“Do you think you could walk a little louder?” Quill asked in a slow drawl to ignore the way the darkness curled around him in waves from Elrim as he trudged behind him. It had been dark cavern after dark cavern for a couple of hours now, and his friend had a habit of walking into shadows that swallowed him whole. If it wasn’t for Walter, the courser didn’t think that he’d be able to keep up.

The dungeon welcomed Elrim in a way that it didn’t welcome Quill. It lingered and crept along the walls, sweeping over him like a parent’s embrace.

Elrim looked over his shoulder at the younger courser and dipped his head, forcefully striking the smooth stone beneath their hooves.

“Better?” His attention was on the path ahead. This path was well traveled, which brought with him both comfort and nagging sensation that he knew where they were. He couldn’t make it out.

“Yeah! Much!” The tension in Quill’s chest eased and he trotted forward, walking closer to Walter who was following his usual rhythm. Waddle-waddle-flap-flap-flap. Rinsed and repeated until he’d grow tired.

Now was the game where Quill tried to find something to focus on. Anything. He shifted his hips twice. Lifted his legs in an exaggerated trot afterwards, and then settled back into step, trying not to flood the silence with senseless chatter. There was a balance between what Elrim would answer and what he would let drop quietly. Quill was learning the rules, though he’d never once told him to be quiet.

Victories, he supposed!

When Elrim ducked his head into a cave and moved on, Quill copied him, staring into a chamber of the likes that he hadn’t seen.

The beauty caused him to pause, a mossy pedestal illuminated by the moonlight with the most gorgeous piece of art that he had ever seen before. He stepped into the overgrown cavern, following the moisture line in the damp walls as he looked up at the crack in the celing.

“Wait, Elrim - Treasure!”

Walter chattered beside him in a fast series of murmurs and grunts as he looked up at him, disappointment in his eyes.

“Oh come on! It’s not that dangerous! The bones are…” Huh. There were bones. Piles of bleached bones whose meat had been picked clean. He looked up at the crack and tilted his head, wondering if perhaps these were some unfortunate explorers on the surface. There had to be reasons. “Are really, really unfortunate, Walter!”

Elrim walked up beside him, shaking his head lightly. “There are some signs that we shouldn’t interrupt. Many coursers lost their lives here, whehter through greed or protection. We should move on.”

Quill rolled his eyes as he felt Elrim turn around, Walter standing stubbornly by his side. If people had wanted to protect it, then they shouldn’t leave it here unprotected.

“But what better protection than getting it out of the dungeon!”

“You don’t make it back home by ignoring clear signs, Quill! You wouldn’t want to worry your parents if something went wrong.”

Quill paused, the words carrying with them a weight that he hadn’t quite forgotten. He remembered his mother waiting for his father to come back from the dungeons. He’d been missing for months when he’d crawled out, and since then, neither of them had gone back out there.

But at the same time… How was he going to show people just how good he was at this if he didn’t try?

He ducked his head and peered behind him as Elrim stepped away, and gingerly hopped off the ledge, carefully making his footing through the moss.

A shrill screech, followed by a hiss, was his only warning of Walter’s displeasure as the goose flew above him, slapping him in the face and ears as he fluttered in front of him.

“Oh come on, Walter! We have to know what’s in there?”

The goose didn’t let up until Quill found himself back on rocky ground, flopping down on his haunches defeated as Walter puffed up in front of him, wings mantled.

He felt rather than heard Elrim step back beside him, nickering softly as he rested a head against his.

“Maybe you should listen to your goose friend. He hasn’t led you astray yet.”

“But treasure, Elrim. Treasure! Who just leaves treasure behind?”

Walter’s wings stretched further as he drew back his neck and Quill dropped his chest on the ground as he lowered his face to be on Walter’s level.

Elrim settled behind them with a soft chuckle. The three of them were at an impass, and Quill didn’t plan on leaving without a fight.