Camels don't actually taste like crap.

[Guest]

Just outside the ruins of Xerxes, a herd of camels traveled to their next meager feeding ground. It was a herd, right? No matter what they were called, they looked like good eating. That hump was supposed to be made entirely of fat. The dark-furred female got up and began stalking toward the animals, peeking over the tops of the dunes before sliding quickly down them. No use startling the prey when she was still so far away. As she got nearer Nessa began slowing down, judging the best moment for her charge. Finally, just before the odd creatures were alerted to her presence, the chimera charged, legs pumping. The camels didn't even know what had hit them. There was one, an old weak thing, that Nessa singled out. She managed to get in front of it and trip it, the shaggy beast tumbling in the sand. Quick as lightening the feline jumped on its long neck. Odd, how similar the neck of a camel and a llama are.

The camel died in convulsions, its lifeblood spilling onto the sand. Nessa dug in to its flesh, which turned out to be a little tougher than what she liked. Still, it wasn't all that bad. There was a subtle taste of sand, but that might have been from what the beast had kicked over itself as it died. All in all, it was good food. Ears twitching, the chimera lifted her head. She'd eaten and cooled down, it was time to get her meal out of sight. Those damn buzzards were a hassle to deal with. So the ash colored cat began dragging her kill back to the ruins of the town that made her base. It would be nice to get into the shade, where it was a few degrees cooler.

[Guest]

A cloaked figure trotted awkwardly along the desert. With each step, the unidentified person sank a few centimeters into the sand, having to pull each foot out to take the next. The sun was blistering hot, and pounded down on this figure.

"This bloody sun is going to give me burns! Remind me why I came out here again?"

In truth, she had been told to get used to the climate here in the desert because the next time she was going to act, they would be filming here, in the desert. More specifically, they would be filming some very important scenes in the Xerxes Ruins.

The figure dropped its hood, revealing bright blue hair and emerald green eyes. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and she had let her hair loose from the band that usually kept it up in a ponytail. She let out a muffled curse and continued to tread uneasily through the sand. The young woman was not dressed to travel the sands.

"Milleise Notbeka, you'd better have a good reason for agreeing to do this," she groaned to herself, doubting that she really did. The most likely explanation was that she wanted to become even greater, more well-known than before. Even if she was just going to be an extra in the film, it was still a start. After being the face of Funwari bread, she could use a change of pace... Although THIS wasn't quite what she had in mind.

As she wiped her brow, she caught sight of the Ruins.

"There it is! Finally!" With an over-dramatic sigh, Millie jogged awkwardly over to the stone ruins and sat down on the nearest, smoothest stone projection.

[Guest]

The camel was heavier than it had appeared when Nessa chased it down. That combined with the blistering heat made the work of getting the carcass under cover quite difficult. The chimera loved the desert sun, her animal side was so used to it, but the fact was that it was a love hate relationship. Nessa's dark fur soaked up too much of the heat. Normally she didn't go hunting in the desert because of this, it was too easy to get overheated, but the opportunity was simply too tempting. Finally the chimera got to the base of the ruins, hiding her kill between two large boulders. That was when she caught scent of something that didn't belong there.

There was the fresh scent of a human somewhere nearby. Leaving the camel carcass stashed where it was, Nessa went in search of the human. That was the reason she had made this place her headquarters; the sun bleached any scent away pretty fast, anyone new was bound to show up on the radar. And with the chimera's usual clientele that was pretty useful. They never knew exactly who or what Nessa was, and some tried to stay hidden. The cat followed her nose around the base of the ruins a while, finally coming on a woman. She wasn't Nessa's usual clientele, and the chimera couldn't even place her nationality.

Forgetting that she was a human covered in cheetah fur and blood on her face from her meal, Nessa made a snap decision to use her mother tongue. "Language?" she asked.

[Guest]

Something was approaching... was it..a person? No, it didn't quite look like one. Well, it did, kind of, but... it was strange. Milleise stood up and took a small step backwards to get a better look at this creature. It looked like a large, exotic cat, but something made it seem somehow human. She wiped her forehead, noticing the sweat had gotten caught in her bangs. Letting out a muffled curse, the young actress put her hands on her hips. This was certainly not how she had imagined her trip to the ruins. First of all, it was way too hot, and second, there was a weird human-like, cat-like creature here as well. Great, just great. Now she wished she was back in Drachma, in the cold, cold snow. At least it wasn't like a giant tanning salon.

When the creature spoke, she had to let out a shriek of surprise. It spoke. SPOKE. Well, considering it didn't look normal in the slightest, that shouldn't have been TOO surprising. Then again, this WAS Milleise Notbeka. She was quite spoiled when it came to a lot of things. Her first thought was that she might be imagining this, that the heat somehow made her hallucinate. Blue hair fell in her face as she rubbed here eyes for a moment. Oh. It wasn't her imagination after all. She sighed and sat back down, resting her chin on her hand.

"I speak a lot of languages. Drachman, Amestrian, Cretan, Aerugese... What ARE you, exactly? You look like a cat thing, and you speak! What's going on here? Have I completely lost it? Her face was solemn and her tone made her seem quite unimpressed. Clearly there was something odd going on here.

[Guest]

Nessa smiled a little, which turned into a smirk. The effect was just the slightest bit odd on her muzzle. A long face wasn't exactly made for smirking, it turned out little more than a soundless, good-humored snarl. Figuring the girl didn't really need to know she could speak more languages than the one she had already used, Nessa stuck with it. Sitting down on the sand the feline began washing her face, licking a wrist and using it to wipe the blood off her muzzle. The blue-haired girl was definitely not a customer, she must be lost in the desert. Still, Nessa decided to humor her.

"I'm what's called a chimera, my dear. It's what happens when an alchemist transmutes a human and an animal. I've made this place my base camp, my home, if you will. I'm sure if you had something better than that little little human nose of yours you'd have smelled the boundary. But I can't hold that against you. Would you like to get in some shade?"

Nessa stood up, tail twitching. Her kill should still be safe, but those damn buzzards were relentless. If they found the meat the chimera would be extremely mad. The feline looked around, squinting her eyes against the sunlight, There were no wheeling forms in the air yet, so she was safe. Her fur was starting to get hot to the touch, however. The desert was sweltering today. Nessa wondered if the girl had any sun protection on her skin. If she didn't she'd be sorry, the girl was pretty, and peeling isn't that attractive.

[Guest]

Milleise let out a sigh as the creature explained. Alchemy, huh? She only knew one person who would have any clue at all what this... chimera was talking about, and that was her brother. Dismissing the thought, she stood up and dusted her robe. Sure, this chimera looked strange, but given the explanation, it made a little more sense now. A human and an animal would look one way, then act another. It was a funny situation, but it only made her day a little less upsetting. At least she wasn't alone out here in the desert. This way, if she happened to pass out, there would be a witness, even if the witness did look like a large cat, and probably wasn't a vegetarian.

With disregard to the chimera's comments, she nodded wearily. "I'm not accustomed to this kind of heat. I was born and raised in Drachma, where the snow can be relentless. This temperature is making feel like I might melt if I stay in the sun for too much longer." That was the truth. If Drachma and the desert were combined, then they would probably yield the mild temperatures of Amestris. Most of it, that is. Before doing anything else, the young woman tied her hair back into a ponytail with a rubber band to help with the heat. With so much hair around her face, it was no surprise that she could hardly stand to be here. A short glimpse of a bird sent chills down her spine. That was one big bird.

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