❦ ❦ Belle sighed as she made her way through the clearing. They had been at this for three weeks now and neither of them had made any progress in finding their way back. Ariel had been searching the waterways and she had been searching on land. Neal had originally been the one she had set out with but once they had entered Rumple’s castle, he had vanished in the vault. Despite her best efforts, he was gone when she opened the vault and no trace of Rumple was left. After spending weeks trying to find him again, Belle made the decision to move on and try to find a way back to Storybrooke; to Emma. Once she could get her to remember, maybe then she could help her find Neal again and save Rumple.
Belle paused to take a sip of her water, relishing the taste in the afternoon heat. Stripping her leather vest, she finished crossing the field and made her way to the meeting point. Ariel wasn’t there yet so she started the cook fire herself and began to cook the rabbit she had caught earlier. Reading about snares had saved them a lot of hunger. With the rabbit roasting, she moved back from the fire and took another drink of water, waiting for Ariel to make her debut.
