N:   Saxon was up at the break of dawn, lumbering out of his tent as he went around to check on everyone. Knowing that it was still quite early, he guessed that Mandoria, Rowen, and Johann were still asleep, so instead, he went over to Wald's tent and poked his head in.

The insurgent was startled when he saw a grinning face appear in his tent, "Sir Saxon," he grumbled, covering his blanket over his head, "it's too early."

"It's never too early," the entity smirked as he walked in, "why don't we go and fish?"

"Why exactly," Wald asked, sitting up as he put on his shirt.

"We got a dragon to feed. Don't you want to meet him?" The insurgent grumbled a bit more before accepting, kicking the entity out of his tent so he could change. Once ready, they both got the fishing equipment and fished in a nearby lake, and brought back a ton of fish to the camp.

Walking up to Edel, Saxon crouched near him, a fresh fish in hand as the insurgent stood by with a full basket, "Hey, how are you doing, big guy? Are you hungry?"

M:   Edel grumbled a little as he was woken up, his nose twitching from the smell of the fish. When it came to injuries he was actually better off than the others, his only fresh wounds were raw marks from the chains and shackles rubbing against his skin, though he did have an eagle branded on both sides of his flanks.

Edel sniffed the fish, seeming hesitant and wary about accepting it, Prussia often drugged his food so he could control the dragon or have him sit by his throne whenever visitors came, for intimidation purposes.

Once he was certain that nothing fishy was going on, no pun intended, he carefully took the fish and swallowed it, still eyeing Saxon and Wald suspiciously.

N:   "There you go," Saxon spoke as he gently petted Edel, and he turned to Wald, "Pass me another." The insurgent got a fish and cautiously approached the dragon, handing the food over before quickly returning to his spot. Seeing this, Saxon tilted his head, "Why don't you come a bit closer?"

"Nein, I'm good," the insurgent quickly replied, taking a step closer to the basket, "being this close to a dragon is fine enough. I didn't know dragons even existed." Saxon hummed as he accepted his choice before feeding Edel.

"You know," he told the dragon, "when we heard what happened back home, the one person who was hit the hardest was England. He was so distressed from what happened to you that he refused to eat or drink, and he kept at it until we had to force him to eat. Even then, he really wasn't the same."

M:   Edel whimpered upon hearing that, distraught that England became so depressed, he wanted to go to the British Isles right now to show the country that he was alright.

A twig snapped to the left of them, and everyone turned over there, Mandoria was awake and was limping away from the camp, heading back in the direction of the stronghold. Edel reacted quickly and caught the winged kingdom before he could go too far, setting him down on the ground and sitting on him so he wouldn't escape.

"N-no, I h-have to go b-back," Mandoria said, his voice quiet and almost submissive sounding, "M-Master will be w-waking up soon, I-I need to go back to s-serve him, p-please, I-I'm a good pet, good p-pets pleasure their masters, I have to p-pleasure Master, please."

N:   "What- no," Saxon said firmly, "listen to me, Prussia is no longer your master, you hear me. He doesn't own you anymore." The king was worrying the entity more and more by the minute, wondering if the damage Prussia dealt couldn't be reversed.

"Master has set you free," Wald spoke solemnly, playing along with Mandoria's behavior, "he has freed you from his services, and now you can go back to bed." He crouched down so he was at his level, although not too close to Edel, "Do not worry, he has something else to please himself for the time being, and good pets know not to please their masters when they are not in need of them."

M:   Mandoria stared at Wald in confusion, that didn't sound like Prussia, what was he talking about, "n-no, that's not Master, he wouldn't release me, I d-don't want to be released, I'm a g-good pet, I-I'm a good p-pet. I need Master, I n-need him, I am nothing without him, a pet with no master is put to death, I don't want to die, I want Master, p-please!"

The former king struggled fruitlessly to get out from underneath Edel, whining and pleading like a kid who wanted a toy but couldn't have it, acting rather needy and pitiful.

N:   Saxon growled when he saw Mandoria resist, "Snap out of it, Mandoria. Prussia is not your master, and he never will be!" However, he saw that nothing was getting through to him, so he turned to Wald, "bring the knight," he ordered.

The insurgent rushed towards where the Prussian was kept, and when he returned, he dragged the gagged knight by a rope attached to his wrists. Yanking him, the knight fell to his knees as he stared up fearfully at the entity, glancing between the countryhumans and the dragon right in front of him.

Looking down at him now, Saxon noticed that the knight looked relatively young, not much older than Johann. He donned a long fur-lined cape, his blond hair contrasted greatly with his dark clothing, and he seemed to try his best to not betray his fear.

Pulling off the gag, the entity leaned close to him, "I am going to ask you once, and once only. Tell me exactly what Prussia did so I can help my friend."

The knight gulped, "I am a servant of my King Prussia, I will not betray him for the likes of yo-" but he stopped when Saxon punched him square in the face, making him cough up a little blood.

"Wrong answer," the entity snapped, and he grabbed the knight by the chin, "try again."

"I am a servant of-" and the entity punched him right on the bridge of his nose. He kept at it over and over again until the entity was practically shouting at him.

"I don't know," he finally yelled, his face bloody from the punches, "I have no idea. I was ordered not to approach or see any of the prisoners while they were with us."

Angered, Saxon threw him to the ground, "fucking useless," he muttered.

M:   However, seeing Saxon punch the knight did seem to snap some sense into Mandoria, making him stop acting pathetically and break him out of whatever illusion Prussia forced him into.

"S-Saxon, stop," he blurted, surprising Edel and waking up Rowen, "please, don't hurt him, there's been too much hurt ... too much ... please." With that, Mandoria lay his head down on the grass and just stayed quiet, like an off switch had been flicked, making him look tired and unemotional.

"What's going on out there," Rowen called from inside the tent, "where is Mandoria, is he ok?"

N:   "He's out here," Saxon called back, but when he saw his face, he wasn't sure if he was alright or not. Patting on Edel to stand up, he and Wald were able to carry Mandoria together and bring him back inside, and when the insurgent asked where the knight should go, the entity grumbled before deciding to bring him in too to be treated.

Johann woke up from Rowen calling out, and when he saw the injured knight walk in he suddenly sat up. "What happened to him," he asked, and the insurgent discreetly pointed at the entity. "Saxon," he scolded, "I told you not to hurt him."

"You told me not to kill him," Saxon corrected him, "that's different." The young man stared at him angrily before standing up, "Sit here," he ordered the knight. The Prussian, confused with the interaction between Saxon and Johann, did what he was told and sat on Johann's bed. Grabbing a clean cloth, Johann stood up and began to clean the knight's wounds, much to the surprise of the entity and the insurgent. Whenever the knight would reach to Johann to guide him, the Saxon snapped at him, "Touch me and I will stab the tweezers in your eye."

M:   Rowen was shocked at just about everything that was happening, Mandoria was laying on his bed facing away from everyone so he wasn't reacting to them.

"Take it easy Johann," Rowen said, "it's too early in the morning to be threatening people," after a moment of silence he asked, "So who is this knight to you then, a childhood friend?"

N:   "I don't know if I could use the term friend anymore," Johann muttered, looking down at the blue eyes, "can I Heinrich?"

"Long time no see, Jo," he smirked, but he winched when the other pressed against his wound, "Autsch (Ouch)! Be gentle."

"It has definitely been a long time," Johann spoke nonchalantly, cleaning the cloth before continuing, "and from now on you will call me Johann. You lost the privilege to call me Jo the moment you wore that uniform." Heinrich's shoulders sunk a little, but he was grateful for the help he was getting anyway.

When he was done, Johann sat down and stared at the knight, "So tell me, Heinrich, what happened to you after Saxony?"

The other sat up straight, flinching from the question as he stared back at him, "I am a servant of my King Prussia, and I will not betray my secrets."

"Suit yourself," Johann shrugged, leaning back on the chair as he crossed his legs, "continue being a slave to a chicken." The knight furrowed his brows but didn't comment on Johann's statement, swinging his legs on the bed and lying down, the both of them refusing to look the other in the eye.

M:   "Heinrich huh, well it's nice to meet you," Rowen greeted, trying to keep the tension low, "my name is Rowen, I am Johann's adoptive father, as is Mandoria, we both took him in when he ran to the kingdom of Mandoria from Saxony."

Edel decided to pop his head in while they were talking, sniffing Heinrich with interest when he heard he was possibly a friend.

"Easy Edel," Rowen chuckled, gently pushing the dragon's nose away, "not everyone is used to dragons, you don't want to scare him, do you?"

Edel huffed a little but obeyed, going back to his fish basket. With him out of the way, Rowen asked, "So, what made you want to serve Prussia, I mean, after everything he's done and after seeing what he's done to your, um, former friend, why remain loyal to him?"

N:   Heinrich inched away when Edel approached him, causing Johann to coldly chuckle at his reaction. When he heard the question, the knight hesitated before answering, "I have my reasons. Even if we both lived in Saxony as children, my reasons for serving King Prussia surpass our friendship, and I will remain loyal to him."

Johann gave him the side eye when the knight gave the response, "And you have been serving him ever since Saxony?" Heinrich stayed still before nodding.

Heinrich laid down for a bit before booting up when the realization dawned on him, "I have to get back to the stronghold. King Prussia will know that I went missing and he will ... I have to go now." He stood up for a bit before being pushed back down by Saxon.

"And so that you can tell him where we are?" the entity scoffed, "Over my dead body." The knight was about to speak when Saxon cut him off, "I don't care if you will promise not to tell, you have already revealed your loyalty to Prussia, hence you are a liability. You're coming with us."

M:   "I hate to say that he's right," Rowen sighed, "it's too risky to let you go, you seem like a nice man, but your loyalties make you untrustworthy, so you give us no choice but to bring you with us to the British Isles."

Before he could say any more, soft crying came from Mandoria, so Rowen wordlessly stood and hopped over to comfort him. "Mandoria, what's wrong," he asked.

"I'm scared, Rowen," the country said through tears, "what if he finds us, we're dead for sure, I don't want to go back, I want my sons, I miss them so much."

"Easy, don't overthink things, you'll hurt yourself," Rowen said softly, "we're not going back, Prussia won't find us, and I promise we will find them. Everything's going to be ok, I promise."

Rowen brought their foreheads together as he continued to hush Mandoria, whispering reassuring things to him. He tried to reach for Mandoria's wings to pet them, but the former king shrunk them away, not wanting anyone to touch them, not even those closest to him.

N:   Saxon looked back at Wald and a message passed between them, ending with the insurgent nodding. Grabbing a piece of paper and handed it over to the entity, who went over to the inkwell in the medic tent and got the quill. Quickly scribbling down a list of kingdoms and countries, he paused so he could check over the list.

"I could get a head start on trying to find your sons," Saxon spoke up, "as long there is an insurgent in a kingdom, I can get a search out to find them and someone would report back."

Wald walked over and pointed at some of the places, "Central Asia? That's really far east, do you think they would have gone that far?"

"I don't know but we have to be thorough," the entity replied, inspecting the names, "however, if they are still in Europe, not every kingdom has an insurgent so the rest of them I would have to formally send a letter, as a member of the British family. I can only do that once we are in the British Isles."

Looking up at Rowen and Mandoria he added, "Don't worry, everything will be alright." He handed the paper over to the insurgent, who scrunched it up into a ball and went out to throw it into the campfire.

M:   "Yes, everything will be alright," Rowen said, "though I do think we should get going as soon as possible, I overheard that Prussia is in Spain right now so he won't know we're gone yet, when he does find out I definitely don't want to be anywhere near here."

After he said that, Edel came back in with three fish in his mouth, cooked and everything. He was too big to come into the tent so he just dropped them on the ground, pushing them towards everyone with his muzzle.

Rowen smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Edel, the one thing Prussia couldn't break you from is your caring side."

Edel purred in response, then lay his head down and waited for them to take their fish.

N:   "Thanks Edel," Johann thanked as he grabbed one of the fish for himself, handing another one to Rowen. Taking a bite from the fish, he hummed in thanks to the dragon, happy to have eaten actual food, something he hasn't done for a while. Holding the last fish, he also handed it to Rowen, "I don't know if Father is going to eat it, but here."

"Spain, huh?" Saxon wondered, "That would probably explain the lack of news from there." He quickly shook out of his thoughts, "I will let you have your breakfast," he smiled, squeezing past Edel's head, patting him while he did, "I will get everything ready for us to leave at the moment's notice."

M:   "Thank you," Rowen said to no one in particular, he helped Mandoria sit up and gave him the fish.

At first, Mandoria just stared at it, like he was unsure of what to do with it, even looking to Rowen for help. Rowen looked to the country with worry that he seemed to forget how to eat, so he did his best to show him, placing the fish in the other's hands and raising them to his mouth so he could take a bite. Once Mandoria was eating by himself, Rowen went back to his fish, enjoying his first meal in days.

When Mandoria was about halfway done he looked over to Heinrich, looking him up and down as he studied the Prussian. He looked between the knight and the rest of his fish, then tossed it over to him so he could have some.

"Why did you do that," Rowen asked, genuinely surprised at the action, "no offense to Heinrich, but you need it more, you're basically skin and bones."

Mandoria was silent at first, hugging his legs close to his body and staring off into space.

"No one deserves to go hungry," the countryhuman simply said, "he may be better fed than I am, but that doesn't mean he deserves less food than me, besides-" he stared at Heinrich with a knowing look in his eyes, "sometimes you need to show the enemy a little kindness, then they're no longer your enemy, but a friend, and everyone needs a friend to help them through life."

N:   Heinrich glanced between the fish in his hands and Mandoria, and he hesitated whether he should have it. Seeing this, Johann walked up to him and sat down, "A half-eaten fish isn't usually something you admire," he grumbled, "decide if you are going to eat it or I will take it from you."

"Heaping burning coals on my head," the knight muttered quietly before taking a bite, staring down at his boots as he ate.

M:   Mandoria didn't comment further, he continued to stare into space, quietly organizing his thoughts. Rowen felt he should be comforting Mandara or at least asking what was on his mind but felt that maybe it was best to let him have the quiet time.

When everyone was finished eating they all just sat silently, no one feeling up to speaking. The silence became uncomfortable so Rowen tried to make some small talk, "So ... Heinrich, what do you like to do in your spare time, if you're coming with us we might as well get to know each other a little better."

N:   "I like to cook," Heinrich answered quietly, "it gets quite boring when you are standing guard, and the food you get is alright but not the best, so I just experiment around while nothing happened."

"Look at you," Johann smirked, "not doing your duties properly and getting away with it."

"I also like hunting," the knight added a bit louder, quieting Johann, "I got that from my Father, as he also went out hunting until he was killed while he was out, so after that, I had to help my Mutter out by providing food." The two Saxons had a mini staring contest until the knight spoke, "But I shouldn't talk about killing, especially after what you have been through."

M:   Mandoria nodded in agreement, Rowen said nothing but was secretly glad that they stopped the topic before it went further.

"I used to enjoy riding my horse, Star Dust, before Prussia came," he then said, "she was a grey Andalusian with white speckles all over her fur, she was the sweetest horse in the world and was quite motherly at times. I don't know what happened to her, captured or killed probably, but knowing her she could have escaped and is out there somewhere, wild and free, I guess we'll never know."

The minute he said that sentence, Edel jerked his head up, sniffing and looking around like something was afoot. He then looked to the tree line and started growling threateningly, something was there that was a danger.

Suddenly, a barrage of five arrows pelted the dragon, none hit anywhere vital but that didn't stop him from howling in pain. A group of Prussians jumped out and started attacking the camp, "kill them all and retrieve the prisoners," one of them shouted.

N:   "I'll bloody kill you before you touch them," Saxon growled before stabbing his sword through the Prussian who shouted. Looking up, he saw Wald rush out of his tent, a makeshift prosthetic leg in one hand and a sword in the other, "Get them to safety," the entity yelled before knocking down another knight.

Wald nodded and ran into the medic tent and handed the leg to Rowen, "I was able to make something similar to your prosthetic so it bends around the knee and ankle, but I haven't figured out a way so it could detach, for now, it would strap on to the rest of your leg."

"What's happening," Johann asked, jolting up from his seat as he checked on Edel. Peering outside, he saw the Prussian knights, and he looked back angrily at Heinrich, "You brought them here, didn't you?"

Heinrich was about to speak back when the insurgent interjected, "Whether he brought him here or not it doesn't matter, right now we have to go - Johann where are you going?"

The insurgent used his sword to cut into the back of the tent, leading back into the forest before seeing the young man run off with a sword in hand.

Johann would have stayed if not a Prussian knight saw them and beelined towards Edel, so the only thing he could do was defend.

M:   "JOHANN," Rowen shouted when he saw his son run away, "Johann get back here, it's too dangerous!"

Edel spewed fire at the Prussian, engulfing him in flames, and then smacked him away with his tail. He also knew it was too dangerous for Johann, so he picked him up by the back of his shirt and flung him onto his back for protection. The dragon ran through the camp chomping on every enemy he saw, then roasting them to finish them off.

When just a few Prussians were remaining they turned and fled, Edel burnt most of them but two managed to get away, he roared after them, warning them not to come back. He plopped down to catch his breath and let Johann slide off, Rowen immediately came running over and engulfed him in a worried hug.

"What were you thinking Johann," he said, tears of fear and relief falling down his face, "you are not in the condition to be fighting, you could have been killed, I don't want to lose you again!"

N:   Johann immediately tensed up when he was hugged, however, guilt settled in when he saw Rowen. "I'm sorry," he said quietly as he dropped the sword, "I-I just went and thought that I could-"

"Could what," Heinrich asked, walking out of the tent, "fight the knights? We are trained to kill, not to simply knock you down, and I doubt that you could have actually killed one."

"Obviously you would say that," the other snapped, shaking himself out of Rowen's embrace, "and you brought them here, to take us back to that hell."

"I don't even know how I got here," the knight shouted back, "and I doubt I would have called them after seeing you here." He marched up to Johann so that they were face to face, "You were an idiot, Jo. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"I don't care if I am dead or alive anymore, Heinz," Johann yelled back, pushing him away, "I just don't want my family to fall into Prussian hands ever again." He was about to punch him when a hand held his arm back.

"Be quiet the both of you," Saxon scolded, stepping between them, "now is not the time to argue. We have been discovered and need to go now."

M:   "Right, it's not safe anymore," Rowen agreed, "Johann, the Prussians would have found us whether Heinrich told them somehow or not. I'm not defending him, but I'm saying that we can't stick blame, right now we just have to focus on leaving."

A painful growl sounded from Edel as he was trying to lick his wounds, the arrows still embedded in his skin. "And probably quickly patch up Edel so he can be ready to leave," Rowen then added.

While they did that and everyone else started packing up what they could, Mandoria was still in the medic tent with Wald, attempting to hide under one of the beds and shaking from fear, he was utterly terrified and beginning to hyperventilate as panic started setting in.

N:   "It's alright, Sir Mandoria," Wald spoke softly as he tried to comfort him, "All the Prussians are gone. They are not coming for you anymore." He tried his best to comfort him but worried that what he did wasn't helping. "Rowen," he called out, "you need to come."

M:   Hearing Wald calling, Rowen tossed aside the arrow he removed from Edel and jogged back into the tent, rushing over to Mandoria the moment he saw his terrified face.

"It's ok Mandoria, it's ok, they're gone now," he hushed the terrified country as he slowly brought him out from under the bed, gently hugging him, "Just take a breath, everything will be okay."

Mandoria was incoherent at the moment, crying and repeating, "I don't want to go back," over and over. His feathers were emitting a low humming sound from how much they were shaking from his fear.

"We are not going back," Rowen said firmly, holding Mandoria at arm's length to look him in the eyes, "in the name of the great spirits I will not let them take you, nor Johann or Edel, none of us are going back to that cursed prison again, do you understand that?"

Mandoria sniffled as he stared at Rowen, a fire had reignited in the human's eyes, a flame that had been extinguished for years had been lit, determination filling his body as he refused to let his family down. Seeing Rowen's old self return comforted Mandoria enough for him to calm down, wiping away his tears.

N:   Johann soon walked in and made his way to Rowen and Mandoria, "Father, if you can, let's take you to Edel so he can carry you."

Just outside the tent, Heinrich went around to each fallen knight, kneeling next to the and closing their eyes. He muttered under his breath as he rested his hand over their heart before going to the next. Curious by this Saxon walked over.

"These knights used to be the same ones who would be with me on those long nights outside," the knight responded, swatting his cloak behind him, "Everyone deserves peace when they die, well, almost everyone. But what happens to them afterward is up to what they did when they lived."

He looked down and saw a sword at his feet and was about to pick it up when the entity kicked it away, "I still don't trust you," the entity said plainly, "and weapons are definitely out of bounds for you." He pulled him by the arm and dragged him to where he was prisoned the night before, and Saxon found a rope to tie Heinrich's wrists, "this is just a precaution," he muttered as he worked, "and I will respect Johann's decision to not hurt you, but I'm sure he will beat me to it." The knight nodded and followed the entity towards the medic tent, where Wald was waiting with his own and Saxon's belongings.

M:   Mandoria simply nodded, so Rowen and Johann helped him stand and led him over to Edel. The Dragon was licking the face of one of the medics that was treating him, who was laughing and scratching his chin.

"Looks like you made a friend, huh Edel," Rowen stated with a smile, Edel purred in confirmation, "Well, when you're done bonding, perhaps you could let Mandoria ride on your back, it's going to be a long journey and he's not quite ready for that yet."

Edel nodded, and after giving his new friend a few more kisses, he lay down and let Mandoria climb on. The country wordlessly mounted his scaly steed and held on to his fur.

"If we happen to stop in any towns we'll have to see if we can't get a saddle and harness made for Edel," Rowen said, "that way the trip would be more comfortable."

N:   "We sure will," Wald confirmed, "but I believe it is better to stay away from settlements in broad daylight," he glanced up to Edel and Mandoria, "when everyone believes that Mandoria is dead and has never seen a dragon before, it would certainly do more than raise some brows."

Saxon nodded, "And we don't know if there are any Prussian sympathizers. Sure we are walking through his kingdom but not everyone is happy with him, but we can never be sure. We go to towns at night."

"The nearest towns are around the city of Dresden so we could go there," the insurgent continued, "and after we pass Saxony, I'm sure that the rest of the journey would be much easier. We got a couple of days advantage before Prussia knows that you're gone, so let's use them."

Heinrich tilted his head when he heard the plan, "I would advise not going near the cities," he added, and fell silent, not explaining further.

M:   Rowen looked to Heinrich, even though he didn't know what he meant by that, he had a point either way.

"He's right, it might not be a smart idea to go near the cities," he voiced, "even at night it would be dangerous, and we don't exactly have an army at our disposal, perhaps we just stick to small villages where there is less likely to be any soldiers or Prussian loyalists."

"We could send a message ahead of us," Mandoria suggested, which shocked Rowen but he let him continue, "There are many migratory birds around here that can fly far distances, and that's not including any carrier birds you may or may not have, Saxon, we could send a message to BE or any other Brit and they can send people to meet us halfway, that way we can have reinforcements."

"Mandoria, that has to be the most words I have heard you say in years," Rowen said with genuine surprise, "are you ok?"

"I just want to get out of here," the winged country said, focusing his grey eyes elsewhere, "is that too much to ask?"

N:   "It's not," Johann said, slowly walking away from the group in the opposite direction from where the Prussian knights came from.

"That's a good idea," Saxon spoke, "I don't have any birds here, but along the way maybe you could call a bird and send one. Anglo would probably receive the message and relay it to BE." The entity called for everyone to start moving, the people carrying their belongings as they began their journey away from the stronghold.

While he walked, Saxon thought for a while, "Could you still call to birds, after your time in prison?"

M:   Mandoria was silent as he thought about that, "I honestly don't know, we've been there for at least three winters and it's hard to remember much of anything."

"Yeah," Rowen agreed, "I can't remember much either, you remember how good I was with a Tamordo, now I can't even remember how to hold one. It's strange how the mind works in different circumstances, how much it forgets when it's forced to submit to others."

"Though if I am being honest," Mandoria interrupted, a small smile forming on his face, "I do still remember how terrified of snakes you were, how you climbed up a tree and Anglo had to carry you down. Did you ever get over that fear, or will we be needing a ladder the next time you see one?"

N:   "We are not going to talk about those devils," Saxon said quickly, trying to avoid the subject; however, a nearby insurgent heard what was said.

"Wait, boss," Wald smiled, "you are afraid of snakes? Did you actually climb up a tree?" Heinrich snickered in the background as the entity grumbled.

"I am not going to answer that question," he replied, and when he saw a mischievous look in his eyes he added, "and don't get any ideas. Swear to me you will not tell anyone." The insurgent nodded but kept on laughing.

"So, we should get a ladder then," Wald muttered under his breath, although Saxon heard and gave him the death stare.

"No, I didn't get over my fear of snakes," the entity admitted, "we did get a little grass snake, but then BE's children insist on pranking me in every waking moment, to the point where I prefer being in the Continent."

M:   "Such a shame," Rowen said, "and here I thought Mandara and Derogan were the pranksters."

An uncomfortable sigh came from Mandoria at the mention of his sons, Rowen understood why so dropped the subject, instead asking, "So how has Anglo been, and Wales, now that Prussia is the King Wing what has happened to them?"

Mandoria perked up, also wanting to know what has happened since he lost his title.

N:   "They have been trying to keep their distance from Prussia," Saxon replied, "they do have to go to his meetings when he calls them, but according to Anglo, no one actually wants to be there. After a while, England refused Wales from leaving the British Isles, not wanting him to be anywhere near Prussia, so Anglo had to keep making excuses for Wales's absence."

He walked for a while before continuing, "Then some of my insurgents were able to cause some wars involving British Empire, and I think that's the only time my family was happy that my insurgency caused a war. Now Anglo uses the wars and revolts as an excuse for not attending his meetings."

"Do winged countries have to answer to the King Wing," Wald asked, "when it comes to us insurgents, it is pretty flexible, but we eventually have to report to Sir Saxon. Does it depend on the person?"

N:   "Well, back in my days as King Wing, Prussia himself never listened to me," Mandoria said, "he wouldn't obey my laws or attend my meetings, I never pushed him to do anything because I respected his choices to not follow my leadership, as with everyone else, if they didn't want to follow me that was fine."

He sighed as he remembered the old days, when everything was better, "Of course, every king has their own way of leading, so I don't know what the new rules are, though I have heard that many winged countries have refused to acknowledge Prussia as the new King Wing and a few have tried to challenge him."

"How do you know that," Rowen asked.

"Prussia vents to himself when he's ... when I'm serving him," Mandoria responded, shuddering at the memories, "anyway, as far as I know only a few African and Asian countries still follow him, after he slaughtered Commonwealth, he said that no other European winged countries would listen to him."

Mandoria looked up to the sky with a melancholy expression, "CW was my best friend, we were practically brothers, I was distraught when I heard he died trying to avenge me. I tried to fight back then, I actually managed to break one of Prussia's arms ... but ... he made sure that I regretted being alive after that ... I never went against him again because ... well ..."

Mandoria pulled up his shirt to show them his back, namely where his wings met his back, Rowen looked away because he didn't want to see it. His wings had bald spots in the area closest to his back, and on those spots, one could see long scars that looked like they wrapped around the appendage.

"Don't ask how he reached them, I don't know, all I remember is that he ripped them off and somehow put them back on, I still can't feel anything in certain places."

N:   Saxon grimaced when Mandoria recounted, and he hesitated before asking, "Will your wings ever grow back their feathers, and even then, could you use them?"

"Maybe that's enough questions," Johann told the entity, then he moved so he walked beside Heinrich, "Be useful and use your hunter skills to find us a bird."

The knight grumbled but nodded anyway, walking ahead of the group so he could focus. Listening for anything that might sound off, he searched the trees and ground for any sign of life. Suddenly, he stopped when he spotted some movement, motioning for Johann to see.

The other, when he saw the bird, patted Heinrich's shoulder, much to his surprise, before approaching the bird slowly. The barn swallow turned its head when it saw the incoming human, bouncing away from him to protect itself. "It's ok," Johann hushed, sitting in the grass as to reduce his size. He too didn't remember how to approach a bird, he tried to pull pieces of what he could, and he began to whistle something he remembered.

The swallow seemed to tilt its head, confused by Johann's behavior, and slowly inched towards the human. Hopping closer, it was practically an arm's reach away from him, so Johann stretched out his hand and the bird placed its head into his palm. Johann smiled a bit as he rubbed the bird's chest, gently carrying the fowl towards Mandoria.

"How-" Saxon asked, but Johann quickly answered. "I often passed out when ... I was used," he paused before continuing, "but that gave me plenty of time to dream, usually it's old memories but a lot of the times they were recent." Looking up at Mandoria, he spoke, "Here, you don't know if you can talk to birds unless you try."

M:   Mandoria and Rowen looked upset about what Johann said but there was nothing they could do about it, they suffered the same as he did so all they could do was just be there for each other.

Mandoria held out his hand for the swallow, it hesitated since he was on the back of a dragon, but eventually hopped on. The country tried to remember anything he could, he was able to mimic a few of its calls but when it tried to talk to him he couldn't understand much.

"I-I can't," he said, "I can't understand him, it's been too long, I don't remember how to talk to him, I'm sorry."

"It's ok Mandoria," Rowen reassured him, "you can relearn, it will just take time, we'll think of something else."

That didn't reassure Mandoria, he felt useless, he couldn't even remember how to talk to a bird. He let the swallow fly away and patted Edel to go a little way ahead, he needed to be alone for a minute.

Rowen watched him go with worry, "he feels useless, I know that face he makes, he has it every time he comes back from a round with Prussia. If I'm being honest, I'm very worried that he may try to hurt himself, not all his scars were made by others, some he made himself, and that scares me."

N: "The best thing we can do for him is to let him know that we are there for him, to show him that there is still light in this world," Saxon said, watching sadly as Mandoria went ahead, "If he wants some space, we will let him have it." The group soon fell silent as they trudged forward, pausing only to rest and eat, and hours passed until the sun was low in the sky.

Uncomfortable in the silence, Wald announced, "We are about to cross the border into Saxony, and I will go ahead and scout for a nearby village." With that, the insurgent ran ahead, past Mandoria and into the dark cover of the trees.

"Do we have to go through," Johann muttered, walking closely to Rowen as if afraid something will jump out of the shadows. Heinrich too stayed closer to the group, not straying too far from the path.

"We do," the entity replied, "it is the quickest route to reach the Channel, and going around it would be too long." The young man whimpered quietly at the thought of having to return home.