Aion barely managed to crack his eyes open, trying to make sense of what was going on. People were darting around him, shouting over each other. No matter how hard the prince tried, he couldn’t tell what time it was because of the dense canopy overhead. Just a bit of morning blue filtered down onto the stream. It hadn't even occurred to him that there were people capable of waking up this early. Yet the bustle of voices proved otherwise. Aion turned his head to the side and saw someone’s feet. He squinted, trying to figure out who they belonged to, but failed miserably. Reluctantly, he raised his head and saw Kail smirking down at him. Of course, who else from the team would be so tactless as to stand with their feet practically in his face?

"Didn’t get enough sleep?"

Aion’s eyes burned and watered, but he made no move to get up or wash his face. He wondered if Kail was bold enough to kick him.

"Sitting half the night by the shore wasn’t your brightest idea."

"Leave me alone, please."

Kail chuckled and disappeared for a whole ten minutes, only to return and sit way too close to the prince's face. His sleep-drenched mind was slow to process anything. Just ten seconds later, Aion’s eyes flew open again, heart pounding so hard it felt like it was beating in his skull. He glared at Kail, who was now dying of laughter. In his hands, Kail held a container with some strange liquid, thin tendrils of steam rising from it. Once he finally stopped laughing, he took a sip and shook his head. Aion now knew sleep wasn’t coming back, even if his life depended on it. Ilay appeared next, clearly trying to suppress his own giggles.

"Look what Gilem found in the woods yesterday. These are berries from the Epora tree. They’re more energizing than coffee beans. One sip and you can run flat out for thirty minutes."

Aion shot Kail a venomous look. He threw off the two large leaves that had served as his blanket and grabbed his head, tempted to smash that weird container against Kail’s skull.

"I didn’t know if you could even recognize smells. Apparently, you just need something waved under your nose."

"Aion, are you okay?" Ilay asked, now able to speak without laughing. At least someone here still had a sense of decency.

The prince looked at him with a question in his eyes: “Why didn’t you stop him?! For what reason?!” Ilay just awkwardly averted his gaze.

"You weren’t waking up, and we really need to talk," Ilay whispered.

"We need to go scouting and hunting. We’re short on people. I know you haven’t done either, so we need to figure out which group you should join. Azel, Ilay, and Sina are heading northeast. Gilem, Risa, and I are going west. We’re the scouting party. Redlay will be patrolling nearby," Kail said with a smirk, taking another sip of his strange brew. "We leave in about twenty minutes. Make up your mind."

"He’d probably be better off going with the scouts. Without tracking or hunting skills, he’ll struggle," Ilay scratched his chin and looked at Aion, who clearly wanted to go with him and Sina. He wasn’t too fond of being stuck with weird Gilem and obnoxious Kail. "Plus, Redlay will be nearby to help out if something goes wrong."

"We have to move quickly. He could slow us down. We need to be back before sunset, Ilay. Maybe he should stay at the base?"

"No. Then he’d be left without protection. No one should be alone. That’s the third survival rule," Ilay said, sounding like he was quoting someone. Not hard to guess who. "Even if we make it halfway, that’s still progress. But if we come back with no food, we’re in for a hungry night."

"We don’t have enough people." Kail twitched his head in irritation, clearly annoyed. Logic told him Ilay was right, but the awkwardness between him and Aion hadn’t disappeared. Kail had overheard the conversation between Sina and Aion and knew the reason behind their little argument.

"Then it’s settled. I’ll check on Sina’s prep."

"And Azel’s too, Ilay?" Kail asked.

"Yeah, Azel too."

Kail watched Ilay leave and shook his head with a condescending smile. At the mention of his girlfriend, Ilay lit up like a candle. Even Sina wasn’t thrilled with the arrangement. She and Azel were hunters, warriors. Ilay was a former farmer. No one had ever seen a silent farmer. A hunting trip with him promised to be exhausting and fruitless. Redlay, sizing up the two teams, immediately offered to shadow the scouting group from a distance. That way, he wouldn’t have to deal with clumsy, annoying people. A team made of Gilem, Kail, Aion, and Sina sounded like a bad joke.

Aion looked at Kail, unsure how to break the silence. Thankfully, Kail solved that problem.

"Alright, let’s lay down some rules. A quick briefing. Don’t stray more than five meters from me or someone else in the group. Don’t touch, eat, or even think about unknown fruits, berries, flowers, or nuts. Don’t walk at the front. Don’t walk at the back." Kail pointed dramatically at Aion like a grumpy parent. He even furrowed his brows like Redlay. Total mockery. "And most importantly! Don’t piss me off."

"Can’t promise that one, captain!" Aion decided to play along with Kail’s childish tone. After all, he was younger and had every right to be. "But can I feed you unknown berries, nuts, and fruits?"

"Sorry, I don’t take food from strangers. I’m a wild beast," Kail smirked. "Can’t tame someone like me."

"As if I even want to."

"I do have a few useful skills," Kail grinned.

Turns out the prince wasn’t such a helpless sap after all. Aion’s image as a pampered royal was slowly fading. Their "little" crash was proving to be more of a blessing than a curse. "Anyway, time’s ticking, royal pain. You have ten, maybe fifteen minutes to eat. Who knows when we’ll get another break."

"So?"

"So what? You think someone packed your breakfast? This isn’t the palace. No servants here. Be grateful Gilem found some fruits and nuts, or we’d be back to eating algae," Kail pointed to a pile of fruits neatly arranged on a leaf.

Yesterday, Sina had kindly placed nuts and berries on a makeshift plate for Aion, but in the dim light, they all looked the same.

This time, Aion just grabbed a bit of everything with a wise expression.

He sat down on his sleeping spot and examined his breakfast. No time to overthink. He tossed a handful of unfamiliar yellow berries into his mouth. The flavor exploded instantly: sour mixed with overly sweet, making him grimace despite his best efforts.

Kail snorted. Pulling a face, Aion tried a nut. It reminded him of a time he had overeaten grapes at the castle and spent three hours vomiting. The nut’s taste brought that memory flooding back. He spit it out and wiped his mouth with his hand. Kail didn’t even try to hold back; his laughter scared away every bird in the area.

"You trying to poison me?! How is that even edible?! Stop laughing, Kail, damn you!"

Kail ignored him. Aion realized he’d fallen for the trick out of sheer inexperience. They had only a few minutes left, but Kail didn’t look like he was calming down. Aion threw a nut at him, nailing him square in the forehead. The unflappable one froze, surprised, and stared at the prince.

"We have five minutes. Can you drop the idiot act?"

"Can you stop being a pompous brat and ask for help? I only figured out half of this stuff yesterday myself! That thing you ate first? That was a Kalia berry. I was just waiting for you to ask for help." Kail raised a brow and smirked.

Aion clenched his teeth and counted to ten.

"Kail, help me. Please."

"You actually know the word ‘please’?!"

"Someone here has to have manners."

"Keep it up and you'll be eating moss." Kail waved him off and came over to grab the fruit leaf from Aion.

Aion just rolled his eyes and tilted his head.

"Alright. This is a Kalia fruit. Peel it first. Your hands will be sticky, but that’s life. This nut should always be eaten with Ruma berries — the blue ones. The nut’s full of tannins, but the berry juice neutralizes it. Ruma tastes salty. Together, it’s kinda like smoked fish. These green and orange ones are safe to eat as is. But with the pink Nanibi fruit, only the core is edible. We’ve also got a bit of algae left."

"No, thanks. I’ll stick with this." Aion started eating after the mini lecture on his breakfast.

Kail stayed beside him, watching to make sure he didn’t screw up again. The nuts made Aion feel like his stomach was stuffed with straw. He considered pocketing a handful for the road.

"Gods, this is actually good."

"Is that so?!" Kail made a face and looked away.

Their camp had split into groups. Ilay and Sina moved slightly south of the spring, and Kail didn’t even want to know what they were doing there. Risa, Azel, and Gilem were to the east. Kail and Aion somehow ended up in the center, right by the stream. Redlay avoided his human form but always showed up at night with Gilem.

Once Aion was full and his heart had calmed down, a need for action kicked in. Kail sat staring off into the distance. Soon enough, Gilem, Sina, and Redlay appeared, ready to go.

"Alright, time to move. Wash your hands."

"Morning, Aion! Ready for a crash course in jungle navigation?" Gilem said cheerfully.

Redlay glanced at the scribe. Even in beast form, everyone could tell he rolled his eyes. Gilem noticed.

"Hey now. Unlike some of you, I don’t forget paths I walk. I remember landmarks."

"And yet you always ask Redlay to track for you," Risa said with a smirk.

The shapeshifter just growled and bared his teeth at Gilem.

What a weird bunch.

"Whatever," Aion muttered, glancing at them all.

Gilem had crafted a small bag from leaves and vines.

"Alright, let me repeat: this is a scouting mission. We need to gather as much info about this island as possible. Based on our first outing, I narrowed down the 'suspects,' but nothing's certain. We have no way to carry water, so drink up now. I estimate the next underground water source is at least eight kilometers away. Could be more. Team formation is standard: I go first, then Risa, Aion next, and Kail brings up the rear. Redlay will split off after about a mile and patrol nearby."

Without saying a word, the group exchanged glances and headed into the jungle. Not long ago, Aion wouldn’t leave his room without a shower, breakfast, and all the royal protocols. Now he was heading into the jungle at dawn with a bunch of weirdos, fruit peel stuck in his teeth. In three days, he’d gone from prince to wild man.

Ten minutes in, ankle-deep grass and sparse trees gave way to near-impenetrable jungle. Redlay zipped back and forth, nearly knocking people over. Aion didn’t want to lose sight of the shapeshifter. Any magical creature in the group made him feel safer. He also felt Kail’s eyes on his back, like the guy was trying to burn a hole through him. Every minute, Aion wanted to turn around and ask what his problem was.

"Avoid that turquoise grass. It's called amber elder due to its sap. It causes burns on human skin. So, Redlay, feel free to jump in!"

The shapeshifter ignored Gilem's taunts and leapt right in, vanishing.

"I have so many questions about this jungle! Every step I take, I see more familiar — and even more unfamiliar — plants. Aion, holding up alright?"

"Yeah. As long as I’m fed, I’m hard to take down."

Kail snorted.

"You guys want to rest?"

"First break in a couple clicks. So, no. Just making sure the rookie doesn’t keel over. Let us know if you feel dizzy."

Aion nodded, unsure if Gilem saw it.

The day was just getting started...