Chapter 22

"We should get out of here though, I don't want to wait around and see if the ruins have any other backup bots waiting for us," Takashi suggested.

"Your right. Where do we go though? I mean, the sun's setting pretty quickly. We'll freeze to death without a den to stay in." Hide said, looking out over the sand dunes,

"Tai has a den for her outrider position, right? We could always just try to find our way back there, and spend the night." Tsuki suggested.

"But how would we stay warm?" Hide asked.

"A fire, duh!" Tsuki said, sounding like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If my research was correct, SandTails has a special heating and cooling compact inside of their bodies, which keeps them from freezing or overheating to the point of death. If we were to light a fire, they'd know something was off." Takashi acknowledged.

"Takashi's right. We can't just go in blind." Hide replied.

"Well, Takashi's always admitting a warm glow. Like he's his own fire. Soooo, what if we just snuggle around him?" Tsuki suggested once more.

"That actually makes sense. I'll allow it, but I need you two to be respectful." Takashi said, spitting into the sand.

"Let's go. I remember the way." He said, sounding bitter as usual.

Tsuki nodded, and Hide shot into the air, flying directly behind him.

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As Takashi flew, his wide wings spread, Hide's thoughts became louder as he had nothing to listen to.

What's going on here? I mean, Takashi walked through the door, and an alarm was triggered. And even though he sounds bitter usually, it's worse today. He sounds shaken. I mean, I can't say I'm too particularly worried about him, but he sounds off today. Maybe I'll speak to him about it later, but I doubt I'd get a valid, or decent response. We'll just have to see He thought.

Hide was interrupted by his tail being grasped. He yelped and looked back to see what was going on. The dragonet was small and pale. Shockingly, Tai was nowhere near them. This dragonet had pastel blue eyes, which were thinned and looked fierce. They had this look in them that screamed danger.

"Hide! You alright?" Takashi asked, whipping around to get the Sand'Tail dragonet off of his tail.

Takashi quickly wrapped his talons around the dragonet's tail, yanking him off.

"Hey! Fuck off!" They cried.

Hide hovered over, as Tsuki began flying back.

"Who are you." Takashi interrogated.

"Suna. I'm here on the Queen's behalf. She told me to round up a pale yellow dragonet, with sage green eyes, an odd-shaped tail, and a dragonet that looks to be from the moon kingdom. I'm just doing what I was asked!" Suna cried.

"Have you been following us the whole time?" Hide asked, his tone soft.

"Not exactly," Suna replied, looking off into the dunes behind Hide.

"Elaborate," Takashi demanded, pulling Suna's tail slightly.

"I saw you three exit the temple of Lady Kinkijou! I swear! You all have amazing battle combat though. Especially you Night'Tails! With your special flying paper, and you! With your special fire breathing. You have better control than me!" Suna complimented, looking back at Takashi.

As Hide listened to Suna's voice, he noticed it was higher pitched, but not in a feminine way. By the way, his voice sounded, he was younger than them. Maybe a few months, to a year at best. He suddenly felt bad for the poor dragonet. He was only doing as ordered.

Hide smiled at Suna, then gave Takashi a glare. He quickly clenched his jaw and released Suna's tail.

"Listen, I can tell you right now, Tai Isn't coming back out of that temple for a long time. You can come back to her outrider den with us, collect her things, and claim she was dead in the sand." Hide suggested.

Suna's eyes lit up, as he smiled.

"So, how old are you anyway?" Tsuki asked as she made her way back.

"Oh! I'm two years and three months!" He replied, his smile brightening.

Hide's eyes widened; he glanced at Takashi, who had the same shocked expression.

"Seriously? I thought you were much younger." Hide replied.

"Dragonets like me age slower than others. Our bodies, our voices, and even the way our bodies are formed are different. For me, I just look and sound younger. No birth defects as you've described on the other dragonet." Suna explained.

Hide thought about it, picturing Tai, and her voice. It sounded mature like she'd been alive as long as they were.

"Suna, we're gonna need you to take us to the Castle, to ask your new Queen for forgiveness." Hide requested.

"Oh, I'm afraid she's taken an interest in you. You know, she's a few months older than me. She's about two years and seven months. She seems to find you fascinating. I don't think she'll be too kind to you." Suna replied.

Hide felt his chest close for a moment. He realized the new queen must have been in the crowd when he pulled his stunt. She must have noticed the power held in the Serpent curse, without knowing what it was.

"How will I get our Kingdoms to strengthen our alliance without meeting her?" Hide lied.

"Wait! You're the Kingdom of A Thousand Nights King?" Suna asked.

"My mother sent me on her behalf. I'm the Kingdom's prince." Hide replied.

Suna's eyes lit up.

"Oh sire, I apologize for ever harming you!" He said, bowing mid-flight.

"Cut the shit, Suna. I don't like the formalities." Hide said.

Suna quickly stopped talking, his mouth snapping shut.

"I'm sorry! I've never met a royal of any Kingdom before, outside of the dunes. The Queen never lets any Sand'Tail leave the Dunes without her permission, or without an outrider permit." Suna explained.

An idea shot into Hide's head. He shot a glance at Takashi, his ears perked, and his fish-like tail jolting with excitement.

"You say, would you mind coming with us to Tai's den? It's one she uses on the off seasons." Takashi asked.

"Well, are you sure I'm allowed? I'm nowhere near an outrider. Not even near battle training." He questioned.

"Oh, you'll be fine." Hide said, a dark grin on his face, as his gaze fixated on Suna's eyes.