Candrila laid back against the solitary cushion on the bed and frowned up at her mother. In a meek voice, the sneasel mumbled, "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes?" replied Karan, looking down from her contemplation of the ceiling and over at her daughter.

"Why do we live here?"

Karan considered her daughter for a moment, her lips curling into a slight frown before she sighed and shrugged. "It seemed the best place to live after it all fell down."

"You mean Crag?"

"Yes." Karan paused and bit a claw for a moment, thinking, then continued, "The city used to be very tall. Taller than even the walls around it."

Candrila's eyes widened and her mouth dropped into a small 'o' before she said, her voice hushed, "What happened?"

"Already said. It fell."

"Yeah, but…how?"

Karan grimaced. "Misguided fools."

"What's-"

The weavile groaned and shook her head. "It's a long story. Easier from the start."

"Oh. Does that mean-"

"Hush. I'll explain." Karan looked her daughter in the eyes, tracing the edges of her irises. The same hue that Outrider's were. "You have your father's eyes. They were one of the first things I saw when I woke up in that forest."

The sneasel opened her mouth to ask a question, but Karan stopped her. "I come from somewhere else. I was killed there. Someone killed me." Karan stared hard at Candrila. "I deserved it. But, all of this," she explained, gesturing out the window nearest them, "Stone, Valor, Thea – everything I have and everything you see, this is all a second chance. I don't know why I was given it. I almost threw it away.

"Outrider took me to his village, Nomad. It was wonderful. It was taken from us two days later. Outrider, Valor, Stone, myself. The only survivors." Karan shook her head and let out a long, low exhale. "We went to Crag because Stone suggested it." At this, the weavile smirked. "Don't remind her.

"Started a life there. Tried to. Met Thea. Was a braixen then."

Candrila smiled. "Really?"

"Yes. Valor was a chespin."

The sneasel laughed. "Wait, really?"

Karan's expression became serious. "He used to have two quills on his head." The sneasel's laughter stopped. "He lost one while we were out doing cartography work with Thea. He was stolen from us, taken to a terrible place. Mother Superior's camp." The weavile shifted, uncomfortable at the memories rising in her head. She spent almost no time in Mother's camp and was all the more grateful for it.

"Did someone take it…?" asked Candrila in a tiny voice.

"He gave it up." Karan looked away. "We found him when he was already a quilladin. The leader of the camp was dead, and we went back to Crag."

"Wait, he… he was a – how? How long was he gone?" asked Candrila, her eyes wide.

"Days."

There was a long pause and finally Candrila said simply, "Oh."

"Was a shock, yes. Anyway, we made it back to Crag. Stone found out she was a human while she was out doing her own work."

"Mmm, Auntie told me once. Said I should hear it from her instead of someone who'll lie about the sun shining out of her ass." The sneasel, clapped a paw to her mouth and added in a quiet voice, "Sorry."

"Her words, not yours; don't repeat them," said Karan, though she had trouble hiding her smirk. "But yes. She found the ore that made these." Karan gestured to the pauldrons she wore and the chain gauntlets on her arms. "Made Valor and Stone's items too."

Karan's tone became serious once more. "Most of Mother's soldiers were gone when the uprising happened in her camp. They were going to Crag so they could pretend to attack it."

"Why?"

"A druddigon named Octavian wanted power. Killed most of the rulers of Crag." Karan glanced down at her claws. "Civil war broke out. Helped fight. Lost a bit of my mind. Learned about my past. Things I had done." Karan shook her head. "Maybe when you're older. Too young now."

"Aw…"

"I was evil."

Candrila's eyes went wide, shining in the dim light of the room. "Oh."

"The fighting killed a lot of Mother's forces. Octavian's mercenaries lost too many pokemon and gave up. Left the city. We suffered too." Karan's gaze shifted past Candrila and stared out into the dark night behind her. "I fell in love with your father. That same night, desperate stragglers from Mother's forces killed themselves. Destroyed a major support pillar in Crag.

A huge piece of the city fell. Killed…" Karan sighed and shook her head. "Who knows. Too many." She focused on Candrila again and added, "Your father and I killed Octavian on top of the rubble."

Karan's face broke into a miserable smile. "Fitting. Within a day, Crag had a new ruler. Outrider. Your father. He thought it might have helped him. Made him remember what he'd forgotten."

"He'd forgotten stuff?"

"Just like Stone. Just like me. Stone was human. I… was broken. Remembering was my mind coming together again. But Outrider…

"Outrider was never human."

Candrila's eyes shifted down to her claws and stared long at them. "What does that mean?"

"We did a lot for nothing." Karan pulled her daughter into an embrace and then kissed the jewel on her forehead. "Go to sleep. Rest of the story tomorrow night."

"But I'm not sleepy…"

"Candrila."

"Okay, okay…"

"I love you."

Candrila offered her mother a small smile. "You too."