Once upon a time, before the war, Hidden Kingdom was ruled by a smart and powerful Emperor. The Emperor, the king of all the humans in Hidden Kingdom, was known for his kindness and courage, and deemed the most worthy of the humans. Emperor had three children. Two mighty sons, whose wit and strength matched no oner, and a daughter, whose will could never be challenged. The Emperor loved his children, and they him, and for a while, all was peaceful in the hidden kingdom.

Then, one day, a sickness took to the Lands. Humans and animals, peasants and royals: no one was safe from the illness. It took a year for the hidden kingdom's top scientists to find a cure, but by then both sons had been taken from life.

Mourning the death of his sons, the Emperor grew cold and shut himself inside the east citadel palace, refusing to leave. His daughter, left without the comfort of her family or fellow children, fell into a state of numbness…

And the kingdom fell into despair...

The weeks following the defeat of the Twin Masters seemed almost too relaxed, too peaceful for the members of Big green. Sure, everyone was busy rebuilding and restoring areas affected by the Twin Master's last battle, but not a single word of an attack seemed to escape East Citadel. Many assumed HighRoller and BearStomp were busy rebuilding the Citadel, but it still made tensions run high. So, when news spread that Bee Queen and Ant Queen were attacking Human settlements in the west, it was almost like a huge weight had been lifted off of everyone's shoulders.

Except for Trully, because he knew both Ant Queen and Bee Queen had been neutral parties beforehand...

Commander Ape Trully made his way deeper into the mixed hive, remembering how the Castle looked almost like a fortress, with it's ground base and gigantic tree rising from the top. It would have been intimidating, had he not been there countless times before, as a child. The two guard escorting him, an and and a bee, were silent. Yet Trully could tell that they were having a rather heated conversation, mostly about why exactly the queens attacked the humans. Not all conversations were spoken, mind you, but when you got a satellite dish attached to your head, you're bound to intercept some signals.

"Man, I hope the Queen's know what they're doing, I'd chew my antennas off if we had to fight 1st squad! How'd I get their autographs if they beat us up!" The ant sent, their poker face betraying the pure emotion in their signal. Under his mask, Trully smiled proudly. It reassured him that if some members of the ant kingdom didn't want to fight, maybe a scuffle could be avoided.

"Hey, don't bug out on me rookie," The Bee sent, and Trully heard the ant audibly groan at the joke. "Hey! C'mon! That was a good one!"

Nah that was pretty bad.

Yet, as they turned down the hallway to their right, all communication halted. Trully could see the throne room up ahead, as well as the outlines of both Bee queen and Ant queen. Honestly, he was happy for them, remembering how wonderful the wedding had been and such. Very rarely had he seen two people love eachother so much, as well as such a wonderful merge of kingdoms.

Upon entering the throne room, Bee Queen and Ant queen rose their heads, gazing at Trully in minor contempt. It seems that even they could not see past the disguise, or perhaps they didn't even care.

"Commander…" Bee queen buzzed, having known how to speak better english then Ant Queen. He assumed she'd be the first to speak anyway. "You arrived rather quickly…"

"Bee Queen and Ant Queen," He quickly bowed, showing his upmost respect. "When I heard what had happened, I knew time was of the essence. Please, I beg of you to tell me why have you started attacking the humans?"

"The humans...He said The humans…" Ant Queen sent, not moving her gaze from him, and Trully cursed himself for his slip. " He does not include himself with them. Why does he do that?"

"He must be nervous, my love. But if he says it again, I will ask him." Bee Queen sent, before buzzing once more. "Why? To get an audience with you, of course."

"With me? Why, you could have sent a messenger or perhaps-"

"But this was faster, don't you see?" She coyly teased, before rising from her cushioned throne. Truly felt the air around him blow past as she made her way towards him, landing just as gracefully as she flew. "Because we must know, Commander, if you are to be the Human King once the War is over."

"T-the...the Human King?!" Trully almost screeched, eyes wide at that thought. No, no no no he couldn't! He barely had his charade under wraps as it was, why in the great gods name would he risk it by ruling two kingdoms?! "Oh Heavens no, I wouldn't make a good jester, let alone a good king."

"Yet you claim to be the leader of Big Green…" Bee Queen leaned closer, her antenna brushing against his helmet. He had to fight the urge to step away, knowing fully well that it would be a death wish to do so. He was stuck like this.

"W-well...Yes, but only to end the War. Once it's over…"

He paused, because honestly he had never thought about what to do once the war was over. Not once, in these long hard years, had it crossed his mind that they'd be planning something for after they won. And now that he was thinking about it, he felt even dumber for not doing so.

"You are clueless." Bee Queen buzzed, pulling away from the Commander. "But you are fighting for a noble cause, so you are forgiven. There is little time to plan after in the heat of battle...Yet, if you are not going to be their ruler, who will?"

"Well…"

Commander Ape Trully knew saying humans didn't need a king or queen would fall on deaf ears here. These two valued order and hierarchy above all else, and seeing as the war broke out after the Emperor had died, it would look more like they needed one then most other species. But he hadn't thought about it...no one had. No one had heard from the only remaining heir ever since she was sent to the Northern kingdom. She hadn't responded or sent aid when Big Green had requested her assistance, so she was supposedly out of the picture. And it wasn't like anyone in Big Green could rule. Lin Chung enjoyed nature and traveling far to much to be trapped in a palace all day, Woo the Wise would worry himself to death, and the list went on and on...

He had no idea who would lead the humans after the war. He'd be creating a vacuums for the next corrupted person

"I feel him panicking, my love. Let the poor man rest before he dies of fear."

Everyone was helping rebuild big green. Whether you were building, getting supplies, designing the other rooms, even cooking and such; it was expected that everyone helped. It went rather smoothly at first, yet as time had gone on, everyone had gotten rather antsy. All work and no play can do that to a person, after all. So when the argument between Golden Eye Husky and Mighty Ray broke out, naturally everyone jumped on the idea of another turtle cannon competition.

The track was hastily made, but no one really cared. They just wanted to see a good show, and that's what they got.

"Is that all you got?" Might Ray called out, smiling back at the Liger King with a cocky grin. "I've seen Cotton balls move faster than you!"

"Oh yeah?" Husky grinned, "Seen a cotton ball do this?"

Before Ray could say his comeback, a large spiral of fire shot out of Husky's open jaws. If it wasn't for his quick reflexes, Mighty Ray's jacket surely would have been burnt off.

"Whoa! Watch it with the fire furball!"

"What's the matter, scared of getting a little burnt?" Husky chuckled, taking the lead now that his opponent was out of the way.

"Hey!" Ray called out, chasing after him.

The crowed cheered wildly, knowing that the competition had been tied currently, and that this final race would determine the winner between the two. All eyes were glued to the race, especially the eyes of 1st squad...with the exception of Lin Chung, who was at the time, meditating somewhere else.

"Wow! Husky gotten quicker!" Jumpy Ghostface exclaimed, already on the edge of his seat. "Might Ray might not win!"

"I told him he needed to stop slacking off on his training." Mr. Nohands, sitting beside Jumpy with a small box of popcorn, chided annoyedly. "Just because the Twin Masters were defeated doesn't mean the wars over…"

"Oh c'mon Nohands, relax." Mystique Sonia said, having her eyes glued to the race. Her Yaksha held her drink with his free hands. "High Roller's just as busy repairing as we are, he doesn't have the time to send anyone else to attack us! And the Commander said that those bugs would listen to him! We're all just having a little fun."

"Still, that doesn't mean we should let our guard down. Just because High Roller is busy doesn't mean that some other problems are going to come up. A skilled warrior is as vigilant as they are-"

"Mighty ray's ahead!" Jumpy called out, nearly bouncing out of his seat, and effectively spilling Nohand's popcorn all over him. "Oops…"

But true to Jumpy's word, Ray had once again managed to speed ahead of Husky, and was almost at the finish line. The crowd roared with excitement as he got closer and closer, and Ray took a second to bask in its glory. Looking at the finish line, he leaned forward and-

"Huh?"

Someone was peeking out from the woods, feet away from the finish line. Mighty Ray couldn't see exactly who they were, but they were rather tall. Their body obscured by a rather long cloak, he almost didn't see them in the dark. Yet he could see their eyes, a bright yellow, so bright they almost glowed. But just as quickly as he saw them, they seemed to vanish.

Maybe it was a trick of the light...

Before he could say anything else, Mighty Ray noticed his turtle had stopped, as well as the crowds cheers. Smiling, he hopped off just in time for most of his squad to rush over.

"Might Ray did great!" Jumpy said as he practically tackled Might Ray, chirping up a storm.

"Yeah, you did pretty ok, for a banana Brain." Mystique Sonia teased, her arms posed on her hips and the playful smile held no ill will. Yaksha handed Ray a cup of water, no doubt proud as well.

"Well what can I say, when you got the skills, you got the skills." Ray smirked as he took the cup, taking a victory swig just as Woo made his way to the group. With all current expenses going to rebuilding, it was agreed on that a trophy wouldn't been needed, seeing as it would have been only built out of sticks anyway.

"The winner is Mighty Ray!" Woo said, Ray's arm up into the air as the crowd cheered on. Ray smiled and even posed a little, yet he couldn't shake that image he saw in the forest. He must have been seeing things, right? They were too tall to be Chameleons…

Yeah, he must have been seeing things...

Lin Chung kept his gaze at the horizon, his paint brush busily drawing on the canvas he had set up earlier. With everyone busy rebuilding, he had taken the chance to seek some peace and quiet once the competition started. His squad understood that although a wonderful leader, Lin Chung needed time to himself. And even though he wishes he could have seen the competition, he had been neglecting his drawings from quite some time.

Yet on this rock, surrounded by the wonderful view of the bay, Lin Chung felt at peace with the world.

Each stroke felt like meeting an old friend, and by the time he had gotten the basic shapes down, he could feel whatever stress he had gained fade away. Yes, painting and drawing had been his escape from his troubles. Yet he did not mind if he had an audience with him.

"Commander Ape Trully, I take it that the negotiations with Any Queen and Bee Queen were successful."

Lin Chung heard his Commander stutter out a response, most likely surprised that he was noticed so easily. But after a moment of sputtering, Trully walked up next to Lin Chung and sighed.

"Somewhat, but not completely...they swear not to attack any humans, but they're not joining Big Green yet." He examined Lin Chung painting, before examining the horizon. "It seems just yesterday that Big green was being first built…"

"Time has certainly past sense then, Commander." Lin Chung agreed, looking back to the painting and continuing with his work. They stood like that in silence, with the sea breeze and the distant cheering of the crowd echoing in their ears.

"Lin Chung, may I ask you something?"

"Of course, Commander."

More silence, and it was becoming more and more obvious to Lin Chung that something else must have happened at the Hive. Ape Trully wasn't this quiet, not normally.

"What do you plan on doing once the war is over?" Ape trully turned to look at possibly the finest warrior big green had to offer. He had stopped painting, instead staring at it as if he had discovered something he hadn't seen in it before. But after a moment, he resumed.

"To be honest, I'll probably return to traveling Hidden Kingdom. Once peace has been restored to the land, there will be many places to see, as well as many new things to draw." He smiled, setting his brush down and turning to Trully. "Yet the future may have other things in store, as often as it does."

"Oh…"

"Is something the matter?" Lin Chung asked, raising an eyebrow at the sadness in his Commander's voice. Even with those emotive eyes, it could be hard to tell what Trully was thinking with his mask on.

"Oh, nothing's wrong!" Ape Trully quickly stated, trying to return to his normal cheery tone. "I just realized that I hadn't thought about what I would do after the war, and well...Now that it's crossing my mind, there's so much I need to plan and then there's the fact I've overlooked something majorly needed and then there's the fact I have to find them and-

"Find who?" Lin Chung asked, the curiosity rising on his face. Once again, there was a pause.

"Lin Chung, do you...do you think humans need a king like the animals do?"

"Is that what Ant Queen and Bee Queen think?" Lin Chung asked, buying time for his own response. To be honest, he didn't really mind having an Emperor or not, seeing as his nomadic lifestyle wouldn't be affected greatly by it. Yet…

"Yes, and they assumed I was going to be the emperor once the war was over!" Trully began to pace, his hands waving wildly as he talked. "I couldn't do that, no, it would be impossible…"

"Do you not want to be the emperor?"

"No, no I don't. Having me as the emperor would be like opening up a barrel full of monkeys, No good can come from it." Trully shook his head. "And then there's the matter that the humans may not even want to be ruled, which could complicate things if there no unified form of human government. And don't even get me started on the backlash we'd received from some of the animal royals, it'd be a-whoa!"

Suddenly, by the grace of the god or by the sheer luck of life, the piece of rock Commander Ape Trully was on gave way, sending the man falling off the edge. Just as quickly, Lin Chung lept after the Commander, grabbing him as they fell and quickly positioning himself for a landing. It was a swift as it was graceful, and by the time they both had landed, only the dust below them stirred.

"Commander, are you alright?" Lin Chung asked, setting Trully down.

"Ah, yes, thank you for catching me, Lin Chung." Trully sighed, his fall having successfully stopped his rant. "Perhaps I should pay more attention to where I step next time, yes?"

"Honestly I'm surprised you even fell, normally the ground is much more sturdier then that up there." Lin Chung looked back up at the huge rock, examining where they fell and such. It was a little odd, but sometimes these things happen...but…

"I'd better talk to Woo about this, perhaps he'll have some ideas to help with the new delima. Thank you so much for lending your ears, Lin Chung." Trully said, his cheerful tone finally making it's big come back, before he began to walk off back to the camp. "See you back at the camp!"

Lin Chung waved as the Commander vanished down the path, before once again hoping upon branches to get back to his spot. Jumping back onto the stone with ease, Lin Chung made his way to his canvas and-

"Hm?!"

It was gone.

His painting had vanished.

East Citadel used to be full of Humans. Sure, animals had always been allowed entrance and living quarters in the city, but having any stay there was considered a rarity. Even before the loss of the Princes, animals never made their home in East Citadel. They much preferred their own kingdoms, and those who didn't normally became nomadic.

Yet, as High Roller looked upon the citadel, seeing animals rush about to rebuild their homes, he couldn't help but feel...pride? That even after everything, he still had loyal followers? Or was it smugness, that even if an evil god tried to destroy the world, he'd managed to survive it's attack.

High Roller didn't know what it was, but he did know he wanted construction to hurry up and finish.

"How much longer is this gonna take?!" He screeched from his chair, lollipop held in his fist like a weapon. "If I have to hear one more hammer hit one more nail, I'm going to scream!"

"Master High Roller, we're almost done with the main building." BearStomp growled, motioning to the group of bears behind him. "The Zebras just need to finish fixing and removing the ruined furniture of the west wing and everything will be done!"

"Ah, good. It's such a simple job, even those two idiots couldn't screw it up!" High roller practically exclaimed before returning to his sucker and reading his comic book. "Let me know if they find any...wait, did you say the west wing?"

Bear stomp nodded.

"As in, the west wing I specifically forbid them from going to?"

"O-oh...you meant that west wing?"

They stared at each other for a moment, maybe two, before a loud crash was heard echoing from the halls of the West Wing. High Roller practically rocketed out of his chair and sprinted towards the noise, rage etched onto his face like no other. BearStomp followed right behind him, mumbling out apologies and begging for forgiveness. This was commonplace at the palace, with the exception of it being BearStops fault.

Yet something about this was different. Because instead of his usual yelling and such, High Roller remained terrifyingly silent. He didn't utter a single threat or curse, he just kept running.

It didn't take them too long to find the Zebra brothers, especially when the culprits kept trying to shove the blame on each other. It was almost a miracle they hadn't heard them from the throb room.

"You totally knocked over the picture!"

"No, it was all your fault! If you hadn't hogged it like a-"

"Hey do you hear something?"

High roller skidded to a halt at the door, glaring daggers at the Zebra brothers like they were the scum of the earth. They both frozen in panic, allowing High Roller to get a full view of the damage.

"M-mASTER HIGH ROLLER!"

He had worried that they'd find this room, and seeing by the clothes scattered here and there, as well as the makeup and such, they'd been in here for a while. Old toys, old books, and even a few instruments laid scattered on the floor as well, and in the center of it all was a broken picture frame, glass shards spread everywhere.

Yet High roller didn't move, just stared at them with a look of malice they had never seen before. Even BearStomp was shocked by this, but seeing as who's room it was, he understood his leaders rage. The Zebras, however, did not.

"M...Master High roller? I swear we-" Sparky White was the first to speak up, but before he could defend himself, he was cut off by the motion of High Roller's arm.

"Get. Out." High Roller ordered, pointing for them to head down the hall and out of the room, completely in fluent Zebra.

The brothers nodded and quickly ran off, no doubt fearful of their master future wrath. It was considered extremely serious if High Roller had to resort to speaking in their natural language, something he'd never really done unless urgent. They didn't want to stick around and see what exactly he'd do when he'd "simmered" down.

High Roller remained in his stance in front of the door, before turning to Bear Stomp. He seemed to bottle up his rage after that, but his glare was still evident on his face. "No one else is to come in this room. Ever. Understood?"

BearStomp nodded, freaked out by the sheer calmness of his voice. He quickly dashed off, mumbling about "Telling the other bears" or something. Which, effectively, left High Roller alone with the busted up room.

He stood at the doorway, staring into a room that was never his, and would never be his. Sure, he could have gotten rid of all of the items inside, and by every right, he should have. But, for some reason he never wanted to admit, it felt wrong to do so. Even stepping inside without her permission, even after all these years, made him feel like he was breaking a strict rule…

He hated this feeling, and with each step he took, it dug deeper and deeper into his chest until he'd finally gotten to the center of the room. He looked around, noticing the faded paint of the walls as well as the paintings they held. Despite their previous escapade, the Zebra's had failed to get up half of the dust lying on the furniture…

If anything, it was a miracle that this room had been left unscathed by the Twin Master's attack.

Hearing the sound of Glass cracking under his foot, High Roller looked down to see the picture from earlier, now in full, unrestricted view. He stared at the picture, and the three children in it seemed to stare back at him, almost accusingly. Before High Roller knew what he was doing, he had picked up the picture and brushed the remaining glass away, getting a better look at it.

"...huh," High Roller muttered, slipping the picture out with ease. He quickly pocketed it as he began to do something he never would normally do.

He began to tidy up the room.

Despite the part of him that yelled that he didn't have to do this, he began to place things back where they belonged.

It wasn't neat by any means, and no doubt half of the items were ruined, but he couldn't just leave it in that bad of a state.

By the time he finished, it looked as close as it would to the day he took over East Citadel, with the exception of the broken and empty picture frame. Looking at the picture one last time, he couldn't help but speak his mind to the emptiness of the room.

"This is your fault, you know…"

He didn't see you, did he?

No, I don't believe so, but I was lucky that I'd kept that extra spell. We can't afford a confrontation just yet, not with knowing so little about them…

They don't seem so bad, though. They do seem to care about each other-

Just because they care about each other doesn't mean they'll be of use to us. They could treat outsiders especially coldly, considering the kingdom is suppose to be hidden. Normally, as well all know, things that are hidden don't like to be fo- what is that?

...what's what?

That! Under your sleeping bag!

N-nothing!

Yes it is! If you compromised our position by stealing something, I swear I'll- oh…

...It's a really good painting, isn't it.

...Who did this?

The Grey haired one, with the silly hat. He's really good at art, from the looks of it…

The squad leader? He did this?

Yeah, and a bunch of other stuff too. I couldn't snag them without getting caught, but…

Yes, but now he's going to know someone's lurking around now… Perhaps it's time you visited the Citadel for a while.

W-what?! But I wanted to-

That's an order.

...Fine. But I know you're dying to cause some fun too, sis…

…

This is too important for us to mess up.