Neverwinter Forest A bad penny always turns up.

Maybe it was appropriate that he'd chosen this place to start over (even if it was the first place he'd found, and even if he'd made a massive blunder by exploring too deeply) because these two strangers were willing to help him out of this little pickle. That wasn't done out of the goodness of their hearts though; Stone was in the way and they wanted to get rid of him, but the boy didn't see that side of things. They worked together without saying much, and slowly the log came apart.

Stone felt the wood around him give. First one side, then the other, and then he was sliding out of the log along a skein of gore, almost as if the log were giving birth. In his teeth was the dead stoat. He spat it free as soon as his head cleared the rubble (puh-too!) and rolled backwards with acrobatic purpose, tucking himself in to a ball, and when he unfurled he was laying prone upon his back with a crimson bib exposed to both his rescuers.

A great big stupid grin was plastered on his face. That was fun! He chortled with exasperation, but then remembered how he'd messed up, and looked repentant. 'm sorry for the mess, mister—and misses, Stone looked from wolf to wolf with a knotted brow, making himself small where he lay, hoping they weren't about to murderize him.