Misbehavin' in the Cave(-in)

BACK WITH THE OTHERS:

Terra, Kyuala and John are creeping through the systems, hearing the echoes of thundering footsteps like legions of armoured soldiers are running toward them.

Kyuala quickly grabs both of her companions, bringing them all into the darkness as a couple of men walk down but stop just ahead of them as the guards to catch their breath as they talk to one another.

"Where the fooking hell is this cave in? Feel like we've ran through here about sixty bastarding times" The half-ling says to his goblin compatriot who replies, "It all looks the same you shitdick! It's like we're in a stone giants arse!".

In the shadows behind the guards, Kyuala looks at John who shares her gaze, that's when Kyuala signals toward the guards, making a plan which while difficult to make out what exactly she's signalling, he gets the overall message which is, "quietly kill the guards".

John is a little apprehensive about it, he's been so focused on getting here, training and now focusing on staying hidden that he hadn't actually thought about having to take someone's life.

He doesn't have long to dwell on his morality however as Kyuala slowly moves up behind the half-ling so John moves toward the goblin, lucky for him, the goblin is smaller than him as he stands up with sword in hand.

He points the tip of the blade at the guard, taking a deep breath as he waits for Kyuala how holds up three fingers, she then drops it down to two, then one and eventually, zero, John then without thinking turns his head before thrusting his sword forward as hard as he can with a *squelch* following his thrust while beside him, Kyuala snaps the half-lings neck with ease.

John turns his head and that's when he sees the result of his effort as at the end of his sword, the goblin stands there, completely lifeless, blood spilling down the goblins body as well as dripping off of the sword.

John with a shocked gaze, slowly removes the sword, letting it hand beside his leg as the goblin drops to the floor with a squelching thud as it lands in the pool of blood at their feet.

Kyuala quickly drags the half-ling into the shadows before heading to John and doing the same with the goblin, as she lets go of the goblins corpse, she simply pats John on the shoulder before saying, "Good work".

John simply stands there, his eyes almost glazed over as he's still in shock about what he just did, sure it wasn't like it was another human, or hell, even an innocent person, but still, that one moment, it manages to put a halt to everything in John's body.

His mind is empty, his breathing seems to stop, every fibre of his being is frozen, everything drowns out, the only thing John can hear is his thumping heart that threatens to almost burst free from his chest.

But suddenly, all of that fades as he's brought back into the moment by a hand that rests on his left shoulder.

The hand of Terra.

John snaps out of his almost comatose like state as he turns his head to look at the smaller elf.

"Are you, okay?" Terra asks, obvious worry in her voice as she looks up at John.

John tries to speak but it comes out in a stalker at first but then he clears his throat before responding, "Uhh, y-y-yeah, i'm uhh, i'm okay".

John then lets out a breath before saying to the others, "Uhh, we should get going".

"Agreed, let's keep moving" Kyuala says as the trio now start to move up the system once again but as Terra follows behind, her mind is rife with worry for the man, she saw the look in his eyes, she could feel something in him change, as weird as their current circumstances are and even though they've only just me, Terra feels bad for John, still carrying that worry inside her as she continues to follow the two party members.