Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig in our mine the whole day through…” Within a cave a fair distance from their home, seven dwarf men found themselves singing together cheerily as they went to work digging for precious stones in order to amass a fortune. For the most part, the valuables they used were simply used to help them to live their modest lives in a cottage, while the rest were kept safe and secure within the cave itself.

Of the seven, four of the dwarfs are responsible for the simple job of digging. Pickaxes in hands, they sang while swinging away at the solid stone surfaces around them in hopes of revealing priceless gemstones. The jolliest singer of all however, had to be the dwarf simply known as Happy. With each swing of the pick, his belly jiggled as his voice boomed through the mines, a bright smile on his face with each go.

Digging opposite from him was, in fact, his own personal opposite. Grumpy the dwarf had spent nearly his entire life a sourpuss. Disliking most everything around him, always being in a foul mood, Grumpy had only recently started to become somewhat likeable while around a certain visitor that had spent a great deal of time amongst the dwarfs. He had even started to become somewhat cheerful until a prince had swept her away to the kingdom of her dreams.

Beside the two of them, Bashful and Sneezy dug away, tossing their finds over their shoulders without even looking into the steadily filling wagon that they landed in. Sneezy particularly loved mining, because exposure to the surface air could often bring with it pollen and other allergens that triggered his hay fever. The smell of the metal pick and stone around him however, was comforting. Bashful himself simply loved to mine, it gave him a sense of purpose and he just loved to help his friends; though he often had a difficult time expressing this, simply turning red and twirling his beard when asked if he was having a good time.

As they tossed their stones into the wagon, a rather forceful toss from Grumpy lightly twanged the dwarf sitting in the front in the head. Snorting himself away with the hit, Sleepy the dwarf whipped the reigns and the donkey that drove the cart quickly began to pull ahead. Almost immediately he fell back to sleep as the donkey pulled the cart across the uneven surface, causing the cart to bounce and bump, though Sleepy remained asleep. The cart eventually pulled to a stop in front of the leader of the dwarfs, a wise man known as Doc. While not a Doctor, Doc himself was very intelligent, and his role was to determine the quality of their finds. Certain worthless stones could often disguise themselves as valuables, and it was his job to discern them and toss them away.

The tossed stones, the worthless finds, were the responsibility of the final dwarf, Dopey. Dopey was given the simply task of cleaning, partially because he couldn’t be trusted to many other tasks due to his clumsiness. Pickaxes would slip from his hands and go flying, in his eyes all gems were valuable, and Sleepy was already driving the cart. Therefore, Dopey cleaned, and with each dwarf working hard at the task they were given, they continued to sing merrily. All except for Dopey, who simply never spoke.

Dopey was also simple minded, even further beyond his clumsy nature. When given nothing to clean, Dopey would wander about the cave, sometimes beyond the sight of the other dwarfs, and secretly try and practice his digging abilities. In his mind, he wanted to prove he could find a valuable stone, and as he pulled out his hidden pick from a pile of rags, Dopey started to swing awkwardly away at a wall further into the cave. It was difficult to see, but as he chipped and swung, he saw something sizeable and glittering shining from within the wall.

“A thousand rubies, sometimes more…” Dopey could still hear his companions singing along, which meant they likely wouldn’t notice his absence. With another awkward swing, more of the shiny object revealed itself, and something told Dopey this would be such a valuable find that all of his friends would be proud of him for the rest of his life. Building up his strength and focusing, Dopey chipped away at as much stone as possible, but the object seemed to have no end.

The more he swung, the more of the glittering gold he discovered, and Dopey eventually decided he’d have to break it apart rather than pull it from the wall. Dopey snuck back to the group for a mallet, briefly pretending to clean as Doc tossed a few worthless gems his way, before he hurried quickly down the cave back to where he’d been. As he ran however, the hem of Dopey’s robe caught beneath his feet, and as he tripped forward he threw the mallet forward towards the gold. Lifting his head and uncovering his face as his hat started to droop down, Dopey watched as the mallet collided with the gold so hard it pushed it out and through the wall.

Pulling himself up, Dopey hurried quickly across the cave and tried to see if he could spot where the gold had gone. Squeezing his head through the hole, Dopey quickly realized that he’d blocked out the small bits of light that had been provided by Doc just up the path, and trying to pull his head back out, also realized he was now stuck. Pressing against the wall and squirming, Dopey’s neck stretched out before slamming his body back forward. Dopey started to kick his feet around in hopes to make some noise on the other side, just as he heard a loud ticking sound of metal on metal.

“Heigh Hoooooo!” From the other side of the wall, Dopey heard Doc start to shout out their booming call. The message to all those in the cave that their day was done, and it was time to pack up. He squirmed more, doing his best to get back so they wouldn’t worry, but unfortunately could only pout as he struggled to break free from his stoney prison.

“Oh what a great haul today! How did they look Doc?” Happy walked to the rack where they stored their tools to hang up his pick, before turning to Doc who was dragging several heavy bags towards the group. The pointy ends of the gems could be seen pushing against the edges of the sac as Doc let out a grin.

“Well it’s a highty, I mean lighty… Mighty haul today!” Doc adjusted his glasses and opened one of the sacks, the glinting gems within practically glowing under the light of their lanterns.

“Well at least most of us were putting in a great deal of word today!” Grumpy gave an upset look in the direction of Sleepy, who was still fast asleep at his post with the cart.

Bashful, glancing over at the cart, walked over to undo the straps that were attached to the donkey, and blushed as it licked as his face. Twirling his beard with one hand, Bashful lead it to the exit as everyone slowly came together.

“Has anyone se…” Sneezy went to speak as they started to leave, but the smell of the air outside tickled his nose and his eyes started to squeeze tight. “Seen…”

The group watched as the telltale signs that Sneezy was about to sneeze played out, and one by one their fingers quickly covered his nose to prevent him from doing so.

“Ahh… I think I’m okay… Has anyone seen Dop-ACHOO” With the fingers gone Sneezy immediately let out a powerful sneeze, the force of which sent a gust of air so powerful that the dwarfs quickly found themselves being pushed back into the cave. As they tumbled and fell, the four of them in a massive pile, Bashful came back into the cave and followed Sneezy as they did their best to catch up to the group to make sure everyone was okay.

“Are you all okay!” Bashful started to do a headcount as the group moaned and groaned trying to right themselves and dust themselves off. “That’s one, two, three, four, five, six heads including myself, and one butt.” Nodding confidently to himself with a smile, proud of his counting, the group then blinked in unison.

“One butt?” Turning all their heads at the same time, the group eyed the struggled Dopey, who awkwardly waved in the groups direction from his stuck position.

“Dopey! What’re ya, I mean how’re ya, I mean…” Doc tried to ask a number of questions to Dopey, stopping each before it was finished to try and ask another, before Grumpy pushed him a bit out of the way and grabbed on to part of Dopey’s oversized tunic.

“Help me why don’t ya instead of ramblin on!” With a squint of one of his eyes, Grumpy started to tug firmly in an attempt to pull Dopey free. Looking amongst one another before shrugging, the other dwarves quickly gathered around Dopey to pull together.

“On uhhh… three! One, two, four, no wait uh…” Doc lost track of his counting immediately, and Grumpy just rolled his eyes and shouted for him.

“THREE!”

With a final pull, the group heard cracking in the wall as it broke open, freeing Dopey and sending them all rolling back in a big pile. They all stood up and dusted themselves off, but before anyone could say anything, more and more cracks started to form in the wall Dopey had been stuck in. As the wall started to crumble, revealing a path further into the cave than they could’ve imagined, the entire mine started to shake and rumble.

“Well now look what ye did! Getting ya un stuck has caused this whole place to start gettin upset!” Grumpy turned to shout at Dopey, before Happy stepped forward and shook his head.

“I’m sure he was just trying to help, isn’t that right Dopey?” Dopey nodded, grinning widely, before another rumble started to shake the group off of their feet. The light from the entrance started to fade as they heard the rocks start to fall, and the mine started to cave in.

“Run for it!” Bashful and the group quickly started to try and run in all directions, bumping and bonking one another before Grumpy shouted in distress.

“RUN IN THAT DIRECTION YA FOOLS!” With a point of his hand, the group collectively piled into the hole that had formed from freeing Dopey, as the mine behind them started to collapse. A wave of dust and debris kicked up around them as everything went dark.

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There was some sparks as a match flicked against the stone wall a few times in an attempt to light it. Eventually enough force was generated that a small little flame formed. It floated through the darkness to the wick of an oil lantern, which immediately lit up the surrounding area. Doc looked around as everyone coughed and waved dust out of their faces, lifting the light to get a look back across the hole they’d come through. There was still a bit of the mine still in one piece, but even from here he could tell the entrance was completely covered.

“Is everyone rightal? Ightral? Trighal? Er… is everyone okay?” Doc moved the light through the space around him as he watched the other six of his friends stand up one at a time. It looked like everyone had managed to get out of the cave uninjured, and Dopey’s eyes quickly locked onto the golden chuck he’d forced out of the wall to make the hole they’d all just dove through.

Holding up the object proudly to Doc, who squinted and inspected it, Doc grinned and pat Dopey on the head.

“This is quite the valuable find, did you get this out all by yourself?” Dopey nodded in response, cheerfully accepting the pat on his head, before Grumpy let out a cough.

“Not to ruin yer moment, but ya trapped us for this chunk o… chunk o gold…” Grumpy’s angry expression was replaced by twinkling eyes as he gazed as the massive nugget of gold. Quickly shaking himself free of the greed, he took the lantern from Doc and stepped through to the other side of the hole into the remains of their mine. To the side were the pick and hammer Dopey had smuggled with him in secret, and as he stepped forward a bit more he found another pair of lanterns. A few feet further, buried under the rubble, would’ve been the rack that contained the majority of their mining equipment.

“How’s it look over there Grumpy?” Happy poked his head through and watched as Grumpy stepped back through with the extra set of lanterns.

“Not good, not good at all.” Groaning to himself, he gave the lantern he’d snatched back to Doc and lit his own, motioning at the tools on the other side. “Other than these here lanterns, the tools we have on hand, and the ones Dopey snuck off with, we ain’t got enough to dig our way back out.”

“Even if we tried I think the entrance to the mine is too unstable to try and dig our way back out. We’d probably only make the situation worst.” Doc looked at the mounds of stone, dust occasionally dropping from the ceiling as stone continued to shift on the other side. He looked around the others with a bit of a frown, before raising his lantern to peer down the unfamiliar path behind them.

“Don’t tell me we have to find another way out.” Sleepy was still sitting on the ground, rubbing at his eyes with the massive bags beneath them. He glanced down the path detecting the amount of walking likely ahead of them, and let out a heavy and lengthy sigh.

“If anything, this means-” Happy was stepping out of the hole, having gone through to retrieve Dopey’s pick, and went to speak as soon as Sleepy’s sigh ended. However, before he could even get more than a few words out, Sleepy let out another exhausted sigh, and the group simply watched and waited for it to end. Waiting an extra moment just to be safe, Happy continued where he’d left off. “This means we have a whole new enormous mine to explore, and we didn’t even have to dig it ourselves!”

A murmur of agreement floated around the group as they felt a little more confident about their situation. Grumpy lit the remaining two lanterns, offering one to Sleepy and another to Sneezy, his hope being that with Sleepy responsible for a lantern that he’d stay awake and with the group as they explored the cave system.

“Well could, I mean would, I mean… Shall we?” Doc puffed up his chest, lantern in one hand, and placed the other close to his mouth in a shouting gesture as he turned towards the dark path in front of him. “Heigh HO!”

Letting his shout boom through the cave, echoing back in a constant and increasingly silent fashion, all the other dwarfs aside from Dopey followed suit, letting out their own ‘Heigh Hos’ into the cave, before setting forth in a single file line. As they come across various paths that would result in them separating, they echo their booming dwarf sounds through each tunnel, following the one that echoes for a longer period, knowing it to be the longer path and likely not to be a dead end. They march and marched through increasingly narrow tunnels, before finding themselves in a massive cavern.

As they stepped through, Doc pulled the pick from his waist and clinked it hard into the wall behind him, marking the path they’d come from.

“If it’s marked, we go there, I mean we’ve not been there, I mean… If it’s marked don’t go there!” Doc nodded confidently as the group agreed, and they made their way to another tunnel within the cavern. It was silent as they walked, the flicking of the lantern causing the stalagmite and stalactite shadows to dance across the walls of the cave. The dwarf’s eyes scanned the walls for any signs of valuables as they went, before they all bumped into one another at Doc’s sudden stop.

They’d reached the next tunnel, and Doc let out a ‘Heigh Ho’ down the tunnel, before cupping his ear to try and listen to how far the tunnel extended. Unfortunately there was another sound in the cave, as if someone was making strange noises with their mouth and scratching the walls. He wondered if someone was trying to dig while they waited, and turning around, he raised a finger and made a light shushing noise to Bashful behind him.

Bashful in turn turned around to match the motion and noise looking at Dopey, who in turn raised a finger behind himself to Grumpy. This followed down the line of dwarfs all the way to Sleepy at the very end, who turned around with his lantern raised and quietly shushed the source of the noise. Blinking and rubbing his eyes, Sleepy stared at a humanoid creature. It was pale skinned with no hair, a nose with an almost pig like appearance, and it’s mouth was open and drooling, sharp pointed teeth glinting in the light of the lantern.

Turning forward again, Sleepy tapped Sneezy on the shoulder to whisper a new message to him.

“There’s a scary monster behind us.” Sneezy turned forward to relay the message up the chain all the way to Doc, who nodded. All the dwarfs blinked in unison, questioning the message, as they raised the lanterns and glanced behind them.

“SCARY MONSTER!” With the dwarfs shouting in unison, the creature immediately let out a violent hiss at their reaction and grabbed onto Sleepy as the rest scattered in all directions. Letting out howls of pain, Sleepy’s screams became wet and gurgling as the creature tore into his throat, biting and tearing into the dwarf who rapidly became silent. The lanterns lay scattered and left on the floor as each of the dwarfs pressed themselves tightly into hiding places behind stone pillars, or simply up against shadowy portions of the wall.

There was a chewing sound as the creature consumed the flesh it had tore from Sleepy, before it started to creep across the floor of the cave on all fours, tilting its head at various angles as it inched away from Sleepy’s still body. With seemingly no particular hurry, the creature was steadily approaching Doc, who was pressed against a wall and frozen in terror. As it drew closer, Doc held his breath, and it seemed to glance over his body without any signs it knew he was there.

Everyone watched in terrified silence, before a noise from further in the cave caught the creatures attention. Quickly turning from Doc, it darted across the cavern back to Sleepy, and it quickly dragged his corpse down the tunnel they’d been checking not even a minute ago. For several more minutes everyone sat completely still, silent and listening, eyes darting around the lit portions of the cave for any sign of the creature or anything else like it.

Doc was the first to step away from his hiding place, nervously creeping across the cavern towards the lantern he’d dropped, and raising it up. The shaking of his hand cause the light to flicker a great deal, and his face displayed a series of shocked and scared expressions as various shadows gave the illusion they’d been moving. After it seemed they were safe, the cavern empty, the dwarves all drew together once again, and slowly gathered around the pool of blood that had formed beneath Sleepy.

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“What in the bloody…”

“I can’t believe it!”

“Now everyone shut, everyone stop, everyone… Quiet Down!” Doc hissed under his breath and gave a look to Grumpy and Bashful who were creating a great deal of noise, and then looked back at his hiding place. “If we make a lot of noise that thing is gonna come back.”

“Well then we fight it!” Grumpy looked to Doc and gestured to the pick at his waist, a fiery look in his eyes with the need to avenge his fallen friend.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, did you see what it did to Sleepy! That thing is a monster!” Sneezy sniffled lightly and rubbed the sleeve of his outfit across his nose before using his other sleeve to wipe away tears that had started to form.

“He’s right Grumpy, that thing is a monster and I don’t think we can handle this sort of thing!” Bashful was gripping tightly onto his beard, pulling against in frantically as his eyes followed the trail of blood down the tunnel that Sleepy had been drug away into. He kept bouncing from foot to foot in a panic as the others all argued about what to do next.

“Now listen here, we still gotta find a way out! We can’t thout ahink, ouink atho, think about anything else! Without foter or waod, there’s no way we can tick, flick, stick around!” Doc glared at Grumpy who mumbled to himself but didn’t argue back. Doc looked between each of the other dwarfs and let out a heavy sigh.

“So what do we do now Doc?” Happy, contrary to his name, held a mournful expression as he took the hat off his head and clutched it nervously. All eyes were on Doc who looked across the blood trail that led further into the cave.

“Well those meanies, those monsters, those things probably know this place worst, equal to… better than us! We live close to the places we need to get, and if those things need food, they need in! I mean up! Out! Those things need out!” Doc took a few steps towards the tunnel, lifting his lantern to light the path. It seemed to go for quite a distance, and if his assumption that this creature acted on sound was correct, they wouldn’t exactly be able to ‘Heigh Ho’ down any more tunnels.

“So if we follow them, we should get closer to an exit?” Sneezy peered down the tunnel as well, raising his own lantern to provide more light. Behind them Happy picked up Sleepy’s lantern, and did his best to light it while shaking and holding back tears.

“If we keep loud, I mean make noise, I mean… If we’re quiet then yes.” Doc nodded and turned back to the rest of the group, raising his finger to his lips once again.

“We’ll get out of this for sure, no crying or worry got it!” Grumpy squeezed one eye shut and gave a look to Dopey, Bashful, and Happy, who were each looking towards the floor and clearly on the verge of tears. Grumpy himself was devastated by the loss of Sleepy, but he knew if they gave into their emotions and sat around crying, they were likely to never get out and instead share his fate.

“Yes sir…” Nodding solemnly, Happy raised his chin up and took another breath. “We all get out together, and using all our findings we buy the best bed the world has ever seen in honor of Sleepy!”

It wasn’t much, but giving themselves a goal and reason to escape aside from survival was a bit of a morale boost for the group of them. Even if Sleepy was gone, they would still hold his memory close and try and escape so that he could be remembered and honored once they were out.

“It’s deceed, it’s decood… we’re agreed then.” Doc nodded and nervously took a step into the trail. It was a rather narrow tunnel, barely enough to raise his hand up even at his stature, and he made a sour face as he felt his boot slide ever so slightly as it stepped onto the trail of drying blood that belonged to his friend Sleepy.

The other dwarfs followed suit, keeping to a tight single file line as Doc led the way, occasionally bumping their heads into one another whenever there was a sudden stop. Their heads would clunk together and they’d all freeze and listen hoping that the sound hadn’t attracted any attention, before Doc would find the way to go and lead them down tunnel after tunnel.

It was cramped, and their arms had to be held tightly in front of their bodies to even make any forward progress. Happy had to stop every few feet to take a heavy breath and suck in his gut to even maneuver forward at this point, and the slow progress of the group caused a constant sense of anxiety. Every minute they spent in this cave it seemed to grow smaller, and the longer they were around the more risk there was finding another creature.

After what felt like hours of slow walking and sudden stops, the group found the tunnel slowly opening outwards into two separate paths. As they piled into the opening, Doc gestured towards the wider of the two options, the blood trail clearly following this wider open space, and started to step through. However, before he made much progress, Sneezy’s nose twitched and he sniffed at the air. Turning his head to the narrower path, one that was so small they’d likely have to crawl through to make any progress at all, his eyes started to water and he stepped back pointing to it over and over.

“My nose, it smells, I smell…” As Sneezy blinked the sneeze away, turning his head, Doc came back and crouched down to look at the other path.

“If your allergies are acting up, that must mean you smell flowers or something!” Bashful lit up as he whispered to the group, and their moods all seemed to improve slightly except for Doc, who seemed unconvinced.

“It could be a path to air, but it’s so big, I mean so flat… The tunnel is tiny. It could be a dead end and too open, too hollow- you could get stuck!” Doc turned back raising his lantern to the path they’d been following thus far, and after what felt like miles of compact conditions, he was ready for a more open cavern to move through, especially if another creature showed up and they needed to scatter or fight.

“I think it opens up after a few feet.” Sneezy was following his nose a bit as he set his lantern in front of him and, inchworming a little bit to push it forward with his nose, could see the small tunnel open up into another corridor. “We can definitely walk around on the other side.”

Doc looked between the group and then at the two paths before raising a hand.

“All in favor of sticking up, following to, er… taking the path we’ve been on.” Whispering silently, he looked between the group and found that only Dopey had raised his hand. He was unsure if Dopey even knew what he was agreeing to, but the rest had cast their eyes on the bloody trail coating the rock. It was clear that the idea of finding the nest which could lead to the surface was their best bet out, but it was also their best bet to find the very thing that had created the path with Sleepy as well. They were all so desperate for any alternative, that as Doc cast a vote for the secondary path, all four remaining hands shot up instantly.

“That settles it!” Sneezy crouched back down and started to worm his way through the tunnel much as he had before. The group waited in silence, Doc keeping an eye ahead of them, for any sign that Sneezy had made it through successfully. After a few moments, they could see the shadow of a hand creep across the floor from Sneezy’s lantern. Holding their breath and bunching together, they saw the hand quickly change to a thumbs up, and let out a silent and collective sigh of relief.

Bashful followed right behind Sneezy, assisted by the other dwarf pulling him through from the other side, and Happy went next. Or at least he attempted to.

As Happy squirmed and wiggled into the tunnel, he found it difficult to hold in his gut anymore, and became stuck. Even with Bashful and Sneezy tugging on his arms from the other side, Happy couldn’t move a muscle, and he started to panic and squirm in the confined space. Kicking at the stone around him, Happy’s kicks started to echo off the stone, and Grumpy had had enough.

“Ruddy… gonna try and wake the place.” Lifting a leg and twirling his ankle in repeated motions to build up strength, Grumpy swung his boot forward into Happy’s butt and kicked him with enough force to shove him through the hole. Unfortunately, the force of sending Happy through the confined space cracked the rocks around the smaller tunnel, causing it to crumble and collapse.

Both groups were sprayed with dust as it kicked up into the air, jumping back and away in fear the ceiling above them would collapse as well. While they were fortunate that the entire section hadn’t fallen to pieces, it was clear that the tunnel that three of them had just passed through would no longer be accessible.

“Bashful? Sneezy? Happy?” Doc whispered into the debris as he moved some of the smaller rocks from the exit. Peering through, he managed to get enough vision with a single eye to see a fellow dwarf’s eye staring back.

“We’re alright Doc, but I don’t think anyone is getting through this tunnel anymore.” Bashful whispered back to Doc. “Guess we can only go forward from here.”

“Well, we’ll lose, we’ll think… we’ll find each other further in. Stay good, okay.. Stay safe!” Doc nodded and stood up, glancing to Grumpy and Dopey, before raising his lantern and stepping up into the cavern the blood had led up into. With silent steps, Doc lit the area and the three continued to tip toe along the trail, thankfully with enough space now to walk beside it, as opposed to in.

“I don’t think splittin up was a good idea. Corns are hurtin, I tell ya. We ain’t seen the worst of it yet…” Grumpy continued to mumble to himself, and even as Doc shushed him to try and keep the negativity and noise levels low, he knew that Grumpy with sore corns was far from a good sign for what was to come.

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Dopey held the lantern in front of the trio as Sneezy constantly sniffed at the air to guide them. After they passed through the tunnel and began to move separately from the others, they realized they didn’t have any sort of trail to guide them. However, Sneezy’s nose could tell the difference between any branching paths they came across; those that had the smell of fresh air and those that didn’t didn’t. Using this they’d made considerable progress into the cave, but had yet to see any sign of the blood trail or the other group.

As they moved forward, sneaking alone, Dopey’s shoe caught on the front of his tunic as it had earlier. Tumbling forward the lantern slammed into the ground, the flame immediately flicking out as a loud bash echoed through the cavern they were passing through. The trio froze as Dopey picked up the lantern, and Happy did his best to light another match to use with the lantern. After a few attempts, they managed a flame, and as soon as the lantern came alight, a figure came into view barely a foot from the three of them.

Freezing up, they watched as the pale skinned and moist creature started to crawl toward them tilting its head and sniffing at the air. It wouldn’t be long before it made contact with them, but that wasn’t their only immediate issue.

Dopey and Happy could both see Sneezy’s nose starting to twitch, and his eyes starting to water. He inhaled briefly and the creature froze and snapped its attention to Sneezy, until Dopey and Happy immediately outstretched arms to cover his nose. Sneezy managed to hold onto his breath, the creature losing focus for a moment and turning away, when Sneezy let out a massive bout of noise as he inhaled for the sneeze.

The creature immediately focused on Sneezy once again, and pushing off from the cave floor leapt towards the dwarf, only to be thrown away moments later as a booming sneeze came from his nose. The sound of the sneeze and the force it created quickly filled the entire cavern, and the creature that had leapt to attack him flew across the cavern before rapidly descending down onto the sharpened tip of a stalagmite. It pierced the creature, and the trio watched as it screeched and squirmed, the sound drawing the attention of other creatures down various other tunnels.

Even as the screeching of the dying creature faded out, the sound of others quickly started to fill the room, and Dopey, Happy, and Sneezy made a break for it.

Picking the first tunnel they came across, not having the time to try and sniff out the correct path to take, the three could hear squealing and scratching echoing from behind them, and knew the creatures were in hot pursuit. As Happy led the way with the lantern, his eyes narrowed as he thought he saw a light ahead. A small amount of hope was quickly dashed as he slammed into Doc, who had been coming at full sprint from the other direction.

Standing up as quickly as possible, looking past each other’s shoulder and recognizing the situation, Dopey was the first to start tugging the pair down the only other path they could pick from. Leading the way, Dopey sprinted ahead as fast as possible before catching on his tunic once again, and tripping forward. Gathering himself up, the light coming up from behind him as Doc and Happy caught up, Dopey could see a sudden and massive drop off feet from his position.

As Dopey braced himself, Happy slammed into the back of him, and Doc into the back of him. Dopey’s feet were sliding against the stone floor as one by one everyone recognized the threat and tried to stop, until the tips of Dopey’s shoes hung just barely over the edge. Thankfully, everyone had stopped just before the fall, that is, except for an angry voice in the back caused their hearts to sink.

“What’s the hold up! MOVE!” Grumpy shoved Sneezy in the very back, the force of him transmitting forward through the dwarfs, until it hit Dopey, who started to wobble on the edge. Doc went to reach for Dopey, when he saw the front of Dopey’s tunic suddenly enlarge and pull him forward. Slipping between the buttons, the gold nugget he’d found yanked Dopey away from Doc, and popped out beside the youngest of the dwarfs as he plummeted downwards.

Dopey quickly vanished from the light provided by the lantern into the darkness of the pit, but a pair of thuds could still be heard moments later. Everyone glared over their shoulder one at a time at Grumpy, who looked back. Seeing the pit - and no Dopey - he quickly realized his mistake. He went to protest but shrill noises behind them silenced all the dwarfs as they scattered to the sides of the ravine.

Pressing as close to the walls as they could, doing their best to remain silent and maintain their footing, the dwarfs watched as one of the creatures came into view. It moved slowly forward, listening intently and tapping against the ground in front of it as it went. The creature was careful, and it’s head turned from side to side, pale and blind eyes darting randomly about the dwarfs.

Crouching down slowly, Doc found a loose stone and glanced across the chasm. Pulling his arm back a bit, Doc tossed it across the path, the loud clatter of the stone drawing the creatures attention and causing it to rush forward. His brief flash of hope faded away as the creature skipped to a stop at the edge of the cliff. Its claws reached just over the edge, gripping tightly as it heard the stone clatter downwards.

As they all watched, disappointed that the plan hadn’t worked, Grumpy himself decided he was tired of running. Stepping forward, Grumpy reeled his foot back in a similar fashion to the way he’d kicked Happy through the tunnel earlier. Nobody dared make a sound to protest, but as they watched the force of Grumpy’s foot lift the creature off its feet and knock it off balance, they were all a combination impressed and relieved. The creature shrieked as gravity pulled it down into the abyss, a third thud echoing from below.

“I got em! I knocked that sucker right into the pit, didja see tha-” Grumpy was cheering and punching his fist into the air as he squeezed an eye shut, turning to his friends before glancing down the tunnel they’d come from. His eyes fell on several more creatures, those that had been accompanying the one that had just fallen into the pit. “Ah darn it…”

A series of clicks and hissing sounds, and a few of the creatures charged forward into a screaming Grumpy. He let out brutal shouts as he tried to punch and shove a the pair of creatures digging their claws into his body, tearing his clothing apart as he fought, until their combined activities forced them all over the edge. Grumpy’s shouting and the sounds of the creatures could be heard all the way down, until another series of thumps signaled the chasm had claimed three more lives.

Chapter Text

“I can’t… I can’t…” The dwarfs had stepped away from the chasm, collecting themselves in the tunnel and sitting, their heads all hung as they stared at their feet. The remaining creatures had fled back down the tunnels shortly after hearing the three go over the edge. Bashful’s head was in his hands, tears pouring out as he struggled to keep his sobbing as quiet as possible. Happy had an arm around bashul, rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him, but even the most cheerful of the group was struggling to find a positive light to shine on any of this.

“We’re still here aren’t we? Sneezy’s nose says we’re still on the right path, and with that many things around we’ve go to be getting close to the exit…” The words were logical, they all knew that, but even hearing them out loud didn’t provide even the smallest glimmer of hope.

“I miss Snow White, I miss singing, and just mining away. I miss Sleepy and Dopey, I even miss Grumpy…” Bashful was sobbing uncontrollably at this point, and Happy looked to Doc and Sneezy for help. Doc stands, his body and mind exhausted from all they’d been through since entering these caves. He crouched in front of bashful, whose sobbing was reaching dangerous levels, and slapped him.

“Now yank everything apart, I mean pull yourself together. We haven’t gotten this far from, this far by…” Doc struggled with his words, and Bashful couldn’t take it anymore. As much as Doc was trying to help, slapping had the opposite effect of calming him down, and he jumped up and started to sob uncontrollably through the tunnels.

“Oh no, Bashful!” Sneezy and Happy jumped up as Doc immediately started to run after Bashful. His loud sobs were enough to tell them which tunnels to turn down, but it was also no doubt going to attract the creatures as well. They’d need to catch up and quiet him as quickly as possible.

Doc finally got an eye of Bashful, the tail of his hat turning around a corner, before following him down a rather straight path. As he ran however, the next tunnel leading down ended up being steeper than expected. Bashful fell forward into the hole, and could be heard sliding down the entire way. Doc stood, unsure of what to do. They’d just lost a pair of friends to a downward descent, but the sudden sound of a splash coming back from the tunnel told him that, at the very least. there was water to break their fall at the bottom.

“Water, that’s a bad, I mean a great sign! Water up flows! Goes down. Water flows down from up. The surface!” Doc was positioning himself to climb down when Sneezy made a disgusted face and turned away.

“Splashing maybe, but it smells like anything but water. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go down there, we should try somewhere else.” Sneezy started to try and sniff other paths, but found himself quickly pulled back by Happy.

“No, no more loss. We split up before and as soon as we found each other we lost Grumpy and Dopey. We’re staying together from now on, it’s safer together, and if need be, I say we try it Grumpy’s way, and try and fight.” Happy slapped at the pick hanging from his side and pulled Sneezy back towards the tunnel.

Sneezy’s arms reached out and grabbed onto either side of the tunnel as Happy tried to push him downwards. Doc, knowing that Sneezy would try and split from the group, decided this would likely be for his own good, and aided in the pushing. Sneezy’s fingers gave way one by one, until the force caused the three of them to begin sliding down the tunnel together.

One at a time the three splashed into the fluid at the bottom of the tunnel, and immediately they bobbed back to the surface gasping for breath. Their lanterns had been extinguished, and they struggled forward through the liquid, sloshing through something far thicker than water. The smell, as Sneezy had said, was overpowering this close, and it was difficult not to puke.

As they pushed forward, the sound of something else splashing ahead caused them all to freeze briefly. Slowing their movements, they heard something exit the water, before a brief sobbing by Bashful told them what had gotten out of the water.

“Shhh.” Doc shushed the air, the only sound any of them made, before the three of them began to move forward once more. Bashful had listened, silencing his sobs, as the three hoisted themselves out of the liquid. “I’ve got a, I can do, I’ll… Just wait.”

Doc ruffled through his tunic, pulling out a small case that contained small temporary wicks and a single match. He felt it was always safe to have spare equipment just in case, and fumbling in the dark with the lantern, managed to light it. Wiping the filth from the glass around the lantern, Doc lifted it up to illuminate their surroundings. Immediately taking a look around, the four of them could see that they were alone, though their situation seemed to only be getting worst.

Glancing at the liquid they’d just escaped, sickly browns and reds swirled as visible chunks of matter floated across the surface. As Sneezy had suggested, this hadn’t been water, it was a waste site.

“This is worst than cleaning the latrines back home…” Happy gave his best attempt at a joke, whispering quietly trying to ease the tension while they had a moment to breath. The last thing he wanted was for Bashful to start sobbing or taking off again. Clearly Doc’s approach was far from effective, and Sneezy was struggling to even breath at the moment.

“At least it smells better than Grumpy…” It was far from a tasteful joke, but they all managed tiny grins thinking about their lost friend. Bashful let out a sigh and turned to Happy with a forced grin. “Thanks, I’m sorry about leaving like that. I’m glad you all came after me, even if I put everyone at risk.”

“I’m sorry Bashful, I shouldn’t, the way I, there’s better…” Doc struggled with his apology and Bashful just shook his head.

“It’s okay Doc. We’re in this together.” Standing up, Bashful smiled between his remaining friends, twirling his beard in his fingers, before turning around at the sound of something hitting the ground behind him. They all looked at a heap of clothing, flesh, and bone, quickly recognizing this as the body of Sleepy. Bashful let out a scream of terror, before the creature that had dropped the body descended down after it, landing on Bashful and shoving him into the ground.

Doc reached for his pick, but Happy extended a hand. Bashful’s screaming had already ceased, and another pair of creatures appeared side by side with the one currently tearing into him. The three could only watch in terror, as Bashful’s body was ripped apart, ribs cracked and flesh torn away by teeth and claws. The creatures, humanoid as they looked, were basically animals, biting into anywhere they could.

As the creatures ate through organs, tissue, and muscles, Sneezy, Doc, and Happy remained silent, frozen, their senses burned through completely, and the only thing keeping their stomachs in control was their survival instincts. They each knew that any sound, from too heavy a breath, to retching, would provide them identical deaths to Bashful and Sleepy.

So they waited.

Time ticked by, and the creatures eventually ate their fill, took care of some business, and crawled off through the cave. Happy could hear Sneezy’s cheeks puff slightly as his gag reflex surrendered, before he forced himself to swallow just to keep the noise down. They rose, slowly, taking steps past the corpses, doing their best not to glance down at the remains, and stepped in the directions the creatures had gone.

Their eyes burned as they tried to take in as much of their surroundings as possible. Doc looking forward, Happy to the left, and Sneezy to the right, the three moved incredibly slow through the cave, their minds filled with nothing but terror as they shuffled along inch by inch.

Luck would have it however, that even if these had been turned into waste grounds, a trickle of liquid to the side suggested that there was some minute amount of water in this area.

“Down from up.” Happy gave a glance to Doc as he pointed out a trickle of liquid beside their feet. Doc gave a nod, and with Sleepy right behind them, the three survivors followed a narrow trail of what they hoped was water.

As they ascended through the cave, the color of the trail gradually lost the visual features that the small pond below had acquired. Browns and reds faded, and soon the liquid was almost entirely clear of any impurities, growing in size as they climbed. While none of them wished for it, knowing that it hadn’t helped them at all so far, glimmers of hope started to build within each of them.

Chapter Text

The smell faded as they went, taking up less and less of their senses. While they individually smelled terrible, the air around them had started to smell familiar again. Earth, stone, minerals, and…

Sneezy sniffed at the air, his mind picking through numerous scents, until a twitch and some watering in his eyes told him that he could smell fresh air. He pulled the other two aside for a moment, doing his best to try and sniff a little less as he uses his smelly soaked tunic to block out any other scents.

“We’re close! I smell air, and there’s more and more water as we go.” Sneezy looked between Doc and Happy, who both cracked the faintest of smiles. They were so close, and they hardly felt like their bodies could go on. Sneezy crouched down by the water, pressing his face down and slurping it off the stone. It tasted metallic and earthy, but fresh, and Doc and Happy followed suit.

The three waited a few moments longer, catching their breath, and letting their muscles rest at least a little longer. They sensed they were at the final stretch, and the last thing they wanted to do was rush through this, or fall apart right near the end. So long as they moved slowly and silently, their bodies would hold.

Standing up, Doc extended his hands out to the other two dwarfs and pulled them up beside him. Taking the lantern from the ground, Doc lit the way up what was now a small stream trickling down a path it had carved away in the stone. Soon though, they encountered what looked like a wall. The water was trickling down from above, and while it had carved a smooth path for itself to flow through, the dwarfs would have to do their best to find any rough footings to make their way up.

Doc squinted up at the stone, and taking his hat off, covered the lantern briefly. Above them all, shining just over the edge of the wall they stood before, could be seen rays of light. Doc pointed, and the three nodded eagerly. Placing his hat back on his head, Doc mustered up the remainder of his strength, grabbed onto the first chunk of rock he could, and started to climb.

It was a slow and difficult climb. Doc lead the way, the lantern dangling from his hip to light the path for those beneath him, but with each movement his body made, the lantern swayed. It was a risk for the lantern to bump his pick, bump the wall, or even fall from his waist. Every action they made at this point was an incredible risk, but they had no other options left to them.

Eventually, Doc found his hand reaching up and over the edge of the wall. He lifted himself, hiked his leg over, and glanced down at Happy just a few inches below him. Extending a hand, he helped pull his heft companion up, and waited patiently for Sneezy to reach a high enough point to pull him up as well.

As Doc extended his hand however, Sneezy started to make an all too familiar face. Doc tried to pull him up, to get him over the edge as quickly as possible, but Sneezy shook his head and refused.

“Go.” Sneezy managed a single word before he took a massive inhale. Doc tried to reach out, his hand desperately trying to make it to Sneezy’s nose, but he wasn’t fast enough. With another burst of air, a booming echo flooded the final chamber of the caves, and Sneezy fell back down the hole they’d just climbed out of. Doc and Happy were blown back by the force of it, rolling and tumbling away, before the sounds of screeching creatures could be heard quickly climbing up behind them.

“RUN” Doc pulled himself to his feet, and quickly did his best to get over every boulder and stone in his path, desperately climbing towards the source of light breaking through the roof of the cave. Happy was right behind him, but the pair quickly found themselves completely still. Turning slowly around, they could see that several of the monsters had already made their way over the edge of the cliff, and with the dwarfs having stopped, had frozen themselves.

They were creeping slowly forward, sniffing at the air, heads turning in hopes to hear any sound whatsoever. Occasion clicks of their teeth would signal communication between one another as they tried to find their prey. Happy turned to look at Doc, extending one hand as his other reached towards his own waist. Undoing the clip that had held Dopey’s secret pick in his belt, Happy squeezed tightly to the handle and gestured for Doc to hand over his own.

Shaking his own head, Doc could hardly believe what Happy was suggesting. His eyes went between Happy, and the creatures, and he felt his heart sink as Happy gave him the widest smile he could.

Remember us. Happy mouthed the words and Doc slowly unclipped his own pick, and handed it across to Happy.

A pick in each hand, Happy turned back to the creatures, who were now barely a foot away. Taking a heavy breath, Happy extended both arms out, before letting his voice boom through the cavern as he charged downwards at the mass of monsters around him.

“HEIGH HOOOOOOO” As soon as he heard the first syllable, Doc turned and was scrambling for his life. He could continue to hear the chants of Heigh Ho every step he took, and before he knew it, fresh air was filling his lungs as he pushed up and out into the surface. Tearing through roots of trees, Doc pulled himself up and away from the darkness, and started to run.

He hadn’t a clue how deep in the forest he’d wound up. It felt like they’d traveled miles through the cave, and there wasn’t even the slightest sign of a path as he ran. All he knew was he had to get away from here as quickly as possible. If this was the only other exit, then home would be safe with the collapse of the mines. He’d be far, he’d be okay, he’d survive.

As he ran, the morning hours brought about the chirping of birds. Animals began to appear in all directions, and as he ran they approached, running beside him. His time with Snow White had shown him the beauty and kindness of the animals, and with some muttering and some awkward gestures as he ran, managed to receive guidance from the birds and the animals all the way back to their cottage.

As soon as he made it in, his strength collapsed. The animals helped guide him to the bed, where he collapsed in soaking and filthy rags. While the forests animals seemed less than pleased by the stench, they could detect his panic, and stayed by his side until the adrenaline in his body faded. The events slowly caught up with him, and any emotional strength Doc had had through the entire endeavor all but faded, and he cried.

He wept.

He mourned.

Chapter Text

The rubble fell before the swings of his pick. Men around him heaved boulders and heavy stones away from the pile, and even if the cave threatened to collapse, tall wooden supports were quickly fixed in place to keep everything stable. Doc stood at the front of several dozen men, everyone clad in shiny top of the line armor. In one hand, he held the most durable steel pick that one could buy on the market, and in the other, a sword custom built for his size. Around him, geared soldiers who specialized in tight corridors and had at least some experience in caves stretched their muscles to ready themselves for a fight.

In his time since losing his fellow dwarfs, Doc had gone through most of the steps of grief, and taken it even a step further. After accepting the loss of his friends, performing special memorial services, and even sending word to Snow White in her castle far away, Doc collected as much as their stashed gems and valuables as possible and headed into the nearest town.

There he spent weeks recruiting, buying, and searching out the best equipment and the best crew he could muster. At first the soldiers mostly laughed him off. No mercenary would take a contract from an insane dwarf in the mountains, especially one that could hardly string a sentence together. However, after Doc showed them what he offered in payment, on top of promising even more upon completion of the contract, men were signing up en masse.

Before he knew it, he had a specialized group of soldiers at his disposal, and the day had come where he’d take the final step of his own grief program.

Revenge.

With the final bit of the rubble cleared, and the cave stabilized, Doc looked at the shattered remains of their old tools. Tables, a cart, picks and spades, all lay destroyed and gathering dust. He lifted a lantern as he led the troops further into the cave, stepping through the hole Dopey had gotten stuck in all that time ago. Glaring out into the darkness, listening to the loud clanging of the armor around him, Doc smirked to himself.

Raising the lantern in one hand, sword out in the other, Doc led the troops on their mission. The mission to eliminate every single creature that lived in these caves, and wipe them out for good.

“HEIGH HO!” Shouting into the cave, letting those creatures know he was coming from them, Doc began to march down into the tunnels to avenge all of his fallen friends. “It’s off to work we go…”