Megan managed to quickly locate a fast-flowing river after fleeing the scene of her first kill in the dungeon and grabbing a handy dead log, she jumped in clinging to it like a barnacle on a ship as she allowed the current to take her downstream away from the roars and cries of angry Golden-Haired Apes.
Finally able to think and take in her surroundings as she drifted downriver Megan saw a lush rainforest, closely hugging the banks of both sides of the river she was travelling. The plants, some recognisable, others completely foreign to her knowledge intertwined overhead, causing the light to flicker through brightness and shadows at random intervals and confuse Megan's thoughts. There were also the noises to consider, the rainforest was anything but silent, birds could be heard, small animals scuttled through the undergrowth, creatures big and small fought each other for food, mates and resources all around her.
Megan allowed the river to take her further, away from the territory of the apes, at least she hoped it was. Spying a convenient inlet where the river bent around a rocky outcrop, the riverbed rose enough to allow her to walk on the smooth rocks and sand. This new branch of the river flowed through a natural channel carved through the softer rock with a massive piece of solid impermeable granite on one side rising high and completely obscuring this little distributary which Megan noticed had started picking up speed as the slope angle increased. Faster than Megan could react the new rivers pull become quickly too much and it picked her up, dragging her along until ejected her into the air like a water slide and then dunked her into a deep round pool of clear water, half of which gently lapped at an idyllic looking beach leading up to massive semicircular cave opening the massive granite rock jutting over and protecting this little place of paradise. The other half of the river appeared to travel under the granite rock to locations underground. No animals, no beasts and best of all, no Golden-Haired Apes. She couldn't see any way out of this hidden area, but she was not too worried about that and was willing to just go with the flow for a bit until she could learn more about her situation.
Deciding to do some reconnaissance later, seeing her chance Megan dragged herself into the darkness recesses of the cave opening, noting passages leading deeper down into the ground and even some openings in the roof that looked promising. Megan found an appropriate depression in the rock high enough to not be seen unless something came particularly close. Climbing in she swept out some offending rocks and debris, detached her backpack, pulled a camouflaging net and some small self-installing, disposable hooks, connected them to the rock jutting out above her, then connected the camouflaging net to the hooks which were designed to be undetectable on the outside, then activated the camouflage program. The net in front of her disappeared from her site, completely transparent so as to allow her to see out but nothing to see in and she knew that the other side would now blend seamlessly into the rock around it even to the extent of mimicking a hard rocky surface if someone were to touch it accidentally.
Megan pulled out a sleeping bag, placed it down with plenty of room, attached a small light to the roof of her little hidey hole so she was not in pitch blackness, turned the light down low, got comfortable and was asleep before her sleeping bag puffed up a section to lay her weary head.
Megan slowly woke to the soft sounds of rushing water in the distance in front and dripping moisture from deeper in the caves behind her. She luxuriated in fact she was not running for her life or in mortal danger right now and just allowed herself to relax, enjoy absorbing the ambient energies and allow the fatigue and pains of yesterday's injuries to slowly ebb and recede. Reaching for her backpack she took out some energy-dense 'Food-Bar' packages (All Your Nutritional Needs in One Compact Bar!) and ate the bland tasteless bar as it filled her stomach and alleviated the hunger pangs.
Looking around Megan came to the realisation that she had lucked out with this place. Some of the holes higher in the ceiling of the cave led to dead ends or narrow passages too small for anything bigger than an insect to crawl through but the biggest passage winded through a few tight turns before opening to a smaller cave, the entrance to which was covered in thick vines and enough foliage to completely hide the opening.
With a couple of strategic rocks and some dirt Megan thought it would be a simple matter to hide the entrance to the cave that led to her new hideout which she dubbed the 'Hidey-Hole' and make it look unable to be accessed to the naked eye. She left her backpack and only took with her a canteen of water that would purify any liquid placed in it to remove any toxins or impurities. Her staff and a couple of 'Food-Bars' were the other items. The rips and tears from her battle with the ape when she first arrived had all repaired themselves. She was ready to go hunting.
Megan cautiously peeked out with within the hidden entrance to the Hidey-Hole and patiently waited while the wildlife passed by for an appropriate opportunity to exit without being seen. She saw colourful birds and parrots flying between the branches of the trees, singing to each other to warn of predators and share places to find food and playmates to soar through the skies with. She envied their freedom to be able to fly through the air effortlessly. Small monkey-like creatures flitted from tree to tree in the canopy overhead, in groups and braver individuals travelling through well-established paths intertwining with the emergent layer above. Below the canopy in the understory of the rainforest massive leaves and vines twisted around trunks of the biggest trees Megan had ever seen filled with the bone-like protrusions of the greenish-blue ferns she had initial come into contact with when she first stepped through the portal to the dungeon. The majority of the trees surrounding her consisted of very tall and solid pine tree analogues native to almost any rainforest in the universe as well as some more trees like Ash and Oak common to Barbeedo II, the planet she was currently located on. Vines, large mushrooms and flowers of all shapes and sizes and other less recognisable flora abounded all around Megan. The forest floor of the rainforest was rife with all sorts of living and deceased animals and plant life all in various stages of growth or decay and appeared deceptively clear of obstacles until you started trying to travel through it without any experience of how to traverse these kinds of habitats. Unstable ground, puddles so deep the bottom could not be reached on a single breath, not to mention some of the dangerous creatures waiting for the unaware traveller to pass by. Megan activated the camouflage on her suit, then quietly and carefully raised some vines and slipped through to the outside.
Slowly and methodically, Megan scouted the area surrounding Hidey-Hole. She quickly found out that trying to travel the forest floor, especially when attempting to be stealthy was an exercise in futility eventually found that using a combination of jumps and leaps and careful positioning, she could travel fairly silent and quickly in the area between the forest floor and the understory of the rainforest environment.
Using vines, rocks, large leaves and tree trunks Megan learned to use the environment to her advantage. She learned to gauge the tensile strength of branches and small trees, able to find safe paths through, around and over all obstacles. She practiced stealth and silent tracking with small animals and over a few days was able to get to the point she could sneak up on creatures in ways they didn't even notice her presence until she touched them.
In this way Megan grew her competency in stealth and silent movement, even if only in a rainforest environment. She learned to rely on all her senses and trust her instincts. Inspired by the way her shield allowed her to redirect projectiles she attempted to use the technique to redirect her body. Using the shaped shields, all she needed was enough energy to push back on where the shield was to make it seem like she could step and leap through empty air. At first, Megan could only shape three to four platforms and reach about eight meters before needing to recover her energy to be able to use the ability again.
With practice and focus Megan found she could hold four shield 'constructs' at once for any length of time, she decided on calling them 'grip platforms' or 'forms' for short. She also worked out how to move the forms for short distances and shape them into a kind of 'cylindrical rod' the perfect fit for her hands or a 'shaped step' for her feet or even a flat surface with a little give in them so she could use it to push on any part of her body to evade blows thrown her way or even line up her own attacks against enemies. She could jump up, grip the 'rod' shaped above her and depending on what momentum she came at the rod in she could flip and extend her body like a gymnast using horizontal bars. She could flip up, somersault in the air, land on an invisible step and hover, appearing to levitate in the air, she could then hold the shaped steps under her feet and move them in any direction, either boosting her leaps by pushing on her feet just as she jumped or redirecting any part of herself out of the way. It wasn't perfect by any means, and the limitations were apparent. Her speed was limited to how many forms she could create and dismiss at any one time the forms would not withstand an attack any more than thin piece of wood would in its place. Megan found as long as she timed it properly, she could keep herself airborne indefinitely. Even that limitation appeared that it would get better with time and practice.
In this way, Megan gained confidence in the unfamiliar environment and soon, felt she was ready to return to the territory of the Golden-Haired Apes.