The group ventured deeper into the cavern, the air heavy with dampness, the walls slick with a cold moisture that made every step feel unsure. The low hum that had accompanied them earlier seemed to come from the very rocks themselves, reverberating through the floor beneath their feet. It was disorienting, and the feeling of being surrounded by the unyielding rock and shadow only deepened their anxiety.
"We have to find a way out," Lumien muttered to no one in particular, his eyes scanning the surroundings. "There has to be something here that leads to the surface."
Chris walked a few steps ahead, his long strides quick and efficient, his mind clearly already on the task at hand. "We'll find something," he said, voice calm but firm.
Yusuf, trailing behind, kept glancing around, his unease palpable. "This place doesn't feel like it was made for humans… It's too wrong."
"We're not here by accident," Elijah said from beside him, his voice too light for the tension in the air. "There's more to it than we're seeing."
They walked in silence for a while, each step taking them deeper into the winding, narrow passageways of the cave. The air grew colder, the shadows darker, and their steps echoed off the walls like a distant memory of a time when they had been safe.
It was only when they reached the end of a particularly long tunnel that they saw it.
A cluster of trees—more strange, dark plants, growing in the most impossible of places. Their thin, dark trunks twisted upward like unnatural growths, their spindly leaves trembling in the air. And there, gathered around the base of the trees, were creatures. Not large, terrifying beasts, but strange, herbivore-like creatures. Small, hunched, and feeding on the plants that had no business surviving in the pitch-darkness of the cave.
Elijah stared at them for a long moment before speaking, breaking the silence. "Are those… are those edible?"
The others stared at the creatures for a moment. They weren't large, but they certainly looked like they could provide food—food they desperately needed.
"Think we can take one down?" Yusuf asked, his tone a mix of hesitation and hunger.
"Are we seriously thinking of eating one of them?" Jasmine said incredulously, but her eyes lingered on the creatures, calculating.
"Why not?" Lumien asked, stepping closer. "We don't know what else we can survive on."
"Are you guys serious…?" Ava asked her voice shaking which made the others glance at her "What do you mean?" Allen asked to which she answered "have any of you seen a creature like that before, a plant eating creature that size living in a place this dark and suffocating..How?"
The group went silent with the realization that hit them.
Elijah, who had been quiet up until now, voiced his thoughts "I didn't comment anything on this sense I thought we all came to the same unbelievable conclusion"
"What are you saying" Mia asked with a broken voice showing that she knew exactly what he was talking about. "I'm saying what the diary guy said; this looks like a freaking transmigration story"
"Don't be ridiculous, there is no such thing as transmigration" Jasmine shot with a hint fear and denial
Elijah looked at her deadpan "You literally hatched out of crystal eggs "
"Pull yourself together, this is not the time nor the place for despair, I'm not saying it's what happened, I'm saying it's a possibility and I refuse to deny it just because I'm afraid it comes true"
After a moment of silence Mia spoke" You're right, we can't stop at every unconfirmed theory, we will take a step at a time"
"But what if it is true?" asked Ava and Allen next to her answered "we deal with it then"
The group exchanged glances, and a new found agreement turned their gazes to their potential pray