The following Monday, Ned found out from his teacher that the class was going to go on a wilderness hike this coming Saturday. Ned was excited, after finding out that his allergies actually had to do with his mom's cookies he had been able to enjoy being out in nature more. Now he loved it.

That Saturday morning, Ned secretly brought Newton and some Zippo as well as usual hiking equipment like binoculars. You never know when a six-foot talking newt might come in handy.

The trip started off uneventful, with the teacher talking about various plants and animals. As expected, most of the class wasn't that interested. They were more interested in talking to each other. Ned and Linda were among the exceptions, the only times they talked to each other instead of listening to the teacher were when they talked about a plant or animal. Rusty noticed them talking, though couldn't hear what they were talking about, and once he got his chance he went over to them.

"Say Linda, after this boring trip is over do you want to come back to my place? I have the latest video game and some great movies." Rusty said almost flirtingly.

"Boring? I happen to love this trip. I think nature is wonderful." Linda retorted, not fooled by Rusty's invite.

Rusty was obviously embarrassed, though tried not to show it. Ned in turn tried not to laugh.

"Oh, I, uh, was referring to the teacher's talking." Rusty fibbed. "I think the best way to enjoy nature is silently."

"Not always, talking about it with a good friend is also a great way to enjoy it." Linda replied, taking Ned's hand.

Ned couldn't keep from blushing, and his heart rate increased. Rusty's face grew red too, though it was out of anger.

"Excuse us Rusty, Ned and I would like to enjoy nature in peace." Linda ran off to catch up with the rest of the class, pulling Ned with her.

"So, you love nature huh Linda?" Rusty glared to himself. "Let's see how much you love it after it attacks you. Then when I save you, you'll love me."

Rusty snuck away from the class, and found a large brown bear. He took a big rock and threw it at the bear, causing the bear to angrily chase him. Rusty expected that though, and so had already gotten a head start. He then ducked the bear at the last second, causing the bear to go for the rest of the class instead! The other students screamed with fright!

"Everyone! Climb a tree!" The teacher ordered. "Brown bears can't climb them very well!"

Most of the class managed to find a tree to climb, but Linda and Ned had already ran so far away that they didn't hear their teacher. They continued running until they neared a hill overlooking a raging river.

"I think we lost him." Ned panted.

That's when they heard growling.

"Or maybe not."

"Split up!" Linda said, running off in one direction.

Ned ran in another direction, hiding amongst the trees. He found a hollow dent in the bottom of one tree, and put his backpack in it.

"If the bear comes after me at least you will be safe Newton." Ned said into his backpack.

Newton, a nonverbal newt at the moment, looked at him worriedly. Suddenly they heard a scream!

"Linda!" Ned gasped.

He looked around the tree and saw that Linda was trapped on the hill! The bear was gaining on her fast! Ned quickly ripped a page out of his notebook and wrote something on it. He then stuffed it halfway into his backpack.

"Bye Newton." He said sadly.

The bear was about to strike Linda, but then Ned suddenly pushed her out of the way! The bear hit him instead, and Ned fell off the cliff and into the river! At that moment the bear fell over unconscious.

"NED!" Linda screamed, running to the edge of the hill.

There was no sign of him. Not a single one. Not even a shoe.

Nearly heartbroken, Linda turned around and saw a heroic-looking Rusty standing behind the unconscious bear with a tranquilizer gun. It was easy to see that it was that kind of gun, since the bear had a tranquilizing dart in it's back.

"No need to thank me Linda, your being all right is thanks enough." Rusty gloated. "However if you insist I will accept a kiss-"

"A KISS?" Linda screamed. "You honestly think I would ever kiss you?"

The rest of the class and the teacher, who had caught up by this point, and Rusty were taken aback. None of them had ever heard Linda scream out of anger before.

"And you did not save me Ned did!" Linda continued. "He knocked me out of the way before the bear could hurt me and he fell into the river! I am not all right either, Ned's DEAD!"

Linda fell to her knees crying.

"He's dead..." She sobbed. "He sacrificed himself to save me. Which is more than you'll ever do Rusty! You really live up to your name, you are nothing but a rusted piece of bronze! Ned however was pure gold..."

"No." Doogle sobbed, running over to the edge. "Ned!" He called.

No answer. And still no sign of Ned.

"No...no not Ned." Doogle sobbed.

The rest of the class was also sad, since Ned was one of the nicest boys in the school. Anklo was most sad, though hadn't learned that much English over the years and so couldn't vocalize it properly. Rusty however was glad that his rival was gone, but still too shaken up by Linda's scream and insult to react to it.

"What are we going to tell his parents?" Doogle sniffled. "And what will happen to Newton?"

"We'll tell his parents the truth of course." The teacher said. "I don't know about Newton though...maybe he can be the class pet?"

"No, I'll take him in." Linda decided, just starting to calm down. "It's the least I can do for Ned."

Luckily, having been Ned's friend for so long allowed her to develop a tolerance for Newton and other amphibians. Gradually she even came to like him, though wouldn't go so far as to call him cute.

Linda wandered over to where Ned came from, remembering that he didn't have his backpack on him when he fell into the river. She found his backpack and the note he wrote, so she took the note and opened it. Luckily, she read it to herself instead of reading it out loud:

Linda,

I will be gone by the time you get this. I love you more than life itself. Please take care of Newton for me. Make sure you're alone when you feed him Zippo.

Ned

Linda sobbed again.

"I always knew how you felt about me." Linda said to herself, as if Ned was there with her. "How could I not? I only wish I told you my feelings sooner." She then paused. "Why do I have to be alone when I feed Newton Zippo?"

She just shrugged, and picked up Ned's backpack. As she did Newton peeped his head out. She was a little startled, but quickly recovered.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Ned's more attached to you than Doogle is attached to his dog." She said to Newton; she then noticed his sad eyes. "I guess you know huh?"

Newton nodded, and tears started to form in his eyes. He then started sobbing.

"Oh Newton, I know how you feel. " Linda said empathetically. "I know I can't be as good an owner to you as Ned was but I'll do my best."

Linda then carefully slung one end of Ned's backpack over her shoulder and rejoined the class. The class then returned to the town, after Ned's death even the teacher wasn't willing to finish the hike. Everyone instead just headed home early.

Well, except for Linda. She headed for the Fleming's house instead. She then knocked on the door.

"You're home awfully early Ned-" Mrs. Fleming opened the door only to find a sad Linda standing there. "Linda! My goodness what brings you here? And where is Ned?"

"Ned...Ned isn't coming back." Linda said sadly.

Mrs. Fleming paled.

"Wh-what?" She said. "Why, what happened?"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Fleming, he's dead." Tears formed in Linda's eyes. "A bear attacked us and Ned sacrificed himself to save me. He fell into the Unfriendly River and, well, you know about the survival rate for that river."

It was true, that was the whole reason the river had been given a name opposite of the town's. Only a few people had been able to survive the river, most out of sheer luck. One other had happened to be an Olympic swimmer.

Mrs. Fleming paled even more, and went into the living room to sit down before she nearly fainted.

"No," She said. "Not Ned. Not my boy."

Linda left and went to make some tea for Mrs. Fleming. She knew how due to taking care of her mom one day when she was sick.

"Thank you." Mrs. Fleming accepted the tea; she was still too in shock to cry. "You must've been very special for him to sacrifice his life like that."

"I was to him, he was in love with me. Had been since he was a kid." Linda sighed. "I didn't say anything before because, well, we were kids. However I was going to return my feelings sometime this year...I love him too."

Linda sobbed again. Mrs. Fleming set down her tea and hugged Linda. This time, she cried too.

"Listen, I know you'll probably want to keep a lot of things to remember Ned by." Linda said after they calmed down. "But I was wondering if I could keep a few things of his too. Besides Newton, Ned asked me through a note he wrote before he saved me to take care of Newton for him."

"Of course dear, you can take some of his old toys." Mrs. Fleming said. "And Newton's stuff too of course."

Linda went into Ned's room and looked through his toys. This time he had been able to keep them, since he had talked to his mom about not throwing anything of his out without permission. He pointed out that he thought some of her stuff was junky, yet he never threw out any of her junky stuff out of respect for her feelings. Realizing he had a point, and as a thank you for never throwing her stuff out, Mrs. Fleming agreed to leave Ned's room alone when it came to tossing stuff. Linda was surprised to see a Captain Ocelot figure. Mint condition no less.

"I thought most of these were lost." Linda said.

"Oh, he met the actor who played Captain Ocelot when he went to the dump to find his father's version." Mrs. Fleming explained. "If I had known that the toy had belonged to Eric I wouldn't have thrown it out...anyway Eric's toy accidentally broke so the actor gave him his instead."

"You wouldn't have thrown it out if you knew that it belonged to Mr. Fleming?" Linda was surprised to hear this.

"I have a few of my old toys, so I understand childhood nostalgia." Mrs. Fleming explained.

"Oh." Linda then put the toy in her backpack. "I understand why he didn't tell me, most of the kids in our school think that stuff our parents used to enjoy is lame. Not me, I actually liked Captain Ocelot. Not enough to want the figures or anything, but I found the show enjoyable."

Linda continued searching the room and picked a few more toys. She also took Newton's stuff and kept Ned's backpack.