Thinking himself alone, Shen Wei startles all the same. Had he been so entranced on his journey here that he failed to notice the boy in the trees? "No?" he asks, and he doesn't sound disappointed so much as weary. He doesn't want to die in this world or any other, only to find Yunlong.

He attempts to lift his foot, only to feel the vines wind higher. "It doesn't wish to let me go, either," he says, lifting his eyes back to the boy. Were he still the Black Robe Envoy his gaze would be harder, searching for a sign that this youth had something to do with his predicament, but Shen Wei is more human now than he's ever been. He half-smiles. "Any suggestions?"