Desert Dragon Fantasy

Desert Dragon Fantasy (Japanese: デザートドラゴン・ファンタジー) is the third episode of the Wild Arms Twilight Venom anime.

Synopsis[]

The episode starts with a young woman, Machela, talking to her boyfriend, Ravan, who is standing on a hovercraft in the middle of a lake. To her horror, Ravan disappears into the water and a large violet colored dragon emerges. Machela wakes from her vision in the middle of a tower. She goes to the window and shoots a shotgun at some armed towns people who are trying to sneak into her tower. She shouts and says that she's not giving up the treasure, as it belongs to Ravan and her. Machela calls out to Ravan, who appears from the river -- made up entirely of sand, as opposed to the vision -- and sends the towns people running away with a blast of fire. As they are riding away they discuss how if they don't release some sand soon then the dam will break. Ravan goes up to the tower and looks in at Machela.

Kiel and Sheyenne Rainstorm are standing at the banks of the sand river; Sheyenne is in awe of how the sand flows just like water while Issac and Kiel worry that something is off with the tide. A nearby man confirms that unless the dam releases some sand that the river will flood. He then asks if they're the dragon slayers the mayor had called for and leads them to their employer. The mayor starts his explanation by saying the town usually makes all of its money from salvaging junk that floats down the river. He then explains that Machela won't allow them access to the dam and that she believes the dragon to be a reincarnation of her former fiancé. He asks them to kill the dragon without harming his daughter and states that as a reward they can keep the treasure. The boys keep up their false bravado of being dragon slayers and Issac brags that they've killed twenty dragons in the past.

Next we see Mirabelle sitting on a cliff overlooking the dam and the tower Machela is keeping herself in. Loretta and Jerusha are happily eating lunch on a blanket in the shade claim Mirabelle can relax a little. Mirabelle spies Sheyenne and Kiel and alerts the girls, who are disgusted they keep running into them, and run off, protecting their bags of treasure. Sheyenne and Kiel set up their hovercraft and talk about how they've never fought a dragon before. Sheyenne says it's worth the risk just to get close to the treasure which he heard is shaped like a human body and could be his own missing body. Sheyenne hops on the hovercraft and tells Kiel to stand at the ready by the crane. Meanwhile, Kiel and Issac note that the townspeople are tense and warn the mayor that they could turn on him at some point. Kiel muses to Issac that the only thing keeping him in power is probably his promise about the money the treasure will bring in and that he'll be out of luck once they steal it.

As Sheyenne nears the dam Machela yells out the window for him to be careful as a dragon lives in the sand near there. Sheyenne ignores the fact he was addressed as a child and happily announces his intention to kill the dragon. This angers Machela, who whistles, summoning Ravan. Sheyenne lures Ravan where he wants them then fires the cables on his gun which tie Ravan a tower of metal beams. Kiel aims the arm of the crane towards the dragon's neck but Ravan slashes through it with his tail and then breaks free from his restraints and destroys Sheyenne's boat. Sheyenne manages to jump ship and end on top of another tower sticking out of the river; he calls for Kiel but doesn't get a response. It turns out Kiel and Issac are being held at gunpoint by the townspeople who have decided to act against the mayor and they order the two drifters to surrender.

Sheyenne realizes he's near the dam and makes a spirited leap for a window after he catches a glimpse of Machela; not used to his child body, he mis-calculates his jump and crashes through part of the wall. Meanwhile the townspeople tell the mayor that he can't do anything right from finding the treasure to controlling his own daughter. The leader of the revolt mentions that the mayor only sent Ravan after the treasure because he disapproved of Machela and Ravan's coming marriage. The talk of treasure perks Kiel's ear who then inquires if they've actually seen the treasure, as it might not be a treasure at all. He gathers from their silence that they haven't seen it. Machela and Sheyenne end up talking to one and another and tells him that the dragon is her fiancé, who has reincarnated into a dragon. Sheyenne isn't convinced, as he's never heard of humans reincarnating into dragons, but remains silent. Machela also reveals that her father hated Ravan because he was a traveler and might take her away from him.

Their conversation is interrupted when some men break down the door and attempt to restrain them; Machela calls out to Ravan in desperation. Ravan once again appears and goes after a group of humans he sees standing on top of the dam itself, oblivious to the explosives the townsfolk planted on it. They detonate it just as Ravan steps near the explosions, creating a hole in the dam for sand to come out of and sending Ravan backwards into the sandy abyss. It turns out Kiel, Issac, and the Mayor have been tied to a rock in a path where they'll be swept away by the coming sand; the mayor laments he should have approved of his daughter's wedding. Sheyenne talks to Machela in private and admits he's actually a thief looking for the treasure because he thinks it's his real body; he invites Machela to travel with him when he's an adult again. Ravan rises again just as the hole in the dam grows larger; just as Issac is about to give in to despair Loretta and Mirabelle rescue them on the condition they split the treasure. Kiel alludes to the fact they might not be able to share this treasure.

The panicked townspeople realize that Ravan is coming to rescue Machela and that they'll have to deal with him so they throw Machela out the window. Sheyenne overtakes the guy that was holding him and leaps out after her, shooting a grappling hook at a tower -- it briefly holds the two's weight, but then they submerge beneath the sand. An eddy sweeps them into an underground cavern where Sheyenne spies a bag that could contain a human body with the crest of the Evil Race on it. Above ground someone sends a ship which Issac says is part of the lost technologies and somehow related to the Goddess to wedge itself in the break in the dam; it appears to hold. Sheyenne, with the treasure strapped to his back, and Machela end up on the surface again and hop onto the ship, which begins to teeter and slip away. Ravan helps place the ship perfectly into the missing wedge, restoring the dam.

Machela and Sheyenne stare at the unwrapped treasure which turns out to be a golden statue of a woman who looks just like Machela. Sheyenne meets up with Kiel and the girls and Loretta promptly asks him what the treasure was. He tells her that the treasure was an artifact of unbreakable love.

Trivia[]

Sheyenne uses a Grappling Hook in this episode.
A River of Sand was also an important plot related area in the original Wild Arms.
Sheyenne operates a Hovercraft. This episode aired before Wild Arms 3's release, however.
Mirabelle breaks the fourth wall when rescuing Kiel, Issac, and the Mayor by mentioning she wouldn't miss a chance to get more screen time in this episode.