Recuperating

JP with Lorem and Omni

The interior of the room and the desert outside faded away from his awareness. All that was left was the two of them sharing intimacy in the subtlest of ways. The quality time and subtle physical touches were pregnant with a shy curiosity, as well as a wanton yearning. The growing desire would only be at peace when they would no longer be able to tell where one began and the other ended; entwined as one in heart, body and mind.

Gonyaul lost track of time sitting their in romantic silence and calm with Voah.

Eventually he did stir. Gonyaul, with one armed Voah’s help, cleared an area and setup their camp inside. While she handled the organization of the final elements, Gonyaul was busy cleaning up the space around the well.

If they were going to be here a few days he was going to make it livable, cleanly and orderly. As they worked they would flirt quick glances at one another followed by spontaneous grins. How strange to go from near deathly struggles to playing house.

Maybe it was petty, but Voah insisted on helping him set up their camp and clearing the area of the dead. Not only was this for her own sake tp prove she was capable, but also to impress on him that she was as good, nay better, than the one armed Tiponi whom he had said was all the things he wanted.

Before arriving at these walls, they had only been traveling for a few hours today at best, and dusk was now upon them. The last two days they had traveled in the night to avoid the sun beating down on their bodies, but this opportunity to recuperate seemed too good to pass up. The problem was, with the ever-shifting sands, they might not be able to find the trail of the caravan if they stayed too long, if they hadn't lost it already. Voah voiced the concern to Gonyaul to see how long he imagined they should remain in this space.

Gonyaul listened to Voah’s concern. She was wise and her timing was prudent to bring this up. They needed to rest, rehydrate and gain their strength. They also needed to be a certain as possible they were going in the right direction. After deliberating on the matter, back and forth, the consensus was they would remain where they were to recover; however, at night they would try and find the trail. They would make sure to map the stars going and coming back.

They also projected that they would take things as they went; however, most likely they only had enough food to eat for two more days in place or they wouldn’t have enough rations to eat while traveling onward. Then again, as Gonyaul mentioned, you never know what the next day may bring.

Voah was a learned woman, but some of that academic knowledge was rarely put into practice. Gonyaul was much more versed in the actual practice of celestial navigation.

It would be silly, she knew, to think that they could perfectly navigate long term and long distance travel without proper equipment, but that is not what they were trying to do. They didn't even know where their final destination lied. All they needed was a general direction for short distance navigation. A point by which to orient themselves to follow in the exact direction of the trail before it was washed away over the next couple of days.

The easiest way for Voah was to note the relative position of the fort and trail using the sun and the stars. The trail was still heading west but not directly into the setting sun. The sun would continue setting in the same general area at the same general time over the next few days.

There were a few ways they could go about it, but none of those ways guaranteed that they would pick up the trail, even if they did headed in the correct direction.

One of Gonyaul’s suggestions was to orient themselves according to the star that rotated the least in the night sky, which would point them north and determine the direction of the trail from there.