Bear and I III
Chapter 1
"What do you think, buddy?" Rick patted the leg of really his best buddy in the world. "We've been headed this way for months and I still haven't seen a passage through it. So it's either over it or get lucky and find a series of caverns to get to the opposite side since flying is out." Rick stepped up even with his face and kept looking where they were headed to.
If there was anyone within earshot they would hear growling and a few added snorts followed by a huff of air out his buddy's mouth.
"I thought maybe you would question that." Rick sighed and based on how fast they usually traveled… "A week maybe?" His buddy turned his large head and huffed out a breath of hot air at him.
"No, it's empty, you ate the last of it yesterday. I guess we can spend some time foraging for food for the trip." Rick loved his big buddy, he really did. But there were times when he wished he wasn't just over 12 feet long and almost as tall from the bottom of his paw to the top of his shoulder. Plus he had to weigh at least 8,000 pounds. His weight alone helped dictate where they both went.
Rick took his bow off his shoulder and nocked an arrow. "You go right and I'll go left. If you don't catch it you'll at least flush it my way and I'll kill it. Then we can go hunting for wild berries and maybe get in some fishing. Provided you don't scare them all away," Rick teased him.
His buddy Max, turned his head, snorted at him, and covered his hair in bear snot. Rick wiped it all away little by little. "Well you do. Have you seen how you fish?" Rick raised his hand to stop him from answering. "Just go that way. I'm as hungry as you are." Rick moved off in his chosen direction and stepped carefully and quietly since he was really good at it. His best buddy, Max? Not so much.
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Rick came upon a bit of a rise and stood at the top and surveyed the area. At this point there were a lot of trees and a fair amount of wild grasses. However, there was one small open area but he didn't see anything. His senses said there was wildlife in this area but it was all birds or small wildlife. It would be a meal for him but not even a snack for his best friend.
Then he heard it. The sound of trees breaking followed by a roar. His best friend was doing his job so Rick got ready. Then as if by magic four white tailed deer came jumping out of the trees in a wild dash, scared for their lives.
Rick lined up one arrow and released it. He pulled another arrow back quickly and shot followed by shooting a third arrow. It was all the time he had. Looking at his handiwork he saw two down with arrows sticking out of them. He didn't see the other two. He could swear he'd hit a third but it had escaped him.
Then a pair of trees fell and almost landed on his dead deer. His best friend burst onto the scene and stopped when he saw two dead deer.
"Those two are yours. I know I hit a third, that one's mine." Rick trotted off since depending on just where he had struck it it could be up to a mile away from here, bleeding out all the way. Suffering.
He loved nature and was a protector of nature. That didn't conflict with his need to hunt to keep himself and his best friend alive. What it did mean was he couldn't let that deer suffer for longer than it had to because of him.
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Thankfully he was a very good tracker and not just because he could smell the blood. The tracks, broken sticks from trees, and birds taking flight all told him where to go.
The terrain here was a bit rough and while it didn't stop him it did slow him down a little. As he tracked he was reminded yet again just how fast an animal that was already fast could stay fast and take wild chances because it was scared to death.
It took him a mile of tracking till he finally ran across the deer. It was dead mostly from blood loss. Rick got down on his knees and stroked its head. "I'm sorry buddy, I screwed up." Rick then said a silent prayer over the dead body.
In moments he had it hanging from a tree and began skinning it, followed by gutting and then slicing it up into sections.
He wasn't done yet when he heard something. His predator friend who had been attracted by the smell of blood was starting to lose his patience and he really didn't want to have to kill him. It would be a waste of a good life.
Rick sliced off the best pieces as fast as he could, wrapped them up, and carefully retreated. "What's left is yours, my friend, if you can reach it." The rope was simple handmade rope so losing it was nothing. Rick put what he had wrapped up in his backpack and headed back to his companion.
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Max, his best friend and buddy, was resting right where he had left him. "Both of them? You didn't think to leave any for me?" Rick ribbed him and listened to him huff.
"No, I caught up to it and have mine. Are you full or do you need more?" Rick had enough for him for a few days but Max typically required a lot to eat.
Rick listened to his response. "There are probably goats on the mountain. I can shoot down a few for you. Right now we need to find some berries or insects." Rick wasn't that picky.
"We find some water and we can find other things. First give me a minute." Rick needed to get his meat sections out and trim them a little better since he was rushed. Then he put them in two of his four preservation bags. They were one of the magical things he had and they had saved him more times than he could count. Saved both of them, really. Anything he put in them would stay fresh for weeks.
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"Ready? Let's find some fresh water next unless we run across something along the way." Rick started walking and took the hard way. It helped clear up space for his big pal.
They had been walking for a while. "Stop," Rick cautioned him and they both froze. Rick listened and looked while Max sniffed. "Running water." Rick spun slightly. "That way," he pointed and Max took lead.
It was a stream. Not a big one but it had running water and in one place there was a tiny waterfall which was what Rick had heard. "You fish downstream and anything you catch is yours. I'll fish upstream and perhaps look for some snails, crabs maybe, small fish for bait, who knows. Best fisherman wins." Rick pointed at him and made his way upstream.
Max snorted at him and went downstream. "I was talking about me actually, and not you," Rick called over his shoulder and heard his buddy growl back at him.
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Rick was a little wet but that was okay, it helped cool him off since it was unseasonably warm in this area. "I have four. How many did you get?" Rick held up his four big fish for Max to see for himself. Granted he had caught a number of little ones but he wasn't counting those.
Max just snorted, growled, and huffed out air. "WHAT!? No way! For you to get even one they had to get..." Rick stopped talking before he opened up mouth any further. He was upstream so the only fish his friend could have caught would be the ones that got past him.
"Fine, you win. What do you want?" Rick gave in and listened to what his buddy wanted for winning. "I'll starve! I thought you loved me. I'll give you three since I still need to eat something and you had two whole deer to eat." Rick listened to him consent.
Rick groaned and took three of his hard won fish and threw them one by one to his buddy and watched them get swallowed whole, one at a time. He didn't even bother to bite them let alone chew.
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Rick had a very small fire but it was enough to cook all the fish he had caught even if he didn't have anything else to eat with them. "Yes, I caught more than four. But they're all tiny so I didn't count them and yes, I'm cooking them. They taste better that way and yes, I'm using my spices again." Rick listened to him growl softly in disgust.
Rick didn't know why they were talking about this again. His buddy had been with him for a few years. He knew all this. "You're yanking my chain, aren't you?" Rick was catching on to him and listened to him laugh at him or what accounted for laughing for him.
"Laugh it up, furball." Rick at least got to eat his cooked fish in silence.
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Rick folded up his tent the next morning. It hadn't rained in a few days so he was betting they were due. Thankfully his tent was temperature controlled. No matter how cold or how hot it was outside nor how humid or dry, it was always perfect inside his tent. The only real drawback was his buddy didn't like tents even if he could fit inside it if he tried or wanted to.
"Ready? One more day and we might make the base of the mountain range. Let me know if you spot anything worth eating and don't think about eating all you find. I'm still hungry, too." Rick pointed at him and took off walking.
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Rick kept stopping when he found things along the way. He was even digging up things as he went. Some of it was going to get boiled and turned into a tea. Protein was nice but he needed vitamins to go with that.
The stream allowed him to fill all of his water containers and put them away for later.
It took them most of the day and Rick was mostly at the base of the mountain range. "I'm thinking that way come morning." Rick indicated where he thought there was a gap they could put to use. Going over the top was out. It was too dangerous just to be on the other side since simply going there was his only reason.
"First off I need to cook dinner and boil my tea. I was afraid we wouldn't find any berries. It's rather late in the year. Finding vitamins is going to start to get difficult." Initially he needed some dead wood to start a fire. He had an alternative but he really only wanted to use it in emergencies.
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Rick didn't need a big fire so he let what he did have die before bed. "Reduce down, Max. It looks like tonight's going to get cold. No reason to suffer through the night. Please," Rick asked.
Max caved in. Being small felt like he was making himself vulnerable but he also knew his best friend would protect him and was only looking out for him like he had since they had met.
Max snorted and in seconds he was about the size of a wolf. He followed Rick into the tent and then chose his spot to lie down and rest and sleep the night through.
Rick knew his tent would blend in magically with the surroundings making it damn near impossible to see. And so long as he sealed the opening no one should be able to smell them unless they were right on top of them. It was a safe and very comfortable tent to be in.
He pulled out a stone that put out a light that never ended. It would literally last forever. The light didn't escape the tent and lit it up perfectly. He took this time to pull out a tiny piece of cloth from his belt, put it on the ground, and unfold it.
This exposed a large 10 foot x 10 foot x 10 foot hole in the floor that was partially filled with all kinds of things. He just needed to review what he did have before closing it back up again. What was in it was nearly all he had. He really couldn't afford to lose it.
Rick removed his sleeping bag from the bottom of his backpack. His backpack was one more item he absolutely couldn't afford to lose. It contained just about everything else he owned.
He stripped down to nearly naked and slid into his sleeping bag. It was the perfect bag for sleeping outside in the deepest of winters. It would keep him warm no matter the temperature. Rick had a little trouble getting to sleep but it didn't take all that long.
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Rick's dream was literally all over the place. Somehow he was swimming in water while flying. Or at least that was what it felt like. And yet he didn't really have to swim since the water wasn't all that deep. He could be walking in it.
Next he was climbing a mountain as a bear. Now Rick was a bear so that wasn't the shock even though there was snow everywhere and one would think he should be freezing. He didn't even question why Max wasn't with him. The two were never separated since he had found Max as an almost newborn cub. He had found him hiding near the dead and stripped body of his mother.
Getting him to eat something was the hard part. Mother's milk wasn't an option. He didn't have any animals' milk at all. He had feared greatly that he was going to lose him. Yet evidently he succeeded.
Rick tried to reach out in his bag to touch her. She was beautiful even if his brain didn't recognize her. She was a stunning white bear standing on her back feet. Thick snow-white fur, eyes like shards of blue ice, and massive paws. She stood18 feet tall and wore immaculate robes of the finest quality.
Now they were both on a mountainside and while she wasn't talking she was motioning. He was to follow her? Yet as she motioned she also pointed to the top of the mountain.
Rick's eyes snapped open and most of his dream vanished in an instant. Yet a piece lingered. Something about a white bear. He and Max were bigger but it was big.
"Bharrai." It was dark in the tent since he had put the stone away after getting into his bag. But why was he thinking about the God he worshiped with utter devotion? He thought about her and even left items for animals to find. Like the deer he had killed but hadn't taken all of it. He would leave offerings for any animal to find.
"Bharrai." It had to be her but why was he dreaming of her? He had never done that before in his life. None of it made sense to him. It also didn't allow him to go back to sleep. Tossing and turning he finally gave up and brought out his light stone and lit up the interior of the tent. He saw his best friend sleeping soundly so he hid the stone a little that dimmed the light.
Getting out of his bag he got dressed and suited up with weapons. He relied on magic for armor. Anyone looking at him would think he didn't wear any armor at all. This had the benefit of not weighing him down. He was very fleet of foot when in his human form. His Ranger skills served him well.
Rick put his goggles around his neck, opened up the tent, and stepped outside. He almost completely closed it behind him. Marking his spot so he could find it again easily, he walked away and lifted his goggles over his eyes. This allowed him to see in the dark out to a respectable range of sixty feet. Very few could see further than that in the darkness.
There was so very little moon that he couldn't even hardly make out the mountain they were close to. Yes there was snow at the top but he had no intention of climbing all the way up there. He wasn't afraid of freezing to death, no that wasn't it. He didn't have a problem with heights, either.
Melt the snow to get water to drink. But water cold enough to refreeze in an instant did things to one's insides and it wasn't pleasant. Worse there wasn't going to be any food to hunt way up there.
Unless one believed in Yeti or White Dragons or Remoraz. Those things loved the cold and the last one loved to dig through all that frozen wasteland. He couldn't say he had tasted either and wasn't anxious to find out.
"Mountain, huh?" That was part of the dream he did remember. The main question was could it be this mountain or a different one? If it was this mountain he was in the right place. If it was the wrong mountain he had a problem. So what was so special about this mountain? Whichever one that was.
Sometimes, hell all the time, Gods could be so damn mysterious. Why couldn't they just show up and tell him? He wasn't deaf. Or they could at least leave him a scroll showing him where to go. But no!
Still if his God was trying to tell him something he was damn sure going to listen. Just as soon as he worked out just what the hell that was.
It was chilly out here so he went back into the tent and was met by the eyes of his best friend. "I had a dream about a mountain and Bharrai. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Rick asked him and what he got back was a very serious no.
"I was afraid you would say that. In either case we have a mountain to get across in the morning and we're going to need more food first." They were definitely going to need supplies.