A Storm is Coming

The air was cool and crisp. Dusty rose his tiny head to the sky and sniffed curiously. There was a familiar scent in the sky that sent a chill through his tiny frame. He shuddered quietly before scurrying across the wide open spaces. Sand stretching as far as the eye could see. The tiny motes that hovered around him hissed and sputtered angrily, flickering between a reddish hue and orange. They reflected his fear. There was a storm coming. 

He scurried quickly across the sand, still warm from the day's heat, his little motes of light trailing behind him anxiously. "Gotta find hole...gotta find...overhang? Something?" his paws made a shuffling sound as his short legs spun in the sand. Ahead of him, he saw a small oasis, perhaps there would be shelter there? The ground sloped downward here, and tucking himself into a ball, he rolled down the hill. The sky darkened ominously behind him. 

Hissing to a stop, he crawled between some reeds and ferns, and came face to face with another esk. It was greenish in color, with short stumpy legs. A soft green lichen covered their back, where a large blue succulent plant sprouted as well.
"EE!" the smaller esk hummed, startled, turning to run, but then paused. They seemed to have noticed the angry red orbs humming around within the ferns and were mesmerized. They crouched low to the ground and backed away, fearful but not running. Dusty backed up, hoping not to scare them further.
"Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! I was just looking for somewhere to hide from the storm."
"S...Storm?" the little green esk stammered, eyeing the motes.
"Ah. Yeah, the motes change when bad weather is coming. I can feel it too...its in the air." he turned and looked towards the sky to the west. "By now too, you can see it."
The little green esk turned his large dark eyes toward the sky, he could see the edge of the horizon, it was dark purple and ominous. Wispy fingers of black clouds reached up across the sky.
"Oh..." he straightened up a bit, no longer cowering from the esk. "You're right!"
He peered at the rocky esk hiding in the ferns. "I...I know a safe place, if you'd like to hide there!"
Dusty glanced nervously back at the sky again before nodding in agreement. "Yes, thank you!"
"Alright! Follow me! Oh, by the way, my name is Tuttle!"
"Thank you Tuttle!" 

Tuttle scurried around the edge of the pool of water, scampering over the rocky edge, carefully avoiding the plants clinging to life at the edge. "In here!" he said, diving into a crack in the rocky wall.
Grunting, Dusty followed, the rocks on his back scraping against the stones as he squeezed into the small space. The space opened up inside, a cosy little cave space. 

Tuttle shuffled around, moving a few stones out of the way to make room for the larger esk. 

"Oh! This is so nice!" Dusty said happily.
"Really?" Tuttle said, beaming, "I found it ages ago, its fun to hide in here sometimes."
"Yeah its so..." *CRASH* 

A Thunderclap cracked across the sky outside, the ground rumbling and shaking. Dusty jumped, bumping against the low ceiling before rolling up into a ball once again.
"Oh!" Tuttle said, startled at Dusty's reaction. "Ah, its okay. Thunder and lightning and stuff can't hurt esks you know, we'll be alright!"
"I know..." he said nervously. "I can't help it, i've just always been so scared of bad weather, it feels like the air hates me and I just can't help wanting to hide." He sounded desperate and scared. Tuttle knew what it was like to be scared, he couldn't help feeling afraid of larger esks for some reason. 

"Its alright. We're safe in here. I'll stay and keep you company until the storm passes."
"Really?" Dusty said, peeking out from between the stones.
"Really." Tuttle said, placing a paw on the rocks. "Want to tell stories?" 

"Sure. Thank you...friend" Dusty said, uncurling a bit. 

As the thunder and lightning crashed above them, and rare rainfall graced the desert above, the new friends laughed and talked about their adventures.