"So," the dwarf cleared his throat. "What quest today, master Grin?"

Grinless glared at Goobdwib; he hated that nickname.

Fernfrick glared too; he wished he'd thought up that nickname. The elf piped up musically, "Mayhaps master Grinny would care to follow the trail East, to yonder mountains?"

Grinless glared at the elf, hating that nickname too, then frowned and shrugged, moving to pack up. He of course went the opposite direction trying to lose the others, but Krigga's sharp (and pointy) nose found him out and they caught up with him heading West.

They came to drier, rougher lands, craggy and ravine-filled. The others wanted the good, safe trails, but Grinless kept trying to lose them in dangerous gorges. He even found a cave tunnel system and started exploring alone, but his peace, as always, was short-lived as the others blundered in. Goobdwib wouldn't shut up about how much dwarves love being underground, knew all about caves and mining, and pointed out all the various rock and mineral types. Fernfrick would comment on every underground flora he saw, the rare mushrooms and phosphorescent lichen and mosses. Krigga kept scampering off to hunt cave critters by sound (he said the caves were nice and echoey), and came back to slurp their blood noisily. He feasted on blood more than he ate any other food, so much that his teeth and gums had turned a funny color, and his skin was getting pale and thin.

Goobdwib, looking uncomfortable, said, "Friend Krigga, mayhaps you should try eating or drinking something other than, uh, blood."

Krigga hunched his shoulders, glaring narrowed eyes to the left of the dwarf (because he couldn't see him properly) and said, "What you mean?"

Fernfrick, trying to be more helpful than the dwarf, chimed in gently, "What if thou introduced other things into yon diet, hmm? Like mayhaps fruits, nuts, and some nice mushrooms. And, y'know... less blood."

Krigga turned sharply to his right, again not quite looking at the elf, "Eh? Why do that?"

Goobdwib butted in, "Well, it may not be so healthy with all the blood-drinking... I mean, you drink so much-"

Krigga backed away from them, and right into Grinless, spat out, "No drink too much blood! Quit anytime. Get off back!"

Grinless meanwhile ducked into a nice dark and twisty cave tunnel, losing sight and then sound of his hateful companions. As he went further on into the dark quiet of the caves, he began to relax. Alone but for the crawling cave-bugs, chittering bats, and glowing moss, Grinless felt at home here. He paused for a small break and mushroom snack, listening to the dripping stalactites. Some furry, many legged, bug-eyed thing even came up and cooed at him. Grinless gave a small pleased frown and pet the curious thing so it came nearer for more attention. Grinless sighed and thought, this would be a nice place to live, away from all the noisy people. The fury thing chirruped and looked up at him.

Grinless then snapped its neck, put it in his bag for dinner later, and continued his pleasantly alone hike.

Eventually he came upon a more widely spaced cavern, much of the floor smoothed out from bodies of water drained away ages ago. It smelled funky but might make for a nice living area, if he could just find a cozy little chamber to bed down and collect his smelly molds and rotting things in.

Someone else thought so too, because he found stuff already in one such chamber; all manner of odds and ends bottled, strung up, candles stubs, and odd symbols painted on the walls. Grinless beat a quick retreat up into a shelf area just as he heard movement. first it was small sounds, regular-sized beings. Then it was something bigger, much bigger, shifting and slithering up from the bigger cavern tunnels. The odd smell got stronger, of windblown air and carrion. Finally, three witches shuffled in carrying sacks and lit lanterns to their apparent cave homes. They greeted a large shape with glowing eyes crawling from the darkness—

It was a dragon.

"The time has come, my pretties—to enact our grand scheme," said one witch.

"At last, put the dunderheads to sleep with our magic potion--" said a second witch.

"—and let our dragon-friend blow it as a mist across the land so we can take over!" said the third witch, cackling.

The dragon rumbled approvingly, and pulled out a dead moose to snack on messily.

Grinless groaned inwardly. He had a bad feeling about this, that the usually craziness would happen if he didn't leave now.

And that, of course, was when he heard the telltale sounds of a dwarf and elf arguing from another passage.