"Okay but how is, 'Fetch beats up the ghost' a better answer than the two doorways lead to the same hall?"

Solace snorted at Hawkes, reaching out to shoulder check them slightly. "It's because we were underestimating you." Xey retorted. "We all know Fetch is capable and a bit strange. But we're still trying to wrap our minds around the fact that you were the first to figure out what the solution to the faces was." Xey glanced forwards at Fetch and Terrence, who had both glanced back. "Hey now, don't pretend you didn't underestimate them like I did." Xir voice was bright, betraying that xir attempt to seem tearse was just play. A moth, Dusty, xir pet, fluttered around them as they poked fun at each other.

"Ah but you don't have to go pointing it out." Terrence retorted, very much with the same jesting tone in his voice. "I might've been a bit too mean towards you, Hawkes. And I am sorry. I don't know if I was expecting you to actually have learned your lesson after last time." Terrence stared, hard over his shoulder, watching Hawkes with a sharp look, they merely bowed their head in return and looked towards the cave wall with flattened ears. Fetch was strangely quiet, but that was nothing new, she didn't express any interest in the story, but she was definitely listening to something.

Solace's ears perked. "Oh? What happened last time?" 

"It's not for me to say." Terrence said slowly. "Unless Hawkes says it's okay?"

Hawkes looked back up and over at the rest of the party, looking contemplative before snorting. "Oh, I can tell the story, and I'd dare say I could tell it better than anyone else."

Solace nodded. "Please tell it then! I have heard you refer to whatever happened several times but never the full story. But I did notice you usually carry a full pack now." Xey nodded approvingly at Hawkes semi-full pack. This wasn't the first time xey had seen Hawkes since the fabled incident but never in the dungeon. Not until now, at least. And xey had noticed, almost instantly, that Hawkes seemed more prepared. And quieter too than normal. Whatever had inspired the change, xey wanted to know. There hadn't really been a 'right time' to ask about it ever since the group had descended into the dungeon. They'd all been too busy dodging traps, trying to get through doors, or fighting ghosts to really sit down and talk about things such as, character development. 

They cleared their throat rather loudly, raising their legs up dramatically as they began to speak. "It was a dark and stormy day in the dungeon. Foolishly, I attempted to dive deeper into the dungeon to avoid the deluge in the Overgrown Caverns. Unfortunately, I didn't bring enough gear to get very far. Eventually I found myself in a huge room, interspersed with lakes of lava and those little boiling pools that smell like sulfur. I rather brilliantly - hey don't laugh I'm telling a story!" Hawkes had to stop and send glares towards Solace and Terrence, who were both snickering. Only Fetch was quiet, though she did seem to be listening rather intently. "ANYWAYS. I, rather brilliantly, decided to float across one of the lava lakes, seeing it was a shortcut that would take me over to a tunnel which I had presumed lead to a nicer location than where I was. Unfortunately for the hero of this tale, me, I had forgotten that wood burns quite readily if you were to try and paddle with across a lake of actual lava." They cleared their throat. "Your poor, intrepid hero was left trapped in the middle of the lava lake, having thrown the wooden stick aside to keep from getting burnt alive!" 

Hawkes continued, putting as much drama as physically possible into their voice. "I was there for days on end!" 

"You told Euele you were stuck for fifteen minutes max." Terrence couldn't help but retort.

"Yes. But it's called embellishing." 

"You're embellishing a bit close to the sun with that one." Solace replied with a chuckle.

Hawkes let out a huge sigh, ignoring the banter as they continued once again. "I was there, for a very long time, long enough that I had to eat through all my extra rations! Eventually, two adventurers found me where I lay, desperate and starving. A very kind, very beautiful blue rabbit approached looking worried, her companion, a mangy, rat filled, old dog stopped her saying 'Don't save them.'" Hawkes deepened their voice comically low and gravely, Terrence rolled his eyes only causing Hawkes to grin as they continued. "The beautiful, star dappled rabbit brought out a teeny tiny dragon made of starlight and commanded it to save me. It flew over, fairy dust falling off its wings as she pushed me back to shore. Alas, as I was crawling off my raft and up to safety, I fell into the lava and my flesh was ruined!" 

"Can we skip to the part where Euele scolds you?" 

"EH HEM." They cleared their throat. "The rabbit took me tenderly in her paws and said to me... 'You may have perished if we had not come along and saved you.' Her voice was fairy kissed. 'Please honour me by taking this magical spell I have written here. It will tell you all you need to safely go through the dungeon.' She said reaching into her magical bag made of moonlight, before handing to me a miracle." Hawkes paused, ears twitching. They looked around and stared quizzically down the hallway. "Does the hall seem narrower than it was before?" No one really replied, so they continued with their tale without much of a second thought. "From that day onward, I kept the magical spell close to me and whenever I dive into the dungeon, I remember the words of the rabbit and bring every item on the list with me. The End."

Solace looked ahead, eyebrows raised at Terrence. "Wow, you got transformed into a big mange ridden dog?" Terrence snorted and stopped to playfully kick at xem. Xey ignored him, as xey spoke again. "So what I'm hearing is, that you went deeper into the dungeon than you should have and were woefully unprepared. When you got lost and tried to cross some lava, you got trapped and Terrence and this Euele character had to save you. Evidently she gave you the scolding of a lifetime, and now you actually pack like I first suggested to you when you said you wanted to go into the dungeon? Am I correct?"

Hawkes went very quiet, turning their head and pretending to check on Hawkey, their pet hawk, who was peacefully sleeping away on their shoulder. "Well, when you put it like that, I just seem kinda dense." They grumbled under their breath.

"Stop!" Fetch's voice suddenly ringing through the air caused the entire party to jump to a halt. 

"What is-" 

Fetch cut Solace off. "Shhhh. Listen." The party fell still, straining in the quiet to hear whatever it was that Fetch was trying to alert them towards. It took them a second but soon a look of horror and recognition crossed each of their faces one by one. 

"See! I told you the hallway felt narrower!" Hawkes couldn't help but bleat out. 

Terrence shot a glare their way but shook their head. "Let's pick up the pace, everyone. We need to get out of this hallway before worse comes to worst, and we end up flatter than any other courser that's ever been." He snorted and pushed into a canter, everyone quickly following suite as they became aware of the walls slowly closing in around them. 

"Do think the whole thing has been shrinking the whole time?" Solace asked. 

"One of us probably tripped a mechanic somewhere that triggered it, but essentially, yeah, probably." Hawkes spoke up, sounding stressed as they cantered alongside the others. "How much longer do you think this is?" Solace glanced over, suddenly stricken by the look of fear in their eyes. They were thinking of the worst case scenario already. 

"Let's not think about it too hard and just worry on going fast, got it?" Terrence barked, his voice full of that no nonsense tone that he only used when death was at least a plausible possibility. 

Fetch's ears twitched. "I had been thinking that the dungeon's noises were different. But I couldn't hear over all your yammering." She glared at the other three, causing a few apologetic looks to be thrown her way as they thundered down the long hall. 

It was really hard to see the end. And even harder to tell when the shrinking stopped or if they would even be able to make it out. They'd been in that hallway for at least an hour. Maybe two or even two and a half by this point. It was no question that the hall had been getting narrower and narrower the entire time, but no one exactly looked back over their shoulder and stared behind them long enough to see that the whole hallway was squeezing in. Alarmingly, the dungeon seemed to sense the urgency sparking between the group, and the walls started to close in even faster.

No one even tried to speak as they filed out into a single line, not daring to run side by side anymore as the walls started getting way, way too close for comfort. Without saying a word, Terrence picked up the pace, leading everyone in a mad dash towards the end. The end. They could see it now, each one of them could pinpoint exactly where the hallway would open up, they would only have to squeeze through and into whatever was on the other side. Solace thought xey heard someone cursing, and Terrence was starting to let out a loud battle cry, trying to be louder than the panic in all their ears. Their sides began to brush the wall and the grinding of gears and the pumping of blood in their veins had become far too louder to hear anything else over.

Solace was scared. Hawkes was convinced they were going to die. Fetch was at peace with her fate, whatever it would be, but she was still scared of the pain. Terrence was trying so so hard to push himself and the party faster. They couldn't die, they wouldn't, there was no way. 

Solace was vaguely aware of Maggie, Dusty and Hawkey darting ahead and out into the open air which felt so horribly far and so terribly close. Hawkey had turned, letting out an encouraging caw, trying to get them to go faster. But the walls were hugging them closely now.

"WE CAN DO THIS! Just keep moving, we can get there. We're almost there!" Terrence's shout pulled everyone out of their heads and back into the present as he plunged forwards, ignoring the friction of his packs against the walls as he shoved hard, with all his weight forwards, and forwards and forwards. 

They could do this.
They had to be able to do this.
This was the only way to survive.