Altogether, this episode was 18 pages long on 'Word Document'. Now, I couldn't force all of you loyal readers to browse through so much! I separated it into two parts, which explains why one may be shorter than the other... but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas.

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Alex released an exhausted grunt and lifted his head with narrowed, weary eyes. What he saw woke him up right away, and he let out a soft chuckle. It was land. He could see the figures of the trees running along the border of the forest glowing under the moonlight, and the sandy beach was almost a pure white.

"What did I tell you, boys." Alex panted, the water lapping at his mouth.

Carter and Jonathan lifted their heads from the wooden plank and looked up. Their eyes narrowed and they spotted the shore approaching, and they sighed and smiled with relief.

"B-b-b-bloody hell." Carter stuttered in amazement.

The three men rounded up their strength again and began paddling their legs even harder. They had been propelling the wooden plank for the past hour and a half now. They had started off fast and determined, but as time went by, they slowed down and became more relaxed. Jonathan and Carter were beginning to lose faith in finding any land at all, but now that the shore was only a few more minutes away, they were determined to give it all they had. They couldn't wait to get out of the water. Femi had fallen asleep to the sounds of the waves and the feel of the cool water lapping around her face. Alex and the others didn't blame her. She was probably awfully hung-over, after all.

Alex, Jonathan and Carter continued paddling until the waves started pushing them towards the shore. They suddenly felt their feet brush against the rocky bed of the sea and stood up with loud, triumphant sighs and gasps.

"Keep pushin'." Alex grunted in his effort.

The three of them strode through the water and pushed Femi towards the shore on the board of wood. They bobbed up into the air with each wave that came crashing up behind them, but managed to keep themselves composed for Femi's sake. Unfortunately for her, the waves seemed to grow all the more aggressive as they drew closer to the shore, and one forceful little bugger came rolling towards them all and crashed over the top of the board to soak Femi in a fresh coating of ice.

She awoke with a startled gasp and began coughing lightly. She slowly pushed herself up on her side and wiped her wet hair back from her cheeks. Everything was such a haze to her at that moment. Blinking rapidly, she took in the scenery around her and felt her heart lift slightly. A placid, welcoming beach smiled down at her, and her heart fluttered, and she sighed dreamily.

"Morning, sunshine." Carter heaved sarcastically.

They finally reached the sandy beach and the board groaned against the rocky ground, announcing the end of the journey. Carter moved round to Femi's side and helped her stand to her feet whilst Alex and Jonathan collapsed upon the ground next to each other, panting heavily. Femi wobbled along beside Carter and the two of them also fell down onto the ground, along side the other two. But Femi remained sitting up, and looked around in a vulnerable confusion.

"How long were we swimming for?" She muttered.

"We?" Alex panted "Lady, I think you mean us."

Femi ignored his childish comment and continued watching the white waves crashing towards them. She sniffed quietly and felt the strong wind blow down upon her, and she shivered loudly. She was soaked. There was no way they could get warm now. Femi looked down at the three boys as they lay upon their backs and tried to catch their breaths.

"What are we going to do now?" She asked worriedly "Where are we?"

"Relax. We're in Alexandria." Alex sighed.

Femi blinked "The coast of Egypt?"

Alex nodded with his eyes shut, and breathing deeply "Yeah..."

Femi's eyes widened "How on earth do you know that??"

Alex lazily lifted his hand into the air and pointed his finger to the sky. Femi raised an eyebrow and looked up at the stars and the swirls of thin cloud.

She sighed "Yes... very pretty, but"--

"Astrology. It's a great way to find yourself when you're lost." He interrupted her.

Femi smiled in an impressed understanding, and glanced down at Alex. He smiled back to her, and Femi sighed happily. Femi folded her arms across her chest to try and warm herself up, and huffed tiredly. As she sat there, thinking peacefully, a bright colour of red caught her attention as it bobbed in the water.

"The Diamond Heart!" She cried.

The boys all sat up and looked to where she was pointing and spotted the red bag floating towards the sandy shore. Jonathan's face paled and he started slapping his chest as though he was going to find the red bag still there.

"Crickey! That little bugger must've s-slipped from my s-shirt!" He exclaimed.

Alex groaned, dreading the facts, and reluctantly shifted forwards onto his knees. He began crawling back into the water, and Femi, Carter and Jonathan all watched him calmly.

"It takes a lot of guts for a man to get back in that freezing water..." Carter uttered, "Your nephew's got balls, Jonathan."

Femi rolled her eyes at that silly comment. Why were men always the hero? It was about time so heroines came along... although... Femi wasn't quite sure if she was going to be one of them. Alex, now bobbing comfortably in the water, swiped his hand out and snatched the red bag up in his strong grasp. He squeezed the body of it to check that there were signs of the objects still inside, and he recognised the shapes of soggy bill collections, and a wooden box. He turned around and began making his way back to shore, with the waves helping him along the way.

Alex dragged himself out of the water and crashed back down into the warm sand again. He continued to pant heavily upon his back, and Femi crawled over to his side, and plucked the bag from his weak grip. She pulled the zip across and peered inside curiously. The money was all stuck together and becoming quite mushy, but the red, scarred box was sitting there in the cushioned comfort of it all. But still... the money!

Femi rolled onto her back and closed her eyes in disappointment "The money... it's all ruined."

Everyone fell into a thoughtful silence. They were in Egypt, now, so the only need for that money was to pay Alex for his company. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could peel the notes in the center of each pile apart? The outside notes might have soaked up enough water to spare the middle ones... A loud, piercing screech sounded out from above, and Femi and Carter bolted up into a sitting position together with alarmed gasps.

Jonathan chuckled "Settle down, City kids... it's just a bird."

Carter gulped "What kind of a bird makes that sound?"

Alex and Jonathan exchanged amused looks "An Egyptian one." Alex snorted.

Femi sighed to herself and looked back out at the dark, whispering sea. She wiped some water from the end of her nose and squeezed any more of it out of her long, straggly hair. She shivered loudly at the feel of a chill shooting down her spine, and she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them.

"It's s-so cold..." She whispered.

Alex glanced over at her. He watched her shiver under the pale, silver moonlight for a moment. The poor doll. Alex rolled his eyes at himself; he was growing too soft. He heaved an announcing sigh and pushed himself up onto his feet. Femi looked up at him curiously.

"Well we can't just lie here and freeze ourselves away. We g-gotta' get warm for the night." He stated.

He turned away and stepped over Jonathan and Carter to walk to the back of the beach where all the trees were swaying in serene greeting to the newcomers. Femi's eyebrows creased together in alarm and she scrambled to her feet to rush after him. She couldn't get a very good grip upon the sandy ground.

"Alex! Oh, Alex!" She sang "It might just be all th-the water inside my ears, but I-I thought I just heard you say 'for the night'."

Alex kept marching onwards "You did."

Femi stopped running for a moment. She stared after Alex with wide, disappointed eyes. The night?? They couldn't afford to waste yet another night! Femi kicked off into another struggling jog, with the sand shifting uncooperatively beneath her bear feet, and gradually caught up to him.

"Alex, you c-can't"-- Femi's foot suddenly slipped in the sand, and she tumbled down onto her knees; Alex kept marching without a care, and Femi jumped back up to run after him "You can't b-be serious!" She repeated.

Alex arrived at the trees and stared up at them all in a musing manner. He began trying to decide which ones looked the strongest, and which ones had the most branches. Femi ran up to his side and stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"We're not going anywhere tonight. We'll camp here." He carelessly sighed.

Femi shook her head "No, no, n-no, no. We can't camp anywhere, Alex; we need t-to go! We need to get to The V-Valley of The Kings as soon as p-possible!"

Alex turned to look at Femi and gave her a patronising, insulting smile "And we will."

He walked off before Femi could get another word in, and she stomped her foot angrily upon the ground with a loud, exasperated growl, which used up far too much energy. Femi's head became awfully light and her vision black and splotchy. She released a delicate whimper and fell to the soft ground to balance herself and relax. Her stomach began churning, and before she knew it, she could feel the vomit creeping up her throat again. It seemed the after-effects of her heavy drinking weren't over just yet. Femi staggered to her feet and ran into the long line of trees to throw up in a place that no one could see.

Carter and Jonathan arrived at the tree just in time to see her scuttle off into the shadows. They looked to each other and exchanged distasteful expressions with each other.

"D-D'you think it's alright for her to be alone in th-the trees?" Jonathan asked, sniffing.

Carter glanced over in the direction that Femi had disappeared "Er... someone should probly' go w-with her."

The two of them eyed each other warily. Carter waved his hand out to Jonathan and stepped back.

"S-Seeing as you're so worried, you can go. Please, I i-insist." Carter cheekily offered.

Jonathan blinked "Me? Sh-she's your bloody sister, mate."

"That means nothing" Carter stupidly shot back "B-Besides, someone needs to, uh... t-to stay out here and watch out for any trouble."

Carter patted the trunk of the tree protectively and smiled proudly. Jonathan raised a sceptical eyebrow and glanced back and forth from the two of them.

"It's a tree..." He muttered tonelessly.

Carter slapped the trunk of the tree again "And a bloody marvellous one at that, t-too. Look at the bark on this darling."

Femi suddenly emerged from the darkness of the trees looking very pale and drained. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and walked past the two boys without looking at either of them.

"Don't bother yourselves. I'm back." She grunted.

Femi sank to the floor next to the smooth, slender trunk of the tree and leant back against it. She closed her eyes and, crossing her arms over her chest, began shivering madly again. And to top it all off, she felt as though she had just been trampled over by a herd of stallions. Femi was never drinking again.

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When Alex finally returned from his hunt, he arrived with a large, water-proof sheet (which had fortunately drifted to shore with them from one of the boats which had been blown up) and a collection of thick strips from a certain type of tree, to use as tying string. He had been gone for the good part of nearly forty minutes, and the misty clouds had vanished completely, so to allow the brilliant stars to watch over them on the unfamiliar beach. The sound of the whispering waves crashing against the shore delivered a gentle serenity to the beach, and from where Carter, Jonathan and Femi were sitting, it seemed to have an even greater effect as the wind also rustled in the trees above them. Yes, they were cold, yes, they were hungry... but they were at peace. True peace.

Alex dropped the thick, heavy strips of bark carelessly upon the sandy ground and a soft but sharp 'thud' startled all three of them out of their snoozes with disturbed snorts and gasps. Femi gasped again from the pain of her hung-over headache, and pressed the stump of her hand in between her eyebrows; Alex smirked.

"Drinking's fun, huh." Alex teased.

"... Sensational." She sarcastically hissed.

Alex smirked and pointed to the sheet on his shoulder "What luck, eh? Drifted on the waves like we did; the wind must've brought most of the wreckage this way."

Carter peered up at Alex through his squinted, sore eyes "As thrilling as that is old chap, could you keep the noise down? Some of us are trying to sleep you know."

"Here, here." Jonathan sighed, and curled up again.

Alex smirked "Yeah, sorry, I'll remember not to wake you whilst I build our shelter for the night..."

"Good man." Carter yawned, without having noticed Alex's hint of annoyance.

Alex smirked, shaking his head, and continued to wrap and twist the sheet onto the branches to create a roof. Within minutes, Carter and Jonathan were snoring airily in their sleeps, once again. Femi watched Alex working from her comfortable yet cold seat on the sandy floor. It was an oddly awkward moment. What with Jonathan and Carter being asleep, it was just the two of them now. Why was it so hard to relax?

"What's that?" Femi asked quietly, and pointed to the strips of bark.

"Birch bark. Pretty useful stuff" Alex replied "You interested in the great outdoors all of a sudden?"

Femi rolled her eyes "Hardly."

Alex turned to shuffle over to Femi's tree, and he caught her watching him. Femi tensed up in an embarrassed surprise and quickly glanced away as though she had never been looking. Alex smirked to himself, as he often did, and walked past her without saying anything. He began twisting the edge of the sheet around the branches and puncturing holes in it to stick them through, holding it in place.

"That should do it." He finally sighed.

Femi only suddenly realised what he had created. She looked around and pulled her knees up to her chest in a comfortable huddle. She was now resting underneath a dome-shaped tent. The front was wide open, but at the back, the sheet hung down to create a wall, and the roof was a few inches above Alex's head (when standing). Alex brushed his hands together and strolled over to the other side of the 'den', and knelt down on the ground beside Carter and Jonathan. Femi curiously watched him take the strings of bark that he had collected, and wrap it round his arm in a large circle.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

Alex glanced over at her "Makin' a fire."

He began placing the thick strips upon the floor to create the shape of a circle, and when he had used all of them up, he padded up a wall of sand on the outside, like a barrier. He found a few sticks nearby and arranged them inside the circle so that, if a fire was started, the heat could be trapped. He pulled out a stone from his trouser pocket, and after looking around for a moment, spotted a regular old pebble in the sand and snatched it up. He leant up on his knees and began chipping the two stones together next to the birch bark. A few sharp sparks ignited, but the bark wouldn't catch it.

Femi raised her eyebrow lightly "Would you like some help?"

Alex snickered, perhaps in slight embarrassment that he couldn't start the fire, and shook his head once "I think I can handle it."

"Are you sure?" Femi asked, raising her eyebrow even more "I know I haven't mastered the ways of 'the great outdoors' yet, but I'm sure I could give it a try. After all, it's only a fire..."

Alex sighed and stopped chipping the rocks together. He looked over at Femi tiresomely and narrowed his eyes, almost patronisingly.

"Lady, why don't you just stay sittin' where you are, n' let me finish. Just enjoy the scenery or... somethin'." He sarcastically advised.

He then went back to scraping the stones at each other, and left Femi gawking at him in anger. What was he trying to say? That she was only good for gazing at sceneries? She wasn't sure whether to take that as a sexist comment, or just another one of his generally rude insults. Femi's lips parted and connected in her effort to control her irritation. She watched him with her eyebrows gradually lowering further and further, until she could obtain her feelings no more.

"Mr. O'Connell, I would appreciate it if you didn't treat me like some kind of unskilled, hopeless damsel who spends her days smelling flowers and-and... singing to the birds. I can be useful, too, you know." She snipped.

Alex paused for a moment, and again, shot her one of his most sarcastic glares "What's wrong with singin' to birds n' smellin' flowers?"

"Oh, for heaven's sakes..." Femi sighed angrily.

Alex ignored her quiet curse and concentrated upon the rocks he was scraping. Femi lowered her knees and crossed her legs Indian-style, and placed her hands in her lap.

"I dare say you're just scared that a woman could outdo you. That's what it is" Femi bitterly teased "After seeing me beat Roy back on the ship, you're having second thoughts, aren't you."

At hearing her insult, Alex cracked the stones together in a swift, angry bang, and a vicious spark hopped onto the beach string. A small flame grew to life, and began spreading around the strips. Alex dropped the stones into the sand and glared across the growing fire at Femi, who was now watching him with alarmed, prepared eyes.

He smirked "That isn't possible. No one could outdo me."

The fact that he had just succeeded in lighting the fire, without Femi's help, really didn't help Femi stand up for herself. How did this man so easily belittle her? Femi gritted her teeth. He had caught her out, dammit...