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"Ha ha! Stuck in the forest are we silly spider? You'll never find the door as tiny as you are!" Lusiphur and Sin both watched as the grasshopper began to hop away, taunting them further, "Have fun silly spider. Try not to get eaten now!" Lusiphur showed no visible change in emotion to the grasshopper's taunting, but Sin was flustered. After all, the forest seemed to have grown so large around them! It was one thing to wake up in a small forest, but to wake up dwarfed by your charge...?

After all, Lusiphur was not, by nature, a terribly small spider - Sin felt that surely the forest must have grown around them, and that grasshopper was more than king-sized! Perhaps he got fat by making fun of new visitors to the forest and meanwhile doing little but eating, Sin thought bitterly. Carefully she made her way through the forest of grass towards Lusiphur, who turned to welcome her presence a little closer; it wasn't as though he was entirely calm about the fact that his caretaker was now about as tall as he was! He simply thought it best not to act out on those emotions, squishing them mercilessly as he thought best how to find this 'door' the grasshopper spoke of.

With little ceremony Lusiphur reached to scoop his caretaker up and place her gently upon his back. Even if he couldn't use words he knew she would understand that it was easier for one of them to walk while the other kept lookout - or at least, this way, she wouldn't fall behind and he wouldn't lose her. Although he knew she could take care of herself things had changed and that often - as he had observed in the past - brought people to 'freak out' and not remember what they were immediately capable of. In fact it had begun to frustrate him he could not more easily communicate, but the problem at hand was much larger than his petty inconveniences.

Lusiphur kept in mind where the grasshopper had gone, considering carefully a moment before he followed, although not along the same path that the grasshopper took. As they traveled he noticed the sound of running water not far off and meandered towards it with his spider's walk, slow and deliberate until they found a strong running stream. It stood to reason that many animals would come to this stream for water and that perhaps they could find direction to the door by this. Shuffling into some nearby plant life to better hide, Lusiphur settled quietly as Sin hopped off his back, moving towards the stream cautiously for a drink of water.

Perhaps it was just her impatience, but it seemed that they'd been walking longer than she cared to imagine. However, Sin understood what Lusiphur was trying to do by the stream - at least to a fault - and headed back quickly to wait with him. As much as she hated to admit it, he was definitely the more superior of the two of them at this point as far as knowing what needed to be done. "I'm glad you've got a plan," she murmured quietly under her breath, "because there's certainly no way I'd be able to catch up to that blabbering grasshopper." The thought amused Lusiphur and he brought his foremost limbs together, rubbing them in such a way as the sound almost imitated laughter.

"Laughter is good," hissed a slightly deep voice from behind the two visitors, "laughter keeps you healthy. Laughter keeps you alive. What a strange pair," the voice rumbled. "A spider and - a human? Or maybe a pixie. Much too small to be a human." Lusiphur turned skillfully on his long legs and watched with amazement as a large checkered garter snake slithered right up to them and drew itself up to better observe the pair. "But then, pixies should have wings..."

"I am not a pixie," Sin protested, "and I am not human!" Lusiphur 'chuckled' again and watched the snake silently, eyes on it's every movement - if he had to meet the creature as an opponent, it would be rough indeed, he doubted he could have penetrated those scales in order to inject any venom. That didn't mean that if this creature posed himself as a threat that anything would stop him from trying. The sound of Lusiphur's laughter calmed Sin down and she recalled the grasshopper. "Look, sir - we're trying to find a door to get out of this forest. The grasshopper mentioned that there was a door..."

The snake also seemed to size them up, but after a moment only nodded and crossed it's coils casually, better balancing himself so he could tower over the pair. "It's true, and there is a door," he murmured softly, "but only the grasshopper knows where it is. And only the fox knows where the grasshopper is." His head moved casually, left to right, as though he were afraid someone might hear him talking; it was as if they were conspiring against something much larger than themselves. "You can find the fox across the stream, his burrow is marked by a flat rock he uses as an overhang. Be careful of that old reynard...he knows what he's doing."

"Thanks, I think," Sin responded softly as she watched the snake sway in a way that nearly reminded her of Lusiphur, who was tugging on the back of her jacket gently. She turned and climbed quickly onto his back so that they could walk the stream and find a way over it to seek out the fox's home. Lusiphur wondered at the reliability of the snake's advice but it was all the lead they had and his mind touched briefly on his caretaker's discomfort at being so small in a world within which she was used to being so large. It wasn't long before they found a small 'bridge' made of stone that seemed more accident than purposeful and made their way with caution. It wasn't very difficult to find the fox's den...

...it was more difficult to find the fox. Apparently he had not been there most of the morning, a fact Sin pointed out and considered odd since fox were primarily stereotyped as nocturnal. Sin disembarked from her charge's back as he moved into the cave to inspect. The cave was very neat and clean, but still lived in, Lusiphur noted as he found no sign of other life except for that which a fox may have indeed created. Lusiphur was so distracted by his exploring that he was startled to hear a scream outside, the hairs on his legs standing on end before he moved swiftly on his seemingly delicate legs to investigate; the sight he found not only displeased him, it made him very angry.

"What a tasty little snack," snarled the fox staring Sin down as a creature several times her size, "I think you'll make perfect for a midnight meal!" The fox licked his muzzle, unaware of Lusiphur as he climbed the side of the fox hole to the slab rock the snake had mentioned earlier. After anchoring what he assumed was a strong bit of webbing to the rock and spinning some extra in what he theorized could act as a bungee cord Lusiphur leapt off the rock and towards the fox, releasing the web when he was assured his trajectory was not going to land him on the ground but instead the fox's back, where he planted his fangs swiftly and bit down to inject his poison, causing the fox to yelp and leap although Lusiphur did not let go.

Within moments the fox buckled under his own weight and fell to the forest floor, panting as he tried to move his limbs but found himself unable. "I see you brought a friend, human! What a trickster you are," he managed to growl, apparently able to move one portion of his gargantuan ego without worry even as he lay paralyzed. Lusiphur crawled down quietly to join himself at Sin's side and observe the fox quietly - knowing only Sin had the words for what needed to be asked. How he longed for the day he would learn to speak! Sin composed himself and moved forward with a quiet glare which brought a hiss from the fox, "Well out with it! You want to know something...what is it?"

Sin simply glared at the reynard before marching forward boldly and threatening to hit him on the nose as hard as she possibly could. "Where's the grasshopper, you jerk?" Sin half felt like hitting him anyways - he'd have deserved it, right? She was stopped before she even brought her arm back for the blow, as the fox began chuckling with delight!

"Ohhh, I see, that infantile insect insulted you and now you want back at him hmmm? I can't say I blame you," he growled a bit, "and if I'm going to die from a spider bite then I might as well have a little bit of fun before I go...you'll find him to the east, keep walking until you find the big blue tree. At night he likes to roost beneath it's roots, in the earth...there's a small entrance in particular he likes. Shaped like a diamond...be sure to let him know I said hello," he snarled before he tried to twist around and snap at them, failing the task miserably.

Lusiphur nudged Sin gently and they started to the east at a quiet pace, Lusiphur using the silence to plan before Sin cleared her throat softly to get his attention, and gaining it successfully. "Should I have told him that your bite can't kill yet?" Lusiphur regarded her a moment, before lifting his legs to make the noise of soft chuckling once more as they walked. Tell the fox? Whatever for? By the time he figured it out on his own - probably after waking up perfectly fine in the middle of the forest and making a complete fool of himself - they would be long gone. Grinning with amusement Sin reached over and patted his back gently, enjoying the walk on her own even if riding him would have been faster.

It was nearly sunset when they reached the 'blue' tree - which wasn't as blue as either Sin or Lusiphur had imagined it to be, of course they were in a forest so it was only as blue as the wood could manage to get without having looked like it was painted over. Without wasting time Lusiphur lunged forward to find the diamond-shaped entrance in the roots, feeling rather lucky that there was only one such shape that could not be easily mistaken for another. With little time to loose he moved to get to work, spinning one of his finest webs yet to cover the entrance to the roots with the knowledge that the lack of light at night below the forest canopy would not give away the web's position.

When he had finished Lusiphur moved to heard his caretaker to a spot in some nearby bushes, feeling fraught with excitement that the grasshopper had not returned yet, although it was dark and just past sunset as they made themselves comfortable to wait for his presence. Sin had a good idea of what he was up to and was delighted herself to get to be there - in a way, be with him, really! - to see how he hunted and how he waited, and all he did when it was time to get down to business. It wasn't like she'd never seen him capture a cricket before, but she'd certainly never been down to his size when he did it. In a sense it gave her a deeper appreciation for everything he went through, even if they were to her least favorite part - the waiting game.

In spite of the lengthy wait Lusiphur's senses were sharp as a whip and when he finally heard the sounds of that annoying grasshopper coming closer he inched a little further back into the bush - the anticipation was killer and if he swore he could hear his heart thumping loudly even if he knew it was probably just a trick of the mind. The wait was nearly over when the cocksure insect hopped closer to the diamond-shaped entrance and paused to look up at the night canopy, singing a bit of an old drinking song that Lusiphur recognized only because of one of Sin's relatives, just before he leapt squarely into the middle of the woven web and began cursing inexcusably like a sailor!

"Who the - what the - show yourselves!! Dirty spider! This is all your doing!" The grasshopper struggled furiously only to be entangled more in the web even as he snapped some of its anchors. Calmly Lusiphur stepped out of the plant and moved forward to 'greet' the grasshopper, obviously amused that the situation had been reversed between them. If the insect had such range for facial expression it surely would have sneered at the spider and his companion, disgusted at how easily their positions had been switched now that he was no longer in control. "Let me out of here. You want out of the forest, am I right?"

Lusiphur tilted his head in the manner that said he was thinking about it, Sin not knowing everything that went on in that mind but fairly familiar with most of his expressions, and then moved his head in a soft nod that was an unequivocal 'yes'. They were greeted by a scoff from the grasshopper, who for all his years of experience in the wood seemed eager to give up his 'secret' if he could only be free of the sticky web! "The other side of the tree! There's another entrance into the wood itself, about midway up - it will take you home. Now let me out of here! Let me free! I've told you want you wanted to know!" Moving forward with giddy anticipation, Lusiphur reached out with silent intent as he reached for the webbing that had already bound the insect and pulled it tighter.

It was no trouble at all for him to wrap the grasshopper up in what was an intentionally sloppy job - he might have eaten the creature if he didn't feel such disgust towards it and felt no need to 'dirty' himself with such a creature's matter. When he had finished he motioned that Sin should mount his back and as soon as she had he was up the tree, crawling around to the other side to find the knot hole the grasshopper had described, and with no reservations he climbed into it, traveling silently through the darkness and towards the light that was their final destination - home. In spite of all the trouble they'd been through Lusiphur wasn't sure that he'd minded it too much. In fact, as much as he'd gotten to exercise his skills he thought he might even like to do it again one day...