Grif slowly walked ahead of the wolf that ushered him into the darkness. Grif was now less worried about the wolves, and more wary of a few stray flying rodents coming his way. After nearly five minutes of walking through the dark, Grif noticed a small bit of light coming from the other end. Grif then picked up his pace, hoping he would find his way out of there. Once he reached the lit area, however, he realized it was not an exit, but a large area in the cave with several holes in the roof of it, allowing light to come through. What was in the large opening, however, was several dozen timberwolves. Grif now realized that he may need to go against his better judgement and actually do something.
Grif glanced back at the wolf that led him here, then saw that it was now by his side. Grif then began to back up, hoping he could maybe find his way out of the cave. As he did so, he stepped on a loose branch, and the sound of wood splitting echoed around the caves, making all the timberwolves look over to him. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen. Glancing around, he noticed that the sound merely startled the wolves, but they instantly went back to their own business. The larger wolf nudged into his side and motioned its head towards a small puddle of water that had collected at the bottom of the cave through one of the small holes.
"Listen, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that you kinda understand me. But what you don't seem to realize is that I don't understand you," Grif mumbled, staring at the water.
The wolf then made a sound that was not entirely unlike a frustrated sigh. Walking over to a different puddle of water, the wolf lapped some up.
"You want me to drink the water?" Grif asked hesitantly. "What, are you things actually feeling bad for biting me a while back?"
The wolf paused and gave him what seemed like a small, hesitant nod.
"You paused there," Grif said cautiously, then caught himself. Shaking his head, he turned around and began walking away. "I'm going to have to find Simmons and do something to him for making me eat fruits that made me trip balls. Imagining wolves trying to be my friend and shit."
Before Grif was very far, the wolf quickly bit onto his tail, holding him in place. Grif glanced back at it and stepped forward, pulling his tail free. He wasn't going to let any hallucinogenic wolves hold him in this possibly invisible bat infested cave. As Grif neared the halls of the cave, a small, furry bat flew out and slammed into his face. Shrieking, Grif backed up as fast as he could, only to fall into one of the puddles of water. A few of the nearby wolves glanced towards him.
"Fine, I'll play along. I'll probably stand a better chance with you than in there with those blood sucking creatures," Grif muttered as he got himself out of the water. Shaking his head quickly to dry off, he looked at the wolf that brought him to this place and raised a brow. "You wouldn't happen to have any food, would you?"
Nearing the cave was Simmons, Delta and Zecora, who were currently tracking Grif down. They spent most of the time remaining quiet so Zecora could concentrate on finding Grif. The only time anyone spoke was when Simmons asked to put the flower inside Zecora's bag. Knowing the way the forest was, Zecora knew what to look for when trailing most of the creatures that surrounded her home. After leaving to find him, however, it did not take her long to figure out where Grif was from the direction the wolves were headed. Eventually, the trio reached a cave, and Zecora paused outside of it and looked around. From the around of hoof tracks around the entrance, she knew someone was here recently.
"We have reached where were headed," Zecora said quietly, looking into the blackness. "Do not worry, Simmons, it is not as you dreaded. There are no signs of struggle in the tracks, so I do not think he was attacked."
"Grif wouldn't struggle if he was being strangled," Simmons muttered, then squinted inside. "So Grif's in the cave? What's in there?"
"If they brought him in here, it should be easy for him to be found," Zecora said, turning towards Delta. "Delta, I must grab a few things. May you put my bag on the ground?"
"Certainly," Delta said, putting the bag in front of Zecora.
"How can you be so sure he'll be easy to find?" Simmons inquired. "And again, what is in there?"
"If my thoughts are correct, and my suspicions are square, I believe Grif has simply been lead to a timberwolf lair," she said, now sorting through some of the potions she brought.
"Oh, that makes sense. I guess they would want to bring him back to their lair," Simmons said, then went wide-eyed and took a step back. "That means we're going in there, aren't we? I mean, he was probably eaten right? We might as well just go home now."
"I am not completely sure what has happened to him, but if I am right, Grif's fate may not be so grim," she said, picking up the occasional bottle with her teeth, placing them to the side.
"Then why'd you bring the potions?"
"It is not always safe to bet on something you believe to be right," Delta said cautiously, stepping next to the zebra. "She has prepared for the worst of situations, if I am correct."
Zecora, who now had a bottle containing a dark blue liquid in her mouth, gave him a knowing smile and nodded at him, then placed the potion next to a different one.
"Okay, that's making me feel a little better about doing this, but I know something will happen to just make me feel unsafe about it again," Simmons grunted, watching as Zecora put the potions into two groups of six.
In each group of potions, there was one blue one, and five brownish-red ones. She slowly pushed one group of bottles towards Simmons, then one towards Delta. She then reached into the bag and drank one of the blue ones herself.
"What does that one do?" Simmons asked, holding one he had up to his nose to smell it.
"The first potion is what I call an elixir of dark sight, Drink it and you will see clearly in the blackness of the night," Zecora said, and watched as Delta drank it within an instant. Simmons reluctantly followed Delta's lead and began looking at the others. "The other five should only be used if the situation turns dire. Simply throw it at a wolf, and they will be engulfed in a ball of fire."
"Couldn't I just make rockets with my magic and shoot them at them?" Simmons inquired, beginning to summon up a small, purple orb of light.
"Using explosives of that caliber in a cave may cause us to be caved in," Delta noted. "I believe the fire is merely meant to injure and keep them at bay, not kill them."
"Oh, right," Simmons said quietly, using his magic to grab the five bottles, holding them close to him.
"We must go as slowly as we can and remain quiet. While Grif was not, we may be a target for their diet," Zecora whispered, walking into the cave without fear.
"That's inspiring," Simmons mumbled, keeping next to Delta as they walked inside. "I may have said it before, but I really have a bad feeling about this."