They're much more careful the next time they send the rats in, and Eddie has to spend an extra twenty minutes convincing them that he won't let any of the rest of them die. They aren't looking for any more Demogorgons, this time, they're looking for anything else, any other signs of life. The rats are under strict orders to run the second they come across anything moving, though, and their scouting is really more about trying to find where the hotspots of feeling in the Upside Down are, the places where the particles feel more clustered.
They stay away from the cave serving as the Demogorgon incubator, heading further into the other parts of the woods. This time Legolas and Gimli check out the Creel house, which is still strangely empty. It feels like there are more bats, though, and when Merry and Pippin head East towards the other caves Eddie thinks he can feel more sparks of life, though not exactly the same as the Demogorgons. Some of the clusters feel smaller, especially as they get closer, but some of them feel larger—one particular spot towards one of the cracks in the ground feels much larger than the Demogorgons.
Eddie tells Merry and Pippin that they don't have to go any closer, but, in keeping with their namesakes, they're not great at following directions, and they slowly creep closer until they can get a better view. Eddie is terrified that it's going to be Vecna, whispering to Dustin that if it is he may have to sever the links while they're still there just to protect his own mind, which makes Dustin punch him in the arm and give a speech about how he can't abandon the fellowship when they need him most. He's, like, really invested in the rats, maybe more than Eddie is, and he wonders if he shouldn't be subjecting him to the stress of their scouting missions.
Then he remembers that Dustin literally watched him die and figures that the damage is probably already done.
Merry and Pippin get close enough to see it, and Eddie feels his heart surge in time with theirs, especially because they immediately turn and run as fast as they can. "Holy shit..." Eddie says.
"What?" Steve asks, intent. "Was it Vecna?"
"No," Eddie says, opening his eyes. "It was these...fleshy spider-crab things? Like, bear-sized, maybe?"
"Oh, good." Nancy says. "I've fought one of those before."
"At least it's not the big spider again." Steve says, trying to be positive.
Eddie, still connected to the link, gets a new feeling, one coming from Legolas. "There's something else, too, back towards the lake. It's..."
He gets the quickest flash of what they see then they're running, too.
"That is a lot of tentacles."
"A KRAKEN?!" Dustin immediately whisper-screams.
"Sort of like a bunch of little dog-sized krakens." Eddie says. They're on land, though, not in the water."
The rats all feel the others running and turn to do the same, and this time they all thankfully get back unscathed, though their panic does make Eddie end up on his back again. He opens his eyes to Steve leaning over him, brown eyes dark and worried. "Are you sure this link thing doesn't hurt you?"
"Nah," Eddie says, sitting up, "But I'm going to need to get a hell of a lot better at it if I want to fight Vecna."
"You mean..." Robin says.
"Yeah," Eddie answers. "I want to try and control his army."
"The way you control the bats?" Vickie clarifies.
"That's genius, actually!" Nancy says. "I mean, it's also maybe suicide or certain death or playing into Vecna's hands, but also genius!"
Steve catches his eye. "...You're not going in, are you?"
Eddie doesn't want to look at him. "I might have to."
"Not if it means putting yourself at risk exactly how he wants you to!"
Dustin looks upset, tugging at Eddie's sleeve to get his attention. "I don't want you to go again, man. We haven't even finished Castle Amber!" Eddie knows it's about a lot more than their D&D campaign, can see the way that Dustin's fists are clenched, can feel how fast his breathing has gotten in the last few minutes.
"...I'll come back this time." Eddie says, not looking at Steve. He reaches out to ruffle his hair. "Promise."
