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He stared out the window into early dawn.

Oh well. There\'s still today. I\'ll see if I run into him this morning.

His plans for today were simple. Meet up with Wisp, and explain what he\'d discovered. Cash in on her promise for the whitefeather grass. Hunt more of the bloated monsters, with Wisp coming along as the scent dog… er, expert tracking companion, he quickly amended. Regardless of what Wisp said, he didn\'t want to actually call her a dog. He could smell that trap coming from a mile away.

Tracking companion and evidence destruction, he doubly amended. Since the bloated monsters were part of some grand scheme, he didn\'t want any evidence that he was part of their destruction left behind. If he brought the meat home, or left the bodies in the field, he\'d be suspicious either for having lots of meat, or for having attacks that matched the wounds on the abandoned bodies.

Speaking of, I also need to hunt some meat. Tana really wanted to eat last night… and the food does taste really good when Ket\'s cooking. I might as well take advantage of Ket\'s chef prowess while I\'m here. I could ask Wisp to leave some meat for me… or go hunt meat for myself without her assistance.

After all, I don\'t plan to stay in Abyssal, or the Abyss, forever. I\'m going to find a way to escape.

He climbed out of bed and headed downstairs. This time, he peeked into the kitchen before entering it. No black-and-purple-clad figures stood in the kitchen. No thieves munched on any of Ket\'s herbs. He let out a quiet sigh. No Violet, but no Ket either, which meant he couldn\'t ask about the pillars. Oh well. We always have tonight.

Loup followed Ike out toward the forest. As they cut through town, a few shadows peeled off from the surrounding alleys. Their footsteps sounded loud to Ike\'s enhanced ears. He glanced at Loup. Without a word, the two of them sped up. The footsteps gave chase. Ike didn\'t use his skills, but sped up to the height of his speed without using skills. Loup flat-out ran beside him. Behind them, the footsteps fell back, unable to keep up with the two of them.

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Ike glanced back as he ran. Shadowy figures gave chase in the early-dawn light. He frowned. Who are they? Agents of the king or the city lord? Ordinary robbers? The parts-shop-man\'s friends?

I\'ll ask Ket what he thinks of it later. But I\'m not going to think too much of it.

Out in the forest, he cut a few quick turns to throw off any followers before hitting the familiar path to Wisp\'s forest. In no time, he found himself in the dead forest, surrounded by spiderwebs. Ike reached out to thrum the nearest web support.

"Oh, hello. Fancy seeing you here."

Ike looked up, retracting his hand. Wisp lounged in a web over his head, looking down at him. He grinned. "Were you waiting for me?"

"I wouldn\'t go so far as say waiting," Wisp said. She extended her arms and legs and climbed out of the web, her motions oddly spider-like. "More like… expecting."

"Expecting me, like a good ambush hunter would," Ike agreed.

Wisp paused. "Are you patronizing me?"

Ike stiffened. "Huh? How…?"

"Good ambush hunter, huh?" she murmured under her breath, climbing on. "Maybe I eat you after all. Come here, kid. I\'ll show you my webs."

"No, no, no. Slip of the tongue," Ike said quickly.

"Watch out that my tongue doesn\'t slip and slurp you up," Wisp said. She hopped off the web and stood upright.

"Does that even…make sense?" Ike muttered to himself. I know she\'s threatening to eat me, but it sounds more like she\'s threatening to lick me.

"Do you want to find out?" Wisp asked, unperturbed.

"No, ma\'am," Ike said, snapping to attention.

She laughed. "So? Did you find out about the rings?"

"Apparently, they\'re part of a soul absorption array," Ike said. He explained everything he and Ket had discovered, summarizing to the important parts.

Wisp raised her brows. "Well. Fuck."

"Yeah," Ike said.

Wisp licked her lips. At first, Ike thought she was thinking about it, but then her stomach rumbled, and he realized it was from hunger. She looked up at him, and a slow grin spread over her face. "Let\'s get going."

"Right. For the good of the town only, of course," Ike said.

"Yeah. Uh huh," Wisp said.

"Not for any ulterior motives like being hungry," he added.

"Or wanting the rings for materials," Wisp said, looking at Ike.

Ike shrugged back at her. "What can I say? We\'re just good-hearted, honest, upright people, who want the best for Abyssal."

"Let\'s get going. I\'m hungry," Wisp said, taking the lead.

Ike chuckled and fell in line behind her. Loup trotted along at his side, happy to hunt alongside her people. The three of them vanished into the forest.