A single vehicle sat beside a building. It's lone passenger was not in a good mood. He sat fuming, thinking back on the events that had brought him here. Most of all, he grumbled about his partner who had landed him in this situation in the first place.
He could still remember the events as if it had been yesterday. He could recall, with crystal clarity, how his partner had come to him saying that he needed help. And like any good friend, he had immediately agreed to help in whatever way he could. But as events unfolded, and he learned more details of what his friend had gotten himself into, he grew more discontented; cursing himself for agreeing to help without knowing the details and cursing his partner for being so reckless.
He looked at the building now. Two silhouettes were moving about in the lighted window. One was his partner and the other was their contact. The two figures seemed to be in an animated discussion. He couldn't tell what was being said, but he did take solace in that the contact seemed just as upset with his partner as he, himself was.
After a while, his partner crept out the window and back into the vehicle. He noticed, with much chagrin, that he hadn't brought anything with him. After pulling into his mess and dragging him along all this way, he had the nerve to come back without the wretched thing they had come to retrieve in the first place?!
He wanted to scream.
Instead, he fixed his partner with a harsh lear and pointedly asked "Well?"
His partner at least had the decency to look apologetic. He sat slumped forward for a long moment before giving him a weary look. He told him "Strap in. We've got a ways to go."
Calvin's heart was hammering behind his ribs; adrenaline pulsed through his system. Every nerve, every fiber of his being was screaming at him to turn tail and run! To take off and not look back! To run until his legs fell off - and then keep running! And yet, despite the panic surging through him, despite the sweltering sense of danger pressing down all around him, everything from his knees down seemed to be paralysed; a crippling induced by the sight of the colossal monster that towered before them.
It was truly a sight to behold, mostly due to how impossibly humongus it was. Like a mountain had suddenly decided to sprout legs and go for a walk. It even looked like a mountain with the dense mass of trees sprouting from its back. Its grotesque of a head was easily as big as two double-decker busses, with two gigantic tusks, each as thick as a tree, jutting up from its jaw. But most horrible of all was its bulbous, forward facing eyes. Those great eyes that stared at them, scrutinizing them with unnerving intensity. Calvin couldn't help but stare directly back into those searching, calculating orbs. He could tell there was an intelligence behind those eyes, the way they seemed to peer into his soul, contemplating… yes, they were almost certainly contemplating; whether to eat them or simply squash them, Calvin didn't know - nor did he particularly care to find out.
The monstrosity continued peering into them for some time. Then at length, its gruesome, frightening mouth - filled with multitudes of enormous, sword-like teeth, slowly crept open.
And the monster said. "Fear not. You are in no danger."
That caused the group to stop and stare. Calvin could tell the creature was intelligent, but none of them had expected it to speak.
Somewhere off to the side, Susie squeaked out a tiny little Eek.
For a time, all they could do was stare, gob-smacked, at the creature. And the creature stared back at them. And they stared back at the creature.
Finally, the monster lowered its head closer to the earthlings and said. "You are undoubtedly wondering why I have summoned you here."
It was Susie who voiced the question on everyone's mind. "What do you mean you summoned us? We were just walking, we didn't hear any summons."
"No?" the creature sounded amused. Shifting its gaze to Calvin, it continued. "YOU heard my call, did you not?"
Calvin was about to answer to the contrary, when he realized something. Perhaps he hadn't heard it, per say, but he had felt… something when he had chosen their path. At the time, he couldn't explain it - it just felt like the way they needed to go. If this creature had been calling them, and he had no explanation for the overwhelming need to take the path they did, then maybe there was something to this claim. "Okay, so why did you call us, then?" he asked.
The creature looked at them somberly and began. "The world, and all thing within it, radiate energy. The energies of each entity is unique - yet all fit together in a harmonious unity, like individual notes coming together to form a song. While most living beings can only detect the barest traces of these energies, we lion-turtles are able to feel them to their full extent.
Calvin wondered what this had to do with anything, but decided that interrupting a gigantic monster that could squash him with a single finger probably wasn't the best idea.
The lion-turtle continued its tale. "Many moons ago, there was a curious occurrence. While sunrise was still hours away, a light appeared on the horizon, speeding across the sky. It bore an unusual energy, one that did not… MESH with the rest of the world. The light flew through the sky and disappeared over the opposite horizon. With it gone, the strange energy dissipated. I never felt it again… until now."
At this, the three earthlings passed quick glances to each other.
"You mean… us?" Calvin asked.
"No." the lion-turtle sighed. "The energies you emit are nearly identical to those of this world. Indeed if not for one off kilter element, you would almost certainly pass for natives of this world. No, the energy I speak of is too incongruous to belong to anything of this world.
"The energy I speak of is emanating from your pocket."
Immediately, Calvin knew what he was talking about. He fished the device out of his pocket and gave it a gentle toss. Its little propeller and projector activated, displaying its screen in front of the lion-turtle. "S'at what you meant?" Calvin asked.
The huge beast leaned its head in closer to the little machine. "Indeed." it said in a satisfied tone. "It is identical to the energy I felt so long ago."
For a moment, the lion-turtle stood there, watching the screen with engrossed fascination. "What do you know of this device?" the beast asked, at length.
"So far, all we've been able to figure out is it's some kinda teleporter." replied Calvin. He now realized he didn't know how to get the thing back in its dormant state without actually activating the teleporter. He thought he might be able to move it aside aways in order to figure it out and let Susie continue talking to the lion-turtle. But when he firmly pressed his fingers to the ball, the screen flickered out and the spinning blades slowed and came to a stop before folding over.
Calvin was a bit confounded that he had accomplished what he indented to do simply by happenstance, but ultimately shrugged it off before pocketing the teleporter again.
The lion-turtle hummed, thoughtfully. "Curious,... most curious…" It dipped its head forward and shut its eyes and it stood like that for a long while.
Calvin, Susie and Hobbes waited as time ticked by, waiting for… well, waiting or something! But the lion-turtle stayed in that same position, stock-still. The travelers were beginning to think it had fallen asleep on them.
As they were starting to question whether they should rouse the creature, its great eyes snapped open and turned to them. In a deep, somber tone, it said "I thank you for your time."
"... Is… is that all?" Susie once again voiced the thoughts of the entire group.
The lion-turtle gave a nod. "Though my curiosity on the matter is far from satisfied, you have provided what answers you could. For that, I am grateful."
Turning its head toward the west, it said "Daylight is waning swiftly."
The earthlings followed the beast's gaze and saw that there was, indeed, only a tiny sliver of light over the horizon.
The lion-turtle turned back to the travelers and said. "If you like, you may take refuge on my shell for tonight." And it stretched out its massive forepaw toward them.
Despite the misgivings they had at first, the conversation they had with the great beast seemed to have quelled whatever fears they had toward it. At any rate, they felt that they could trust the giant creature at its word. And so they all stepped onto the huge paw and held on as the lion-turtle lifted them to a place where they could climb onto its back. That part was a bit tricky, but once they had gotten onto solid ground (or solid back, as it were) they set out to find an area where they could hunker down for the night.
Once again, those grainy, shaky images blinked through Calvin's subconscious as he slept. A brittle tree trunk, a dark silhouette, a crescent moon, an arch of lightning and a fleeting glance of himself and his companions. He heard the voices too; muffled and distant - like listening through water. But through the mumbling white noise, something did come out in clarity. "... It is… Hidden…"
He awoke with a crick in his neck, glaring ruefully at the beams of sunlight wafting through the leaves above him.
Once Hobbes and Susie had awoken, the trio trecked toward the lion-turtles head. After communicating to the colossal creature that they were ready to come down, the beast crouched to the ground and lifted its paw to where the earthlings could climb on.
When the trio was firmly on the ground once again, they turned to the lion-turtle and bowed respectfully.
"Thank you for giving us shelter last night." Susie chimed.
The lion-turtle dipped its head, solemnly. "In the ancient days, we lion-turtles were charged with serving as guardians and protectors of the human race. We gave them our backs, which they built great cities upon and we bent the energies within them - enabling them to bend the elements - so as to protect themselves from the spirits that roamed the wilds."
Calvin looked to the massive creature in shock. "Wait, you mean you guys started all this bending stuff?!"
"That is correct." the lion-turtle replied simply.
Calvin mulled that over for a spell.
While he thought, Susie turned back to the lion-turtle. "So what about these spirits you mentioned? Are they… powerful?"
The lion-turtle nodded. "There are some spirits that possess immense power."
"Powerful enough to, say, pluck people off of another planet and bring them here?"
The great beast looked at her for a moment before responding. "While the power of the spirits is great, I know of none that could accomplish such a feat as that."
"What about enabling people to understand the language of this world?" Calvin asked. "Could they do that?"
The lion-turtle paused in thought for a moment. "THAT might be feasible." it finally responded.
The three earthlings thought on that for a time.
After a while, Susie thought aloud. "So,... where should we go from here?"
"That would depend on what you wish to achieve." the lion-turtle answered.
"What we want is to get back to our home planet!" was Calvin's terse response.
The lion-turtle dipped it's head somberly. "Alas, I can offer no aid in that regard.
"However, if you seek refuge, you may consider Ba Sing Se. It's walls have stood resolute throughout the last hundred years of war. It is, perhaps, the safest place in all the world."
The teens mulled that over for a bit. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea!" Susie chirped. "So,... where is Be Sing Se, anyway?"
"It lies north and to the west of us." the lion-turtle answered.
Turning to her companions, Susie said. "Well, guess we should get going, then."
"Yeah…" Calvin hummed, ponderously. "Just… one… more… thing…"
Turning back to the colossal beast, he stretched out his hands in a beseeching manner. "Oh, um… great Lion-Turtle… " he paused for a moment, as if he didn't know what to say. Then in a rushed flurry, pealed out "Will you give US bending powers?!"
"What are you DOING?!" Susie hissed.
"Hey, he said they gave humans the powers to protect themselves! If anyone needs protecting, we do!"
They looked back at the lion-turtle, whose face was impassive. "I certainly COULD bend the energies within you,... However… as you are not of this world, I cannot promise that it will work."
Calvin shrugged. "It's worth a shot, at least… isn't it?"
"Is that TRULY what you want?" the lion-turtle asked.
"Yes!" Calvin answered without hesitation.
Turning to Susie, the great beast asked."And what of you?"
She stood there for a few seconds, nervously shifting her eyes about and digging her shoe into the dirt. Finally, she simply said. "Alright, what the heck! I'll do it!"
The massive beast blinked it's great eyes and seemed to smile. "May the power of the elements protect you." it then brought it's huge paw before them with two fingers outstretched. One giant claw came to rest on Calvin's forehead - right between his eyes - while the second landed on his chest - directly over his heart. Then from the tips of those claws came a warm flash of green light. When finished, the lion-turtle moved it's paw to Susie and repeated the process. When the light flashed, Susie felt a jolt - not unlike the feeling that happened with teleporting. Only this feeling wasn't so electric - more like sitting by a cozy fire.
But then in a moment, the light subsided and the lion-turtle removed it's great claws.
"OOO-ooo-oooh… I feel tingly." Calvin warbled.
Susie had to agree - she felt strangely energized. She felt like something within her had just been awoken and she felt strangely anxious to find out what it could do.
Susie looked to Calvin and Calvin looked to her. Both their mouths crept upward into broad smiles. They each drew a hand back and thrust their fists forward with all their might.
and nothing happened.
Susie's look of shock quickly melted into an expression of disappointed resignation.
Calvin was decidedly less graceful. "SERIOUSLY?!" he bellowed. He swiped his hand again. He tried using his hands, his feet, any body part he had - just something to get some sort of reaction.
But the surrounding area stubbornly refused to budge.
"MAN, what a GYP!" He might have said more, but he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder. Turning, he Hobbes laying a paw over his shoulder and looking at him with empathic understanding.
"So it didn't work." Susie said, stepping over to them. "He did say it was a possibility."
"... Yeah." Calvin groaned, morosely. "It's just… so disappointing."
Susie nodded soothingly, placing her own hand on his shoulder. "I know, I'm disappointed, too." They stayed that way for a moment before she rallied them up into action. "C'mon, we should get going." She then turned and waved to the lion-turtle, calling. "Thanks for everything! We'll take your advice and head for Ba Sing Se!"
The trio walked on for a few paces before the lion-turtle's deep, resonant voice rumbled out. "You are currently walking south."
Remembering that the city was north and west of their current location, the earthlings made a curt about-face and trudged along the right path.
Their treck continued for a few more days. Mercifully, there were no serious incidents during that time - only the typical irritations that come with hiking; fatigue, hunger, thirst, heat and bugs. The only serious issues that bothered them were of a mental sort.
"Are you seriously singing 'bicycle built for two'?!" Susie snapped.
Indeed, Calvin had been humming the tune for the better part of the day. "S'at what it's called?" He asked before warbling out the melody once again.
"Yes, and it's really grating on my nerves!" she snarled. "I didn't even think you knew the words to this song!"
"Daisy, Daisy ya da de dum de day… I don't. Not really. It's just, this tune got in my head, somehow, and it keeps repeating itself over and over… it's driving me nuts!"
"Well can you at least play it quietly? 'Cause you're not doing the rest of us any favors by pelting it out like that! Right Hobbes?!"
Hobbes, who hadn't been listening, turned to look at the girl, making a noise that sounded like 'huh'
"See? He doesn't like it, either!"
Calvin hummed the last bit of melody once more time before replying. "It's not like I can turn it off, y'know!"
Susie groaned, overdramatically. After taking a moment to compose herself, she continued in a more diplomatic tone of voice. "Look, I understand how hard earworms can be to deal with. Just the other day, I had 'the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins' running through my head."
Calvin gave her a blank stare. "... The what?... of who?..."
"Nevermind! Just… try singing something else! Something you actually know the words to!"
Susie turned to press onward. As she walked, she suddenly heard Calvin's voice ring out loudly, singing "Iiiit's a small world, after all! It's a small world, after all!"
Susie stopped dead in her tracks, realizing too late that Calvin would of course choose a song that was even worse than before. "Must… resist… strangling impulse…"
"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears! It's a world of hope and a world of fears!"
"... Impulse… not… resisting!..."
Hobbes awoke early one morning; the eastern sky had barely turned gray with the sun's approach. Usually, Hobbes wasn't one for waking early, preferring to sleep in until he was good and fully rested. But this morning there was another force that kept gnawing at him to rise - that of hunger.
The tiger stretched and yawned and limbered up, working all of his muscles into action. Then with the utmost care, he silently stepped around the two humans - still sound asleep in their sacks - and made it to the pack where the food was kept.
He buried his face in the sack, rooting around clothes and other supplies, searching for something edible.
Yet no matter how deep he dug, he came up short.
That was odd. They shouldn't be out of food yet. True they were obliged to ration their portions, and those portions had been quite scant, but still, they ought to have had some food left.
Growing increasingly worried, Hobbes crept over to Calvin's sleeping bag and nudged the sleeping boy with his nose. Calvin didn't stir. Hobbes crouched in close to his friend's head and hissed a quiet, yet urgent chuff in his ear. The boy uttered a low groan and flipped his head to the other side. Hobbes then put a paw on Calvin's shoulder and began gently shaking him - until an erant flip of the boy's arm popped him right on the nose. Calvin, meanwhile, muttered a guttural moan that sounded vaguely like 'mayan vengeance' before flipping his entire body over and falling firmly back into slumber.
Once more, Hobbes went to rouse his friend, but then he saw something that made him pause.
When Calvin had turned over, his arm had been flung out so that his hand had landed directly on top of Susie's upward facing palm.; and the girl's fingers had subconsciously closed around the boy's hand.
Hobbes couldn't help but find the scene heartwarming - it was just such a charming little picture, even if they weren't actually aware of it.
But there was still the issue of food. Hobbes didn't want to disturb the two humans under the circumstance, but then again, he was still hungry. And it's not like he could simply go out and buy somethi -
Then it occurred to him; really, he was disappointed he hadn't thought of it before. He was a fierce and cunning tiger! And what did tigers do when they needed food? Why, they hunted, of course!
Now, it was true that Hobbes had never hunted before in his life, but how hard could it be? Really, any tiger worth his stripes instinctively knew how to hunt! And Hobbes was no run-of-the-mill tiger! No sir! He could figure this out, no problem! After all, tigers were the lords of the jungle, the greatest of the great cats!
Hobbes was a disgrace to his species.
The sun had well risen by now and he had no game to show for all his efforts; only a number of scrapes and bruises. No matter how stealthily he prowled, the animals he stalked would always catch wind of his presence. And on the odd occasion that he would actually catch something, it would invariably escape (usually managing to land a blow or two in the process.) So here he was, pathetically plodding through the wood; dirty, injured, fatigued, possibly lost and still hungry!
He came to rest in the shade of collection of large rocks - arrayed in a haphazard manner, as though carelessly tossed about by some errant child. Strewn among the area were also a number burn marks.
Considering the state of the world he was in, Hobbed reasoned that this area had likely been the sight of some skirmish between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation.
As he lay there, resting his weary limbs, the breeze blew a certain scent to him. Peering around the rock he lay beside, he found himself at the edge of a steep hill. At the foot of the hill, a little stream trickled along. And drinking from the stream - directly beneath him - was a little… pig… deer… thing
It appeared fate had decided to be merciful to him. Not wanting to waste this golden opportunity, Hobbes carefully crept out onto the slick side of the hill. If he did this right, he just might be able to get the drop on this thing - literally.
Slowly - carefully - inch by inch he crept down the slope, almost not daring to breath. He thought out a silent prayer to whatever deity might hear it as the distance between himself and the (what would you call it, exactly? A boar? A buck?... A bourck? Ah well, best to think about that later) it slowly became shorter. Then, once he had made it about a third of the way down the slope, he made A great leap off the side of the hill - and let gravity take care of the rest.
The deer-pig never knew what hit it.
Using his mighty jaws, Hobbes hefted the deceased animal and carried it out of the stream. He dropped his load on the grass and took a moment to bask in his accomplishment. After all that grief, after all that struggle, after all that effort, he finally had something to show for it!
His heart alight with jubilation, Hobbes took in a hearty lungful of air and sounded a triumphant roar to the heavens - letting all around the area know what he had done.
Now all that remained was getting it back to camp. But that could wait a while longer. Right now, Hobbes could just take a seat and recuperate from his ordeal.
Or, so he thought.
[Hey!] Hobbes turned to see a large figure lumbering out from the forest. For the most part, it resembled a large, brown bear. However, instead of a muzzle, it had a broad black bill, it's back feet were webbed and it's tail was a long, flat slab of flesh.
The platypus-bear shuffled forward, looking at Hobbes' kill with greedy red eyes. [Mighty fine piece o' meat ya got, ther.] he said.
[Yeees…] Hobbes placed a paw on the dead pig and pulled it closer to him. [Took me all morning to catch the little sucker.]
The platypus-bear licked his bill then strode purposefully toward the pig, saying [Ah want it!]
[Well, you can't have it!] Hobbed stepped in front of his meat with a snarl. [This is my kill by all rights! Go find your own!]
The bear made an irritated grunt, then shoved his huge bulk right up to the fuming tiger. [I'd rather take YOURS!] he huffed.
[Listen, BUSTER!] Hobbes growled. [I worked my tail off to get this food and you think you can just waltz right up and take it, just like that?! Why should you benefit from all my hard work?!]
In response, the platypus-bear rose on his hind legs, spread his arms out and roared with all his gusto right in Hobbes' face.
Hobbes recoiled as the bear's hot, putrid breath bombarded him. His eyes popped open at the sight of his many sharp teeth and long, lethal claws. The bear fell back down to the ground, pounding the earth with his heavy paws and leered at Hobbes with a furious growl.
Hobbes took a couple timid steps back from the irate bear. [That is a very compelling argument. By all means, go ahead and take it.] he then turned-tail and scampered over the stream and back up the side of the cliff.
As he climbed the inclining bank, Hobbes heard the platypus-bear call after him. [LOSER! F'you can't keep ahold o' yer own kill, then you don't deserve it!]
That caused Hobbes to pause. He turned to look at his opponent with a spiteful snarl. [Don't deserve it, HUH?] he seethed. Then an idea struck him. He continued his climb up the hill he had come from. [We'll see who doesn't DESERVE it!]
Once he made it to the top, he crawled behind one of the boulders that had been flung particularly close to the edge. Peering around it, he checked the bear's position; yes, that was almost perfect! now he just needed to push. Bracing his back feet against the ground, he shoved all his weight against the rock, straining his muscles to the limit, putting all his effort into this task! With a satisfied grunt, he felt the rock budge. And with every tug of motion beneath him, his vigor reignited. Then, bit by bit, inch by inch, the rock crept out over the edge.
Then finally, the hefty rock crested the lip of the crag and tumbled over - rumbling all the way down, tearing through the stream with a dazzling splash… and coming to a stop an inch away from the platypus-bear.
The bear pulled his head away from his meal to find a large rock suddenly sitting beside him. Following the path it must have taken, he found Hobbes standing atop the ridge, looking down at him.
[Huh… I was hoping that would roll a bit further.] said Hobbes.
[YOU'RE DEAD!] the platypus-bear roared furiously as he climbed over the rock and charged toward the hill.
Seeing the enraged monster thundering toward him, Hobbes made a frightened yelp and tore like heck out of there.
Susie sighed blissfully in her sleep. In her dreams, she found herself strolling along a sparkling, sandy beach. She walked hand in hand with a svelte, handsome figure. They meandered down the shore with the warm evening sun casting a golden glow on the scene, the cool waves gently lapping at their feet and a soft breeze tousling their hair about.
It was just like a scene out of one of those sappy romance novellas her mom used to read.
As the two of them continued their constitutional, hands clasped and fingers entwined, Susie cast a sidelong glance at her mysterious Adonis. Her eyes traveled up his chiseled torso and came to rest on his cherubic face. He turned to look at her, crystalline eyes shimmering in the twilight. He beamed at her with a look of the purest adoration… and he yawned.
sluggishly, Susie's mind came to realize that she was more awake than asleep and the face of her dream prince had faded away - leaving behind a real, physical face.
In fact, it was Calvin's face!
Said boy stared at her through bleary eyes with a haphazard grin smeared across his face. After a moment, he came to realize exactly what he was seeing and his face opened into an expression of shock and befuddlement - a look that was no doubt mirrored on her own face. Then, as one, they moved theirs eyes downward - to see their hands tightly clutching each other.
They both jumped backward, making startled squawking noises, flicking their hands as though they'd awoken to find themselves holding a tarantula.
Or a banana slug.
Or some other icky invertebrate.
Now fully awake, they pulled themselves out of their sleeping bags. By mutual consent, they decided they didn't want to talk about what had just transpired - EVER again.
"Uh oh." Calvin rummaged through the supply sack, piling it's contents on the floor. "Looks like we're out of food."
"What?" Susie took the satchel and looked through it herself. Sure enough, there wasn't a crumb to be had. "I could've sworn we had more food than that!"
"Yeah." Calvin mused. Looking around, he realized something. "Where's Hobbes?"
Susie looked too, surprised she hadn't noticed the tiger's absence.
Calvin rose to his feet in a huff and made fore the tent door, muttering about what that mangy furball had done.
But Susie caught up to him and caught him by the shoulder. "Let's not jump to the worst case scenario, here. Maybe he just went for a walk." she said, placatingly. "Why don't we strike camp and if he doesn't come back by then, we'll go looking for him."
Calvin groaned, but ultimately consented. So the two of them set out taking everything down and packing it away - with Calvin grumbling all the while. "Juuuust perfect! No food, Hobbes missing and those freaky dreams again! What else does this day have in store!"
"What's that about dreams?" Susie asked.
So Calvin related the dreams he had been having lately, every obtuse detail.
"Wow," Susie hummed as she folded the tent over. "... So, 'Nevermind, keep it'... and then, 'It is hidden'?... So,... what, exactly, is IT?"
"Good question." Calvin grunted, closing the supply bag. "Unfortunately, I can't think on an empty stomach."
With their camp taken down, the two teens set off to find their wayward companion. They hiked through the dense trees, calling his name as they went.
Suddenly, an angry roar thundered through the landscape, sending flocks of birds flying away.
"What was THAT?!" Calvin asked in shock.
"Probably something that'll kill us if we come anywhere near it." Susie replied in a deadpan tone.
But Calvin headed toward the sound, heedless of Susie calling behind him.
He quickly found the source of the tumult. A huge platypus-bear was hammering his massive paws on the trunk of a burly tree, roaring hatefully all the while. And sitting on a branch of that tree, clinging to it for his life, was
"HOBBES!" Without a second thought, Calvin rushed down the slope, grabbing a fallen branch on the way and charged toward the irate predator.
He ran over to the bear and, in a fluid motion, swung his branch, nailing the beast in the knee.
The bear made a grunt of irritation before turning to take a bite out of this new pint-sized assailant. Calvin ducked away just in time, even managing to clip the bear on the side of the jaw. The bear then raised it's huge paw to pound the boy into the ground.
The tree had been Hobbes' last ditch effort to save himself. He had hoped that he'd be able to wait out the brutish bear - after all, he could only sit under a tree for so long, right? But Hobbes hadn't figured just how drunk on bloodlust the bear actually was! When the monster started banging against the trunk, the idea suddenly became much harder. Each blow rocked the tree harder. Hobbes had to dig all of his claws into the bark in order to keep ahold.
All of a sudden, the shaking stopped.
Hobbes breathed a sigh of relief and looked to see what had happened to his assailant - and gasped. Below him was an untidy mop of blond hair - instantly recognizable as Calvin - holding a piece of wood aloft while the platypus-bear raised his arm, ready for a swing.
With no time to weigh options, Hobbes let go of the branch. His feline agility landed him directly on the platypus-bear's back. His claws latched onto the furry freak while his teeth closed around his neck, clamping down hard.
The bear roared both in pain and fury, now finding himself attacked on both sides. He tried swatting the tiger off his back, but found that he was just out of reach. And with the little human darting in and out, pelting him with that stick, it was a very frustrating fight.
Eventually, the bear backed up into the tree with enough force to knock the wind out of Hobbes. The tiger gasped, releasing his grip on the bear's neck. The bear took this opportunity to clobber Hobbes with his paw. Then, with arm bent at an uncomfortable angle, he dug into the striped back with his claws and pulled Hobbes off of him and chucked him aside - right into Calvin.
With both opponents vulnerable, the platypus-bear growled contently. He approached his downed victims and rose up on his back legs. The human and tiger could only watch in horror as he raised his paws, readying the killing blow. But just as he began to swing, something struck him in the back of the head.
Susie couldn't believe Calvin would be so reckless. To any rational person, heading toward a big, angry sounding animal would be considered a bad idea. For a second, she wondered if she should even bother going after him. But of course she did - Calvin would probably get himself killed if she wasn't with him.
There were times Susie hated being right.
She managed to find Calvin swinging a branch at a platypus-bear with Hobbes clinging to the beast's back. She gasped in terror when the bear ripped Hobbes off his back and tossed him into Calvin, felling them both.
"CAAAAALVIIIIIN!" There was nothing she could do. She knew this. Still, her legs carried her forward, rushing into the fray. Her heart dropped into stomach as she watched the bear raise it's paws for the finishing strike. This would be the end of them, she knew it! What could she do? she couldn't get there in time! She had no weapon! All she could think was STOP THAT BEAR!
Then, as her foot made contact with the ground, a large rock a few paces in front of her was launched through the air. Time seemed to slow as Susie watched the rock fly end over end as it careened forward, colliding with the bear's skull.
The blow knocked the massive beast to the floor.
Calvin and Hobbes gaped at the fallen bear in a mesmerised stupor. When they noticed Susie, they turned their shocked expressions to her, their eyes wide and their jaws agape. Susie could only stare back, giving a slow, feeble shrug in return.
A loud fit of grunting announced that the platypus-bear wasn't down for the count just yet. He shakily rose to his feet; when he laid eyes on Susie, he bellowed a furious roar and started stomping toward her. On reflex, Susie swung her hands out in front of her - and a flurry of dust blew into the bear's face.
Susie looked down at her hands in bewilderment. Could it really be?
A brash snarl brought her back to the present. The platypus-bear was gunning for her - full throttle.
In a panic, she swung out in a punching motion. A rock lunged at the bear's shoulder. She tried again and another rock flew into the bear's flank. She stamped her foot and a pillar of earth rose up to punch the bear in the gut, causing him to fall over with a feeble groan. Down, but not out, the bear wobbled to his feet again and roared defiantly at the human girl. Susie made a downward thrusting motion and all four of the bear's paws sunk into the ground.
Calvin and Hobbes strode over to Susie, making a wide berth around the ensnared platypus-bear, who still tried to bite at them as they passed. They approached the girl, who was on her knees, breathing heavily. Her eyes were wide and darting all about. "What… that was… what just… I…"
Calvin tapped his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah… you're an earthbender now,… congratulations." he said in a voice that sounded equally impressed and bitter.
Before anything else could be said, a loud rumble sounded. They looked to see that the platypus-bear had managed to free one of his paws and was currently tugging at his others with all his might.
"Sheesh! Tenacious sucker, isn't he?!" Calvin seethed.
Hobbes huffed. He didn't know the half of it!
As the ground burying the bear's feet began to loosen, Calvin decided. "Alright, I'd say this calls for a strategic retreat." He pulled out and activated the teleporter. He selected an area map (not the one with the blue dot, but one adjacent to it) and selected a place to teleport to.
The screen deactivated and the device hovered there - while the platypus-bear's confines became looser and looser.
"Any time, now…" Calvin impatiently hissed as he ushered Susie and Hobbes closer.
With an almighty heave, the platypus-bear finally managed to free himself and charged at the three earthlings with renewed fervor.
It was then that the teleportation activated.
The spontaneous appearance of the crackling cage of light made the bear come to a screeching halt. He gave it a cursory, nervous sniff, then looked at the three of them with a new expression - one of fear. They watched him turn and flee before the jump kicked in.
When they landed, it took a moment for the whole ordeal to sink in; what they had been through, what had nearly happened.
Then it settled on them that the assuredly grave danger they had been in was past.
Calvin started it. It began as short little huffs, but soon evolved into sporadic chuckles, and then into full on laughter. After a moment, Susie joined in - followed by Hobbes, in his own way.
This was the type of laughter only those who have narrowly evaded death could produce, and they were letting it rip. They all came together in a close embrace. It was a bit difficult to stand with a heavy tiger leaning on you, but Calvin and Susie managed. For a time, they simply stood there like that, All their cares and worries forgotten for this one, glorious moment. Their laughter bellowed out, long and loud, reaching to the very heavens.
In time, they knew the needed to press on. So they separated, trying to get a bearing on their surroundings.
And then they saw it.
Surrounding them was a sea of faces. Men, abruptly paused in the midst of their daily routines, were gawking at them with expressions of surprise and confusion.
And the real kicker was that they all wore the burnt red armor of Fire Nation soldiers.
Calvin summed up their situation quite thoroughly in three short words. "Well, this sucks."
