This is the draft as it was on Febuary 10th, 2001. It has yet to be spellchecked.
Email Ryo Hoshi.

The Slayers & the characters from it were created by & are copyright Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. (Lovely...a standard disclaimer...)

The song Painted Desert was written by Neil Geraldo & Myron Grombacher and can be found on the Pat Benatar album "Tropico". It is copyright 1984 by Tyreach Music, Neil T. Geraldo.



Painted Desert

I hear your heartbeat but you're never there
Like a mirage, you haunt me everywhere
All day long
I burn for you, lonely in the night
I tried to live alone, but I just can't get it right

Zelgadiss stopped dead in his tracks and shook his head. He had thought, just for a few seconds, that he had seen Her here, in the middle of a desert thousands of miles away from...There.

Sometimes, even, he thought he could smell the entrancing smell of Her, feel the softness of Her skin against his own stone skin, the warmth of Her form...the quiet, peaceful sound of her own heartbeat...

It got worse at night, when he tried to sleep... She haunted his not-too-chaste dreams, always telling him how he should have acted that one night -- it seemed so long ago... But he hadn't wanted to take advantage of her...crush...on him...

Ya' know that, this town's like a painted desert
Dead heat, movin' in the city
I'm lost in a painted desert
In a painted desert without you

That night, he set up camp in yet another ghost town. He supposed that, once upon a time, there had been caravans or the like crossing the desert, going from oasis to oasis. But something had happened, and now the towns that had been lining the route were dead.

The ghost towns that had sprung up around the oasises still stood, mostly, their paint, once bright Zelgadiss supposed, was faded and pealing, their rafters showing like ribs through their roofs.

The heat was oppressive, though, and he couldn't help but feel lost.

I've done some thinkin', now that you're not here
I know your reasons, and they're still not clear
All I'm sure of is what I got to lose
I tried to be a better loser, but it's just no use

Amelia stood up with a sigh. She shouldn't have gone after him. She knew his reasons for leaving her and continuing his search for his cure. She just didn't understand her reasons, didn't he understand that...

Ya' know that this town's like a painted desert
Dead heat, movin' in the city
I'm lost in a painted desert
In a painted desert without you



Walkin' in the sundown, I search in vain
Waitin' on the wind that whispers out your name
Through concrete canyons echoing a world of other faces
No direction looks like home
Where is my oasis?



Ya' know that this town's like a painted desert
Dead heat, movin' in the city
I'm lost in a painted desert
In a painted desert without you
In a painted desert without you
Where is my oasis?

Zelgadiss looked up from the dried-up oasis and saw Amelia.

I have no idea why I ended this like that...

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