"Sounds logical to me," Andy replied. Taking out her dex, she checked the map. "My map says there's a lake not too far from here, maybe two miles. I can send Temmy to get us some fish to make dinner, if you want. Setting up camp for the night will give us time to figure out what the hell just happened."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Belle sighed when she noticed it was getting dark. "Come on, let's find a good place where we can set up the tents and everything. I'll go with Temmy, if you want, see if there's anything else I can use besides fish and rice."

"Good idea," Andy replied. "I wish you luck in keeping him focused. We can set up camp while you're gone." Clipping Lien's ball back onto her belt, Andy unclipped Temeraire's ball and let him out.

"Andrea, you're alright," he said.

"I'm fine, Temmy. You're a little behind," she replied. "Belle's going to go fishing with you, so be careful not to drop her into the lake when you grab the fish, alright?"

Temeraire nodded. "Of course." Holding out one of his claws, he waited patiently for Belle to step up before putting her onto his back.

Belle unclipped her belt and handed it to Andy. "Here. Just tell Eclipse what you want them to do and he'll herd them into doing things." She grinned and stepped up onto Temmy's claw.

"This is really high up," she said, looking down at Andy once she felt somewhat secure. "Alrighty. Let's go fishing!"

"Do hold on," Temeraire said as he took off.

Andy watched them go, and then started to try to get all of the bishies to help set up camp. She'd barely started to give orders when her heart twisted painfully. She gasped and grabbed her chest.

"Andrea?" Sesshoumaru asked, concerned.

"That can't be right," she said as the feeling persisted. "The lake is only two miles away, maybe a little further. But Temmy just hit the distance limit."

"That cannot be good," Eclipse said, his eyes narrowing. "If you're feeling the effects here, then..." He trailed off, his eyes widening.

"Oh shit," Tomas finished. "Belle's feeling it too."

Belle groaned in pain, pressing the heel of her palm against her chest as her heart clenched and thudded irregularly, a familiar ache settling into her bones. She was too far away from them, just hitting the limit when they reached the lake.

"This doesn't make sense," she muttered to herself, slumping against Temeraire's hide and keeping one hand on the harness so she didn't fall off.

Temeraire landed heavily as the bond took hold of him. He knew what the feeling was, but he couldn't understand why it was happening. He knew he was well within the distance limit, but it was obvious that it was affecting Belle, as well. He tried to gather his thoughts enough to turn around and go back, but he couldn't.

"S-simple solution," Andy gasped back at camp as the feeling got worse. She reached to her belt for Lien's ball. "We go to them."

Eclipse's eyes narrowed as he made the others all return to their bishiballs. "Sesshomaru, carry her. We need to get closer to them so it will wear off. We can disassemble camp later." He glared at Sesshomaru, daring him to disobey.

Belle laid there panting, her eyes closed. "You okay?" she managed to ask Temeraire, her breathing labored.

"I could ask the same of you," Temeraire replied softly, gasping a bit. His wings felt so heavy, and he didn't think he could stand.

Sesshoumaru nodded and gathered Andy into his arms, holding her securely. As soon as Lien was out of her ball, she could tell something was wrong. She didn't say anything about another trainer's bishies on her back, and instead took off in the direction she was told that Temeraire went in. She may not like him all the time, but he was still her companion.

They had barely taken off when Andy was breathing easier and wasn't gasping in pain anymore, though it was obvious that she wasn't completely recovered yet.

Belle managed a weak laugh. "I've had worse," she gasped, biting her lip until it bled. She could feel them approaching and she slowly got better, able to sit upright by herself.

Eclipse stayed silent, just holding on as the dragon took off and flew them closer to the other two. His eyes were narrowed and he waited impatiently for them to land so he could check on Belle and make sure she was alright.

Lien went as fast as she dared with passengers on her back, not wanting them to fall off. It wasn't long before she could see Temeraire's bulk lying next to the lake. She landed as quickly as she could and nudged him gently.

Sesshoumaru didn't take his eyes off of Andy the whole way, making sure she didn't get any worse. He jumped off of Lien's back when she landed, making sure not to jar Andy. She was looking better now that the distance was closed again.

Slowly, Andy relaxed as the tension on the bond faded.

"How is Temmy?" she asked softly.

"He seems alright now," Lien replied.

"Good," Andy said. "What about Belle?"

Eclipse had jumped off Lien's back as soon as he could, going over to Temeraire and checking on Belle. He picked her up carefully, murmuring to her, and got a little laugh in response. He smiled faintly and jumped down again, settling Belle on her feet carefully.

"Well, that was interesting," she murmured, leaning back against Eclipse and looked at Sesshomaru and Andy. "You two okay?"

"Working on it," Andy replied as she managed to get Sesshoumaru to let her up.

"She should be fine," Sesshoumaru translated.

"One more thing we have to figure out," Andy said. "Why the hell the distance limit suddenly kicked in. Even if I misread the map, Temmy knows how far three miles is, and he wouldn't have gone any further than that. So what just happened?"

Belle paused for a moment. "When we got sick earlier," she said slowly. "Neither of us knew what it was, right? And it was just after we'd eaten, so it had to be something from the food. Maybe... do you think maybe he managed to shorten the distance limit? I mean, nothing else explains the sickness, and why suddenly we can't go farther than two miles."

"I think you're right," Andy replied, thinking. "But we still don't know what exactly the stuff was, or what else it might do. For all we know, the distance limit is still shrinking or something." She didn't mind Sess keeping an arm around her shoulders. To be honest, she was glad for the contact. He always seemed to know exactly what she wanted.

Belle nodded with a sigh. "I think for now we should just stick together," she said, rubbing her temples. A moment later Eclipse moved her hands away and did it for her, rubbing her head gently. "Just get the food and go back to camp." She didn't feel like eating anymore but she figured she should, just so Eclipse and the others wouldn't worry.

"Sticking together sounds good," Andy replied, nodding. Food didn't sound all that appealing, since her stomach was still turning from straining the bond, but she didn't want to worry Sess and the others any more than she already had. She looked up at Lien. "Li Li, could you do the fishing tonight? I don't think Temmy is feeling up to it." Lien nodded and took off, doing her best to catch a decent fish. Fishing was one of Temeraire's skills, not one of hers.

Belle sighed heavily before she tapped two of her bishiballs. Kurama and Hiei both came out, looking at her.

"Would you two mind seeing if there's anything edible besides fish around here?" She managed a smile for them.

Kurama nodded and tugged Hiei along with him, though he shot a worried look over his shoulder at her.

Andy settled herself against Temeraire's side, listening to him breathe. Reaching up, she patted one of his scales.

"You'll be alright, Temmy," she said. "You were last time, remember?"

"Last time, I knew where the limit was supposed to be," Temeraire pointed out.

"This time wasn't your fault, Temmy. Everything's fine now, anyways," Andy said. Temeraire murmured an agreement and laid his head down again, dozing off.

"We were all caught off guard," Belle muttered. "No one's to blame but that scientist."

Eclipse growled faintly at the mention of him. "He should be disposed of for what he's done," he muttered, his voice a low growl as he wrapped one arm around Belle from behind.

"Agreed," Sesshoumaru practically snarled. He was leaning against Temeraire's side, right next to Andy. She could hear the anger in his voice, but she figured it was because he was kept in a room away from everyone else. She had no idea it was because of something else.

"Easy, Sess," she murmured. "Everyone is alright."

Sesshoumaru didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Andy didn't let herself think about how odd it was for him to show any kind of real feeling in front of others. Instead, she leaned against him, tired from everything that happened.

Eclipse kept his arms around Belle, holding her carefully before he looked over back the way they'd come from.

"We'll have to go back and recover our stuff pretty soon," Belle said softly. "After Lien gets back, I guess."

"You need to get some sleep," Eclipse muttered, dropping his head to rest his forehead against the back of her head.

"I'm fine." She was tired, sure, but no more than normal. She still had some adrenaline in her system, and she was running off that.

"Li Li should be back soon," Andy replied, using Lien's nickname. "Once she gets back, I'll recall Temmy, and we'll all hitch a ride back on Li Li." At least Sess couldn't complain about her not sleeping tonight... She was exhausted, and she would even sleep on the ground if it meant sleep.

Lien came back about a minute later, a pair of fish in her claws. Andy figured one was for Temeraire, and grinned a bit. So Lien really did care about him. That shouldn't have surprised her. Gently tapping Temeraire with his ball, she recalled him and stood up. Lien landed and stayed still so they could get onto her back. Andy squeaked a little as Sesshoumaru picked her up and jumped up onto the dragon's back, holding her close to him. When she realized how close he was holding her, she blushed and prayed nobody could see.

Belle nodded and waited a few moments for Kurama and Hiei to return.

"Here," Kurama said, handing her a few small branches with some berries on them. "I'll fix them back at camp." He and Hiei both vanished into their bishi balls again. No sooner had they done that then Eclipse picked her up and jumped up on Lien's back behind the other two, holding on to her gently to make sure she wouldn't fall. Belle was too tired to protest.

Lien took off again once they were secure, heading back to the campsite. She stayed as level as possible, trying not to distub her passengers. She might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she knew there was a time and place, and this was neither. She found the campsite again and landed as gently as she could.

Sesshoumaru helped Andy down, not letting her go for a moment.

"I'm fine, Sess, really," she protested half-heartedly.

"So you say," he replied softly, "but you still look like you're about to pass out."

"Passing out sounds nice," Andy admitted. "The ground never looked so comfortable." Tapping the balls on her belt, she let the rest of her bishies back out. "Lucivar is in charge tonight," she said. She knew from experience that Sesshoumaru wasn't going to leave her alone. Her bishies nodded and went about starting dinner.