A/N: Thank you, loverly reviewers. I nearly forgot how nice nice comments feel. This also means I have to keep writing to get nice comments. Incentive? Oh yeah.

Sorry for the rambling-ness of this chapter, and the little dialog, and the distinct uneventful-ness, trying to get the ideas in my head onto paper (sort of paper..) doesn't always turn out right. It'll get better next chapter, I promise.

Chapter 7

The path Shea was following was getting less and less easy to see. This was around the area that Chelsea's eyes grew used to the dark. Don't get me wrong, she was still ungraceful as anything, but instead of an elephant, it was more like a rhino ran through the forest.

Shea had had no idea the poor girl could run this far. He didn't think she was weak, he'd seen how well she cared for her farm all by herself, but the forest was completely different than anything she'd ever been through. He was impressed, and nearly forgot how frustrated he was that she left him.

Distracted by his thoughts, Shea nearly missed the scraps of bright red fabric, which stood out so nicely against the dark rocks they were caught on. The opening Chelsea had climbed into was nearly gone, the sheer force of the water having filled it with yet more rocks. Shea ran over to what was the cave, and began pulling at the scraps of fabric. The opening in the rocks was at about his eye level, and the light from the rising sun shone into it. He could see more red inside the cave, but it wasn't moving.

"Shellsea?" he murmured, a bit confused. As he processed this new information, he came to the conclusion that his 'Shellsea' was seriously injured, trapped, and in desperate need of help. He began to furiously pull away all of the rocks, but the more he pulled, the more were knocked loose and filled the spaces he created. Some of the rocks fell into the cave and he could hear them splash into the small pool that had formed overnight.

After a few minutes, Shea finally figured out that he wasn't helping the situation by freaking out. "Need to calm down. Think better when calmed down." He paused and took a deep breath, staring at the rocks. A few of them he decided wouldn't make the situation worse by being removed, so he did just that. This process repeated until the opening was just wide enough to crawl through.

Shea climbed into the cave, receiving a few scratches on his bare stomach along the way. He slipped and fell into the water, the cold shocking him so he couldn't breathe. His arm wandered until he grabbed a hold of something soft, Chelsea's waist. His cat-like eyes adjusted to the dark and studied her face. It was bluish and very unhealthy-looking, but her breath was rising up from her mouth in short, shallow puffs. Shea sighed with relief, and pulled her close, trying to warm her back up with his own body heat. He could feel her shivering against him, and began to shiver himself.

Shea's body temperature was dropping as quickly as Chelsea's was rising. He knew that if the didn't get out of there soon, they would both be in the same position Chelsea had been in just a few minutes before, only with no rescue on the way. They couldn't get out the way they came in, there wasn't nearly enough room to get out without seriously injuring someone. Doing his best to keep the girl out of the water he held her up and used what strength he had left in his legs to raise himself up, too. Carrying her bridal style, her head resting on his chest, he stumbled further into the cave.

It was much deeper than he'd thought it was from the outside. There must've been more hidden behind what rocks he could see. The ground was once again dry, and the temperature a little more bearable. They were out of immediate danger, and Shea allowed his mind to drift while he wandered.

Holding Chelsea close to him felt better than he thought it would. Even nearly as cold as ice, he liked the soft feel of her skin. He was a bit startled when she moved slightly, thinking she was awake, but she only buried her head deeper into her chest. That felt nice, too.

Shea's mind snapped back to the reality of their situation, and knew that he had to rest soon. They came to a larger opening in the rocks, making a roundish room. There were two tunnels at the far edge but he ignored them. He lay Chelsea down in the center of the room, watching as she curled herself into the fetal position. He walked around and lay down in front of her, squirming closer until she was curled up against his chest. Shea tentatively put her arm around her, and closed his eyes, happy that they were safe, for the time being.