[center][i]Day of Departure...[/i][/center]

He watched the group as they gathered for the big launch. He watched the crowds and the revelry that sprung up around them and not for the first time he asked himself just how he had landed himself in the middle of all this. Benji wasn't the sort to look for attention, not this type anyway. Attention like this was bad for business, but this was business. Scratching idly at the two day stubble on his cheek his gaze scanned the group again. They seemed the normal sort to go for a fools errand like this, yet he knew better then to judge solely on appearance. Truth be told he didn't give a damn what their reasons were, he had his own reasons for being here and it wasn't just for the profit.

[center][i]A Few Weeks Prior...[/i][/center]

[i]”...so yah see Bennie tis right up yer ally.”[/i] Cole smiled like a letch. He was one too, but he got the contracts Benji fulfilled and whatever his other faults were, Cole was loyal to a hair. 
[color=39b54a]“Where did you hear about this Cole?”[/color] Benji wasn't in the mood for the others half drunk ideas of what would be right up his ally. He didn't need wealth or riches even though he had a fair bit saved up, he had other plans.
[i]”Y'know how't is Bennie, my info is good...”[/i] Cole took a big swig of his mug before continuing. [i]”...y'know it always is.”[/i]
[color=39b54a]“So this 'Expedition' is setting out over the sands, and you're sure about the rest?” [/color]Cole nodded and resumed his mission to best the mug. [color=39b54a]“Then I'll have to find the leader of this expedition and make my services available as a hunter and guard. But Cole...” [/color]The drop in tone and temperature in Benji's voice made him stop mid gulp. [color=39b54a]“...if it isn't someone's going to have to answer.”
[/color]Cole swallowed hard on the grog as he watched his usually silent partner slip out the door.

[center][i]Day of Departure...[/i][/center]

Last night Benji tied up the last of his unfinished business in Oasis, at least as far as securing some assets. And as he moved with the group he kept to himself in his role as caravan guard. He carried a well crafted crossbow in front of him like a warning and shield and it seemed to do the trick, the sturdy piece was just right for the job. A part of him, a small voice far in the back of his mind, wondered if these people were celebrating the expedition or just looking for a reason to get drunk and forget about the worries of the day. People seldom seemed to need a reason to drink other then to get drunk, all the better when you had a valid excuse. A lot of headaches will be going around tomorrow.

As they camped by the West Gate for the night Benji watched the group indulgent in the spirit of the crowd. Excitement seemed rife in the night air. Even the guards were partaking, perhaps trying to drown their fear of the coming morning and the final step away from the safety of Oasis. Benji felt it too, it was a stupid man who didn't fear death or the unknown, it was a coward that backed down from it. Benji was neither stupid nor a coward, his own feelings on venturing outside the city were mixed. Sure he'd gone hunting before, that was different. There was always the tether to the city and  the inevitable return, now though. Here the tether got cut and the inevitable return was a sliver of a hope on a wayward night. 

[center][i]First Day...[/i][/center]

The expedition plodded along at an even pace and the city was left in the dust tracked up by their movement. Benji was on guard somewhere along the middle and to the right. That morning he had quite enjoyed the groans of self loathing and swears to never touch another drop of drink that rose with the wear revelers from the night before. 
To Benji the set out was more an eagerness to be one step closer to his goal and he was eager. Perhaps the other members of the group felt a similar sense of excitement.

By midday his throat was dry with dust and his clothes quite damp with sweat. So far it was uneventful at least where he was concerned. Adjusting his grip on his crossbow Benji scanned the sands, again he asked himself what he was doing here or if it was worth it. But what other choice did he have left, he'd already exhausted all his other leads in Oasis and every other shred pointed him in the direction that the expedition was heading. He'd combed through the vastness of the city in the last four years and came up with nothing more then a name whispered in fear on the breaths of dying men and women. Even in death they feared this person, the mention of his name. 
And recently work had been slow and there had been a silence in his quest that left him feeling uneasy. Then Cole had mentioned some rumor that seemed to be floating down in the Dregs. Apparently someone had systematically taken out key players in the Underworld of Oasis over the past couple years and that an unnamed outside party was looking into the flux in business. 
Benji did his own digging and it lead him here in sorts. 
True Cole had set up the gig for the guard position, but that was because Benji had him looking in that direction. The expedition was just a timely and convenient way for Benji to get closer to his goal. Somewhere out in these sands lay the answers and if it didn't and he somehow made it back alive to Oasis he would just have to start from the beginning.

As they stopped for the night Benji got drafted for the first watch shift and he actually preferred that to taking the dead shift or early shift. He settled in keeping whatever light came from the caravan at his back and let his eyes adjust to the dark. He'd had a light meal of salted jerked meat and sweetened water. In the morning he would set out with a small scouting party, but for tonight he would do a little exploring of his own.
As the camp settled down for the night Benji became a shadow in the dark that moved around its edges. He checked on the others on watch duty with him before he went to his pack. Retrieving his walking stick and a small vial wrapped in oiled cloth he returned unseen to his post just in time to be relieved.