Herc burst into the tent where John and James were chatting, a huge smile on his face.

"I discovered something!" He yelled happily.

"What?" John squashed hope down, trying not to let his mind envision the good news his friend could potentially bear.

"I know where the shrooms are!"

John felt his entire demeanor shift in a split second, going from doubtful to overjoyed in a mere instant.

"You better not be kidding." James warned.

"Why would I do that to John?" Herc asked defensively.

"You have a point." James conceded. "Ok, tell us what you know."

"You know the camp down by the bay? It's like in the valley and pretty sheltered from everything?" Herc started and James nodded. "A few miles north of that there's a camp that was ours but then the humans took over it. We all thought it was lost but apparently not: turns out the humans were kicked out and they moved the shrooms there."

"But isn't that dangerous?" James raised an eyebrow. "Having faeries in a camp that's previously been taken over by humans?"

"I don't know about you, but I think that's why the shrooms are there: barely anyone cares about their well-being."

The two faeries turned to John.

"You ok bud?" Herc asked. "You look pretty shook."

"Yeah." John blinked. "We're going."

"Where?"

"To the shroom camp!" James explained they obvious.

"When?"

"Tonight." John replied this time, face set in determination.

"Tonight...?"

"Go tell Burr and Tom." James instructed, already standing up to grab a bag.

"Uhh..." Herc seemed a little concerned by the plan — or, more probably, the lack of plan — but set off to get the other two faeries.

"Thank you James." John hugged his friend, who hugged him back.

"No problem. I'd be equally worried if it were Thomas who was missing. You're going through hell right now and I want to help."

"I'm so glad I found you guys."

They pulled apart and James went back to packing. Tom and Herc came into the tent, smiling.

"So, tonight?" Thomas grinned.

"Yep." John nodded. "Where's Burr?"

"Seeing if he can get a hold of any of his beloved weapons for the trip." Herc explained.

"Are we just running away or are we telling the authorities? I bet we could officially switch camp." Tom asked.

"Oh yeah, sure, just all five of us randomly switch to a camp that just happens to have the faeries we've been asking about all week. And guess what else'll be a bit odd? John's an advocate for shroom rights and isn't extremely subtle about it. Some of our fellow campmates are already suspicious of us and all our questions, what are they gonna think when we change?" James protested, looking up from where he as shoving some matches in his bag. "I hope y'all are ok with packing a minimal amount of spare clothes, we don't want our bags to big too large or heavy. Plus, we're not going that far and unless I'm mistaken, which I am not, the train goes reasonably close."

"Wow. Ok." Thomas raised his eyebrows. "Someone's quite the masterful escape artist."

James chuckled and closed the bag, tossing it to Herc, who caught it with ease.

"Wait, what're they going to do when they see we're gone?" John asked, mind suddenly churning. What if they sent a letter home? What would his siblings think?

"We have a week." Herc answered. "Generally, they have a policy that if the faerie isn't back in a week, they're dead, and someone will send a letter to their family."

"We need to be back before a week." Thomas said firmly. "I literally could never bear to imagine how my cousin would react if she thought I was dead."

"My siblings would be devastated." John added.

"Kitty would be so sad." Herc contributed.

"No one would really care, but I'll try best by for you guys." James smiled. "Ok, someone go get Burr, we need a plan."

—~•~—

John nudged Herc awake and grabbed his bag, slipping out into the starlit camp. Everything was so quiet and peaceful now that everyone was asleep, John wanted to sit down and look at the sky. He enjoyed the feeling of being the only one awake, despite knowing he wasn't. The crickets chirping in the grass the gave the air a peaceful and just the right type of eerie atmosphere. John smiled and took a deep breath of the night air that was strangely fresh. He heard his friends' feet crunch on the grass behind him and tuned around, smiling.

"You ready?" Burr asked, he'd managed to smuggle out a few weapons and was hiding them in his bag.

"Yep." John smiled. "Shall we hit the road?"

"Let's go." Thomas took John's arm and headed out from the back entrance.

The faeries trudged through the woods for a little bit before ending up on the road. They walked along it for about twenty minutes until they made it to the train stop. It was deserted and the one lamp was flickering softly. They sat on the old wooden bench and Burr started tapping his foot gently. James leaned on his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around himself against the cold.

"You guys could go back you know. You have no reason to come with me, you could go back. I know some of you could end up with problems if you get stuck." John said.

"Well I've got nothing to lose, and you're gonna need help." James said firmly.

"I ain't lettin' James go without me." Thomas hugged his boyfriend tightly.

"James is right, you're gonna need help if you want to do anything at all." Burr offered. "Plus, I've got the guns."

Herc hugged his friend. "You're going nowhere without me."

John smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem Johnny." Tom ruffled his blond hair.

"Train's close." Burr stated, the clattering sound of the train approaching  them at high speeds.

They stood up and and shouldered their bags, getting onto the train as the doors opened. They sat down, taking up multiple seats. No one else was on the train, or at least not in their carriage. John leaned on Burr, who was seated next to him, and yawned.

I'm coming Alex. I'm coming. He thought, before falling asleep to the soft sound and shaking of the moving train.