Spruce nodded and flashed Karol a smirk. "Don't get cocky." he winked and then grimmaced, "But yes, the sooner the better. Let's get back to the exit!"

The mall was strangely quiet as they headed back up the broken escalator. No more clops of the wooden feet of sentient seeds could be heard, and the trees had stopped rustling. An odd tension hung in the air as the deafening silence resounded. They reached the vine-covered exit door a few doors away from the destroyed dojo. The vines were massive, maybe the diameter of a basketball, and ivy leaves spiraled all around them. The vines seemed to almost pulse slightly, and the ivy leaves and vines kind of looked like veins if you thought about it that way...