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 47. Long Stories
"It's so nice to meet you fine folks! It's not often that we get company around here. It's a real shame, we have some great views," Tanana cheerfully rambled on as they continued to make their way along the river. Sophia was limping, doing her best to keep up with her. Thankfully, Jackie caught sight of her struggling and scurried to her side so she could sling her arm around Jackie's shoulder.
"And Innoko!" Tanana continued. "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"
"Oh you know, same old same old," Innoko said. "Have you heard from the spirits lately? Man, they are a chatty bunch!"
"Oh my dear! I'm so sorry," Tanana suddenly caught sight of Sophia. "Come here let me see your foot."
Jackie settled Sophia on a fallen log near the river. Tanana sat next to her and gently placed Sophia's foot in her lap. She methodically removed Sophia's muddy leather show before asking conversationally, "So what's your name?"
"I'm uh… Sophia," she said wincing as Tanana removed a sock.
"Sophia!" she cried. "What a lovely name! Now does this hurt…?" Sophia let out a squawk of pain Tanana delicately touched her ankle. "Oop! Yes, that hurt! Got it!" she said. She reached into a leather bag that hung over her shoulder and removed a roll of bandages. "I get the impression that you folks aren't from around here," she said. "What brings you to this part of the Kingdom?"
"It's uh… oof… kinda a long… long story," Sophia winced as Tanana wrapped her foot. "We're looking for the mountain where the light touches the earth."
"They've also got a little club they want you and me to join," Innoko chimed in. She leaned in conspiratorially. "I'm still sussing it out, it might be a timeshare sorta thing…"
"The Mountain eh?" Tanana asked. "Well, it's certainly becoming a popular location of late. Do you need a word with the spirits?"
"Sorta," Sophia admitted. "We're actually looking for a… a song."
"A song?" Tanana asked with an amused smile.
"A song?!" Innoko without any amusement. She stared at Sophia like she was insane.
"Did I not mention that?" Sophia asked.
"No," Innoko said crossing her arms. She muttered under her breath, "I didn't realize this was a musical…"
"The spirits do have a certain musical quality," Tanana said. "But I'm not sure if I would call them songs persae… all done!" She smiled and gently placed Sophia's shoe back on her foot. "That should be easier for you to walk on now. We'll have to try to avoid tigers from now on, won't we?"
Sophia lifted her foot off Tanana's lap and settled it on the ground. Gingerly rose to her feet. It still hurt, but it was significantly easier to walk on. "Thank you," she smiled.
"Of course," Tanana said standing up.
"The song is actually a spell," Sophia said. "One of many from the Book of Songs." She gestured towards Mickey who held the Book tightly in his arms. Mickey perked up and held up the Book. "Innoko is right, we are trying to reform the Circle. And in order to get the wizard Yen Sid on board, we have to prove it by retrieving one of the spells. It was magicked into a song years ago." Sophia thought about explaining it to her, but it made her so tired thinking about it that she waved her hand dismissively, "Long story. But we figured that there was a pretty solid chance that these songs tend to appear around magical locations so we would should go to the Mountain and… well… check."
Innoko and Tanana stared at Sophia. Innoko seemed shocked. Questioning why she had bothered to take any of these people seriously. Tanana's expression wasn't as easy to read. If anything, she seemed somewhat intrigued by what Sophia was saying. "And we would like you both to join the Circle as well," Sophia added quickly. "If you like."
"I swear I didn't know the full details before I led them here," Innoko said.
"That's a very generous offer my dear," Tanana said kindly. "And I will consider it, but I'm a bit distracted right now. We have something of a family crisis right now. One of the villagers is a bit tangled up with the spirits…"
"That's right," Sophia said suddenly remembering the image she had seen. "The bear. Were… were you talking to it?" Tanana looked confused for a moment before Sophia added. "I used magic water to find you. I saw you… talking with the bear."
"Oh I see," Tanana said. "Well, as a matter of fact I can't speak bear. Mores the pity, it would make things so much easier. And the bear… well… he's not really a bear."
"Huh?" Sophia asked in confusion.
"Is this some sort of riddle?" Elizabeth asked.
"No! No more bloody riddles! Jack cried. "We've had more than enough of them!"
"No, it's actually not a riddle," Tanana explained. "You see, that bear is actually a young man from my village. His name is Kenai."
"The one who was eaten by the bear?" Elizabeth asked. "Allegedly?" she added uncertainly.
"Not actually eaten," Tanana said. She massaged her temple. "It's quite confusing. You see there was an incident with an actual bear earlier. Kenai's oldest brother Sitka was tragically killed by a bear who had wandered in, lured by the fish that weren't stored correctly." Tanana gave Sophia a familiar look as if she was weighing how much to tell Sophia. After a while, Tanana also waved her respond and said "Long story. Anyway, Kenai wanted revenge and went after the bear. He killed it and the spirits were not happy with that, particularly the spirit of Sitka. So he transformed him into a bear, probably as a way to teach him a lesson."
"Okay…" Sophia said. Her head was spinning as she tried to keep up.
"In order to regain his true form," Tanana continued, "He needs to take it up with the spirits so he is also headed towards the Mountain."
"So you can take us there?" Sophia asked.
"Well…" Tanana said. "I'm not 100% sure that's where I'm going."
"I thought you said Kenai needed to go to the Mountain?" Sophia asked, her heart dropping.
"Kenai does yes," Tanana said. "But I'm not following him. Whatever journey he's on, he needs to go through that on his own in order to learn what he needs to learn."
"So where are you going?" Sophia asked.
"Well, Kenai has another brother," Tanana said. "His name is Denahi. He obviously just lost his older brother and now he's unfortunately under the impression that the bear killed Kenai as well."
Sophia frowned. "He thinks one bear killed both his brothers."
"That is correct," Tanana said. "He's chasing the bear to try and kill it."
"Kenai?" Sophia asked in concern. Tanana nodded. "Oh dear," Sophia slumped down to the log again.
"Right," Tanana admitted. "You must understand, he really is a good boy. So is Kenai. But they're all going through a lot right now and I worry that he's not in the best headspace."
"Aren't you worried that he will catch up with Kenai and kill him?" Sophia asked.
"I'm more worried that Denahi will get lost and wind up cold and starving in the wilderness," Tanana said anxiously. "Or worse, if he winds up running into sabretooth tiger friend." She sighed, "Denahi is a pretty good tracker under normal conditions, but as I've said he's experiencing a lot of turmoil right now. So you see, I would love to be able to help you more, but I really need to find him before something terrible happens."
"Hold on," Sophia cried, wobbling to her feet again. "If Kenai is headed to the mountain and Denahi is following him, then they're both heading towards the mountain. Couldn't we all go there together?"
"It seems like that we will meet up there eventually," Tanana admitted. "But I really need to find Denahi first. I don't know where he is right now, but I need to find him quickly and I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not sure if you can keep up," she gestured to Sophia's foot. "At any rate, you also seem to be on a very tight schedule," Tanana said. "So I wish you the best of luck, but I'm afraid we need to part ways for now."
"But my offer," Sophia insisted. "Once you find Denahi and Kenai, will you consider it then?"
Tanana was thoughtful for a moment, "I'm sure we can consider it then." She smiled warmly at Sophia and clasped her hands. "It was very nice to meet you, miss Sophia. I wish you all the luck in your endeavors. If you keep following the river, it will lead you to the mountain. I hope to see you there myself in a few days." Tanana released her hand and gave her a small wave. "Farewell my dear."
Sophia stood there and offered her own feeble wave. "Goodbye Tanana." With that, the elderly woman vanished into the forest again like the mist.