Slowly, Faye finger approached the stalk. As the tips brushed it, however, a chain reaction happened. There, from the place her fingers touched, the light of the stalk began to dim. It dimmed slowly at first, but the pace picked up until within a few moments, the entirety of the stalk that she'd brushed had dimmed completely.
She hurriedly pulled her hand away, afraid she'd somehow harmed the thing. She held her breath as she watched the others and listened for any sound of some sort of alarm.
To have a reaction to touch seemed to serve some sort of purpose. Whether that purpose was a defensive purpose or perhaps an alarm purpose, Faye did not know.
She strained her ears to catch any sort of movement nearby. There came none. Faye let out a breath of relief as her attention settled into the bow blackened stalk.
She sniffed her finger tips, to see if there was any residue left behind. Rubbing them together, she felt nothing. Her hand and body felt fine after coming into contact with the strange plant. Slowly, she stepped past that first one. She did her best to avoid touching any others as she tried to see around the bend in the cave. It was difficult, but she was able to strain her neck and get a small glimpse. There were definitely other stalks around the bend, but it was hard to see anything other than that.
Her curiosity burned in her chest, screaming at her to continue. Faye bit her lip and took another couple steps forward. She felt her armored shoulder brush against another stalk and saw it grow dim from the corner of her eye. Her attention did not last long on that dimming stalk, however.
There, around the bend, the cave opened up to become quite large. The ceiling above was dozens of feet tall, and the walls stretched open for hundreds of feet.
The cavern danced in the dim lights of the luminescent stalks. Large rock formations jutted out from the floor of the cavern, splitting it almost into two. The uneven floor and walls were clearly naturally formed, there was a steep drop off right past the bend. A drop of perhaps ten feet oils greet any that were foolish enough to step in without caution. The stalks grew thick close to the entrance of the cavern, but were sparse throughout the bulk of the interior. The light they gave, however, was enough to hint at the depths the cavern could reach.
Faye took her time taking in the unfamiliar, yet incredible, sight. The luminous fungus illuminating a cavern that was perhaps never meant to see light was spectacular. The depths of the cavern hinted to both danger and excitement. Her human senses were unable to take in much in the darkened corners, but every shadow that shuddered within them cause another chill to run down her spine.
This....this was magnificent. Not just the sight of it all, but the promise it offered. Faye knew that should she try to traverse further, she would see and experience things she had never heard of before.
After taking in the sight for more than long enough, Faye finally clamped down her excitement and wish to move forward. Though the prospect was exciting, she was no fool.
The Underdark was not a tourist attraction. It was not somewhere you could go without preparations being made. It was a gangrenous wilderness that held the possibility of death around every corner.
Faye was too weak to go forward. She was too weak to have gone as far as she already had.
With a feeling of unwillingness, Faye turned back to head toward the cellar once again. The only thing that gave her any consolation was the fact that she could return her after she'd grown stronger.
Faye promised herself that someday, hopefully soon, she would return here, to this fallen city, to delve into the depths of this cave. Her curiosity burned from within her as she made her way out of the tunnels. She wanted to go forward!
'Someday, I will return here, and then, your secrets will be mine!'
The ground above the cellar was dried earlier than she had expected. After returning to the cellar, Faye found that the ground was dry enough that she had little trouble climbing out. Her previous attempts caused the ground to be a bit dug out, but it didn't make it impossible. As she pulled herself up, Faye sighed in satisfaction.
"Fucking FINALLY!" She screamed out in elation.
She'd spent two days below ground trapped in that godforsaken cellar. If she'd been more prepared, Faye knew she wouldn't have been in that predicament. What adventurer left any town or city without a freaking rope! None! It was a basic necessity! Faye felt her frustration grow as she thought back to how she'd caused her original predicament.
Next time, she wouldn't make the same mistake! A human shouldn't sleep underground, they didn't belong there! The trees were best suited for her!
The sun was still high in the sky as Faye began to make her way away from the hole that she'd found herself stuck in.
She'd had a plan for where to go next before being stuck, but it was obviously postponed.
Her feet felt heavy as Faye slowly made her way to to one time home and once safe haven, the old orphanage.