A/N: Welcome to chapter 2! Ok, let me just tell everyone right now that this chapter was very hard to write. It's long, dramatic, and has way too many things to remember to add. It took me forever to write and to correct, so even though I went over it a million times, I know it still had a few mistakes or I left a few parts out. So please forgive me!

Despite being hard to write, this chapter was also interesting to write. It was a real challenge; so let's see what you guys think of it! Please review! :)

So here it is! Oh, and any Owen fans, please don't kill me!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon: Animal Parade. I do own a popsicle stick, which is providing me with hours of entertainment!

Chapter 2: Smothered Confidence

After about twenty minutes or so of walking through the winding, dark forest, Luke came to an abrupt halt. Of course we just had to be walking in a straight line when he did because of the narrow path, so it caused a chain reaction. Bo crashed into Luke, Owen crashed into Bo, causing the twelve-year-old to fall, and I crashed into Owen's hard back, which hurt. Chase was the only one who didn't collide. He was a few steps behind, looking at us with a 'really now?' expression on his face. Rubbing my nose, I helped Bo up and shot an annoyed glance at Luke. But Luke didn't even seem to notice; he was staring in front of him, smiling.

That's when I noticed where we were. We had reached a huge stone wall. And in front of us was the entrance to a cave. The hole was about 12 feet tall and 7 feet wide. I couldn't see anything inside of the cave; only darkness. So I was thankful when the Garmon Guys flicked on their flashlights.

"Ready?" Owen asked. He sounded confident, as usual.

"You're sure this is safe?" I wanted to double-check.

The tall redhead looked down at me and nodded. "Pretty sure. I've been in a lot of caves, and this one doesn't look too different from the rest."

Luke was bouncing on his feet. "Let's go!" And he ran in first, quickly followed by everyone else, not wanting to be left behind.

Just as I thought, the cave was dark and wet. I could hear water splashing under Luke's boots, dripping from the moldy ceiling, and bubbling in what must have been a spring. The cave sounded huge: Luke's yells of "Woooow!" or "Look at that!" echoed off the walls and filled the vast space with noise. I could see a few bugs scuttling over rocks, fleeing from the harsh light of the flashlights. A shiver ran up my spine. I did not like bugs.

I was just taking a good look around when it happened. A low cackling suddenly erupted from outside. All heads and flashlight beams spun to face the noise. For one horrible moment nothing happened. And then…

BA-BA-BOOOOM!

And a flash of blinding light.

I immediately clapped my hands over my ears as the explosion erupted into the cave. Everything shook, and then, when I though it was over, there came a loud rumbling from the entrance. Everyone stood frozen as the rumbling continued, and the next second rocks were falling from above. And I was still standing close to the entrance. Crap.

I was rooted on the spot, too afraid to move. Oh, my gosh, I'm going to be crushed! I shut my eyes as they fell…

"Elana!"

I felt myself being knocked off my feet as someone threw them self into me, knocking me out of the way. My breath left me in a whoosh as I landed on the cold, hard ground, and for a second everything was chaos. I could hear rocks continue to fall, could see light disappear from the cave as flashlights were dropped and rolled away. The rocks piled up the entrance, blocking the outside world from view. I heard someone let out a yell of pain. I had no idea who it was, or who was on me, or who was calling everyone's name…

Then it stopped, just like that. Nothing went bang, no more light, no more rocks. Pebbles fell from the now unsteady roof of the cave, finishing up the job of blocking the entrance. I felt some plop onto my head, but it didn't hurt. I was still being crushed by whoever was trying to protect me.

Then a light flickered back on. Heads turned to find Bo, holding a retrieved flashlight. The twelve-year-old looked very shaken, but unharmed.

Another one flickered on. Luke was holding his own flashlight. Just like Bo, he was looking scared, but didn't have any visible injuries. So that left…

The weight of the boy who tackled me suddenly left, and a hand made it's way into my vision. "C'mon, get up. Are you ok?" It was Chase.

I shakily took his hand and he helped me up. My legs felt numb. I could feel drops of warm liquid running down my leg from scraped on my knees, and my elbow was killing. But I swallowed my pain and nodded.

Chase looked pale, his purple eyes looked dimmed. Then I remembered that he had pushed me out of the way of the falling rocks… I gasped, "Are you ok? Did any hit you?"

"I'm fi-"

"Where's Owen!" Luke suddenly broke in. My breath suddenly caught in my throat. Oh, no.

Flashlight beams suddenly started sweeping the area. Luke was frantically yelling his friend's name, and Bo ran over to the clogged entrance and started searching. I was scared. Terrified. Owen… please be ok… please don't be under the rocks…

I was shaking. I felt tears weld up in my eyes, but stubbornly wiped them away. I would not cry right now. Thank god the light of the flashlights weren't on me.

I felt a hand reach out and take my own. Startled, I looked at Chase. Even in the dark I could tell he wasn't looking at me, but that couldn't have been anyone else's hand in mine.

"It's ok." I heard him whisper, barely audible. If I wasn't shaking before, I was shaking like crazy now. Chase? Holding my hand?

I shook my head and took a deep breath. Owen was ok… Owen had to be ok…

"Owen!" Bo called at that exact moment. It wasn't like 'Owen!' like Luke was frantically calling, more like 'Owen!' like, excited. Like he had just found him.

I forced myself to let go of the chef's hand and ran over to where Bo was, trying not to trip. Luke and Chase stumbled over, too. Bo was in the corner of the cave near the entrance, where extra rocks that had fallen off the pile had tumbled down.

And there was Owen. He was sitting down, face twisted with pain. For a second I couldn't see why; the light was weird. But then I saw that rocks had fallen onto his left leg. He was stuck, desperately trying to pull his leg out from the tumble of heavy rocks. Then he noticed us. He turned his head to look up at us; we were standing on another pile of fallen rocks. He tried his best to give us a smile, but it didn't really work. His face was smeared with dirt.

"H-hey guys. I'm sorta stuck… I t-tried to get out of the way… M-my hammer's in my bag…"

I was first to jump for it. Surprising myself as well as everyone else, I skidded to a halt next to where Owen's abandoned backpack lay, and opened it up. I pulled out the heavy bronze hammer; a lot fancier than my old one was.

"Elana, maybe I should do it…" Luke started, but I shook my head. "I mine more than you do, Luke. I can do it." I didn't care if I sounded like a stubborn three-year-old; I had to help Owen. I would not loose my older brother figure because of some stupid rocks in some stupid cave!

"Ok, Elana, think you can break the rocks without breaking my leg?" Owen joked weakly.

More broken than it already is? I couldn't help but think as I nodded. Without thinking it through, (because if I did I would have been scared out of my mind), I raised the heavy tool over my head (Ow, elbow!), aimed it at the biggest rock, and swung it down.

There was a loud CRACK! I looked down and saw that the first rock had already split. Ok, I could do this… "Was that ok, Owen?"

He bit his lip and flinched, but nodded. "Yeah. Keep doing that."

And I did. And soon the pile of rocks was getting easier and easier to move. Once I cracked one open, one of the guys would move the smaller pieces out of the way. Little by little, the pile was shrinking.

Finally, I took a whack at the last big rock. It split, and we all bent down to push the pieces away. I felt like an archeologist or something, moving small pieces of rocks to uncover something. Only I wasn't too excited to discover what I would find…

This whole time Owen had been flinching, one time he even let out a yelp. I could only imagine what it felt like to have people cracking rocks on your leg. I mean, that hammer must be heavy, right?

So I wasn't too surprised when we cleared away the rest of the rocks and found blood on our hands. Owen leg looked completely totaled. It was black and blue all over and bleeding heavily in multiple places. It was twisted an odd way, and looked oddly… flat.

I gulped down nausea as I heard Bo say, "I think I'm gunna be sick…"

Luke was already at his friend's side. Owen put his arm around Luke's shoulder and Luke wrapped his arm around Owen's back and under the arm on the opposite side. I was still getting over the fact that Luke actually knew what to do when I saw Chase run over and do the same on Owen's other side. They're like a rescue squad or something.

"Elana, grab his backpack. Bo, take my flashlight. Let's bring him over to where the rocks didn't reach." Luke didn't sound like himself. He didn't sound like that goofy 14-year-old he was a few hours ago. His voice was flat and he sounded strangely grown-up.

So I grabbed the open pack as the two boys helped Owen over the piles of rocks. He was heavier than both Luke and Chase, but they did pretty good as they half helped half dragged him deeper into the cave. With the help of Luke's flashlight, now in the possession of Bo, I could see pretty well now. The falling rocks had stopped twenty or so feet from the entrance.

When we got to a spot where the rocks didn't reach, the two boys gently set Owen onto the ground against the cave wall. Owen sat up, face unusually pale and weak looking. It was sad to see someone so strong, so confident, in that state.

And then that same instinct that took over when I dove for the hammer took over once again. Suddenly determined, I turned to Chase.

"Give me your apron." I said steadily.

He raised a slender eyebrow, but didn't object to the force in my voice. He untied his thin dark blue apron, slipped it off, and gave it to me. Now he was only wearing a green button-up shirt and blue pants. Wow, he looks hot…

No, stay focused! "Luke, water."

In a second the carpenter handed me a jug of water. Having everything I needed, I ripped off an end of the thin apron with all of my might. A small piece came off, and I dribbled water over it. Then I got to work.

In a few minutes Owen's leg had been cleaned and bandaged in a makeshift cast. I was really hoping Chase wasn't too attached to that apron…

I was just examining my work when Luke interrupted my train of thoughts. "Elana, that was awesome! How did you do that?"

I blushed. "It's not that hard. My mom's a nurse, so I learned a little from her. I couldn't completely stop the bleeding, so, Owen, if you starts to feel really dizzy or anything…"

Owen was beaming now, too. "Your awesome, Elana! It feels better already!" He showed me a weak grin, and I smiled back. Ok, so he's doing better, I thought as the blacksmith adjusted himself, wincing, and let out a sigh.

"Elana, you're hurt, too." Bo said in a timid voice.

I had completely forgotten. I bent my head down to look at my knees. The cuts weren't deep at all, so it didn't really matter. And my elbow…

I tried bending it experimentally, and let out a surprised yelp. I hadn't even noticed how much it had been hurting this entire time.

Realizing I was still being watched, I turned back to Bo and smiled.

"I'm ok! No biggy!" I ripped off another piece of Chase's shrinking apron, lying on the floor, and attempted to wrap my right elbow with my left hand. This wasn't really working…

Chase came over and was now helping me wrap it. I watched as he slowly wrapped the fabric around it a few times, and then tied it. I smiled. "Thanks!"

He grunted in response and then staggered back to the cave wall and sunk down against it, wincing. Wait… staggered? Wincing?

I narrowed my eyes. "Chase, take off your shirt."

He looked at me with wide eyes. "What?"

Luke suddenly burst with laughter "Haha! Chase, better do what she, haha, says!" He couldn't go on. Even Owen was snickering.

I rolled my eyes. "Grow up. Chase is hurt, too. Don't try to hide it."

Chase also narrowed his eyes at me, but said no more. I guess he gave in, because he let out an annoyed sigh and unbuttoned his shirt.

Oh, my gosh. The kid looked like he was glowing! Who was he, Edward Cullen?

I mentally slapped myself. Stay focused! "Ok, now stand up and turn around. Bo, shine the light over here."

Looking uncomfortable, Chase turned around to face the wall, as the light fell onto him, leaving me staring at his bare back. Which, as I suspected, was bad.

Just like Owen's leg, his back was covered in bruises. And…

I groaned. "Chase, is that blood running down your neck?"

I saw his shoulder tense. "How am I supposed to know?"

"You said you were fine!" I hissed. I could almost picture him rolling his eyes right now.

"I am fine."

"Oh, right, and head injuries are totally classified as fine, right?"

"You worry too much."

"You don't worry too much!"

"Thank you."

I was about to retort when Luke, once again, cut in from his sitting position on the floor. "Would you two stop bickering like an old married couple? Chase, let Elana do whatever she wants with you! She's the smart one!"

We both blushed. I heard Chase grumble "Fine."

I took a breath in. "Ok, well there's not much I can do for your back. It's not like I have ice to stop the swelling. It's not broken, or bleeding. So just don't, like, mess with it or anything and it should be ok."

I ran my hand up his back, and he winced. Then I ran it up to his head. I stopped when I felt sticky liquid under my hand. Bingo. Chase's thin, wavy hair was already becoming wet with his own blood.

I tried my best to stay calm. My mom had always told me head wounds bleed a lot more than regular one's, so it's not as bad as it looks…

"Right." I knew just what to do.

It's easy, really. First you have to get rid of the blood. So I took a wet piece of the apron and started wiping. When it was cleaned up, I could easily find the source of the bleeding. There was a large gash on the back of his head, probably where a rock had landed.

That could have been my head, I reminded myself, remembering how Chase took the rocks for me.

"Keep pressure on it." I instructed him, putting a piece of the cloth to the wound. "We need to stop the bleeding."

He did so without objecting, which was good. I bent down and tore a long piece of he apron off. That would be good.

And in a few minutes his head was done bleeding and all wrapped up. I beamed at my own work. Not perfect, Irene could have done better, but the Harvest Goddess knows I've tried! "M'kay! You're all done!"

Chase feebly brought a hand up to his head. I heard him mumble thanks.

There was a weird moment of complete silence where Chase slipped his shirt back on and sunk down next to Owen. Everything was quiet. The only sound was water dripping somewhere off in the distance. Then…

"Are we going to be able to get out of here?" Bo whimpered. From the glow of the flashlight, I could see he looked really scared. I didn't blame him, personally.

I saw Luke smile, but it was missing its usual glow. "Yeah! We'll find a way out! And I'm sure if we yell a lot or something, people are bound to hear us! C'mon, Elana and I will go right now!" Luke grabbed the spare flashlight, hopped up, and before I could object I was grabbed by the wrist and led me towards the entrance.

He brought me over piles of rocks until we reached the biggest one, the one blocking the way out. From what I could see, it looked completely hopeless: it looked like the rocks had covered every inch of the outside world.

But that didn't stop Luke. He was already moving rocks, scrambling around, looking for weak points. Soon he called down to me from his place on top of the pile. "Hey, Elana! I found a hole! Not big enough to fit through, though…" His yell echoed off the walls of the cave.

"Throw me the flashlight!" I yelled back. He threw it over and I easily caught it with my good arm. Shining the light in front of me, I scrambled up the steep hill to where Luke was.

Sure enough, he had found a small gap where the rocks had missed. It was high above the ground outside, so even if we could fit through it would be about a ten-foot drop. But, luckily and unluckily, it didn't look like any of us could fit through.

I shook my head. "Too small. Maybe Bo could fit, but-"

Luke laughed. "With that big head of his?"

"I heard that!" Bo called up to us, and now we both laughed.

I turned back to the small hole. "Ok, think any one can hear us if we yell loud enough?" I practically whispered to Luke.

"It's worth a shot." He replied back smoothly.

Next thing I knew we were both yelling into the hole at the top of our lungs. Things like "HELP!" or, "WE'RE STUCK!"

But after a good ten minutes of that, we were pretty sure no one was coming. Disappointed, we slunk back down to our makeshift campsite.

"Didn't work." Luke stated the obvious.

I sighed. "Well, if we're going to be in here for a while, we might as well make a fire or something…"

Luke perked up. "I have wood in my bag!"

We all stared at him. "Why do you have wood in your bag?"

He shrugged. "I'm a carpenter. I carry wood around with me!"

Even Owen looked confused. "Since when?"

Luke made a face. "Since forever!"

I dropped the subject. "Anyone have matches?"

"I might." Owen said hesitantly. "Check my bag."

Sure enough, I found a small box of matches hidden inside the backpack. I smiled. "Perfect. Bo, go get some small rocks from the pile to make a fire pit with. I really don't want anyone to catch on fire today."

And there we have it! A fire. Aren't I smart? Thank god the wood wasn't wet, because it didn't release too much smoke. Which was good, considering the only way for the smoke to get out of the cave was a tiny hole 10-feet off the ground.

Now we all sat around the fire, flashlights turned off to save the energy. We looked horrible; we were all covered in dirt, and some of us in bandages and blood. But, besides the bad appearances, I thought we were doing pretty darn good! We had shelter (if a deadly cave that could collapse at any moment counted as shelter), a fire, and plenty of food and water, courtesy of the Garmon Guys. So this wasn't too bad, right?

"Do you think someone will find us?" Bo asked.

Owen, who was looking tired but a lot less hurt, nodded. "Yeah, defiantly! People are bound to come looking for us! I bet Dale and Ramsey are probably out searching right now!"

Bo smiled. "You think so?"

"Yeah." Owen leaned back against the wall, mangled leg outstretched in front of him. "Plus, we have Elana here!" He laughed lightly. "Didn't know she was Little Miss Survival! With her, I'm pretty sure we can overcome anything."

Luke jumped in. "Yeah! I don't know how we got stuck here, but Elana will make everything better." He turned to me with those cat-like eyes and gave me a warm smile. "Right?"

Now all the boys were looking at me, smiling. Even Chase gave me a small smile.

That's when I was driven overboard. I was too tired to deal with this. I couldn't deal with this. This whole time I was being strong, I was being confident, I was being brave. I had pushed all negative thought out of my mind. I promised myself I wouldn't let anything happen to these guys, and I kept my promise. I had become something I never was: a hero. But that's not me. That's not the 15-year-old girl without any muscle who didn't know what she was getting into when she agreed to move here. That's who I really am. And I couldn't accept the fact that the guys were now relying on me. That was just too much. And suddenly I let all the emotions that had been building up inside of me release. I let them out in a rush: Fear, anger, worry, frustration, anxiety, and all those others. This was all too much…

And I did something I had been trying not to do this entire time. I sunk down onto my knees, buried my head in my hands, and cried my heart out.

A/N: Aww, poor Elana! Her luck doesn't really increase any time soon, either.

I know the chapter was long, dramatic, and bloody. So if any of you people don't like that kind of stuff, please forgive me! I try my best to make everyone happy.

Don't worry, Owen and Chase will be ok!

The next chapter will reveal a lot about some of the character's pasts, which was why I wrote this story in the first place.

Like I said before, this was a hard chapter to write, so forgive me if it had too many errors for your liking!

Please review! I won't update if you don't.

Oh, and one last thing: if any one has any ideas for Bo's past, I would love to hear them. I think I have everyone else's, but I still need some ideas for Bo. If you have any ideas for other characters, too, I would also love to hear them, but I can't guarantee I'll add them. Thanks so much!

Thanks for reading! You guys are awesome! :D

~blue-eyed-cow