When a stranger calling theirself Melt had come up to the small trio asking to join them, they had been wary.
Euele remembered Aehwyn, and knew that this strange figure was somehow tied back to them.

Something about them just told her they couldn't be trusted. They wore a blade that looked exactly like the one that the strange fae-kin looking heraldic had strapped to their shoulder. Still, despite the party's obvious wariness towards them, Melt had joined with nothing but a quiet nod, a vacant expression in their eyes. Solace had been tasked with watching over them, while Leiken stayed close to Euele's side, none of them having the confidence to let Melt out of their sight.

It was like Euele couldn't keep herself from turning back to glance at them whenever something happened. And every single time she had looked back, those strangely sorrowful eyes met hers, and she felt forced to look away. The way they looked at her almost broke her heart, and she didn't know why.

Unlike with Aehwyn, the pets didn't know what to do with them. It was like they knew to be wary, and so they just refused to acknowledge this stranger's presence. Even Que, Leiken's famously kind hound, avoided looking at Melt. It was strange. But Euele had written it off as them merely responding to Solace's, Leiken's and her own anxiety. Whatever it was, it made it hard for any of them to focus on the goal at hand. 

Getting through the dungeon.

Her eyes flitted along the walls, this series of passages had been strangely dull and boring. Mostly quiet, if not a bit too much so. The walls seemed so strange, hollow even, and yet nothing had happened while they wandered down the ever increasingly complicated mess of winding pathways and narrow passages. It was though the dungeon was waiting. For what she didn't know, but she didn't have long to contemplate it.

"You've met Aehwyn then." Melt's voice stole her thoughts away, forcing her to listen to the strangely fluid tones that flooded the air with the stranger's voice. 

Solace's tail swished, ears flicking, eyes glancing at Melt with a sharpness not even Euele could place. "We have. What does it matter to you?" When xir voice filled the air, suddenly Euele knew what had made Solace so sharp. Fear. Before Solace had waited to tell anyone xir suspicions with Aehwyn, and that had gotten them all hurt. Now xey were afraid to look away or be kind. Dusty fluttered around Solace's head, attempting to calm xem.

"People tend to act differently towards me if they have met my guardian before they've made my acquaintance. Not that I can blame them." The lithe heraldic let out a laugh. "You'll find I hold similar grudges towards them. I've never traveled far with them, but I can only imagine they're a no better companion than they are a guardian."

Leiken's eyes went wide, his mouth opening then clamping shut as he jerked to look at Euele. She almost flinched. She could only imagine how terrible that horrid heraldic had been as a guardian. If Aehwyn had been risking their lives as a companion, the neglect Melt had faced must've been.... She blinked it away before the words could do so much as form within her mind, avoiding the horror as much as she could. "I see, so they're your parent?" 

Another laugh, this one eerie and long, echoing off into the distance, but strangely not making its way back, as if the walls had swallowed the sound whole. "No. Not my parent. My guardian." 

Leiken stared down at the dirt, Que staring up at him worriedly with piercing green eyes. "I see." His voice faltered. "I suppose your childhood and mine may have contained similar lessons, then. Self-sufficiency and more to read than should ever be read by one so small." 

It was Melt's turn to wear an expression of startled compassion. They said nothing, though, instead Solace's voice broke through the conversation. "Stop. We can have this conversation later." Xir ears perked as they gestured ahead. "The room ahead of us seems... odd. I want everyone to be wary and watch their step as we enter it. Have I made myself clear?"

Euele nodded. "Clear as still water." Leiken nodded along with her.

The group of four were dead quiet as they stepped through a narrow doorway and into the room that had caused Solace to speak up. It was indeed strange, a large, open room in a semicircle shape, huge gears and giant bolts littering the walls. They were all moving, clicking and groaning like some sort of ghost, the sound of hissing in the far distance making them wonder if it was steam powered. As they wandered in, something stopped. Or rather, all the gears suddenly clicked to a halt, creaking loudly to a halt as something changed in the distance. 

Clunk.

Clunk.

CLUNK.

"Something's falling... and its getting closer." Euele spoke loudly over the sound of ever closer thudding. "We need to go!" Her voice raised to a shout as she darted towards one of the ways leading out of the room. The others followed, Acherna letting out a concerned thrum as the lot of them galloped out and away from the horrible thudding following in their footsteps. As fast as they ran it didn't sound like the clunking was getting any further away, doggedly keeping pace with them as they ran full speed towards where they knew the open Moor to be.