"And you are certain this will... hold?" The flier eyed the sleigh-like construction Henry had fabricated from bones and vines suspiciously.

"We won't know until you try!" Henry shouldered his backpack and reluctantly put his boots back on, then grabbed the thick vine by which he planned to pull the construction. "Let's go."

When the flier still hesitated, the exiled prince sighed. "Look", he knelt beside Thanatos, "I know this is unfamiliar and scary and you're in pain, but we can't stay idle here." He stretched his hand to stroke his fur and attempted an encouraging smile. "You'll fly again soon. We'll fly again soon. But for now, you have to...", he swallowed, "do you trust me?"

The flier's eyes shot up. "Of course I trust you."

"Then on you go", laughed Henry. "Like, honestly, what's the worst thing that could happen?"

"Ohh, don't ever ask that", Thanatos pressed out between clenched teeth but climbed onto the construction. "You better not make me regret this."

The next hour Thanatos spent excessively regretting it as the ride was bumpy and not even remotely comfortable, though when they at last arrived in the grove with the fruit Henry beamed as his construction had held. He loaded his backpack with as many as it could fit and five minutes later he shoved the homemade sleigh through an even thicker curtain of vines into the cool of a stone cave.

Thanatos nearly fell off the construction so eager he was to lie properly and Henry shot him a sour look before approaching the casually flowing creek that ran along the far end of the cave from one crack in the wall into another. Around it grew a dense carpet of living, glowing plants and for a second the exiled prince eyed it suspiciously, then decided it would have already attacked, had it any intention to do so.

Within minutes he had tossed his boots at the wall, dropped the backpack, and refilled his water bags, yet when he approached Thanatos a shiver of panic ran down his spine.

"Death, are you okay?"

The flier lied motionlessly at the wall, breathing heavily. Only as he extended a hand to shake him he noticed the bandage on his shoulder was drenched in blood.

"Death!" Henry dropped the waterbags and reached for his backpack to fetch his medical kit. "I'm sorry we had to move so much", he mumbled feeling a sudden surge of shame. It was his fault. "I can't –"

"Don't... shut up."

"I should not shut up?"

"SHUT UP!"

Henry managed a laugh. "Okay, okay. I'll still try to be more careful next time, promise." He fingered the waterproof container open. "That's it, by the way, I'm giving you another dose of painkiller. I'll change your bandages and when you'll wake up there will be food. But first, you must drink."

"No painkiller", the flier heaved, "need to... keep head clear..."

Henry stroked his fur in an attempt to calm him. "You have got to be kidding me", he shook his head and waved the bottle in front of the flier's face. "Drink some water and then I'm pouring this stuff down your throat, whether you like it or not."

He mobilized the last of his once again dwindling strength and dragged the flier over to the creek to drink. And then, as he held the bottle of painkiller to his mouth, Thanatos did not protest.

"I'll have to go outside and cut some vines to reinforce the transportation device and tie some of the bandages", Henry mumbled as he tugged at the one around his own stomach. The trek here had taken him nearly twice as long with than without Thanatos and the prolonged physical strain had not done any good for his injury.

He stood, ignoring the sting in his stomach, his hand darted to check whether Mys was at its designated spot, still, and shouldered his backpack. When he sensed his leaving, Thanatos' eyes fluttered open for a second to search for Henry. "Don't... go... please..."

A wave of affection for his bond hit the exiled prince and he dropped back to his knees to wrap his arms around the flier's neck for a second. How out from the pain and the painkiller must he be, the exiled prince thought, to allow himself to talk like this? "I'll stay in line of sight of the cave", he mumbled into his fur, "and when you wake up, I'll be here. I promise."

To Henry, it was like time stood still. He ran on autopilot as he worked his way down the list of things to be taken care of – cutting vines, rebandaging their injuries, drinking, then going out to fetch more food.

By the end of what must have been a day he barely kept himself standing. And throughout it all, he became more and more aware of the horrific situation they had found themselves in this time.

"We have to somehow find a way to the nibbler colony", he mumbled to himself as he attempted to calm his excessively spinning head. Then he raised his freshly filled water bag to pour the content over his head, refill it again and do the same with Thanatos who had barely moved from his spot at the wall and only marginally reacted despite the refreshing wave of cool the water brought.

Henry consciously unclenched his jaw and attempted to breathe calmly, to quench the panic of which he didn't know how long he could still suppress it. He wanted not to think about the shit they were in but he knew he would have to face it eventually – they were here, out in unknown jungle territory, with Thanatos out of commission and no way to orientate themselves, let alone find a way back to familiar areas.

It's like back during my first time on the crawler island, he suddenly thought and leaned on the wall, to calm his frantically hammering heart. Only... worse. For this time there was no shore in sight.

His head leaned on the somewhat cool stone and his eye fell shut. A part of him wanted to cry, to yell, to scream all this fear and confusion out but another part pictured Thanatos, barely conscious, most certainly not in any condition to be bothered with all this.

It all becomes so much less scary when you make a plan, he adamantly told himself. It had worked on the crawler island, at least. But how and where could he even begin to make a plan now? He had no incentive, no goal, not even a direction. Henry buried his head in the crook of his arm and clenched his fist so hard it hurt, but the swell of visceral fear still swept over him like a tidal wave.

He hated it with every fiber of his body but managed to admit it at least before himself – he was scared shitless.

They couldn't stay here forever. There was barely enough food to sustain them, and who knew what lurked behind every vine, every shadow, in this looming, living death trap? And what if his own injury would get worse? What if Thanatos would get worse? What if this was more than regular pain, what if it was an infection, one that he with his lacking medical experience could not treat, that would –

"Are... you okay?"

Henry's head shot up and he sniffed. His mouth opened to claim he was fine yet out came something else. "I'm scared."

Thanatos stared at him, still somewhat misted from the painkiller yet clear enough to comprehend his words.

"I'm not supposed to be scared", Henry muttered between clenched teeth. "I'm supposed to be prepared. I'm not helpless or weak, not anymore!" He nearly yelled the last part. "I'm good at this, I have to be, but I..." He buried his face in his hands. "I'm scared as shit."

"... Good."

"What?"

Thanatos' face was pained. "Good. I mean, if you weren't scared, right about now, we would have to have another talk about what it means to have a healthy self-preservation instinct."

"I wasn't scared before", Henry mumbled and stared at the floor. "To die, I mean. I think back out on the waterway, on that ice floe, that's the first time I was actually scared to die again in...", he shook his head. "I'm not even sure. But the point is... this is about as bad as it gets. There is no way out of here, at least none we know. And even if –"

"Even if... what?"

"Even if we get out of here... somehow", he stared down, "what... then?"

"What... are you talking about?"

He stared at his hands just long enough to understand they were trembling. "I mean what I said. What then? There is nowhere to go. I'm here now, we are here now, because we have to be here. Because we have a goal. To survive. But if we survive, what then? It's not like there is..."

"Henry... since when are you concerned with long-term things?" Thanatos attempted to scoot closer but his injured wing gave way. "I... I always thought not knowing that was the point for you. To experience life as it comes at you, is that not what you wanted?"

Henry stared at him with a swollen eye. "I... I don't know." He began agitatedly kneading his hands. "I thought so but... what's the point? It has no meaning, you know? I still can't... can't... maybe you're right. Maybe it'll never be like before because I can't be like before. Something is wrong", he sniffed, "with me, I think. Maybe I'm... broken."

Thanatos was silent for a long time. Henry had rested his head on the wall and shut his eye tightly. He wanted to escape. To sleep. But then the flier's voice cut through his swarming thoughts – "That's not true."

His eye flung open again.

"You're not broken", Thanatos repeated, "you're... lost. Here in the jungle as well as in yourself. I understand what she meant now, I think", he mumbled to himself then looked back up and stared straight at Henry as he spoke – "You might not believe this now, but we will find it, out here, somewhere. We will find... home. And we will find it together. Okay?"

Henry stared at him with a widened eye, then slowly unclenched his fists. "Okay."

A confused cry escaped him when something joltingly woke Henry. His hand was at the back of his hip faster than he could check his surroundings with echolocation and he darted up from the wall he had leaned on, only to stare into a large pair of amber eyes. "What...?", he blinked and listened, but heard nothing except his and Thanatos' strained breathing.

The flier stared at him for a second longer, then lied his head back down. "Nothing... sorry. I thought I..."

"It was a nightmare, wasn't it?"

The flier's eyes opened again. "You..."

Henry pulled his leg on. "I've had my fair share of those." He shook his head, then looked up at Thanatos and swallowed. "Like that one night, I woke up crying, some week or so after the fall, remember? I nearly had a panic attack and you couldn't calm me with words so you let me sleep with my head on your back for the first time..."

"I thought you had us both swear to never mention that night if our lives depended on it?"

Henry shrugged. "I changed my mind, okay?"

He could have sworn Thanatos smiled in return, "Okay." Then something else came to mind. He blinked once, twice, and made a decision. "One of the nightmares haunts me to this day." He swallowed. "Remember our last night on the island?"

"You dreamt of drowning, you said", Thanatos sounded confused yet Henry continuously stared at the floor. "Yeah. That too. But I didn't tell you the whole dream then." He found himself frightened with how well he recalled it, from the feeling of the icy water sweeping him off his feet, over losing his grip on Thanatos, then spotting him on the other side of the ice.

The flier lied still throughout and Henry adamantly stared at the floor as he described his own cries for help... and his bond motionlessly watching him as he drowned. After Henry's tale was told, Thanatos remained silent.

"I didn't want to tell you before", his head lowered in shame, "but what's the point anymore, of keeping secrets."

"Because now you have experienced your bond...", Thanatos shook his head, "not just watching you die, but inflicting a nigh-mortal wound."

"That's not the point!", Henry cried, "That's not what the dream was about. At least I don't think so. It's not about literally killing each other, it's about the fear of... of destroying our bond, I think. And who is responsible for it." He shuddered. "Up until our argument in the Ice System, I thought it was you so that's how I dreamt it. Then at that waterfall, when I held you and couldn't pull you back up, I thought it was me. And then in the arena, I thought it was you after all. But I –"

"But it was us both", Thanatos cut him off, "you have no idea how often I have seen you kill or leave me to die in my dreams."

Henry's head shot up. "You... really?"

The flier shook his head. "It is a manifestation of our fear. The only question that still haunts me is...", he hesitated, "why you, when you then had the chance in the arena... spared me."

Henry blinked at him in surprise, then averted his gaze. "I wish I could answer that." He swallowed. "I don't know. I... I don't think I could have acted differently. But I can't for the life of me say why."

"I wish I wouldn't have..." Thanatos broke off and stared at Henry, then at the floor. "I can not even... how could I have ever allowed her to –"

"It's what she does best", Henry scoffed. "Making us do things we end up bitterly regretting."

"I... I still rack my brain trying to figure out the purpose of all this. But I... I mean I know Longclaw loathes me, but you... dammit, I should have never dragged you into this feud in the first place, you were right, I should have dealt with him long ago, then none of this would have... but I can still not shake the image of you in his grasp, like... like..."

"Like Arya?"

Thanatos nodded. "I'm so sorry you had to suffer in this, I –"

"Oh, will you stop talking?" The flier winced as he sensed Henry's arms wrap around his neck. "I thought we discussed this already. We are one. Your fears are my fears, as your enemies are my enemies. Our lives are one, and they will always be. That's what it means... moron. And if it means I get to kick a couple more asses in your name, I'll gladly do that."

He sensed Thanatos' quiet laughter. "Right. Bonds."

"Bonds."

"I will hold you to the ass-kicking part though, just you know."

Henry grinned into the flier's fur. "Got no problem with that." Then his head shot up – "Is that not it?"

Thanatos stared at him in confusion but Henry for the first time sensed a swell of determination for a goal that was not immediate-survival-related well up in him. "I was right. Longclaw and Tonguetwist will not leave us alone until this is settled, we've established that. But I don't think we should let them come to us."

"You..." Thanatos glanced at his broken wing, "You wish to pursue them?"

"We must do it in a smarter way than I attempted, of course", he grinned nervously but at the same time, tingling excitement rose in his chest. "Let ourselves heal and all that. But then it's vengeance-time", he determinately clapped his hands, "or do you want to sit idly and let them get away with whatever they are doing?" His lips pressed together, "I mean, I think we can safely assume Longclaw can't flood Regalia as he wanted any time soon, with that massive collapse, but who knows what he'll come up with next if we let him?"

Thanatos eyed Henry, then his own claws, then he sighed. "You're right. We can hardly let this slip. Be it for the world's or our own sake. Because there was something Tonguetwist did get right, as much as it pains me to say. I have to stop letting others push me around. And I believe I'm about done with that."

Even in the sparse light, he made out Henry's grin well enough. "Sounds like a plan, then."

"Yes", the exiled prince yawned and despite the heat, lied his head on Thanatos' back. "You okay if I sleep too? We'll hardly overhear any attackers, with how we both would hear them coming from miles away."

"No, absolutely not, get some rest, will you?"

Henry sensed his steady breathing and closed his eye. "Longclaw messed with the wrong bond", he mumbled, then yawned again. "We'll get out of here, I promise. Somehow we will. And then we'll kick his scrawny ass to the center of the earth. Together."

"I have not a doubt."

"There is a clearing over here, I believe we are on the right track!" Henry made his way back to where he had left the sleigh with Thanatos and dragged it along, towards the clearing. "The river should come out somewhere ahead, I can already hear it."

"Yes, me too", Thanatos desperately clung to the edges of the construction as Henry pulled him out onto the clearing and finally spotted the glistening of water.

"If we're going to be lost anyway, we might as well follow the water. It has to lead somewhere." Henry sat beside the calm river and stabbed Mys at a passing-by fish. "And it provides food."

"We should take a break", the flier slipped off the sleigh and made his way towards the water carefully, to drink and eat. "You are forgetting you shouldn't strain yourself too much, still."

"Right", Henry's hand darted to his bandage. "I should swap all our bandages out soon. This heat is not helping." He wiped his glistening forehead and hung his bare feet into the refreshingly cool river. The boots he had ditched about an hour into their first day on the move. Well, Hamnet had survived out here without shoes, so why shouldn't Henry.

"How long will it be until we reach the edge of the jungle?", the exiled prince asked and the flier shook his head. "We've been traveling for... what? Two days, give or take? It'll be at least another two, if not more, depending on where we have ended up. Especially with how slow we are."

Henry groaned. "Well, at least there wasn't any noteworthy trouble yet."

"Excuse me?" Thanatos glared at him, "What else would you call that ambush of hoppers yesterday?"

"Child's play", Henry shrugged and grinned as he recalled the three massive frogs that had assaulted them from out of the undergrowth, each nearly as tall as Henry himself. He had never seen hoppers, at least not of that size, but he had still finished them off swiftly. "Honestly, I've expected so much worse. Maybe I've judged the jungle too quickly", he pondered, "maybe Hamnet had his reasons, beyond being utterly mad, to settle down here."

"I am not settling down in the jungle if that's what you were getting at", Thanatos hissed, but Henry laughed. "Relax, I'm definitely not up for living here. But maybe this prolonged stay will not be so –"

Their heads shot up simultaneously and a shrill alarm went off in Henry's head. He frowned and attempted to process the confusing image his echolocation sent him but before he had the chance he sensed a swell of hot breath in his back... they were surrounded.

Inch by inch he slowly turned, hand on Mys' handle at all times, and stared into five pairs of yellow eyes.

"What seek you in our land?", the largest hisser stepped forth, his colorful ruff twitched. Henry instinctively took a step back and stared up at the creature, even on all fours he was a head taller than the exiled prince.

He cried and nearly fell over as something suddenly poked him in the side, at the same time cursing his lacking focus. Who was he, the master of echolocation, to be surprised by anything?

"You friend?"

His gaze trailed to the new voice and met the face of a baby hisser all in bright yellow, maybe half his size, who then poked him in the side again. "Friend!"

"We are sorry to intrude", Thanatos spoke behind him and attempted to drag himself forward to look at the largest hisser. "We don't plan on staying, just passing through."

In his periphery Henry registered all five adults had now stepped out onto the clearing, none was as large as who he presumed to be the leader but they all kept their ruffs open. Their bodies shimmered in all hues from yellow, over orange, green, and blue. Between the hinds of two others, he spotted more young, who poked their heads out curiously now.

Henry's gaze nervously met that of Thanatos. He had never communicated with the hissers, apart from Frill. She had seemed docile enough, then again, they had barely exchanged more than a few words.

"My flier and I... washed ashore, a couple days ago", he addressed the leader again and forced his hand to release Mys' handle. A fight was about the last thing they needed now, and if the hissers did not attack, who knew? A swell of hope suddenly rushed through him – they lived here, so they had to know their way around. Maybe they could even help them.

"We mean no harm, I promise. We're friends with the nibbler colony that lives close to the Vineyard of Eyes, but we have no idea how to get to where they live. We're... pretty lost", he admitted. "If you could point us in the correct direction we'd be grateful!" He eagerly fingered at his backpack, "If there's anything we can give you in return we'll gladly –"

The large purple-blueish hisser tilted his head and slowly put on his ruff. "Far off track, you have wandered then. Much further south, the nibblers reside. We see the flier is hurt." He exchanged a glance with a bright red hisser who had stepped at his side, the baby who had greeted Henry earlier eagerly capered at her to rub his nose on her leg.

The two adults exchanged a couple words in their own language, then the leader turned back to him. "We can take you to the nibblers. Path is dangerous for one who knows not the land."

Henry's eye widened and he couldn't help the grin from spreading on his face. "Really? Oh, that would be amazing... we'll pay you anything you –"

"We have no use for your goods, human", the leader cut him off, "we have all we need here. We help because it costs nothing to help. And the grounds there are rich with nutriment. It is a good place to stay for a while."

"We are beyond grateful for your kindness", Thanatos nodded at the hisser, who nodded back.

"They friends!", the yellow pup cheerfully sounded from, how Henry presumed, his mother's back and he grinned. "Oh yeah. I'm... we are... the Death Rider. Do you all have names we can call you by?"