You know what? Next time I say the next chapter's going to be a while, just ignore it. Really though, I suck. I'm just going to go with the excuse that this was in celebration of completing my first midterm without spontaneously dropping down dead.

Sorry but this one's pretty short.

Sol was crying. It wasn't body shaking sobs nor a silent stream of tears, but somewhere in between. The small noises she made were echoed back to her, made seemingly louder by the enclosed space she found herself in.

She didn't cry because of the pain she felt, though it was there. Her chest burned and stung from the slash she had received, her arm bled from where it had been gashed by a sharp crystal when she had fell into the water, and currently a jagged crystal fragment was pressing into her foot as she struggled to keep from falling into the water below.

Sol was scared, more scared than when she had jumped into the quicksand pits, more scared than when she had faced Manectric, more scared than when she had awoken on the beach lost and confused. She had been thrown into the water, so bone chillingly cold, and panicked had consumed her mind. She had flailed and kicked, trying to find the surface but had somehow ended up beneath the crystal floor where she had fought Grovyle. She had emerged in a small pocket of air, and with no other options, had grabbed a hold of any crystal protrusions to pull herself out of the water.

She was at the top of the pocket now, hands on one side and feet pressed against the other as she held herself above the water. In the pitch black that consumed the pocket, she couldn't tell how far away the water was, but it couldn't have been more than a few feet. Her limbs were beginning to tremble with the strain of holding herself up, but fear leant her strength.

So she hung there, wet and freezing, facing the water below while tears fell from her eyes. Sol had always feared water, and this was her worse nightmare given form.

"Why are you acting like a fire type?"

Sol laughed harshly at the memory of what Corphish had once said to her, but the laugh quickly turned to more sobs. She was terrified, bordering on hysterical, unable to think rationally or about anything other than her fear.

Sol thought she heard voices, muffled by the layer of crystal above her. She wanted to call out, scream for help, but was too paralyzed by it all to do much more than whisper.

"Please help me. Please help me. Please help me," she repeated over and over, barely audible even to her own ears. "Please help me. Please help me. Please help me."

Nobody came. It was just Sol and the darkness. Did anyone know she was alive? Did they think she had drowned, her lifeless body sinking to the bottom?

Sol was quiet for a moment, the only sound her ragged breathing echoing back from the pocket's walls. Was this where her journey would end? Would she stay her until her limbs gave out and she drowned?

"Please help me. Please help me. Please help me," she started again.

Sol remembered being back in the Waterfall Cave. She remembered what it was like when the water crashed into her, how it carried her along like a ragdoll. She had been completely powerless, barely able to even keep her head above the surface.

Somehow, this was worse. A lot worse. Then, it had all been panic and adrenaline. It wasn't until afterwards that she was able to say that it was fear that she had felt. Eevee had been with her then too, so she hadn't been completely alone.

Now she was forced to face her fear all by herself. She couldn't draw support or courage from a partner who was not there. Now, she also had the time to truly think about what was happening, to fully realize just where she was. In the raging underground river, she hadn't had the time to speculate what was going to happen. Now she did, and imagination mixed with fear was never a good thing.

"Please help me. Please help me. Please help me," she whispered.

And then, miraculously, someone answered.

"Hey, hey! Sol are you in here?" Corphish's voice called up from a short distance below her, the water sloshing against the pocket's walls as he emerged at the surface.

"Yes," she answered quietly.

"Hey, hey! Sol, come down here and I'll lead you out."

"...I can't..."

There was silence for a moment, then Corphish responded.

"Ok, I'm going to go tell the others, then we'll figure out a way to get you out of here."

"No!" Sol cried. "Please! Don't leave me alone in here!"

"Hey, hey! I'll only be gone for a minute. Just hold on."

A splash signalled that Corphish had left, leaving Sol all alone once more. Her crying intensified, the tears falling on the water below.

It felt like an eternity passed before Sol heard someone enter the pocket. This time it was not Corphish.

"Sol? It's me, Dusknoir."

Silence.

"Can you come down here so I can get you back to your friends?"

Silence.

"Sol, why won't you answer me? Are you hurt?"

"...No."

"Then what's wrong?"

"...I'm scared," Sol said in a small, quiet voice, barely a whisper. If not for the close quarters Dusknoir would have been unable to hear.

"Sol, you can trust me. Try to edge down, just a little at a time."

"I can't..."

"Sol, listen to me. Listen to my voice and ignore everything else. Try to inch down the wall towards me."

After a moment's hesitation, Sol carefully began to edge down the wall. She would move one foot down slightly, then the other, then one hand, then finally the other. She repeated this process many times, and bit by bit she got closer to the bottom.

"Ok, now I'm just going to reach my hand up to figure out just where you are."

Sol didn't respond, and after a moment felt something touch her shoulder.

"Sol, now I need you to let go and drop down."

Silence.

"You can do it, Sol. I'll catch you."

Sol took a deep breath, then another, then another. Finally she let go, falling only a few inches before Dusknoir caught her. She flinched when her tail hit the water and quickly pulled it up.

"Now, Sol, you need to hold your breath while I swim out of here."

"No!" Sol cried, her claws digging into Dusknoir's arm at the thought of going back into the water.

"Sol, calm down. There's no other way to get out of here. You can trust me."

Sol shut her eyes tight. Despite being surrounded by darkness, the action was comforting.

"Ok," she finally said.

Dusknoir didn't try to gradually lower Sol into the water, instead diving straight down and fully submerging them both. Sol preferred it that way. She didn't want to spend any more time than necessary in the water.

The two soon remerged into the large cavern of crystal lake. The light was blinding after spending so long in the darkness, and Sol kept her eyes squeezed shut.

She heard people talking, familiar voices filled with worry and concern. Sol blocked out all the noise, curling up as tight as possible. Dusknoir tried to set her down, but she clung to his shoulder and refused to let go.

There was more talking, then they were moving. Sol didn't open her eyes to see where they were going. She was scared but here she was safe, and she was going to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible.

Was this how a child feels, carried in the arms of a trusted parent? Sol didn't know, all her childhood memories having been taken from her. Sol thought it must be, though.

Sol's thoughts slowed down until her mind was empty. She was cold and her injuries stung and hurt, but that didn't matter because she was safe. Sol remembered the day when she first heard of Dusknoir. She had told herself that she would wait and see if Dusknoir truly deserved the respect and admiration everyone gave him. She finally had her answer. After everything he had done for Team Wanderers, for Sol, how could he not?

With that final thought, Sol fell into a dreamless sleep.