This part of the cavern was… cold. Dark. The ground felt slippery, and when Shion breathed out, he could faintly see steam rising from his nostrils. Weary, he trudged through, feeling tired. The dive had been… unsuccessful. Nothing had caught his interest anymore, and he was now hungry. His stomach grumbled, and with a downturn to his mouth, he thought about taking a break and finding a quick snack.

The darkness worried him, though. He decided it won’t do any good if he stayed there, what if there was a monster! And well. Curse his mouth, will you? The moment he thought about it, something small and furry like fell on his back, squeaking like mad. Claws pierced his hide, and Shion panicked a lot. He cried out curses, tried to throw himself against a wall, only to stumble there and here. There was no way to see what was against him, but the thing was climbing higher.

“No, no, no!” He panted, and wrenched his head back, freezing when the small thing… Went into his mane. “I’m dead. They’ll find my dead body and wonder what happened, they’ll take a-”

His panicked ramblings lasted for a few minutes, until he realized slowly that, the monster wasn’t moving anymore. His mouth fell open, and warily, he took a few steps, confused when it still didn’t move. What… What was happening? The panic withdrew, leaving only a stuttering heartbeat, and a confused horse.

“Hello?” He inquired, softly, and his voice made the little thing on his back squeak. “Oh. I’m sorry, carry on.” He indulged the little cries it was giving, feeling it climb up and up his mane, until it slipped down his nose. Shion looked up, cross-eyed, to see - a little bat.

“Oh my… hold my horses!” He said in relief, “It’s a bat. A freaking, tiny, so cute little monster. Look at you, so big! Oh my gosh.” He gushed for a while, and the bat listened and squeaked back, before nestling into his hair again. Perhaps the cries it gave was some sort of signal, for other critters fell from the damp ceiling to attach themselves to Shion. All were small and shivering, and Shion came to a conclusion - they must have been lost too, and settled there to rest. Maybe they were a family? He let them hide in his mane as he continued to explore the dungeon, and when he found a warmer place, the bats shook themselves away from him, hiding between the rocks of the ceiling.

“Goodbye little babies.” Shion said to them, feeling his throat tighten up. “That was the nicest day of my life.”