Saltbaker wandered aimlessly through the forest. He stared at his wife's long lost diamond necklace. It had been his wedding gift to her. This shiny object brought back so many memories; the good and the bad. How they had planned out their lives together and how that all started to crumble as Sue was diagnosed with her illness.
How could Ms. Chalice have kept this from him all this time? Was she really telling the truth about finding the necklace in a pile of glass? The poor chef did not know what to believe anymore. Just that his grief was consuming him. Pulling him into a dark pit with no rope to climb out with.
Chef Saltbaker let out a big sigh as he went to sit himself down on a downed tree. The salt shaker sat there still staring at the necklace. He had certainly lost any sense of time at this point. His body sat there hunched over, all his will having been drained.
"I'm lost." He admitted to the diamond necklace. "What do I do now, Sue?"
A terse meow came from his left. The sudden noise nearly made him jump out of his glass skin. Saltbaker fumbled to keep the jewelry in his grip. The chef emitted a sigh of relief as he caught it from dropping. He then looked over to find the source of the noise. There sat Kiki on the log, staring at him with her big emerald eyes.
"Oh, it's only you…" Saltbaker stuttered out. "You're Spoonfred's cat, right?" The feline merely gave him a slow blink. "You…don't think I did the right thing by leaving, do you?" Kiki's fur twitched but still sat there staring into his soul. "But what help can I be in this fight? I've never actually faced something like him before. I wouldn't even know what to do." The baker sighed once again. Kiki trilled at the salt shaker and flicked her tail in the correct direction for the battle. "You really think I should, huh?" Chef Saltbaker rolled his head back and let out a deep breath. His arms went down by his sides and rested on the downed tree. "Maybe I was too harsh on Ms. Chalice. I mean…if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have Sue's necklace back….and I certainly wouldn't have known the truth."
All the while Saltbaker was talking, Kiki had her big eyes on the necklace. Acting quick, she pounced and scooped up the jewelry in her jaws. Emitting a small trill, she absconded with Saltbaker's possession.
"Hey! What are you doing? Give that back!" The chef called as he got up and went after her. It was definitely a sure-fire way to get Saltbaker to follow her to the battle scene.