After what felt like hours of walking, they come upon another artificial dirt wall - with a single shoulder ram, Anguirus breaks it down to reveal the Mainland. Godzilla takes a deep breath, savoring the fresh air.

As the other two titans funnel past his broad shoulders, he takes in the endless fields of flat green grass and occasional mountain peaks- some piercing the heavens with their sheer size. In the distance, Godzilla can see a verdant green forest: and the clear river lazily winding past it. The flora and fauna were all unfamiliar to the Starback – clearly much had changed in the time his pack had left.

"The Sun! Blessed is my day under your watchful gaze!"

"We've been underground for an hour."

The Lightbringer ignores his barbs and takes off, spreading her wings and flying lazy circles around the other two titans.

As the titan smells the air, he notes the unpleasant miasma of countless smaller life forms clogging his gills and nostrils. Despite his attempts, they had indeed traveled far inland: the way back to the ocean blocked by a gargantuan wall of mountains. Godzilla's back sparks with worry, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

"Where are we even going?"

He turns to Mothra, the Lightbringer stretching her vibrant wings seemingly without worry. Then again, with her power – there was very little that could threaten the heir.

"We are where we are needed."

"Yeah no." The Starback grunts, his patience for Mothra's vague descriptions running thin. "Le't not do that.

That left the other one.

"Oaf. Where to?"

"First of all, ouch." Anguirus' spiked tail swings, kicking up a breeze. He stretches, flexing his legs. "I thought we were finally becoming friends, Tubs."

"Second thing, I do know a place where we can go. There's a huge watering hole near here, I've heard that a bunch of other titan clans also use it. Maybe, if we're lucky, some of those ancient geezers from my herd might be there."

"Anguirus!" Mothra chirps. "That is no way to address your elders."

"What? Geezers?"

The other two titans share a bemused glance, before Anguirus breaks out into a howling laughter. His tail swings around without abandon, scales rattling as he rolls onto his back while clutching at his underbelly.

"Really? 'Geezers' is where you draw the line? You're the closest thing to a God in these lands and you can't swear?"

"I-it's a rude slang that I do not condone!"

"What if I say like -"

Mothra gives him the deadliest glare imaginable coming from someone so small and short: but like attacks, that seems to roll off Anguirus' ineffable charisma like water on a rock.

"Fuck."

Godzilla tries and fails to repress a chuckle, especially after Mothra turns a flustered shade of magenta. The Lightbringer looked positively livid, and also embarrassed when her stream of consciousness began trickling through her figuratively gritted teeth.

"S-such- foul language." She chirps overdramatically. "How unfounded!"

Anguirus snorts. "Unfounded? You cuss like my ancestors."

"Cuss? I would never-"

"Mothra." Godzilla interrupts. "Relax. We're not hatchlings."

The insect Goddess tries to conjure another argument, but falters. Anguirus lets out one last chortle, before rolling back to his feet.

"Oh alright, last time, I promise."

"Hmph."

Mothra pointedly refuses to look down, taking her perch on top of his shoulders.

"Alright, that was fun and all-" The Starback stands. "But let's get going."

They were making progress. Good progress at that.

Godzilla was more expecting a horde of enemies to appear to challenge them, but the Starback was left pleasantly surprised at the fact that none seemed to appear.

"Woo-yeah!" Anguirus laughs. "Feels great to be back home!"

Mothra pipes up, forgetting that she was supposed to be angry at him. "Home?"

"My herd used to roam around here, you know?" The Armorhide's tail flicks towards the row of large mountains that they were moving towards, where this 'watering hole' was, with its three peaks extending far up into the cloudy horizon. "That's Claw Mountain."

"We don't call it that."

"We?"

"Starbacks." Godzilla grunts. "My pack just called it the Ridge."

The Starback eyes the three peaks, remembering his siblings. Along with their father and alpha, Dagon, they were the few titans that Godzilla remembered from his youth. A youth spent running and fighting.

"What do you think Tubs?"

The Starback blinks, noticing both of his traveling companions eyeing him for an answer.

"Of?"

Anguirus rolls his eyes, while Mothra took a kinder approach

"Well Gojira, Anguirus was just explaining his experiences and memories of being a part of a herd here."

"Cool."

"..."

"Yeah, I'm going to go take a drink." Anguirus' tail slaps his rocky leg as the titan passes, Godzilla coming to a stop nearby. "Try to not wander off."

As their guide diverts from their path, Mothra scrambles off his head: the royal finding a perch on a large rock. Already, moss grows - covering the places where her fluffy body touches the cold stone.

"He is trying, you know? It would be appreciated if you reciprocated"

Godzilla inhales sharply, resisting the urge to smack the goddess for stating the obvious.

"I know."

"I understand that you two were enemies, and of differing tribes as well, but in the face of the threat of the Red Devils-"

"Look. Mothra." The Starback sighs. "It's not about the Red Devils or tribe or island."

"I'm a loner."

Godzilla huffs, a puff of blue smoke trailing from his gills. He notices Anguirus submerging in a river, dislodging bits of shattered scale from their encounter with the Red Devils. Armorhides were nearly impenetrable to all forms of physical damage - meaning that these demons had yet another advantage over them.

"I don't need or want anyone else."

"But then if that is truly the case," Mothra counters. "Then why have you traveled with us so far?"

The vagabond considers being honest, but decides against it.

Unfortunately, Mothra can read minds. Her tone shifts, becoming softer and reassuring.

"You're afraid."

"What did I say about reading minds?"

Immediately, the princess looked down at her forelimbs; wings colored lavender with guilt. But for all her telepathic gifts, the Lightbringer could be irritatingly naive.

"I apologize. I just wanted to be of assistance."

"You can help by respecting my privacy."

Godzilla almost regretted lashing out, harsh glare softening ever so slightly. His larger body leans forward, so that he and the smaller Mothra could be on more of an eye level.

"Forget it."

"..."

"You remind me of my sister."

"Sister?"

"Her name was Ririn." Godzilla rocks his broad shoulders, some dead scales falling off his rock-like exterior. "She talked like you, all sappy and stuff. Had a brother too, and honestly would have killed him if it wasn't for Riri."

Mothra seemed to get what he was doing, color gradually returning to her wings. They moved like giant sails, shifting with color to match the sky and trees behind them.

"Was he cruel?"

"Not exactly."

"Isshin was the youngest one among us, so he was the most spoiled." Godzilla grits his teeth. "He was not weak, but he always wanted to prove to Dagon that he was good enough. I respect his drive, but Isshin was still a pompous little-"

The Lightbringer taps one claw, and the Starback catches the swear before it leaves his tongue.

"-brat."

"Thank you."

"Battora and I are twins." The Lightbringers crossed her many legs, letting her wings fold backward. Godzilla noticed just how weird it was not having her on his back after all the walking they did. "Though, thank the Earth Mother, I daresay I got the better deal in regards to appearances that is. No offense, but black does not suit me."

Godzilla managed a small chuckle at her attempt at humor.

"Battora always wanted to go out and fight, and I- I was just nervous about all of it." Mothra chuckled dryly. "Especially as I was chosen to be the heir to the throne in his place. We were both royals, and yet he treated me as a sister still."

"Battora always had my back." She sighed wistfully. "So, I shall always have his."

"…"

Silence, one broken instantly by a familiar cackle.

"Did yall miss me?" Anguirus rolls in, unfurling onto all fours. "I know you did."

"You seem happy."

"What? Am I not allowed to be a little excited to come home?"

As the titans return to their trek, Godzilla feels a cold shiver running down his spine. He looks to the horizon, noticing a strange red tint in the skies on their right side. The Starback lets out a low growl, before following the other two with a bit more urgency.

By the time night fell, Anguirus claimed they were at the halfway mark already. If they pushed onward, the titans would probably make it to the nesting site by dawn.

Walking along a long stretch of beach, Anguirus and Godzilla were forced to trail behind the much faster Mothra thanks to their lack of wings. While Anguirus could have rolled ahead, he claimed that doing so would lead to nothing but vomit and nausea. They were originally going to swim, but Godzilla couldn't go back into the water just yet.

Not when he could still sense the distant buzz of the Red Rain.

"You sure the nesting site is here?"

"Huh?"

"Your kind don't look aquatic, and you certainly can't swim for shit."

Anguirus snorts impudently. "I'll ignore that insult, just this once."

"Point is- why here? So close to the coast?"

"Hell if I know." Anguirus shrugs, rolling his shoulders as he turns to the comforting blue depths that were the ocean. "I don't exactly make the choices back home."

"Like I said earlier -" He sneaks a glare at the Starback. "We had a Matriarch, my grandma by the way, and she made all the choices for the herd."

The Starback snorts. "Sounds suffocating."

"Not really. She was a smart leader, and a fair one too. Shame I had to leave, coming of age and all that, would've liked to stay a bit longer."

He didn't understand why Anguirus would ever want to remain as someone's sidekick: but he supposes that all titans, including Armorhides, had their own ways of life.

"Do you Starbacks have someone like that?"

"We had pods, but it is better to operate alone."

Dagon was many things - but a leader was something he was not. In his age, he had become paranoid and afraid. When the Graverobbers first began to hunt their kind, Dagon was quick to push their pack into the oceans - fleeing instead of fighting. A disgrace to the Starbacks, that's what he was.

"Well, you seem pissed, was your old Alpha an asshole?"

"He had a favorite."

"Clearly, though I doubt it was you Tubs."

Godzilla rolls his eyes and returns to plodding along, eyeing the streak of white that within the night sky. He remembers the more pleasant parts of his old pack, and how at night all of their backs would shine and spark in intricate patterns. He had not spoken in the tongue of the Starbacks in so long, seeing as he had spent years wandering alone. It fills his heart with a bit of melancholy.

"Dude. You're glowing."

"I am?"

Godzilla notices his gills and spines flickering with atomic fire, reciting words that no one else in their trio could understand. With an exhale, the light show ends - plunging them both into starlight.

"You know," Anguirus starts. "I know we just met- but I'd never let you die."

"What?"

"Well, we have a score to settle Tubs. It would be a shame if you croaked before I could win that island fair and square."

"You're still thinking about that damn rock?" Godzilla snorts. "Fuck, I'll let you have it. Just leave me alone after we're done with this Red Devil business."

The Armorhide has the audacity to flash a toothy grin. "And where would the fun in that be?"

"Companions!" Despite the titan being nothing but a dot in the sky, circling above a spot further along the coast, Mothra's thoughts were loud and clear. Had she heard him and Anguirus?

"It is indeed an injured titan! He requires our assistance!"