Everything was quiet when Archways came to.
Mostly because Archways laid very still thinking they were supposed to wait for the-ones-from-before to do their thing – the thing they do at the mountain where they hypercharge them with energy to get through the final bit of the storm. They had woken up a short while ago much like during that portion of the journey, lying on the ground seemingly lifeless only to be suddenly awake and alive and full of energy again. The heaviness from before was now gone as well and Archways was now alert much as they had been two days ago.
And yet nothing happened. No ones-from-before appeared nor any energy gifted to them for pushing determinedly forward. Just… suddenly awake again.
Archways gave a small chirp trying to get the attention of any ones-from-before that may be watching over them.
Still nothing.
Archways rolled onto their back in the small space and stared at nothing in particular. They were confused as to what was happening and why certain things weren't happening. Archways decided to give a much louder boom of noise, but still, there was no one to answer them.
Archways was starting to feel very alone.
And very cramped.
Archways looked to where they had entered the hiding space. They could barely see it as the only light in the space came from their glowing eyes.
Time to start digging they suppose. But digging with their blade-like legs was not the way to go. Instead, they gave loud booming shouts that moved the sand a lot faster than frantically swiping with their legs would have. The sand in front of them shifted behind them as they inched forward with each explosive cry until finally, the sand burst outwards into the open air.
The storm was gone leaving the desert pretty much how it was before if shifted a little. Or perhaps a lot – Some new things had been unearthed during the storm leaving them exposed to the air.
And what was exposed was an entire graveyard –hundreds of them- and not just of the-ones-from-before but also dozens of old broken war machines that had toppled on top of each other.
All this hadn't been here the day before…
Archways wondered how much they had missed during the previous couple of days. How much of the past laid just beneath the surface? Archways marched on, checking every nook and cranny they could find.
But there wasn't much, not even any trapped cloth critters moved within the machines. In fact, whatever creatures had been trapped had already been set free from the looks of it - all the gates in the every single war machines had been opened.
Could that mean there was someone else nearby?
Archways gave a series of long thrills and rapid fast chirps in hopes someone would hear them. They hadn't seen one soul since leaving the path and a friend would be nice.
But no one replied.
Well, sometimes it just takes getting to the highest spot to be noticed.
Archways immediately trudged up the highest dune to try again but upon reaching the top could only stand in shocked silence at what laid behind it.
A MASSIVE war machine, almost fully intact despite the holes littering its thick armor, was sticking out the ground like a miniature mountain. This thing was as big as fifty other war machines combined. The smaller ones were scary enough and Archways hoped they'd never see a big one like this in action. It also left a familiar tug in their memory. A scene that was shown to them over and over again.
A scene shown to them by the-ones-from-before of them wagering war against one another. A battle had broken out over the city and there in the center of it all was a war machine –one that had dwarfed the rest- tearing down a building with ease.
Was this the same one from the story?
Archways was pulled from his uneasy thoughts to the sound of old gates grinding open.
At the second segment, the one before the head, a white cloak walked out into the sunlight. They hadn't noticed Archways as their back was facing them.
Archways gave a happy thrill as they jumped into the air – gilding with ease down to the white cloak. Maybe it was someone they had met before on the path? But as they got closer, it became increasingly obvious that something wasn't quite right.
The white cloak had spun around at their call and instead of returning a happy hello or simple greeting they had become tense and had puffed out their cloak to look bigger.
And look bigger they did because as Archways travel the long length of the war machine they realized that the white cloak was a lot taller than any other white cloak they'd encounter before.
Archways landed a little ways away from the strange stranger – more distance than they usually did – and peered at the face of the tall white cloak. Archways gave a confused tweet instinctively as they tried to process what they were seeing.
It was a one-from-before but without the pure white glow of the others; in fact, their cloak wasn't bright at all, but dulled from damage, ripped at the edges with brittle brown spots here and there. The face was off too – one side was white with a blue eye like the other ones-from-before but the other side was black as their own with a white eye. The split between sides wasn't even either with a grey zigzag crawling down the middle and a small island of black surrounded by white on the one side. The signature "V" was also missing.
With a start, Archways realized something very important
This one-from-before was Alive.
And they had not moved an inch since Archways had landed near them, still stiff as a statue.
Archways gave another, albeit more hesitant, chirp of greetings.
The living-one-from-before eyed them with their own confusion and a hint of suspicion before letting their cloak relax. They were very much still tense, however, and kept their distance.
"Who are you? And why are you so… small? And Red?" They asked, but unfortunately, Archways had no idea what they had just said. The other ones-from-before, the six from the path, had just projected images with a single chirp and let said images do all the talking for them.
Archways nervously shuffled where they stood and kind of scanned the ground a bit. The living-one-from-before wasn't patient like the six Archways knew and gave a sharp click-like sound.
Archways guessed the only thing they could do was try.
"I! Ahkloaeu! I lihfeaunou?"
"What?"
"AWGNU!"
"Has the desert gotten to you?"
Archways didn't know what to do. The living-one-from-before looked baffled and by the sound of their chirps they were extremely confused and even a bit concerned. What HAD they just said to them? Archways shuffled where they stood and scanned the ground again, now embarrassed.
But looking at the sand gave them an idea. They can talk with pictures! But what to say?
Archways began scribbling in the sand with their leg drawing out the building at the beginning of the path and their flight to here and the storm they had gotten stuck in. It wasn't as good as the tapestries from the path but it was clear. They looked up at the living-one-from-before then back down to the drawings they made – they did this several times before tapping on the ground next to the drawings and taking a step back.
The living-one-from-before cautiously step forward and kept their eyes on them as they drew near. They nearly bent in half trying to look at the pictures and they gave a curious hum from deep in their chest.
"What's this place?" They asked and tapped the building from the beginning of the path. And while Archways didn't understand the words, they did understand the gesture. Hastily they drew the mountain on top of the building.
"You're from the mountain?" They chirped with a mixture of emotion that Archways couldn't quite place. Their voice sounded both happy and sad and something else too.
"Tell me – or show me I guess - some more?" They tweeted with genuine curiosity, but Archways still couldn't understand their words. Archways gave an exaggerated tilt of their head in confusion. The living-one-from-before seemed confused for a second as Archway failed to speak before getting the hint.
"Right… you speak gibberish…" They deadpanned before drawing out their own pictures in reply.
And that's how it went for hours – just drawing back and forth in an effort to understand each other.
As it went on, Archways became more and more happy at having found the living-one-from-before because they held the answers they were out here looking for.
More stories, More lessons, More knowledge of the past, and most importantly -
How to talk.
