Qafara. A land of vast sandy deserts, sparse settlements, and where most make a living by either trading or slaving. Making this harsh world their home are humans, anthropomorphic animals, and sentient legendary creatures, all living side by side as equals. Our tale will follow two lost souls of the desert, and how their fateful meeting will change their lives forever.

Sinbad returned to his camp, the freshly killed carcass of a small gazelle draped over his shoulders. Already the cool of the night was fading, the heat of the sun once again claiming the sandy dunes that made up most of Qafara. But considering Sinbad was a native of these lands, he was made to withstand the unforgiving rays. His camp was nothing more than a simple fire and single tent sprawled across a space of flat land, not too far off from a road leading to the capital city of Esaema. A medium-sized wooden cart and the brown horse that pulled it were kept nearby. Seeing wild feral vultures, jackals, and other assorted scavengers waiting a good distance away, Sinbad grabbed his knife and went to preparing a breakfast of gazelle meat.

Stowing away the hide and horns and throwing the guts to the scavengers, Sinbad sat near the fire as the meat cooked. The man belonged to the Qafaran race, humans known for their dark skin and kind and hardy nature. He was in his mid-twenties and lived alone, wandering throughout the endless sands of Qafara, oftentimes stopping in villages, towns, and cities. He mostly traded or hunted, be it human or non-human prey, when it came to earning himself money. He possessed good enough clothes, such as the shirt, pants, undergarments, and sandals that made up his everyday outfit, and light leather armor when the need for it arose. He had a few friends here and there among the many settlements, but they mostly stayed where they were. Sinbad sighed, running his fingers through his short brown hair as an unexplainable feeling washed over him.

Not soon after, Sinbad saw a large horse-drawn cargo wagon being driven by a pair of anthro leopards. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have paid them any attention. That changed, however, when he overheard just what they had to say.

“So how much do you think she'll be worth?" said one, a lightly furred female.

“Anywhere more than ten thousand emilae, that's for sure," said the other, a darker male. “She's such a rarity! Can you imagine what kind of money we'd make? We'd be rich!" Sinbad immediately grabbed his sheathed khopesh from inside his tent and made his way over to the wagon, his hands tightening around his weapon as he stopped in front of it, his heart burning with pain and anger. After what he had been through, Sinbad decided he'd never let anyone be hurt by slavers again. He freed a great deal of others in his time alone, and this would likely be no different: She thanks him, and she leaves.

“Hey," shouted the male leopard. “Out of the way!" Sinbad only narrowed his golden eyes and unsheathed his sharply curved sword, three feet long and shaped almost like a sickle.

“Whoever this 'she' is," said Sinbad, his voice and gaze burning with hatred. “Release her. Now."

“Or else?" asked the female.

“Look, I don't really like killing," said Sinbad. “But if it's to free a slave, then I'm more than willing to take your lives."

“That sounded like a threat." snarled the male leopard before leaping off the driver's seat with a yowl, drawing two daggers from his hips. Sinbad ran forward, the leopard meeting him and making a successful cut at his sides. Sinbad shouted in pain, but, pushing through it, he retaliated by slashing the leopard's calf, causing him to kneel. He froze as Sinbad's khopesh came to his neck.

“Now are you going to let me free her or are you going to lose your head?" asked Sinbad, his voice deadly soft due to his anger at the slavers and being cut. The leopard snarled for a moment as he locked eyes with the human, then finally sighed harshly.

“Let him." said the male leopard.

“What?" asked the female.

“Let him release her!" shouted the male as the khopesh came even closer to his neck.

Sinbad cut the horses loose and allowed the leopards to ride on one.

“That wasn't so hard, now was it?" he asked. “Go find yourselves some honest work. There's a village not too far from here. I'll let you keep the money you made from slaving, but use it to open up a bakery or something, I don't know."

“I hate baking." said the male leopard sulkily.

“What my husband means to say," said the female. “is that we'll try to find better work. Thank you for sparing us."

“Don't mention it." said Sinbad as they rode away.

Sinbad hacked off the lock restraining the doors to the wagon's container and opened them, the inside nearly pitch black.

“Hello?" said a soft and mellifluous female voice from the darkness.

“It's alright," said Sinbad calmly, sheathing his khopesh. “Come on out." As she emerged from the dark of the container and into the light of the sun, Sinbad was awestruck by the beauteous sight before him, rendered silent with a wide-eyed look of surprise on his face. Front legs like that of an eagle, with black talons, pale yellow scales, and white feathers, strode gracefully, followed by a pair of equally white lion hindlegs. Feathered wings lay folded at her body, and a lion's tail, tipped with a fan of feathers, nervously flicked behind her. Her head was like that of an eagle's, with a pale yellow beak, equine-like ears, and a short crest of feathers laid flat. The most striking color on her was the dazzling blue of her eyes, like two sapphires against a blanket of snow. It was a female gryphon, about five feet tall and fifteen feet long, her coat pure white.

“Thank you." she said. Sinbad snapped out his reverie. He'd met other gryphons before, but this one was certainly special.

“Don't mention it," he said, waiting for her to fly off. But to his surprise, she didn't. “Aren't you going to fly away?" 

“I can't," said the gryphoness, spreading her wings, revealing their primary feathers to be cut short. Sinbad's anger at the slavers only intensified at the thought of keeping such a beauty grounded. 

“There's a trading town about two hours from here," he said, starting to walk towards his camp. “I have a friend there that should offer you some hospitality." The gryphoness remained where she stood for a moment, before trotting to catch up with her savior. Sinbad was surprised to say the least. But if she decided to stick with him for now, he might as well introduce himself.

“The name's Sinbad." he said as they approached camp.

“I'm Hasina." said the gryphoness.

“A well-earned name." said Sinbad with a light chuckle as Hasina blushed and smiled, laying her ears flat again.

Sinbad pulled out the remaining gazelle meat from earlier.

“Cooked or raw?" he asked.

“I haven't had cooked meat in so long. Raw's fine enough, but it can't compare to the flavor and texture of cooked meat." Once Hasina's meal was done cooking, Sinbad served the hunk of meat to his new acquaintance. Hasina bit into it once and let out a squeal of undeniable bliss and gratitude, which Sinbad found to be absolutely adorable.

“That town I mentioned before, it's called Dakan," said Sinbad as Hasina continued to enjoy her food with gusto. “What say we head down there tomorrow so I can sell these fur and horns? There you can probably find someone to take you in." Hasina suddenly looked rather conflicted, her ears dropping with a rather pitiful expression on her face, which Sinbad immediately noticed. “Or would you rather stay with me?" he asked, instantly gaining a hopeful reaction from Hasina, her ears now perked as joy sparked in her eyes.

“Really?" she asked in a near ecstatic manner.

“Why not?" said Sinbad. “You're probably going to need someone to look after you, and I can't just leave you to possibly be taken again." Hasina smiled in a warm manner that Sinbad found especially endearing. It was then that Sinbad's cut suddenly caused him to wince in pain with a groan.

“You're hurt!" exclaimed Hasina with a worried expression.

“It's fine," said Sinbad as he reached for a roll of bandages in his tent. “This kind of thing happens all the time." As Sinbad applied the bandages, he was touched at the simple action of Hasina worrying for him despite having only just met him.

Night fell, and Sinbad made himself comfortable in his tent. He then noticed Hasina circling around in the sand and lying down, curled up and covering herself with a wing to try and shield herself from the cold desert air. She suddenly saw Sinbad standing next to her in his undergarments, a matching pair of light shirt and boxers, which the both of them found a little embarrassing.

“Come on," said Sinbad. “Let's get you out of the cold." The two of them made their way to the tent as Hasina smiled. Sinbad entered first and made himself comfortable again. When he motioned for Hasina to come inside, she did so, laying on her side. Suddenly, she grabbed Sinbad and held him close in a makeshift hug, like a mother cat with her kitten. A soft churring came from her throat, causing calming vibrations to rumble throughout their bodies.

“Thank you." Hasina said softly before finally drifting off into a blissful sleep. As constricted he was, Sinbad welcomed it, smiling and drifting off as well. He finally realized what that unexplainable feeling was: Loneliness. And now, that was a thing of the past.