How do you move on?

"I told you this was a bad idea didn't I?!" Kurai roared, the duo running for their lives, his feet dug into the soil as he pushed off with all his might.

 Behind them, nimble creatures with crawl on the walls and the floor below, their bodies consists of two limbs that pushed them forward, their lizard like bodies moving with ease in the shallow ravine that encased them.

They let out cries that mimic's satan's himself, their clicking their tongues as their lizard like eyes narrow in on their target.

"Don't just run! You're a mage aren't you? Do something!" Celi shrieked in horror, hitting her tiny hand against his face.

"are you crazy!? I'm not taking those monster's on alone!" His eyes scanned the area as he ran, noticing a fork in their path.

"Ok, pipsqueak right or left!?" Kurai shouted, demanding an answer.

"H-huh?!" She asked, her brain trying to process the question he asked in the heat of the moment.

"Answer quickly!" He roared, the stress weighing him down.

"Oh, uh. go left!" She ordered, Kurai quickly turning around, his feet dug into the earth he stood on, fingers spread and but tense as though he's clutching something invisible, his hand slowly rising to the sky, lifting a slab of earth to block the path of the raging beasts as he entered the path.

His sudden maneuver confusing the creatures momentarily before they made haste to the other path, hoping to meet somewhere along the line.

Kurai and Celi slid down the path they chosen, dirt flying as Kurai's feet dug up the soil in hopes to slow their decent, their bodies colliding with the end, causing them to roll onto their faces.

Kurai groaned, frustrated with the current events that had transpired, his fingers digging up the earth as he elevated himself from the ground.

"Surprise, surprise, another bad spot chosen by yours truly-" He commented, his words laced with venom, leaning back against the walls of the narrow path.

"You told me to choose!" She argued, getting up and dusting herself off too.

"I also said that path was a bad idea, but here we are," He winced in pain, his arm torn up from the far they just had, blood leaked from his wound, framed in a sickly black and blue tint.

There was a moment of silence between the two as Kurai clutched his wound, the cut was shallow yet his eyes squint as he braces himself for the constant sting that followed, the faint yet persistent pain making his body tense.

"...here, sorry-" Celi murmured, walking over to the boy with her arms outstretched as mana started to accumulate around her, the flesh on the young boy's arm contorted and twists into each other, his muscle fibers melding once more and stitching together until it was fully healed.

"You can use magic?" Kurai pondered, looking down at the tiny elf in front of him.

"Only healing magic, I can't do much else," She murmured, sitting by his side as they both rest.

Kurai stretched his arm out, the blood had dried and his wound is gone, his hand felt as good as new. He lets off a soft smile at her apology, soon standing up once more and looking down the only path they had left.

"We should get going, who knows if those things can get in her from the other side," he muttered as he lead the way, Celi nodding at his words before following closely behind.

the sound of water dripping on wet stone filled the atmosphere as the ventured forth, their feet crunching against the moist soil on their journey.

Light crystals littered the path around them, providing light as the walls slowly got wider and wider.

"So," Kurai murmured, breaking the silence between them as the continued their journey. "In all seriousness, why did you follow me?"

"Like I said, I came because I wanted to continue moving and-" Celi says defensively, her words cut off by Kurai's rebuttal.

"You say that but you're not part of the expedition, so find it hard to believe," Celi groaned softly at his words, knowing her words had caught up to her.

"I was just a bit worried you'd get mauled or something ok?" She muttered, Kurai looking a bit surprised by her reasoning.

"But you don't even know me, why would you-" Kurai muttered, his voice cut off by Celi's words

"I know, i don't have to, to want to do it!" She argued, her voice getting soft once more as she spoke. "Though I'm the one that got you in this mess in the first place so-"

"I see..." Kurai murmured, a bit sympathetic with her words.

"I also-" She started once more, causing Kurai to turn to her attention once again.

"I also..." she repeated, her thumbs fiddling together as she spoke, holding her words back for a reason unknown to even her. "was worried, you seemed angry when you left."

"You could tell that?"

"Mana in living things, are normally circulated with the blood so- its easy to tell basic emotions if you can sense mana like I can," She explained, her eyes looking at his expecting a response on her words.

"I suppose that makes sense..." he murmured.

his eyes drifting to the top of path, shards of crystals decorating the dirt above them, some more worthless than others.

He then stopped in his tracks, Celi looking at him with even more concern as he spoke with a sigh.

"Celi...what would you do if Kaluar refused your help," He pondered, his eyes still looking up.

"W-well, I'd let him solve out what he has on his own..." she murmured, a bit confused by the sudden question.

"What if, he chose the wrong choice and he's died? What then, would you feel regret? Anger? sadness..." His questions continued, hands clenched to fists as he asked. His eyes drifting to see Celi's worried gaze, her tiny hand holding onto his collar.

"Sorry, it was a weird question to ask so suddenly," He sighed, starting to walk once more. "But, basically, I'm curious. How does someone move on, from such a brutal lose."

The area around them expanded into a cave that stretched for miles, crystals of pink and blue shimmering against the blue waters that flowed inside, causing the light to ripple along the cave walls, outlining their silhouette as they walked along side it.

"Don't you have someone like that?" He pondered.

"Yeah, actually I knew a lot of people who died," She murmured looking down to her hand as she remembered.

"Ah, the curse of an elf-" Kurai commented,

"Y-yeah..." Celi muttered.

The soft trickle of river as tiny waves splashed across the surface filled the cave yet the silence still carried weight, and the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

"I-" Celi tried to break the silence, the sound of footsteps off in the distance and an immense pressure passing by her before she could say anything.

"You okay?" Kurai pondered, noticing her sudden disheveled state.

"Y-yeah... nevermind," She muttered on, the silence leaving too much to the thought of the mind, her head turning to Kurai once more as she spoke.

"Hey... are you scared, of losing someone?" His lips slowly part at her question, as if he was about to say but just smiled instead. The silence once again pouring in along with the trickling waters behind them.

"I'm trying to accept the fact." he murmured, his gaze held a hint of sober, though his voice didn't waver, his sorrow was still painted in his words.