6. Truth in Colors
No Heart watched as Gentle Heart took a few steps back to increase the distance between them. She swallowed nervously. He must be furious at her! She never even though to return the book that he had given her! Her eyes darted to the deep brown book sitting on her bedside table. "What do you w-want?"
"To have an answer," No Heart answered, "Why do you avoid me?"
Gentle Heart had to think for a moment, wondering how to say the right words without getting him angry. She didn't even know how he would react to any of her words. "You tried to hurt my family," she finally blurted.
The sorcerer chuckled. "Ah. You must be thinking of the shadows."
"Yes," she said quietly.
His image in her mirror blurred, twisting into what looked like deep purple smoke and then forming into a smaller shape. No Heart shifted to a cat, then reached a paw forward. Much to Gentle Heart's amazement, his front paw reached through the mirror and unto her dresser. He stalked out in this form to fit through, and then leapt back on the ground where he shifted to his original form once again. This only caused her to back away even more, her back to the wall in moments. In her head, Gentle Heart calculated how long it would take for someone to get here if she made a call. Proud Heart lived closest… but it was still ten minutes away, which was ten minutes too many.
No Heart's cowl nearly touched the ceiling her room was so small. He raised a hand, causing Gentle Heart to float into the air. The lamb tightly closed her eyes, trying not to whimper. He only relocated her to be sitting at the foot of her bed. Still, she shivered, now being even closer to him. His expression didn't change. "Tell me… when my shadows attacked your little celebration, did anyone get hurt?"
"No," she answered softly.
"Was there any permanent damage to your Forest or to any items at the celebration?" He questioned once again.
She shook her head 'no,' growing much more nervous with every passing second. No Heart nodded. "This would be because my shadows were told not to harm anyone or anything by me. The action was only making it appear as though things were how they have been for many years… making things appear less suspicious."
"What… do you mean?" Gentle Heart asked, not fully understanding.
He seemed to be patient. "You must admit that either I or my shadows cause some trouble for you," he said, not pointing out that the 'trouble' he caused were really very thought-out attempts at destroying her family and failing, "And it would be quite suspicious of me to remain so quiet for so long. Therefore, I used my shadows to make it look as though nothing has changed and that I wasn't planning anything. It would only heighten the chances of you being found at my castle."
The lamb blinked. She hadn't thought of that at all… and then she slightly blushed, realizing how stupid and unintelligent she must seem for not realizing this before. But did that mean… it was still okay for her to learn magic? No Heart folded her arms across his chest. "Do you still wish to learn magic, now knowing this?"
She looked up at him, finding it best to just decide on the spot. She couldn't deny it much… she truly was interested in what he had showed her before. That morning a week ago when she decided that she wasn't going to learn magic, she was said. But it still was wrong! She was a Carebear, and No Heart has tried to destroy them so many times… "Yes."
She shut her mouth. Did she just say that?
No Heart nodded. "Then it shall be so. Do not wait long… your family must not suspect anything."
With that, he shifted into the cat once more, turning and leaping gracefully on to the dresser. He seemed to begin to move forward, then realize something. The purple house cat turned to look at her, one paw on the frame of the mirror. "Remember… you must not tell even the closest of your family of what you are learning."
Then he jumped into the mirror, his image slowly disappearing like steam. The lamb still sat on her bed, staring at the mirror. She stood, and empty-minded walked to her closest, pulled out a spare blanket and threw it over the mirror. Gentle Heart stared at the beige blanket now over the mirror. "What have I gotten myself into…?"
It was now final that she would not be able to sleep for probably hours now. She needed to think. The lamb wandered into her kitchen almost in a dream-state and immediately put a kettle over the stove, filling one third of it with water. Sitting in her chair at the small table and leaning back, she closed her eyes and sighed listening to dull fizzing noise that boiling water makes. Why did everything have to be so confusing? She knew she said she wanted to learn magic still, but she knew it was wrong. Especially saying it when you're a Care Bear of all things.
Still thinking, it wasn't long until the kettle hissed very loudly, causing her to jump a mile high. She grabbed the table edge with a yelp, and her eyes darted to the kettle. A steady steam leaked out from the spout. She exhaled, rubbing her tired eyes with her paws. Walking to the stove, she turned the fire off. Despite what she had done so far, she not only didn't want to think, but she was growing tired though she predicted otherwise. Climbing in bed, she pulled the lavender sheets over her head, closing her eyes tightly, being sure that the dresser and mirror were to her back.
Gentle Heart was even surprised with herself she was doing this. Thunder boomed in the massive storm clouds that surrounded the castle of No Heart. A shiver ran up her spine as she craned her neck to see the very tops. It seemed as though the storm clouds were more intimidating than the actual castle, those it was just immense. She remembered Bright Heart telling her when it was storming in the Forest of Feelings that lightning was five times hotter than the surface of the sun. It was no wonder simple clouds with lightning could be so frightening. The nose of her cloud car finally moved into the thick clouds, and once again she felt all of her wool stand up on end as the static electricity around her increased. It wasn't a fun trip through the clouds… but after it was worse.
She was greeted by an enormous flash of lightning as soon as she broke through and went into the other side. Temporarily blinded, Gentle Heart rubbed her eyes yet still pressed on. She accelerated, cloud car dipping downward sharply. "Come on…" Gentle Heart persuaded her cloud car as the large during of the castle began to grow closer. She didn't know how much longer her little cloud car could go this fast!
Finally, she reached it just in time, for a good portion of the car dissipated into thin air as she hopped off. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked into the space between the clouds and the castle, amazed that she went directly through it without being shot by lightning and knocked out of the air. Now she had another task. She looked at the same, large double doors she looked at a bit more than a week ago. Clearing her throat nervously, she raised a paw. "I have to do it," she encouraged herself, "I'm stronger than I look… aren't I?"
As if to answer this question herself, she knocked as hard as she could. She wasn't used to knocking hard on anything at all and was surprised by the somewhat loud noise she heard. The lamb stood back, waiting, eyes transfixed on the doors. She waited nearly a minute, then frowned, walking to the doors once again, raising her paw to knock. They swung open very suddenly, and the wind the doors made caused her to shiver. Beastly blinked dully inside, then sighed. "Come on in…"
It was clear No Heart had ordered him to do this, and Beastly wasn't very fond of the command. Knowing that Beastly followed every single order No Heart gave him, she stepped inside. It was slightly warmer, but she still had goose-bumps hidden beneath her pale green fur. Beastly let out another really long, exaggerated sigh. "Right this way…"
She followed him throughout the enormous castle. Now that she was riding on the back of a wolf, she had time to look around. Everything was stone… stone wall, ceiling and floor. There was a blood red stretch of carpet on the floor that reminded her of a runway, but it was quite clear No Heart didn't plan on decorating anything. She eventually lost count of all the doors and hallways she had passed there were so many. When they were in an outside hall with the cold skies just beyond the wall, there were stained glass windows of deep blue and purple, turning the hallways violet. Soon, she became familiar of where she was and soon stood in front of another set of doors that would lead her to the cauldron room. Beastly glanced at her, cleared his throat and knocked on the door. "No Heart…? You have a visitor."
"Then bring her in."
Beastly used her shoulder to nudge the door open, since he could just push it with his arm it was that large compared to it. Gentle Heart looked inside of the cauldron room, catching a glimpse of No Heart using his magic to make the contents in his cauldron disappear. He turned to face Gentle Heart. "So good of you to return…"
Beastly left as Gentle Heart climbed up the thin stairs to the balcony, careful not to look down into the lightning pit. She brushed a wisp of wool beneath her ear, not knowing how to reply. Going to business, No Heart made a motion with his hand, and a book floated into it from the table. "Time that would have been spent on you learning magic has been wasted due to the… 'misunderstanding.' Therefore, we mustn't waste time."
Gentle Heart blinked. By what he just said, it almost sounded like there was a time limit to her learning magic. No Heart set the book down, now it open to a page. "Has anything been troubling you lately or causing stress?"
She looked at the ground. Why would he want to know this? Still, it was probably best to answer truthfully. Hopefully, he wouldn't question her of what it really was… after all, it wasn't as if he cared. She nodded slightly. "Yes."
"Then you must forget of that at the time," he instructed. "Attempt to clear your mind."
By now, the lamb was fairly confused, trying to remember anything that she had read in the book he gave her about this. She did remember something a bit vague of keeping minds clear when you perform spells. But that didn't necessarily mean she was going to make a spell. She still didn't have any idea about it! Still, she tried to clear her mind. That only made thoughts worse.. her worries of No Heart, something about Playful Heart even she wasn't sure about, Cassidy saying hurtful things. The lamb frowned, closing her eyes, attempting it once again. Don't think of anything… just forget it, she thought to herself, then didn't even bother to tell herself this. Instead, she just thought nothing… with what she could feel, all she felt was a blank emotion. She had never had apathy before.
She heard No Heart's voice, fairly faint as if he wasn't standing just in front her. "I am not going to ask you of your problems. However, you must think of any one."
Gentle Heart didn't even react to this with an opinion, but rather just did as she said. Right now, she probably would have done anything she was told by anyone she was so deep in her trance. Her mind ran over all of the problems lately, and finally randomly selected one. Cassidy and what she had said. Gentle Heart was nearly brought out of her trance when she felt something cold around her hands, yet not completely touching, but her arms and paws moved to make it appear as if she was holding an invisible ball. In the back of her mind, her logic and thought seemed to still be working. It must be No Heart's hands around her using her magic so she wouldn't wake… after all, when he had shifted to the snake and was hanging from the tree to form the snake, she finally felt just how cold he really felt. It felt like touching ice.
"Ask for an answer."
Gentle Heart's eyelids fluttered momentarily. It was very hard not to come out of her trance. She was beginning to slip farther from it, and was moving in and out of it. Finally, after much concentration, she moved back in. 'Why does she hate me so much?' she questioned, her lips moving while asking the question, but no sound came out. She felt the cold air around her paws leave and was replaced by a warm one.
Then she heard a somewhat proud voice of No Heart. "Open your eyes."
Her eyelids twitched, and then she finally opened them and gasped, about to drop her paws to her side.
"Don't lose it," No Heart said quickly, and she was forced to hold her paws in the same position. The lamb swallowed though she wasn't very nervous at all. "What is it?"
Between her two paws, there was a very faint, pale pink light. When she squinted her eyes, she made out a very small shape. It almost looked like a butterfly. No Heart moved around her so her back was to him. "It has to be the most simple magic to perform. Only certain people can do this, though it does require some great thought and concentration to perform. This is why I chose you… anyway! It is a form of magic that reveals emotions that your own mind cannot find… worries, stress and confusion block it. It finds true answers inside of you."
"What does this mean..?" Gentle Heart asked, questioning the color of the light.
"Each color has it's own meaning, and the darker the shade is the more intense or deep the emotion is," No Heart explained, "Have you read anything of it in the book I gave you?"
She furrowed her brow, trying to remember. What did red mean? She had forgot very easily from thinking she wouldn't continue this, but tried to remember. "Red is… anger?"
"Yes," No Heart replied, "You must also have a great memory. That elephant friend if yours could learn a few things from you."
A slight blush managed to tint her pale cheeks. She wasn't often used to compliments, especially one coming from a sorcerer. It then occurred to her that she wouldn't expect him to say something like this, even if she did or didn't know him as much as the other Carebears. Then another realization came to her. "Red is anger?"
The sorcerer nodded. "The answers that the magic may give you may not be believable. But it is much more truthful than what you'd believe yourself."
The lamb stared at the faint red between her paws. It suddenly seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, and she dropped her paws to her side. Her arms slightly hurt from holding them up so long, but she didn't complain or do anything about it. No Heart seemed to think for a moment and then looked down at her. "You must perfect this if you wish to learn anything else… it straightens the emotions, and magic is mainly based on them. Once this is done, you'll learn everything that I have to show you."
Her stomach gave a small flutter. Despite all of the hesitations she had been having, this was a lot exciting then she thought. She actually made magic! There was a very small smile on her lips as she could only imagine how great other magic would be, when something this small was so perfect. And she would do what No Heart told her to. She will perfect this magic and straighten her emotions. Still, she was slightly saddened that No Heart was dismissing her so early. He didn't even give her any helpful advice… all in all, she only had to have been with him for ten minutes or less. The lamb shrugged it off. He was a sorcerer, he had much more important things to deal with most likely. It must be harder than it looks making sure her family didn't think she was kidnapped or blackmailed into learning magic. She was brought out from her thoughts by No Heart.
"Once you think you have mastered as much as you can, return here," No Heart answered, "But for your next visit, feel free to wander through the castle as long as you like. You might as well get used to being here."
She nodded quickly. "Okay. Um… should I go? Usually I'd be at the Hall of Hearts right now."
"Yes," No Heart replied. "I will take you there. Do not move."
Gentle Heart hardly had time to blink before he took the form of a single lightning bolt. She didn't even see the change, and the sudden bright light made her close her eyes, though she was sure not to move like he instructed. She felt the static electricity around her increase, and soon she was incredibly light. The lamb carefully opened her eyes and gasped. Looking down, she could see clouds moving at an incredibly fast speed, it was almost nauseating. Now a panic beginning to set, she looked around her. She was actually in the air, and about two inches away from her was a violet lightning bolt. The lamb could only blink. Was that No Heart? Before even having the chance to think of how she was being held in the air without falling, she suddenly felt the familiar soft clouds of Care-A lot beneath her.
Swaying, she put a paw to her forehead as an ache dully began to make itself known. She looked to her side, seeing No Heart, appearing impatient. She figured he didn't like the idea of being seen with her in Care-A lot. Gentle Heart couldn't help but groan as the headache seemed to hit her at full blast. "How did you do that?"
"You will learn. Soon," No Heart answered hastily.
There was a shower of sparks as he once again turned to the lightning and zipped away. Though she had double vision and a splitting head ache, she could still think of how fast he was going. It must take only seconds for him to get from his castle to the Kingdom of Caring. That might have been a bit scary if she knew he wouldn't harm her. Then realizing that when he changed forms there was a huge burst of thunder, she moved away before someone came looking.
No Heart had dropped her off right behind the Hall of Hearts. She made her way to the front and opened the doors cautiously. Inside, the usual breakfast crowd sat at tables or stood in line, and only a few looked to see who came in. She exhaled in relief. They didn't even suspect a thing. They probably didn't even hear the thunder. Trying to look as normal as possible, she composed herself and walked forward, going into the breakfast line.
"You're late," Proud Heart purred.
Gentle Heart didn't make eye contact as she selected a tray. "Huh?"
"You're usually here first," the cat replied, "Ah, well. I've been sleeping in, too."
Relieved that Proud Heart didn't reveal any suspicions, Gentle Heart hurriedly filled her tray with scrambled eggs and toast and grabbed a glass of orange juice. She couldn't help but look at the faces around in her thinking that someone would point and scream 'traitor.' She shuddered at the thought of it before being invited once again to sit by Playful Heart. She sat down across from him. "Hi."
"Was something keeping you from coming here?" Playful Heart asked.
"My alarm clock came unplugged last night," She replied, poking at her eggs with a plastic fork.
The monkey stared at her for a while, but didn't know quite what he was looking for. "You seem different…"
Once again being spooked, Gentle Heart slowly looked up, praying that it wasn't what she had just returned from. She swallowed her mouthful of eggs. "Is their something on my face?"
Playful Heart studied her once again, seeming to focus on her eyes, then came out of his trance. "No. But I guess I was wrong."
He lunged back into her mountainous stack of pancakes oozing with syrup, and Gentle Heart studied him. Was there something wrong with her friend? She felt something poke at her side, and she looked to her left to see Proud Heart elbowing her, grinning. Love-A-Lot was next to her, also grinning. Gentle Heart just blinked, not getting the purpose behind nudging her. Proud Heart sighed, looking desperate. "Clueless?"
"I guess so," she answered softly.
Love-A-Lot giggled, leaning over, nearly knocking Proud Heart off of her seat in the process. "I think someone has a crush."
Gentle Heart could only assume who she was talking about and slowly looked at Playful Heart. The monkey was curiously looking at the three. Almost instantly the lamb felt herself blush and looked down at her tray. Playful Heart inquisitively stared. "What?"
"Just a joke," Love-A-Lot waved his paw in dismissal, slightly giggling.
Playful Heart gasped loudly. "I wanna hear it!"
Gentle Heart now was blushing five times worse. It couldn't be! Playful Heart was her friend, and a friend only, right? Now Playful Heart was begging to hear the joke. Proud Heart slapped a paw to her forehead. "Knock, knock."
"Who's there?" Playful Heart excitedly asked, near shaking he seemed that excited.
"Um. Going away…"
"Going away, who?"
Proud Heart stopped. "Um. You… as in… going away."
Playful Heart placed his paws on his hips. "That doesn't make any sense! Wait… that's kind of funny."
As the two continued to talk about the humor in the joke, if there was any, Gentle Heart furiously tore at her eggs with her fork. By now Love-A-Lot Bear had switched sides so she wouldn't have to lean over Proud Heart. She slightly smiled as she talked to Gentle Heart quietly. "Aw, don't be shy! It's just a little crush. You should give him a chance!"
She tried to say something as an excuse or a protest, but only a distressed jumble of words came out. She was very well aware of what Love-A-Lot was capable of doing… she could turn anyone in couples! Trying to change the subject, she coughed. "Are you… um… giving Tender Heart a chance?"
The pink bear smiled. "I think you're trying to change the subject!"
"I'm just asking," Gentle Heart murmured, now blushing insanely.
"If you really want to know, Tender Heart has told me that he does like me," Love-A-Lot smiled, "So this proves that girls aren't the only ones thinking about if we can like each other. You have to admit, Playful Heart is so reckless and hyper, but he always calms down and is SO sincere around you… it's cute."
The lamb covered her eyes, wanting to disappear. This was not the type of attention she wanted to receive after coming back from No Heart's castle. In fact, she was hoping of having a silent, late breakfast where she could think of practicing what new magic she had learnt. And now, inch by inch she was sliding farther down into her seat. She felt like a coyote that's willing to chew off its arm to escape from a trap. Only instead of a trap, she was stuck listening to Love-A-Lot trying to convince her to date Playful Heart or something along the same lines. Gentle Heart tried to block out Love-A-Lot talking. As a last resort, she finally uncovered her face and looked at Love-A-Lot in desperation. Her cheeks were stinging from blushing so much. "Can you please st-"
She still couldn't bring herself to say something that she would find as hurtful and offensive. The pink bear shut her mouth tightly, though her eyes still said she wanted to convince her about Playful Heart. "Sorry. I can't help it!"
Gentle Heart simply nodded lightly, and then was forced to look down at her tray. The toast had long since gone cold, yet she wasn't hungry enough to even think about finishing it. Proud Heart and Playful Heart had grown silent, probably ending an argument that had formed. Of all the cousins, they tended to fight easier, though they were only small fits. Gentle Heart could feel the heat leaving her face, and she breathed in thankfully. She didn't know how long she would have lasted if Love-A-Lot didn't stop. Now, Playful Heart noted that her face was still a bit pink from blushing. "That must've been a really funny joke if you were laughing that long."
"It was," she mumbled in response.
Soon Playful Heart was called over by Birthday Bear to play a game of cards at another table, and Gentle Heart rose from the table she was at, grabbing her tray and half-touched glass of orange juice. She mumbled a quick excuse for leaving, something about leaving the over burner on at her house by accident, and then disposed of her tray and glass, leaving in a hurry. Once having exited, she leaned up against the double doors with a sigh. How much could happen in one day in less than an hour? Then Good Luck Bear had to go inside, so she hurriedly moved out of the way with an apology and stirred up a cloud car with her tummy symbol, hopping in.
Sitting beneath a huge pink-leafed tree with a purple trunk that blocked the warm spring sun, Gentle Heart finally seemed to feel at peace with herself for the entire morning. A yellow butterfly flitted over, landing on her nose to rest. Gentle Heart slowly blinked. She now felt so physically relaxed all she felt like doing was going to sleep where she was. But she couldn't. Gentle Heart slightly tilted her head forward so the butterfly would fly off, and she grabbed the two items she had 'called' to that were next to her. One was a small notepad with light pink paper, and the other was a deep purple gel pen. She took off the cap to the gel pen and drummed it on her knee as she thought. She needed to write down her problems.
She knew what to write first. She scribbled down 'Playful Heart' hurriedly and then moved on. In moments, she had two pages of the notepad filled. Placing the cap back on her gel pen, she looked at the first problem she was having. Playful Heart. She stopped a moment. "No… I better make sure I can still do it right first."
With the Forest of Feelings being her comfort zone, it wouldn't be too hard to concentrate. She slowly closed her eyes, the sounds of chirping birds and humming insects gradually decreasing in volume. The lamb raised both her paws, holding them about six inches apart. Don't think of anything, she reminded herself as she attempted to simply forget everything around her. All life outside of her head seemed to slowly drift away as she approached her trance. Finally, she knew that she had reached it. It was hard even thinking in the back of her mind. Why is Cassidy so mean to me?
A tingling shudder ran through her spine once, almost making her lose concentration, but she managed to hold on to the trance. Then she finally felt a familiar warmth spread from her fingers to the empty air between her paws. Taking a deep breath, Gentle Heart opened her eyes and recognized the pale red light that almost looked like an orb. Only this time something was different. Staring at it for a long while, she finally noticed that the red had increased a shade darker. Gentle Heart shrugged it off. If it was the truth, then there wasn't anything she could do to deny it. She dropped her paws to the ground on either side of her, causing the light to blink away. She had a black expression for a moment, but it was soon replaced by what she thought might have looked like a silly smile. She was actually using magic! The first of all the Care Bears and cousins!
She hurriedly grabbed her notepad and flipped through it to find the second problem; she wouldn't still want to mess up on the Playful Heart issue. It was about visiting No Heart against her family. She closed her eyes, and in moments was in another trance. It was much easier compared to the last two times, and it wasn't long until she opened her eyes to see the color of the light between her paws. It was a warm yellow. This was a lot easier than she thought! But then, she realized that she had completely forgotten about the book No Heart had given her that explained what the colors meant. It was too late now. She tried as best she could to remember what yellow meant. Closing her eyes to concentrate more, she finally recalled that one of the meanings was being content. She smiled in success, staring into the almost hypnotic light. She must have imagined the butterfly earlier, because try as she might, she couldn't see anything that even resembled one inside of the yellow light. She moved on, going down her list. Gradually, it was actually becoming harder to concentrate. "At least it's easier accepting things now," she said to herself softly.
Finally, she came to the end of her list. But there still was one more to do that was on the front. She flipped to the first page, staring at the 'Playful Heart' written in cursive purple ink. She didn't want to be angry with him… she was almost sure that she wouldn't be, but she also didn't expect feeling angered at Cassidy. Still, she decided that it was best to know and not make things only worse. She closed her eyes hard, and held out her paws. Her arms were beginning to feel sore from holding them up so many times, but this was the last one. What do I feel about Playful Heart?
It was a bit difficult concentrating, but soon she felt the warmth between her paws. She made sure she wouldn't lose it when she opened her eyes and began to do so.
"Practicing your cousin call?"
Her eyes snapped open, and she separated her paws hurriedly, catching a glimpse of the color but not noting what it was. Gentle Heart instinctively grabbed the list and shoved it into the soft patch of flowers she was sitting in, feeling bad that she might have broken a few stems by doing everything so fast. She looked around her, and soon focused on Bright Heart and Grumpy Bear on their way to Bright Heart's shed. She cleared her throat. "Um. Yes."
"Maybe I should start doing that more," Bright Heart put a paw to his chin.
Grumpy Bear scoffed. "Like it will help…"
The raccoon shot him a playful glare. "Sorry for interrupting, Gentle Heart. Come on, Grumpy, we have a cloud plane to finish!"
"Sounds like fun," Grumpy Bear rolled his eyes.
Gentle Heart watched as the two left, weakly smiling with a wave. That was very close… it almost felt like she would have a heart attack she had been so surprised. The lamb leaned back with a thud against the purple tree trunk, staring up at the bright sky that shined through pink leaves. Suddenly she didn't feel like practicing this magic anymore.