It didn't occur to Wirt to count the days when he first got captured, so he didn't. But eventually, when he started wondering how any days had past, he almost wished he could have. It seemed like years since he was scooped up by the bone dragons, since he didn't take Kipo's hand, since the bone dragons started carrying him around.

At first, of course, Wirt was terrified, pleading with bone dragons with every mortal possession he owned for them to let him go. But he wasn't sure they really got what he was saying, because even if they could understand English, could they sort out Wirt's words from his various stutters and screams of terror every time a brush of wind bust past him? Probably not.

But who could blame him? He was crouched on the palm of a dragon the seize of a skyscraper millions of miles above solid ground, and Wirt doubted they would catch him if he were to suddenly fall. Technically, Wirt wasn't even completely sure how he was breathing up here, and it was ice cold, almost like middle of winter cold. Wirt shivered and pulled his jacket more around him. It wasn't as cold as it had been in the clearing, but it was pretty close. His teeth clattered together as he spoke, making his already existing stammer much worse.

However, eventually Wirt had to take a break from his yammering. He didn't really choose to, but when the moon was high in the sky, and closer than Wirt had ever seen it before, he passed out. The next morning, he'd woken up terrified, and nearly disentangled himself from the dragon's claws. It wasn't HIS fault, it was the dragons, because it wasn't holding him tight enough, it apparently hadn't gotten the memo that Wirt was up.

Thankfully, it reacted rather quickly, catching Wirt quickly. Wirt was almost thankful before he looked up at saw the other bone dragons (eighteen in total, he'd gotten bored one day and counted them) looking at him. They almost looked amused, and Wirt's face burned before the bone dragon finally enclosed him in it's claws again.

Wirt sighed. So, the bone dragons weren't going to kill him, and they weren't going to let him die by gravity... so what was their plan, exactly? Was he their prisoner, or something? Wirt stared up at the bone dragon above them. They're prisoner... Wirt didn't know what to think about that, but there was a small drum of anxiety in the back of his mind. That didn't sound good.

Suddenly, Wirt's stomach rumbled, and he clutched at his stomach. If they weren't going to kill him by gravity, implement, or crushing him, then they were definitely going to kill him with hunger. It's only been two days, and yet Wirt's stomach already seemed like it was going to rip itself up from the inside.

"A ravenous beast inside the shell of man... clawing itself out... I can feel it's claws, ready to rip, and its teeth, ready to tear... I can feel it's desperation matching my own..." Wirt muttered. What? This was the ideal time for a really good (or so he thought) poem. "Ugh... it'll kill me by evening, and final setting stage..."

Well... that's what Wirt thought anyway, as his eyes closed. When he opened them again, he was surprised to find odd fruits in front of him, carried by his captor.

Wirt frowned at them. The bone dragons must have stopped and gotten them while he was sleeping, which meant that Wirt had missed a prime opportunity to escape. He sighed at himself. 'Nice going, me.'

Unfortunately, the bone dragons didn't give Wirt another chance, because they never touched down again (it made Wirt grateful for his decision to save some of the fruit), just continuing to fly, for days and days and days. Even when Wirt slept (and on one occasion, pretended to sleep), they didn't stop. Wirt had no clue how they did it. It was like they didn't even sleep. Was Bipo really the same species as these things?

'A tiny little ship in a harbour has more importance than me,' Wirt lamented. 'A singular bird in a flock; a strand of thread in a blanket... why do hey all surpass me in the ways of... importance? Betterness? Uh...'

'You're very strange, you know that?'

Wirt jumped, and the dragon's palm shifted under him. He looked around wildly, and eventually met with the eye sockets of a dragons looking straight at him, somehow shifting its skeletal facial features to look both amused and confused. Through his confusion and fear, Wirt felt embarrassed.

'Uh... did you say that?' Wirt asked, inside his head. He tried to direct his thoughts at the bone dragons, but he wasn't even sure if that was a thing, or how to do it. 'Also, uh... Y-Yes, I... know. I know.'

He didn't tell the bone dragons that he took comments like that to mean he was more 'misunderstood' than 'strange'.

The bone dragon hummed. It felt weird inside Wirt's head. 'I see.'

Wirt didn't exactly know what to say about that. 'Um... Have you always been able to do that?'

'Do what?'

"Talk... telepathically.'

Wirt watched as the bone dragon did a flip in the air. 'Y...es? Why shouldn't I?'

Wirt thought back to Bipo. Were they just too lazy to talk or something? 'No reason...' Wirt trailed off, wondering what to say next. The bone dragon looked and sounded completely at ease, but he still felt awkward. 'Um... i-if I'm allowed to ask... why am I here? Why haven't you... uh... killed me yet? Not that I want you to kill me!... But it just doesn't make any sense, why are you just carrying me around?'

'Oh, you don't know,' the bone dragon did another, nonchalant loop de loop in the air. 'We're planning to sacrifice you to the Sky God.'

'You're WHAT?!'

The bone dragon laughed as Wirt struggled to stand up, and then immediately fell back down again. He frowned at them.

'I'm joking, I'm joking... We're trying to get Holden's child back,' the bone dragon glanced at him. 'You kind of kidnapped them.'

'...Oh,' Wirt thought about that. 'Oh... I guess we did do that. Oops. So, this is kind of like a hostage solution, then?'

'I don't know what that is,' the bone dragons seemed to yawn. Wirt was definitely starting to see the resemblance now. 'But sure.'

Wirt frowned. 'O-Okay then... are you just going to carry Bipo, too?'

"Excuse me?'

'Well, since Bipo doesn't have wings, are you just going to carry them... like this?'

The bone dragon seemed to give him an odd look. 'You really named them Bipo? Yeah, that's not happening. And... 'Bipo' won't be wingless for long.'

'They're going to grow wings soon?' Wirt asked, but the real question is 'would they ever use them'.

'Once they're among us, they will,' the bone dragon explained. 'We have to be among our own kind to fully mature. If Bipo stays with you, they will stay the way they are now.'

Wirt frowned, thinking that over. 'Is that how biology works?'

The bone dragon twisted to look at him. 'What's biology?'

Wirt winced. 'Uh... never mind. So...um, when are you playing to do this trade with me and Bipo-Bipo and I.'

'As soon as we find them again,' the bone dragon explained nonchalantly. 'The three of you were annoyingly evasive.'

'S-Sorry," Wirt rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 'We'll do better next time? W-Wait, can I ask why you never talked to us before? I mean, wouldn't there have been a lot less confusion.'

'Well, originally, we didn't want to resort to it,' they explained, and for the first time, Wirt could hear annoyance leaking into their voice. 'But I guess you're right, it would have solved a lot of problems. Bone dragons just don't like talking to non-bone dragons.'

'Non-bone dragons?' Wirt asked. 'Is that what I am?'

The dragon gave him a judgemental look. 'Well, you're definitely not a bone dragon.'

'Uh... I guess that's true,' Wirt admitted, embarrassed. 'But if bone dragons don't like talking, why are you talking to me?'

'Call me curious,' the dragon told him. 'I did say you were a very strange person, right?'

Wirt went red, and the dragon was once again laughing at him. 'Anyway, tell me more of what you were saying before.'

'Oh, the poetry?' Wirt asked, but a glance at the dragon told him they knew nothing about what that was. 'Uh, okay... but I should probably explain it first.'

'Feel free. Just don't be boring.'

Why did that feel like a threat. Wirt gulped. 'Well, alright... Um, first off....'

'-And that's why acrostic poetry is both the best... the best and the worst type of...' Wirt suddenly was cut off as he let out a giant yawn. The moon was high up in the sky, looking down on the bone dragons and Wirt. He hadn't realized how late it'd gotten.

'Oh, good, finally,' the bone dragon, who Wirt had eventually come to know as Takkity, said. 'Yes, please, go temporarily die for a while so I don't have to listen to your boring drawl anymore.'

Wirt opened his mouth, ready to complain, before something much more worrying came to him attention. 'Wait... temporarily die? W-What are you talking about?!'

'I don't know,' Takkity tilted their head at him. 'When you just close your eyes and don't move for a while.'

Wirt glared at them. 'That's... That's just sleeping! I'm not dead!'

'Whatever, whatever,' Takkity flicked their tail at them. 'You know, you were way more boring than I thought. Maybe it wouldn't be if I actually found out what you were talking about...'

'You were confused?' Wirt guessed. 'I can explain better if you want! O-Or...'

'Nah, you don't have to worry about that,' Takkity promised him. 'Come tomorrow, when the sunrises up again, you'll be back with... those other loud people.'

It took a second to register in Wirt's tired brain. 'Huh?! You're taking me back to Kipo and Adam?'

Takkity met his eyes. 'That's right! You'll be back with your friends soon!'

Wirt stared at them, at first surprised, before his eyes started sliding shut and a smile slid across his face. Going home... again... Wirt fell asleep with a smile on his face.

"-irt!"

Wirt groaned, pulling his eyes and arms around his head. It was way too early to wake up, and the cold air around him coupled with the ache in his bones didn't help either. So, Wirt firmly kept his eyes shut, wondering who exactly was calling to him.

Then everything suddenly flooded back in, and Wirt sat up quickly. In the back of his mind, he noticed that Holden wasn't caging him in anymore, instead holding him up on their palm.

"Wirt!"

"Kipo!" Wirt flew up to his knees, scrambling over to the edge, and then suddenly froze before he nearly fell face first over Holden's palm. But he was close enough to finally get a glimpse of his pink friend (she wasn't too hard to spot) jumping up and down and trying to get his attention. She was on the roof of a strange building, and Wirt was surprised to find that the bone dragons were descending on... a rather mix matched looking down, a strange, ugly mix of wood and metal. It looked like a mix between the classic fantasy town and some kind of dystopian future town.

Cautiously, Wirt waved back, and his eyes traveled over the other various people around her, but he wasn't able to spot Adam before Holden suddenly halted, and Wirt backed away from the edge.

Suddenly, he felt a disturbance beside himself as Takkity flew closer. They looked pensive as they looked down at the people below them. Before Wirt could say anything, like maybe a goodbye, or a see you later, or a guess this is it, Takkity spoke first.

'This is... strange,' Takkity told him. 'They aren't what I expected.'

Wirt peeked over the edge, and locked eyes with Bipo. 'Who, Bipo?'

'Everyone,' Takkity corrected. 'These are the people that managed to escape us for so long?'

Wirt frowned, looking from Kipo to Takkity and back. '...Kipo can turn into a giant cat.'

Takkity hummed. 'That makes a little more sense. Bipo looks odd, too.'

'Really?' Wirt looked down at Bipo, trying to figure out what Takkity was talking about.

'...Strange,' Takkity said. 'We'll fix it soon.'

Before Wirt could question what they mean by that, Takkity was once again moving. 'Alright! It's time to go!'

'Huh? Hey, wait-!' Suddenly, Takkity ducked behind Wirt, and before he could process what was going on, Takkity picked him up, and took him down to the ground. Beside him, Wirt saw another bone dragon taking Bipo up. They stared at each other as they went by.

'Why didn't they ever talk?' Wirt wondered, and Takkity looked over to Bipo.

'I know. Odd, right?'

Wirt agreed, and Takkity set him down on a roof, and Wirt stumbled around, nearly falling to his feet. The metal was smooth and Wirt couldn't get a good grip. He heard Takkity snickering at him, and he looked up at them. They didn't land, but they didn't leave, yet, either. Wirt stared up at them.

'Um... I'll see you later?' Wirt said, awkwardly. 'I guess?'

'Probably not,' Takkity said, and they bowed down their head. 'But you kept the silence away, so that was nice.'

Wirt didn't exactly know how to respond to that. 'You're... welcome?'

Takkity nodded, and with that, turned around and flew away, after the rest of the bone dragons who were already flying away. Wirt watched them go, not quite sure what to think about all that. They were really going away forever...?

"Wirt!"

Wirt was suddenly cut off of his thoughts when Kipo pounced on him, throwing her arms around him tightly. "Wirt! You're alright! I was so worried!"

Wirt stumbled backwards, but to his relief, Kipo didn't let him fall. Slowly, Wirt wrapped his arms around her, returning Kipo's hug. It took a minute for him to realize she was sobbing into his shoulder.

"K-Kipo..." Wirt wasn't sure what to say after that, so he just closed his mouth, looking over Kipo's shoulder to the assembled group. He blinked, his eyes going from face to face, and a small ball of worry started to grow in his stomach. Wirt's arms tightened around Kipo.

"Kipo... where's Adam?"