Night had fallen by the time L decided to call together a search for their Village Idiot. "Apparently Matsuda got lost in the woods 2 days ahead of schedule. I wasn't planning on losing him until Thursday, but you know idiots." L said with a shrug of his shoulders. "We're going hunting for him so grab a flashlight and a duffel bag."

No one made a move to do anything. Light and Mello sat scowling, Matt was staring at the campfire, and Near was pretending he didn't hear anyone. Nobody seemed interested in going to search for Matsuda and were very happy right where they were.

"Oh, come on. You guys are really going to let him die out there?" asked L, glancing at the faces around the orange glow of the campfire.

Near glanced up for a quick second to say, "Well, he's not really a valuable asset to the group. Shouldn't we just leave him where he is? No harm done." Matt nodded his head vehemently in agreement.

Light spoke up from where he was perched, "Damn right I'm letting him die out there! He's the one that got up and went into the woods knowing he had no sense of direction. Why should I get my ass up and get eaten by mosquitoes looking for the dumbass?"

"For once in my life I agree with Mr. I'mAGay here. Idiot gets lost, idiot gets eaten by a bear. Big whoop." Mello said as he kicked dirt into the fire, staring moodily.

"Don't call me "I'mAGay" or I'll kick your ass."

"It's your last name spelled backwards. Not my fault your parents hated you."

L held up his hands for silence then reached into his back pocket to pull out a Benjamin Franklin. "Whoever goes with me gets $100 scot-free, no take-backsies or nothing. Okay with that?" He waved the bill over everyone's head.

Instantly the Wammy House Trio was up and gathering flashlights and duffle bags to go search for Matsuda. A hundred dollars could probably get them a taxi out of this dump and back home. And if it could do that then they were all for it.

Except for Light. Who didn't move from his spot. "So? Big deal. You have a hundred bucks, I got money too, you know. See?" Light pulled out a wad of cash and waved it around. "I could make it rain if I wanted to."

Sighing L facepalmed himself. Taking a breath he looked at Light through his fingers. "First of all, don't ever say 'I could make it rain' ever again. Second of all, we came in Matsuda's BMW, correct? He doesn't trust anyone with his car, right? So where do you think he'll have the keys? On his body. The only way to get out of here is to find him and get the car keys. Do you get it now?" L said slowly making a come-on gesture with his hands.

Light put his face in his hands for a few moments. Then said, "Fuck me" and got up to join the others.

Meanwhile Matsuda wasn't doing too bad at all. He gathered firewood for the first few hours then when the pile got too heavy to carry he set it down and went exploring. I feel so connected with nature. Breathe that fresh forest air...and the gnat that just went up my nose...Ewww.

After staring at some strange flowers and trying unsuccessfully to scale a tree (which resulted in a scraped elbow) he wandered around the blackberry bushes. And that's when he saw it. Right there nuzzling it's nose in the bush.

A bear cub. A medium sized, very cute bear cub.

"WOW! You're so kawaii!" Matsuda yelled excitedly as walked around the cub who was oblivious to everything but the berries. "Can I pet you? Should I pet you? I'm going to pet you." He decided as he knelt down and gently touched it's tousled brown fur.

The bear glanced up at the humanoid. Then deciding that the IQ was low enough for him not to be a threat he nuzzled against his hand.

Though it could scarcely be seen because of the night, Matsuda wore a huge grin on his face. "You like me? Good, because you're gonna be my new friend and not those jerks at the campground. Know what I'm gonna name you? Winnie. As in Pooh, got it?"

Apparently the bear got it because when Matsuda got up the bear followed eagerly behind him. So happy was he to have a friend Matsuda was thrilled to see another animal up ahead of him. This one was a doe.

"Another one? I must be Nature Man! Come here, girl. That's right. I'll call you Bambi." Matsuda said kindly as the doe edged towards him.

Then disaster struck.

Winnie lunged. Not at Matsuda, but at Bambi. And tore her to shreds.

"AAAIIIEEE! BAMBI! NO! Bad Winnie! Very bad Winnie! You do NOT eat your woodland friends! Do you hear me Mister?"

Winnie looked from his dinner at the annoying, shouting humanoid. He was making his head hurt with all the nonsense he was spouting. Time to make him shut up already. Winnie started advancing on Matsuda, teeth bared with a sinister growl deep in his throat.

Matsuda instantly stopped yelling and started backing up. "Nice bear cub, very nice bear cub. Don't you think you should finish that? It's insulting to Mother Nature to let good food go to waste-"

Winnie charged forward.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

I had to put a bear in it, I HAD to. XD