The two of them quickly made it out of the cave before Zakk crouched on the ground and gently took the girl off his shoulders and set her in front of him so he could take a better look at her leg.

"I'm not a doctor, but that looks pretty bad..." he muttered under his breath, being careful not to touch it directly.  "What were you doing down there, anyway?  It's dangerous for a kid like you to go alone...where are your parents?"

The girl suddenly tensed.  "I-it's a long story...but...they...kind of...don't...want me anymore..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"They...kind of...disowned me...in a way..."

She looked away.  Zakk paused.  "...I'm sorry."

"...it's...not your fault..."

"Well, you can stay with me and dad if you want. We have room for one more." Zakk offered with a small smile.

The girl looked back up at him. "...really?"

"Yeah!"

"...okie."

She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He froze from surprise before giggling and hugging back.

"Also...you didn't tell me your name yet."

"...Velte."

"Cool name. I'm Zakk."

"...nice to meet you."

It wasn't too much longer before Dak started coming out of the mine too with a sack of gems and gold.

"Zakk?  You're out here already?"

"I had to rescue someone." Zakk said with a shrug, looking back at his father. Velte hid behind Zakk nervously.

"Rescue? Who would need rescuing?" Dak asked.

"Her name's Velte. She was trapped under some rocks that had fallen on top of her. Her leg got crushed underneath them."

"Ouch. Well, we'll have to do something about that."

Zakk nodded and got up, scooping Velte up and placing her on his shoulders again.

"But I did manage to find this before I came out." he added, pulling the ruby out of his pocket.

Dak whistled. "Nice find. Bet you're proud to have a gem of your own now, huh?"

"Yep!"

Zakk put his ruby back before starting to head home with Dak close behind him.