Hello, everyone! Yes, I'm still alive, I've just had NO luck at being able to finish a fic…Technically, this one is not finished either, but I felt that it was in such a state where, if I just posted it as-is, it'd make a decent oneshot.

I was introduced to the Henry Stickmin universe by the Twitch Streamer/YouTuber Kobalstromo, so…look him up sometime on the late-afternoon weekdays if you wanna see his stuff.

Prologue/One-Shot: Abandonment? More like Rescue Preparation
3/16/2016
11:12 AM
Cockpit, Toppat Airship, Above South America, Earth, Sol System

Henry entered the bridge, gathering everyone's attention. So far, so good…

"Henry!" Reginald exclaimed, "Where have you been?"

Henry opened his mouth, about to speak. In his mind, he was relieved: he got out of the wall, he managed to get to the pod, AND he managed to get the pod back to the Airship. He was back in contact with the Toppat Clan…Now that he was here, he could begin preparing to-

"Oh, you want to know?" Henry froze…None of the Toppats had a voice that sounded like that…and none of them knew where he was…so if it wasn't a Toppat then who-

Henry turned around…and saw…someone he didn't expect to see for another few days to a week…"He was locked up at the Wall with me," said the red-headed young woman who'd helped him escape the Wall. Part of Henry was glad to see her…until he saw her expression…and it wasn't a happy one…

"Uhm, who are you? How did you get here?" Reginald asked, confused as to where this young woman came from. She didn't have a hat so, unless she was a newbie that forgot to put it on, she wasn't part of the Toppat Clan, and she seemed to know where Henry was…

"Oh, I'm Ellie. I heard the guy I helped escape was the leader of the Toppat Clan. So I busted myself and followed him." Ellie turned back to Henry. Henry saw her expression, the look of someone betrayed…seeing that look on her face, after what HE had planned, was…a bit heartbreaking, to be honest. "I helped you escape, and you just... left me."

Henry was shocked: THAT'S what she thought? That he'd up and abandoned her?! It explained so much, but-...Henry realized he never DID speak to her at all…as such, she wouldn't have known-

Reginald gasped, in shock and anger at what Ellie claimed Henry did. "What?! Have you no honor?! No dignity?! Actions like this tarnish the Toppat name."

Henry turned to Reginald, who had ALSO gotten the wrong idea. Henry realized that this was getting out of hand. Maybe-

"Men, is this what really what we want out of a leader? He barged in here, took control of-"

"QUUIIIIEEEEET!...And AT LEAST give me a chance to EXPLAIN myself, before accusing me!" Henry finally snapped, unable to so much as string together a complete comprehendible thought, what with the constant accusations and assumptions directed at him. Everyone was thinking about this all the wrong way. They didn't know, didn't UNDERSTAND what Henry had intended on doing.

This had the effect of shutting up both Reginald and Ellie. Henry had never been verbose in all the time he knew him, so Reginald was surprised…As for Ellie, she didn't know QUITE what to make of Henry's outburst, as, from what little she knew of him, he seemed to be the quiet type…Was she wrong?

Henry tried to figure out how things could have taken THIS kind of turn? Sure, Henry failed to communicate his intentions to Ellie, but…she REALLY went to all this trouble to hunt him down…If she'd waited a few days, things would've been different…after all, she wouldn't have had to-...Henry decided to just come clean…Maybe all he needed to do was explain what he intended, and if they realized he told the truth…maybe things would calm down again…

"...I can see where you're coming from with what you are thinking…but you all have gotten the WRONG idea…" With a huff, he began trying to settle his thoughts. This threw EVERYTHING out of whack…but if they could just let him explain himself, and what he'd intended on ACTUALLY doing...After all, Ellie's here, so his plan's kinda moot now, but they at LEAST deserve to know what he was planning in the FIRST PLACE…

Ellie, irritably, just glared at him and crossed her arm. Still believing he just selfishly abandoned her to her fate, she wasn't in the mood to listening to him…That said, what if he had something worth saying? Eventually, she decided. "...Well…I'm waiting…"

Henry exhaled, ready to give his side of the story. As such, he opened up with, "...You DO realize that trying to break out of a prison like the wall is difficult to do with ONE person, let alone two people, right?"

"So, that's your excuse? It was too hard?" Ellie pointedly jabbed at him, thinking he was just being lazy or cowardly (or both), by abandoning her. She began to wonder if listening to him was going to be even worth it-

"I'm not done yet…" Henry interrupted, preventing another tirade from Ellie or more accusations from Reginald. "In order to pull off a double escape like that, from a prison THAT secure, I would've needed some kind of distraction…Heck, I almost didn't make it out of there, and I was just sneaking for one!" Henry explained, before turning to Reginald. "Which is why I came back DIRECTLY to the Airship here…"

Reginald tried to figure out what the Airship had to do with anything…Why would he need the Airship, if he already got out-...His eyes widened as he soon got the picture, and realized what Henry had intended to do. "...You…intended to go back, after organizing the Toppat Clan, in order to act as the distraction you needed."

Henry nodded, glad Reginald caught onto what he was planning to do. "Exactly. My plan was for the Toppats to begin bombarding the Wall with their Airship; I saw the cannons this thing had hidden in it; and while the Toppats diverted the attention of the Warden and his guards, I would sneak in, find and locate Ellie, and work to get her out of the Wall, and get us both back on the Airship…If all went as planned, ALL of us would have made it out intact, and we could get back to trying to figure out what to do next…" He then turned to Ellie, trying to offer a kind smile. "After all, if she went to the effort to ensure my escape, the LEAST I could do is make sure her own escape went off without a hitch, right?!"

Ellie's eyes were wide, with shock towards Henry and horror at her own actions…She genuinely thought Henry had abandoned her, and was willing to exact revenge in order to get payback at him for it…but…if what he was saying was true…"...You…you intended…you intended to come back for me…You…never abandoned me, you just…wanted to make sure…we'd be able to get out safely…" Ellie's eyes stayed wide, but tears began to stream from them. She fully intended on getting payback on Henry for abandoning her…but she could see it in his eyes: he was telling the truth…He never abandoned her: he just wanted to make sure that they BOTH were able to get out…

How could she have so badly misread the situation…didn't she spent a GOOD portion of her life trying to learn how to read people, after-...Henry seemed like a good person to her, so when he left, she thought she'd misread him…but…was her original impression of her ACTUALLY correct?!

Ellie's legs began to shake, as strength left them. Henry, noticing this, rushed forward and supported Ellie. "Hey, Ellie! Are you alright?"

Ellie just muttered, "...He never betrayed me…He…he wanted to rescue me…he…he cared…someone ACTUALLY cared…"

Reginald, who had listened and watched the whole thing, just stared a minute, before realizing what was going on. Not wanting to see (or have to deal with) Ellie's seemingly-inevitable breakdown (and maybe a BIT of a desire to give the two some privacy), Reginald declared, "Oh-KAY everyone, let's…give these two some room!" With that, the Toppats present vacated the bridge…although Reginald, his Right Hand Man, and a few others remained at the door, eavesdropping.

After the Toppats left, Ellie stared Henry in the eye, and quietly asked, "...You really went to the trouble…of trying to organize a rescue…for me? You…risked your standing…with the Toppats…just to plan…my escape? To…save me?"

"Of course," Henry replied, offering a kind smile to her, "After all…like you said: you helped me escape…I just didn't want your efforts to be in vain, and I didn't want you to just end up recaptured…so I went with the path that ensured BOTH of our escapes went off without a hitch…I'm…sorry I didn't tell you sooner…"

A sniff…that was Henry's only warning for what was to come…until Ellie grabbed onto him, sobbing. Henry was surprised by this, but eventually leaned his head onto her shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her, not sure why her reaction was THIS extreme…

Sure, she came here seeking revenge and found out her vengefulness was misplaced, but why was she SO shocked at Henry planning to rescue her, not to mention her own reaction to her actions and thoughts? With Henry, he felt that might've probably assumed she'd done the same, if their roles had been reversed…but he was SURE that HIS reaction to finding out he was wrong and wasn't ACTUALLY betrayed would've been FAR less extreme than Ellie's…Henry realized there was more to her reaction than just what she realized was going on…but what was it?

Soon enough, Ellie's sobbing quieted; she still cried, but it had settled down, and now Henry was able to talk to her again. "Come on…let's get you a room to stay…" he said, as Ellie, whose head was still buried in Henry's chest, nodded quietly (bar her sniffling and sobbing). He then began escorting her out of the bridge…

…And running RIGHT into the eavesdropping Toppats. Henry was a bit irritated by this, so he snapped "...Don't you all have something better to do?!"

As the Toppats, bar Reginald and his Right Hand Man, scattered, Henry stared at the remaining two. "...We'll…uh…get…back to piloting the ship…" Reginald replied.

"Yeah, right…" the Right Hand Man replied, and with that, the former Toppat Leader and his Right Hand Man slipped back onto the bridge.

Henry then led Ellie further into the Airship, to find her a room to stay in. All the while, she held to him tightly, and he made sure to keep a hold on her…he failed her once, he was NOT going to do so again…especially since it seemed she REALLY needed someone to lean on…now more than ever…

But if Henry had his way, he'd find out why Ellie had such an extreme reaction…and depending on what had happened to her before…ensure NOTHING like that EVER happened again…

I feel it's a decent setup for the rest of the fic, and, like I said, a decent one-shot, on its own. Basically, this is, obviously, the 'Toppat Civil Warfare' timeline, albeit without the 'Civil Warfare' part as Henry had genuine intentions behind leaving Ellie behind, and was able to express them. To those who look forward to more, I'll do what I can, but to the rest of you, hope you liked this…

As for Ellie's reaction to realizing Henry fully intended on rescuing her, that'll be touched upon in the story itself...As for if you either don't want to wait, or (more understandably) assume I'm not gonna be able to reach that point before I stall out, and therefore stop writing (and therefore never post) this, then go ahead and PM me, so I'll give you the inside scoop of what I have planned...