Mitzy put her hands up defensively. Fethry moved to stand in front of her and waved her back. "No sudden movements," he whispered, his eyes locked on the bear.

She nodded, walking back slowly. The bear growled at them and thrust itself up on two paws. It clawed at the air and threatened to tear them to pieces.

"What do you suggest we do?" Mitzy nudged Feathry.

"I don't know! I don't think a bear would usually be hostile. But I can't think of anything, unless you can speak bear." He glanced back at her.

Her eyes widened as a lightbulb went off in her head. "In fact, I can!" She smirked and stepped forward.

"What?"

The bear crouched down and roared at her, pushed her bangs back. She winced but pressed forward. She cleared her throat and growled back. It had been a while since she'd done it, so she hoped she wasn't too rusty. The bear tilted its head and backed down.

"Since when can you speak bear?" Fethry asked.

She made a noise at the bear. "My sister made me take lessons with her one summer because we were bored."

"That's weird," he said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well I've got a weird family. Now shush so I can talk to the bear." She narrowed her eyes and conversed with the animal. She asked it why it was so upset. The bear let out a "Grrr" in response. "She says we were getting too close to her home. I didn't think there would be a bear cave on the way to the lagoon. Maybe we took a wrong turn..." She tapped a finger to her chin.

"Which arrows are we following? The red or the green?" He raised an eyebrow at her, as if he didn't trust her.

She put her hands on her hips. "The green ones. Why?"

"You took us down several red trails." He frowned. "I think you've been taking us in the wrong direction."

Her eyes widened. "What! Why didn't you say anything? Now I have to explain it to the bear and do you know how awkward that is?"

"One, I was scared to question you, and two, how could you not tell?"

She face palmed. "I'm such a rumpledumpus. I'm color blind, that's why I got them mixed up. I should've just let you lead."

Fethry smiled. "Really? I'm better than you at something! Ha, in your face Mitz!"

"Seeing color, but sure. If you want to count that as a win." She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the bear. She scrunched her face, trying to remember the words. "Grr grr... Grr, roar...?" The bear made a response, and from what she could translate, she smiled.

"What'd she say?" Fethry asked.

"She said her name is Natalie and she'll help us find the way to the lagoon."

"Nice!" He gave the bear a small bow. "Thank you Natalie." The bear roared before walking past them. Mitzy and Fethry exchanged a glance before realizing they were supposed to follow.

...

Mitzy pet the bear as they walked, feeling the warm, soft fur on her finger tips. Fethry walked to her right. After a while, the quiet was starting to get to her. She flashed a sideways glance at him.

"So, Feths, you wanna try conversation again?"

"What do you mean?"

She waved her hand around. "Well, you know, all our conversation this trip have gone down hill." She laughed awkwardly and pushed a strand of hair back. "So, tell me about your cousins. The little ones I mean."

"Oh, well they just came to stay recently, after some family drama stuff." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Louie's the oldest, and he sort of keeps an eye on his brothers. He's more serious than the other two. He's a little too adult for only being ten, but he's been through a lot so I get it. I had to grow up fast too. Then there's Dewey. He's got a good heart but a little jumpy. All these adventures are gonna fix that though, heh. And Huey's... very unique." He laughed a little.

"I think I know what that means," she said with a smirk. "I've got nine 'unique' boys at home. One we even call Fish Breath."

He smiled. "How about you? What've you been up to this past five years?"

The question caught her off guard. "Me? Well, um, you know. Working at O Gilt Enterprises with Mrs. McDuck, trying to keep everything together, making sure no one's on fire." She punctuated the sentence with a snort. She wondered if it sounded forced. She shook herself, realizing she was just overthinking it. Who was she trying to impress? It definitely wasn't Fethry. Nope...

"That's all? Cool."

"What do you mean by 'that's all'?"

He put up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean anything, it's just that when we were dating, we went on a bunch of adventures and stuff."

"I'll have you know I'm doing fine without you, thank you." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you know how stressful it is to wake up ev-"

"Waking up is sooo stressful," he said with the roll of his eyes.

"You didn't even let me finish."

"You know what your problem is? You take joy in having less than everyone."

"What? No, but if I was like that, I'd say 'I'm so thankful that I'm not like that spoiled guy Fethry because I feel bad for him.'" Natalie gave a growl at them, and Mitzy thought she saw an eye roll from the bear.

"Well at least I'm not a girl who... Dang it, I can't think of a comeback." Fethry frowned and crossed his arms like a pouty child. "You know what, I'm glad we broke up. Now I don't have to look at your face all the time."

"Fethry, another word and I will tie you to this bear!"

"Oh yeah? You don't even have rope."

...

Mitzy tightened the knot on the rope she used to tie Fethry to Natalie. She gave him a deadpan expression before patting the bear on the side. She kept walking, the bear following behind.

"Okay, was this really necessary?" Fethry glared at her.

"I'm not listening!" she said in a singsong tone.

The bear made a few noises, which roughly translated to, "You guys are so immature."

"What'd she say?"

Mitzy kept walking. "She thinks you're immature." Natalie nudged her in the back with her massive paw. "Ow, fine. Me too."

"Heh, you were just called immature by a bear."

She huffed and crossed her arms. Part of her wanted to stick out her tongue, but she realized that would only prove the bear's point.

A long time of silence filled the air. Mitzy's legs were feeling sore and she wondered if now wouldn't be a good time to rest. An open space of cave was coming up. Patting Natalie on the shoulder, Mitzy sighed. "We can pause here for a bit."

The bear gave a soft growl in response and curled up on the quartz floor. Mitzy started trying to light a fire of some kind.

"What, you're not even going to untie me?" came the sound of Fethry's annoying voice.

"Eh, looks comfy enough," she said with a smirk. Hitting a rock against another, she went on with the fire. To be honest, she had no clue what she was doing. But she wasn't about to ask Fethry for help.

"You know what, fine!" He looked to the ground, clearly upset. "I'll be glad once his is over, and then you'll have to untie me from this bear, and then you can go live your miserable life and I'll go live mine."

"Fine by me," she said, not even bothering to look at him. After failing for the seventh time to get a fire going, she gave up. She pulled her sweater tighter around herself and leaned against the wall.

Mulling over her thoughts, she stared at a single spot on the ground. Part of her had actually wanted to go on this trip. To untie Fethry, to accept him back into her life. But she pushed whatever remnant feelings she had for hm down. He was still the same selfish duck, and he always would be. Maybe tying him up might've been a bit harsh, bu it kept him away from her and from thinking that she might still like him, so she justified it in her head.

She heard a sigh from across the cavern. She looked up. "Mitzy, what happened to us?" Fethry said. The words echoed off the walls of the cavern.

"Like you don't know." She frowned, pulling her legs closer to herself.

"I don't. You just walked up to me and said you were done, and I never saw you again." He watched her with sad eyes.

"Fethry, you loved your fame more than you loved me. You flirted with every girl under the sun, you were late to every date, you never listened to me. There wasn't a nail in the coffin event, it was just a bunch of things, and the relationship wasn't working." She bit her lip and averted eye contact. "I was going through some stuff and you weren't there for me."

"Mitzy... I'm sorry."

Part of her expected him to just come up with excuses, but he didn't. It was... nice. "My parents had just died, and Goldie was trying to get me out of my grief. She thought you my pull me out of my shell and I could maybe real you in a bit. But it just didn't work."

"I had no idea, Mitz. I was also having troubles around that time. I had lost my cousin." She shook himself. "But that's no excuse... I wish we could start over." A moment of quiet passed between them. Natalie rolled over, flipping Fethry upside down. He frowned. "But after this, things will probably go back to the way they were. I'll go back to the mansion, and you've got your new boyfriend who's probably better than I was."

She raised an eyebrow. "New boyfriend? I don't- What?" She tilted her head, wondering what led him to think she had one.

"Yeah, that Hans guy I heard you talking on the phone with, last night." He rolled his eyes.

Mitzy snickered and she covered her beak. "What, no! You're very mistaken, Feths." She watched his expression shift to confusion. "Hans is my six year old brother. It'd be a little weird if he was my boyfriend, don't you think?"

Fethry turned red. "I just realized I've been jealous of an elementary schooler."

She nodded, a soft smile on her beak. "Yes, yes you have."

The two shared a laugh, and Mitzy decided she should probably undo the ropes. She got up and unknotted it quickly. He fell off the bear with a yelp and landed in her arms.

He smirked. "Should we kiss?"

She dropped him with a thud. "Nope."

He dusted himself off and got to his feet. "Fair. I guess one adventure and a heart to heart isn't enough for a kiss."

She nodded. "Look, Feths, maybe we could start over. But let's just be friends, okay? And I'm sorry I said you were full of babastiki."

"I don't even know what that means, so apology accepted." He shrugged.

The sound of a low rumbling reached her eyes. She looked to Natalie. "Are ya hungry girl? I think I have snacks..." She began shuffling through her bag.

Fethry tapped her on the shoulder. "I don't think that's Natalie. It sounds more like rushing water...?"

Now that she thought about it, it did. She looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. A wall glittered on the opposite side of the cavern. She stepped towards it, resting her hands on it. Her fingertips were chilled. Was it made out of ice. Her eyes darted around the area. A small arrow was drawn on an adjacent wall. "Fethry, what color is that arrow?"

"It's green. Do you think- Could it be the sound of the Rainbow Lagoon?" He moved to stand next to her and grinned.

She spun around to face the bear, who had woken up from all the commotion. "Natalie, grrr grr grrrrr gr growl rawr." She had a really bad accent, but nonetheless, the bear understood. She stood up tall and thrust her massive paws into the ice wall. It shattered, revealing the way to the Rainbow Lagoon.

...

Fethry stared wide eyed, taking in the beauty of the cavern. Waterfalls and streams of rainbow colored water pooled together. Arches of quartz made up bridges across the small rivers, leading the way farther back through the caves. He gasped at how bright it all was.

"Isn't it amazing!" Mitzy beamed, her hands tucked closer to her chest.

Fethry caught himself smiling at her rather the lagoon. "Yeah..."

"Oh come on, it's just tidied water!"

Feathry flinched and spun around to see someone he had hoped wouldn't cause trouble. "Donald? What are you doing here?"

Donald ran a hand through his feathers and stepped closer. "Was just in the neighborhood."

Mitzy glanced uneasily between the two. "Who is this guy?"

Fethry frowned and took up a defensive position. "My cousin. And if he's around that only means trouble. What do yo want?" he snapped.

"Actually, it's not about what I want. I've been hired by someone to track you down. And don't ask who, because I don't really know myself." Donald pulled a red gem out of his pocket and looked it over. "So let's just get this over with." He held out the gem before chucking I past them and into the lagoon.

"What was that?" Mitzy asked.

Donald shrugged. "Like I said, I don't really know."

Without thinking, Fethry jumped on Donald, tackling him to the ground. He didn't know what Donald wanted, but whatever it was couldn't be good. Fethry was tired of him always trying to hurt him and his family.

Donald pinned Fethry instead, making him feel stupid for acting so quickly. "All I need is that stupid penny and I'll be out of your hair!"

Fethry glared at his cousin. "Are you talking about the one Scrooge gave me? I don't even have it on me, it's in my pool! What could you want that for!" He wrestled Donald's hands off of him and tried to shove him off entirely, but Donald held his ground.

"What! The stupid coin isn't even stupid in here?!" Donald grumbled before Fethry elbowed him in the gut. Donald doubled back, giving Fethry a chance to get up.

"What would you want that penny for, anyways?" Fethry dusted himself off and raised an eyebrow. "Did you know there's a ghost in it?"

"I don't want the penny, the little girl does." Donald wiped his beak and got ready for another fight.

The two circled each other. "You're not making any sense, Don."

"Guys! Something weird is happening!" Mitzy stepped back between them, eyes wide.

Fethry followed her gaze to see a strange current shift in the lagoon. The rainbow liquid whirlpooled and shot up, taking another form. He squinted at it as the water twisted until it as the shape of a shark. The gem from before had split in two and served as the eyes of the mystical creature. The rainbow shark dove into the water, only its fin sticking out.

Natalie roared at it and batted the water.

"What the heck was that Donald?" Fethry turned to face his cousin.

"I. Do. Not. Know! How many times do I have to say it?" Donald crossed his arms, a scowl on his face. The three ducks moved to stand at the edge of the water.

"Is it some kind of magic?" Mitzy asked to no one in particular.

Suddenly, the shark burst from the pool and shot up into the air with a roar. And it was heading straight to swallow Mitzy.

She yelped as Fethry's eyes widened. The shark's jaws opened wide and it swallowed up the girl before diving back into the lagoon.

"Mitzy!" he cried.

Donald huffed. "Too bad this isn't one of those dramatic romance movies, or else you totally would've shoved her out of the way, and then you'd be the one eaten."

In one swift movement, Fethry spun around and punched Donald square in the beak.