Chapter 2
"Day of the Wedding"
So, the morning of the wedding arrived and Sunni gleefully got out of bed, making her way down for breakfast with the rest of the Gummies. Upon sitting at the table, many of her fellow Glen Gummies were somewhat surprised by her cheerful nature.
"You seem to be very excited about something, Sunni," remarked Tummi as he ate his morning supply of flapjacks. "Is there something important going on?"
"Yes," added Zummi. "I don't think we have ever seen you this excited in a long time. Did Gusto finally agree to draw you or something?"
"Nope," laughed Sunni. "Guess again. It has to do with love."
The mere mention of the word love caused the youngest Glen Gummi, Cubbi, to sigh and roll his eyes in disgust. Unlike Sunni, he had more important things to do than just think about love.
"It's true, Cubbi," cried Sunni, giving him a stare. "Calla invited me to attend a wedding with her today at a place called Swamp Castle."
"Swamp Castle?" the Gummies cried out, stopping their breakfast.
"Yeah, apparently King Gregor is good friends with the king there," said Sunni. "I've always wanted to attend a human wedding."
Of course, Gruffi Gummi, the de facto leader of the Glen Gummies was not too thrilled about the idea. He never trusted all humans except for Calla and the first human they ever met, Cavin the pageboy. In his mind, Gruffi knew that Sunni was asking for trouble.
"Well, think of it this way, Sunni," said Gruffi. "Humans gathering together in one large place at a kingdom we probably never even heard of to begin with. You get spotted by humans and we never see you again."
"Come on, Gruffi," pleaded Sunni, trying to win him over. "It's just a wedding and it won't be like any other wedding we'd have had at Gummi Glen."
"That's because we've never had one," retorted Gruffi. "I say it is just too dangerous for you, Sunni. You are just a kid to go at it alone."
This didn't bode well with the Glen's matriarch, Grammi Gummi, who had always supported Sunni whenever she wanted to do things like this. Sure it was probably edgy at times, but they all made it from their encounters with encroaching humans without a scratch.
"Gruffi Gummi," she snapped, walking over to support Sunni, who was beginning to wonder if her dreams of attending a human wedding were in jeopardy. "You have the manners of a Billy Goat. Sunni enjoys human customs because one day we might have to experience a similar situation, such as a wedding involving Gummi Bears. Besides, when did Sunni or any of the cubs for that matter, end up in perilous situations?"
Gruffi struggled to find the words to answer Grammi's question, but he couldn't. Even he couldn't keep Sunni shielded. He knew that Sunni had a right to learn ways of the human world and that there was nothing he could do about it.
"Quite a few," answered Gruffi, meekly. "But, stay out of trouble, Sunni and don't get spotted by anyone other than Calla. Understand?"
Excited that Gruffi came around, Sunni ran over and hugged him tightly as a way of saying thank you.
"Oh, thank you, Gruffi! You won't be sorry!" cried Sunni as she dashed out of the hall and towards her bedroom to get ready.
As Sunni left, the rest of the Gummies each gave each other worried looks, but like Gruffi, they all had to trust her. There was not any situation they could have encountered yet that resulted in being captured by humans.
"Grammi, I sure hope you know what you are doing," remarked Gruffi. "If anything happens to Sunni…"
"Oh, stop being such a worry wart," interrupted Grammi. "We all have to trust Sunni and Calla on this. Besides, what else could do wrong at a wedding?"
"And why isn't Cavin coming?" added Cubbi. "He is a page, after all. Perhaps, I'd better find him to see what is going on."
"I'm sure he is going," remarked Grammi. "Sunni probably got so excited that she forgot to tell us. Still, we will be hearing a lot about the wedding when she comes back later tonight."
Meanwhile, Sunni returned to her bedroom and stripped off her aqua green nightgown and slippers before going in for a short bath. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom and walking over to her dresser, she pulled out the long dark green dress she last wore for fall's farewell.
"Guess my holiday dress will have to do," Sunni said to herself. "Perfect for a wedding like today."
A little while later, Sunni changed into her dark green dress and slid on her matching dark green slippers, before leaving her bedroom and making her way down to the Quick Tunnels. As she made her way down to a Quick Car that would take her to Dunwyn, she heard a gruff voice call out to her.
"Sunni!" cried the voice and Sunni turned to see Gruffi running down the stairs. "Grammi asked me to give you this."
"What is it?" asked Sunni and in Gruffi's hand was a small rose that had supposedly been cut.
"A little something to add to your ensemble," said Gruffi, feeling a tear trickle down his eyes much to Sunni's amusement as he placed the rose in Sunni's hair. "Sorry if I'm a little misty eyed but you…you…"
"You think I look beautiful, Gruffi?" she remarked. "That's probably the first time you said something nice about my clothes."
Touched by Gruffi's compliment, Sunni embraced Gruffi in a giant bear hug but careful not to wrinkle her holiday dress.
"And I'm sorry for how I acted back there," he added as Sunni climbed into the Quick Car. "You deserve to go to this wedding, Sunni. It's your element, but I know you will be careful."
With one final goodbye, Sunni pulled the lever and soon she was on her way to Dunwyn Castle to meet Calla in her bedroom. As she sped towards Dunwyn, Sunni couldn't help but wonder why Gruffi would have such a mood swing when he normally would forbid her from even going to Dunwyn sometimes. The last time she remembered such a situation was during the festival of the first snowfall, when Gruffi forbade her from attending a ball Calla invited her to because she needed to be part of the Gummi holiday.
Soon, Sunni arrived at the platform that led up into Dunwyn Castle itself. As she arrived, Sunni could take note of the frequent footfalls that were taking place just above where she was.
"Guess everybody must be excited about this wedding," Sunni thought to herself. "Makes you think that the wedding was here in Dunwyn. But, might as well meet up with Calla and see how things are going."
Climbing through a piece of the floor, Sunni made her way into Calla's bedroom where she saw Calla at her dressing table while she finished getting herself ready for the wedding. Calla was dressed in the blue and white gown she wore at her first grand ball as well as from fall's farewell.
"Hi Calla," said Sunni as she walked over to Calla, who then noticed a sad look on Calla's face. "Are you all right? I thought you would be excited for the wedding."
Calla's eyes widened as she hastily turned around to see Sunni standing behind her.
"Oh, sorry Sunni," she gasped. "I hope you are excited as much as I am, you know."
"You don't seem too excited," remarked Sunni. "Is there something wrong about the wedding?"
Calla decided to come clean as she placed her gold tiara on her head, completing her ensemble. But, just as she began to answer Sunni's question there was a knock at the door and Sunni ran into a large chest.
"The king is waiting for you downstairs, your highness," said a servant, who then walked over along with the other servant and picked up the chest. "He think that we'd best be leaving for Swamp Castle now."
"Oh, no, Sunni!" gasped Calla, noticing that Sunni was still in the chest. "She's in the chest with the wedding gifts!"
Hastily, Calla got up and left her bedroom, racing downstairs to meet her father and the rest of the delegation. After a few moments, Calla and King Gregor boarded the royal carriage and soon, they were on their way to Swamp Castle for a wedding that would soon become upside down…
