“Hey, we need some help over here!” A sailor yells, seeing the three unconscious strangers that just washed up near his boat. He pauses as he catches a glimpse of the gigantic axe attached to Drakthar’s back. He notices the many scars upon this foreign man’s body and questions if he should really help.

A few other sailors come over to him and see the people incapacitated on the sand in front of them. They are relieved to feel the light breath from each of them on the backs of their hands when they check. One of the men takes a long look at Gwendolyn, surprised that such a beauty washed up near his ship.

“Stop gawking Wendall, looks like one of them is waking up,” Another sailor slaps the one that was leering on the arm. All of the people present look over at Drakthar as he comes to.

“What happened to you guys?” The sailor that originally found them asks.

“We were coming here on a ship, got caught in a storm. The boat was struck by lightning, now here I am,” Drakthar states cautiously, he is very aware that these people might not want to associate themselves with someone from the desert.

“Sucks to be you I guess. Your two friends are breathing,” one mentions.

“That’s a relief,” Drakthar exhales looking over to see Xander and Gwendolyn laying face up in the damp sand, water coming up to their feet off particularly strong waves.

The sailors continue their questioning, “Where did you guys sail from?”

“Melusarej, we’re merchants looking to make some gold off of wares we had found across the sea, but I guess they are all at the bottom of the ocean now,” Drakthar gives them the only story he could think of that makes sense.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but you know what? You don’t really look like a merchant to me, with a body like that, covered from head to toe in scars, I would wager you’re a warrior of the desert tribes,” A sailor questions, not believing Drakthar’s story for a second.

Drakthar leans in closer to the man, really emphasizing the difference in size between the two of them.

“I keep in shape for my job. Being able to hold your own in a fight is a very important part of business. You know, in case anything goes sideways,” Drakthar states menacingly, scaring away any bravery these sailors had to question him.

Drakthar goes over to Xander and Gwendolyn and pulls them further towards the shore.

“You need any help?” Wendall asks, moving over to help him move Gwendolyn in particular.

“No,” Drakthar responds bluntly, dragging both of them out of Wendall’s reach.

Being pulled through the sand wakes Gwendolyn up. She squirms trying to stop the movement, not registering that it is Drakthar. He let’s go over her, causing her to flail on the ground for a few seconds before getting on her feet. She stands, the back of her clothes plastered with sand. She does her best to wipe it off, but there is too much and her clothes are too damp for her efforts to make a difference.

Wendall can only watch in awe, as the beautiful woman he saw on the ground is now upright and conscious. Just as he is about to approach her with a tired sailor’s line, Gwendolyn looks over to see Drakthar pulling the still incapacitated Xander.

“Xander!” Gwendolyn rushes over to his side, halting any action Wendall was going to take. He gives up and leaves with the other sailors as Gwendolyn leans over the other man’s body.

“He’s fine,” Drakthar tells her, not wanting her to become hysterical. Gwendolyn checks to see if he is breathing, needing to confirm it for herself before relaxing. She brushes the hair out of his face as she watches the sun shine directly down onto it.

Xander’s eyes flutter open and for a moment Gwendolyn notices the usually blue color flash to purple before returning to their usual state.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she pulls him into a hug, ignoring the change of color.

“Yeah you too,” Xander agrees while looking around at their surroundings.

“Where are the others?” Xander asks, having only seen Drakthar and Gwendolyn.

“No clue, I think that lightning separated us,” Drakthar recalls what he can from the incident.

“They probably washed ashore somewhere just like us,” Xander notes, trying to remain as positive as possible.

Xander stands up, looking at the tall outer walls of the Sacrosanct Empire’s capital city.

“We washed up right on their doorstep,” Xander sighs; hesitant about just waltzing back into the place he fled from so many years ago.

“We should wait for them at the largest inn, that would be the best way for them to find us… that is if they aren’t thrown in a dungeon somewhere,” Xander suggests, the negativity starting to return to him.

“Sounds like as good a plan as any,” Drakthar agrees, unsure as how to proceed in a situation like this.

Xander throws his hood up and they head towards the front gates of the city. They pass through with a large group of fishermen returning from a long day on the docks. The guards take note of Drakthar, giving the desert dweller skeptical glances as he enters the city. But no one stops him, letting them through without any issue.

They follow Xander through the streets headed for the middle of the city. As they roam through the capital sounds from a particularly loud tavern causes them to look over. A priest who was exiting the tavern spots them and approaches a drink still in hand.

“Excuse me, could you answer this one question for me? What is your favorite place in the entire world?” The priest stands directly in front of Gwendolyn stopping her from walking forward.

Before she can think of a response the priest tells her, “Mine is right next to you”. He delivers the line along with a not so subtle wink. She is partially relieved he is just hitting on her instead of something worse.

Xander readjusts his hood in order to hide his face further. This man seems familiar, but he just can’t place it.

“What is a priest doing hitting on someone?” Gwendolyn questions him, noticing the bright blue robes that mark his station.

“It is true that my position is not one where I can deliver you my love, but I’m sure for someone as divine as you, I can bend the rules for a night,” the priest continues his advances, not letting him being a priest hinder him at all.

“I guess it is good for the both of us that I’m not interested,” Gwendolyn turns him down, finding this exchange rather exhausting.

“But you are drenched, I thought it was due to being graced by my presence,” the priest wittily replies, relentless in his pursuit.

Gwendolyn grabs a hold of Xander’s arm and pulls him in, “You are mistaken, I am drenched because I just came out of the ocean; and before you try some other line on me, let me make it clear to you I already have him”.

“Oh, you wound me so, to see that you prefer much less handsome men, such a pity,” the priest winks at Xander before walking off back into the tavern from where he came from.

“That guy was oddly familiar to me,” Xander informs the others.

“He did wink at you,” Drakthar notes, having noticed that detail in their exchange.

“Yeah… but I think that was more of an intimidation thing, not a recognition thing,” Xander speculates, believing it having more to do with Gwendolyn than him.

They make their way to the inn and purchase two rooms, continuing their plan to wait for the others. Once inside his room, Drakthar cleans the sand off his golden dragonhide armor, hanging it so it can dry off. He may have held onto his axe and his bag of holding, but his power armor now lies at the bottom of the ocean. He curses his luck slamming his axe into a loose plank of wood on the floor of his room before returning to his senses and calming down.

In the other room, Xander and Gwendolyn also take stock to what they lost.

“I lost all my stuff except these clothes, my sword and…” Xander pauses, the last thing is the ring, but he doesn’t mention it.

“And?” Gwendolyn asks, thinking there is more.

“No that was it,” Xander notes, patting himself down.

“I don’t have much more than you, I only have my bow, quiver, and what I have on,” Gwendolyn informs him.

“I feel bad about Drakthar having to pay for our room, at least he held onto his bag,” Xander notes, feeling guilty he couldn’t pay his own way.

“I’m going to have to stock up on bells,” Xander jokes, having lost his primary item to switch things with.

“Yeah, and new clothes these are all sandy and gross,” Gwendolyn adds, raising her arms and looking down at her ruined attire.

Xander watches as Gwendolyn strips off the damp sandy clothing.

“What are you doing?” He asks her, watching as sand gets on the floor upon the clothes’ removal.

She smirks back at him, “Exactly what it looks like, you want to join me?”

“No, I mean… yes, but can you do that in the shower? You are getting sand all over the floor,” Xander points down at the mess on the wood of their room, somehow more concerned about the mess than the stripping woman.

Gwendolyn looks below her, “Oh… yeah, sorry. I was just trying to seduce you”.

“I couldn’t tell,” Xander rolls his eyes sardonically. He follows her into the bathroom either way. They step into the shower and peel the sandy clothes off of them. Gwendolyn turns on the water and they rinse the sand off their clothes.

“Is there a place to hang them?” Xander asks, still focused more on the logistics of the situation instead of the naked Gwendolyn in front of him.

“I think there are windows in the other room that open inwards that we can drape them off of, but for now just put them on the floor. We should clean the sand off each other first,” she tells him as she runs her hands over his chest starting to dislodge the sand that was sticking to him.

Xander lifts up his arms and starts to comb through Gwendolyn’s long blonde hair, meticulously removing each grain of sand that is stuck within it. In response she grabs his head, pulling it forward so it is beneath the stream of water. She musses his hair returning the favor.

Gwendolyn notices Xander still focused on her hair long after every piece of sand has been removed from it. She grabs a hold of his hands and slowly guides them downwards.

“There is some sand here too you know,” she tells him breathily.

“So there is,” Xander agrees, his eyes now locked on the new location of his hands. Gwendolyn let’s go of his hands, grabbing a hold of his shoulders, waiting for him to do as commanded. Xander runs his right hand between what feels like two soft pillows, lightly scraping a trail of grimy sand that was stuck there.

Gwendolyn shifts her grip, moving her arms behind Xander’s back, pulling him into her. She inserts her tongue into his throat while starting to dig her fingers into his back. Xander is stuck there for a few moments, unable to breathe due to being taken by surprise. When Gwendolyn finally removes her mouth from his he inhales deeply, trying to take in as much air as he can.

“Sorry! Did I suffocate you?” Gwendolyn asks, seeing Xander gasping for air.

Xander coughs a couple of times before responding, “Yeah… but I’m fine now”.

“Good, there are more places to clean,” Gwendolyn raises her eyebrows, imagining with anticipation the events to follow.

After they are done in the shower they hang their wet clothes from the top of the windows to dry. The dimly lit street is the only thing visible from outside their window.

“Looks like we are going to be without clothes for tonight,” Xander states, knowing they probably won’t dry until morning.

“I don’t see a problem with that,” Gwendolyn responds, lying down upon the bed.

Xander joins her noting, “No, there definitely isn’t”.

The next morning they meet up with Drakthar in the hallway of the inn.

“The walls are thin,” he tells them immediately.

“What are you trying to say?” Xander asks, too thick headed in that area to understand what Drakthar is getting at.

“Sorry, I will keep that in mind next time,” Gwendolyn apologizes, not wanting to disturb Drakthar again.

A couple of days later, after they have restocked on clothing and, in Xander’s case, bells. The three of them head to a secluded alleyway to discuss their next moves.

“Since we are just waiting around for the others I might as well take the Scientist’s advice and try and get into contact with someone on the inside that would want to help me,” Xander suggests, never one to waste time.

“So you’re going to hit on other women then?” Gwendolyn pouts accusingly, not warm to the idea.

Xander attempts to defend himself, “I won’t hit on anyone, just talk to them”.

“Maybe, but you will definitely lead them on,” she insists, knowing it would happen without him trying to or not.

“No, I won’t. You know what, if you trust me so little, why don’t you come with me?” Xander proposes, having had enough of his loyalty to her being questioned.

“Fine, I could go along with that,” she agrees to go with him.

“What about me?” Drakthar asks, itching for something to do, specifically relating to cracking people’s skulls.

“I think it is best if you lay low for now. A large man from the desert with scars all over his body is bound to garner a lot of attention, and attention is the last thing we need right now,” Xander advises, not wanting their plans to fall apart. Drakthar grunts disapprovingly before storming off back to his room to train any way he can in a space like that.

Gwendolyn follows Xander through the busy streets; he always keeps his hood up to avoid being recognized by anyone he used to interact with when he lived here.

“I knew a fellow priest who used to live around here. She was always nice to me, so maybe she will help us. She could have moved though… The awkward part is I don’t remember her name, so this could go badly,” Xander fills Gwendolyn in on the situation.

“Great,” Gwendolyn comments sarcastically.

She quickly adds, “Well, it is encouraging that you don’t remember her name”.

Xander stops her and looks directly into her eyes, “Relax, no one is going to come between us, I won’t let it happen”.

“But what if you find someone prettier than me?” Gwendolyn asks, mostly jokingly, bringing her hand to Xander’s cheek inside his hood.

“Not possible,” Xander responds, grabbing her hand with his own.

Eventually, they stop before a house, one floor, painted white with a small garden out front. Houses in the Sacrosanct capital are more developed than the ones in the desert, capable of having yards that aren’t made entirely of sand.

Xander approaches the door and hesitantly knocks afraid of who might answer. A young woman with brown eyes, brunette hair, and a bright smile opens up the door and sees the hooded figure and Gwendolyn before her. Knowing this is the person he was looking for Xander slowly lowers the hood revealing himself to her.

“Xander?” She gasps, “I thought they killed you for stealing technology five years ago?”

“You think they could catch me?” Xander smirks, knowing he is the most adept with the abilities that were given to all of them.

“No… I guess not,” the woman’s smile gets wider, her face becoming more flush.

“Who is this with you?” The woman asks shyly, hoping Gwendolyn isn’t anyone important.

“Hello, my name is Gwendolyn, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Gwendolyn confidently introduces herself, holding out her hand, maybe puffing out her chest a little as well.

“Juliana… I’m Juliana, why don’t you two come inside,” Juliana suggests after shaking Gwendolyn’s hand.

They follow Juliana inside and she sits down across from them on a set of couches in her living room. Gwendolyn notes how well furnished the house is, flowers from the garden out front are on all of the tables and mantles accompanied by pictures, some hanging on the walls.

“So where have you been all these years?” Juliana asks Xander.

“Across the sea in the desert,” Xander informs her, not mentioning the mountains.

Juliana looks concerned by this, she reacts instinctively, commenting, “How horrible”.

“It’s actually a great place,” Xander corrects her, believing he is winning points with Gwendolyn by defending the place she is from.

But Gwendolyn is not paying attention to the conversation, she is scanning Juliana’s place. Her eyes eventually settle on a far off picture in the next room. She starts to squint trying to figure out what is the subject of it.

“So why did you come back here if the desert is so great?” Juliana asks, trying to retain the cheerful tone in her voice.

“I heard about everything that happened since I left. You know the stuff the church has done since the king became ill. I want to change the church in order to end the war and discrimination within the Empire,” Xander explains, trying to put it as best he can so she is willing to aid him in his plans.

“If that’s true, why come to me? I’m a priest,” Juliana asks Xander, hoping for a specific answer.

“Because as a priest, you have access to knowledge about the church that others don’t, and because I know you are a good person who wants to see this Empire start to do the right thing, instead of using their power to terrorize others,” Xander compliments her in order to get her over to his side.

Juliana seems conflicted, but in the end, she caves, “What do you want to know?” Xander begins to ask her about the general structure of the church, who is in charge now, who is gone that was there before as well as beginning to brainstorm ways to peacefully remove some of them from their positions of power.

While Xander is taking in this information Gwendolyn is still focusing on that picture in the other room. She realizes whom it is of just as Juliana and Xander wrap up their conversation.

“Let’s meet in the city square near here tomorrow, I’ll bring the documents you asked for,” Juliana proposes.

“That sounds good, thank you for helping me out so much,” he smiles at her causing her to blush.

“It’s… it’s no problem at all,” she stutters while reflexively readjusting her hair.

Xander and Gwendolyn leave bidding Juliana farewell until the next day.

“So she definitely still has a thing for you,” Gwendolyn comments, having witnessed their interaction coupled with the picture of Xander she spotted on Juliana’s wall.

“She seemed normal to me, why do you say that?” Xander shrugs, oblivious to these sorts of signs.

“The way she was talking to you and the picture of you she has on the wall,” Gwendolyn points out.

“What? I didn’t see that,” Xander notes, surprised anyone would keep a picture of him in their house.

“It was in the room over, I saw it while you two were talking,” Gwendolyn explains, kind of annoyed by the whole situation.

“She is a priest though, so even if she did like me it’s not like she would do anything about it,” Xander tries to reassure her, knowing that priests cannot have those sorts of relationships.

“She can still yearn though, I don’t think we can necessarily trust her,” Gwendolyn warns him.

“But can’t we trust her more if she does in fact like me?” Xander reasons. Gwendolyn sighs, “You’re right. I guess I can trust her when it comes to helping us, but I definitely don’t trust her to be left alone with you”.

“That’s fair,” Xander lets her have that one.

As the two of them walk back to the inn they see someone who looks very out of place among the normally fair-skinned citizens of the capital. They see Kali, who seems to be arguing with a shopkeep.

“Kali?” Gwendolyn approaches her. Kali turns to see her friend, completely ignoring the man she just angered.

“There! Looks like they found you, now get out of here you fucking browny,” they hear the shopkeep tell her disappearing into his store.

Gwendolyn gives Kali a long hug, “I’m so glad you are here”.

“I thought you guys might have drowned,” Kali adds. “No, we are fine,” Gwendolyn assures her.

“What about Drakthar?” Kali asks, seeing only the two of them.

“He is fine, he’s hiding out at an inn. We are heading there now,” Xander informs her, not wanting her to worry.

Kali lets out a sigh of relief, “Good. Kayde and Fore are fine as well; they are hiding with this kooky scientist lady in a hovel deep inside the forest to the South. All of us should head there now”.

“We can’t, I have to meet someone tomorrow, she is going to bring us key information about the Purity,” Xander informs her of their meeting earlier today.

“Fine, then after that, we are heading there,” Kali insists, feeling uneasy in the heart of the enemy territory.