Being held in something else's mouth - even when something was a dear childhood friend (which, didn't he hate her?) - was deeply unsettling. Vee couldn't help but twitch her tail at every jostling and tense up like she was about to spring at some part of Warrior; but, she kept her mouth shut tight and head as covered as they ran away from... "what is that?"

The snake clawed for her magic as she was set down, tongue flickering out and finding only sand sand sand. Green eyes peered around, head tipping up and down and to the sides. Gembound here and there, as expected, but... none in the storm. "Just... wind, maybe? I don't think I see anybody in there - ?"

Vee shuffled closer to the wall, letting out a short hiss as she twisted over herself. The wounds were certainly there, but she'd live. Couldn't hurt any less, though.

@Warrior

Warrior shook himself, blinking, his hide twitching. Light threads of sand cascaded from his coat. He looked down at Vee, worriedly; she was coiling against the wall, speaking, and he glanced out as she did so.

She didn't sense anything, then. He snorted, out of nervousness rather than mockery, a loud blow through flared nostrils; and then pranced back a few steps. Ears flattened and rose, tail swishing, at the howl of the wind. A moment's silence, stillness, from the horse as he focused his own magic; no, she was right. There was nothing.

"I don't sense anything either," he offered quietly, after a moment. "I think we're safe." He watched warily, though; he was surprised no Spire Spiders or scorpions were rushing in to take shelter. Perhaps they'd felt it coming sooner; at least they were alone here, though.

Warrior looked to Vee. "Are you all right?" he asked, and as he did so he was reminded abruptly of how alien she was. Those unblinking eyes, the scales, the flicking tongue. They were strange to him, but--he knew her; he'd spoken to her, after all, so long ago. She'd been kind, if a predator (and he tried not to think about her killing the baby Quillmouse). So he swallowed back that strange unease, the memories of revulsion. "Did you get hurt? I hope I didn't bite too hard-..."

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@Vee

Warrior didn't see anything, either - that was good.

Vee still curled against the wall, tongue flicking out. "It makes me think of the... snow, when it started falling," she murmured with a shudder, "at least it's just sand." This would blow over soon, right?

The snake turned back to regard her wounds, giving a soft hiss of pain as she shifted one a particular way, "they're not bad - you didn't bite me at all, it's okay. It just hurts a little. Nothing I can't handle." If she could smile, she would've. It was in her voice, at least. "You could... tell your story?" Distract her, maybe?

@Warrior

Warrior tilted his head, eyeing Vee over worriedly. She... seemed okay, and she was assuring him that she was, and so after a moment, he turned his gaze back to the alcove's entrance. The sand was sweeping past, scouring the rock with a constant, seething hissing, and it set his nerves on edge. Instincts that he didnt wholly understand, but that were strong enough to rock him on his feet, pressed past: the fear of a prey animal, the anger of a threatened stallion. But he couldn't flee, from here; he couldn't fight a storm, and he just pranced back, shaking his head and trying to clear his mind from these alien thoughts.

He looked to Vee, again. "I wish I knew how to help if you were hurt. I don't know anything about that, or even if there's something I could do." Memories of death briefly assailed him, and he shook them away with a quiet flaring of nostrils. "Anyway--yeah, the snow. So, when it came," he began, and looked out to uneasily watch the sandstorm, as he spoke--having to raise his voice, some to be heard. "A bunch of strangers showed up, from outside this cave. I thought there was only a place with bones outside it, but they say there's other caves out there. And they..."

Warrior squinted. How was he to explain this-? "They said they think Hydra's dangerous, but--Vee, they were crazy. They were--hurting themselves, pulling off feathers and antlers and... eyes, as part of this 'test.' Two of them died-! There was a giant sand-worm, except it was all white, and I think it ate one of them," he added, grimly. As far as storytelling went, it wasn't the most coherent narrative, but in fairness it was one hell of a story to try and tell clearly from start to finish. Ripping out their own eyes-? A giant ice worm? Other caves? Even he was still baffled by it.

He looked to Vee, peering. "Some of them knew the desert. Some of them didn't. I tried to guide them and protect some--Oleander was there, but... she acted like she hardly knew me," he added, a little quiet, a little sad. Granted, he hadn't told Vee much about Oleander but he was pretty sure he'd offered the bare bones of it--if a long, long time ago. "The ones that didn't die, and me, we all got put into our stones again afterward. I woke up white," he added, with a furrow of his brow; "I'm not sure why."

After a moment, he dipped his head; and when the little banana appeared, he pulled its peel off with his teeth. This he carried to Vee, and set it down hesitantly. "I know you like--um, mice--but I think anyone can eat these. I'm glad you're okay," he added, for what might've been the third time.

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@Vee

Warrior was pacing around and around, and it made Vee - well, it gave her reason to be nervous. She stated bluntly, but with plenty of concern, "Hey, um, whatever... you have to do with your legs - come down here? With me?" Relax, would've been a better way to put that word vomit. Coiled in place, the snake traced his every move. She was drawn to movement.

And she was drawn to the tale, rattle flicking idly and with no small amount of concern: more caves? Bones? Self-mutilating? To survive? Caves, if only she could look increasingly worried. Who cared if the narrative flow wasn't up to snuff, that was all... "that's horrible. What - what are other caves like, to make them like that?" It was a rhetorical question, of course, but still just as horrified. "That's awful..."

"I'm sorry about Oleander, I know you were... looking for her," she offered in mild sympathy, tipping her head down in some imitation of a sympathetic frown. As for the white - "maybe... to blend in? With snow, anyways..." Clearly, none of that was around anymore. "I would've helped! But... the cold made me sleepy. I couldn't stay awake. Some other hoofed-creature came by, but they left to go find food or... something." Left her alone, to freeze.

No matter. That was in the past, and she was okay, now.

The horse shoved a strange sort of fruit towards her, no bigger around than the middle of her tail, and not long at all. Vee, having never experienced a banana before, skirted out of her coil and around it. She spared a glance up at Warrior, then gently fit her jaws around the edge of it - no fangs needed. They unhinged, and she got about half of the banana's length into her mouth before she started to choke. Closing her mouth and mushing the fruit in her rehinging jaw, the snake tipped her head down to hack up what was obstructing her throat.

It was a weird feeling, that's for sure. Half of the banana ended up on the ground, and she felt a strangely vile you shouldn't have eaten that feeling in her body - both from it being outside of her usual carnivorous tendencies and her now-glowing form. Regardless, she tipped her head towards Warrior, yawned (putting what little had actually made it in safely) and nodded, "thank you."

@Warrior

He'd only moved back once, but as he glanced to Vee and her obvious unease, he realized that he must have been fidgeting. Do with your legs? he thought, and hesitated, then curled himself down to lie on the rock.

"You mean--here?" he asked, and some instinct sparked, some unease at lying this close to a rattlesnake. He looked out at the sandstorm, and shook his head, turning his mind back to the conversation. "Yeah, it was... bad. Sad. I saved her life, and she didn't even talk to me," he added, softly. "Whatever happens outside the desert, I think it makes them... dangerous. Or weird," he added, unaware that something was fundamentally wrong with his childhood friend. Unaware that he had likely, in fact, dodged one hell of a bullet--or, in-universe, one hell of a clawing Eyehook foot, maybe.

"Anyway-... Who was it who left you here? That's a lot worse than just not talking to someone. They knew you were cold-? Sleeping in the snow, and just left you? You don't even have fur; you could've frozen," he pointed out, worried now. How cruel, how thoughtless, did someone have to be-? To him, it didn't matter that they'd had to find food--why hadn't they gotten Vee to shelter, first?

Ahh--banana time.

He had not expected to nearly choke Vee to death, and he blinked as he saw her struggle with the banana. "Oh, I didn't mean to--sorry," he offered, a little bit alarmed.

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@Vee

"That's good," she murmured, wanting to move closer and unintentionally leech warmth from the horse's flanks. Not yet, though. Warrior was hurt - in an emotional way, rather than physical. "I'm sorry," Vee offered, because she... had no idea what else to say. There wasn't much else by way of social interaction that she could use to empathize with. A selfish thought came to mind, and she voiced it quietly, "you... won't leave the desert, right?"

"I... don't remember if they gave me their name. They had a long face like you, but looked - um, rounder. I think they had a bumpy back," Vee coiled in on herself some more, "everything just felt... slow. I don't think I would've died. Just... slept for a while." As she did.

Once the mushy feeling in her throat managed to go down and she'd given her thanks, the rattler shook her head, "no, no, it's okay - it's okay. I should've known it was more than I could swallow at once. Thank you."

@Warrior

Warrior exhaled, thinking. Who did he know who had a long face, like him? And what did 'but rounder' look like-? Bumpy-? Could it have been Cryogen-? he wondered, and he hoped not--no, it couldn't have been. The snow had come long before the child, of course.

Hm.

Vee's question caught him by surprise, and he glanced at her. "No, I don't think so. I don't--plan to, anyway? I think it's important we keep an eye out for anyone else that is born in the desert. So we can help them, protect them--teach them how to live here, you know? Not to run over the sand, or out without cover under the vultures, things like that."

His gaze lifted, and regarded the sandstorm outside steadily, for a moment. "I think I'm still learning, though--every time I think I know Hydra--that's what they call this place--something else pops up." And then, out of conversational politeness, he looked to the snake. "What about you; are you planning to leave? I know a couple friends here who left to explore the caves; I haven't seen them since, but I guess it'd be interesting to know if anything really does lie beyond the bones."

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@Vee

"No, I don't think so." Caves, if Vee had the freedom of expression. She exhaled a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and glanced up at Warrior. That's good. They're okay - and he wouldn't leave and... witness whatever made everyone so... weird. Wrong... ?

"I haven't seen Quen or Mira in a while -" she answered, if a little distantly upon realizing that they might not have met before. Vee tacked on for good measure, "they have a den in the crucible." Slowly, cautiously, she slithered towards Warrior - making sure that she was well-within his line of sight and completely level with the ground. Baby steps. "I can look for gems but... it's hard to tell if it's someone or one of the vultures or spiders resting on the ground," she murmured, "but, that's good. I'll do that, now that I'm awake."

The rattler stopped short some few feet from the horse, green eyes lifting to regard him. "It's the outside coming in, I'm sure... it's not weird unless there's... a bunch of people coming in from the bones soon, for that... test-thing," she murmured, "if it's... so bad out there that they'll - tear out their eyes without hesitation, I don't think I wanna leave."

@Warrior

Warrior nodded cheerfully in recognition. "That's where I live, too! -I mean, not in their den, but close by. It's good--sheltered, with water close."

He curled against the wall, a bit, leaning against it, fighting a yawn. But he glanced to Vee, listening to her words, and nodded his firm agreement. He didn't seem to mind her slithering a little closer, at least. "I don't wanna go out there, either. One of the Champions came back, you know--looking for me, to talk. They said there's 'masters' that make them all do that stuff, as... games? I didn't really understand, but they also said there's lots of caves outside of this one--outside Hydra. That there's cities, and forests, and, um. 'Lakes.'"

Warrior wasn't too sure of this one. Hydra did not have 'lakes.'

"It sounds like... something I'd like to see, but I'm afraid of what might be out there. Or-... I just don't think it's smart to go in, you know? Into those places, where they can make you hurt yourself, or something."Warrior shuddered, then, and looked to Vee. "Anyway, I think Quentin went to explore. Maybe Mira, too--I'm not sure. I haven't seen them in a long time... I hope they're okay."

Long pause.

"So... do you still eat mice?"

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@Vee