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 52. Homecomings
The danger had passed… or at least the intentional sort. Sophia was sure that there were still plenty of sabretooth tigers and wolves out there who would be willing to take a bit out of any of them, but at least there were no humans out there deliberately hunting them down. The natural predators also seemed to be giving them a wider berth now that they had a brown bear and a cub walking alongside them. Plus, the human hunter was on their side now as well. Denahi's presence was a bit strange. Sophia still instinctually kept her eyes on the spear that he carried at all times, but after a proper night's sleep and a decent meal he seemed to be much more stable than the madman they had met in the woods. In fact, he was quite charming when he wanted to be. As they walked back through the wilderness, he cracked jokes and told them funny stories about his brothers. Now that he was a bear again, Kenai couldn't speak, but he did make irritated barking noises from time to time. Sophia interpreted that as objection to all of the embarrassing stories.
The little group was slowly making their way back home to Denahi and Kenai's home village. They allowed Denahi to take the lead so they weren't forced to make their way through geysers and ice caves and they were also not wandering aimlessly. It was good to not be lost for a change. All of the wildlife seemed to stay away from them. Sophia was a bit relieved because of that. It looked like they had left all of the bears back at the salmon run. It was curious though, Sophia couldn't be positive, but she could have sworn that a pair of moose were trailing them just out of the corner of her eye.
The sun was still low in the sky one morning when Sophia heard a strange rustling sound. She froze suddenly, searching the area desperately. Her eyes darted from side to side. The rustling sound echoed again. Sophia let out a panicked squeak and jumped backwards, stumbling into Jack.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked as he steadied her.
"Something in the bushes!" Sophia cried, pointing a finger at the underbrush. "Its' a bear! Or a tiger or…"
Denahi sprang forwards, brandishing the spear and poised to strike. Elizabeth pulled Jackie and Mickey a few paces away. At the moment, the rustling stopped and Tanana's silver head emerged with a broad smile. "Or it's Tanana." Innoko stated drily.
"Well, hello everyone," she grinned. "Fancy meeting you all again." She pushed aside the branches and stepped forwards to greet the little group.
"Tanana?" Denahi asked in disbelief.
"Denahi!" Tanana scolded. "Get that spear out of my face."
Denahi immediately dropped the spear like it was on fire and held up his hands guiltily. "Sorry Tanana," he mumbled.
"Sorry indeed," Tanana continued. "Do you have any idea what you put me through? I've been all over this mountain looking for you." She cuffed him across the head roughly.
"I know, I know I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Denahi insisted like a punished child. Sophia could not understand Kenai since he turned back into a bear, but she sensed that the strange barking noise that he made was laughter. Tanana must have assumed the same thing because she turned on him next.
"And you!" she scolded. "What do you have to say for yourself? You're impossible to find! Wiping away your tracks light that.
Kenai made a strange growling sound that was oddly conversational like he was trying to explain himself to the elder woman. Tanana snapped a branch from one of the trees and used to swat him on the head. "In case either of you care, I've had an incredibly difficult time tracking you down and I'm sure these nice people have also had a very unpleasant time as well. I hope you're proud of yourselves."
"Sorry Tanana," Denahi and Keni (in a humbled but growling bear fashion) said in unison.
"Very good," Tanana said sternly. "I suppose you can be forgiven." She turned towards Sophia and smiled warmly. "Now, did you find what you were looking for my dear?"
Sophia returned the smile wearily. "I think we did and so much more."
"How wonderful," Tanana said. "In that case, I think we're all set to head back to the village."
-888-
As she pulled the warm, dry socks over her poor tired feet, Sophia thought she was going to weep with joy. For the first time, in a long time she was warm and cozy. Sophia stretched her legs out towards the fire allowing the flames to warm her legs. Jackie sat on one side and Mickey sat on the other. The sounds of drummers echoed around them and they watched several of the villagers in traditional costumes dance around the fire.
They had safely arrived this morning. The villagers had approached them with confusion, but once Tanana explained the situation. They all seemed happy to have Denahi back home and accepted the situation surrounding Kenai more readily than Sophia would have guessed.
Across the fire, the little bear cub who refused to leave Kenai sat with the other village youngsters and watched the dancers twirl. They waited expectantly as Tanana approached made her way through the crowd holding a torch aloft. She approached a campfire pit, holding the torch regally. She turned towards Denahi and passed it to him reverently. Denahi accepted the torch before tossing it into the campfire pit, lighting it ablaze. The villagers cheered and Sophia clapped along with the rest of them. Tanana beamed at Denahi before throwing her arms around him in a tight hug.
Seconds later, the crowd parted again and Kenai, in his full bear form, trotted forwards. He wore his bear totem around his neck as he strode forwards. Denahi grinned with pride and rustled the fur on the top of his brother's head appreciatively. Next, Kenai presented his paw. Denahi pressed Kenai's paw into a bowl of some sort of red dye. Kenai lifted his paw and pressed it to the wall. The crowd erupted into applause. Sophia turned towards Innoko. "What does that mean?" she asked.
"It means he's a man now," Innoko explained. "Scary thought huh?"
"Very scary," Sophia agreed with a laugh.
Kenai, Denahi and the bear cub were roughhousing with each other playfully while Tanana looked on with an indulging smile. In the distance, Sophia could have sworn that she heard an eagle caw in the distance as he flew through the sky. In the midst of all this celebration, Innoko leaned over and said. "So… tell me more about this club of yours?"
-888-
Archimedes sat perched on top of the mast, enjoying his usual midmorning nap. The next moment, he was startled awake by a loud voice. "ARCHIMEDES!"
"Who? Who? What? What?" Archimedes was startled awake and ruffled his feather wildly. He looked around in confusion. "Archimedes!" the voice called again. Archimedes looked down over the side of the ship. Merlin was calling his name. He sat in the longboat besides Mim, Sophia, and the others.
"Oh so you've come back have you?" he asked.
"Archimedes go and fetch Gibbs and help us aboard while there is still some daylight left."
Archimedes rustled his feathers indignantly. "Ask me nicely!"
"Archimedes!" Merlin snapped.
Archimedes rolled his eyes. "Fine!" He flew out of sight, going to fetch Gibbs.
Minutes later, the ladder dropped over the side of the Pearl. "Captain! You're back! So glad to see you,"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack said dismissively as he climbed up the ladder. "Who won the pool?"
"Pool?" Gibbs asked. "And what pool what that…?"
"Mr. Gibbs," Jack said sternly. "Do I l have simpleton stamped across my forehead?"
Gibbs looked sheepish. "No sir. I believe it was Mr. Cotton who won the pool this time."
"I see," Jack said thoughtfully. "I bet the parrot helped him cheat somehow. At any rate, ready the ship to set sail. We've got to get back to England tout suite."
"Aye, aye captain," Gibbs said. He turned towards the ladder and offered his hand to Sophia as she climbed aboard. "Was it is successful, Miss Sophia?"
Sophia accepted his hand and stepped aboard. "It was quite successful, Mr. Gibbs. We got the song and better yet we have two new Circle members. But Jack is right, we do need to get back as soon as we can."
"Of course my dear," he said, "Back home to jolly old England."
Sophia nodded and stood at the edge of the ship. She stared out at the beautiful scenery for one last time, watching the northern lights flash across the sky. Now that the danger was behind them, Sophia was able to fully appreciate the beauty of this strange, wild land. However, as majestic as this place was, she was more than ready to return home and tell Yen Sid about their success.