“Why did I bring these two?” Serenity sighs, long ears flicking back as she tries to stay focused on the tunnel’s path. The white and brown courser, Karu, who seems to be leading the group, trots with skips in his steps, looking at every fungus, small creature, or slightly shinier rock with large foal-like curiosity.
“Did you say something?” Wulfe responds beside her, his head leaning towards hers and eyes wandering her features. Quickly, Serenity straightens up. “Nothing important, just some uh- things I need to think about.” She says with a tight smile. Wulfe shrugs, appearing uninterested in questioning her further. “Well don’t hurt that pretty little head of yours thinking too much, ya?” The flirtatious remark somehow makes Serenity’s smile even tighter. “I’m not as fragile as that, Wulfe but thank you for the consideration.” She replies a bit more exasperated than intended but it works. Wulfe frowns, ears pinning back and tail flicking as if unhappy with the development of the conversation, having some level of intelligence he decides not to press that topic anymore.

“Anyway,” Wulfe clears his throat. “I know we’re searching for some dusty old scrolls or whatever-”
“They’re not just some dusty old scrolls or whatever,” Serenity huffs indignantly. “They’re priceless artifacts of the past that can give us insight into the dungeons and the world of before. Actually these particular tomes we search for I was given some insight to by a fellow colleague. If they’re right then these scrolls could teach us about these recently discovered ruins, sadly they’re mostly destroyed and haven’t been able to survive the times of unrepair. But no one knows anything about it yet, this colleague said that..” Wulfe sucks in a breath, here we go again.
“Anyway-” Wulfe cuts her off sharply and quickly leaving Serenity to stumble over the last bits of her sentence. Realizing she had begun to ramble again the black puck shuts her mouth tightly and tries to not look embarrassed. Wulfe regains his cooled composure and looks at Serenity with a flirtatious expression. “If these are so important and we must hurry, why not ditch the baggage? I’m sure he won’t mind-” Wulfe glances over to Karu who is looking oddly hungry at a clump of moss. He tries to ignore this, “-and let's be honest he’s slowing us down or he could get himself hurt. I think we can handle this on our own, just the two of us. For you I might be willing to take detours too, maybe find some other treasures down here in the process.” Serenity’s tight expression returns with passion but as Wulfe nudges closer to her flank and before Serenity can say anything in response someone else interrupts.

Literally pushing in between the pair, accidentally shoving Wulfe a little too hard into a jutted rock, Karu appears holding a large clump of moss in his mouth. “Hwey Swrentey, is dis eduble?” He inquires, the moss inhibiting his pronunciation into warbled half speech. This makes Serenity smile and relax some. “Um I’m not a botanist so I wouldn’t know but you might not want to.” She says watching Karu seemingly debate if he still wants to eat it or not. “I think you should eat it,” Wufle’s words are harsh and his tone sounding close to a growl. “Maybe choke on it in the process.”
“Wulfe!” Serenity gasps, giving him a hard look. Wulfe just grunts and shoves past a puzzled but mostly unbothered Karu who seems to have decided to drop the moss. “I’m sorry Karu, if he’s giving you grief-” Serenity begins but Karu just shrugs. “Oh he’s not at all! Wasn’t that a funny joke? Come on, we should catch up.” He smiles and pivots to follow Wulfe, she can hear him starting to say how he liked his joke before the echoes become too much to decipher. For a moment Serenity wonders if she should worry about Karu’s lack of apparent danger radar before trotting after the boys.

As the trio traverse the tunnels conversation became minimal. Maybe Wulfe’s mood was killed by Karu before, but Serenity knows she’s glad to have a break from the flirtatious remarks. She can’t wait to tell her girlfriend about this experience when she returns to the surface world. Karu is the only one that is still talking, mostly from oohs and aahs at random objects or dark and mysterious side tunnels. Again, Serenity wonders if she should worry about Karu not having a sense for danger. At one point Karu tried to pick up a tiny creature in its attempts to skitter away and hide from the group to show to Wulfe who snorted and quickly retreated away from Karu stamping his hooves in disgust. While Serenity found it funny it was obvious Wulfe didn’t, still Karu remained oblivious and the group continued on their way. The next incident occurs at a divergence in their path.

The path they had been following opened into a spacious cave, the path becoming serpentine as it wounds around columns of stone. While daunting the columns are harmless which is proven as the group, cautious at first, continues along the pathway rounding column after column. It isn’t till Wulfe curses loudly and suddenly stops that something seems to be amiss. Before them drops a large black pit, its bottom unseen as the ground slopes into the depths. “That could’ve been bad,” Serenity says as she eyes the pitch black. “You think?” Wulfe retorts as he looks around for a way across. Karu curiously leans over to investigate making Serenity’s heart jump with anxiety at the thought of him falling in. Serenity joins in on trying to find a way across the small chasm but it’s Wulfe’s sharp eyes that find the solution first.

“Here, there’s a path. It’s narrow though so we need to be careful.” He explains eyeing the narrow ledge running along the side of the chasm. It leads straight back to the rest of the path but has only enough room for one courser at a time. At the very least it looks stable even if part of Serenity is doubting it. “Very careful,” Serenity echoes as she places a tentative foot on the rocky ledge. It holds as she presses her weight down which boosts her confidence some. “How about you go first,” Wulfe says calmly, his tone sounding a bit conniving but Serenity can’t be too sure. She glances over her back at the black courser seeing him eye Karu who is still investigating the pit. “Ya… sure. Karu let’s go.” She hesitates trying to shrug off her unease. Bravely she takes the first steps onto the path, creeping along its edge as carefully as possible. Don’t look down, don’t look down, she tries to convince herself, eyes focusing straight ahead. She hears the sound of the others following at first but doesn’t dare look back.

Behind her Karu begins to take his first steps onto the ledge, his eyes still drawn to whatever lay in the darkness of the pit. Treasure? Danger? Food? It could be anything, leaving Karu’s scattered mind to wander even more. He doesn’t notice the way Wulfe watches him and is caught by surprise when something shoves him from behind, Karu cries out in surprise hooves slipping on the thin ledge as his weight carries him over slamming him onto the steep sloped side. “Oops,” he thinks he hears Wulfe say followed by Serenity’s worried screaming. Shit shit shit shit, mind racing Karu tries to stabilize himself on the rocky not-so-fun slide. Small cuts slice through his fur from sharp corners of the stone and debris along it. A dust cloud bellows behind him as he vanishes into the shadows.

-

“Back off Trinket, this is mine.” Moosetracks snaps at the begging dog sitting beside her as she tries to eat her meal in peace, his large dark eyes looking large and pleading at her darting between her meal and her face. Moosetracks snorts and tries to ignore him. He had already eaten his own share and now wanted hers? Greedy pup. Ripping off a chunk of the vegetable the brindle courser tosses it to the dachshund, grumbling as he devours it and she returns to her own meal. Finishing the last of the remains Moosetracks straightens and begins reexamining the tunnel. The interesting duo had stopped for a snack break and rest, traveling all morning can be tiresome but they have a destination to reach. Moosetracks straightens her mask and taps her back hoof against the stoney floor, the sound perking Trinket’s ears. “Let's go,” she says mostly to herself as she begins walking down the passageway, the small golden dog bounding after her with little yips.

The passageway was dark, lacking any glowing moss to help see or other bioluminescent fungi. The only light source coming from the lantern hanging on Moosetracks’ harness, the fiery red and orange glow glinting off of the damp smooth walls. In random places the tunnel narrows and widens, its walls having rippling smooth crevices and unique shapes. Sounds of splashing occur sporadically as every couple of steps Moosetracks steps into small puddles of leftover water. Trinket occasionally stops to lap up the residue before sprinting to catch back up on his stubby legs. A cold draft of air causes Moosetracks to shiver and pause, looking up to find its origin. Above her yawns a large smooth opening, shadows crawling up its edges while the hint of faint dulled like can be seen graying the end of it. “Must be a runoff,” she says, eyeing it with decreased interest. Briefly she wonders where it leads but ultimately doesn’t care. She’d rather get out of the direct path of cold air coming down it. Trinket seems to be more curious about it than she is. Using the wall he lifts himself up on his hand legs and begins sniffing the air, black nose quivering as he almost falls backward with how far he leans his head.

“Come on Trinket lets go-” Moosetracks begins to command her hound but is cut off by the sound of…yelling? When she hears it at first it’s faint but gradually and rapidly gets louder, and louder. She snaps her head to look up at the hole just in time to see a large brown and white shape hurdle into her. Not even having time to give a proper curse as this unknown being crashes down on her knocking both of them prone and leaving them tangled. Trinket either angry or amused, Moosetracks isn’t sure, barks and yips excitedly where he still safely stands. “Fucking hell,” Moosetracks groans in pain the weight of this stranger keeping her pinned temporarily. They too groan in similar pain, when their eyes meet the brown and white courser grins in a lopsided fashion. “Uh oops? My bad.”

Moosetracks gives him a look that is a mix of confusion, annoyance, and anger. “Get off me you fucking oaf,” she snaps, literally, nipping the unknown courser hard with a satisfying yelp from him as he scrambles to get off her and she throw him off. Once the two are back on their feet Moosetracks shoots him another icey look. “Word of advice? Don’t jump down fucking holes in a dungeon.” The stranger blinks at her a little slowly as if confused, Moosetracks grits her teeth at this. “I didn’t jump down on purpose,” the stranger explains, shaking himself off. “But! It’s all good now you broke my fall.” His cheery tone almost pops a vein in Moosetracks jaw. “Oh you definitely could’ve broken something- on me.” She replies in a not cheery tone making the stranger step back with a small tilt of his head. “Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to.” He apologizes looking saddened at the prospect of harming someone he doesn’t know. His sincerity seems to confuse Moosetracks or annoy her, it’s hard to tell.
“Whatever,” she huffs. “Who are you anyway, you lost or something?”
“I’m Karu! And no, well yes but also no. I wasn’t lost but I guess I am now so… yes no?” Karu looks puzzled, skewing his mouth in a thoughtful way.
“Moosetracks and that’s a stupid answer.” Moosetracks responds bluntly. “Please tell me you aren’t stupid enough to travel the dungeons alone.” Karu looks like he’s about to respond but hesitates, eyes looking over to the still barking Trinket then to scanning the surrounding dark and damp tunnel. Moosetracks eyed him suspiciously, trying to figure out why he wouldn't respond right away. “But…” Karu starts off turning to meet Moosetracks sharp gaze. “Aren’t you traveling alone?” Silence. Moosetracks expression is of shocked anger. “Did you just call me stupid?” She takes an intimidating step forward, head lifted so she glares down at the courser. “No no, oh no.” Karu stumbles over his words not seeming to pick up on the acid in her words. “Well…” I’m going to cave his face in, the thought flashes through Moosetracks mind but she contains herself. Her interaction with him so far, and seeing him now struggling to figure out what to say, has led her to the conclusion that he is an idiot. “Nevermind,” she mercifully stops his floundering. “Are you alone or not?” Karu looks relieved. “Nope! I have some new friends!” he explains which doesn’t actually explain anything.

“We were trying to cross that hole,” he looks up at the chasm above them then back to Moosetracks. “One of my friends, his name is Wulfe, got a little too eager with his playing I think and accidentally knocked me off the edge. It’s ok though! It was a good joke, you see. I accidentally shoved him earlier so he was trying to get me back I’m pretty sure.” Karu tells his story which makes Moosetracks glower pensively. She isn’t familiar with this courser and his friends but either they are all idiots or there was more malicious intent behind pushing Karu down that hole.
“So you were trying to cross the hole? Which direction?” Moosetracks asks, Karu looks back up for a second then looks towards the direction Moosetracks was heading. “That way I think?” He responds looking a bit unsure. Makes sense, a fall like that would disorientate anyone. “Shush Trinket,” Moosetracks tells the yapping down, he’s already quieted down some but still his barking was giving her a headache. The dog eagerly begins sniffing Karu’s ankles and hooves as Moosetracks surveys the opening above and the tunnels. “Oh my gosh it’s so small,” Karu gasps, focusing on Trinket, he begins trying to nuzzle the dachshund who looks a bit uncertain. Karu’s good nature must be infectious though because the hound quickly gave it and started panting happily. Moosetracks pays neither of them any mind.

“Well as long as you follow the tunnel to the left for a while it should lead you back up top where you came from.” Moosetracks tells Karu who only seems to be half listening. “Good luck, uh, Karu. Trinket come.” The brindle courser flicks her tail as she turns her back to Karu and begins heading down the path. Trinket obediently breaks away from Karu and follows after her. Karu watches the two of them for a second before he sprints after them. “Wait! Moosetracks! Could you please help me?” He calls after her, Moosetracks keeps walking. “I did? I gave you directions, you're no foal so go find your way.”
“I’m very bad with directions, please? Or I can just travel with you wherever you’re going! Maybe I’ll run into my friends then.” Karu pleads falling into step beside Moosetracks which is rather difficult in the narrow tunnels causing him to brush and press against her side. Moosetracks shoves him against the wall and pushes forward to get ahead of him. “Hell no,” she responds with a snort. “You are not coming with me.” The last thing I need is a clumsy idiot on my heels, she thinks briefly. “Why? Do you need help? I love helping my friends so I can assist with whatever you need.” Karu rambles on his words, sideswiping Moosetracks. “Friend?” She says in pure confusion. “Yes! You helped me by not letting me break my neck on the ground so you’re my friend.” He says it so matter of factly that Moosetracks is stunned for a second, stopping in her tracks and looking sideways at the carefree brown and white courser.

After a long moment of hesitation, to which Karu starts getting a worried expression, Moosetracks groans loudly, the sound reverberating off the misshapen walls. “Fine,” she gives in. “I’ll take you to your friends.” Karu’s expression lights up as he starts shifting excitedly foot to foot. As he goes to move in next to her however Moosetracks steps in his way. “Behind me,” she glares. “I’m not having you squeeze next to me in this tunnel.” Karu nods eagerly in understanding. With one final sigh Moosetracks follows the left side of the tunnel. Leading Karu through twisted damp passageways to where his friends will hopefully be.

“I still can’t believe you did that,” Serenity mutters a few paces behind Wulfe. “I didn’t do anything,” he pleads guilty. Serenity doubts that but she has no proof that Wulfe pushed poor, naive Karu off that ledge. She can only hope that he either miraculously survived or his death was quick and painless. Next time she goes into the dungeon she’ll make sure to bring a crew that she knows will work well together. The last thing she needs on her conscience is someone in her party killing another member. “Look,” her thoughts are broken by Wulfe’s unnerving tone, quiet and pensive. Serenity walks up to his side, stopping as she now sees what Wulfe sees. The path has ended, cut off by the jagged edge of a large ravine, its walls dipping into inky black. Much like the pit, Serenity pushes the thought away. Hanging across the ravine is a bridge, upheld by large posts on either side, frayed old rope holding half rotten planks of wood. Most appear intact but many half already split or broken, its remains hanging to the support roping. “We’re going to have to cross, aren’t we?” Wulfe sounds very reluctant and Serenity can’t blame him. She doesn’t want to cross this either. “Maybe we can find another way?” She offers her voice betraying her uncertainty in their success of locating a new path.
As Wulfe eyes the bridge, thinking of his response, the two of them pause. Ears flicking to the side as the sound of voices faint and echoing come from a small tunnel off to the side. Clearly the sound of intelligent speech, the two of them wait quietly for the source of the voices to come closer.

Their eyes track the movement of a lantern in the dark of the tunnel, the voices becoming clearer as they get closer and the fiery light illuminating three shapes become more visible. Wulfe and Serenity inhale sharply as a skulled creature emerges from the shadows first startling them but what startles them even more is the familiar face of Karu beside it. Moosetracks freezes seeing them while Karu grins happily. “Guys!” he exclaims bounding over to Wulfe and Serenity reminding Moosetracks of Trinket’s own excited prancing. “I’m so glad to see you, look I made a new friend!”
“How the hell-” Wulfe begins to say but is quickly cut off by Serenity. “Karu! I was so worried you might’ve died from that fall, are you ok? Nothing broken?” She begins to fret over the brown and white courser who doesn’t seem to mind. “Oh yes I’m perfectly fine, Moosetracks here-”
“Moosetracks?” Wulfe stares in confusion at the masked courser who appears to be glaring back. “Yes this is Moosetracks my new friend!” Karu trots over to the brindled courser. “Not his friend,” she responds curtly. “He literally fell on me, he says someone pushed him-”
“By accident.” Karu clarifies with a smile at Wulfe. Moosetracks, now knowing who Wulfe is, seems to stab Wulfe with her icy gaze. “Yes, of course, by accident.” her acidic tone makes it clear that she doesn’t believe that for a second. Wulfe tenses glaring back at Moosetracks. Serenity shifts on her hooves nervously. “What are you wearing?” Wulfe attempts to change the topic quickly. “Do you enjoy wearing dead creature parts or are you just feral like that?” Moosetracks steps forward slamming her hoof hard on the stone floor. “Actually I do,” she snarls at him purposefully trying to sound feral. “Maybe I can hear your dead parts next if they don’t reek too much of asshole.” Serenity’s heart leaps into her throat but Karu is the one who jumps in between the two coursers first. “It’s fine MT, relax.” He tries to placate the two of them. “Look this is Serenity, the one I was telling you about that loves all the books and reading and all that old stuff.” He nudges Moosetracks away from Wulfe and towards the black puck. “You can make friends wherever you end up huh,” Serenity comments with a look towards Karu. “I’m Serenity, you’re Moosetracks? Thanks for helping him. I honestly wasn’t expecting to see anyone else down here.” Moosetracks shrugs a little awkwardly, obviously not used to compliments.

“So Karu told you about us?” She inquires, Moosetracks nodding in response.
“Yes mostly you though, especially after I told him I live down here.” Moosetracks explains glancing briefly at Wulfe who began to move closer while Karu moved away, eyeing the bridge and ravine curiously. “Oh you live down here?” Serenity’s ears perk up. “Of course you do,” Wulfe rolls his eyes and Serenity quickly steps in front of him. “That’s really interesting. You must see a lot of relics, scrolls, and other historical finds that no one knows about.” Moosetracks tilts her head with a puzzled expression. “Uh… ya I guess? I see a lot of old shit if that’s what you’re referring to.” Wulfe snorts at her wording and Moosetracks shoots him a look. “I would love to pick your brain about it. We’re actually going to go look for some scrolls now, lost knowledge of a recently uncovered region. It’s a small library said to be around here somewhere.” Serenity explains, to her surprise Moosetracks nods slowly.
“That fits,” she says. “I think I know what you’re referring to, it's a good deal further in. I only came across it once but nothing there interested me so I left it alone.” Serenity pauses and blinks at this new information. “Wait, you've been there? So it is actually there?” She quickly asks, eagerly stepping towards Moosetracks who takes a step back just as quickly nodding. “Do you think you could join us? Show us the way? We have room for one more. Of course I’ll pay you for your troubles.” Serenity asks her excitement plain on her face and in her body language. Moosetracks doesn’t look pleased with her words but even less so is Wulfe. “Hold on, Serenity you want this…” he gives Moosetracks skull and dirty appearance a disgusted once over. “Stranger to join us? We don’t even know her, why should we? That also means less loot for us. What if she tries to take it all? Or lose us in the dungeon and eat us? I’ve heard stories about feral cave dwelling coursers.” Moosetracks scoffs at this and Serenity glares at him. “Wulfe you can’t judge by appearances and go off baseless rumors. I promise there’s enough loot and money in it for you and her and I highly doubt she’ll eat us.” Serenity says with an apologetic look at Moosetracks. This doesn’t seem to calm the brindled courser down though.

“Get over yourself shithead,” Moosetracks spats. “I wouldn’t eat you if you were the last thing to eat. Besides I decline, I’m no tour guide and your surface money doesn’t interest me. The only reason I am here now is because I was helping that idiot, who while stupid is at least pathetic enough to help. You on the other hand are just fucking annoying and I’d rather not lose braincells continuing this conversation.” Moosetracks jerks a leg in Karu’s direction as if to clarify which idiot she helped. This movement causes everyone to finally glance at the happy-go-lucky courser and all freeze at what they see. Undaunted by his previous tumble into a dark hole he now stands on the swaying half-rotten bridge, his eyes appear clouded over as he leans over the rope side slowly leaning closer and closer towards the bottomless depths. “Fucking-” Moosetracks says instantly and both she and Serenity jump into action crowding onto the rickety bridge. Moosetracks trying to push him back while Serenity grabs his tail. “Wait!” Wulfe shouts charging after them worried the bridge might break beneath his benefactor, Serenity. After stepping onto the bridge something happens. The air around them cools unnaturally, thick blankets of fog and cloud shroud the gaping maw of the ravine below them appearing now to look like a misty snow laden field or a solid ground of fluffy clouds. Comfy and inviting, solid and sturdy. Haunting whispers begin to invade their minds turning into softening hums and comforting calls, inviting all to jump. They would be safe, they would be happy, all problems solved, all worries washed away.

“All you have to do is jump,” the voices coo as the group stares over the precipice.