Morning came and with it, the revelation that Jisung was gone. Hyunjn's heart dropped into his throat as he thought about the copper bowl lying at the base of the tree, as well as the monsters that had circled their tree for hours. One had tried to climb into the tree after them and the bottom-most branch had broken off under its weight, sending it crashing down into the others. This had sparked a fight and after they had sorted out who was in charge, they had luckily seemed to forget about the humans in the tree and left. Hyunjin had thought that he might never leave this tree and the relative safety he found in the branches, but now, with Jisung gone, he had to know if the bowl was gone too.

He climbed down the tree, his muscles sore once again and his stomach grumbling about being hungry. By the time he got to the bottom branch, he then had to sit and build up the courage before he could make the 10 foot drop to the ground. He tried to stay quiet, too- it was all well and good that there had been no monsters in sight, but it was still morning dusk and they might be around after all. The ground at the base of the tree was churned up from what appeared to be hooves from where the things had circled, trying to find a way to get to them. What if they had broken the bowl? Or worse, taken it?

Hyunjin circled the tree once, then did it again more frantically. No, the bowl was nowhere in sight, and a quick check back up into the tree told him that Jisung truly was gone, too. "Are you kidding me," he whispered in anger at nothing in particular. So. He had not only stolen the bowl, but he had also left Hyunjin on his own. No food, no water, no sense of direction - he was a city boy through and through and had absolutely no clue as to how to navigate this predicament. But he couldn't just give up, so he squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and turned to go.

Jisung sat about fifteen feet away on a fallen log, using a filthy looking rag to polish the copper bowl. He noticed Hyunjin looking and held up the magical thing. "There isn't a scratch on it, I thought it would be bro-"

He cut off as Hyunjin stormed up and yanked the bowl from his grasp. "What the hell, I thought you left me!" he cried out, and to his embarrasment found that his eyes had filled with tears. "I thought you got tired of having to save me and left with the bowl because it's easier and safer and I thou-"

Jisung recovered from his surprise and sprang up to grab Hyunjin's shoulders and give him a shake. "Get a grip! You're practically yelling!"

The taller boy snapped his mouth shut at that, and both stood in silence as they listened for any sounds of nearby monsters. When nothing came, Jisung focused his eyes to glare up at Hyunjin. They were standing very close, nearly nose to nose except that Hyunjin was a couple of inches taller, and suddenly he had an epiphany. "You cross your eyes a little bit," he blurted out.

Jisung stepped back, nearly tripping over the log, and looked down at his feet in embarrassment. "You don't get to make fun of me," he said quietly, bending over to grab the open pack next to the log he had been sitting on. He stuffed the rag back inside and looked back at Hyunjin with an expression that seemed nearly hurt. "I wouldn't leave you, and I wouldn't steal your bowl. If I was the type of person to do those things then why the hell would I have helped you in the first place."

"I wasn't-- never mind. How am I supposed to know, though? We don't know each other and I just... I got scared." Hyunjin took a deep breath and crouched down so he could look up at Jisung's scowling face. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for not trusting you. And I wasn't making fun of your eyes, it's actually really cute," he added with a small grin.

To his surprise Jisung's eyes widened exponentially, and he sputtered for a moment before ing the water bottle at Hyunjin. "You probably need some water," was all he said, but he released it before his fingers could touch Hyunjin's and he turned to walk a few steps away and focus on his pack. 

Interesting, Hyunjin thought, but he also knew Jisung was right. He was very thirsty, and even more hungry, but he also felt guilty taking the other boy's obviously few rations. Jisung was too thin, he noted critically, remembering how shockingly easy it had been to pull him into the tree the night before. And so it was actually kind of humiliating how much stronger the other was, but hard living made for tough people. Three months in jeopardy, always in danger and always on the run... it must have been hell. And he couldn't imagine how Jisung had survived with his kindness intact, but obviously he had if he was willing to put his ife on the line multiple times to save a stranger.

He had cried last night... Hyunjin only remembered it just then. "Here's your bottle," he said, stepping closer to Jisung and giving him back the mostly empty water bottle. "Are you okay?"

"We can fill that up at the stream, go ahead and drink the rest of it," Jisung told him, ignoring the question and motioning at a nearby downward slope to the ground. He then fished out a small portion of dried meat, frowned at it momentarily, then split it in half to hand one to Hyunjin. "We're going to reach the colony today and I can get provisions there."

"Yeji is going to be there," Hyunjin said with a conviction he didn't actually feel. "And we're going to go home. I hope this bowl can take everyone at the colony along."

Jisung raised an eyebrow at his optimism. "I hope that bowl can take us back to earth, period. Now let's get- what?" He asked as Hyunjin held the bowl out to him.

"I trust you. And you have a pack. Less chance of losing it if it's in there," Hyunjin said plainly. Jisung watched his face as he took the bowl, eyes searching as if looking for the trick or the lie, and when he found nothing he simply grunted. He tucked the bowl into his small pack, the copperware barely fitting in and making it look like some sort of ugly green shield. "Kinda like a -- nevermind," Hyunjin said, stopping himself from saying that it looked like a ninja turtle's shell.

They traveled qu