"I'm sorry, Your den?" Tsuki asked.
Tai nodded, tilting their head.
"Do you three not know where you are?" She asked.
"Well, not really." Hide said.
"You're within a hundred miles of the Kingdom of Sand's Castle. Even better, our new queen's coronation is today." Tai said an anxious smile on her face.
Tai shook her head, her tail swaying.
Hide gave her a strange look.
"Tell you what. You can dress us up just like your kind! It should be pretty easy!" Hide said with enthusiasm.
"The feathered one would be difficult. And the red one would be the hardest since his scales do not match mine, or my friends. I'd be glad to take you though. The texture is close enough to what looks normal." She said, pointing to Hide.
"Sure! Why not. Can my friends take cover in your den though? They can't survive in the heat here." Hide asked, anxiously.
"I suppose. But if my den looks any different than when we leave, I will never trust an outsider ever again." Tai said, looking dead into Takashi's eyes.
Hide nodded, smiling.
Tai had a blank expression on her face, before stretching her wings. She quickly jumped upwards, flapping her wings at lightning speed, soaring away swiftly. Hide's eyes widened, shocked at how fast she could fly, given how scrawny she was. He saw her fly back like a bullet, with some gold corn in her claws.
She landed, putting the corn into a clay bowl.
"What's the corn for?" Takashi asked sourly.
"Well, with sweet corn, it creates a powerful painting pigment, but no smell. Corn here loses all of its smell, once added to a liquid. Plus, it's gold which looks like our color. If we stick some sand to him, we could make him unrecognizable." Tai said, looking at Tsuki, and avoiding Takashi's glare.
Takashi looked over to Tai, pure range in his eyes. Hide walked over to Takashi, patting him on the back, with a smug look on his face.
"Tai, What are we going to do with the corn anyways? Mash it?" Hide asked.
"Noo, we're going to eat it, then shit it out. Of course, we're going to mash it!" Tai said.
Hide went over to the corn bowl, and began crushing the corn between his talons. Tai walked over, trying to help. She began slicing and mashing some corn with her tail. Takashi scoffed, walking into the den, and grabbing Tsuki with his tail.
Hide looked over to Takashi out of the corner of his eye, looking pissed.
"So, if you don't mind, can you answer a few questions of mine?" Tai asked.
"Of course." Hide said, smiling.
"First, why were you, and the red dragon fighting?" She asked.
" He called me a 'Pathetic-weak-wing' Since I'm a dragonet who's apparently never been taught how to use common knowledge. His words, not mine." Hide said.
"Oh wow, You seem to have common knowledge down. But being a dragonet under his age has nothing to do with being smart. If you were a rude brat, that would make all of the difference. But you seem kind." Tai said, a faint smile on her face, as she mashed more corn.
"Another question," she said.
Hide grunted.
"What's you're name? I mean it seems quite useless to not have it." She said, grabbing another ear of corn.
"Well, my name is Hide," he replied.
Tai's eyes had a faint glow that grew stronger and brighter as she looked at him. Her sage green eyes felt hypnotizing for a moment before she looked down to the corn mush again.
"Ah. Well, that's a pretty name I suppose.." Tai said, her ears slightly drooping.
After a few moments of silence, she cleared her throat.
"So, if you don't mind, I have one more question." She said.
"Shoot." Hide laughed.
"Well, what are you doing in the sand kingdom? I mean, we're nothing special. No one can even remember that we exist half the time. In the oncoming war, Dragons of Sand will be useless.." Tai explained.
"Oncoming war?" Hide repeated, his tone slightly nervous.
"Didn't you know?" she asked, looking slightly confused.
"There's a war between the kingdoms. Right now it's small, with little-to-no casualties, but once it grows, the sand kingdom will literally be left in the dust." Tai said, her ears drooping further.
"Well, maybe with a dragon of sand with us, maybe as an ally, we can try to end the oncoming war, finally bringing our kingdoms to peace." Hide said, his eyes lit up with excitement.
"Maybe," Tai said, hesitant.
Hide jumped up into the air, spinning as he gradually rose. Hide folded his wings inwards, causing him to begin falling from the sky, into the sand.
Once he landed, It was like a tsunami of sand. Before he had realized how big the landing was, he had gotten sand all over himself, Tai, and the mashed corn.
"Yeesh, learn how to land!" Tai said, choking back laughter.
Suddenly, Hide burst into laughter, as Tai did the same.
"Shut the hell up! Both of you just need to mash some corn, and get some water! Don't make it this big thing!" Takashi yelled from the den.
Hide looked over to the cave, to see a dragon boiling with rage. Takashi's crimson scales didn't nearly compare to the rage on his face, practically turning him a bright red.
Hide sat there quietly for a moment before Tai stood to her talons.
"Well, let's get painting," She said, a mellow smile on her face, as she tried to keep her composure.