Somewhere in a particular, grassy part of the desert, a shrew was lying in the shade, relaxing.
The leaves then rustled, signaling the approach of a large figure. The shrew lifted it's head and looked around, trying to determine where the noise was coming from.
A tall figure then emerged from the tall, sharp grass, covered in cactus nettles, dirt and sand. Her face, hands and neck bore numerous small cuts and bruises, some fresh, while others were almost healed but were still a bit red. Her face was scrunched up into an annoyed scowl, burned by the harsh heat and paled by a lack of food.
It was Avaron, no less. The time she spent separated by her sisters had not brought her good fortune, contributing to her anger.
"Ooooh, I cannot wait to get my hands on those sisters of mine!" She grumbled, stepping out of the dry shrub. "How dare they leave me out here to die, fendin' of the elements with my bare hands!"
Her stomach grumbled loudly, as if begging for food.
"Look stomach, I can't feed you right now," Avaron said, holding her hand to her tummy.
A disagreeable growl rumbled back in reply.
"Look, I ate some grass an hour ago!" she reminded it. "I don't know how long it'll be until I get to eat some actual food."
Yet another disagreeable growl resounded, this time much longer and louder.
Avaron sighed in displeasure and anger, tugging at the longer sides of her bob cut frustratingly. "Dear Lord, I pity me."
Regardless, she continued onward, grumbling and mumbling to herself angrily.
Avaron stepped out of the grassy patch, and into sand once again. She spotted a figure under the cool shade of a tall rock, taking a nap.
"Hey!" Avaron stomped over to the figure. "Help me out here! I'm lost and I'm hungry. Where am I and can you tell if you've seen anyone named Imala or Bella?"
The rudely awakened figure opened it's eyes, and glared at Avaron, saying nothing.
"Speak to me, would ya?" Avaron begin to repeat her requests again, slowly. "Help...me...out...here!"
The figure, irritated at Avaron's attitude and mood, raised both hands, charging up a magic spell to fire at her.
"Whoa! Hey, lil' lady!" A small, squeaky voice called out. "Need some 'elp?"
Avaron spotted a small, fuzzy figure standing on a rock. "You?" she asked in disbelief. "How can a small little furball like you help me?"
"Well, why don't we step a bit outta firin' range, first?" The small creature suggested, motioning it's head for Avaron to come towards it.
Avaron approached the rock. The resting figure lowered it's hands, observing Avaron leave it's space.
"How do ya do?" the small creature asked. "The name's Sorax!"
"What are you?" Avaron asked.
"Well, little lady, I'm a shrew. Now why don't you tell me what you are?" Sorax asked, bouncing the question back at her.
"For starters, I'm not a little lady; I have a name: Avaron Moon. And second thing you should know shrew, I'm a Moon Creature. From Moonville."
"You look a lil' lost, little lady." Sorax stood up on his hind legs.
"I am very much lost," Avaron corrected. "I'm looking for two people. Their names are Imala and Bella. Both of them sort of look like me. Except, Imala is shorter then me, and Bella plays a flute and is taller then me."
Sorax took a few moments to think. "Nope, I haven't seen anyone matchin' yer descriptions. But...I might know someone who could help ya out!"
"And who might that be?"
"Gran'pa Ken!" Sorax jumped off the rock and landed on the soft sandy ground. "He knows jes' 'bout everything in this 'ere desert. C'mon." Sorax began to walk away. "I'll take ya to 'im."
"Finally, I'm getting somewhere..." Avaron grumbled, following the shrew.
"Jes' one thing, though," Sorax warned. "He may be a nice old feller, but he might not take to yer attitude much. Just don't do anything to make 'im angry, little lady."
Avaron ignored him, keeping with his pace, too tired and angry to even listen anymore.