A year had passed since the "passing" of Tangath Toborn. A year has gone by for those in chaotic, while two solans have blown by for Perim. Yet much hasn't changed. The tribes, although unified by his sacrifice, still have rocky connections.

And humans couldn't stay out of trouble, especially Tom...

It had all started when he'd gone to visit Smildon in Prexxor's Chasm. Sure, he'd gone to also make sure Prexxor's Chasm hadn't developed any other weird sickness, but he mainly wanted to know if Smildon was alright. One of major problems about living in the chasm was that there was a seventy-five percent chance if anyone you knew was still alive if they lived there. So, when he had finally made his way to Smildon's new camp, he hadn't expected there to be anyone else there.

Yet, talking calmly to Smildon as they roasted some sort of meat over the fire, was a creature Tom hadn't even seen before. They seemed to be almost like a toad, with the exception of the row of spines going down their back and their bipedal form. They also seemed to have tons and tons of junk, all packed in a rather comically large bag. Tom made his way over, yet when he heard what the strange guest asked, he instantly jumped behind a tree and began to eavesdrop.

"So, you seriously considering going to join the overworlders?" The toad asked, staring at Smildon with a perplexed look.

Smildon himself seemed to remain silent, deciding to focus all his attention to the fire at hand.

Tom froze where he was, confusion etched across his face. Smildon was already an overworlder! At least, that's what his card said, blue frame and all…

The toad creature went on, crossing their arms and leaning on their stuff. "You know we could use you over at the Oasis. I know you don't like the heat, old friend, but you'll be around others like us. We could use your help! Teaching the young to defend and survive. You'll be safe and-"

That earned a scoff from Smildon, and the furry warrior sent his guest a glare. "Until someone finds it, that is; then everyone has to scatter and run to the hills, regrouping at the other outposts…"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Not to mention our conflicting ideas, right?" Smildon looked back at the fire. "We may be getting old, but I'm not going to give up and hide away in some cavern just because of it."

Tom winced at the coldness of his voice.

The toad creature only shook their head, grabbing their cooked meat stick and beginning to eat. "You've always been a fighter, Smildon. Part of this old wart is glad that side of you hasn't simmer down yet. But I can tell you'd make a wonderful teacher, so don't give up on that idea completely… By the way, is the human hiding behind the tree that same human you were telling me about?"

Tom tensed, but after getting a "yep" from Smildon, he sheepishly made his way to the duo.

"Uh, hi there." Tom smiled, holding his hand out for the toad creature to shake. "Name's Tom."

"Nice to meet you, Tom." The toad creature shook atoms hand, and Tom had to stop himself from recoiling. They were smily to the touch. "My name is Hitali. I can't thank you enough for saving Smildon and Prexxor's Chasm! A wonderful place like this, despite it's many dangers, would be a travesty to lose."

"Don't mention it," Tom said, starting to relax at Hitali's friendly nature. It was a welcomed change to the normally annoyed or hostile nature of other creatures.

"Good, so I hope you don't mention this conversation as well, if you could." Hitali chuckled, grabbing a stick of meat and handing it to Tom. "Come, let us talk of other things, yes? Tell me about yourself."

Tom looked over at Smildon, who just shrugged nonchalantly and bit into his food.

The rest of the night was spent swapping stories and eating food together. Tom remembered telling Hitali a number of stories, ranging from his first trip to Perim to countless other matches in the drones. Hitali would tell stories of the times he and Smildon fought with other creatures, but never seemed to go into detail. All the while, every time Tom tried to grab a scan, Hitali managed to ether mess up the scan or unintentionally block it.

It would be a lie if he said he wasn't disappointed, but learning more about Smildon and how Perim was like back in the day was pretty cool. Before Tom even knew it, the sun began to rise, and Hitali declared it was time for him to leave.

"It was nice meeting you, Tom." Hitali smiled, once again shaking Tom's hand. "You've provided some interesting insight on how humans work."

"Uh, actually, could I grab a scan of you? From the way those stories go, you'd make an excellent addition to my te-" Tom began, but was quickly silenced by Hitali's croak of a laugh.

"A-a scan?!" Hitalli began , almost doubling over. "Oh, oh my that's rich! W-what a wonderful joke!"

"I'm not joking!" Tom replied hastily, taking a step towards Hitali. "If your friends with Smildon, then you must be an excellent warrior! I could totally use you for my next match!"

At that Hitali paused, glancing at Tom with a somewhat dissapointed look, like a teacher upset with a student. "Ah, see here, that's the problem Tom. You misunderstand how a negotiation works. In order to get me to be scanned, you must earn it."

"Well what do you want me to do?"

"Hm…" Hitali paused once more, scratching his warty chin before looking to Smildon. "What should the boy do, Smildon? I'm worried I'll give him something to easy."

"Leave me out of this," Smildon only muttered, finishing off what could have probably been his fourteenth meat stick. "Just don't kill the kid, alright."

"C'mon Smildon! Whatever Hitai can dish out, I can handle it" Tom looked from Smildon to Hitali, determination radiating from his face. "So what's the challenge?"

"My, what an adventurous spirit…I got it!" Hitali smiled, a mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes as he grabbed his things. "You must find me two more times, understood? When you've done that, you must tell me what you've learned, alright? Only then will I allow you to scan me..."

"Huh..." Tom paused, thinking over the task. "But how will I find you?"

"My boy, if I gave you the answers, you'd never learn!" Hitali croaked out a laugh, before turn to Smildon. The mirth was so thick in his voice, it practically oozed out. "And you! You better not die while I'm gone, you old coot."

"Get lost, you greedy wart." Smildon replied back, but his voice lacked any hostility.

"May we met again!" He called out before quickly squatted down, and then jumped. He shot into the sky like a bottle rocket, and vanished into the clouds. Tom didn't see him land, and watched the sky with a shocked expression. Ok, so he had super jump as well, something Tom could definitely use on his team.

"Whoa…" Tom stared with wide eyes. "Smildon, how'd you know that guy?"

"Long story." Smildon grumbled, putting out the fire and beginning to pack up camp. "Also, it's none of your business."

"What about the Oasis? What was that about?!"

"None of your business." Smildon replied again, already having taken his tent down.

"Why are they hiding? Also I thought you were already an Overworlder, what was Hitali talking about-"

"Tom." Smildon growled, mostly as a warning to stop asking him. "Shut up."

There was a pause between them, lasting about two minutes, before Tom spoke up again.

"At least tell me where I can find him!" Tom begged, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Find Hitali? Ha! Hitali goes wherever there's money." Smildon smirked. "Yet very few even spot him there. You'd have better luck finding the Oasis itself, and you'd have to search the border for days. Not to mention there-"

"It's by a border? Like the Mipedian-Overworld border?"

Smildon stoped for a moment, alerting Tom to the fact he was most likely right. He pushed more, gearing up for more and more questions.

"Are there other creatures like Hitali at the Oasis? You know how to get there, right? Maybe i could-"

"Tom." Smildon warned once again, turning to face the human with tired eyes. "Stop asking questions you aren't ready for…"

His voice wasn't too harsh, but it was clear to Tom that he wouldn't get anything else from Smildon. Giving up and letting out a sigh, Tom made his way over to some of Smildon supplies, helping him gather them up. "...Sorry, Smildon. I didn't mean to pry..."

"It's fine, it's fine….Just don't mention any of this ever again, to anyone else; and we'll call it even."

"Well Tom, I must say it's been awhile since you've stopped by here." Bodal said, crossing his arms in a pompous manner. "Are you going to help me organize the arsenal, or are you just going to laze about."

"Nice to see you too, Bodal." Tom sighed, pressing down his annoyance. "Actually, I was wondering if you could answer some questions."

One of the best and worst things about Bodal, minus his job, would have to be how much he talked. The creature was often synonymous with "Blather-mouth", and if you could get him to talk, he'd spill the beans about all sorts of secrets. Examples of this being rare battle gear, or bits of gossip he'd gathered from others. Yep, if you ever wanted to know something most kept quiet about, you'd ask Bodal.

If you were willing to wade through his sass and blabbering.

"Oh if it's about the new battle gear, I'm afraid that's clasifi-"

"No, no, It doesn't involve any battle gear," Tom quickly cut in, making his way to Bodal's desk. He kept mind of the scattered papers that littered the floor, remembering how'd he'd nearly had his ear yelled off last time he stepped on one. "Do you know anything about an Oasis, one around the Overworld and Mipedian border?"

"An Oasis?" Bodal raises an eyebrow. "There's only a few, but why would you want them? They don't offer much in terms of benefits, not mugically or battlegear wise. As a matter of fact, most of them are left under the Mipedian control due to their kingdom's lack of water. Trust me it was quite a pickle deciding that when the official borders were drawn, Maxxor's father nearly-"

"Bodal, are there any creatures that live there? Like a village or something?"

"At the Oases? If you mean around, yes; there are probably some villages, but not too close, seeing as they're rather close to the border." Bodal pondered, gazing away as he thought. "But with the war finally ending, perhaps they'll move closer. That could be a problem if-"

"Bodal." Tom deadpanned, starting to lose his patience. "What about Hitali, do you know who he is?"

"Hitali?!" Bodal turned his gaze back at Tom, eyes wide with shock. He didn't even notice the inkwell he knocked over in his haste. "Where did you hear about him?!"

"I've just heard about him from some other creatures, who is he? Also you spilled ink all over you paper…"

"Gah! Don't just stand there - go get me some rags!"

It took Tom a few moments to find the rags, seeing as they were scattered here and there. By the time Bodal and him had clean up all the ink, the parchment was beyond saving. Bodal sighed, rubbing his temple as he tried not to focus on all the work lost.

"Tom,"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you want to know about Hitali?" It came out more as a groan, like Bodal dreaded answering it.

"Well, I was hoping to get a scan of him. From what I've heard, everyone says he's really tough." Tom half lied, knowing that Hitali himself had said he was pretty strong.

And for the second time Tom could ever remember, Bodal paused. Tom could see the look in his eyes, the way he was thinking carefully about what he was going to say. This meant that there must have been more than what Bodal was about to say. But before he could accuse the green skinned creature about it, Bodal spoke up once more.

"You can't."

Tom waited for him to go on but oddly enough, Bodal remained quiet. It was almost unnerving, not hearing an extremely long description coming from him...

"...and why not?" Tom asked, more to break the odd silence then to answer his question.

"Because," Bodal returned to his desk, grabbing a new parchment of paper and going back to work. "Hitali is dead. He's been dead for nearly twenty solans now, if I can recall correctly."

And just like that, it seemed a damn had opened, because now Bodal wouldn't shut up.

"It was a honorable death, at least. You see, Hitali was a scout for Maxxor's father. During a fire in the underworld capital; Hitali notice that in one of the burning homes, two children had gotten stuck inside. He dove in, wanting to save the children. Yet the fire had been too much, and all three were lost to the blaze. He was a decent creature, minus his greed and gambling problems. One of the Overworlds best scouts at the time. But I doubt anyone else remembers him, seeing by how long it's been…."

"... oh."

That's all Tom really could say. because unless he'd died for the majority of last night, then Hitali wasn't dead. Yet Bodal didn't seem to notice Tom's confusion.

"Yes, but I recommend you don't ask the others about Hitali, there have been some unsavory rumors going around about him for a while now."

"Really? Like what?"

"Oh, well it's all over the board. Some say that he was having an affair with an underground warrior, while others say he was actually a mipedian spy. Of course if Maxxor ever heard of them, the culprits usually suffered greatly. You see, Hitali was to Maxxor as Drabe was to A- wait a minute, what does Hitali have to do with an Oasis?"

"Nothing, I was just-" Tom paused, scrambling to think up something. "- Just trying to get a good scan for a friend of mine!. You know, for the game."

"Ah, right. Well, do you have anymore questions?" Bodal asked, once again lifting his head to face Tom. "Because i'm terribly busy, seeing as Olkiex is currently on vacation. You know, despite his lack of common sense, he's really deserved this vacation; even though I have no idea where he is-"

"Can you tell me about Smildon?"

"You mean the Smildon that lives in Prexxor's Chasm? Don't you already know him?" Bodal squinted in mild annoyance. "I mean, you were the one that-"

"Yeah yeah, I mean, why does he say he's going to "join" the Overworlder? Isn't he already one?"

"Smildon? Oh heavens no! Barely any creature that live in Prexxor Chasm are Overworlders." Bodal chuckled, shaking his head at the thought. "Despite their origins and connections, those creatures are all tribeless, even Smildon! Although it would be a wise choice to take Maxxor's offer and finally join the Overworlder, seeing as he isn't getting-"

"Tribeless?! There are tribeless creatures?!" Tom gawked, eyes wide. "How come no one ever mentioned this?!"

"Well of course there are! It'd be silly not to have tribeless creatures. You see, every tribe has their unwanted outcasts, their undesirables, and their exiled. They also have their runaways but they're basically the same thing..." Bodal began, a smile on his face as he explained. "Now, normally these creatures ether stay within their original tribes borders -there for remained "loosely" in that tribe- or they go to a new tribe! This is more common with Underworlders and the Overworlders, but some Mipedians and Danians do this too."

"Bodal, that doesn't-" Tom began, before being quickly cut off by Bodal once more.

"I wasn't finished!" Bodal snapped, crossing his arms. "...as I was saying; Tribeless are when you get a creature who doesn't want to go to any of the other tribes, or the other tribes wouldn't take them. Now, a number of reasons could be lack of civility, morals, committing an unspeakable crime; it can go on and on and such."

"If there are so many reasons for a creature to become tribeless, why aren't there any?" Tom asked, before adding. "I mean, why haven't I heard about them before?"

"Well, think about it. All of the nearby land is the territory of the 4 tribes. And considering that tribless are the rejects or abonders of their tribes -most likely living out in shame or secrecy- very few trust and respect them. So the tribeless are normally forced to live in horrible places in order to live in peace and not be driven out. Thus, why Smildon originally stayed in Prexxor's Chasm. Actually, now that I think about it; He might have even been born there, but then again I've only heard stories about him so I have no idea about his complete backstory. Yet his described characteristics don't match any other tribes, seeing as he's…"

And just like that, Bodal went along on a tangent again. It wasn't like Tom noticed, seeing as he was too busy thinking about the possibility of the tribeless. If they were all strong like Smildon and Hitali, then they'd be great for his deck!

"Whoa...man, wait until I tell Kaz and the gang! Thanks Bodal, I owe you o-" Tom began, before once again being interrupted by Bodal.

"You owe me three, actually. Seeing as how i've answered three of your questions." That smug look returned, and Bodal hopped off his stool and over to some near by battle gear. "You can start organizing with the turwigs to your right, and then make your way around the room counterclockwise. And make sure not to step on any of my papers!"

It would take Tom another five hours to weasel his way out of helping Bodal.

The port court was, as always, full of players. So when Tom called Kaz, Sarah, and Peyton to meet up with him by the drones suddenly; it wasn't surprising that two out of the three of them would be busy.

Kaz was stuck in a drone match, and Sarah was on a secret Mt. Pillar scan quest.

Thankfully, Peyton was free. So Tom had Peyton meet him outside by Imthor's drone, on a bench near some of the greenery. Just far away so that no one would hear, but not to shady to suspect something…

"Wow, you know i've heard rumors about there being Tribeless Mipedians, but no one ever talks about 'em before, dude." Peyton said, taking a second to sip on the soda he'd snagged from the port cort. "Mipeidans consider it a major "no-no" to let them happen, you know? All that secret Mipedian knowledge and such."

"Then why doesn't anyone talk about them? You'd figure someone would slip and mention it…" Tom muttered, examining an overworld map he managed to swipe from Bodal's place.

"Well, no one has, like, ever met a tribeless that didn't straight up attack them, save you and your bro Smildon." With hands moving wildly for emphasis, Peyton had always been an interesting person to talk to. "Plus the ones who get away are normally super, super hidden. And they like to keep it that way, know what i'm saying? Just imagine like, 50 angry Najarins."

"Wait, are they all as strong as him?!" Tom exclaimed, eyes wide.

"I dunno, probably? Listen i've only gathered this from the few times anyone's answered me bro. Even the other Mipedians don't know who's really tribeless or who's, well… gone." Peyton shrugged, his voice drifting off at the last part.

"Wait, you mean that-"

"Yeah, but they're usually just rumors…" Peyton's voice seemed to get calmer. "Something to give some dudes to hold on to, you know?"

"Yeah...yeah I know." Tom sighed, letting a silence settle between them.

"Oh, Sorry Major T I didn't-" Peyton fumbled with his words, trying to backtrack on what he said.

"Nah, it's cool, don't sweat it Peyton." Tom replied as he sat the map down on the bench they were on. He smoothed it over and reached for a pencil. "You got any idea where some towns are? I'm thinking that if I ask around, I could find something about it."

"Huh, well…" Peyton plucked the pencil, examining the map before placing a few X's here and there. "Those are only a few I know about, sense my Mipedian bros tends to want to show of their homes and such. Apparently a lot of them came from small villages!"

"Thanks Peyton, I couldn't have done this without you." Tom smiled, quickly folding up the map and stashing it in his pocket. "And if you could, maybe just keep it between me, Kaz, and Sarah? If I actually find something, I don't want another Threshold incident, you know?"

"No problemo Major T! Just make sure to include us if you find anything, alright?" Peyton smiled back. "And make sure to bring plenty, and I mean plenty of water my dude. Desert gets hot like nobodies business."

"I've been here for like what, two years? I think I can handle the desert Peyton." Tom smugly said, grabbing his scanner. "I'm gonna head on home and make sure I got everything though. See ya in a few?"

"See ya in a few dude," Peyton nodded, waving Tom off as he ported back to earth. Peyton himself got up from the bench and made his way to Imthor's Drone. He had a battle to win, and he wasn't going to be late for this one. This was going to be his sith battle before finally getting a shot at Imthor, and he was ready.

The water pushed and pulled, it swirled and swished, it rose and fall. Their gate, their connection to the outside, was normally calm and still. Even when people emerged from its depths with supplies and such; rarely did it stir.

Yet, today, the water seemed to thrash and squirm, slapping against the edges like miniature tidal waves.

At times when the water became wildly, it meant change was in the air.

Yet would this change be good or bad? She did not know...

"Tide speaker," a voice called out, footsteps becoming louder and louder as a figure approached. "Tide speaker, is there any change in the pools?"

"None, I fear." She croaked, her voice raspy from her age. "It seems as if we are in for another strange occurrence…"

"...do you know it's nature?"

"..."

Silence envelopes the two; the pools making up for this by their splashing and slapping. It could almost be peaceful, if not for the sense of foreboding.

"Perhaps." Sticking her clawed hand into the water, she felt the current lightly push and pull . "The playful nature of the suggests a kind heart, yet their current shows they have a warriors spirit; one that has suffered many hardships…"

"So they're young and hurt? I swear if it's another orphan i'm going to beat the everloving carp out of the creature who-"

"No, they are not like us...they are not from our world…"

"...so a human?"

"I believe so...but the waters have never acted this way before. Not like the others…"

"...so an important human."

"In a way, yes."

The silence envelops them again, just as the tides do with the beach. And just like the oceans, sometimes you'd never know what'd you find once your searched its dark depths…

She hoped that when the time came, her fellow tribeless would make the right choice on what to do with this "human".