The vast rock wall of the ravine rose up before him, lit up in his vision only and making the small divots and darker sections easier to find. Speeding through the water with purpose, he flitted from one dark spot to the next, again and again, investigating each one briefly with his hands before moving on. So far, none of them gave way to underwater caves, at least not that he had found so far.

A sense of urgency was nagging at the back of his head, even if he didn't really know why. Or if he did, and didn't want to admit it. For now, he was still trying to convince himself that he was just 'doing the right thing' like he'd heard humans preaching before, and that he definitely would be this anxious to save any other human, and it wasn't just her, and there definitely wasn't anything else to it.

She just didn't deserve the end fate had tried to deal her. That was all. Drowning in the dark, chained and unable to move, that was just cruel even by his standards. He couldn't let her suffer that. It definitely wasn't just because of the way she made his heart twist when he looked at her, melancholy and nostalgia making it feel heavy when he met blue eyes.

No. Chat shook his head, clearing it, and took off faster again. He wasn't going to think about this. He wasn't going to let himself see things that weren't there.

But the rock was still airless and unforgiving, and he paused eventually, out of breath and wanting to scream. If there was no where else to take her, he'd have to think of something else, and fast. He twisted in the water, looking around, up and down both sides of the ravine as if the answers were just hidden somewhere in plain sight and if he looked hard enough, he'd find it. But he knew that was hoping for too much, he knew these walls like the back of his hand and he knew there weren't any other caves than the one she was already in.

Why did creatures of the land have to be so fragile? Just being in his home was a death sentence. Which, normally, that was fine, if the numerous shipwrecks lining every inch of the floor of the ravine were anything to go by.

But while that was helpful before, it bothered him now. He didn't want her to die. Whether he was sure of why yet or not, he knew it felt wrong. If there was one thing he knew to never question, it was if something felt right or wrong, to do something about it. If she was being treated the same way his kind were, then maybe they had a common enemy.

Even if she turned on him as soon as she had the upper hand, at least he tried for once.

He was tired of being alone, anyway.

At least that's what he told himself to quell the anxiety that started to rise when he pictured if she would attack him when her strength was back, if he managed to think of something already to save her. Slapping his own cheeks, he wrenched his mind back to the present, and dove straight down.

The air cave was on the floor of the ravine, tucked behind the rotting wood of a larger ship. There was just enough room to squeeze through a busted section of boards, and then the rock wall opened up into a little tunnel. It turned upwards, and soon he was breaching the surface back into the suffocating bubble of a hideaway.

Blinking the water from his eyes, Chat looked around, and was quick to find her. She was curled into a ball in the corner, where he'd last left her, as far from the water as possible. Whether she was awake or not, he couldn't tell, but her form was trembling even within her big coat. Although to be fair, she had gotten entirely drenched, and her body wasn't designed to ignore the chill of residual water like his was. If anything, having the wet fabric stuck to her skin was probably making it worse.

But she'd die a lot faster from lack of oxygen than she would from hypothermia, so for now, he brushed it aside. Heaving his body onto the stone, he dragged himself over to her, stopping just close enough to touch her but far enough away to pull out of reach in an instant.

Hesitating, his hand met her shoulder. When she didn't react, he shook her gently, and then less gently. Finally she stirred, blinking open unfocused blue eyes and looking up at him without recognition.

No, she wouldn't have that anyway, she didn't know him.

"Come on, wake up." Chat urged, his grip on her shoulder tightening. She made no move to sit up, still just watching him with a blank stare. Her chest was rising and falling with fast, shallow breaths, further confirming that he needed to move fast if he wanted her to live.

But why did he really want her to live?

He ignored the thought, again.

"Up, let's go." He shoved his worries into the back of his mind, trying not to flinch as he firmly snaked his hands under her body and pulled. Ladybug was forced to sit up, though supported entirely by him, before going floppy against his chest. The hair on the back of his neck stood up at the contact, but he ignored it, too. She mumbled something incoherent, and he pulled her fully into his arms, trying not to sway as it made his body top-heavy outside of the water.

Pulling her away just enough to see her face, and her glazed eyes sluggishly watching the blackness of the ceiling, he tried again. "Ladybug, hey, look at me." He didn't think she was quite in the shape to be listening, or to register anything he said at all, but it was still worth trying. And much to his surprise, she looked to catch his gaze in the darkness, though still looking like she wasn't there at all.

"I need you to listen very closely, okay?" He was still sure she wasn't aware of any of this, or at the very least wouldn't remember when she woke up, but Chat had to try. "We're gonna go in the water. You need to take a deep breath, as big as you can, and then if you start to get dizzy once we leave you have to tell me okay?"

She started squinting at him while he spoke, and then her head made an odd limp movement after he was done. Trying to be optimistic, he decided to take that as, she was listening and had tried to nod, not that she was just completely loopy from… literally everything she'd endured today.

Okay, maybe land creatures weren't so fragile after all. He had to admit, he didn't think he'd survive being shot, chained up and then attempted to be executed only to end up freezing and barely able to breathe. Was it all humans who were so durable or was it just Ladybug?

With her hopefully understanding and on board, he turned toward the water pool entrance and made sure he had a good hold on her. "Okay, take that breath now and then hold it." He instructed, and she did as told, though the breath she took wasn't as deep as he'd have liked, it couldn't be helped. The next instant they broke through the water, and he could feel a tremor go through her body.

He flitted down and out of the cave in quick, sharp movements, and once out in the open ravine he bolted straight upward.

This was a terrible idea and he knew it, but there was nothing else he could do. He'd told her himself that she wouldn't be able to reach the surface before drowning, and even as fast as he was, he knew that was true. But for now at least he could figure the rest out once she let him know she was running out of air, at least as long as she was clear headed enough to do so.

The rock walls were speeding by as he pushed harder, eyes set firmly on the distant shine of the sun on the surface. It was closer than at the bottom, but it was still so horribly, dreadfully far away, and he could feel the time passing like a clock ticking under his skin, counting down the moments until he'd lose her without being able to save her.

Why was he actually so determined?

A weak tap on his shoulder was his warning, and his head snapped down to look at her, though he didn't stop swimming upwards with all his strength. Her expression was somewhat more focused now, as if holding her breath had forced her to come more into reality, but she was looking like she was starting to lose it from holding it too long. She was tense, her face drawn tight, and Chat knew it was only moments before her body would cry out for air and all it would get instead is water.

So he did the only thing he could think of, though acting more on instinct than on any coherent thought or idea. Before he could even realize what he was doing, he breathed in as deeply through his gills as he could, and shifted his grip on her so he could take hold of her face.

Then he kissed her.

She wove through the water like a tapestry made purely of beauty, her every movement the embodiment of grace. Her midnight hair flowed behind her, floating into the water above her, its shape made fluid by the ocean. Her skin pale and almost glowing in the light, soft and alluring without effort. Warm pink covered her tail, her scales sparkling and glittering like jewels with every single movement, the sun rays shining through the surface catching on her every curve. Her fins flowed like her hair, paper thin and soft as silk, glowing white tinged with pink.

She dove under the coral, drifting between the flora as pink as she, her movements effortless and almost as if she was floating. With just a single flick of her tail, she could sail along through the water without moving at all, only curving smoothly and flowing wherever the water wanted her to go. She was perfection made whole, she was the greatest treasure the sea could hold.

She rose up from within the reef, her colors so much more radiant than all of the natural beauty surrounding her. Brighter and more vibrant than anything else in this world, her blue eyes sparkled like her scales, shining with pure life. They were the color of the sea on a day as bright as she, their beauty unmatched even by the boundless horizon. She was the picture of happiness, painted in an instant onto the backdrop of ocean.

Chat didn't realize he'd stopped swimming, but he shoved everything his heart was screaming at him deep into a corner and ignored it, and pressed harder against Ladybug. She was frozen, probably shocked and confused and maybe afraid, and he was really starting to hope she wouldn't remember any of this after all. But he still had a goal to accomplish, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her die in his arms, so with a silent prayer that she'd forgive him for this later, he forced open her mouth and breathed out.

Instantly, she caught on, and relaxed. He could practically feel the tension drain as her previously imminent death, or at least sequential drowning, drifted away. As soon as her need for air was satisfied, though, he wrenched away, breaking the contact and leaving her to stare wide eyed at him. Wide, blue eyes, blue as the surface, and he turned away and dashed upward with even more force than before.

In the moment, it almost felt like he was running away from everything.

In what felt like only a few seconds, but was actually a decent amount of time longer, Chat finally breached the surface. It was a stretch, but he made it in time before Ladybug ran out of air again, and the instant her head was above water again she was gasping, choking and gulping in huge breaths of air. All the while, as the weakened girl recovered, Chat silently held her afloat, his mind elsewhere. Above, the sky was dark, the light he'd seen before on the surface actually the reflection of the moon shining down on them.

When her breathing finally evened to something more natural and less desperate, she collapsed into him, her face resting against his neck. He jolted from the touch, fear spiking through his body, but he did his best to ignore it. She didn't seem to notice his reaction, slipping away back into sleep and going lax in his grip. He sighed.

"Guess it's time to find somewhere above water for you, huh?" He knew she wasn't listening, and only the sounds of the open ocean all around were his reply.