Night was now beginning to fall, and the stoklier cave was restless as Lopu and Ikri were preparing to set out into Hadari.  But before they could leave, one thing needed to be taken care of.

"Velte?  Velte, come here!" Ikri screeched demandingly.

The young stoklier, no older than 4 juni trens of age, scurried out. "Yes, mama? I'm he-"

She let out a terrified screech as Ikri's claws came in contact with Velte's face, scratching her straight across her eyes.

"You are a disappointment to all stokliers. Tonight will be your last meal." Ikri hissed.

Velte stared up at her mother in fear, her ears back and her tail between her legs.

"But mama—"

"Don't you 'but mama' me, missy! From tonight, you are banned from this clan."

She pulled some silk bandages out and placed them over Velte's eyes.

"Let this be a reminder of your curse. You will no longer use your eyes to paralyze or feed. They are useless now."

Velte was about to speak, but a loud screech from Lopu interrupted.

"Tonight, we will only have a small feast. Our true dinner is waiting here in our very cave!" he bellowed with his loud voice. The nearby stokliers cheered and hissed their approval as Lopu charged out, followed by the rest of the clan before Ikri chased after him, carrying Velte in her mouth.

Both females could hear Olkwa calling.

"Velte!  Velte!  Where are you?!" he pleaded.  "Sis, where are you?"

Velte let out a screech to alert her brother of her presence.  Olkwa's ears twitched as he followed the source of the sound, approaching Ikri.

"Velte!  There you are!  Mama?  What are you doing with Velte?  What's that over her eyes?" he questioned.

"From tonight, Velte is no longer your sister.  She is being banned from our clan." Ikri explained simply, struggling not to drop Velte.

"WHAT?!  Mama, you can't do this!  Papa will stop you!  He—"

"Approved of this.  He was the one who planned it."

Without listening to another word from Olkwa, Ikri dashed away before finding a cave and tossing young Velte in.

Velte screeched and wailed as she felt the world whizzing by her, and yelped when she felt her head hit a wall.  She looked around frantically.  She could barely see the dark night through the bandages over her eyes.

Scared, she ran.  She ran as fast as she could.  She ran deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Until finally, she tripped.

She tripped and tumbled down a rocky slope before she hit yet another wall, but this time it was different.  This time, the earth shook, and she could hear the sounds of rocks tumbling down.

She let out a startled wail as she struggled to escape in time, but it was too late.

The rocks fell around her.

She was trapped.

Trapped and alone.

With not even her brother to save her.