Jason stayed close,holding shivering Shade and Fatespeaker in his hoodie pocket,one arm pressed gently to it to keep them from falling out and bumping wildly as they ran. He listened when he had to,doing as he was told and pushing aside his stubbornness.

Redcaps skittered past, snarling and waving knives at one another, but they didn't notice them. The second time, a pale woman in a bloody dress floated by. Once they were gone, they fled down a cold, empty corridor with icicles growing from the ceiling like chandeliers, flickering with a soft blue light. Ash finally pulled him through a door with the silhouette of a bone-while tree emblazoned on the front. The room beyond was rather small and sparsely decorated with a tall bookshelf, a dresser made of polished black wood, and an impressive knife collection on the far wall. A simple bed sat in the corner, the blankets pulled tight, looking as if it hadn't been used in decades. Everything looked exceptionally clean, not like a prince's bedroom at all. Ash sighed and finally released him, leaning against the wall with his head back. Blood soaked his shirt, leaving dark stains against the black material.

Jason only took steadying breaths for a moment before turning to Ash. "I'm so sorry...you shouldn't have had to do anything like that.You should have turned me in." He said,coming over and letting the white tendril like markings glow. He gently put his hands by were Ash was hurt and began healing him,gritting his teeth from the soulful drain but clearly not about to stop.

"Jason, what are you doing? You're going to kill yourself. Stop. Please. I can just bandage it up and I'll be fine." He pushed himself away from the wall, leaving a smear of red. Removing his tattered shirt, he tossed it on the floor and turned back to Jason. The wounds on his shoulder and ribs seeped crimson against his pale skin. They should probably be cleaned and dressed before he put different clothes on.

"Ash.Please.I can take care of them. But if you have something to care to them then I'll do that rather than heal them." He said,the white tendril markings fading a bit but still there,lining his cheeks in a graceful way that pointed out how elegant his royal form was,and it showed with them even if he wasn't able to shift to it.

"Dresser," he muttered, sounding wearier than he'd ever heard him. "There's a jar of salve in the top drawer. He kept it...for emergencies"

Jason came over and gently took Ash over and sat him on the bed,then walked over and opened the top drawer. He took the salve out and sighed,closing the drawer quietly. He came back over and knelt besides Ash,opening it and putting some to his hands. "This isn't the best stuff for a job like this but it'll do for now." He muttered,having been trained by their healer Foreskel a week after he had gotten back to the dragon realm when he first was wounded from the beginning of the war. He still had a scar,now cracked,on his back from it,a large slash over the back. He took off some of his binding that was still clean and gently put some dragon ice on it a bit to moisten it. He let it melt a bit before he gently began cleaning the wounds on Ash's ribs,his touch tender. "You shouldn't have done that,you could have just turned me in,me dying isn't a big deal. You realize this'll change everything you know?" He shook his head faintly,his broken horns showing faintly from out of his tousled brown hair. It was clear he wouldn't be able to get them back to how they had been before.

(Gtg really quick,brb though. )

(kk)

"What do you mean?" Ash asked. The drawer held an assortment of weird things: dead flowers, a glass dagger with an intricately carved bone handle. The jar had an herb-scented cream, nearly empty, and was sitting on a bloodstained cloth. In the kit sat a roll of what looked like gauze made of spiderwebs. A thin, silver chain came out with the kit and slithered to the floor. There were two rings attached to the links, one large and one smaller, and it was obvious what Ash meant. This--this drawer full of odds and ends--was Ian's, where Ash kept all his memories of him. The dagger was his. The rings, exquisitely designed with tiny leaves etched in silver and gold, were a matching set. If he ever needed proof that Ash still loved Ian, here it was. The long, jagged cuts across his flesh bled. A lot. There was so much blood.

"Is it just normal here to kill your siblings? Listen,I watched my brother gouge out our sisters. He did it right there,in the throne room. There cries echoed wildly,and ever since then he hasn't been able to go home,unless he plans on given up this war and having his throat slit without a fight. I doubt this will pass by easily." He said,applying the salve once he cleaned it best he could. He wrapped the bindings around it so that it would hopefully not get infected. He then stood and gently began taking care of Ash's shoulder. "I'm not worth this trouble.I said I'd come back,I have to stick to my word. I said you'd bring a dragon,so so be it if I die." He muttered mostly to himself,pupils reptilian slits as he focused on his work.

"I did bring a dragon. And you did come back, so all bets are off." He didn't flinch, though his shoulders were taut and rigid beneath his fingertips; he could probably feel the tight coil of muscles beneath his hands. Judging from the pale scars across his back, this wasn't the first time hed been wounded in a deadly fight. "I'm sorry.'' He hadn't moved, and his voice was so soft she barely heard it. Ash sat perfectly still, barely breathing.