By The Waters Of Babylon

Chapter One: The Rise

Avaris staggered out of the tomb, the sun blinding as it met his face. He put his paw over his forehead to shield against the light, in hopes of seeing anything.

"How long have I been down there, I wonder?" He pondered. "It couldn't have been too long. The sands haven't really changed." He needed to find some source of hospitality, for he may die out in the middle of the Sahara.

BOOM-KAAA!!!! The silence was shattered by a loud explosion, almost deafening to hear. Avaris covered his ears and ducked back into the tomb, still watching in fear. "W-what was that?! An artillery cannon?!" His question was somewhat answered when an enormous, slow moving, box-like machine drove up, blocking the entrance.

BOOM-KAAA!!! Another explosive bang came from the machine, the sound echoing loudly in the tomb. Avaris trembled in fear, for he had never seen something so big and loud. The machine moved forward, and he poked out his head again, his eyes still locked on it.

PA-TAHH PA-TAHH PA-TAHH!!! Horrified, he looked around to be met with another machine of the same characteristics, only smaller and more sleek. It was scurrying across the sands as it fired. Both macines branded the hammer and sickle, the flag of the Russians. "S-Soviets?! Dear God, I need to get back to England and inform the government!"

When he was sure the area was clear enough, he limped out, going as fast as he could. "M-must go... faster...!" He grunted, gaining speed only by the slightest. Off in the distance, he could hear the whirling roar of a sand storm. A sound he was all too familiar with.

His ears turned to the sound, his head following. "N-not a sand storm... not now...!" The mass of the storm was soon on him, his visibility reduced to the tip of his nose. The sand didn't hurt him for some odd reason. He shrugged it off, thinking he just couldn't feel it over the pain he already felt.