All his life Coronet has been told to wait. He was too young, too inexperienced, too this, too that. It chafed against him. Waiting on others, even those who had been guardians over him, had built something inside of him. It burned and it earned to finally not have to listen to the elders, to those who oversaw things. He hungered for freedom. And on this day, he would finally get a taste of it. At long last, they'd decided he could head below, into the Overgrown Caverns. He was considered enough of an adult to take his fate onto his own back, and make his own way. The decision had barely left their mouths before he was off. As far as Coronet was concerned, he'd been born ready.

---

The air in the caverns was vastly different from that of above. It was heavy, and oddly still. It smelled heavily of green and ancient things. A thrill ran through Coronet, and he clopped across the stones. He finally felt alive. All around him thick creepers inches up the walls, and strange plants pushed aggressively through the cobbles. He felt an intense kinship with this place. Like him, the wild greenness couldn't be contained. He pondered if he'd ever even need to return above again. He felt far more at home in these wild depths. Even if he wasn't deep at all yet.

Ahead, in the deepening darkness he heard a squeak and a leathery flutter of wings. Some sort of creature had taken flight. Perhaps it too was seeking, just like him. As he pondered this, Coronet caught sight of a large moss cloaked rock. Upon the plush moss was perched a truly enormous toad. If it could even be called a toad. In its funny webbed hand it held a pipe. The creature spent a long second regarding Coronet before taking a puff and blowing a billowing smoke ring. The smoke hovered in the air, lazily floating upward. Coronet's eyes followed it, watching it dissipate, unsure of what to think of the toad.

The toad watched the smoke closely, before addressing Coronet. "WHO ARE YOU?" The toad's voice echoed off of the chamber's walls.

Coronet fought the urge to rear as the creature addressed him in its gravely voice. He swallowed. "Coronet. And you?"

The toad shook its head. "NO. WHO ARE YOU. AT YOUR CORE. SEEKER? FINDER? FRIEND? STRANGER?" The toad puffed on its pipe again, while it kept an eye on Coronet.

The first option made something in Coronet's chest feel like it twisted a little. A seeker. Perhaps that was what he was. He certainly hadn't found anything yet, and he'd spent so long wanting to look for something. "Yes, a seeker." He waited to see if this would appease the toad.

The toad nodded slowly, and drew on his pipe. "MUCH TO SEEK. LITTLE TO FIND. GO ON, GO DEEPER." He blew a series of smoke rings, one within the other, and then lay down, flat on his rock.

Coronet waited for a moment, and then approached. The creature seemed to be asleep. His answer had been accepted, whatever that meant. He considered his options, but there truly only seemed to be one. To go onwards. Just like the toad had indicated. The world below was finally open to him, and who knew what it truly contained. But he could seek it out. It hardly mattered what he found. Perhaps the purpose was simply in the journey, and the freedom to pursue it as he desired. The pieces of the words the toad had given him felt right. Coronet quietly bobbed his head in thanks, and then continued his journey.