Care Bears III: The Search for Timid Heart
Chapter 4:
It was late afternoon by the time True Heart returned to Care-a-Lot. She slid out of her cloud car and slowly made her way towards the Hall of Heart in a zombie-state. Flashes from the horrific event she'd witnessed earlier in the day replayed in her mind. The spray of blood. The cries of pain from the boys. The stone cold face of the brutish girl as she mercilessly and savagely attacked them.
The waves and greetings of her peers seemed distant as she passed them, not even offering them her gaze. She entered the Hall of Hearts and walked over to the map that hung in the central room. She stared at it for several moments before shakily reaching for a red peg. The map was decorated with green pegs, each indicating a successful mission. She looked broken heartidly at the 1,000 acre forest and with a slow blink, pressed the red peg into the map. The gasps of those around her was inaudible to her ears. A failed mission. Failed because one beastly young girl had to come and make things worse.
She was bombarded with questions from the others, but she barely heard them. Still in a state of shock, she simply pushed passed them and ascended the stairs, her mouth slightly agape.
The others who had witnessed her odd behavior; Cheer Bear, Good Luck Bear, Brave Heart Lion, Friend Bear, Secret Bear and Wish Bear, all watched in silence as True Heart disappeared up the stairs. Noble Heart Horse, also present, watched her go, worriedly scratching his head. He immediately felt the gaze of the others upon him. He reciprocated their concerned looks and nodded.
"Don't worry, everyone. I'll go see what happened." He said before quickly hopping up the stairs.
The others stayed behind, muttering theories among themselves.
Noble Heart reached the top of the stairs and turned, entering a private room. True Heart sat on a sofa, her paws on her lap, staring blankly. Noble Heart walked over and quietly sat beside her. He looked into her expressionless face.
"True Heart?" He started calmly. "What happened today? Why was your mission unsuccessful?"
She sat there in silence. But her trembling lip suggested something bad had happened.
"True Heart?" He tried again.
Without warning, True Heart burst into tears, shoving her face into her quivering paws.
"Oh Noble Heart it was awful!" She sobbed. "They weren't doing anything to deserve it! She just came out of nowhere and started beating them!"
Noble Heart sat there, shocked. "What? Who? I-I don't understand..." He put his arm around her in an attempt to console her. "Please, slow down..."
"There was so much...blood..." She gasped.
Noble Heart's eyes widened. "Blood!? What do you mean? Aw, True Heart..."
He decided the best thing to do was just stay with her until she calmed down. But he had never seen his companion so shaken before. So traumatized. So emotionally unable to receive his help. And that's when he realized...
True Heart had been struck with a case of Care Scare.
Now, just about every Care Bear and Care Bear Cousin stood around the bottom of the stair case, curious and worried.
Tender Heart, fresh from a successful mission, entered the Hall of Hearts and stared confused at the gathering.
"Hey, Wish Bear, what's going on?" He queried.
"It's terrible." She answered. "True Heart had an unsuccessful mission that seems to have really shook her up. She didn't tell anyone what happened though. But she seems really upset."
"Gosh." Tender Heart gushed. "I sure hope she's alright."
"Noble Heart is talking to her now." Wish Bear informed.
"That's good. If anyone can calm her down, it's Noble Heart."
"How did your mission go, Tender Heart?" She asked politely.
"It went fine." He nodded. "I'm gonna go mark the map now."
He walked over to the map and grabbed a green peg. He eyed the map for a moment, found the location of his mission, and pressed the peg into the map. His eyes then wandered down to True Heart's red peg. He lowered his brows suspiciously.
"Is...is this where True Heart had an unsuccessful mission?" He asked.
Wish Bear nodded. "That's right. In that thousand acre forest where she suspected Timid Heart Wolf landed when he got lost last year."
Tender Heart stared suspiciously at the location of the peg. "It can't be." He whispered to himself.
He wasted no time in scurrying out of the Hall of Hearts. He returned a few minutes later with his own map. He unrolled it and held it next to the main map. His eyes widened.
"Oh my gosh...it is!"
"It is what?" Grumpy inquired from behind, startling Tender Heart.
"Grumpy!" Tender Heart shouted irritably. "When did you get back?"
"Just now." Grumpy answered with a grunt. "What're you so excited about? And why is everyone gathered in here looking at the stairs? Did they forget how to go up?"
Tender Heart looked back over at the crowd before lowering his voice.
"Look at this Grumpy." He held up his own map next to the main one. "I tracked a burst of love this morning to this very location. And look here! True Heart just got back from a failed mission in the same area! Within a half mile of each other!"
"So what?" Grumpy scoffed. "What's that got to do with everyone staring up the stairs like they have no idea how to use them?"
"True Heart just returned from a failed mission in that exact location." He repeated. " And from what Wish Bear told me, it upset her very much. She won't even tell anyone what happened, she was so upset."
"If she's so upset why is no one trying to talk to her and make her feel better or at least try to find out what's going on?"
"Noble Heart is trying now, but Grumpy, listen!" Tender Heart lowered his voice even more. "It's the same forest Timid Heart supposedly disappeared into when he fell from the Kingdom of Caring last year. The same forest I've been tracking those bursts of love."
Grumpy narrowed his eyes as he began piecing the puzzle together.
"So...you're saying, you think Timid Heart is in that forest?" He pointed to the red peg. "In that spot?"
Tender Heart nodded slowly, raising just one eyebrow. Grumpy sighed.
"We're going to go look for him there, aren't we?"
"We're going right now." Tender Heart said, making his way towards the door, grabbing Grumpy's paw.
Grumpy groaned pathetically as Tender Heart led him away. "Ugh, I JUST got back! Can't we go tomorrow?"
"No, Grumpy. We can't."
"Well, why not?" He complained.
Tender Heart stopped and turned abruptly, staring hard into the blue bear's eyes.
"Because...I think Timid Heart needs our help. There's a reason why True Heart was so upset about her mission down in that forest. I think Timid Heart is in trouble."
Grumpy stared back for moment before nodding bravely.
"Well, why are we standing around here then? Let's go find our little cousin."
With that, the 2 slipped out of the Hall of Hearts and into a cloud roller.
Meanwhile, Wish Bear, Friend Bear and Secret Bear watched them suspiciously from the doorway, their ears perked curiously.
Back in No Heart's castle, the villains were putting the final touches on the Spirit's special spell. No Heart himself sprinkled the last ingredient into the cauldron. There was a blast of light that emanated from the stew, culminating in a vibrant rainbow before suddenly turning gray and disintegrating back into the boiling pot. The goulash of ingredients bubbled a sickening pale green color.
"That's it." No Heart boasted. "The final ingredient."
"Yes." The Spirit smirked. "The spell is complete."
Cold Heart looked into the cauldron and sneered. "And just what is this concoction supposed to do?"
"Well, I can explain it to you, Professor. Or I can demonstrate. All we need is..."
"The wolf!" Shreeky cheered. "Finally, we can go get that little mutt! C'mon, Beastly!"
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" Beastly clapped as he followed Shreeky to the door.
"Not you." The Spirit snapped, stopping the two in their tracks.
Shreeky crossed her arms and scowled. "Excuse me?"
The Spirit glared at the petulant young teen. "Sending you would ruin all that we have worked for. You are destined to fail."
Deeply offended, Shreeky balled up her fists and growled.
"Is this a job for me, Spirit?" No Heart stepped forward.
"It is not." She said simply.
The eyes in the room shifted to Cold Heart, who threw up his hands in protest. "Well don't look at me! I'm not traipsing around that forest!"
"No Professor." The Spirit said. "This mission is for someone stronger. One who is destined to succeed. There is only one choice."
Instantly, all eyes were on the bottle on the shelf. The glowing eyes of Dark Heart's essence narrowed, but not in anger. Though the cloud of evil had no mouth, he seemed to be smiling.
"Him?!" No Heart chuckled. "How can a bottle of impotent rage capture the wolf?"
Dark Heart's eyes immediately fell into a scowl.
"I will be returning his powers, of course." The Spirit stated matter-of-factly.
No Heart's amusement faded into concern. He approached the book and leaned over, whispering.
"With all due respect, great Spirit, I do not think that is entirely wise. You see, Dark Heart can not be trusted. If you give him his powers, you must be aware that he will leave and not come back. Surely you have foreseen this."
The Spirit thought for a moment. "A persuasive argument indeed. But it has been foreseen that he will bring us what we need. No one else can do this. What then, No Heart, do you recommend?"
A hush fell over the room as the 2 whispered among themselves. Shreeky, Beastly and Cold Heart listened intently, straining to hear the conversation. Even Dark Heart seemed to be pressed against the bottle with extreme interest.
Finally, a decision had been made. No Heart stepped away from the book and gave a single nod. The Spirit flipped through her pages, reciting an incantation. The bottle began to shake and finally was lifted into the air. It hovered across the room to the book and began to spin. The incantation flowed from the Spirit at a faster pace, causing the bottle to spin faster and glow a deep red color. As she continued, No Heart removed the powerful amulet from around his neck and, after a moment of what seemed to be reluctance, he tossed it at the spinning, glowing bottle. In a flash of red and a burst of smoke, the bottle cracked and shattered.
The others struggled to see through the thick miasma. As it slowly cleared, a figure became visible. Tall, lean and clothed in red and black pants and jacket, a ginger-headed young man appeared before them. Dark Heart's new form seemed relatively similar to his previous one, only several year older; evident by the small patch of ginger that sprouted from his chin.
Dark Heart stood, eyes closed and grinning, embracing the simple pleasure of having a new body.
He took a deep lung full of air as he stretch his arms to the sky, and exhaled in a relaxing sigh.
"Ahh...does it feel good to be free once more!" He groaned in ecstasy.
The Spirit gave him a quick side-eyed glare of envy before forcing a grin; her face even paler than before. "Yes. Enjoy it while you can. For you never know when someone will take that freedom away from you."
"Oh, I'm not worried about that." Dark Heart boasted. "Once I retrieve the wolf for you, I shall revel in the joy of my true freedom. For now, let's test out my powers..."
"Not so fast, you." No Heart growled, gripping Dark Heart's shoulder and digging in his claws. "Your current powers are limited to a single transformation. Into a flying creature. To be used ONLY once you've captured the wolf. My amulet will provide you with that one transformation."
"What!?" Dark Heart roared. He glanced down, seeing the amulet embedded in his chest.
"You heard me, you little worm." No Heart tugged at him, digging his claws even deeper into his shoulder. "No fighting, no fooling around. I don't trust letting you go with that much power. You bring back the wolf, you get the rest of your abilities. You fail, it's back to the bottle with you! Understand?"
Dark Heart glared furiously at his father. "Very well." He hissed begrudgingly.
"Humph! I still don't trust him, Uncle No Heart! Who's to say he won't run off with your amulet once he gets to earth?" Shreeky accused.
Dark Heart shot her a spiteful glare as well. "I always hated you." He grumbled at his cousin maliciously.
"You're right, Shreeky. He can't be trusted with any power, even a small amount." No Heart agreed. "Spirit, would sending a chaperon along still result in success?"
"A chaperon?" Dark Heart choked in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?!"
The Spirit raised a brow and grinned. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
Shreeky smiled and giggled, cracking her knuckles confidently.
"You there." The Spirit gestured. "Hideous pig creature. You will accompany him."
Shreeky gasped in shock, slowly looking down at the equally stunned Beastly, whose jaw hung open.
"M-m-m-me?" He stammered nervously.
"HIM?!" Shreeky squealed in a rage.
Dark Heart rolled his eyes. "Oh for crying out loud!"
"Enough!" No Heart shouted. "You've wasted enough time already. Begone, both of you! You have one job. Don't mess it up." With a wave of his hand, Dark Heart and Beastly slowly started to disappear.
Dark Heart looked over at the book as he slowly dissipated. She caught his gaze and narrowed her eyes.
"Don't you dare return empty-handed." She warned just before Dark Heart and Beastly disappeared.
In the thousand acre forest below, Dark Heart and Beastly appeared among the foliage. Once fully integrated, Dark Heart started forward, eyeing his surroundings. Beastly followed meekly, uncertain of his new partner. They entered a clearing and found themselves on the shore of a modest lake. Dark Heart scoured across it, eyes widening when he spotted something.
"So...um...where do we find the wolf..." Beastly started, only to be yanked by his tie into some bushes by Dark Heart.
"Quiet!" He demanded. "Or she'll see us!"
Beastly glanced across the lake. Sure enough, there was a girl on the other side, sitting on a rock. She looked sad.
"Who is that?" Beastly asked.
"Idiot. Don't you recognize her? That's the wolf's caretaker. Anytime we'd watch the wolf through Cold Heart's mirror, she was with it."
"Well, if she's here...then where's the wolf?" Beastly asked again, a touch of worry in his voice.
Dark Heart narrowed his eyes. "That's exactly what we're going to find out." He tightened his grip on Beastly's tie and pulled him closer. "Listen carefully..."
He leaned over and began whispering in Beastly's ear.
Colette sat on the boulder, her sad eyes locked on her reflection in the rippling water. She'd been searching for Timid Heart for hours with no luck. She sighed, wiping a tear from her large black eyes, and brushing some stray black hairs away from her face.
"Beastly!"
She immediately jumped to her feet at the sound of the strange voice. She looked around and spotted a tall red haired boy coming from around the other side of the lake, walking towards her. She quickly picked up a large stick.
"Beastly? Here boy! C'mon!" The boy continued to call, seemingly unaware of the girl he was fast approaching. His eyes suddenly met her suspicious gaze. "Oh...hello there." He greeted in a friendly manner.
He was instantly met with her untrusting glare, followed by the stick. She thrust it at him, stopping just inches from his face. He gasped and stopped in his tracks, holding his hands up innocently.
"Whoa...okay." He nervously coughed out, finishing with an uncertain grin. Clearly she wasn't friendly.
"Who are you?" She demanded fiercely, holding the stick to his face.
It took Dark Heart a moment to regain his composure.
"It's okay! I don't want any trouble! I'm from the camp on the other side of the mountain." He spat out quickly.
Colette's gaze hardened as she thrust the stick even closer.
"I didn't ask where you were from." She growled. "I asked who you were."
Dark Heart grinned slightly. This one seemed more suspicious and more clever than Christy did.
"Forgive me. My name is Da...erm...Dirk. Dirk Hart. I'm camping with my family. It's nice to meet you...Miss?" He shakily held his hand out, still eyeing the stick that threatened to pop him in the nose at any second.
But Colette gradually lowered the weapon, her gaze softening slightly. "Oh...umm, I'm Colette." She suspiciously reached for his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Sorry for almost attacking you. I kinda had a rough morning."
Dark Heart let go a sigh of relief, happy that the stick was no longer a threat. "Understandable." He chuckled nervously. "Anyway, I'm sorry to bother you. I was just looking for my dog, Beastly. Have you seen him?"
Colette set the stick down, curiously eying the stranger. "Your dog?"
"Yes." He cleared his voice, removing all traces of nervousness. "We were walking in the woods, you see. And I guess he saw something and took off after it. I've been trying to find him ever since."
Colette lowered her gaze, feeling a touch of guilt for almost attacking someone who seemed to just be looking for his lost pet. She looked back at the stranger, her voice softer.
"I'm sorry, I haven't seen any dogs all morning. What does he look like?"
Dark Heart smiled confidently. "Oh, he's just a little brown mutt. Ugliest thing you'd ever see, really!" He laughed.
From the some bushes not too far away, Beastly peeked out, a scowl on his face at the insult.
Colette managed a small smile herself. "Sorry. I've spent the morning looking for my wo...um, dog, as well. He ran off a couple hours ago."
Dark Heart narrowed his eyes into a smug grin. "Well now...maybe we should look for our dogs together. Who knows...they might be off in a field somewhere playing with each other. Whatdoya say?"
Colette smiled coyly and nodded. "Yeah. Alright. Let's do that." She started towards the forest, feeling a bit more confident that she may find her precious Timmy with this boy's help.
Dark Heart followed, his lips curled into his signature evil smirk. "Wonderful."
About a mile away, Timid Heart was at the edge of a field, curled in a ball. His eyes half closed, he lay recovering from his horrific morning, breathing into his tail and watching, hypnotized, as the fur swayed to and from with every breath. In his trance-like state, he didn't even hear the whirring noises coming from above.
Tender Heart and Grumpy landed their cloud car in a field of wild grass. They got out and looked over their surroundings. Grumpy lifted his head at the sound of more whirring. He tapped Tender Heart's shoulder.
"Looks like we have company." He gestured upward.
Tender Heart looked up to see 2 more cloud cars. They landed next to theirs and Wish Bear, Friend Bear and Secret Bear got out to join them.
"What're you guys doing here?" Tender Heart asked, a touch of worry in his voice.
"We should be asking you the same thing." Wish Bear said, arms crossed.
"Secret Bear said he overheard you two talking about Timid Heart Wolf." Friend Bear informed. Secret Bear nodded in agreement. "He said that you 2 found him. Is it true?"
Tender Heart sighed. "We didn't find him, but I suspect he may be somewhere around here."
"But how do you know?" Wish Bear insisted.
"I don't know for sure if he is or not, but I suspect it. I'll explain later. Right now, we're just looking. Since you're here, you can help." Tender Heart finished, slightly annoyed, but remaining hopeful.
So the Bears separated and went to work scouring the area. Wish Bear and Grumpy searched through the tall grass in the middle of the field. Secret Bear and Friend Bear peeked behind the rocks and shrubs. They looked around a suspicious looking indentation in the center of the field where new plant life was coming through. They scratched their heads, wondering what could have made such a large impact in the ground and why the plants there seemed younger than the plants in the rest of the field.
Tender Heart began searching the edges of the field, peering into the woods as he went along. He felt something brush his foot. He looked down and noticed a cluster of long, deep blue fur snagged in the grass. He picked it up and studied it. It was coarse and each hair was tipped with black.
Could it be...wolf fur?
He walked forward a bit more, and found another cluster. He collected it, and every other bunch of fur he found until his paw was full of the black-tipped blue bundles. Crawling on his knees now, he looked ahead and in the bushes just in front of him, he saw a large cluster of blue fur tipped with black. He crawled over to it, grabbed it and gave a quick pull to loosen it from the tangle of bushes.
There was a sharp yelp as the fresh bundle was ripped from his grasping paw. The creature it belonged to whipped around to face the intruder. Tender Heart gasped, his body frozen and his eyes bulging.
He sat, breathless, staring into the big, yellow, confused eyes of Timid Heart Wolf.