As the afternoon began to fade into the evening, the 4(and the Wisps)decided to make camp for the night. The path of destruction left by the rhinos had made Marbles' job both easier and harder, as she didn't have to watch out for all of the predators she normally did, but she also had to walk the path with everybody else due to most of the trees being felled, and she had made her complaints about that known along the way.

After building a sturdy and safe fire, Jack began to disperse some hot dogs and sticks to all but Cyber, who hooked up a packet Jack had prepared beforehand to her feeding tube. She caught Marbles looking at it in curiosity, but didn't mind. Despite their rough start and obvious communication barrier, the two had gotten along fine. Jack, however, still seemed somewhat pouty after that Wispon incident.

"Hmm. Lot of critters in this thing." Marbles said, her mouth full of hot dog. "Cri-Ters?" Raccoon repeated, puzzled. "Well, yeah, buddy, it's meat. Don't you-?" Jack started, before Raccoon's continued look of confusion stopped him mid-sentence. He and Cyber shared a glance as they both realized something they had neglected to explain to the bear beforehand. "Um...Buddy, we're gonna have to have a little discussion when we get home. Just...Eat your hot dog for now." Raccoon nodded in response, and Marbles made a mental note of this as she decided to shift the subject. "So, what do you think that creature you're hunting is?"

"Best guess? Some kind of Eggman robot." Jack replied, barely looking up from his second hot dog as he put it on the stick. "Who's Eggman?" Marbles asked. "A very bad man who makes very bad things." Jack answered simply, before he caught Cyber crossing her arms and giving him an indignant look. "Well...MOSTLY makes bad things."

"Hmm. He sounds delicious either way." Marbles said, licking her lips at the thought of eggs. "Personally, I think it's a snake."

"A snake? Really?"

"Well, yeah! Lots of really big ones around here! They'll swallow you whole, if you're not careful!"

"And I'm guessing YOU'RE careful enough to avoid that?" Jack asked, carefully watching his second hot dog cook. "No, I'm just good at CLAWING my way out!" Marbles said, popping open the claws on her hands and making small slashing motions. Raccoon gasped, Cyber seemed horrified, but also intrigued, and Jack just managed to keep a straight face as he slowly blinked. "You know what? I think I just lost my appetite."

Later, after Marbles had thoroughly regaled the group with many(tall)tales of her adventures in the jungle, Jack and Cyber began to set up a place for them to sleep overnight, while Raccoon sat on a log, watching the stars in deep thought. Marbles decided to join him. "They don't get better than that, huh?" She mewled out in her "beast speak." Raccoon smiled, delighted to finally have someone to use his own with. "I don't know, the ones in the Mystic Ruins are pretty good, too."

"Is that where you're from? Where you grew up?" Marbles asked. Raccoon just shook his head. "No. I come from an island a lot like this...But there wasn't anybody like me there...Not that I knew the difference."

"So why'd you leave?"

Raccoon hung his head. "Eggman attacked. Made it unsafe. So I fought to make it safe. Me, Jack, Cyber..." He took his pink Chao plush off the ground and hugged it, remembering the one who gave it to him. "...Others who now rest in the big sleep." Marbles hung her own head, understanding what he meant. "So why didn't you go back? I mean...Who wouldn't want ALL of this?"

Raccoon took another moment to answer. "I thought I wanted to go back too, and I did, once we were done fighting. But it wasn't the same. It wasn't what I wanted anymore."

"So, what DID you want?"

"To live in the new world I'd been introduced to. To try and UNDERSTAND it. Why people value things like electricity so much. Why they sleep in their beds instead of the trees-"

"Why they insist on wearing shoes all the time?" Marbles interrupted, slyly raising her own bare foot. Raccoon just shrugged. "I have a pair, but I never saw the point of them."

"But that's why I stay with Jack and Cyber. They're helping me understand these mysteries about the outside world. I mean, can't you say you're at least a BIT curious?" Raccoon continued, getting up from the log and standing in excitement as he finished. In response, Marbles curled up her legs on the log, and rested her hands in front of her, sitting much like the more feral version of her species. "No."

Raccoon was somewhat taken aback by her response, but she continued. "I've met people before. Not many, but a few. Some of them are nice, like your friends, but others..." She took a moment to compose herself, remembering some bad encounters with malicious tourists, hunters, and older people who protested how she carried herself. "...I don't need a world that has THEM in it. I've got my own perfectly good one here."

Raccoon processed her words, remembering his own encounters with less than desirable people. Sitting back down on the log, he replied simply. "Agree to disagree."

Cyber soon walked up and motioned for the two to approach their "tent," a metal circle with triangular holes revealing the soft ground beneath, and some kind of generator device on top of a pole. "Alright, this is where we're gonna sleep tonight. It's a special energy shield generator which will protect us from predators overnight." Jack said, before throwing some bracelets towards Cyber and Raccoon. "If we need to get out, though, these bracelets will let us cross through without any issues."

"Hey, where's my bracelet?" Marbles asked. "I only packed 3, but you should still be safe inside the shield, kid."

"But what if I need to pee?" Marbles huffed, crossing her arms and stamping one of her feet. "Um...Wake someone up, I guess..." Jack replied with a shrug. "But what if I can't wake them up in time?" Marbles whined in response. Jack just looked at her for a moment before answering. "Then don't pee on anything important."

Marbles, somewhat defeated, walked into the metal structure and curled up into one of the triangular ground holes, still crossing her arms. "I'm gonna pee on your hat."

Jack, unfazed, just replied, "Sure thing, kid." Before turning on the shield and turning in for the night.