Chapter 16
"Death of A Gummi Bear"
It was over. Duke Igthorn, the feared enemy of the Gummi Bears, was dead as a doornail. His body was rotting in the chasms underneath Ursalia along with the bodies of many Aerials, Trolls, the Spinster and the Chinese Dragon known as the Forbidden One. But, the damage that Duke Igthorn and Lady Bane did to the city of Ursalia was not as bad, but it was pretty significant and that it would take time to repair.
After they were all defeated, the Gummi Bears did the dirty task of cleaning up the city and collecting all of the dead. Much like the villains that invaded Ursalia, the Gummi Bears had sustained a lot of casualties, some were shot, others were beaten to death and some were unaccounted for and presumed dead. But, there was one Gummi Bear that was getting a lot of attention and he was Captain Blastus. As many Gummi Bears knew at the time, he had been shot by Duke Igthorn when he tried to protect Princess Calla from him. But, now he was fighting for his life and the severity of his injuries meant that he was not going to make it.
"I'm afraid he doesn't have much long to live," said a Gummi Doctor to Starbuck and the others. "His injuries are pretty severe enough as it is."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" asked Starbuck. "There must be a way. Why, we have such advancements over many humans."
But all the doctor could do was shake his head in disappointment and regret.
"I'm sorry, Starbuck," he said. "We may have advancements in technology. But, we are not miracle workers. We are just like humans in terms of medical science and thus, we must die natural deaths."
Starbuck looked down glumly knowing that there is now nothing he could do to save his captain. Even all the others including the Glens, Cavin and Calla, Foxglove and Night Wing were all struggling to hold back tears that they were trying not to release.
"Well," said Starbuck. "Can we all see him?"
"Yes," replied the doctor. "But, I must warn you, he doesn't have long to live."
As the doctor walked away, the small group of Gummies and humans in their tattered formal clothes walked into the room and saw Captain Blastus lying on the bed with bandages all over his body. Starbuck sat next to his captain and everyone surrounded the bed.
"I am pleased that all of you could be here at this very moment," he said weakly. "We can savior our victory together."
"The doctor says you may not have long to live," said Starbuck sadly. "If there is anything you want to say, sir, then it best be now."
Captain Blastus moaned and turned his attention towards Princess Calla with Cavin holding her hand. Taking notice of her, he smiled and chuckled a little bit.
"Princess Calla," he sighed. "When I first came here to Ursalia, I thought that all humans were evil and greedy, but now I saw tonight that I was wrong. You and this boy are two examples of humans that are not like all the others. When you return to your kingdom, I want you to tell your father about everything that has happened here and that he should open his kingdom to them. Will you heed this command that I give you?"
"I will," she replied, a tear streaming down her face. "I will tell my father about what you have said to me."
"But," he continued, trying to stay awake. "I must tell you that the one who fired the shot and killed the evil human was me. I wanted to protect you and this boy so that you could tell our story of what happened here. The time has come for humans and Gummies to coexist together again after 500 years and tonight is the first of many nights for that to happen."
He coughed slightly and winced in pain slightly. Gruffi and several others took off their hats in respect of him.
"Why are you taking your hats off?" asked Captain Blastus. "I know that it is a sign of respect, but I am not gone yet."
"We are just preparing ourselves," said Zummi. "You know how it is."
"But, I wanted to tell you, Captain Blastus that you have been an inspiration to me," said Cubbi. "Even more so than any of the other Gummi or human knights that I have ever met beside Cavin."
Cavin smiled sadly at what his Gummi friend had just said.
"That is very grateful of you, Sir Cubbi," he said as Cubbi's eyes filled with tears. "I know that deep down, you will be a great Gummi knight one day and lead our race to glory and prominence."
Cubbi was so overcome with emotion that Grammi had to take him out of the room. Cubbi and Captain Blastus had not had very much interaction, but from what just happened, it seemed like they knew each other for a very long time. Suddenly, a large pain was felt and Captain Blastus knew that the time had come to leave his friends and fellow Gummies.
"My friends," he gasped. "I am afraid that the time has come for me to join the ancient Gummies in our kingdom of heaven. I will be sure to tell them of what we have accomplished in our quest and as of this moment, Starbuck, I make you captain of our crew."
"Thank you, sir," sobbed Starbuck. "I will carry your legacy further."
"I will miss you all," continued Starbuck. "Farewell, for the rest is silence."
Captain Blastus closed his eyes and drew his last breath before succumbing to his injuries. The room was now filled with sadness as several Gummies left the room to let out their sad feelings. A nurse walked in and pulled the sheet up over Captain Blastus' body and Cavin pulled out the sword he had been using in the battle and placed it over his body. Calla then took off her tiara as a sign of respect and then left the room with her boyfriend.
A little while later, the announcement was made of Captain Blastus' death and the Gummies stopped the repairs to Ursalia and watched with reverence and respect as Captain Blastus' body was carried out of the hospital that he was in and carried to his ship to be taken back to New Gumbrea as Zummi and Foxglove watched.
"Where are they taking him?" Zummi asked.
"They are taking him back to New Gumbrea," replied Foxglove. "From there, he will be buried at sea with full military honors, just like he always said and dreamed."
Later that day, the Gummies watched as the ship now commanded by Captain Blastus departed Ursalia for the long journey across the sea back to New Gumbrea with Captain Blastus' body in tow. As they watched the ship depart, Calla was wondering whether she and Cavin should return to Dunwyn and carry out Blastus' final wishes.
"Calla," said Cavin. "Are you sure your father is going to believe what had happened here?"
"He needs to know the truth, Cavin," she replied. "It's the only way that he is going to fully understand what had happened here. I also need to prove to him that I fought here and defended myself as much as any of the squires aside from you who tried to do so in that squire's tournament a long time ago."
Cavin took in what his girlfriend had said and decided to go along with what Calla was going to do. But, he still had his doubts deep down, but chose not to air them.
"Well," replied Cavin. "You certainly have proven you have defended yourself, Princess. But, King Gregor is going to be upset that we ruined our clothes in the battle and I don't know how he is going to react when he sees you in that tattered dress."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," sighed Calla. "I can always get this dress repaired, Cavin. It's not like I'll throw it away when we return to Dunwyn."
"Very well, then," he said. "Right now, when do you think we should leave?"
"We need to leave right now," she said. "Let's tell the others about it."
So, Cavin and Calla told the rest of the Gummies that they were in the process of returning to Dunwyn and of course, Cubbi and Sunni went with them, still in their tattered formal clothes and the four friends left for Dunwyn Castle. As they watched them leave, none of the Gummies realized that Toadie, who had been hiding from the battle for the most part, somewhat knew that Igthorn was dead and that he was overjoyed at the thought of his former master being dead. Gleefully running to an abandoned Aerial machine still fueled with Gummiberry juice, he boarded it and took off without anyone looking or noticing him doing so. He was now happy that he was a free ogre and was now looking forward to starting a new life free of villainy and evil.
But, Bobo the Carpie was also helping out with clearing the wreckage, not knowing that Sunni had already left for Dunwyn and that he somewhat knew that his queenie would come back and decided to stay until then. The other Gummies were unaware of all of this, but they didn't mind that one bit as Bobo, like Toadie, was harmless and were considered along with Cavin and Calla, non-Gummi Bears that could be trusted.
Meanwhile, the Quick Car bearing Sunni, Cubbi, Cavin and Calla arrived back in Dunwyn under a cover of darkness. Calla looked down nervously as she didn't know what her father was going to think about the recent events in Ursalia and her involvement in them.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the Gummies however, aside from Cubbi and Sunni however, several Gummi Bears had managed to recover Duke Igthorn's sword as it was pure and simple proof that Dunwyn's most feared enemy was dead.
They were all unaware of how King Gregor was going to react, but only time would tell.
