The storm was almost upon them, and John knew he had to do something to protect his little family. He broke off his kiss with Pocahontas reluctantly. "Baby, we must find shelter. Your eyes are better than mine. Help me to look. Get your babies to stay under the seat. It's the safest place right now."
A sigh had broken from Pocahontas' lips when John's delicious mouth had left hers, and it had taken her brain realizing the danger that her loved ones were in to keep her from recapturing the most wonderful taste her mouth had ever been blessed with. Still, she clung to him not only because of the storm and the ferocious winds that threatened to knock her off of her feet but far more because of her desperate need to be with him, to be reassured while never having to speak a word that she was not dreaming and that they had really managed to escape Disney into a world where they could at long last be happy together, no matter what. Pocahontas' brown eyes cast a quick glimpse over her shoulder at the canoe, and she smiled at the way the seat shook from her poor, frightened darlings. "I do not think that will be a problem, my love."
"That's good," John said. A jagged streak of lightning lit up the storm-tossed sky, and for a moment, John thought he saw an opening in the side of the hill. "Is that a cave, darling?" he asked. "Perhaps its inhabitants might allow us to come in during the storm?"
Pocahontas' gaze followed her love's, and she nodded in thought. "Perhaps." She left the warmth and safety of his embrace, a forbidden embrace her every fiber had ached desperately for for so long, to begin walking towards the cave. The winds ripped at her hair and clothes, and the rain pelted her body. The lightning continued to light up the sky, one bolt striking only a few inches from her, but the Native American Princess continued walking elegantly, her slender, agile body at its full height and her head held high despite the storm.
John followed so close that if she had stopped walking, he would have bumped straight into her. It took them only seconds to reach the cave's entrance, but the wind pulled at them so strongly that it felt much longer. He had no light so the only thing he knew to do was to just walk straight in. He listened carefully but could hear nothing inside. "Do you hear or see anything?" he asked her.
The storm raged outside, but inside the cave, it was perfectly quiet and still. The only sounds were the soft breathing of the two humans, the pounding of their heartbeats, and the slight drip-drip-drop that came every now and again from somewhere deeper in the dark. Pocahontas could see the outlines of the cave's interior and that its mouth opened up into miles and miles of a darker, far more cavernous throat. She neither saw nor heard any sign of danger, but still she knew they were not alone.
The towering figure wrapped in pitch black shadows came hurtling at them without warning and with all the swift ferocity of the storm outside. It headed straight for John, a paw the width of an oak tree's trunk slashing out at him. Pocahontas moved with equal swiftness, placing herself between John and the bear. She brought her hand up before the paw's onslaught, and her eyes raised upwards in search of the bear's face.
The paw stopped, and the bear looked down at her curiously. Pocahontas smiled a smile that reached her eyes to affirm the truth of her words as she spoke gently in a tongue that sounded alien to even her own ears but that her heart understood every word of. She only hoped that John would remember the lesson she had taught him so long ago, years past when they had first met.
John had been slow to react to the bear. Once before, he had met a female bear protecting her young while with Pocahontas. He showed no anger or aggression to the bear but stood quietly, waiting for Pocahontas to work her magic with the bear. He hoped the bear would allow them to stay. He meant no harm to the bear but did not hope to be able to make her understand that on his own though he knew Pocahontas could.
Pocahontas' face remained calm, her peaceful smile and trusting eyes not flickering for even a second. She did not breathe as she stood there, having fallen silent after speaking only a few words, and continued to gaze calmly and trustingly up at the bear. The bear's dark eyes peered down into Pocahontas', and slowly -- it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, none of them would ever know -- the females' souls connected. At long last, the bear lowered to three of her four paws, and Pocahontas knelt, still without a word.
They continued gazing into each other's eyes and faces, reading more there than they would ever be able to tell any one, and then Pocahontas reached out and ever so gently lifted one of the bear's paws into her two hands. Tears touched the Indian's eyes as she looked down at the blood gushing from one paw, having already stained and matted coarse, dark brown fur. In the midst of the blood was what remained of a head of a spear. Finally, Pocahontas spoke only one word. "John?"
"I have some medical supplies in the canoe. Can you tell her that I am going to the canoe and bringing it back with the others? We will help her, if we can."
Pocahontas glanced at John, then looked back into the bear's eyes. She spoke again in that strange language, and the questions in the bear's eyes were replaced with understanding and the shining of hope. Pocahontas reached up and placed a gentle hand on the side of the bear's face. Her eyes met the bear's again, and she nodded before standing and turning back to John. "She understands, sweetheart." She stepped closer to him, closing what little distance had remained between them, and wrapped her arms around him again. "Be careful, my love." She did not want to be away from him for even a second, but she knew that if they both left, the bear would have cause to doubt them.
"I will not be long, my love." He kissed her gently. "I will bring your babies back with me." He walked slowly from the cave, but once outside, he made a mad dash for the canoe. The storm was creating holy havoc, and tree limbs were falling down everywhere.
Reaching the canoe, he peered inside its murky darkness only to find everything quiet and still. For one dreadful moment, he feared that the babies had fled after them and were lost somewhere in the night, but then he heard a soft munching sound and grinned. He called to each of the animals in turn as he reached underneath the seat.
His groping hand found Percy first, and he pulled him safely into the crook of one arm. Flit buzzed out, and the two males looked at each other. Flit jumped higher in the air as lightning struck somewhere inland. John opened his breast pocket, and the hummingbird flew swiftly in.
"Meeko," John called again, but the only answer that came to him was more chewing. He figured that the raccoon was eating the last of their biscuits but pushed that concern aside, vowing to find something edible in the light of day. He leaned forward and reached underneath the seat again.
He felt Meeko work his hand over and was finally rewarded with a disappointing chittering. "You've probably eaten the last of them already, you little bugger," he murmured as he grasped the raccoon and pulled him to him. Meeko started to squirm, but John stopped him by telling him, "We have no time to waste. Pocahontas is waiting on us."
He ignored the guilty expression the raccoon flashed him as he reached for the bags on the other side of the canoe. Lightning flashed and thunder roared as he leaned forward again, and Meeko chattered wildly as he ran up John's body. John recovered his balance a brief second before he could fall headfirst into the canoe and finally grabbed the bags. With Meeko wrapped tightly around his head, his paws scrambling and, without meaning to, tearing, John headed back to the cave.
The extra weight and Meeko's antics on his head slowed John's progress, but finally he reached the entrance and called out, "It's only me. I have returned." He let Flit out of his pocket, but Meeko chose just that moment to jump. The momentum left John spinning, and he would have fallen had Pocahontas not caught him.
Trying desperately to shake off the dizziness, John let his love take Percy from his other arm and put him gently on the ground. He then handed her a bag. "This bag has the medical supplies, Pocahontas. We have to pull the spear out, and it's going to hurt a lot. Can you explain that to her?"
"I already have," Pocahontas spoke up from where she was kneeling beside the bear, whom she had managed to persuade to lay down while they waited for John's return. Pocahontas' concerned gaze rose from the bear to look across the cave at John, and she thanked her Gods for his safe deliverance and for their safety and permanent reunion at long last.
Pocahontas' gaze then moved to the trio of animals who were both her brothers and her babies. She spoke to them reassuringly as they cowered in the shadows, fearful of the bear. Flit came to the light but stayed well out of reach of the bear. Percy continued to cower, but Meeko pulled himself up and raised his arms in a show of his muscle. Flit glanced back at his brother, shook his teeny head, and zoomed in to peck him in the stomach. The raccoon grasped his stomach, then swatted angrily at the bird.
Pocahontas tisked in the back of her throat to them, and Meeko looked bashful even while gripping Flit tightly in one paw. Pocahontas cast a stern look upon them, and Meeko released Flit. Flit flew swiftly away, then hummed back at him from a safe distance. Meeko pretended to act innocent, but the moment Pocahontas looked back at John and the bear, he glared at Flit with a vow to get him later.
John tried not to laugh at the animals' antics as he knelt on the other side of the bear's paw and proceeded to examine it. He knew what had to be done and that it was going to hurt really badly, but he didn't have anything to deaden the pain, just something to cleanse it. "You might want to hold her other paw as I'm doing this." He touched the spear as quickly as he could and cut the head off with his sharp knife. He always kept his knife sharp enough to shave with, and he never knew when he was going to need it. The spear head came off quite easily. Now came the hard part. Gritting his teeth, he began to slowly pull the spear out.
Pocahontas was already at the bear's side, gently holding her paw in her hands, her fingers reassuringly stroking the coarse fur. She closed her eyes, and the bear's eyes followed suit. Pocahontas could feel the animal's pain as vividly as if it ripped at her own body, and her heart cried out as the bear's claws scratched her tender skin albeit without meaning to. Meeko, Percy, and Flit had calmed but were watching the scene unfolding with the bear in great fear.
When John began to pull the spear out, the bear's roar echoed with a blast of thunder that was so loud that it shook the cave. The earth trembled underneath their feet, and the three small animals turned and beat a hasty retreat further back into the cave. It was then that Pocahontas began to sing, her beautiful voice filling the cave, drowning out the roar of the storm, and easing the bear's nerves only enough that she would not give in to her instincts to attack that which hurt her regardless of her brain's and heart's knowledge that the humans were only doing this to help her.
Finally, the spear came free, and John threw it angrily against the wall of the cave. Pulling the cork from the bottle of whisky he had brought, he poured it into her paw, washing it clean. He knew it hurt terribly and hurt for her but knew it had to be done. "Tell her I've got to sew up the holes or it won't stop bleeding." He packed them as best he could, pushing the mutilated skin back in. Easing it back in, he sewed it up while Pocahontas continued to comfort the bear.
Finally, he was finished. He poured some alcohol over it again. "You need lots of rest, Miss Bear," he said aloud to the bear as he laid her paw gently back to her side. "Thank you for sharing your cave with us." He figured she could not understand a single word he was saying, but the sound of reassurance in his gentle voice might carry through to her. He wished he knew something else to help.
The bear turned her head toward the sound of the male human's voice, and her eyes opened. She looked into his eyes and rumbled softly in understanding and gratitude. Though his words were the strangest her ears had ever heard, she still understood him for she listened not with her ears but with her heart to these humans who were the first to ever help her, to ever care about her, to not fear her.
Though Pocahontas' eyes were sad, there was a smile on her face for she, too, understood the connection the bear had just made with her beloved. Her gaze moved to John as she watched for his reaction, hoping the entire while that he understood the bear just as she understood him. Though the Indian in her knew that it was not likely for any white man, even John Smith, to understand an animal, the woman in her believed in him and knew that he could.
John boldly reached out and stroked the bear's face gently before standing and beginning to try to figure out where to lay a bed. They all needed to rest. The night was going to be long. Out of his pouch, he pulled his cape and one blanket. He spread the blanket and then laid the cape on top for cover. "It will be best if we rest now. The storm may last a long time. When the light returns, I will go in search of food." He figured the bear had not eaten in several days for it seemed that she had been wounded at least that long.
Everything he had left required cooking except for some jerky. He took that out and, with his knife, cut a small piece for each. "This will have to last us till morning." He gave the bear the largest piece. He selected a piece and then gave the rest to Pocahontas. "Pass this out, beloved. Tomorrow, I'll get us some food." He wasn't sure exactly what bears ate, but he knew she'd know. They'd talk about it tomorrow. He was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open, and a yawn escaped his lips. He popped a piece of jerky in and chewed quietly.
Pocahontas gently corrected her love, "We will go in search of food in the morrow, sweetheart." She stood and walked into the shadows. Flit came to her first, and she gave him a tiny piece. When Meeko caught sight of the food, he barreled out of hiding, but Pocahontas held the jerky to where he could not reach it without scampering up her. He ran up her body, but she moved faster than he and caught him gently in an arm. Giving Percy his piece and reassuringly scratching the little dog's head, she gave Meeko the third and finally ate the smallest piece. Still carrying Meeko, she turned back and walked back over to John.
John had seen Pocahontas take the smallest piece, and when she returned to his side, he broke off part of his own and put it in her mouth. He knew she'd have to chew that before she could talk to him again. "Every one, settle down now. Let's get some sleep," John said through a big yawn. He would not go to sleep before Pocahontas did, but he knew he was not far from it.
Pocahontas' eyes had shot as wide and round as saucers in surprise when John had unexpectedly popped the piece of jerky into her mouth. She looked sternly at him but could be no more angry with him than she could be with any of her babies. Besides, she knew that he was only doing his best to care for her and realized that he must have seen her take the smallest piece and still did not understand why she always gave her babies more food than her own self. She chewed the piece in silence, her eyes meeting his, and then knelt, opening her hands and releasing Meeko onto the blanket. Percy, who had already taken up residence on one corner of the blanket, opened an eye and growled at the raccoon, but he hushed instantly when Pocahontas gave him a warning look. She then turned back to John Smith, the man she loved, the man she'd thought she'd never be able to be with again, the man who she would do anything for, the man who loved her just as much as she did him, the man who she was meant to be with, the man who she would finally be with again, from this night on to the end of their lives.
John leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. "Good night, sweetheart. Sweet dreams." He sat down on the blanket and pulled her down with him. Lying down on his back, he pulled her gently into his arms. He was still finding it hard to believe he had actually managed to escape not only with the love of his life but with her babies, as well, and that today was only the first day of the rest of their lives together. He looked forward to tomorrow and all the treasures it would hold. He pulled her head down to his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. He could feel himself growing extremely drowsy, but he fought to stay awake as long as she was but it was a losing battle as once she was settled into him, he went to sleep, dreaming pleasant dreams for the first time since they had been apart, pleasant dreams of his heart, his love, his dream come true.
Pocahontas curled against John's side, feeling the rightness of this position in every fiber of her being. She listened to his heart and the soft snores of the others as, one by one, they fell asleep around her. She closed her eyes as the lightning lit up the sky outside, and in the quiet of the cave, Pocahontas whispered a prayer -- a prayer of gratitude, for the bear's swift healing, and for safety for all those she loved. She listened to the most wonderful music she had ever heard and was eventually lulled to sleep by that most glorious sound -- the heartbeat of her soul mate.
To Be Continued . . .