Waves of sand rushed over the many stones of the desert archipelago. Each of these rocks gleamed in the sun and cast a deep shadow onto the sand. At the edge of the archipelago a young woman walked.
A large gush of sand rolled around her revealing a group of bikers behind it. These riders wore a dark brown gown around their whole body similar to the one of the young woman. Their eyes were barely visible through a narrow slid of their gown.
"You need a ride, waste stalker?", one of the riders with a large feather on their head asked.
The woman looked at him.
"Where are you riding to?" she asked.
"Skimbell citadel. The tower of Falling Down. 50 coins for a fellow stalker."
The woman thought about it for a moment.
"What is the furthest you have traveled into this great waste?", the young woman pointed behind herself.
"We dont travel the great waste. Nothing good returns from there. Sometimes not even the sand. Why would you go there?"
The young woman did not reply. She seemed lost in thought. Suddenly she raised her arm and pointed directly behind the riders. They turned around, paused, cursed, reved their engines and started to flee.
A humming cloud of blue steel sat on the top of the largest of rocks nearby, observing the departing riders.
"Why would you scare them so much by pointing me out, Shimran? They never would have noticed me." The steel began to shift into a large humanoid beetle while sliding down from the rock. The beetle walked some steps on its two feet towards the woman and stopped.
It looked at her.
Carefully.
Puzzled.
"Oh! A walking prophecy!" the beetle exclaimed. "Now I see where you are going!"
The beetle sank knee deep into the sand and sat down.
"I have seen humans walk around in the archipelago. I have seen them wander out of the archipelago into the great waste beyond. I have even seen expeditions going into the great waste and coming back. But I have not seen you before. Yet you have 'returned' this morning and entered the archipelago.
The beetle fell silent for a moment.
"You are not from here. This means more will come from the waste."
"There is nothing behind me." the woman replied and started walking. Away from the great waste. Towards the first sand city of Skimbell.
