“People without hope are a dangerous crowd, even in a republic.”

- Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold

"Glad to see you're finally awake," you said as Kris slid into the cushion seat beside yours. It was dark out, and you had been told by the healers who had taken care of you to sit within the large, tan colored tent, which you currently resided in. Tons of people rushed in and out, carrying platters and pots with them as they set things upon the wooden table. As you watched them you noticed that they all wore similar colored clothing, mostly neutrals with the occasional warm reddish browns. "I'm glad to be awake," he mumbled, rubbing the temples of his head as he tried to massage a migraine out. Kai, Suho, Lay, Luhan, Tao, and Baekhyun filled in shortly after him. They looked about the tent before spotting the two of you and made their way over towards the pillow seats, which surrounded the large table adorned with various dishes, all unfamiliar with any of them.

"Heard we've been out for a couple of days, huh?" Luhan asked as he looked over at you with a smile. You beamed at him, glad to see his bright face once again as you answered, "Yeah. I was pretty worried you know?" Tao raised an eyebrow at you and grinned. "Hey, shouldn't you be apologizing to us? I mean, yeah, falling worked and we're all alive. But gosh woman, we were knocked out pretty bad," he said with a light laugh in his voice. You stuck a tongue out and laughed along with him, "Well, like you said. You're alive because of me. But yeah, I'm sorry you guys got hurt so bad. Where did they even find you?" "Hey, you know, it was the craziest thing. We ended up landing on some of their weird sand boat things. That's where this bruise came from," Luhan explained as he pointed at the large purple gash decorating his left forarm, "Pretty sure I landed on some crates or something. Anyway, we were all knock out and when we woke up, we were here." 

"Dang, and we were so close to reaching the Hawk's Eye too," sighed a disappointed Baekhyun, "We would have made it if we weren't attack by those stupid birds." Lay's head turned and he shot the other a dirty glare, "Don't bad mouth animals," he said in an intense whisper, causing Baekhyun's eyes to widen. "Oh, so now you decide to talk," the other said with a frustrated face, "Why is it that you only talk when things have to do with animals? Can't you join in conversations like a normal person?" Suho grabbed Baekhyun's shoulder and shook his head and the younger. "Stop. You're not helping anything," he said sternly. Baekhyun groaned and pulled his cheeks down with both his hands in annoyance, "But this one barely talks to anyone. How are we supposed to be a team if we can't communicate?" "Let's just talk about this later, okay?" Suho told him.

Lay looked down at his hands, which were folded neatly on his crossed legs. He let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes. Baekhyun did have a point. Why was he even here if he couldn't talk to other people properly? What use would he be to the others if he couldn't even hold a conversation with them? Thoughts like this flooded his mind. A hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Kris looking at him with empathetic eyes. "You all right there?" the Dragon Tamer asked him. Lay nodded his head slowly before closing his eyes again, breathing slowly. "I'm just feeling a bit down... I'm fine," He whispered.

The older man moved a bit to get a better look at his friend. "It's the sand... isn't it? It makes you feel uneasy," Kris stated, as a fact rather than a question. Lay's eyes widened and shot up to meet his. Although his face was as blank as ever, his irises told a different story. They looked, frightened to Kris. It was understandable in Kris' mind, considering the fact that he was an Isacin. He had noticed how attached Lay was to the dragons, always sitting or standing on them even when the group camped on the ground to rest. Lay maintained eye contact with him, but remained silent. Kris eyed him suspiciously, but didn't press him any further. "Okay. I hope you feel better. I'm here if you need to talk," Kris told him, watching carefully as Lay gave a small node. He noted that Lay's body was more tense than normal, which was saying something. I swear he's like in rigamortus or something... Kris thought to himself. 

"What is this place?" Kai asked as he settled down on a cushion, his eyes traveling around the tent at all the various people sitting and standing inside. "The feast tent," said an unfamiliar voice, "It is where we distribute our rations." Everyone's heads turned about to see a tall, rather bulky, tan skinned man approach. He took a seat towards the head of the table, bowing slightly, in a sort of careless manner towards the rest of you. "That was some fall you guy took," he chuckled, quirking his head to the side, "The name's Quime, of the tribe of Lasim. I'm one of the miserable individuals who lives in this wasteland of a desert. And you are...?"

"Baekhyun, from the tribe of Rossen." "Tao, of the tribe of Cyreen." "Kora, of the tribe of Iren." "Kai, of the tribe of Trema." "Lay, from the tribe of Isacin." "Suho, Scribe of Ordea, of the tribe of Harum." "Kris, Messenger of Ordea, of the tribe of Elinzar." "Luhan, from the tribe of Musan." Quime stared at Kris, Suho and Luhan, eyes filled with amazement. "Wow, we got some Ordea officials here," Quime laughed, "And you, you're a real life Musan? Are you from the city of Orcana by any chance?" Luhan nodded slowly, not really sure what the man was getting at. "Yes I am, why do you ask?" he questioned. Quime's eyes light up in excitement. "That's where I'm going to go if I ever I get o