Kallista walked through Polaris, making slow and cautious movements. She had no idea where the caracal who attacked her was now, and she could come across them at any time. The thought scared her half to death, but she pushed on. She would survive this, somehow. She just...had to constantly move and hope she never came across them. Across Imperia. The name always sent chills down her spine.

She continued walking, looking around. She wanted to go to every room, explore what all there was to see in all of the caves. She'd stay away from Pisces, though. Maybe one day she'd go back. Today was not the day, however. Today she would continue her exploration of Polaris. While walking, she soon found a river that cut through a part of Polaris. She padded up to it and looked down. It looked to be fairly deep and very wide.

---

Kallista looked down into the water and could see a reflection of herself. She blinked in surprise at seeing what she looked like. She knew she looked terrible, but not...this. Her face was covered in scratches, mostly around her eyes, and some of the fur had been burned away to reveal burnt skin. Her left eye was completely gone-as she knew-and the socket was closed around where it once was. Multiple scars littered the space around it. She had three very distinct scratches along her left cheek, right below her socket. They were quite deep.

She brought a paw up to the scratches on her left cheek and let out a hiss. It still hurt. She brought her paw down and looked around, pointedly looking away from the water. She didn't want to see her reflection again. She never wanted to. She didn't want anyone to see her face. It was terrible. How could anyone stand to look at her? They just...wouldn't have to. She'd stay away from everyone. Everyone except for one, that was. Maybe two. But no more than that. She'd travel, but she'd stay far, far away from others.

---

Kallista began to walk away from the river. She didn't want to look at her reflection again. Ever. It just reminded her of how...different she looked. Reminded her that she had just one eye. Not that she needed a reminder. There was always the dull ache, a pain that would likely never go away. And she always had her memories. Memories she tried so, so hard to get rid of, but failed.

She'd never forget the battle. She'd never forget what the caracal looked like. The way they crouched. The way they fought. Their claws. How the claws on their right paw were pink, most likely from their gem. The glint in their eyes when they seemed to get the idea to go after her eyes. How could they forget all of that? It would be impossible. Was this how Todd felt? Did he feel as if he'd never forget what had happened to him? She sighed and stopped walking. She had come across a rock. She leaned against it and sighed. She'd never truly recover from this, would she?

---

Slumped against the wall, Kallista began to think. Due to the battle, her world seemed to be upside down. Everything she had ever known had changed. She used to insult others without a care, not bothering to wonder how the other felt about it. She hadn't cared. She took pleasure in insulting others. But now...Now she had been insulted. Worse, she had been attacked! She lost an eye! She hadn't expected the caracal-who was much younger than she-to be able to do that. If they could, couldn't anyone?

---

How could Kallista possibly trust anyone? They could just attack her! Who was to say they couldn't? If someone younger than she, maybe even smaller than she is could do it...Who was to stop anyone else? And while some may view her as tough because she only had one eye, surely others would also see her as weak. In fact, one glance and anyone could see that is is weak. She had one eye, yes. And it may be seen as tough. But also weak. She couldn't have even defended herself and made sure she didn't get horribly injured! She surely could have done something to make sure she didn't lose an eye. She didn't know what, but there had to have been something.

She could have turned away. She could have tried to get them off of her. She could have scratched them, perhaps right on the nose. That would have made them turn away, right? Deterred them from their attack? Even as the cat thought on this, she knew there was nothing she could have done. Their movements had been quick and precise. The caracal had been too fast and had known exactly what they were doing. Kallista had not, and she had paid the price.

---

Kallista sighed. What was she to do now? Could she ever face anyone after what had happened? Surely she couldnt. And yet she would anyway. She didnt want to be completely isolated. She may go out and see others, but she'd have a different outlook on it all. There was no way to tell whether or not someone would attack her. So she'd think of everything differently.

Maybe...maybe there were three groups of gembounds. Those who won't attack anyone-which might be hard to come across. Maybe there werent any like that. Maybe there were a few, very few. Either way, it would be hard to tell. There were also those who would attack within reason. Surely this would be the largest group, right? There can't be many who wouldnt attack at all. And...

The last group. Those who will attack without reason. The caracal that had attacked her surely belonged to this group. And if they did, then who was to say that nobody else did? There had to be others in that group. Who could they be? How could she ever tell?

---

As Kallista thought about the different groups, her thoughts drifted to the battle, as they often did. This time, though, she mainly thought of the magic the caracal had used. They had fire, and that had given them the advantage. She didn't have much, nothing that would be useful in a battle.

As she thought about it, she decided she may as well try her spell. Maybe she could have done something to hurt the other. Or maybe at least appear threatening. Would that have worked? Probably not, but it would have been worth a try, right? She closed her eyes and began to focus on her magic.

---

Almost immediately, Kallista's fur began to crackle from the spell. They jumped from one place to the other. It didn't hurt her, so would it hurt someone else? She didn't know. Maybe it would make their fur stand up. That wouldnt really help either, though. She sighed. She had one other spell, but she doubted that could do anything either. It was worth a try anyway, right? She closed her eyes and let the static stop before focusing on the next spell.

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