Bradford had just finished putting Webby to bed and was making himself some tea when he heard the front door slam.
"BRADFORD!"
He stirred his tea with a small spoon and took a sip of the warm drink. It was only moments later when Feathry burst in to the kitchen with fire in his eyes. The buzzard had to refrain from smirking. The triplets tagged behind Feathry, snickering.
"Bradford, you twisted turnip!" Feathry stomped towards Bradford, glaring.
"She did always have a knack for those strange insults, huh?" Bradford said, glancing sideways at his boss. "So, I assume she was there then?"
"Why did you invite Mittsy, the bane of my existence, to my party!" Feathry threw his hands up dejectedly.
"You mean your GIRLFRIEND!" Huey sang from the doorway.
Dewey and Louie prodded on, "Feathry and Mittsy, sitting in a tree!"
Feathry sighed and face palmed. "Boys, go to bed." He turned back to Bradford. He coughed into his fist, trying to hide his smile. Feathry rolled his eyes. "Explain yourself Mr. Buzzard." Bradford opened his mouth to speak, but the duck interrupted him. "And don't give nonsense like 'You were happier when you were with her' or whatever, because you know what she did? She yelled at me. The whole time. And now Goldie has set up some weird date for us and this is making neither of us happy!"
Bradford set his tea on the counter and raised an eyebrow. "Are you done?" Feathry nodded. "Good. Goldie told me it was a small expedition, and I thought it wold be nice to at least see you two on talking terms again. You're the one putting the date label on it."
"Oooooooooooh!" The triplets each had goofy grins on their faces, eyeing Feathry.
"Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck! Bed!" Feathry threw his hands up, not bothering to look at them. The boys ran off, giggling. Bradford sipped his tea loudly.
"You think you're so clever, don't you?" Feathry crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the older bird. But Bradford wasn't too thrown off by it, he had expected this. "With your sneaky little plan. Well, guess what? I am gong to spend a whole day with her tomorrow, and by the end of it, we will still hate each other and prove you and Goldie wrong! Ha!" A snarky smile lit up his face and he turned to leave.
Bradford went on drinking his tea, his hands warm. Feathry threw shut the kitchen door behind him, leaving the vulture in pleasant silence. A smirk crossed his face. He could read Feathry like a book for little kids and big pictures. He had a pretty good guess at what would happen tomorrow.
...
Mittsy packed a backpack of supplies, slipped on her favorite sweater, and headed to Killmotor Hill. She had two water bottles, a few granola bars, a knife (just in case), and a small caramel candy Hans had put in there.
It wasn't long before she found herself at the front door. Her feet turned stone on the welcome mat. Her fist raised, she couldn't bring herself to knock.She bit her lip. Just one little "adventure", she reminded herself. Of course, that's what she had said last night, until Mrs. McDuck through a wrench in her plans.
She winced and made her knuckles hit the door. It opened and she was surprised to see Gladdy there instead of Feathry. He was wearing a bath robe, toothbrush in hand and a quizzically expression on his face.
"Mittus Operandi, didn't expect you to be at the door," he said, greeting her with a smile.
She hot him finger guns with a weird smirk on her face. "Yeah, me neither... I didn't know you lived here."
He shrugged and started brushing his teeth. He was trying to explain something to her, but she couldn't really understand it. She just smiled and nodded, wondering why he didn't just brush his teeth in the bathroom like a normal person.
He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Wait, you probably want to come in, don't you?"
Did he swallow the paste... She shook herself. "Uh, yes, I'm here for Feathry."
Gladdy stepped aside and let her through. He nudged her, a smirk on his face. "Ah, I see. You guys are getting back together."
"Nerp!" It came out louder than she wanted. She shoved him away and narrowed her eyes at him. "No, Gladdy."
"Feathry! Your lady friend is here!" Mittsy stiffened as the boy with the cap came running down the stairs. The boy grinned up at her. "He'll be down in a minute."
She nodded slowly. The kid's brothers followed after him and they stood close together. She looked over them and decided if she was going to spend a whole day it's the most annoying person in the world, she might as well make conversation wit someone else while she could. "Umm, we didn't really got off on the right foot yesterday. I'm Mittsy." She stuck out her and to the blue triplet.
He shook it and smiled. "I'm Dewey."
"Huey, or the Hue-man for long."
"Louie."
"Louie, Dewey, and Huey," she said, pointing to each of them in turn.
The triplet with a hoodie tied around his waist raised his hand. "Actually, you swapped me and Huey, but that's fine. It takes most people a hike to figure it out."
She ran a hand through one of her pigtails. "Sorry." It was now when she realized how many people had moved in with Feathry since she'd been here last. At that point, it had just been him, Bradford, and Webby.
"My alarm didn't go off! Sorry!" Feathry readjusted his jacket and made his way down the stairs. Just the sound of his voice twisted her mood. "Ready to go Mitts?"
"I'm not the one who's late." She crossed her arms and gave him an unamused look.
Feathry frowned and rose his hands defensively. "Chillax, I just asked a question."
Webby came to meet them. "Bye Feathry! Have fun with Mittsy!" She gave them a small wave and Mittsy returned it.
He moved to the door and held it open for her. She mentally scolded herself for snapping at him. She was just frustrated by this whole trick they had played on her. That wasn't Feathry's fault.
Of course, the trip would be easier if Feathry was a more tolerable person.
...
Looking over the plains, Donald squinted through a pair of binoculars. A river ran through the canyon, and just on the other side he could see Feathry and Mittsy walking into a cave. Donald pat his pocket, double checking that the gem was still in there. "Alright Tiffany, are you ready?" When he remembered he was talking to a rock, he looked down somewhat embarrassed.
He started his way down the cliffside, and after his cousin.
...
Feathry ran his hand along the wall of the cave. The inner wall was made of quartz, brightening the dark just a tad. Mittsy walked on the other side of the cavern. He could tell she was avoiding looking at him.
"So what are we looking for? Goldie didn't really give any map." Mittsy but her lip, her eyes moving around the cave. "But she did say that there were markers later on, once we get past the Golden Lagoon."
"Rainbow water, I guess," Feathry said with a shrug. Part of him wanted to ask how she'd been the past few years, but she probably wouldn't answer, so he didn't. "We should be careful, there might be traps."
She nodded. "You probably have a lot more experience with this than I do." She laughed, even though she hadn't said anything particularly funny. She was probably trying to fill the awkward silence. Feathry kept catching himself glancing at her.
They had been walking maybe 10 minutes when a stone sunk under Feathry's flipper. A click echoed through the cavern and the two stopped in their tracks.
"What was that?"
"I think it might be one of those traps."
He spun around to see an opening in the roof. A giant boulder fell with a thud and started rolling right for them. In one swift movement, he grabbed Mittsy's wrist and started running. She stumbled to keep up, but they couldn't waste time. They both screamed for fear of being crushed.
His heart pounded loudly in his chest. He glanced back every once in a while to make sure she was still there, even if he could feel her wrist in his hand.
"Goldie is trying to kill me!" she let out.
"I've got ya!"
"Oh thank you! Now I feel safe!" He could almost feel her glaring at the back of his head.
Feathry gasped stumbled to a stop. The path came to an end; the only place left to go was a one man elevator. The boulder was coming fast. He let go of her and gestured to the pulley system. "There's only room for one, so you go first."
She crossed her arms. "Oh, so then you can sneak off and have me out of your hair?"
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll go first."
"So I'll be crushed?"
Throwing up his arms, he let out an exasperated breath. "We don't have time for this! What do you want woman!"
With no time for words, she shoved him into the elevator. She squeezed in next to him, making him very claustrophobic. The boulder rolled towards them at an increasing rate. "Come on, help me lower it!" She took hold of the rope, and he followed her lead.
The elevator dropped a good few feet from where they were. They heard a loud bang from above as the boulder collided with the wall. Feathry let out a sigh of relief.
"Come on, we gotta keep going down." The rope passed through Mittsy's hands as she worked.
"No 'thanks'? It's not like I just saved your life." He narrowed is eyes at her, keeping a strong grip on his rope.
"Excuse me? You wanted to take turns with the elevator," she said with a scoff.
"You would've been crushed if I didn't drag you with me!"
"Oh, you think you're soooo heroic!" She rolled her eyes.
"Fine. You just sit there while I do all the work. You're not particularly light."
"You think you're doing all the work?" She smiled cheekily at him. "Oops." Her hands came off the rope. Feathry's side sped up, burning his hands. He yelped, making an expression of pain. He did his best to catch his grip. She crossed her arms, smiling as she watched him lower the heavy box down the elevator shaft.
...
Squeezing past the boulder, Donald found an elevator shaft. The elevator was gone, leading him to believe Mittsy and Feathry were in it. He could hear shouting from below. Yep, they were in it. Jeez, and he thought Daisy and his fights had been bad.
He pulled out a knife and began sawing away at it. He grinned as the little threads snapped. Sure, Miss De Spell would probably prefer them alive, as it would be easier to retrieve the penny. But this way, Feathry would be out of Donald's hair once and for all. And then he could retrieve the penny some other way.
And the rope snapped.
...
Feathry's eyes widened when the rope slipped out of his hands. The elevator sped up, dropping like a rock. The pair screamed. Feathry's gut churned with the feeling of falling. He thought fast, guessing they would come up on an opening soon. He pulled Mittsy close by her waist and said, "Get ready to jump!"
Before she acknowledge what he said, he saw the opening and jumped for it. She yelped, holding him tight. He would've smirked if he wasn't preoccupied. He caught the ledge with his hand, pain shooting up his shoulder. The elevator fell below them with a clatter.
He helped Mittsy up and climbed after her. Out of breath, they flopped down of the rock floor.
"In the span of less than an hour, I have almost died twice," she said between breaths.
"What? You wanted a safe adventure?"
She started laughing, catching him off guard. She sat up and wiped her brow. "Feathry, this is exhilarating! I- I think I actually miss this!" She ran a hand through her bangs and snorted. "Sure, back when we were dating, it was never anything as crazy as this, but I think I'm actually having fun!"
"Really? 'Cause my arm hurts." But he smiled with her.
She helped him to his feet. "Come on, let's go get that rainbow stuff."
"Wait, so you like me again?"
"I never said that, no. You are tolerable again. But we are still going our separate ways when we're done." She walked up ahead of him through the cave.
He frowned. Just wishful thinking.
Mittsy and Feathry came up on an opening. She grinned. "Look! It's the Golden Lagoon! It's so beautiful!" They looked over the open area. Lakes and waterfalls of pure, liquid gold flowed around them. The air was hot and the smell wasn't particularly nice, but thee scene was bright and gorgeous nonetheless.
Feathry smirked and nudged her. "Hey, do you think you could go swimming in that."
"Um, no, you would die." She raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how hot that would be?"
He shrugged. Pulling out his phone, he snapped a picture of it.
"What are you doing?"
"It'll look nice on my profile."
She shook her head. "You never change." She climbed down from the rock they were standing on and made her way through the chamber. He tagged along behind her.
She bit her lip examining the walls. "Now, there should be some sort of sign or... aha!" She pointed to a small red arrow and smiled. Nearby, facing another direction was a green arrow. "Goldie said these arrows were good and these other ones are bad. So we just follow this arrows and we'll find the Rainbow Lagoon!" She punctuated the statement with a smile.
"Sounds like a plan." He shot her finger guns and started in the direction of the red arrow.
...
They had been following the arrows for a few hours now. Feathry was starting to think that Mittsy was leading them n the wrong direction at this point. But he didn't want to ask for fear of her wrath.
Plus, she seemed so happy leading the way. She was humming some song, and occasionally she would add lyrics to it. "Blue krill, blue krill, in the deep dark sea..."
"What's that?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh, the song." She glanced down. "It's just a little lullaby my parents used to sing to me. It's just a little nonsense diddlely about krill. It's kind of weird, but they're my favorite animal. They're just so small!"
"Well, that is an interesting animal to have be your favorite."
She nodded. "One of my little brothers drew a dot on a page and when I asked him what it was, he said it was a krill. He thought it was soooooo hilarious." She shook her head with a smirk.
"I didn't know you had siblings?"
"Oh yeah, 13 of them. I'm the oldest. Do you have any siblings?" She tilted her head.
Feathry frowned, avoiding eye contact. "I had an older brother, but he's gone..."
"I'm sorry," she said. They were quiet a long moment.
"Hey look, a little stream," she said after they had been walking for a while. A small flow of water rolled down her side of the cave, making faint noise as they passed. "You think it might lead to the Rainbow Lagoon?"
"Maybe." Feathry stepped closer to her side, but it felt too close to her. Then, to his surprise, she knelt down and splashed a handful of water at him. He jumped back, her smirking at his reaction. "Mitts!"
She stood back to her full. "Right, sorry, forgot about your whole dealio with water, heh." She put her hands behind her back, a little more bounce in her step. "You know, you never really told me what that was all about."
Feathry's eyes met the ground at the topic. "Yeah, I don't really like to talk about it..."
"I remember reading about it in the paper when I was younger. It was something like..." She threw out her arms dramatically. "'Scrooge McDuck plummets from power' blah blah blah! I don't know, it was a long time ago. What even happened with all that?"
"I said I don't like to talk about it." He rubbed his arm, hoping she would change the subject.
She frowned. "Sorry." Mittsy held her arms. "Didn't think it'd be this hard to find a light topic discussion, eh Feths?" She flashed him a sad smile and nudged him. She opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted but a low growl. The stopped, eyes wide.
A large, brown bear came prowling towards them.