He could have been grateful if the MotherFather hadn't shown him the dream of the sands following the one in the plains. He had felt the need to rest more after the day he had had, following the previous dream. There had been frustrating drama happening in the tribe and while it usually didn't bother him, Troublesome felt as though he didn't always feel fully rested following these mostly lucid-seeming dreams.
So when he drifted off to rest and woke up baking in the heat of the sands with nothing but sand and more sand as far as his eyes could see, he had not been ready.
Not far from where he woke, others walked but it was clear that they had been walking for a long time. Some looked more than ready to collapse and he briefly wondered if it had been worth the trip. This was on their way in and not even on their way out. Would they find water and food? It was likely they had, since they'd all come back, right?
When they made it to their destination, Troublesome did as he usually cared to do, he kept his distance. He watched the others. He watched how the stones seemed to react only to the one kin that had touched the centre stone first and then last. It was odd, especially as a combination of colours on one side seemed to translate into a combination of colours on the other.
Unlike the other two dreams, the more he watched as kins tried to figure out the puzzle of the Obelisk, the less he understood. It was perhaps that he wasn't quite certain if the 'good' answer was supposed to be red, white or plain. He could grasp that one of these colours was good but which, he didn't know.
It was as the puzzle was seemingly figured out that Troublesome told himself not to think too much about it. It was but a dream, a memory of what had happened and he certainly couldn't change anything to it. Had he been there... well he knows that he likely would have been quite useless.
As kin come and go, some touching the Obelisk, others not, those born of sands going back their way and some leaving their home until who knew when again, he roamed quietly on the edge of the Obelisk, never stepping between the puzzle and the large, pointed stone. He knew that it wouldn't do him any harm, but just the same, he wasn't fond of the idea and as he still wasn't completely sure as to what the puzzle had been, he didn't want to spend too much time thinking about it.
It was only as the day seemed to wear on that the dream wore him down and he found a spot in the shade of what seemed to be a lonely tree. He would sleep in his dream if he had to. There were plenty of things he had to do once he woke.
It did leave him to wonder, however. Three dreams within the span of a few days, was something coming their way?
(525 words)
