After eating our fill, I shared the flambéed Mudkip with the kids while Treek went with the bowl of Berries, we find ourselves ready to leave again.

The Marshtomp must have left while we were eating, as we leave Azura-Inn alone to its innkeeper.

"Uff. I'm stuffed. I don't think I can make it all the way back home", comes a statement form Tolan, while Cari is letting her tongue hang out and rubs her belly with her right paw.

"We'll see what we can do. But first: let's get out of the town. It's already starting to get dark and it won't get safer if wait and do nothing." Treek knows just as well as me how dangerous cities can get at night.

I summon a small flame in my paw, to help us see where we are going. It's already dark enough for me to see the clear reflection of the fire in the ice covering the pier. And although it already stopped snowing before we even entered the inn, the sky is still covered with dark clouds blocking out the sun.

'This wouldn't have been an evening, where my wife would have watched the sunset', I think to myself.

Not wanting to depress myself, I shake the returning memories of her death away and focus on what is happening right now.

Instead of going back the way we came, we take a shortcut. An unpaved path is leading up the cliff next to the baron's bay. This path doesn't have any streetlights. Not that any of the town's street lights are actually activated during the night, since the town can't afford to import the Luminous Orbs required for powering them. And while the last time I was here I was only out only during the day, I assume that the streets were still being lit back then.

The war has led to many supply routes with the neighboring lands being cut off. I don't even know where the few orbs you can get your paws on nowadays come from. And from what I know, only the military and the capital are still able to afford using any of them.

Orbs were once a very common thing, with every 'mon being able to afford them in practically ever field of application you can think of. Not everybody can still afford to use Luminous Orbs for lighting. And even the supply of orbs I have lying around is running smaller every day. Pretty soon and we will have to resort to using candle fire or our own flames to guide us late at night.

"I don't think I can go much further", Tolan moans.

"Psst." whispers Treek "We don't know who might be listening to us. No need to tell them that you're too stuffed to defend yourself in case of an attack."

We press on and continue on the uphill path we are walking. Not being paved, the ground is made out frozen dirt. There are steps cut into the ground to help us walk. So even though the ground is slippery from the thin layer of ice covering it, we at least don't have to worry about slipping and sliding back down to the pier.

Carefully lighting the way with the flame I'm carrying, I try to take precautions not to fall while I go up the steps.

But Cari, not being able to sustain her own flame to light her way and having to rely on mine, overlooks one of the steps and falls. Out of reflex she tries to catch her fall with her forearms, but due to the slippery nature of the ground her right arm skids to the right in a very uncomfortable angle, leaving her to break the fall with her head.

"AH! My arm! I think it's broken!" she yells.

Treek, starting to show some of the paranoia I've been having since entering the town whispers while clenching his teeth "Psst. What did I just say?"

After a short moment he continues "Can you still walk?"

Now sitting on the step she fell on, she holds the elbow with her left paw. And with tears of pain rolling down her face she whines "No... *sniff* It's really broken."

Extinguishing the light in my right paw, I take her into my arms in a way that doesn't put any stress on her broken bone. With her head pointing to my right and me having a firm grip on her body, I whisper into her ear "It's OK. I've got you now."

Looking around paranoid, Treek turns to me and says in a low tone "I don't think we can make it out of town, before transporting. I know we'll risk being seen, but we won't be able to make it far without you lighting the way."

With Cari's body already starting to heat up as a response to her injury it is out of the question for Treek to carry her. He'd be nothing but a pile of ash before even taking two steps. And while Tolan already learned how to sustain a flame outside of his body, his Cynderquil body just doesn't have the required stamina to do so indefinitely.

I set Cari back down onto the step she fell on and proceed to rummage through my bag. I'm looking for my exploration badge. And I remember holding it in my paws, before we left on our journey.

Beginning to get worried that I forgot it at home, or even worse that it was stolen, it finally falls into my paws as I pull out a white emblem with a nugget in the center.

"I know we've never used this before", I whisper to Tolan and Cari, "But Treek is right, in that we won't be able to make it out on foot."

While Treek monitors the path in both the direction we came from and the one we were heading to, I continue my explanation of what was about to happen.

"I need you two to hold onto the wings. Now, you're going to get a weird feeling when I activate the emblem. But under no circumstances are you to let go. Do you understand?"

After nodding and hastily grabbing onto the wings, I turn to Treek. In the dimmed light surrounding us I can see him nodding to me, signaling that I can go ahead.

I press the nugget in the center of the badge which springs back into place after being pressed down. A moment later the nugget starts to glow; a glowing that spreads through the wings and continues to envelop my frightened children.

The glow being emitted from the nugget and my kids lights up all of our surroundings. I can see my reflection on the icy ground and can make out the barren branches of the trees surrounding the path.

"GO!" Treek shouts, as I look up to see what he is shouting about.

He is looking the way we came from, towards the silhouette of some 'mon which is heading our way.

I give it no second though as I press the nugget again, thereby confirming the transport's additional passengers.

Only moments later we find ourselves on a beach. The sky doesn't look too different. It is still being covered with dark clouds, as I can see the last of the day's sun being swallowed by the ocean throwing its waves onto the beach.

We are a bit further up the beach. And with no sign of anyone being there but us, and no visible footsteps in the sand and snow covering the beach, we appear to be safe at last.

"We were seen! They saw us! How could I let this happen! Have I learned nothing in all this time? Why did I have to drag all of you there?"

I try to calm down Treek while he is running circles around me and my kids, telling him that it's going to be fine.

"Calm down, Treek. We're save now. Whoever that was probably didn't even know what he saw."

"You really think this won't leave repercussions? Those badges were outlawed and we both know why. By using one of them in public, we might as well have told everyone that you're the holder."

"Please calm down. What's done is done. You couldn't have known that we weren't going to be alone. Who knows? That 'mon might have just been a crook or some drunk. The chance of anybody trusting even a single word he'll say is minimal at the very least."

Calming down a little and stopping to run around me in circles, Treek responds "Why are you so calm about all of this? It's you they're after! You should be the one who is worried sick, after we just blew our cover like that. If they'll investigate this, they'll find out that it was your emblem that got activated. They'll come looking for you in the thousands!"

"I know this might not be the end of it, but..." I try to plead my case.

"Then why are you so calm about this?" I get blared at again.

Glancing over to Tolan and Cari interestedly looking back at us, Treek follows my eyes.

"Oh! Because of them? You want to protect them? How? By not telling them who you are and relying on pure luck to go undetected?" he shouts at me.

"You shouldn't drag them into this!"

"But they're already way deep in this whole mess. They're you kids, for Arceus sake! And you know they'll stop at nothing to get to you."

"Oh! So now you're saying it's my fault or what?"

"NO! But... But..."

"The connection has shut down by now. Nobody will be able to trace where we got send anymore. Let's just try to get back to the den and sleep for the night. It's still about two kilometers away from here", I say while pointing north at the tree line. "So getting back isn't going to be easy, without me being able to light the way."

I pick Cari back up and signal Tolan and Treek to follow before beginning to trot along the border of the beach next to the trees, heading to where my home is waiting for our return.

"Who are you?" Cari asks me with a scared voice.

I gently stroke my free paw over her ear while she looks at me with worried eyes. "I'm your Father. And you're my daughter. And who I am to other 'mons, is a long story. A story I've only begun telling you."

## - End of Season 1 - ##

Author Note:
There we go! That's the end of season #1 for you. A lot of stuff happening in this last chapter, I know. But don't worry - I've already written most of season #2 so you should stay tuned to see what happens next, as more is definitely to come.
And don't forget to leave your feedback for me. Positive or negative; it doesn't matter and I'll read it all.