by Justin Sloan
“Hey, cook,” Ari said. As soon as Tadra looked up, Ari pushed with both paws glowing, sending Tadra over the side of the rope bridge and into the waters below.
“Ari!” Mia said in shock.
“What’s going on?” Brutas, who had taken the lead, turned back to face them. “Where’d the cook go?”
“I’ll tell you,” Ari said, breaking into a sprint for the other side of the bridge. “But right now we have to run!”
Sure enough, a pirate grizzly had just shown himself from the tree line on the other side, having seen what Ari did.
“We’ll throw you to the dogs for that!” the grizzly yelled, approaching with a gang of pirate bears close behind.
As soon as Mia and Brutas had crossed, Ari used his teeth to chomp at the ropes of the bridge and send it crashing away, cutting off the pirates’ hope of chasing them—at least that way. The pirate bears yelled and threw rocks, but none came close to hitting them.
“Go!” Ari yelled, and the three ran off, leaving the pirates behind.
Mia ran beside Ari, huffing and puffing. “You knew he was bringing along some friends? How long?”
“Since back when we rested, but—”
“And you didn’t tell us?” She punched him in the arm, causing him to nearly stumble.
“Ow!” Ari looked to Brutas for support.
“You deserved it,” Brutas said between heavy breaths. “Shoulda told us.”
“Right, well, next time I’ll be sure to remember how much Mia’s punches hurt.”
Finally, they felt they’d left the pirate bears far enough behind that they could walk again, and gather their strength.
“What’ya suppose they’ll really do if they catch us?” Brutas asked.
“I don’t know,” Ari said. “Throw us from the world’s end?”
That was likely the worst thing Ari could have possibly said, because Brutas looked suddenly green, and leaned against a tree for support.
“It’s kind of creepy,” Mia said. “Walking around out there, knowing there’s at least one group of pirate bears searching for us.”
They trudged on. Eventually, the ground became more rocky and their jungle surroundings less dense. Ari could even see the sky again, instead of a bunch of leaves and palm trees.
At last, the light from Ari’s paw told him they had arrived. Instead of pointing left or right or straight ahead, the light had shifted straight down.
“It’s right below us,” Ari said. “We’ve got to dig, I guess.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Mia said, paws on her hips.
Brutas held up a paw, his eyes on a series of jagged rocks nearby. “Uh, we may not have to. I don’t like it, but if we have to go down….”
Ari joined him and saw what Brutas was looking at. Among the jagged rocks, a narrow passageway led down at an angle.
“Could be a dead end,” Mia said.
“Or it could be the entrance we need,” said Ari. “Pull light, both of you, but I’ll go first.”
To his annoyance, neither of them argued about his volunteering to go first. He actually kind of hoped Mia would be the first one down, since she was better at this maneuvering thing.
He took a deep breath, then lowered a glowing paw into the opening first, hoping that would give an idea of how to prepare. But all he saw was more narrow tunnel and more jagged stones. Trip in there, and those stones would eat him up.
“Here goes,” he said, lowering himself down. His feet didn’t touch, so he had to drop the first bit. After that, it wasn’t so bad. Sure, it was dark and there were spiders scurrying about, but at least the climb down was manageable.
Soon he reached a small cavern where the ground was flat. He looked back up the way he had come and waved his glowing fist as a signal that they could follow. He waited, but got no response.
“Mia?” he whispered. “Brutas?”
Nothing.
He was about to climb back up when a shriek came from above. He heard grunting, and then silence. Now he had to go back for them, but as he grabbed the rock hold above, someone pulled him back and threw him to the cavern floor.
Spears pointed down, inches from his nose, held by teddy bears in white armor that glowed with light like his paws.
“Take him,” one of them said, and then seemed to vanish into the rock wall.
The bears grabbed Ari and followed. Ari braced when they neared the wall, but they walked right through it as if it didn’t exist. They emerged in another tunnel, then followed a maze-like path through tunnels and walls until they finally stopped.
The last tunnel had brought them to an open space with the world’s end at its edge, a strong wind blowing inward, and something glowing bright in the cavern’s center.
As he was dragged close, Ari saw that the something glowing was actually a female bear, though not one like he had ever seen. She had white fur that seemed to radiate power. Her round, turquoise eyes met his, and her gaze was comforting, but at the same time invasive. It was as if she could see right through him.
“He means us no harm,” she said to his captors. They tossed him at her feet, and she tilted her head to assess him. “What brings you to the edge of our world, little bear?”
He pushed himself up to one knee. “We seek a treasure, and believe it to be here.”
“There’s more than one of you?”
“Two more. And pirates not far behind, I imagine.”
“So you’re with the pirates, then?”
“Never.”
“But you say you seek a treasure?” she said. “What for then, if you’re not a pirate?”
“They….” He looked around, wondering if he could trust her and her soldiers. There was no other choice. “They’re taking bears, trying to ruin Christmas. And they think this treasure will somehow help them.”
“I will not!”
“I?”
She smiled, as if about to explain something to a child. “You see, I am the treasure.”
Ari stared, confused. He allowed a chuckle, looking at the knights to see if they were smiling or laughing, but no… she was serious.
Just then, muffled arguing sounded, and more knights brought Mia and Brutas in.
“Mia!” Ari said, running over to take the ropes from Mia’s and Brutas’s wrists. The knights’ hands went to their spears, but they stopped at a motion from their queen.
“They captured us above,” Brutas explained. “I was trying to follow you, but got stuck in the hole. That’s when they came, otherwise I would’ve taken them all out.”
He growled at the knight closest, but Ari held him back.
“It’s okay,” Ari said. “I think….” He turned to the queen. “You were explaining that, somehow, you are the treasure?”
She smiled with a nod and said, “Observe.”
With a flash of her hand, the room burst into a brilliant light. A flick of her wrist and it was gone, the only light coming from the large opening that led into the nothingness.
“Try and pull at the light,” she said.
Ari was the first to try, but nothing happened. Mia and Brutas tried next, also with no success.
“What’ve you done to us?” Mia said, irritation plain on her face.
“Relax,” the queen said. With a snap of her fingers, the light returned and flowed from their paws, stronger than ever. “I am Mother Danu, the queen, if you prefer, and the first to bring life to the Teddy Defenders. These knights with me were the first I summoned, and many more have come since. You included. When the need was born, Father Moroz and I worked to create a force so powerful that no child ever need fear a shadow again, and so it has been for hundreds of years.”
“Queen Danu,” Brutas said, kneeling.
Ari wasn’t so sure, but when Mia knelt alongside her brother, Ari figured he best as well.
“Rise,” Danu said with a motherly smile. “The time has come that I be reunited with Father Moroz, for I fear my knights will not be enough to keep me
safe out here any longer.”
“But, can I ask something?” Ari said. “Why are the pirate bears after you? Why do they refer to you as a treasure?”
“Why, isn’t it obvious? I grant the power of light. If they were to get their hands on me, not only would they be able to pull light again and leverage its incredible strength and magic, but around me the power grows continuously. These knights—each of them can fight with the power of ten regular bears, but the numbers against us are more than that, I fear. In the right hands, or wrong hands, I should say, an army of unstoppable bears could be formed.”
“We must not allow it,” one of the knights said. He stood taller than the rest, his fur a golden brown with a gold patch on his exposed chest. “But Queen, you would put your faith in these bears? Why?”
“At rest, Arthur.” Danu’s eyes lingered on Ari, then Mia, and then Brutas. Finally she said, “There’s something special about these three, a magic the pirate bears will never understand.” She waved to the bear and smiled as her guard of knights stood in formation. “We have waited long enough as it is. Let us be off.”
Ari followed the formation of bears with a nervous glance to Mia. He hoped this queen was right about the strength her light gave the knights, because they may end up needing it if the pirates caught them.
Chapter 6: Out of Hiding
The queen led them through underground caverns that would have been dark if not for her star-like brilliance that flooded the chambers and tunnels with a silvery glow.
As the others marched ahead Ari fell back beside Mia and asked, “If Father Moroz is your father, isn’t she your mother?”
Mia laughed. “Well, sure… kinda. She was gone long before Father Moroz adopted Brutas and me, so it’s a bit convoluted.”
“Sounds like it.”
Ari ran his paw across the fur of his head, trying to figure this all out, and wondering what ‘convoluted’ meant. After a bit he gave up wondering, and focused on the task at hand.
“What exactly is the plan here?” Ari asked.
“Simply follow the sun,” Danu said. “That will lead us to the grounds of the Teddy Bear Picnic.”
“She doesn’t know?” asked Mia, glaring and still annoyed at the knights for capturing them before.
“Know what?” Danu asked.
“We don’t exactly...” Ari fidgeted, eyeing the knights’ spears, “er, have a ship.”
This put a frown on the lead knight’s face, but the queen shook her head and kept on.
“You think that’s at the top of our list of problems?” she asked. “With all the pirates around, I’m sure we’ll have no shortage of ships.”
Ari gulped. “You mean to simply take one?”
“We can ask first, but something tells me it will come down to us taking it without permission. Since they’re pirates to begin with, I’d hate to put any moral judgements on the matter.”
Ari shrugged, not finding much to argue against there. Still, the idea of trying to pirate a pirate ship put him on edge.
“Here we are,” Arthur said. He motioned to a series of roots that grew from the ground like a stairway. The other knights divided into two groups, four of them going up ahead, the rest taking up the rear. “New bears first.”
Ari nodded at the knight named Arthur, not sure if he liked the bear or not, then made his way up the stairs. He was amazed to see that it led right through a hole in a tree. He’d always wondered if those holes he always saw in trees led anywhere, and now he knew. The four knight bears had taken up positions at nearby trees, and a shorter one with red fur motioned him over.
“Best stay low until we’re all here,” the knight said. “The name’s Percival.”
“Ari.”
“I heard.”
One of the others made a motion, then pointed to their right. Ari crouched down behind the tree when he saw branches moving. A moment later, he heard voices, though it was hard to make out what they were saying.
“Pirates,” Percival said. “I’d bet my armor on it.”
“I’m sure you’d be right,” Ari said. “What do we do?”
“Stay low, out of sight. For now.”
Mia and Brutas came out next, followed by the queen and the rest of her knights. Percival briefed Arthur, describing from which direction the voices had been heard and where he thought they were going.
“Very well,” said Arthur. “We go the opposite.”
“Why’s that?” Brutas asked.
“They’re likely still tracking you, so they’re going away from their ships,” he said patiently, giving Brutas a condescending look.
They sent two knights ahead to scout the way, and moved forward more slowly. It wasn’t long before the scouts came back, panting from the run.
“A large group for sure,” one of them said. “Heading straight for us.”
“Do we fight?” the other said. “Pull back?”
Arthur looked to the queen, who nodded. He said, “Neither, exactly. It’s time for us to enact Take Our Island Back, or TOIB.”
The other knights smiled, a couple of them nudging each other.
“Why do I get the feeling that means something crazy?” Ari said.
“Explain it to them on the way,” the queen said. “We haven’t a moment to lose.”
They made an abrupt turn and headed for a small hill not far off. As they moved, Arthur told Ari and the other two that, having been stuck on the island for some time, they knew that eventually they may have to operate a full-on defensive. So they’d been setting traps, making preparations. That’s why the knights were so excited—many of them thought they’d never see this day.
“Sounds fun!” Mia said, jogging up beside Ari. “So we talking heavy duty here, or like trip wires?”
“You’ll just have to wait and find out about that,” Arthur said with a smirk.
They reached a clearing at the base of the hill just as a group of grizzly pirates stepped out of the brush and spotted them.
“Now!” Arthur commanded, scrambling up the hill.
Percival turned toward a nearby tree and kicked at a branch. It gave, and with it, a nearby set of bent trees released, taking with them a netting that threw the pirates in the air and off into the distance.
But Ari had turned and seen another group approaching. He pointed for Arthur, and Arthur nodded with a signal to Percival. A moment later, the netting returned to land on the new group of pirates. Percival scrambled up the hill to join the other knights as the pirates yelled at him from below, trying to cut their way free.
“That oughta hold them for a few,” Percival said, joining the others in a small bunker dug into the hill.
“Not for long,” Mia said, staring down at them.
Ari maneuvered to look, and sure enough, another group of pirates—this time made up of the new teddy bears—had arrived and was pulling the netting free. In less than a minute, both groups were charging up the hill.
“You have something for this?” Brutas asked. “Or you want me to get out there and take ‘em out?”
“Not quite yet, big guy,” Arthur said with a wink. “This is going to be fun. Saw it in a movie once.”
He moved aside a palm branch, exposing a rope tied to the bunker and leading outside. He undid the rope and let it go. Rumbling filled the bunker, and for a moment Ari thought it was a thunderstorm—until he saw the logs and boulders go tumbling past them.
The pirates fell like bowling pins. Even the ones that ran got taken down at the base of the hill.
“Honey!” Arthur said, gesturing to the queen.
Ari looked to the queen, raising an eyebrow at Arthur’s familiar greeting. The queen gave Ari a glare, and then stepped toward the window, pulled out a large slingshot and a balloon on the verge of bursting, and prepared to fire. The knights were all doing the same.
“Filled with honey,” Danu explained, as she released hers.
The knights followed suit, and a barrage of honey hit the pirates below.
Ari wouldn’t have thought of this, but it was working—the bears were sticking together, their feet sticking to the ground, and some of their swords sticking in their scabbards.
“Genius!” Mia shouted. “What next?”
“Next?” Danu said, with a nervous glance at Arthur.
“You know, for the rest of ‘em.”
“We run,” Arthur said. “And now’s a good time for that.”
Down below, the shouts of the first wave of pirates were bringing more on their heels. Many of the newcomers were working to free their comrades, but others were starting up the hill.
“Collapse the ground?” Percival asked, and with a nod from Arthur, he and two other knights revealed another set of ropes, this one leading down the hill. They pulled, and as they did so the dirt in one spot gave way, falling into a trench along with the pirates who were advancing on them.
“On me,” Arthur said, leading the way out of the bunker and to the back side of the hill. “Make for the shore.”
The pirates behind them had been stalled, but it wasn’t long before another group of pirates came upon them.
“Nets?” Mia asked, glancing around nervously. “Swinging logs?”
“Not this time,” Arthur said, and he led the charge.
What Queen Danu had said about her light and the power it gave was right. The knights fought ferociously—a swing of a spear could send a pirate bear flying into a nearby tree. Percival swept out a pirate’s legs and then, mid-fall, caught him like a baseball, sending him rolling off into the trees. Arthur’s spear shattered a wooden sword, and a thwack to a pirate bear’s rear end send him on the retreat.
Seeing the first group of attacking pirates break, the remaining few scattered to the wind.
“I didn’t even get a chance to fight,” Brutas said in a pout.
“The day’s not over,” Percival said.
“Get to location two,” Arthur said. “We can hold them off from there and regroup, then make for the ships.”
