Nitro winced as her paw hit something sticky on the ground. It made a squelch as she yanked it back, shaking it back and forth while going "ew ew ew!" Tauko turned to look at her and cocked his head curiously, before seeing the weird brown gelatinous substance she was attempting to shake off. The reef belemoid grimaced and made a point of looking around for more of that stuff to avoid stepping in it as well. Taking in the sights, endless deep damp green stretched before them. The pair were still near enough the surface level that the walls were visible on either side of them through the foliage. Mosses covered the grey stone and vines seemed to wrap across the stones, clinging to edges like mountain goats- staying out when it seemed impossible. The further the tunnel stretched on though, the dim light filtering through bars at the top of the stone seemed to fade away into tones of murky green. It reminded the explorers more of the swamps of L'Hatzif than anything else, but they both knew this was not . Nitro could just make out a large plant that seemed to move in the wind up ahead, large leaves swaying, and something that looked vaguely head shaped and bulbous on top bounced softly. It was enticing.

Finally getting rid of the weird mud(?) Nitro nodded her head towards the plant, trying to silently communicate with Tauko that she was going to check it out. Tauko squinted at the plant, but crept silently behind the tsab. Both colonists were far too curious about the strange world in the bunker. Nearing the plant. Nitro could clearly make out a slit nearly all the way around the bulb. Having seen some strange plants in her home region, she backed up a bit, wary that this slit could indicate the ability to open. Backing up suddenly though, Tauko was unprepared. The reef Bele yelped and leapt back as Nitro stumbled backwards, directly into her friend.

Alerted to the sound, the plant suddenly stopped moving. Just as Nitro feared, the slit seemed to roll open, much like an eyelid- but revealed a maw of sharp teeth inside. The plant made a lunge towards the region of sound and attempted to latch onto Tauko. Both colonists sprung into action, Tauko jumping out of the way further, and nitro barreling towards the plant, intending to throw her horn into it. For all of its swaying the plant didn't move out of the charging tsab's way, and it seemed that its movement was indeed limited to mimicking a breeze. Nitro's horn found purchase and tore a hole in the plant, causing it to shrink away.

Taking the opening, Tauko sprinted past the plant, deeper into the tunnel, catching Nitro's side on the way to communicate to follow. The reef Bele was not about to make the same mistake twice and let the plant know where the two of them were heading by trying to communicate out loud. Nitro took the cue and stealthily followed.

Going deeper into the tunnel, the two of them both noted the eerie silence. There were other, smaller plants along this way of the same shape as the first monstrosity. Nitro and Tauko stuck close to one another, communicating with nudges and pointing primarily to avoid waking up or alerting the strange plants to their presence. They weren't here to fight plants after all, they were trying to explore the tunnels. They'd already made good progress in other regions of the jungle, but this tunnel was still unexplored- and if the plants were acting as guard dogs, that was a fairly good reason why.

Not even drops of water or a light pitter patter of some creature's feet could be heard in the dim silence. No wind moved through the tunnel. The world was dark and quiet. Neither Tauko or Nitro felt particularly comfortable but they were determined to press on- if only for a little while. They must've noticed 30 more of the plants, though none as big as the first. Nitro began working out how such plant life could survive in this darkness, and decided that was likely a contributing factor to their smaller size. She'd have to wait to share this thought with Tauko until they were far away from the plants though.

Tauko's mind wasn't on the plants but on the structure of the tunnel. It was stretching on in a very straight, unwinding manner which was a bit different than some of the other sections they'd explored. It seemed a bit odd and impractical. The reef belemoid wondered if this tunnel might connect two bunkers, and if it might lead all the way across different regions.

The answer to that question would have to come later though as both stopped short suddenly. The light had grown dimmer and dimmer and now was nearly pitch black. Thankfully though, there was just enough light left to make out a thick web spanning the entire width of the tunnel. Nitro placed a hand on Tauko's shoulder and gestured at her friend to turn around. She did not want to run into whatever had made that web. They were clearly ill equipped to encounter a serious fight, and they'd practically run out of light sources anyway. The tunnel had either gone further underground, or there'd simply been no more bars/cracks in the walls to let light in.

Tauko nodded in agreement. The two of them would need to return with a light source, and hope the scary plants with teeth could only hear and not also see light sources. They might also need a torch or sword for that web. Maybe some more friends too. Facing down the dark was always better with friends. The two colonists carefully turned around, still being careful not to make noise, and alls careful now not to accidentally touch the web. They began the long walk back through this section, determined to return with better equipment and materials- and armed with the knowledge of what was waiting for them.