"Come on! There must be answers in here somewhere."
Gruffi had been scanning the Great Book for days. It was least he could do. Although Buddi was a Barbic, he was a child. He hadn't deserved this.
Gruffi cursed himself again, as he had been doing for months. It was nearing the end of the second month. Buddi had been gone for two months since two days ago. Gruffi, although he and Ursa usually despised one another, he knew why she had gotten sick. Hysteria.
If Sunni, Cubbi, or Tummi had been lost then Grammi would have been as bad as Ursa, probably worse. He would have hidden his feelings as he was now but inwardly he knew he would be as bad as Grammi or Ursa.
Gruffi hated himself. Why had he opened his big mouth? If he had just-
The door opened and Gritty walked in. Gruffi asked,
"How is-"
"Ursa's fine. She's sleeping finally." He glared at Gruffi, "No thanks to you and your big mouth."
Gruffi growled, "You think I meant for that kid of yours to get lost?"
Gritty glared at him and hissed, "sometimes I wonder."
Gruffi blew up, "You Barbics are so callous I'm surprised the cub had to disappear! Why hasn't he run away yet?"
Gritty's normally cool temper exploded.
"WHAT?!"
He grabbed the glen by his shirt, "We raise our children differently. That doesn't make it wrong! Ursa is callous but I've seen her be soft. We give the cub love. He's probably scared to death right now. Ursa's going crazy because she can't get to him. If we did not care would we be trying so hard to find him?"
Gruffi sighed, regretting his words.
"No, you wouldn't."
Gritty threw the Glen to the ground. He was normally very calm, although in spells of anger he was impulsive. But these final days had been pushing his limits. He was worried about Ursa but he was also worried about Buddi. Ursa was right; he was just a child.
Gritty ground his hands into tight fists. He wasn't used to feeling helpless. When humans attacked he fought back. When someone he cared for was taken, as Buddi had been when he was five, he went after him. Now Buddi was gone and he had no way to go after him. Physical fighting was his specialty, not magic.
"Gritty?"
The Barbic turned to Gruffi, his eyes burning. "What Gruffi?"
"When Ursa wakes up… I thought I might apologize…"
"No! You've done enough!"
"It means nothing to you I have remorse?"
"Remorse won't get Buddi back and Ursa's been through enough. The last thing I need is something else upsetting her. You two…I have yet to see you two speak for any length of time and not argue."
Gruffi growled. But he turned back to searching the Great Book, not saving anything else. He knew better than to push a Barbic. Especially Gritty or Ursa. And Gritty seemed to get more and more irritable as time wore on.
Ursa had been getting better from what Gruffi heard but she was still to weak to get up without assistance. Due to her stubborn nature, she wound up on the floor multiple times, trying rise on her own.
Gruffi had considered approaching her but even when he got a glimpse of her, her eyes chased him off. He had never seen eyes that cold and angry. She never said anything but her eyes said all she felt.
He had called to her once but she ignored him plainly. He honestly could not blame her.
He sighed and turned his attention to the pages of the Great Book. He ignored Gritty's glare and fingered through the pages.
He had to fix this.
1364
"Buddi!"Ursa smiled at the cub in exasperation. He was hanging upside down from one of the thicker branches. His face had turned completely red. The small five year old giggled.
"What?"
Ursa grabbed him by his waist and turned him right side up before plopping him onto his feet. He swayed as the blood drained from his face but he smiled. Ursa sighed and said,
"What were you doing? You're twenty feet up! What if you'd fallen?"
Buddi rolled his eyes, "Worrywart Ursa. I know what I'm doing! I'm a Barbic!"
Ursa smiled, "Yes, but Mama Ursa told you not to climb this high, without me remember?"
"I can't do anything!"
Ursa rubbed his head, "In time, little one."
"I hafta wait all the time! I don't wanna wait!"
Buddi pouted and ran off. Ursa sighed deeply. He was five now so he had permission to go to the swimming hole as long as he stayed where he could stand up. If Ursa or another adult were with him then he could go deeper.
Ursa let him run off. If she knew him then he would want to be alone for a bit. He was a lot like Ola in that way. Whenever she was upset, she liked to be alone and cool off. Not even her mate, Bilo, had dared approach her then.
Ursa saw more of Ola in Buddi every day. He acted the same way when angered; he had her curious nature; he had her more excepting attitude. But Buddi was his own person. He had an odd forgiving nature to him that Ursa found unique. Bilo had been one to hold a grudge and Ola had never been extremely mischievous and yet her son was.
Ursa turned and walked back towards the training grounds. If Buddi was going to entertain himself then she could practice. Gritty called her a workaholic. She trained more than any of the others. As a result, over the years her strength had grown tremendously and she was nearly as strong as an average male. Her swordsman skills were unmatched.
Gritty greeted her and tossed her a staff.
"Ready for another go, Ursa?"
Ursa smiled and felt that familiar adrenaline rush pour through her body. She tightened her muscles and shifted her reflexes to hair trigger. A young and optimistic smile spread over her face,
"Bring it on."
Buddi got out of the swimming pool and glanced to the left. He knew that through those trees, after a few feet, was the edge of the forest. He was told to stay away. But he was curious. Why couldn't he go beyond the edge? He wasn't a fool. He could take care of himself!
Decision made, he rushed through the trees and out into the land beyond those familiar leaves. Barbics generally let him wander the woods as he saw fit as he was generally obedient and knew better than to go somewhere he shouldn't. But everyone had the off days, no?
In any event, Buddi used it to his advantage. Once outside he was stunned. Inside his home, the trees filtered out most of the heat from the sun, using it to create their own food. It was always a fairly cool temperature in there.
The sun out here was blazingly hot. Buddi was used to wet heat, humidity as it was in the forest, due to the trees and rain that the trees seemed to absorb through a process Buddi knew from adult conversation was not present in other trees.
His eyes squeezed shut against the brilliant sun. it was bright in the woods but not this bright. It burned Buddi's eyes.
The cub glanced about and saw a different landscape. It was a barren landscape, not quite desert land but more like a plane. He saw a stream that flowed into the woods. It must have been the origin of their swift river.
Buddi thought no more of that. He knew what it did but that was of little importance to him. He just wanted to explore. He had explored the woods as much as he could; he wanted a challenge.
Buddi heard voices and his childlike curiosity chimed in. He ran towards it. He found that this plane had several dips in it. He found the origin in one the dips, about half or three-fourths of a mile out from the woods.
Buddi peered over and saw a small camp in the depths. There were about five green tents and a burnt out fire in the center. But what got the child's attention were the giggling voices. He found the origin swiftly.
Near the outskirts of the camp, almost directly below Buddi were three human children. They looked to be siblings, the eldest looking about eight, the other two were twins looking around four or five.
Buddi slipped down eagerly. He didn't see humans, he saw fellow playmates.
"Hey!"
The three humans turned. The younger two, who Buddi now saw were a boy and girl, cried,
"Gummi bear!"
The elder stared. Buddi looked at him with wide innocent eyes. The boy had deep blue eyes and shimmering blond hair. He wore a dark blue tunic and long black slacks. He had black boots on.
The younger two looked almost identical. They had blue eyes and curly red hair. The boy wore slacks and a red shirt, which was rather baggy. He was barefoot. The girl had on a violet dress and was barefoot.
The two turned to the older,
"Saxon?"
Saxon recovered and stared,
"Wow! You aren't story book characters!"
The younger girl said, "Wanna play?"
Buddi beamed. Saxon spoke,
"Harmony, is that smart?"
The younger boy stuck out his tongue, "You decide. We're gonna play!"
"Edward…"
The two grabbed Buddi's hands and tugged him out of sight of the adults. They were on a scouting with their grandfather's army. They wanted to attack the nearby woods although the children did not know why.
Buddi was happy. He didn't have any playmates his age. He was glad to have some friends, even if they weren't gummi. They were children!
Saxon turned and walked towards the adults. He knew his grandfather didn't trust those bears. If his grandfather didn't, neither did Saxon. The old warrior had told his eldest grandchild many times how a young red haired one had defeated him.
Saxon didn't care what his brother and sister thought. He didn't trust the cub.
"Grandfather?"
"Grandfather?"
The two younger children were surprised when their grandfather walked over to them. He spied their new playmate and dove through them, snatching the cub in his arms.
Buddi squealed and fought to free himself. The black beaded man grinned.
"A child…"
* * *
"Ursa!"
The female turned and before her guards could say anything else she heard Buddi scream followed by that voice she knew far too well,
"Surrender your woods or one cub'll see the end far too soon."
"Nisha!"
She took off for the woods, intent on getting her child back without a sacrifice.
* * *
A child screaming made Buddi sit up. He rubbed his head. He was in another time again. As he sat up, he realized that his back was badly sun burnt. He had been lying in the heat for quite some time it seemed.
He listened…that was him!
He slipped towards the voice and saw humans running off one horses and Ursa trying to follow. He heard his younger self,
"MAMA URSA!"
Immediately Buddi remembered that kidnapping. He'd lived through it once, thanks…
Buddi realized now why he had been flung through time. When he'd been kidnapped, Ursa and Gritty had rounded up ramas and followed the humans' tracks. But Buddi owed his life to a stranger. The being had come and cut him free of his bonds and led him back towards the woods when Ursa and Gritty were. He remembered Ursa had recognized him but he had been so concentrated on her warm arms he'd never gotten a good look at his savior.
Now he knew.
He was here to save his past self and set the future in motion.
* * *
Buddi was crying and his wrists burned. The humans had bound his legs and arms, whipped his now bare body multiple times when he tried to get away and were essentially just waiting to kill him. The main leader, who was a black bearded man named Aldrich, had no intention of releasing him. He was bait to lure Ursa here. Buddi had overheard them.
Buddi started to cry again.
"Hush Buddi."
The boy looked up and saw it was Harmony. She snuck in and gave him a sip of cold water. Buddi still trusted her. It was the adults he didn't trust. He drank, relieved. He didn't know how far they were from the woods, just know he had been in the sun a long, long time and he was hot and cranky. He was scared and wanted to go home.
Harmony heard sounds and got up and left. Buddi was alone again. He twisted his hands but only received pain.
"Buddi…"
The cub lifted his head and saw two brown furred hands slice his bounds. They helped him stand and he leapt into them, not caring who it was, so long as it was a gummi who would help him.
Buddi trembled and felt very very uncomfortable. He was holding himself. He almost hadn't gotten to the camp. The humans were fast and his track reading skills were limited.
Still he had gotten in. Stealth was his specialty. He shifted his younger self and ducked back out the tent the way he had come. The humans were still around. But they were preparing for an attack. They knew the parents of this cub would come as well as a leader. Their leader was praying for the red haired one. He wanted revenge.
Buddi ran as soon as he was clear. He knew they would find his younger self gone soon and that he only had a certain amount of time.
The sun was still up and it made sweat run down his back. He tried to shield the young child in his arms but he couldn't do it very well. He was surprised that the cub hadn't fought. But then, Buddi remembered he had wanted to get back to Ursa and he hadn't cared how it was achieved.
Buddi groaned. His younger self was heavy! His back still hurt from sunburn and his legs were beginning to throb with the added height he had to support and the speed at which he was traveling.
He heard the rumble of hooves behind him and then the welcomed sound of softer feet ahead of him. His younger self asked,
"Mama Sa?"
"Mama Ursa's coming."
Sure enough two ramas stopped and Ursa ran to Buddi. He released the shock worn cub into her arms.
"Baby, baby, are you okay?"
"Mama Ursa!"
Ursa wrapped her arms around the bare child, hugging him as close as she could without smothering him. She turned to her child's savoir and gasped.
"Timba!"
Buddi let out a cry at that. Enough lies already!
Ursa looked at him surprised. He had vanished after a short visit when Buddi was two. For that reason, Buddi had no memory of him and she doubted he would remember his face either, because that was not what he was focused on.
Gritty broke in, "Timba enough lies. I know you lied to me when we last saw you. Now the truth…who are you?"
Before Buddi could answer, the horses pulled up. Gritty pulled the cub behind him and Ursa handed the cub in her arms to him. She faced his kidnappers and her eyes narrowed.
"We meet again, nisha."
Gritty watched as the black bearded man leapt off his horse and drew a blade. Both human and gummi knew not to get involved. This was between the two leaders. Gritty turned Buddi's face into his shoulder. He was too young to see this. The cub by his leg stared.
"Let's settle this."
"Done, Barbic!"
Buddi trembled. He saw the two lunge. Ursa ducked…
Gritty pushed Buddi's face into his legs. No cub, even if they were around Buddi's age should see that.
Ursa glared at human impaled on her sword. She had put more blood on her paws. The law of Barbics declared she had the right to revenge and this human had wronged her twice. Her parents were dead by his hands and nearly her child as well. Still, such a desperate resort.
Ursa was stunned honestly. He anger was great and she had no regret but still…
Gritty glared at the remaining humans. They backed up. Ursa removed her sword and let the human fall. Wiping her sword upon the ground, she slid it back in her sheath. She had ended a life before, in battle, out of self-defense. That was partially self-defense, mostly her anger.
She felt an odd weight on her heart lift. She had avenged her parents' death as she had vowed to do. And her baby was safe. Hatred that had been buried so long was released. She took Buddi from Gritty and cradled him close to her chest.
Buddi felt Gritty's arms began to pass through him. Ursa had killed, he knew she had. All the Barbics had taken a life at one point. She had taken a life for him? Did…did she love him enough to stain her soul?
Buddi closed his eyes and let time sweep him away.
"Mama Ursa, I wanna go home."
That was his past self's words but young or old, the two cubs' thoughts were identical.
Buddi let the tears come and whispered,
"Me too. Mama Ursa, I wanna go home."