Chapter Four: On My Way

When Thomas mentioned the place he needed to go, Percy gasped in surprise, "Did you say, the mountain that touches the light?", asked Percy, "That area is next to where The Salmon Run takes place!"

Thomas was surprised about this as he didn't expect that The Salmon Run was next to the location that he needed to go to, "Really?"

"Yes! Every year, we witness the lights touching the mountains at night while we enjoy our salmons. It's so gorgeous and mother said that the lights are the most beautiful thing to see.", Percy smiled as Thomas couldn't believe what he had just heard.

Thomas was so thrilled to hear that Percy knew the location, yet he didn't want to be with him because of his personality, "Tell you what? If we go together to The Salmon Run, I will not only take you to the place you needed to go, but I can also help you avoid any traps. Pinky swear?", Percy grinned.

With that, Percy lifted his right paw with his small paw finger only up as he hoped that Thomas makes the deal. Thomas looked at his paw for a moment as he thought carefully. If he goes, he can get to the area he can go for Edward to change him back into a human, yet he knew that he had to deal with Percy. Thomas was annoyed that of all the animals he met, it was Percy he was stuck with, yet he was the only one who knew where the mountain that touches the light was. There, he stuck his small paw finger as his finger was wrapped around Percy's as he sighed in annoyance, "Fine. Pinky swear."

"Great!", Percy smiled until he realised that he didn't know Thomas's name, "By the way, what's your name Mr. Grumpy?"

"Thomas, and don't call me Mr. Grumpy.", Thomas replied as he growled in annoyance.

"Okay, okay. Mr. Bossy.", Percy chuckled as he and Thomas exited from the cave as they headed their way to The Salmon Run.

Thomas knew that this would be one journey that he has to learn to tolerate as Percy kept chatting away with random stuff that he didn't either listen to or it didn't make sense at all. As they went on their way, the sun began to set as the stars slowly began to appear from the purple blanket sky with the moon rises. Once it was full-on night-time, both Thomas and Percy felt weary in their eyes as Percy began to chat less and less. There, they went to the top of the mountain as they both decided to rest there. Thomas sighed in relief as he thought that he wouldn't have to hear any more words from Percy as they both stretched their body and they laid down. Once they were both settled, both of them shut their eyes as they fell asleep. Unfortunately, as Thomas began to drift too deep slumber, he heard a loud snore as he heard Percy began to sleep talk. He opened his eyes wide as he began to growl in frustration. There, he covered his ears with his front paws as he prayed to The Great Spirits that he would get some goodnight's sleep.

…

The next morning, somewhere at the edge of the meadow, Bill and Ben were consuming down some juicy as they were discussing their future pranks, "Hey Bill! Why don't we do the "Slip and Trip" prank?", Ben suggested as he talked while eating.

"We always do that and that's getting old.", Bill replied as he groaned.

However, as they continued to chat, someone was hiding behind the tree as his spear was ready. It was none other than Gordon as he was preparing to go on a hunt to have some breakfast, and when he saw the two orange moose, he hid again as he hoped that he didn't get spotted. However, Ben spotted Gordon for a moment as he gulped his grass quickly, "Uh, B-Bill.", Ben stuttered as his legs began to wobble like jellies.

"Not now, Ben. I'm trying to eat some twigs.", Bill groaned as he was munching some dead twigs from a dead bush.

"B-but Bill. I-I think w-we should start running.", Ben suggested as he walked back as he could see Gordon coming out of his hiding spot with his spear pointing at them.

"Go away!", Bill growled, "You're ruining my morning already!"

However, when Bill heard a twig snapped, his head popped up as his ears twitched to where it was coming from. There, he turned to his left, and to his shock, he saw Gordon with his spear as he began to charge at them. Both Bill and Ben screamed like girls as they ran away, "Let's get out of here!", cried Ben.

"I agree, even if I get stomach cramps due to eating!", Bill agreed as the two ran off to safety.

…

Meanwhile, somewhere in the meadow, where it was filled with daisies, dandelions, and other wildflowers, Thomas was at the tipping point of edge as he couldn't handle Percy's constant chatting as his positive vibe, "Actually, if you really want to know how me and my mum got separated, I was saving this story for the salmon run, but I'll tell you. It was probably the fifth or sixth most coldest day in my entire life.", said Percy as he continued and he didn't take a breath.

"Oh, this sounds good. You should definitely save it.", Thomas spoke sarcastically while giving him a fake smile with his eyes twitching.

"You think so?", asked Percy with his mouth open wide with happiness.

"Yes, to your friends!", Thomas shouted right at Percy's face as he stormed off.

Percy felt upset as his ears folded. He didn't like Thomas being horrible to him when all he was trying to do was to cheer him up. As he saw Thomas walking away, he then had an idea as he decided to tell him a funny story, "Hey Thomas! Why don't I tell you a funny story?"

"Well, how about no talking, Per-cy.", Thomas suggested with his teeth gritted as he continued to walk away.

"How about singing?", Percy chimed as he began to sing an upbeat song while walking in a nice beat.

"No! No singing!", shouted Thomas but he was ignored as Percy walked past him while still singing.

"Will you stop singing?", Thomas asked as he spotted a log and placed it on Percy's head, resulting in him muffled but he was still singing.

This got Thomas fuming as he couldn't handle it. However, what he didn't expect was that he went on many adventures with Percy such as eating berries together, Percy drew a circle around Thomas while telling him and some animals stories, which made the animals laugh and even Thomas tried not to laugh. They also watched the moon risen, playing in the rain by jumping on puddles, and feeling the breeze at the edge of the cliff. With those days past, Thomas started to get used to Percy's company, and slowly but surely, they began to bond as friends and Thomas felt like he was becoming the person he once was when he was with his brothers. Thomas also got used to the two prankster moose as Bill and Ben suggested to go on a mammoth for a ride. Percy and Thomas agreed and the two had so much fun while doing different poses on the mammoths.

…

That night as the stars sparkled and the moon shined, Thomas and Percy were on their own mammoths' tusk as they witnessed the beauty of the night. Of course, Percy was still talking, and he did more talking than Thomas, but Thomas got used to it, "Last year at The Salmon Run, my friend Charlie totally dared me, but I'd heard about this other cub who stuck his tongue to an iceberg, and then he started to float away. And so, to save him, they had to, like, rip off his tongue. Thankfully, he didn't lose it, and…"

"Do you ever stop talking?", Thomas joked as he rolled his eyes while smiling.

However, when Percy spotted the aurora up the in skies as it danced gracefully, he gasped in awe, "Hey, look! The night rainbow! You can see The Great Spirits from here!"

When Thomas heard "The Great Spirits" from Percy as he looked at the aurora himself, his mouth went wide in surprise, "Wait, you know about The Great Spirits?", he asked Percy with his eyes looking at him with curiosity.

"Yes. My grandma's up there and so is my granddad. My mum says The Great Spirits makes all the magical changes of the world, like how the leaves change colour, or the moon changes shapes or tadpoles change into frogs.", Percy replied as he gave him a huge smile with his eyes closed.

With that conversation, Thomas's facial expression changed as he looked back at the aurora with pure sadness as he sighed, "Yeah, I-I get it. You know, for a change, maybe they could just leave things alone."

"What do you mean?", asked Percy as he raised his eyebrow.

Thomas quickly looked at Percy with wide eyes for a moment before looking back at the sky as he sighed, "My brother's a spirit. If it wasn't for him, I-I wouldn't be here.", he stuttered as he remembered what Edward had done to him.

"You have a brother up there? What happened to him?", Percy asked as his curiosity took over him.

Thomas was still looking at the beauty of the aurora in the night sky as he replied while trying not to expose the truth that the bear caused the mess, though Edward did sacrifice his life in the first place, "He was killed by a b... by a monster."

Percy looked at him with sad eyes as his ears went back. He didn't expect this to go deep as tried to comfort him. There, he tried to soothe him as Thomas went quiet, "I'm so sorry to hear that. What's his name?"

"Edward.", Thomas replied as he can only answer with one single word, and he spoke in a sombre tone of voice.

As Thomas was still looking at the sky, thinking about his brother, Percy thought for a moment until he had an idea that he hoped that could make Thomas feel a bit better, "Thanks, Edward. If it weren't for you, I would've never met Thomas and he wouldn't have so much adventure.", said Percy as he looked at the aurora with a gentle smile as he began to yawn, "I think we are brothers by soul."

When Percy fell asleep, Thomas quickly looked at Percy with a surprised look as he didn't expect Percy to understand serious things. Though Percy was similar in age, he was a reminder that he was the representation of his past self, but different in some ways. As Thomas looked at the now sleeping Percy, who talked quietly in his sleep for once, he gave him a quick smile before he tucked himself as he allowed his tired eyes to get the better of him.

…

The next day, as the sun began to rise, the mammoths continued their journey as Bill and Ben were already awake. They were getting agitated as they felt like they were on the ride forever as they slopped on the mammoths' backs. As they whined about getting bored, Bill suggested a game to play, "So, do you want to play I Spy?"

"All right.", Ben replied with a small smile, "But I'll go first."

Bill grinned as he and Ben liked that game, "Okay! Go ahead!"

With that, Ben looked for an object when he spotted a single pine tree that had rich green leaves. He decided to use that object for his brother to find, "I spy something green."

Bill wasted no time as he went to look on what Ben was thinking until he spotted the single pine tree and answered, "Tree!", he exclaimed.

"Aww.", Ben complained as he thought he picked the most difficult thing to find, and he also knew that Bill was a master at it.

"Heh! My turn!", Bill laughed as he then spotted a very tall pine tree that could be as tall as the mountain, "I spy something very tall!"

"Tree!", Ben replied quickly as he decided to guess.

"Yep.", Bill said as he sighed in annoyance, and he knew that Ben likes to randomly guess as he didn't bother to look.

However, as they continued to play, the intensity between the two risen as they were getting annoyed with each other. What's more, the only thing can think of to use to find was trees as there wasn't much to find other than pine trees. The intensity got so heated that Bill accused Ben of cheating as they threatened to headbutt each other as the mammoths sighed in annoyance while continuing their way.

While this occurred, Thomas began to wake up as he let out a huge yawn, which sounded like a roar. There, he saw Percy still sleeping as he tried to wake him up but only get sleep talking answers. However, when Percy finally woke up, Thomas asked him if he knew where they were. Percy looked around as he wasn't so sure about their whereabouts. He thought carefully as he then pointed left then pointed right. With that realisation that Percy doesn't know where they are, Thomas glared at him as he shouted, "You are telling me that we are lost because you don't know where we are? Ugh! Why wasn't I turned into a homing pigeon? Come on!"

With that, Thomas hopped off the mammoth as he stormed off. This made Percy frowned as he remembered clearly that it was Thomas's idea to go on the mammoths, "Hey, riding mammoths was your idea!", he replied as he hopped off the mammoth and thanked them before catching up to him, "Lucky for you I've been lost worse than this before. Last summer, I was digging for roots with Charlie…"

"Enough with the stories!", Thomas snapped as he explained how he didn't care about the time that Percy and Charlie went out while making errors on Percy's story.

Percy felt offended as he corrected his errors while explaining that if it weren't for his crazy idea on going on the mammoth, they both wouldn't get lost and they would have been at The Salmon Run by now. Thomas snarled at Percy as he pointed out that Percy was at fault as well. However, when Percy explained that if he wasn't there to help Thomas when he got caught by a human trap, despite Thomas freed himself, Thomas would of struggle to survive on his own. With that, Thomas then shouted by explaining that he would sooner be alone while struggling to be on his own than be with Percy's presence and keep hearing his stories and told him to grow up. When Percy heard that, he felt hurt with his ears went back and then growled at Thomas, "Fine! I'll just go on my own, then!"

"Fine! Go ahead!", Thomas growled as they began a fine battle at each other as they went their separate ways.

When Thomas walked away, his anger expression was replaced with sadness and guilt as he folded his ears and looked back, "Percy… I'm sorry.", he apologised but only to find him looking at the paintings on the wall.

It seems like Percy had quickly moved on as he began to fixate on the paintings that were depicted. Curious, Thomas sat next to Percy as he analysed the paintings himself. What he saw shocked him as the paintings depicted a man pointing his spear as the defensive bear. This made Thomas thought carefully as he remembered Percy's point of the view with the humans as to how he goes with life while he thought about his former point of view on the bears while he lived his olden days with Edward and Gordon. This made Thomas's eyes wide as his ears were back. He knew that what he had done was terrible as he for once, allowed the feeling of guilt to take over him. While he was fixated on the painting, he heard Percy's voice, "Those monsters are really scary. Especially with those sticks."

This made Thomas frowned more as he sighed, "Come on. Let's go."

With that, the two walked away from the paintings as Percy looked at Thomas with concern. He felt terrible himself from getting mad at Thomas as their feeling was mutual, "I'm sorry that I got mad at you. I'm usually don't get mad at all.", said Percy with an apologetic tone.

When Thomas heard his heartfelt apology, he decided to forgive him and also apologise, "It's okay, Percy, and I'm sorry for getting mad at you too. It was my fault for getting us lost and that it didn't help that I have a fat head.", Thomas replied as he decided to a joke to lighten up the mood and clear his mind off from his past action, "Though do be honest, do I have a fat head?"

This made Percy chuckled as Thomas gave him a gentle smile as a response, "Well, if you hunched your shoulders a little, it wouldn't seem so big.", Percy joked as he and Thomas laughed.

With just one joke, the two amended their bond as they went past the rocky mountain. This made Thomas happy as it felt like he was in the good old days when he and his brothers used to joke with each other. This was the moment that he felt like he was his former self as the two began to tease each other as Thomas decided to hunch his shoulders, which made Percy laughed harder. As the two headed their way, hoping they can get to The Salmon Run, they heard two voices that sounded in high pitch yet like they were speaking while spitting. There, the two perked their ears as they looked up, and they found two grey rams headbutting each other. The two commented on how that when they headbutt each other, it "cures" their sinuses as they began to cheer in joy while laughing like wild coyotes.

Just seeing the two rams made Thomas and Percy hoped that they could give them directions. When Percy asked for some direction, the rams completely ignored them as they both spotted a female sheep, who was chewing some fresh grass. There, the two tried to impress her while calling her names to try to attract her. This didn't work as the female sheep looked at them with narrowed eyebrows as she continued to enjoy her meal. This made the two rams angry at each other as they thought that she was attracted to one of them and disgusted with the other one. There, the two argued as they made fun of each other, and they challenged each other for a fight to get the female sheep.

However, as one of them made a nasty comment to the other ram, an echo of his voice came to them as it came from the other side of the rocky mountain. This made both of the rams stopped with their actions as their eyes perked up. They looked everywhere to find where the voice was coming from while not knowing that it was a voice of an echo that came from one of the rams. When they both turned their heads to the mountain on the other side, Thomas decided to ask for directions, "Excuse me."

"What do you want? What is that? Who is that?", said Ram One as his voice echoed, which startled him.

"Umm, could you excuse us for a moment.", said Ram Two as he apologised to Thomas as he and Ram One looked at the mountain and shouted, "Hey! Shut up!"

With that, it echoed back as Ram Two shouted, "No, you shut up!"

When it echoed back, Ram One decided to argue with their echo, "No, you shut up!"

As they argued with their arguments, which made them look crazy while they got angrier and crazier, the two continued while Thomas and Percy looked at each other as they chuckled. They both found this amusing, "Ha. I think their horns are screwed on too tight.", Percy commented as Thomas laughed.