They didn’t find a Spire or Craven in an hour. Brindle apologized and left for the night. For another twenty minutes or so, he wandered around, looking for any clues. Amber claimed to be unable to find those creatures at this point, so having a ‘minion’ turned out to be useless.

Frustrated and not really in the mood to search further, he went to bed until morning.

After waking, he played alone for a few hours, scouting around until Brindle appeared in the game beside him.

|Brindle_Fox244| Any luck?

No |SevenAteEight|

The spire tower things scraping the sky along the horizon were pretty much the only significant things in sight, so they seemed to be the most promising places to start. But, he meandered his way toward the nearest one in wide, methodical circles.

|Brindle_Fox244| Um, what are you doing?

Heading for that tower up ahead. But if there's a Craven or Spire somewhere on the way, I want to make sure we find it. |SevenAteEight|

|Brindle_Fox244| K

They were quiet for a while. He halted at the crest of each hill, surveying the land in all directions for a sign of their targets before moving on. It would make sense for quest requirements to be near a prominent landmark, but for all they knew they were meant to randomly stumble upon their goal after a certain amount of pointless wandering.

Eventually, they reached a particularly large rise that dropped off into a small cliff, just high enough to injure their characters if they thoughtlessly leaped down. Below, cracked ground and dead plants occupied a divot that looked like a bone dry pond.

A parched briar patch sat in an ugly knot on the opposite side of the pond. Brindle peered down, sweeping the sides of the cliff for a way to descend.

No one else seemed to be around, so hopefully this place was safe. Dying in this game tended to have repercussions like losing levels, items or even having to start the game over, depending on what happened. Some people thought it was fun to cause that kind of inconvenience for other players and wouldn’t be above ambushing them here.

So, when Brindle found their route, he eyed all the potential hiding places a bit longer before going after her, keeping watch on their surroundings as they picked their way down a rough trail.

Brindle immediately trotted toward the briars, and he rushed to type a message to dissuade her.

Let’s check the rest of the area first, in case there’s some nasty surprise waiting. |SevenAteEight|

She paused.

|Brindle_Fox244| Yeah. Good idea.

So he proceeded along the edge of the little ravine, which curved around into a section that, before, was out of sight. Brittle yellow grass stood stiff and tall, hiding who knew what. He stopped to take in every detail, in case he could spot something lurking there, but Brindle stepped around him, walking carefully through the dead plants.

He frowned and hung back. If there was a threat, she could flush it out, since she insisted on plowing head first into everything. He’d back her up if need be.

Shifting so his back was to the ravine wall, he idly let his gaze drift to Brindle, then back to the direction they came from.

All remained quiet, and Brindle trotted out of the grass and kept going. He let her lead this time, since she didn't seem much for waiting and obviously didn’t mind the risk.

Soon, odd little indentions marred the ground. Pawprints. Just a bit too small to be Brindle’s.

Abruptly, the trail ended in chaotic scrapings and wide smudges where the cracks in the ground were crushed to powder.

A little further, and smears of blood mixed into the tracks.

|Brindle_Fox244| Oooooo, spooky :p

Inwardly, he raised his brow, glancing over to see what Brindle was talking about, since she was further ahead and would be looking at something else. Red lay spattered in a small, but ominous patch on the cliff face.

|Brindle_Fox244| Let's hurry. Maybe whatever it is is still here and can give us some answers.

Yeah. |SevenAteEight|

He turned and loped along the rest of the small ravine’s border. The rest of the area was bare enough that they could inspect it much faster. Quickly enough, they were back in front of the briars.

They looked pretty dense. Brindle approached, tentatively inspecting the brown tangle. She walked around the right side, and sent a message to his chat moments later.

|Brindle_Fox244| There’s an entrance!

He bounded over. Brindle poked her head through a gap in the thorns. She'd fit just fine, but should he bother following? His avatar would barely make it through, much less be able to maneuver…

Brindle glanced back and, upon spying him, stepped inside. So she wanted him to follow. He sighed, then edged his avatar in after her, and the briars covered them in darkness. Bits of light occasionally filtered their way in, but he still occasionally bumped into the large, prickly looking vines that stood haphazardly in the dimness. If he attempted something like this in real life, he’d probably be covered in scrapes by now.

After a while, he could barely see Brindle standing up ahead, inspecting what seemed to be a dead end.

No luck here, either. He was about to type out another message to Brindle, but then, there was a shift in one of the patches of light to his left.

A dark, creepy chortle drifted through the air, and he jerked his head upward.

Round glowing eyes studied them, like a spider inspecting a bug that blundered into its web. The eyes belonged to a long black silhouette, and as the thing shifted its weight he felt his fingers tense on top of the keys that would signal his character to fight or run.

The Craven’s jaws opened, white teeth glimmering faintly in the dimness.  A text box appeared above its head.

Waif :: “Why, hello there, friends.”