"Larr said we're almost there." Henry pulled himself into a more comfortable position on the back of a green-ish hisser he faintly remembered had been introduced as Kell earlier.

Behind him sat Thanatos. "Well, if you say so."

"Not I, Larr did – and he's the leader. Besides, we've traveled with them for longer than alone at this point, it's about time."

He twirled Mys in his hand, then cut a last piece of unaesthetically standing out bone from the figurine he had been making over the last three days. He could have finished it much sooner, but as quiet a travel group as the hissers had turned out, the trip had been far from boring.

First, there had been that grove with mites they had narrowly avoided. The hissers had not even let them near it as their sting brought a quick death and an escape became nearly impossible once they had picked up the scent of your blood.

Then they had nearly run out onto that seemingly safe clearing which had soon revealed itself as an enormous trapping plant waiting for unsuspecting life forms to wander right into its mouth.

He inspected his figurine one last time, then stuck Mys back into his belt. It was probably safe to say they would have never come even remotely this far without the guidance of the hissers.

"Hey look", he extended a foot to kick Thanatos who had his eyes closed to rest, "I made a thing!"

The flier opened one eye and then his mouth, presumably to complain, then his gaze met the figurine Henry extended at him and his eyes widened. "This is incredible... Kismet told me you had picked up carving but not that you were this good." He rose a little to see better and smiled. "You have to show Noar, he'll be amazed."

"Well, he's amazed by everything I do", Henry grinned and waved at Larr's baby son Noar who trotted right next to his mother, behind the hisser they sat on. The baby joyously extended his bright yellow ruff and leaped in the air before whizzing past them and towards his father who led the group.

"I can hardly believe we'll be back at the colony soon", Henry mumbled and twisted his figurine. A flier with a human on his back, raising a flaming sword. With a swift motion, he drew Mys again and turned the figurine upside down, then engraved two words at the bottom – Death Rider.

"It seems more than unreal", Thanatos mumbled, then looked back at the figurine. "You know who else will love this new hobby of yours? Teslas. There is hardly anyone else out there who would praise a skill such as carving higher than he."

"Agreed", Henry grinned, "I can't wait to show him. That black metal-ball-thing as well."

"You still have that? That of all things?"

He nodded and patted his backpack, "Honestly, I'm glad I never took it out of my bag or I would have certainly forgotten it." He pondered, "I did leave most figurines with Kismet though. They're fairly impractical to carry and she'll take good care of them, I think."

"Certainly. Maybe the hissers can help us get a message to her."

"I'll ask once we arrive –"

"Here lies the nibbler colony", Larr's voice suddenly sounded from up ahead and Henry's heart began to race. He slid off Kell's back at once and stormed past him to join Larr where he stood at the edge of a clearing with... he blinked, rubbed his eye, then his ears. A waterfall.

The sound was distinct and when he then pushed the vines in his way aside he could have cried tears of joy. Before him lied a familiar sandy beach, a spring... and a curtain of vines on the far side.

"That's it, then", Henry mumbled and looked back at Thanatos who carefully climbed to the floor. His bond leaped at his side and supported him before he could fall, then turned his gaze at Larr. "You guys were great, thanks for having us. We owe you."

Larr gave a low hiss and Noar slid out between his front paws, then nearly ran Henry over as he rammed his head into his stomach affectionately. The exiled prince cried from the sharp jolt of pain he sensed from the stab wound and Noar gave an apologetic meow. "Don't leave!"

"We have to", Henry patted his head, then pulled out his notebook. The pre-written message to Kismet he tore out and extended it at Larr. "If we could ask for one last favor, there's this friend of ours we never ended up saying goodbye to. She will be worried. You... know the crawler colony at the citadel, don't you?"

Larr nodded and Henry rolled the message up, ripped out a hanging vine to tie it, and hung it around the hisser's neck. "If you could get this message to them, they'll know who to deliver it to. Just say it's the one we asked them to point us towards, last time we visited."

The leader of the hissers gave another low hiss. "We will not forget you, Death Rider. And we will from this day on rely on your friendship."

"Of course", Henry grinned and gave Noar a last pat, then turned towards the clearing. "Run like the river!"

The whole herd gave a collective, low-pitched hiss before the large reptiles faded into the dense foliage, much more seamlessly than Henry had ever thought was possible, considering their size.

When Henry had then heaved Thanatos out onto the clearing and towards the beach he could still hardly believe they were back.

This waterfall rushes so differently from the one in the Firelands, he suddenly thought and grinned. "Hey", he panted and nearly dropped the flier, "I'll leave you here for a moment, okay, while I get the –"

Before he could finish his sentence a shrill warning in his head had him jolt around but it was far too late to escape the white furball. It crashed into him, mowing down both Henry and Thanatos so that moments later they lied in the sand. "YOU'RE BACK!"

Henry blinked up confusedly and for a moment thought he was seeing things. Down at him stared the excited white face of a mouse, of... "Is that... you, Curie?" She must be fully grown now, Henry thought, unbelievingly staring at the pretty white mouse in front of him who beamed with glee, then furrowed her brows in worry.

"It's me but... you", she sniffed him carefully, then shook her head, "it's really you! You... you look so different."

Henry opened his mouth to respond when he perceived someone else approaching and another familiar voice spoke – "Looks like sister was right this time, you are back."

"Cevian!" Henry attempted to wriggle free from Curie to see her but could not move an inch. "I mean... I'd greet you, but your sister would have to stop sitting her way too grown-up hide on me."

"Oh, believe me", Cevian laughed, "it'll be a while until any of us can get her to do that."

And it indeed took for her to fetch Lovelace who managed to get her daughter off Henry and Thanatos. When the colony leader then caught her first good look at him, the exiled prince realized Curie's reaction to his appearance had been an understatement.

"Goodness, you look like you have spent the last half a year in solitary confinement in a dreary cave!", Lovelace pulled him up and threw a concerned look at both his and Thanatos' injuries. "You're barely a walking corpse. We must swap those bandages out at once, then get you something to eat, and especially a bath." She shook her head, "That's it, we will have a proper feast tonight, Curie, Cevian, will you go and spread the word of who has finally returned, and that I plan to celebrate their arrival?"

Her daughters nodded and disappeared through the curtain.

"And then", Lovelace adamantly grabbed Thanatos herself and pulled him up, "then we will feast, and celebrate, and you will share what in the world has ever gotten you into THIS sorry state."

"Oh, it's way more than that", Henry grinned at the assembled nibblers and Thanatos, then stretched his hand out and closed his eye. "Throw something at me, anything. I'll catch it."

It is like we are back. He knew Thanatos had been right to say striving to go back was a bad thing but for the first time in forever, he truly felt like everything was back to how it was supposed to be.

He had finally gotten himself to bathe and shave, rebandaged and disinfected all their injuries, and changed into a fresh set of clothes. Though the new vest with the fur collar he had made from arena bounty he had kept. At last a clothing item besides his coat that had a hood.

The following feast had truly been a feast – after his diet over the last eight months had mostly consisted of Firebeetles with the occasional fish here and there, the comparably rich selection of foods the nibblers provided had seemed like heaven.

Yes, it was not all rosy, of course. Although he had steeled himself for the worst before looking into a mirror this time he had for a second been taken back to a year ago when he had first been scared of his own reflection. He had lost even more weight this time and after the bath, the most pressing question on his mind had become how he still kept himself standing and moving, even fighting, in this state.

I would most certainly not recognize myself, had been his first thought. Not with the countless scars that had slowly begun to turn white, not with the eyepatch, the longer than shoulder-length hair.

His stab-injury had still not fully healed but at least it showed no signs of infection and as of the current moment, Henry thought it at least didn't hinder him from properly walking and moving, even if it stung occasionally. Maybe I'm too used to pain now. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he had dismissed it. For as long as he didn't have to spend his days in bed, it hardly mattered.

Though for some reason, the first proper look at his other scars had scared him more. It had taken him several minutes of scrubbing to understand he could not just wash them off. For, suddenly, the mere thought of others seeing and asking about the scars uncomfortably tingled his spine and for the first time, he had considered looking into acquiring something long-sleeved.

Henry pulled his gauntlet into position as he caught the fruit one of the babies tossed at him from behind with ease and struck a pose. The longer than usual ponytail nearly hit him in the face as he spun.

This time, he had decided to not cut his hair back to its old length, merely trim the tips a little. "It's grown on me", he had thrown at Thanatos when the flier had asked. "Oh, has it now...?", he had fired back, "Correct me if I'm wrong but is long hair not a status symbol among you humans?"

Henry had stopped and squinted back at him. "Well, yeah... so what? Do you think just because I'm an outcast I'm not entitled to it?"

"Oh no", Thanatos had grinned, "I am merely questioning your motif here."

He had barely been fast enough to dodge Henry's kick. "I'm not LEAVING IT LONG for the STATUS!", he'd yelled. "Well, at least not... only." Henry thought he had never seen Thanatos angrier to be unable to chase him.

His grin widened at the memory and he raised his finger. "See, I don't need my eyes to see anymore. This is not just echolocation, it's an analyzer, it can see into the future and predict the trajectory of any projectile, then tell me exactly how to – AGH!"

"Don't you dare disappear like that ever again, you hear?" A rugged paw cladded in a familiar leather glove grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet. "I am still your teacher and I demand updates on things."

"Good to see you too, Teslas", he grinned and twisted his head to stare at the black nibbler who glared at him half-accusingly, half-concerned.

"Couldn't see THAT coming", Thanatos mumbled in the back and Henry hissed, twisting in Teslas' grip. "I COULD! I just didn't REACT on time!"

"Oh come on, put me down –", but Teslas only threw him over his shoulder and he winced as he did at anything touching his stomach. His face awkwardly pressed into black fur and he grinned. "You really missed me, didn't you? Considering you, the local antisocial hermit, are here – at a party."

Teslas simply turned and glared around. "I will now take this boy to my workshop, and I sincerely hope none of you have a problem with that."

He caught sight of Lovelace's smirk in his periphery. "It's not like anyone could stop you. Hang in there, Henry!"

He simply raised a hand and awkwardly waved at her and the others, Thanatos looked like he wanted to facepalm but Teslas undauntedly walked towards the workshop, still with Henry on his back.

Only when they had passed the familiar curtain the nibbler let the exiled prince down and for a moment he found himself awestruck by this place, in something like disbelief he was truly back.

"Hey, it's even more cluttered than before", he mumbled and niftily avoided stacks of materials and chests overflowing with scattered scrolls.

"Oh shut up", the nibbler called, then climbed onto his table and stared straight at him. "Now tell me everything."

Henry put his hands to his hips. "I thought I was supposed to shut up?" Before Teslas could reproach him he laughed. "Fine, fine. There isn't much to tell though", he sighed and his grin faded. Not much I can tell you, he corrected in his mind and, as efficiently as he could, retold a much lighter version of the happenings in the Firelands, similar to the version he and Thanatos had told to the assembled colony earlier. They had agreed, as much as they themselves could never forget the whole episode, others didn't necessarily need to know about it.

"Most importantly", Henry sighed, "Kismet loved our vision aid, and she taught me what I needed to learn. Everything else is negligible."

Teslas stared at him pensively, then shrugged. "You will only ever tell me as much as you want. But Kismet", he grinned, "she sounds like someone truly extraordinary. I am glad you found such a capable teacher."

Henry nodded. "Oh yes, she's incredible. You'd get along, I think."

Teslas laughed. "I agree. I'd be delighted for a chance to meet her one day, though I doubt that could ever be arranged."

"Sadly, yeah. But –", Henry's eye widened as he remembered the gift he had for Teslas. "Wait. I did bring a thing for you." He took off his backpack and scattered the contents on the floor, then took up the large metal ball he had wrapped in layers of fabric. "We found this in that Ice System. We have no idea what it is, but maybe you can find a use for it."

Teslas' eyes became large and round when Henry unveiled the glistening ball of black metal. "Goodness my...", he approached and carefully extended a paw to touch it, "I have never seen anything like this...", he turned back to Henry and the exiled prince saw in his eyes the so familiar excitement. "WHERE did you say you found it?"

"Wedged into the ice below the waterway", he shrugged, "it almost looked like it had... impacted with the ground at some point. Like, it was sitting at the bottom of a sinkhole that looked like a crater."

"A crater –" Teslas' eyes grew even larger and he whizzed to one of his shelves to retrieve various tools. "A crater...", he mumbled and inspected the metal again. Henry recognized the look in his eyes – he had entered that focused state where nothing could get through to him. For however useful it would turn out, he grinned, he at least hadn't seen Teslas so excited over anything since the ignifer.

"This... Henry, do you have any idea what you have brought me here?" The nibbler at last turned back to him, his voice trembled with excitement.

Henry's grin widened. Only Teslas could ever get so worked up over a rock. "Nope. But that's precisely why I brought it to you. Maybe you could use it for something."

The nibbler blissfully ignored the slightly mocking tone. "Something... SOMETHING? Henry, we will not use this for SOMETHING..." He went back to inspecting the substance, continuously mumbling to himself. Then, he approached one of the chests scattered on the floor and turned it upside down. Out fell dozens of leather scrolls.

Henry crooked his neck and from what he could see they seemed to be designs of all kinds – different types of weapons, armor, and other gadgets, some of which he had never seen. "Hey, what are those?", he called and stepped closer. "Why haven't you shown me any of them yet?"

He picked one up at random and found it was for a thing he did not recognize. He held it higher and furrowed his brows, it appeared to be a weapon of some kind but it looked not like a conventional blade. The thing was elongated and curved, flat on one side and rounded on the other. The text was written in Teslas' shorthand, and although Henry could decipher the symbols the word made no sense to him. "A Boom... Boom-er-ang? What in the world is this?"

Teslas halted. "Why did I never show any of them to him, he asks... YOU WERE GONE the last half a year, THAT'S WHY! I mean I had to occupy myself during your absence so I made a few... designs for you. For the future. If we... get to them all."

Henry stared at the mountain of scrolls. "A... few."

Teslas scoffed and took the scroll with the sketch of the thing apparently called "Boomerang" from Henry. "Yes, a FEW. But this one is for later. Maybe. If we ever find time and use for it."

"It looked neat though..." Henry stared after the scroll longingly but Teslas had already moved on. He tossed it back into the chest and dug through the scrolls, continuously muttering to himself, leaving Henry to stand around once more, unsure what he was supposed to do.

"So...", he at last broke the silence and shifted from one leg to the other to put less weight on his right side, "can you tell me what the strange rock-thing is, then?"

Teslas froze and looked up. "Me? Goodness, do I look like a geologist? No, no... I mean, I have somewhat of an idea what it could be but I'm not an expert on this stuff. Hey, eh... Henry, could you go back to the party and fetch us someone who's good in geology? Maybe Lyella or Darwin... or both. They should be able to tell us more."

Henry sighed. "But only if you promise to let me take a look at the designs in that chest at some point... soon."

Teslas didn't even look up. "Sure, sure, I mean, they are for you anyway. But now go!" He flailed in Henry's direction. "Go! I NEED ANSWERS!"

"Oh sure, you do." He didn't even attempt to argue.

"This is a most peculiar material, but highly fascinating, indeed." The pretty light grey nibbler named Lyella tapped her claw on the black metal ball and exchanged glances with Darwin. The two, together with Teslas and Henry, whom the nibbler had sit down and banned from any manual labor as soon as he had found out about his injury, had assembled around the unknown material.

"It is", Darwin concurred, eyeing it again from all sides. "We analyzed the sample we took yesterday and came to the conclusion you were right", he glanced at Teslas, "it is most certainly a meteorite."

Teslas' face lit up at once, "I knew it!"

Only Henry furrowed his brow. "A meteo... what now?"

"Meteorite", Darwin repeated and patted the material, "the term refers to a piece of matter that has once impacted on earth from space. They are exceedingly rare, especially ones of this size, and this particular one is at least four or five million years old.

Henry's eye widened and he stared at the material with awe. "Million... really?"

"Yes", Lyella nodded, "it is in incredibly good condition too, we think the ice it was enclosed in had something to do with that. Ice can preserve substance exceedingly well. It must have formed shortly after or even before it crashed. But for whatever it is, it is more valuable than any treasure made up from gold or diamonds you could ever imagine."

Henry stared at the substance but could for the life of him not picture it any more valuable than conventional metal.

"So, what is it now?", Teslas finally asked, "Could you analyze it?"

"For one, it is not stone", Darwin responded, glancing at a scroll covered in notes he had brought. "It is some form of metal, though I have never seen this particular alloy."

"Not just the alloy", Lyella continued, "parts of it seem to consist of something none of us have ever seen. There is iron in it, as well as silver, yet it does not oxidize or react in general. Whatever else it consists of...", she shook her head.

"Well, in a way, it is not surprising it's unknown", Darwin tilted his head, "It is not from earth, after all."

Teslas nodded and rubbed his front paws together. "Oh, of course, but we are not overly interested in its consistency. What we want to know more about are its qualities. How hard is it, how well can you work it? It is not one of those metals that burn your skin and have you grow weird things like third arms, is it?"

Henry's head shot up. "Metals that... what?"

"Oh no, it is not radioactive. According to our tests it is entirely safe", Lyella assured, but Darwin gave a nervous laugh. "Well, yes, according to our tests it is. However, that is no guarantee it is ACTUALLY safe. It is from space, it might do something we have no test for."

Henry furrowed his brows and eyed the substance suspiciously. He had not even considered it might be dangerous.

"Relax, boy, you were carrying it with you this entire time, were you not? Were it dangerous, you would have already noticed something... most likely." Lyella joined Darwin's awkward laugh.

"Anyway", Teslas cleared his throat, "back to the IMPORTANT stuff. Like... what is it good for? Is it hard, easy to work? We established it is light. Does that mean it breaks easily?"

Darwin looked back at his notes. "Oh, quite the opposite. This alloy is harder than any material known to us, save maybe diamond. We had trouble even taking a sample to test."

Lyella glanced at the note sheet too. "It is light and incredibly hard, and though it is non-reactive it melts rather easily. You should be able to forge it well, though we wouldn't recommend exposing the finished product to great heat as it could start deforming."

"In fact, if you'd like a recommendation on what to make from it, we think it is the perfect material for some sort of blade." Darwin handed the scroll over to Lyella and stepped forward, "It is light so it will be easy to wield, and harder than any conventional steel."

Henry and Teslas exchanged glances. "But I already have a sword and a dagger", the exiled prince fumbled with the handle of Mys at his back, "and if we reforge my sword from this I wouldn't be able to use the ignifer on it, according to what those two said."

But Teslas paid him little attention. "Who said anything about REPLACING one of your current blades?" His eyes twinkled with excitement, "There was something you once told me and it came to mind at random a couple months ago, so I made this design... here... somewhere..."

He darted over to the chest with the scrolls and began digging through it frantically. Henry, Lyella, and Darwin watched curiously, and a couple minutes later Teslas apparently found what he had been looking for.

He held the scroll he had fetched up and triumphantly cried – "You will not believe this!", then sprinted over and slammed it at the table so that it unrolled before the eyes of his eager audience. And as soon as he had processed what the scroll revealed, Henry's jaw dropped.

"So what you're making from it... is a sword? Don't you already have one of those?"

Henry groaned and shut his notebook, then looked up at Thanatos who had appeared in the entrance to the tiny cave where they always slept and where Teslas had sent him to rest, after the meeting. "I don't think you understand", he shook his head, unable to prevent an excited grin. "Not just A sword. It'll be much different from the one I –"

"Please, a sword is a sword."

Henry stared at him with his mouth agape and Thanatos shook his head. "Come on, you look like I personally insulted you."

"Well, you did!" Henry shot back and more unwillingly than usual rolled over to make room for him.

The flier stretched his freshly re-splinted wing and curled against the wall. He would not fly for at least a month and though it visibly bothered him to be this limited in his mobility they were at least here. At least safe. Lovelace had already offered they could stay for as long as they wanted, and a stay at the nibblers' was perhaps the best course forward for now. They would heal, and then they would go after Longclaw. But all in due time.

"Well... we'll see", Thanatos mumbled, eyes half-closed.

"YOU'LL see", Henry shot back and flipped through his notebook again only to curse audibly when a considerable number of pages that had barely been hanging on a thread fell out.

"What in the world has ever gotten you to start a log? I never took you for a diary guy."

Henry smacked the back of his hand in the flier's direction. "It's not a diary", he hissed, "and I was bored, okay?"

"Those logs I read did not sound... bored."

For a moment Henry lied still, then pulled his leg to his chest. "No. Those weren't out of boredom."

A seeming eternity passed before the flier responded. "This... this is bigger than anything that happened with us, is it not?"

Henry pressed his lips together. For a second he considered shrugging it off and pretending to sleep but then again... We are one, his own words sounded in his head and he shook his head. If we are one, if our enemies, and fears, and lives are one, who was he to ever lie to his bond?

"It was." His words hung in the room like a cloud of suffocating mist. "It was...", he hesitated, "I think it was exactly what happened to you. What would perhaps happen to anyone in our situation." He turned to face the flier, "When you become an outcast you lose everything you've ever taken for granted. Family, friends, your designated place in the world." He bit his lip. "Home."

Angrily, he banned all the images from his time before the fall that begun clogging his mind. "There was nothing left. To live for, I mean. I told myself I would fight the world for every ounce of life in my body, but the only reason I ever said that was from sheer spite. The world can't have me, I thought, not just like that. But what I didn't realize was...", he swallowed, "I hadn't lost everything yet."

"Not until the waterfall."

Henry's mouth curved into a pained smile. "Not until the waterfall. Look, I'm not used to thinking in this way yet. I fall back into old habits and...", he scoffed, "to think it took losing you to understand what you did for me is... well. Strangely fitting. But also a little pathetic."

"It's not pathetic." The flier shook his head. "We can only ever learn from our mistakes. Pathetic would be to refuse to learn."

"But I did refuse", Henry scoffed, "I drove Ares away in the same way I drove you away, without ever realizing I was doing something wrong!"

"You realize it now."

"It was almost too late."

"Almost."

Henry adamantly pressed his face into Thanatos' fur. "I'm scared."

"What... are you scared of?"

"Everything", he squeezed out between clenched teeth. "Messing up again. Something going horribly wrong. What if this was it for me? What if my life is over? What if everything I do from now on is worthless? What if I'm forever destined to pointlessly meddle, never to find a purpose again. A goal. A... home."

"Henry?"

"Hm..."

"Your life... can only ever be as worthless as you perceive it." His gaze darted up at Thanatos. "Back when you said you would fight the world for every ounce of life in your body... it was not worthless to you. Can you tell me what is different now?"

His mouth opened yet out came no sound.

"And if... you so desperately need someone else to tell you you're not worthless, for... whatever reason still eludes me", the flier shook his head, "I can tell you any time you want. You have saved me as I have saved you, and as you have so fittingly stated... we are one. It means... neither of us must ever fear being purposeless... being alone again."

"It's you and me." His hand tightened around Thanatos' claw.

"From now on and for the rest of our lives."

The frighteningly powerful meaning of the words swept over Henry yet suddenly he found he was not scared.

"A home is not always a place", the flier spoke on, "and though neither of us can ever regain what we have lost due to our own mistakes, perhaps one day we can find a new home... together."

All Henry managed was a weak nod. "Together."

Log 1/Day 3 at the nibbler colony/around noon

I'm not sure why but writing these outside of Kismet's is strange. I don't think I'll do it much either, going forward. Maybe occasionally, to clear my head. Makes me miss Kismet, weirdly enough. I hope she's okay, and that she'll get our message. We have to visit as soon as Thanatos can fly again.

I haven't been doing this well in ages I think. Maybe Thanatos was right. Maybe home can be anywhere if you want. I really want to. Whenever I think of what we've been doing before, doing mercenary jobs and just going about our business in the Dead Land, I feel like such a life could be home. It was fun enough. But is that... all I'll ever be? What if I want more than that? Guess I still don't know what I want. Oh well. Maybe I can figure it out someday.

For whatever it's worth, I'm not scared anymore. Not of myself, not of the future... okay, maybe a little bit of the future but eh, and especially not of Longclaw and Tonguetwist. Isn't there a saying about that? Something like... "you must deal with your past before you can find your future"? I could have sworn. Anyway, our past will go straight down to hell. Soon.

I guess that's it. When I think of the immediate present and the near future I can be happy. In the near future, we'll kick Longclaw's and Tonguetwist's asses and I'm getting a new sword (which will be incredible by the way, I'm really excited). Dammit, I've been worrying way too much I think. Since when do I even worry so much about the future? This is weird.

I've also gone through all my notes recently cause there isn't really anything else to do if your nibbler friends are overly concerned about you and your (nearly healed!) stab wound, and I rediscovered this design I drew at Kismet's at some point. When I went over my logs from that time I wished I had burned them though. I mean, considering what this design is, I'm still somewhat concerned Thanatos will yell at me for being disrespectful, but I'm not all out of hope. Not anymore. I should maybe show it to Teslas first, to ask if it's even possible. Maybe we can talk to Thanatos together then. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited.

"Hey, I thought you weren't a diary guy."

Henry jumped and the notebook he had been scribbling in slipped from his lap. "I'm... not."

"So it is not impossible to surprise you, just harder", Curie at Thanatos' side giggled.

"Very funny." Henry pulled himself up from the rock by the spring and went after his notebook.

"Father said he'd fetch you soon, by the way. Something about that new thing you're making."

"Oh great", Henry picked his book up and nearly ran the mouse over as she appeared behind him. "For now, we brought lunch." She sat the man-made hamper she had been carrying down and for the first time, the exiled prince registered the enticing smell of food it emitted.

"Oh that's fantastic, I'm starving."

"You certainly look like it." Thanatos collapsed on the sandy beach beside Henry. "You should try and pick up eating regularly now."

"Yeah", the exiled prince sat beside him and peeked into the hamper, "I think I can do that, with the kind of selection you have here."

The three had gobbled up the contents of the hamper in a measly ten minutes and when Henry asked for seconds, Curie disappeared into the colony and minutes later came back with another hamper. Even though it was as packed as the first one, it too was emptied astonishingly quickly.

"So... you're all grown up now, right?" Henry grinned at Curie.

She nodded. "Nibblers become adults when they turn one year old. My birthday was two weeks ago."

The exiled prince shook his head in disbelief. "I remember I could hold you in the palm of my hand when we first met."

"Yes", she laughed, "and I forced you two to roleplay with me. It was quite delightful."

"It certainly was", Henry grinned and thought for as awful the rat prison had been, that part even he liked to remember from time to time.

"I will go check on father", Curie stood moments later, "he should have already called. Maybe I should go see if he got sidetracked again. It happens more than you would think."

"Yeah, I'll be here a while", Henry mumbled and mindlessly tossed a pebble into the lake. "It's been so long since I've seen any color I will not go back into a cave when I can just as well sit here. What about you?", he asked Thanatos as they watched Curie disappear through the curtain of vines, carrying the empty hampers.

"I like it better out here as well", he mumbled and they lied side by side silently for a while before the flier spoke again – "So, have the nibblers been able to determine what the black material we found is?"

Henry nodded and grinned. "Apparently, it's a four-million-old metal ball that once fell from space! Like, actual space. Above ground and beyond." His eye took in the dense network of green above him and he wondered if space was green too. If it was lush with life or a deathly wasteland.

"A real meteorite then", Thanatos mumbled and shook his head. "I thought it a possibility, as we saw the crater, but I wasn't sure."

"How do you know a rock from space is called a metro- meteorite? I had never heard the word!"

The flier laughed. "I believe I have a little more life experience than you. It is not an uncommon term."

Henry glared at him. "Right. Because you're OLD", he grumbled. "How old are you actually? You never told me."

Thanatos gazed at him with half-closed eyes. "It would hardly be fair to compare my age in years to your age in years. Fliers grow up by the time they turn two, whilst it takes humans a whole of sixteen years."

Henry pulled his leg on and pouted. "Well... then it's easy to determine your age in human terms. Tell me how many years you're old and we'll subtract two and add sixteen. That will make it fair."

Thanatos stared at him with round eyes. "That... is actually a decently smart system."

"Well, what do you think I am, stupid?"

"I will... refrain from answering that question."

Henry slapped the back of his hand at Thanatos' face and the flier dodged in the last second. "Spill it! I've told you my age AGES ago! It's only fair!"

The flier sighed and stared at him somewhat pained. "This... will sound like a strange coincidence and, believe me, I have pondered on it for as long as I've known your age, but... speaking strictly in years... I am seventeen."

Henry's eye widened and for a moment he forgot to close his agape-standing mouth. "You're... wait, we were born in the same year?"

"Indeed", Thanatos grinned somewhat sourly.

"But wait...", Henry agitatedly scratched his chin, "that makes you... fifteen plus sixteen is... thirty-one."

They exchanged a prolonged glance until the exiled prince broke into laughter. Thanatos just looked like he wanted for the conversation to end. "MAN, that's weird! Being seventeen and thirty-one at the same time! Like, I knew you were old but MAN, are you OLD!"

"HEY, considering you would be a measly three years old had you been born a flier, I should be the one mocking. You're barely an infant."

Henry giggled on regardless. "Still. You're like... really old."

Thanatos gazed at him disapprovingly for a few heartbeats, then sighed. "Actually, you're right. I am... old. Seven years went by without me ever thinking about it, I was a young adult when I went into exile and now... well, there's hardly anything I can do."

"Hey", Henry nudged him with the back of his hand, "if my life isn't over, neither is yours. Okay?"

A heartbeat of silence passed, then the flier sighed. "Okay."

For a while they stared out onto the lake together, Henry allowed the calming sounds to permeate him, for the first time in what felt like forever he fully surrendered himself to his senses, perceiving every vine, every stone, every nook, and cranny around them.

"So, are you and Teslas making anything else besides this ominous sword?", Thanatos at last broke the silence and Henry opened his eye. "Curie told me he has spent most his time designing new possible gadgets for you."

Henry shrugged. "He did. And I –", his gaze trailed at his notebook. There was something else indeed he wanted to ask Teslas to build, but –

An array of confused and uncertain thoughts suddenly clustered his mind. On one hand, he felt he wasn't ready to share this yet, on the other hand, it had been gnawing at him ever since he had rediscovered it. Perhaps it was best to get it over with. "I actually had something myself, but...", he threw the flier a quick glance, "I'll tell you a bit later, okay?"

Thanatos frowned. "Later? Why later?"

"Because...", Henry picked up his notebook and began flipping through, "like, this will sound weird but I want to ask Teslas for whether it'll even work the way I want it to first. It's...", he cleared his throat and adamantly stared into the book. "Kind of... controversial."

"Is it now?"

Henry groaned. "It... listen, can I talk to Teslas first, and then... we talk to you together? That'll be much easier."

Thanatos pensively stared at him and shook his head. "Why do you need support to talk about something as trivial as a new design to your own bond?"

Henry pressed his lips together, hands tightly clutching the book. "Because you may be my bond, but you're also proud and stubborn, and the moment I say what it is you'll interrupt and start yelling how I'm disrespecting you, and stop listening altogether."

Thanatos narrowed his eyes. "Try me."

"I'd really rather not." Henry anxiously burrowed his hands into the sand. "I promise I'll tell you, but together with Teslas."

He jumped when the flier nudged him. "Henry, spill it. There is nothing you could suggest that will make me yell at you. As long as its sole purpose is not, you know, ACTUALLY to disrespect me."

"It's not", Henry sighed, attempting to remember the once so meticulously thought-up benefits it would bring. The design would most likely need work, but he at least had somewhere to start.

"It's... listen, if this works it'll make us considerably stronger and less predictable in battle. And by considerably, I mean considerably. That is its purpose. Try and keep that in mind, okay?" For some reason, his heart beat out of his chest as he flipped the page open. "There."

Thanatos leaned in when the exiled prince tossed the book in front of him. A few eternal moments of silence passed before he looked back up. "That is... is that... a saddle?"

Henry nodded and squinted in preparation for the incoming tirade.

"HENRY!", the flier hissed, "You know exactly why fliers don't wear saddles, it is symbolic of our equality with the humans. It is not –"

The exiled prince groaned. "I know, and I told you it –", but as expected, Thanatos cut him off – "After everything that's happened, everything we've been through, are you still seriously suggesting –"

"DEATH!", his hands dug deeper into the sand, "can you let me EXPLAIN?"

"Explain? What is there to explain? All I see is that you have not –"

"Dammit, THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DID NOT WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS!"

His cry was followed by deathly silence. Thanatos' eyes still gleamed with offended disbelief but his mouth was tightly shut. Henry took a deep breath. His hand trembled as he picked the notebook back up. "I knew you wouldn't listen to me", he hissed, furiously staring at his sketch, "that's why I didn't want to tell you yet."

"Well", the flier scoffed, "maybe because it indeed is disrespectful."

"What did I tell you was its purpose?"

Thanatos hesitated. "To... make us stronger in battle?", he blinked, "But how could a saddle make us..."

"That is precisely what I wanted to EXPLAIN before YOU INTERRUPTED ME!" Henry slammed the notebook shut. "Do you really think I'd even bring this up if it wasn't amazing? It's not fleshed out yet, but if we work on it, it could change everything. Everything we know about fighting and flying as a team. And I mean that."

Thanatos remained silent, still eyeing him with narrowed eyes. When he then spoke, he sounded resigned. "Alright. You know what, go ahead. Explain. I am not letting you put any saddle on me ever, but... explain. I believe I owe you that much trust at least."

Henry couldn't suppress a relieved sigh. "Thank you. It won't disappoint." The exiled prince picked up the notebook again and opened his mouth when a voice suddenly called from the curtain of vines – "Henry, father is finally ready! You must come!"

His gaze darted at the curtain and he spotted Curie's head poking out. "Guess I'll explain later. But I'll still explain!"

The flier rolled his eyes. "Sure."

"Henry, you must come, it is done!"

The exiled prince was up on his feet before Teslas had finished speaking. He wasn't supposed to run but for once he disregarded it, flying through the stacks of materials and crates like he had wings.

"Done? Finally done!"

"HENRY slow down!", Teslas reproached and turned from his work table he had cloaked with a large piece of fabric. "You're not getting any swords if you don't quit the reckless behavior."

Henry abruptly stopped and peeked behind the nibbler. "I knew it would be today. Man, custom molds are a pain in the behind, aren't they? And you don't even let me help you."

"With that injury? You're lucky I let you walk", Teslas snorted and turned back to the table. "A week is a good time for a piece such as this. And you know what?" With a single pull, he removed the cloth. "Now that we have this done and over with we can begin working on that saddle gadget. It is about the most revolutionary design I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot. About your flier, we'll convince him together, don't worry."

Yet all Henry had an eye for was the table, and the nothing short of magnificent, pitch-black blade he had arranged on it.

"A marvelous exemplar of a two-handed Greatsword", Teslas strolled around the table like a salesman attempting to tempt a customer. "Measurement at the current moment stands at four foot six, though it may need a pommel for good measure. But you're good at carving now so I'll leave that to you."

His tail slapped away Henry's hand as it extended to touch the sword.

"Wide blade, tapered point with a diamond-cross-section, ideal against non-armored enemies who are larger than you in size." He tapped his claw on the curved crossguard. "Large ricasso with a pair of thorn-like extremities for added control and power." His claw then tapped the hilt, "Two-handed, waisted grip. Ideal for powerful cuts and cleaves." His gaze darted up at Henry. "By all means, were I a swordsman, I would be green with envy."

For once, the exiled prince had absolutely no issues with his own speechlessness. He did not even think to close his agape-standing mouth when his hands slowly closed around the waisted hilt.

"And the best part is –"

"AGH!" Henry stumbled backward, firmly gripping the enormous sword.

"... is that it barely weighs more than your other sword", Teslas finished his sentence and grinned. "Careful there."

"Holy shit..." It was all he could utter as he lifted the giant black blade with ease. His hand slipped further up to finger the guard and to his tremendous joy, he found he could hold it even with a single hand.

"HEY", Teslas had his shoulder at once. "Do that OUTSIDE, please. With a sword of that size you have no experience in wielding, you'll demolish everything in here within seconds."

"Teslas", his gaze fell on the nibbler. "I love it."

"Well, good!", the inventor shoved him outside but Henry spotted his grin from the corner of his eye. "Now go and brag, as you most certainly intended to. Just don't strain yourself too much. And don't forget to think up a name for it. I believe we can agree it deserves one."

The whole way from the workshop to the vine curtain and the lake Henry held his wide grin. The new sword he could easily shoulder. His hands firmly gripped the hilt Teslas had wrapped in smooth fabric and every inch of his body tingled with excitement.

He perceived Thanatos and the shape of a nibbler sitting by the spring long before he stepped out onto the beach. The nibbler revealed herself as Curie as soon as he exited through the vine curtain.

"Well – does sword still equal sword?" With one swift motion, he leaped from the last rock, twirled the blade around, and rammed the tip into the ground. Were he to add a pommel it would reach up to the middle of his chest.

"That... THAT is the new sword?" Henry grinned with satisfaction at the disbelief in Thanatos' eyes.

"Wow", Curie leaped to her hinds. "MEGA sword!"

Henry laughed. "Maybe that's what I should name it."

"It's... certainly beautiful", Thanatos admitted a few heartbeats later. "But isn't it a little big?"

Henry rolled his eye. "That is the POINT, Death. I wanted a large, preferably two-handed, sword for close-up combat against enemies bigger than me." He scoffed and weighed the blade, then took a firm stance and swung it. His heartbeat tripled from excitement at how heavy the blow felt despite the lightness of the material.

"MAN I wish I had this in the arena", he mumbled, thinking back to his old sword. It had not come out of fifty hard battles unscathed – tattered and dented as it was now. "My other sword's barely a toothpick against this one. I wish I could show it to Kismet", he laughed. "She'd be awestruck!"

"I haven't a single doubt."

"And if you're worried it looks heavy", Henry threw another glance at his audience, "it is not. The material is light, it's barely any heavier than the toothpick, I mean, my other sword."

"It is gorgeous!", Curie called and drew closer to inspect it. "Does it have a name like your dagger?"

"It will have one... soon enough."

"Any ideas?", Thanatos asked and Henry pondered for a second. His gaze inspected the pitch black, shimmering blade, then Thanatos.

"I'm thoroughly disappointed the ignifer will not work on it, though. This is exactly how I pictured the Death Rider's sword, as a child." He raised the blade and gripped the hilt with both hands. Then, he had an idea.

"How about...", Henry's grin widened, "In the name of the True Death Rider", he raised the blade even higher, "I hereby dub thee – Charos!"

The tip rammed into the ground.

Thanatos tilted his head. "So you will name it after the Grim Reaper?"

"Well, it will be reaping lives, will it not?" His hand brushed the pommel-less hilt. "The color matches too. And it will be serving he who is the embodiment of the Reaper Himself", he grinned. "There can hardly be a more fitting name."

"You know what", the flier smiled, "you're right. Except you'll also have to make some sort of sheath. And if you ever want a chance at being able to draw it, it has to be special in some way. The thing's nearly double the length of your arm."

"HEY, don't ruin the moment!", Henry cried, swinging Charos at a hanging vine. "I know that. But let me HAVE THIS, won't you?"

"Oh well", Thanatos yawned, "if you say so."