Perhaps the best parting gift her black-hearted, backstabbing former troupe could have given her was resilience over the harsh Plegian weather. For whatever reason, Plegia had been the troupe's favored locale, and they seemed to have amassed twice as many supporters in the desert country. They spent months traveling in the desert, and she had gradually built up resistance. Still, it was a particularly searing day, even by her standards. The sun bore down on the weary travelers mercilessly, and its unfiltered rays pierced through skin. For those less than accustomed to such intense heat, she imagined this would be no different from being licked by a dragon's flames. 

As she tied her red hair up in a messy bun, Evie came to realize that being clad in her performance outfit was a blessing in disguise. She had raged about it when it first dawned on her—because honestly, the least they could have done was pack her belongings before they casually threw her away. It was an entirely different story at night, where the desert shifts extremes and becomes a frozen hell instead, but that was beside the point. During the day, the thin material of her white attire spared her from the suffocating heat. Unlike the others already drenched in sweat, only the deepening flush in her cheeks suggested the heat having an effect on her.

Evie looked over these so-called Shepherds, all worn and famished and dehydrated. It was a wonder they haven't all collapsed. From what she's heard, they've been wandering through this desert for days on end, yet not one seemed deterred from pressing on. They had even spared time and energy to rescue her just days ago! Evie had to admire the group's tenacity. She knew full well that the only reason she wasn't as weakened was because she had been forced into slumber from a while, and she literally had days' worth of pent-up energy to draw from.

The sound of the lute snapped Evie out of her musings. If she wasn't mistaken, it was the mage who plays that. The melody came out uneven and pitchy, but it made her feet suddenly restless, aching to move. In a brief moment of frivolity, she had actually considered doing a rain dance. She read about it once; it was said to bring a rejuvenating rainfall that lasts for hours if done perfectly. But then the music stopped, and Evie was brought back to reality. She peered curiously at the mage, wondering why he stopped so abruptly. Had he finally succumbed to the heat? She was actually impressed with how well he resisted so far, considering how dark and heavy his robes seemed to be. He was probably trapping twice as much heat in his getup! The Priest he spoke with seemed to fare slightly better, but even his robes seemed too stuffy for the weather.

Feigning coyness, she approached the two with a small, shaky smile. "You could have some of this as well, if you'd like," Evie said, holding out a waterskin that was nearly empty but had enough for one last drink. She received it from another Shepherd the day before, and while she would rather save it for herself, she knew it wouldn't hurt for her to start getting into the Shepherds' good side.