Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I said I'm sorry! It wasn’t intentional to drag you both into this situation! Think of it this way, it's just a little trip to see some sand-sational views in the desert!” The General Mahamatra tried to rub the tip of his muzzle between the ears of the small fennec fox walking next to him. “Come on, don't bear a grudge, Nari! Or rather, should I say don't fox a grudge?”

“Cyno, please! Could you stop talking and check if this is the right path?” The Forest Ranger replied in a very annoyed and exhausted tone to his umpteenth pun. He backed away quickly so as not to be petted, his ears pinned back. “I want to fix this mess as soon as possible!”

“All right, all right, keep palm and carry on. Gotcha!” Cyno snorted, not at all pleased that the other didn’t appreciate his attempts to lighten the mood. So he cast a glance instead at the young serval under his shadow who was trying to shield herself from the sun. “Hey Collei, do you know what kind of sand is never late?”

The younger perked up the pointy ears upon hearing herself called, clearly diverted from her own personal thoughts. “Huh? Sorry, what?”

“The quicksand!” Cyno replied quickly, yapping amusedly to himself.

No one else laughed, but both of his friends gave an exasperated snort in unison, hoping the jackal would get the message to stop. The General huffed again, getting no positive feedback from his audience.

“Tsk, it seems you and the desert are not so different after all, both with a dry sense of humor.” He murmured flatly, going back to scanning the dunes in front of them.

The young serval mumbled something to Tighnari, which sounded almost like an apology attempt for getting caught with her head in the clouds and allowing Cyno to continue his never-ending series of bad jokes.

“Collei, forget about it, please.” Tighnari simply sighed. “I would like to remind you that it’s his fault if we have a finger in this pie.”

“Paws.” The other corrected him. “If we have paws in this pie you mean. Did you get it? It’s because-”

“Cyno!!! ” The fennec fox snarled at his partner, hissing through his bare teeth, not caring if at the moment the jackal beside him was twice his size. 

It was hard to be taken seriously as small as he currently was, and if Cyno didn’t stop with his constant unfunny jokes, the Forest Ranger wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to keep at bay his own instincts that drove him to bite his ankles - the only one part that Tighnari, unfortunately, realized he could easily reach and sink his teeth into, with his current height.

The jackal merely chuckled at that call, not really bothered by it.

“Master Tighnari, please, don't be mad.” Collei whispered as she leaned over the fennec fox, panting to keep pace with the two. “Cyno is just trying to ease the tension... in his own personal way. You know how he is.”

The fennec fox huffed again, lowering his ears and blowing away those pesky grains of sand that, lifted by a slight breeze, kept ending up on his snout. Luckily, at least the heat of the day was beginning to subside, with the sun slowly descending toward the horizon. He already couldn't stand the scorching desert heat normally as his human self, let alone now that he was in the body of an actual fennec fox. 

Covered in a thick layer of fur, his body was as hot and itchy as ever. And smaller. Too much small for his liking. His paws ached every time he sank into the sand, and then he had to work twice as hard to get out. The height of his gaze was too close to the ground, and soon his head began to ache from the effort of staying focused on the expanse of golden sand around them so as not to lose his bearings in that damn desert.

As if that were not enough, he had kept the dark color of his fur, with the exception of his underbelly, which was a lighter green, and the distinctive crystal pattern on the tip of his tail. Little did it matter that fennec foxes were animals naturally accustomed to the desert environment: enduring that terrible heat with that shape was an even worse nightmare than when he was forced to venture out into the desert as his normal self!

And for all this predicament he had only Cyno to thank!

He cast a brief glance at the former General who now trotted beside him with the appearance of a jackal. His coarse fur coat was snow-white, and on his muzzle a pair of deep crimson eyes scanned the horizon seriously. From time to time he sniffed the air, and his pointed ears twitched to pick up noises and sounds that might give him clues to any dangers to watch out for.

From the way he walked and his composed posture, he seemed to have adapted perfectly to the situation without flinching or showing signs of suffering from the heat. Of course, he was lucky to have fur of a suitable color that reflected heat as much as possible rather than absorbing it. He was huge from Tighnari's current point of view, although the latter knew perfectly well that his current size was perfectly average for that of a common jackal.

The fennec fox would have given anything to walk in his shadow and thus shelter himself, at least partially, from the scorching sun that had been baking them. However, following his sense of duty, he had insisted that it was Collei, now a serval, who positioned herself between them so that she would not suffer in that hot situation any more than necessary.

Since hers was also the only species among the three that wasn’t an animal strictly related to the arid desert environment - but more typical of a savannah or grassland areas - that choice had been inevitable, and the two former guys hadn’t hesitated a moment to agree.

At that imposition, Collei had first tried to protest, lest she be treated as a child, but in the end she had to give in to their will.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tighnari checked on her from time to time, and although she tried not to show it, fatigue and heat soon began to take their toll on her as well.

More and more often it happened that her green paws with darker spots and stripes stumbled over each other or slipped on the dunes. Her small snout, covered in lighter cream-colored fur, panted with her pinky tongue sticking out in an attempt to dissipate as much heat as possible. Although she tried to keep up with the two, it was clear that she would not be able to hold on much longer.

Who knows how far they had come, probably their size contributed to making the journey seem longer than it actually was.

Tighnari sighed, cursing himself for agreeing to drag Collei into that absurd situation. It was supposed to be a simple trip of a few hours to Caravan Ribat, on the edge of the rainforest, to pick up some desert sample seeds he had had shipped from Aaru Village. However, Collei had insisted on accompanying him, since she had no classes until the following week. So Tighnari had dragged the girl with him as well.

At Caravan Ribat, they had run into Cyno, returning from an exploratory mission to a small temple that had resurfaced from the nearby sands after the last sandstorm. Sometimes it happened, the General had explained to them, it wasn’t that unusual for sand to periodically uncover and cover new buildings or unmapped remnants of them. Then again, people's lives in the desert followed cycles dictated by the weather, moving and changing all the time and abandoning places if they were unfortunately sunken. Over time these old buildings were easily forgotten, so when they were rediscovered by passing caravans it was necessary to check whether they might be a source of danger or evidence of the history of the sand people.

In agreeing to investigate there, Cyno had found little of interest except a small translucent crystal whose colors shaded from brown to pastel pink, reflecting the sun's rays filtering through it in a multitude of colors. It looked like some kind of amulet, with a very intricate shape that resembled a rose-like formation.

Deciding to take it with him to study it and learn more about it, by a series of unfortunate coincidences - namely, that it had slipped out of Cyno's hands while the latter was telling yet another unfunny joke about minerals - the amulet had shattered into a thousand pieces, releasing a strange, tingling powder into the air that made them faint.

When they woke up some time later, all three had found themselves in that furry situation, with the appearance of a jackal, a fennec fox and a serval.

Although the Forest Ranger would have liked to maul the General on the spot for the mess he had lightly gotten them into, he had had to restrain himself, since only Cyno knew how to get back to the temple where he had found the crystal in first place.

So, reluctantly, instead of returning home, they had had to backtrack, venturing into the desert together, hoping to find a solution to their predicament.

The sweltering heat of that day, however, was putting them under a lot of strain. So despite their desire to unravel that accident as soon as possible, after a couple of hours of walking, they decided it would be best to stop and search for shelter to continue as soon as the sun and temperatures dropped a bit.

Obviously, they were unlucky, and on the way they found no places to shelter them from the scorching sun which were also free from other guests. When they tried to take refuge under a couple of boulders, they found a small group of unfriendly Fungi that seemed to have had the same idea. A second time, instead, they found themselves in a nest of Vultures who didn't like visitors at all. In both cases they had been forced to run for their lives.

So they had continued to look for another safe place until late afternoon, when the sun had begun to set. Eventually the hours had flown by without them realizing it, and they were more tired than ever.

“Cyno, we have to stop.” The fennec fox said at some point, turning to his companion.

The young serval between them could barely stand, exhausted from the walk and the heat.

The jackal snuggled close to her, nuzzling the cub with his cold nose and then looking around squinting.

“We can try over there.” The former General suggested, pointing to a spot not too far from them, about three or four hundred meters away. There was a small cove at the base of a rock face that might perhaps prove good for them.

Tighnari nodded, accepting his partner’s suggestion and pointing toward the former girl, hoping the other understood what he meant without the need for words.

Before Collei realized what the jackal was about to do, Cyno gently sank his teeth into her scruff. The serval body went numb and whose limbs curled reflexively against her own belly. The former General lifted her with ease, paying attention not to injure her.

“Wait, no! I can walk!” Collei tried to protest, but the grip on her neck suddenly prevented her from making any kind of movement. It was a completely foreign and weird feeling, but not a painful one.

“Yeah, we perfectly know that.” The Forest Ranger said calmly, setting off again. “But this way at least we are safe from Cyno’s puns for a while.”

A muffled grunt escaped from the jackal’s snout, who had surely tried to retort to such a blow, but failed because his mouth was occupied.

Tighnari gave him an amused glance from below, grinning his teeth with delight. “See? It works perfectly!”

The other's ears flattened on his head in an annoyed way. He rolled his eyes and Tighnari chuckled.

“Come on, let's see if we finally get lucky this time.” The fennec fox incited them, hurrying forward. With his short paws, while the others merely walked, he had to take many more steps at a small trot to avoid falling behind. However, he stoically stifled his own weariness, lest the other should rub it in his face.

Reaching the rock, they tried to examine the small cove at the base. It seemed like a small shelter previously dug by some other creature.

Tighnari went to scout the den, sniffing the air and straining his ears to see if the area was clear. Following his instincts, he approached low to the ground, ready to snap at any time. However, not detecting any foreign scent inside, he deduces that the place had not been occupied for some time, so he relaxed and motioned to the others that the area was safe.

The space was not much, but it was just enough to contain all three of them, so they would make do.

A few gusts of wind ruffled their fur, and they hurried to slide into that den, while outside the sun began to set and the air started to get colder.

As Tighnari carefully inspected every corner of the burrow, Cyno gently laid the young serval on the ground beneath him.

“T-Thank you.” Collei thanked him softly. “Sorry if I made you tired.”

“Don't even say that. Besides, you weigh practically nothing.” Cyno reassured her, rubbing his muzzle instinctively against the serval's head.

The little one, chuckled a bit, tickled by the cold wet nose.

“Okay, this should be good for us to get some rest for a few hours.” The fennec fox exclaimed, satisfied with his inspection. “Cyno, how long do you think it will be before we reach the temple?”

The jackal sat on his own haunches, bowing his head so as not to touch with the tips of his ears to the ceiling of that small den.

“I think more or less four hours.” He supposed, muttering to himself. “Or maybe more. It's a little hard to calculate the distance accurately with our now different pace length... maybe I could be faster if I go and come back alone and you wait for me here.”

Tighnari shook his head, scratching with his back-paw his itchy ears because of the sand. "Don’t even think about that! I won't let you go alone. What if something happens?"

Cyno grinned, showing his sharp teeth. "Oh, so now you’re worried about me?"

"Always, big lummox." The fennec fox cast him a deadpan stare, lying down on his side.

“How mean of you! Now you make me feel guilty all the times I leave you alone at Gandharva Ville when I'm on a mission.”

“Oh don't worry, when I get your letters filled with unfunny jokes instead of serious updates about what you are doing or where you are, I still understand that everything is fine.”

“Well, then it's not true that you don't appreciate my jokes even a little bit!”

“Of course, they are great when they burn in the fireplace.”

Before the former General could reply, Collei stood up and cleared her throat to intrude between the two. “Um, if you want to flirt, I can give you some privacy...”

Tighnari blushed, feeling the fur standing in embarrassment in every inch of his small body.

“We're not- Gosh! Collei stay here, it's getting cold outside!” He hastened to add while the younger tentatively approached the exit of the den.

The jackal hurried to position himself in front of the entrance to block her escape attempt.

“Nari is right, where are you planning to go? You need to rest!” He nudged her back with his head. “You’re exhausted and in the evening the temperatures in the desert drop rapidly. To avoid freezing, it's best to wait until just before dawn to leave again.”

Ignoring her complaints, Cyno pushed the serval to lie down next to the fennec fox, who immediately wrapped her with his fluffy tail to keep her warmer. Although that burrow protected them from outside breezes, even there they could feel the beginning of the temperature drop.

The jackal found himself staring fondly at them for a moment. They were really adorable together in that tangle of fur. Although the girl was younger than him, her size was still quite similar to Tighnari's, who nevertheless seemed well determined to treat her protectively as if she were his cub. Cyno commented nothing as his partner instinctively began to gently lick her muzzle and head.

Within minutes, Collei found herself squinting against her will, tired from the long day spent wandering the desert dunes. She rested her head between her paws and fell asleep, snoring softly, lulled by the gentle gestures of Tighnari who continued to groom her in a very affectionate way.

Something inside the jackal urged him to go out and get something to eat for them. He wanted to keep them safe, but he also wanted to make sure they had something to eat once they woke up.

Therefore Cyno leaned over them, giving them both a few loving licks in turn, without thinking.

“Cyno, what-” The fennec fox was interrupted, however, by a white snout rubbing against his own. His nostrils filled with the other's strong scent of sand.

“I know what you just said, but I want to try to get out a little bit.” Cyno spoke calmly to his partner, lowering his voice so as not to disturb Collei. “It should be another hour or so before it starts to get really cold. I should be able to manage to get something to eat for us in that time.”

Tighnari furrowed his brow, definitely not happy with what the other had just said.

“Cyno… I was serious before, I don't like the idea of you wandering alone like this.” He pointed with his muzzle at the jackal, his gloomy ears flattened close to his head, showing one’s real emotions.

“And I'm serious too. I can do it, you don't have to worry. I'll be back in no time.” The former General reassured his companion, giving him a few more cuddly nudges. “If we want to be healthy we also have to eat something, we cannot fast. This is the best time to try to hunt something if we don't want to waste time tomorrow morning.”

The former Ranger whined, venting his concern. It wasn't that he didn't trust the other, he was simply worried that something would happen to him. They were not alone in the desert, and they both knew it very well. A jackal was a predator, of course, but even they had to watch out for predators bigger than themselves. There were also bands of Eremites or Primal Construct scattered around in the desert. He wasn't even sure if the other could use his own vision - vanished who knows where with the transformation - to defend himself in case of emergency.

However, crouched down to keep protectively warm the sleepy serval, the fennec fox could not prevent the jackal from reaching the entrance to their den.

“Don't do anything crazy.” He then merely recommended to him, in a slightly worried tone.

“I promise you. I will be back soon, wait for me here.” The jackal reassured him, before crouching down to go outside into the dunes again.

Tighnari stood staring at the entrance for several minutes, catching in the air the remnants of Cyno’s scent that he had left in their surroundings to mark them as his own. 

He would never admit it out loud, but if he normally found some sort of comfort in Cyno's scent when he was a human, with his current form he felt as if he desperately needed it a lot more than usual. As if he was his lifeline and he just couldn't live without him.

Tighnari shook his head with his worried thoughts, and snuggled close to Collei, who in the meantime seemed to have fallen deeply asleep. He groomed her a little more, indulging his instincts that told him this was the right thing to do.

Resting his snout between the paws, he returned to staring into the half-light at the entrance to their shelter, listening to the silence of the closing night and anxiously awaiting his partner's return.

⋆ ⁺₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ☀︎ ⋆ ₊⁺ ⋆

Cyno wouldn’t have been able to say what had come over him some moments before, but he was unable to resist the pressing urge to go find some food for his pack, and so he had ventured out alone into the vicinity.

By following some tracks between the dunes, he had managed to spot a desert foxes den not too far away, but thinking back lucidly in the end he had preferred to avoid it. Although the thought of hunting other animals didn’t make him uncomfortable in that situation - after all, if he was forced to do so to survive, he would have habitually hunted as a human as well - the idea of bringing foxes to feed another fox didn’t seem quite right to him. He had no idea how Tighnari would react to it. So he was relieved that a sparkle of humanity could still guide him in his choices, instead of abandoning himself completely to the instincts of a common jackal.

He then preferred to hunt down some lizards, scouting and blocking them with such incredible speed that he was almost amazed at how his body moved on its own, snapping and sinking his teeth into them to prevent their escape. He managed to drive off four of them in a row, without problem. They weren't much, but it was better than nothing. Grabbing them as best he could between his jaws, Cyno quickly decided it was time to go back.

A slight breeze ruffled the tip of his white fur, causing him to feel a chill down his spine. Although night had now fallen, he found that he had not the slightest problem seeing in the dark. However, there was no need to use his eyesight to find his way back: the faint scent of Tighnari and Collei was all he needed to get back to them.

Having found their den again, he crouched down to pass the narrow entrance.

Inside, he found the fennec fox and the serval deeply asleep and snuggled on each other, sharing their body’s warmth and sheltering them from the cold temperature outside.

He was relieved that the individuals he loved most in the world were both perfectly safe and sound. His tail swayed contentedly, without him being able to prevent it.

Cyno dumped the prey in a corner and hurried to join them, being careful where he placed his paws, so as not to accidentally wake them. He laid down placing his belly close to Collei to hug her more while resting his head next to Tighnari's.

He felt his tail entwine with the other's and together spread over their bodies like a soft furry blanket. He gave a few small comforting licks to his companion's cheeks, and the latter moaned softly in his sleep at the contact, rubbing himself against him in turn.

“You're back.” Cyno heard him whisper, barely audible.

“Yes, I always come back to you.” Cyno reassured him, closing his eyes. “Now go back to sleep.”

A deep purring sound started coming from the fennec fox, and together they both fell asleep.

⋆ ⁺₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ☀︎ ⋆ ₊⁺ ⋆

The next morning, it was Cyno who woke up first. Although calling it morning was a bit of an exaggeration, since it was still pitch black outside. However, something in the jackal's gut confidently confirmed to him that dawn was only a couple of hours away. The temperatures were still low, but not so unbearable with their bodies covered by protective fur coats.

The former General yawned, and although he wanted to allow his two companions beside him to rest a little longer, he knew that those hours were the best ones to get back on track before the desert started to get too hot again. Thus he started grooming them with his rough tongue, hoping like this the awakening would not be too traumatic for them.

The second one who opened his eyes was, of course, Tighnari, who gave him a sleepy look.

“W-What time is it?” He slurred his words, looking around and twitching his large ears on his head.

“Almost dawn.” The jackal replied, turning to the serval. The latter tried to wriggle out of his licks, but to no avail. “Collei, wake up, it's time to get up.”

“M-Mmmhh, but it's still dark! And it's so cozy and warm here.” She protested, sinking her own cream-shaded muzzle back into the fluff of Cyno's white belly.

Tighnari yawned in turn, getting on all fours and arching his back to stretch the numb limbs.

“Although I wish I were tremendously on your side, Cyno is right. It's time to get up if we want to take advantage before the sun starts to heat up the sand too much.”

He bumped his wet nose against the jackal's one, as a good morning kiss, and the other returned with an affectionate lick.

“Come on, Collei.” Cyno incited her by sitting down.

The young serval, suddenly deprived of the furry bodies that had warmed her all night, shivered for a moment, curling in on herself to savor the last remnants of the other two's warmth.

Two cold snouts began tickling her all over between her green fur, and Collei giggled amusedly.

“Okay, okay I get it, I'm waking up!” She was forced to obey. She opened her eyes and the faces of a fennec fox and a jackal greeted her, giving her more cuddly licks on her muzzle. “Please, stop that! Your scents are all over me that I don't even have my own mine anymore!”

The other two stopped instantly, realizing only at her words that maybe they were carried away too much with her, making her uncomfortable. What she had just said was totally true: the scents of Cyno and Tighnari mingled on her, marking her protectively as if she were their pup, and no one could have any doubt about that.

“Sorry!” They both exclaimed in unison, grateful that the fur masked their growing embarrassment.

The young serval let out a hearty laugh, bumping her head on both of them.

“Don't worry... dads!” She teased them, enjoying their increasingly embarrassed and panicked exchanges of glances.

Although she had only said it as a joke, she actually often thought of the two of them as her adoptive parents and knew perfectly well that they liked to be called that too. In fact, they had been acting as a family for years, but they had never made it official. From time to time, Collei couldn't help but tease them on the subject, each time enjoying their silly behaviors that they improvised to mask their real feelings and to escape those awkward moments.

They really were two idiots in love, perfect for each other.

But she was proud that they were her dorky parents in love.

“Anyway, do you think we will be able to eat some breakfast in this state?” The serval asked, changing the subject, so as not to melt their brains too much after that squib. “Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little hungry...”

The jackal was the first to regain some composure, shaking his body to shake off some of the sand too.

“Yep, I went out hunting before going to sleep. I found some lizards if you'd like.” He pointed to the reptiles he had laid in a corner of their burrow. He sniffed them and from the smell they didn’t look bad, or already rotten within a few hours. “Not the best way to make breakfast, but if they're edible for humans, I don't see why there should be problems as long as we're like... this.”

Cyno turned a glance to the other two, who nevertheless stared at him with expressions that were not exactly joyful or happy. Collei, in particular, was definitely the more disgusted of the two.

“Is something wrong?” He tilted his head questioningly.

“Cyno...” Tighnari tried to find the right words to express his thoughts without hurting his feelings. “They’re reptiles.”

“Yeah, so what? They're okay, I assure you. Sometimes, when I was running low on rations, I would catch them if nothing else was around. They may not taste the best, but if you think of something else while you're eating them, they're not so bad.”

“I’m aware of that but...”

“But?”

The fennec fox sighed, lowering his head toward the prey to smell them. “I guess the optics of eating them raw instead of cooking them, doesn't seem so… appealing to some of us?”

“But we’re all carnivores.” The former General replied, honestly confused. “Do animals usually never cook their own food? Because, you know, for lack of thumbs?”

Next to Tighnari, Collei stiffened more when the jackal used his snout to bring a couple of lizards closer to them.

“Yeah, I agree with you and I'm pretty sure that nothing would happen if we ate them like that in our current predicament… but what about going for some fruits too? There must be some Henna Berries or something like that around here.” The former Ranger tried to suggest.

Cyno was about to reply but Collei anticipated him, speaking for herself.

“It's all right, master Tighnari.” She tried to sniff shyly at the lizard near her striped paws. “I'm not sure servals can eat anything but meat, though. I can try to make an effort.”

She tried to smile even if a little forcibly.

The fennec fox stared at her seriously. “Are you sure? You don't have to do this if you don't feel comfortable.”

“Yes...” Collei nodded, with a little more motivation. “Besides, I don't want Cyno to think I don't appreciate the effort he made for us.”

The jackal perched up his ears, puffing out proudly the mane on his chest. Something behind him began to wag happily without his control.

“Collei-”

“I can do it!” The young serval exclaimed, shutting close her eyes and lowering her head. “I will follow Cyno’s advice by trying to think of something else without looking at what it really is!”

Tighnari sighed and picked up one of the lizards in turn, placing it between his paws. “All right, but if you see you don't feel comfortable, don't try at all cost and leave it there.”

So the three of them started to eat that weird breakfast in silence, courtesy of the former General Mahamatra. Cyno and Tighnari kept an eye on the girl as they ate, trying to see if she was beginning to feel sick at the thought of what she was eating and how she was doing it. Her expression was definitely unenthusiastic, but bite after bite she managed to eat at least something, swallowing stoically and avoiding getting lost in thought.

The other guys ate with less trouble. Between the three, Cyno was the most used to deal with emergency meals of the most extravagant kind. On the other hand, even if Tighnari too didn’t like so much what they were forced to eat, he knew to adapt to situations calmly and rationally, thus setting a good example in the face of the young serval's effort.

When they finished their ration, the jackal asked if any of them also wanted an encore, since there was one lizard left, but the two hurried in unison to exclaim a flat and loud “no”.

With a shrug, Cyno then finished off the last one left as well, without making too much fuss. Since his size was twice the other two, it was also more logical that he had a bigger appetite.

Despite the fact that several hours had already passed since the transformation, it seemed that their curse didn’t want to simply dissolve on its own without them doing anything. 

Therefore, after breakfast, the trio agreed to set out again in search of the temple.

Chapter Text

It was still dark outside and the sand under their paws tickled a little. Their fur coats protected them quite well from the cold temperatures, so it was not so unbearable, they just had to get used to the feeling.

Cyno led the group in silence, the faint sound of their footsteps interrupted only occasionally by the rustle of the wind on the dunes. From time to time he stopped to smell the air and observe their surroundings, but he seemed quite confident in his sense of direction.

Sometimes, Tighnari paused to stare at his snow white figure while checking the dunes in turn. The desert all looked the same to his eyes, even with his current fennec fox instincts. He sensed smells and traces much more intensely than usual, but he had no idea whether the other was leading them in the right direction or just wandering them in circles. For him - besides being unbearable because of the heat - the desert really seemed like a simple endless expanse of sand always looking the same. How his partner could get his bearings without any problems was truly a mystery.

At that moment he seemed totally at ease in that seemingly hostile and monotonous environment. Perfectly a jackal in the literal sense of the word, but also in spirit.

Completely his opposite: a fennec fox who couldn’t suffer the desert in the least.

Sometimes fate was really funny, Tighnari thought.

At first dawn lights, the trio paused for a moment to admire the spectacle unfolding before them to the east, with the sun slowly beginning to spread its warm pink and golden rays over the dunes, interrupted here and there only by occasional cacti or scattered ruins.

The young serval widened her eyes amazed, waving her dark-tipped tail in excitement. Tighnari stood by her side, taking a moment to catch his breath, and Cyno imitated them, noting when they no longer followed him.

“What a view, huh? You can’t see sunrises like this one in the rainforest.” He winked at them, but the two hardly heard him, enraptured by the scenery. He gave them a handful of seconds to rest, until the pastel colors of the surroundings began to become brighter. “Come on, the air will warm up in a while. It's not long to our destination.”

Tighnari was heartened by those words and resumed walking with a little more zeal. “Do you think we are almost there?”

The jackal nodded optimistically. “Yep, we can make it before the sand starts to heat up.”

In the prospect of being almost at their destination, they made no more stops except at a small oasis found along the way to quench their thirst.

As promised, after a couple of hours of walking, a structure half-buried by sand began to appear on the horizon. The group made one last effort to reach it, as the sun above them was already beginning to get uncomfortably hot. 

In the last stretch they found themselves instinctively accelerating, hoping to end that hairy predicament as soon as possible. Reaching the structure, the three were all panting, catching for breath, with their tongues out to disperse the heat.

“Here we are.” The jackal murmured smugly.

Scattered in front of them were several blocks of light grey stones, ruined by time and weather. The entrance had sunken for a good part, and several piles of sand blocked the space between the columns that served as the entrance portal.

“Thanks, Archons.” Tighnari sighed with relief, hurrying toward the entrance in search of some shade.

Cyno, however, quick as lightning, jumped forward and grabbed the other's green tail between his jaws.

The fennec fox yelped both from shock and from the sharp pain that shot through his entire spine.

The jackal immediately released his grip, realizing that he had exerted more force than he would have liked. His expression of guilt mixed with consternation met the altered one of his partner, who bared his teeth snarling at him.

“Cyno! What the-“

“Wait! ” The jackal barked, not at all intimidated by his angry reaction. “Something's wrong!”

The fennec fox instantly broke free from the aggressive posture he had instinctively assumed, feeling his fur slowly become composed again against the skin. “What is it?”

The jackal walked past him, lowering his head and looking at the ground.

“There wasn't so much sand a few days ago. This place was much more visible.” He walked circumspectly toward the portal, pawing a little at the layers of sand that covered it.

Collei trotted next to them, studying the place too.

“You mean this temple is starting to get buried by sand again?”

“It's very likely, and it's also sinking pretty fast. It could be dangerous to go down again, even for a short time.” He cast a glance at the others, a few steps away from him.

Tighnari's tail swayed back and forth nervously, his ears perked up attentively. Collei, on the other hand, seemed calmer but still tense, periodically shifting her gaze between Cyno and Tighnari, undecided what to say.

“So are you suggesting to go in without us?” The fennec fox scowled, huffing and scratching with his front paws on the ground. “Nonsense! I'm not going to stand out here and patiently wait while you venture inside there alone again.”

Cyno, who perfectly expected a similar response from him, didn’t flinch a bit. When it came to acting rashly, the Forest Ranger really didn't want to know about leaving the General alone, especially when there might be an actual chance that things might take a turn for the worse. They could deny it all they wanted, but both knew perfectly well that they cared deeply for each other, and Tighnari's stubbornness at that very moment was clear proof of that. Yet Cyno knew what to leverage in such cases, so as not to risk endangering him any more than he already had.

“So you want to leave Collei to wait out here all by herself? ” His answer was blunt and direct.

The jackal smiled mischievously, already convinced that he could make the fennec fox capitulate by exploiting Collei's security in his favor. Tighnari would not hesitate to put his own life on the line for Cyno, he knew that very well, but if it was Collei's life that was in danger then the situation was different and he became overprotective about her.

The former Ranger gave him a dirty look, raising his head and puffing out his fur to appear much more authoritative and larger than his current adorable little appearance actually was.

“Of course not!” He snickered in turn, showing his teeth. “She's coming with us, so you will have to do everything in your power to get us out of there safely and back to our normal selves again!”

Without waiting for an answer, the fennec fox wandered into the temple stepping over a pile of sand, snorting and barking in an annoyed way to invite the younger girl to follow him.

Collei didn't let it be repeated, turning an embarrassed “don't feel bad, at least you tried” expression to Cyno.

The jackal sighed, his ears pinned back from being defeated with his own words. Then he hurried after them so as not to fall behind.

⋆ ⁺₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ☀︎ ⋆ ₊⁺ ⋆

The temple looked exactly as Cyno had left it, except for the presence of more sand scattered around, slowly seeping from the ceiling and corridor walls as they passed through. From time to time, some quivers and tremors in the structure made them shudder, a sign that that place was indeed sinking again.

The jackal quickened his pace. Better hurry before that temple was totally submerged once more.

Behind him, the other’s footsteps were swiftly and barely audible.

Several hallways later, the trio found themselves in a small circular room with a stone altar in the middle. A circle of columns towered majestically all around, and on the walls were several carvings with ancient figures and symbols. Here, too, piles of sand had sprung up everywhere covering the slabs on the floor and the ruined remains of pots and crates lying around.

As Cyno made his way to the center of the room, Tighnari raised his muzzle to look at the ceiling, which was also decorated with some kind of sky map, with stars and constellations faithfully reproduced on the vault.

“This is where I found the crystal.”

The fennec fox and the serval approached the altar, although it was still much higher than their current viewpoint.

Tighnari unceremoniously jumped onto his companion's back, earning a yelp of protest from Cyno for being used as a springboard without warning. Landing gracefully on the stone altar, Tighnari looked around a bit.

On the table were a number of sculpted votive figurines, and deep, spiral-like markings had been carved into the stone itself, ending with a cavity exactly in the middle with a small hole that hinted at a faint glint of something hidden under the altar. A ray of golden light illuminated it perfectly coming from the ceiling. Ancient civilizations often made use of an elaborate play of mirrors to direct light to precise points, and a similar stratagem had probably been used here too.

“Did you find it stuck here?” Tighnari asked, checking the area and trying to figure out what was hiding just under the stone.

The jackal stood up on his two hind legs, resting his snout and forepaws on the edge of the altar, to see in turn. “Yup, exactly there.”

“Do you have any idea what these symbols mean?”

The other shaked his head, ears pinned back mournfully. “Hermanubis suggested that it's probably stuff older than him. He can't tell me much either.”

Tighnari squinted his eyes and sniffed around to see if he missed anything important. On the surface, however, there was no sign of comprehensible clues that could help him figure out how to reverse back their current predicament.

Another slight tremor of the floor made them wince in unison, their tails all puffed up alarmed. The earthquakes were beginning to become more frequent and stronger, and that was certainly not a good sign.

“Hey, maybe I found something!” Collei's voice made them both turn in her direction.

Tighnari turned back close to the altar’s edge, looking down.

The young serval was trying to squeeze through a narrow crack between the base of the altar and the floor. She had managed to squeeze her head and shoulder in, and now with her hind legs she was trying to push to try to creep in more with her elongated body.

Cyno, next to her, had crouched down in turn, but his jackal's body was definitely less flexible than a feline's, not to mention larger in size, and so he only managed to get the tip of his muzzle through.

The fennec fox jumped to the ground, and although it bothered him to admit it, maybe his smaller stature might have been useful in this case.

“Let's see, what's down here?”

The jackal shifted to make room for him, and Tighnari flattened himself on the cold floor, gradually crawling forward. Squeezing a little to get his small head through, he took a few seconds to adjust his vision to the darkness present beneath the altar.

The faint ray of light from the hole in the stone surface perfectly ended over a shiny crystal. Tighnari suspected that this second hidden crystal was originally positioned exactly under the other one, that is the gem Cyno had picked up and had inadvertently cursed them like that. Squinting, he noticed around in the stone the same decorations he had seen only a handful of seconds earlier, but mirrored and upside down on the ceiling. As if the same altar table surface had also been mirrored and carved in the same way on the underside.

“It’s identical to the crystal that Cyno broke, am I right?” Collei asked hopefully, still stuck halfway.

Outside, the jackal replied with some grunts of protest, like “hey, I can still hear you just fine”, but Tighnari decided to ignore it, concentrating on staring at the gem.

“Yeah, it’s pretty similar, only the color is slightly different, more like white and clear.” He agreed.

“Do you want me to try to get it?”

“No, go back outside, I can do it.”

Without hesitation, the serval obeyed by stepping out to give him more room, and the fennec fox started to slip inside.

Although Collei would be totally able to go through, squeezing her flexible body as well, the former Ranger preferred to avoid having the girl unfortunately stuck in that cramped space. Caution was never too much.

He was already halfway through when an abrupt earthquake shock destabilized him for a moment. Caught off guard, his heart began to pound and his body suddenly froze by flattening against the floor.

He heard Cyno barking while Collei emitted a high cry of concern.

“Nari! This is starting to get worse!”

The former Ranger gritted his teeth, trying to keep calm even though adrenaline was already beginning to flow through his veins, threatening to overwhelm him.

“We need to get out of here fast!”

Tighnari scratched more fiercely at the floor to push himself forward and enter as quickly as possible, when something fluffy began to push him from behind as well, unceremoniously bumping him. It was probably Cyno trying to help him out by using his head, literally. Tighnari blushed at the thought of the other’s muzzle basically against his naked butthole, but quickly chased those thoughts away when new tremors made his fur bristling on every inch of his body.

He had to hurry.

With one last push he was finally inside, and without hesitation with a leap he quickly grabbed the crystal between his teeth, tearing it from the cavity where it was secured. He heard the faint sound of something breaking, but wasted no time in asking himself questions. He laid the crystal on the ground and with his snout pushed it past the gap in the altar.

“Master Tighnari, please hurry up! The sand is starting to accumulate more and more!”

The fennec fox didn’t waste any time and stuck his head into the stone crack to get out of that cramped underspace. He pushed with his whole body, ignoring the twinges of pain from the skin being scratched by the hard stone due to his lack of gentleness.

As soon as his neck and shoulders were out, a much stronger earthquake than the previous ones rumbled through the room and sand began to fill it with frightening speed around them.

“Collei take the gem and run!” Cyno shouted firmly, taking the lead. “I'll take care of Tighnari!”

The young serval didn’t reply and frantically began to run back with the crystal clutched in her jaws.

Trying not to give in to the growing panic, Tighnari felt a firm grip tighten on his scruff and couldn’t hold back a squeal of pain when his body was yanked from the ground causing him to slam badly against the hard altar stone.

He found himself dangling in the air tossed hither and thither between the jaws of a jackal running madly to get out of that hell as quickly as possible, before the temple finally sank into the sand. In a cacophony of collapsing stones, flowing sand, and shaking earth threatening to swallow them up in an instant, the three fled, ignoring the pain of muscles and lungs burning from the crazy rush.

They followed the one instinct that screamed in their heads: run, run and run for their lives.

That escape seemed to last a lifetime as everything around them collapsed and sank. Until finally a bright light greeted them. With one last sprint, the jackal and the serval launched themselves out, ending up with their paws in the air surrounded by goldy sand dunes.

Behind them, the structure collapsed definitively, swallowed by the desert once again.

It was only then that the earthquake tremors finally ceased in turn.

⋆ ⁺₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ☀︎ ⋆ ₊⁺ ⋆

In a cloud of dust and sand, the trio found themselves coughing while catching their breath under the scorching sun, saved by the bell.

Tighnari felt his head spin, his neck ached, and a huge weight on top of bruised body suffocating him in the sand. He tried to wriggle out and the weight above him shifted in surprise and confusion. Eventually the fennec fox managed to breathe while a wet cold nose bumped into his face blowing on him.

“Sorry, I accidentally fell on you! Are you okay?” The jackal apologized with a worried look, checking him over. “Oh no, I bit you too hard, I’m sorry!”

The fennec fox felt a rough tongue begin to lick him exactly in the spot where, he supposed, the other had too vigorously sunk his teeth into his skin to drag it away, slightly tearing him. A faint smell of blood reached his nostrils, but from the intensity it didn’t appear to be such a worrying wound, but merely superficial.

Tighnari grunted a bit at the contact with that intrusive muzzle that ruffled his fur everywhere. He shook his whole body vigorously to get rid of all the sand that had covered him and itched at the contact with his skin.

“Don't worry, I'm fine, they're just scratches.” He reassured Cyno, somewhat resisting the urge to instantly reposition the fur properly using his own tongue. “Rather, check if Collei is okay.”

The young serval laid a few steps away from them, her limbs trembling from the sprint she had just made. Panting and with her ears down, she had her gaze fixed on her striped paws.

“I-I'm fine, d-don’t worry. I'm just out of b-breath.” She hinted a slight smile so as not to worry them, but her gaze wavered shakily. “B-But… I think I made a m-mess.”

The two immediately reached her, worried to find her injured.

“Are you hurt? Did you fall?” Tighnari hurried to look all over her to check where she might have been injured during the escape.

“No, no, it's not… ugh… I think I broke it!” The former girl slightly moved her paws, revealing that the temple’s gem was now split into three pieces. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I think I tightened my teeth too much when we left and then I slipped!”

The serval sobbed, visibly shaking and feeling guilty. They had worked so hard to try to get it to safety and now, because of her, it was shattered. All their efforts disintegrated with it.

Cyno nudged the crystal pieces and stared at them. The shards had lost their bright shine and now lay opaque on the ground, crumbling little by little from the edges. A few grains of sand got into his nose and he sneezed, scattering that faint dust among them. The others sneezed in turn, their noses tickled by the dust.

“Well, it's pretty broken.” He commented calmly, regaining his composure. “It almost looks like it's disintegrating on its own too now. It’s seem definitely not useful anymore.”

The jackal looked at his paws and over his shoulders. Yet, only white fur greeted him.

Behind them, there was no more trace of the temple, only common dunes in every direction as far as their eyes could see. That temple was and would forever remain a mystery, Cyno capitulated. He doubted that even trying to dig into the ground would do any good. Besides, maybe it was better not to risk being swallowed up in turn.

Tighnari, too, approached cautiously to study the fragments, now reduced more and more to fine dust than before.

“Yeah, it's crumbling as if the air is eroding it… and it really looks like nothing is happening to us instead. It seems we’ve worked so hard for nothing, nevermind.” He commented in turn, moving on to take a closer look at Collei's paws and snout, putting the girl's safety back at the top of his priorities. “Did the shards scratch you somewhere?”

The serval, however, ignored the question, merely staring vacantly at him. How could the other two have so easily and quickly accepted all the implications that situation entailed? How could they not be the least bit concerned about what their future would be now that the gem had broken? Unlike them, she began to panic.

“B-But if it's broken and we're still like this...” Her voice cracked and her heart pace highly increased with each passing second. “We can't even go back to the temple to look for another one because it's already sunk! How can you remain so calm? Archons, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault!”

Collei crouched down, curling the trembling tail tightly around her body. Her fur stood on end as she began to gasp for breath, unable to look away from the dusty shards.

The guys didn’t even have to exchange a glance to immediately agree on what to do. They both tightened around the girl, closing her in a sort of embrace, trying to get her to calm down.

“Breathe, Collei. Calm down and look at us, please.” The fennec fox rustled his muzzle close to the serval's one, soothing her with a few licks. “No one is blaming you for anything! We are still animals, but we are alive, and that is the most important thing of all!”

“But-”

“No buts. I might have broken it myself when I took it off the altar, or when I slid it on the floor. We don't even know if that was the right gem! In any case, that's the way it is now, and there's nothing we can do about it. There's no use crying over spilled milk.” The fennec fox stared at her deeply, trying to reassure her in a gentle and soft tone to let her know they were not altered at all. 

“...Or crying over shattered crystals.” Cyno added, intruding on the conversation to ease the tension.

The former Ranger gave him a very dark look, but the other pretended not to notice.

The fennec fox would have pinched the noise with his fingers, or elbowed the General, if he were human, but given his current lack of opposable thumbs, he sighed resignedly. So he turned back to Collei, who in the meantime seemed to have calmed down at least a little.

“Now, let's find a shelter that the sun is killing me and then let's think about what to do, shall we?”

The girl nodded shyly, her ears still flattened gloomy against her head. 

Cyno agreed with his partner, patting the younger between the ears in a petting-like way. “Nari is right, these are the worst hours to stay in full sun, better to look for some shade.”

Together, they head off in search of a place where they could rest a bit, their spirits more dejected than a few hours earlier. The two guys tried not to look too demoralized so as not to plunge Collei into panic again. They left behind the crystal, now completely dusty and mixed with sand.

In a short time they reached the same small oasis where they had stopped by in the morning, with a small pool of water and some Athel Palm Trees that could offer them some refreshment from the sun. Since there was no one else around except some wild Scarabs, they decided to stop for some rest.

They cooled off and huddled in the shade of some boulders, where Tighnari dug to remove the superficial and warmer layer of sand and offer them a small hole in which to better shelter themselves. It wasn’t an actual and perfect den, but a simple cavity that might be enough to house them all, but nobody complained about it.

Cyno was the first one to lie down, inviting Collei to join him near his belly. Last, Tighnari snuggled in the remaining space between them.

He gently laid his bushy tail like a blanket over their bodies and began grooming the serval hoping to sooth part of her distress, soon imitated by the former general. Although the air temperature was still warm, already having a small space in the shade was a considerable relief for them.

From time to time, Collei's body was still shaken by some slight tremors, probably due to residual anxiety and tension from the frenzy of the event they had just experienced. 

“Try to close your eyes and relax a little.” Cyno suggested her gently, snuggling close to them and savoring their scents mingling with his own.

“S-So what do we do now?” She sobbed sadly, resting her chin on the ground and tucking her paws beneath her chest protectively.

“Nothing, I don't think we'll move from here anytime soon. At a rough guess we are around mid-afternoon, better to wait until the evening to move at this point.”

“And then...?”

The jackal hesitated. Now that the temple and the gem were no longer options available, on the spot he didn’t know what to answer so as not to disappoint or worry her. 

He exchanged a glance with the fennec fox, who nevertheless returned it with strangely tired eyes, visibly struggling to keep them open. Cyno sensed that something was wrong.

A slight dizziness caught him off guard too, preventing him from asking the other what was wrong. A strange feverish warmth began to spread from his chest to his whole body. Maybe all the accumulated tiredness was finally taking its toll on him, suggesting that he should also regain some strength before getting back to thinking clearly.

He lowered his gaze to the others, discovering them already passed out on each other. His vision started to blur and his body burned more and more with each passing second. An overwhelming dizziness took hold of his mind.

Before he realized what was happening to him, he lost consciousness and collapsed in turn.

⋆ ⁺₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ☀︎ ⋆ ₊⁺ ⋆

“Cyno, pss, hey Cyno, are you awake?”

A very low whisper reached his ears and something gently stroked his face to remove a few grains of sand from his cheek. That tickling sensation made him chuckle and Cyno slowly opened his eyes. It took him a while to focus, in the semi-darkness, on the face framed by dark hair and some light green locks that filled his field of vision. A pair of green and brown shaded eyes smiled fondly at him.

“Nari...?” Cyno asked hesitantly, believing it was just a dream or a delirium because of the fever that had hit him before.

His partner was human again, fennec ears apart, staring softly at him with one arm under his head and another tightened to embrace him.

Between the two was a third, slimmer and cuddled body, snoring softly.

Tighnari nodded without stopping smiling. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel awful. You?” His body was stiffened, his muscles ached, and some residual headache was still thumping at his temples. However, the relief of being in his own body again helped him regain some vigor. 

“Yeah, pretty much the same.” The Forest Ranger chuckled wearily. “It seems that the effect of the second gem was a delayed burst, unlike the first one.”

The General slowly lowered his gaze and caught a mass of messy green hair.

Cuddled between them, Collei, now human too, slept soundly, clinging tightly to them as if she feared that the two might move away from her without her knowledge and leave her alone

Cyno shook a few hair locks from her forehead with trembling fingers, uncovering her quiet but visibly exhausted expression. Her lips wrinkled at his touch and she flinched a bit.

“It seems that the transformation has left us out of steam.” Tighnari continued, keeping a low tone so as not to disturb the girl. “I just woke up a few minutes ago, but it seems we have been knocked out for several hours.”

He pointed with his chin toward the sky, where the ever-lengthening shadows and sunset’s colors were beginning to fade over their surroundings, giving way to the coming night.

Temperatures would soon begin to drop rapidly too, and although they were already lucky that they turned back with the clothes they were wearing before the crystal incident, only Cyno was equipped with his usual dark cloak that he used during his desert travels. The other two, however, were not enough clothed to withstand the growing cold of the night.

“Do you think you can walk back to return at least to Caravan Ribat?” Cyno asked.

“How long would it take?”

The other thought about it for a moment, turning to look at the sky, where a few faint specks of light were already beginning to glimpse in the clear sky above their heads. “Several hours, actually.”

Tighnari squinted a little, then shook his head. “No, I'm sorry, I'm too tired now and my body aches a lot.”

The General pondered for a moment. Untangling himself from the other two, he sat up, paying attention not to wake the younger girl. He took off his cloak and opened it by removing the pins he used to keep it wrapped close against his body. If necessary, he could also use it as a blanket. It wasn’t very wide, but just enough to cover all three if they had squeezed between each other.

Sensing what he wanted to do, without the need for words, Tighnari grabbed the side the latter held out to him and wrapped it around his shoulders, while Cyno did the same with his own side.

Clenching tighter with Collei between them, in a tangle of limbs in that narrow space they tried to share as much body heat as possible, protected by Cyno's cloak-blanket.

“Nevermind, now we can hold out until tomorrow morning. That is, if you agree to spend another night camping under the stars, of course.” Cyno murmured at one point, bringing his face closer to the other's. He placed his arm under his head like a pillow and gave Tighnari a mischievous smile, savoring his woody, herbal scent flooding his nose. “What a journey, huh? But I have to admit it wasn't so bad having some travel buddies for once. Time flies when you're having pun together.”

The Forest Ranger cast him a deadpan stare, furrowing his brow. He gave the blanket a tug and the other found himself partially uncovered without warning.

“All right, all right, no more funny puns, got it!” He surrendered by grabbing the edge of the cloak again while shivering from the cold breeze that tickled his tanned skin. 

“That's right.” Tighnari replied flatly, loosening his grip to allow the white haired man to cover himself once more. “And next time be more careful when collecting ancient souvenirs and artifacts from your missions. We miraculously escaped unscathed this time, but we took a big risk.”

Collei between them shifted a bit, and they both instinctively hugged her more, protectively.

“I know, I'm sorry.” The General admitted after a while, in a more serious and soft tone. “I'm sorry I dragged Collei in that mess. It was absolutely not my intention to drag you both into all this...”

“Yeah, I know that too...” The Forest Ranger sighed, gently stroking Collei’s locks and looking at her sleeping face.

He thought back to the events that had led them to basically adopt her, though not in an official way. Years had now passed and he had to admit that he had grown very fond of the girl. He knew perfectly well that Cyno also felt the same way about her, and so he hadn’t done it on purpose at all to involve them in that furry situation. The only thing that mattered at this point was that everything had worked out for the best.

“And pay attention to you too, of course, not only to us. Someone might miss you if something bad happens to you.” He added, blushing embarrassed at that subtle confession. “Maybe next time, if you want to organize a trip, we can opt for something quieter, how about that?”

Cyno's cheeks colored slightly in turn, nodding eagerly as his crimson eyes locked into Tighnari's. He smiled softly as he brought his face closer to him until the tips of their noses brushed and waited for the other's approval. 

“Sure, a place far far away from the desert, I suppose? I don’t know, maybe Port Ormos?”

The Forest Ranger smiled, nodding. “Why not, that might be fine.”

He leaned over to gently brush the lips of the General, who gladly returned the kiss.

Cyno felt something wagging happily under the cloak and found himself thinking that he could now fully understand how that limb could act on its own on certain occasions. He giggled a little, pulling away from Tighnari’s lips, who squared him in an interrogative way.

“What? My tongue was too funny for you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and teasing him, pretending to be annoyed at the interruption of that cuddly moment.

“No, no, it's- Nevermind! It's nothing, don't worry!”

The Forest Ranger stared at him trying to figure out what was going through the other’s  mind. “If it's another pun, I swear I'll take Collei and we both go away leaving you here.”

In response, the General merely smiled mischievously.

“I was thinking... that we could take advantage of this opportunity and spice up this night under the stars... you know, to warm up a bit, of course…” He winked at him allusively, but the other didn’t flinch even a bit.

“Sleep. You need to rest to guide us on the way back ahead.” Tighnari totally ignored him, giving the cloak a slight tug. However, the other was quicker this time and tugged in turn so as not to be uncovered and taken by surprise.

“Oh, come on, you never want to go with me to the desert! When do we get a chance like this again?”

A sparkle of desire quickly crossed Tighnari's face, who squinted his eyes, poorly concealing a hint of a smile at the corners of the mouth. His ears flicked and the gold earring jingled merrily. He approached the other’s smirking face again and Cyno felt a shiver of pleasure run through him from head to toe.

“Not. With. Collei. Here.” It was flat, however, his answer, without stopping to grin at him with an angelic expression.

All the enthusiasm felt by the General suddenly dissolved in the air, but since the other didn’t seem to want to give up, after a while he was the one who had to surrender at his will.

“Tsk, buzzkill.” Cyno huffed, pouting.

Tighnari chuckled. “Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind when we’re home again.”

“You're just saying that to boost me to get us back as quickly as possible.” Cyno squared him, crookedly narrowing his eyes. “Then you'll find some backlog excuse to liquidate me as soon as we get there.”

“Who knows...” The Forest Ranger teased him, giggling. He leaned close to steal him another tender kiss. “You can't know for sure until you get us home.”

Cyno cuddled close to steal more kisses from him in turn, tickling him each time he placed his lips on his sweaty forehead, cheeks and neck. A thrill of pleasure ran through both of them as they became absorbed in their effusion.

“Erm, if you can at least wait a little while, I have to go to the Akademiya in the next few days to deliver some papers, then you can have as much fun as you like.”

Collei's voice brought them both back down to the earth, definitely embarrassed that they had been totally caught in the act in that intimate moment.

“Collei!!! How long have you been listening?!” Tighnari exclaimed, his face as red as a bell pepper.

“Long enough to have listened to more cringe than I wanted to.”

“You could have told us you were awake!”

“And I thought that at some point you realized that by continuing to talk you would wake me up sooner or later!” She replied annoyed, blushing in turn. “I thought you two were able to hold back at least as long as I was between you!”

“Well, about that ... ugh-” They both frowned in shame, speaking in unison.

Tighnari covered his face with one hand, while Cyno looked up at the starry sky humming nonchalantly to avoid crossing their gaze.

After a while full of tension and awkwardness, the girl burst into a hearty laugh.

Dragged along by her honest laugh, the other two also let go, laughing in turn and relaxing their muscles stiffened by the unexpected surprise.

“You guys looked so dumb now!” Collei teased them, poking their embarrassed hot faces with her index finger. “But you are my dorks!”

She spread her arms wide in search of their free hands, which she clasped tightly between her own. The two reciprocated affectionately, cuddling her in an even tighter and warmer hug.

“And you are our little meddler...” Cyno replied softly with an amused tone.

“...Who always reminds us how cringe we are.” Tighnari concluded for him, rubbing his chin on her green ruffled hair.

She smiled, looking at them fondly. “So, can we go home now?”

They shared a glance, agreeing together.

“Yeah, let's go home.”

⋆ ⁺₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ☀︎ ⋆ ₊⁺ ⋆

⋆ ⁺₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ≽^•⩊•^≼ ☀︎ ⋆ ₊⁺ ⋆

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