Deeper In

The ashlands were bare and hollow and surprisingly cold. The only source of the heat was the occasional pools of red-hot liquid, or “sun’s blood” as Solstice called it. Foliage was rare, with most trees dead and hollow and ground plants almost non-existent. Very few creatures lived in the ashlands- for the most part it was just small creatures who were able to survive on much less. Carnivores were rare, especially dinosaurs- the lands were too empty and too open to provide much hope for food, and herbivores never went too far into the ashlands. There wasn’t enough food for most to survive off of. 

However, that did not stop Solstice from making his way deep into the scorched land with his small herd. Hyperion walked by his side, the bigger styracosaurus warding off predators with his huge bulk alone. Behind them trailed Zephyr, the most obviously upset of the three. The tan herbivore would often toss his head, looking around at the wide open land nervously and at the ash with aggravation. The youngest of the trio was clearly the most unsure about the situation, tossing his head in stress. Solstice had instructed them to march across the gray lands in search of pools of sun blood to seek divine wisdom from. Quietly, Zephyr thought it was stupid- those bubbling pools had no more wisdom than a dead squirrel! But Hyperions narrowed eyes whenever he looked back at Zephyr was enough warning to keep quiet. 

However, the rumbling of his stomach was eventually too much for Zephyr to keep quiet on. “Where are you planning on finding food?” He scowled, quickly hiding the expression when Solstice turned around. The yellow styracosaurus looked at him with what seemed to be a confused look, before seemingly realizing what he meant. “Oh! You need nourishment. Of course, of course.” Solstice raised his head, sun kissed horn glowing brightly as he looked around the area. There was not much in said area to look at. All around them stretched wide open fields, the occasional dead tree not adding much to the environment. Some withered plants were scattered around, but even Solstice could tell that they were not fit for consumption. This was a problem.

Hyperion stood up next, between Solstice and Zephyr as if he was protecting the yellow male from the other’s rapidly raising temper. “If we keep going we can find something.” He grunted, long horn pointed dangerously towards Zephyr in a silent warning. The tan colored male looked away quickly, scrapping a foot on the ground.

Solstice perked up. “Yes! The sun will surely show us food- it did not lead us here to die.” He said with certainty, head raised once again before beginning to walk. Zephyr sighed, before stiffening as he noticed Hyperion walking over to him with a cold look in his eyes. Zephyr quickly backed up, but wasn’t fast enough to stop Hyperion from getting into his face.

“If you do not want to join us…” the large bull huffed, snorting in the smaller’s face. “You are welcome to go. But have fun making your way across the dead lands alone…” With a cold smirk the styracosaurus bumped against him, before following after Solstice. Zephyr quickly followed- the company wasn’t great, but it was better than wasting away in the ashlands.

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They continued on for another hour before things started to look a bit more hopeful. As they traveled more towards the outsides of the ash fields there was more and more foliage. Granted, it was dull and skinny and looked terrible to taste, but it was a sign. Curious, Zephyr attempted to take a nip out of one branch only to spit it out instantly. It was gross, and had almost no nutrients.

Solstice seemed focused on the sky, following the sun in the sky. Thankfully, the sun was not taking them further into the ashfields, or else they all might have died there. Hyperion was the one to notice something, nudging Solstice before motioning towards the ground. Curious, Solstice bent down and pressed a foot into the warm dirt. The soil here was.. Different. Less ashy. There was more life inside of it, as if it was slowly recovering from the destruction that had happened. “The soil suggests life… but where is it?” Solstice stomped the ground in frustration. At his side Hyperion was calm, as if he knew more than he was letting on.

“Watch.” The large styracosaurus grumbled, before starting to scrape away at the ash-covered soil with his forelegs. Slowly he pulled dirt out of the hole, piling it higher and higher around him. Zephyr crept closer to the pair, watching in confusion. Digging? Was he digging their graves or something?

The answer turned out to be “or something” as a glimmer of plant life was revealed. Hyperion swapped to his horn, using it to hook at something and carefully pull it up. Soon, he managed to reveal a patch of roots, quickly using his beak to pull them free from the ground before offering them to Solstice. “Here. This type of soil tends to have all kinds of underground roots and other plants such as mushrooms. If we keep digging around, we’ll find more.”

Solstice took a bite of the roots. They were far from amazing, but they weren’t bad. They were thick and strong, and he quickly crunched through them. “Excellent. Let's forage, then. The sun has provided once more!” Solstice seemed happy to ignore that it was Hyperion who had found the food, but the other didn’t seem in a hurry to correct him.

Zephyr backed away from the two a bit, before beginning to dig in the soil on his own. It was gross and messing, small fragments getting kicked up into his face and making him sneeze and shake his head in irritation. It took a few minutes of scraping and shifting through the dirt before he detected the faint scent of something. Quickly using his horn to push aside the soil, Zephyr uncovered small, round, plant-like objects. Curious, he nudged it with his beak. This must be a mushroom? Tearing it out of the ground, it quickly vanished as he hurriedly chewed it down. It didn’t taste terrible. Returning to the dirt, he found a few more and quickly snatched them up. They went down easy enough. 

Hyperion foraged alongside Solstice, helping the smaller male dig out the vegetation and browsing alongside him. Occasionally he would pass the yellow male a juicer piece of vegetation that he managed to dig out, before going back to his own browsing. Solstice was clumsy and inexperienced in his grazing, refusing to use his horn to scrape out roots and instead relying on his forelegs and break.

Despite the inexperience, they soon managed to gather enough to satiate their appetites for the moment, leaving multiple holes in the ash covered soil. “We must keep moving.” Solstice shook the ash out of his feathers. “The sun awaits.” Hyperion stood beside him, head held high. Zephyr sighed from behind them. No rest for the weary. Privately, he couldn’t wait to part ways with the two. And from the cold look in Hyperions eyes, he knew it.