Well, I promised another book, and here it is. Things from Book One still apply.
I do not own the Country Bears. But I do own Jewel St. Claire/O'Neal, Jordan, Tasha, and James Stone, Josh Thimple. Faye Tality, Lei Hathworth, Kaspian Hathworth, Kenya Hathworth, Roxi Starr, and any other character you do not recognize from the movie or previous story.
I also do NOT own the music in this fanfic. They belong to their proper owners. If you want to find their owners, type in the lyrics on Google.
Now, I must warn y'all. This story may have some drastic situations and deal with real-life situations [such as kidnapping, selling of slaves, etc]. If this bothers you, then please, don't read. But these are all real things, and they happen every day. I just wish to bring it to life, to get out the information.
Summary: Josh "Chase" Thimple said that Beary and Jewel would go through Hell soon. When they are kidnapped from their hotel, they truly enter Hell on Earth.
Current ages:
Albert "Big Al" Hathworth [by adoption] – 61
Lei Williams Claybourne – 61
Derek Claybourne – 61
Henry Dixon Taylor – 51
Faye Tality – 51
Ted Bedderhead – 46½
Fred Bedderhead – 45
Tennessee O'Neal – 44
Trixie St. Claire – 43
Zeb Zoober – 42
Kaspian Hathworth – 24
Kenya Hathworth – 23
Dex Barrington – 18
Roxi Starr – 18
Jewel St. Claire – 12¾
Beary Barrington Taylor – 12½
And we begin…
You are cordially invited to
celebrate the wedding of
Trixie Michelle St. Claire
and
Tennessee Patrick O'Neal
on Friday afternoon
September the 24th
at four o'clock
1289 West Newton St.
Salt Lake City, Utah
.~*~.
Followed by a reception
RSVP 249-486-4381
"Do you, Tennessee Patrick O'Neal, take this woman, Trixie Michelle St. Claire, to be your wife, according to Ursute's holy Bond? Do you promise to be to her a loving and loyal husband, to cherish and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to her as long as you both shall live?"
Tennessee looked into his bride-to-be's beautiful forest green eyes. His grin took up most of his face. He couldn't believe it was finally happening. He was finally marrying the love of his life. Here she was, standing before him in the most beautiful wedding dress he had ever seen. He had waited twelve years to see her in this dress, standing in front of the altar with him.
His mind was filled with the memory of when they had first met eighteen years ago…
FLASHBACK
"Oh, come on, Tennessee! Don't be a chicken!" Zeb Zoober complained, taking another swig of his honey. "You have no choice in the matter, anyway!"
"Yeah, go sing!" Fred laughed, eating another salmon finger. Why it was called a salmon finger, he didn't know, nor did he care. As long as it was food, he was all right with it.
Ted stayed silent, his eyes drawn to the group of female bears that were dancing on the dance floor. A small smile was on his face.
Zeb, 24, Ted, 28, Fred, 27, and Tennessee, 26, were all gathered around a table at the karaoke bar in Salt Lake City, Utah, taking a break before they had to move on to the next stop on their tour. They had been a band for a little over a year, and didn't have any plans of quitting.
They had snuck away from their manager, Henry, and his wife, Helen, and decided to have a night on the town. And, judging by the way Henry and Helen had been looking at each other, it didn't seem that they would really miss the band all that much.
They had been here for nearly an hour, and all but Tennessee were halfway drunk. Well, Zeb was drunker than the rest, due to his immense love of the sticky liquid called Honey. Tennessee refused to drink, claiming that at least one of them had to be sober in order to get them back to the hotel.
"I don't know, you guys… I mean, I thought we were supposed to be in disguise!" the thang player laminated as he stuffed another French fry in his mouth. He had been chosen to sing next with an unknown partner, but he wasn't too keen on the idea. "I thought we didn't want to be swarmed by fans!"
Zeb snorted. "Who's gonna recognize us, man? Nobody!"
"But-"
The fiddler shoved the brown bear in the direction of the stage. "Get goin'!"
Tennessee sighed and made his way up to the stage, getting pats on the back from bystanders. Once onstage, he sighed and waited for his partner.
Suddenly, several people wolf-whistled and started cat-calling. He looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, and his eyes widened when he saw a beautiful golden furred she-bear, wearing an open, ankle-length, black coat with a blue feathery hem, making her way up to the stage. Her eyes were a lovely forest green, and her smile shy. Her hair was down to her shoulders in wringlets and a bit brighter than her fur.
"Uh, hi," the she-bear said nervously, holding out her paw to him. "I'm Trixie."
Tennessee took it and shook it, smiling at her. "Tennessee." Her eyes danced in the light, and he felt himself falling for her beauty.
"I'm a little shy… I've never done this before…"
Unconsciously, he reached out and gripped her paw. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. I'm sure you have a lovely voice."
This caused the she-bear to blush and look away.
Somewhere out in the bar, he heard Zeb whistle loudly, much to Tennessee's embarrassment.
"Well, we got our duet singers! Let's get this going!" the bartender laughed, turning to the DJ, who then put on a familiar song on the cassette player.
Tennessee smiled and reached for his microphone while Trixie did the same with hers. The brown bear smiled and began to sing.
Captured effortlessly
that's the way it was
Trixie took up the words, her alto voice soft and filled with nervousness.
Happened so naturally
I did not know it was love
The next thing I felt
Was you holding me close
At the last few words Trixie had sang, Tennessee had squeezed her paw, giving her strength as they went on together.
What was I gonna do
I let myself go.
And now we fly through the stars
I hope this night will last forever.
I've been waiting for you
it's been so long
I knew just what I would do
when I heard your song.
You filled my heart with a kiss
you gave me freedom
You knew I could not resist
I needed someone.
And now we're flying through the stars
I hope this night will last forever.
Ain't nobody loves me better
Makes me happy
Makes me feel this way.
Ain't nobody loves me better (than you).
I wait for nighttime to come to bring you to me
I can't believe I'm the one
I was so lonely
I feel like no one could feel
I must be dreaming
I want this dream to be real
I need this feeling.
I make my wish upon a star and
hope this night will last forever.
Ain't nobody loves me better
Makes me happy
Makes me feel this way.
Ain't nobody loves me better (than you).
At first you put your arms around me
then you put your charms around me.
I can't resist this sweet surrender on a night so warm and tender.
We stare into each other's eyes
and what we see is no surprise
We've got a feeling most would treasure
and love so deep we cannot measure.
Ain't nobody loves me better
Ain't nobody loves me better.
Ain't nobody loves me better
Ain't nobody loves me better.
Ain't nobody loves me better
Ain't nobody loves me better.
As they finished the last verse, they were both breathing heavily and getting lost in each others' eyes. They almost didn't hear the loud roar of applause they received. They were in their own little world. The microphones went back into their stands, almost without their knowledge, as they walked off the stage holding paws.
Without quite realizing it, they had walked out of the bar and were now strolling down the sidewalk, just looking into each other's eyes.
Tennessee had never met someone who could sing like that and match his own voice so perfectly—other than the guys, that is. He felt his heart beating quickly against his chest plate. Without thinking about it, he leaned over and kissed her lips.
After a moment or two, the she-bear responded to the kiss, her arms slowly wrapping around his neck.
Well, she did respond, until she was roughly pulled away from him and he was sent to the ground, his jaw now throbbing painfully. He looked up, only to see a large panda bear with all sorts of piercings and a shaved head—honestly, who would want that?—tightly holding the she-bear's arm.
"Stay 'way from mah gurl!" the much older panda bear spat out, his breath smelling strongly of Honey Ale. "Or I weel keel you!"
Tennessee blinked. "Hey, look, man! Leave her alone! She didn't do anythin'!"
"I do wha' I wan' wit 'er!"
"Derek, stop it!" Trixie cried out, her alto-like voice filled with pain. "You're hurting me!"
"Shut up, beetch!" the panda bear, Derek, shouted at her, slapping her across the face with his free paw before shoving her against the wall and kissing her on lips, still squeezing one of her arms. His free paw traveled down her body. "I own you!"
Trixie, now bleeding from a deep cut above her right eye from her boyfriend's claws, tried to get away from him, but failed. She let out a whimper and attempted to squirm away as the bear tried to spread her legs apart. "N-No…!" Tears streamed down her face as she felt him pushing his entire body against hers. "No! S-Stop!"
Tennessee had seen enough. With a dangerous snarl, he attacked the panda bear, tackling him to the ground. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" He beat the enemy bear multiple times, enraged at what he just about witnessed.
Derek finally regained his senses and punched Tennessee's jaw hard, snapping it shut, and causing the singer/thang player to fall off of him with a pained whine.
"Wanna fight, do ya?" Derek started punching him as he climbed on top of him in order to hold Tennessee against the ground.
Tennessee let out a shout of pain as he felt one of the panda's particularly sharp claws run down across his left eye. The blood from the cut began to stream into his eye, blinding him.
Derek was suddenly pulled off of him and a voice called out, "Break it up!"
The sound of Ted Bedderhead's semi-deep voice gave Tennessee some relief as he squirmed on the ground, holding his paws against his face. A few moments later, he was being helped to sit up by Zeb, and he—after wiping most of the blood out of his eyes and pressing the cloth that the auburn bear had given him against the long cut above and below his left eye—was able to watch Ted and Fred block Derek's view of them.
His eyes widened and he looked around frantically, trying to find the she-bear. Trixie was whimpering, kneeling on the ground, holding her coat around her tightly as tears rolled down her cheeks in torrents. Blood was still running down her golden face, matting her fur. He grunted at her, currently unable to move his jaw, and again wiped the blood out of his face.
Zeb must've noticed his worry, because he left the thang player and cautiously approached the golden she-bear. "Miss…? Are you all right?" he asked softly.
Trixie slowly looked up at him, before her eyes fell on Tennessee's semi-bloody form. "A-Are y-you o-okay…?" she asked softly, her voice shaking.
He nodded.
Zeb stood up and handed the she-bear another cloth in order to stop the blood flow from her own cut above her right eye. "I'm gonna go catch a taxi. We're goin' back to the hotel."
"You bettah wa'ch you back, you basta'd! I weel be back wit f'ends! And if you, T'ixie, don't p'ovide, then you p'etty lil' sistah is next!" Derek spat out before disappearing down the street.
"Get outta here!" Fred snarled dangerously as he and Ted began to follow the panda bear down the street to make sure he left.
Trixie's eyes widened and filled with terror. She let out a high-pitched whine.
Tennessee slowly got up and went over to her, kneeling in front of her on unsteady legs. He gathered her in his arms, letting her cry on his shoulder.
Ted and Fred approached them, silently taking in the two forms. "What the hell happened?" Ted asked a few minutes later, his voice shaking with anger.
The thang player finally managed to make his jaw work, but it pained him to do so. "He… He was goin' to rape her."
"Who the hell is he?" Fred questioned, his tone outraged.
"My… My boyfriend…" the she-bear whispered.
"What? Girl, he's way too old for you! He's like, what, twenty-four years older than you?" Zeb exclaimed as he returned, having caught the last bit of the conversation.
Trixie whimpered. "I… I need to get out this city… Need Tasha out of here… If we have to hitch-hike, then…"
Tennessee shared a look with his fellow band members with his currently one good eye and saw that they were thinking the same thing as him. He looked back at the she-bear. "We're goin' to take you somewhere safe."
"But… But why? Why would you help me?"
Ted spoke up. "If there is one thin' we will not stand, it is disrespect to women."
"'Sides, you both need ta be looked at in a hospital," Fred put in. "Those cuts look nasty."
"Th-Thank you..." the she-bear said softly.
Tennessee helped his new friend stand and slowly walked to where Zeb was standing next to a taxi he had managed to get. He had his arm wrapped around the she-bear's waist, and he didn't care about the looks he was receiving from his "brothers". All his focus was on was this scared thing.
The driver blinked when he saw them all. "I can't take all of y'all, ya know. Four is the amount of bears I can fit."
Trixie sighed. "You guys go on ahead… I'll find my own way back to the apartment…"
"Nuh-uh," the thang player growled. "Not gonna happen. You're comin' with us."
"How? There isn't enough room."
"Uh…"
"Miss, if you don't mind, you're gonna have to sit on somebody's lap," Ted said softly. "It's only for a little bit, anyway."
Trixie's eyes widened and she backed up slightly.
Tennessee sighed. "You guys go on ahead. I'll take Trix back to her apartment."
END FLASHBACK
They had ended up taking twenty-five-year-old Trixie and her little sister, fourteen-year-old Tasha, on the rest of the tour with them and eventually they came to live at the Hall. Trixie even joined the band and used the money she earned to pay for Tasha's education. Helen and Henry became something like parents to the two sisters. After a few months of getting used to the idea of having the two sisters with them, Trixie and Tennessee had ended up dating. Things just progressed from there.
They never returned to Salt Lake City.
In fact, this was their first time back since that fateful meeting oh so many years ago. The only reason they had returned was because they wanted to get married in the city that had changed both of their lives forever.
The scars from the fight with Trixie's former boyfriend were hardly noticeable after a few weeks, but if one looked closely, they could still see them today. Thankfully, Tennessee hadn't lost his eye—the doctors had said that it was any deeper, he would have.
Tennessee squeezed Trixie's paw. "I do," he answered the priest.
The priest then turned to the golden she-bear. "Do you, Trixie Michelle St. Claire, take this man, Tennessee Patrick O'Neal, to be your husband, according to Ursute's holy decree? Do you promise to be to him a loving and loyal wife, to cherish and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to him as long as you both shall live?"
Trixie smiled softly, the white of her teeth showing, as she looked into the loving light brown eyes of her fiancé. It was finally happening. She was finally marrying the bear she loved. She had waited eighteen years for this moment, and it was finally coming true.
She was forever grateful to him for how he had helped her in Salt Lake City all those years ago. And when she had found out that she was pregnant with his cub six years later, she had been overjoyed—that joy being killed when he had yelled at her for no reason, just because everyone in the band had been arguing; he had almost hit her. He had apologized, but it was too late. Her heart had been broken and she left that night, never telling him about their daughter until eleven years later.
And his proposal, albeit twelve years late—which was her fault, she knew—was beautiful…
FLASHBACK
They walked through the trees, holding paws. Both were silent, unusual for the pair of them. The last time they had been this quiet with each other was those six long months that Beary had been in a coma.
Tonight, though, Trixie just couldn't understand the silence. Her boyfriend had been so quiet lately, and seemed to avoid her whenever she tried to go to him. It broke her heart.
But why were they out here?
Trixie St. Claire looked up at the trees on that warm summer evening. She sighed softly. "Tenny, why are we out here? And why do you have Ted's guitar? I thought you couldn't play!"
"Ted gave me a couple lessons…" Her boyfriend of eighteen years looked at her with a soft smile. "We're here," he said finally, coming to a halt in a large meadow. There was a small creek and a large fallen tree trunk. He led her over to the trunk and asked her to sit, which she did.
"Tenny, wha-"
"Shh…" He got the guitar in the ready position and began to play, singing as well.
I did everythin' I could
To get you here tonight
Without tellin'
You why
Now, girl, if you only would
Please hold out your paw
Just close your eyes
Confused, Trixie did so, holding out her right paw as she closed her eyes. The sound of the guitar stopped. She gasped when she felt his paws not holding her right paw, but her left one. Her eyes opened wide and she saw Tennessee was down on one knee in front of her, holding out a ring; the guitar was now leaning against the tree trunk.
I've been dyin'
To ask you
One burnin' question
Will you be mine?
From here to eternity
I'm askin' you to
Share your life with me
Now and forever
I guarantee
I'll always stay
By your side.
I promise my love
To you
I'm willin' and able
And ready to
Whatever you need
I am here for you
And I'll always be
From here to eternity
Tears gathered in her eyes. She had waited so long for this moment. Here he was, the love of her life, kneeling before her with a gorgeous diamond ring.
I saved a year
For this ring
I can't wait to see
How it looks on your paw
I'll give your everythin'
That one woman needs
From a one woman man
I'll be strong
I'll be tender
A man of my word
I will be yours
She couldn't hold in the happy tears as her shoulders shook. She couldn't believe it.
From here to eternity
I'm askin' you to
Share your life with me
Now and forever
I guarantee
I'll always stay
By your side.
I promise my love
To you
I'm willin' and able
And ready to
Whatever you need
I am here for you
And I'll always be
From here to eternity
He stopped singing and looked at her with loving light brown eyes. He still held her left paw with one of his, holding the ring with his other paw. "Trixie, will you mar-"
Trixie didn't give him a chance to finish before she barreled him over, tackling him to the ground and kissing him. "Yes!" she cried, finally releasing the kiss.
The brown bear laughed loudly and slipped the ring—which had surprisingly not flown out of his paw when Trixie had tackled him—over her left ring finger…
END FLASHBACK
Now, they were finally going to be husband and wife, forever joined together as one—officially.
Since her father had died when she was much younger, she had had Henry give her away. He had been like a father to her, anyway. Her younger sister, Tasha, was the maid of honor and her daughter, Jewel, was the bridesmaid.
"I do," she answered.
"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Tennessee didn't need to be told twice as he pulled his new wife into his arms and kissed her deeply. She returned the kiss with just as much passion as he gave her, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, causing them both to fall backwards—her landing on top of him—and they nearly rolled down the steps.
They both ignored the cat calls and Zeb's shout of "Get a room!" and continued kissing.
Beary Henry Barrington Taylor looked across the aisle at his secret girlfriend of four months, Jewel Destiny Stone O'Neal, and smiled. No one had found out that the two had been secretly been dating, and they planned to keep it that way until they were sure their respective families were ready to hear about it.
Today, the golden furred she-cub looked absolutely stunning in her autumn-cherry colored dress. The dress was split down the middle from the waist down, and she had a loose black skirt on underneath. Her golden locks on the top of her head were done up in a bun and her white smile made Beary feel all warm inside.
He wanted to go over to her, pull her into his arms, and kiss her soft lips right on the spot, but didn't dare to. He knew she would kill him for blowing their secret.
Jewel caught his longing look and giggled. She mouthed "later" and grinned, wiggling her eyebrows, causing him to laugh as well.
She looked her boyfriend over; loving the tuxedo he was wearing. Since it had been so hot out, he had opted for not wearing the white shirt underneath his black jacket. He wore loose black pants as well. His light brown locks, now streaked with black—he had definitely surprised his family [both the Bears and Barringtons] when he and Dex had returned from the barber shop one afternoon, Dex now sporting metallic blue tips, and Beary with his black streaks—had grown out some—it now went down to his eyes—and was now currently parted in the middle, making him look like he had copied Tennessee's hairstyle.
Beary had a new walking boot on. About two months ago, he ended up breaking his leg again. He and Jewel had been messing around the Barrington house; he had tripped and went tumbling down the stairs. Now had to keep the hardware in his leg—the titanium along his tibia—in longer while the fibula healed. He was now fresh out of his cast, something he was glad of, but had to have the boot on, along with crutches, and was told not to overwork his leg and to practice his therapy exercises with an adult present in case he hurt himself.
Currently, the male cub was sitting while everyone else stood, resting his leg—Renee had told him to take it easy and not be standing long. He didn't look like he was enjoying it, either.
At least he seemed to be in no pain, something she was glad of. She hated seeing him in pain.
"I now introduce Mr. and Mrs. Tennessee O'Neal!" the priest cried out, pulling both cubs' thoughts back to the present time.
The newlyweds had finally gotten off of the ground and were now running up the aisle; both grinning like crazy as loud cheers filed the church.
Their new life had finally begun.
Book Two
Keeper of the Stars