The metal was cool as it hit her skin, taking its rightful place around her neck. Her fingers toyed with the necklace, easily falling back into the nervous habit she'd cultivated over the past thirty years. Her ice blue eyes watched from her hiding spot as the Homs man realized the necklace was gone from the rock where he'd left it. He scanned the perimeter, searching for evidence of her presence. Of course, he wouldn't find any; she had been careful to eliminate any traces.

As his eyes landed upon her hiding spot, he stopped. Though fifty feet away, she could see the fine features of his face, his sharp jawline, and the brown eyes he intensely scrutinized the scenery with. She found herself studying them with curiosity. What would it be like to be the target of such a gaze? There was something rigid about it, strong yet distant.

Her thoughts halted abruptly. She froze. He hadn't moved a muscle, hadn't glanced away from her hiding spot. Did he see her? The Homs man took a step towards the trees she crouched behind.

Her heart skipped a beat as he took another step closer. Her hand clenched around the blue staff at her side, engraved with hieroglyphs from the Ancient Tongue. Could she run without being seen? Escape unnoticed? His boots padded the earth and he took a few more steps.

She inhaled silently, holding her breath against the banging of her heart. She had to run. Now.

He took one more step. She steeled herself, ready to dart away.

"DUNBANNNNN!" A voice shouted through the trees.

The man stopped. He grumbled, but she couldn't make out what he said. Sighing, he took one last glance at the clearing and walked away, disappearing into the forest.

Her body sagged against the tree trunk, her muscles slowly releasing the tension they'd held only seconds ago. She'd need to be more careful next time. Not that there should be a next time. Her father had expressly commanded that none of the High Entia interact with the Homs. But she had been out on patrol with her guards. It was purely a coincidence that they had run into a Homs' team. Even though it was the same one from the waterfall...

A high pitched buzz reached her ear and she pulled out her communicator. Onscreen was a message, plain and simple: Where are you?

She sighed, similar to how the man had done only a minute ago. Rising from her crouched position, she ran in the opposite direction of the Homs. But as she sprinted forth, she could not shake the image of the man's eyes from her mind.


"There it is!" Fiora called out, pointing to the speeder as it zoomed up and over the hill.

A few steps away, Reyn and Dunban were sparring, hitting wooden swords together as Dunban drilled Reyn on defensive techniques. Momentarily, Reyn took his eyes away to glance at the oncoming automobile. Dunban lunged, poking Reyn in the side a little harder than necessary.

"Oy!" Reyn jumped back, flustered.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent," Dunban stated, standing up straight and letting the wooden sword drop to his side.

"Right." Reyn nodded, slightly discouraged. "Sorry, won't happen again."

Overall, it had been a productive exercise, though Dunban could tell Reyn's attention was half elsewhere. Most likely speculating what would happen when Sharla returned.

"After we make camp tonight, we'll go again." The older man turned away and tossed the wooden sword on top of his pack, Reyn doing the same.

The speeder cruised to a stop, its engine humming over the still air. Sharla hopped out as Shulk turned off the speeder. Silently, Dunban gestured to the group to congregate in the shade of the White Whale lab. Without ceremony, Fiora and Reyn plopped down side-by-side, though Fiora stole a glance at Shulk as he rounded the speeder. Oblivious, Riki sat in Fiora's lap and tugged at her hand. She obliged and began petting him. Shulk timidly sat on the other side of Fiora.

"Welcome back," Fiora beamed.

"Thanks. Glad to be back," Shulk responded shyly.

Dunban noticed the exchange, pleased for Fiora, and moved in front of the group while Sharla took a seat next to Shulk. "How was the trip?" He inquired, taking a drink from his canteen.

"Easy enough. A group left for NLA with Gadot at the same time we did." Sharla explained.

"We didn't have to do a preliminary report either, so that was good," Shulk added.

"Good. Then we can get a move on." Dunban answered.

"Riki glad friends back. Riki take team north to Middle Hushflood." Riki clapped his paws together.

"What's that?" Fiora asked.

"High grounds there. Dun Dun and friends may see big ship pieces."

"Smart stuff, furball." Reyn crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing the creature in Fiora's lap mildly impressed.

"Riki have good ideas. Reyn need work on that."

"Hey!"

"Let's go." Dunban interrupted and gestured to the speeder. "There's no need for us to stick around here. Riki, will you help navigate?"

The team moved quickly to ready for the journey. Bags were packed. Seat belts locked. The car's IOS switched on. Five minutes later, the speeder zipped away from the lab, traveling deeper into the Noctilum wilderness.

The first half hour of the trip was spent in silence. Reyn and Fiora were in the back, Sharla and Dunban in the middle, and Shulk and Riki up front. Dunban felt the awkward atmosphere. He had no time — or patience — for fracture within the group. Fracture meant miscommunication, which could turn dangerous if the team was ambushed by hostiles. Dunban would not allow that to happen.

He broke the silence. "Riki. You mentioned there are Nopon caravans traveling around Mira. How far do they travel?"

"Ooooh. Caravans go everywhere in Mira. Even all way north."

"You mean Cauldros?"

Riki spun around in his seat and laid his chin on the top. "It land of old machines. And monsters."

"Machines from the Saamarians?"

"Chief Dunga think so."

"They just left a whole bunch of stuff up there?" Fiora interjected. "Wow. Littering. Our ancestors are disappointing."

Dunban paused. He hadn't even stopped to consider the revelation that the Saamarians had created humans on Mira. While that didn't mean Saamarians had created humans on Earth, there had to be some connection. Perhaps he'd just accepted it as another mystery to be investigated once there was time. Or perhaps it was that so many unbelievable things had happened in the past four years, nothing really phased him anymore.

"What kind of monsters?" Reyn called out from the back.

"Big nasty ones. Creatures go through lava. Also, fly. Eat Nopon. Not safe if ask Riki."

"What else do you know about the Saamarians?" Sharla leaned against the side of the speeder, her eyes trained on Riki.

"Creators of Mira. Have lots of technology. Could even control time legend says!"

"Whoa, really? How?" Shulk turned his head towards Riki, eyes wide with amazement. "Do you know if they were using some type of quantum technology? Or maybe a—"

"SHULK!" Fiora shouted and pointed ahead.

The young man snapped his attention to the front and swerved out of the way of a large tree.

"Pay attention, dude!" Reyn yelled gripping the side of the speeder.

"Sorry, sorry!" Shulk waved his right hand in the air as an apology.

Riki seemed to pay no mind to the incident. "Saamarians create Monado to control time. But that all Riki knows."

"The Monado? What is that? Like an infinity stone?" Reyn grinned and elbowed Fiora. She rolled her eyes.

"We're not the Avengers."

"What infinity stone?" Riki put his paws up to his cheeks.

"It's a powerful stone from a fictional planet." Sharla supplied.

"Monado not fiction!"

"Isn't that what a legend is?" Reyn teased.

Before Riki could respond indignantly, Dunban interrupted, "And there is no information about where the Saamarians stored this Monado?"

"No. None at all."

"Wait, so what is it?" Shulk said, not taking his eyes off of the road.

"Nopon do not know. All know is name." Riki closed his eyes, his tone ominous.

Dunban wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. A device that could control time. How far back or far forward could this Monado change the world? Was that something else they had to worry about falling into the hands of their enemies? They were already running out of time to find the Lifehold.

But did the Monado have the power to go back and stop the destruction of Earth?

"If I could control time, I'd go back to my fifth birthday party," Reyn commented.

"Seriously?" Fiora crossed her arms over her chest, unimpressed.

"My parents took me to an all-you-can-eat ice cream buffet. It was glorious."

"That's a thing?" Sharla addressed him for the first time.

Reyn leaned forward towards her, stars in his eyes. It appeared he'd forgotten his earlier disappointment. "You bet! But the place closed out a month later. Apparently, they had some sort of rat infestation…"

Fiona crinkled her nose. "GROSS!"

"Hey! I didn't know! Though my Ma told me to stay away from the Rocky Road now that I think about it…"

Dunban shook his head. Maybe he'd need to watch out for Reyn more closely than he thought.

"What would you do, Shulk?" Fiora casually flipped her hair over her back. Dunban forced himself not to laugh at the obvious preening.

"I'd probably go back to my junior year in college. I went to this engineering conference in Chicago. I met Cynthia Breazeal. She basically inspired me to go into robotics."

"Wow, that's really cool, Shulk."

"What would you do?"

Fiora blushed. "It's silly."

"Come on. We said our stuff." Reyn complained. "You have to share."

Dunban smiled to himself as he looked out at the Noctilum scenery. At least this was a good exercise in team bonding.

"Fiiiiiiine. I was on a dance team in college. We won a championship my sophomore year. I'd go back to that performance."

"Fiora dance?" Riki gasped and swished his hips from side to side. "Riki love dancing!" Fiora giggled and responded with a good-natured shimmy.

"She's very good. She was offered a position with ODC in San Francisco." Dunban stated.

"Dunban!" Fiora blushed.

"Don't be shy. That's very impressive," Sharla responded. "What kind of dance?"

"All sorts. I'm trained in ballet, but I like lyrical and jazz." Fiora averted her eyes. "I really miss dancing."

Dunban could hear the tinge of sorrow in her voice and his shoulders slumped. With everything that had happened with the Exodus, he'd spent only a little time in the past two years considering everything Fiora had lost. Another way he had failed her as a brother.

"I don't even want to mention mine now. Yours and Shulk's are inspirational." Sharla mused.

"Hey!" Reyn objected as the others, including Dunban, laughed.

"I guess I'd go back to my sister's wedding. She got married on Lanai."

"In Hawaii?" Fiora asked.

"Yes. It's one of the smaller islands. Not that touristy."

"That sounds lovely. And peaceful."

"It was."

A silence settled over the group. It was. Such a simple word with such a large implication. A small grumble of anger eeked out of the corner in his mind where his rage was kept. But he shoved it back down. He knew that if he even entertained the emotions, he would be consumed.

"Riki would go back to his ceremony to become Heropon! Everyone celebrate Riki. It good day. Then Riki would train more so could fight and kill dino beasts." Riki karate chopped the air with fury. Fiora stifled a giggle.

"What's a dino best?" Shulk inquired.

"Big bird creature. Blue and green. Very loud." Riki frowned. "Very scary."

From Riki's expression, Dunban could see there was more to the story. "Is that the beast up at the Roost?" Dunban interjected.

Riki nodded, hesitant.

"Where is the Roost?"

"Tippy top of Noctilum. Dun Dun want to go?"

Did he want to go? Curiosity was getting the better of him despite Chief Dunga's warning. Still, they did need to travel through every portion of the continent. Otherwise, they could possibly miss the location of the Lifehold. However, he also knew that he couldn't endanger his team.

"No, we should avoid it if possible."

Another soft silence fell over the group. This time it was not awkward, to Dunban's relief. It appeared the conversation had done its job in bringing the team back together.

Fiora poked him in the shoulder. "Dunban, you didn't say what you would want to do."

The question startled him. As he considered it, his mind went blank. He didn't really know how to answer. But as he stared at his sister, he felt an age-old wish pop into his head. If he had the power, Dunban would go back in time and stop his parents from leaving on that day. They wouldn't have ended up in that car crash that killed them both. His parents would've seen the two of them grow up. He and Fiora would have a better relationship. They would have been a full family instead of a broken one. But he couldn't say such a thing. It was too personal. And it would only upset his sister.

However, as the seconds passed, he realized he'd misinterpreted the question. The question wasn't what would you go back and change. It was what would you like to relieve again. That was something he didn't know how to answer. Because he didn't have an answer.

When was the last time he'd been truly happy? Certainly not in the past five years. Maybe even longer. Dunban had been consumed by the Earth Exodus mission and prior to that, he'd been in the army, moving between assignments, constantly on the go, whether in a war zone or not. Happiness had not been a priority.

"Hello? Earth to Dunban?" Fiora waved a hand in front of his face.

"Don't you mean Mira to Dunban?" Reyn snickered.

"Wow, Reyn. Hilarious."

Hesitating, Dunban drummed his fingers on the speeder's side. "I'm not sure."

"Seriously? Lame."

"Dun Dun don't need to live in past. Dun Dun superhero." Riki struck a pose that Dunban supposed was meant to illustrate that he was valiant and indomitable.

From there, the conversation devolved. Dunban's mind drifted, his thoughts still centered on Fiora's question. His lack of answer disturbed him. He'd been too busy to actually live much of a life for the last decade.

He glanced over at Fiora, who was currently engaged in a lively debate with Reyn and Sharla. He'd been too busy to develop an adult relationship with Fiora. It dawned on him that that was the tension. He still treated her like a child, and not as the adult she was. He'd have to fix that.


The sun began to fall towards the horizon, the sky darkening little by little. Dunban had Shulk drive back into the forest away from the open plains so they could look for adequate shelter. When they made camp, Dunban tore away from the group to do his routine radio transmission. It was short this time. The day hadn't yielded any new news and Dunban had no desire to ask about Gadot. It appeared Vandham wasn't interested in that conversation either and didn't volunteer any information.

Once the older man signed off, Dunban began to pack up the gear when a wail howled in the night. He froze, listening to the eerie sound as it rustled through the trees, cutting through the pitch black like a siren call. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. A shiver ran down his spine. Whatever it was, it was most certainly not human. And he didn't want to find out what it was when he had no backup. But as the seconds ticked by and he waited to hear a creature trudging towards or away from him, he noticed the sound had not moved.

Curious, Dunban began to trek through the jungle at a slow pace, creeping through the brush and trees, doing his best to stay unobtrusive. As his eyes adjusted to the night, he found himself walking towards the foot of a large hill. In actuality, hill was a bit of an understatement. It wasn't as tall as a mountain, but it was closer to that classification. He was not climbing that in the dark. He'd have to wait until morning. Thus, an hour after sunrise, he and his team began hiking the half-mountain in single file, the sun shining on their backs without abandon.

"What did you say you heard?" Sharla asked, taking a sip from her thermos.

"A wail of some sort. Do you know what that would be Riki?"

The Nopon huffed and shook his head in the negative. He was panting far too much to form a sentence.

"It seems we'll find out soon enough then."

The group continued its climb, the younger members clustering in the back and Dunban and Sharla picking up the lead. He gave her a sideways glance, considering if now was the appropriate time to broach the subject of Gadot. In his peripheral vision, he saw Reyn and Shulk deep in conversation, with Fiora focusing on helping Riki up the mountain/hill. They were distracted. Good.

"How do you know Gadot?"

"Really?" Sharla raised an eyebrow at him.

"I mean, how did you meet?"

"I was going through field medic training in DC. He was one of the doctors who was guest lecturing for the program. We met at the reception after the first-day orientation."

"I see."

"We'd see each other occasionally, but we didn't start dating until four years ago when he started working on," she hesitated, then continued, "Project Gamma."

Dunban didn't say anything in response, waiting for her to continue.

Sharla stared straight ahead, her voice flat. "He proposed actually. Just before the Exodus."

"Oh. Wow." Not at all what he had been expecting.

"Exactly, right?" Sharla laughed. But it was mirthless. Rather, it was disillusioned, perhaps bordering on angry. But he doubted it was at Gadot. More than likely it was at the destruction of Earth.

Briefly, Dunban wondered how she dealt with her anger, but this was not the time to have that conversation. Instead, he asked, "Sharla. Do you know what Project Gamma is?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I know he wanted to tell me, but he was faithful to his confidentiality agreements. I assume though that you know…"

"Yes."

"And you don't like it." She looked at him sharply. There was almost a challenge in her voice. He could tell she wanted to defend Gadot, but she knew she couldn't when she didn't know what the secret was.

"In a word."

It was interesting that Gadot hadn't told her. Dunban wondered if the man truly did it in order to maintain secrecy, or if he had though Sharla wouldn't approve if she knew. Regardless, Dunban wasn't going to be the one to divulge the truth of Project Gamma.

They took a few more steps in silence before Sharla created conversation once more. "Dunban, how did you end up in all of this? I know you were in the military."

"I'm a pilot. I was asked to pilot Skells and protect the arks when the Exodus Earth project was first formed."

"Do you like it?"

"What?"

"Being a part of the BLADE leadership."

Dunban snorted. She raised an eyebrow at the response. Possibly too honest a reaction, but it wasn't a huge secret amongst the others in the council that he disliked politics. "Like isn't the word I'd use. It's necessary."

Sharla was about to ask another question when the wail streamed through the air. Dunban's senses electrified and he rushed towards the sound, pulling his swords from his back as he raced forward.

As the man reached the peak, he saw not a creature, but a stone statue. It was five inches taller than him, and the width of a redwood tree. A crescent moon sat atop a large stone circle with its center chiseled out. This was where the wail originated. Wind whipped through the center of the circle, creating the wail. The stone circle was centered in the middle of a table. On the tabletop were engravings, hieroglyphs and markings that looked almost topographical. As Dunban studied the image, he began to see the outlines of Noctilum.

"What is that?" Shulk panted from behind as Dunban took out his communicator and began taking multiple photographs of the plaque.

"I believe it's a map."

"Not a full map though." Shulk rounded the table. He pointed to the corners. "Look. It seems like it's cut off. Purposely though."

"Weird. Who would want to put a map all the way up here?" Reyn leaned down and studied it as Dunban put the camera away.

"Riki, do you know what these markings are?" Dunban asked, pointing to the hieroglyphs. He felt guilty; all of his interactions thus far with Riki had been him asking questions as if the Nopon were nothing but a tour guide and encyclopedia. But the Heropon didn't seem to mind.

"Those ancient markings. Samaarian language. Riki never see up close before." His eyes were wide as he gazed at them from his perch in Fiora's arms.

"That's gotta be super old then." Fiora murmured. "What if it's a map to the Monado?"

"That would be convenient," Reyn answered.

"But it would be cool," Shulk added, catching Fiora's eyes with a grin. She blushed and smiled back.

"Why the wind tunnel? What significance does that have?" Sharla wondered aloud.

"I'll send these images back to NLA tonight for closer examination. Hopefully, we'll stumble across other carvings. Maybe there are more of these statues that can lead us to them." Dunban reasoned.

As the others continued speculating about the contents of the map, Dunban looked out over the view. He could see past the rainforest, all the way to the coast. He remembered from a few days ago how he'd been daunted by the amount of rainforest. Now, it felt manageable, almost normal. As he swept his eyes to the left, he caught sight of what looked to be a tall red tree in the distance.

"Riki, what is that?"

The Nopon bounced over and followed Dunban's pointing finger into the distance. His brow furrowed. "That is Roost."

Pulling a pair of binoculars out of his pack, Dunban put them to his eyes and zeroed in on the Roost. His first impressions had been right: it was a large red tree growing upward from what seemed to be a contained area surrounded by five mountains. As he swept the binoculars downward, trying to judge its size, a glimmer of silver caught his eye.

Dunban's heart jumped. He zoomed in to the very last degree.

A life pod from the White Whale sparkled in the sunlight, a few feet from the entrance of the Roost. A single pod. Someone was inside, waiting to be awakened. Waiting to be rescued.

But Dunga's warnings about the Roost echoed in his head. There was a beast there.

He'd have to go alone.

Dropping his binoculars to the side, Dunban turned and addressed his team. "There's a life pod at the Roost. I'll go and open it. We'll set up a comm so you can help me remotely unlock it, Shulk."

"You're not going alone." Fiora protested as she stepped forward, narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"As Riki said, there is some sort of creature out there. I won't put you all in danger."

"What if it attacks you? What happens then?" Fiora shot back. "I told you not to do anything like what you did at the waterfall again. You do not get to sacrifice yourself for "the greater good"."

"This not a discussion. I'm going."

"Then I'm going with you. And I don't care if I'm disobeying a direct order. You can kick me out of BLADE or whatever when we get back, but there's no way I'm letting you go out there by yourself."

They stared at each other, neither backing down.

"It's also better if I do the tech stuff in person than remotely. It'll just be faster." Shulk added. Fiora glanced at him, a thank you in her eyes.

"And if that thing comes down, you're gonna need a distraction." Reyn placed his hands on his hips. "That's me."

"Riki will face dino beast because he is Heropon!" Riki shadow punched the air. "Dun Dun not go alone!

Dunban looked at Sharla, expecting for her the chime in as well. She put her hands up defensively. "I won't disobey your orders, but with all due respect, I don't think it's a smart decision to go alone."

Irritation began to grow. He was trying to protect them. That was his job. He looked at the resolute faces of his team members and sighed, his annoyance ebbing and disappearing. It seemed there was no way around it. They were all coming whether he liked it or not. Resigned, he shook his head. "Alright, let's head out."

As the team headed down the semi-mountain, Dunban pulled Fiora back, his grip on her arm a little tighter than necessary.

"What?" She snapped, obviously still angry.

"If there is the slightest hint of danger, you run." He said bluntly.

Fiora creased her lips into a line. "Dunban—"

"No. You've insisted you're coming. Fine. But you run if I say so. Understood?"

He knew that his voice was low and dangerous. The intensity in his voice caused her eyes to widen and she shivered in his grip. Slowly, she acquiesced. "Alright."

"Good." He did not release her arm, but continued, "And if you have a problem with my orders in the future, you take it up with me alone. Not in front of everyone."

"Fine, captain." The fear in her face was immediately replaced by seething anger. Again they were at odds.

A moment of silence passed between the two of them, tense and strained. Finally, he released her. Without another word, she turned on her heel and marched away. He gritted his teeth. Two steps forward, one step back. But it didn't matter if she hated him. He was going to protect her. She was the only family he had left. And even if she didn't realize it, that meant the world to him.

Exhaling the anger from his body, Dunban followed his team down the mountain, their destination the Roost. And whatever lay in wait.


A/N: Things are getting tense, my friends. Buckle up! And Happy New Year!