Something crazy

Even the thought of him dodging the arrow at that first instance was oddly a super sleek move, not to mention he had known how to counter being targeted by the arrows by hiding behind the boulders.

"Are you alright?" He checked in on Chantel who was still trying to catch her breath beside him.

The rush of adrenaline was pumping through his vein as he prepared to make another bold step towards the next boulder.

"Yeah." She breathed, sweat drops forming on her forehead, now she was contemplating her whole life. If she was going to die here, she might as well do something crazy.

Raph had taken a peek at the open boulder in which they could head next to, feeling Chantel's hand on his hair, he whipped his head in her direction to know what was going on. Little did he know, he had given her the opportunity to crash her lips into his.

Standing there frozen as she kissed him passionately, his hands to his side awkwardly, he melted into the kiss for some seconds before regaining his thoughts, he pushed her off him.

Wiping his lips, he glared at her, not understanding what had come over her, "What the hell was that? Why would you do that out of the blue?" He hissed in a whisper.

They were facing a threatening situation and yet she had the audacity to kiss him at that point? He hadn't even confirmed his feelings for her and yet she did such a thing?

Chantel looked away shyly, holding her cheeks to stop her blush to no avail. "I... I don't know why I did that."

"Sure." He rolled his eyes, he had magically turned to her play thing, one to be used at a whim.

He needed them to safely approach where Mr Nigel stood, there was something definitely hidden that he kept from them. Or else why would he choose to be the one who guided them? He was by far not a guide or a native, nor was he an archeologist, so he shouldn't have known about the cave.

"Raph?" Chantel broke his line of thought, he had stared for far too long, it was alarming even for her.

"Shh!" He hushed, looking to the side as he saw the others who were frozen to the spot, no one dared move an inch. They didn't have the daring attitude and were held down with the will to live.

Taking a hold of her hand, he put out his feet outside the proximity of the boulder to test the waters, then immediately drew back his feet almost instantly.

As expected, an arrow was shot, he had been quite lucky that he had drawn back his leg at that point.

"Are you crazy?!" She hissed, hitting him on the chest, it was enough heartache to lose their teammates who they had just met, the gruesome deaths they had witnessed was enough to demand a brain wipeout of the event.

She frowned at his lack of regard for his own life, she had solely relied on him for comfort–he was currently her hero but now he just proved how foolish he could be by doing that.

"I was just testing out my logic." He laughed, pressing his back to the boulder as he thought of another calculative approach to the situation.

"Great logic, huh?" She rolled her eyes. If he was referring to testing if he would die was a great logic, then she was a great archeologist worthy to be emulated.

Raph couldn't pay much attention to Chantel at that point, he was busy focusing on why Mr Nigel had not said a word since, he was definitely awaiting something, and he needed to search out what that was or atleast have a better view of what he was doing.

Pulling her, they ran towards the next boulder, but she had stumbled on a rock and fell down, their grip on each other's hand disconnected.

Chantel began to shake, she finally accepted this as her fate, she was just too weak when it came to matters of fear, she had wondered why she had chosen this profession in spite of the fact she was still coping with her PTSD.

Closing her eyes, she expected the inevitable to come soon.

"Are you this stupid? Or was I just smart all along?" Raph's breathy voice fanned her ears. Then he grabbed her hand to maintain the body connection with another.

As long as he did this, the arrow wouldn't be launched. He had thought of this logic at first but then the more he thought about it, the higher his thoughts seemed to be true as the arrow didn't launch anymore.

She could feel some sort of liquid drop onto her hand, she could have sworn this was definitely not water. This made her more curious to know what it was. She had to open her eyes soon enough.

Opening her eyes, she was met with the bloody scene, her hand was stained with drips of blood. She stared at it for a moment, then looked back up at Raph for answers. She certainly wasn't feeling any pain, so why was there blood stain on her hand?

She gasped at what she saw, borne into his shoulder, was the bone arrow, it's pointy tip a few inches away from her neck. How had she not noticed this dangerous projectile?

She stared at him, her body began to tremble as she started to blame herself for his current situation.

"You can't die now. I still need you." She cried in panic, she had wanted to cup his cheeks to feel him.

He shook his head, dodging her hand and with great effort, holding her hand tightly. His breath was strained as he spoke, "for no reason should our hands be momentarily separated while we are out of the boulder."

He was having a hard time breathing and was starting to lose the feel of his arm. This was definitely not a good sign for the both of them.