Creatures Of Sonaria: Sands Of Time

Part 3: Differences

       "Hey, who are you? Wake up and fight me!"

       Dune didn't know, but she assumed it was this. Being woken up by a completely random voice that. She immediately got the urge to tear out someone's lungs, and right here, whoever it was, was going to get it.

       She woke up groggily, standing up and flexing he claws and glowing spines. She whipped head around and bared her teeth, only to see a male knarliki. His angered look changed to shocked. He was all shades of teal everywhere. His back spines were darkest of teal though, while his underbelly and stripes were lightest. He didn't look much different from a regular knarliki (but SandSwept knarlikies had way sharper spines than that!). 

       That, however, wasn't true, or at least wasn't true to her. This male's spines were sharpened to a perfect point, when Dune's spines were dull and a bit rounded at the tips. 

       The male knarliki stared at her for a moment before shaking his spines and standing taller. "Uh, m-my apologies. I didn't know you were a knarliki as well," he said, trying to sound all polite after he just offered to battle claw to claw.

       "Oh, I'm barely a knarliki at all," Dune said, thrashing her tail and flexing her neck spines. "I'm just a subspecies way better. You're just boring old regulars. Now move." Dune shoved past the other knarliki, but she could clearly hear his claws rushing for her.

       "Wait!" he called. "I never got your name! Also, what do you mean you're a subspecies? We literally look the same, just colored differently. Why do you glow? Do you live somewhere else? If so, where? Also where are you going?"

       Dune stopped and turned to face him. "My name is, Dune, now shut up and leave me alone!" Dune started stomping now, crushing grass with every step.

       He didn't stop following though. "Well my name's Arche, and I wanna go with you where ever you go." He ran up to walk side by side with Dune, and she didn't dare look at the normal knarliki, even if she did kinda want to.

       "Why do you want to follow me? Where I go isn't your concern."

        "Because you're the first knarliki I've ever met, and you kinda sound interesting." Arche said, smiling innocently. Dune caught that smile and was sure lucky it was impossible for knarlikies to blush. 

       "I said I'm not a knarliki. I'm a SandSwept knarliki. Nothing is the same about that."

       Arche let out a purposeful cough and Dune shot him a glare. "What?" Arche said, sounding like he did nothing. "We are literally the same species. We're just colored differently. Unless SandSwept knarlikies have cute glowing spines~" Arche teased, brushing his tail against the spines on her tail. She slapped his tail away with hers, and he jumped back. "Hey, watch the tail barb!"

       "Oh, so you know I could easily paralyze you and leave you here for the hushikes to pick you off, because I'm a SandSwept knarliki, a different knarliki?" Dune said, pausing her journey to fight him off. But a part of me wants him along...

       Arche tilted his head at her with a confused look. "No, don't you know all knarlikies have the same thing?" Dune was speechless. Was he lying to make him sound cooler than he already is? (Shut up about him! He's not cool!) Or was he actually telling the truth? The sun's light was starting to peak over the mountain that loomed over the pond. Now Arche's scales looked like the greenish blue coloring of the pond they had left behind. 

       "You... didn't know that and you thought you were special?" Arche saw the look Dune gave him and immediately tried to fix what he said. "I-I mean, you are special, it's just that... well... y'know, all knarlikies have that same toxin, so it's like, no difference between us?"

       Dune growled and continued on her way, with Arche still behind her. She tried ignoring him, but she could easily hear him prancing along behind her, like she didn't just state not to follow her. 

       "Stop following me!" Dune shouted without stopping or looking back. 

       "Nnnope!" Arche said cheerfully. " I take it you've never been outside the desert, so you'll need help goin' around these parts! I've been almost everywhere in Sonaria, so you'll need my help!"

       Dune only grumbled. She decided she'd let him around. They decided to walk to the Ancient lake and search there. She kind of did enjoy his company, but she would never admit that out loud. She thought he'd be useful in searching for Gher. Four pairs of eyes were better than two (as ironic as that sounds).

       There was a lot of things that were different about the plains too. Of course that would be obvious, but while on their way to the Ancient lake, Dune was studying everything very carefully. For example, there were many different plants that covered almost every inch of the land with grass and moss and other simple greenery. 

       There were also a lot more places to hide in. More mountains meant more caves to hide in, but they were big enough for a lure or a magnarothus to squeeze in, so it didn't feel so comforting knowing that she could hide in any cave and get totally maimed. 

       Then there were the creatures. The majority of them being either vibrant colors, or blending in with their surroundings. Usually the creatures in oasis would be all monochromatic with reds, browns, oranges, and more reds and other intimidating colors that really made them look like shadows or demons. Here in the Plains, everyone was every color you could possibly imagine. From bright reds than would glow like rubies when the sun reflected off of them, to dark amethyst purples. 

       Hours passed of walking, and Dune was starting to get hungry. She turned to Arche, who was surprisingly quiet the whole way, but was also trotting along like the end of the world wasn't a day away. 

       "Hey, you said you knew your way around the plains, right?" Dune asked. Arche instantaneously snapped his attention toward her. 

        "Oh, yeah, totally. Also the redwoods, and the swamp. Why?" 

       "Do you know where any herbs are?" She asked.

       Arche shook his head. "Sorry, herbs grow in different areas every season. But we can hunt! I'm, like, super good at hunting. One time I killed a teen kendyll, you should have been there to cheer me on and swoon over the blood on my scales." Dune rolled her eyes at the ridiculous thought. Never in a million years would she swoon over a regular knarliki.

       "That's nothing, I killed a full grown lure," Dune bragged. 

       Arche barked a laugh and came next to her to nudge his shoulder against hers. "That's real cool," he flirted. "I like a strong female." 

       Dune slapped him away with her claws, and he flinched back. To their left, there was a rustling in the bushes. Dune and Arche stared at the many long moments until a moemoea, juvenile, managed to struggle it's way out. The calf looked to be mostly white with a red pattern down it's tail, and a pink horn. It didn't seem to acknowledge them.

       Arche placed one of his talons on Dune's chest and attempted to push her away. "Hey, uh, Dune. We should find something else to kill, I-I don't think killing this would be a good idea."    

       "Oh so the big tough guy is scared of a baby moemeoa?" Dune teased. 

       "N-No, it's just that it really wouldn't be wise. I-I don't think this calf is- Dune wait!"

       Dune was already moving toward the calf, prowling it like a leopard. She lunged, and landed on the back of the moemoea before it could react. It shrieked and groveled, trying to shake her off. Dune's claws were latched firmly into it's back. Dune lifted one talon and got ready to slit the calf's throat, but something bit down on her neck, and threw her at a tree, where she lay limp and sore. The last thing she heard was Arche's cries of despair.