History Main / TrailOfBreadcrumbs

* At one point in ''Literature/FifthQuarter'' as he is relieving himself under guard, Prince Otavas slips one of his rings onto a thorn hoping against hope that whoever next came to the remote military outpost the mad {{Necromancer}} that kidnapped him just emptied out would see it and recognize it for what (and whose) it was. Fortunately for him Bard Karlene (along with a {{BodySurf}}ing rebellious governor looking for a new ride and an increasingly unbalanced rogue Imperial {{Assassin}} or [[SharingABody two]], but she had to take what help she could get) was [[SternChase mere hours behind]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "The Smurfiest of Friends", Brainy inadvertently leaves behind a trail of books in the forest that Clumsy follows to find his friend when he ends up being captured by an imp who simply wants him around to power his pampering machines.

* ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth In ''For Love Of Mother-Not'', Flinx comes home to find that Mother Mastiff has been kidnapped. Searching her shop for clues, he discovers that a large bottle of perfume has been emptied because she'd doused herself with it to ensure that tracking animals employed by any would-be rescuers will have a clear scent trail to follow.

* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': One of the stories in ''Oathblood'' has a more up-scale version of this. Two kidnapped children lay a trail of silk and peals so that their teachers can find them.

* One episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has the Team Rocket capture all the Pokemon in a gathering, including Ash's and his friend's; they were tracked down by following a trail of ink shot by Misty's Horsea on the road.
** In the ''Journeys'' series, at one point James tries to lead [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave Morpeko]] into the wild to get rid of it, but the little glutton uses a small trail of snacks to find its way back to him.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'', when George goes to the moon with Elroy's space scout troupe, he gets lost with his boss's son, Arthur. Elroy and the other scouts leave them a trail of torn map for them to follow back to camp, but it gets sucked up by a random moon cleaner.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', Mac and Bloo get lost in a maze of hallways in Foster's, Bloo decides to leave a trail of laundry from the laundry room to help them keep track of where they've been. Unfortunately, Wilt, Coco, and Eduardo (who are looking for Mac and Bloo) see the laundry and decide to pick it up. Hilariously, at one point, Coco eats some of the clothing, making it literally bread crumbs in a sense.

* One ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' story has Usagi finding a wounded warrior. The man claims to be a bounty hunter seeking a bandit named Toshi, and asks Usagi to take him to his hideout nearby. When they get to the hideout, Usagi is mobbed by bandits, and the warrior reveals himself to be Toshi. Before they can [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefullness kill Usagi]], a pack of ''real'' bounty hunters attack the hideout. Usagi reveals that on the way, he left a trail of broken twigs for anyone to follow. If Toshi had been a real bounty hunter as he claimed, it would mean nothing, but it's a good thing Usagi had been CrazyPrepared, eh?