Casey started moping about how Derek said he could be smarter than her if he tried. The thing was that she knew he probably could if he tried. Derek on the other hand had been pacing the cave since he'd woken up. Day after day pacing the cave over and over. What Casey didn't know was that Derek was thinking about whether or not he should tell her completely about his feelings. Casey looked out the cave opening to see if there was any way to hunt in the storm. They were running low on food and after the month of storm was up they'd need food. Casey walked back into the cave and sat down on the pile of blankets. Derek saw this and went to lay beside her.

"Derek, why have you been pacing every day for the last week?" Casey asked.

"I've been trying to figure something out. I don't feel like my self any more." Derek replied looking at the cave wall. The truth was he hadn't been acting a lot like himself since they'd gotten to the cave. He nor Casey had tried to pick a fight with one another. But he really had been being him self in a way, he used to go in his room and pace for hours thinking about Casey. He just never had that much time on his hands.

"I think its just because we've been here so long now. Its already been a month and two weeks. Derek, do you think mom and George have the police out looking for us?" Casey was really concentrating on keeping calm with Derek being that close to her. They were so close to one another that one wrong move on Casey's part and she'd be kissing him. Derek slowly slid his had toward hers and entwined their fingers. He moved his fingers in circles trying to keep Casey calm.

"Nah, They would send the park rangers then go them selves when the rangers didn't find anything." Derek replied. Casey nodded in agreement. Because her mom knew the police couldn't do anything or rather wouldn't do anything. Casey suddenly felt a wind blow into the cave and snuggled into Derek. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

Casey was the first one to notice the fact that the snow was completely gone. There was none on the ground or anything. The month must have been over. This meant they would be able to go on further. She started to pack everything that wasn't the blankets which Derek was sleeping on. The sooner they got moving the better. Derek started to stir as Casey was finishing her packing.

"Hey... The snow is gone lets get going!" Derek yawned.

"Just pack up the blankets and we'll be on our way." Casey brought the rest of their things to the front of the cave. Out side was beautiful the sun was now bright red and the forest was lit up in all its green glory. You could see little green rays of light coming from the tree's. There were all the usual animals too like deer and bunny's and birds. But along with ones that they'd had in their own world there were new ones too. There was a bird with bright red, yellow, and orange feathers. It looked almost like a thing of legend called a phoenix, it was the most beautiful bird Casey had ever seen.

"Wow this dump sure fixed up when the snow melted." Derek announced.

"Der-ek! Its beautiful." Casey argued.

"Oh sorry princess. Its now a pretty hell hole." Derek breathed. He was trying not to get mad at Casey's argument, and total lack of realization that if she got attached they'd never get home. He was the first one to step out of the cave. Despite the look of the outside it was freezing. Derek shuttered but walked forward. He turned around and offered Casey his hand.

"Come on Princess." Derek winked at her. Casey ran and took his hand and they set off.

"Excuse me Girl and boy!" A voice sounded from behind them. Casey turned around to see a beautiful girl with hair the same color red as the feathers on the phoenix's head.

"Yes?" Casey asked.

"Are you Derek and Cathy?" The woman asked. "Oh sorry I meant to say Derek and Casey."

"Yes we are. How do you know our names?" Casey backed away.

"Madlin sent me. She said I'd probably find you leaving the cave because you'd get caught in the storm. I'm Othafa I'm a phoenix." Othafa said taking a step closer to Derek and Casey.

"I'm Casey and this is Derek." Casey took a step toward her.

"I've come to take you to my home which is the next cave. Climb on my back when I change and I'll take you there." Othafa explained. The next second Othafa was a giant bird.

"Casey should we trust her?" Derek asked.

"What other choice do we have Derek?" Casey climbed onto Othafa's back. Derek fallowed her closely to make sure Othafa wasn't just someone who was going to eat Casey. Casey meant to much to him for him to let some bird eat her. They took to the sky easily and as they got higher the air got warmer. As for the view they could see the walls and they could even see their cottage. It took them what seemed like several hours for them to get to the second cave, much less time then it would have taken them on foot. When they got there Othafa changed back into her human form and went to get a huge sack that she had to drag to get it near the opening of the cave.

"Madlin told me to give this to you. It is full of food and things you may need. It also had a letter in it from her because she thought that you wouldn't trust me." Othafa said.

"Thank you but what to we do with our old stuff that we don't need anymore?" Casey asked.

"Leave them here. I will take you the rest of the way to the cave you do want." Othafa offered. The inside of her cave was set up like Madlin, and Rosalia's house pretty much. It had a bed and a stove, a sofa-ish thing, a shower-ish thing, and another bed-ish thing that Casey and Derek would most likely be sharing. Othafa left to go tell Madlin that she'd found them which was a two day flight to get there and a two day flight to get back. She's also instructed the two to use her bed it they wanted to. The thing was they didn't want to.

"Casey, I don't care if you hate me for this or not but even if you do I wont leave you alone. I love you Casey McDonald." Derek said suddenly.

I'm not very creative when it comes to naming so Othafa's name id just: Over The Hills And Far Away. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.