“This isn’t a place for a little kid”

It seems That I crash landed in a desert probably the great Soritan desert of the central continent of magterra. By day it's an oven by night it becomes a freezer of -20 degrees fahrenheit. This desert stretches across the continent like a belt.   I won't have any luck going east or west so I should probably head north. That being said I most likely don't have the ability to cross the desert in six hours so my best bet would be to find a town. Thought it seems like a wasteland rivers stretch through the land like veins from the north and the soil there is very fertile due to volcanic soil be washed in from the north. Due to this, there was an abundance of towns lining the rivers. That being said they are mostly little hamlets due to strong winds from the east that would knock down any tall buildings. All I have to do is find a river and finding a town will be a sinch. In hindsight, crash landing didn't seem to be an unlikely outcome. That rickety  old rust bucket of a ship was on its last legs. I guess I got lucky enough getting to the planet at all. To be fair, it was the only ride I could get. I'm not exactly very liquid right now. I've been on this track for about an hour now. I've been aimlessly following a straight path in hopes of finding a river. It's a gamble but it's the best shot I have. The scenery certainly was dull out here. Mostly gray and tan rocks with sand as far as the eye can see but you could almost see the vast mountain range that makes this place a desert. Of course, there where some plants sprinkled throughout the landscape. They where strange desert plants some of them vaguely resembled cacti but, they had an uncanny appearance. It almost looked as if they had faces. Unsettling face plants aside, it seemed to be the dry season because there wasn't a cloud in the sky. As I was scanning my surroundings for any sign of life, I noticed a shadow dart out of sight. I placed my hand on the hilt of my weapon I turned around and shouted "I know you're there. Show yourself!" A small girl with long golden hair bright blue eyes in a nun's outfit came out from behind a rock. "What are you doing here kid? I thought I was a "jerk" and that there was "no way you would travel with me"."

"Shut up! I know what I said, I was just going the same way as you, and that's it!"

"Whatever you say, kid. I gotta get moving. so, see you around I guess."

"Ugh, why are you such a jerk! Also, I'm not a kid I'm fourteen so technically I'm a teenager!"

"Yeah yeah, well I gotta get moving and I would suggest you do the same, once night falls we're goners. To be honest this isn't really the place for a kid. What are you even doing here?"

"Well since you asked, I'm a missionary sent here to bring the good word of our Lord to this savage planet. Everyone told me how important it was when I left they were all really happy for me. They said I was the only one who could do the job so naturally, I had to accept" she seemed pretty content with herself in a very naive way.

"Not to burst your bubble but, to me, it sounds they just wanted to get rid of you."

"That's Not true! Everyone loved me there that's why they sent me because they knew I was the only one who can do the job."

"Whatever you say, kid."  she continued to blabber on about how special she was and how much everyone loved her, I didn't know why they wanted to get rid of this kid but to me, It was obvious that they did. Why else would you send a child to a place like this and on that rickety ship too there's no way the expect her to come back or even make the trip. While I was lost in thought the kid seemed to get upset. "Of course god loves me and- hey, why are you ignoring me I'm talking to you! How unbelievably rude can a man be?!"

"I'm ignoring you because I honestly don't really care about what you're saying. Besides we have more important things to worry about, for example, how are we going to find a town when we have no idea where we are? How are we even going to live another two hours without food or water? How am I going to get anywhere with dead weight like you pulling me down?"

"Wow, what a horrible thing to say!Ok fine, I won't talk then. Ugh, why did I have to get stuck with a rude jerk like you?" she crossed her arms and turned her shoulder to me as she said this. "Good, now I can finally have some peace and quiet. To be honest, your loud mouth was getting kind of annoying."

"Wow, how could someone be so inconsiderate! In my wildest dreams, I've never met anyone as mean as you!"

"Well kid, in that cases you must not get out much because out here there are plenty of people worse than me. At least I'm not trying to kill, Hay watch out!" I grabbed her and threw us to the ground rolling behind a rock. Just as I did so A large winged shadow accompanied by a loud screech swooped over us. "Stay here kid I'll deal with this"

"Wait what was that? I think I saw my life flash before my eyes"

"Don't worry about it. There's no time to explain just stay here and stay low!"  she didn't say anything, She just nodded her head the look in her eyes was a look of utter terror, she was frozen. I could sense the fear radiating from her and I'm sure our opponent could to, it was clear that she had never been in mortal danger before. Man, what the hell were they thinking sending a little girl to a place like this! Our enemy was a great desert archer hawk a really mean bird and this girl looks like easy pickings for this hungry bird. Its body was the size of a small child, one of its favorite foods. It was not uncommon for this bird to abduct children for lunch. It had a wingspan about the size of a full grown man. It would be a beautiful bird if it wasn't trying to kill me. Its feathers glistened in the sunlight like a blue rainbow. The feathers on the bottom of its body are sky blue while its top feathers were a mix of grey's designed to imitate a rocky surface it's definitely hard to spot if you're not looking for it. If it's gigantic razer claws weren't enough this bird has a venom that stops blood clotting and rots you from the inside out. In this environment a deadly bag of tricks is something you need to survive.  Based on this information, it seems as if I'm going to have to be careful of those claws. This bird was one of the many apex predators of the desert using its venom to take down prey much larger than itself. It would cut its prey and follow it as it bled out. After that, it would pick it apart with its razor-sharp beak and take what's left back to it's nest. This opportunistic hunter had a taste for human flesh so they have a bounty on their heads. Of course, killing one of these monsters is not a simple task but, it looks like that's just what I have to do now. "Over here you overgrown chicken!" I waved my arms and shouted to get the birds attention away from the girl. It seemed to have worked because the bird did a sharp turn in the air to face me. It's not proven but some say it can understand human speech, there have been reports of it listening in on conversations and appearing at their destination. before I had a chance to draw my weapon the bird Dived at me claws first. I just barely dodged the attack by ducking forward but, its claws left three distinct marks on the back of my coat. Now I was pissed "Hay, That was my favorite coat you damn bird!" I got my coat a long time ago it's one of my treasures so, I drew my Kinetic Blade with the rage of a storming sea and faced the assailing raptor. It came at me with a flurry of blow, its claws moving with incredible precision and speed akin to that of a trained martial artist.  It was looking to an opening unfortunately for it I didn't intend to give it one, I deflected the blows with my blade at an angel as not to take the full force of the blow. Venom dripped from my blade to the ground the, soil turned black, I had to be careful because I was in for a bad time if I got cut by its claws. Rotting from the inside out would definitely put a damper on my evening. The bird and I continued locked in close combat neither side able to get in a good hit. That being said, the bird was definitely quick there were quite a few times I nearly got cut. On this planet every day is an epic battle against something. Luckily, my training was serving me well. This bird's claws were moving too fast for an untrained eye to see. Moving in a blur it's claws came furiously as I blocked and ducked and weaved around them. Suddenly the bird retreated to the sky spreading its wings and catching an updraft with its wings like a kite. A menacing shadow bathed the ground in darkness as It flew into the sky; In the air for about a second the bird frose, In the frenzy of combat it felt like a long pause, the quiet before the storm. Spreading its wings, it screeched and fired six feathers tipped with venom. The feathers flew like arrows whizzing through the air with a high pitched whistle. I guess that's where the name came from. Unfortunately for my feathered opponent I had an ace up my sleeve as well, with the press of a button on my sword and a blue aura flared up around its blade. I waved the sword across the spray of feathers and they dropped to the ground. The venom from the fallen feathers seeped into the soil turning it black like tar. This was my swords namesake it could absorb kinetic energy from a projectile and expel it in the form of plasma. Before the bird had time to react the blade of my sword began to glow bright blue. "Plasma Slash!" I Slashed the air and a blue wave a plasma sliced through the air with the buzz and crackle of the plasma reverberating through the sky, the heat filled the air and the shock wave brushed my skin. It whizzed through the air directly at the unsuspecting bird. In a explosion of feathers and blood, the bird was cut in two the insides charred black the scent of burnt bird filled the air but, at that moment I realized the position of the bird.Directly beneath where I cut the bird in half was a little girl with long golden hair in a nun's robe. As she looked up a look of pure terror forced itself onto her face. The blood of an archer hawk was poisonous and very acidic. It's bad news if you get that stuff on your skin. "Look out!" I dove and pushed the girl out of the way. Here I go again playing the hero.