"Why didn't you wake me before? I could have come with you," Jasper mews, looking at the sparrow Snowsilver had dropped in front of him.
"You were tired, I didn't want to wake you up without benefit," Snowsilver shrugs and takes a bite of his mouse.
"Oh," Jasper pauses, then adds more sincerely and enthusiastically, "thanks!"
"No problem," Snowsilver takes another bite of the mouse and motions for Jasper to eat.
Jasper nods and takes a quick bite of the sparrow.

The two eventually set off silently through the trees.
"So," Jasper attempts to fill the silence between jumps, "how will we know when we're there?"
Snowsilver takes a deep breath, thinking back to when he originally met Ash in the forest, "Well last time they knew we were there before we knew they were. At least I think so," he shrugs, "not like I could hear anything that was going on."
"Are we going in the right direction?" Jasper asks.
Snowsilver pauses a moment, trying to remember exactly what steps he and Silver had taken to get to where they were now, "I think so."

A/N I went to check the old book to see exactly what they did and I realized I skipped a number when numbering the chapters- I skipped the number 17 apparently. So uh, went and fixed that. Lmao.

While I'm writing this note already, if any of y'all have ideas of what they can do in the next several chapters that'd be cool because I've been writing this chapter for like three days and have only gotten this far.
Also, I'd love to hear any theories you've got about the book so far! Gimme your input on what pairs you're shipping and what ones you'd like to see in the book!

Also, minor blood warning ahead :)

Snowsilver continues to lead the way through the forest, having to pause at one point to remove a thorn from Jaspers paw.
"How's your paw feeling?" Snowsilver asks him as they walk.
"Not bad," Jasper shrugs, "the cobwebs are definitely helping."
Snowsilver had wrapped the paw with cobwebs to keep the dirt out so they could keep walking.
"That's good," Snowsilver nods.
Jasper nods in agreement and they continue on quietly.
As they walk the ground starts to change into coarse sand-ish dirt. All the bushes are coated in thorns.
"I believe we took a wrong turn..." Snowsilver trails off and looks around at the bushes, "step carefully."
Snowsilver is careful to navigate around the thorns scattered on the ground but can hear small sounds from Jasper as he struggles to dodge the thorns.
Suddenly Jasper let's put a screech and Snowsilver whirls around, stepping on several thorns. Jasper had landed on his shoulder in a pile of tightly woven branches, covered in thorns.
"Jasper-!" Snowsilver gasps.
Jaspers eyes are clenched shut and he attempts to stand up, wincing at the obvious pain.
"We need to get through these bushes..." Snowsilver mews.
He stretches his neck and tries to peer over the bushes. He manages to catch sight of a normal looking bush not too far ahead.
"Follow me," he turns and begins carefully navigating through the thorns.
Once they get out of the thorn bushes Snowsilver settles Jasper down under the bush. It's bright magenta flowers buzz with bees but it's better than being in the thorns.
"Let's get these thorns out," Snowsilver mews hesitantly.
He leans forward and begins getting the thorns off the side of Jaspers face. Jasper pulls back each time.
"Sorry, but we need to get these out," Snowsilver apologizes.

"Finally, they're all out of your face and pelt," Snowsilver sighs gladly, "now you need to get them all out of your paws."
He sits down and starts getting the thorns out of his own paws while he waits for Jasper to finish.
"Do you know any herbs to help with this?" Jasper asks.
Snowsilver shakes his head and shrugs, "best thing I know is cobwebs and we rest a day or two. But maybe we find a place with less bees," he suggests, glancing around.
"Ok," Jasper nods and stands up, Snowsilver can see the pain on his face as he stands.
"Let's get moving," he mews.