She stared at him, then took his hand.

She just silently follows.

"Don't want to get separated in here." Puck curled his fingers tight around hers. "Let's go, then. Rusty can bring up the rear. That way, if we're jumped from behind, we won't lose anything important."

Ironhorse gave an indignant snort as they entered the tunnel. The shadows closed in on them like grasping fingers. Around them, the corridor pulsed with life, slithering, creaking, unfurling with faint hissing sounds. Whispers and strange voices drifted down the hallway, murmuring words that were inaudible. As they stepped in farther, the hole behind them shut with a quiet hiss, trapping them within the Briars.

She didn't say anything and moved forward.

She just stays silent.

"This way," came Grimalkin's disembodied voice up ahead. "Try to stay close."

The bristly walls of the corridor seemed to press in on them. Puck didn't release Lise's hand, but they had to walk single file through the tunnel to avoid behind scratched.

The tunnel finally opened up into a small hollow with tunnels and paths twisting off in all directions. Overhead, the canopy of bramble shut out the light, so thick you couldn't see the sky through the cracks. Bones lay here and there among the thorns, bleached white and gleaming in the darkness. A skull grinned at them from a tangle of brambles, empty eye sockets crawling with worms.

She didn't release his hand either, keeping her eyes forward and trying not to look at the bones and such.

She notices the two holding hands. She doesnt say anything about it.

The cat leaped atop a large skull and regarded each of them in turn. "We are going deep into the Briars now," he stated in a calm, very soft voice. "I would tell you what we might face, but perhaps it is better that I do not. Try to be silent. Do not separate. Do not go down another path. And stay away from any doors you come across. Many of the gates here are a one-way trip; go through one and you might not be able to go back. Are you ready?"

She simply nods.