"Damn this quest has a lot of walking," Shirou muttered as they ascended up another hill towards the cliff. He quietly kept his face centered on the ground as he followed Arturia silently behind her. His face was still tomato red and Arturia's concern had only increased his anxiety.

It was fine that she was worried about him but can she seriously not be able to tell a person blushing?! It's fine if she would ask exactly why he was blushing and leave it at that but when she placed her hand on his forehead in worry, her soft green eyes staring intently on him, even the most cold hearted of people would fall over in a daze.

"But still...I need to get a handle on my nature..." Shirou muttered with his eyes closed. Yes, he needed to get a handle on his raging emotions. It would do no good on Arturia to continue to behave like this. It would only generate misunderstanding between them, especially when he and Arturia were from two separate cultures who have different customs in comparison to each other.

"Emiya Shirou," like how she just used his name. Already she was compensating because she wasn't used to Japanese names. "We have arrived at our destination," also her style of speech was very formal. It's fine for first meetings and the like but it feels overbearing in normal conversations.

"But she seems more beautiful with the way she talks though..." He muttered without thinking.

"Huh?" He snapped his eyes open and felt his heart leap out of his throat when Arturia's face was right in front of him. He stumbled backwards, his feet nearly slamming against each and forcing him to double over if he hadn't righted himself on the last minute.

"U-uh. It's nothing. Just thinking out loud!" Arturia had her eyes eyes wide open and her head tilted just an inch to the right. Her right hand was on her hip while her mouth was open in shock. She had not expected his outburst apparently, he thought that was a normal reaction from her.

"Emiya Shirou, we have arrived at our destination," Arturia repeated, her voice calmer than his, as she still looked at him curiously. Shirou scratched the back of his head, feeling stupid as he nodded.

"Right," Shirou tilted his head and stared up the hill, ignoring Arturia for the time being. The cave entrance wasn't particularly big but it wasn't small either. Shirou guessed that five players could walk in side by side without the slightest discomfort. "This doesn't look all that hard," Shirou said optimistically.

"I fail to see how a cave entrance can provide an accurate depiction of difficulty," Arturia said. Shirou felt something form in the back of head.

"No- I mean, I wasn't saying- it's just an expression!" Shirou couldn't help the feeling of trying to defend himself. He didn't know why but he didn't like the idea of being seen as an idiot in front of Arturia.

She however remained perfectly calm and quiet as she stared at Shirou. Her eyes never left his face and they carried such an intensity that Shirou felt himself choke. "Ah, nevermind let's just go." Arturia tilted her head curiously, her eyes now looking at Shirou in some unknown emotion as she turned back to the cave.

"I see," Arturia said, "I think that is for the best." She entered the cave alongside Shirou, who fingered the hilt of his sword as he tried to keep a respectful distance with Arturia.

The cave was dark, he could hear the echo of dripping water far off in the cave. It felt ominous, terrifying even, that the air seemed to turn damp and heavy. "Shirou," Arturia's calm voice said, "do you feel it?"

"Yeah, there is something here." Shirou glanced at his inventory, thankful he had some healing items kept in handy. He never left anywhere without supplies.

They walked for a little bit more and came across a small hole in the ground with a trapdoor attached to it. Arturia frowned as she looked at it and Shirou, thinking it would be difficult for her to crouch in that dress, reached down to pull the lid off the dropping.

"That is quite deep," Arturia said after a moment, "It seems it is a passageway."

"But for whom? I know mobs are pretty smart but I've never heard of them using tunnels," Shirou muttered. This was outside the boundaries of his understanding, mobs were just monsters that ran at you with blank eyes and a moderate intelligence level. They didn't dig tunnels underground for better transport and movement.

"It is best to assume that the mobs for this particular quest are special. For what reason I do not know." Shirou nodded his head at Arturia's words. He jumped down into the hole, landing into a rough roll as his armor pieces dinged off the hard rock ground. Arturia came in behind him and Shirou noticed how she landed with only a slight depression of her stance, otherwise she remained perfectly normal and regal like as she always was.

She nodded to Shirou, her normally aloof and calm green eyes narrowed slightly as she gestured down the cave. "Remain close," she said in a whisper. Shirou felt his insides knot again, the argument from before springing up to his mind. He stepped up to her but took a place by her side rather than behind her, if Arturia was surprised by it Shirou couldn't tell but he did notice how she compensated his presence with a shift of her stance.

"The walls seem to be closing in," Shirou said offhandedly as he brushed his fingers on the rock surface. "...warm."

The sound of metal being drawn was heard and Shirou noticed how Arturia had Excalibur raised and pointed down the length of the cave. "I feel something." Shirou glanced into the depths of the cave, spotting nothing but darkness. He kept his gaze steady at the other end of the cave before glancing back at Arturia who still had Excalibur drawn. "I don't see-" his sentence never got to be finished.

Instead he found himself falling backwards as a hand gripped the edge of his collar. He struggled, twisting himself to take out his sword. He swung wildly but was met with resistance as something gripped his wrist and twisted. His weapon fell on the ground and before he could blink he was tossed into a hidden hole by the side of the cave.

His head slammed against a rock, his health bar dropping a third as he slid down into an open rock room. He tucked his legs in instinctively when he hit the ground but failed to bring his shoulder down right when he rolled and ended up twisting the tendon. The system recognised the fault and sent an appropriate jolt of pain through his body when he finally righted himself on his back.

"Damn!" He cursed. His hand immediately grabbed his right shoulder, cursing the realism of SAO as he looked up at the hole in the ceiling. "Arturia!" He shouted, hoping to get her attention but all he could in return was the familiar clangs of metal against metal. His heart sped, his mind stalled and he leaped up to try and climb his way out.

The ceiling wasn't high enough that he couldn't reach it and his finger dug into the sides of the tunnel he fell down. He gritted his teeth and ignored the pain flaring from his right side as he forced himself up into the hole. The thought of Arturia up there alone, fighting who knows what, terrified him.

A thought of her injured force his efforts to double. The thought of her fighting against a mob of monsters sent his lungs furiously yelling in exertion. He pulled himself up just a little bit more before he tumbled back down onto the ground in a heap.

He crumpled, his face contorted into self-loathing at his inability. "Arturia!" He shouted again but silence met him. He pushed himself onto his hands, locking down at the rock ground and felt his muscles clench. Down there, lost in a place he wasn't familiar with, the only thing Shirou thought about was that green-eyed girl with snow-white skin fighting. He didn't like it. He hated it. But he hated himself for not being able to do anything.

He buried his wallowing, sucked up his pride as a man and tried his best to push thoughts of Arturia from his mind. She was safe, he trusted her to be able to best whatever she faced. She was alright, she wasn't hurt. He brought his eyes up, squinting through the darkness he found himself in to look around himself.

And realised he was in a cage.

Damn.

There's not much fluff in this chapter but I wanted to grow the relationship between Shirou and Arturia a little bit more than just 'I have a nice tingling feeling whenever I'm around you' type vibe I got from the earlier chapters. I want to try and grow their feelings for each other, like how Shirou sees Arturia as someone to defend and Arturia has some fascination with Shirou