the palmies. Hissing with delight, he flew up to it, before turning back to Tiamat with a triumphant look on his face.

Tiamat half-smiled. "That's not a palmie. That just happens to be an abnormally short palm tree." Desnaki looked back at the tree that he automatically assumed was a palmie, and upon realizing it his expression changed to one of extreme embarrassment.

"It's okay. I should have been a bit more specific," Tiamat said, attempting to comfort the nagi somewhat. "I think they also must rustle occasionally when the other trees in the grove aren't being blown by the wind." She glanced down at the pouch around her neck. "I also hear they like salt water...."

She turned to leave the grove. "Come on. Let's get some sea water, and perhaps see what Sykes is up to."

The two exited the grove just in time to see Sykes unceremoniously dumped back onto the shoreline by yet another large wave.

"Oh my gosh!" Tiamat exclaimed, running over the the soaking wet Sykes. She prodded him slightly, trying to make sure he was alive.

"Stop being sarcastic, Tiamat." Sykes grumbled, getting back onto his feet. "I'm trying to practice swimming here, and I don't need you to rub my mistakes in my face."

"I wasn't being sarcastic, but whatever. We're just here to get sea water for the palmie. Would you like to come join us?" Tiamat took off the pouch, opened it, and dipped it into the sea while she said this.

Sykes thought for a little bit. "I really came to the Dead Coast to train, not hunt palmies. But I guess I could use a break...." Desnaki gave Sykes a look that said "Please? Please?", in an apparent attempt to influence his decision.

Sykes chuckled at his snaky friend's display. "Alright. I'll go."

((Tiamat: 2/3, Sykes: 0/7, Desnaki: 1/3))

[Yomegami]

Tiamat did her best to remove the pouch around her neck and open it. It was difficult to do such a thing without opposable thumbs, and she found herself wishing that she had learned how to assume a human form. Alas, only her brother had bothered to do so, and she was stuck with only her paws and her mouth.

While she was struggling with that, Desnaki examined the situation, trying to figure out something he could do to help. However, being a snake, he had no limbs whatsoever besides his feathery wings, so it was doubtful he'd be of much use here.

Sykes found a decent position that wasn't so close to the ocean, and also not close to Tiamat or Desnaki, before lowering his head, closing his eyes, and shaking himself dry. He wasn't going to be swimming for the rest of the day, it seemed, so why should he bother walking around sopping wet? Then again, the sun would probably dry him off without such a manner, although that in turn would leave a bunch of salt in his fur.

After a few minutes, Tiamat managed to get her pouch open. She dipped it into the sea, letting it fill up with a decent amount of salt water before she pulled it back in. Then it was back to the square one as she tried to put the cap back on again. Holding the cap in her mouth, and using her paws to keep the pouch steady, she attempted to at least get the cap to stay on top of the pouch.

After drying himself off, Sykes returned to the rest of his group. "You know, you could just leave the cap off. That way, you won't have to struggle with it again when you finally find your palmie." he said.

"But if I do it that way, I might lose some of the water by tipping it. And I might lose the cap." came the response. Ironically, her efforts to put the cap back on were causing more water to spill out than just leaving the pouch open.

Sykes rolled his eyes. "Well, I'll be over there when you get finished." With that, he sauntered over to the shade of the palm-tree grove and lie down, watching with a half-smile as Tiamat continued to struggle with the water pouch.

((Tiamat: 3/3, Sykes: 1/7, Desnaki: 2/3))

[Yomegami]

Tiamat continued to struggle with the cap and the water pouch for a good 15 minutes before she finally got the cap back on. With a triumphant smile, she placed it back over her neck and walked over to Sykes, who by this time looked very much like he was asleep.

"See? I did it! Now, let's go see if we can find that palmie," she said.

Sykes opened his eyes and glanced at Tiamat. "Oh really? Prove it." he said, almost mockingly. Tiamat responded by using her paws to bat around the pouch - only to hear no sloshing sounds that would indicate it was full of water.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me...." she said, glancing at the pouch. She grasped it in her mouth, and this time shook it vigorously, only to prove that there was no water inside the pouch.

Sykes and Desnaki exchanged amused glances, while Tiamat angrily took off the pouch and flung it halfway across the beach.

Sykes turned back to Tiamat. "No point in throwing a fit over it. You might as well go fetch the pouch and try again. And this time try to be more steady while you're trying to get the cap back on."

Tiamat sighed. "All that work for nothing," she muttered as she went to retrieve the pouch. Desnaki decided to flit after her, perhaps to comfort her or maybe to provide moral support. With a chuckle, Sykes took a quick glance at the sky before closing his eyes and returning to his state of rest.

((Tiamat: 4/3, Sykes: 2/7, Desnaki: 3/3))

[Yomegami]

By the time Tiamat finally succeeded in filling the pouch and getting the cap back on without spilling anything, Sykes had fallen fast asleep. As the translucent kuhna and desert nagi approached him, he was rolled over onto his back and snoring quite loudly.

"I did it this time, Sykes!" Tiamat exclaiming, shaking the pouch and this time hearing the slosh of the water within. When she didn't get a response, she finally got over her elation and noticed he was snoozing. She glanced at Desnaki.

"What say you? He said he'd join us, but it seems a shame to wake him." she asked of Desnaki. The nagi responded with a glance at Sykes, a confused-sounding hiss, and some wing motions vaguely reminiscent of a shrug. Tiamat shrugged herself and looked back at Sykes.

"Well, he was swimming and getting pushed back by waves.... Perhaps it'd be better to let him get his rest." she said. With that, she turned and headed towards a more distant grove of palm trees. Desnaki hissed contentedly and followed. Sykes could handle himself for now.

((Tiamat: 0/4, Sykes: 3/7, Desnaki: 4/3))

[Yomegami]

An hour had passed since Tiamat and Oroki had taken off, and the sun was still fairly high in the sky, although it was beginning to tilt towards the west. The sea had since calmed after Sykes's training session, and it was unusually quiet.

The wind rustled through the trees above Sykes, who was still sleeping. It was strong enough to dislodge one of the leaves and send it gently floating down, where it landed upon his face. The sensation caused Sykes to snort and twitch a little.

"Okay, Tiamat, I'm getting ready...." he muttered, assuming the leaf on his face was, in fact, his foster daughter poking him to get up. He rolled over, smacked his lips several times, and finally, opened his eyes. However, Tiamat and Desnaki were nowhere to be seen. Grogginess turned to confusion as Sykes whipped around to see what exactly it was that had brushed against him.

It only took him a few seconds to find the leaf sitting on the ground in front of him, where it had fallen when Sykes got up. "Oh, it was just a leaf," he said, yawning, "I guess that means I can go back to - where the heck did Tiamat and Desnaki go, anyway?"

He took another look around, but neither translucent kuhna nor desert nagi were to be seen. His confusion soon turned to frustration when he realized the truth: Tiamat and Desnaki ran off to hunt palmies without waiting for him. Well, at least he got a decent nap in, but still.

Now, what signs could they have left behind...?
------

Meanwhile, Desnaki and Tiamat were on their way to yet another grove. They had already gone through two groves, both of which had proved fruitless. Still, optimism was what kept them going. Sooner or later, they'd run into a grove with a palmie in it. Desnaki, at least, was having some fun at taking in all the sights of the Coast.

"You think Sykes might have woken up by now?" Tiamat asked of Desnaki and looking over her shoulder. "I wonder what he's going to think when he finds out we've left without him?"

((Tiamat: 1/4, Sykes: 4/7, Desnaki: 0/4))