Had To Buy Camels

[Anonymous]

When Rashida woke up this morning, she hoped it was going to be a good day. The morning had been blessedly cool, the sun hidden by fluffy white clouds, her pockets were laden with gold, her wares were selling faster than she could keep track...

And then she had to buy camels. Two camels. She had yet to hear the end of it.

"Camels in my day were noble beasts," The demon behind her snorted, his stately jackal head peering down in disgust at the beast of burden that he was sitting upon. His hind legs were practically dragging upon the sand, and he had to keep his claws upward slightly to prevent them from doing so, which made his toes curl as he did so. "These are filthy, smelly animals."

"And guess what? It's the only damn thing that can cross this bloody desert!" Rashida snapped at him, her brown eyes alight with fury as her pretty mouth was twisted into a scowl... Which, considering that she was stuck with only this high demon for company as they traversed across this land of death, was guaranteed. Sweat was dripping off her brow, the white hood and veil that she wore doing nothing to stifle the heat... though considering the angry flush on her cheek that wasn't helping matters either. She tried her best to glare at Akhenaten, the ancient high demon, God of Judgement, but the sweat dripping in her eyes interfered.

The high demon himself seemed non-pulsed by what she said. He only straightened himself on the beast, his luxurious tail gathered around his waist, from which hung a long sapphire cloth, inlaid with golden thread. His eyebrows raised at her tone, and he clicked his blood red tongue against his silver teeth. "A shame. I thought you could do soo much better Rashida Abdul."

The woman seemed to give up. She slumped forward on her camel as it came to a halt, and farted.

"I hate you Akhen," she grumbled into the camel's fur.

"And I'm bound to you. Now, onward! I smell milk and honey on the horizon!" Akhen snarled, a sound that sent a chill up Rashida's spine as his dew claw dug into the camel's hide. It gave a bleat as it began to gallop toward an oasis in the midst, with a cursing Rashida following afterward, shouting curses at the high demon.

And this sort of behavior was normal.

[Anonymous]

It was a lovely day, dry and warm and Eshe loved it. Perfect weather! She was bringing her herd up through the desert, having already stopped in Essyrn to get some of their light, fast horses. They were beautiful, but Eshe was fonder of the plains and steps ponies she got a bit farther north. They had the stamina and heart that she liked.

Currently, they were all drinking and resting after the trek across the hot sands, and Eshe was taking the time to rest as well, lounging in the shade of a tree, legs stretched out as she fanned herself lightly.

The sounds of camels approaching, Eshe twisted to see who was arriving. A pretty looking girl, who Eshe instantly didn't fully approve of and a very strange looking...man? Pretty girls meant competition in the attention department, though Eshe was a radiant desert flower and the other girl was just...sort of okay looking.

The man with the dog head was strange though! Eshe was curious about him. Getting to her feet took some effort, the motion awkward looking as she steadied herself a moment before picking her way over to where they stood.

She seemed a bit bigger than the odd man, people were all so tiny out here, but she still beamed brightly at the two of them, "Hello! Eshe say you arrive!" She tilted her head, watching the large man, "You don't fit your camel very well."

[Anonymous]

Akhen certainly wasn't expecting this. His eyes had been trained on the water and the few stalls of weary travelers, a few of which had to be selling milk and honey. He had smelled it on the desert wind. Of course they had to! But the creature approaching him...

He pulled the reigns of his camel as it came to a halt, and stared at her with a mix of fascination, curiosity, and, well... it was hard to tell what else. His tail flipped idly, claws along his hind feet flexing, jaws slightly parted.

"You, uh..." His gaze drifted downward to her bare breasts, and her... well. That wasn't a human torso. But he recognized the creature that she was a part of-- an okapi, if he remembered right. Used often in the zoos of royalty. But... none of them had a human torso and head.

"Eshe?" He repeated, trying the name on his tongue. She... had a funny way of speaking. But at the mention of the camel, he snorted, just as Rashida came trotting along beside him.

"Oh!" Rashida looked up at the other girl, surprised, and took off her veil, trying for a small smile. "Hello there! I didn't expect to see anyone so far out in the desert...." Her gaze drifted to the horses.

"Would those happen to be yours?" Already they looked a great deal better than the camels she was stuck with. That were now trying to eat her robes.

[Anonymous]

"Yes! Eshe is Eshe!" The okapitaur giggled, tilting her head to the side as she watched the pair. The girl was tiny, like most humans, but the other one was almost normal sized. The girl was a little pretty for Eshe, though she had too few limbs and lacked Eshe's stripes, so that was alright at least.

"What are you called?" Eshe turned when the horses were mentioned, looking over her herd that was placidly grazing and resting, "Oh yes! Those are Eshe's. Eshe is a very good horse trader. Much better than camels. Well, unless you are going to be traveling long time across the desert. Camels better for that. But Eshe have good horses. Best you find!"