"Where do I start?" Seaglass chuckled as Kymopolia climbed up his horns, perching herself on the emerald green figures.

"Maybe show them the waterfall?" Flare suggests as he spreads his wings. "I think they'd like to hose that itchy sand of their scales."

"Ah, great idea!" Seaglass nudges Flare with his shoulder, nodding appreciatively. "Well you guys heard him. Let's go."

Potent exchanged a glance with his friends, and they seemed pretty relieved. Seaglass heads to the entrance, coaxing them towards him as he prepared to take flight.

"We can catch up later." Flare promises as he walks out of the grotto, Artemis by his side. She smiled at him and nodded, her eyes practically a kaleidoscope of blue.

"That would be nice." She confesses, then disappearing from view with Flare as they parted.

Potent grumbles and trudges through the shallow water, passing Geode. The old hybrid smiled and nodded towards the entrance. "I see that worried look. I'm sure they'll like it here. Most already could fit in as one of us."

Potent paused, glancing at him doubtfully, a certain tribrid in mind. "We'll see."

"Come on, Potent!" Tempest calls suddenly. The Sandwing makes an amused face, following after her.

~~~~~~~

"Oh, wow." Mamba breathes, gold and bronze chasing after each other on her wings as she flew. The sun wasn't blinding or scorching anymore, but comfortingly warm. Potent honestly hadn't minded the sun for the first week in the desert, but his mind changed when they came upon the realization they weren't going to find any water or food there.

Seaglass's face was still plastered with his stupid one-of-a-kind-grin, but Potent was kind of glad to see that again. It reminded him there were cute and innocent things still left in the world. His gaze travels to Tempest as he thinks this, leaving him to wonder why that even occurred.

They were coming upon a clear and beautifully cascading waterfall. It looked to flow out of a thin line of blue that ran completely around the place. With all this uneven terrain, the Sandwing wouldn't be surprised if there were smaller waterfalls somewhere else. Maybe Seaglass could tell him. He hadn't seen any when he got to explore a few days ago.

Anyway, this waterfall emptied into the big lake in the center of everything, which gradually turned into another line of river. Small crystal clusters and plants were huddled around the edges of said lake. River pebbles, stones and sand skirted the rest, until the slope that led to the pocket of water appeared, which was simply covered in vegetation.

"Go ahead and get washed off." Seaglass gestured to the lake and waterfall. "No offense, but ya kinda look like dusty statues, with how stiff you are." He giggled.

"As sad as it is, it's pretty true." Potent wrinkled his snout at Mamba as he said this, reviving a wholehearted glare.

"The water is actually really nice!" Mudpuddle offers. "Right Potent?"

"Absolutely." He grins.

"I'm not so sure..." Snowfall's voice trailed off, and he looked at Tempest quizzically.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" She crowed from above, plummeting into the water and splashing an unfortunate Icewing that stood just a little too close.

"Oh come on." A wet Snowfall growls, glaring down at the rippling surface. "Tempest so help me-"

"Don't be such a rock in the pond." Artemis mocks Seaglass, who snapped to attention at the stupid phrase. She then leapt into the water, Mudpuddle with Mamba not far after. The only ones left were Seaglass, Snowfall and Potent.

"I'm good." Snowfall announces, edging away from the water.

"Suit yourself." Potent shrugs, sliding in the cool lake. Water instantly went to work at soothing and numbing his sore muscles. Dipping his head under, he smoothed out his frill. He wasn't as beaten up as the rest were, but he had to admit it was nice.

"You're just gonna sit there?" Seaglass looked at Snowfall, disappointed.

"Uh, yeah." Snowfall rolled his eyes. "I'm not really psyched to clean off in your strange water. I don't like swimming much anyway. I'll brush it off or something." He mumbled.

"Snowfall." Seaglass approaches the Icewing, gesturing out at the water. "I've been swimming in this lake for like a month. I promise it's fine."

"I said I'm good." The pale blue dragon states.

Seaglass's eyes took on a stubborn gleam. "Fine..fine..." He carefully picked up Kym and set her down on a nearby fern, then proceeding to circle around behind Snowfall, earning a confused look.

He quickly charged forward. "What are you-" the Icewing flailed into the water.

Seaglass burst out laughing, looking into the lake and snorting.

"I thought you didn't want to go for a swim, tough guy?"

Snowfall glared at him from under the water, suddenly and swiftly lurching up and wrapping his arms around his neck; yanking the Seawing down with him. Potent watched as they sunk in a stream of bubbles, both then kicking up to the surface.

"You eel!" Seaglass splashed water in Snowfall's face, receiving a full bout of laughter from the Icewing.

"It's just payback." Snowfall said innocently. "And I thought Seawings liked the water."

Seaglass gave an exasperated sigh mixed with a giggle. "Trust me, I do. Just not when I have to keep my bandages dry." He looked down at his chest, where they were already beginning to loosen. The playfulness was erased from Snowfalls face, replaced by worry.

"I-I'm sorry." Snowfall pulled away, and his cheeks darkened like he had just realized he was still holding Seaglass.

"Snow," the Seawing shrugged off the rest of the bandages, his talons then coming back up to brush against Snowfall's. "It's fine."

And it was at this point Snowfall got flustered, and Potent got uninterested. He dove back under the water, where a puffy cheeked Tempest was examining a family of hermit crabs.

Potent rolled his eyes the best he could underwater, and swam to the tribrid. She was giggling up bubbles as she examined their shells. Her gaze caught Potent's shape and she grinned. Tempest curled her talons around them gently and kicked to the surface.

The Sandwing snorted and followed her, poking out his head and supporting himself on the small rock shelf with his arms while keeping the rest of his body submerged.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she climbed out and carefully set them down on the stone.

"Check this out." She says excitedly, nudging a hermit crab with a rather exotic, wavy pink and blue shell. Tiny claws poked out, followed by a scarlet head and other peculiar legs. It lifted itself from the ground, scuttling off to the right where Tempest's other set of talons was firmly planted. Waving it's tiny claws, it scuttled back in surprise as Tempest lifted a single talon. After sitting in place for a few seconds, the animal swiftly went underneath and accepted it as another place for shelter.

"Cute?" Tempest giggles.

Potent finds himself smiling. "Pretty cute." He agrees. He stays silent for a while, before resting his head in his arms and looking up at the tribrid. "So did you hear about that small party Seaglass wanted to have? I'm surprised Geode agreed."

"Party?" Tempest looked confused. "Not at all, actually. But I don't see the big occasion."

"Probably the fact we're getting so many new members in the DR."

Tempest frowns, her violet eyes sparkling. "Yeah.. About that.."

"..You don't want to join?"

"Wait, I do I do..." She saw the doubt in Potent's expression and sighed. "No. I don't."

Potent narrowed his eyes, flicking his tail underwater. "Why not?"

"Because." The tribrid said, frustrated. "What about the prophecy, Potent? We still have to fulfill it. If not, Solar is going to completely take over-"'

"Who cares about Solar?" Potent says. "She can't get us here."

"That's the point." Tempests voice begins to rise." This is our duty, and we can't just run away from it the first chance we get. That's why as soon as possible I'm getting out of this place. It may be a sanctuary for you, but not for me. It's just another sorry excuse for a home that isn't going to last very long if Solar does achieve in doing what she hopes to. You need to man up and accept this place is not for us!" Her lighting bolts seemed to flicker like they were real. With that she flared her wings and she stormed off, leaving her hermit crab buddies behind.

Potent sat for a long moment, before taking a hermit crab into his talons and muttering into the shell. "Great." It pinched his nose. "I deserved that."