The stalactites and stalagmites had cost Peter precious time.
Packed in much more densely than he'd first realised, the unusual rock formations were full of deceiving gaps that could have entrapped him many times had he attempted to push through them.
Getting stuck down here would be a death sentence.
So Peter had forced himself to stop and think about the route he was taking, changing his mind on more than one occasion as swum along the length of the tunnel.
But lingering was just as dangerous. His lungs were already screaming for air and he did not know how much longer he could refuse them. As the cave went on and on, he didn't feel as though he was making any progress at all.
What about the others? How much time did they have before they too would down? Could any of them hold their breaths long enough even if they came down here?
No! Don't think about that now. One problem at a time Argent! Push and kick. Push and kick! Keep swimming and find a way out for them and yourself. The sunlight was coming from somewhere, it had to lead to…
Air. Cold, clean and crisp air!
Peter had failed to realise that the cave had been leading him up instead of across like he'd imagined it had been doing. He hadn't even felt his shoulders break through the surface. One moment he was underwater and the next he was not.
Sunlight had never felt so warm and bright. After so many hours trapped underground, it was the most wonderful feeling in the world to be able to bask in its golden embrace. Peter couldn't even see where he had emerged. The water was also in his ears and nose, so any sounds and smells were unavailable to him as well.
But it didn't matter. He was outside of the cave and there was oxygen.
Spending just a few precious seconds treading water as he refilled his lungs, he dove back down. The route now memorised, he did not stop once on his way back. It was only as he reached the jagged tunnel again did thoughts return to the others and what their situation might be. The water level might have risen too high, or maybe the remains of the roof had decided to cave in on them. Peter looked up and saw the surface where he needed to be. With a final few strokes and wild kicks, he torpedoed towards it, not knowing what he would find on the other side….
Laughter. He could hear laughter.
"What the...?" He gasped. "Have you all gone mad!?"
The laughing died away immediately, but they were all no less happy to see that he had returned unharmed.
"Maybe we have!" Stefan exasperated. "Fifteen and a half minutes, Peter! A snail would have been quicker."
Almost sixteen minutes, had he been down there that long?
"Oh I'm sorry, was I suppose to be counting!?" He countered. "I didn't realise that we were on a clock?"
Swimming over and pulling himself up out of the deeper water, Peter knew it was all in good humour. What wasn't funny, however, was that fact that he could only just stand back up give the water was almost up to his stomach. Rose and Jane were the smallest of them all and it had reached their chests.
"Alright, maybe we should take this outside?" The Doctor suggested. "Quite literally, of course."
"Glad to show you the way." Peter agreed. "But we should go in pairs, it's a bit tricky."
"There's five of us." Rose pointed out. "Who's going to swim alone?"
"I will." The Doctor immediately volunteered. "Rose, you go with Peter. Stefan can take Jane and I'll follow along."
"Doctor, I've just swum it alone," Peter said. "You can wait here and I'll come back or follow after me. I can do it again."
"No, there isn't time for that, and I want you to take her. She'll be safe with you."
Peter hesitated but then nodded.
"Fine, but swim exactly where I swim." He told him. "It's very easy to get lost or even stuck down there."
"Sir, yes sir." The Time Lord replied with a grin. "Rose, it'll be fine. I'm right behind you."
Her deep brown eyes were pleading with him, even as Peter took hold of her arm and led her over to the edge of the pool. She could barely stand up anymore and hadn't realised until now how very cold the water was.
She jumped when Peter suddenly snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention.
"Rose, listen to me." He told her. "This is important. Before we go under I want you to take in a few really deep and big breaths for me, okay?"
"O-okay." She replied, her teeth chattering. "But w-why?"
"It'll oxygenate your lungs, expand them so you can hold in more air." He explained. "But as we swim, don't hold in your breath. Try to hum as you go along."
It was one of the most common reasons for diving accidents. If any of them held their breath as they rose through the different pressure levels, they would end up puncturing their lungs.
"What do you want me to hum, Peter? Auld Lang Syne?"
Peter almost smiled.
It took a lot for someone to make a joke at a time like this, and he was beginning to realise how much he had underestimated Rose Tyler. Well, maybe he'd tell her as much if they survived this.
"Hum anything, Rose." He said. "As long as you're humming, your lungs will be open."
They were all treading water now, unable to stand on the ground without dipping below the surface. Rose could see Stefan and Jane floating just a few feet away, the corporal giving the terrified woman a similar explanation of the almost impossible feat they were about to attempt.
Would she make it, would any of them? Peter had only just done it, and that could have only been because he wasn't even human.
"Come on now, Rose." He urged her. "Deep breaths. Six of them."
Worrying was not going to get any of them out of the cave. They just had to go for it and hope for the best. Breathing in as deeply as she could, Rose forced herself to exhale slowly and repeated the action calmly as she could over and over again.
"I feel dizzy." She gasped after her last breath. "I can't…"
"It's okay, that's normal," Peter assured her. "You've got too much oxygen in you right now, but you'll need it down there. Stefan, you all set?"
"We're good," Stefan replied. "On your count."
Lifting her arm out of the water, Peter clasped his hand tightly around Rose's. His warmth could be felt even above the icy cold river, and Rose knew she had to focus on that alone if she was to survive.
"Don't let go of my hand, okay?" He told her. "I'll get you through as quickly as I can. Just kick, and remember to hum."
"Okay…" She whispered. "L-let's do it."
Peter smiled at her, a wide and genuine smile that was not marred in any way with sarcasm nor any hostility. They were in this together, either they would live or die. It was that simple.
"Stefan, on my count," Peter told his friend. "Use the torch and follow me. Doctor, don't get lost."
This was it. They were going.
Stefan took hold of Jane with one arm and held the torch with the other. Peter could see in the dark unaided, but the corporal was going to need to extra light to navigate the depths below.
Peter's eyes met the Doctor's as he began to countdown from three.
"I'm right behind you." The Time Lord said. "Lead the way."
"Two," Peter called out, nodding as he drew in his last deep breath. "One!"
The last thing Rose saw before she was yanked down under the water was Peter's moonlit grey eyes that, now that she properly thought about it, were far too bright to belong to a human.
The darkness came so suddenly that she wondered if she'd been knocked out somehow.
But no, she was still conscious. Still trapped in this nightmare of cold water and the looming presence of death. Rose could feel it gripping her chest like a pair of iron bands. Something was pulling her, dragging her down further into the freezing depths. She tried to free herself, pushing and kicking up towards the surface...
Peter. Of course! The pulling sensation she could feel around her arm was Peter guiding her to safety.
How had he done this alone?
Everything was black, she was already straining for air and didn't know how long she could last. The pressure on her lungs was building. It was actually painful and Rose could imagine them ballooning up and up as they pleaded and begged for relief and air. Peter had told her to hum, but what good would that do?
It wasn't exactly a tune but it was repetitive and gave her something to focus on as she was dragged through the darkness.
Though it didn't give her the air she so desperately needed, Rose had to admit she no longer felt as though her lungs were about to burst right at this moment. Her hand scratched across something very large and sharp, a rock of some kind. But it didn't matter, she couldn't feel anything. Her whole body had numbed in the intense cold.
How long had she been underwater now?
Time was irrelative down here. It could have been only a minute or two, but Rose could imagine never seeing the light of day again. This tunnel was simply endless, ongoing and forever with no way out. Nobody would ever find them. It would simply seem that they had vanished into thin air.
Air. Rose needed air. Now!
No amount of humming was going to save her this time. She needed to breathe right this second and she knew there wasn't going to be any there to greet her. She would drown! With a sob of pure despair, Rose opened her mouth...
She breathed in air!
As her vision cleared, she saw trees and the blurry, shimmering outline of the sun from behind a gloomy overcast sky.
But it didn't matter what the weather was like. Rose didn't care as long as she was free of that cave and able to breathe again. She wanted to cry out with joy, but she was too frozen to manage much more than a squeak.
"Ahh..."
"Come on, swim. Swim, Rose."
Peter was floating beside her, still holding onto her hand as he guided her to the edge of the small pond they were in the middle of.
Rose could not move and felt like a dead log as she allowed herself to be dragged through the water and hauled up and onto the muddy ground. Every breath was an ordeal. It was like being stabbed over and over again with dozens of jagged knives.
"W-w-" She tried to say. "H-h-h-"
She was so cold that the words came out as no more than single letters. Her whole body was out of control. Her teeth were chattering violently and her neck and shoulders seemed to be locked ridged. Like a puppet, she allowed Peter to move her as his face swam into view. He was hovering over her, pulling her up into a sitting position and leaning her against his chest. His strong arms wrapped themselves protectively around her.
"It's okay, Rose. You're going to be okay."
Rose melted into his embrace. It was like hugging a hot water bottle. How could he be so warm right now? Forget the transformation into a gigantic wolf. At that moment, it was the most alien thing anyone could have ever been able to do.
"H-how…?"
"Being me has its advantages." He chuckled. "I wouldn't complain about it right now."
Keeping his body pressed up against Rose's as he tried to keep her as warm as possible, Peter's attention shifted back to the pond they'd emerged from. Stefan, Jane and the Doctor had to break through the surface any moment now...
Yes, there were Stefan and Jane.
"B-bloody hell!" Stefan exclaimed. "T-t... Oh!"
He was filthy, bloodied and bruised and barely looked human. Water was still streaming down his face as he pulled Jane along with him. The poor woman was as white as a sheet. Her long red hair had darkened in the water and trailed behind her as she moved across the pond.
She didn't even have the strength to shiver.
Stefan too was suffering and could barely keep them both afloat as they reached the edge of the pond. Struggling to get himself out, let along Jane as well, he waited until Peter had left Rose and came running over to help before he made any attempt to do anything else.
"Stefan, push her up," Peter told him. "That's it."
As the corporal pushed from below, Peter was able to haul Jane out by the collar of her jacket. Half carrying her as she stumbled forward, he left her beside Rose before he turned back and helped his friend clamber out.
"T-thanks." Stefan stuttered. "B-bit cold."
"Is it? I wouldn't know."
Stefan managed to bark out a single wheezing laugh as he shot Peter a look that told the lieutenant the joke was ill-timed.
Despite the good humour, both soldiers knew that all but Peter were now in danger of becoming hypothermic. They hadn't drowned, but they could all still die of exposure. It was February, their clothes were wet and they had nothing dry to change into or any form of shelter. Their body temperatures were already dangerously low, and it would not be long before their internal systems would start to shut down.
Jane looked to be in the worst state.
She wasn't shivering, and that was the first warning sign. Her body simply didn't have the energy to try and generate warmth on its own anymore.
"She's s-still... g-good," Stefan said as Peter went over to check on her. "B-but..."
"Okay, I'll keep her warm." He replied, wrapping her arms around her. "I can alternate between her and Rose every few minutes. But we're going to need something more effective."
"I could s-start a f-fire," Stefan suggested. "Over t-there?"
The tree line was only a few meters away, it's dense woodland floor covered in branches. He would need to find a flintstone, but they had both been on survival exercises in the Brecon Beacons and Peter knew that Stefan would find one and have a roaring fire going in under a minute.
"Good, let's move them into the woods. Get them out of the wind."
"D-doctor," Rose mumbled. "W-hat about t-t-t-"
She didn't have to finish her sentence, even if she was able to. Peter knew what she was trying to say. The last few minutes had been chaotic at best, but it had still managed to feel a little bit too quiet.
The Doctor was nowhere to be seen.