Eridan scowled. He was trapped in this cell for months, and his only entertainment, the girl in the cell next to him, who he had been exchanging letters with (gods only know how she got the paper), wasn't talking to him. He sighed. He knew his dad, sorry, the King, would send someone by now, wouldn't want his insurance gone. Maybe he'd be able to get out without having to go home and marry some prince he didn't love, let alone like. Hell, he'd rather marry the thief in the cell next to him than the annoying prince! At least she didn't sweat profusely. He contemplated he fate, maybe he'd be lucky to rot in the jail cell. Sure, it was boring, but at least no one expected him to do anything. He sighed, he shouldn't get his hopes up. Nothing good happened then.

Sollux was panting, hard. He wasn't used to this much physical exertion. He was a Mage, he didn't need to this Friday Fitness Extravaganza or whatever Karkat forces him to take. Meanwhile, said troll was having a meal with the girl of his dreams! Karkat should be dealing with this shit, he was the muscle! Sollux was the brains and Feferi was. . . she was Feferi. She could do a surprising amount of things, including fighting. Both boys thought she would be deadweight at first, then they ran into an Orc. It was at least twice her size, yet, somehow, she single-handedly took down. With a single hit. Sollux thought that was pretty over-powered.

"Shellux!" Feferi called, "are you ocray?"

Sollux fell flat on his back, the workout had totally drained him. He moaned, unable to form a sentence.

"Serves you right, ass-eating shitface," Karkat said, smirking.

Sollux flipped him off, weakly, "Shut. . . up. FF. . . you. . . can. . . cook. . . right?" He coughed, speaking hurt.

"Crabcatch, don't be like that! Shore, I can mako you somefin, Shellux," Feferi frowned, "although, I don't have anyfin to mako it with."

Karkat scowled, "Crabcatch is a shitty nickname," he muttered.

Feferi rolled her eyes, "Anywaves, whale need your kelp gathering ingredients."

Sollux groaned, "No. . . more."

Feferi giggled, "I'll take you to the Inn. Crabcatch, can you get some vegetables whale I'm awave?"

Karkat rolled his eyes, "Enough with the nickname. Why do I have to get stuff? I don't know what shit you want." He paused, "you know what, never mind, I don't want to accompany that shit-eater."

"Whatever you want, Crabcatch," Sollux said, earning the bird from Karkat.

"I'll cray you," Feferi said, once Karkat was out of range, "you're not in anemone condition to be moving."

"No, I can walk," Sollux said, trying to get up, causing pain to circulate through his body, "you know what, never mind, I'll just lay here."

"Nonsense! I can cray you, easily," Feferi said, picking him up, bridal style, "you're reelly light."

Sollux blushed, "It's not my fault I'm tiny," he snapped.

"I think you're cute."

Sollux scowled, though his blush deepened. A comfortable silence fell over them, only to be broken by Feferi's voice. Not that Sollux minded. He thought her voice was lovely. Gods, he was sappy.

"Why are you doing this?" Feferi asked, suddenly.

"Doing what?" Sollux asked, confused.

"This. The whole quest for a prince. Crabcatch said you hated him."

"I don't know," Sollux admitted, "Eridan. . . I guess I admire him. He's selfish, but he's willing to do important things for his country. He's smarter than he acts, and has actually stopped a few wars before they started. Don't tell anyone I said that."

"Hm," Feferi murmured, thoughtfully, leaving Sollux to wonder why she had asked.

Karkat scowled, they were wasting time! Eridan was in a jail cell somewhere, and they were hanging around doing jack-shit. At least markets were great sources of information. With all the people, rumors are bound to spread. He went to the nearest stand, "Vegetables," he muttered, "what kind of vegetables."

"Did you hear? The prince from the Aquarius kingdom is going to be executed!" A villager said.

"Yes! I'm glad they're getting rid of him! He doesn't deserve to live!" Another replied.

"You seem quite interested in their conversation," the shopkeeper said, snapping Karkat's attention back to him.

"So what if I am?" Karkat snapped.

The shopkeeper laughed, "You interested in the prince?"

"You could say that," Karkat muttered.

"Yeah, they're killing him tomorrow. A public execution, fit for his family's crimes."

"What?"

"You know, the War of the Water Bearer. That's what they're calling it. Was a few years ago, 'm glad we one. Got some more water, we need it," the shopkeeper grunted.

Karkat frowned, he had never heard of a war. Sure, training as a castle guard kept him a little sheltered, but the Knight's Order was usually the first to find out.

"It was quite the fight, happened mostly on our land. Destroyed a lot of it, too. The Aquarius kingdom, didn't take it seriously. We Capricorns don't have much to go on in terms of economy, so a war is hard to fight. We have more mercenaries being hired than ever, lotta people only have that as their income."

"That bastard," Karkat muttered. Did Eridan know about this? He had to know about this. Karkat stormed off, with his unpaid food. He had to find Eridan quick, they had to fix this.

"Here's yer slop," the guard said, flinging the bowl at Eridan's face. Eridan blocked, spilling the "food" on the floor. The guard laughed, "yer not eatin' tonight."

"Better than being a wworthless piece of shit like you," Eridan muttered.

"What didja just say ta me?" The gaurd snapped.

"You're a wworthless piece of shit," Eridan spat.

The gaurd grabbed him through the bars, "Careful whatja say prince," the gaurd emphasized the word with malice, "I got a lot more power than ya do." He pulled his sword out, "wouldn't want yer face ta get scratched."

Eridan glared at the gaurd, the blade almost breaking his skin. The gaurd finally let him go skulking back to the hole he got out of. Eridan started his final letter to his neighboring thief.

I'm getting out of here and when I do I'm not going back.

Q: well, here you go. My kingdom names are so original, aren't they? Anywho, Eridan finally makes an appearance. A bit half-assed appearance, but an appearance nonetheless. Again, there is a reference. Points if you get it. What those points go to is anyone's guess though