Kiri stood paralyzed, staring at the skull. She couldn't tell whether it was grinning at her or if it just looked that way because all of it's teeth were exposed. They were oddly intimidating for a deer, with long canines that jutted outward like a predator's.
"H...Hello...?" Kiri managed, her voice involuntarily shooting up a couple of octaves.
She held her breath for long moments but it didn't move an inch. Even the little mushroom
creatures seemed to be anticipating something. They peeked up from beneath their colored caps with curiosity as Kiri inched towards the skull, her gaze almost afraid to leave its empty eye sockets. As she neared, a tiny bit of motion caught her eye. The maw seemed to be dripping...was that drool??!
"HA!!!!" It lurched forward and snapped its teeth, straining the vines that held it in place.
"AaaAAHHh!!" Kiri screamed as she stumbled backwards.
The head began cackling deliriously.
Kiri wanted to tell it to knock it off, but she was frightened so she just scowled as she stared. Eventually the laughter led to a bout of violent coughing and it took a while before the thing caught its breath.
"Ahem! Bit of moss in there..."
Kiri had no idea how to respond, but this was the first thing she had come across yet that could sort-of communicate, so she tried again.
"Excuse me...uh..."
"Yeeess, Helloooo" it drawled in a low, rumbly voice. Kiri could've sworn the thing had rolled its missing eyes. It added with a touch of humor: "I wouldn't poke the Somas, they're very venomous."
It took a moment for Kiri to realize that the head was referring to the little mushroom people that were still watching her intently. "Oh. Thanks..." She summoned her nerve and decided to make use of this surprising lucidity: "You wouldn't happen to know the quickest way out of this forest, would you?" but the head just looked at her silently (or at least she thought it did)... Kiri continued on: "There was a stream, I could hear it just a minute ago—"
"Somas." It repeated their name by way of explanation. "Little strangelings think it's music." Its voice trailed off but Kiri could just make out murmuring: "Clap and tap and whisper all cursed night... S'not magic, just ritual clacking."
"I— see." Kiri did not see. She began looking around nervously, the sun had set and it was growing quite dark. She neither wanted to stay nor go, but reluctantly began planning an exit route. After all her shuffling around, the mushrooms now were completely surrounding her. She entreated the skull one last time "Please, where are we? What place is this??"
"—Well that's rather obvious..." A ray of hope! "...You're here. In this very spot where I have been waiting." The head explained with a great deal of self assured-ness.
...
Needless to say, Kiri felt as though she'd wasted enough time, so she turned to climb out over the mushrooms. She froze immediately, with one foot raised. While she had been attempting to converse with a nutty skull demon, the mushroom people had begun ever so quietly tapping rocks together and clapping their hands. Some were even humming! It wasn't until they paused that it became apparent— the sound was like that of a far away river! She didn't move a muscle, holding her breath as the creatures became bolder. There were so many, it sounded so real.
The skull was not impressed "They just looove a captive audience..." he droned. Kiri however, felt like her heart was about to explode as her eyes grew round as saucers, watering like a chibi's.
"They're...precious!!!" She whisper-yelled.
"By the Grey-God, they will decompose you by morning!"
Feeling excessively unwelcome and dejected, Kiri lost her temper: "Well, where am I supposed to go?? There's something out there— it was following me! I'm supposed to just continue trudging through a dark forest with nothing to navigate with!?" Kiri felt a phantom hand squeezing her heart as she sank further into fear and frustration. Her outburst had startled the Soma once again and she sat in their shocked silence for some time, feeling the frightening reality of her situation setting in.
With a bit of weary irony, Kiri bowed low to the creatures all around her and finally went to get out of the creek bed. It was slippery, so she ignored the disgruntled skull and used the roots of its large tree to drag herself out. The surrounding forest was already pitch black, but a sliver of moonlight managed to pierce the canopy. It illuminated a spot on the ground before her as she caught her breath. She had found a small clearing, the tree at her back stood alone by a radius of 10 or so feet. It was just enough to make an attacker visible, if only moments before...well she wouldn't think about that. The head on the other side of the tree gave her some sense of company and Kiri could only hope that the Soma wouldn't go so far as to scale their creek bed to drain her nutrients. She selected a large stick for self-defense and settled against the tree to wait for morning.