Warm and cold 

She had sensed him coming for quite some time and she was not surprised to see a pirate ship landing in the sand desert in front of the tribe's campground. The Jessadian only raised an eyebrow when she saw a dragon and a young girl following them. She took a deep breath to prepare herself to listen to what he had done again. 

She was standing, straight and tall of her magnificence, her horns were little but her aura meant everything. The Jessadian was wearing a leather skirt and top, not hiding the multiple battle scars over her body. This tribe was much different from the one in Ombrae. Every one of them had a massive warhammer, there was nothing pacifist in them. From their traditional paintings covering their face to the bones used as decoration in their hair and the strictly leather clothes they wore. 

The tents were easily movable, unlike the clan in the Ombrae, these people were nomads and they were visibility hunting, not being afraid to kill intruders if needed. Her war hammer was decorated with a piece of human bone on the base of the handle, sending a chill to anyone who would see it. This weapon had seen blood and fight. 

Her look was dark, piercing, and threatening, her features were feminine and generous, yet, her face was strict and showed a certain rage to survive. The men of her clan were behind her, yet, none of them seemed ready to fight. They knew who the intruders were already, and they seemed pretty happy to welcome them. Pushing the shoulders of each other and whispering with excitement, "The prince is here." 

Jäwell jumped from the boat and walked directly straight to her, he held her strongly in his arms without letting her have the time to push him away and murmured into her neck, "I missed you, Zuline."

She had a little smile, returning the embrace," What have you done? Spill it out."

"Can't I just miss you and want to see you?" He said with puppy eyes, trying to believe in his lie. Zuline chuckled, of course, Jäwell would never come and be so sensitive without a good reason. 

In this world, two centuries passed since they separated and he never came to her or even took contact in any way. Jäwell was amused to see her lack of reaction and held her hands in his tenderly. 

"You know me so well. I need you to contact Leïlana for me."

"No," She answered calmly and coldly. 

Jäwell was about to discuss and protest but Zuline simply left his hands and walked to the tribe's camp. 

"Come around the fire, the desert can be cold quickly," she said, inviting the little group to come and take a rest after a long trip. Dante came closer to Jäwell and chuckled with a victorious grin. He didn't make any comment but didn't need to, the prince had a dark look towards him and said in a terrifying voice sounding like a threat, "She will say yes."

Dante only laughed, both of them knew that Jäwell had no power over Zuline, she simply didn't care and would always do whatever she wanted and what she thought was just. 

As they arrived near the fire in the center of the camp, they were stunned to see the evolution of the banished tribe. Jessadians grew up quite a lot, the little group had children who had children themselves and they were now a hundred people living in harmony here, protected by the dark dome over the desert. The intruders were welcomed warmly by a few young ones, curious to see people of another race. They heard about humans and elves since there were some on their worlds but they never saw something else than their kin. 

A little girl came to Talim and started to touch her hair, sniffing it with affection. The white hair of the queen was disturbing and the two girls started to giggle, amused. It didn't take a long time before the children started to braid her hair and place the black feathers of ravens and eagles in it. As for the dragon, he realized quickly that he was nothing abnormal. Most of the Jessadians already have been visiting Clyss regularly and Tarim was hurt in his ego to see he had no attention at all for once. He laid down a bit apart but deep inside, he was enjoying that his sister was so well taken care of and admired. Tarim had a deep smile seeing her laughing and exchanging with the young ones. 

Talim and Tarim were king and queen, if he only wanted to make her happy, she would always have suffered to be childless. Her condition prevented her from having children herself with him and that always has been a sensitive and painful subject for her. Seeing her enjoy the company of the youngest and laughing heartily was all that he always asked for.

On the other side, Dante and his crew were welcomed by some warriors. Near the fire, a big man took a bidon and opened it, claiming, "We will see if you can handle this, little men. This is a warrior drink!" 

"Hurak, they are not worth it, they will never manage. This is the warrior beverage," Another protested.

"You will see what we are capable of!" Two men of the crew said as they grabbed cups made with horns, ready to refill their glasses with the liquid. 

They smelled the content of their cups and they scented their rotten organs discomposing a bit more inside their dead bodies. The first one gathered his courage and drank the cup in one go, as a result, he almost fell to the floor. The second hesitated but was pushed by the insisting look of Hurak in front of him and eventually drank it too. A tear rolled down his cheek immediately and he ran behind a tent to cry alone.

Seeing their friends reacting so strongly, three members of the crew rushed to go back to the boat to grab wine and rum before coming back, "Let's share what we have instead! It will be our pleasure to make you discover what we have!"

The Jessadians packed their alcohol with cold expressions and were ready to welcome the bottles from the pirates that they never tried before, Hurak took the bidon to his tent, but once inside he busted out laughing and told the other Jessadian helping him, "I told you if we give them the detergent to drink they would treat us for the party to avoid having to drink this again." 

The other covered his mouth with his massive hand, laughing as well, "I can't believe it worked."

They tried to calm down before coming back to the group, holding their amusement. Eventually, everyone gathered around the massive fire, warming the place not only physically. Jessadians were dancing around and the sounds of drums resonated. Meat was prepared according to the tradition and the group experienced for the first time what it was to be plunged in the tribe.

Tarim and Talim eventually ended up hugging, both decorated with pearls, jewelry, bones, and feathers. Talim was teasing her brother, tickling him with the feathers. "Now you look like a bird." 

He blew some sand as he sneezed due to her actions, leaning his head on the floor, "I am glad to see you enjoyed alcohol, sister." 

It didn't need much more for her to fall asleep on his paw between his claws, cradled by the rhythm of the music and the warm feeling of joy emanating from the dances. It was a long journey and they were all exhausted. 

The pirate crew started to fall asleep too, comfortably installed in large animal furs, a smile on their faces after such an event, but Dante turned on himself searching for Jäwell and Zuline. He noticed he hadn't seen them for a while and decided to walk to Hurak to ask him directly.

"Hey, where are Zuline and the prince?"

"Probably in her tent," he chuckled with a wink. 

Dante swallowed, he didn't think about this possibility and decided to forget about everything for the moment. He was only hoping that Zuline would not access Jäwell 's request and that she would put some sense in his mind. The prince was way too chaotic and he needed someone to keep him on the right path. After all, she was the one supporting him in the war to defend the ombrae, the one deserting her tribe and breaking a vow made a few millenniums ago to do what she believed was right. 

Dante tried to install himself with his crew, hoping to fall asleep and take a well-deserved rest but he could not stop to think about Jäwell and Zuline alone in her tent. Wondering if they were only discussing or if the prince was about to use other methods to try to convince her to help him once more. Everyone knew their affection towards each other. The Pirate shook his head to wash away his thoughts and chuckled, "This is Zuline we are talking about. There is no way such a low trick would work on her," he scoffed, thinking about Jäwell facing rejection at the same moment.