It took a bit longer than expected for Syza to land them all. Rega had argued with Anna that just diving straight down would easily cause Diala and Dune to fall right off while Syza was silent the whole time, seemingly upset to have two other heads.
Once they had landed, Dune helped Diala off of Anna's shoulder before getting off herself. She turned to thank the young Sar'Hingaro before she went to find her father. Dune had started her venture down with Diala close by her side.
"That was really brave, what you did up there," Dune said to Diala, complementing her and giving her a nudge with her tail.
Diala jumped a bit and looked up at her, her ears pinned down a bit while she fidgeted with her paws. "I- uh, what.. exactly are you talking about?" She asked, stammering a bit.
"Standing up to Skirra, Rhias and Amara," Dune said, smiling. "I didn't expect you of all creatures to have the courage to talk to him like that." Diala seemed a bit embarrassed at the compliment before smiling.
"I just got upset at the fact they just really thought their side of the story was true, so I just kind of... snapped." Diala replied, half muttering.
Dune brushed her tail against her arm to reassure her. "Still, it took guts to do. I'm proud of you." Diala's smile widened and she nodded. By now, it had been nearly 20 minutes after the fight had been called off, and they were only halfway down the mesa. Dune looked over the edge to see how both sides were doing. Everyone seemed to really be at peace. Well, neutral. Most of the oasis avoided the Sar'hingaro species, the only creatures actually getting close to them were healers. Some creatures placing mud, others carefully patching up any severe wounds.
She noticed that there were little to no anies healing the Sar'Hingaros. All that generational trauma must have really scared them. Dune saw a few Sar'Hingaros gesture to some anies to get them to heal them. They were the fastest healers in Sonaria after all. But none of them would even get near them and only focused on the Oasis. Dune hoped the scars between both species would be healed overtime. At least, if the truce stayed that way.
* * *
By the time Dune and Diala had reached the bottom of the Mesa, the sun had started to set, and a large majority of the Oasis had been healed. There were still some Sar'Hingaros being healed, and it had been almost an hour since Dune and Skirra's agreement. Dune knew they were currently in Aire's cave, waiting for everyone to be helped. Diala had left to try and get some anies to help with the the Sar'Hingaros.
Right now, Aire and Skirra, Amara and Rhias were talking in Aire's cave about some things, so Dune had been wandering around looking for her friends. She had no idea if they were alive or not. She hadn't spotted them once throughout the whole fight. As far as I know, they're dead, Dune thought, her tail coiling up a bit at the thought.
It was weird considering she had known them for a week and she had already considered them creatures she could trust.
Is that how Aire felt when she met me?
Dune couldn't think anymore of it when she heard snarling and roaring. She even recognized the arrogant voices of aereis she had tried talking to before the war. She peaked her head around a resting gramoss and saw many aereis, about five, ganging up on someone. Dune didn't approach as she watched a brown furred creature being pushed around and sprayed.
"No horn, eh?" One of the larger aereis, almost pure white with the exception of golden socked front paws, said. They seemed the largest as the other aereis around her laughed and circled their victim.
Another aereis spoke up. "And eating meat, instead of herbs! Disgusting! Someone ought to tear off your wings off."
"And that jaw, ew! An aereis with a mouth?"
"What. A. Freak." The gang leader spat out like venom, lifting a paw in the air before slamming the claws down on whatever they were attacking. A growl of pain is heard from the middle.
The gang leader stood tall and flicked their tail to the sky. "Let's go, girls. This excuse of an aereis has had enough. Let's go eat real food." On cue, they all flew off towards the direction of the flower oasis.
Now Dune could see who was attacked. It was who she assumed; Sane. Bloodied and cut and burned. She forced herself to stand, but winced as there seemed to be pain in her right shoulder. Dune thought she was on the verge of tears before Sane turned and saw Dune hiding. The gramoss stood, giving Dune furrowed eyebrows and walking away, now fully exposing Dune.
Sane did nothing but sit with her back towards Dune. Her wings were shaking a bit. Dune wasn't sure if it was because she was suppressing the urge to cry or if it was because she was hurt. Dune walked over to sit next to her. It was awkward for a bit. The two of them sat without talking.
"How much of that did you see?" Sane said, finally breaking the silence between them. Dune turned her head to see Sane looking at her without her head moving. Her pitch black eyes and white pupil making it look eerie.
Dune shrugged. "Not all of it. Mostly the verbal abuse part," Dune said in a monotone voice.
"Oh," Sane said blankly. Back to awkward silence.
This time, Dune broke the silence. "You aren't a freak, if that's what you're thinking about." Dune said, attempting to rest one of her front claws on Sane's paws, but Sane pulled her paw away, and so did Dune.
"I was actually thinking of ways to kill each of them without them tracing it back to me," Sane growled, digging her claws into the sand.
"Oh," Dune said, a bit concerned. "How.. vengeful."
"You're not good at guessing," Sane said.
"I'm not a mind reader," Dune replied back.
More silence.
"Still," Dune said, looking down at the sand as she drew a terrible picture of Aire in the sand. "You're not a freak. Terrifying, yes, but you're not, like, mutilated or anything. I'm.. still getting used to looking at you. It's weird seeing an aereis with a mouth, but I don't find you revolting."
Sane let out a hum and still didn't respond.
"If you stay here I can get you an ani for your injuries," Dune offered.
"I... guess I'd appreciate that," Sane said. Dune could have sworn she was being genuine in her voice.
Dune stood up and nodded. "I'll be right back," she said, walking off to find the closest ani that wasn't doing anything.
It only took her a few seconds to find a male ani talking with a kemoti and a miik. Dune walked up and asked him for help and the ani followed, happy to oblige.
The ani stood and used it's paws to aim and control the beams it cast through it's three orbs. Sane's wounds were quick to heal and turn into dark yellow scars. Her fur would grow over it over time. Once the Ani had patched up the open wounds, it tended to the burns and smaller cuts manually. Sane would wince at the touch whenever the ani used some spare murlk mud to glue on leaves, but she didn't snap or threaten him.
Once the ani had finished his work, Dune thanked him and nudged Sane with her tail barb to do the same, but she only muttered it under her breath.
She lay down next to her in the sand, erasing her old drawing after the ani had stepped on it and started over. "You know Sane, it's ok to suck up your pride. Everyone needs help from time to time.
"Asking for help is weakness," Sane hissed, her head whipping to face her with narrowed eyes. "I have to be good at everything. I need to be fast, I need to be smart and collected during a fight!"
"Can you run?" Dune asked, tilting her head.
Sane looked at her like she had suddenly grown eyes in the wrong place on her head. "Of course I can."
"Can you fly?" Dune asked.
"Uh, duh! I have wings!" Sane said, spreading her wings.
Dune nodded. "Well can you swim?" Dune knew the answer to this, remembering the first time they encountered and Armolten had sent her into the water. She remembered seeing Sane flail around in the water towards the shore.
Sane was about to say retort something, but words didn't leave her mouth. She just sat there, frozen. A deep growl resided in her throat before she muttered, "No."
"Exactly," Dune said, looking down and continuing her drawing of Aire. It was a little better than her last. "We can't do everything perfectly," she started to explain. "We all do something better than someone else. But there will always be someone who can do something better than you, or is just generally stronger. Everyone has weaknesses."
"Blah blah, everyone has weaknesses!" Sane said, rolling her eyes and kicking sand forward, lucky not to destroy the sand drawing. "But creatures don't have to help other creatures! It's survival. As simple as day and night. And if you ask for help from another creature, you'll seem weaker."
They sat there as the sun had risen over the mesa to cast light and create shadows. Dune looked around the oasis. Different creatures helping others stand and walk and eat. "Can I share something with you?" Dune asked, turning to face Sane. Sane shrugged, and Dune took it as a gesture that she could.
"When I was a teen, I wandered into pernirex territory. They made me bleed and hurt a lot, and I knew I wasn't going to live if I just let them," Dune said, shuddering. In her new body, she didn't have the scars from those pernirex teeth, even if they were just barely visible if you looked really hard. Now her redesigned body didn't have them. "I screamed for help desperately. And help came."
"An adult lmakosaurodon came and stomped on half of them, killing some and brutally injuring the rest. I was grateful for their help, and they sat with me for three days taking care of me."
Sane scoffed and lashed her tail across the sand. "So you were on the verge of death and got help from some tree-backed lizard," she said, seemingly annoyed. "So what? What's that supposed to tell me, huh?"
Dune glowered at Sane and her negative attitude. "If you had let me finish, that lmakosaurodon told me something," she said, adding last details to her drawing of Aire. "They told me that... asking for help isn't giving up. It's refusing to give up." Dune finished her sand drawing of Aire and smiled. "And that ani helping you was a great example of that." And Dune even remembered how she and Aire first met. It made her scales warm.
"I... guess that's a positive way of thinking like that," Sane muttered. "I never give up. I'll keep fighting!"
Or you can be the bigger and mature creature and end the fight." Dune pointed out. "Not every fight has to end up with one creature," Dune looked around and saw a majority of Sar'Hingaros talking to one another, and even some conversing with other creatures. "...Or species being hurt. Or killed."
Looking around, Sane actually seemed to calm down. Dune could almost see the regret in her eyes, and her muscles seemed to relax a bit. She sighed, looking down and seeing Dune's messy drawing in the sand. Dune had followed her gaze and felt her face heat up a bit. "Maybe that weird hybrid will be a better leader than Igiris."
"Aire will be a better leader than he ever was," Dune said, deciding not to be mad at Sane for calling Aire weird. "And you can even help her too. She'll need it considering she's a leader now."
Dune stood up and erased her claw drawing. "I'm going to find Arche and Armolten," she said, doing a cat strectch and shaking sand off her scales.
Sane tilted her head, confused. "Who?"
"Teal knalriki and white and blue valkurse?" Dune said, describing her friends.
"Ohhh, them!" Sane said, standing up and stretching her own limbs, more carefully than Dune as to not open any wounds. "I think I saw them over by the food last. Ran into them to grab meat, asked me to tell you they'd meet you there, left, then I got ganged up by those aeries and forgot about it."
Flicking her tail, Dune smiled at Sane. "Well, thanks for remembering! I'll, uh, talk to you later? Maybe the three of us and Aire can hang out whenever possible?"
"Sure," Sane said, smiling a bit, but also looking like pretending to be cool about it. "If Aire convinces that massive three-headed beast we're not worth killing."
"Don't worry," Dune said, starting to walk in the direction of the food, stepping over tails and talons. "I know Aire will convince him. See ya later, Sane!" Dune shouted, now skipping for the food store.
"...Bye," Sane said before flying off.