It had not been long since Yula had left Helbrim behind before she found herself travelling towards the Skaeran Desert by Hilduk and Flek’s side. This would be her first time seeing or travelling through a desert and she was rather excited to see what it might have in store for her. Before they’d even reached the border Yula could feel the weather beginning to change; becoming much hotter and the air much drier than she’d expected it to be. Initially she had enjoyed the heat, spending short bursts of time basking in the sun, preening and dust bathing whenever they stopped for a brief rest. The closer they got to the border, however, and the hotter it became, the more often Yula found herself seeking out shade instead.
In order to cross the desert safely, they would be joining a caravan. Flek easily made the arrangements required to do so and it had not taken her long to secure them passage with a band of travelling merchants and their caravan.
As they continued to travel, Yula came out of her shell more and more, her true colours shining through as she began settling into her life of adventure. She grew feistier, talked more and overall became more confident and sure of herself. She also grew more and more protective of Hilduk and with her new abilities to use magic, she grew much more emboldened as well. During a point early into their travel with the caravan, Yula nearly blasted off one of the merchant's arms as a result of this. He had noticed her cloak shift in strange ways as Hilduk moved and rested beneath it. Without thinking he’d reached out to touch her as he tried to figure out what it was. Much to his immediate surprise and horror, Yula turned and shot at him, firing a blast of magic that barely missed his head; badly injuring his shoulder as a result. Had Flek not stepped in so quickly, Yula may have ended up killing him. Thankfully though, she had been able to calm the situation before it got out of hand and before Yula could get them kicked off of the caravan. After the incident however, the merchants kept more of a.. ‘respectable’ distance from her; unless she approached them first.
One of the stops the caravan made as they travelled was in the town of Miners Mirage; a small, almost forgotten town based out in the middle of the Skaeran Desert. There weren’t many people but Yula quite enjoyed it nonetheless. Yula found the people in the town rather interesting and spent a fair deal of time watching them, mimicking them, following them around and observing them. She also took quite a liking to their food, specifically, the spice for which the town is known; Sandroot. During their stay in Miners Mirage, Yula found and managed to steal an entire keg of the spice, stashing it away in the caravan beneath some hay and blankets, unbeknownst to anyone at the time and managed to keep it safely hidden throughout the rest of their stay in the town.
While they stayed in the town, she also overheard stories of a beast known locally as the King of Sand; a massive sounding and horrific beast that thankfully did not make an appearance during their stay. On the third day of their stay, Yula managed to wander off and find one of the old Sandroot mines. She wandered into it and proceeded to get so turned around in the many intermingled shafts and passageways that had an old miner not been passing by to overhear her squawking in distress from within, she might not have found her way out until someone realized she was missing and went to look for her.
Come the following morning, the caravan was loaded back up and heading out. By the time Flek noticed the keg that Yula had taken to guarding, they were already hours out from the town. Rather than being upset, Flek was amused by Yulas antics; extremely proud of herself for having gotten her claws onto such a large stash of the spice. Yula showed the keg off to Flek happily and of course shared it with her and Hilduk, but otherwise kept it very well guarded and hidden.
Throughout the rest of their travels with the caravan, it was attacked numerous times by the many predators of the desert; which seemed to target the caravan fairly often. The caravan kept and cared for a number of Sand Bison, which Yula came to learn were more than just livestock or beasts of burden. She observed that whenever an attack could not be fended off easily, the merchants would release one of the bison into the desert as a last resort. Yula learned quickly that the desert is a very dangerous and unforgiving place; a place she would never wish to traverse on her own.
Soon enough, the caravan arrived at the small port town of Kas on the edge of the Great Coast. This would also be Yula’s first time seeing the ocean. Never before had she seen such a massive body of water. She enjoyed watching the way the water lapped at the shore, letting it wash over her feet and splashing about in the seafoam, especially after spending so much time in the heat of the desert.
This is where Yula, Hilduk and Flek would part ways with the caravan; for they would be spending a short stay within Kas before the next leg of Yula’s journey would begin.
