Here's a present for those who wanted more. I don't plan on putting out more than one chapter per week, though, so don't expect this kinda thing to happen too often. Either way, hope you all enjoy this!

Durin could only look on in horror and mild intrigue as Tora scarfed down entire mouth-sized bites of meat with a ravenous, euphoric look on her face.

“MMMMFFF!~” Tora purred in bliss, tail wagging behind her as she took a leg and ripped most of the tenderest meat on it off, gulping it down like a fish. “Shooooo corker to have real meat after so damn long of eating th’ ponies’ damned ‘soy meat’ shit!”

Octavia wrinkled her muzzle. “Erm, yes, quite.” She looked to Vinyl, who was enjoying some very exotic looking fish and also moaning after every bite.

“Ermahceleshtia! Torry! Ya gotta try this fish!” Vinyl urged, holding out a slab of the blue fish meat to the feline with her magic.

Tora leaned her head over and slurped it down in a single gulp, her eyes brightening and her mouth hanging open as a moan escaped her muzzle.

“I’m, uh, glad the food is to your guy’s tastes,” Durin said, seeming a bit off-put. He looked down at his own plate of food. ‘This stuff honestly just tastes bland to me…’

“Tavi! Ya gotta try some o’ this!” the big cat said as she held out a leg of...whatever in front of Tavi’s face. “C’mon!”

Octavia politely pushed it back. “N-No, thank you, I’m quite fine with my salad.” Tora then shoved it into her mouth. “MMPH?!” Octavia let out a muffled cry, and her face soon turned green before she rushed over to a trash can and vomited.

Tora just looked like she’d been kicked, ears and tail drooped in unbearable-to-look-at sadness.

“Sorry, Tora, but most ponies are herbivores,” Vinyl explained. “Don’t take it too personally. I’m just an exception.”

“B-b-but...meeeeat!” Tora whined with watery eyes as she looked Vinyl in the eyes.

Vinyl patted the feline on the back. “I feel your pain, sister, trust me. Tavi won’t even let me kiss her when I’ve had fish.”

“F-f-fiend!” Tora whimpered, slumping forward with her head resting chin-first on the table.

“I know. It’s a travesty,” Vinyl nodded sagely, rubbing the distraught Abyssinian's back with her hoof. She offered another piece of fish for her. “Here, eat up. Get your mind off it.”

Sniffling, Tora grabbed it with a ‘nom’ and slurped it down, sighing happily at the taste.

Durin looked to them both, frowning as he then looked to the entrance to the dining room. ‘I’m not sure I’ll have much more food left after these two… It was bad enough when it was just Vinyl.’

Seeing Durin’s frown, Tora stopped eating and turned her head to look at him.

“Hwa-” the tigress stopped, frowned, and swallowed the food in her mouth before continuing. “What’s wrong? Are...we eatin’ too much?”

Durin winced. “Let’s...just say I’ve been only stocked up for myself. It’s just a good thing I find Shaelmaar so often deep below.”

Tora dropped the meat in her hands, stood up, plucked Gabe from her back and started to walk out of the house.

“Wh-Whoa, hang on!” Durin got up and followed after her. “The fuck’re you going? It’s night out! Do you want to run into another grave hag?!” He grabbed her shoulder.

“I’m gettin’ you some food to repay ya fer what I’ve taken. Isn’t that how it works with yer people?” Tora asked, tilting her head.

“No! Not when it comes at the very clear risk of the other party dying!” He released her shoulder. “Besides, it’s my fault. I should’ve expected guests at some point and prepared. That’s part of my culture.”

“...Still goin’ to gather meat for ya - when we go underground, that is. Only way I’ll feel nice an’ clean for eating all yer meats,” Tora insisted, standing firm in front of him.

Durin sighed. “Fine, fine. Shaelmaar are pretty common deep underground anyway.” He motioned for her to follow. “Now come on, might as well finish your plate. A little more is fine.”

“...Not hungry anymo’,” Tora replied as she returned Gabe to her back and returned to the dining room.

Durin sighed once more. “Alright. I’ll just put it in the fridge, then.” He said as he followed her, taking her plate into the kitchen.

“...Sorry, mate,” Tora sighed ruefully.

He waved her off. “Hey, more food is welcome, even if it was intended for something else. It’ll just be leftovers or rations we can take with us.” After that, he disappeared into the kitchen.

Octavia, having recovered, looked to Tora. “You’ve been rather…” She suppressed a belch, and groaned at the taste. “Ugh, gross.” She shook her head, looking back up at Tora. “Rather down, since you came back from downstairs. Is something the matter?”

“Yeah, it’s almost like you’re trying to pay some big debt,” Vinyl added. “I mean, it’s understandable since he saved your life, but still.”

“Not talkin’ about it, beyond, yeah, he saved m’ life,” Tora said stiffly, not looking at either of them.

The two mares looked to each other and frowned, then looked back to her. “Well,” Vinyl started. “I can understand the debt part. He did save my life, too. Twice, now. Same with Tavi’s.”

Octavia blushed lightly, looking away. “W-Well, yes.”

Vinyl nodded. “See? So we know where you’re coming from. But you’re kinda overdoin’ it, ya know?”

“...My people had life-debts. You save someone’s life, you help ‘em until ya either save their life or they say that th’ debt’s repaid. I am, by m’ own personal honor, obligated t’ help ‘im until such a point where m’ debt is repaid,” Tora eventually explained, looking and feeling very uncomfortable about explaining it.

Vinyl and Octavia looked to each other again. “Well, okay, that makes sense, but…” Octavia started.

“Please,” Tora asked with a pleading tone. “Don’t...don’t ask me ‘bout this. Please.”

Vinyl sighed. “Alright, Torry.” She crossed her hooves over her barrel. “Still, just don’t go one-upping me, ‘kay?”

“...One-uppin’ ya...how?” Tora asked, genuinely confused.

“Like, ya know, giving him a kiss or somethin’,” Vinyl rolled her hoof around. “I kinda figure I get first crack at that, ya know? Having been saved twice by him now and all.” She grinned. “Besides, you have to admit he’s a catch and a half.”

“...I’m not speaking to you,” Tora said as she pointedly looked away from Vinyl.

Vinyl shrugged. “A’ight.”

Durin, having heard all this from the kitchen thanks to his senses, decided to stay in the kitchen to think about it all for a moment. ‘The hell? How is Vinyl attracted to me? We’re different species entirely!’ He put a hand to his forehead and rubbed it, feeling a headache approaching. ‘Women were hard enough to understand back home, but now this?’

“Ugh,” he groaned.

“Ya fall or stub yer toe or somethin’, Durin?” Tora called out into the kitchen.

“No, I’m fine! Just some flour in my eye!” He called back. He shook his head. ‘Forget it. I’ll think about that all later.’ He walked back out into the dining room.

“That’d be a yeast infection, mate,” Tora noted with a mix of worry and sarcasm.

He managed a smile and rolled his eyes. “Witchers are resistant to the near point of immunity to any kind of illness, infection or toxin. I’m fine, trust me.”

“...So you wouldn’t get any STDs?” Tora asked bluntly, and with no hesitation.

Durin blinked owlishly, looking to her blankly. “No…?”

“Huh. Just checkin’,” Tora said with a shrug and a smirk.

Durin shook his head. “Riiight. Anyway, we should get going. It’s a long way to the biome.”

“Aye. I have a grappling hook bolt for Gabe, just in case we need to get down long distances,” Tora said as she stood up and stretched with a small groan.

“Good, it can be a back up if we fall down a shaft.” He jerked a thumb to the kitchen. “Go ahead and grab some rations, we’ll be gone at least long enough that we'll eventually get hungry.”

Tora nodded and went to the kitchen to pick up a few rations, plus some back-ups in case anything went tits-up.

“Right, got th’ brekkie rations, ammo fer Gabe, knoives, and...all o’ that other shite,” Tora completed her rudimentary checklist before nodding. “A’ight, got all o’ my shit. An’ you, Durin?”

He summoned a small pouch with a sweet, salty scent. “Got my own rations, so yeah. Got everything else, too.”

“In that weird dimensional pouch spell ya got goin’ on?” Tora asked knowingly.

Durin shrugged. “Sure, let’s call it a spell.” He said vaguely, turning around and making his way to the downstairs entrance.

“What else would it be, mate?” Tora asked as she followed him down the stairs.

He didn’t answer her, instead calling out, “Don’t break or touch what I told you not to while we’re gone!” He told the two mares. After hearing calls back in the affirmative, he continued on.

“Heh. Ya sound like their pa, saying that, Durin,” Tora chuckled and shook her head in amusement.

During shrugged, smiling to himself. “Always have been considered the fatherly sort, so thanks.”

“You’d make a good dad for some ankle-biters, bastard,” Tora remarked as they continued down the stairs.

Durin paused mid-step at that, just before the bottom of the stairs.

“...Wot? Did I say somethin’ wrong?”

He held a hand out. “No, no. Just...don’t bring children up. I don’t wanna think about it.”

“...Lost some of your own?” Tora asked softly, eyes sympathetic.

He turned a cold glare to her. “Stop. Now.” There was a mistiness there in his green eyes, but he turned his head before she could get a clearer look.

“...S-sorry,” Tora apologized, sounding much like a kicked kitten.

He kept walking without any other words, heading down the halls of the bunker and towards the mine entrance.

Tora sighed and cursed at herself for making such a dumb, rookie mistake, but continued to follow the Witcher nonetheless.

Stopping by the closed mine entrance, he flipped the lever, opening the secret door to reveal a yawning stairwell. He pressed on without any words. They descended for what felt like hours in the eerie silence that only the underground could bring, before eventually the stairwell opened up into a yawning mine shaft, a long, narrow bridge of solid stone the only way forward.

“...That’s fucking aces,” Tora remarked under her breath as she followed him at a safe distance.

They passed numerous torches and wooden supports in utter silence, the only sounds being the wind coming from behind them and the crackle of the torches in the enclosed space, along with their boots - and foot wrapped paws - colliding with the stone below them.

Tora could only marvel (or internally whine) at just how far down they’d gone over the past...what, ten minutes of walking? And Durin supposedly made this all himself?

Nuts, is what it was.

It honestly reminded her of the old tales of the Diamond Dog Kingdom's past glory, with mines similar to this one, if the pictures she'd seen in story books were any indication.

“...How’d...how, uh,” Tora tried to ask, but found that the words refused to form correctly - if at all - in her mouth.

“I have...experience,” he replied, knowing what she was going to say. ‘Not a total lie, either. Did a lot of mining in Terraria just to hoard materials.’

“Ah,” the tigress nodded, then fell back into silence so as not to piss off her ‘guide’ and make him shove her off a ledge into a deep, dark cavern her body would never be recovered from.

“If you want to know why there’s no rails, it’s because this mine is too big to warrant that much of a waste of iron,” he said, picking up the conversation for her.

“...A’ight,” Tora said simply, nodding in understanding.

He paused a bit, then added. “And...I have a thing for flair with underground structures. And construction in general.”

“...Heh, coulda fooled me, mate,” Tora sarcastically remarked with a roll of her eyes. “Neva woulda noticed had y’ not told me deadset.”

He grunted, and they continued onward into the gloom.

“How deep down is this?” Tora asked, the silence slowly eroding her nerves in a progressively darker environment.

Durin frowned, though she didn't see it, as he didn't look back at her. “...Somewhere around two hundred feet, I think.”

“Huh. Not that bodgy,” Tora remarked as they walked.

An arrow shot up from the gloom and fell short. He stopped and looked to her. “You were saying?”

“...So th’ beasties have weapons now. Yeah, that’d be right,” Tora sighed as she brought Gabe off of her back and held it at the ready. The sound of bones and the shuffling of corpses echoed from the dark below, as if in response to her actions.

“Thankfully, we’re not taking the way down there,” Durin interrupted. He gestured to a set of blue torches burning in the distance. “We’re going that way.”

“...Ya color-coded th’ paths? Huh,” Tora blinked as she gestured with Gabe to lead the way. “Y’ know th’ place better’n I do, mate.”

“Exactly. So stay close,” he urged as they kept walking.

“A’ight, fine, bossmaAAGH!” Tora yelped as she tripped on a stray chunk of stone on the ground and damn near fell off the unrailed edge next to her and into the dark abyss below. A hand grabbing her paw and yanking her back up saved her, thankfully, pulling her close as Durin looked to her with a raised brow.

“...Yer fossickin’ in here wasn’t real thorough. Fuckin’ rock tripped me,” she explained as she pointed to the offending chunk of stone in question.

He smirked. “Would you like to hold hands as we go, then?”

“I will bail out, mate. Don’t test me,” Tora narrowed her eyes at him as she tugged her hand out of his grasp. “Jus’ put some bloody fences or wooden ‘rack’ things near th’ edges fer someone t’ grab onto. Y’know, summat they can pull ‘emselves up with?”

He rolled his eyes and kept going. “Sure, I’ll get right on that deforestation idea.”

“In the most precarious areas, ya prick!” Tora socked him on the arm, clearly displeased with his sass.

He sighed. “Fine, fine, I’ll get on that later.”

“Good! Y’ no-hoper,” Tora grumbled as they continued to descend into the - to her, anyways - inappropriately deep mine.

Soon enough, they reached the color-coded blue tunnel and were thus surrounded by marginally safer tunnel walls.

“...So, are th’ torches blue cuz o’ th’ shrooms, ooor…?” Tora asked curiously, eyes alternating between looking ahead and examining the torches as they passed by.

“That, and there’s a lot of sapphires this way for some reason,” Durin answered.

Tora’s face froze, “Th...th’ torches are made with...fuckin’ gems?! O-or, an’ please tell me this is th’ case, there are sapphies in th’ walls that make ‘em blue.”

“...The first,” Durin answered eventually. “Though you won’t see the sapphire veins for another five hundred feet.”

“I- ju- wha’ th’- GAH!” Tora stammered, hands reaching up into her ‘mane’ and tugging on the fur, utterly flabbergasted. “Y’ COULD FUCKIN’ PAY FER AN ENTIRE ARMORY OR THREE WITH TH’ SAPPHS YA MADE TH’ TORCHES WITH!”

“Only way I can color code,” Durin replied with a shrug. “Not too interested in money, either.”

“Y’ COULDA USED PHOSPHORESCENT PAINT! Y’ KNOW, THE SHIT THAT GLOWS WHEN LIGHT IS SHINED ON IT?!” Tora asked incredulously, eyes wide in disbelief and more than a bit of exasperation.

“Don’t know how to make it,” Durin said, shrugging again before he muttered, “Or if I even can…”

“A bit of zinc-sulfide an’ silver t’ activate it!” Tora hissed, hands clenching and unclenching. “Y’ know how hard I worked t’ scrounge up enough valuable shit as a kid t’ pay fer meals an’ supplies?! An’ here you are, using sapphires as coloring fer bloody torches! It’s bloody wasteful!”

Durin sighed deeply. ‘Fuck it. She’ll find out sooner or later on this trip just from how I mine.’ Turning around to face her, he started with, “You want to know why I’m saying all this?”

“Nooo, enlighten me!” Tora spat.

“Inventory,” he said, and his screen appeared in front of him.

“...Is this part o’ that fuckin’ spell yer usin’?” Tora asked with narrowed eyes as she swiped her paw at the hovering box.

It did nothing, but he grunted. “Not a spell. Just...intrinsic to my people’s blood.”

“Oooh, so yer fuckin’ gods or somethin’. That’d be right!”

“Terrarians,” He corrected. “The people who...live, let’s say, in the Gods realm. Not Gods themselves, though.”

“...So you’re really not from ‘round here, are ya?” Tora asked with a frown.

“...No. I’m not,” He gestured to a portion of the ‘screen’. “That, is what I use to make my shit.”

“...That must be bloody fuckin’ easier than th’ rest o’ us have it,” Tora scoffed as, again, she swiped at the screen, trying to see if it was actually there and not some elaborate illusionary excuse he was using.

“It’s restrictive, though,” He explained slowly. “I can’t make too much without being near a work table, furnace, crafting bench...anything normal people would use to work with shit with tools or their hands.”

“So, if’n I carried aroun’ a fuckin’ anvil an’ shit, you’d be aces t’ make anythin’ on th’ fly?” the tigress asked with a tilt of her head.

He shook his head. “Has to be placed down, and I need materials, but you’re getting the gist, yes.”

“...Aaand y’ can make almost anythin’ in this ‘Inventory’ o’ yers, roight?”

“Like I said, it’s restrictive. But theoretically, yes,” He looked to the screen. “I just don’t know how restrictive yet.”

“Does it have limiters an’ shit? ‘Seals’ that restrict it?” Tora asked as she switched tactics from swiping to poking the screen.

“Not that I’ve seen, no,” he answered.

“Y’ tried to say ‘Unlock Inventory’ or somethin’? Go to the ‘settings’ or whateva the bloody hell controls th’ restrictions?” Tora suggested as she finally pulled away from the screen after many fruitless attempts to touch his stuff.

Durin blinked. “No, actually. Never crossed my mind.”

“Try it, then, mate. Y’ might be surprised,” Tora said as her eyes lost the faint glaze that he only just noticed had been there.

He looked to the screen, then shrugged and said, “Unlock Inventory.” Immediately, a new screen popped up, and she tilted her head. “...‘Cannot unlock until World is in Hardmode?’" He muttered.

She blinked and looked at him with a pleasantly surprised look on her face, “Huh. Didn’t think that would actually work. I was just flingin’ shit at th’ wall. So...this ‘Hardmode’...it’s obviously some kinda…‘second phase’ or somethin’, right?”

Durin was silent for a time, and then suddenly and swiftly closed the screen. “...We’re moving on.”

“...A’ight, mate. To th’ shroom place, then?” Tora asked gently, gesturing to the tunnel ahead of them.

He didn’t reply, simply turning around and marching ahead.

‘...Gotta stop steppin’ on other’s toes...or puttin’ my own in m’ gob,’ Tora sighed as she jogged a bit to catch up to him.

After travelling a fair ways, the adventuring duo had stopped to take a break and eat, at Tora’s behest. Thus, they sat against the walls of the shaft, Durin simply keeping watch with his pistol in his right hand while taking small bites of his food from his other hand.

The blue torches were all that lit the shaft, if one did not count the duo’s feline eyes, and the sound of the torches flames were most of what was heard. Other than that, all was silent.

Tora, meanwhile, was quickly gnawing and tearing at her rations to get them into her stomach as fast as possible, if only so that she could end the silence between them that was threatening to slowly drive her insane.

Sadly, it did little to stop that feeling.

“...How d’you make th’ tuck- er, rations?” Tora asked simply and quietly, her eyes kept firmly in front of her. “Smoke ‘em, dehydrate ‘em, wot?”

“Smoke,” was his simple reply, taking another bite of his rations.

“...So-” Tora started to say.

He stashed his rations away, then stood up. “We’re moving on.”

“...A’ight. Lead th’ way,” Tora replied with a curt nod as she tucked her rations away and hopped to her feet, following Durin back down the tunnel once more.

Evidently, this was going to be a long trip.