Lush green canopies sway in the light breeze, dappling the earth with shapes of yellow light. They part and wither, burned by the sun.

An ocean waits at the foot of a loose hill, waving merrily and calling him to run faster and relish in its cool water, but it moves farther away, just out of reach, when he trips over his feet and tumbles down the hill.

He lies on the sand, squinting at the clear, blue sky. It's beautiful; the desert is beautiful in its untouched ity. Only the brave dare attempt to enter her. The brave and the stupid. The sun is her protector, burning her flesh clean and boiling foolish bravado.

His gun rests carelessly out of reach, but the usual itch of its familiar weight isn't there, anymore. He'd rather leave it behind, where its heated barrel and stock won't blister his fingers.

This may have been a bad idea, in retrospect. He's trained and strong, but taking on other humans is much easier than taking on the desert. His target has the right idea, hiding out here. Even the PHOENIX, with his purported inability to die and stay dead, doesn't seem able to reach him and is very likely to die. If so, so be it, but make it quick. He's already feeling like he's a part of the desert, with the sand coating his dry mouth and filling his nose. Each breath seems to send grains of sand popping around in his lungs.

Maybe if he stares at the sun long enough, he'll burn up and blow away with the rest of the sand. Eventually, he could make it to the ocean. The real ocean, impossibly deep and so blue it's nearly black. Bizarre fish and coral swimming through him, devouring him, transforming him into homes and underwater monuments. Or he could turn up at the roots of great trees reaching as high as their trunks and limbs allow, plunging through clouds but never reaching the outer atmosphere and staring at the mightiest of stars in envy. No matter how big they grow, how strong they are, they die and fall over and are reduced to dirt.

Everything's made from debris. Dirt, sand, particulates of detritus that were once thriving or dreaming in their own way.

As the PHOENIX's flesh peels away, he hopes he'll be reborn in a better place.