"Mister Rakehell."

"Hmm?" He was at the front again and had paused to take a long squint at his map. Fetch was standing nearby, scanning the horizon studiously while she spoke. Rake's somewhat tamed dracula bat, Sparse, was making harassing a crow a bit ahead, swooping at it and trying to get ahold of it.

"If the moor is merging our dreams, I don't think you have anything to lose by honesty. What are you looking for, down here?" Fetch was a naturally quiet sort, and this was the most they'd said to Rake at once since they had gone down here. He squinted a moment, in thought, and put his map away, nodding his head.

"...I suppose so. I- let's keep moving as we walk. SPARSE, LEAVE IT." The bat spat out a mouthful of crow feathers, and flapped back over to nestle in Rake's mane - the sun was rising, anyway - it was no time for him to be awake, even in the Moor fog.

They picked their way forward, between mounds of collapsed brick, and the glint of bleached ribs amidst the moor grass.

"We're looking for a courser. My- ... My friend, Corrode. He came down here, what was it... five years ago, searching for something. He didn't come back up." He could feel Fetch's eyes settle on him, the air thick with something like pity. They both knew it, no need to speak it - Rake's friend was probably dead, bones amongst the grass. Rake's own dream had told him as much.

"... If he's here, he's been here a while. Perhaps he doesn't wish to leave." Fetch said, a kindness wrapped in another sort of downside, other than the one they both knew.

"... Maybe." Rake halted, leaning to peer at a collapsed drum - the skin and frame were still there, though the frame was partially crushed, and the skin was torn through. "Who would play music down here...?"

"... You've two 'man' skulls in your pack." Perhaps it had been them, before the extinction. Collapse would enjoy such a curiousity, but - he feared it would crumble if he touched it. He left the drum, and walked on.

"That is true."

"Perhaps music brings a bit of hope... here of all places." The thick fog, and the way the skies swirled - it all brought so much dread, and dread-magic in turn. Perhaps the music had kept them sane.

"... D'you know anything to pass the time? When we're down here."

Fetch looked thoughtful.