A/N This chapter is dedicated to Little Tanuki. Thanks for the review and the subscription!

Chapter One

I laughed as I jumped from rock to rock, following my sister ahead.

"Wait for me, Lyn!" I called excitedly. The older girl stopped for a moment, before moving ahead at a greater pace, her footing sure.

Suddenly, I slipped, almost falling into the ocean which was bashing relentlessly on the rocks beside me, but catching myself at the last minute.

"Lyn, you could have told me it was slippery here," I complained teasingly. Lyn turned and grinned.

"It's slippery," she said.

"Thanks a lot." The sarcasm in my voice was so obvious that it made Lyn laugh.

"Keep up then, silly," she said, amused, before scrambling ahead.

I looked up at my older sister in envy. For a girl of seventeen, Lyn was exceptionally beautiful. Her curvaceous body and cherubic face, combined with bright green eyes that sparkled with mischief and soft caramel curls wafting around her shoulders, it was obvious as to why boys pined after her. She was so like our mother.

My beauty, I was told, was more subtle, and so I myself never saw it. My hair, which was both straight and wavy at the same time, was a funny shade of dark brown, streaked with blond, where the sun had bleached it.. Windswept as it was now, one could only describe it as wild. This description would also cover my eyes, which where a startling shade of blue, which always changed in reflection, my doctor thought, to the wether, though I thought differently. It changed in time with the sea. My lips were full, though the upper was to large for the lower. A sprinkling of freckles was visible on my delicate nose, but otherwise my skin was tanned a light brown, a result of living on Australia's sunny shores. I looked nothing like either of my parents.

I giggled and chased after my sister, the elder by only one year, trying to beat her in the race to our destination – the rock pools. I didn't even come close. Lyn's longer legs gave her quite an advantage.

"Beatchya again," Lyn said happily. I laughed.

"I'll get you next time," I replied, "Like when we get in the water!"

"I know, you can swim better," was the retort.

I left her, combing my hair with my fingers in a vain attempt to straighten it out. I glanced down at the little pools of life below me, and gasped. I never got used to the beauty that each individual pool had. Here, an anemone waved its tentacles at me, sheltering the small fish that where trapped until the tide came back in. There, a crab scuttled along in its funny way, hiding in a little hole underwater. That one housed a cluster of tiny starfish, each unique in its colouring.

I looked up to show Lyn, but got distracted. We had come further than we had thought. There, not a kilometre away, was the cave that our parents had forbidden us to go near since we where children. I took a step towards it. Something – or someone – drew me to that cave.

"Rhi, I think we should stay away." Though she acted calm, Lyn's voice portrayed the true story. She was afraid.

"Don't be silly, Lyn," I snapped. "How dangerous can a cave be?" I took another step towards the opening.

"Come back, Rhianna!" Her voice cracked in fear.

"Don't be such a worry-wart, Lyn!"

"I'm not." She shuddered. "I get a bad feeling from that cave." I shook my head. I felt the opposite, like a sense of homecoming. I didn't know why. Lyn grabbed my arm.

"Let go of me!" I yelled at her, frustrated. Why wouldn't she just let me go? I tugged at my arm. Lyn put up a good fight, but I was the stronger of the two of us. I ripped my arm out of her grasp and ran to the entrance of the cave. I glanced quickly over my shoulder to Lyn. Her face was torn in indecision, wanting to come get me but unwilling to enter the caves. In the end, fear won over. She called out to me weakly, but I just smiled at her.

"I'll be out in a minute!" I shouted to her. She nodded.

I went to explore further into the caves. Something was pulling me deeper and, all of the warnings that I had ever been taught about the beach and the ocean clean forgotten, I followed the call.

Suddenly, I hit a wall. It had grown dark as pitch in the cave, though I hadn't noticed, and it seemed that I was at the end of the passage. I had been following the call to whatever it was blindly, not noticing where I was going.

Then I saw it. A gem – no bigger than my pinkie fingernail – had started glowing near me. I bent to pick it up. It was on a chain as fine as a hair, yet strong enough not to snap under the constant neat of the ocean at high tide, which would surely cover this cave. It was made of not metal I knew of, and was coppery gold in colour.

The gem itself was smaller than I expected, though no less beautiful for it. It was a blue which was more beautiful than the sky. Coincidently, it was the same colour as my eyes today. I had no name for the gem.

How long I stared at it, I wouldn't know. I only noticed that time was passing when, ever so slowly, water trickled around my sneakers.

"Shit!" My curse echoed around the cave loudly. The tide was coming in, and I was in the back of the cave. I started running as fast as I could through the tunnel, the water rising ever higher up my legs. Soon, I was up to my knees. Despite my panic, other thoughts managed to enter my mind.

Aww, crap I thought as I remembered that I had brought my mobile phone with me. Today was not my day.

Despite everything, I had managed to hold on to the necklace. The same instinct that had pushed me into searching the cave now compelled me to stop – wasting precious seconds – and fasten the clasp over my neck, securing it. By the time that I had finished, the water was up to my waist, and coming up fast. I gave up running – or rather wading – in favour of swimming instead.

After a while, I started struggling. How far could the entrance be? Surely I hadn't gone that far in, had I? I had almost given up when I saw a glimmer of light. The entrance! I redoubled my efforts. But when I got there, I saw that it was already too late. The tide had come into far, and the shore was now many kilometres away. I had no hope of returning there. In the far distance, where that beautiful strip of golden-white sand lay, a lone figure stood. Even as far away as we where, I could tell that it was Lyn. I waved desperately at her. Maybe she could get help! I tried harder to get back to her, but in vain. The current, softer than the sweet caress of a feather, pulled me further and further north. I had no hope. I would die out here.

A/N Hi all!

In case you haven't noticed, this story is set in modern south-east queensland, Australia. This is for two reasons. One is because, well, that is where I live and where I know the most about. Two is that I need a certain part of the ocean in north-east Queansland, Australia.

For those of you who don't know, one kilometre is about 0.62 miles. I generally round to the nearest half.

Please review! I really love reviews!

Maddy