Ch. 4

Thirty minutes had passed until Nahli slowly started to gain consciousness. Without opening her eyes, she let out a feeble groan of pain. The girl felt something soft and wet gently pressing against the bruise on her forehead. She gradually began to open her eyes. It took a few seconds for her eyes to fully adjust to the blurred image directly above her as she still lay on the ground.

Nahli's brown eyes immediately gaped once she looked up. The same light brown grizzly bear that was chasing her earlier was now lying right next to her! She felt the moist heat from the bear's large pink tongue as it continuously slid smoothly across her bruised forehead. Nahli's body suddenly froze in a state of shock. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to move! The frightened girl could feel every breath that the bear took as his large body pressed up against her own. Nahli felt powerless as she stared fearfully into the face of the beast from whom she wished she had escaped.

Noticing that the girl had finally awaken, Kenai stopped licking her forehead and looked straight into Nahli's face. Nahli hardly blinked as the young adult bear's large furry head filled her vision. Staring intensely into the grizzly's wide amber eyes, Nahli could actually see that his expression was one strangely filled with concern.

"Are you ok?" Kenai asked Nahli softly.

But instead of hearing beastly moans or grunts, the girl was shocked to hear actual words coming from the bear's mouth. Nahli screamed and shot up off the ground. Almost simultaneously, a startled Kenai jumped back. The teenage Inuit felt too weak to stand completely up so she fell back down on her bottom, trying with all the strength she had left to back away from this mysteriously talking bear. Nahli wiped the dripping slobber that was sliding down her face with her hand in disgust as she stared at Kenai with bewildered eyes.

"Woah there, no need to be afraid. It's ok... I'm not going to hurt you." Kenai told the girl in a calm, soothing tone.

"You just talked to me! How did you do that?!" Nahli shrieked. The girl's mind was literally going crazy right about now.

The bear's expression turned to one of shock as well.

"Wait...you can actually understand what I'm saying?!" Kenai thought that no human possessed the ability to communicate with him as a bear other than his brother, Denahi, did before. The grizzly took a curious step closer to Nahli.

"I...I..." Nahli tried to respond, but the words just couldn't come out as she still was in an overpowering state of shock.

"KENAI!"

A voice that sounded like a young boy was calling in the direction from behind the bear. Nahli looked beyond Kenai standing in front of her, seeing a fuzzy dark brown cub with a patch of lighter fur around his neck racing down the forest's path towards the young adult grizzly. Kenai turned his head to see Koda running happily towards him. Too excited to even notice the human girl sitting on the ground a few feet away, Koda finally skidded to a halt in front of Kenai. The older bear smiled gently at the cub bouncing excitedly around him.

"Finally, I've found you! Where have you been? I didn't see you when I woke up in the cave, so I went out looking for berries. I found this huge bush with ALL KINDS of berries! There were blueberries, raspberries, cloudberries, salmonberries..." Koda told Kenai happily, yapping a mile a minute about how he spent the morning.

Nahli gasped. She now knew that this was definitely not a dream. Clear human language was flowing effortlessly from the mouth of the small grizzly cub. How in the world could she suddenly understand these bears?

"I've lost my mind..." Nahli muttered to herself, holding her head in her hands. Kenai glanced a bit nervously at the girl, worried that she would pass out again from being overwhelmed by what she saw. It wasn't until Kenai kindly shushed Koda that the energetic cub finally stopped talking and noticed Nahli. Koda shot a fearful glance at the girl and instinct suddenly took over.

"AHH, A HUNTER!" Koda yelped as he quickly ran underneath Kenai, almost tripping over his paws. His little body quivered as he held onto the inside of one of the older bear's large front legs. Koda still wasn't quite used to humans. He only felt safe around Denahi since that was Kenai's brother. But being out of contact with humans for twelve long months had rekindled the cub's fear of the two-legged creatures.

"It's alright, Koda. She's not carrying a weapon with her, so she's most likely not a hunter." Kenai reassured Koda, gently nudging the cub out from underneath him.

"You're not a hunter, right?" Kenai questioned Nahli to confirm. The girl quietly nodded her head in agreement. In just a matter of seconds, Koda's fearful expression quickly changed to one of child-like curiosity.

"Oh good! I'm glad you're not a hunter. That means you can be our friend! What's your name?" The cub asked the girl innocently as he approached her.

"Nahli." She responded quietly. The Inuit teenager still couldn't decipher how she was able to talk to these bears, but she finally mustered up enough courage to just go along with it.

"Nahli..." Koda repeated out loud to himself. "That's a nice name. I like you already!" The friendly cub went closer to the girl and rubbed his fuzzy head against her arm. Nahli exhaled quietly, her fears gradually fading away. Maybe these bears aren't so bad after all, she thought to herself.

Kenai was pleased to see that the girl had calmed down substantially, and found it the right time to introduce himself properly.

"That is a nice name." Kenai said with a smile.

"Uh...thank you." Nahli replied back with a shy smile. She looked up at the older bear before her. She noticed in his eyes a warm and inviting expression that was almost human-like...

"I'm Kenai, and this is my little brother-"

"Koda!" The cub interjected. A toothy grin spread across his muzzle as he looked up at Nahli. This bear cub was so cheery and adorable that the teenager couldn't help but smile back.

"So, how are you able to understand us?" Kenai asked curiously as he sat down next to Nahli.

"Well..." Nahli slowly began to explain, "I'm really confused myself as to how I'm able to suddenly understand you. When I first spotted you near the cave, I obviously couldn't understand you..." The perplexed girl lightly placed her palm on her bruised forehead as she tried to gather her thoughts. Her eyes widened with realization. "But after I got knocked out by that tree while trying to run away from you, I now understand every word you're saying... but how?" Nahli looked up at the bear sitting beside her, worry flushing her face once again.

Kenai knew that she wanted answers, but even he didn't know how to explain what happened. "Honestly, I don't know, Nahli," the bear said. "But I'm really sorry for running after you like that...it was a pretty stupid thing for me to have done."

"Ya think?" Nahli retorted. Kenai chuckled sheepishly; he knew he was the one to blame for causing all this to happen to the poor girl.

"And while you were unconscious, I was licking your bruise to try to relieve some of the pain so it wouldn't hurt as bad when you woke up," Kenai confessed.

"Well, I guess your licking did help it a bit. And thanks to your big tongue, my forehead was nearly wiped clean off!" Nahli joked with a light-hearted laugh. Kenai laughed as well. The grizzly found that there was something in Nahli's spirit that reminded him of family and his old village home. It made Kenai feel comforted inside.

"It's so cool that you can talk to us, Nahli! We thought only Denahi was able to do that." Koda said as he snuggled up against the girl's leg. The cub was clearly getting comfortable with this new human friend.

"Denahi? Who's that?" Nahli wondered aloud.

"He's Kenai's older brother. He's also a human like you!" Koda answered.

"You have a human brother, Kenai? How is that possible?" Nahli asked the young adult bear.

Kenai sighed and rubbed the thick mane on his neck with his large paw thoughtfully, a bit nervous to disclose the whole truth to Nahli of his past life and the reason for becoming a bear. He knew he had to tell her though- it was the only way for her to believe him.

"Well you see... I'm not the typical bear you think I am, Nahli." Kenai began to respond after a few seconds of silence. A questioning expression appeared on the teenager's face, obviously confused as to where the bear was going with this. Before telling her though, Kenai glanced down at Koda to make sure that the young cub was ok with him repeating this story. The last time Kenai had to explain what really happened to Koda's mother to the large adult grizzly named Tug at the Salmon Run, his little brother bear didn't take it all too well. But that was a year ago, and the cub was more than capable of being emotionally stable in the presence of Kenai telling someone else the solemn truth. Kenai and Koda exchanged glances with a little nod of consent from the cub.

It took Kenai around ten minutes to fully explain his wrongful deed of killing Koda's mother, transforming into a bear, constantly being hunted down by Denahi throughout his journey to the mountain, and his final decision to remain a bear instead of a human. Nahli seemed captivated as she stared at Kenai, listening intently.

"... but if it weren't for this little guy," the adolescent grizzly bear said as he affectionately ruffled Koda's furry head with his paw, "I don't know where I'd be right now."

Koda arose from his spot beside Nahli and embraced into his big brother's arms. The Inuit girl was touched at this display of brotherhood. It reminded her of the unbreakable bond that she shared with her own brothers back home. Being away for hours from Noukah and Kion made Nahli miss them quite a lot.

"Wow, a human-turned-bear...I've never heard of such a thing happen to any person before." Nahli said with astonishment. Kenai placed Koda back on the ground, smiling faintly at the teenage girl. "No wonder why you're so friendly towards me." Nahli grinned.

"Hey! What about-"

"And of course, you are too, Koda." Nahli chuckled. She figured the cub would say something in an effort to include himself.

Kenai looked up into the darkening sky as he noticed the orange sun slowly dipping behind the mountains. "Well, nighttime will be arriving pretty soon, so we'd better get going." The bear said, rising to his paws. "Where were you heading, Nahli?"

Nahli dusted herself off as she arose to her feet.

"I was supposed to be heading back to my village hours ago, but I got lost. I have to be there now, or my parents are going to kill me!" Nahli covered her face with the palm of her hands. She felt overwhelmed; too much was happening in one day.

Kenai nuzzled her side, trying to comfort the distressed Inuit girl. "Don't worry, Nahli. I'm sure your parents will understand once you get back home. But it's really not safe to travel alone in the dark by yourself, especially since you don't know your way back from here."

"Yeah, I know..." Nahli breathed out a discouraged sigh.

"Tell you what," Kenai began reasoning with the teenager, "Koda and I can help you get back to your village first thing tomorrow morning. But you need to get some rest tonight. And I know you must be starving by now, so there's berries and fish back at the cave if you want it."

"Hooray! You can stay with us for the night, Nahli!" Koda chimed in, his dark brown eyes glistening with delight.

"Well, I guess it won't hurt sleeping in tonight... and I really appreciate your help." The girl smiled with gratitude at the two bears.

"No problem! It's the least we can do to help." Kenai grinned back.

"Well what are we waiting for? Come on!" The cub exclaimed, dashing ahead of Kenai and Nahli. The older bear and the girl looked at each other and laughed at Koda's amusing enthusiasm before racing after him down the forest's winding path towards the cave.