Not much to say...Oh! GV (the original) hit 500 favs...for a day lol. Now we're back down again. *crying face* I'll probably do a rewrite one day, but writing is hard! And editing is harder!

Thanks for the reviews, favs, and follows!

Anyways, enjoy!

The Canyon

…

Amara and Whyley made it back to the hut. Just outside were the others. Ilene was holding onto Jia who looked like she wanted to run after Kong. Beside them was Nathan, who had one arm wrapped around a carved walking stick and the other shading his eyes as he looked out into the trees. Ren shook his head and went back inside.

"Kong left," Ilene said as soon as she caught sight of them.

"Yeah, we saw," Whyley replied shortly.

Amara cut in before Ilene could acknowledge his tone and bring up their previous argument. "It looked like the Iwi were all headed to the temple."

"Probably deciding what to do now. Kong leaving might mean that Hollow Earth Godzilla is coming." She looked down at Jia who still stared off into the forest. Getting down on a knee, she got her attention and signed. "Let's pack our stuff."

Amara went to follow them inside but was stopped by Nathan.

"Ilene told me what you two did." His voice was low as he glared between them. "Did you put Jia up to this? Did you get her to send him away?"

"We haven't seen her since Ilene found us," Whyley said.

Ilene poked her head out from the door. "Nathan, it wasn't them. Jia had nothing to do with this. He left on his own."

Despite defending them, she sounded far from friendly.

Amara and Whyley exchanged glances and followed Nathan into the hut. Sure enough, Ren was almost done packing, tying up the straps of his sleeping bag.

Jia sat on the ground, playing with the zipper of her backpack, her eyes looking somewhere far away.

Amara picked up her bag of toiletries and pulled out her toothbrush and a toothpaste tablet. Grabbing a water bottle, she went back outside.

No one was around. No rustle of baskets, no shuffling of feet. Without people, the village looked no different than the abandoned temple they'd explored.

Why hadn't she thought of this? The whole point of sending Kong away was so they could stay and the Iwi would be safe. But Kong's departure stirred them into action. Some meeting was happening because the Iwi probably had the same idea as Ilene. That Hollow Godzilla was coming to the village and they had to evacuate.

She closed her eyes and paused brushing her teeth. The compass toward Hollow Godzilla was fading. Blurring almost. Yet, he didn't feel close enough to start panicking. She'd have to go back to the river to reestablish her connection with Godzilla if she wanted to feel anything more accurately.

Spitting out the last bit of toothpaste and rinsing the toothbrush off with water, she turned to go back inside. Before she did, however, four people caught her eye.

It was the twins and two much older people behind them.

Giving a little unsure nod, she went inside. "People are coming."

"Who?" Nathan asked.

"The twins and two old people."

"The leaders," Ilene stood. "Coming to tell us what's going on—well, you know what I mean," she added when Ren gave her a look.

The twins entered first, stepping to the side to allow the two elderly people inside. All four of them looked at Jia, interlacing their fingers and holding their hands up to their foreheads.

Neither Nathan nor Ilene made any indication to do it in return. It was probably some sort of acknowledgment of Jia's connection to Kong.

Then, in one smooth movement, they gestured to all of them and then to the door.

Whyley helped Amara roll up her sleeping bag while the others rushed to finish packing their bags. In a matter of minutes, they were following the elders down the main path out of the village towards the outer wall.

Along the way, the Iwi were also rushing to pack food and other necessities. It was the loudest the village had ever been despite not a word being said.

"You think there's another village?" Nathan asked Ilene who walked behind her and Whyley.

"There must be. Or a place to camp? They must have some sort of plan."

They reached the field where they kept the animals. Now all the bird dinosaurs were saddled. People attached wagons to their harnesses.

The twins separated from the elders and led the group to one of the birds. They helped load the group's belongings into the wagon before helping Jia up first, then Nathan. Ren climbed up after, waving away the boy twin's helping hand. Both twins took the hint and clambered up onto the bird one at a time.

Amara and Whyley found their spots at the far end of the wagon. Whyley beside Jia and Ilene, and Amara beside Nathan and Ren.

Once they were all on board, the twins led the bird towards the convoy trailing out of the village. No one was left to walk on foot, some wagons packed with as many people they could fit, kids sat on laps, food carried in their hands.

The birds traveled at a brisk pace. Twice the size of an ostrich, their long, powerful legs effortlessly traversed rocks and fallen logs. They must have been trained to haul carts, because they resisted darting through trees, and instead followed the widest path they could find.

However, that didn't stop the wagon from jumping over every obstacle. Amara's butt lifted off the seat as she held onto the side of the cart for dear life. Whyley and Ilene both had an arm around Jia who looked like she was ready to puke. Nathen let out a grunt of pain over almost every bump. He had his leg crossed over the other so he could hold his bad ankle.

No one spoke. When they weren't being tossed around in the wagon, everyone's eyes were on the forest as if expecting Kong or Hollow Godzilla to jump out of nowhere. And being surrounded by tall trees, maybe they could.

Amara gripped the wagon tighter. The hazy feeling of Hollow Godzilla was all around them. No matter how hard she tried to focus, she couldn't get a pinpoint on its location.

What felt like hours passed by. Amara's butt was completely numb. Whyley now held Jia who somehow fell asleep. Nathan completely checked out. When she last looked, he had his eyes screwed shut and sweat profusely. Ilene looked worriedly at him.

"Do you mind switching places?" she finally spoke.

Amara nodded and shakily got up. They practically fell into each other's spots. She immediately went to comfort Nathan but talked too quietly for Amara to hear over the rustle of leaves and chatter of the wagon.

"I'd do anything for a nap right now," she said, looking down at Jia.

"All you're getting is an arm."

"What?"

Whyley let go of the wagon and put it around Amara's shoulder.

She went rigid. How was this supposed to help her sleep? "Uh…"

"Stop making this weird and go to sleep. Then you can take Jia and I can have a turn."

Across the wagon, Ilene was talking to Nathan who still had his eyes closed while he nodded. Ren was determinedly looking away.

Amara swallowed and scooted ever so closer to Whyley and rested her head on him. Thankfully, he was tall enough that her head wouldn't hit Jia's. He wasn't the softest pillow, nor did he smell the greatest, but just being able to lean on something was nice.

Mi Sun would have a field day if she ever found out…

…

When Amara opened her eyes again, Jia was smirking up at her.

Amara sat up so quickly that her head hit Whyley in the nose.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!"

"Uh huh." Whyley released her and held his nose instead.

Jia full on giggled before hopping off Whyley's lap and onto the free space on the bench.

The ride was much smoother. The trees were gone. They now traveled along a river, this one more modestly sized compared to the other enormous ones. The rocky terrain was rising above them as they followed the river as it cut into the earth. A canyon was ahead.

Amara rubbed her eyes. "Do you know which way we're going?"

Whyley took his hand off his nose. "West, I think. The only thing to go off is the crater."

She looked up, and sure enough, the crater from Hollow Godzilla's atomic breath was still there. But that wasn't the only thing.

"Is it…getting darker?"

This got everyone's attention as they began to look around.

Ilene was the first to speak. "I think it is."

The everlasting glow of the Hollow Earth seemed more to resemble an overcast sky than its usual bright sunlight. Had it been happening slowly over time?

"When we were looking for you guys, we found bioluminescent lichen," Amara began slowly. "I think it might depend on the radiation Hollow Godzilla absorbed."

"You're telling us lichen is lighting up the entire Hollow Earth?" Ren asked, his arms crossed.

"Yeah, there's patches that go on for miles. I think it only occurs on core-side in big craters."

"Did you take a sample?" Nathan asked.

Amara shook her head. "No, I forgot."

"Convenient." They hit a bump and he grimaced.

The rocky terrain was uneven as they traveled along the riverbank. The canyon walls extended high above them, curving upwards, foliage peeking over the edges.

Nathan welcomed the distraction, now talking about the exposed layers in the stone. It was pretty, layers of red iron rich rock were sandwiched between black igneous stone, and through them were veins of blue crystal.

He was talking about the heat of the core pushing the layers upward over time due to convection currents, but Amara stopped paying attention when gravel tumbled down the side of the canyon, spooking one of the birds.

It jumped up, spreading massive steel blue wings before settling back down, the Iwi on its back giving it a pat on its long neck.

Whyley followed her gaze up to the sliver of mantle side visible through the canyon. "Let's hope it doesn't cave in on us."

Ilene frowned. "You had to jinx us, didn't you?"

The girl twin turned back from the saddle and made a gesture.

"It does mean noisy!" Ilene whispered. "I knew it!"

Nathan shushed her.

They continued in silence. Amara stared even more intently at the rock. So there was danger of it caving in on them.

Eventually, the walls began to lower again, only a few stories tall and the opening at the top widened enough to clearly see the earthen sky.

More rocks tumbled down.

"Did you feel that?" Whyley whispered to her.

"Feel what?" Ilene asked before she could.

"I swear I felt a tremor that time."

"Whyley, shut up," Amara cut in.

"No, seriously."

More rocks fell, and this time Amara felt it too.

The birds stopped. The Iwi looked up.

"I really hope that's Kong," Ilene said as more rocks clattered against stone.

Jia was looking around too, perhaps trying to feel where Kong was. Amara did the same, trying to find the last remnant of the invisible compass toward Hollow Godzilla.

But besides a vague feeling that Hollow Godzilla was somewhere around, there was nothing. Wait. She turned to Whyley. "Do you have your compass?"

"You need that now?"

"Yes, now!"

But Nathan was already on it, pulling a compass out of his pocket and opening it.

Amara leaned in to look where the needle was pointing. According to it, North was on their left.

"I told you we were going West."

"Not that." Nathan's tone was serious. "The needle points to Hollow Godzilla, remember?"

Whyley swore as the needle began to move ever so slowly.

They all looked at each other.

Then a shadow passed overhead, so fast that Amara only caught a glimpse of it.

"Was that a rock?" Ren began asking before being cut off by a smash and a deep growl.

A growl, that if Amara didn't know Godzilla as well as she did, would think was his. But it wasn't.

More rocks tumbled down as the deep sound echoed through the canyon. It rattled through the wagon and into her body.

No one moved. The birds went completely rigid. The feathers on the crest of their reptilian heads raised in alarm.

Jia jumped up, signing wildly and pointing to the south side of the canyon. Kong was there.

The sound of him pounding his chest overtook the echo of Hollow Godzilla's growl. More and more rocks fell. Then one the size of a basketball rolled down, narrowly missing the wagon closest to them and splashing into the river.

"We need to go," Nathan said quietly at first, then louder, so everyone would hear. "We need to go!"

The end of the canyon was barely in sight. Maybe a kilometer or so.

Despite Nathan's words, the Iwi hesitated to move. Some of them were gesturing to each other, probably deciding what to do.

Stay in the canyon and risk getting caught in an avalanche, or leave and risk being seen by Hollow Godzilla.

The sound of pounding ended and a second later, instead of a rock flying over the canyon, it was Kong himself, charging into battle. He must have known Jia was here with them. There was no other reason for him to charge into a fight without a weapon.

The earth trembled again. Then a roar, like a thousand dissonant cellos, filled the air. Everyone covered their ears from the near grating sound bouncing off the walls.

More tremors, more rocks. Kong roared. Jia gestured to Ilene and Whyley, clearly wanting out of the canyon.

As the fight seemed to get closer, Amara was ready to join Jia on her crusade.

"They're going to be on top of us any minute now. I'm with Nathan and Jia, we need to get out of here!"

As if to punctuate her statement, a huge thud from above spooked some of the birds. The Iwi had enough too, now finally starting to move.

A massive hand grasped the side of the canyon, sending boulders flying in front of them. The birds jumped and flew over them as they landed on the ground and into the river, weightless wagons being pulled behind them, people holding onto their belongings inside.

Jia waved up at Kong as he glanced down. His eyes landed on the small girl before letting out a grunt and getting back to his feet, disappearing from sight.

Whyley grabbed Jia as the wagon began to move. The integrity of the canyon walls was failing fast. More and more rocks fell around them.

Nathan shouted in pain as the wagon rolled over a rock and crashed back down. The bird pulling them jumped, flapping its wings in order to avoid rubble falling on it and the twins.

Another roar and the earth shook again, dislodging a part of the canyon wall. Rocks smashed into the wagon. Wood splintered as Amara was pounded by sand and stone. The others vanished from view as she tumbled out of the wagon and onto the ground.

She jumped up the second she got her footing and ran away from the falling rocks. Whyley wasn't far, Jia clinging to him like a koala. Ilene, Ren, and Nathan weren't with them.

"Take Jia and get out of here!" Whyley yelled over the sound of smashing trees and roars. He pried her off him and went back to find the others.

Neither Amara nor Jia moved, eyes searching the rocks for the others.

"Help!" It was Ilene's voice.

Whyley was already running towards the movement. Ilene was covered in dust waving at them.

"Nathan's stuck!" she yelled again.

Amara went to move but stopped. Something wasn't right.

It went quiet.

Jia's hand found hers, clutching it. Amara followed her line of sight upwards. Many of the Iwi around them did the same.

In the distance, Whyley and Ilene spoke as they moved rocks off Nathan.

But she couldn't take her eyes away.

Hollow Godzilla peered down at them, lowered so his head was just above the mouth of the canyon. Huge, bigger than a house. Crystals protruded from its brow and jaw, glimmering like the veins in the walls. His eyes, a deep blue, slowly trailed over each and every one of them, only stopping when they landed on her and Jia.

She swallowed. It was déjà vu. A reversed version of when she first met Godzilla face to face as he glared at her from under the surface of the water.

His eyes narrowed, zeroing in on them. No doubt he could feel that both she and Jia shared a connection with a Titan.

Rage. Rage so powerful it resonated through her bones. As if their existence was a slap in the face. An insult. Something to be jealous of.

Then he snarled. Lips curling back, teeth bared, blood on his gums from a hit to his face.

A pulsing sound filled the air. The crystals on its back began to glow, one on his shoulder, broken.

The air heated rapidly. Even before the glow began to fill his throat. It was coming and there was nothing they could do. Nowhere they could go.

It would be quick. Painless, hopefully. Vaporized in an instant.

Filled with rage and jealousy and…emptiness. A shell with nothing left to live for, yet forced to live eternally.

Movement. Arms wrapped around Hollow Godzilla's neck as Kong flew into him, knocking them both out of view. A beam of light filled the sky as Hollow Godzilla finally released his atomic breath.

She stared at the place Hollow Godzilla had been.

"Snap out of it!"

Whyley's voice made her jump. He and Ilene were on either side of Nathan who bled from under a tear in his shirt.

Jia snapped out of it too, wiping the tears from her face and running over to Nathan.

One of the Iwi came back around, ushering them into the packed wagon.

Amara found herself on the floor between many pairs of legs, Ilene was next to her, then Whyley. They laid Nathan across their laps. Ren was already in the cart, looking fine other than the scrapes and bruises they all shared.

The twins helped Jia onto their saddle, being the much safer option now that their bird was no longer tethered to a wagon.

They exited the canyon as the sounds of fighting faded into the distance.

Ahead was a barren rocky landscape, and beyond that, a wall of jagged hills that looked a lot like the outer rim of a crater.

Whyley helped Ilene with Nathan's wound. He had the first aid kit out of his backpack, passing Ilene supplies. The cut on Nathan's stomach wasn't deep, thankfully. More so a nasty looking abrasion. Though, those could often be just as painful.

Ilene dabbed it with an alcohol wipe. Nathan winced. He got off lucky. They all did.

Face to face with the alpha of the Hollow Earth. Frozen, about to be annihilated. But she could feel it. Godzilla had told her before, that he could sense intention. And she felt it too.

Anger and emptiness, not dissimilar to Destroyer. But there was a key difference. Destroyer was created as a hollow shell. While this Godzilla…it became one.

When she glanced over to Whyley, he was already looking back at her. She would have to wait to talk to him until they got to…wherever they were going.

She turned back to the impending wall. As they approached at a brisk pace, a small tunnel came into view.

Everything went dark as they passed through. Then, bright light at the other end. When they made it into the crater, Amara had to squint. The bumpy ride softened, and the sound of wooden wheels against stone stopped.

Bright, pillowy lichen stretched across the entire shallow pit of the crater.

And in the middle, another temple. The style wasn't the same as the ones built by the Iwi people. It was more rudimentary, almost like a natural formation. Slabs of rock propped up against each other like a massive tent big enough to fit several Titans. A red handprint on the door.

"It must have been built by the Kongs," Ilene breathed.

They passed through the crack in the huge door, immediately met with a blue glow. The whole temple was lit by…

A massive crystal?

…