I'm back! Sorry about the unplanned hiatus. Chapters in the future will take longer than a week to post, and they'll be more sporadic. Sorry. Please have patience with me while I work on this fic!

Varian was surprisingly chatty over the next week.

Just not to Hector.

He was trying to give him space, he really was. But he died a little inside every time he came back from hunting or scouting to see his nephew deep in animated conversation with Adira, only to fall silent and stone-faced the moment he saw Hector.

Adira, for her part, reminded him to be patient. Varian just needed time and support. He'd open up eventually.

The fifth day of the silent treatment, Hector had grumbled that Varian had been so much quicker to open up to Adira than he had with him.

"You can't blame him for that," she chided. "You told him he could trust me. And he's not relying on me the way he did with you. He's still got those walls up in case I'm not what he thinks. You saved his life. I'm just here. He talks to me because he doesn't trust me the way he does you. If I let him down—which I won't—it's not as much of a letdown because I'm not on a pedestal like he put you on."

As much as he hated to admit it, it made sense. Varian could keep his emotional distance from Adira. It didn't make him feel any better though.

Should he apologize again? He'd already tried apologizing for having to leave, but he still insisted it was to find a way to save Varian. He regretted that he'd done it, but he hadn't seen another option. Was Varian upset that they didn't agree on this?

Three days later, and he was sure he would lose his mind if this went on any longer. He sighed and leaned against the trunk of the tree he was perched in. He'd come here after scouting (and destroying some poor innocent trees to vent his frustration), knowing he would be unwelcome in their little campsite. Varian hadn't seemed to notice him there. Adira had, of course, but she said nothing and continued to work with Varian.

The medicine had done its work well, and Varian's shoulders were almost completely back to normal. Adira was coaching him on his shooting stance, his arms shaking slightly as he pulled back on the bowstring. That bright smile as his arrow hit the painted target on a stump was almost blinding. He missed that smile.

He rolled his eyes as the kid's rat glared at him from a few branches over, arms crossed. Putting a finger to his lips, he turned back to the clearing.

Ruddiger didn't seem to like that. Ever protective of Varian, he had made his displeasure at Hector's mistake very clear. And apparently even looking at him now was off limits. With an angry screech, the ringtail launched himself through the air at Hector's face.

With a yelp of surprise, Hector stumbled backwards—forgetting that he was, in fact, sitting on a branch. The ground rushed up to meet him, slamming the breath from his lungs. He groaned and sat up, huffing as Ruddiger turned and trotted back to Varian smugly.

The boy, for his part, scowled when he saw Hector. He placed his bow and arrows aside, dropping down onto his pallet and taking out those scroll pieces again.

Adira, not bothering to hide her amusement, shook her head. "As grand entrances go, not your best. Varian, I'm going out to get herbs. Want to come?"

He shook his head.

"Alright. I'll be back in an hour. Don't wander off."

Hector shuffled over to start building the fire, rubbing his aching back. "I'll get started on dinner. Artemis got some pheasants earlier."

As expected, Varian said nothing.

He considered asking how progress with the scroll was coming, but he was trying his darndest not to ask questions or even give orders. Small talk was pushing it. He left the rest to Adira.

Once dinner was cooking, the smell of the meat permeating the air, he sat back against a nearby tree and started whittling a stick. The bearcats tussled nearby, and Kubwa grunted lowly as he stepped out of their way. A soft breeze tugged at Hector's hair. If not for the thick silence, the scene would almost be homey and peaceful. He tried not to let the lack of conversation bother him. He was used to being alone, with no one but his animals for company, but he'd gotten downright used to having Varian's voice in his ear. The kid said even less to him now than he had after the whole cat incident. At least them he was still willing to give monosyllabic responses.

He started whistling, a cheerful tune Quirin used to sing when they were kids. A glance over at Varian showed a pained expression across his face. Oops. Quickly shutting up, Hector turned his attention back to his work. A rough resemblance to Artemis started to take shape under his knife.

Mere moments later, Varian groaned loudly, shoving his papers back into his bag. He stood and stormed over to Hector, who tensed, expecting the lecture of a lifetime. How was he supposed to know whistling would set the kid off? But no, Varian wasn't talking to him. Would he really break that just to yell at him?

To his surprise, Varian flopped to the ground next to him and leaned against his side. Hector shifted his arm to rest behind Varian, moving it to wrap around his shoulders gently when Varian leaned into the touch. The kid crossed his arms. "I miss you," he growled.

"I miss you, too," he admitted. Should he say something else? No, better let Varian lead the conversation. If there was to be one.

Varian didn't say anything for a bit, merely snuggling closer to the warrior. Finally, he sighed. "I'm mad at you."

"That's okay."

"Stop!" Varian shoved away from him. "Why won't you be mad back? Why are you okay with this? You're supposed to be angry I've been ignoring you!"

"You needed space. Adira's here to watch you, or I'd be around a little more. I'm a little hurt that you felt like you had to shut me out, but that's okay. I'm here when you need me."

Varian growled and crossed his arms. If only Hector knew what to say, what to do to make this all better and take that expression of rage and confusion and hurt off his kid's face! Bitterly, the child huffed, "And if that never happens?"

"Then Adira gets the title of favorite, I guess." He set the carving aside. "I hope it don't come to that. I love you, and I want to be a part of your life. But… I hurt you. I can't take that back. I just… I wanted to protect you, and I messed up. I didn't know what else to do."

Varian leaped to his feet and began to pace. "Stop acting like you're okay with this! You keep apologizing and—and pretending you're not mad, and—"

"I'm not."

"Stop it! How can you not be mad at me? I get it, okay? You're an adult, you made a decision, I should just accept that, right?"

"Bullcrap. You've taken enough crap from adults in your life. And I love my brother to death, but I know how he was. And don't get me started on those royal jerks! Well, the queen lady's alright. Anyway, point is, I ain't mad because you got every right to be mad at me."

"Well good, 'cause I am!"

"Okay."

"Okay!"

Hector picked up his carving again, setting back to work. Despite his words, he couldn't get rid of the knot in his chest, the part of him that was twisted and tangled inside at the thought that Varian was angry. Part of him wanted to argue, to release that knot by insisting that he was right until both he and Varian believed it, but he couldn't. He'd made his decision; now he had to live with the consequences, no matter how painful.

Varian huffed and glared at him for a minute more before sitting next to him again. "You're… really not mad at me?"

"Nope."

"Why not? I've been a brat this week!" He rubbed his eyes. "I'm bad at handling things when I'm mad. I messed up last time. I don't want to do that again."

"You won't." Hector hesitantly put an arm around Varian's shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn't move away. "Giving me the silent treatment is nowhere near the same thing as what happened last time. I mean, think about it. You don't want to hurt me, do you? Since I hurt you?"

"No! I mean, maybe there's a petty part of me that wanted you to feel bad I was ignoring you, and that sounds so childish—"

"Well, you're a child. Var, you're fifteen. You're still learning how to handle things like this. Me and Adira didn't talk for twenty-five years. A week's not that long."

Varian stiffened. "Would you get mad and leave me alone for that long? If I didn't start talking to you?"

"No! King Edmunds si—I mean, what the dickens makes you think that?"

"Why not? Aunt Adira's your sister, and you ignored her for that long!"

"I—" He held up a finger. "I did do that, yes. But that was a completely different situation!" An unsettling thought forced its way to the front of his mind. "Is… that what you thought I'd do? You thought I was going to just shut you out of my life?"

Varian's silence was answer enough.

"No, kid, I—That won't happen, I prom—honest, it won't. If that's why you're nervous, if that's why you felt like you had to talk to me, no! I'm not mad. I'm not leaving you alone."

"What if you think that's what's 'best for me'?" Varian hissed angrily.

Ouch.

"It won't happen," he insisted. "The only reason I'd ever do that is if I somehow became a danger to you, and I won't let that happen." Gently, he placed one hand against Varian's face. "I need you to know how important you are to me, kid. Tell me you know that."

He didn't answer.

"Varian, listen, please. You saved me. You're still saving me. The last six months have been… weird, but good. It's hard for me to think I used to not have you in my life. I can't lose you. So yeah, I'll give you all the space you need, but kid, I won't ever let you go. Got it?"

He wished he had some clue, some window into what was happening in Varian's mind as his expression shifted from anger to pain and fear, and from there to sadness. Tears started to course down the boy's face. With a broken sob, he dove at Hector, hiding his face in his chest. His spindly arms reached around his waist, clinging tight as though just that action could keep Hector from ever disappearing.

"Hey," the warrior whispered. "I love you."

"Love you," Varian mumbled back.

"We're a team, 'kay? We're family. And I'm so proud to call you my nephew."

Varian drew back and rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I really was acting like a brat. I was just scared, and angry, and hurt, and part of me was worried you'd do something stupid to try to try to fix this, and I didn't want you to get hurt, so I thought… I don't know, it was dumb."

"Yeesh, what makes you think—"

"Aunt Adira says you do stupid stuff when you're upset."

"That's… yeah, 'kay, that's fair."

Varian laughed. "Don't do anything stupid, please."

"You sound like Quirin," Hector grumbled playfully. "'Hector, don't do anything stupid!' 'Hector, don't touch that!' 'Hector, what are those adorable fluffy beasts, and why are they inside?'"

"He didn't say that!"

"Okay, I'm paraphrasing a bit. He may have used the term 'cretins' or something. I dunno, it was years ago; give me a break!" He ruffled Varian's hair. Then he winced; the smell of smoke and burnt meat filtered through the air. "Oh, crap, the food!"

He lunged for the fire, yanking the spit off. "'Kay, that's… completely burnt, yeah, we can't salvage that. Adira's never going to let me hear the end of this."

"Hey, we can hunt something before she gets back, right? We've got time!" Varian grabbed his bow and arrows.

Hector smirked. "That's the spirit. She'll never know!"

O‴O‴O‴

"Weren't you cooking pheasants?"

The hunters looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, then back to Adira. Hector shrugged. "How do you define pheasants?"

"I… don't even want to know. What is this, rabbit? It's edible; good enough."

Varian fell asleep soon after supper, leaving Hector and Adira sitting with their backs to the fire. The warriors smiled fondly at the sight of the boy curled up with his raccoon in his arms. Hector nudged Adira. "Hey. Thanks for convincing him to talk to me."

His sister shrugged, her lips quirking in a half-smile. "I didn't."

"What?"

"I suggested a week ago that he should try, but I didn't say anything after that. This was him. He told me earlier he wanted to, so that's why I left you alone. He's a good kid. Really loves you." She frowned. "Are you okay?"

He rubbed his eyes quickly. "Yeah, yeah, just… the smoke makes my eyes water."

"You're such a pushover," she smirked.

"Ain't nobody can push me over," he hissed.

"Mm-hm. Varian's got you wrapped around his little finger. The big, tough soldier defeated by a fifteen-year-old."

"Keep it up and Varian's gonna have one less aunt."

"Aww, I've missed listening to you make threats you can't follow through with. Just like when we were kids!"

Hector snarled, only to be cut off by an annoyed chitter from Ruddiger. The raccoon glared and motioned to Varian. Hector huffed and shut up, painfully aware that that proved Adira's point; not only was he an emotional sap for his kid, now he was taking orders from his kid's raccoon.

"We should reach the Dark Kingdom sometime tomorrow," Adira changed the topic, speaking low so as not to get lectured by the rat.

"It's been so long," Hector sighed. "Everything's going to be different now."

"I know."

"What pathway should we take? The gondolas are probably gone, plus Kubwa can't go that way. The High Road is safer, but the Shadow Path is quicker."

"We've got Varian with us. We should probably take the High Road."

"That'll take us another day, probably. And the weather…"

"Might snow. But the Shadow Path is still more dangerous. There's a reason only the knights used it."

"Fine. The High Road it is." He stood and stretched, wincing as his joints cracked. "Two, maybe two and a half days. And the Sundrop?"

"I'd give her maybe four days. They'll try the gondolas. If there's none left, I'm sure she'll think of something."

"Doesn't leave us a lot of free time, does it? We'll make do. I want to give Varian at least a little time to relax before they get there. I'll try to keep him away from them when they show up so he don't see them."

"That would be wise. I think it's best if we avoid that conflict. Once this is over, either way it goes, he'll hopefully never have to encounter her or any of her people again."

"What about going back for Quirin?" Hector half-whispered.

Her brow furrowed. "We don't even know if we can free him. Varian couldn't. The Sundrop couldn't. I can try using my blade to cut the amber. But you and Varian should stay here. I'll go. If the Sundrop survives this, I'll accompany her back to Corona and get her to help."

"What if she doesn't want to help? She didn't listen to Varian."

"She'll listen to me," Adira hissed softly.

Hector nodded. "I'll keep Varian here in the Dark Kingdom, if the king allows."

She lightly punched his shoulder. "Get some sleep. I'll keep first watch."

"Right." He sighed. Just two more days, and he'd be back in the first place he'd ever called home for the first time in twenty-five years.

O‴O‴O‴

"Warm enough?"

Varian smiled up past the fur lining his hood. "I'm fine. You?"

Hector huffed, his lips quirking in a confused half-smile. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He held a branch out of the way, releasing it as Varian, Adira, and the animals passed. "We're about past the trees, so it's gonna get pretty windy."

Hector hadn't lied; as soon as they got past the treeline, the breeze picked up, setting Varian's teeth chattering. The High Path led up the mountains, connecting the castle to the rest of the kingdom. The castle itself was visible from here, perched on the edge of a cliff. Black rocks sprouted around it, taller than any he'd seen. Taller than the castle, even.

He shivered, not from the cold this time. Hector hopped up onto Kubwa behind him, wrapping a protective arm around him. "Home sweet home," he muttered. "It looks worse than I remember."

"Has it always been this… sad?"

"No. It was always dangerous, but it used to be full of fun and hope. When everything around you can kill you, when your whole kingdom is built on a relic that destroys everything, you learn to make joy when you can't find it. I remember nights where the main square would be filled with dancing, and we'd sit by the fires listening to the storytellers, and the combat tournaments… The people were the light of our kingdom. They'd punch you in the face and then offer you a meal."

"Sounds… aggressively nice."

"That's the Dark Kingdom for you," Adira added. She scratched the bearcats behind their ears. "I'm going ahead to scout. There's undoubtedly traps."

Hector nodded. "We'll catch up. Take Riki with you."

Varian wrapped his cloak around himself tighter. "Traps?"

"Yeah, probably. You got a powerful rock you're trying to stop from falling into the wrong hands, a kingdom that got abandoned, and two people left to protect it? You set traps."

"Heh. I used to do that in my lab. Mostly to keep the critters out."

"How well did that work out for you?"

Ruddiger clambered up Hector's arm onto his shoulder and chattered smugly.

"I see."

O‴O‴O‴

The first snowflakes started to fall. Varian watched their mesmerizing dance as they drifted lazily down. Uncle Hector had warned him that it might snow this far up in the mountains, but it shouldn't be too bad, he'd assured him. And once they reached the other side and started their descent, it would warm up.

He couldn't look away, watching as the flakes settled on the ground and began to pile up. Like powdered sugar on one of Monty's confections back in Corona, like the precipitate forming after mixing some chemicals—no, think of something else, anything else. It looked like—well, snow. Just plain old snow, beautiful in its simplicity, deceptive in its harmlessness… snow that started off so seemingly innocent, just a light dusting, until it piled up on itself and left mounds and hills to struggle over and through; snow that lightly kissed one's skin and melted away, until it chilled you enough to seep inside, straight down to the bones…

He shut his eyes tightly, willing the memories to fade, willing the snow to go away. In his arms, Ruddiger whined softly. He wrapped his arms just a bit tighter around him. A warmth settled over his shoulders, and he forced himself to look up at Hector. The man had pulled his own cloak around him.

"It's getting late," he said. "We'll keep pushing through, get there early tomorrow morning. Get some sleep, huh? I'll wake you when we get there."

"A-are you sure?"

"Sure. It'll be harder to travel if the snow piles up." He adjusted his grip on Varian, shifting to hold him more securely. "Go to sleep. I ain't gonna let you fall."

Varian turned to curl up against Hector's chest, the cloak settling across him like a blanket. The chill of the biting wind faded, and his shivering started to go away. Ruddiger snuggled up to his chest, purring gently. As the noise and the warmth bled the tension from his body, Hector began to hum—a low, haunting melody. After a moment, he began to sing in a language Varian didn't recognize. He opened his mouth to ask, but a yawn escaped. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting Kubwa's swaying and the rumbling of Hector's torso lull him to sleep.

O‴O‴O‴

"Hey, sleepyhead, wake up." A finger poked his forehead. "Waaaakkkkeee uuuuppp."

He yawned and stretched, the hand on his back keeping him from falling to the rocky ground. "Whrmph?"

"We're here."

He sat up and stretched, Ruddiger hissing as the movement nearly knocked him off his lap. "Sorry, bud." Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he looked ahead, slowly tilting his head back as he took in the bridge, Aunt Adira standing beside it, and the castle that loomed above it. "Whoaaaaa."

The black rocks stood tall and sharp around the castle, forming a protective barrier. The structure nestled inside the circle blended in, as pointed and dark as its throne-like wall. From one of the towers, a murder of crows took flight, sweeping downwards towards the travelers. Artemis screeched indignantly and flapped her wings, readying to attack. Varian flinched and covered his head, while Hector laughed brusquely. The warrior waved an arm as the birds descended, forcing them to swing a wide berth around them. They circled around and started back for the castle.

"Is that normal?!" Varian yelped.

"Yeah. They'll let the king know we're here." He waved a hand dramatically at the castle. "Varian, Ruddiger, Artemis, welcome to the Dark Kingdom… and my old home."

As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless!