THEY walked outside and Dada smiled. He lifted his hand as small rays of light danced along his palm. It disappeared quickly and Shishi brought him back with a smack on the head.

“Dada, what are you doing?” He gave Shishi a dumb look while the latter just shook his head. “You have to go home and I…well you’re not coming with me ok?” A stern look crossed Shishi’s face as Dada nodded and he sighed. “It’s just ‘cause you’re all cut up ok?” Dada nodded again as Shishi jogged off, disappearing behind the green wall.

A little way across the clearing, one Matoki received some instructions from high up. He paused and watched the red mask move into the forest and the green mask head towards the houses. A sly smile lit his face, invisible behind his grey mask, as he slid into the Wood unnoticed.

He stood in silence of the forest; even his breath was quiet with only murmurs from the clearing behind him. He waited until he heard the rustling and padding of paws against the dirt. He sped after them, bounding up a tree and making his way through the canopy. He jumped, bounced and flittered through the branches entirely silent unlike his oblivious companion below. He hooked his hands around a branch and somersaulted over a small space where a tree had recently fallen, emptying the place where it stood.

The two reached the edge of the wood. Above the ground, he waited as the red mask pushed through the forest. Counting in his head, he leaped from the trees and out of the Wood. Around him was silence, only his breath reaching his ears that peeked above the black. His head jerked to the right when the rustling caught his attention. It was moving quick and he knew it was Shishi. The turned his body and pushed at the ground, propelling himself through the bushes, as silent as possible, disguising his steps in time with his companion’s.

After a few short minutes the rustling stopped and Shishi’s movements turned from soft padding to loud thumps. They had reached the Waste but Shishi kept running. The Matoki behind followed as silently as possible, counting the seconds again before moving. When he burst through the bushes he’d lost him. It had become dark when they were in the forest and now the planet had become different shades of black. One shade blurred in front of the Matoki and he moved towards it.

Before he got close enough be heard, the ground burst in front of him. Flames rolled towards the sky and at the large lump at Shishi’s feet. The fur burnt quickly but the flesh and fat sizzled. The fire was tall and the tips flickered against the polluted air. The dirt beneath was becoming black and embers floated around the burning mass, dying seconds after liberty from the flames. Shishi’s companion could only see his silhouette, a thin orange glow outlining his shape. Heat penetrated him as he crouched away from the fire, trying to be invisible in the glow. He shifted his feet, looking down at his paws in the firelight.

He checked on his companion but the silhouette was gone. He heard rustling far off and realised his solitude. The Matoki moved over to the mass.

It was a Tyrant. The dark blue, almost black fur had been singed away, white skin bare and burnt. The large body was half eaten by the flames and the ribcage left empty with room enough to fit ten of their tall eared prey. Green blood spilled from the neck, staining the ground while the Tyrant’s claws had fallen from the finger bones after the fire had receded to the centre of the animal. The Matoki circled the beast slowly, in awe of the flames. It was difficult to kill a Tyrant; the thick skin was hard to pierce without a gun or large blade. He felt the smooth, warm surface of the claw against his paw and flipped it in his hand, forming a fist around the thicker end. He jabbed it in the air a few times, admiring the dynamics of it, and moved silently and invisibly back into the bushes.