Yet It Seems So True...
Gusto had quite a headache, and still felt disorientated. And he couldn't figure out why. Gruffi made one of his usual comments, blaming Grammi's cooking for Gusto's little malady. She just gave him an angry look for now instead of defending her culinary skills, for she had to worry about the young artist first. Cassandra sat at the kitchen table with everyone else, not offering to help, but just watching their antics with amusement. Tummi said nothing, for he was shy in the sudden and unexpected presence of this new bear. He hung around though, partially concerned and wondering about Gusto's condition, and partially hoping for a nice little before-bedtime snack. Grammi gave Gusto some liquid medicine, made from willow tree bark, which he gratefully swallowed despite its odd taste. Zummi observed that if her cooking was at fault, they probably all would have been complaining of headaches. "Yeah, well, Gusto doesn't always eat here, just sometimes, and maybe he hasn't built up the resistance that we all have towards her..."
"You sure do offer a lot of resistance, Gruffi Gummi! Why don't you offer some assistance instead?! Help take him back home."
"Hmmph! O.k." The burly bear had decided to give up, for poor Gusto's sake anyway.
Everyone soon waved good-bye to the two and told them to be careful.
"I know; I know!" Gruffi huffed.
"Bye...I gotta get some rest. Thanks, everyone!"
"Well, let's get going, then."
Gusto thought,"Why'd Grammi have to make him help me? Almost anyone else would have been better, especially now...uggh."
In the meantime, the rest finished preparing Cassandra's guest room and let her eat a small but tasty meal. The new one talked about how she had felt sorry for Gusto and apologized for any trouble she might have caused. Everyone reassured her that it was o.k.
After helping out so much and being more polite than she felt she needed to be to the lavender lady bear, a slightly confused and troubled Sunni went to bed. She'd have to explain things to Cubbi the next morning, although she debated even doing this. He would undoubtedly be as curious and perplexed about Cassandra as she was, but the trouble with the whelp was that he would rush out and try to solve the mystery (anticipating an adventure in the process), without the mature guidance that she would try to give him. Afterall, she was only a few years away from being Tummi's and even Gusto's age, and they were treated practically as adults.
Sunni thought, "I'll need an intricate plan to discover any information about that Cassandra bear, but just try telling Cubbi that!" Cubbi could plan, but he was impetuous as well, and could easily get into serious danger (for which she or Tummi would be blamed, whoever was supposed to be watching him at the time). She didn't know what to do, and simply drifted off into sleep.
As Gruffi escorted his recovering friend home, he aggressively asked,"No, really, did you or did you not sneak a snack from the kitchen? Maybe it was one of her bad marblenut pies. You're becoming Tummi, if you have been!"
"No, no...I...it's just ever since I painted Casey..."
"Casey?!" interjected the older bear.
"Yeah, Cassandra, you know."
"I want you to stay away from her!"
"Why? What? Oh come on, Grufferino! Do you think she had something to do with all this? It's probably just something wrong with my paint!"
"Yeah, right! Look, Gusto, you're still young and naive, and I say just be cautious around total strangers. We don't really know who she is yet, even though she is, as far as looks go, a Gummi Bear. Remember Carni? He was supposed to be one of us too!"
"Well, I think she is one of us...I'm sure of it! Maybe I was just coming down with something, but Grammi's medicine is working! Don't worry!"
"Just be careful. We worry about you, kid. Send Artie if you need more medicine."
"Thanks Gruff. I'll see ya later."
"Goodnight."
"Oh," he said stopping and turning around,"and give Casey a chance. You guys gave me one."
"Cassandra," Gruffi corrected and thought,"and you, Gusto, were considerbly less mysterious. Weird, maybe..."
"Just go to sleep Gusto." He was already on his little water-driven elevator.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Gruffmeister."
"But you never really listen." With that thought Gruffi left Gusto to the safety of his secluded home. Somehow, Artie could keep him in line, for tonight. Yet as Gruffi walked back he still felt worried. The starry sky above him was now obscured by dark clouds. There was no wind. Should he turn back? He grunted, dismissing his worries as silliness and continued on home.
When Gusto reached the top, he stepped off the elevator not to find Artie as he usually did, but Casey instead. "Casey what are you doing here? I thought you were back at Gummi Glen. And hey, where's Artie?" It was so dark.
The end of Chapter 2
The Gummi Bears all belong expressly to Disney, etc. (not me). All rights reserved.
Please note: I don't own these characters, etc. I just did some fan pages of them. No copyright infringement intended; all images and text are fanworks and not the original licensed works. This is just a creative bit of my own fan writings. The writer of this story, if requested to do so by the owners of said characters, etc., will gladly take down this page and all of its contents. Permission pending. I'm in the process of trying to ask them for their o.k. I am begging and hoping for no lawsuits here. (Me being the unfortunate victim of Murphy's Law...)