Secondly

     The wind stirred in the trees behind him, bringing reality with it. He could hear elms and oaks rustling and swaying calmly as he pondered what he'd seen. He squinted. It looked the same. Didn't it? In many ways it looked... cleaner. He could have sworn the vines were on the door before him rather than just around its frame... And he knew he'd been looking at a shack before, right? He glanced around, then back at the structure. A cave stood before him, door hanging open. Had he just imagined a shack? Perhaps the vines made it appear as though it were?
     This wouldn't have been the first time sights and certainties had changed around  him. The pathway, the birds, and now the vines on the shack.. or cave.  I just have to stay on guard. Terin took a breath and released it slowly.
     If something had changed, it was disconcerting though not enough to stop him from going into the depths of... whatever this was. The closer he looked the more certain he became that there was something inside. Something significant, pulling at him. He felt it like an unsettled pool of water in his chest, resonating. Or was it more like restlessness? Either way, he knew this was where he was supposed to be. The quivering urge told him what he sought was through that door.
     Before he could think about stepping forward he had breached the entryway and noticed gilded metalwork he hadn't before. Had it always been there or was that something that changed too? Still curious he peered into the cave.
     A pale blue light shown in the back of a large expanse of a room. High stone ceilings  and walls glittered with reflective minerals. It looked like the light came from a small oil lamp at the far end of the cave, partially obscured by large man sized boulders. A shift of shadow and crackling noises came from behind a boulder. 
     Terin took a step back, "Hello...?" If something didn't want him there it was best to know now. He could make it to the door in a few seconds. Sooner if he ran.
     "Have a seat an' be done wit it already. How long you been standin out there, eh? Since lass week? HAH." A few moments passed and Terin stood stock still. The shadows shifted again. Beady eyes surrounded by dark hair peered around a boulder. They scanned him up and down appraising. "Wha, you jus wanna stand there then? Fine." The head darted back behind the boulder. The crackling noises continued. 
     "I'm Terin. Who are you?" he said, purposefully trying not to swallow.
     "Look boy, I ain't had a proper smoke all day so git your tiny fingers over here an help. Then we'll talk about names."
     Terin slowly walked toward the boulders. It was cool inside the cave. The ceiling made it seem like the dead of night despite the sun from the doorway. Several boulders were scattered throughout the cave but as he walked nearer he noticed many of them along the back wall where he was headed. They formed almost a complete circle with a narrow pathway facing the cave's entrance. He gingerly approached the gap where the saw the hairy head appear. Several multicolored blankets lay spread on the floor in the small alcove. A pillow or two sat arranged around the lamp and the figure. A large sack leaned against a boulder beside it. The hairy figure sat hunched by the light, intently twiddling with something in its hands. Its entire body was covered in thick dark hair except for a smaller sack slung around its shoulder. It looked up expectantly. Terin froze.
     "Hurry up before I decide to smoke you instead!" it said with impatience, holding out its hands. That was a touch more sincerity than Terin wanted to hear. He scampered up and knelt down by the lamp, across from the figure.  He immediately felt calmed by the blankets and light. It was amazing what a flame could do for the spirit. 
     The figure handed over a small white papers and a fistful of shredded leaves. His father used to smoke tobacco. With another minute and careful preparation Terin handed back a cigarette and the figure's beaded eyes glistened with appreciation. It produced a match from inside the small pouch and lit one end, the other perched in its mouth. It sighed heavily after the first drag.
      "Thank the god, boy. I knew those small fingers could do it."