The children upon seeing this sight were both relieved and concerned. Relieved for having actually found a shelter that they could potentially use as long as it had enough space. Concerned because a cave was the perfect place for a beast to take as their residence. While some normal animals may be easily handled, even leading to more food resources, there were just as many if not more types of beasts both magical and mundane that could easily shred them to tiny pieces and munch on their bones.
Such a cave would be highly defensible if they were able to claim it. It would take work of course, but they would have an excellent shelter to base their efforts from. This fact, however, did not reduce the reluctance to explore such a potentially dangerous location.
Still, when Jien motioned for them to huddle up to discuss the options ahead of them, they complied without question or argument. Once huddled Jien began the discussion on how best to explore the cave and some of the possibilities of what they may encounter. Jien himself was leaning heavily on a number of survival guides that he had recorded into his Personal Library as instructed by Mark before they had left on this venture.
The discussions that ensued were more hypothetical than tactical in nature but helped in settling the other children's nerves. Jien covered a fair list of potential types of creatures that may have made the cave their home. Everything from simple bats to possible bears and even a small number of potential magical beasts, though his knowledge on that topic was not yet strong enough to make any definite judgements.
The group huddle lasted for a full hour, the children discussing in hushed voices as the adults watched on from a distance far enough to give their charges space to work but close enough to keep tabs on them should they choose to move. After the discussion ended Jien signaled to the adults to approach so that they could talk about the next steps they were about to take. Only after everyone was once again in close proximity did Jien start letting the adults know their thoughts.
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The plan was simply to explore cautiously, focusing on a light-footed scouting approach as a group. If they ran into something they couldn't handle they would retreat, if the cave was inhabited by something they could kill quickly and with fair ease they would do so and claim the cave as their new base. If the cave was empty then it would be even better, they would claim it quickly and work to fortify it against possible invading beasts before working to forage for supplies and make camp.
Bernard chose to be the point for their formation, though calling it as such may have been giving it too much credit. Though the children could move well enough in the cave entrance, it could only really allow for a single file line. This would allow for some space to potentially move a bit freely if needed, but not enough for a side-by-side advance. This left the others to find their place in the lineup with Rosalind bringing up the rear, Barret just ahead of her and Olivia stuck in the center with Jien. Lesley was just behind Bernard with bow in hand, ready to draw it and let loose an arrow over Bernard's shoulder if needed.
With their positions decided they began to make their trek quietly toward the heavily shadowed entrance in the damp mound of stone. Mark and the other mentors walked behind slowly, all but the stern Lila who remained out front with the horses. While a horse could fit through the passage the animals would scare easily and their hooves would be far from silent in a cave where the stone would carry the echoes of any noise made.
Jien and the others carefully approached the entrance with weapons drawn and at the ready. They peered at the ground below their feet, trying to look for tracks to determine if the cave was in use and if so, what may be living there. Unfortunately, the fog was so thick around their ankles that if they didn't know better, they may have thought they were walking in snow.
At a certain point they could only hope that they would see some signs of what was to come after entering the dreary opening as they took their first steps in. The first thing that they notices was the change in the material beneath their feet. Though it was somewhat expected the ground right from the entrance of the cave going in was purely stone, as if the entrance was a dividing line between two different worlds.
Peering in with what little light they had from the forest behind them they noticed that only some slight brush and leaves had been blown in but other than that the opening seemed to travel a fair distance into the small mountain, sloping down at a steep enough angle to know that they likely would not exit out the other side, but shallow enough to know that they would be able to climb out again with a small amount of effort.
It appeared that the path forward was not as short as Jien had posited earlier, reaching into lightless depths that they couldn't discern with bare eyes.