Too Much Heat

	The sun overhead was searing the earth beneath it with its light… The plants that were nearby were nearly burnt to a crisp, and the ground beneath them was cracked and hardened. Of course, this would be par for the course for a certain duo that just so happened to make their way through that unrelenting heat. One of them, an elf girl that was native to this land, and the other a canine girl that looked to be sweating up a storm.
	“Ugh… Clem, how much longer until we’re at the hideout? Didn’t the guide say that it was fifteen minutes past that hill?” The canine girl was sounding irritated. She must not have packed enough provisions for her to keep herself calm. Though, given the fact that she had been walking nearly all day, she was rather sick of seeing sand for the moment. The elf girl, though, looks up from the map she was carrying.
	“Listen here, that’s the fifth time you’ve asked in as many minutes. Try and stop yer’ trap for a little bit and just be patient, would ya’? Besides, I don’t like being out here any more than you do.”
	“But it’s so fucking faaaaar! Why couldn’t we just teleport there? I know the spell, but you wouldn’t even let me start casting!”
	“Well, yeah, because you don’t know where you’ll end up. You really want us to end up at the bottom of a gorge or somethin’? ‘Sides, I know where we’re goin’, so just try and hold out for a while…”
	“Ugh, fiiiine. As long as I get to get out of this fuckin’ heat sometime soon. I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in my entire life.” The Elf girl chuckles for a moment at the sound of that.
	“Yeah? Certainly could help with that fur o’ yer’s. Thing looks matted as all get out.” At the sound of that, though, the canine furrows her brows, turns her head towards the elf, and just glares a hole right through her.
	“You wanna fuckin’ go, little miss “I Found A Scorpion In My Boot”?” This time, it was the elf girl’s turn to look towards the canine, her own face sporting a grimace.
	“Honestly, I just wanna get through with this. Giddy and I’re gonna head out on a date after we finish this job, and I don’t want you of all people ruinin’ it for me. So, just take a step back, fluff outta yer’ fur, and keep goin’ down’ this here path, got it?” The Canine just crosses her arms for a moment, and lets out a bit off a huff.
	“Yeah, yeah, fine, whatever. Just let it be known that you really don’t wanna mess with me.”
	“Uh-huh, whatever you say, li’l lady. I’ll count on y’ to say something that the world wants to hear.” And like that, the two of them fall silent once again. Each step was as hot as the last, if not hotter, and by the look of things, the sand and the occasional cactus and fern were starting to look rather interesting by comparison. The elf girl and the canine do their best to try and keep their spirits up, but the sun wasn’t doing anything to help them. No, not at all.
	Thankfully, the two of them finish their hike through the desert by trudging up a nearby hill. With a grunt or two from each of them, they end up laying down on the warm sand, wincing a bit from the heat as they try and find a comfortable position. With a quick hand, the Elf girl pulls out a pair of spectacles to enhance her vision…
	“Eeeyup, there’s the cliff face. You got the bounty paper, Puppy?”
	“Call me that again, and you won’t have a set of boobs to flaunt.” And like that, the canine hands over a folded piece of paper. The elf girl folds it open, and takes a quick read through. After all, getting to a place and finding out that it was wrong was a rather stupid thing to do. Thankfully, this place looked right, so she folds it up and stuffs it into her pocket once again. The canine, though, had her tongue flopped out in an attempt to try and cool herself down.
	“Hey, you see anyone else around, or is it just us?”
	“Huh? Just us, like it was the whole walk here. What sort of idjit would want to get out int’a th’ desert for no reason?”
	“Well, what do you think you are, Clem? Because I’m certainly not the idiot you’re talking about here. Right?” The canine girl glares at the elf once again. She certainly wasn’t having much fun at this point, and her patience was starting to run thinner and thinner.
	“Listen, puppy.” The elf girl spits that word out like it’s leaving a bad taste in her mouth. “I don’t give a Skeever’s ass ‘bout bein’ outta here, and I sure as hell don’t wanna be out here with th’ likes o’ you. If anythin’, I’d just prefer ya’ to wait back at the Inn in town.”
	“Oh, so you wanna fuckin’ go now? Bitch, listen, you elves are always goin’ on and on about how ‘this rootin’ tootin’ heat ain’t gonna bother no one’! Ugh, bunch of heat-stricken idiots.” The canine girl bares her teeth towards the elf for a moment, before the two of them just start glaring at each other.
	“Alright, then, bitch. Iffin’ y’ wanna play dirty like that, don’t mind iffin’ I try and get to yer’ level.” At the sound of that, the canine girl raises her hand towards the sky, and mutters a few words under her breath. A second later, a mass of fiery energy fills her palm…
	“FREEZE! PUT YER’ HANDS UP OR WE’RE GONNA RUN YA’ THROUGH!” The sound came from to their right, and before the two of them could turn their heads, they could feel something sharp poking at their sides… Oh, that wasn’t good, was it?


	The two of them had been captured. Hogtied like cattle and stripped of anything that could be used as a weapon. After being brought into that cave by the raiders that were hiding out under that rock, they were thrown to the side, hands and legs bound. The canine girl lets out a grunt as she lands on her hind end. The elf girl was already sitting there without a word and a grimace on her face.
	“Oof! Ugh… great… See what your shitty-ass plan got us into, you dumbass orange-haired nitwit?!” To be honest, the canine was just mad about the entire situation that they were put in… Meanwhile, the elf girl was busy with trying to wriggle out of her bonds, but from the way they were tied, and the marks that she was giving herself on her wrists and ankles, she wasn’t doing so well in that department. The canine girl growls for a moment before speaking again. “ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTENING TO ME, ASSHOLE?!”
	“Would you hush for once?! Ugh, Divines, how’m I s’ppose t’ get us out if all I hear is you whinin’!?” And like that, the elf girl keeps squirming in her seat.
	“Whining? Whining!? LISTEN HERE YOU FUCKIN’ DUMBASS, IF I COULD RIP YOUR TITS OFF, I WOULD!” The canine girl squirms more against her bonds, some of them even threatening to break at the seams. How angry can she get, even?
	“Well, we wouldn’t a’ been caught in this mess iffin’ y’ didn’t start complainin’ ‘bout the sun an’ th’ sand an’ all the things you don’t like! Quite frankly, I didn’t even wanna come back here after r’membrin’ how much I hate the heat!” The elf girl keeps trying to shinny out of her bonds for the moment, while the canine just glares at the elf the entire time.
	Suddenly, the sound of metal clinking together meets the two girl’s ears before a cloaked figure turns their way around the corner. They take the key, insert it into the lock, turn it, and open the door with an elongated “Creeeeeeeeeeeak…”. After that, the cloaked figure speaks.
	“Both of you. Out.” His voice was deep and somewhat gravelly, the perfect combination for the signature “do not mess with me” look he was giving off. Without another word and a pair of dirty looks, the two females rise to their feet as best they can, and quickly make their way out of that cell. The robed man leads the two of them down a set of long hallways, making sure to turn multiple times around a few places before continuing on towards their destination…
	“Uh, y’mind lettin’ us go, partner?”
	“I ain’t yer’ partner. An’ no, I ain’t lettin’ you go.”
	“Ugh, come on you asshole, let us go or I swear I’ll sear you alive!”
	“Try it. All you got left in ya’ is an ember or two. Not even worth tryin’ t’ suck out. Damn hotshot-”
	“BITCH, CALL ME A GODS-DAMNED HOTSHOT ONE MORE TIME!!” At the sound of that, the robed figure raises the canine’s arms behind her back, causing her to wince and yelp in pain. He just lets out a snort before continuing to lead the two of them on through those twisting and turning halls.


	Soon enough, the two females are tossed into a room as unceremoniously as anyone could be in their situation, a pair of rather cold pieces of metal strapped to their backs. Both of them land on their faces, with the canine giving out a grunt… Before long, the two of them are sitting there in that dark room with nothing but themselves and their bindings.
	“Ugh… what are we gonna do now? Can we call Giddy or Kara? Maybe Lydie?” The elf girl rubs her cheek with her shoulder for a moment. The canine just sits there, looking absolutely livid with everything at the moment.
	“Shut up, you dumbass.” The elf girl blinks for a moment before falling silent once more… Though, she does look around that dark room to pass the time. She couldn’t see a thing, and from what she could feel, the only thing in here aside from them were more of those cold containers of… something. What was this thing on her back, anyway?
	“Hey, Ezzie, wha-”
	“Shut your mouth. I don’t want to listen to you rambling.”
	“B-but what abo-”
	“I said shut your mouth, you cockstain.” The canine just sits there, grinding her teeth to pass the time. Clearly, she wasn’t pleased with anything going on at the moment. With how things were going, she didn’t even want to talk to her… She was simply too mad to think straight… She needed to calm down.
	Suddenly, the elf girl looks up for a moment, and sniffs the air.
	“Hey, Ezzie, d’you-”
	“Didn’t I tell you to shut your mouth?”
	“N-No, listen, I smell somethin’...”
	“What, did you have beans for lunch or something?”
	“No, no, it’s… something’s burning.” For a moment, the canine’s eyes widen before turning towards the elf…
	“...You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”


Meanwhile, just outside that rocky outpost, a band of robed individuals were busy loading their gear into a nearby fleet of carts. Judging by the speed they were packing, they were most likely in a bit of a hurry.
“Hey, you hurry up and get that Mugwort into the cart, this place is gonna blow any-”

KRA-KOOOOOOM!!!!!
“AAAAAAAAAAAGH…!!”

“...Huh, talk about timing. Though, ugh… what was…? Nah, heat’s gettin’ to me. Let’s move out, boys!” And like that, the entirety of that band of robes makes their way out towards the approaching sunset. Back near the entrance, though, rubble and timber was starting to pile up, and resting on top of those rocks was… what looked like a pair of wigs: one blond, one orange. They certainly looked used and abused, but other than that, it seems as though that those bits of hair were the only things left of our two “heroines”...