When their eyes met for a moment, Eke swore he saw deep purple in Ryker's eyes, but the man quickly shut them, and gently, shakily, accepted the candy.

"Give... give me... a moment..." he managed to say.

"It... this... this will... go... aw-way..." he stammered.

He then grasped at his chest a little more tightly, before letting out a loud scream of agony.... and then slumping down a little.

"....okay." he said, his voice more normal now.

"Okay. I'm good. It's subsided." he assured Eke.

"....yeah." Ryker responded after a pause.

"Listen, what about you?" he asked.

"Are you all right?" he asked him. "What happened back there?" he asked further as he rose to his feet, popping the candy in his mouth as he did so.

He then looked around, scanning the area for anything else.

"If more come, they'll want to fight over the corpse of this one." he assured him. "Means we have a LITTLE more time... but not too much more."

"They're probably fighting over the carcass." Ryker responded.

"Seriously, are you ok?" he then asked, noticing the red cheeks that Eke had.

"I can practically hear your heart thumping." he told him.

"Regardless, I can see daylight in the distance." he went on.

"You'll be out of this forest soon."

When his eyes opened once more, he found himself laying atop a large mound of leaves, all various sizes. He could hear water running close by, and when he sat up, he saw Ryker sitting by a river.

He had a sturdy thick stick in his hands, with some thin rope tied to the end of it, which was dangling in the water.

There was a small fire going beside Eke, in a circle of uneven rocks, but it was enough to give off some light and keep him warm. It was also clear that the sun was JUST about to peek out from below the horizon.

He also heard Ryker humming and mumbling to himself.

"...as long the river still runs to the sea, hey lucky you, lucky me... hey lucky you, lucky me..." he sang to himself, seemingly oblivious to Eke being awake now.

Ryker was silent and looked over towards him.

"Hello." he greeted him.

"I wouldn't move too much if I were you." he told him.

"You still seem like you're sick." he reasoned.

"I'm trying to lure up some breakfast." he then added, looking back at the water.

"Why am I still here?" Ryker asked in response.

"Because." he said.

"That's all you need to know." he told him.

"Also, wrong bait?" he asked.

"The hell do you mean by that?"

"Hm. I see." Ryker responded.

"And don't mention it." he said.

"You just happened to be lucky to have found me." he told him.

"Seriously. Otherwise you would have been a snack for them." he went on.

"And what's that about you always being sick?" he then asked.

"I see." Ryker muttered.

The two of them then sat in silence for another 10 minutes or so, before there was a large shadow under the water.

"...be very still and quiet." Ryker whispered to Eke.

"Get the net ready." he told him.

"You think you'll be able to handle it?" he asked.

Ryker was silent as Eke grabbed the net, as the shadow moved closer to the line that was in the water. After a few seconds, there was a sharp tug on the line, and Ryker jumped to his feet.

He planted his feet and held on to the 'pole' as tightly as he could, wrestling with what was under the water. His muscles strained and his teeth clenched, as they fought for almost 3 solid minutes.

Eventually, the creature in the water seemed to lose just enough stamina for Ryker to yank it out of the water.

When it emerged from the river, Eke saw it had shimmering silver scales that seemed to glisten in the light that was just peeking over the horizon.

"Get the net ready!" Ryker commanded.

"This thing'll make for damn good breakfast, and the scales'll sell for some good coin!"

Ryker brought the fish over to the fire, and then took out a combat knife from a leather pouch on his leg.

"What's my story?" he asked.

"Nothing special." he said, as he started to scale the creature, the scales coming off like tiny glittering gem shards.

"I was a child slave for a dictator." he told Eke.

"He had me and about 50 other slaves digging to find some large gem called the 'Infinite Onyx'." he said further.