Care Bears III: The Search for Timid Heart
Chapter 2:
Back in No Heart's castle, the villains were hard at work gathering ingredients for a special spell. The Spirit had given them an incredibly long list of supplies they would need to put the spell into action. The ingredients were tossed in a massive smoking cauldron. But there was still much work to do.
"Make haste." The Spirit ordered. "Gather all you can here, but many of the ingredients will need to be found outside this castle."
Beastly weakly emptied a sack of ingredients into the cauldron, then sighed and sunk to his knees.
"I'm exhausted! We've been at this for hours. What is this spell supposed to do again?"
"It will render those bears completely helpless." The Spirit answered, annoyed.
"Oh, right! Umm...how?"
"ENOUGH!" The Spirit snapped at Beastly, who yelped and hid behind the cauldron. "We're wasting time. Get back to wor..."
Suddenly, an unseen force pulsated through the castle. So powerful, it knocked the Spirit and the bottle containing Dark Heart off the table, and the others off their feet. It also caused them all to feel a strong wave of pain. No Heart cried out, for the powerful jolt hurt him the most, but all the villains moaned miserably, all affected by the strange phenomenon.
Shreeky sat up, rubbing her lower back. "Wha...what was that?"
"I dunno..." Beastly answered with a grunt. "But it really hurt."
"So...much...caring." No Heart groaned, grasping at his chest. "Spirit...what...what just happened? Where...did that come from?"
A muffled noise came from the floor near the table. The open book was face down on the ground.
"Gah! Beastly! Pick up the Book and put her back on the table!" No Heart ordered.
Beastly let out a long groan. "But, No Heart! I'm hurt too..."
"NOW!" The wizard roared.
Beastly quickly jumped to his feet and made a beeline for the book.
"Hey...can someone put me back on the table too-OOOO!" Dark Heart requested before Beastly kicked him across the floor as he made his way to the book.
The bottle went rolling across the room and banged into a wall, leaving Dark Heart jostled and dizzy.
"THANKS!" He shouted sarcastically.
Beastly gently picked up the book and set it back on the table. The Spirit spat the dirt out of her mouth and stretched her jaw a few times, as though it were sore. She scowled at the other villains.
"That..." She stopped to catch her breath. "...Was a very powerful burst of love."
"Dees-gusting!" Shreeky grimaced.
Cold Heart struggled to his feet, grappling at the wall. "Well that burst of...love..." He said the word as though it tasted like poison. "...Almost broke my hip!"
"Where did it come from?" No Heart asked again, regaining enough strength to get back on his feet.
"I...I don't know." The Spirit sighed. "It seems to have temporarily weakened my power. But I do know what it means."
"Tell us." No Heart said sullenly.
"No, no! Don't mind me!" Dark Heart called again from across the room. "I'll just stay here on the floor."
"It was a sign..." The Spirit continued. "It means that destiny has set our plan into motion. We must not waste anymore time. We must continue with the spell. It will take a long time to get it just right. Quickly, back to work!"
The other villains weakly set out again to start collecting more items. The pulse of caring weakened them all, but they were all willing to continue on, for the good-or rather, the bad-of the plan.
"You're all seriously just going to leave me down here?!" Dark Heart snapped at them all as they passed him.
The Spirit rolled her eyes. "Someone put him back up here." She ordered halfheartedly.
Shreeky snatched the bottle on her way out and tossed it carelessly over her shoulder. Dark Heart howled wildly as he flew through the air. Miraculously he landed on the table, only to tumble sideways against the pages of the open book.
Alone in the dark room together, the Spirit looked down at Dark Heart and grinned.
"Wishing we had a body again, don't we?"
Dark Heart's eyes narrowed into tiny glowing slits. "Don't talk to me." He growled.
The Spirit flipped her pages, righting Dark Heart's bottle. His eyes popped open briefly in surprise of the gesture before narrowing to their usual scowl.
"Do not feel ashamed. I too, long for the convenience of having a body. We are in the same predicament, you and I."
"You are NOT in the same predicament as me. YOU still have power. I've been relegated to the life of a snow-globe. I have no power, no rights. They've all been taken from me. So don't you tell me we are in the same boat, because we're not."
"Would you like a new body? All your powers? Your freedom?"
Dark Heart's eyes widened a bit more.
"I can make it happen, you know." The Spirit offered. "I can help you."
"In exchange for what?" He asked suspiciously, once again bringing his eyes to a sharp narrow. "Surely you demand something in return. So what it is you want from me?"
"Your help, of course." Her voice became soft and breathy, as though she were speaking to a lover. "I wasn't lying when I told you you shouldn't have lost to those bears. You almost defeated them. You were so close. Were it not for that distraction, you would have been...victorious. You can be victorious. You WILL be victorious, this time..."
"I have no interest in any form of revenge on those dumb little bears." He grumbled.
"Ah, but you DO have interest in getting your freedom. And you shall have it. You shall have it all. But we cannot defeat the bears without you. We need you, Dark Heart. I need you. Do this for us...for me...and you shall have your powers back, and a new body. And you will never again have to be at the mercy of No Heart. What do you say?"
Her voice was lulling and tempted him greatly. But his stubbornness was powerful as well.
"I'll...I'll think about it." He finally replied, his voice conveying genuine interest.
The Spirit smirked to herself.
After several hours of work, all ingredients that could be found in the castle had been collected, and the exhausted villains now rested in the dark cold room.
The sun rose, rays of light filtering through the storm clouds that surrounding the castle. The Spirit eyed the sunlight, then looked over at a large wall near the cauldron.
"Professor." She commanded in almost a whisper.
Cold Heart, sitting with his back against the cauldron, lifted his head tiredly.
"We need a mirror. Accommodate us."
He looked at the wall the Spirit gestured to, then sighed. "Very well."
He struggled to his feet, still weak from the work and the pulse of love earlier in the night. He pointed his frosty finger at the wall and with a chilling glow and freezing breeze, a blast of ice exploded from the withered digit and hit the wall. When the snow cleared, a massive full-sized sheet of reflective ice coated the wall.
Cold Heart sunk back down, his legs folding under him. He leaned against the cauldron again, panting.
"Excellent." The Spirit smiled.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her pages flipped violently across her face and she whispered an unsettling incantation. The sheet of ice on the wall cracked, glowed and finally took on an almost liquid-like appearance.
Slowly, the very image of Care-a-Lot appeared in the mirror. It was still at first, but then the image came to life with movement, almost like they were seeing it from a window. As the image became more lively, the Care Bears and Cousins came into view. They all appeared to be talking about something important. A few moments later, their words become audible.
The villains gathered closely around the mirror, watching and listening intently.
All the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins were gathered around the Hall of Hearts. They chattered and whispered among themselves, confused over the unusually early emergency meeting. At the front of the crowd stood Tender Heart, who was immediately joined by Grumpy Bear.
Grumpy yawned and stretched, then tiredly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"What's going on Tender Heart?"
"I'm not sure Grumpy Bear. All I know is, Grams Bear got an emergency message from a shooting star all the way from The Kingdom of Caring."
"A shooting star?" Grumpy gasped. "Gosh, those are only for the biggest emergencies! I hope Noble Heart and True Heart are okay."
Immediately after Grumpy finished his sentence, Grams Bear rushed out of the Hall of Hearts, waving the message wildly.
"Attention everyone! Get into the nearest Cloud Roller or Cloud Car immediately! Noble Heart and True Heart need our help! I'll explain on the way!"
Everyone scattered, climbing into their vehicles and speeding off towards the birthplace of the Care Bears Family.
The trip that normally took a leisurely couple hours was made in record time. Breathless, the Family gathered around outside the very place they were brought as cubs so long ago. But the nostalgia of the moment would have to wait. True Heart and Noble Heart exited the castle and hurriedly made their way towards the crowd, flanked on both sides by several concerned looking Star Buddies. Their faces seemed grim, especially True Heart's. Tender Heart and Grumpy exchanged worried looks.
Everyone fell silent as True Heart proceeded.
"As...Grams Bear has informed...you." She paused, taking a few deep breaths. "We were blessed last night with a wonderful gift from the Wishing Star. A new cousin..." She paused again, closed her eyes for a moment, then continued. "Baby...Timid Heart...Wolf." She paused yet again, swallowed, sighed, and went on. "But, sometime late last night, he...he must have escaped his bed and...and..." She bit her lower lip, and quiet sob escaped.
Noble Heart stepped forward. "Sometime last night, Little Timid Heart escaped. We...we believe he tumbled down to Earth."
The crowd gasped in horror.
"Don't worry; we sent some Star Buddies down and they reported seeing paw prints and human foot prints around where we believe he landed. He's alright." Noble Heart quickly cleared up.
The crowed sighed in relief.
"However..." True Heart took over again, surprising Noble Heart. "...We need to send teams down to search for him! The Great Wishing Star informed us that Timid Heart has a very important Care Mission that he must be trained for. We cannot risk that sensitive little pup being taken off that path. We must find him as quickly as possible. The problem is, the footprints led into a very large wilderness. He is probably in extreme danger. We cannot ignore the rest of the world and still have a job to help people Care. Until Timid Heart Wolf is found, we are going to have to work extra hard, splitting up our time between helping the world, and searching for our little cousin. We will do our part." She looked at Noble Heart, and nodded. "With that being said, half of you go back to Care-a-Lot to start your missions for the day. The other half of you, follow the Star Buddies to Earth and start searching. Teams will rotate between caring missions and the search for Timid Heart. We will not rest until we find him." She nodded to the Star Buddies, who scattered out towards the rest of the Family.
The crowed cheered briefly and went began to work out who would start the search and who would head back to Care-a-Lot for the days work. Tender Heart watched as the two Care Takers headed back inside the castle. He started up the stairs towards them.
Once inside, Noble Heart sighed and smiled gently. True Heart stood in front of him, facing away. Noble Heart put his paw on her back.
"You were very strong out there, True Heart. I'm proud of you." She shuddered under his touch, and he pricked his ears to her gentle whimpers. "True Heart?"
She turned to face him, her eyes filled with tears that streamed down her face, leaving behind a slender trail of dark, wet fur.
"Oh, Noble Heart!" She cried, throwing herself into his arms. "I'm so worried! I'm...so...worried..." She sobbed out the last sentence, trembling fiercely. "What if we don't find him? What if something horrible has happened to him?" She cried loudly, burying her face in his mane.
Noble Heart had never seen his dear friend so distressed. He held her tightly, leaning his head against hers.
"There, there, True Heart. Don't say things like that. We'll find him. No matter how long it takes. I promise we'll find him."
True Heart continued to cry her heart out while Noble Heart caressed and comforted her.
Tender Heart watched from the door, his face sullen with worry. He quietly backed out, shutting the door. Surely True Heart would not want anyone to see her like this.
"Hey, Tender Heart."
Tender Heart jumped at the touch of Grumpy's paw. It caused Grumpy to jump as well. He gave an annoyed grunt.
"Whoa, what's the matter with you?" He snapped.
"Grumpy!" Tender Heart shouted almost involuntarily. He suddenly had an idea, and Grumpy's presence helped spark it. He grabbed the blue bear's arm while scouring the crowd in search of another. "Now, where's..." He whispered to himself.
Grumpy raised a suspicious brow. "Uh...what're you doing?"
Tender Heart then spotted who he was looking for. "Hugs and Tugs! Hey! Over here!" He called, waving Grumpy's arm up and down.
Grumpy pulled his arm away. "Tender Heart! What's gotten into you?"
Hugs and Tugs jogged over to them. "What's up guys?" Hugs asked.
"Are you 2 going on the search or back to Care-a-Lot?" Tugs inquired.
Tender Heart said nothing, but motioned for the other 3 to follow him behind the castle. They followed reluctantly. Once safely concealed, the questions began.
"Alright, so what's the big idea?" Grumpy asked first.
"Guys...last night, just after midnight, I had woken up to get a quick snack, and was on my way back to bed when the Caring Meter suddenly went up a few points." Tender Heart spouted out quickly.
The other three looked at each other curiously.
"Big deal." Grumpy said first. "The Caring Meter has been off since that time Dark Heart pretended to be the Caring Meter Reader and messed with it. Granted, it's never gone up before, but whatever it did last night shouldn't be taken too seriously."
"That's right Tender Heart." Tugs agreed. "It's why Hugs and I invented the GCS. The Caring Meter just isn't reliable anymore, and the technology is too outdated to repair it."
"But that's not the only thing." Tender Heart continued, looking over his shoulder quickly to see if they were being watched. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "There was this strange pulse that shook up all the clouds before the Meter went up. It felt..warm, and happy. It felt like...a lot of caring."
"So what do you think it means?" Grumpy asked, a little intrigued.
"I'm not sure...but it seems to coincide with Timid Heart's disappearance." Tender Heart deduced, rubbing his chin.
"But how do you know it has anything to do with Timid Heart?" Hugs asked next.
"That's the thing. I don't. It's why I didn't bring it up to True Heart. She seems to be taking this really bad. I saw her crying in the castle. And I don't want to get her hopes up, or anyone else's for that matter. But I just think it's too coincidental to ignore. I think we should look into it." Tender Heart finished with a nod.
"How?" Grumpy scoffed, crossing his arms.
Tender Heart looked over at the new graduates. "With Hugs and Tugs invention."
"But Tender Heart, our invention looks for Uncaring signals." Hugs reminded him.
"True. But isn't there a way to make a second GCS that looks for strong Caring signals?"
The two thought for a moment, then Tugs snapped his fingers. "Well sure! We just have to reverse the system! It shouldn't take very long."
"That's perfect!" Tender Heart cheered. "If another pulse of Caring happens, I'll be able to track it. If that pulse last night really was coming from Timid Heart, the new system should make it easy to pinpoint where it's coming from if it happens again."
"Oh goody goody gosh, Tender Heart! Do you really think it will work?" Hugs excitedly embraced him.
Tender Heart released a small giggle. "I don't know Hugs! But I sure hope so. It's the only thing we have to go on. Trying to find him in that big wilderness could take forever. So maybe we can track him instead."
"Hey you guys!" Brave Heart Lion's voice called out, startling them. "Are you gonna help or not? Come on! We still need 2 more to go back to Care-a-Lot."
"We'll go!" Tugs volunteered himself and his sister. He quickly winked at Tender Heart. "Don't worry, we're on it." He whispered.
"We're counting on you two." Tender Heart whispered back. "And so is Timid Heart."
Hugs and Tugs nodded in unison before taking off towards their cloud cars.
Brave Heart watched in confusion then turned to Grumpy and Tender Heart.
"What were you guys talking about?" The lion inquired curiously, scratching his head.
"Don't worry about it, Brave Heart." Tender Heart insisted. "We gotta focus on the important thing"
"Right! Let's go find our little cousin! CHARGE!" Brave Heart made a bee line for one of the cloud rollers.
Grumpy looked worriedly at Tender Heart. "Do you really think we'll be able to find Timid Heart with Hugs and Tugs invention?"
Tender Heart signed, staring off into the middle distance. "I sure hope so, Grumpy Bear. I sure hope so."
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, out of range of the desperate calls of the Care Bear Family, little Timid Heart Wolf snuggled contently against Colette's body, safe and warm in the little make shift tent. The girl smiled, draping her arm over the pup and pulling him closer.
The mirror in the villains lair focused on the wolf pup and the girl. The Spirit narrowed her eyes, grinning.
"There you are." She hissed.
"The leader of the bears said that wolf pup has an important care mission. It sounds like it will grow up to be a big threat to us." No Heart pointed out. "It must be our target."
"Correct." The Spirit confirmed. "When the time is right, we will go capture it. Once it is in our possession, we will inform the Bears that we have it. They will all come. Every last one of them. And when they do, our spell will be ready."
"Me and Beastly can go get the little mutt now!" Shreeky proclaimed. "C'mon Beastly."
The two started towards the door.
"NO!" The Spirit shouted, bringing Shreeky and Beastly to an instant halt; but not before Beastly crashed into Shreeky, earning him a punch in the head. "I said 'when the time is right'." The Spirit clarified. "If you go out there now, even if you find him, the Care Bears and their Cousins are everywhere around that forest. They would discover you and defeat you with ease. Then they will have the wolf. No, our time must be spent preparing the spell. All of you, get back to work collecting the ingredients! It will take a long time to cook the spell, and those Bears won't be finding that wolf pup anytime soon. It is not foreseen. We have time and we must spend it wisely. The time will be right when the spell is ready, and not a moment before then."
Cold Heart, No Heart, Shreeky and Beastly looked at one another suspiciously.
"GO." The Spirit commanded, causing lightning to crack outside. "GO NOW."
The villains quickly got to their feet, grabbed their empty bags and headed out the door to start the arduous process of collecting all the ingredients. Once again, the Spirit and Dark Heart were alone in the castle.
After several minutes of silence, Dark Heart spoke up.
"Spirit."
She smirked. "Yes, Dark Heart?"
"I have made my decision."
"Oh?"
"I will help you." He said solemnly. "In exchange for a new body and my powers, I will retrieve the wolf myself when the time is right."
The Spirit's mouth curled even more to form a wicked, threatening smile. "A wise decision indeed. After all, we couldn't do it without you..."