Jason gently squeezed Puck's hand. "Take it a little easy on him,a lot's gone on and he's...working on something,and it's a bit of a struggle on both our ends.He just needs a little time."

"I figured, but I would like to know where we're going."

"Well~.I don't know where we're going,but I know we came because Ash wanted to get a soul."

Puck was silent for a moment. "A soul. Are you sure? I mean..."

Jason shrugged. "He said he wanted one,and so here we are." He still leaned his head to Pucks shoulder,he just felt like it was right.

"But..." Puck tried to argue but couldn't think of anything. "Okay."

Ash wove through the gray murk of the wyldwood, pushing farther into the soggy swamp known as the Bone Marsh. Mud sucked at his footsteps, and water dripped from twisted green trees so covered in moss they appeared sheathed in slime. Mist coiled around the exposed roots or pooled in sunken areas, hiding what lay beneath, and every so often there was a splash in the still waters farther out, reminding the trio that they were not alone. As its name suggested, bones were scattered throughout the marsh, jutting out of the mud, half-hidden in tangles of weeds or shimmering beneath the surface of the water, bleached and white. This was a dangerous part of the wyldwood, more so than most--not because of the catoblepas and the jabberwocks and other monsters that called the dark swamp their home, but because of the resident who lived somewhere deep within the marsh.

The one they were going to see.

Jason clung close to Puck,wings in tight and tail curled around a leg until he just retraced them for safe major. He didn't utter a word,freckles white at the edges and the middle swirling faint yellow and ice blue.

Something flew past Ash's head from behind, barely missing him, and spattered against a trunk a few feet away. Stopping beneath the tree, Ash turned and glared at his companion, silently daring Puck to do that again.

"Oh, hey, it lives!" Robin threw up his muddy hands in mock celebration. "I was afraid it had become a zombie or something."

Jason rolled his eyes and hip-bumped Puck,trying to smother the faintest smile.Only the faintest.

He crossed his arms and smirked at Jason, mud streaking his red hair and speckling his face. "Did you hear me, ice-boy? I've been yelling at you for some time now."

"Yes," he said, repressing a sigh. "I heard you. I think the jabberwocks on the other side of the swamp heard you."

"Oh, good! Maybe if we fight a couple you'll start paying attention to me!" Puck matched Ash's glare before gesturing around at the swamp.

"This is crazy," he exclaimed. "How do we even know he's here? The Bone Marsh isn't exactly on my list of favorite vacation getaways, prince. You sure your contact knew what he was talking about? If this turns out to be another false lead I might turn that phouka into a pair of gloves."