The light coming from Poro-tan's sword was just enough to see by if they stayed close to it. Megumi noted that Undine looked uncomfortable bathed in the holy light of the blade, as did the one holding it. She wondered if the holy energy was painful to them. The group silently crept through the cave system for several minutes before coming to a tight space where they would have to crawl through to get any further. 

If only they could've climbed out the way they came, but it was far too high for them. She didn't like the idea of having to crawl through some tiny crack in the rocks like an ant or something, but what else could they do but turn back and try the other direction? 

No. I have to see if this leads anywhere. You're the smallest, you know that you should go first.

She took a gulp and tried to calm her pounding heart. She hated tight spaces. The matron of the orphanage that she had stayed at long ago had ensured that by locking unruly children in a clothes chest for hours and hours on end. She could almost feel the walls of the cave closing in on her when thoughts of the days she had spent in that box after that bitch had beaten her sister to death.

"Are you okay? You're shaking," Poro-tan asked.

She hadn't even realized that it had happened to her. She bit the inside of her cheek and forced herself to focus. "I-I'll... be okay. Just bad memories popping up, that's all. I'm the smallest... so I'll crawl through first. Keep that light low to the ground behind me okay?"

Undine didn't seem to have any objections to Megumi going first, but Poro-tan gently grabbed her by the arm as she was starting to crouch down. "One of us should do it. What if you run into trouble over there in the dark? We're more durable than you."

She felt happy that he cared enough to volunteer himself or even Undine for this task, but she knew she would be faster. "You'll barely fit through the thing. I don't want you getting stuck, either. I'll go first and make sure its even big enough to fit you."

Megumi shook his hand free and then got down onto her stomach and began to push herself through the crack. The floor was slick from the perpetual dampness that seemed to have seeped its way into the place from the ocean and drops of water fell onto her head as she shoved her way through. 

After a few moments of crawling, she was so deep in that she could only just barely see the light behind her. She had to navigate around some low spots, but thankfully it was looking like there would be enough room for her companions to crawl through. The light was barely visible now and she felt around, almost blindly, for the way forward.

A little bit longer, and she was in complete darkness. Her heart thudded violently in her chest and she began to hyperventilate. Could she even turn around? No. She was stuck. Stuck.

I have to get out. I don't wanna be stuck! This was so stupid! Why did I do this? 

She felt her chest squeezing tighter and tighter as if under a vice, and her eyes began to water. Megumi was brought back to her time as a kid, stuffed into a box because she had dared to try to get to her sister. Her mind raced and she continued to panic. A voice echoed through the darkness to her.

"Megumi? Are you okay? Did you find the other side?"

She couldn't breathe. She wanted to yell for help, but what could either of her companions do? She forced herself to crawl forward. Her chest felt so heavy, but she pushed through, taking short quick gasps and fought her own body, pushing herself forward inch by inch. Every few feet, she reached towards the ceiling, hoping that she had made it out, but so far she had been disappointed.

There was nothing, just the sound of water droplets hitting the cold stone all around her. She shivered as a gust of cold air blew through the crevice she was navigating. She still couldn't focus enough to pay attention to the words of the conversation that could being played out behind her. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Move! You have to keep moving!

She shoved her body forward. How far did this go? Was there even an end to it, or would she hit a dead end and rot between these two huge slabs of rock? She slid her hands across the smooth rock and continued. After what felt like hours, but had surely only been minutes, she reached up and felt nothing but empty air above her.

Excitedly, she scrambled up onto her knees and reached up again. Nothing. She stood up and reached once more, but once again felt nothing but air. She had made it. The others would fit through as well, she was sure of it. She crouched down again, putting a shaky hand onto the face of the crevice she had just crawled through and leaned down and shouted. 

"I-I'm okay. There's room to get through. I can't see anything over here, but I can stand up and can't touch the ceiling."

A moment later, she heard a response. "Just stay put. We're coming."

Megumi couldn't stand being in the dark a moment longer. She felt along her side to her bag and called for one of her extra blankets. She threw the over sized piece of warm cloth to the ground and set it on fire. The blanket wouldn't burn for long, but at least she would be able to look around.

Green light flickered through the cavernous chamber she now stood in and she looked around for signs of threats. The place was just too quiet for her to feel comfortable. It was eerie. The room she stood in was huge, though and they could definitely camp here if they had to. If only they had been smarter and brought some light with them.

In the past, they had always just had campfires at night to see by while they rested at camp. She was ill-prepared for spelunking. Megumi made a mental note to herself to buy an oil lantern at the next town they got to, that is if they ever got out of this hole alive. The blanket finally flickered out and she was once more plunged into darkness.

Hurry up. They aren't stuck are they? No. I was careful to check as I went. 

She peered into the crack. There still wasn't much in the sign of light, but it was a very long path to get through, and they would be moving slower than she had due to the constricted space. She sat on the floor and stared into the blackness for a long while, before she heard noises and saw the faint glow of light appear from the crack.

"We're going to die down here. This was a terrible decision!" Undine's voice cut through the darkness like a knife.

The woman just liked to complain. They didn't exactly have a ton of options down here. 

"Do you ever stop complaining? Just keep crawling, you're slowing us down."

"You're almost here. I can see the light from your sword," she shouted down at them.

The only reply she got was a grunt off in the distance. Maybe the cave was tighter than she had thought? 

"I think my belt is stuck on a rock or something. Keep going. I'll catch up."

Megumi began to pace anxiously, but she was relieved that she could see a small bit of the floor beneath her so that she wouldn't stumble over a bump in the stone. A few more moments of waiting and then she saw Poro-tan's pack slide out of the crevice next to her, followed by Undine. 

Of course the pack and the water thing that Undine carries slowed them down. I'm an idiot. I should have put those into my bag since it's smaller. 

The blue haired woman climbed up to her feet, somewhat unsteadily and ran her hand through her hair. Megumi put a reassuring hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Are you okay? I don't know about you, but tight spaces terrify me."

Undine sniffed and brushed her hand off. "I'm quite alright. Getting down on the filthy ground wasn't pleasant, and I think we should have gone back the other way, but you're the leader, I suppose."

The woman held her palm upward in front of her and all the water that had accumulated on her clothing seemed to bead off her and form into a ball that floated in midair. Undine casually tossed the ball of water off to the side and it hit the wall with a splash that echoed through the large chamber.

"Neat trick. Do me next."

Undine scowled but complied without saying anything. Megumi touched her now dry clothing and couldn't help but smile. Undine was just full of surprises. She could use this woman to do all kinds of things. A short while later, Poro-tan emerged from the crack, his blade glowing in front of him and Undine stepped a few feet away as he got out and to his feet. 

The steady glow of the weapon illuminated the room they were in. "It's too bad we don't have a proper lantern or something," he said as he stretched his arms over his head.

"We'll get one at the next town we go to. I never expected to fall into a hole in the ground."

"As an adventurer, you should learn to expect the unexpected."

"Then why didn't you suggest we get a lantern before now?"

He just ignored the question and walked out towards the center of the room. Megumi retrieved some food from her bag and offered a bit to Undine. "It's just some cheese and salami. Want some? It's good."

"Commoner food." 

Even so, the stuck up lady took a piece of each and scarfed it down. Megumi followed suit and watched Poro-tan as he paced the room.

"So there are two exits out of this room as well. Which way do you want to go?" he asked.

"Since we have no idea where were' even facing at this point, how about left? All I know is that I do not want to have to ever crawl through a tight space like that again."

"Might not have a choice. All I hope is that there is actually a way out of here."

The eerie silence of the cave was suddenly dampened as she heard the sound of claws scratching against stone coming from off to the right. "Do you hear that?" she whispered to Undine.

"Yes."

"Get ready." 

Undine nodded, and water droplets began forming into balls of water in the air around them while Megumi retrieved her staff from the bag. If it was another batch of those bug monsters, they would be at a disadvantage trapped in this small tunnel. She gripped the haft of her staff tightly, her fingers pressing hard into one of the many runes that lined its surface.

Poro-tan stood like a tensed viper, watching the passageway as the sound of scraping got louder and closer. With the way that sound traveled in a place like this it was difficult to judge distance. As the sounds got closer, she heard the hissing sound of people talking. The language was rough and snake-like, it was not human and she could not understand what was being said.

There were various possibilities of what kind of creatures would be behind those voices, and none of them were good. She tried to focus on hearing if there were more than two of the creatures speaking, but couldn't tell. The scraping stopped suddenly and in the light of Poro-tan's sword she saw figures gathered at both entrances to their room. The echoes had really fooled her. She didn't realize that the noise had been coming from both directions. She stared at the enemies that were now arrayed before them.

Kobolds. Why do we just have to keep running into worse and worse situations. Getting out of here now is not going to be easy.

Their bodies were small, maybe three feet tall, and the smell of what was like that of a wet dog permeated the room. The scaled creatures in front of the group held one hand up against their red and black scaled faces as if to shield themselves from the bright light before they hissed at her party with an angry noise.

It was known that the monsters had a sense of near-human intelligence. Kobolds almost never attacked alone as they were said to be cowards, but if they had the numbers to overwhelm an opponent, they would fight rather than trying to lure one into one of their nasty traps. She took a deep breath and the familiar green glow of an Eldritch Blast began to form on her staff just as dozens and dozens of the Kobolds began to pour into the room they were now trapped in.