Over the next couple of weeks, Grumpy grew more accustomed to being himself around his friends and the other Care Bears. That actually required him to start on a journey to discover just who he was. He wasn't just a Thunder Bear, and he wasn't just a Care Bear. He was somewhere in between, a unique hybrid that had never existed before. It was actually interesting to learn more about himself.
As the days went by, he didn't get his control back. Tenderheart and his friends discussed various theories on why that was. Funshine finally theorized that because he had used his power to create a storm out of those Thunder Bears' emotions, a natural extension he'd never used to that degree before, his own nature couldn't be hidden anymore. That seemed the best explanation.
His changes were more volatile than they had been when he had control. His fur was now attuned to his mood, and it ranged from its usual bright blue to navy to black depending on how he felt. It was no longer possible for him to hide his anger or pain anymore, which was good in some ways and irritating or embarrassing in others. Still, he was enjoying himself.
Another thing that had changed was that the others had now joined in with vigor in search of Benefare's journal. Tenderheart had a renewed passion to discover the lost treasure, and they were all eager to know what secrets lay in its pages. They wanted the truth now that they had both sides of the story, and Benefare had been one of the last Care Bears to possess the knowledge that Thunder Bears were friends and not foes.
It was a bright, sunny day almost a month later that Grumpy sensed something approaching. He was resting in his Care-A-Van when a prickle of unease made him shiver. At first, he ignored it. But when the feeling grew stronger, he frowned and sat up. The feeling was negative, he decided, not nearly as strong as the other three Thunder Bears had been. There was also a strong positive force with the uneasy negative. And that negative feeling was familiar. But what was it?
An hour of trying to figure it out left him curious, so he finally got up and walked out into the sunshine. Without thinking, he began to walk toward the feelings. He knew he'd felt the unease before, but he couldn't place it. Idly, he plucked up a handful of Bumbleberries, letting the sweet juices flood his tastebuds as he explored the feeling. He wasn't at all worried as he strolled through the Forest of Feelings, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. Then a shiver went through his Care Bear side, and he looked up to see Tenderheart's beacon.
Panic set in, and he began to run, pushing aside brambles and springing over sparks spur bushes as he berated himself. The brightness of the belly badge beacon was worrying. On the other side of the forest, Grumpy heard Thunderspeak. It was Funshine speaking, his voice shaking and nervous. And then a familiar voice combined with the familiar unease, and Grumpy knew at once where he remembered it.
"They say that you were the one talking before the Thunder Bear came out," the familiar voice rumbled. "But I want the Thunder Bear."
Grumpy paused at the tree line to look out at a large group of Care Bears. Four Thunder Bears stood on the edge of their cloud island, gazing around. Grumpy recognized the three that had visited before, but he sensed no hostility or anger this time. Instead, they looked happy and eager as they looked around. The fourth bear was speaking to Funshine, who looked leery but was obediently translating for Tenderheart.
"He wants Grumpy," Funshine said in English.
"Why?" Tenderheart demanded. "Are they going to take him from us?"
Before Funshine could speak to the bear, excitement nearly made Grumpy burst. His native tongue exploded out as he cried out.
"Maelstrom!"
The four Thunder Bears jumped and looked up. Grumpy lunged forward, shoving past the Care Bears, his eyes glowing blue with joy. Maelstrom was here! His older brother! He hadn't seen him for years! Maelstrom stared curiously at the bright blue bear.
Spritz tilted his head and squinted as Grumpy stopped in front of them. "The belly symbol is close, but it's the wrong color. The whole bear is the wrong color."
Grumpy laughed then threw out his arms. The color change happened immediately. It was so much easier to be black than blue that it took hardly a second. Maelstrom's eyes flashed and he bared his sharp, white teeth.
"Mist!" he crowed and swept him up.
Grumpy let out a crack of thunder in joy as he hugged his older brother. Funshine watched in bewilderment. When Maelstrom released him, Grumpy turned to grin at Funshine. Several of the Care Bears, ones he didn't spend much time with, took a few steps back, but Grumpy ignored them. Tenderheart gazed at him.
"Well?"
"This is my brother," Grumpy explained. "The one who left me here."
"His name?"
"Maelstrom."
"Good. I couldn't translate that," Funshine said. "No idea what it meant. And what is Mist?"
Grumpy chuckled. "It's my name."
"Your name?" Funshine was shocked.
"I wasn't Grumpy Bear to them. My name as a Thunder Bear was Mist."
"What are you saying, little bear?" Maelstrom asked. "We cannot speak that strange tongue."
"Translating your name and explaining mine."
"Explaining yours?" Crumble asked.
"I have a different name in their language."
The four Thunder Bears leaned forward. "And what is that?"
"Grumpy," he replied with a grin.
Maelstrom laughed, the noise splitting the sky. "Grumpy? But you were always the sweetest little cub!"
Grumpy's smile melted and he looked down. "Things changed when you left me here. I changed."
Maelstrom stopped laughing and looked down at his younger brother. "It was the best thing I could do for you. Mama and Papa were still so angry. And the others were getting angry, too."
Grumpy shrugged. "It was best. But that doesn't mean things didn't change."
"Grumpy?" Tenderheart asked, looking to Funshine.
"They're talking about his parents," Funshine said quietly.
Tenderheart placed his warm paw on Grumpy's shoulder. "You okay?"
"I guess," Grumpy muttered.
The Thunder Bears watched with interest. Maelstrom leaned forward and made a noise in the back of his throat, a crackling sound like lightning.
"They care for you."
Grumpy smiled, cupping his black paw over the copper one as he looked up at his brother again. "Yeah. They do. It was a good decision. Things have changed. I've changed, too. But I think the changes are good ones."
Spritz grinned. "Most definitely good!" he boomed. "Considering what you did for us!"
"What did he do?" Funshine asked.
The three Thunder Bears with the positive feelings overflowing from their presence beamed.
"Liberation of course!" Twister exclaimed, his yellow eyes flashing with joy.
"What's liberation?" Funshine asked in English, puzzled by the strange word.
Grumpy pressed his lips together. "Are you sure?"
The three Thunder Bears grinned and nodded. Twister brought his hands up and Maelstrom lit up with black mist, much like what had surrounded the Thunder Bears when Grumpy had been using his powers. Maelstrom frowned and waved away Twister's hands.
"No. You know what the elders said," he scolded. "They want the source to do it. To prove you're telling the truth."
"You can do it now?" Grumpy asked in surprise.
His mind whirled as all three of them inclined their heads in confirmation. He'd done it then. He'd known somewhere in him that he was using a lot of power, but doubts had crept in over the past month. He let out a breath and shook his head, disbelieving what he'd just seen.
"Grumps? What's going on? What's liberation?" Funshine insisted.
"It's what I did for them. I liberated their negative feelings through the storm I created. It's what we Thunder Bears were built to do. And it's something we haven't been able to do since the split."
"But you already knew that you'd done that," Funshine argued.
"I wasn't sure," Grumpy said. "I had no proof. They didn't stay long enough for a confirmation. I guessed I had, but…"
Grumpy looked at the three liberated Thunder Bears, waves of happiness and peace crashing over him from their feelings. And then there was the uneasy prick. He should have known it was Maelstrom. He knew that burden, that pain. He'd lived with it until the attack. Pursing his lips, Grumpy sighed.
"What do the elders want?"
"You to liberate Maelstrom," Spritz said at once. "And if that's successful, to liberate the elders."
Grumpy grimaced. Funshine stepped in.
"That's all well and good, but Grumpy's no magician. It takes tremendous energy to liberate somebody. He was incoherent for almost a week after you three. He needs time and food if he's supposed to do what they say."
There was a thoughtful pause. Then Maelstrom nodded. "Whatever is needed."
"Am I supposed to do it now?" Grumpy asked.
"No, little bear. The elders wish to watch the process. We came here to see if you were willing and able."
"I am."
"Then it's settled," Maelstrom said, clapping his paws. "We shall inform the elders."
Grumpy nodded, but a stab of panic made his heart stutter as the Thunder Bears turned to leave. He couldn't lose his brother again!
"Wait!"
The word was a loud crack that made Funshine and Tenderheart cringe and reach for their ears. The Thunder Bears paused.
"Yes?" Maelstrom asked, surprised.
Grumpy scrambled for an excuse. He looked desperately at Funshine, panic shining out his glowing blue eyes.
"We should invite them to stay the night and have a Share cook some grub," Funshine said to Tenderheart.
Tenderheart lit up. "Of course! Invite them to stay. Share? Do you mind?"
"Happy to help," Share said, already planning an enormous feast.
Grumpy looked relieved and turned to his brother and relayed the invitation. The Thunder Bears were hesitant, but Grumpy looked so excited that they finally accepted.
"What kind of food do Care Bears eat?" Twister asked curiously.
"The best kind, of course," Grumpy said.
The Care Bears scattered, and Grumpy led his brother and the others to the Gloomy Glen to prepare them some beds while Share and several others began to cook. Funshine tagged along, sticking close to Grumpy; his neck was still tender sometimes and he was a bit afraid of how large they were, so he didn't want to leave Grumpy alone with them. When they got there, Maelstrom glanced around at the Care-A-Van and the various items spread around the clearing.
"No house?" Spritz asked in surprise.
"Nope," Grumpy said. "It's just me, so I don't see the point."
"It's nice," Crumble said."But we're not going to fit in that." He pointed at the Care-A-Van.
"I'm going to set up a tent for you."
"We can handle that. Where are the materials?" Maelstrom asked.
Grumpy went into the van and came out with his Carry-All. The Thunder Bears snorted with laughter. Grumpy watched them with raised eyebrows for a moment then plunged his hand into the depths of the bag up to his shoulder. The laughter stopped and Funshine smiled. The Thunder Bears looked fascinated, approaching to gaze in wonder as Grumpy heaved out a large folded cloth.
"Funshine, help me get this out. It's huge," Grumpy grunted.
Funshine hurried over and began to tug on the cloth. When it finally fell out of the bag, the yellow bear could tell it was the tent they used for their parties with the kids. Grumpy yanked all of the pegs and poles out, scattering them on the ground in front of him. The Thunder Bears were properly flummoxed by this point as Grumpy reached in again for his toolbox. Then he looked up at his brother and gave a wicked grin.
"What?" he asked nonchalantly. "It's magic."
"That's some kind of magic, little bear," Maelstrom murmured.
"Better get started," Funshine said. "Share's a fast cook, and a good one. We need to get this up before we go."
Grumpy picked up his tools and began to order everybody around. He knew what to do, and he was unafraid to tell the Thunder Bears what he needed done. Besides Maelstrom, they were at peace. And Maelstrom wouldn't hurt him anyway. He had his brother back, and he was spending the night. Still, he would have to leave the next morning, and Grumpy didn't like that. But it couldn't be helped. If what Maelstrom said was true, he would be back.
Grumpy had to trust his brother. Because if he lost him again, it would hurt even worse than the first time. So he decided to focus on tonight, on spending time with his own people for the first time in years. It was an exciting thought. He just hoped the Care Bears would be okay with them being here. There was nothing he could do to change their minds any faster. Some of them were still wary of him, and he was a runt. But things had to change, and this was a good start.
