Jason opened his eyes, realizing that he had accidentally fallen asleep. He sat up and looked around the cave, where Stampy was still passed out. He stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave.

Something caught his eye on the ground shimmering in the fading sunlight.

A couple of bottles of heath and regeneration potions.

Jason picked up the bottles, holding them close to himself squinting. "Stella? You think these are safe?"

"I can scan them, Captain."

"Please?" Jason asked. "I don't wanna die from a stupid potion..."

"Scanning now, Captain!" A moment of silence. "They seem to be perfectly brewed, Captain. High end regen and health."

"I'm trusting you on this ok?" Jason carefully picked up the rest of the bottles and took them inside.

"I'm not sure how else to test it to make sure it is safe, Captain. My scans typically do not lie."

"Guess there's only one way to find out." Jason popped the top off of one of the potions and held it over his injured hand.

Stella watched, curious what would happen.

Jason took off his bandages and poured a few drops of the potion onto his arm. He winced from the initial pain, but before his very eyes the scar became smaller. It was still a bit visible due to the little amount he had poured on it.

"It seems to work perfectly with no side effects, Captain."

Jason capped the potion and set it aside, waiting for Stampy to wake up. "He's been asleep for a while now..."

"You can try to wake him, Captain."

Jason walked over to Stampy and gently shook him. "Stampy?" He whispered.

Stampy barely moved.

Jason raised his voice a bit. "Staaaampy..."

His ears twitched and he gave a small moan but didn't wake.

"Ugh." Jason sighed and shook him harder. "Come on dude."

Stampy groaned and blinked awake before crying out in pain as he senses woke up.

"Ah! sorry..." Jason apologized, placing a hand on Stampy's shoulder.

"J-Jason? Wh-what?" He muttered, before gritting his teeth and hissing softly at the throbbing pain in leg. "How long was I out?"

"Not sure, I passed out too..." Jason admitted, beginning to take the bandages off Stampy's leg.

They were soaked in blood and Stampy gave a cry as Jason pulled them away, the air making them sting.

Jason uncapped one of the potions. "This might hurt a bit." He said, soaking a piece of cloth with the potion and placing it on Stampy's leg.

Stampy screamed in pain, squeezing his eyes shut, tears flowing down them as his body shook from the excessive amounts of pain flowing through it. He looked like he was about to pass out again just from the pain.

"It's okay..." Jason kept repeating, trying to use as little of the potion as possible. Slowly the wound began to heal, hurting less and less.

Stampy took deep breaths, shaking as Jason worked. "Wh-What was that??" He asked.

"Potion of healing." Jason replied, swapping the now empty bottle for a new one. "Found them outside."

"Wh-What? Are they s-safe?"

"Stella scanned them, they should be." Jason had moved to Stampy's tail now. "You know Kala wouldn't let us just bleed to death anyways."

Stampy frowned at that. "You sure? He seemed pretty keen on us dying..."

"He wants to watch us die in front of him, by him. Not by a few cuts."

Stampy shuddered. "Alright then..."

Jason continued to pour the potion until all that were left were faint scars. He turned to the stream and began to wash the empty bottles.

Stampy had relaxed quite a bit and laid down on his side, watching Jason. "Thanks..."

"No problem." He handed Stampy one of the bottles that was now filled with water.

Stampy sat up carefully and drank it.

Jason sat down and leaned onto the wall, drinking out of a separate bottle. "Feel better?"

"Yeah. Lots actually."

Jason smiled. "That's good! Also I cleaned off your jacket." He gestured towards Stampy's feet.

He smiled when he saw it. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Still need to wash the rest of ourselves off though." He chuckled.

Stampy nodded. "Again."

"Yup." Jason stood up and walked into the water, trying his best to rinse himself off.

Stampy carefully stood, hissing slightly but made his way over as well.

"Can you walk ok?" He asked as he rinsed out his jacket.

"K-Kind of... It still hurts a bit."

"Hopefully it gets better soon, we can;t stay in this cave forever."

Stampy nodded. "It should with that potion."

"That's good." The blood had been for the most part washed off now, and Jason went towards the front of the cave to dry off.

Stampy joined him about half an hour later and sat down with a sigh.

"Whatcha thinkin about?"

"Just... I'm not sure how much longer my leg needs to heal before we can get moving... and... I'm sorry..." He told Jason, ears flattening.

"Sorry for what?"

"For almost getting us both killed..."

"That wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was... I broke the iron ore which broke the stone and caused a chain reaction..."

"But Kala's the one who created this area. He knew we were gonna go mining. This is all on him."

Stampy didn't reply as his ears stayed flat on his head, and kept his gaze away, frowning softly.

"Hey," Jason scooted closer to Stampy. It was night time now and the moon shone on them. "It's not your fault."

"You say that, but I don't really believe it..." He replied. "I should've paid closer attention, should've noticed the cracks, should've-" He cut off before sighing. "Should've realized it was a trap..."

"Stop." He placed an arm on Stampy's shoulder. "You didn't do anything."

Stampy looked at him. "I did! I caused the cave in! I got stuck because I didn't react in time! I put both of us in a lot of danger and got us both hurt!" Tears were brimming his eyes as he shook. "I'm the reason Kala almost killed you because you defended me!" He cried.

"No. You. Didn't!" Jason's voice rose. "That was all Kala's doing! It doesn't matter if you or I found that iron first, the same thing would've happened!"

Stampy stared at him as if about to try to argue but had lost all energy to do so and just choked back a sob, shaking again as he cried. "H-How...? H-How are you still going?" Stampy asked him, voice shaking. "Heck, I'm terrified right now and I would've died in that cave had you not helped me get out... H-How are you not absolutely frozen in fear?! How are you just... acting like this is all just another day?!" Stampy asked, him incredulously.

Jason sighed. "I am scared." He looked out towards the horizon. "Terrified even.... I just-"

"You act as if you're invincible! As if Kala couldn't lay a finger on you! And you got Stella, and that suit, I just have some cat features! I can't do anything helpful! I have done nothing but get us in trouble!" Stampy pressed.

Jason paused. "It's an act, okay? I'm just so sick of being the 'little guy'. I don't want Kala to see me the same way." His hand balled up into a fist. "I didn't ask for Stella, I didn't ask for my suit, and I certainly didn't ask for any of this!"

"Well, that acting is going to get you killed!" Stampy pointed out. "Kala doesn't care who or what you are, you challenge him like that he'll keep pushing harder and harder to break you, Jason!"

"I don't care if he breaks me! I'm not going to die here!" Jason could feel his face getting hot. "If he's gonna treat me like... trash! Then he should expect me to act the same towards him! He doesn't deserve any kind of gratification from this!."

"Well I care!" Stampy snapped, face warm from anger and the tears pouring down it. He took a shaky breath and looked away, closing his eyes, as he pulled his tail around him, his body slumping. "I-I... I almost got us killed... he almost killed you because of me... and he just seems to want you dead anyway..." Stampy whispered. "I-I d-don't..." He trailed off with a small sigh and shaky breath. "I-I c-can't lose you...I-I... I need you..." He admitted softly.

"Then why do you think I saved you? I need you as well!" Jason responded. "I wouldn't have saved you unless I cared about you? Who cares that we almost dies? Who cares if he almost killed me? all that matters is that you are alive!"

Stampy turned back to him and stared at him, tears pouring down his face. "I-I-" He couldn't find words, much less form them at this point and choked down a sob, his body shaking as he did. "J-Jase... I c-care, that he almost k-killed you... Please... just... Stay alive..." Stampy asked him softly. "I-I..." He finally broke and released another sob. "Y-you actually have a chance of getting o-out of here... Heh... I-I don't even know if I can make it past here!"

"You're gonna make it out of here... we both are." Jason was finding it hard to look Stampy in the eyes. "We're gonna survive, we've made it this far right? We gotta be able to keep going." Jason's voice shook in his desperate attempt to reassure both Stampy and himself.

Stampy gave a dry chuckle as tears ran down his face. "How? It's only going to get harder from here! Kala literally said he was going to be trying to kill us the whole time!" Stampy sighed. "I... I feel like I'd only hold you back... You could get there with your jetpack in no time! You'd get to go home! After so long! ... I'm the reason we are still in this cave... I can't travel yet... But you can..." He looked away. "...Y-You... You can go anytime you want, but instead you're here waiting for me..." He shook his head. "I understand if you want to go ahead and leave... I'll be fine," He tried to tell Jason. "I understa-"

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Jason yelled, placing a hand on Stampy's shoulder. "You really think that after all we've been through, I'd just leave you behind? We're friends! Heck, I'd even say that we're like brothers at this point! Whatever we do here, we do together, even if that means we have to die here." His voice was firm, but with a hint of sympathy.

Stampy stared at him in surprise but slowly gave a small smile. "...Together." he agreed with a small nod.

Jason looked Stampy in the eyes for the first time since they've sat down there. He fell silent and readjusted his hat.

Stampy hesitated but suddenly had his arms wrapped around Jason in a hug. "...Thank you..." he muttered.

Jason was a bit taken aback and froze. Eventually he gave in and hugged Stampy back, tears forming in his eyes.

Stampy smiled a little and gave a small purr of contentment.

Jason chuckled, resting his head onto Stampy's shoulder.

He could feel Stampy's mild vibration due to the purring as his tail swept across the floor slowly.

They went back into the cave, talking about their lives and videos until the sun had eventually begun to rise. The weather was nice like it had been the day before, and illusion to contrast some of the horrid circumstances.