[h3][color=8dc73f]Scott[/color][/h3]

When the lizard came to a halt before Naji, Scott watched for a moment with bated breath, frozen by his own nervousness. But then the lizard drew its head back. In his condition, the other pixie wouldn't even survive that. Scott felt his heart pang. He wouldn't be able to get there in time, would he? And even if he did, would [i]he[/i] even have managed to live past the first blow? Dark clouds filling his thoughts, Scott raised his hands to his head. And he looked away.

Coward. You stupid coward. You could have done [i]something[/i]. [i]Trying[/i] would have been better than doing nothing at all.

Scott curled up into a ball, covering his ears, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. Trying to block out what his own head was saying to him. But there wasn't any defence from it. His breath quickened, and in his throat, there was the horrible feeling of wanting to throw up.

Just ignore it. Just ignore it. Just ignore it.

Warm tears fell down his cheeks as he tried desperately to recover from his spiralling, dizzying descent, panic overtaking every atom in his body. Why couldn't he stop? Why?

[hr]

The feeling faded after a few minutes, though for Scott, it took an age. Covered in sweat, and grime from the cavern floor, he opened his eyes, blurry from their extended closure. As his vision refocused, he began to reconstruct himself, what he could see, hear, feel. He needed to establish it, stabilize it.

He saw stalactites. Or were they stalagmites? He saw the soft glow of distant mana crystals, fainter than they used to be. He saw rock, stone and dirt. He saw herbs over by the water, in the soft mud that the pool created. He could feel the ground beneath him, felt the small bits of gravel that clung to his skin. Felt the sting of his eyes as his tear ducts stopped flowing. He could hear the pounding of his head, blood pumping to and fro inside, trying to carry oxygen and nutrients to where they were needed. And he could hear the soft murmuring of voices, people in some conversation.

Wait.

Slowly, he broke out of his fetal hold, raising his head and twisting around. He saw Ash and the wisp from before, as well as the lizard that had been freed. Eventually, the wisp broke off, floating down over to where the bodies of the two goblins lay. A wave of simultaneous guilt and relief washed over him. Naji was alive! ...And currently chowing down on an eyeball.

That turned his stomach just enough for his earlier nausea to take effect. Again Scott turned away, and let whatever happened, happen. It was not pleasant, to say the least, but he didn't exactly have an option here, either. Once that was done, he gathered his strength, and fully aware that he didn't quite look the best, given his tear-stained cheeks and whatever other detritus he had managed to gather, Scott pushed himself out of his hiding spot. He staggered slightly on the landing but managed to stay upright. He began to walk over to Ash, hoping that she wouldn't reprimand him for his... inaction.

Now that he was closer, he noticed the scars and wounds that the lizard had. His heart panged, and he bit his lip. He'd known the Goblins could be cruel... anyone could, really... but he never understood why creatures sought to hurt one another. He fully intended to just approach her and give a simple 'Hey, Ash', but that idea was cut short when the other lizard bolted, before tumbling over. And then Ash bluntly smashed it on the head, trying to show herself as the stronger one. And Scott couldn't help himself.

[color=8dc73f]"Hey, Ash- wait, don't hurt it!"[/color]