"No— Yeah, totally," Peter agrees, and hastily dumps the remainder of his blueberries into a notch at the junction of a branch, and then swings smoothly down to land with a flat squelch in the mud. The animals startle at the movement, pulling tight against their tethers until Peter lifts a hand.

"Sorry, sorry, I could have planned that better," he tells them as he steps easily over, squinting against the cold raindrops as they collect on his scalp and roll down his forehead. "So we want to get you out of this so you can be comfortable and safe, okay? We can get you some food and stuff. I promise it's totally legit."

The closest horse-thing eyes him warily a moment and then steps tentatively back, and then snuffles against Peter's outstretched palm. He tosses a glance over his shoulder to Cael.

"Okay, they'll let us do it now."