Soft white hair flowed out, waterfall-like, of the hard-brimmed hat. It washed over a broad back covered in smooth brown fabric, to hang suspended mid-journey about the man's waist. Bakura knew what he was looking for. It was just a matter of finding it. Or rather, them. Kneeling, the pale teen re-knotted his stiff boots, and observed the ground. There were obviously the critters he searched for in the area. However, they were afraid of the humans, and hiding because of it.

"Marik, go check the stream back there." Bakura growled. "And be quiet about it, would you?"

"Fine." The spiky-haired tag-along trotted silently back to the small flow of water. Bakura watched him go, and then raised his eyes to the canopy above. The light glinted off his pale features. He spotted a small raccoon-girl gazing at him from high above. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a small packet of nuts. The raven-haired child dropped down and perched easily on his arm to accept the offering spilled into the white-haired-man's palm.

"Do you have a mummy?" he asked softly, inspecting the child's bright green eyes. She couldn't be any older than a year. The child looked up at a soft chitter; Bakura's eyes followed hers. A swarm of nearly fifty raccoon people, of varying age and gender, all glared down at the white-haired fellow holding one of their children. "I will take that as a yes. Best go back now, little one." The baby scampered down his arm and back up the tree. The man then made a hasty retreat, dragging his partner with him.

"You got one and let it go?!" Marik asked, looking stunned, and nearly spilling his plate of beans into their campfire for all his rage.

"I'd really rather not be chased over 30 kilometers by a pack of angry raccoon people and every friend they come by. Somehow, 4,000 Euros doesn't seem worth it." Bakura replied calmly, leaning neatly over his own dinner plate and chewing thoughtfully. "Besides, the little Kangaroo boy is thinking about our offer. And he'll go for close to nine."

"Still, we've been out here for a week. I wanna go home and wash my socks, and Malik is just getting better. He'll end up sick again if I don't go back to him soon."

"We'll return tomorrow if we don't catch anything by then." Bakura sighed. "Now, I'm going to rinse off in the brook. You know the deal. You peek; I tell Ryou you've been fucking your pet Malik."

"Yeah, yeah. Get clean Mr. Prissy."

Bakura trotted down the small path to the river. He unlaced his boots, then slipped into the cold, flowing water. It felt so much better than yesterday's stagnant lake. Even with his clothes on, he could feel the water wiping away the day's grime.

Glancing back up towards camp, he could see Marik nowhere in sight. Smiling to himself, he eased the hat off his head and rinsed his hair gently. It helped the tangled locks a little. Setting his hat on the boulders next to the water, he slicked off his shirt, and had it join the hat and his boots. Easing out of his trousers, he smiled broader and sank lower into the cold. A soft squeak made him reopen his eyes and look over to the bank.

The little raccoon was back, fumbling around in his shirt. She had a larger friend beside her that was chewing his hat.

"Hey! Stop mangling my hat!" he barked, leaping for the said article of clothing. He could live without the bag of nuts in his shirt, but the hat was special to him. Both raccoons leapt away from the lunging man. Scrambling up atop the rock, his hands sealed on the hat, and tried to pull the article of clothing back into the original ownership. He won, but was slingshot back into the water. The current caught his precious hat from his unprepared hands and took the white-haired man on a chase downriver. And right into Marik. Tripping over a rock, he fell back into the wet with a startled squeak of pain.

okay, here i go aGAIN! another new ficcy to contend with.... *glares at 'i did it for you'*

R&R plz