Kiara stared at the empty den before her. She and Wolf had found the baby Pokémon a few days later, having run away far into the forest. Her old pleasant home was now completely deserted. Gazing around, it literally made her ache to be here and made her feel as if there was a lump in her throat. The scattered berry piles, the empty nests, the array of cave drawings that had accumulated over the years…It all hurt too much. She hated it. Was this how Wolf had felt when he had lost his father? It was a terrible feeling and she wished no one would ever have to experience it.
At least he knew exactly what had happened to his father. Kiara was plagued by so many thoughts and questions. Were they still alive? Had the man murdered them in his fury? If not, where did he take them? Would they ever be able to get back on their own? Would they even come back given the opportunity? What if they liked wherever they ended up better than here? Was Kangaskhan wondering what had befallen her den and many children? Was this entire mishap another excuse for Darmanitan to hate humans? All of it made Kiara feel like she was having a migraine.
"Kiara?" the girl flinched upon hearing her name. She slowly turned around to see Wolf and Vulpix standing at the den's entrance. She knew they must be feeling the same grief she was, but somehow it didn't feel like they were sharing the same pain she was. Perhaps Vulpix did, but Wolf had experienced having some kind of a family before. Kangaskhan was the closest thing she had ever had to a family and now it was gone. What if she never got another family? She didn't even know where she was going to go or what she was going to do now. Should she wait for them here? Then again, there was no telling when they'd be back if they ever did return. "Kiara…is there anything we can do?" Wolf asked with a tilt of his head, his gaze sympathetic and sorrowful.
Kiara stared at him for a moment, lost in her whirling thoughts that it took her a minute to process what the boy had said. Finally she let out a sigh, looking at the ground as she shook her head. "No…I just…I need to rest…Somewhere else though. If I sleep here I'll just end up having nightmares…" she murmured, barely loud enough for Wolf to hear as she stumbled through the lichen past him and out the den. She walked for a long time through the forest aimlessly, numbly aware of Wolf and Vulpix following after her. This forest that she had grown to love so much provided her with no relief. Everything felt awful. She wish time would just stop…That she could just sleep forever and remain in a world where Kangaskhan had never been taken away…Then everything would be better. As she found a pile of scattered leaves, she blankly flattened them out before curling up amongst them, shutting her eyes to everything. The world, her friends…she didn't want to think about any of it right now. All she wanted to do was just sleep, and hopefully forget the whole thing had ever happened…