After a couple of minutes lying in silence, pressed against each other like they were scared this was all just a dream and that they would soon wake, apart once more, Thanatos told him to go clean his wounds and try to stop the bleeding.

Henry reluctantly moved away towards the lake and washed out the countless cuts and bruises, as well as the bite on his arm.

Thanatos was watching him, his gaze grim and regretful. "I don't hold it against you... just you know." Henry managed a crooked smile.

"Well, I do. Hold it against myself, that is. Had I just – AAGH!" Henry had approached him, attempting to clean the flier's wounds too now.

"Don't. I injured you as much as you did me – and I did it without being brainwashed." Henry inspected Thanatos' back closer for the first time, once more horrified by the number of scars on it now. For a second, he buried his face in the flier's fur. "I'm so sorry I let them do that to you. I... I should have looked for you, should have made an effort to –"

But Thanatos scoffed. "You had no reason to believe I wanted to be found. I... I do not want to think of it... I just want to forget... everything, everything that happened."

"The argument too?" Henry's voice was muffled from the fur.

"All of it. We... I can honestly not believe we let it get this far. After all that we've been through..." Thanatos mumbled, closing his eyes.

"... after I've lost a bond to estrangement before..." Henry's voice was quiet, yet the flier sensed the pain in it.

"It is in the past. And as much as we need to keep in mind, to learn from the mistakes we both made, it is still the past, and we should not dwell on it for too long."

"Okay", was all Henry answered, and it was more than enough.

"So, where do you want to go now?" Thanatos finally stretched his wings, after having spent nearly an hour tending to their injuries and just talking, about what Henry had done in the last four months, anecdotes from their past, plans for the future and just random things – like old times.

Henry sighed, his side still ached and he saw Thanatos was not in the best shape either. "Back to Kismet? At least for a while. It's not far from here and safe, we can both let our injuries heal properly before we go back to the Dead Land – I am itching for adventure, honestly!"

The flier chuckled. "What about that rock – did you bring it to Teslas yet?"

Henry widened his eye – "I had almost forgotten, no I did not! The colony first, then."

During the flight, Henry explained, his voice misted with the pain the memory brought with it, he had not been able to face anyone they knew, not after what had happened, and Thanatos nodded, understanding.

"They surely must ask themselves where we are and why we aren't coming at this point – Curie will have missed you greatly. She'll probably be all grown-up at this point, too!" Henry laughed, while Thanatos landed directly before Kismet's cave.

The scarred rat asked not many questions, much like she hadn't asked why Thanatos had been gone, back when she had saved Henry. Both of them were eternally grateful as neither wanted to explain the whole story at the moment, it was too painful of a memory. All they wanted was to just leave this entire episode behind them for good.

"We can never let dishonesty drive us apart like this again", Henry said while chewing on one of the Firebeetles. They had not thought about bringing fish from the lake, so it was the only food available.

Thanatos was lying beside him, head pressed against his side, he had already filled his stomach with the beetles earlier. Kismet had left to occupy herself down in her caves where she kept her research and allowed Thanatos and Henry to stay for maybe another week or so until their injuries had healed.

"You are right. From now on, no more secrets... I promise." The flier inched a little closer to him and Henry nodded. "No more secrets. I promise as well."

"You... you are still burning with questions, concerning what I talked about with Hamnet, are you not?" Thanatos sounded hesitant now, and Henry thought just how painful it must be to talk about for him.

"You... you were there. In the Garden of the Hesperides... were you not?" Henry dug in his memory to help the flier. "Was that why you ran away? Like Hamnet?" In the very same moment, he remembered Luxa's uncle mentioning Thanatos had left three years after him, and he decided to ask a different question first. "What... what was your life like, back then? Before you left? You knew Hamnet and Mareth... anyone else I know?"

Thanatos sighed, and Henry saw him smile sadly. "All of them. We were all... friends – Mareth, Hamnet, your father Jason, and Luxa's mother, Hamnet's twin sister, queen Judith. We... and our bonds, we were nigh-inseparable back then. Judith's and Hamnet's older sister Susannah and her husband York were acquainted with us too, though they were not truly part of our little gang."

"Who... was Arya?" Henry had wanted to ask who his bond had been, but he had a feeling he had asked the question by asking for the name.

He felt Thanatos pushing his face into his side like he didn't want Henry to see it. "She was... we were... bonds, as you probably guessed. She was... not royalty or anything, a soldier, like Mareth. They were cousins, actually. It had been him who had first introduced us."

Henry was silent for a moment, trying to imagine it all. His father, all these people... and Thanatos. Young and careless and together, a gang of, how he presumed, troublemakers – and best friends.

"How..." Henry started kneading his hands, "what was she like? Arya, I mean."

Thanatos chuckled. "Brave... and bold, always rushing head-first into the action. You... you two would have gotten along." The thought made Henry grin, he lied down, leaning his head against Thanatos' back.

"I admit", the flier continued, "you are similar in a lot of ways... but then again, Arya had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I ever met. She was compassionate and caring – if she wasn't currently kicking the ass of whoever made the mistake to mess with someone she cared about. And we all know you have the social sensitivity and empathy of a rock."

They both laughed at that. "I would have liked to have met her", Henry finally said.

After a moment of silence, Henry asked for the second name he had heard during Thanatos' conversation with Hamnet. "What about... Persephone?"

The flier sighed. "She... she was Hamnet's bond. And... she and I, we..." Henry noticed he hesitated, "we were... companions. Before... before all of that happened, we thought we would spend our lives together... have pups, grow old at each other's side..."

Henry grinned. "I never realized you ever had... someone like that."

Thanatos grunted. "Why? Didn't take me for the type?" They both broke into laughter before the flier continued – "Actually, me neither, before I met her."

"She must have been special", the exiled prince smiled.

"She... I said Arya had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I had ever met – Persephone's was the second. She... she was so kind, caring, understanding... always listened to everyone's problems, never complaining, never judging and never demanding anything for herself. She... she deserved the world, you know? And what she got, was..." Thanatos interrupted himself, his voice breaking away.

Henry's head was spinning. "She died in the Garden..." He remembered Ripred saying Hamnet's bond had died that day – and Thanatos retreating at the mention of her. It all made sense now.

"She... I wanted to save her, but..." The flier's voice was muffled with sadness now, "Arya had been in peril, and Hamnet assured me he would reach her. I... I dove for Arya, and he... he never got to Persephone."

Henry turned around and wrapped his arms around Thanatos. He could feel his body trembling with pain, and at that moment, all Henry wanted was to alleviate that pain as much as he could.

The flier resumed speaking after a short silence, like he just wanted to get everything off his chest now. "After Persephone and my mother both died in the Garden and Hamnet left, a couple weeks later, Arya was the only reason that held me in civilization. I moved to live in Regalia with her, from the flier's land, after that, and we kept each other's sorrow at bay, for the next three years."

"What about your father?" Henry asked, "Or any other relatives?"

"Never had any, at least not any close ones", Thanatos replied. "My father died shortly after I was born, I have only faint memories of him." Henry remained silent, he felt the flier's loneliness and pain like it was his own now.

"Or gang was disassembled", Thanatos continued, "Mareth and Arya remained close, but your father and Judith grew more distant. The loss of Hamnet, Persephone, and that of your father's bond Hecate had done irreversible damage to all of us."

Henry knew that this next part would be as hard to talk about as the previous, if not harder. "What... what happened to her? Arya, I mean."

He felt the flier tense up. "She... we... we grew reckless. Some three years after the incident at the Garden, the humans had trouble with one of Gorger's general specifically, who was rumored to even be the king's right-hand-man. Many believe he would be his successor to the throne, too. Though, if I'm informed correctly, Gorger banished him about five years ago, for he had tried to assassinate him, apparently not willing to wait any longer for the crown."

Henry listened carefully, arms still wrapped around his flier, attempting to provide as much comfort and reassuring he was not alone, as possible.

"That general, you know him", said Thanatos then, to Henry's surprise.

"Who..." Suddenly, the exiled prince saw the flier's shocked face when he had seen Longclaw in the ice caves for the first time, and remembered how the rat had recognized him, even mentioned a "girl". Had he meant... Arya? Had he been the one who... "Wait..."

"Yes, it was your good friend Longclaw, the same who kidnapped me at the lake. He..." Thanatos chuckled dryly, "is something of an old friend." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"He killed... Arya? And he kidnapped you... before pining us against each other, most likely on purpose?" Henry pondered for a moment. "What in the world did you do to anger him so much he bore the grudge for over eight years?"

"I..." Thanatos sighed. "Arya and I, we were sent into battle against him back then. We were losing, but then we used a trick to lure his army to a cliff. We caused the floor to collapse and they all fell to their death. All, except for Longclaw."

An image of a similar scene flashed in Henry's mind... the floor had collapsed on an army of rats, back when he had fallen... Go, go, go, go. Stand with your friends – The memory of Ripred's voice, sharp as a blade – the gnawer pushing him towards Gorger until he had tripped and fallen...

Angrily Henry shut his eyes. He did not want to remember that night, and yet Thanatos noticed his breaths were shaky now. "It was what happened when you fell too, wasn't it? I do not remember much from back then, but I do remember that. That, and your voice, screaming for your bond... who didn't come."

Henry nodded, face still buried in the flier's fur. "What... what did he do to Arya?"

"We..." Thanatos sighed, "I made the mistake to brag to him, hanging from a ledge, barely able to move, how we had defeated him. Arya had wanted to send him flying to his death, but I said... I said it was not necessary anymore, he would surely fall on his own soon." His voice was pained and Henry realized saying that was one of the biggest regrets Thanatos must be harboring.

"Turned out he was stronger than we had anticipated. A few weeks later he decided to have his revenge... He set a trap, and Arya and I walked right in."

An uneasy feeling started to rise in Henry's chest and he wrapped his arms around Thanatos even tighter.

"He... he and his henchmen overpowered us. He..." The flier was noticeably shaking now, "They restrained me in place, then Longclaw dragged Arya off my back. He said... he said I would watch her die like he had watched his men die because of us."

Henry was unable to speak, all he could do was listen in horror.

"He... he dragged her over to a ledge and... and pushed her down. She... she fought him valiantly but she... she was not strong enough and I..." Thanatos was stuttering now, "I... I was not either. I tried to free myself from the rats' grasp, I really did – I nearly dislocated my wing in an attempt to break free, but I couldn't... I couldn't... they were four rats holding me and they were... stronger..."

Henry heard him take a breath, trembling from distress and trauma. "I did wiggle free at last – Longclaw tried to slash at me, he... he is who I have to thank for the scar on my face."

Henry eyed the flier from the corner of his eye. The scar told of a terrible injury, it tore Thanatos' face in half in an angry gash, not unlike Ripred's scar.

"I... I dove after Arya as soon as I was free, but... it was too late. All I could do was watch her body shatter at the bottom of the cliff." Thanatos was heaving now, "I... I can still hear her screaming my name in my dreams. It will haunt me until I die... I... I could not return to Regalia after that. Longclaw tried to kill me when I came back up, but I would not give him the satisfaction. I fought back and – that scar on his chest, it... it was me who made it. I thought the wound would do him in for good, but apparently, he is not as easy to kill as all of us would like."

Henry remembered the gash across Longclaw's chest all too well. His head was spinning now and he pressed his face into Thanatos' fur to suppress his own urge to cry, that overcame him, all of a sudden. "I... I am so... sorry, I did not..."

"You could not have known. It's... it's alright." Thanatos attempted to sound comforting while Henry knew it was the flier who needed comfort more.

"That is... why you saved me... is it not?" The realization suddenly hit Henry. "It... you saw... her, not me..."

"You... you were falling, screaming for your bond who had abandoned you. It was like..." Thanatos hesitated, "It was like my second chance. My chance to save the one falling. I did not care about who you were or what you had done, but I could not watch another fall to their death like she had before my eyes."

They lied, nestled together, for what felt like an eternity. Henry's thoughts were reeling, he was still trying to wrap his head around the story Thanatos had told him. It made perfect sense why he had hesitated to tell it before, and Henry felt bad now, for having pressured him.

"You told Hamnet because... because he understood your grief." Henry finally spoke, face still buried in Thanatos' fur.

"We mourn the same people. And we both left for the same reason. To... die." Thanatos replied. "I knew I could never go back and face everyone back in Regalia. I... I was not strong enough to bear the news of Arya's death. I knew it was a cowardly move, but I... I couldn't."

"No, I understand." Henry thought about how he himself hadn't been able to face the nibblers after Thanatos had left.

"I contemplated killing myself then and there", the flier continued, "I was really close to doing it, but then... I just couldn't bring myself to. I thought nothing could be a better punishment for my own failure then what is custom for betraying your bond... exile. So I decided to stay... in the Dead Land and wait for something to finally put me out of my misery. Because that was what I was doing... for seven years, until you came along. Running away from my past and hiding from my own shame."

"Nothing left to live for, yet no reason to die either", Henry mumbled, remembering the numbness that had engulfed him for four months.

Thanatos made a surprised noise and Henry, after a moment of hesitation, described the feelings he had had to deal with over the course of the last months.

"You tasted what it was like, then. I wish you wouldn't have had to, but... that was it, that was what it felt like. I was... essentially dead inside, just waiting for my life to end. No fears, no desires, no attachments... no hope. And then... then you came. And you... you needed me. Suddenly... suddenly there was... something to live for again."

Henry smiled. "I'm glad I was able to save you as much as you saved me then. But please do not assume you are worth any less than me." He remembered what Thanatos had said when he had refused to take his hand at the lake. "You are not lost."

For the first time, Henry let go of Thanatos and sat up, looking directly at him. "You are worth as much as I am, and as long as there is hope for me, there is hope for you. You've been through terrible things, there is no denying that, but look at you now – you have friends, a new bond... you were lost, but you were also found. If you need me to give you hope, that's what I will do. It's what bonds are for."

Rarely ever Henry had experienced the flier speechless, but now was one of those moments. "Y... you... you truly believe that?"

Henry had a feeling this was the first time in eight years that Thanatos had had hope not just for Henry, but also himself.

"Remember my words, and whenever you despair, think of them. I refuse to lose you like I lost everything else that I ever held dear, and I will do anything in my power to be there for you. Always. You are... my best friend, my brother... and no matter what life throws at us, we'll pull through – and we'll do it together." Henry was, for the first time in forever, absolutely certain about his words.

Thanatos hesitated, then he smiled. "I'll hold you to that, then, baby brother." He received a hefty nudge in the side for that, but in the end, they both ended on the floor, laughing their hides off.

After they had calmed down, Henry lied, head against Thanatos' back, again. Then, for the first time, the flier asked for Henry's own story. The exiled prince remembered he had heard bits and pieces of it from the rats, soon after he had saved him, but he realized as little as Thanatos had talked about his past, Henry had about his own.

He told the flier everything. From his panic attacks after his parents had died, over the difficulties of growing up without them, about his family – Luxa and Nerissa – and his former bond Ares, finally moving to his first encounter with Tonguetwist and how she had distorted his views on the rats and their relationship with the humans.

He then talked about his own doubts, but finally, the decision he had made to side with Gorger, and how the king had thanked him for it.

"I know my story is not nearly as sad as yours, as I dug my own grave by siding with the rats, and in truth, you should not feel any sympathy for me because of it – but I want you to know nonetheless. Judge me if you like, tell me I was stupid and a traitor who deserved what he got – I really do not care. I just... want you to know." Henry realized his eyes had filled with tears over the course of saying that.

Thanatos was silent for a moment. "Do not say that, please do not. It is true that what you did was wrong, but you did not deserve what you got. Not by a long shot. Because, as bad as it was, the most important thing is, you regret it – and you actively seek a way to make up for it. In your own eyes as much as in the eyes of the people you betrayed, which is so much more than anything I ever did over the course of the seven years before I met you."

Henry bit his lip. "It's not like it matters though. They – especially Luxa – will never forgive me. All I can hope is, for them to never find out I'm even... alive." A single tear escaped his eye and Henry wiped it away angrily. He did not want to cry now, not because of something so... pointless.

"The thing with betrayal is... the closer the people that betray us are to us, the more it hurts... and the more difficult it is to forgive." Thanatos' voice was soothing. "But do not write anything off. The future is unknown... who knows what it holds. After all, from what I remember Luxa herself condemned the Death Rider to leave, back on the waterway, while seeking his help in the jungle. If she can come around to accepting an unknown outcast, who says there is no hope for Henry?"

The exiled prince remained silent. In truth, he had told himself there was no hope because he did not want to believe and then be disappointed.

"And besides", Thanatos continued, "Mistakes are always good for a lesson. And imagine what would have happened if you hadn't made this particular one – you would have continued locking yourself in your own golden cage, blind to the world, with a bond you did not trust anymore. You would never have learned any of the things exile taught you, I mean, look at yourself now – you have achieved incredible things, have you not? You learned to see in the dark, to speak another tongue, to survive on your own... you even became one of the strongest fighters most likely ever known to the humans... and you have...", he hesitated, unsure whether he should say this last thing, "... you have found me... for what it's worth. And if you hadn't found me... I... I would most likely be dead now."

Thanatos' words were followed by a long silence in which Henry contemplated what he had said, and his own future. He knew he would always do everything he could... if there even was anything... to help Luxa and the others, and possibly one day win their trust back.

Anything.

About an hour later, Kismet poked her head into the cave, telling them she had been out fishing and asking if they wanted any. The three of them ended up around a campfire together, sharing a meal of grilled fish, around ten minutes later.

Henry was chewing on a piece, thinking about how much better it was then the Firebeetles, and staring at Thanatos' scar that split his face, and the story his bond had told him today.

"You know what... Longclaw needs to be taught a lesson." He raised his voice finally and both Thanatos and Kismet looked at him, surprised.

"After what he did to Arya... and to you, over the last four months... I can not believe you have not sought out and tried to kill him yet yourself."

"Longclaw? Is he still breathing?" Kismet's voice sounded hoarse, "Well, someone urgently needs to fix that."

"That's what I've been saying!" Henry exclaimed. "We can not simply let him walk away after having caused so much misery. Don't you agree?"

Henry saw in Thanatos' face that he had long given up on ever getting back at Longclaw. "You... you would do that... for me?"

Henry suppressed the urge to roll his eye. "Did you not listen to what I told you earlier? I'd go to the ends of the earth and back for you. And besides, I have my own reasons to hate him. He pinned us against each other on purpose – I am certain of it. He probably only suggested I should become a champion to have me face you eventually."

Kismet's eyes showed curiosity, and, after exchanging a glance with Thanatos, Henry finally told her how he had met the flier in the arena, under Longclaw's control, and how they had almost killed each other.

She shook her head. "The bastard needs to finally die. If you go and kill him, you'd be doing the world a huge favor. Just... promise me you'll make it painful, kay?"

Thanatos and Henry exchanged glances again. "If you are willing to do this, I am with you", the flier finally said, and Henry threw him a crooked smile. "Let's go get him."