The group reached the middle of the sandstorm inside the desert and reunited with Fen there, who was trying to control it with his magic. Having been interrupted in doing so, as Sophia teleported the entire storm and part of the desert, he was upset at her for a moment, but after having been promised to create his very own firestorm over an ashen wasteland inside the blonde's domain, he quickly forgave her again.

  “Alright, if you still don’t get it right now, you’re never allowed to call out Sophia on her sense of direction ever again.” Fen had spent the last hour teaching Maya and Ari how to read directions by using the sun without having to rely on landmarks, as those were either not a thing or, at best, quite deceiving in a desert.

  “I really hope they mess up again.” The blonde saw it as a possible absolute win for her.

  “It certainly would be quite entertaining.” It wasn’t for the same reason, but Anna wasn’t against it, either.

  “Shush!” The duo in question glared at the tigers.

  “Alrighty, should we head to the city?” Sophia smiled at them. “Or try to, at least~.” Her mood was excellent.

  “We’ll make sure that you won’t have a single thing to complain about!” The duo raised their voices. “We’ll find the straightest path possible!”

  “Will you now?” The blonde raised an eyebrow.

  “…” Ari and Maya needed a second to notice their mistake. “We’ll find the most direct path possible!”

  “Better.” She liked her correction.

  “Let’s go!” As Steph wasn’t with them, Anna took over her job.

  Afterward, the group finally left the massive crater Sophia had created when borrowing the storm behind and got going. Luckily, because everything around them was nothing but sand, the crater was already filling itself, and no one would even notice that something had happened in the area.

  ----------------

  “So, how are we doing?” After having wandered around in the desert for another hour after they left the place of the storm, Sophia faced Ari and Maya while everyone was on top of a massive dune to overlook the area. “Are we still on the right track~?”

  “Absolutely!” The jaguar nodded. “We’re dead on this time! We’re headed right for the city!" She was pretty confident after their initial setback.

  “It’s just the direction, but it’s the straightest I’ve ever been!” Maya nodded along. “Though, to be fair, everything that isn’t exactly the perfect opposite direction would be the straightest I’ve ever been…” She scratched her cheek while thinking about what she just said.

  “Really~?” The blonde’s expression just turned even more smug. "Are you certain you're on course now?

  “Yes!” The two got loud.

  “Okay~.”

  “Wait, why is she so smug?” Ari then turned to look at Maya.

  “When is she not smug?” The cat-girl tilted her head.

  “Okay, that’s not wrong, but hear me out!” The jaguar couldn't refute her claim but had more to say. “She can detect where the city is, right? What if the way she’s acting is because we’re wrong again?!”

  “What if she’s doing it to mess with us?” After all, Maya knew that Sophia liked to do that.

  “I wonder~.” The blonde continuous teasing wasn’t helping.

  “Mhmm…” The duo stared at her, but Sophia just kept smiling.

  “She’s good.” Anna had to give it to her fellow tiger.

  “Grr!” Ari and Maya didn’t like that.

  “Alrighty, let’s continue and see where we ended up with our impeccable tour guides!" The blonde winked at them before raising her arm high in the air.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “We'll end right at the city entrance!" The two weren't her biggest fans today.

  “By the way, what is there to know about the city?” Sophia ignored them and looked at the princess. “Wait, was the name mentioned already?”

  “Would it matter?” Anna tilted her head. “I could’ve told you ten minutes ago, and you would’ve asked the same question.”

  “…” She stared at her for a second. “Go on.”

  “It’s the oasis city of Iridai.” The princess smiled at her.

  “Of Iridai?” Sophia gave it some thought. “Does that mean the desert we’re in is called like that? Or is it the city?”

  “Both in this case.” Anna reacted with a nod. “It’s the only city and generally inhabited area of the desert, so they share the name.”

  “I bet someone with a bad naming sense just couldn’t be bothered to come up with two names.” The blonde felt like someone had just been lazy.

  “I don’t think you’re in any position to criticize others in that regard.” She stared right at her.

  “Fair.” Sophia had to accept that. “Still, oasis city, huh?” She recovered quickly, though. “Is it just a fancy name, or is there an actual oasis?”

  “The city is built on an oasis that is sustained by an underground water reservoir, or so I remember at least.” Her memories of the details were slightly hazy.

  “Ohh!” The shorter tiger liked it, nonetheless. “Maya, can I request an oasis for your desert biome in my domain?”

  "Wouldn't it be better to see it first before making that request?" The cat-girl felt like she was a bit hasty.

  “It’s an oasis in a desert!” The blonde repeated herself. “Even if the city will be lackluster, it’s still a must-have!”

  “You’re not wrong.” She saw her point. “I’m not going to make my own city, but I’ll try to get some inspiration from the nature side of the oasis.”

  “Yay!”

  “I may need some help with the landscaping, though.” Maya looked at her tiger. “I still don’t really know how your domain works, so creating a water source to feed an oasis might be beyond me right now.”

  “Bold of you to assume that I know how my domain works.” Sophia shrugged. “That much will be easy, though. I’ll gladly help out there!”

  “Okay!”

  “Still, a city inside the domain, huh?” Anna got interested in that bit. “Are there any plans for that?”

  “Hmm,” Sophia scratched her cheek. “I mean, that would be fun, but I wonder if you can make buildings with magic? You should be, shouldn’t you?”

  “If anyone here could do that, it would be you.” Ari stared at her while everyone else nodded in agreement.

  “This needs some more experimenting!” The blonde got quite motivated over it. “Although, I’m still not ready to have random people inside my place, and a city with buildings but no people would be super weird, too.”

  “That’s true.” Anna agreed with her before thinking about it a little longer. “Then again, it would be a good preparation for the time when or if you let people inside.”

  “I guess so?” She wasn’t overly convinced.

  “By the way, if there would be a city with people in your domain, what would you be?” The princess got even more curious. “The mayor? Maybe even their queen?”

  “That sounds like a massive pain!” Sophia began to like the idea even less.

  “Is that even enough?” Ari tilted her head. “You literally created the place they would live in. You made their world. I’m certain they would treat you as their goddess.”

  “Alright!” The blonde suddenly raised her voice. “No people inside my domain for the foreseeable future!” She absolutely had no plans to deal with that anytime soon.

  With that topic being over, they continued their travels through the desert and their search for the oasis city while being led by their tour guides, Ari and Maya.

  ----------------

  “Ohhh!” Another hour and a half had passed, and the sight in front of them made jaguar and cat-girl rather excited. Their progress had been slow because deep sand wasn’t the easiest to traverse, especially when having to go up and down high dunes, but they were eventually rewarded with a change of scenery. The dunes had eventually smoothed down, and the entire desert had become flatter. Here and there, small patches of green began to appear, as well.

  “We’re getting closer!” Ari clapped her hands. “The greenery means that there has to be some amount of water, which implies the oasis can’t be that far anymore.”

  “Exactly!” Maya nodded along. “I told you we would find it!” She then smirked at her tiger.

  “Yep, you found an oasis," Sophia smirked back at her. "Good job~."

  “What’s up with that intonation?!” The duo didn't like how she emphasized the word an.

  “You said that there’s only one oasis city, right?!” Maya then stared at the princess.

  “I did.” She nodded. “It’s the only city, yes, but I have no idea if it is the only oasis in this desert, though.”

  “Ah.” The tour guides froze after hearing that.

  “Haven’t you been teasing them enough?” While listening to them, Aura eventually addressed the blonde.

  “Not really, no.” Sophia shook her head in return. “They usually take it farther than that!”

  “It would make you the better person, though.”

  “Ohh!” Her ears perked up after hearing that. “Good point!”

  “Haha.” The female wolf let out a small chuckle before facing the duo. “Admittedly, it was still not really the most direct part, but we are indeed on the outskirts of the right oasis.”

  “Hmm.” The two weren’t sure how to feel about that at first. “Good enough!” They got over it fairly quickly, all things considered.

  “The city’s still a little over ten kilometers away, though, so don’t get too overconfident yet," Aura warned them. “Don't start relying on the fact that there are more landmarks just yet. The oasis is big, and the shape might be misleading.”

  “Okay!” The two gave her a big nod while raising their arms high in the air. “Final push, let’s go!” It may have been too late for the warning about being overconfident.

  With Ari and Maya more motivated than ever, the group got ready for the final leg of their journey to the oasis city of Iridai.

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