”Never forget to look up. Many things that pose a danger down here are those we never think to look for. Getting distracted may be the end of you- and forgetting the danger that lurks above can be, too.” - Amira’s Notebook, Chapter Four: The Dangers of the Dungeons

Sartoris flicked her long tail in bored figure-eights behind her. It had been a while since she’d come across anything interesting - cavern after cavern had contained nothing but dull old vines she’d seen before, or simple creatures that no longer caught her eye. Her makeshift satchel, a piece of burlap tied closed with a leather strapping, was pitifully limp and empty (and this time, not because she’d left a hole that all her treasure was falling out of- she’d checked, twice!).

She trudged through the undergrowth, heedless of the plant stalks she was breaking as she forged her own path through the bush. The fronds were taller than her head now, but she knew she’d seen a crevice in the bland grey walls of the cave somewhere around here.

Aha! There it was. Sartoris sucked in a breath and squeezed through the narrow opening, ribs grazing the walls on either side. She was glad she was still small enough to do so- what wonderful things lay in places others were simply too big to get to?

It was dimmer still in the cave, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. She scanned the ground, eyes narrowed. There seemed to be…husks, perhaps, scattered across the floor. She edged forward, wishing she had a torch. Reaching one of the objects, she tapped it with a hoof- it was soft and bouncy, like a loofah plant; she wondered where it had come from. She tossed it in the air and it landed almost noiselessly. She giggled.

The cave came alive with the beating of wings. Sartoris’ ears pinned flat against her head, and her gaze shot upwards. The ceiling was lower than she’d realised, and more of the husks- no, cocoons, she now realised- hung from it. They wriggled unpleasantly, and she recoiled from them. Unknown wings brushed her face and fluttered against her body. Her tail lashed, smacking at the creatures who attacked her from all angles; their fragile wings crumpled and their bodies thudded into the adjacent walls.

They’re harmless! she realised with a start. The winged creatures’ mouths weren’t big enough to bite; they were simply reacting to her sound and movement. She whirled her tail over her head and body, sending the insects away. What she now knew to be silk was considered valuable in most parts of the underworld and even aboveground. Staying low to the cavern floor, she collected as many of the husks as she could- perhaps they were of some use to weavers and mapmakers.

Her satchel now full and clumsily re-tied, she made her way back to the cave entrance. Maybe she could come back for the hanging pupa once she’d sold her bounty- it might be interesting to know what hatched from them. Her curiosity was satisfied moments later; the body of a moth lay in the shaft of light coming from the main cavern, and she decided to leave the hanging cocoons alone. The poor moths had suffered enough casualties from her tail today.