The Sand Sea

As I begin to wake up from what seems to be a bad dream, I’m surrounded by a new atmosphere, one that I don't have any familiarity with. My body is in pain, with bandages wrapped all around me, I slowly realize that this wasn’t a dream. The events that took place that night in the catacombs were real, the nine, Salazor, Jaden and Amara, all of that was real. Their deaths were real, and all because of me and my foolishnes-

“Hey, you’re awake, thought we’d lost ya” A man looms at the entrance of this room I’m, with his hair tied up, an eyepatch on his right eye, and muscles matching that of a bodybuilder, this man stands before me, is he my rescuer? A thug trying to pull a fast one on me? Or a hobo, a tall, buff hobo.

“You probably are confused as to why your here, well you're in the Sand Sea, my team and I rescued you from that catacomb in Noras and brought you back here to help you recover, unfortunately when we arrived it was too late, your two friends were already dead, their heads decapitated by your unconscious body, I’m sorry for your loss.” So it is real, they really are gone, the room begins to spin around me as I begin to fill up in disbelief, my best friends, gone, just like that.

“But hey! At least you’re still alive right! You can continue fighting to help avenge your friends. C’mon, get up, carefully, let me introduce you to my squad, the Desert Guardians, a ragtag team of misfits, hooligans, and powerful warriors.” As I struggle to get up from my bed, I feel lost and confused, still trying to understand some things. How did they find me? How did they save me from Salazor and the nine? How am I not dead? “Oh! I just remembered, I still haven’t told you my name, my name is Raza, nice to meet you.” He smiled at me with sincerity, as if he is welcoming me to his family, although I am a complete stranger. “I’m Malik, nice to meet you Raza”

As we proceed through the stone brick hallway, sand from the floor attaching to my bruised feet, I am introduced to the courtyard of their home where I notice 2 people sparring, a tan girl with blonde hair and mesmerizing pink eyes that match her pink shinobi clothing, she seems to be sparing with wind magic against a hair with spiky red hair with orange and yellow mixed in, with blue eyes, and fire magic emanating from his sword. “God Damn It Nyla! Stop being so goddamn fast and lemme land a good strike!” I watch as the two begin to slowly outpace themselves over and over using their magic to accelerate their bodies in the air, like bullets ricocheting in a box.

“Okay you two calm down! I want you to formally meet Malik. Introduce yourselves” Raza nudges me towards them as they both stare at me in confusion and in awe. “Oooh! You're the one guy from that cave, I remember now. You were out like a light when we got there, but luckily my speed saved you, you can thank me later by the way, oh I'm Nyla, should’ve probably mentioned that at the start.” I shake Nyla’s hand as she chuckles.

“Nice to meetcha Malik, I'm Kael, I noticed that double edged sword, I thought it was really cool so I brought it here to try and get it fixed for ya. I also noticed you didn't have any stab wounds that would match that sword, so either you didn't use it whatsoever, or you fought back with such precision that you avoided each oncoming attack coming from the sword back at ya! It's very sick if you ask me!” He stared at me like I was some master, it felt nice to feel so closely welcomed even though I just got here.

“Lemme show around the rest of our home” Raza proceeds to lead me to the living area of their home and I notice two people walking around carrying heavy boxes from one room to the other. “Hey! You too, drop those boxes and come meet Malik, from the catacomb” I notice two people walk up to me, one being a really a tall, petite woman with slick black hair and a buff guy with stylish brown hair approach me, but something feels off about the guy, I don’t know what though”

“Nice to meet you, I'm Yasmin, I help everyone on our team with my Wind Recovery Spells, that's how you were able to recover from such damages in no time, I look out for everyone here pretty much, so you can consider me like the big sister that helps everyone.” Her silly remark made me chuckle, however, I feel like I’ve seen her before, makes me wonder where, and when?

“And I’m Zain, I wish I was there to watch your fight Malik, it looked legendary, the stalactites in the ground looked so sick, I'm assuming you made them as all of them were facing away from you.” Zain seemed like a nice guy but something felt off, his aura doesn't match for some reason, as if he's hiding something from me. “Oh you probably could tell based on my aura, but I don’t have any magic, yup, that's why I tried getting buff to use my muscles as my magic and prove that I’m stronger than everyone” That explains it. “Well uh not so close Zain, just because your buff and all is cool but that doesn’t mean your going to be strongest, look at me for example, even though I have wind magic and use it towards healing, I still have some crazy cool attack spells that can knock you down in mere minutes” Both began getting heated at each other and starting fighting not like enemies, but as good friends would.

Raza showed me to the kitchen where I met two girls, seemingly twins with the only difference being their hair color, one has brown hair while the other has dirty blonde hair. “And these two are Azura and Amina, these two both possess water magic, one solid and one mist, they are relatively silent so I'm introducing them for you.” I greet the two and make my way with Raza. “There is one more person, but I don’t know if she's awake yet, you’ll see her eventually.”

Meeting all of them was nice, but I don’t know how long I should stay, I don't want to overstay my welcome. “Thank you so much for the tour Raza, but I need to get back home, I need to figure out what to do now, now that Jaden and Amara… are gone” Raza chuckled and grabbed my shoulder. “Why do ya think I introduced you to my squad, I want you to join us!” “Really, but I don't even feel nearly qualified to be here though.” Raza put on a serious tone and stared at me directly. “Malik, you are a lot stronger than you think, Salazor is one of the strongest devils in the underworld, and the fact you were able to survive him and his 9 disciples and even kill one! That seems to me to be more than enough for you to qualify, and plus, there is another reason why that you will see later.” He chuckled and nudged my side implying for me to turn around. I look in the other direction to see someone facing me, someone I haven't seen since that one night, someone who I could recognize in a crowded room. Aria.

“Aria? Is that really you, what are you doing here! I thought I would never see you again!” I run up to Aria and hug her, startling her but she immediately calms down. It all makes sense now, that's where I recognized her, Yasmin was with Aria that night, she was in a drinking competition with Jaden while me and Aria were on our own. “Yup, Aria has been with our squad the whole time, the jigs up! When Aria came back that night, she couldn’t stop talking to all of us about this perfect guy who swept her off her feet!” Aria and I turned bright red in embarrassment, her more than me, but still one thing lingered in the back of my mind. “How were you able to even find me?” “That's simple, Aria here possesses a rare magic type, Spirit Magic, that night when she shook your hand, you’re two souls connected, this connection is formed when both souls are bonded to a certain degree. You must have hit it off well for her to use her spell, Spirit Link, on the first night. With her Spirit Link, the aquamarine pendant on her chest connects her soul to whoever she has in her link, and at the time of your attack at the catacombs, Aria noticed your soul in distress so we rushed to help.” Aria blushed even harder, getting flustered beyond belief. She's so adorable, I’m so glad I met her, without her, I would be a dead man. “Well Aria, I must give you my most sincerest thanks, as if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here and worse of all, we would never be able to see each other again, I’ll pay you back for how much you helped me, just you wait” Aria starting fidgeting with her hair and as soon she calmed down, she gave me a response. “W-Well, I hope you keep your word, I’ll be looking f-forward to your payment, Malik.” She cheerfully smiled at me, making my heart flutter. “Well, how about some dinner, eh Malik? I’ll make sure to sit you and Aria together.” He laughed and walked away. If I'm being honest to myself, I don't know if I should take Raza’s offer to join his team, although they all accept me already, I feel like I don't deserve to be here. I simply survived long enough for them to save me, if I didn't fall to my knees that night, my head would’ve been severed right there along with Jaden and Amara.

However, what would I be able to do if I go back to my normal life? My friends are gone, I have to find a new job, and I need to figure out how to pay rent for such a large, empty apartment now. Worst of all, I need to figure out why Eira sent me, Jaden, and Amara to our graves. I need answers, and my paycheck, if I even get that. I’ll need to think about it. “Malik? You okay, you seem lost in thought." "Yeah, I'm fine, thank you for being concerned, I just have a lot on my mind right now y’know?” “I understand, take your time, and talk to me if you have anything on your mind” She smiles ever so softly and walks towards the direction Raza went.

I meet up with Aria, Raza and the others at the Desert Guardian’s dining room. We all sat down and Zain, Kael, and Amina were already there. Nyla soon walks in and sits down next to Kael. Yasmin walks in with a diva entrance of sorts. “Attention Desert Guardians, and esteemed guest, I welcome you to tonight's meal, this meal will be… what is the meal Azura?” “Steak, and bread” “Steak and Bread! What a wonderful delicacy… from where is it Azura?” “The market. Yasmin.” “The wonderful market! Oh ho ho aren’t you all excited!” Everyone erupted in applause and excitement as I watched everyone hype up for this meal, it felt like a family dinner, it's been a long time since I felt this feeling.

“Yasmin usually doesn’t make these entrances for steak and bread by the way, everyone is just excited to have a new face around here” Zain says to me with his mouth full of meat. “Want some?” I laughed and grabbed a plate. The dinner table was ecstatic, mainly with everyone asking me questions about my life. “Soo, how old are you Malik?” “20” “What's your favorite food?” “Chicken” “When's your birthday?” “June 11th-” “Okay Okay, that's enough interviewing for now, let Malik settle in, he’s had a rough couple of days. And speaking of days, what is your response to my invitation, will you become a Desert Guardian?” I sit there, with 8 pairs of eyes staring at me in anticipation. “I'm not so sure yet, I have my life back in Kaz y’know, I need to find a job, clean my apartment, check in on Ja-” In that moment I was reminded by the atrocities of last night, oh, my old life is gone, everyone that made me who I am is gone, I don't know where to go anymore. “Actually, I don't know anymore, I'm lost now, my life as I knew it is gone and I can't do anything about it.” Raza gets up and points at me “Malik, let me introduce you to something of mine, Captain Raza’s 5 Rules to a Warrior, Rule #1, no matter how many blows you take, soft or devastating, keep going forward and never slow down. Your predicament is a big one that's for sure, but we're here to help you no matter what. We all have had our fair share of punches, lifes not fair, that's why we gotta stick together or else we will fall.” He’s right, Raza sure is an interesting one, I have so many questions to ask, not just to him, but to everyone, but now I have the ability to. “Y’know what Raza, thank you for the advice, I’m in” “Well then welcome to the Desert Guardians, your family now Malik” “Thank you, I won’t let any of you down, especially you, Captain Raza”