Stay here.

I instantly try and carve a pit in the sand, and drag Vie in as well so that we're half-buried.

"What is wrong with yooouuuuu…" Her last word stretches as she spots the large group of Salamence. "What in the world is that?"

I don't know what to do. I know the image of Salamence from pictures I have seen, but to see them live and moving… I'm scared.

They're going to attack the Shallows.

"What're they here for?" She doesn't seem scared. She seems angry. "Why do they always bother us?"

"Get back here!" I yell at her as she tries and crawl out. "What if they see you?"

"I don't care! What's their problem? We just try to just… just live, and they come and…"

Where do these thoughts come from? Her family?

"Vie, we can't do anything. Remember what I said? The adults are better than us at many things, including defending the Shallows!"

"Then what should we do?" she says in an almost sarcastic tone.

Distant shouts of alarm fill the air before I get to speak.

"No!" She shouts, and fidgets to get out.

"Stop it! That may have seemed like a lot of Salamence but remember, there are a lot more Flygon living here. We have everyone." I need to keep her away from the Salamence. She is too hot-headed and will get herself into danger. "Just dig and bury yourself in the sand."

She gives something like a defeated sigh and does what I tell her to.

Now that Vie's safe, I glance back at the Shallows. I can't see much, and as far as I can tell, it doesn't seem to be violent. …I can't tell much, anyway.

A while passes with me looking out from the surface. The initial noise ceases and the silence that replaces it is haunting. Until I hear a thud behind us. I panic for a moment, but then I smell the scent of the dragon, and it isn't foreign; actually, it's surprisingly familiar, and makes me feel safe.

I twist my head around with difficulty, my lower body still encased in the sand. "Mum?"

"Oh thank goodness you're alright," she says as she lowers her head down to me. "Are you alone?"

"No, Vie's with me. I told her to dig deeper because she was getting really distressed. How did you find us here? What's going on?"

"I saw Salamence heading over, so I came back to check. Just stay here and look out for Vie; I'll go see what's happening."

"But it's dangerous…"

"I'll be fine, dear. But make sure you stay here."

I want to argue back but she has already taken off. I really hope that everything is fine. I dig downward slightly to check Vie is still here, but I keep myself on the surface in case Mum comes back to find me. Now that I know that Mum is fine, I don't feel that tense anymore. But Vie…

A while passes before I spot a bunch of Salamence flying back in the direction they came from – south, I think. They gradually fly over the rocks and become smaller until they disappear off the horizon, presumably heading towards those looming mountains in the far distance.

And then I spot my mother flying towards us. I climb out properly to greet her.

"Mum? Is everything all right?" I ask as she lands. But as soon I see her face up close, I know instantly that something is wrong. "Mum…?"

"Get Vie," she says in a grave tone.

I obey her and dig back into the sand. "Vie? Come out," I call through the sand.

The sand shuffles as she surfaces with me. "It's over, right? Oh, your mum's here."

"Vie… come with me." She extends her arms to Vie.

"What?" I feel left out. "What about me?"

"Nova, crawl back to our cave by yourself. Vie, we don't have much time."

Vie speaks slowly. "My family… Are they… all right?"

My mother doesn't answer and instead, in a sudden motion, picks Vie up and takes off swiftly, leaving me behind alone. "Wait, Mum!" I shout, but she gives no indication of hearing me.

Crawl back to my cave? No, of course not. Something definitely happened to Vie's family. I should go to her place.

The slow journey towards the Shallows does nothing to ease the tension, especially when I'm alone. Hypothetical scenarios keep flooding into my mind, that of Salamence slashing Flygon – and I have no one to keep my mind off it.

As I get closer to Vie's cave, I spot my mother leaning on the rock and looking at the ground absentmindedly. She doesn't even notice me until I'm right under her.

"Nova!" she exclaims, surprised. "I told you to go home!"

"But I was worried. Is Vie okay?"

She shakes her head. "Her family was stubborn… her father and two of her brothers got killed. Her mother is heavily injured, and it's not looking good…"

Though I had suspected something like this in my mind, hearing the actual news still shocks me. Did they really just die? Are lives that easy to end? What if it happened to Mum? What would I do?

"Why… what happened?" I ask further.

"The Salamence. They fought with Vie's family, and…" She glances back into the cave. "No one knows what they want. Everyone says that they wanted to enter caves… like they were searching for something. The ones that let the Salamence through were left without injury… but Vie's father was too insistent on defending."

"But… why would they kill Vie's family for that? It makes no sense!"

Mum sighs. "Some in the world are like that. We cannot ask why, but simply accept and deal with it." She looks at me with a forlorn gaze. "So, we need to take more precautions. Living here is not safe. Nova… we're moving to Lyrl."

"What? Move to Lyrl? But-"

"You don't want this to happen again, do you? The risk is too high if we stay out here. The Flygon in Lyrl have figured out human technology pretty decently, and on top of that there are far more Flygon there. We'll be completely safe."

This morning, I would have never guessed that this would happen. How can things change so quickly? I've lived here my whole life. It seems so unfair…

"There's no point waiting here. Let's head back to our cave and pack. We'll leave in the evening. Climb onto me, now."

We arrive back at our cave shortly, but nothing feels the same. As I absentmindedly fiddle with my bag of toys, I realize further about the implications of the move. "What about Vie? And everyone else?"

"I suppose they'll be moving to Lyrl, too. Actually, I think we'll bring Vie with us on the trip, because both of her brothers are Vibrava. They are quite vulnerable out in the wild and have to fly quickly."

"But doesn't mean you can't carry me?"

"I couldn't carry you with all this stuff, anyway." She says as she moves around a box of stuff that she keeps. I'm not even tall enough to see what's in it.

"Wait, why is Vie coming with us? What about her mum?"

"Oh, that." She sighs deeply. "Her injury was… very severe. I don't think Vie's mother will make it. …"

That evening, I struggle to take down the food that Mum hands me. I didn't even see any blood, but to enjoy food when I know someone has just died, or is dying… it just feels wrong.

So I just stare at the objects of my small bag. There's the black stone. There's a little book I've read. There's that cube – it's called a void cube, I think – which I used to play with a lot. They say that I will be able to manipulate and solve it as a puzzle when I evolve.

"Can't eat?" Mum asks.

I shake my head.

"I understand. Maybe your appetite will be better tomorrow." She takes the untouched piece of meat away, along with my sack. "We should go now."

As we exit the cave, I turn around and carefully look at each detail of this cave. Where the stone is sharp, and where it is smooth. There is a piece of rock over there, and it has been there all my life. Now I have to leave it.

But at least I'm still alive.

Mum walks me to Vie's home at a slow pace. Near the entrance, I spot an inanimate Vibrava lying on the sand with his eyes unfocused. The light skin shows definite relation with Vie.

"Bane? How is Sky?" Mum asks, clearly talking about Vie's mum.

He shakes his head, but otherwise remains still.

"I'm sorry," she responds immediately. "…Is Vie here?"

"She's inside," he says softly. "If you're leaving for Lyrl now, please do take her."

"Let me see her first," I ask my mother.

"Go ahead," she responds.

I hear Mum trying to discuss what Bane should do, as he is the eldest of the family now. The conversation fades to unintelligible noise as I walk deeper into the cave.

I need to find her. "Vie! Are you there, Vie?"

I can't really see where I'm going, because of the sheer size of the cave not allowing light very far in. So I bump into something, and try to find away around it until I walk into it two more times and realize its fleshy. Letting my eyes adjust to the darkness, I suddenly realize it is the dead body of a Salamence.

Though morbid, I force myself to examine it further. I have never a Salamence up close before. There a large cut to its neck, which seemed to be the fatal wound. The eyes are still open, not full of violence as I imagined, but emptiness. They are living things that die, just like us Flygon and our prey.

"That's the one that killed dad. Mum tried to avenge him, but…"

I turn around. This is the Vibrava that greeted me cheerfully this afternoon. "You called for Vie? She's here." He signals with his head towards another tunnel inside the cave. "I think you'll do better at calming her down."

Not sure what to say, I just nod and crawl in the direction of the tunnel, and hear a faint thud sound, which turns out to be Vie bashing her head on the wall. I would stop her, but I am distracted by another body lying on the ground, this time a Flygon. Her pose is actually quite peaceful with her paws together at her chest, almost covering the wound. I could almost pretend that she was asleep, if not for the blood. This must be Vie's mother.

My attention goes back to the Trapinch, who is still alive. But not if she keeps doing that. "Vie, stop it."

"Answer me!" I say to her, speaking and louder and louder. "Bashing your head on the wall won't help."

She stops, and not even turning around, whispers, "It does. It really does." Before I can answer, she turns to look at me, and I see the tear trails down her face. "It makes me forget."

Seeing her this distressed makes my heart ache. "Don't say that, Vie. Isn't remembering them more important now that they're gone?"

"But… they're dead, gone forever! I'll never, ever be able to talk to them! Never…" She heaves and steps back. "All because of those Salamence. Coming to our homes and… I'll kill them all!" she yells into the air, clearly not in control of her words or emotions.

I can't let her stay like this. "Vie! Please, calm down. We're just Trapinch. Your parents would have wanted you to stay alive, wouldn't they?" I try and nuzzle her to comfort her.

If anything, it makes her stop her erratic movements. "We're just Trapinch now, but I swear I will grow up and kill them all! Those Salamence, those evil, evil Salamence-"

"We can't kill them, Vie," I say. "Not all of them. They're too strong; the other Flygon couldn't stand up to them. Let's just… try and stay safe, okay?"

"I'll practice fighting," she hisses. "I'll become stronger, stronger than even those Salamence. And then I'll-"

"Vie! Stop it. I know it must be hard, but we can't do anything now. Maybe when we evolve. …Let's go."

"Go…? What do you mean?" Her tone suddenly changes to one of confusion. "What are we doing?"

"You don't want anything like this happening again, do you? So we're travelling to Lyrl. It's a lot safer there."

"…I see. And I'm just going to leave my parents' corpses to rot in here, huh?" she says in a brittle voice.

I don't know how to respond to that, and instead just lead her out. Despite her words, she is compliant and follows me.

"Mum?" I call as I approach the exit. "Vie's with me."

"Vie?" I see my mother's figure. "I'm sorry about what happened. I think you'd appreciate it if you came with us on the journey to Lyrl, rather than with the others."

"…Yes," Vie replies blankly.

"The others?" I ask. "What do you mean?"

"Some Trapinch… they don't have anyone to leave with. So Silex is bringing them together as a group. Hale is with them."

"Wait, what? Why is it Silex? And what happened to Hale?"

"He's in the same situation as Vie," Mum answers, "but I didn't want to bother him. He fits in with the other Trapinch."

"…Okay, but why is Silex bringing them? She's our teacher!"

"She's the type of person that takes care of lost children. Anyway, we should get going. We can cover a good distance before nightfall."

I didn't know that about Silex. It contrasted with my impression of her that she was some sort of knowledgeable and wise elder – not to say that meant she couldn't be caring, but I never thought of her that way.

As we trail behind Mum rather slowly, there are Flygon constantly passing overhead, undoubtedly heading towards Lyrl as well. They must not keep as many personal possessions and be able to traverse the distance much more quickly with their wings. As the sky darkens, there are still occasionally some that pass. I wonder just how many Flygon lives the Salamence upset. But what are we anyway, compared to the Legendary ones. As expendable as our prey? That doesn't look too bright…

Both Mum and Vie aren't very talkative, and in a time like this I don't actively try to start a conversation. So we just trudge on in silence. Falling asleep under the stars is much easier than I thought it would be, with the aid of a warm fire that Mum starts using some of her wood and other tools. When we wake up, Mum has already prepared some prey for us. Vie seems to be faring a bit better and we occasionally share a conversation or two.

I find it difficult to fall sleep on the second night, because by now I'm quite restless. We're in an area of the desert where there is just nothing but plain sand stretching on and on.

So when I hear a strange crunching noise sometime later, I'm prompted to investigate it. Climbing away from the two sleeping figures, I step toward the lit fire. The Sandshrew that Mum got is missing, and there's a distinct trail that indicates it was dragged somewhere… I can't see far in the night, so I walk along it. The sounds gradually get louder, and the trail leads to behind a small rock, where there seems to be another source of light.

I'm anxious to see who's been taking our food. I'm not particularly upset, as it has not directly confronted us. But why would it take our food?

I approach silently from the side and it appears that my worries aren't really needed. I see a small orange lizard, with a round head and a tail that ends in a small flame, nibbling on a small piece of meat.

Judging by the scent, the lizard is female and very young. What is she doing here without a parent?

"Who are you?" I ask quietly, and upon hearing me, she turns around.

Her large eyes emanate a childlike innocence, even though her maw is a bit bloody. I'm about to ask her why she's here when she gives a loud yelp and tries to scuttle away.