When he woke, he found Tulio on his chest, the stray hairs tickling his neck. He had an arm around his shoulders, and was in no hurry to remove it. It was all he could do not to pull him closer, but he knew that it would hurt him.

He shifted carefully, because the bench was just digging into his side enough to be uncomfortable. He was leaning against the side of the boat, and with Tulio leaning this way, he was reminded of the times when he was still taller, before the boy he knew had hit a growth spurt that had made him even lankier than before. He remembered that his aunt had been particularly cruel, then. She must have been some sort of sadist.

Tulio noticed, but not enough to wake. Instead, the arm that was draped around Miguel's waist pulled back and the hand clutched his red shirt by his side. He quickly settled again.

Miguel changed his mind and lifted his arm, running his fingers through the black hair lazily. His heart skipped a beat when the usually uptight, cocky man snuggled into his chest and murmured his name. Altivo had to ruin the moment by neighing loudly, and Tulio woke with a snort.

"Time to get rowing," he mumbled, sitting up and grabbing an oar. Miguel rolled his eyes at Altivo, who made the horse equivalent of a laugh.

They continued like this for the next few days. They ran out of wine by the fifth day. Miguel had had to tie Tulio to the bench to pour the alcohol onto his wounds. With a lot of gasping and writhing, the brunette had managed to take it without screaming. The provisions ran out by the ninth day, and Miguel was starving. Tulio didn't complain, although the blond doubted he had the energy to. His stomach did, however, with it growling non-stop for hours on end. His fever hardly improved, and he spent more and more time resting after rowing. On the tenth day, when Miguel could just make out land, Tulio didn't row anymore. He hadn't even woken up that morning.

In the early morning of the eleventh day, they landed. Miguel got out and pulled the boat onto land, while Tulio, who was at the front of the boat, was asleep with his arms hanging out, and his hands dragged through the sand, which woke him up.

To the left was the boat that they'd left before. Tulio blinked at it sleepily, and then rolled over, muttering something about a "horrible, horrible nightmare." Miguel had to laugh.

"Come on, up on the horse," he ordered, pulling the sleepy brunette up. He didn't know how the man was still alive with all the blood loss, but somehow, with only a little drunken stumbling, Tulio managed to appear almost normal. "Er, do you remember the way?"

Tulio sighed and pulled Miguel up behind him with his left hand and started directing Altivo. It was hours before they reached the first landmark, but after that things continued smoothly. They didn't get turned around or lost, and the two days that they did spend in the jungle were spent mostly in companionable silence, although Tulio did continue to get weaker and weaker. By the time they reached the foggy area, Miguel was looking quite forward to seeing the city again, and getting Tulio some help.

The brunette had other plans. He turned Altivo right and headed that way.

"Tulio, where are you going?"

"We wrecked the entrance, remember? I'm just going by the mountains. We'll cut in through the back." Miguel beamed. His planner was back.

The people that caught sight of them coming down the side all ran away, and the village around them was perfectly deserted. Tulio lead them to the temple, where many people were gathered. Chief Tannibak emerged from a nearby doorway.

"My Lords," he murmured, running up quickly. Miguel jumped off Altivo and ran to meet the Chief, who gave him a big hug and announced to the people in a booming voice, "The Gods have returned!" A collective cheer rose at the announcement.

"Not Gods!" Miguel cried, not wanting the same mistake to be made again. "Just... your guests." The people looked at each other, and another cheer soon arose, louder than the first. Tulio could be seen straightening his vest nervously before riding over to the Chief. "Good to see you again."

"You, too, Lord Tulio. Might I ask, what happened to your clothes?" The blue shirt, upon inspection, was drenched in red, as were the pants, and the vest had a hole.

"Chief Tanni, Lord Tulio was hurt," Miguel explained, still a little giddy with excitement at being in the city again. He then looked to his partner, who didn't look as pleased. In fact, he looked dazed, blinking slowly at the shining city.

"Hurt? What happened?"

"The people we were trying to keep out of the city," Miguel explained, "captured us and tortured him."

"And what of Chel?"

"She stayed with them." The people gasped.

"Why did they only torture Lord Tulio?" Chief Tanni asked suspiciously.

"Because he took my share, and then some," Miguel murmured, not wanting too many to hear. "Chief Tanni, he needs help. We've been at sea for eleven days, and in the jungle for two."

The Chief signalled to someone, and a large, muscled warrior stepped forward and lifted Tulio right off of Altivo. The man didn't complain. He immediately lost consciousness instead. Chief Tanni followed the warrior into a nearby building, as did a nervous Miguel.

"What are you going to do?" Miguel asked the chief.

"Heal him."

"How?"

"He needs rest to recover, and I have some old texts on natural remedies around here," the chief replied. "Somewhere," he added quietly. Miguel just smiled. Things were looking up.

A/N: Sorry I haven't been around in a while. Been busy. This chapter also sounds a little rushed, I know. I didn't want them spending too much time in the jungle or at sea. There's stuff to do in El Dorado. *foreboding music* Hope you enjoyed!