"Wait up!" Tyko ran as fast as he could to try and keep up with Karrie, who was speeding ahead on her bike. Rags was clutching to Tyko's back, and tried his hardest to keep a good grip on the smooth drum yo-kai. The three of them were zipping through Downtown to a destination perfect for a warm and sunny day like this one.
Karrie suddenly slammed the brakes next to flight of stone stairs. Tyko, not prepared for the stop, slammed right into the bike, knocking himself and Rags out. Noticing the impact, Karrie turned to them while still mounted on her bike.
"You guys alright?" Rags was the first to come to. He rose from Tyko's back and dizzily wandered in circles.
"Owie..." Karrie dismounted her bike and plucked the hat out of the air. Cuddling him, she walked over to Tyko, who was sprawled out and unconscious.
"...Tyko?" Karrie tapped him lightly, and he instantly woke up.
"KABOOM! I! Am! O! Kay!" He hopped around Karrie's feet excitedly. Rags suddenly snapped out of his daze and drifted out of Karrie's arms. He floated about the new surroundings.
"Hmmm...this not look familiar..." He turned to Karrie. "Where is we?" Karrie gestured to the vast beach behind her.
"Rolling Waves Park. Pretty, isn't it?" She turned and made her way down the stairs, careful not to slip and fall. "Mommy takes me here all the time, but this is the first time she let me go by myself." Tyko toddled down the stairs backwards as if it were a ladder, and Rags floated close behind.
"Is she okay with that?" Tyko asked, while still trying to remain focused as he couldn't afford to fall down the steps.
"Yep, she said I could go as long as I have my phone with me." She pat her backpack, which was thrown over her shoulder. The three of them reached the sandy floor of the start of the sparkling beach. The sky's baby blue was trumped by the deep, rich blue the ocean had as the waves sloshed against the coastline. Despite the lovely view, the place seemed empty. They had the whole place to themselves. Excited, Karrie threw off her stuff and ran into the water, making footprints in the wet sand. She turned around and yelled to her yo-kai friends.
"Come on! The water's great!" As soon as Karrie finished her sentence, they bolted over. Tyko went deeper into the water, floating easily since his body was hollow and the water was super salty. Rags held his breath, closed his eyes, and dove in. The water he went into was too shallow though, and he ended up with a face full of sand.
"Watch this!" Karrie sprinted across a section of the beach, leaving footprints behind her. "You try!" She called out. Rags dove into the ground and created a long trail in the sand. Tyko jumped up from where he stood.
"I'm gonna run the whole beach! Watch me, watch me!" He stood in place for a second to prepare himself, and then he suddenly bolted. He ran past Karrie and Rags instantly, and continued sprinting down the beach. Not wanting to lose Tyko, they followed suit. "Weee! Look at my foot pr-AAAH!" A deep, dark sinkhole suddenly appeared underneath Tyko as he ran, and he sunk quickly. Karrie immediately grabbed Tyko's leg as he began to sink, and Rags bit down on on the other leg. As Tyko continued to disappear, the two of them pulled harder and harder. The sinkhole also began to pull downwards with greater and greater force, making the whole thing a twisted game of Tug o' War. Not giving up on their friend, they both pulled as hard as they could, and eventually Tyko flew out of the hole. Karrie was knocked over by the sudden release, and Rags was pulled down with them. As soon as Tyko left the sinkhole, it stopped growing. Looking into the now empty hole, it looked like a mouth, and you could even see a tongue inside. Suddenly, it spoke.
"Hm? Was ist passiert? What happened?" The ground then began to shake, and the area around the sinkhole rose. Terrified, Karrie, Tyko, and Rags huddled together in fear. The area grew into a large sand dune, and the "sinkhole" really WAS a mouth. The dune opened two bright yellow eyes, which had blush marks underneath them. A dust cloud gathered around the dune's neck, resembling a fluffy travel pillow. Near the dune's base, brown stripes wrapped around its body. It looked around, and laid its eyes on the frightened group of friends. "O-oh! Visitors!" It noticed the terrified looks on their faces, and examined them closer, concerned. "Ist was? Something wrong? Did I scare you? I'm sorry…."
"Oh no, no, no! Not at all!" Karrie tried to feign calmness as the thing loomed over her.
"Whaaaaat? Nooooo, you're fiiiine." Tyko feigned a wide grin, appealing to the yo-kai.
"Well, you did kinda scare—OW!" He was cut off by a quick hit from Karrie.
"Rags! Don't say that!" She gave him a nasty look, and then made eye contact with the sand dune. "Ignore him..." Despite the blunt truth, The sand dune just smiled.
"Oh…it's okay. I know my size is...naturfremd—not natural—to you. It's my fault." He held out his hand with the pinky finger sticking out. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Danke Sand!" Karrie grabbed the pinky with both hands and shook it gladly.
"I-I'm Karrie, this is Tyko, and that is Rags!" She motioned to herself and her friends who politely waved. After the roll call, Tyko approached the sand dune cautiously.
"So...what was with the whole mouth trap thing, exactly?" Danke Sand's attention shifted to the drum.
"Hm?" He cocked his head slightly, not having a single clue what Tyko was talking about at first. He then perked up and snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh! That was you?" He looked over to the left and blushed, pushing his fingers together. "E-Entschuldige bitte…Sorry about that. It's how I eat, a-and it wasn't purposeful, I promise." Tyko just beat the air with his little feet.
"It's fine! I'm just happy to still be here right now!" Almost immediately, Danke Sand snatched up Tyko and hugged him tightly.
"Aaah! Danke schön! Thank you, Thank you for the forgiveness!" Tyko was not as happy as Danke Sand was, since he was getting squished by the big guy's strong hug.
"H...hel...p..." The words could barely escape his mouth. Realizing he was causing Tyko harm, Danke Sand quickly let him go, thankfully intact. He shook the pain off, and spent a good few seconds getting air flowing in his lungs again. "P-please...be more gentle..." Danke Sand just nodded, and quickly bowed to silently apologize. Rags left Karrie's side, slightly in a huff from the smack, and approached Danke Sand.
"Hmmm," He saw that the big guy was basically a gigantic wall splitting the beach in half. "you not have much wiggle room. How you move around?" The sand dune sank into his spot comfortably.
"I don't really have to. I've got everything that can satisfy me right here." Rags looked around the beach. There was no edible things he could see, only a few crabs and some fish in the water.
"You does? What you eat here?" The sand dune rose back up and thought for a minute.
"Hmmm, let's see...crabs, fish, birds," Each item he listed was represented by a finger as he counted. "shellfish, the occasional frog, insects, snakes," Eventually, he ran out of fingers to count all of the things he eats. "and that's only part of the list! I eat viele Dinge—a lot of things." Karrie cocked her head curiously.
"You eat all that? I don't know if any of that is even food..."
"I'm sorry that it's odd for you, but it's tasty for me..." he sighed. "I can't be picky in a world like this! Everything looks so good..." Suddenly, the ground started to shake and rumble, taking everyone, even Danke Sand, aback.
"The heck wazzat?" Tyko questioned the sudden earthquake.
"Hey! Rags didn't do nothin'!" Rags scowled at Tyko offendedly.
"A quake? Why did that—huh?" Karrie looked up to Danke Sand, who's face was redder than a tomato, and both hands were on his tum.
"I'm sorry…that was me…my Magen."
"Wait, that was your stomach?" Karrie asked, surprised. "When's the last time you've eaten?" Danke Sand only reddened further.
"Yesterday Morgen…My luck with finding food recently has been lower than low…Although…" his tone of voice suddenly shifted, and he started drooling heavily. "Hmmmm…" he gave the group weird looks, like he was in a trance. Karrie grew worried and tapped Danke Sand's side.
"...Danke Sand? You okay...?" He ignored Karrie's question, and settled his eyes on Rags, who was still hovering above him. Still drooling, Danke Sand hungrily licked his lips.
"You look tasty~!" Danke Sand suddenly grabbed Rags out of the air and began to bring him towards his mouth. Karrie had to think quickly.
"Tyko! Do something!" Tyko nodded, pulled out his drumsticks, and launched fireworks at random. They hit, but they didn't affect the Danke Sand at all. He just giggled.
"I won't get hurt by something as puny as that~!" Tyko tried to re-perform the trick, but he got snatched up by Danke Sand's other hand before he could do so. "You're not going anywhere!" Danke Sand giggled. Both of Karrie's friends were in danger and there was little she could do. Thinking irrationally, she splashed seawater onto the sand dune's side, causing it to harden and cause pain to Danke Sand. Shocked by the burning sensation, he dropped the both of them onto the ground where they, thankfully, landed safely on the soft sand. "AH! What the—" he stopped mid-sentence when he realized what he almost did. "Oh...oh no...are you okay?" He turned to the trio, mortified by his actions. The two yo-kai were hysterically crying, terrified, and Karrie was absolutely infuriated.
"Don't 'are you okay?' me! How DARE you even TRY to eat my friends...on PURPOSE!" The sand dune just quivered, feeling horrible.
"I'm so sorry...that happens sometimes when I don't eat...I didn't—"
"I don't CARE if it happens sometimes, all the time, or once in a blue moon! You hurt my friend, and nothing you say will change that! We're leaving!" Danke Sand's heart broke.
"But...I...I...!" his clouds began to darken, and big, monstrous tears were rolling down the poor guy's face. Karrie picked up her friends and held them close.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let anyone get away with something like that." Karrie, feeling justified yet guilty, packed up her backpack and left. Danke Sand's clouds only darkened further, and began to produce lightning. Turning a deep shade of purple, Danke Sand teleported away.
No one could get any sleep that night. Not because of nightmares or what happened only a few hours before, but because of the loud cries that echoed through the moonlit sky. Looking out the window, Karrie sighed deeply.
"...Do you think I was too harsh back there?" She turned to Rags and Tyko, who were both chilling on her bed.
"No! Of course not! He tried to EAT us!" Tyko thumped his little foot on the bed. "You were right for telling him off!"
"Mhm!" Rags nodded. "An accident is not accident when it happen twice!" Karrie could see where they were coming from and agreed with their points, but still felt a pit of guilt in her stomach when she listened to the wails ringing throughout Uptown.
"Maybe...but..." she said as she gestured to the direction of the sobs, "He knows what he did, and he's sorry enough. He shouldn't be like this forever...we gotta find him." Karrie picked up her bag and headed downstairs.
"What?! You crazy!" Rags yelled after her.
"He's gonna eat us again! Please don't!" Tyko panicked, and quickly tried to block Karrie's way.
"He won't. We're bringing food with us. Lots of it." She grabbed a couple of large trash bags, shoved them in her backpack, and mounted the familiar pink bike that was parked outside. There was no stopping her. She had a goal, and she was going to follow it. Begrudgingly, Rags and Tyko rode in the basket on Karrie's bike all the way to Shopper's Row. Once there, they scoured every shop there for food of every flavor, size, and smell. They put candy in one bag, snacks in the other, ramen in another, and so on, to the point where the bags were stuffed full. Tying each bag to the back of the bike, she dragged them across the ground gently, careful not to tear them as the trio slowly made their way to the Jumbo Slider, the source of the cries.
Once they got to the slide, the entire thing was flowing with water.
"Ooh~ A water slide! This would be a cool place to have a party!" Tyko already pulled out a piece of paper, writing notes on how the party would go and look.
"Huh. Jumbo Slider isn't a water slide..." she mumbled. "but never mind that! Let's get to the top!" Tyko begrudgingly put away his notes before they each picked up a bag (bicycles weren't allowed) and trekked up the hill. The bags were ridiculously heavy, making the travel a long struggle. Eventually they managed to get to the top, ridiculously close to collapsing. Dropping the bags, they were finally able to check the source of the cries. As expected, it was the Danke Sand they met earlier. His massive tears were the cause of the "water slide" seen earlier. He looked much darker than he did that morning, and his clouds were rumbling with thunder and lightning. He didn't seem to notice their presence at all.
"Danke Sand? Hello?" Karrie tapped the big guy's side, only to be met with cold, red eyes staring back at her.
"Oh...you're here? What do you want?" His voice was much different than it was before, too. It was like they were talking to a completely different person. Tyko jumped up onto the sand dune.
"We just wanted to bring your rhythm back up." he turned to Karrie and gave her a peeved look. "At least, she did..." his expression quickly shifted back to his normal happy one. "but seeing you like this makes me wanna see you happy again! So c'mon! Smile for me!" Danke Sand didn't comply. His expression stayed cold and solemn. "C'mon! Please?" Tyko pulled the sweetest face possible to try and convince him, but all he got was a rock to the face, which knocked him off of Danke Sand's body and into the forest behind him. "Waaah... why are you so stubborn all of a sudden..." walking back to Karrie, he now had a fresh bruise on his cheek. Karrie pulled a piece of food from one of the bags and tried to get the dune's attention with it, but he just put his hands up in an x position and gave her a firm "No thanks!" before turning back around. Karrie frowned.
"C'mon, don't be like this..." Danke Sand just huffed and turned his head upwards. He refused to say anything, do anything, or eat anything. It was like talking to a wall.
"Listen, Rags may have been dragged here cuz Karrie crazy but..." He nuzzled up to Danke Sand kindly. "that no mean me wanna see you sad." Danke Sand pushed Rags away, and sat there bitterly. Determined to redeem herself, Karrie decided to try the food again, but this time she was gonna get him to eat no matter what. She yelled up to Rags, who was still hovering in the air.
"Rags, how much weight can you carry?" She asked.
"If you wan' Rags to lift you, Rags can try." He drifted down and tried his absolute hardest to lift Karrie up by the shirt, but to no avail. Slightly exhausted, he floated lower than he normally did. "Rags sorry...me can't..." Karrie pat Rags comfortingly.
"It's okay! I'll try something else!" She grabbed the side of the dune with a trash bag full of food in hand and started to pull herself up his body. Tyko stared at her in disbelief.
"Man, that girl IS crazy." He sighed.
"Rags know, but she MY crazy!" Rags just smiled gleefully, thankful he had such a silly friend. Karrie climbed up imperfections in the sand, using them as steps to get to the dune's summit. Multiple times in the trek, she came dangerously close to slipping off of his body. Thankfully, she managed to reach the top safely. It was extremely cold and windy there due to the thunderstorm caused by the clouds. Karrie waved a hand in front of Danke Sand's blood red eyes. He looked up, scowling and bitter.
"Get off. N-" Karrie dropped the whole bag into his mouth from above, cutting him off. Reluctantly, he gulped the food down, and his eyes softened a little. The job done, Karrie slid down the back of Danke Sand and onto the ground safely. He turned to the child and her friends, looking a little less mad. "…S-seconds…p-please…" he flushed a bit, embarrassed to even mention the idea of filling up his empty stomach. Karrie gestured to the pile of bags.
"Suit yourself, big guy." she said. Danke Sand wasted no time with swallowing the next bag whole. The storm started to calm down a bit.
"I've…never had anything like this before…it's so good…" the sand dune mumbled to himself, yet it was audible to the gang as his voice was naturally too booming to be quiet. He started gulping down the bags faster than Karrie's eyes could track. Plastic and all. His skin(?) started to fade back to its natural sandy color, and the storm faded to nothing. The only trace of the bags ever being there was the imprint the pile made in the ground.
"Danke..." His voice was back to its deep, friendly self again. But even after the meal, he still didn't look as cheerful, and there were still a few tears rolling down his face. Rising back up, he shifted his focus back to the tiny little creatures below him. "I...didn't think you'd come...after...after...after w-what I-I did..."
"It wasn't your fault, Danke Sand, it was mine." Karrie placed a hand on her heart. "I shouldn't have acted that way."
"Wh-What are you talki—*sniff*—ng about?" Danke Sand started to cry harder. "I-it was me! Es ist m-meine S-Schuld! D-don't—*gasp*—blame yourself!" Some of the tears hit the ground, splashing all over everyone and everything. "This always—*hic*— happens, I always mess things like this u-up!"
"What are you talking about? Your appetite?" Tyko asked.
"N-nein…when I…try to make friends..." Danke Sand wiped his tear-stricken face as much as he could. "I always scare them away, because I'm a big, fat, dummkopf…" he covered his face and started to shake. The only sounds he could muster were a few whimpers.
"Ummmm…you 'kay?" Rags stroked the poor thing with his eyestalk.
"A…good-for-nothing...b-bottom feeding..." his teeth were gritting together.
"Danke Sand…?" Karrie placed her hand on the sand dune's body in comfort.
"DUMMKOPF!" Danke Sand burst into tears, shattering quite a few distant windows and causing everyone's ears to ache severely.
"Hey, hey! Calm down, now! Don't be like that!" Tyko reassured the wailing mountain. But Tyko's pleas we're unheard over the Danke Sand's wails and sobs.
"Aaaaah! Karrie, make him stop, make him stop!" Rags pleaded in pain. Karrie reacted instantly, and blurted out,
"WE'LL BE YOUR FRIENDS!", and the Danke Sand immediately stopped.
"Wie bitte…?"
"We'll be friends with you!" Tyko jumped up to make himself a little more visible.
"Mhm!" Rags nodded. "You actually not bad!"
"Yeah! Rags is right!" Karrie chimed in. "You're really sweet, and even though you have…uh…some issues…you've still got a big heart in there!" Danke Sand flushed a bright pink and turned away.
"Forget 'bout them other guys! They not really know you!" Rags said with confidence.
"Aww…you guys…" Danke Sand covered his pinkish face with his dust clouds in a failed attempt to hide. "YOU'RE the sweet ones…"
"So, how 'bout you come with us?" Karrie reached out her hand to the sand dune. Danke Sand flushed deeper, hesitated, then suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Confused, Karrie looked around, thinking that he had left.
"Over here!" Karrie looked forward to find Danke Sand had shrunk, and was now only slightly taller than she was. Elated, he squished Karrie in a strong hug, resulting in a lot of sand on her shirt and a medal stuck to it. Karrie carefully pried off the medal and placed it into her backpack with the rest. "Thank you so much!" He snuggled her happily for a while, until he stared feeling a ittle drowsy. He yawned and began to sway a little. His grip on Karrie loosened. "Nickerchenzeit..." he mumbled before flopping over. He had completely conked out since it was late and he just ate a boatload of food. Combining what little strength they had left, they carried the dune back home with them, while also trying to trail the bike back home as well. Eventually, they managed to make it back home and haul him into bed. Exhausted, they all climbed into bed after him and fell asleep instantly.
Morning came, and everyone was wide awake. Everyone except for Danke Sand, who was sleeping like a rock. While at the table, Karrie held a small plastic badge in the shape of a flower in her hand. Rags curiously peeked over Karrie's shoulder to check out the little accessory.
"Oooh~ Whuzzat?" Karrie fumbled with the little badge in her hand for a bit before responding.
"It's a little trinket that I found on the ground while I was walking to school the other day. I was thinking that Dunebug might like it." Tyko, who was rolling on the table, gave Karrie a puzzled look.
"Who?" He asked. As if on cue, there was a loud thump from upstairs. After a brief moment of silence, there were scuffling noises approaching the stairs. Sure enough, it was Danke Sand. Rubbing his eyes, he looked over to the table where his new friends were gathered.
"Ahhh~ Guten Morgen! Good morning!" Slugging his way to the table, he noticed the sparkly badge in Karrie's hand. "That looks really nice! Do you wear it?"
"Oh no, it's for you, Dunebug." Karrie slid the badge over to him. He was doubly confused.
"H-huh? Is that…me?" he cocked his head and pointed to himself as he spoke.
"...Yeah..." she felt embarrassed, thinking he didn't like it. He stayed silent for a little while before squeeing loudly, cracking a nearby window.
"Danke, thank you, thank you! I love it!" Dunebug gladly placed the badge on his front before tackling Karrie to the ground in happiness. Tyko and Rags immediately checked on their friend, who was sprawled out on the floor stuck under the mass of sand cuddling her.
"D-don't worry...I'm fine..." she stuck up a solitary thumb as she affectionately cuddled the sand dune back. The two Yo-kai just sat there staring at the scene.
"Me no think Karrie gonna live past seven if he keep that up." Rags gave Tyko a worried look.
"She'll be okay..." Tyko worried a little too, but both of them knew that Karrie would be fine. She's a strong girl.