Philippa crept forward, each step a calculated move on her first adventure through the maze of cave tunnels. It was dimly lit, her eyes still struggling to adjust to the poor lighting. The walls dripped with water, each droplet echoing as it hit the floor. Her breathing was heavy, eyes wide, ears alert. Every hair stood on edge as she dove deeper and deeper into the dark.

The longer she spent down here, the easier it became to navigate around. Maybe it was safe to relax? Hmm...it was still doubtful at this stage. There was a eery sense of being constantly watched like the walls has eyes that followed her every move. Strange noises popped up occasionally, making her skitter with nervousness. Where were the coming from? Who was making them? Would she find out? Did she WANT to find out? The answer to that was most definitely a no.

As time went on, Philippa did start to feel more confident in her exploration. Nothing too scary so far had happened and it was actually kinda fun! She could get used to this. The solitude. The dark. Those eyes started to feel less like daggers and more like a friend watching her back. Now the tension had released from her body, she began to feel the ache from her muscles. Wow, she hadn't realised how hard she'd had everything clenched. She paused for a moment, trying to wiggle those tightened tendons loose. As she did so, her chanfron slipped off her face, clattering to the ground. In the quiet, it made one hell of a bang, spooking her slightly. She backed up, looking around for a second to ensure the racket hadn't attracted any unwanted attention before she went to scoop it back up to secure back on. In her surprise, it seemed someone else had already claimed it as their own. Quite a large, bulbous crustacean had wriggled itself underneath and had quickly become happily situated within.

"Um...excuse me?" Did it talk? The two black dots on the front of its face stared at her blankly. Perhaps not.

The question, 'do I need it?', did pass through her mind as she was very tempted to let him keep it. He looked so happy...if that was happy as she stared at his expressionless face, antenna twitching. Well...he didn't look unhappy whatever unhappy looked like on a crab. She was about to find out.

"Sorry friend, I just need this back if you don't mind." Gingerly, she went to pick it up, stretching her neck out as far as she could to grasp the top lip between her teeth. Quite aggressively, the crab jumped forward, snapping his pincers at her face. Philippa let go, squealing and swishing her tail. Damn it! Those claws didn't look like much but they were deadly and could quite easily slice into her soft squishy skin. What to do?

Well, she needed to find him a new home. Avoiding Mr. Snappy, she stepped around him and began to search for the perfect shell. She scavenged through the cave, overturning every lump of soggy moss, and snuffling through the thick layer of dirt that coated every surface of the cave. Everything she found was either broken or too small or it was so filthy that not even a good bath would save it. On she went though, not giving up the hope that the right thing was waiting for her to find.

On and on, her search went and she was so close to giving up and admitting defeat to her rival. Sourcing another chanfron would be a pain is the ass but this was proving to be even worse! But, finally, her patience paid off. A sparkling diamond among the rocks. It was large, relatively unscathed from wear and it was clean (as clean as it could be, anyway). She grasped it carefully, racing back to the crab who'd not moved a muscle since she'd left him. She set the shell on the ground close by, pushing it towards him with her nose.

"C,mon little friend. Look what I found for you." He seemed dubious, staring at her. A more forceful approach would be needed. Again, she stretched forward, grasping the top between her teeth. She lifted it gently off the ground, the hermit snapping angrily towards her. 3...2...1...SHAKE! Rigorously, she shook the armour up and down. The poor crab tried to grasp on but he was slowly slipping. He hit the ground with a thump, naked and exposed. Philippa whipped the helmet out of the way, celebrating in her success. Homeless, the poor crustacean looked a little helpless and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Again, she nudged the shell towards him, hoping he would accept her offering. He seemingly inspected it, tapping his feelers around it, using his little feet to flip it around to inspect the opening underneath. Satisfied, he backed up into it, twisting it until it was comfy. Once it was secure, he scuttled off, unfazed by the whole ordeal.

Philippa took a deep breath and sighed. That was enough excitement for one day.