"Weird little man, he is." Jok tapped a finger against the greave of his bck leather armor as they stared east, where the boy was becoming small in the distance.

  "Mmm." Mouse nodded. "In a delightful way, I would argue. It's easy to see why the girl took a liking to him. I'm almost envious of her."

  "Mph. I'm not impressed."

  "You so rarely are, friend."

  "Unless he IS a wizard, which is still a possibility."

  "I don't think he's a wizard."

  "Mmmmm..." Jok squinty-squint.

  "I will not entertain any more of this." Mouse dismisses with great apathy, and turns around, back towards the heart of Ruttford.

  "Yeah, alright." Jok shrugged and did the same.

  . . .

  "So..." Jok gnced back over at Mouse.

  "So." Mouse does the same.

  "Mines?"

  "Yes, mines. It's been far too long since I've stripped the life away from something."

  "Yep. I heard that." A smirk spreads across Jok's lips, his knuckles twitching as sparks of blue magical energy dance along his closed fist.

  Following this, Mouse and Jok made a beeline towards town, the ravine on their minds.

  They hadn't woken up this morning with the intention of infiltrating the mines, so they were ill-prepared for the adventure ahead. The Miner's guild was not fond of foolhardy adventurous types sneaking into the mines to sate their lust for thrills, and they took great pains to ensure that not just anybody could slip on through without a proper contract.

  But Jok and Mouse were no ordinary adventurers. They were thieves, bastards, good and proper scoundrels.

  They didn't have climbing gear or an expertly-crafted disguise and some forged papers. Such things were unnecessary. All they needed was 15 minutes, a couple fake moustaches, a pickaxe and some clothes they procured using Mouse's trademark [Disrobe And Send A Guy 15 Feet In The Air] Musical Wind Magic Technique. And then another 5 minutes with the most fast-talking-susceptible-looking elevator-manning guy.

  Once inside the deep, cold ravine, they went as far north as they could - Slipping past the guarded posts and well beyond the areas currently under the control of the guild. The monsters were more exciting up there, generally.

  Now, given that that had been their pn the entire time, one could argue that it would have been far more efficient to just purchase some climbing gear and follow the ravine north by themselves, without needing to assault some random miner and con an elevator operator. But they would argue that doing so would have deprived them of an opportunity to use their favorite technique, which would have been such a travesty.

  Regardless, they spent the rest of the workday hunting [[rock lobsters]]. Jok pulverized all in his path with his beams and his fists, and Mouse's malicious melody turned all creatures fortunate enough to exist beside him into mincemeat.

  And oh, the hunting was good.

  The boy's journey back to the base passed with little consequence.

  Once more, he was near the base of a familiar hill, approaching the equally familiar tall-but-not-unreasonably-so tree, boxes of food in hand, just as the girl had ordered.

  As he neared the tree, the boy happened to notice a small reddish-pinkish blob beneath the tree, a stark contrast to the windswept greens in which it was pced.

  His eyebrows raised as soon as the thing caught his eye, and his speed shifted from a brisk walk to a light speedwalk.

  The nature of the blob became apparent as he approached: It was the remains of a horned rabbit. A common creature in the Windnds he'd seen a handful of times before, especially in the trips outside of Triangle Valley.

  The boy had always been especially curious about these creatures. Their existence was perplexing.

  They were reasonably rge, but much of their size was comprised of nothing but fluff. In addition, their horns made allowed them to defend themselves against rger threats, (especially in groups, as they often were) despite being primarily prey animals (although, they were omnivorous, the boy was surprised to learn.)

  Ultimately, the creatures didn't seem to serve a particur niche within their ecosystem. All but the most desperate predators stayed away from them, as their meat was so little compared to the energy it would take to hunt one. Despite this, the species isn't dominant by any means. Their numbers are no rger than any other prey animal in the Windnds. From the boy's observation, it could very well be lower.

  The boy wondered if the ecosystem would be affected at all if the creatures were to suddenly go extinct. Like most prey animals in the Windnds, they often feast upon the grass, but these creatures have exceptionally small appetites, much less so than their non-horned counterparts.

  On that note, it also occurred to be boy that he'd never seen a non-horned rabbit, and wasn't sure why he knew that they existed.

  Such thoughts only added to his curiosity about these creatures.

  This is a lot of words to say: He inspected the remains with greater enthusiasm than usual.

  The pinkish-red remains of the creature had been torn asunder, with the inside parts spread haphazardly around the thing. Most of the fur had been plucked or burned, as well.

  Even at a gnce, it was obvious this was not the work of a predator or a hunter. None of the parts were eaten or harvested, this was intentional and intelligent mutition of a little creature merely for the sake of it.

  The boy leaned down to inspect the remains closer, to see if there was some kind of pattern in the remains.

  As he did, though, the ground beneath him disappeared and he found himself rapidly plummeting inexplicably headfirst into a deep, deep hole in the ground.