Part 2: The Best Laid Plans

If Morlin's idea was that he would be able to rest in the city of Ursalia, he was mistaken. Despite the Barbic's original attitude of indifference towards the newcomers, Morlin and the others were met with great excitement and curiosity. Grouping around the small band of Great Gummies, questions flew about rapidly, but the visitors didn't seem upset. In fact, they seemed almost pleased with the attention.

Ursa led them on a short tour of the city and as Gruffi watched her, he suddenly became aware why she had appeared so nervous before. At one time, Ursalia boasted the most devices and machines of any other Gummi city but many years had passed. With the exception of the aqueducts and a few other defenses, the devices lay in broken heaps. Although the Barbics had cleaned up the mess, they had no idea how to repair the actual machines and had steadfastly refused Gruffi's offers of help. Ursa had said that the Barbics had no use for the machines because they knew how to provide for themselves without help, but Gruffi had later learned that she didn't understand the devices and was too proud to admit it. However, as she led the visitors about, Gruffi could tell that she was worried what Morlin and the others might think.

You not as good at hiding your emotions as you used to be, are you Ursa, Gruffi mused to himself, but then shook his head quickly. Where had that thought come from?

When Ursa ended her impromptu tour, Morlin smiled warmly. "It does my old heart good," he said, "To see this old city occupied. It would have been depressing to find Ursalia deserted and in ruins."

Ursa returned the smile and Gruffi saw some of the tension melt from her features. Gritti, however, wasn't so easy to win over. "I'd rather be in Barbic Woods," he said, looking at Morlin squarely, "but that's not an option."

An uneasy silence followed his statement as Gruffi inwardly moaned, worried how the Great Gummi Wizard may take the remark, but Morlin barely blinked. "Perhaps so," he began, "but I believe fate brought you to Ursalia. I would hate to see what this old city would look like if you hadn't come along to protect and restore her. Thank you for all you have done."

Gritti begrudgingly smiled as a cheer arose from the crowd. With the preliminary 'inspection' out of the way, the celebration began in earnest. Grammi brought out some of the food she had made while others produced traditional Barbic dishes. Soon, everyone was eating, talking and laughing as evening fell swiftly around them.

Gruffi sat back and watched the celebration. Will this be what it's like if the Great Gummies return, he wondered. Probably not. This is only a small group; nothing in comparison to the Great Gummies. That would be a celebration that would probably last for days. Smiling slightly, he looked around at everyone.

Morlin was still talking with Ursa and Gritti, but Zummi was standing next to him, practically drooling to see true Great Gummi magic. Morlin had told Zummi that when it was dark enough that Zummi could show them some of the fireworks he had been working on. Zummi was quite excited and anxious, which made Gruffi nervous. When Zummi was anxious he was more likely not to perform his spells correctly.

Chummi had almost immediately became friends with Gusto and they were talking rather animatedly. They had barely paused in their conversation since Chummi had gotten off the ship this morning, but Gruffi wasn't really surprised. Both of them had good natured, friendly dispositions so it made since they would get along so well.

Cubbi had hung around with Chummi and Gusto a little bit, eager to hear of Chummi's travels, but had later drifted over to Sunni and Buddy who were with Burly. Their new friend was teaching them what appeared to be quite a complicated game, but the younger Gummies caught on quickly. Burly watched their progress and would sometimes through back his head with silent laughter. Gruffi couldn't help but notice how gentle Burly was despite his size.

Vixen was the only one who didn't really get involved in any part of the celebration. She was sitting back quietly watching everyone and everything, but she hadn't been unfriendly. Whenever someone would speak to her, she would reply and everyone said she seemed quite nice. Most seemed to think that she was just shy, but Gruffi wasn't sure. For some reason, he didn't quite trust her as much as he did the others, but he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just because she was so quiet. Also, he had noticed that Tummi had been watching her intently, obviously aware of the fact she was quite pretty. He hoped that his distrust of her stemmed only from worry for Tummi and his feelings.

As night truly fell, the Barbics built a huge bonfire and Zummi wowed everyone with his fireworks display. There were no real mishaps with Zummi's magic, as there sometimes were and Morlin complimented his skills, which caused Zummi to blush so deeply he almost appeared to glow. After the fireworks, Ursa stood up and began to tell what Gruffi originally assumed was some sort of camp fire story, but soon realized that it was the history of the Barbics. He was amazed and how much all the Barbics knew of their ancestry. Gruffi really didn't know as much and thought it might be that most of their history and tradition was passed on through the written word (with the exception of Gummi Berry juice) mostly through the Great Book. Although Zummi studied the Great Book daily, there was still much he hadn't discovered. The Barbics however had a tradition of an oral history so as long as they remembered it and passed their stories along, their history was not forgotten.

Ursa told how their ancestors first came to Barbic Woods and all the dangers they had faced. She ended with how she had came to be leader despite conflict with some of the other Barbics (it seemed a few didn't really like the idea of a female leader) and their departure from Barbic Woods to Ursalia. Although Gruffi had known some of the story, he had never really realized all that Ursa and the others had gone through and found that he respected her now more than ever.

As the hour grew later, everyone became tired and sleepy. After all, it had been quite an exciting day, so beds were prepared for all their guests and soon everyone fell asleep. As they drifted off to sleep, the thought hung in all their tired minds: what would the next day hold?

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The excitement that hung in the Glen was like a crackling electric current, constantly in motion around them. They had returned to the Glen, with the exception of Zummi, the day before and we're now awaiting the arrival of the Morlin and the others. Morlin had wanted to spend an extra day in Ursalia talking to the Barbics and looking at the city. Zummi had stayed behind to act as a guide when their Great Gummi visitors wanted to leave Ursalia to travel to Gummi Glen.

Gusto had his easel set up in the main room and his brushes were ready. Before leaving Ursalia, he had asked Morlin if he could do a portrait of him and the others. He had half-expected Morlin to decline, but the old wizard had smiled and said that he might and that he would think about it. Even if there was only a slight chance that Morlin would agree to the painting, Gusto was going to be prepared. Every few minutes, he readjusted the easel and canvas trying to make sure that everything was perfect.

He wasn't the only one making last minute preparations. Grammi had spent the entire night in the kitchen and the smells that were now penetrating the Glen were interesting to say the least. Gruffi was running around with hammer and nails just looking for something that was broken. He was usually so organized and controlled, but now he seemed on the verge of chaos.

Maybe I'm a bad influence on him, Gusto thought to himself and barely repressed a laugh.

There was a soft knock on the door and as it opened, everyone turned towards it, but was disappointed when they saw Cavin and Calla standing there. "Are we late?" Cavin asked, anxiously, "Are they here?"

"No," Gruffi answered, finally setting his hammer down as he tried to regain his usual composure, "They haven't made it from Ursalia yet."

When Morlin had learned that Sunni and Cubbi had human friends, he asked if he could meet them at the Glen. There wasn't much of a problem for Cavin, but Calla sometimes had trouble getting away from the castle. Luckily, her father was going to be out in the countryside today, so had been able to sneak away.

"They should be here soon," Gruffi added.

"And so we are," Morlin said, as he stepped into the room.

As the Great Gummies looked upon Cavin and Calla, there was a certain amount of fear and anxiety upon their faces. For a second no one moved nor spoke, but it was Chummi who broke the ice.

"Great to see you again, Cavin!" he exclaimed, giving Cavin's hand a hearty shake. "Are you still fighting side by side with Cubbi?"

"I sure am!" Cavin responded enthusiastically.

Walking over to Calla, Chummi took her hand gently in his. "And you must be Calla," he said, "I didn't really get a chance to talk to you last time. How have you been?"

"Fine," she answered, "And how have you been?"

Following Chummi's lead, Burly walked over to greet the two as well. His broad face was all smiles as he shook Cavin's hand. When he got to Calla, he went a step further than Chummi and kissed the back of her hand. Although Gusto had never considered himself biased, he was consistently amazed at how well Burly communicated with only his actions and expressions.

As Morlin made his way over, there were tears in the corners of his eyes. "Seeing you two," he began, "makes me believe that the idea of Gummies and humans coexisting peacefully isn't just a dream. I think that it could really happen."

Calla leaned down and took both of his hands in hers. "I believe so too," she said.

The rest of the day continued much as it had in Ursalia. They toured the Glen and talked about all that had happened. Morlin asked both Cavin and Calla how they had met their Gummi friends and seemed amused at their stories. Of course, since both of their stories included some of the dangers that constantly threatened this area, there was a certain uneasiness surrounding some of the details.

As the others soon realized, Morlin was quite quick to give out compliments. He commented on how well the Glen was preserved and praised Gruffi for his work. After all, he had added, in the days when the Great Gummies had lived here, there had been several individuals to help keep it maintained. Now, there was just Gruffi who had to be a carpenter, plumber, and mechanic all at the same time. It was obvious that Gruffi was somewhat embarrassed with all the praise and was quick to say that he was just doing his job.

Morlin also seemed impressed with the library and said he was pleased when Zummi mentioned his studies. Morlin asked if he could read some of the entries Zummi had added to the Great Book and Zummi said that he could.

As the hour drew late, Cavin and Calla had to return to Dunwyn and the others sat down to their evening meal. Never before had their little table been so crowded, and Gusto could barely keep from smiling. As he looked around, he noticed the many of the others seemed to be feeling the same thing. Morlin wasn't smiling however and it seemed as if there was something on his mind.

"I have to be perfectly honest with you," he said, just as Grammi was clearing the table. She had been sitting in the dishes into soapy dishwater, but she let the plates set as she walked back into the room, drying her hands on her apron.

"Perfectly honest?" Zummi repeated, "Mhat do you wean, er, what do you mean?"

Morlin crossed his long fingers together, his face serious and grave. "We came here," he intoned, "to see if there was any hope to return or if we should just give up on that dream and move on."

A stricken silence fell heavily about the room as the shock of his statement settled in. "Give up?" Sunni finally managed.

"Yes," Morlin stated, "As you know, we Great Gummies traveled across the ocean over 500 years ago. I am one the oldest Gummies in New Gumbrea, and I was born there. Not one of us had ever seen Gummi Glen or Ursalia until we traveled here the other day." He took a deep breath. "We were beginning to think that all of those that had been left behind were gone. We thought that perhaps you were dead even. You see, our numbers have dwindled greatly over the years. Once there were thousands, but now there are only a couple hundred Great Gummies still alive. Since so many of us have gone on, there was a fear that the few we had left to watch over these warrens had no chance of survival."

"But we did survive," Grammi said.

Morlin smiled slightly, but his eyes remained sad. "Yes," he replied, "You can imagine our joy when we received that first message from you on the Gummiscope. We had almost quit watching it when you contacted us. It was only by chance that someone was there. There was great joy at first and we starting waiting, just as our ancestors waited. Yet as time passed, we became concerned. What if we were just waiting and waiting for something that was never going to happen? So we came here to see if there was a chance. That was our reason."

Zummi looked especially downcast. "Then we have failed," he said miserably, "Our job was to wait here until it was safe for the Great Gummies to return, but it's still not safe."

"It's not that you have failed," Morlin clarified, "but I have to wonder if there was anyway to succeed. Anyway, our job was to come here and see if there was any hope. If there was no hope, we were going to send for more ships so that you could travel back to New Gumbrea with us."

Gruffi's eyes were focused on the table as he spoke. "What if we refused to leave?" he asked.

"I would understand," Morlin answered, "This is your home. Besides…" His voice trailed off as his smile widened and reached his eyes. "When I first arrived at Ursalia, I was a little homesick for New Gumbrea," he admitted, "but when I came here, I felt as I had truly come home for the first time." His voice became stronger as he continued. "And there is still hope, wouldn't you agree?"

"Of course there is," Grammi said, "As long as we don't give up, there's always hope."

"Plus, you already have two human allies," Morlin added, "That is a start. Even if we can't straighten everything out for this generation, there is always the next."

"That's right!" Cubbi yelled, jumping up to stand in his chair.

"Exactly!" Sunni agreed as she stood.

"We just have to try," Grammi added.

"And we will," promised Morlin, "It's late, but we'll continue our discussion tomorrow. The next step is to look at what we can do. I am sorry if I upset you with my talk of giving up, but I wanted to be perfectly honest about our objectives."

"We understand," Gruffi mumbled, but his tone seemed uncertain.

"Oh, and, uh, Gusto?" Morlin asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Gusto responded, pleased that wizard had already leaned his name.

"You mentioned something about wanting to do a portrait," Morlin said, "I think a painting of an old goat like me would be a waste, but I would appreciate if you would paint a portrait of Vixen. It would be nice to have a picture of my beautiful granddaughter."

"You are going to embarrass me, grandfather," Vixen stated, speaking up for the first time since they had come to the Glen.

"Sure," Gusto agreed, "When would you like me to do it?"

"Well, it's too late now," Morlin began.

"How about tomorrow after breakfast?" Vixen interrupted.

"Sounds good," Gusto responded.

The group began slowly breaking up after that, each going there separate ways. It was past Cubbi's bedtime, but he said he was too excited to sleep. Still, the young Gummi prepared for bed and within minutes was fast asleep.

Gusto gathered his easel and art supplies as he prepared to go back to his place behind the waterfall. Walking past the kitchen, he overheard Grammi and Tummi talking.

"If you like Vixen," Grammi was saying, "You should speak up. Tell her."

"I don't know," Tummi replied, "What would I say?"

"Just tell her how you feel," Grammi said, "Now, I need to get these dishes done or we won't have anything to eat out of at breakfast." She made her way over to the sink as Gusto walked over to Tummi.

"You know Tumster," Gusto said, "I'm going to doing a portrait of certain lovely Gummi tomorrow after breakfast."

"Yeah," Tummi responded, with a sigh, "I heard Morlin ask you."

"But you know what would really look nice," Gusto continued, "would be for her to be holding some pretty wildflowers."

"That would be nice," Tummi agreed.

"So, why don't you pick her some flowers?" Gusto continued.

Tummi's eyes widened as he looked at Gusto. "Do you think I should? Will she like that?"

"Absolutely!" Gusto replied, "Pick her a nice bouquet and bring them by my place just as I'm about to start painting. I'll try to even step outside for a minute to give you two a minute alone."

"You'll do that?"

"Sure. What are friends for?"

"Thanks!" Tummi exclaimed and grabbed Gusto in a giant hug that nearly suffocated him.

"You're welcome," Gusto managed, "but save the 'warm embraces' for Vixen."

"Oh sorry," Tummi apologized.

"No problem," Gusto said with a laugh as he left the room and headed home.

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"So, where would you like me to sit?" Vixen asked.

"Just a second," Gusto responded as he pulled a stool out from a crowded corner and set it in front of the rushing water. Where was Tummi? He had left breakfast a little early, but he still hadn't shown up. "Sit right here," Gusto instructed, "The waterfall will be a nice background."

"Yes," Vixen agreed, "Waterfalls are so romantic."

"I guess so," Gusto said, distracted. Where are you Tummi?

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There were just so many different flowers blooming in the fields. Originally, Tummi was going to pick some of the small purple ones that were the same color as Vixen's fur, but the blue ones smelled better. The red ones were nice, but the yellow ones looked like small rays of sunshine. Maybe he should just pick a bouquet of all the different flowers. Carefully, he set about choosing only the prettiest blossoms.

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Gusto stalled for as long as he could, arranging things that had already been arranged and he could tell that Vixen was growing reckless. Sighing, he figured that Tummi must have changed his mind, so he decided to proceed with the portrait.

"Okay," he said to Vixen, "Turn your body to the left, but keep your face turned towards me. Now, tilt your chin slightly."

"Like this?" Vixen asked as she tilted her chin too far.

"Not exactly," Gusto answered. He walked over to her and used his hands to gently tilt her chin just the way he wanted it.

"You know," she said, looking up at him, "I hinted to my grandfather that I wanted to have my portrait done."

"You did?" Gusto asked, concentrating on arranging her hair so it lay against her shoulder in a soft wave. "Do you like posing?"

"Not really," she replied with a soft laugh, her look growing mischievous.

He moved her face into just the right position and was about to step away, when she turned to look up at him again. "I only pose for certain artists," she said.

Gusto was a little uncomfortable with her tone but tried not to let it show. "I don't see how you pose for anyone when you won't sit still," he stated, as he again used his hands to position her face.

She seemed upset with his response. "Don't you think I'm pretty?" she pouted.

"Huh?" he asked, "Well, yeah. You're pretty but I…"

"Great!" she interrupted, jumping off of the stool and wrapping her arms around Gusto's neck. "And I think you are handsome," she purred and, without further warning, kissed him.

Gusto was too shocked to respond at first. When he finally realized what had just happened, he pushed her away. "What are you," he began, but a sound outside caught his attention. He walked over to the entrance only to find a shower of multi-color wildflowers lying there. Tummi was already on the ground and running away.

"Tummi, wait!" Gusto yelled, but his friend didn't pause. Gusto knew it was impossible over the sound of the waterfall and the distance they now were, but he could have sworn he heard Tummi crying.

End Part 2

And so ends part 2 – I hope you liked it. Again, this story is a bit of an experiment because I only have a vague idea where I'm going next. I usually like to plan everything out first, but they say that the only way to cure writer's block is to just write.