"It will be getting dark soon" Mouse says to River, the pair of them at the front of the boat scouring the land.

"Which means we will be entering the Ferrum rainforests" she replies whilst looking off into the distance.

Neither of them seem too fond of this prospect, even though it is apparently the safest way to avoid enemy contact.

The rain is still drifting down and has only gotten worse the closer they get to Ferrum, it will likely increase as they enter the rainforests, but for now, their main focus is on all the hungry mouths they have to feed.

"They're doing a good job working together" River states quietly, referring to the soldiers and the former prisoners.

All of them are working together, collecting driftwood for the fire, preparing food and setting up sleeping areas out on deck.

"You two look edgy" Sam tells them as he walks over with some soup.

"Here you go" he says and thrusts a bowl into their hands each.

"We'll be entering Ferrum soon" Mouse informs him before munching on his soup.

"Sam, what do you know about the New World Monkeys?" River asks.

"Not much, other than they're dangerous" he replies.

"Hopefully we won't come across any" Mouse mutters.

"How's the kid doing?" River asks, noticing Falcon heading over to join them.

"He has a fever, we need to make sure he keeps warm" she replies.

"Start the motor, we're about to cross the Red" River instructs Mouse and he heads inside to start the engine and take control of the steering wheel for the boat.

A small rumble can be heard at the back of the boat as the engine kicks into action, they have until now relied on the current to take them safely, the Red that River is referring to is a large river with clay banks either side of it, it runs the length between Terra Auri and Ferrum separating the two countries.

"How does he know where to go?" Sam asks as Mouse directs the boat towards another small river branching off from the Red.

"We discussed the route earlier" River explains.

"Welcome to Ferrum" Falcon tells him and pats him on the back as she walks away.

"When you said about leaving that guy to the New World Monkeys, you weren't serious, were you?" Sam asks.

“No, two wrongs don’t make a right, cruelty is something we try to avoid" River replies reassuringly.

A howl can suddenly be heard echoing through the air, faint but clear, and sends a shiver through everyone on the boat.

"Was that?" Sam asks with a worried expression.

"New World Monkeys" she mutters an uncomfortable answer.

She hands Sam a firearm before heading down the boat and doing the same with all the soldiers, none of this fills Sam with any kind of confidence and he decides to go and stay with Callum.

"I was hoping not to run into them" Mouse says to River as she joins him inside.

"We need to stick to the middle of the river" she states.

"If they start throwing large objects at us, it could capsize the boats" he points out.

"It's getting dark, best put the lanterns on" she replies and heads back outside.

"Start lighting the lanterns" she instructs the soldiers.

They follow her instructions and light the lanterns, some of them rest just inside the edge of the boat and some hang over the water, as the dark sets in the two boats become tiny beacons in the river.

Callum starts to stir and wake up much to the relief of Sam having been waiting patiently besides him.

"Hey tough guy" Sam says softly.

"Hey" Callum replies with a smile.

"Where ... Where are we?" He asks.

"We're in Ferrum" Sam tells him.

"Aw, that's awesome" Callum mutters happily.

"But we're heading for the rainforests" Sam points out.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me" he mutters quietly.

"Good morning sunshine" Mouse says announcing his presence.

"Hey you" Callum replies sheepishly.

"Thank you for saving me" he says gratefully.

"Don't worry about it" Mouse tells him reassuringly and ruffles his hair gently.

"Cal, everyones been talking about these New World Monkeys, but I don't really know anything about them" Sam says clearly unsure.

"They range from around six to nine feet in height, come in shades of brown, red, light brown almost caramelly in colour" Callum explains.

"Nine feet tall" Sam says in disbelief.

"They are almost like natural born bodybuilders, the strength those things have is frightening" Mouse remarks.

"That's terrifying" Sam states

"That's not the scary part, the scary part about them is that they won't back down, the only way to survive an encounter is to hide, run as far away from their territory as possible, or to shoot them dead, the first two options don't tend to be a viable option in thick rainforest, but even if you shoot one dead, there is usually a family group of them" Mouse explains.

"Because they are so full of muscle, one round isn't enough to take them down" Callum says.

"So in other words, we need to stay the fuck away fromt them" Sam strongly suggests.

"Easier said than done, we're in their territory now" Mouse mutters.

"Who's this?" Callum asks, noticing the injured boy on the bed opposite him.

"While you've been sleeping we've comendered a Ferrum prisoner boat" Mouse explains.

"Is he gonna be ok?" Callum asks.

"He probably won't make it through the night" Mouse replies before walking over and readjusting the blanket over the boy.

A blood curdling growl can suddenly be heard coming from the riverbank, startling Callum and Sam but as usual nothing seems to faze Mouse, he walks over to the open window and looks out into the darkness, he shines a torch along the treeline but nothing appears to be there.

"This place gives me the creeps" Sam states uncomfortably as he appears to shiver.

"By morning we'll be inside the rainforest" Mouse informs them, still monitoring the treeline and river bank.

"We might get to see the temples" Callum tells them.

"Would be interesting, but only from a distance" Mouse mutters still glaring out into the darkness.

"Mouse, what happens after we get through Ferrum, I'm assuming we aren't staying here" Callum asks whilst lifting himself to sit upright.

"The plan is to head all the way back to Demonte" he explains.

"That's so far" Callum mutters clearly disheartened.

Mouse is paying attention to a cluster of lights he can see, far away from them, off in the distance.

"Do you know where the Ferrum rebels disappeared to?" He asks Callum.

"No, noone does" he replies sleepily followed by a yawn.

"Ok, try to get some rest the pair of you" Mouse instructs them softly before heading outside.

"Ok" Callum replies whilst rubbing his face very tired still.

On the roof of the larger boat, and paying close attention to the distance as Mouse was, Falcon paces from side to side slowly until Mouse clambers up to join her.

"What do you think, rebels, or Terra Auri?" Mouse asks.

"If it's rebels, I'd be interested to know how they've survived out here, if it's Terra Auri, I want to know what they're up to" she replies.

"He doesn't look too good" Mouse points out, referring to the soldier that had apparently done something to try and help the injured boy, currently at the back of the boat moving wood around.

Mouse jumps down from the roof landing in front of the soldier and startling him, Mouse notices that he is holding onto his side whilst trying to carry the wood.

"Let me take a look at that" Mouse instructs him and forces the wood away from the soldier.

Reluctantly he allows Mouse to lift up his uniform revealing lacerations on his side that were not visible when River had lifted his uniform over his stomach earlier revealing the bruises.

"You've been severely beaten, how many times have you been disciplined?" Falcon asks appearing next to them.

"Lost count" he replies clearly in pain.

"Come on" Mouse beckons him and the soldier follows him over to the small boat.

Mouse helps him down and leads him inside.

Callum and Sam are both fast asleep now, Sam sitting on the chair beside the window still with his head on top of the table.

"Sit" Mouse instructs him and the soldier does so, sitting down on another bed.

Mouse slowly strips the soldier carefully removing his uniform not wanting to cause him anymore pain, he lies the soldier down before dipping some cloth into a bowl of warm water by the stove, he proceeds to clean the soldiers wounds.

"AH ... OUCH ... TSSS" he snarls in pain.

"So what did you do to deserve this?" Mouse asks, trying to distract the soldier as he is about to put antiseptic onto the wounds.

"I gave him some food and tried to stop him from getting beaton, he's just a kid" the soldier replies.

"AHHHHHH" he yells in pain as Mouse presses another clean cloth onto him after dabbing it with an antiseptic liquid from a brown bottle.

He proceeds to place a clean dressing on the soldiers wound.

"Thank you" he tells Mouse gratefully, clearly quite exhausted.

"Get some rest" Mouse instructs him before pulling a blanket over him, the soldier quickly falls to sleep.

The following morning Sam is awoken by the sounds of birds squawking, as he looks out of the window he notices they are rather colourful, and that it is still raining.

"YAHHHHHH" he lets out a big yawn whilst having a stretch.

He notices Callum and the soldier are still fast asleep before looking over at the injured boy, not moving or showing any signs of life giving Sam an uncomfortable feeling.

"He made it through the night" Falcon states as she leans against the doorway.

"That's good" Sam replies with a smile.

"Come on" she beckons him with a head nod.

He walks outside and his jaw drops, they are traveling through a gorge, all around them are trees that are easily three hundred foot high as far as the eye can see, lush thick foliage in every direction and a vast array of wildlife.

"This ... This is amazing" he says almost spinning on the spot looking everywhere.

"Here, have some breakfast" Mouse greets him hadding down some freshly cooked fish, he is sitting on the edge of the larger boat.

"Thanks" Sam replies greatully.

"Despite how plentiful this place is, rations for us are already starting to dwindle, we can't live off fish alone" Mouse ponders out loud.

He suddenly loses his trail of thought and before Sam can say anything Mouse indicates for him to keep quiet whilst pointing over to the river bank.

Sam turns and jumps back, backing up to the larger boat shocked at what he is seeing, on the river bank stooping down, drinking water out of its hand is a New World Monkey, its fur is reddish in colour.

"It's ok" Mouse reassures him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Didn't think I'd see one of them again" Callum says announcing his presence as he balances himself against the doorway.

Quietly drifting away the New World Monkey doesn't even seem to notice them and disappears back into the rainforest.

"Thirsty?" Mouse asks Callum.

"Yeah" he replies politely whilst pulling the blanket he is wearing around himself tighter.

Mouse swivels round and walks inside to get some water for Callum out of a black pot, without warning the commanding officer bursts out through the hatch to the lower part of the boat screaming, breaking the bolt forcing the hatch to smash apart in the process.

"AHHHHHH!" He yells running forward but trips over a pile of wood and plunges over the edge of the boat falling into the water.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" River taunts him.

The others, having ran back away from the officer, peer over the edge of the boat, watching as River paces up and down the edge holding a firearm.

"You better swim fast, the crocs look hungry" Mouse remarks sitting at the edge of the boat further down dangling his feet over the edge.

"Here, can't say we haven't given you a fighting chance" Falcon yells down to him tossing a small firearm at him.

The officer grabs the firearm before it can sink and swims over to the river bank, coughing as he drags himself up out of the water, he turns with a look of hatred on his face and raises the firearm directly at all of them.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED ME WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE! AHAHAHAH" He screams before laughing hysterically.

But what he doesn't take into account, is that all the commotion he is causing has attracted the attention of an unwanted visitor.

"AHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHH!" They can all hear him screaming as he is lifted by the arm a good two feet from the ground.

"RAWRRRRRR" the New World Monkey screams back at him before smashing him up against a tree.

Attempting to run away the creature bites down into his now broken arm.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screams managing to wriggle free.

He disappears into the foliage and after a few more screams and the sounds of his firearm being fired, they are left with silence.

"Come on, shows over" River tells everyone.

They slowly move back to whatever it is that they were doing only a few moments prior, noone seems to be happy, or sad at the situation, just shocked.