Day 2 Evening

[Belle]

This is a joke, right? He has to be doing this deliberately.

Belle stared at Mickey as he made his proclamation, then shook her head. "Right. Wet. That's what I really need. A good-..."

She stopped. Just because her head was throbbing did not mean she got to be crude to Mickey Mouse. She swallowed the swear. If he did come from toon world, the mouse probably wouldn't even understand it. She stared at him, at that silly, goofy smile.

Nah. Couldn't be deliberate.

Belle adjusted the scarf around the wound. She hoped that she didn't bleed on it too much. All things considered, though, she was lucky. With the speed the creature had thrown her against the wall, she had been certain she wouldn't wake up again.

After cleaning up the camp and scrounging up a meager breakfast of berries, Belle relaced her shoes, and they set off. How many artifacts were left, and where were they? With the rate the island was disintegrating, it could be only a day or two before it was all over. She just had to keep it up for that long.

As they walked, Belle mulled over Yuki's lessons. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to review, and they couldn't very well stop just to let her go through the full 'kata.' Instead, Belle practiced the hand motions alone. Curl fingers. Wrap thumb. Extend arm. Thrust. Turn hips into the motion.

"Hee-ya," she whispered.

The previously-scarfed boy glanced back at her. She felt her cheeks burn, and kept the rest of her practice silent.

The hours crawled past. It was surprising how relaxing it was, repeating the motions over and over. Belle guessed maybe that was kind of the point.

It was mid-afternoon before they called another halt. Beneath the shade of a grove of trees, they found a small, isolated pond, fed by a stream that had trickled down from the mountains and exiting somewhere towards the stormy seas. Even if the island continued to exist, without the fresh melt of the snow, the watering hole would inevitably dry up.

However, that hadn't happened yet.

"See?" Mickey beamed. "What did I tell you?"

"Yeah, you sure did." Belle rolled her eyes, reaching out to ruffle the mouse's ears as she passed. Kneeling on the bank, she cupped her hands and spooned a mouthful of deliciously cool water past her lips. If only they had a bottle.

She was about to take a second sip when she caught a black blur at the corner of her vision. "Whee!" Mickey yelled as he splashed down, and Belle shielded herself as she caught some of the spray.

"Hey!"

Mickey came back up, spitting a stream of water in imitation of a fountain cherub. "Come on in!" He chirped. "The water's fine!"

Belle rolled her eyes, then looked at the Roboboy. "He's always like this, isn't he?"

"Kind of," Roboboy admitted with a half-smile.

Belle looked back. She had not had a bath since before she left her apartment, and she was coated in dirt and dried blood. "Well. Guess we might as well," she said.

She opened her mouth to ask them to turn away, then realized how silly that was, given the current company. Removing most of her clothes, she sank into the pond's cool waters. Her fingers scrubbed, wiping away the evidence of the last day's trials, flecks of red briefly clouding before they faded away.

She breathed a sigh ... Then squealed as a sudden gush of water ambushed her from behind. "Oi! Water fight's no fair! You've got giant hands."

"Minnie doesn't complain," the mouse answered with a grin that was too innocent, winding up for another splash. "Blues! Come in!"