…Time. It is malleable. Infrequent. It does not just stay in one place, it's tender like a fresh steak, weak as a newborn baby, easy to crumble like a hunk of dirt. Time is something we are not meant to trifle with…yet we do anyway. Why? Perhaps we are just crazy, insane even…or maybe we want more…

The inhabitants of time. From the first man, to a clicking and beeping automaton. From all ages of time, there are stories. Stories that we were never meant to see, but have heard. Tales of Instinct, and learning. Tales of Techniques and revenge. Tales of Keys and determination. Tales of Time and forgiveness. Tales of Strength and fury. Tales of Mind and vigor. Tales of Intelligence and forgiveness
…And Tales of Heroism…and downfalls.
These are the inhabitants of time. These are their stories, their lives, their struggles, their purpose.

This is LIVEALIVE.

The Stone Age. The day a rambunctious boy and his best friend come of age. In a time before language was invented, humanity's other senses were much stronger, such as smell. Through smell, humans of the far, far past could hunt beasts with no problem and avoid danger at every corner.

However, his nose could not sniff out what was going to happen next…

Chanting lifted from the cliff. A deep gorge was settled there, with a man-made platform of wood over it, a pole in the center. Humans, with large noses and red hair, raised their hands, chanting gibberish that even they could not figure out. On the platform, leading the chanting, with blue hair and a frightening beard with a stone headdress around his head and bones wrapped around his clothes, chanted louder than the men. Chanting, for soon they shall be saved, soon they shall be saved, soon they shall be-

A member of the tribe burst from the cave, screaming. The other members parted, leading him directly to the leader. He fell to his knees, looking up at the leader, ranting about falling asleep, not paying attention, and that she was gone.
Their captive was gone.

The elder roared, making all members of the tribe reel back. The leader shouted, screamed, to get her back, for it needed to be satiated, or they were all doomed!
The caveman nodded, the other members of the chanting chorus following him out from the cliff. The leader turned back to the cliff, past the pole, looking down into the pit. A ferocious, deep, guttural growl came from below, and the elder leaped back.
Soon…

The captive bounded, hopped, out of her kidnapper's cave, tripping on a rock as she face-planted to the ground. Her purple hair was matted, and the seashell in her hair was chipped. Nonetheless, she forced herself to get back up, shaking off the dirt. She looked both ways, wary that they were following her.

Seeing that there was nobody there, she hopped again, intent to flee and get away before she tripped and fell again.

Thankfully, her fall had loosened her vines and she was free. Picking herself up, she bolted, hearing the roar of the cavemen following her. She needed to get far away, far away from the tribe and that...whatever it was. Her furiously fast feet let her gain significant distance, and she was no more than a speck in the night after a while.

The caveman leapt out of the cave, figuring their captive would not get far.

She was far.

Falling on their faces, they noticed her vines, once used to restrain her now on the ground. One grabbed them, motioning for the others to follow him, as they must get Zaki. Zaki was helpful, Zaki was second-in-command, Zaki…

Zaki was standing right in front of them, yanking the vines from the caveman's grasp. Swooshing his hair, he took a deep sniff of the vines, letting the smell of their victim tingle his nose. He knew it all too well, that smell...not in a creepy way, or anything.

She was close. Not very close, but close all the same. Looking to his men, he thumped his chest, the other doing the same as they moved with him to a cave opening. In a few seconds, they had wheeled out stones carved into the shape of carts, with crudely rocky wheels attached to them. Zaki hopped into one, shouting for the others to join the brigade. They did so, pushing their carts until they came to a decline, hopping in as they zoomed across the land, intent to capture their prey.

Soon…it shall be satisfied.

Pogo snapped awake from his dream, rambling about a horde of mammoths. He rubbed his tired eyes, yawning as he stood up. He was a young cave kid, but he had just come of age, so he was considered a man now. Remembering this, he became excited, leaping and cheering around his room. Rushing to get dressed, he placed a stone ring around his wild unkempt green hair, with similar rings around his ankles. Finally, to complete the wild look, he wore leopard fur, fashioned into a sort of toga, and picked up a big stick that he had found yesterday.

He was ready! The elder had called them yesterday, to finally come of age they had to hunt for the tribe. Ecstatically, Pogo nearly rushed out the room before he remembered something. he wasn't the only one coming of age today.

The boy snapped back to his bed, where lying was an absolute beast. Brown fur, humongous eyebrows, and big lips with a tiger loincloth.

Pogo's best and only friend, Gori the gorilla.

Pogo groaned, knowing that Gori would sleep all day if he could. He was such an animal…no prehistoric pun intended. Looming over the animal, Pogo screamed, they were eating all the meat! There would be none left for Gori! WAKE UP!

The gorilla immediately sprang up, looking around for the meat, before Pogo bonked him on the head with the big stick. He reminded Gori that, hey, the elder wanted to see them, and the last thing they wanted was to keep the Elder waiting. Gori cocked his head, still wondering about the meat. Pogo, frowned, then sighed. Yes, there would be meat. Happy?

Gori rushed out of the room, blazing by the caveman coming into their room to remind him to see the Elder.

Pogo's best friend, the rambunctious monkey. Or, ape.

Hurrying out of his room, Pogo began apologizing to the caveman, before going to follow Gori. He could hear the gorilla roaring and looking for meat, and the cavemen shouting. Pogo rushed into the main room, where they would eat and dance after hunts, and cringed as he saw cavemen strewn around the room groaning and Gori sniffing the ground for a delectable haunch of meat. The cavemen all turned to Pogo, who shyly squeaked out an apology and hustled Gori into the elder's chamber, promising him he would get meat.

The Elder sat on a tiger-skin rug, a white beard overgrowing on his face, his eyebrows as well. They were so long that they touched the floor, making it easy to clean up after himself. When Pogo and Gori entered, the Elder motioned them to come closer. They did as they were told, standing up straight to the leader of their tribe. The Elder stood up, telling them that now that the two of them had come of age(Yes, Gori too), they now were true members of the tribe, which meant they had to provide.

They were to go out and hunt, and bring back meat that would help the tribe, feed them, enrich them! Gori roared and beat his chest with excitement. Meat! Glorious meat! Though in contrast, Pogo, anxious and nervous, was shaking, wringing his hands. The elder didn't see, however, and told them to come out of the tribe's cave soon so they could begin. Gori eagerly followed the elder, hopping up and down while smiling, showing his fangs as he fantasized about the amazing meat they would find. Pogo stayed behind, his heart beating in his chest. He was a man now, a man! Not a kid, he had to do this. Then everyone would like him, respect him. He wouldn't be the runt anymore, he'd be a true man of the tribe.

Yeah, a man of the tribe without any chest hair.

Steeling himself, he marched out of the elder's chamber, ignoring the other cavemen as he went to exit the cave. He was a man, and he would provide. He confidently marched…until he tripped over a rock. Immediately, the tribe members began to laugh and point at him, making Pogo's heart shudder. He turned away from them all, absentmindedly picking up the rock that brought him humiliation for the umpteenth time and running out of the cave.

However, maybe he could use this rock for something…

Pogo came out of the cave, the blinding summer sun not helping against the Hunting Grounds. A vast plain that Pogo had known his whole life, but only today would he see to its purpose. In the middle of this glorious land were the vast remains of a great beast. Pogo was always fearful of it, glancing away from it. He just got bad memories whenever he looked at it...

The Elder motioned Pogo over, Gori waiting anxiously. Pogo's astute sense of smell was already picking up various creatures, from puppies, to Moa's, to…
Mammoths. Oh yes. Pogo was already drooling at the thought while the Elder was muttering something about using their gift wisely, but Pogo didn't listen. Immediately, he rushed out into the field, ignoring the Elder's furious cries. Plopping his nose to the ground, he caught the whiff of scent. Following the scent, he parted some ferns to find a puppy hiding in the grass before him. The animal growled at him, but Pogo had no fear for the smaller creature, leaping at it. Gori followed earnestly, hasty to get meat. In a minute, from furious cries and whines of a puppy, they had their first kill.

Pogo held up a hand, signaling to stop. He leaned his nose to the air, taking a big whiff. He smelled something…to the left! Two Synthetoceras burst from the underbrush, one male and the other female. The pair caught sight of the two and began to gallop away from the hunters.

The boys weren't giving up that easily.

Pogo jumped on the male, grabbing a hold of its horn and steering it all over the place. Meanwhile, Gori grabbed the female as it attempted to leap over him by the hoof, and bared its fangs at it. Immediately, the female began to freak out, struggling to get away before Gori reeled back and tossed it, directly at Pogo and the male. The caveboy jumped off the male, and the two prehistoric animals collided, dazed. Pogo and Gori pounced upon them, and in a short while with momentary attacks from the downed beasts, they both acquired more spectacular meat for the tribe.

Now it was Gori's turn to sniff out the next hunt, as he went searching by plugging his face to the ground. Pogo stayed behind, noticing some vines on a cliff face next to him. Taking them, he brought out his big stick and rock and set them on the ground. His cave kid mind began to churn and sputter, trying to remember what the tribe artisan told him about vines. Something about combining. Finally, he eventually figured it out, letting out a brilliant cheer. Taking the vine, he wrapped the rock around the stick, holding it up when he had finished.

He had made the world's first weapon.

It went downhill from there.

Suddenly, horrified yelling and what felt like an earthquake made him turn from his small project, and he nearly wet himself.

Gori was pounding dirt, running away as a giant beast chased him. A mammoth, just like the one from Pogo's dream. The caveboy froze in fear, the newly made weapon falling from his hands. Gori continued to yell, waving his hands as tears flew from his eyes, a blubbering mess as he was about to be crushed. Pogo slowly began to back up, terrified by this monster, until he saw Gori lock eyes with him.

Gori was his best friend. Sure he was lazy, dirty, and made more trouble than good, but the guy was still Pogo's friend.

With a fierce roar, Pogo reclaimed his rudimentary axe, leaping forward and bringing it down onto the mammoth's head. The beast let out a ferocious trumpet, blood coming down from its head as Pogo landed. All his bravery quickly disappeared as the mammoth raised a foot to squash the kid into paste. Pogo raised his hands over his head, crying out for help.

Until a disgusting matter quite similar to paste sailed from nowhere and splattered against its tusk. It started to smell thanks to the drowning sun and its heat. The Mammoth turned, looking at the person that dared to do that.

It was Gori, and he was already prepping another ripple of the sticky stinky substance to launch at the mammoth. As the mammoth set its sights on the old foe, Pogo attacked again, hurling the axe with all his might into the skull of the mammoth. The beast let out another mighty trumpet as the weapon became embedded into its skull, and unable to stand on its legs anymore, they gave way as the beast collapsed to the ground. Pogo and Gori regrouped, looking at the downed mammoth as they caught their breath. A smile began to form on Pogo's face as he looked to Gori. The gorilla was still thinking of the meat they were going to have, but he looked at Pogo. And seeing his buddy smile was enough to get him smiling. But he was more interested in the meat they were going to have. But right now, Pogo didn't care.
He was a man now. And that's all he cared about.

The fierce roars from Pogo's tribe were enormous as they feasted on the kills Pogo and Gori provided. Various slaps on the back, ruffling of hairs, and grunts of thanks were given to the two, and Pogo felt like all his past failures have been forgiven and forgotten. As Gori feasted on a rib, Pogo chomped delightfully on a mammoth leg. He was eating a genuine mammoth, that he himself had killed! He never felt this happy in his life.

But with all the celebration, the tribe didn't notice a figure sneaking into their cave. They didn't notice the figure sneaking into their storeroom. Even when it was time for bed, when they deposited the leftover meat into the storeroom, none of them noticed the figure hiding in the hay.

And when Pogo and Gori retired for bed, the caveboy having sweet dreams of another hunt, and the ape dreaming of more meat...

The both of them wouldn't know the adventure that was about to unfold before them.

Hey there all! The Silver Sableye, but just call me Silva, back at it again. If you watched the Nintendo Direct a few days ago, you'll see there was a segment for LIVEALIVE! And I can't tell you how excited I am. So, in honor of one of the greatest JRPGs coming to the west, I decided to make a Novelization of LIVEALIVE! Will I get it done by July?...Probably not. But if one person believes in me yada yada all that jazz. Just sit down, relax, and…live.