"Now, the first rule of doing things right is that we need to make sure we won't dehydrate," Dmitri instructed. "Drink as much as you can; I'll fill the skins, but we'll have to be careful with what we have. I'd prefer to travel at night as well, but that's when they'll expect us to be on the move...and as I said, we need to get you in the sun."

"This doesn't sound as good as it did when you first mentioned it..." Moonstone muttered with a sigh at the community fountain. It had started to get colder and he was suddenly very glad for the cloak he'd been close to ridding himself of earlier.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Dmitri chided. "It just isn't as easy as you thought it would be. But I never said it was going to be..."

The slave sighed and nodded wearily. "You're right, you didn't," he agreed. As much as he hated to admit it, though, he was willing to do whatever it took to be free. He just hoped that he wouldn't regret it too much. He watched Dmitri fill the skins and dutifully took the ladle he'd been given, filling his mouth with the cold water, ignoring the slightly bitter aftertaste in the back of his throat.

After several moments of drinking as quickly as he could, Moonstone stopped, fighting the nausea of having put too much in his stomach at once. He heard a quiet chuckle and glanced over at Dmitri, arching one pale eyebrow. "Yes?" he hissed testilly.

"I forgot to tell you not to drink too fast, didn't I?" the Gypsy responded with a grin. "You're looking a little sick."

"I've never had to do this before," the paler boy defended angrily. If Dmitri was going to treat him like cheap entertainment, all bets were off! He could at least get paid to do that in captivity.

"I know," his companion said, sobering immediately as he tied off the water skins. "You're just such a contradiction...I've never known anyone who can fight like you and has your spirit that doesn't know how to survive."

"Just because I don't know how to wander around the desert doesn't mean I can't survive," the petite boy growled. "I have survived things you could never imagine..."

Dmitri stepped forward, cupping the scowling face before him in his palms. "But now, you'll learn a different way to survive," he whispered, leaning forward to place a lingering kiss on the pursed lips. "As long as there is life in my body, you will never be a slave to any man or woman."

That was all Moonstone could take. Looking into the sepia-shaded eyes and realizing that his lover meant every word he said with his very soul, Moonstone's knees buckled and he sagged against Dmitri weakly, barely managing to cling to the larger boy's strong arms. He hated himself for acting like a harem girl finally gaining her Sultan's attentions; he'd really either have to learn to school his body to stop acting on those impulses, or learn to stop being so damned attracted to Dmitri in the first place. "Dmitri..."

"Goddess, you certainly know how to test a man's patience," he murmured, fighting the urge to scoop the boy up and kiss him senseless.

"That is also what I was trained for."

"Forget your training," Dmitri hissed, pulling the slave to his feet. "There will be no more of that."

"Not even with you?" Moonstone purred coyly.

"Not if you don't want to," the Gypsy whispered, pushing the hood of the cloak back.

"And if I do?" he asked.

"Then you do," he said simply, pulling the material back up, hiding the other boy's face. "But as much of a temptation as you are...and you are...I don't wish to stay here any longer. Drink a little more and we can leave."

Moonstone nodded and obediently began to drink again, being careful to take smaller mouthfuls and discovered that the cold didn't give him headaches the second time around. Shortly afterward, Dmitri finished and they loaded what little they would be carrying with them on their backs. It was time to leave Khandaar for the first and last time.

Dmitri lead the way to the edges of the city and the smaller boy was hard-pressed to keep up and still stay quiet with all the added bulk and the boots. Once the Gypsy realized their problem, he slowed his pace, praying that they would be able to leave without being caught. He glanced skyward to judge the time by the moon and breathed a sigh of relief; they were still mostly on time and it would be a while before anyone woke, still.

Once they got out of the city, however, was when the real test would begin. There was a cave only a mile away that was mostly hidden and had such a small opening that Dmitri had doubted he could even have gotten in to begin with, but he'd managed to squirm his way in and left the other supplies they would need. He could hear Moonstone behind him and he feverently hoped that the slave would be able to handle their hard travelling schedule. There wouldn't be much time to rest and they would be walking many miles before it was safe to catch up with the caravan. He shook his head to himself; it didn't really matter. He would carry the Key if he had to.

At the edge of the settlement, Dmitri paused, allowing Moonstone to take in the sight of what lay before them. The smaller boy gasped as he saw nothing but miles of pale dunes stretched out to the black horizon of the sky. There was so much of it! How was Dmitri going to be able to find the caravan? And if he was right and the trackers could find a single horse in all that, what did that say for their ability to hide? His stomach clenched again and he felt the world tilt.

"It really isn't as bad as it seems," the taller boy soothed, catching his lover. "Most of it is just a lot of hills, so it looks like there's nothing but sand out there. Of course, that's going to be a good thing for us. Hopefully we'll manage to hit a windy place early on and it can help destroy our tracks."

"I don't know if I can do this..." Moonstone whispered, his mouth dry all of the sudden.

"I think you can," Dmitri told him. "After all, you're with someone who makes his living in this. We'll be just fine, but you'll have to trust me."

There was that phrase again. Trust me. From experience, that tended to be the last person the Key was able to trust. **But Dmitri's not like that!** a part of his mind insisted. **And how would you know that?** another retorted. **Just because he made a blood oath to you? You said yourself that he probably does it all the time.** "Stop it," he hissed almost silently to himself.

"Hm?" Dmitri questioned, hearing the quiet snipet of sound.

"Nothing," the paler boy replied. "I'm just getting myself ready for my first great adventure."

"I hate you," Moonstone growled, collapsing to the floor of the cave a mile later. Not only was his body not prepared for the walking, so his calves burned with exertion, but his feet felt like the skin was being rubbed away with every step he took. "This is horrible."

"This is only the beginning," Dmitri warned. "It's going to get harder very shortly."

"I can't imagine that," he moaned from his place in the dust. "But whatever it is, it can't at all be worse than where I was before."

The Gypsy dropped to the floor beside his companion and drew him into his arms. "Just keep that in mind, little lamb," he sighed into the blond hair. "And remember that no matter what, I will never allow you to go back to that."

"I know," Moonstone sighed sleepily. All of his stress and internal exertions were catching up with him and he became rather sleepy all of the sudden. Not even bothering to stifle the yawn rising in his throat, he rested his cheek on Dmirti's shoulder and closed his eyes. Just a little nap would be okay...

Dmitri chuckled when he felt Monstone start to fall asleep. He knew it woudn't be good to let the boy sleep for too long, but he really couldn't deny that this was going to be hard on the petite slave. Perhaps he could rework the schedule just a bit and let his lover sleep longer...but that would have to be considered later, when he had an idea of what the Sultan was willing to do to get the Key back.

Glancing down, he let out a regretful sigh. He really did love the other boy's beautiful blonde hair, but he would also stand out considerably, particularly among the other nomads and desert dwellers. Perhaps if he just didn't tell Moonstone, and the boy didn't have any reason to look at himself for a while, he could get away with it... Either way, it had to be done and soon, just in case there was anyone willing to check the cramped cave looking for a runaway pleasure slave. Placing a gentle kiss to Moonstone's forehead, Dmitri slipped away and crawled over to his stash of supplies. This was going to take a while.