Blackfeather Woods My past has tasted bitter

He had returned to the woods but a few hours prior to hearing Astrid's call. The boy had met that strange long-legged coywolf, Witchbaby, during his travels but other than that he had kept to his own, bringing with him a small limp rabbit that he had caught on his way back. He had buried it and then taken a nap. Neo, upon hearing the howl, which he noted was only addressed to he and the other Spiderlings, got up and swiftly made his way to the Dark Mistress.

When he arrived on the scene it appeared he was the first of the youngsters to get here. Perhaps they were not coming, or were further away than he had been. Neo gave a small wag of his tail and a respectful dip of his head in greeting to Astrid, padding forward a few steps so that they would be within speaking distance. The ash child sensed that there might be something the Dark Mistress wanted to say, or maybe she wanted him to do something, so he sat down on the ground and listened, waiting for what she might say.