One Little Spark: Part 1

Chapter 22

          The heat of the desert has increased in temperature to near extreme measures since the Dream Machine arrived with its passengers. There is no sign of an oasis anywhere and chances of finding any natives lurking across the sand for help are very slim. The Sun grew intensely hot on the crew as if it were no less than 100,000 feet away in distance.

          Rachel's shower definitely served a purpose for her tempered body from sweating and continuing her argument against Dreamfinder. Her only thoughts were of Yuna taking refuge in the necklace Dreamfinder specifically made just for her. It's an accessory, not a hotel room. Occasionally, Rachel would hear Yuna humming and watch her necklace glow a bright blue every time she giggles. Not since they met had Yuna shown herself out of the necklace. At least it gives Rachel a little privacy and a fresh peaceful mind...for the time being.

          It is hard to tell if Dreamfinder's face is red from the heat or if he's still mad at Rachel for being inconsiderate, loud and rude. It is really the heat that should be the blame of her rudeness, not her, he thought. Sooner or later, he'll have to forgive her for snapping at him so long as Rachel forgives Dreamfinder for raising his voice at her and threaten to send her home. Due to his newfound feelings for her, it would be unwise to treat her with disrespect. On the other hand, Rachel has been the main cause of his irritation this whole time she's been with him and Figment. So what would be the point then: simply for the sake of a progressing admiration? Only one can wonder.

          Normally, when Dreamfinder would talk about his feelings of Rachel, Figment would come up and tease him a bit. But this time, it best not to bring the topic back up to him. The best the purple dragon can do for now is sit by his side as his companion just as he has always been since the beginning of their adventures as if it were fate that made Dreamfinder bright his imaginary friend come to life. There are no words the dragon could speak to express his gratitude for his existence.

          So far, Alex's adventure is off to a slightly decent start. One day he's lived in a city in the middle of a hollow mountain with mountains and lush green fields all around and then next day he's sees nothing but sand everywhere. And being a Katkin himself, he's likely to sweat every drop of liquid from his body from the heat and shine on his fur like the dew on grass in the early morning. In other words, like Rachel, he is definitely not into this kind of weather.

          The Dream Machine glides over the dunes of the desert all day and into the night. The one thing about deserts that most people would often find annoying is how the sun in the daylight would singe them to a crisp and then how the coolness freezes them to the core of their bodies in the nighttime. Out of everyone in the airship who would feel most likely to freeze to death in the night would probably be Dreamfinder and Rachel with their delicate flesh. Figment would get cold, but would have more protection for him from his scales. And another thing about the Katkins, in Alex's case, is that their fur is warm enough to last throughout the night.

          Days have gone by and soon turned into weeks, and then turned into an entire month of roaming in a lifeless desert. There is nothing to do but keep moving forward. The provisions of food and water are running out to where everything has to be rationed daily. The sun is draining the energy out of the four friends. Though wearing a top hat to protect his eyes from blindness of the sun's light, it is not enough to protect Dreamfinder's face from getting sunburned. Same with Rachel, too, only she decides to stay inside the cabin away from the heat. Figment finds shades on one side of the Dream Machine while the sun beats down on the other. And Alex has been flopping around in the boy's bathtub hoping to find at least a little coolness to brush his skin and fur over to relieve him. The days are terrible and the nights are impossible. During the days they all sweat, and during the night they stop the Machine to cool down and huddle in their beds and covers for warmth. This desert is no place for any man or woman of any kind in existence to live in.

          Then, one afternoon, Rachel trudges out of her bedroom to Dreamfinder groaning aloud. Not a very delightful sound to make. She finds her host with his blue and dress coat off, his white shirt unbuttoned, and his socks and shoes off. His eyes heavily drooped and blurred with his sweat cascading down over them and his face. His breaths are rasped and scratched to every word he would speak, beyond thirsting for even just one drop of water to satisfy him.

"Ugh! Dreamfinder!" Rachel groans. "We've been out here for weeks! Let's just dream ourselves out of this heat trap and be done with this place already."

"Not yet, Rachel..." Dreamfinder sighed in weakness from the hot temperature. "There's something out here...with dream power. I can...feel it."

"Dude! The only thing you can feel is this heat just as it is for everyone else. Have you suddenly become selfish enough to keep going instead of getting your friends out of this place?"

"Rach..."

          He could not finish saying Rachel's name and faints. Dreamfinder then falls off of his seat to the side and closes his eyes. Shocked, Rachel lets out a scream in his name and calls out for Alex to Figment for help. They come out of the cabin and find Dreamfinder completely unconscious and also let out of scream of shock. And the worst part of this is tragedy is that Dreamfinder is the only person who can drive the Dream Machine well. Second in command would have to be Figment.

"Quick! Get Dreamfinder inside for some water." Figment orders.

          As Rachel and Alex try to lift Dreamfinder to their shoulders, Dreamfinder groans in agony of the sun's light. Some shelter is what he really needs. Dragged on his feet into the cabin, they bring him to his bedroom, onto his bathtub and turn on the cold water.

          The cold water instantly takes effect into Dreamfinder's senses, his arms and legs spazz out in all directions trying to take grip of the side of the tub, and his eyes grow big in alarm. Some of the water that falls into his mouth he spits out and chokes. He then tries to drink some of that water to quench his throat. Refreshing as it was, it also tastes like sand.

"Goodness! That's much better!" Dreamfinder exclaims with excitement.

"Are you alright, Dreamfinder?" Alex asks.

"Yes, I'm better now. Thank you."

"Dude, you really scared us right there." said Rachel with concern. "We thought you were going to die of getting baked like a potato and boiled like a lobster."

"Will you please refrain from the mention of lobsters and potatoes, Rachel? We're already low on food and I don't want to think about starving yet."

"Oh, sorry."

"Rachel...Rachel...Alex, I'm so sorry. I really let you all down this time. I got so consumed into finding what dream power I could find I let the heat get to me. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course we will." Alex said.

"Not until we get out of here." Rachel said.

"Rachel!"

"Okay fine. I do forgive you, Dreamfinder...and apologize for that rude remark."

"It's alright, Rachel." Dreamfinder smiled. "Really it is. Now let's say we finally get out of this desert and back home."

"Yes please! Finally!" Rachel and Alex exclaim together.

"Hey guys! Check this out!" Figment calls out from outside.

Figment's cries are indistinct to hear from the cabin. Everyone rushes out to the pilot's seat where the dragon sat controlling the airship.

He points ahead and asks "I'm not the only one seeing what I'm seeing ahead of us, right?"

          Up ahead of the Dream Machine behind a massive heat wave Figment sees a group of small green stems poking out of the sand. Below it a watery lagoon surrounded by a layer of solid ground. It might be just a mirage, images that are playing with Figment's mind. Or is it?

"I think I see it." said Alex.

"Yeah, me too!" Rachel agrees.

"A real oasis!" Dreamfinder jumps with excitement. "Figment, step on it!"

"Aye-aye, captain!" Figment salutes.

          The dragon presses on the gas pedal, or dream pedal, and speeds the airship towards the supposed oasis. Could it really be an oasis? Is this be the end of their fiery misery? Perhaps everyone has their heads messed up by the heat. Or maybe they are mistaking this oasis for something else. Whatever it is, they are not taking any chances. Everyone but Figment is pushed back off their feet and onto the wooden floor of the Dream Machine as it glides in terrible speed to their destination ahead. They are this desperate enough to find relief in the form of food and water.

          Finally, the Dream Machine pulls up beside the oasis. At least, they think it is an oasis. Dreamfinder jumps off first, feeling a little weak in his legs from the fainting in the heat, a drags his feet to the nearest "tree." He knocks onto the trunk only to feel its solidness and the liquid touch of cold water. They are real!

          Given a thumb's up from Dreamfinder, everyone else jumps off the Dream Machine with high praise. Encouraged by the sight, Figment imagines a diving board to appear and wearing trunks to match the occasion. He hops on off the board and performs a perfect swan dive into the lagoon. Laughing heartedly, Dreamfinder picks Rachel up in his arms and follows his imaginary friend inside. Such a blessing it is to feel the cold fluid enveloping their physical beings and cooling their skins and flowing their hair above their heads like seaweed in the ocean. Almost out of breathe, three friends swim to surface and gasp for air. Then they start splashing each other. Big waves, little waves, and every kind of splashes they can think of. But something is missing.

"Hey Alex!" Rachel shouts from the lagoon. "Why don't you come inside? The water's great!"

          Only Alex Wavers remained out of the water. He stood on the edge of the lagoon wiggling his toes in his nervousness. His tail twitched vigorously and his eyes shrunk smaller with intensity.

"I'm hydrophobic!" Alex exclaimed.

"Hi-de-wha-wha?" Figment failed to pronounce.

"Hydrophobic. It means I'm afraid of water. I can't swim. It's a natural fear given to many of the Katkin race, with some exceptions."

"I guess that's a typical fear for every kind of universal cat." Rachel thought to herself.

"But aren't you hot with the desert sun beating on you?" Dreamfinder asked.

"I am," said Alex, "but if I jump into the water I'll feel a lot heavier coming out. My fur would weigh me down another twenty pounds at least."

"So sit out in the sun then." Rachel insisted.

"Yeah!" Figment said, "The sun was already hot enough to heat us up once we first came into this world. It should likely dry you off just as quickly once you get out of the lagoon and sit a while."

"I suppose, but I'm way too scared to get into the water anyway." Ales pointed out.

"Here. Climb on my back and I'll carry you in." Dreamfinder decided.

"No, I couldn't!"

"You want to cool off, don't you?"

"Well..."

"Come on! It'll be fine."

          Just as he said, Dreamfinder turns his back toward the Katkin and waited. Reluctant to try, Alex crouches down to Dreamfinder's height. To do that Alex would have to dip both of his feet into the water first. His sweat dropped through his tangled fur. He feels both fear and temptation rising up in him; fear of feeling in the cold water, temptation to feel the cold water. What choice did he have? He could lick the sweat off of him to cool down like other cats normally do, but that is both disgusting and disturbing to see. There is no other way to cool himself off.

          Alex takes off his shoes and gently lowers his feet into the lagoon. The cold feeling of liquid penetrates through the young Katkin's fur and then touches his skin. His feet and legs tremble in a bittersweet motion making him shiver from the, what seems to be like, icy grip. So far, so good. Nothing bad is happening at the moment. Now all Alex has to do is wrap his arms around Dreamfinder's shoulders and jump on his back. His arms quickly grab around Dreamfinder's neck, nearly choking him, and with his intensity increasing his claws grow out and pierce into the skin on Dreamfinder's chest.

"Agh! Easy with the claws, Alex." Dreamfinder exclaims.

"Sorry." said Alex.

          He loosens his grip on Dreamfinder's front side. Then Alex wrapped his legs around his torso and held tightly with his tail tucked in between. All set with Alex hugging his back, Dreamfinder walks away through the water from the edge of the lagoon. Easy come easy go. Alex's eyes closed shut with fear. The farther Dreamfinder went, the higher the water rose up to Alex's torso and then to his shoulders. Finally, when Dreamfinder stopped, the Katkin slowly opened his eyes. All he can see is nothing but blue water below him. At first he finches trying to climb right on top of Dreamfinder, but all it does is get himself to fall over backwards into the water.

          Now Alex is all soaked. His fur flows in the watery atmosphere like seaweed in the ocean floor or grass in a Zephyrus wind. He opens his eyes and abruptly searches around him. All he can see are the lower halves of his friends and the wet sandy floors of the desert. His breath was about to give out as he searched. He spazzed out and struggled his way back to the surface. The Katkin's arms and legs swished and swayed violently as he tries to make his way out. His only salvation was Dreamfinder and Rachel quickly pulling him back up by the arms just in time before he was about to drown. Alex gasped deeply for breath. It was such a sweet relief.

"Are you alright, Alex?" Rachel asked with concern.

"I'm...I'm alright." Alex quivers.

"Whew! That was a close one." Figment sighed with relief.

"Goodness, Alex." Dreamfinder exclaimed. "I must say you're lasting a lot longer in the water than I thought."

"Yeah...it's actually...not that bad." Alex said. "It feels kind of nice."

"That's saying something for a catlike person." Rachel said. "Then again, lots of big cats like to swim a lot more than smaller ones do."

"Then Alex must be growing up!" Figment laughed.

"Funny. You're funny, you know that?" Alex sassed.

"Well, at least you can last a long while in the water." said Dreamfinder. "Do you still want to stay in?"

"Well...why not? But only if you'll teach me how to swim."

"Deal!"

"Yippee!" Figment cheers.

          Cheerful at the results, Figment jumps back onto his diving board and dives into the water with Rachel doing cannonballs. Meanwhile, Dreamfinder teaches Alex how to swim. Of course Alex's fear of water stays in intact throughout half of the lesson, but after a while he seems to get better and better. With Rachel, the fresh feeling of cool water running and flowing through her hair is incredible; it's something she had been waiting a month in the desert to feel once again. Figment's enjoyment of swimming has overflowed him with the splendors of the underwater experience. The one time he had experience being in water in his life was when he had been splashed upon with Dreamfinder by giant raindrops in the brainstorm during their fist adventure. To finally be able to swim just for the fun of it is more than enough fun to last a day's worth. Everyone is having a good time. That is until Figment stopped his fun time at a first glance at something curious.

"Hey guys, look at that!" Figment calls out.

          About twenty feet away from the oasis sat a dark cave. The entrance to it is about as big as the lagoon itself, only it's more rocky that liquid on the outside. The inside of it is but a sandy floor made solid as it went deeper into the darkness. The walls that are visible from the outside are packed with stalagmites and stalactites all around from floor to ceiling in every size and shape possible. Intriguing it is, yet also strange.

"Strange. That wasn't there before." said Dreamfinder.

"You sure it's not a mirage, Figment?" Rachel asked.

"How can it be a mirage if everybody can see it?" Figment replied.

"I guess my head isn't as straightforward from the heat as I thought it would be by now."

"Why don't we go see for ourselves?"

"I don't know, Figment." Dreamfinder said with uneasiness inside. "It looks pretty spooky in there. Plus, it just showed up out of nowhere without any of us noticing it. Doesn't it sound a little suspicious to you? And suppose there are ferocious creatures in there and—"

"Okay, NOW you're being such a worrywart, Dreamfinder." said Rachel.

"I'm just pointing out the dangerous possibilities."

"It would be cool to go spelunking for a bit."

"I don't know what spelunking is and I'm already starting to like the idea." Figment laughs with excitement.

"You guys can go if you want." Alex said as he jumps out of the pool and onto the sand with his fur dangling heavily. "I'm far too drenched to walk anywhere for the moment."

"You're going to stay out here all alone?"

"I don't mind. Ron and I used to sneak around the caves and underground trails in Iyrilia back when we were considered outlaws, so I'd probably get bored of the journey later on. Plus, if I get too hot from the heat again I'll just jump back into the pool and practice swimming again."

"Alright. Suit yourself."

          Figment and Rachel jump out of the lagoon and start heading towards the entrance. The girl turns around and finds Dreamfinder still in the water staring at the size of the cave. She can tell by the way his eyes are gazing in awe of the structure, how relaxed his shoulders are and how wide his mouth is open underneath his bushy, yet well brushed mustache. She chuckles and slightly snickers a scoff at the dumb sight, though it was not enough for Dreamfinder to notice.

          It doesn't make any sense for the cave to appear out of nowhere. This sort of thing does not happen in reality. Then again, this is a dream world. In dreams, anything is likely enough to happen in any way, shape or form. Dreamfinder, of all people, would know that. And he learned it the hard way from his past adventures. Did he imagine this cave to appear? He doesn't think so? Did any of his friends imagine it appear? Judging by the looks on their faces, he had figured not. Very strange indeed.

"Are you coming?" Rachel asked Dreamfinder.

"Huh? Oh, yes!" Dreamfinder said as he snapped out of his trance. "I'm coming."

As he says this, Dreamfinder jumps out of the lagoon to join his friends leaving Alex behind in the sun. His shirt and pants come out dragging and drown out the access water that had built up inside. The only piece of his outfit that is dry is his hat. He catches up to Figment and Rachel as they begin their spelunking expedition.