The Lost Gifts - Nedies

Laying near the edges of the sweeping Dunes, where they reached the parched Salt Flats, a gift had been mislaid. This gift would be a difficult delivery, for it was a couple feet long, eight inches tall, and very heavy indeed. It was wrapped in white with a bright green bow, but its red spots were streaked by desert sand.

The attached paper tag said, "To: Nedies," but anyone unable to read who might touch the package would also know who it was for. This package would need to be escorted to Cepheus, to its recipient. Otherwise, Nedies's holiday gift might never reach him!

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This is one of six Lost Gifts threads in the Holiday 2023 event! Characters may each choose one NPC to aid this year, but players can have as many characters as they like take part.

Characters who wish to aid Nedies should first post in this thread, and can then create more threads to travel with or simply deliver the package! Anyone may join any of these threads (but remember, just one NPC per character).

The delivery thread can be found here.

Well, this was-... new.

So much was, though. He'd awoken only a few weeks back, once again having survived Hydra--and this time, he'd returned home, trotting into the desert. Trotting, because those wings (another new development--strikingly similar to the wings of the poor, dead bustard who'd been lost to the Trial) were too foreign for him to use. His color, too, had changed. But then, that seemed to be a habit, now.

Habits-... he'd fallen back into those. Warrior had, of late, kept to the Crucible and the shade and water of its admittedly treacherous rivers, always on alert, as at home here as he'd ever been. But now, a strange vibration had come to him from some distance off. Vibrations, he thought, staring at the strange thing in the sand. That's another new thing. A 'gift' from the Sandworms, he suspected.

And speaking of gifts.

A hoof extended stiffly, prodding with awkward uncertainty at the wrapping. And in a flash, he knew what the box was: a present for the one known as Nedies. A name he'd only heard in passing--and it was far, far away. But if this belonged to Nedies-... shouldn't he get it back to him? Maybe those wings he'd gradually been learning to use might finally be useful to him. "Hello..?" Warrior called out at last, tentatively. He readjusted those wings across his back, blinking around him. He scanned the nearby Dunes, but he could see no sign of whoever had dropped this. He had seen something skid away high in the dust-swirled sky, but whatever that had been was long gone.

Warrior tipped his head to one side quizzically as he regarded the package again. "Let me guess... an Eyehook stole you, and finally realized you aren't alive or edible..."

He sighed softly, prodded the box again, then resigned himself to the journey.

It might seem careless, for a creature of Order to stalk the sands of Hydra when the Hive's numbers are so few. But the whispers of this cave being transformed into something less deadly was a rumor Mother must see confirmed.

And while no sandworms had attempted to claim Alcina for a meal, she had still found something interesting enough. Warrior, nudging the package in the sand, did not seem familiar to her as one who feared Order. "What's this?" she'd ask him, keeping her jaws closed to try and not look like a threat.

That did mean her sight was blurry, as she nudged closer to the package. Even if she could read, she couldn't make out the words on the tag either. But the knowledge was still imparted upon her. Nedies... she parrots, half sending a question to Mother who this was.

She did gain a thought however - maybe delivering this package to its owner would help prove the good will of the Hive? "I could help you with it, if you'd like," she offers Warrior, looking at him.

@Warrior

Surprise, at the white behemoth approaching across the sands. "Oh," was his startled 'greeting,' followed by a sharp backward step, an uncertain flick of ears, a shift again of wings-... He was unsure of her, and it showed in every motion.

"A gift, I think, for--someone far away. I was going to deliver it. You're welcome to come along?" he added, and nudged it her way. He tried to push his fear away. It seemed rude, considering how polite the stranger was being. "My magic can carry it, at times, but maybe you have a better way."

He turned, preparing to go, and shuffled his wings again. "I am Warrior. You're in Hydra at a good time," he added, amused.

@Alcina (for visibility)