Sophia's Story
A Disney crossover by talking2myself
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any recognizable Disney characters. All original characters are my own creations.
CHAPTER 44. Ursus Arctos Horibilis
"Sooo…" Innoko said thoughtfully after several hours of walking. "If I were to join this little club or yours… and I'm not saying I will!" she added abruptly before crossing her arms. "What's in it for me?"
"Huh?" Sophia asked, turning around and craning her neck up to look at Innoko who was still perched on top of Jack's shoulders like a stubborn child.
"What's in it for me?" Innoko repeated. "What do I get out of the whole deal?"
Sophia stared at her for a few moments before pushing her red locks behind her ear. This was proving to be a long day and Innoko's company was not making it any more pleasant. "A sense of community? Defending the Kingdom? Helping out your fellow magicians?"
Innoko stared at her for a few moments before looking down at Jack. "I'm getting cult vibes. Are you getting cult vibes?"
"It's not a cult!" Sophia snapped. "I'm trying to make the Kingdom a better place."
Innoko pointed at her. "Now you see, that's what cult leaders say. Well, cult leaders and tech startup CEOs."
"What?" Sophia asked in confusion.
"Oh yeah. You don't know about them yet," Innoko said to herself. She waved her hand dismissively. "Conversation between me and the spirits. All you really need to know is that you need to invest in social media."
Sophia gave her a blank stare and shook her head in confusion. "It's NOT a cult." She repeated.
Innoko shrugged. "Alright if you say so. But don't I get like a free poncho or some sort of sandwich punch card?"
"We'll see," Sophia said noncommittally.
"You'll get more members for your cult that way."
"IT'S NOT A CULT!" Sophia yelled.
"Testy testy," Innoko tsked. Sophia groaned and began to pick up her speed.
"Hey! Don't you run away girlie! I ain't done talking to you yet," Innoko piped. "You. Dreads. Mush!" She kicked him with one of her short legs and Jack picked up his pace until he was side by side with Sophia.
"Crazy woman," Jack muttered under his breath.
"Sha-woman," Innoko corrected. "As I was saying, what if I was to say no. I don't want to join. Whatchu gonna do about it?"
"I don't know," Sophia shrugged.
"You're not gonna run around the Kingdom doing something ridiculous to prove to me that it's a good idea?" Innoko asked.
"Probably not," Sophia said.
"Hmmph," Innoko grumbled. "I have to say you're not selling me on this thing. You gotta work on your sales pitch."
"Noted," Sophia muttered, massaging her temples with two fingers.
"What makes this Yen Sid so special that ya'll are willing to bend over backwards for him?" Innoko sniffed.
"He controls the most powerful artifact in the Kingdom," Sophia pointed out.
"He's also a deer last I heard," Innoko said.
Sophia stopped in her tracks. "How did you know that?"
Innoko leaned back in her seat. "Let me tell you, some of those earth spirits…" she waved her pointer finger all around to gesture everything that surrounded them. "Huge gossips. HUGE! Why just last week, one of them was telling me that there's crazy old lady in the Highlands gave some naïve girl a tart that turned her mother into a bear." Innoko leaned forward, resting her elbow on Jack's hat, shoving it forwards over half his face. "Kids today. I tell ya…" she shook her head.
"Well, he's not going to be a deer forever," Sophia insisted. "And besides he let Mickey come with us."
"Yeah…" Innoko said. She looked unimpressed as she eyed the chipper magician's apprentice up and down. "A mouse. Big improvement."
"At least he has hands," Jack said as he pushed his hat back into place.
"Yeah and gloves apparently," Innoko said. She leaned over to conspire with Jack. "Has he mentioned what's the deal with the gloves? Is he germophobic or just really formal?"
"No idea," Jack shrugged.
"Pity," Innoko muttered. "Might have to ask the spirits about that next time we chat."
"Are we close to the village yet?" Will interrupted tersely. Sophia sensed that he was growing weary listening to the little sha-woman as well.
"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We're almost there." She said. "Hang a right at the boulder up ahead and keep walking for another mile. You can't miss it."
Fortunately, for all their sakes, Innoko was correct. A small series of huts slowly came into view, smoke from their campfires curled up into the horizon. "There you go," Innoko said triumphantly. "Just like I said."
"And that's where we'll find Tanana?" Sophia asked.
"If she's around," Innoko shrugged. Sophia tried to ignore a twinge of worry. As the little group approached the village, Sophia started to see more signs of something troubling. Scattered here and there were the remnants of a torn basket and salmon. Sophia could also see large pawprints here and there and broken branches and structures. She shuttered as she thought about what creature could have created them.
"Dang! They really let this place go since the last time I was here," Innoko remarked as she looked around.
At that moment, several villagers sprang forwards ordering them to halt. The pointed wooden spears in their direction. Sophia let out a yelp and held up her hands anxiously. She was tempted to reach for her wand when Innoko cried. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! That's not a very gracious welcome."
"I'll handle this!" Jack volunteered.
"NO!" Sophia, Will, Jackie, and Elizabeth cried in unison.
"I got this, Dreads," Innoko said shoving Jack's hat forwards, blocking him from saying anything. "Let me handle the talking." She scrambled down from Jack's back and approached the villagers, crying out in their native tongue.
"What do you think happened here?" Mim asked anxiously peering at the footprints.
"Judging by these prints and the fact that the creature was after the villagers' salmon supply," Merlin said as he examined the prints moving his glasses to the end of his nose. "It would appear to be an attack by Ursus arctos horibilis."
"W-w-what?" Jackie asked, her lip trembling.
"In other words," Mim said. "A grizzly bear."
Merlin shot her an annoyed look but agreed. "Precisely."
Innoko finished her conversation and turned back towards them. Sophia was relieved to see that the villagers had lowered their spears. "Okay so here's the 411," she clapped her hands together. "The good news is they're not mad at you folks. They're just a little jumpy about what happened last night."
"What happened last night?" Sophia asked anxiously.
"Well, that's the bad news," Innoko said. "You see, a bear wandered over and decided to have a bit of a snack." She gestured towards the scattered salmon. It's a bit unclear about what exactly happened but a young man was killed and his brother has gone missing. He went after the bear and they think the creature might have killed him too."
Sophia's shoulders slumped. "That's awful."
Innoko nodded. "It's about to get worse, I'm afraid. Tanana is not here."
"Where did she go?" Sophia cried.
"Well, there's a third brother you see," Innoko explained. "And he's trailing the bear now. He's uh… not in a good place right now. The villagers haven't seen Tanana in a while, but they think that as the spiritual advisor for the village she's gone after him to talk him down."
"Great," Sophia cried. "That's just fantastic." She slumped to the ground.
"Tough break," Innoko shrugged. "So what now?"
Sophia gazed at the pawprints in the snow. She swallowed hard. "Tanana's tracking the brother?" she asked. Innoko nodded. "And the brother's tracking the bear?" Another nod.
Sophia sighed and rose to her feet again, dusting off her skirts. "Well, it looks like we need to find a bear."