Discovering the Deer Spirit Stone

"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"ARE WE THERE YET?!"
"No."
"PLEASE MIRA PLEASE ZIOS PLEASE WHATEVER!!!"
"No!"
"WAAAH!"
"SHUT...UP!"
This was one of many interesting exchanges the crabby Sir Gilbert and Peck had while exploring the Forgotten Valley as the mist lapped at their fur and the brisk breeze blew through the vast valley. Although Sir Gilbert wished he could bring Parlan (he needed some in-field engagement) and Zion (that young boy needed something else to think about besides Frost), Liza insisted that it was best he looked with one more Alpha that was on standby for the Deer Spirit Stone.
Unfortunately, either it was to pick Peck or both Ruby and Edmund. (Those two had been making out for no reason for the past several months, and Sir Gilbert no longer tolerated that) At least he didn't have a choice of Greely or Edmuby. That would've been a nightmare.
Around them, the insectly hisses of phantoms sent shivers down Sir Gilbert's spine as they lurked in the shadows. The shivers must've been working overtime; as he was subjected to much shivering as he wished he'd brought more than his cloak and some gauntlets.
"We're almost there!" cried Peck. This time, Sir Gilbert didn't believe what she said, since she'd say "We're almost there!" and then let Sir Gilbert sprint forward... and either fall into the river or headbutt a rock, and the cataclysmic laughing of Peck would pounce. It was repetitive and annoying.
CRASH!
Sir Gilbert accidentially squashed himself against a large boulder.
Growling in frustration, he tried to seal his ears with imaginary (or real, if he really needed to) wax, but the laughter of Peck still came through his improvised seal.
"AAAGH! PEEEECK!" he cried.
Peck started to laugh so hard that it came out in short, seperated bursts.
In a flash, Sir Gilbert, the Warrior Alpha, pinned Peck down and held his claws over her neck.
"I know that Samantha and her friends are waiting for you at Tunnel Town, but if you do that ONE MORE TIME, then I'll simply go 'Off with your head!' I don't care if your friends grieve or if Liza exiles me, I'LL DO IT!" he growled.
Peck's eyes averted from his to the boulder.
"I'm sorry, Sir Gilbert, that you didn't heed my warning. The mist here is very thick due to the magic underneath the rock."
Peck pointed at the rock, which Sir Gilbert now noted. He let Peck go in surprise.
Purple cracks spread across it's face, with one in there that fit a boomseed. Hollow cracks were on the ground around it, and mirages of an animal not clear trotted out of the cracks, then vanished.
"We've found it." sighed Sir Gilbert.

As soon as Sir Gilbert stopped speaking, Peck lobbed a boomseed at the boulder with all her might!
Sir Gilbert and Peck spent a minute coughing as the noxious fumes of the extremely powerful yet smelly boomseed.
"Special *cough* recipe *huck* that requires a phantom skin and a special mixture of milk and *cough* mushroom, alongside the pulp of a boomseed alongside the other ingredients." explained Peck.
Sir Gilbert was relieved he wasn't Peck or Cosmo, because nature and the recipes for useful things like boomseeds were too complex for his taste. He yawned and glanced at the opening underneath the boulder...
....and pushed Peck in.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh......." cried Peck as she tumbled into the depths of the cavern.
Sir Gilbert didn't hear her hit the ground, and panicked instantly. Although he DID threaten Peck with death, he was noble enough to not actually mean it! Had something bad happened there?
He gazed down into the crevasse, and saw Peck lying limp on a pile of shed fur (luckily, it wasn't too new or old, and it was the color of snow with no blemishes) with blood trickling from her mouth.
"PECK!" cried Sir Gilbert. He wanted to dive down into the pit and douse her blood, but if the fall got someone as nimble as Peck, then he wouldn't dare go down without the help of Graham (inventions) or Amelia (immense agility and smartness).
But that might take too long.
Just when Sir Gilbert was almost ready to see if he could call on some super powers in a Shaman avatar, Peck wiped the blood off of her face and started to chortle - then chuckle - then laugh - then hyrestically laugh. (No, Hyrestia doesn't make your hyrestical, its kind of a weird connection)
"Oldest trick in the book." sighed Peck. She held up a bottle of tomato sauce in her paw.
Sir Gilbert's face went from shocked to pondering to anger to infuriation.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Sir Gilbert jumped into the pit, and started to wrestle Peck, both of them laughing hyrestically.

After some horseplay, Sir Gilbert caught the scent of phantoms... yet, the scent of fresh, humid soil and nature. The musk of phantom almost overpowered it, but it was still there.
"Peck, we need to progress. I sense danger." said Sir Gilbert. Whenever a phantom was around, especially a more natural area, he sensed danger.
Peck nodded grimly, despite all her recent pranks. For some reason, she could be serious in rare cases.
They walked through the tunnel leading out of the musky room. Roots and soil were around them, and the chirps of mice and moles resonated through the earth.
They went through muskier rooms, some almost the same as the cavern they entered in (with different pigments of deer down and no hole), some developed (with pipes that seemed to once connect to the sewer Phantom base, although the Alphas seemed to not want to either explore the sinkhole where it was or the Vortex base)and some just random (seriously, radioactive donuts?)
Finally, they came to the room where most of the musk was pooled. There was nothing in the dirt room...
...except for some phantoms armed with swords in a circle around a brown orb with a vibe of the souls of deer. Faint images of prancing deer escaped from it, but dissolved easily in the tainted air.
Before the phantoms saw them, Sir Gilbert and Peck leapt on the circle, and with some well-placed slashes, destroyed them.
Grasping the Deer Spirit Stone, Peck smiled.
"Too easy."
As if her words triggered something, deep cackling filled the caverns.
"IT IS TOO EASY." cackled the voice. "THIS WAS AN EASY VICTORY, PAWNS OF JAMAA. BUT FEAR ME ONCE YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THE POWER OF THE PAST..."
A fwoosh went through the cavern, and it swept the Alphas off of their feet, despite Sir Gilbert's weight and Peck's sticky paint that she could squirt at will.
"APOPHIS."