Well here is my second chapter. I know it took awhile to update, but I hope it won't be to long for the next one.

Enjoy and please review.

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Chapter 2

As his laughter died down the child realized the consequence of his actions. "Damn it." This wasn't part of his plan but he would make it work. The rest of the Karako would be there soon to investigate that horrid scream so he didn't have much time.

He looked down at Mido's crumpled body and suddenly the pool of crimson around it seemed to fade. It was disappearing deep into the earth, being absorbed by the Duke tree. And the child, although he would not admit it, was a bit disturbed.

He quickly rummaged through Mido's things, searching for something useful. Tied to Mido's belt was a bag filled with dark gems of different sizes. The child smiled and said, "He won't miss these." He also found short sword at the creature's hilt and a slingshot in his vest. Nothing else seemed worth keeping. Except Mido's hat which he tied up and slung over his shoulder to use as a sheath for the sword.

The short sword was in bad condition to say the least, with chips and rust all over it, but was still a more versatile weapon then an axe, and if all else failed he could always pawn it off later. The slingshot seemed to be in decent condition, it was no work of art but would serve its purpose.

Suddenly, the child heard rustling in the trees behind him. He didn't have to turn around to know what was coming. In an instant he realized that the Karako must have surrounded him. His only saving grace was that they wouldn't dare use any projectiles as they could miss and hit the Duke tree. But where would he go? His eyes quickly darting around he realized there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. Except, the place he had intended on going, inside the Duke tree. Just as this decision was made, fifteen enraged Karako stormed into the clearing. The child just barely had enough time to dive into the darkness of the hole in the back of the tree before a spear grazed the sole of his boot.

"Get outta der you runt" and "Yous can't hide foreva" screamed the Karakos behind him. The child let out his breath as he had held it since the Karakos had arrived. Sighing he said, "That was cl-". But was stopped dead silent has he heard scratching noises coming towards him from deeper in the tree. Luckily for him his vision was quite well adapted for darkness and could see clear as day. He yanked up his shield at the sight of 3 enormous spiders with what seemed to be large skulls as backs coming straight for him. One swiftly jumped for him, but he had been ready and caught it in midair with his shield and smashed it against the wall of the tunnel. Just as the second jumped for him, he thrust his sword into the soft underbody of the creature. The third was scuttling towards him on the ground; the child swung his sword down at the spider in an attempt to cut it in half. The only effect this had was that it knocked the spider over a few feet, as its backside was far too hard to be penetrated. With a swift kick to the creature's mouth the child flipped the spider over and stabbed it with his sword. "Damn Skulltulas" he whispered to himself.

Looking at his shield he discovered that that the skulltula he had smashed with it had been logged onto the shield. At first he reached down to tear it off, then thought back to how pointless his assault on the last one's back had been and fastened it on more securely. Talking to himself he mused. "Maybe they aren't so useless after all". All the while looking down at his shield, which was still twitching occasionally.

At this moment an odd thought struck him, the skulltula's had hardly any blood in them. This was unusual as skulltula's drain their prey of blood and thus has an abundance of the crimson liquid, but these three… "perhaps something had drained their prey before they could' the child thought. He immediately thought back to Mido's body and how quickly the tree had absorbed his blood. "Strange…"was all that he could think.