Gritty folded a washcloth in half and laid it on Ursa's forehead. She was hot with fever. He had always thought that 'worry yourself sick' was just a saying. Apparently it was more than that. She had caught something. She was weak from malnutrition. Her temperature was above normal. He could tell by the touch.
Ursa stirred a bit and tried to sit up. Gritty pushed her down. She hissed,
"Let me up."
"Uh-uh," he shook his head. "You're not strong enough,"
Ursa cursed under her breath and fought against Gritty's grip. But her strength was diminished by her lack of food and she was naturally weaker than Gritty. Her strength was easily crushed.
"Gritty! Let me up! That's an order!"
Gritty shook his head. "No."
Ursa growled and dug her claws into his hand. Small droplets of blood appeared but not much. Her voice sounded coarse but defeated.
"Please…let me up. I hafta find Buddi."
"Not in that condition." He rubbed her hot forehead. "You've got a fever, Ursa. You can't get up now. I won't let you."
"No one lets me do anything." She narrowed her eyes dangerously, "Gritty, you've been ordering me around for the past few weeks! WHO'S the leader of this clan? Huh?"
Gritty looked at her, "You're right, I'm not. But I'm your friend."
Ursa fought her way into a halfway sitting position but was too weak to force herself to sit up any higher. Gritty said nothing of it. Maybe that would cool her determination. He doubted it but he was willing to attempt anything.
Ursa's eyes were empty. It was like someone had sucked the meaning of life from her. Gritty looked at her and lifted her up, held her in his arms. Ursa fought for a moment and then gave up, laying her cheek against his strong chest. He held her tightly.
Ursa was shaking. Whether it was from the fever or simply from her emotions, gritty didn't know. He just knew that he'd never know her to hug anyone for too long but she was clinging to him, like she was clinging to sanity. He looked at her and put one of his hands into her blond hair.
"Hey, hey, we'll find him."
Ursa nodded. "I know, I know. But…he's so young…he shouldn't be alone."
Gritty nodded, "I know. But we're doing all we can."
Ursa closed her eyes. "Gritty, I have to find him. Let me…"
"No." he lifted her head so he was looking at her. "Ursa, you're not strong enough right now. The best you can do is rest. Leave finding Buddi to me. I care about that cub too you know."
Ursa looked at him, not saying anything. He sighed, "Ursa, I know this is killing you."
Ursa pulled away, ashamed. She couldn't believe she'd let her emotions rule her that way. She glared at Gritty.
"I'll find him," he told her in a firm voice. She looked at him, her eyes empty and tired.
"Promise?"
Gritty smiled at her.
"I promise."
870
The sound of battle woke Buddi. He was lying in cold mud. Sitting up, he sighed. Not home. He wasn't surprised. It was never home. He was beginning to believe it never would be. His hope was nearly gone.
"Another battle?"
Buddi knew he should have been scared. But he wasn't. Had someone ended his life then, he seriously believed they would have been doing him a favor. He had lost any hope of getting home and without hope his life had virtually no use. He heard the battle cries moving away so they weren't headed this way. It sounded like they were near the ocean.
Buddi stood, wiped as much mud off as he could and wandered about, seeking shelter from the rain. He was cold, wet, and hungry. Not to mention lonely, scared, and homesick. The battle cries were loud in his ears. To one who had never heard a real battle in such intensity before, the cries were poison.
Buddi clamped his hands over his ears. He wanted to scream for everyone, all the warriors, all the fighters; he just wanted everyone to be quiet. He was tired of being lost in time, he was tired of lying, he was tired of being alone, and he was just tired. He wanted Ursa to pick him up right there and just protect him. He was always complaining about not having enough freedom. Ursa said that came with age. Right now he didn't want age. He wanted to be a child. He wanted to be protected.
Buddi slipped to the ground again and buried his face into his paws, sobbing silently. He generally had more courage than this but this entire journey was putting a tremendous strain on him. Being thrown back into Barbic Woods hurt the most. He'd just begun to heal and now he was shown exactly how it had been and all those wounds had been cut open to bleed anew.
"Lad? You shouldn't be out here now. The humans' armies are gathering their forces."
Buddi looked up when a new voice pierced the night. A blond haired Gummi knight knelt down to his level.
"Where're your parents lad?" his voice was inquisitive but kind. "You can't be…what more than twelve?"
Buddi sighed, "I'm eleven."
He turned to the knight. "What month is it?"
"It's about halfway through the second month."
Buddi swallowed and fought down his tears, "almost two months."
Plucki looked the child over. He was obviously distressed about something. He was also wet and looked exhausted. Besides, a battlefield was not the place for a child. He offered a hand to the cub and the child took it reluctantly.
"Come with me lad." He smiled gently. "Let's get you to Gummadoon and get you warmed up."
Buddi agreed, mainly because he was tired and just wanted some place to sleep. He knew of Sir Plucki. He recognized the knight from his fairy tale books that Ursa used to read him when he was younger.
Plucki watched the child with concern. The cub's eyes were red with tears. He was trying to hide them but Plucki loved children. He knew what they were thinking and what many of their actions meant, although he had no cubs himself.
As he walked the cub back towards Gummadoon where his knights were preparing for another attack, he asked,
"What's your name, lad?"
"Buddi."
The cub said nothing more.
* * *
Buddi picked at the food he was given and just lounged in the room Plucki had shown him to. It was warm and he'd gotten a warm bath so he wasn't cold anymore. But he was still lonely, afraid and homesick. He put the food on the night table and just buried his face into the pillow, letting tears flow down his face.
"What's wrong, young one?"
The cub looked up and saw a female gummi at the doorway. She was a council member. He remembered that she was the only female on the council and that her name was Wooddale. She had been kind to him. Now she walked in, pulled up a chair and faced him.
"What troubles you, Buddi? I have seen many children in my life but none that appear so frazzled as you."
Buddi sighed, "I've had a bad couple of weeks."
He turned his head but then his left eye caught a shiny object. He jerked back around and clasped it in his hands.
Wooddale smiled and let the child finger her medallion. He stared at it like it was a flask of water in an endless desert. She chuckled, although good-naturedly. He looked up at her and his deep eyes were shimmering with a burning and desperate hope.
"You…you're a magician."
Wooddale nodded, "Yes, young one. All those of Gummadoon Council are magicians." She saw the plea in his eyes. "Why?"
Buddi could hold back his tears no longer. He burst into sobs and Wooddale wrapped her arms around him. She was not very good with children in general but she couldn't help but feel for this child and did whatever she could to calm him down.
"Child, calm yourself!"
Buddi looked up at her, "Help me, can you help me?"
She smiled, "I can try. What is it?"
Buddi gradually began to tell her about one spell gone wrong and how he'd ended up popping in and out of different times. He left out anything about the future that may have influenced this time period. But otherwise, he finally unleashed all his fears and frustrations. Once he finished, he asked,
"Can you get me home?"
Wooddale took all this in with shock. When that feeling passed, she said,
"I will definitely report this to the council. We'll do all we can, Buddi."
The cub nodded; he could accept that. That was more help than he had received so far. Wooddale handed him his sandwich, which had turned cold.
"But I want you to eat and relax in the meantime, understand?"
Buddi nodded and she left. He leaned back and said,
"Please Gum. Please."
* * *
"The Gummies have what?"
Plucki couldn't believe what he was hearing. His younger knights, the two twin brothers, answered as one,
"It's true, they've decided to leave. They can't live like this anymore. They don't want war."
Plucki couldn't believe this. They had fought so long and hard but it was all for nothing. They would be forced out anyway. He ground his teeth and rolled his hands in tight fists. Humans…
Buddi watched from the door with curious eyes. So that was the time he was in. When the Ancients fled. He turned from the door and leaned against the wall. He'd just heard about this time, he'd never dreamed he'd be stuck in it. That scared him. He had heard about the war.
"Lad, what are you doing?"
Buddi turned, and swallowed. He recognized a blue knight with a mustache that was called Ramsi. From what Buddi had seen of his actions, he did not care very much for children. The knight approached him and hissed,
"This is serious business not a child's game."
"I wasn't-"
"You were spying. This is a job for adults. Children cannot do it."
"I was just-"
"Ramsi!" it was Gumlittle that came through the doorway. Ramsi acknowledged his higher-ranking knight but then turned back to Buddi. Gumlittle put a hand on Buddi's shoulder.
"The child wasn't doing anything. Leave him alone. Go and prepare the first wave of knights for an attack."
Ramsi narrowed his eyes but said, "Right."
Buddi looked over his shoulder at the older gummi. Gumlittle gave him a smile but Buddi didn't smile back. Gumlittle gently gestured him to follow him into the meeting room. Buddi was reluctant but did as asked. He didn't want to be out here if Ramsi came back around.
Not many people were in the room. Buddi saw twin knights, Sir Blastus, Sir Plucki, and one of the council members, one in blue. Plucki smiled when he saw the cub. The other knights seemed the same except the two twins. They looked at Buddi with contempt. The blue council member, who Buddi now recognized as Berrybaum, walked over to him and knelt to his level.
"Wooddale has informed us of your situation young one. I assure you that we are doing all we can."
Buddi nodded, but the sadness did not leave his eyes. He was dismal. He appreciated their help but he seriously doubted the spell could do anything. He'd heard that mixing magics was dangerous.
And he had given up.
A call suddenly pierced the room. Ramsi peeked in and said,
"The humans are attacking the departing gummies!"
Every gummi leapt to their feet and tore out. All but Buddi. He just sat there. He couldn't do very much. The cub listened but didn't hear much. Finally he got up and looked out the window. He winced and turned away. He saw some knights lying lifeless on the ground, pools of blood spreading. The knights were both Gummi and Human. Buddi threw his hands over his mouth as he saw a human remove a gummi's head.
"Humans, those evil…No!" Buddi turned from the battle, "Those are bad humans, and not all humans are that way. Don't let what happened to Ursa happen to you!" Buddi's words were lost on himself. "Never trust a human." Buddi collapsed and shook like a leaf. The screams pierced his ears. He clamped his hands over them but he could still hear people screaming. Some gummies were screaming for their mothers, some were cursing, and some were crying to Gum for mercy. Buddi trembled.
He let the tears come and started to cry,
"Make it stop! Be quiet! Be quiet! Stop fighting, stop killing!"
A renewed cry pierced his ears as answer. He growled.
"Humans, they started this!"
He was blaming humans again. He was learning to hate them, just like Ursa. He clutched his head and tried to convince himself that he was wrong. But given the war, he couldn't.
Tears rolled down his cheeks. His arms suddenly began to shimmer. He sighed,
"Not again."
"Buddi!"
The cub looked up. Wooddale came in, saying, "I have the spell."
Buddi saw he was fading quickly. "NO! Not now! No!"
Wooddale saw what was happening and tried to start the spell. But before she could, Buddi let out a wail.
"No!"
Then he vanished, seconds away from an escape from this nightmare.