The Timmy's froze in place horror on their faces. Kat confused turned around to see what had caused them to panic… only to find a very angry looking Grace and Skye.
"So… you guys done with your argument then?" asked Kat
Grace spluttered and Skye set her mouth in a hard line but said nothing just continuing to glare at Kat.
"Guess you guys have finished your argument then?" said Kat trying to look innocent with the Timmy's in line behind her doing the same.
"Well, Kat" said Grace drawing out the word "Are you not the one who insisted we were wasting time?"
Kat glanced at the Timmy's for help, but they just shrugged in response leaving her to deal with Grace and Skye by herself. "I mean… you guys seem to need to just argue it out, so… I was having a bit of fun with the Timmy's"
"Look Kat," said Skye "We weren't arguing per say… just, establishing our opinions in a firm and slightly disagreeing manner. Nothing wrong with that"
Kat shared a confused look with the Timmy's *Is she serious?* But the Timmy's just shook their heads, wanting nothing to do with the argument that was brewing. *Maybe those guys have the right idea actually.*
"So… now that you've firmly expressed your opinions can we start traveling? I mean I was only occupying my time while you guys were 'having that discussion' now that it's over we can, as you implied, stop wasting time?" said Kat
Grace and Skye had serene expressions on their faces, but their eyes were burning. Kat quickly hid her tail behind her back and started using it to give the Timmy's instructions. First creating a small snowball with her tail, then then pointed to it, one of the Timmy's then Skye. Kat then repeated this a second time but pointing to Grace at the end.
The Timmy's looked apprehensive at this plan but Kat couldn't see this with her back facing them. Assuming their resistance however Kat mimed that she would through snowballs as by pointing to the snowball, herself, and both Skye and Grace.
The Timmy's convinced saluted along and disappeared into the snow.
"Kat" said Grace
"Are you sure we shouldn't talk this out" said Skye
"We wouldn't want to leave you out of this discussion" said Grace smile crawling onto her face.
"Indeed, I'm sure your further input would be much appreciated" said Skye
At this point the Timmy's were in position and just waiting for the 'go' signal. *You know… maybe this is a bad decision. Aw well, live and learn*
Kat gave the go signal just as her tail completed her own set of snowballs. The two Timmy's unleashed a barrage of snowballs onto Skye and Grace. Kat quickly followed up with her own.
Skye and Grace both looked shocked, and somewhat annoyed. Skye not willing to waste her mana on any defensive spells just let the snowballs from the Timmy's hit her with the occasional dodge for one of Kat's. Grace on the other hand tried to dodge or block them with the edge of her bow.
After running out of ammo the six stood awkwardly around waiting for the next move. Grace and Skye looked towards each other and nodded. Grace notched an arrow and Skye summoned two sigils.
"Timmy's on me" said Kat. At this call the three Timmy's appeared beside Kat who scooped them all into her arms and took of running past the sand skipper. Grace shot a few half-hearted arrows easily dodged by Kat and Skye sent two spells that just barely missed Kat as she ran.
Kat quickly reached the sand, but this didn't stop her. She simply continued to run, more than able to ignore the extreme heat emanating from the sands as they shifted under her feet. Skye was surprised to see Kat was capable of simply running across, proving Skye's earlier statement to be true.
Once again sharing a look, Skye and Grace took off towards the sand skipper. Grace increased their tailwind with a sigil and Skye boosted their running speed with some kind of haste, speeding them ever closer to Kat.
They both took up their positions in the sand skipper with Grace on the till and Skye working the sail by some unspoken agreement. As soon as the sail was unfurled the sand skipper shot of towards Kat.
Kat for her part was just running at her enhanced speed and was surprised to see Skye and Grace gaining ground so rapidly. Of course, there was always a solution to this. Winking at the Timmy's before sticking her tongue out and throwing her head back towards her fast approaching teammates the Timmy's got the idea.
As Kat started speeding up her run, she looked back and poked her tongue out at the sand skipper with the Timmy's joining in, one even pulling on their eyelids… which did nothing considering their faces were made of wood but it's the thought that counts.
Grace seeing this said something to Skye. What it was Kat couldn't hear and didn't feel the need to use her enhanced healing for. Shortly afterwards though a large sigil appeared in front of Grace as she summoned her bow.
It wasn't loaded with an arrow, but she drew the string back and pointed it towards the sail. Skye latched her feet under the benches and gave a nod to Grace. Grace loosed the "arrow" and a massive gust of wind followed increasing the sand skippers speed drastically.
Seeing this Kat decided it was about time to stop the fun. Kat let herself slow down as the skipper rapidly closed in on her. Just as it was about to reach her, she unfurled her wings and gave a slight hop. Expertly gliding to land lightly on the front of the vessel.
Once Kat landed softly, she sat down and started laughing. Grace and Skye gave her a weird look at the start but started to laugh as well. This was slightly dangerous considering Skye and Grace were supposed to be steering, but because they only had to travel straight, they managed to not cause anything catastrophic to happen.
"See, now you guys aren't stuck talking and we are already on the way" said Kat
Grace grimaced at this but said "Well, we only needed two people to catch you. It clearly isn't a three-person sand skipper"
Kat signalled the Timmy's in her hand and all three hurled a snowball in Grace's direction. "Wait where did those even come from" said Grace
"I'm hiding them in my sleeves. Do we need more ammo?" asked Kat with a raised eyebrow.
Skye was trying not to start laughing at Grace now covered in snow, though rapidly melting, as she also tried to steer the sand skipper.
Grace pouted and looked away, but still kept an eye on where they were going. "So, Grace, should we share a bit of information about what's on the other side of the dessert as thanks for the sand skipper?" asked Kat
Grace looked somewhat annoyed at Kat still but nodded. *See, fair is fair. And besides, it isn't actually much, so we can just look like we are prepared.* "Once we pass through the desert, we hit a wall of fog. I can't see what is on the other side so it must be real fog"
Skye nodded and said "Is there anything you can tell me about the desert though? That's a bit more relevant to us right now"
Kat shook her head "Not really, I was distracted by the massive wall of fog, then the slightly less massive bird that came after me. So perhaps there is something noteworthy around, but I didn't see anything super obvious"
Skye nodded again and seem to be considering the information as she stared out at the horizon perhaps looking for some trace of the fog wall. Kat decided to copy her but with a bit of energy into the mix.
As Kat increased her visions magnification, she found that she could just barely see the wall. It didn't really look like a wall, it was more like a grey line because of the horizon but she could still recognise it knowing what it was.
As Kat was doing this, the Timmy's were collecting the remaining snowballs and hiding under the seats with them. Kat was unaffected by the additional heat but they sure weren't. Grace and Skye were fine, but only for the moment. They had both started to sweat, but the breeze helped them ignore it for now.
The Timmy's watched as their snow quickly started melting and gave away to the heat of the desert rising up from the stands. Placing a comforting hand on each other they all sat spread out underneath the shade. Waiting for this leg of the journey to pass.
Kat just sat at the bow of the skipper, trying to keep a look out for anything interesting. She had reduced the power in her eyes so that she could keep a better watch on the relatively close area rather than just the furthest reaches.. She might not be piloting the ship, but she did want to be prepared in case there were more dangers like the Barbarashi.