Whiteout was helping some people sweep sand out of some of the sandstone rooms in Boti's colony, when Inky and Nightlight slithered up to her, wide-eyed and whispering to each other. Whiteout paused in her sweeping and frowned down at the two as they debated something fiercely. She didn't want to interrupt, but also… they could debate between themselves for hours before coming to a conclusion.

"Do you need help with something?" she asked gently, and the two jumped before side-eyeing her.

"Maybe," Nightlight ventured, ignoring Inky's soft protesting noise and tail poke.

Whiteout waited patiently, setting her broom down, and Nightlight clacked faer beak restlessly before continuing, "Blueberry's gone missing."

Inky grumbled, and Whiteout frowned, dubious. "Are you sure they're not just hiding somewhere?"

Inky hissed. "Yes! We looked everywhere! And Ember says Garnet's missing too!"

Whiteout's frown deepened, uncertain. "Let's go talk to Ember, and then I'll see what I can do, okay?"

The two draconics nodded, then gave her wide, pleading eyes to get a ride. Whiteout sighed and allowed them to squiggle up her legs and curl up on her back before moving off to find Ember.

They found Ember hiding under a bed while Ballor tried to convince her to come out.

"I don't know what's gotten into her," Ballor fretted to Whiteout. "She won't come out!"

"She's making sure they won't get her!"

Nightlight and Inky slithered down from Whiteout to join Ember under the bed, whispering intently. Ballor blinked at Whiteout in confusion, not understanding.

"'Get her'-?"

Whiteout sighed and explained. "They think Garnet and Blueberry got snatched by someone. They're probably just lost or playing hide and seek-"

"No they're not! We looked everywhere!"

"Everywhere!!"

Whiteout raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Ballor, the draconic catching on fast.

"How about we look again?" Whiteout offered soothingly. "With Ballor here, they know all the little nooks and crannies, we can check there again?"

Nightlight, Inky, and Ember conferred under the bed, then came to the conclusion that that was agreeable. They slowly emerged, Ember glueing herself to Ballor, while Nightlight and Inky returned to their perches on Whiteout's back. The six of them began going over the tribe's home with a fine tooth comb, looking for the two missing youngsters.

The tribe lived in a series of ravines and tunnels set below the surface of the mesa, the warm red and orange sandstone worn away by both water and by hands and tools. The strata that wove through the walls, ceiling, and floor reduced the need for decoration, and with a clever ventilation system, it always stayed cool and was never stuffy. Down here, it seemed almost impossible that the desert sun beat bright and hot against the sands above.

But, try as they might, they didn't find Blueberry and Garnet in the usual nooks and crannies that the youngsters usually gravitated to. They weren't swimming in the pool, or begging snacks in the kitchens, or causing havoc in the trade ravine - so where could they be?

"Could they have gotten outside?" Whiteout asked Ballor, tapping their claws.

The two ignored Nightlight, Ember, and Inky's insistence that they had been taken as Ballor thought. "Maybe… it's not like the exits are watched particularly closely."

The five headed out into the warm sun. It was still early in the morning, so the sun hadn't yet reached it's peak heat, but it was still warm. Ember stretched her wings and flitted into the sky, and Nightlight and Inky departed Whiteout's back to 'search' under some rocks. That they, instead, stretched out on, soaking up the sunlight.

Whiteout and Ballor exchanged amused looks, then Ember cried out above and dove towards something out of sight. Whiteout and Ballor followed the younger quickly, Inky and Nightlight belatedly following. As they crested a dune, they found the missing whelps. Not stolen after all - merely building sandcastles with a bucket of water in the dip of a dune.

Whiteout snorted aloud, and Ballor shook their head while Ember scolded a confused Blueberry and Garnet. Inly and Nightlight poked curiously at the sand castles, accidentally collapsing one, and Whiteout winced as the screaming rose in volume.

"Let's get them home, shall we?"

"Lets."