Seafoam was, frankly, more than a little tired to have been sent out on this errand. Rocky was joining them, and for that they were grateful, but it didn't change the facts that they needed some tolaat eggs. Why? Seafoam hadn't asked. Some sort of medicine or something, they'd assumed. Rocky had just seemed happy to get somewhere warmer.

The prairies of Mireh weren't necessarily toasty in the winter, but as the pair considered a giant hole in the ground, Seafoam decided that it was positively warm compared to the chill on alpine peaks.

A crunch on the frozen grass sounded behind them, and both Rocky and Seafoam turned with a start.

"Harbringer? Gerralt?"

The two familiar faces blinked at them, the draconic and the aerobic bundled up like they were and carrying supplies. An unfamiliar face stuck out behind Harbringer's legs, tiny wings folded along their sides.

"You here for the tolaat eggs too?" Gerralt asked, slithering closer to look down the hole.

"Yes," Seafoam agreed.

Harbringer, noticing Rocky's curiosity in the stranger, motioned to them. "Oh! This is Dun. They're a visiting whelp hoping to learn some more."

Rocky waved at Dun, and Dun waved shyly back.

"What do you say we join forces?" Seafoam suggested.

Gerralt nodded. "I wouldn't want to face a tolaat on my own," he shuddered. "Even though they're not normally aggressive… they're still huge."

Seafoam thought of the specimen in one of the museums in Rekes and nodded heartfelt agreement.

"Hopefully we won't have to see one," Rocky spoke up, then frowned down into the pitch-black depths of the tunnel. "Was that -? No, nevermind. Thought I saw a glint of light."

"Probably a firefly," Dun spoke up hesitantly, still behind Harbringer.

"A firefly?" Rocky cocked his head. "I don't think we have those in Rekes."

Dun's eyes shot wide, and as Seafoam readied their lantern and entered the mouth of the tunnel, they could hear Dun's excited voice bouncing off the walls as they told Rocky about what fireflies were. Some sort of glowing bug? Huh. Gerralt laughed quietly, fondly, and returned Harbringer's knowing smile.

The tunnel was dark, dirt walls around them scratched with the imprints of hundreds of legs, and Seafoam tried to ignore them. The dirt gave way to stone that had been chewed and wrought into a round tunnel, making them feel nothing so much as they were walking down a massive throat. It didn't help that the air inside warmed slightly, from near-freezing to what they would call only slightly cold. The effect of being underground, it seemed. Moisture dripped down the walls in some places, plinking softly in the distance.

Seafoam wasn't sure if it was the ambiance, but soon they began hearing noises like footsteps, following them. They glanced back a few times and saw Rocky doing the same.

"You hear something?" they asked.

He frowned and shrugged. "Something. And I keep seeing something - like eyes, glinting in the dark. Dun thinks it's fireflies -" the whelp now wrapped around Rocky's legs nodded - "but I don't know."

"Let me see," Gerralt suggested, overhearing, and slithered off into the dark. Harbinger stepped up, tense, and jumped into action when what sounded like a kerfuffle broke out.

"Let me go!" Someone yelled, and Seafoam rushed over to shine a light on a young tsabhua trying to wriggle out of Gerralt's grip while Harbringer kept them from biting his friend.

"What?!" Rocky started, hurrying over, confused.

"Calm down!" Gerralt exclaimed, exasperated.

"We just want to know why you were following us," Seafoam explained, making calming gestures.

The black tsabhua glared at them all, then sighed in defeat. "I'm Alien," they muttered. "And I was looking for treasure. You guys seemed to know where you're going, so…"

"But we're not after treasure!" Dun exclaimed, "they're looking for eggs!"

"Where there's eggs there's treasure," Alien said stubbornly. "It's in all the stories."

Seafoam rubbed their face with their hands while Harbringer tried to mediate things.

"You can come with us," he suggested, "but if there's no treasure… we can't do anything about that."

Alien stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Fine."

Gerralt unwound from him and retrieved his supplies, and the group gathered their belongings and moved on. Soon, the group reached a branch of tunnels. This tunnel split into two others, and they settled down to discuss which way to go.

…only to be interrupted.

"Oh thank the stars!" A form plunged out of the dark, pink and feathery with a horn on their head. "I thought I would be wandering down here forever!"

Seafoam, Harbringer, and Gerralt stopped, surprised, while Dun let out an oooo noise from where they had clambered onto Rocky's shoulders.

The pink aerobic continued on, ignoring their surprise. "That must mean there's an exit nearby! Where is it? I've been daaaays without sun, licking the water off of the walls… horrible!"

"Err…" Gerralt started. "The way out is just up this tunnel," he pointed with his tail.

"How far's walk? A day?"

"...half an hour?" Seafoam supplied.

The pink aerobic stared, jaw dropping open. "You mean I've been wandering in circles for DAYS with the entrance right there?!! OH!"

And with that, the aerobic ran right past them and towards the surface.

Alien was the first to speak. "...that was weird," he said blandly.

"Talk about it," muttered Seafoam, while Dun made a disappointed noise at the pink aerobic's departure.

After that, though, silence descended as they went deeper. There were marks from other egg-gatherers to where the nests were, and Seafoam was glad for them. Otherwise… otherwise the thought of wandering in the dark made them feel ill. But moving on came with it's own risks - the sounds of chitinous legs scratching against dirt echoed down the tunnels, raising the fur on everyone's neck. Even Dun became hushed, drawing down and seeming to try to become one with Rocky's fur.

At one point, the scraping had been close, far too close to comfort, and they had to backtrack, running to a turnoff from this tunnel. Gerralt slithered fast, serpentine body made for moving in these conditions, while Seafoam, Rocky, and Alien stumbled slightly on the uneven floor, and poor Harbringer came last, unused to running. But they made the turnoff just in time, as something massive slithered past in the dark.

Dun whimpered quietly, and Rocky hummed to them comfortingly until the worm was well past.

"Still glad you came with us?" Seafoam asked a wide-eyed Alien dryly.

He ignored her, and the group moved on. Coming to a wide chamber with some bioluminescent mosses on the ceiling, illuminating the shine of eggs below, Rocky and Dun stayed near the entrance as the whelp was scared. Seafoam, Gerralt, and Harbringer ventured further into the room, keeping an eye out for tolaats. Nothing would stand quietly by while their young were stolen. Alien followed right behind them, staring around nervously.

Seafoam looked around, then hesitantly reached for an egg, hefting it before slipping it into their satchel. Harbringer and Gerralt followed suit, while Alien still looked on, seeming to hope beyond hope for some treasure.

Everyone froze as a scraping sounded on the other side of the cavern, and they began to hurry towards the tunnel they had come out of, where Rocky and Dun hid behind a stalagmite. Before they could fully reach it, the tak tak tak of legs on stone sounded.

"Hide!" Gerralt hissed, lunging behind a stalagmite. Harbinger, Alien, and Seafoam followed suit, hiding behind stalagmites and trying to keep their panicked breathing quiet. The tolaat made it's way through the room, lowering its massive head every so often to check on the eggs. Seafoam held their breath as it checked the space where they had taken theirs, and paused.

"Shit," hissed Gerralt beside them.

Shit indeed.

Seafoam scanned the walls. The tolaat in here was a massive specimen even by the worm's standards - maybe if… "there," they hissed quietly, pointing to a tunnel entrance that was too small for the one that loomed overhead to fit.

Hopefully, at least. Rocky saw their gestured and nodded, and began darting between the stalagmites that lay thicker around the edge of the cavern to make his and Dun's escape. Gerralt, Seafoam, Alien and Harbringer, though, werre stuck more towards the center of the room. As the tolaat began to rumble, rearing up to search for the intruders, the group hashed out a small, desperate plan. Essentially: move fast and hope.

Alien took off, sprinting towards the tunnel, while Seafoam, Harbringer, and Gerralt wove between the creature's many legs, yelling. It let out an unholy screech but ignored Alien, bringing its legs down to smash at the three annoyances. Once Alien was safely away into the tunnel, Seafoam, Harbringer and Gerralt followed him, weaving through the stalagmites that the tolaat smashed aside like so much kindling.

By the thinnest scrap, the three made it into the tunnel as the tolaat slammed into the wall, making the ground shake. Not looking back, the three continued to sprint until they caught up with Rocky, Dun, and Alien.

Finding the markings - as others had evidently used this tunnel - the group ran their way to the surface, listening for the dreaded sound of chitin on stone. But, thankfully, this time they made it to the surface.

Gasping and shaken, but alive.

"Fuck," Seafoam gasped, flopping down on the half-frozen grass.

"Language," Dun said shyly from where they were clinging onto Rocky's back with all eight limbs.

There was a pause, then Rocky started giggling, then Gerralt and Harbringer joined in. Soon they were all laughing, while Alien looked at them like they were insane.

"Let's not do that again," Herbringer muttered once the hysterics calmed, fluffing out his wings.

"Agreed," Gerralt sighed.