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 49. In the Ice Caves
Sophia did not sleep well that night. It wasn't because of the roots and stones just inches beneath her bedroll, but those certainly did not help. Her dreams were filled with shadowy figures wielding spears and monstrous bears chasing them through the forest. Sophia was almost relieved when the gray light of morning began to filter down through the trees.
Sophia stiffly rose to her feet, the dull throbbing in her ankle quietly reminding her to watch for snares as she moved. She shook pine needles and twigs from her skirt and knelt besides the dying fire. She blew a small puff of air into the kindling and smiled as she watched the flames awaken again.
The forest was pretty quiet apart from the distant sound of birds and the sound of Jack's snoring. Her companions were all still asleep around the fire. Sophia gingerly stepped around their sleeping bodies and walked a short distance away, stretching her legs. Sophia wandered out to the edge of a rocky ledge and stood there, staring at the vista spread out below. It looked like something out of an oil painting. A mirror-lake like stretched out below, lined with pine trees. The morning sky reflected on its smooth waters. She could see a few deer pausing to drink at the edge of the lake. It vaguely reminded her of Yen Sid and Bambi.
"Nature's quite stunning when it's not trying to kill us."
Sophia turned to see Will coming up behind her. "Yeah," she agreed. "I forget that sometimes."
Will shrugged with a smile. "Understandable. We don't often find ourselves on nature's good side." Will joined her at the edge.
"Couldn't sleep?" Sophia asked.
"No," Will said. "Jack is going to wake up the whole forest." Sophia smiled. "You?" Will asked. Her smile fell. "Bad dreams?" Will asked.
"Yeah," Sophia sighed, pinching the area between her brows with her thumb and forefinger. "What did you think about the spear?"
Will shrugged. "I don't know what to make of it to be honest."
"Can't be anything good," Sophia commented. Will didn't say anything for a moment. The two of them stood there in silence. Finally, he spoke again.
"We've faced sea monsters, sorceresses, pirates, and we've literally been to the end of the world," he said. "A spear seems a bit harmless in comparison don't you think?"
"I wouldn't say harmless," Sophia insisted. "Although, it would be a bit of a letdown if we survived all that only to be taken out by a sharpened piece of wood."
"Then, we best not let that happen," Will said. "We keep our eyes open and hopefully it will make itself clear as we get closer." He paused again and sighed. "Jack's awake."
"How can you tell?" Sophia asked.
"The ground stopped shaking," Will muttered. Sophia laughed. "I can't hear him snoring," Will admitted. "He must be awake… or at least I hope so." The two of them returned to their campfire to see that Jack was indeed awake and had a pile of berries laid out elegantly on a makeshift plate that he had made from a large leaf. Elizabeth and Jackie were also awake, washing their hands and face by the river. Mim and Merlin were bickering a short distance away about how to properly pack a bedroll. Innoko appeared to be watching them, looking mildly amused.
"Morning," Jack grinned. "Here's your berry ration." He gestured towards the berry bush.
"Nice presentation," Innoko muttered gesturing towards his leaf plate.
"Are you mocking my fine china?" Jack sniffed. "I'll admit it's not exactly the governor's ball, but we do what we can under the circumstances."
Elizabeth and Jackie returned, Elizabeth pausing to give her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Are we ready to go?"
"Where's Mickey?" Sophia asked suddenly. She looked around just in time to see Mickey spring forwards out of the brush.
"Guys! I have to show you something!" he cried.
"Mickey, we really don't have time for…"
"No, it's important!" he cried. He tugged on Sophia's arm before taking off in the opposite direction.
"Mickey!" Sophia cried before tearing off after him. The others chased after her leaving Will alone to stamp out the fire before following. Mickey led them away from the forested area and onto an icy plain. Sophia had to struggle to prevent from accidentally slipping. There was an icy wall of a ledge in front of them. She managed to catch a glimpse of Mickey's red robes as he slid through an almost imperceptible crack in the wall. Sophia ducked and followed him inside. She stepped inside of a cavernous world of ice. Water dripped from the ceiling onto the leaf-covered floor. "Wow," Sophia cried looking around.
"Isn't it neat?" Mickey asked. He paused in front of an icy wall and giggled as his reflection distorted and twisted like a fun house mirror.
Sophia sighed. "Yes, it's very interesting, Mickey. But we really need to get going." The others were slowly making their way inside.
"This is what I really wanted to show you," Mickey said. He led Sophia a short distance away and pointed at something in the ground. At first, Sophia couldn't tell what he was pointing at, but then she knelt down and caught sight of something in the dirt. It was a series of imprints in the ground, two sets of tracks. There was a series of four larger pawprints and four smaller pawprints.
"Bear tracks," Sophia cried. "Looks like two of them."
"M-m-maybe it's Kenai," Jackie suggested.
"If so, he made a friend," Sophia said as she rose to her feet.
"There's more," Mickey said. "Over here." Sophia followed the little mouse a short distance ahead. He pointed down. Sophia frowned at the sight. It was a different type of tracks. This footprint was instead distinctly human.
"Someone else is tracking them," Mickey said nervously.
"Denahi," Will said.
"Could be," Innoko agreed.
Images of the spear came flooding back to Sophia's mind. She rose to her feet again. "He's close," she said.
"Maybe too close," Jack said.
"I hope that bear is moving fast," Mim muttered.
"We need to find them," Sophia said. "Maybe Tanana has found him and was able to talk some sense into him, but if she hasn't he could…" Sophia trailed off ominously.
"Accidentally kill his own brother," Elizabeth finished quietly.
The thought sent a chill down Sophia's spine. The thought was too awful to consider. She couldn't imagine how she would find the will to go on if she somehow injured her sister. "We need to keep going," Sophia said. "Where are they going?"
"This way," Mickey said, leading them ahead. They followed Mickey through the tunnels, narrowly avoiding the dripping water. Finally they emerged on the other side. Sophia was grateful to see daylight again. She looked around and cocked her head as she examined the tracks.
"What am I looking at here?" Sophia asked in confusion, gesturing towards the ground.
"I'd say a couple of moose tapdancing with two bears and a human," Innoko said. "Oh wait… hold on a minute." Innoko peered at the tracks a bit closer. "Looks like these tracks are older," she said pointing at the bear tracks. "They must have gone through here first. Then, this guy showed up rather unexpectedly…" she followed the human tracks over to a patch of brush." She inspected the grass which had ragged edges. "Aha!" she declared. "Looks like there was a moose." She looked around. "Scratch that. Two mooses. Meeces? Moose?" Innoko looked thoughtful for a few moments before she shook her head. "Anyway there was two of them."
"Okay and?" Sophia asked.
"And they were having a snack," she said, holding up the gnawed ends of the grass. "And then something scared them off. I would say that something is more than likely Denahi."
Sophia nodded. "Then what happened?""
"Then, they took off faster than a hungry sabretooth tiger at an all you can eat caribou buffet," Innoko said. "There is one confusing element though," she said scratching her head.
"What's that?" Sophia asked.
"The moose… meece?... mooses?"
"Eh ahem!" Sophia cleared her throat.
"Anyway," Innoko said dismissively. "It looks like the moose plural form took off in the same direction as the bears. That's not usually something that happens, food chain and all."
"Maybe they were scared out of their mind?" Sophia asked.
"Perhaps," Innoko shrugged. "But it looks like they proceeded to walk alongside the bears like they were all good friends."
"It is strange," Sophia admitted. "But we don't have time to ponder it. We need to find that bear before something terrible happens."
"Then, we can't waste time," Elizabeth said. "Let's go! We need to find those bears!"