Ever since the incident at the grate, everything had been a lot quieter as of late. 

Usually, Euele wouldn't mind so much. It let her sort through her thoughts and come to terms with whatever had happened during these extensive stretches beneath the surface of the earth. But the quiet here was not due to a simple, comfortable lull in social energy. Rather, it had everything to do with the confrontation that had just been had with a temporary member of their group. 

Aehwyn.

When Euele had first heard the name, it had been with a welcome, open mind. She'd been wooed by the whimsy of their ways and the silver of their tongue. And now she was fighting to keep from feeling horrible about the whole thing. She had wholeheartedly thought that they were kind and good, and had been looking forward to enjoying their company as the group descended ever deeper into the dungeon.

But now they were headed back to the surface, with Aehwyn in tow and everyone's feelings towards them sullied. No one wanted to talk to them, or any of the others, the weight of what had happened earlier still pressing down on them. Were they really so different from Aehwyn? They'd been willing to put them in a dangerous situation just for some answers, and wasn't that what Aehwyn had done? Euele shook her head and took a breath, ears pinning to her skull, her earrings swinging back and forth viciously, stinging her temples as they went.

Acherna let out a quiet trill, placing one of her strange little paws on Euele's shoulder as she looked up, concerned at the wellbeing of her courser friend. Euele lowered her muzzle, gently brushing her forehead against the little drake to try to reassure her. Looking down, she frowned, lowering her head still further to examine a pebble skittering across the earth. Her eyes went wide, and her ears pricked forwards as she took in a breath.

"The earth is moving! Be wary!" Euele called out, her voice a mighty bray in the dim cavern.

Leiken almost leapt out of his skin when the floor started moving, Que having to burst into a run to avoid his cloven hooves as he clattered to keep upright. A sudden burst of icy air made all the torches immediately go dark, only the dim light from Leiken's earrings remaining as the earth clunked and moved, pulling apart. 

"Everyone, follow my voice!" Solace spoke next, from somewhere just beyond where Euele could see in the dark. "Leiken, Euele are you alright?" Xir tone shifted dramatically. "Aehwyn?" It was almost as though xey did not really care to be asking if they were alright or if they were struggling. It was simply out of pointed courtesy that xey had done this. 

"I think I'm alright. I still have Acherna with me. And I should be able to relight my torch. But the ground isn't done moving yet." She could almost hear the distance growing between her and Solace as the earth continued to rumble and click. She shifted her weight nervously, being unable to see making it hard to just stand still when she didn't know where the earth might end up splitting next. 

"I'm okay over here... but I'm pretty sure I'm on the other side of whatever just happened." Leiken spoke vaguely from a great distance, his glowing earring just barely visible in the distant gloom. Lowering his head, the dim light exposed the crack in the earth at his feet. "I don't know how far it goes. I may be able to get my torch relit, but if I can, we might be able to see if we can navigate around this and get back together. I have a hunch it's too large a gap to jump right now."

"Alrighty then, let's get down to business." Solace stated, pulling out their fire starter kit.