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Under the darkened canopy, it reeked of soil and tall grassy shrubs.

A short while into the hike, there came a sound.

Red fell back a bit, as the strange sounds gave him pause.

"Scritch scritch crack crack"

Clutching the straps of his bag tighter, Red looks for what caused it, but as soon as his head turned to the noise, the sound appeared in another direction.

A voice is heard from further up the trail, the old man had not paused his pace, "Don't stay in one place too long, or a youngling might get a fright!"

Catching up with the old man, Red noticed the path ahead was already brightening, but not by natural light.

Red swats a mosquito on his neck, then asks, "What is that?"

As if remembering something, the old man replies seriously after a few seconds, "It's best not to stare too long, or you might anger them."

"Anger who?"

"They used to have a name... but this old man forgets, so I call them sap spiders. They spin those glowing webs to deter predators, or so I think..."

Red ducked a tree branch while pondering what *sap spiders* could be referring to, then he asked, "Why do you think they eat sap?"

The old man stopped for a moment, then gestured here and there, as if he were frustrated, "Those buggers are always taking over the styri trees. I don't know when they moved in, but it used to be..." the old man lets out a hacking cough, "Bah, unless Quags up for a fight, then syrup is hard to come by these days, so I leave them buggers to it."

Quag gave an annoyed "Quaggg!" while thumping his tail, as if agreeing.

The sound of the thumping elicited a few loud hisses from somewhere deep in the glimmering webs. The old man stopped walking and listened for something, then gave Quag an annoyed stare, "What have I told you about doing that?"

Quag looked down, forlorn.

.

The two continued trekking through, they went up and up, and the luminous webs were replaced by darkness again.

Seeing the old man keep up a sturdy pace after at least two hours, Red had a sudden thought, (It's strange now that I think about it. Ever since I entered this world, I feel like I've been getting stronger and stronger. If it was before, a long hike like this would have me sprawled on the ground, and out of breath, and I'd be lucky to not be having an asthma attack, but now... I'm not even breaking a sweat...)

Red spys a few creatures hanging from a moss-covered tree.

Straining his eyes, he tries to make out their unmoving shapes, but he soon gives up.

.

Like passing through a dark tunnel and suddenly entering the light, Red shielded his eyes from the sun.

A short unpainted picket-fence was the first thing that came into view. Further still sat a small but long house. It too was basking in the sun. The roof was shaped like a half diamond, and accounted for half the house's height. The wood it was made of was nearly completely consumed by moss and messy vines.

Red heard the old man open the picket fence with a creak, then heard him shout, "Damnations, an old man can't leave for a moment, can he!"

Jogging closer to see what the fuss was, Red soon finds the cause.

The ground was dug up, and half of a once-thriving vegetable garden was eaten. Although Red didn't know who the culprit was, he had a feeling the old man did.

"Every single radish too... those rascals..." Shaking his head, the old man clicked his tongue while assessing the damage, and with one more grunt to vent his grievances, he decided to leave that for later, "...You better come in, young man."

Ducking under the doorway, Red noticed the house didn't have the rank smell that he expected from the moldy exterior, but it actually smelled slightly sweet, like freshly chopped timber.

A dying candle flickered just inside. Using it, the old man lit a new candle, then he began unloading his things, while Quag went to lay down on a woven mat.

The old man could be heard cursing, as he struggled to unlatch the wooden covering for a window. As if forgetting something, the man waves his arm back, as if he were swatting away a fly, "Take a seat, make yourself at home."

Sitting down, Red replied, "Thanks for letting me stay here, if there's anything I can do, please ask."

With all three windows opened, the small house was brightened considerably, but still, some dark spots remained.

Chuckling, as if he remembered a long forgotten joke, Madrik handed Red a wooden cup filled with water, then finally sat down in the only remaining chair, "It's good to see straightforward youngsters, ysee," The old man nodded, "If you help me here fer a while, then I can think about helping you back to yer home... Quag is a lazybones and is never one fer chores... and these days I'm tired... so tired."

Quag appeared too lazy to get up to argue, so he just thrummed his tail to disagree.

The old man snapped, "That's quite enough Quag!"

The thrumming stopped.

Back in his seat, the area around the old man darkened as he covered a candle, but the small area once more brightened along with the stench of smoke.

Puffing out a long stream from his pipe, the old man spoke slowly, "Now, it ain't none of my business, but you've been clutching onto that ball since back then... is there something init?"

Nodding his head, Red looks down at it with complicated eyes, but he doesn't speak, (Madriks right... why am I... what am I afraid of?)

The old man continued puffing his pipe with contentment, while nodding to himself, as if he already knew the answer, or perhaps he was just not too bothered.

.

Quag gave a loud moan, spoiling the silence, "QUAAAAG"

Putting the pipe aside, the old man slowly stood up with a creak, while saying, "Hold your ponytas Quag, if you're so hungry, then go dredge up some more of those clams you love so much!"

While he said that, he opened his cache. It was an old leather bag that's seen better days.

Inside the bag was an assortment of different fish, some small, some large.

Muttering to himself, the old man moved further in, while carrying his chair. Supported by only one hand, it dragged across the old floorboards.

An already prepared knife was sitting on a low table, but the old man didn't reach for it yet.

The only metal structure Red had seen so far was an old hearth. The old man opened up its two small metal doors to reveal the contents. The bottom was caked with soot and ash, while the top had some scavenged sticks, but no chopped wood.

Soon the house was lit up with the sound of a small crackling fire.

Humming a tune, the old man positioned his knife at the base of one of the fish's tails, then he slit a line up to the neck. Pulling out the guts, he placed them in a large smelly bowl, then progressed to the next fish.

Quag was stirred, and he finally rolled to his feet and sauntered over to investigate.

Reaching for the smelly bowl with his stubby arms, he gets his hand swatted away by the old man, along with a scolding, "I'm not done yet!"

Red chimed in from his seat, "Do you need help with that?"

The old man grunted and said, "Next time... next time"

Watching the old man work, Red thought of many things, (Madrik said we were on an uninhabited island, far away from civilization... but I need to get back as soon as possible... I need to somehow find Nyx..."

.

Red was feeling warm from his meal of fish and vegetables.

Madrik had claimed that he needed to grab more firewood, and he had left about an hour ago while accompanied by Quag.

Even with repeated offerings to help, Madrik kept insisting that Red stay back and have a rest, and so he did. Red laid down on a thick woven mat that the old man had prepared for him. It wasn't comfy, but he was suddenly feeling very tired, as if he had just finished running a marathon.

The body was willing, but his mind was overtaxed from the series of stressful situations.

While listening to the sounds of the crackling fire, he was soon dead asleep.