Shiloh gave a small grin as they chatted. "That's good to hear. Most people like us gain experience and build skill over time. The only reason why I might look more skilled than you is that I've simply thrown myself into more foolish situations than you have. Once you stub your toe on the same tree root a hundred times, you learn to step over it when it shows up again." Watching Synthesis desiccate another slime crawling by, she added: "If this is your first time getting yourself into a bad situation, I'd say you're already doing better than me when I started." Her lips thinned as she remembered her first encounters with the fair folk. Getting lost in a cave was much less nerve-wracking compared to inhabiting the same space as those fiendish tricksters.

"There are a lot of things that you'll learn as you go being an odd-jobber. Some of them you only learn through practice, while others are best remembered through others' advice. And important thing is to know how to gauge risk and understand your own limits. I shouldn't be one to talk, as I'm guilty of the latter." Feeling refreshed, she ensured she had all of her things before standing back up. "Ready to continue? I'll lead the way this time; at the next crossroads we'll switch." She closed her eyes and activated her aura sight, this time using it with her other senses. A clear map of their current tunnel back to the crossroads showed the area was clear of creatures and now she had an outline of the middle portions of the other two passages too. There was higher levels of movement and activity in one, and the other had higher levels of flora. Most of the flora she detected were close to the walls, but she couldn't determine what exactly they were. It could be moss, tendrils, or even fungi. "From what I've gathered on the other two choices we had back there, one has more plant life and the other has more moving signatures. Let's try the one with the plants first. Here's hoping that their presence leads us upward."

Synthesis listened intently to Shiloh's words, taking it all to heart in her eagerness to learn.
"Yeah," she replied smiling as well, "You sure do sound like you've been about and done a lot. You give really wise sounding advice."
She then stood when the other did and fell naturally in step behind her as the woman began to lead the way. Stretching her free hand above her head as she walked, she brushed her fingers over the cold stone roof. She also kept a hopeful eye out for any more slimes by the light of the torch she held carefully in front of her, relishing the thought of the way they sizzled. Since when had she enjoyed anything so morbid?
Then she smiled; it was the kind of thing her mum would like. Maybe she was tapping a little into her demon side? Her mum was a free spirit and a true unstoppable rebel, with a fascination with the controversial and taboo. She loved poking fun at people, making them uncomfortable and playing psychological mind games to make them question themselves. But she was also brave, mischievous, fun and kind - and she usually knew when to stop.
For example, Synthesis recalled her mum had loved to scare the local children senseless if she caught them vandalising, bullying, trespassing or even stepping on snails. She enjoyed it so much she often confessed she hoped they would hurry up and break more rules so she could do it more.
Synthesis had never really understood her mum's "darker" tendencies before (though she was still loved her for it) and had taken after her father. Now it was nice to feel a connection to her have something nice to talk about when she got home.
On hearing that plants might be ahead, Synthesis wondered how many. Was it more than the usual littering of mosses along the wall? The thought of seeing a bit more green was appealing to the druid, especially when compared the other possibility of potential flesh scavengers or the Drow that she seemed to remember Shiloh mentioning, so she made no protest to the suggestion of the plant filled route. If there were enough of them, maybe she could even ask for directions! She knew it was a long shot to hope they might know anything but Synthesis couldn't help getting her hopes up a little.
"Can you tell how many plants there are?" she asked hesitantly - she didn't want to distract Shiloh if she was busy aura seeing. She also didn't want the woman to burn herself out multitasking, even if she had just spoken on the importance of knowing one's own boundaries, "Or if they are crowded very closely together?"
She purposefully didn't mention why she was asking such things because she didn't want to get anybody's hopes up.

Though Synthesis couldn't see her face from behind, Shiloh smiled a bit at the other's praise. She wasn't used to being complimented, and normally ignored such things. But the sincerity of the girl's words was genuine, and she couldn't overlook that. Things had been going well, all things considered and she intended for it to continue that way. Her sustained focus informed her that the life signatures she sensed were still stationary, and the phosphorescence of the creatures began to take shape as clusters of knobby protrusions from the cavern walls. Fungi, she thought to herself. Likely highly toxic when eaten or touched, and hopefully they weren't in fruiting season. She didn't smell anything strange or feel any ill affects as of yet, though it would probably be for the best if they hurried through and spent less time here.

When the caster inquired on the number of plants she could detect, Shiloh paused to formulate as best of an answer as she could. "No, I can't unfortunately. It's harder for me to distinguish how many when there are several of them together, so it usually comes up as a large, single life signature. It's near impossible for me to tell the difference between blades of grass in a field, and the same goes for plants in general. I can only detect individual signatures for larger things, like animals or people. Even a swarm of rats will just appear as several copies of the same thing moving around."

In truth, her ability to detect the presences of others worked on two levels: detection of aura and threat assessment. Detection of auras simply showed her what was there, like a blank map showing dots in locations. Threat assessment allowed her to discern if said presences were potentially hostile or not, and if she pushed it further she could even detect the distinct emotion being experienced. The last bit was rarely used, since she had to be relatively close to the target and was only used when she had no other options to ascertain it. It was a backup if she couldn't read their body language or voice tone.

The tunnel was now well-lit to the point where the torch's light barely contributed. Pulling her shirt over her nose again, Shiloh avoided stepping on or in any of the clusters of lichen or fungi caps. "I don't like the looks of this… There better not be any spores in the air. If you start feeling nauseous, dizzy, lightheaded, or think something's wrong with your eyes let me know immediately. I'll carry you out and try to get through as quick as I can." Maybe she was being too paranoid, she hoped she was. Was the anxiety of being underground getting to her already? She purposefully blocked out any thoughts on how much time had passed so far and kept moving forward. 

At the sight of the fungi, Synthesis grinned. This was perfect. It may not a beautiful green but lots of fungi were often a network of roots which formed one giant organism. Therefore, (if those pale yellow lumps could be classed as mushrooms) anything one murshroom knew, the whole enterty would be aware of and vice versa. Sure enough, as she peered closer she could see a spiderwebing of thin silvery roots or mycelium clinging to the stone walls, roof and cieling; conecting everything as far as the eye could see - which was admittedly not very far.
The fungus glows! How rare and beautiful! She thought. She looked at her torch. It wasn't really neccessary any more and Synthesis dreaded to think of what would happen if she caught the new plant on fire. Intead she looked for a bare patch of wall - it was surprisingly difficult to find - and snuffed it out on the surface.
"Not to worry," she chirped, "I'm good with plants. Just leave this to me!"
She then reached out her conciousness and made contact, a routine process for her. The fungi was a distinct presence. It wasn't very talkative, probably because of its slow speed of life down here in the dark. Apparently, the local plant gossip was that a small cluster of mushrooms had been trampled and broken by some thing quite some distance away down a side passage a couple of hours ago. Indeed, it was a vast network spanning many tunnels: it had been growing reletivly undisturbed for centuries and infiltrated anywhere it had reached. Using them, Synthesis was able to figure out the direction, gradient and shape of any tunnel it touched, provided it had a foothold on all the walls, cieling and the floor. However, gathering information this was both confusing and patchy if the plants didn't cover a surface and no matter matter how much she probed, nowhere did the fungus have any inkling of sunlight. All this given, Synthesis still thought it worthwhile to report her small success.
"I've got it!" she announced, "I can find out anything the fungi knows by communing with it. Is there anything I should look for? Passages that slope steeply upwards? Climbable surfaces? Airflow?"
Even as she said so, she began scanning for the first of these. She mused: Passages that lead up…

Watching her work, Shiloh was impressed. With this, maybe they could finally get out of these tunnels back up into the surface. The points she mentioned were good, and covered most of the bases. "All of those are good, but don't forget temperature and humidity changes too. Places that are drier and warmer could also point us towards an exit. Chances are openings might not be in direct sunlight due to their location and even overhangs shadowing them from above. Though the only thing we might need to worry about now are thermal vents which might throw us off…" Temporarily giving herself a break from her focus, she kept tabs on their surroundings while Synthesis gathered information. That was a neat trick of hers, asking the plants on what they knew. And plants were usually less aggressive than animals while being stationed at a single spot. She wondered how it all worked, but decided to ask the girl about that later once they were outside.

Drawing her sword in case she needed to use it for other practical purposes, she tested the balance and weight in her left hand. If they were to engage creatures in close-quarters combat she had to come up with some strategies on the most effective way to defend in a limited space. Thrusts and jabs appeared best, as swings were limited by the tunnel's width. If her blade wasn't effective she could always use her axe as backup.

Another interesting thing to note about the fungi was that despite its placid nature, most of the time the plant was reporting on its expansion. It spoke about where growth was going well and where it was more diffiucult to get the right nutrients for cell building. Some places the walls were good for purchase and other places the ground was uneven which slowed progress. It was interesting how in such a dead place, the only thing that happened to an organism (apart from the occasional trampling or a cave creature) was its own growth.
There were many tunnels that led upwards and, at a loss for a better method, Synthesis began following them along one by one until they either stopped or began to decend again. Following her third route, she jumped for joy. She had found water! Here was a place of growth as the fungi kept trying to progress but was blocked by water and had to traverse around what seemed a large body of it.
"Water!" she burst out. There the fungi was slightly unhealthy as the water often rotted or damadged it but it was clearly fresh as the fungi drunk from it and derived most of the moisture for the whole organism from it. Obviously, here there was a higher humidity and a slightly lower temperature in the area. The druid suspected there was even more there which the fungi couldn't tell her about. "And it's clean. The water must come from somewhere and go somewhere, perhaps above ground. Shall I lead the way?"
She couldn't easily say how far it was but if she had to guess she would say somewhere between five and ten minutes walk so she was keen to get going.

Shiloh jumped when the girl suddenly shouted. Seems like she had found something promising from her outburst of joy. "Alright, let's go then. Here's to hoping that the water source is a spring. I'll be right behind you." She motioned for Synthesis to lead with her free hand, and gave one last look over her shoulder to check if they were being followed. Activating her aura sense again she followed forward. The bright glow of the fungi faded as they pressed onward, and the passage felt like it was becoming narrower. She had to duck her head, and could easily touch both sides of the walls at once. Thankfully she wasn't afraid of narrow spaces, but it was a bit uncomfortable. She could smell something in the air, something different. It wasn't the same staleness like the stagnant air down below. There was moisture in the air to where she could taste it, and began looking all around for the source.

She twitched when a piece of dirt fell onto her head, but her heart skipped a beat when she felt the clump between her fingers. It wasn't grainy or coarse, but dark and rich…like soil. Closer inspection revealed tried wispy remains of plant roots and the thought of being so close to freedom caused something within her to start searching the tunnel ceiling frantically. Taking her sword she jabbed it upwards, jamming it between a small recess that looked promising. The sound of metal against dirt could be heard throughout the tunnel as small chunks were starting to fall from the spot she dug, until she felt the blade go through. Yanking it out, she shook off the dirt crumbles. The smell from before was stronger now, and she knew what it was: fresh air.

"Is that–? I can't believe it! Ha ha! I think we're almost at the surface!" Cleaning the dirt off the sword blade on her trousers she sheathed it, and then proceeded to widen the hole. "Synthesis! Over here! Take a look at this!" she shouted, clearing hunks of rock and dirt away until the hole above was large enough to put one's hand through. Right now she was ready to break down the entire ceiling if it meant they were finally out of the caverns.

Synthesis turned sharply at the noise behind her and then the exclamation. She had been concentrating deeply on leading them down the right tunnels towards the water so she was startled by the distraction. As far as she was aware through the dwindling fungi tendrils, tunnel widened into an opening with water only a couple metres ahead. She was keen to get there. But then Shiloh looked just as flushed with exitement as herself and it quickly became apparent why. There was now a hole in the ceiling wide enough for her arm. The natural light that filtered in to replace the fading glow of the fungi warmed her to her soul and the smell of freshly dislodged earth made her heady with gratitude.
She immediatly crowded over to the other and tried to peer out. Could they get out there? The cieling was about a foot above them and there appeared to be about another foot of material between the tunnel and the surface. If they made the hole wide enough, she could give Shiloh a push and the woman could then pull her up. She began pulling clumps of earth from above them. She didn't mind the rain of soil on her face as it was a tantalising taste of the world above. She couldn't wait to hug a tree and feel the rain. Then a large stone fell and hit her painfully on the sholder. Maybe this was a bit risky… but she did so want to be free.
"Can we get out here? I don't want to start a landslide onto us. If you stand on me to get out, you could then pull me from above. Is it doable?"

With the initial rush of excitement waning, she noticed when a stone hit the other girl as they dug. "Let's see if we can make it wide enough to crawl out of, that way we can reduce the chances of digging away more than necessary. I've got a grappling hook in my pack, I'll get that set up and see if I can secure it to something out there once I'm out. I'll be counting on you to give me a boost, alright? Soon we'll finally be out of here." Taking her time to breathe in the new air, she calmed herself down and continued to widen the hole with Synthesis. Once she was sure she could pass through, she pulled out her grappling hook and knotted it to her rope, and secured it to her waist. Giving a nod to the girl, she was ready to go. It was now that she realized how tired she felt, emotionally and physically. But the thought of freedom within the reach of their fingertips gave her renewed strength. Hope was a powerful thing, and even when the body wasn't able to continue on it would make the impossible reality.  

As she dug, Synthesis was also on the verge of acknowleging her own physical, mental and emotional fatigue. But not quite yet. She watched with interest as she saw Shiloh knot her rope. The woman was definitly prepared. She nodded and knelt down so she would be more strong and stable. She then pulled her hair over her sholder so it wouldn't be accidentally pulled because that would probably hurt more than being stepped on. As as after thought, she let her staff slide out from the grip of her wings so that wouldn't be in the way either.
"Don't worry about standing on my sholders, wings or whatever you need to. I won't break as long as I stay low."