The silence on top of the little plateau was almost deafening. The only sound, almost painfully loud in Henry's ears, was the consistently rushing stream below them. The water level had sunken a little, since they had arrived, but it would most likely take days for it to drain entirely.

He was throwing glances at the group around his torch, they had huddled together even closer now after Mareth had left. Luxa had sent him away – she had claimed someone needed to report her whereabouts to her people – and he was of little use on the ground with his missing leg anyway.

Henry had never heard Luxa speak so bluntly before, her almost blank expression, as she had told that to Mareth's face, lingered in his memory, and his clenched jaw as he had taken it in. Of course, he had wanted to stay anyway, only when Ripred had reassured him he would protect her and the others, he had reluctantly obliged.

Mareth and Andromeda had taken off maybe fifteen minutes ago, and ever since then, the group had fallen silent. At some point, Ripred had nudged Henry in the side, saying they should probably eat something before they would start their trek – and here he was now, mindlessly dissecting the last of the four fish meant for the humans. The fliers had eaten while they had fished and were resting, hanging in a corner, now.

When Henry was finally done, he almost reluctantly turned to the group – would they even want what he had made anymore? Now that they –

Before he could indulge in these thoughts more, Ripred had jumped up. "You finally done, lad? I am starving!" Henry couldn't suppress a grin, "Your fish is over there, Ripred, I don't think I need to dissect anything for you."

The rat stared at him for a second, "You mean to say I could have eaten all this time? Lad, why do you not TELL ME THAT?!" He brushed past Henry almost forcefully and immediately plopped down next to the pile of three fish the exiled prince had put aside for him.

Henry stared at him for a second, shaking his head in amusement, when someone suddenly tugged at his sleeve. "So, is dinner ready?" His gaze darted away from Ripred at Gregor, who had asked. Henry couldn't help but notice how worn out and tired the Overlander looked, he also seemed to have lost weight and looked paler than usual.

Gregor had way too much responsibility placed on him for his young age, he thought, and a wave of sympathy for him engulfed Henry suddenly, as he remembered how the Overlander had always remained kind to him, even after he had found out his identity.

"Yes, want to help me distribute it?", the exiled prince asked and gave him the most convincing smile he had. "Yes, of course", Gregor nodded, and together they carried the fish over to the others. At this point, nobody minded it was raw either.

Luxa took hers silently, disregarding both Henry and Gregor, but Howard jolted up as Henry dropped a fish before him. For a second he looked like he wanted to refuse it, but the exiled prince, frankly, had had enough. "Either eat it or catch your own food, Howard." When Luxa's cousin still eyed him suspiciously, he rolled his eye – "We have been traveling together for three quests now, and every time I've been stuck making food for you all. Had I wanted to POISON you, I'd have done so long ago!"

Howard reluctantly avoided his gaze at that and finally started eating, while Henry looked down at his own fish – and at the campfire. They had all sat around it so that there was little room left for him to join.

He hesitantly stepped back and finally sat down near the wall, away from everyone. Only now he realized he was squeezing the fish so hard his nails were digging into it. Frustratedly he averted his gaze and focused on eating, but their evidently rejecting behavior towards him hurt like an arrow to the heart.

He stared at them, his own words to Thanatos rang in his ears – I tried making myself believe they all showed their kindness to me – the true me. Henry. But they do not. Never in his life, he had wished to have been wrong more. But he had been. He stared at them, trying to come to terms with how his own bubble had been popped. He was not part of their team. He had never been. It had been the Death Rider. Not Henry.

"Hey lad, you got a game plan yet?" Henry jumped a little when he heard Ripred's voice next to him. He had not been focusing and the rat had been silent as ever.

He stared at Ripred for a second, his mind wiped blank. A plan? Why did he always have to have a plan? Why couldn't these guys take their stupid quest elsewhere and leave him be – if they weren't going to accept him anyway?

He finally bit his lip, realizing it was impossible. They were all stuck here, in the same boat. Semi-literally even, as there was still water surrounding them.

Almost like he had guessed his thoughts Ripred sighed. "Try to not take this personal, lad. They'll get over it, I promise. For now, keep doing what you do, even if nobody appreciates it. Just tell yourself that one day, they will. It helps. A little." Henry swallowed, throwing glances at his – their – team. "Kay." He couldn't bring himself to say more.

Angrily he blinked away a tear and clenched his jaw. Think, Henry, he commanded himself. Stand up and do something useful, you've babysat them for three quests, you can't just let a little silent treatment stop you. This is bigger than you and your stupid hurt feelings, it's bigger than them, bigger than anything the Underland's faced in centuries. So get your shit together and do what you always do, he scolded himself angrily while rising to his feet. He had already opened his mouth to address them when suddenly the torch flickered – and went out.

A nervous murmur went through the assembly on the ledge and Henry instantly realized they had a problem. "Hey, has one of you fuel?", he heard Howard ask, and shook his head before he realized they couldn't see him. "No, that was my last." He perceived everyone jerk around in his direction, "But what are we going to do now? I lost my flashlight in the battle", Gregor mumbled from where he had stood up.

Henry's mind was reeling. "Hey, aren't you the "always prepared for everything"-guy now?", Howard spoke, "why don't you have more? It's your torch, is it not?"

Henry angrily clenched his fist. "Because this torch is for emergencies. As you may remember, I don't need light to orientate anymore, usually." Howard remained silent and the exiled prince perceived him nervously shift. "We need to establish where we are", Henry finally decided, "Hey, Death?" He hated waking his bond, but they had no choice now.

"What happened?" Only moments later Henry heard the fluttering of three pairs of wings next to him. The fliers had joined them now. "Why is it so dark?", Aurora now asked, landing next to Luxa. "Because I did not pack enough fuel", Henry replied and bit his lip. "Death, do you have any idea as to where we are?" His eye had grown accustomed to the dark now so that he saw the shapes of his fellow travelers in what light the water emitted.

His bond was now at his side, "Andromeda said we have been driven east by the flood, and from how she described it, we are fairly close to the Firelands. Apparently, this tunnel leads further east, until it forks into three. I believe we know where that is."

Henry stared at him for a second, then understood. "The citadel! The right tunnel of three leads to the citadel! This... isn't this the exact place where Cylindra and you hid out when the cutters attacked, back then?"

Thanatos nodded, and fresh hope rose in Henry. "Okay, we may not be as screwed as we think", he addressed the others, taking a step forward. "I actually know where we are, and there is a place not far from here where I have –", but before he could finish his sentence, Howard stopped him. "One moment, but who exactly made YOU the leader?"

Henry froze in his tracks, staring at the face of Luxa's cousin in the dim light. "I –", but Howard gave him no opportunity to speak. "You have no place here anymore!"

It was like someone had stabbed a sword through his chest. Henry felt his head spin from the painful truth seeping from Howard's words. He had no place here. He wasn't even supposed to be here... here... he was supposed to be dead... right? Was that what... Howard had wanted to say?

"I will not follow anywhere you lead, you hear?", Howard kept speaking. At first, Henry barely listened, but he couldn't speak either. "We have put up with you so far because Regalia was on the line, but this is it for you. You... crawl back to where you came from, the Dead Land, or wherever you live now, I don't care. You have no right to be here, and we don't want you here, so leave, before I change my mind on the whole "arresting you"-issue – because, and, believe me, I'm thinking on it."

Only now Henry realized he was clenching his fist so hard his nails were almost piercing his skin. He... he had no place here... and yet... "And who gave you the authorization to talk like this? To even threaten to arrest me?" Henry angrily bit his lip and realized he hated how he felt so conflicted on talking back – he had always talked back, who was he to take shit from Howard?

His gaze darted over to Thanatos who seemed in some sort of conversation with Aurora and Henry was glad he didn't notice and feel the need to intervene. He could fight his own damn battles, after all.

There was still the guilt gnawing at him, whenever he looked at any of them – then again, when was it heard of that Henry of Re-... of the Dead Land, had been guilt-tripped into submission?

"You have not the power to command me – now less than ever!" He had taken a step forward, he and Howard were face to face now, glaring from narrowed eyes. "And if you think YOU can get them out of this one, be my guest! I can already sense the joy of watching you fail!"

Howard had already opened his mouth when a whip suddenly lashed down between them. In the last second, Henry managed to stumble back, Howard jolted away almost equally fast. Only when both of them saw the figure of Ripred looming between them they realized it had been his tail.

"Shut IT!" His screech was not overly loud yet still deafening in its intensity. Both of them retreated another step, staring at the rat unbelievingly.

His gaze wandered back and forth between the two young men, before angrily hissing – "For the love of everything we all fight for in this war, will you two CUT IT OUT at last?"

Henry saw Howard open his mouth to respond, but the rat beat him to it. "NO. I speak now. SHUSH." He grabbed Howard's arm with one, Henry's with the other paw, and pulled them in until they stood to both his sides. "Do you not see what you are doing here?" Henry followed his gaze, somewhat confused as to what he meant, until he saw Luxa and Gregor.

Luxa was sitting against the wall, face buried in Aurora's fur. Gregor was cowering with his legs pulled on, side by side with Ares. He was trying not to look, but Henry saw his gaze dart over to them once in a while.

"Do you GROWN MEN see those PUPS over there?" Ripred was still hissing almost quietly, presumably for Luxa and Gregor not to hear. "They, at the moment, have the responsibility of wars and peace and life and death and OH SO MUCH MORE weighing on their way too young shoulders, and what do you?" He shook both Howard and Henry slightly, "you give them MORE WORRIES instead of trying to lift the already existing ones! Because if you think your behavior has no impact on them – well, just LOOK!" He gestured in the direction of the kids again, and Henry suddenly felt a sting of shame pierce his heart.

"I –" By the expression in Howard's face, he saw he felt the same. "B... but he...", Howard then pointed at Henry, and cried in pain when Ripred tugged at his arm almost violently. "ESPECIALLY you. Can you for once get OVER YOURSELF and see what is right in front of you?"

With something like surprise, the exiled prince noticed Ripred had let go of his arm. "He", the rat gestured at Henry, "is not your enemy. He was, yes, but he is not anymore. Will you finally see the man who saved your sister from that ass Longclaw and not the confused traitor he has long grown out of?"

For the first time, Henry thought, Howard's gaze at him was not immediately hostile – though it was still far from friendly. "Just – oh I know, forgiving is hard and all, but could you guys just call a truce or something? Because, in all honesty, I have a terrible headache right now, and I could really use either of you babysitting the pups because I really, really don't want to do it. Got it?"

Henry blinked at him surprised, then stared at Howard. "How can I call a truce if he keeps on –", but Ripred interrupted again, "Oh for all our sake, your reason sits right there." He gestured over to Luxa. "How about we all focus on what you guys have in common for a second?"

"In common? With the –" Ripred shook his head. "Come on, this is getting ridiculous. The one thing that connects you two, for our – but mostly my – sake, let it unite you now, too. You both love and want to protect Luxa, right?"

His words were followed by a grave silence. Neither Henry nor Howard knew what to say to that – because it was painfully true. After almost a minute of staring at Ripred, they finally exchanged a glance.

"I still don't trust you", Howard remarked, "And I still can't stand your ass", Henry fired back. But before Ripred could interrupt again, he continued – "But what he says is true. We have more important things to fight than each other."

Howard visibly gulped, but finally nodded. "You are not my friend, or any of ours, for that matter – but it seems like your enemies are my enemies. I do not like this, and I am sure neither do you, but... fine. I am willing to... tolerate you, for as long as this war lasts." Henry shot him another glare, which Howard ignored.

"But after that", he continued and his eyes narrowed, "you will never show your face again, or, and you better believe me, I will make sure you are immediately arrested and, for that, executed – traitor."

"So, have I understood this correctly – you say there is a crawler colony only a few hours flight from here?" Howard was sitting as far away from Henry as he could and eyed him still suspiciously.

The exiled prince sighed. After they had called their forced truce, Ripred had assembled the group and asked Henry to elaborate on his plan. "Yes. And they're good friends of mine, ever since me and... and...", he suddenly realized this was not a good memory to share anymore since she had... "and Cevian... saved them from the cutters, almost two years ago."

Luxa's head darted up, she stared at him, but not really. "Cevian...?" Henry gave her a short smile. "Yeah. She was awesome that day. I would not have made it without her." Luxa smiled back, but her eyes remained empty.

"I", he cleared his throat, "I have tons of supplies stashed back there, everything one could ever ask for, fuel, medicine, food, ... we didn't loot the citadel stash recently, did we?", he asked Thanatos beside him, and his flier shook his head. "No, we actually just refilled it during our second trading run."

"Awesome, in that case, all we'll need to get back to Regalia should be there." At Howard's accusing glare he corrected himself, "all you guys need to get back to Regalia, of course."

All of a sudden, a voice, none of them expected to hear, spoke up. "Why are we talking of going back to Regalia?" Luxa was staring at them accusingly, like she had just realized what was going on. "I told you before, I will not go back to Regalia."

Ripred sighed. "We are not talking about taking the direct way. But we do need to get you back eventually, Your Majesty. Or do you wish to spend the rest of your days out here?" Luxa stared at him for a second, before looking away. "What are we waiting for then?"

Henry finally rose to his feet, about to call together the fliers, when he suddenly froze. "Guys..." All heads turned his way and he bit his lip, "Guys, we might have a problem." – "Speak up, lad", Ripred appeared next to him, and Henry quickly glanced at him, "We have not enough fliers."

The rat glanced around, alarmed as well. "Wait, what? We do. We just have to rearrange our seatings a little. Have Gregor fly with Luxa and you with... oh." Henry bit his lip. Who would even want to fly with him now?

"I'll fly with you", a voice sounded from the dark, suddenly, and Henry twirled around only to see Gregor, already having packed up what little things he had brought. "Thanatos can carry Ripred, and you can – or wait, maybe Ares should carry Ripred instead." His gaze darted back and forth between Henry and his bond, who now approached to sit next to them.

Henry noticed he was avoiding his gaze, for the most part, but despite his hesitation, at last spoke – "That is alright. I can carry the two of you. If Thanatos does not mind."

Henry blinked at his former bond surprised. "You... you don't have to do that, I –", but Ares interrupted, "I know that saddle-construction of yours helps hold on, you will have an easier time flying with him than with me, Ripred."

"Sounds good. I'll see if the others are alright then. You coming, Gregor?", he asked the Overlander, already strolling away. Gregor looked at him, confused for a moment, but Ripred simply grabbed his arm and dragged him over to Luxa and Howard, leaving Henry with... Ares.

"You...", the exiled prince was suddenly painfully aware of the awkward silence. They had not spoken properly since Ares had discovered his identity, and he thought now was a really bad time, but his former bond interrupted him – "I do not mind. I would understand if you would mind, though."

Henry's head jolted up. "Me? Why would I –", he didn't bother finishing his own sentence. He finally looked at Ares and suddenly noticed an entirely unexpected emotion in his gaze... guilt.

"Hey, you... wait, I thought you'd hate me like everyone else?" He narrowed his eyes, trying to spot any of the hostility Howard showed him in Ares' eyes, but in the dim light, all he looked was tired.

"Hate? How could I hate you?" His voice was quiet, yet matted with something – maybe guilt, maybe worry, or pain. Or all of them. "You would have more reason to hate me, after I –", but Henry didn't let him finish, "I betrayed you. You had no reason to remain loyal to me. I...", he sighed and decided he had to say it, even if there was no way he could truly ever apologize for what he had done, "I'm sorry. I really am. For everything. And I don't hate you, in your place, I would certainly have done the same thing."

Ares' gaze darted up at him, almost surprised. "I can't hold it against you, not anymore." When Henry furrowed his brows in confusion, he continued – "because the Henry who betrayed us, betrayed me, lies dead in a pit with Gorger's rats. You... you are someone entirely different."

Gregor tried to keep his senses peeled, to spot anything in the darkness, but all he could perceive was what little he saw in the dim glow of the water.

Frustratedly, he bit his lip. They had taken off only a couple minutes ago and already he wished to be back in Regalia, with his mother and Boots, where there were at least walls to protect him. And here he was, on yet another stupid trip through these stupid tunnels.

Wasn't I thinking the exact opposite thing when I was actually in Regalia – he suddenly thought – to be able to go on another trip to escape the real problems? But now Gregor realized his method didn't work. Not when his problems continued to haunt him even here, in these tunnels. Stupid dark tunnels.

Echolocation. Once more Ripred's words, as to how he was utterly useless without light, came to mind. But it was impossible. Or... was it?

"Hey, Henry?", behind him, he heard an approving "Mhm?" Gregor took a deep breath. "Remember how I asked you to help me learn echolocation, a while ago?"

"Sure. You... do you still want those lessons?" Gregor nodded, before realizing it was dark all around them. "Yes. If that's okay. I just... Part of me feels like it's ridiculous, but part of me also looks at you and thinks it could be possible. I... I don't know."

He heard Henry behind him chuckle. "That's totally fine. Hey, whenever we have time, okay?" Gregor nodded again, and before he could once more translate his nod into words, Henry interrupted him "I can see you nodding, in case you didn't realize. It's called, you know, echolocation."

They laughed together for a bit and Gregor felt frustration at Howard's behavior rise in him. It was not fair to judge Henry for that one mistake, even if it had been grave. What good he had done so far had long outweighed the bad, and yet even Gregor had not dared defend him today. He just felt like he had no right to intervene because he hadn't known all the details, and he hadn't been affected as much.

Somewhere, in the back of his head, something kept screaming to intervene anyway, to end the injustice, but it was always overshadowed by self-doubt, these days. Luxa's pale, almost lifeless, face appeared in his mind and for the hundredth time, he wondered how she must be feeling now. She acted strange, like Gregor had never seen her before, and on one hand, he understood she was under a lot of pressure, but on the other, he felt like it was... more than that.

Frustrated at himself, and at everyone else, for loading even more problems on him, he opened his mouth to change the subject, to ask if everything was alright between Henry and Ares, when Thanatos, who was leading the way, with Ripred on his back, suddenly let out a cry and turned sharp left.

Ares hesitated for a moment, but then followed, so did Aurora. Gregor could barely see in the dim light, so he heard them before he spotted them. There, in the water, clinging to what looked like somewhat steadfast rotting vines, that must have drifted here from some jungle-area, were the up-and-down-bobbing heads of two... bats.

He could barely make out Thanatos diving for them, and even with Ripred on his back, he managed to dig his claws into the shoulders of the first one and lift her out of the water, and onto a small ledge, some thirty feet in the air. Ares instantly dove for the second one and did the same. Gregor could not make them out properly but he saw the one Thanatos had grabbed was dark, Ares' was brown-ish.

Only when all the bats had landed, cramped together on the tiny ledge, and they saw the shaking, soaked bats they had saved clearly for the first time, he realized he knew one of them.

"N... Nike?" Gregor exclaimed, staring at the shuddering dark bat Thanatos had pulled out of the water and only now saw she was indeed black-and-white striped. She further had one of her wings pulled on, it looked broken.

Henry's bond had cowered down next to her, Gregor thought he was trying to comfort her, but soon he was shoved aside by Howard who instantly inspected the broken wing.

The next fifteen minutes Howard spent tending to Nike, constantly and somewhat needlessly watched by Thanatos, while the rest of them assembled around the other bat. She seemed not injured and Gregor thought he had seen her before, but only when Howard came to check on her as well, he recognized her – "Hera? Is this really you?"

Her expression eased up instantly as she saw who it was. "Howard... oh, thank goodness you found us. Howard, you have to help her, help... the princess." She gestured over to Nike, "I am unharmed, tend to her, tend to her!"

He still double-checked her top to bottom before deeming her unharmed and turning back to Nike, while the rest of the questers huddled around her again.

"We were with the army", she started talking, and finally the memory of the half-starved mother bat with the three pups they had met in Longclaw's prison returned to Gregor. He eyed her and even though she was soaked and trembling, he couldn't help but notice she looked much healthier now. He wondered how she had been doing suddenly, and where her babies were.

But before he could ask, she kept talking – "We got caught in the flood, I do not know what happened to the soldiers who were with us." Her voice was misted with pain now. "I remember saving myself onto a ledge, and then she washed by and I fished her out – the princess! Her wing was broken and I was too weak to fly and carry her. But the water kept streaming and it was not a steady ledge we were on. It eventually gave way and we were washed out, all I could do was cling to the vines. I had to save the princess, I had to!"

Howard, who had now finished up splinting Nike's leg and had listened to her story as well, calmingly stroke her shoulder. "You were amazing, Hera. You saved her. She will live, and so will you."

Only five minutes later they were in the air again, they had had to switch up seatings a little as Thanatos insisted on carrying Nike. Ares was the only other flier who could take Ripred, and Henry and Gregor had had to switch over to Hera, who had insisted she was fit to fly.

After maybe an hour of flying she was visibly falling behind and they had to land and rest. Luxa complained about the slow pace of their flight, and Gregor watched her with growing concern. Never had Luxa valued the mission over someone's physical health or condition, and he was slowly but surely starting to get more worried about her. Nevermind if she hated him, he firmly promised himself he would talk to her soon. Whether she wanted or not.

When they could finally continue, Gregor thought it might be for the best to fill Hera in on Henry and his complicated relationship with essentially everyone here, as she would most likely find out sooner or later anyway, if she stayed with them.

She was greatly surprised by Henry being the supposedly dead prince of Regalia, but even greater surprised by how he had been a traitor. "No... they never mentioned any of that to... oh... they did not...", she mumbled, and before Gregor could ask, Henry beat him to it. "Dalia said the same thing. Apparently, they kept the whole thing a secret... for whatever reason, beats me."

Gregor fell silent after that. He had never given any thought to how the public had reacted to Henry's betrayal, mainly because back then, he had immediately gone home after bonding to Ares.

In truth, he didn't know how to feel about that, then again, why would he need to feel anything about it? It didn't matter now, none of this did. It wasn't his goddamn business.

"I... Hera, I want to sleep for a while, if that's okay", he mumbled, only now realizing how tired he actually was. When had he last gotten any sleep? His thoughts reeled back, he had been unconscious during the flood, but did that even count? He did not remember sleeping a single second, back in Regalia.

Hera only hummed approvingly and Henry moved over a little to let Gregor lie down. He finally closed his eyes, sighing, and feeling all the fatigue taking hold. He was asleep only seconds later.

Gregor only jolted up when he heard an angry scream from... somewhere. He barely registered he was lying on solid ground and that someone had lit a torch in the room, but his eyes immediately searched for the source of the scream... it was Luxa.

Gregor was confused for a moment as he saw the blade of her drawn sword glisten in the torchlight, next to her stood Howard, also with his sword raised defensively. Were they being attacked? Where were they even? Still slightly dazed from sleep, Gregor meekly searched the floor around him for his own sword.

"No! Don't come closer –", Howard called now, at someone... beyond the small doorway leading into the room, as Gregor realized. He finally located and grabbed the handle of his own sword and managed to get to his feet, before stumbling towards the door. He could barely see, in the dim light, but as soon as his eyes had gotten used to the dark he realized he could make out a rodent-shaped creature, cowering in the shadow of the door.

He furrowed his brows, trying to make it out better, "Hey... Ripred?" The figure had looked so much like the familiar scarred rat, in her posture and shape, but then the realization hit Gregor, Luxa and Howard would not raise their swords against Ripred, and fear suddenly clogged his throat.

The rat in the doorway gave a dry chuckle, before slowly approaching, disregarding the raised swords entirely. "Not quite."