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 45. Tanana and the Bear
As she mentally flicked through her memories, Sophia could not remember any moment during her misadventures where she had actually needed to track a wild animal. To make matters worse, no one else seems to possess that particular skillset.
The villagers were willing to shelter them for the night. The sun was setting and they wouldn't be able to find anything in the dark. Besides, they had been walking all day and they were all cold and exhausted. Sophia couldn't remember ever sleeping so soundly in her life.
The next morning was brisk, but the sun was out at least. Sophia bundled herself up in her cloak and after a quick breakfast. They prepared to leave. None of the villagers wanted to go after the bear. They seemed nervous about the idea. The only person who agreed to come with them was Innoko. Apparently, she was very invested in the adventure and was determined to see the end of it. Sophia wasn't quite sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
The villagers wouldn't come, but they did provide them with enough supplies to last a few days. They started out early the next morning. The little group wandered to the edge of the village.
"So… if I was a bear where would I go?" Jack thought outloud.
"You don't got a tracking spell somewhere in that phonebook of yours?" Innoko asked Mickey.
"Well… if we do have a spell, it's not in here," Mickey admitted sheepishly.
"Most powerful artifact in the Kingdom," Innoko muttered to herself.
"Well, we could just make our way to the Mountain as originally planned," Sophia said. "Once we get there hopefully, we'll be able to find the song. Maybe we could run into them on the way?"
"Bear or no bear," Will remarked. "Tanana is still going to need the basics for survival. She probably would have stuck close to the river."
Sophia had not been aware of the river running through the forest, but sure enough the sound of running winner trickled through the area. "River," Sophia repeated. "I have an idea." Sophia rolled up the sleeves of her dress before settling on the bank.
"Oh flowing waters, tell me where?
In this dark forest can we find our bear?"
The waters rippled for a few moments, and for the briefest of seconds Innoko looked mildly startled and then impressed. Gradually an image appeared in the water. It was elderly woman with long silvery hair. "Is that her?" Sophia asked Innoko.
Innoko leaned over the bank and nodded. "Yeah, that's her alright!"
Then, another figure came into sharper focus lying on the ground beside her. Tanana had tenderly wet a cloth in the river before she knelt besides the figure. At first, Sophia thought it was a person. Perhaps it was one of the missing brothers? But has the vision became clearer, it became apparent. It was not a person.
The figure had golden brown fur, big brown eyes and short snout. It was a grizzy bear. Sophia felt a spike of panic. Tanana was alone with a bear who knows wear in the forest. Sophia could witness a horrible mauling at any moment.
But then again, Tanana did not seemed scared. If anything, she was pretty gentle. The bear was also not making any attempt to claw her, thank goodness. The bear slowly sat up and pressed a paw to its head, wincing almost. The gestures seemed almost human. Then, the bear proceeded to let out a series of roars and grunts. It still didn't sound like he was ready to attack. If anything, it seemed like they were having a conversation. Tanana reached out to shush the bear of all things before she said something.
The bear was silent for a moment before leaning over the river, gazing at his reflection for a moment. And then suddenly, he began to act very strange. The bear began frantically patting its body, wobbling around upright on its hindlegs, patting its fur and paws in a wild display. It began moving about in a desperate circle. If Sophia didn't know better, she could have sworn that it was having a panic attack.
Despite this odd display, it still didn't seem to be dangerous. It never made any move to attack Tanana. If anything, he seemed pretty unaware of her presence. Tanana, on the other hand, didn't make any effort to run or fight back. She seemed to be trying to get the bear's attention, a gentle expression on her face while the bear proceeded to act more and more erratically. At last, Tanana pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh while the bear proceeded to fling himself around the forest floor.
Finally, Tanana appeared to have enough. She pulled off her boot and with a mighty throw, she chucked it at the bear. Her aim was true and she had a surprisingly powerful throwing arm for an elderly woman. The boot hit the bear squarely on the face, knocking him flat. Sophia didn't think that Tanana had done it to stop the bear, she STILL wasn't running away. It seemed like she had done it just to stop him from freaking out.
It seemed to work to a point. The bear sat back on his haunches and if nothing else stopped moving. She gripped his snout and forced him to look at her. For a moment, it looked like she was lecturing him like he was a small child. Then, she began examining the bear, inspecting his legs and paws and even opening his mouth to inspect his teeth.
During all this, the bear seemed irritated at all the poking and prodding but not enough to bite the woman. He snarled briefly at the old woman who immediately swatted him on the snout and scolded him sternly.
Tanana continued to speak to the bear before she knelt in the ground, drawing something in the dirt. Sophia squinted to peer at the drawing. It looked like two pointed hills, mountains probably. Then, she made a series of wavy vertical lines above them. It had to be the mountain where the lights met the earth.
With that, the vision vanished and all Sophia could see was the pebbles at the bottom of the river bed. Sophia looked to Innoko. "Could you explain any of that?"
"I'm a sha-woman, not a therapist," she remarked drily.
"What did you see?" Will asked.
"I'm not totally sure to be honest," Sophia said rising to her feet.
"Did you find Tanana?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes," Sophia said. "And the bear."
"Is she alright?" Jackie asked anxiously, her eyes grew as wide as saucers.
"I don't think Tanana is the one we need to worry about," Sophia admitted.
"What?" Will, Elizabeth, and Jackie all asked in confusion.
Sophia drew a deep breath, attempting to explain what she saw. "I saw Tanana and the bear together. There was no sign of the boy. But the bear doesn't seem… dangerous. It didn't try to hurt her at all. If anything, it seemed like the bear was a bit freaked out and Tanana was trying to help it."
"Trying was the operative word there," Innoko remarked. "I don't think anyone is qualified to help him."
"Why would she want to help a bear?" Will asked.
"Sounds like spirit meddling to me," Innoko remarked. "They're a nosy bunch. Always poking into mortal business."
"So… we don't need to rescue her?" Merlin asked.
"I think she's got the situation under control," Sophia said.
"So what now?" Mim asked.
"There was more!" Sophia insisted. "Will was right. She was near the river. She can't be too far from here. And she drew a picture in the dirt, of a mountain. For whatever reason, she is heading to the mountain as well."
"So we should just keep moving towards the moment and try not to get eaten by bears," Jack said. Jackie paled. "Or crushed by mammoths," Jack added. Jackie let out a whimper of fear and her eyes grew wider. "Or mauled to death by sabretooth tigers…"
"That's enough, Jack," Elizabeth scolded, looking at Jackie anxiously.
"So… the bear has been located," Will summarized. "Tanana appears to be unharmed, but there's still no sign of either of the brothers."
"D-d-did the bear eat them?" Jackie asked, her voice a scared squeak.
"Maybe that's why she's not eating Tanana," Jack remarked. "He's all filled up on the two brothers…"
"JACK!" Sophia, Will and Elizabeth scolded in unison.
"I don't think so," Sophia said. "It's a very strange scenario. I don't think we're dealing with a typical bear. I don't know where the brothers are, but maybe if we're fortunate we will run into them on the way to the mountain."
"Very well then," Merlin declared. "The plan remains unaltered. We're off to the mountain."
"Agreed," Sophia said before rising to her feet. "Let's go."
As they headed out, Jack muttered to himself. "And hopefully all this weirdness will be explained."