AN: So I reformated my computer and forgot to back up the original document. This meant that the first part of this chapter, which I had written at the same time as chapter 10, was lost, and I had to rewrite it. When I finish the entire story, I hope to go back and edit it, making it read better, as well as touch up the dialog so that it fits the characters more. I apologize once again for the huge time gap between chapters. Real life just interferes so much. Anyway, only 1 more chapter to go (Intake of breath), and an epilogue. sigh, I'm almost done. I'd like to thank Neosun who has stuck with me since the beginning, sending me reviews. I'm glad I have at least one loyal reader, that's all it takes afterall. Also thank you to anyone else who has continued to read, even if they don't review (though you really should, tsk tsk), or they do review and I am just peebrained and didn't realize it. As I and so many authors here continue to say, read and review!

Also, to Chibi: at long last, I have used one of the names you suggested. yay! I finally had someone to name. : )

Disclaimer: Gods people, if you haven't gotten it by now, I don't own Disney. But I will buy it once I conquer a small south american country.

Chap. 11

Tae walked around the clearing a few times before deciding to sit in the middle. He was more than happy to wait for his brothers. Since his mother's death he hadn't known anyone else and nothing seemed to go wrong when he was with them.

From his left came a rustling in the woods. Tae's ears perked up as he started sniffing, catching a familiar scent. "Koda?"

The older cub came through the underbrush, a look of anger or perhaps disgust on his face at seeing Tae. "Yes it me. What are you doing here? Where' s Kenai and Denahi?"

Tae frowned, sensing something was wrong. "Uh, they went searching for you. You were gone a lone time. Did you meet up with your Busty friend?"

Koda snarled at the younger bear as he walked around him in a circle. "Its Bucky! Bucky! And no! He wasn't here, he's had to go out on his own! Fend for himself since humans killed his family!"

Tae was becoming a bit frightened, but he tried to calm Koda down. "Oh come on Koda, you lost your mother and I lost mine and we still came here. We have a family in Kenai. Maybe Bucky could come with us?"

Koda stopped his circling and just glared at the cub. "We? It used to be me and Kenai! We were brothers! You ruined everything! You forced your way in here and took him from me! Ever since I met you nothing has gone wrong. You mother was even on top of you when we found you, she was probably trying to kill you!" The venom in his words surprised even himself as Koda spit them out at Tae.

Tae just stared at Koda at first, not understanding what the bigger bear was saying. Then it slowly came to him and tears welled up his eyes. "Bu……I……Ko…da…." Tae burst out in tears and ran into the woods as fast as he could.

"Good riddance." Koda said to himself, trying to reassure himself of it. The weight of what he had just done slammed into him seconds later and he sat down abruptly, stunned by what he had inflicted on Tae.

The moments passed, seeming to last forever as Koda sat there. Suddenly, out of the brush to his right burst Kenai and Denahi, both running at full speed. They stopped as soon as they say Koda and looked around the clearing for Tae.

"What's going on Koda? Where's Tae? We heard someone yell." Kenai asked, a very concern look on his face. Denahi just stared passively at Koda, already guessing the answer.

"I….I yelled at him Kenai." His older brother looked about to interrupt, so Koda rushed forward and continues speaking. "I didn't mean to, I just got all worked up over Bucky not being here and then I came back….and I yelled and…..scared him off."

Denahi nodded as his suspicions were confirmed as Kenai just stood there staring straight ahead. A hint of anger rose in his voice. "You scared him off? What were you thinking? He's just a cub!"

Denahi, sensing things were about to get out of control, walked between the two. "So's Koda, Kenai. It was a mistake and arguing further about it is pointless. We need to go find Tae."

Koda closed his mouth and nodded. Kenai looked between the two of them, the anger being replaced by fear. "You're right Denahi, as always. There's a lot of woods, so I think we should split up again. Koda, You are big enough to go on your own. If you find Tae, try not to upset him anymore."

Koda just nodded again. "Alright then," Kenai began. "Lets split up. Koda, you go that way, Denahi, you go there, and I'll take this area. Give a shout if you find him. Lets get going." Kenai gave a few seconds for his brothers to nod in agreement before running off in his designated direction. Denahi looked down to Koda, who was not looking very good at the moment.

"Its not your fault, you know. Kenai really isn't angry with you." He tried, hoping to make Koda feel better, but Koda just shook his head.

"No, I've grown apart from him. I don't understand any more than I did back then…" He trailed off and taking one last look at Denahi hurried off into the woods. Denahi stood there a moment longer looking out at the river, wondering what would happen to his brothers, when the fur on his neck stood on end. Turning, he looked over his shoulder at the Mountain. The sun created an orange glow in the sky, and the lights could just barely be seen coming out. Denahi nodded, and following his gut, began moving towards the snowy slopes.

Kenai had been searching for a few minutes when he stumbled upon something that was not encourage. Boot tracks, a few of them. There was a human party in the area. Hunters? The fear within him rose and he moved faster, hoping that he was wrong. It was soon appreant that he wasn't too far off. His trek had brought him right to the base of the Mountain. Up above him on a ledge, he could see three humans, teenage males. They seemed to be looking at something, but he couldn't see what. 2 of them held spears, and the third was gesturing profusely. The wind shifted, and their conversation flowed down to his ears.

One of the young males with a spear, "What's you problem, Nerriu? Its just a bear cub. Think about what father would think if we brought back?"

The other boy, the one waving his hands replied. "We have no right! Like you said its just a cub. It's a kid, you can't just take it! Who know where its mother is?"

The scent in the air confirmed his worst fears, confirming that it was Tae that the three were talking about.

"Look, This is what men do, right? They hunt. They bring back game. Why should we be any different?" The last one asked.

"We hunt for food. We were taught not to take more than that. We can't do this just to prove we're men." The one called Nerriu replied. He had stopped gesturing and was just standing there now.

"Look, lets get back to camp. You aren't going to win this one tonight, so just give it up." The first boy bent down and picked something up before moving out of sight towards the mountain. The other with the spear followed. Nerriu threw up his hands before going after the other two.

Kenai began to search for a way up when he heard a growl just a bit above him to his right. Looking over, he saw Koda glaring in the direction of the hunters. He must have seen them too. But he doesn't know our language! Kenai was about to cry out when he realized that would tip of the hunters and endanger all three of them. Instead he watched helplessly as Koda jumped from his perch and followed the humans. Cursing himself, Kenai quickly found his own way and began to chase after them.