The Land of the Sourpie

by J. S. Skye

  “What’s so great about these necklaces, anyway?”

  “The two necklaces have special powers. We don’t fully understand how they work. Our king’s necklace protects our community, and the second necklace provides long life and strength to its wearer. However, when both necklaces are brought together, they spread long life and protection to everyone in the city. If someone had both necklaces and kept them for themselves, they could essentially be immortal.”

  Curious to know more, Flurry inquired further. “So why do the Sourpie not live here anymore? Oh! And why are they called Sourpie? They don’t look like pies, though they do have the ‘sour’ part down pretty well.”

  “Because of their bad attitudes and their poisonous nature, our leader gave his brother the name ‘Sourpuss’ and crowned him as King of the Sourpie. They eventually embraced that name and meow act proud of it. Sourpie is simply the plural form of sourpuss.”

  “Ohhh …‌ I see.”

  “They were banished to the ruined city of Agrio in the wildest part of the jungle with a curse placed upon them. The curse won’t allow them to taste anything sweet ever again. They may only eat or drink that which is sour or rotten, as a punishment for their evil.”

  “Is there any way to break the curse?” Flurry sounded deeply concerned.

  “Only our king has the power to do that, and he won’t do so. He cannot allow their crimes to go unpunished.”

  “But you said this happened a long time ago. Shouldn’t they forgive each other and forget?”

  “They are of the same litter. Sometimes, it can be very hard for siblings to get along. It is said that the more you love someone, the deeper the pain can be when you feel betrayed by them. I don’t foresee our two clowders becoming one ever again. At least not in my lifetime.”

  Flurry looked down at the ground. He now felt even guiltier for how he had treated his sister. He saw how his own jealousy had made him a sourpuss, too. Flurry felt it should be him being held captive by the Sourpie, not his sister. Flurry wept as remorse consumed his thoughts.

  “What’s wrong?” asked the guard.

  “Everything’s my fault!” Flurry replied. “If I hadn’t been jealous of my sister, none of this would’ve happened.”

  “Don’t fret, poor Flurry, for I’ll help you,” came a voice in the distance. Flurry looked up and saw the guard return with the king. Flurry had not noticed before, but around the king’s neck was the other necklace. It appeared much like that which Isangrim wore, but it had a purple gemstone instead of red. The king continued. “I don’t believe the Sourpie are worthy to have the curse lifted, as demonstrated by their actions. However, I won’t allow our rivalry with the Sourpie to doom innocent lives. First thing tomorrow morning, we shall travel to the camp of the Sourpie and rescue your friend and your sister from their clutches.”

  CHAPTER 6

  BETRAYED

  Throughout the night, Flurry was treated like a prince. The king pulled out all of the stops to attend to Flurry’s needs and make sure he was comfortable. Delicious foods of many types were prepared, but Flurry had lost his appetite. All Flurry could think of was his sister and Caboose. His mind was focused on their rescue. Flurry could not sleep. He tossed and turned the night away until morning finally arrived.

  There was a knock at his door, and the king entered, along with his royal guards that protected him from all forms of danger. “Flurry, my guest, did you sleep well?”

  “Not really,” Flurry answered with a frown on his face.

  “Well, cheer up, the time is at hand. Bring whatever you need and meet us in the courtyard. Our journey begins meow. Let’s go save your friend and your sister from the evil Sourpie.” The king clapped his paws, and his guards followed him out the door.

  Flurry hopped down from the bed and quickly trailed close behind. In the courtyard, dozens of warriors were armed and ready to go. Their caravan set out across the bridge in the direction of Agrio. Little did any of them realize that they were being spied upon by the wolves that Isangrim had sent out ahead. “It looks like our plan is proceeding just as Isangrim expected.” The wolves looked at each other and chuckled before running on ahead of the feline travelers.

  The wolves made hast to meet up with two other wolf scouts. “Tell Isangrim that King Ja’gwar is on the move,” said the leader of the three that arrived from Tikalico. “It looks like he’s heading to Agrio. If Isangrim moves quickly enough, he can cut them off at the mountain pass.” The wolf scouts nodded and ran off, while the original three turned back toward Tikalico.

  The king, his troops, and Flurry were now deep in the jungle and were closing in on the Sourpie camp. Flurry felt good about himself. He was about to see his friend and sister rescued, and they could return home and pretend the past few days had never happened. Flurry was ready for it to be over. He had learned his lesson about jealousy and how it could cause him to make foolish decisions.

  As the company pushed forward up the mountain, they came upon a pass. The guards then warned the king, “Sire! It’s unwise to pass this way. It’s a strategically inferior position, if the Sourpie decide to ambush us.”

  The king took note, but ordered them forward anyway. As they moved through the pass, the king answered the guard privately, “You’re correct, but with my necklace, it would be a fool’s errand for the Sourpie to attempt to attack us.”

  Suddenly, a loud booming voice spoke from above. “Maybe it would be for them, but not for me.” Flurry looked around, but could not see where the voice came from, though he did find it to be very familiar.

  The king’s guards formed a perimeter around their ruler and Flurry as they stood ready for battle. They all looked to and fro in search of the origin of the voice. Then they saw the large, menacing form of Jarl Isangrim the Great as he stood high above them.

  “It’s an ambush!” yelled the guards.

  “Indeed, it is!” Isangrim answered. “But it doesn’t have to end badly. I’m a reasonable wolf after all.”

  The other wolves, in hiding, chuckled as they revealed themselves one-by-one. The king, his warriors, and Flurry were surrounded by Pack Isangrim. All of the wolves had the high ground, which gave them the advantage. Despite this fact, the king did not seem concerned. He knew that his necklace would protect them. He turned toward his companions and said, “Gather close to me. They cannot harm us while I have my necklace.”

  “On the contrary!” Isangrim began, as he leapt down from the rock and strolled toward the brave company of warrior cats. “You’re going to hand the necklace over to me, or else you’ll be the cause of the downfall of Tikalico. I have sent members of my pack out ahead. They await my signal. Be careful what you do; it could cost you the lives of your clowder.”

  The king was speechless. He could not believe what was happening. His mind raced for answers, and the only conclusion he could come up with was that his brother somehow had made another pact with the wolves and had planned this all along.

  “Don’t do it!” Flurry shouted.

  The king, knowing that he had been outwitted, stepped forward, removed his necklace, and began to hand it to Isangrim. “It’s yours, if you give me your word that you’ll not harm my clowder.”

  “Oh, I give you no word. The way I look at it, you don’t have a choice. Hand it over, and I give you my word that you’ll have less of a casualty list than if you don’t. That’s the only word I offer,” Isangrim replied.

  Isangrim paused for a moment, but when he noticed Ja’gwar’s continued reluctance he added, “However, if hearing the words will help make the decision easier for you, then I promise that none of your clowder will be harmed this day.”

  “The word of a wolf? I never thought it would come to this.” The king closed his eyes, turned his head away, and handed the necklace to Isangrim.

  Isangrim laughed. “Now was that so hard?”

  Flurry could not believe what was happening. Fall was right. Isangrim was bad! Flurry felt foolish and upset that he
had been tricked. In an attempt to help, Flurry spoke up in protest. “Hey! I thought you were a friend! How could you do this? How could you? How could you?”

  “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” laughed Isangrim. “Foolish bear, you’re the one to blame for being so naïve. I told you what you wanted to hear. But look on the bright side; you spared this cat countless losses today. You should be proud.”

  All of the wolves laughed and pointed at Flurry and the others. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to plan our raid. We’ve got to eat, you know,” Isangrim taunted.

  “Wait a minute! You said you wouldn’t harm my clowder!” King Ja’gwar shouted. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted your word!”

  “Correction, fur ball! I said I would spare them today. I made no promises about tomorrow. Besides, the meal I’m referring to is that of the Sourpie. Now that I have the necklace, I can lift the curse and make a meal out of them. You should be thanking me. I’m finally ridding you of your treacherous brother,” Isangrim taunted just before he ran off into the jungle with the rest of his wolves that followed after him. The wolves howled and laughed as they departed.

  Wolfhroc paused for a moment and looked down at them. Flurry sensed a tinge of remorse upon her face. Flurry thought he would try to get through to her. “I thought we were friends. Please, help us!”

  “You’re wasting your breath. Isangrim is my jarl and my husband. I cannot go against his wishes,” Wolfhroc answered him and then ran off with the others.

  “What have I done?” cried the king, as he fell to all fours in tears. He turned to Flurry and said, “I only meant to help you, but meow my entire clowder is doomed. We have no protection against the wolves. Even with our numbers being greater, we can’t match the size, strength, and speed of the wolves. What ever shall we do?” The king buried his face in his paws and sobbed uncontrollably.

  Flurry came up to the king’s side and whispered in his ear, “Mister Cat, I don’t mean to be rude, but shouldn’t we stop them? We should make a plan to save everyone. Also, you’re the king. Maybe you shouldn’t cry in front of everyone.”

  The king looked up, wiped the tears from his eyes, and stood back up. With a more dignified posture, he turned to address Flurry. “You’re very brave for such a little bear. I admire this, but you don’t know what you suggest. The odds are greatly stacked against us. I’m not sure where to even begin.”

  “Well, first, you should make up with your brother,” Flurry answered.

  “Not a chance! Do you know what he did to me and my clowder?”

  “Yes, but he’s your brother! Can’t you forget about your pride and forgive each other?” Now I see why Santa was concerned about my pride, Flurry thought to himself.

  “I like your attitude. You have hope and bravery, and those are good things to have. However, you’re too idealistic. Not everyone is willing to throw away their hard feelings and move on. Some cats just can’t let go.”

  “Well, you should be the better cat and do it first. Maybe it’ll catch on.”

  The king was impressed. A hint of a smile appeared on his face. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll give it a try.”

  “If you and your brother become friends again, he could join us against the big, bad wolves. They won’t see it coming.”

  The king smiled at Flurry and turned to his warriors to give them their commands. “The six of you will go out ahead of us to Tikalico. Warn everyone to seek shelter, take up arms, and prepare for an attack. Make sure to fortify the city the best you can.” Then he turned to some of his other warriors. “You three, track the wolves. Find out where their camp is and find out anything you can about their plans, strengths, and weaknesses. The rest of you shall accompany Flurry and me to meet with my brother.” Without a moment’s hesitation, each group took off to carry out the king’s orders.

  It was not long before Flurry and King Ja’gwar arrived at the camp of the Sourpie. By this point rays from the sun shone directly down from above. The leader of the Sourpie came out to see his brother. “So you’ve come. I didn’t think you could let an innocent soul perish. You’re so predictable, even after all of these years.”

  “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I cannot lift the curse. My necklace has been stolen by Isangrim, the wolf,” King Ja’gwar replied.

  “What? Unacceptable! All you’ve done is doom yourself along with our other prisoners! Guards! Arrest them!”

  “Wait, brother! You’re making a grave mistake!”

  “Oh, am I? For all I know, it was you who told the wolves to betray us the first time and take our necklace. You probably have both of them, and you’re just lying to me about it meow.”

  “That’s not true! We came here to save you. We’re here to warn you that the wolves are planning to attack your clowder.”

  “They cannot, or the curse will be upon them, too. If you’re going to lie, you need to do better than that.”

  “No, that’s just it! Don’t you see? With my necklace, they can lift the curse and then devour all of you. But if our clowders combine, we might be strong enough to repel an attack.”

  King Sourpuss paused for a moment and then replied, “We’re not strong enough to hold off such an attack, not without the combined strength of the necklaces. It would be foolish to take on Isangrim without them.”

  “United we stand, but divided we’ll fall. Please set aside the past. Don’t you see that being brothers is more important than any wrongs we might have caused each other?” King Ja’gwar tried to plead and reason with Sourpuss, but to no end. His brother would not listen and had them tied up to the stone columns, right next to Caboose and Fall. As King Sourpuss walked away, his brother shouted, “I forgive you!” The statement angered Sourpuss as he stormed off in haste.

  Flurry was a clever little fellow. He had snuck off into the jungle while the brothers argued. Nobody had even noticed his absence. Flurry ran as fast as his little feet would carry him. He ran until he came across one of King Ja’gwar’s warriors that had been tracking the wolves. “I’m so glad to see you!” Flurry panted, while he tried to catch his breath to continue his message. “King Ja’gwar and the others have been captured by Sourpatch.”

  “I must get my companions and go save him right away!” answered the warrior.

  “No, wait!” Flurry called out as he grabbed the cat’s paw. “We need a plan, and I think I have just the one!”

  Flurry whispered in the cat’s ear for a good while. After he finished, the cat nodded and replied, “I think your plan will work. Hurry! We must move quickly!” They both ran off into the jungle toward the camp of the Sourpie. Flurry’s plan was time sensitive, so they did not bother to recruit the other warriors to come with them.

  The arrived just outside the ruins. Flurry could see the captives. He and the warrior cat snuck in without being detected. It was not difficult. King Sourpuss believed he had all of them tied up. There was no reason to keep a close eye on them. Flurry cut Fall and Caboose’s ropes and gave each of them a hug. Caboose was overjoyed and hung on to Flurry for a prolonged length of time.

  “You’re clear! Go meow!” said the cat warrior. “I’ll rescue the king and the other cats. You need to stop Isangrim!”

  “Roger!” Flurry replied and ran off into the jungle, closely followed by Fall and Caboose.

  “Do you think he’ll be okay?” asked Fall.

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Flurry answered.

  “Where did you learn how to use procedure words, like ‘roger’?” Fall asked.

  Confused, Flurry answered, “Huh? His name is Roger.”

  “Oh …‌” came Fall’s surprised response.

  “Get down! We’re close to Isangrim’s camp.” Flurry spoke in a whisper. He crawled up to a grassy mound that concealed them from sight as they overlooked the camp. Not being a real bear, Flurry did not have a scent that was strong enough for the wolves to pick up on and be alerted to his presence.

  Flurry watched the wolves as they prepared
for battle. In the distance, Flurry could see that Isangrim still wore his necklace with the red gemstone. The other necklace, with the purple gemstone, hung from Wolfhroc’s neck.

  While the bear cubs were crouched close to the ground, one of the warrior cats stealthily approached them. Flurry quickly filled him in on their plan and informed the little warrior how he intended to get the necklaces back. The warrior then ran off to tell the other cat of their plan before going into hiding to wait for their moment to come.

  “Flurry, that takes care of everything except for the necklace that Isangrim is wearing. What will we do about that one?” Fall asked.

  Flurry patted her on the shoulder and said, “No need to worry, I think I have just the thing!”

  CHAPTER 7

  FLURRY’S PLAN

  Isangrim stood proud as he watched the other wolves prepare for battle. Though he had the necklaces to protect the pack, he did not want to take any chances. As the wolves put their armor on, Isangrim heard a voice in the distance. The voice grew louder as it drew nearer.

  Isangrim turned and saw Fall run into the camp. “Oh, my! Oh, my! Flurry has been captured by the Sourpie!” Fall continued to repeat as she ran up to Isangrim.

  Isangrim looked her over and asked, “What difference is that to me?”

  “What do you mean? I thought we were your friends.”

  “Dear, you’re late to the party. I already got what I needed, without Flurry’s help. Now go! Get lost!”

  “Please! Can’t you help him? If you do this, I’ll be eternally grateful to you. Then we’ll be out of your way for good.”

  “No! When I rip you to shreds, then you’ll be out of my way for good!” Isangrim growled.

  “Now, husband, please be kind to her. She meant no disrespect,” Wolfhroc intervened.

  Isangrim quickly shot an angry glare in his wife’s direction. “You! Stay out of this!”

  Just then, Isangrim’s lookout howled.

  Clearly irritated, Isangrim growled, “What is it now?”

  “Another wolf approaches!” the lookout called down.