It didn't take long for Martin to notice his surroundings were subtly changing. The width of the tunnel was beginning to widen as he ran further down the natural corridor, all while the sobbing came in louder and clearer than it had been a couple of minutes ago.

"Please, no…! This can't be real…!" The crying still hadn't ceased at all since Martin started moving. There was no mistake about it, that voice had to be from a woman or a young kid, at the very least! It was too high-pitched to belong to most men or teenage boys. But that still doesn't clear the question of how someone managed to get down here in the first place.

Was this someone who heard about the wolf sightings and wanted to investigate themselves? If that were the case, why hadn't the brothers heard anything about someone going missing before coming here? Did this person come here only recently?

All these thoughts swirled so much through Martin's head that he started feeling a bit dizzy. No, not just dizzy…the air was also starting to feel all sorts of wrong the further he traveled. Did the atmosphere in this place always this heavy? Not only that but-

Wait, what was that smell?

"Urk!" The elder man was beginning to feel nauseous. Out of nowhere, this disgusting, foul smell had begun permeating through the air. It was like…God, how to even describe it? It was like something had begun rotting but you couldn't tell if it was an animal, plant, or what. All that could be said was that it was the worst kind of malodor out there and Martin had caught a full whiff of it.

"Ugh, what the hell…?!" He covered his nose as best he could, but he could barely mask the foulness.

Dizziness and heavy air? You could say that was caused by all the running or the anxiety of the situation. How do you explain this atrocity to the senses?!

(Thank God Chris didn't go down here instead.) Thank God no one else had to come down here, for that matter.

It wasn't much longer until Martin finally found the end of the den; or what looked to be the end, at least. He didn't really know what he was expecting at the end of this trek, but the area looked normal enough with the flashlight pointed to the floor. It was just a large, circular room made up of cold stone, likely created from a long period of flooding or higher sea levels thousands or millions of years ago. If guesses had to be made, this pit was probably big enough to fit perfectly over that second circle of lighter tiles in the Tortuga. It definitely wasn't habitable for a crew of five people and it would most certainly be the perfect size for a wolves' den if it weren't preceded by fifteen minutes worth of dark tunnel. Not to mention that stench and now this weird, buzzing sound. What an oddity-

"-hic-…" A soft whimper snapped Martin out of his mental observations. It was clearer than it had ever been previously, no longer as echoey as when he and Chris first heard it. The researcher gave the room's floor layout another once over from side-to-side before pointing his flashlight to the wall; he needed to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous or at least anything that wasn't easily provoked with light.

There were a few things he managed to see without accidentally revealing himself: some whisps of fur, dead grass, the darting bodies of little flies (Definitely where the buzzing came from), and…lots of splotches on the ground. Even with light, it was still too dark to tell what color they were exactly, but Martin was already forming a hunch about what those splotches could be.

(Ack…I need to finish this, now.)

With both sides taken care of, the elder Kratt finally turned his attention to the center direction of the room. Whoever this person was, they were still crying quietly from their position, their hiccups, sniffles, and rapid huffs slightly echoing off the damp stone walls. As expected, their voice had begun to sound raspy and was sometimes interrupted with a small coughing fit. Martin didn't know how they got to such a state but whatever happened was anything but a good experience. Slowly pointing the light further into the room, he could finally make out some details of this mysterious somebody.

They were huddled on the floor, facing away from the entrance, shivering with every sound that came out of them. It was hard to tell but it looked like they were leaning into the wall in front of them, using it as a support. From what could be seen, this person wasn't small enough to be a young child, but they didn't seem to be an adult either. Maybe a teenager? They were surely a youth.

What was more confusing than their age was their clothing. They were wearing this combo of baggy pants and a baggy shirt, both too large to properly fit onto their frame. Furthermore, they weren't what most would think when someone says, 'baggy pants and a baggy shirt,' which would create an image akin to poofy jeans and oversized sweatshirts. These clothes looked rough spun and too old for today's standards or even standards from several decades ago; it was more similar to costumes you'd see in a movie set around a few centuries ago. As Martin drew closer, he noticed that both articles looked to be made of a stiff yarn dyed with muted blues and reds, respectively.

(That can't be comfortable…)

Due to how oversized the clothing was, Martin could see that the youth was tightly clutching onto both of their shoulders, their hands almost fully enveloped by the scratchy fabric. Kid or adult, it really hit home just how much smaller they were compared to most other people. He could also see their black hair, long and ragged, as though it hadn't been cared for in months. What kind of situation was this kid in before this?

Their crying still hadn't relented. Actually, it sounded like it was beginning to ramp up again as Martin creeped closer and closer. Most would've run out of energy to keep going like that or would have calmed enough to take slower breaths when the soreness in your face was too much to take anymore.

Once he had gotten close enough without being noticed (surprising that the Creature Pod's flashlight was paid no mind), Martin took a quiet breath. There's no telling what could happen now when someone is scared and stressed. It wouldn't be wise to just tap their shoulder or turn them to face him; chances are that the kid could react with violent panic and hurt both of them. Plus, what if this kid had a heart condition? Being startled could potentially be fatal to them. It sounds so cliché, but people have been frightened to death before, so it needs to at least be considered.

Martin scratched his neck nervously. What could he do to get this kid's attention without making himself out to be a threat?

And then came a thought.

(Maybe I could just whisper to them?)

It could work. Girding up the courage he had, the blue brother drew a quick breath of air.

"Psst! Hey, kiddo! Are you okay?"

"Damn it, Martin. You can't just make these decisions so quickly!" Chris grumbled to no one in particular. He had been trying to quietly match his brother's pace…but only for a minute. At some point, that smell he sensed before had suddenly gotten stronger; too intense for him to keep running without instinctively coughing. The risk had pressured him to walk the rest of the way there with his shirt brought over his nose. It did little to mask the rancid stench, but it quieted the coughing enough.

"God, please let him be okay…"

The mysterious sobbing still echoed softly, sometimes shifting from near wailing to pitiful hiccups. He couldn't imagine what that person was going through right now to cause them this much pain. Still, he won't lie that the reverberation the cave created was giving him an awful headache. Not only that, but the air still felt heavy on his lungs and his neck, as though it were a physical force weighing down on him. He'd probably call this place cursed or haunted if he actually believed in that kind of hokey. It felt uninviting to the most extreme level and yet Chris was still here, looking for that reckless big brother of his.

(Hell, if there's a dark figure following behind me, that'd be it. I'd just be so pissed off that I'll punch them without question. No craps given.) The sacred level of anger: too angry to care about the consequences of punching an Eldritch abomination.

The crying seemed to get clearer as Chris continued into the darkness. Even with a flashlight, it was near-impossible to see anything past a few feet ahead of you now. He's never seen anything like this before in his life. It was like a fog had been draped over his eyes or something when only minutes before it was still relatively easy to look down the path, with or without a light. What kind of place was this?

Then just as suddenly as they had started, the pitiful whimpers just…ceased.

"W-What? Why did it just stop?"
What just happened? That person had been crying nonstop for several minutes and now they've abruptly gone quiet. Why? It wasn't until Chris heard a familiar voice that the answer revealed itself.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. I know you're scared, but I'm going to get you out of here."

(That's Martin's voice!) It was hushed, but it was definitely Martin! Geez, he was that close already?! But Chris had to walk most of the way here when he couldn't keep sprinting like his brother. He couldn't possibly have gotten to the end that quickly, right?

The younger man checked the time displayed on his Creature Pod. Maybe he just lost track of time when he was thinking.

(It wouldn't be the first time I did that. I think I'm letting the stress get to me, that's…)

(Huh…?)

Chris's heart almost stopped when he saw the tiny numbers at the top-right of the screen.

10:45 p.m.

"N-No way…That's impossible!" It must've been a glitch or something. It was almost 7:00 a.m. when he and Martin found the den's entrance. Since then, it's only felt like they've been in here for an hour or so, not for over fifteen hours!

(This has got to be a mistake…We would've known that we've been here for that long!) Chris's blood felt like ice. He needs to find Martin, now.

Tossing all caution to the wind, Chris began bolting down the tunnel as fast as his body would allow. He didn't care if his brother heard him, he had to get him and that other person out of here as quickly as possible.

It hadn't even felt like a minute had passed before Chris literally saw a light, Martin's light, at the end of the tunnel. It was only a faint glow, but he knew it wouldn't be long before he was down there himself. Despite little time passing, the younger man felt like he had just done an entire marathon down here. Even with the proper breathing method, his throat felt dry and his muscles were screaming for him to slow down or stop altogether. He ignored the pleas for rest and continued running like his life depended on it. He only slowed down when he saw his older brother's outline became clearer against the bright light and his voice was easier to hear. Once he noticed it, Chris made sure to turn keep the light of his Pod pointed to the ground. He didn't want his presence to be known just yet, he needed to analyze what was happening here.

As he carefully crept into the large stone room, he could see his brother kneeling in front of someone. What did they look like? Chris couldn't tell; Martin's body obscured most of their image. At the very least, he could tell that their body was turned towards the wall in front of them. They didn't make a single move as the older man tried to get their attention.

"Are you hurt anywhere? If you can't walk, I can help you out! It doesn't take long to get out of here!" Martin sounded like he was starting panic a bit. It didn't sound like the other person was responding to his questions or his offer to help. But didn't they stop crying after Chris heard him speak to them? If they hadn't noticed the older Kratt, then why did they suddenly stop crying?

Were they too scared? Were they unable to speak at all?

(Wait, why am I just standing here? I need to get us all out of here!) Chris began walking stealthily again, just barely managing to not alert either person that he was here until he was standing right behind the two.

Martin stared down at the floor, lost in thought. Nothing he said to the kid has worked in the slightest. Sure, they've stopped crying, but they haven't responded to anything he's been saying at all. He still has no idea what they're condition is, why they're down here, even what they're name is. It didn't appear that there was a language barrier between them; both he and Chris heard them saying things in English in between the unintelligible sobbing and hiccups.

(I don't want to frighten them, but…) He was out of options.

Martin slowly reached his hand over to their shoulder, hovering over it for a moment. Just grabbing them suddenly would be a bad idea…maybe a couple taps to get their attention?

Carefully, he moved two fingers into the person's shoulder blade-

"NO! GET AWAY FROM THAT THING, NOW!"

The seconds after the sudden shout were some of the most chaotic the man had experienced.

"Agh!"

Out of nowhere, Martin felt something knock itself against the back of his head and, well, his back in general. It wasn't a 'knock you out' kind of hit but God damn did it hurt.

"Y-Yeouch!" A familiar voice yelped from behind him. Martin immediately knew who it belonged to, even before he turned around to see what hit him.

"Chris!? What the hell!?" His little brother, who should've gone out to get help, was instead on floor right behind him, rubbing the back of his head in pain.
"W-What are you doing here!?"

Chris looked up in shock and began to open his mouth to speak…
But nothing came out, save for little uh-like sounds. His expression suddenly changed from the surprised one he just had; his brown eyes widened like saucers, filling with terror within seconds.

"C-Chris…?"

But Chris didn't answer, or rather he failed to. His mouth kept moving as though he was trying to speak, but hardly any words came out. Whatever did come out, it was almost too quiet to hear clearly.

"B-Bro…Th-the…behind you…"

"Behind…me…?"

Chris tried to pull up his Creature Pod for light, but it dropped to the floor with a plastic clatter noise. His hands- no, his whole body was shaking intensely, like it was ready to flee without any say from the young man. Chris gulped dryly and just pointed a finger towards Martin. No, he's probably trying to point to something behind him.
But the only thing behind him was…

(The kid?)

Martin turned around without a second thought.

And immediately seized up.

That kid…it wasn't a kid.

It wasn't even human.