All their eyes fell on Bentora after they studied the steep, rocky side of the mountain. With a sigh she tied the rope around her belly. She sprang at the wall with her full force, driving her claws into it. A second later she forced her way up the side, leaving indents behind. Some rubble dribbled to the ground. Crawling to a ledge she disappeared over it.
      Blake tapped his foot impatiently as he played more with his ripped sleeve. He felt a small tickle on the lower part of the tear and glanced over. Emeryl had a threaded needle in mouth, trying to stretch the fabric a safe distance from Blake's skin.
      "You carry sewing materials...?" Blake stared at him questionably.
      "No, I bought some yesterday. I remembered the bugbear had torn out your skin, and then remembered that I had promised to heal you, so I stopped in and bought a needle and thread so that when you healed I could fix your sleeve too." He tugged a bit on the sleeves.
      "And you actually know how to sew..?" he tilted one of his ears. On his shoulder the kitten batted at his crescent earring.
      "I do now. That nice lady took some time to show me... Stay still, you keep pulling it away from me." He slid the needle out of his mouth.
      Sloppily he slid it through one part of the tear and connected it to the other side. He yanked at the dark green thread, pulling it taut.
      "Hmm... it doesn't quite match." He sighed, continuing.
      The end of the rope hit Emeryl on the head, knocking him over. The spider rolled belly up before clinging back to his head.
      "The rope is safe!" Eric announced, testing his weight.
      "Thanks." Emeryl moaned.
      "Here, priests first." Eric yanked Emeryl off the ground. Shaking off his daze he wrapped his fingers around the rope, then let go.
      "What's wrong?" Leiko squealed.
      "That rope is hard! It'll tear up my hand." He answered.
      "What, you want us to make a rope ladder for you?" Blake passed him by, clinging to the rope and starting up the rocks.
      "Can I go last?" Emeryl asked.
      "Leiko's last. She's young, she wouldn't be able to climb this." Prism replied.
      "Here." Eric dug out a pair of gloves, tossing them to Emeryl, "These were Alan's." Gratefully he tried of the oversized gloves and watched as Eric yanked his way up. They went up one by one, ending with Leiko being hefted up at the end of the rope. Most of their climbing went like this until the ground grew cold and soft towards the top.
      It was late afternoon by the time they were a little above halfway up. Emeryl sat, spider in lap, leaning against a tree. The group rested in the soft dirt, holding on to trees or leaning against rocks to keep from sliding down.
      "Can't we find a cave without climbing?" Leiko huffed.
      Blake laid belly down in the dirt, with his muzzle wrapped in his arms. He twitched an agitated ear at her, but continued studying the fluffy kitten playing in the dirt.
      "Do you have any suggestions?" Bentora growled with her eyes closed.
      Emeryl tickled his fingers across the hairy back of the spider. Even though Alan's gloves, which lay dormant beside him, had protected his hands he was still sore from all the climbing.
      "I heard giant spiders are very intelligent. I wonder if Spidey knows its name." Emeryl pondered.
      "There's one way to find out." Eric rolled to his side, "Here Spidey, Spidey, Spidey! Come here Spidey!"
      The spider reluctantly climbed out of Emeryl's lap, scurrying its way over to Eric. Eric laughed as the spider reached his lap with a brilliant smirk. Nearby Prism shied away from the spider.
      Snickering, Blake turned his head to face the group, "Spider! Spider! Go to Uncle Prism! Go to Prism! Be a good spider!"
      "No! I don't want him!" Prism yelled at Blake. Fearfully he backed away from the approaching spider. At the scratch of it touching his shoe he leapt back. Retreating towards a tree his footing failed him and he tumbled down.
      Two arms caught him before he went twelve feet. Bentora pressed her back foot into the soil for a more stable ground, holding the wizard in the air until they were secure enough to set him down.
      "Thanks, Bentora..." he sighed, crawling back up the mountain, "You're fast."
      "No wizard, no plan, no money." She stated plainly.
      "Why can't we have the spider find the cave!" Leiko whined.
      "Because the spider can't talk." Blake shoved his muzzle back into his arms.
      "Wait, but maybe it can lead us." Emeryl waved the spider back to him, "Spidey, we're looking for a big cave." He stretched out his hands, "You know what a cave is, you lived in one. It's a big black hole in the wall. Can you find it?" He spoke to it like a parent to their baby while stroking its back like a pet. Slowly it scuttled up the mountain until it disappeared.
      "He's only a baby. I hope he understood that. What if something tries to hurt him?" Emeryl immediately worried.
      "Don't worry, I've never heard of a species whose natural enemy is a giant spider." Blake poked at his kitten, who returned by teething on his glove.
      "Unless there's a such thing as rocs." Bentora smiled keenly.
      "Don't stress Emeryl with nonsense." Prism snapped at them, "We'll wait here until it comes back and see what it finds."