Creatures Of Sonaria: Sands Of Time

Part 23: Reunion

       For Dune, it was a lot harder to find the food storage when every inch of the oasis was inhabited by creatures big and small. It was like trying to find a path led by bushes and trees too tall to see over. But once she saw the piles of carcasses, seafood and herbs, Dune sped up, tripping on tails and claws and smaller creatures, constantly apologizing. 

       She saw Armolten talking with the same valkurse from before the fight while Arche was digging through the food pile, seemingly looking for something specific. Large tier five creatures kept bringing in more bodies and adding to the pile. There seemed to be enough food for all the carnivores and omnivores to eat for two weeks. And there were still many bodies left to collect.

       "Guys!" Dune shouted, jumping over the tail of a kendyll. Dune still kept forgetting that they were quadrupedals now. They reminded her of nymphasuchases.

       Arche and Armolten looked up from their distractions. The other valkurse just glanced up and reached over and pulled out a minawii. Dune guessed he just wanted to get necro'd. 

       "Dune!" Arche was the first to react, dropping the food he was holding and running to her. He skidded to a halt in front of her and looked her up and down. "Are you ok? You're not hurt, right?" He asked, walking around her, inspecting her carefully. 

       "I'm fine, really," Dune assured him, holding her front talons up and pushing Arche away. "You guys aren't hurt, are you?"

       Armolten walked over more carefully to both of them. "Arche, Vreex and I fought together because we had no idea where you had gone." She explained, shaking her head. Dune saw that she had lots of sand in her flaming mane, and lots of it dropped on the sand as glass raindrop shapes. Dune thought they were pretty and reached for them, collecting them and keeping as many of them as under her shoulder. 

       "Yeah, I actually got banged up pretty bad against a teen Sar'Hingaro," Arche admitted, looking at his body and using his tail to point out large cuts and scars that were definitely healed by an ani. Dune didn't know how she didn't see them earlier. 

       Stepping forward, Dune brushed her neck against his. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here helping you guys," she said. She could feel Arche tense a bit before relaxing. "I was busy fighting my own battles and, uh, getting everyone to stop fighting."

       "Wait, you got everyone to settle a truce?" Armolten asked, her eyes widening. Her fiery tail wavered. 

       "Technically I was Aire. I just suggested it to her and that Sar'Hingaro," Dune replied.

       "Still, you risked life and death by doing that," Arche said, smiling. It filled Dune with pride for some reason. 

       She lay down in the sand and stretched. "Well, I didn't want a world-clashing war to go on any longer than it had," Dune said simply. 

       The trio sat in awkward silence before Arche finally spoke up. "Heyyy, so uh, you know how we were in, like, heaven? With the Goddess of Sonaria that gave us these new bodies?"

       Dune looked up at him skeptically. "Yeah...?" She wavered one front foot in the air to tell Arche to keep talking.

       "Aaaand you know how there was this group of sandy colored knalrikies? And two of them were your parents?"

       Cocking her head to the side, Dune narrowed her brows at Arche, who gave her an awkward smile. 

       Suddenly, Dune's gut filled with dread and her expression changed. Is he implying they're-