Four days following the death of SkullFist, the YellowFolk had moved on from the Rift and taken up camp in the shelter of an enormous cliff.

They had been there since the 'battle' - if it could even be called that - ended.

The many tents, now far emptier than before, had an abandoned feeling to them - as though the few remaining residents were ghosts themselves. It was a quiet settlement with little life or joy to it. Perhaps the YellowFolk had been able to distract themselves with the battle against the Racten, but once that was gone, all they had left was the crushing loss of their friends and family.

Bo and Yvet did not feel this loss as succinctly as their benefactors did and, thus, often found themselves drifting away from the YellowFolk, even going so far as to pitch the tent they had borrowed – one of the many left empty after the Racten's raid – on the very fringes of the YellowFolk's camp.

As Yvet licked her wounds, Bo passed the time trying to speak with the YellowFolk's Elder.

He was on his way to do this on the fifth day of their encampment.

Bo made his way through the shell-shocked camp, seeing barely a single person as he went. The tents were almost lifeless save for the occasional sob or whisper. He walked in the cliff's shadow, soon arriving at a more adorned tent than most.

Red threads hung from the door, and the skull of some long-dead creature was staked outside on a spike.

"Elder, may I have a word?" He called out, expecting a similar response to the previous day and the one before that.

"I am busy," came the quiet reply. Her voice sounded weak and brittle, like thin pottery on the verge of breaking.

Bo scratched his head awkwardly and shuffled on the spot. "I-I know that. I just wanted to find out what your plans are going forward."

The tent went still for a long moment before Diatra stuck her head out of the opening. "Will this take long?"

She looked tired, with bags under her eyes and a distinct gloominess to her disposition.

"No," Bo said with a shake of his head. "Like I've been saying for the last few days, I only want confirmation of the Elder's plans."

Diatra sighed. "And this cannot wait?"

Bo met her eye solemnly. "No, it can't."

"… Very well." She turned, gesturing that he followed her in. "Come with me."

Bo entered the tent and was immediately struck by the oppressive stuffiness of the air. It felt like something had died in there, and when he first got a good look at the Elder, he thought it might be her.

She was gaunt, appearing as though she hadn't eaten in days, and the only way he could tell that she was alive was the subtle rise and fall of her chest with each shaky breath she took.

He was struck then by the sheer exhaustion of the woman and took a sharp breath, realising for the first time the toll the Racten's attack on the YellowFolk had truly taken.

"Elder…" He whispered, almost afraid to make a sound in case it shattered her.

Her eyes landed on him. "We will be attending the next tribe gathering… and…" She coughed harshly, and Diatra rushed to her side in a panic, grasping her hand to give her what little comfort she could. "And the YellowFolk will be dissolved…"

Bo froze, glancing back and forth between the Elder and Diatra. "Are you serious?"

The pair of women looked back at him and nodded. "We cannot-" The Elder started to cough viciously again.

Diatra gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Do not push yourself, ma'am."

She turned to face Bo and said- "We can't survive like this, not with so few of us remaining. All it would take is one or two hungry Sarpa or an opportunistic Vesper, and we would be decimated."

"But to disband your tribe is…"

"Believe us, we know just how serious this decision is…" Diatra glanced down at the Elder. "Even making it has caused her such sickness…"

Bo took a deep breath and nodded. "I see… you will all join other tribes then?"

Diatra grunted in affirmation, and the room went quiet, a stuffy, sluggish silence that seemed to suffocate those involved.

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"Well… until the coming tribe gathering, Yvet and I will stay and ward off any dangers you might encounter," Bo said finally, feeling a tight knot in his stomach.

He had already known that he wouldn't make it to Fox Mountain on time, but knowing and knowing were two very different things. Perhaps a small part of him had still held out hope that he would make it there before the solstice, but that was only two days away, and he still didn't even know where the mountain was.

The Elder looked up at Bo and nodded. "Thank you…" she croaked. "I will be sure to repay this debt…"

Bo smiled and scratched his head nervously. "Well… while we're on the topic… I remember you saying about teaching me how to read the stars…"

Diatra scowled at him, but the Elder only nodded, saying- "Diatra, fetch the charts from my belongings if you would…"

Somewhat reluctantly, the young woman began rummaging through the Elder's things, eventually returning with a set of ancient scrolls held under one arm. She passed them on to Bo, who cradled the scrolls against his chest as though they were the most precious of treasures.

"I entrust these to you, Bo," the Elder said wearily. "Please do not betray this trust…"

Bo nodded eagerly and bowed, leaving the stagnant tent in a hurry. He stepped outside and breathed deeply, relaxing. The air in there had been like stagnant pond water, muggy and thick.

After catching his breath, he rushed through the ghost town and back to his tent – where Yvet was sleeping in the very centre of the small room. She had one wing curled around her back as normal and the other sticking up at an uncomfortable, jagged angle.

"You look pleased," she said as he entered the tent like an arrow shot from a crossbow.

"I am-" he paused. "I am pleased." Bo still had to remind himself to speak with her through their minds, and although he had gotten better at it, it definitely didn't come naturally to him. "With these, we can find our way to anywhere in the world!" He held up the scrolls and shook them with glee.

"Truly? Even the great library you spoke of?" Yvet asked excitedly.

"No… well… no. But I could find my way to the salt flats, and from there, we could probably find the library."

"Oh… I see."

"Hey, don't sound so disappointed!" Bo tried to add some emotional tone to his thoughts, but they simply came across as rabid screaming.

Yvet covered her ears with her front paws in agony. "Relax, there's no need to shout!"

"Sorry… I'm still getting the hang of this."

"It's okay," Yvet said. "I'm sure it's hard for humans to pick things like this up."

Bo glanced down at her paws and wondered if he should make a joke about how it must be hard for dragons to pick anything up, but he thought better of it.

"Well, I'm going to read over these and see what the trick to star reading is, so if you don't need anything…"

"I'm hungry," Yvet said immediately.

"Yes, well, I can't really do anything about that right now. We haven't had anything to hunt in days."

"Go find something then…" She paused and then glanced up at him, rethinking this. "On second thought, maybe it's just better to wait."

"What?" Bo asked.

Yvet said nothing.

"You don't think I'd be able to hunt something, do you?"

Still, she remained silent.

"Didn't you see how I dealt with SkullFist?"

"He was a human," she said.

"And?" This time, Bo spoke out loud. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Humans and monsters aren't the same thing… I just don't want you to get hurt on my account."

Bo grunted in response and turned his back to her. "You don't have to worry about me. You're the one who's injured."

With no response to give, Yvet simply lowered her head and tried to return to sleep, hoping that her wounds would soon begin to heal… although she knew they wouldn't. She needed to eat something for that to happen, and food had turned out to be far scarcer than she had realised.

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As Bo pored over the map covered in fading writing and confusing graphs and diagrams, he could hear the scratchy, strained sound of Yvet's breathing. If nothing else, it was a poignant reminder that she was more injured than she let on.

Unfortunately, unlike Bo, she couldn't just eat a Horus shoot and heal. She needed something more substantial than that.

He was finding it hard to concentrate on learning anything from the star maps, constantly being distracted by Yvet's injury.

Bo bit his lip and wondered if he should sneak out and look for a way to heal her… Maybe… maybe, if he got lucky, he could catch some food for her, he thought.

But he knew it was futile. Food wasn't something people just came across in the desert. There was a reason hunters had to learn expansive tracking techniques and still only caught something once in a blue moon.

As he was reading a section of the map about a star that never moved, Bo heard a sharp crack outside his tent, followed by what sounded like tearing fabric.

He frowned and set the maps down.

There it was again, the crack being followed by what sounded like snapping twigs... or bones.

Bo stood up and rushed over to the tent flap, sticking his head outside. It was night, and for everyone except him, it would have been oppressively dark. He peered toward the sound, squinting as a dark figure loomed into view.

Massive and black, with a tail like death's scythe and obsidian scales that glistened under the starlight. It had two enormous claws that could crush stone and a body that would dwarf even SkullFist.

He watched as the Sarpa moved from tent to tent, smashing them into shrapnel as it searched for prey.

Where was everyone? Bo wondered.

Despite the breaking tents, there was no sign of any injuries or victims.

Soon, he remembered why; The YellowFolk were gathering to discuss their dissolution that night, and the whole tribe should be at the Elder's tent.

Bo watched quietly as the Sarpa marauded its way through the camp, crushing and snapping everything it came across.

His hands twitched at his sides, and he was running before he knew what was happening. There was only one thought on his mind, and it wasn't protecting the camp or proving that he really could kill a Sarpa.

No, he only wanted to get Yvet something to eat.