The chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the previous chapter, when the group is still in the middle of the jungle. The group is in the midst of a battle when a rat escapes into the cloud-dream swamp. The rat's escape is a sign that the group has lost the battle, and the rat is the only one who knows where the swamp is. The swamp is like his backyard, he says, and he wants to capture the rat so he can use his innate energy to catch the rat.