It was early when they were woken the next morning, but despite the fact that everyone had gone to bed late there were no grumpy faces or sour looks as they ate a quick breakfast and then assisted taking down the tents and dismantling the campsite. Once everything was loaded into the sleds, the youngsters claimed their spots in one sled – driven by the youngest guide and with Chai – and the guards and remaining guide went into the other.

"How far to the Jabari village?" MJ asked curiously as she settled next to Peter – and then had Bartel settle in a seat near at hand.

Azoru's cousin smiled, answering before the guides – or Azoru could.

"Jad's village is many hours," he replied, leaning back into the seat. "We will not reach it it until well after lunch."

"They are expecting us, though," Azoru reminded them. "So they will make sure there is an early dinner ready."

"That way we do not need to stop for lunch," Chai agreed. "We can continue to show you the wildlife on the way."

Meaning they would slow down if anyone noticed anything that they thought the kids would be interested in. Otherwise they were planning on a straight shot to the village and the overnight planned there.

"I can't wait to see it," MJ said.

"Seen one small village, you have seen any of them," Bartel told her. "They all pale in comparison to the Gorilla city. You must come visit us, there, the next time you are in Wakanda."

"She may prefer to see a small village instead of a large city," Shuri pointed out with a slightly amused smile. "The city she was born in has more people in it than all of the tribes of Wakanda, combined.'

"Am I missing something?" Peter asked Alec. "Is Bartel hitting on MJ?"

There was an amused snort.

"He's trying to be subtle about it."

"She has a boyfriend."

"But no long-term commitment as Azoru explained dating to his kinsmen. MJ is exotic as she is a member of the new Avenger tribe and is pretty. She should not be surprised to find many young men hoping she is available for courtship."

That made Peter scowl, even though he wasn't sure which part annoyed him.

"Am I going to have to beat a bunch of horny guys away with one of those staff weapons?" he asked.

Another amused snort.

"The Wakandans are far more formal and proper than the boys in your high school are, and MJ isn't one to put up with a lot of foolishness once she realizes what's going on." There was a slight hesitation. "But she might enjoy the attention, a little, so I'd advise you not to start carrying one of those sticks around."

"What's wrong, Peter?" Ned asked, breaking into Peter's silent conversation.

He started, slightly.

"What?"

"You look mad."

They were all looking at him, now.

"I'm not," he assured them, shrugging, and trying to think of something to say that didn't include mentioning a conversation in his mind with long-dead alien sorcerers. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Shuri asked, casually reaching for his hand, as if to make sure he wasn't grumpy about something.

"Just looking forward to seeing Jad and his people…" he said, lamely.

"I can't wait to play that pig rugby game," Ned told them. "Without eating the ball, though, obviously."

Bartel and Mavik clearly didn't know what they were talking about, so that story took up some of the time to the village, with both boys shaking their heads and smiling at the way Peter had ended up keeping the piglet and even taking it home with him – and then even more amused when Ned had produced photos of the same pig in various sweaters.

"The ball is not eaten every game," Bartel pointed out. "Obviously. It is only when there is a special guest. Otherwise there would not be enough pigs in a village."

"That makes sense."

"He is a very little pig," Bartel said with a smile as he looked at a picture of Ned holding Ironpig. "Is this picture from when he was rescued?"

"It's from last week," Ned replied.

"He's a runt," Peter told them. "He was always little and didn't grow too big. T'Challa brought a pig from here for a friend of mine and that one isn't a old as Ironpig but he's already bigger, I think."

"Probably because it makes Tony happy to have his piglet little and portable."

"That's a good point."

Peter hadn't thought about it that way, but Ironpig was still a pretty little guy. Of course, maybe he was just a runt.

"Maybe he wasn't, before, and now he is," Alec added. "No way to know for certain. So no reason to dwell on it."

True.

The ancient sorcerer fell silent in the back of his mind and without the distraction of that conversation, Peter was able to pay attention to the conversations that were now going on around him; mainly Ned telling Azoru what they'd been seeing and Bartel attempting to impress MJ with stories of his own home and many accomplishments while trying to seem that he was bragging.

Peter leaned back and held Shuri's hand, enjoying the company and the ride – and the fact that it was beginning to warm up a bit.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Peter!"

The sleds had barely come to a stop when Peter heard his name called. By a very young voice.

It was clear that the people of the village had been expecting them and were happy to welcome them. The entire population (which wasn't huge, of course) had come to greet their arrival, and there were plenty of smiles. Mindful of the need for proper courtesy when greeting and being greeted, the adults were still, but Jad's grandkids were eager to see their friend, again, and the youngest couldn't stop but shouting his happiness.

Peter smiled, cheerfully, as he hopped down from the sled, but he turned his back on the crowd to assist first Shuri and then MJ down. Ned didn't jump down, right away; he took a few pictures with his phone without anyone but Peter realizing what he was doing – since he didn't know if it was improper, or not, and hadn't thought to ask Shuri was the etiquette was as far as that kind of thing. Of course, he hadn't expected to see so many people, really.

Azoru hopped down as easily as Peter had, but he waited for Jad and the other elders of the village to come forward and offer their official greetings to first Shuri, and then to Peter, before then greeting Bartel and Mavik. Ince those known to them were greeted, everyone turned to Peter, waiting for him to introduce them to those unknowns.

Peter didn't make them wait. He introduced MJ, first, and then Ned, and introduced both as members of the Avenger tribe – which they were, even though neither had the tattoo in a place that was easily seen. Jad greeted them, warmly, as if they were already friends of his, as invited them to the village, welcoming them to enjoy their hospitality and accepting a gift of a basket of glazed fruits as a thank you.

Formalities over, Jad offered Shuri his arm and the village chieftain and the princess turned toward the center of the village where the guests would be staying. The youngsters of the village crowded around Peter (and Ned and MJ, by default). When he'd first visited, none of the children of the village and very few of the adults could speak English, but it was clear that they were learning the language because many of them were trying to talk over each other to greet them.

"Manners…" Peter reminded them, smiling to soften the rebuke. "You're confusing my friends."

They stopped the shouting, but were still eager to be introduced, and Peter was indulgent enough to do it. He didn't know all of their names, but he did recognize many of them, and Alec helped him with the names he didn't know, so no one felt slighted. The littlest of them were finally shepherded away with parents, while many of the younger men had moved to talk to Azoru and his cousins. Peter noticed that it wasn't just the young men; there were plenty of young women as well. And why not? Azoru, Bartel and Mavik were considered good catches and were young, fit, and handsome. And nobles of the Jabari tribe.

"Let's go to the tent," Peter suggested, turning back to the sled to help Chai and the others with the bags that they would need for their stay. None of the food, obviously, or the sleeping bags and other bedding, but definitely clothes for later – and Peter had plenty of small gifts in his bags for pretty much every kid in the village. He'd made sure of it. "I'm hungry."

"Me, too," Ned agreed, tossing Azoru his bag and then shouldering MJ's for her, but giving Bartel a slight shrug and handing it over when the young Jabari offered to carry it for her. "This place is amazing, Peter," he added as they turned to head the same direction jad and Shuri had gone.

"Yeah. This is going to be fun."