Here's chapter two. I don't think I said this at the top, but keep in mind, y'all, that I'm writing 50,000 words of this in 28 days, so I apologize if it isn't super polished. I'll prob go back at some point and polish it. Just posting so y'all can see what I'm up to. Enjoy ^^

"How did you find this?" a little girl asked. Despite the fact that we all had white hair and clear eyes, you could clearly tell the difference between us. They were different sizes, had different bone structures, different faces. Usually citizens didn't take so long that they had to differentiate themselves. Most of the adults couldn't tell the difference between these kids.

It was important that they were able to feel like they were still a person. I hoped I was able to do that for them.

"I was trying to see if I could swim upstream on the Cascades. It was pretty difficult, but I managed to get myself in here." I said. It had happened about a week back. I was pretty proud of myself, honestly. The fact that I hadn't heard of this cave before meant I might be the first person to discover it. Something like that… something I could claim as mine, something that I did on my own… that was a major point of pride.

"You're lying." Another boy said, he was a little older, 12, just about.

"Then how do you think I did it?" I asked.

"It's obviously on a royal map." The boy retorted. I hesitated. I… um… I couldn't actually contradict him on that one. I hadn't actually checked any royal maps. Well, I could tell him that I hadn't personally used a map, but I couldn't say it didn't exist on a map.

"It might be, but I didn't use one. I can't prove that, of course, but you believe me, yeah?" I asked.

"Not really." The kid replied. He was just grumpy because the other kid got a Pidgey. I couldn't blame him. His parents didn't pay a whole lot of attention to him.

"Well, we're off. If you have that little faith in me, you can always turn back." I jested. The kids laughed a little. The boy was in a silent little mopey mode, but he didn't leave, either. I knew things were going to get better for him. He just needed to have a little patience and faith, was all.

Then again, who was I to talk about patience and faith? Well, that's why we were brought together, yeah? We understood each other, the lot of us, more or less, anyways.

"Onward, to victory, to the outside world!" I cried, and I was amazed to find just how far my voice echoed. Nobody on the outside of the waterfall, if there was even anyone there, should have been able to hear me, but the Pokemon inside the cave sure could. Bat Pokemon made a fluttering of wings in the distance. My cry, it seemed, wasn't enough to sic them on us… but they definitely knew we were there. Just how long did this cave go?

The truth was, I had no idea if this cave would lead out of the kingdom. I'd tried many caves like this, before, and none of them ever led out. They just ended up being another branch of the catacombs, the caves beneath the kingdom. You weren't supposed to go in there. Not that it was forbidden or anything, it was just, without a map of some sort, you were very likely to get lost. When I was little, I had to get rescued from my adventures quite often. Most of the time, one of my sisters would do it, and I could get them not to tell anyone if I did some stuff for them. Once, though, it was a guard that found me… and he told mom and dad and Archibald. He made me write over and over again that I was not to go into the catacombs without permission. I, of course, just started taking maps with me, and taking shorter trips, so I just didn't need rescue anymore. This cave, though, was one I had never seen before. Even if there was a royal map- Well, actually, no, who cared if there was a map of this cave. We were going to mark the walls, and it would be fine.

There just… there had to be a way out of here. I loved my kingdom, make no mistake about that… I just… From inside the Kingdom, you could smell the salty sea air from the ocean outside, and I wanted to feel it, I wanted to taste it. I wanted to make it a part of me, and my experience. And I wanted these kids, who had nothing for themselves, to have an experience that was wholly unique to us. It would be a part of who we were… our identity, something we shared. Nobody could take that away.

There had to be a way out, there just had to be. Somehow, we got into this crater, and if there was a way in, surely there was a way out.

We walked a little ways in, the cave was rather cramped, and you had to crawl around a bit and support squeeze through some rocks in order to get around, but that was nothing new. We got to the point where the light from the outside was no longer good enough to see with. I look a small device out of my pocket and tossed it gently. It floated next to me, glowing. The kids saw me and followed suit. When it was night and we wanted to get around, if anyone needed to get around for any reason, we would use these. Most people had them, but didn't really need them. Most people just… you know …slept at night, like a normal person would. I found a better use for them, exploring.

The cave seemed to be going steadily upwards. I was proud of these kids, they were really getting some good muscle development in, here. A lot of kids this age couldn't quite do this amount of climbing yet, especially with the new teleportation system in place. It was almost like they didn't have to learn how to climb everywhere, which was a shame. There were so many kids who wouldn't learn, and it was so fun, and their arms wouldn't be as strong. It was a shame.

Suddenly, the cave opened up into a cavern, a big one, too. Big enough that none of our lights could reach the far wall. I didn't have a super good sense of time, so I wasn't exactly sure how long we had been climbing. Besides, there wasn't really a way to tell in here, there was no sun. That's what dad had to invent next, a way to tell time without the use of the sun. I couldn't actually bring that up to him, though, because then he would as why I wanted such a device, and I would have no feasible explanation other than I want to tell time while exploring caves. And he did not exactly approve of my hobby.

That wasn't about to stop me, though. Nothing was about to stop me. The kids spread out.

"Why are we stopping here?" one of the kids asked.

"Sometimes you gotta appreciate things, you know?" I replied. And man, were there some things to appreciate in here. We couldn't see the far walls, but there were sparkling crystals on the wall. At least these crystals didn't give up on you, they couldn't, they weren't conscious, at least in the conventional sense. All nature, all things, had an energy to them. Could that, in a way, be called consciousness? I honestly didn't know.

I inhaled deeply, and exhaled. I smelled… salt… concentrated salt. We were close. We were close to the ocean. I knew there was a world out there that was worth seeing. And if nobody would go out and see it with me, I would go with these kids, and if the kids didn't want to go either, I would go by myself. I would be a… I didn't know the word for it… advocate? Representative. That was it, I would go as a representative of Waterfall Kingdom. I could be anyone I wanted to be.

"You smell that?" I asked.

"Salt." The older boy from before said. "We're close." I nodded in response, a grin on my face. "Or… there's a salt deposit nearby." He frowned.

"Pessimist." I accused.

"Delusional." He retorted.

I liked this kid. The rest were not nearly as talkative or assertive. I sometimes got the feeling they were following just because I was a princess and invited them along. Still, these kind of experiences were important, regardless of how they got to this experience. The rest of them mostly bought into the idea that we were supposed to be clean slates. That… I mean, that worked if you were really little, but when you get to a certain age…you need an identity or you start to get… stifled. I knew because that was what I felt… until I realized that wasn't healthy.

We kept climbing upwards, upwards and outwards. And then…I saw a light. At first, it was just a small pinprick, but as we kept climbing, getting closer, the light got bigger and brighter. Oh wow… was this it? Was this… the thing that I had been searching for? They way out?

I lead the way, and pulled myself up… and then I saw it. The sky was the same, the same azure sky… but the sea… an endless churning blue-green miracle. It was so beautiful… the smell, the noise… the roar of the water lapping against the rock of our kingdom far below. I could go out there… I could just… leave, by myself, or with the kids. I didn't have to go back. I could just… go.

And then I heard a scream coming from behind me and quickly getting further away. That certainly… snapped me out of my rapture. I knew the voice, it was the older boy. I turned around as fast as I could just in time to see him fall out of range of the lights. There were several thuds, and the sound of him moaning when he reached some sort of flat surface.

"NO!" I reached for him but I was already way too late by the time I realized what was happening. "We have to go back…" I said. "Get back down, everyone… we have to get him back, and get him to a healer." The kids were in a terrified silence. I had been the adult of the situation and… a kid got hurt or… worse. No, not worse, even now, I could hear him moaning. He was alive, he would get healed and fight with me another day. Adventure could be dangerous, but you weren't supposed to fall. What even happened?

We carefully climbed back down and grabbed him. He had several broken bones and some cuts, but nothing that was that big a deal. He would be up and about in no time. But, for now, he was in a lot of pain. The rest of the trip went by weirdly. It was almost like I was… disengaged. My heart and mind weren't in it, just a vague consciousness. We brought him back to the Kingdom and to a healer. I sent the children home. They could tell about what had happened or not, it was completely up to them. It didn't matter. The healer we needed was in the castle, which meant everyone would know.

I was grounded, to be confined to the castle and do extra chores. The kid tried to defend me, saying it wasn't my fault and he just slipped and I was being really careful with everyone. Archibald would hear none of it. I would not be able to go cave exploring any more.

The kid was heled and sent home. I apologized many times, but he wouldn't accept it because he said it wasn't my fault. I begged to differ.

"It's time for your lessons." Archibald said, and I perked up a bit. My lessons with Lilly… I liked her. She understood me… she never gave up on me. She was just what I needed at a time like this.

If you enjoyed it, reviews are appreciated, I love hearing from you. And as always, have an awesome day!