by Justin Sloan
“Aye, you have your reasons.” Tadra stepped forward, motioning at the other bears who were shaking off their grogginess. “But you think you really stand a chance against them now?”
“He has a point,” Mia said. She pulled close to Ari, eyes wide at the bears now moving forward, wooden swords at the ready.
Tadra nodded and whispered, “Trust me on this one. I have a plan.”
“Do ye yield?” Captain Cutburn asked, observing them closely.
Ari’s shoulders slumped, the light fading from his paws. “We yield.”
The pirate bears cheered and quickly tied Ari’s arms behind him, then did the same to his buddies and the cook.
***
“You better know what you’re doing,” Ari hissed at Tadra as they rowed ashore. Their constraints had been cut and they’d been given the boat, one wooden cutlas, and one small mug of honey.
The waves lapped at the shore, clear water showing rocks below and an ocean floor that was growing closer.
Tadra winked at him, glancing over his shoulder at the palm trees. “Listen here, you were lucky no one else aboard that ship knew the secrets of finding this treasure.”
“And why’s that?” Mia asked.
“Because all them bears lost their ability to pull on light when Father Moroz passed the edict declaring it so. You three, however, just showed up and pulled on light like it was easy as a roar.”
“You going somewhere with this?”
“The path’ll only be illuminated by the light of Teddy Bear paws.”
“No way,” Brutas said, staring at his paws in awe.
“You get the treasure and buy your ships and sailors, and you’ll be able to save all those bears you care so much about. But we best hurry, ‘cause where those bears be headed, they’ll soon know the secret and be after us.”
Ari jumped from the boat and helped Brutas and Mia pull it to shore, but Tadra waved them off.
“Don’t bother with it,” he said. “When this is over, we’ll be having to find another way out of here anyhow.”
“You’d leave us stranded on an island?” Mia asked, eyes flashing.
“Hardly. There’ll be plenty of pirate ships landing here soon as they figure out you three are the key to finding the treasure. We’ll just have to commandeer one of them.”
He trudged off into the jungle, leaving Ari and the others no choice but to scamper after him. Making sure to cover their tracks as they went, they walked until Tadra said he was sure they were out of sight of the ship.
“Okay,” Tadra said with a glance in the direction they had come. “Light ‘em up.”
Ari raised a skeptical eyebrow, but he lifted his paws and pulled from the faint lines of sunlight that worked their way in through the jungle canopy. His paws began to glow, and to his surprise, the light that drifted up and away from his paws like faint flames began to change direction, pointing to his left.
“That’s our path,” Tadra said, and led the way, cutting at vines and overgrown bushes with his cutlass.
Chapter 4: Darkness
“Any idea what we’ll find out there?” Brutas asked with a shaky voice from close behind Ari.
“Aye, but only through rumors.” Tadra paused, motioning to a spider the size of his face in their path.
Ari scoffed and kept walking, right past the spider. “You do realize that a spider bite can’t do much against a teddy bear? Stuffed with fluff, remember?”
Tadra shrugged in surrender, and followed him with a chuckle and a nervous glance at the spider.
“So, you were saying?” Mia asked when they stopped for a breather. “Rumors?”
“Aye…. Something that’s worth a lot, that be for sure. But more than that… Power, they say. A great power that’ll make us teddy bears nearly invincible.”
“But just rumors?” Ari said, the doubt strong in his voice.
Tadra shook his head, smoothing out the fur on his arms and adjusting his bandana.
“Well, we can’t take any risks, either way,” Ari said, then stood. “Enough resting, we’ve got to get there before the pirates.”
The others got up with groans, but they followed.
Thunderous sounds came from a nearby waterfall, and none of the bears smiled when they saw the light from Ari’s paws guiding them right through the water.
“Nothing smells worse than a soggy teddy bear,” Mia said.
“I wouldn’t say nothing,” Tadra said. “Try being on a pirate ship for some time, mate, and you’ll see what I mean.”
“Rather not,” Mia said. “We’ll take your word for it.”
She found several stones that seemed solid enough, jumped her way across, and disappeared into the waterfall. Brutas smiled, watching.
“What’s with the smile?” Ari asked.
“I dunno,” Brutas said. “Just, reminds me of taking a bath with Tiffany. I love getting all clean, and getting to play with the bubbles.”
“No bubbles here,” Tadra growled, pushing past them and into the waterfall.
Brutas followed, leaving only Ari.
“Here goes,” he thought, and leapt forward. The chill of the water surprised him more than he expected, but he found solid footing and Mia caught him to steady his landing—he was glad too, because in front of them was a fall of about fifty feet.
“Yeah, it almost had me, too,” Mia said with a grin. “Lucky for you all, I went first and am the smartest of the group, so….”
Ari rolled his eyes and pulled light again, reigniting the glow the water had doused.
“Looks like it wants us to jump down there,” Ari said, watching the light curve downward.
“I don’t care how much fluff you’re made of,” Tadra said, craning his neck to see over the edge without getting too close. “That fall would take it out of you.”
“There’s something here,” Brutas said, lying flat on the ground and looking over the side. “A rope, and footholds.”
Sure enough, they were able to hold onto the rope and lower themselves down the cliff, though it took a long time for Brutas, since he kept squealing and saying, “Don’t look down, don’t look down,” to himself every few minutes before slowly continuing on.
At the bottom, Ari’s paws illuminated a dirt tunnel with supporting planks along the ceilings and walls. It had been built long ago, and was falling apart.
“Lucky the pirates haven’t been through here yet,” Tadra said, poking at a beam and watching some dirt fall from above. “We have to be careful, though. This place could be crawling with traps.”
“And your way to test for them is to touch every beam and plank we come across?” Ari chided.
“You have a better way?”
“Of course. Just walk and hope you don’t get squished or punctured.”
“Guys, can we focus here?” Mia said, motioning to the ground. It seemed to be moving, but when Ari stepped closer he saw it was just the light from his paws, reflecting on a large body of water that flowed into the underground cavern.
“We can’t just swim blindly,” Tadra pointed out. “With the water dousing your light and all.”
“Right….” Ari walked up and down the shore, looking for a way across, but each way ended in a rock face that led to the water. “Thoughts?”
“Would another rope do us any good?” Brutas asked.
“I don’t see how.”
“Okay, never mind.”
Ari turned to Brutas, confused. “Did you find another rope?”
“Oh, yeah.” Brutas bent over and picked up a thick rope that led into the water and the darkness beyond.
“Maybe pull it and see what happens?” Mia said, already reaching toward the rope.
As they pulled, the rope grew taut, and they heaved on it until an object came into view, floating on the water. Soon they could see that it was a raft, and Ari felt relief. He really hadn’t wanted to swim in darkness with no idea of which way to go. Still, the thought of riding a raft in darkness reminded him
too much of the terror he’d first felt when going into the Monsterlands. Even though that had turned out okay in the end, he found himself clenching and unclenching his paws, his heartbeat thumping faster and faster.
They all boarded the raft, but it sank under their weight, tipping water up over the side. First Brutas stepped off, then Mia, and the raft lifted.
“Two at a time, then,” Mia said. “Go ahead.”
Using an oar that had been on the raft, Ari pushed off and worked his way across the darkness. For a while, they floated in what seemed like endless water, only water and darkness visible. Soon they found a spot of land with a tunnel that curved out of sight. They landed and gave the rope a tug, signaling the others to pull the raft back across.
“Think we should scout on ahead?” Tadra asked, looking anxiously at the tunnel.
“No, I want to be here when they make it, in case they need any help.”
“Fine by me.”
Ari could hear Tadra’s breathing as they waited, along with the oar against the water as the raft carrying Mia and Brutas drew closer with each stroke.
Then something squeaked from above.
“You hear that?” Ari asked, cocking his head. It came again. “That!”
Tadra was backing away toward the tunnel, looking up with fright.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Ari could see Brutas and Mia, almost there, and then the squeak came again. A moment later, a large object flashed before him, disappearing into the darkness as fast as it had come.
“What was that?” Mia called out.
“You might want to hurry,” Ari replied.
Mia and Brutas had almost reached the shore when the object appeared again. This time there were more of them, their wings flapping loudly and their eyes glistening with the light from Ari’s paws.
“Giant bats!” Tadra shouted.
“Jump for it!” Ari said, and Mia did, landing in his arms. He shoved her after Tadra, who was already fleeing into the tunnel.
Mia stopped, though, and spun around, paw out toward her brother. “Come on, Brutas!”
The bats swept down toward Brutas, and he batted the first one away with the oar. The others nearly took him, but he fought like a mad-bear until, with one heavy swing, he fell off balance and landed with a mighty splash in the water.
“Get him!” Ari yelled. They pulled him from the water and then scampered into the tunnel with more bats close behind, barely squeezing into the narrow space.
In the tunnel, Ari saw his chance. He spun and whopped the closest bat right in the nose, causing it to fall to the ground. The huge bats were nearly as big as the narrow tunnel, and the fallen bat caused a blockage that stopped the rest of the bats in their pursuit.
The bears ran, feet pounding, until they came out of the tunnel and into daylight again. They held their paws in front of their eyes until they could adjust to the light, then checked themselves and each other for injuries. Everyone was okay, though also a bit stunned.
“Shall we keep on, then?” Mia asked, and Tadra nodded with a grunt.
Ari noted how the pirate cook had run when they needed him, and made sure to give him a scowl before continuing on.
Soon, the flat ground gave way to an incline. The air smelled like thick syrup, and the humidity started to press on Ari and make his fur stick together.
“There was a time when I’d have blamed you for getting me into this craziness,” Mia said to Ari as they walked.
“But not anymore?”
“That was before I knew what was worth fighting for. Tiffany, Rick, all the other kids…. I’d go to the ends of the earth for them.”
“That may just be where we’re going,” Tadra said, pausing at the top of the small hill. “Look.”
Ari and Mia joined him, Brutas soon after, and they all stared in awe. Sprawling out before them was more jungle, but in the distance the ground simply gave way to open air—emptiness as far as their teddy bear eyes could see.
“If it comes to jumping from there,” Brutas said as he wiped his brow with the back of his paw. “I can just turn around and head back right now.”
“Relax,” Tadra said with a glance at the light from Ari’s paws. “Looks like we be heading more off to the left… My guess’d be there.” Tadra pointed to a section of the land near the cliff, where an opening in the jungle led to jagged rocks. “Nothing says pirate treasure like a cave.”
“That doesn’t look scary at all,” Brutas said with a large dose of sarcasm.
“Maybe now’s a good time for a rest, then?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Ari sat on the ground and leaned against a fallen tree where the hill started its decline, staring out over the jungle. “We’ll just close our eyes for a minute or two.”
He heard the others settling in around him, and then, although he hadn’t meant to, he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 5: Whispers
At the sound of whispers, Ari opened his eyes groggily. A quick glance around showed Brutas and Mia still sleeping, but Tadra was gone.
He closed his eyes and listened. The whispers seemed to come from behind him and to the left. He crept in that direction, careful not to step on any twigs and make noise. Just over the ridge, he saw the green of Tadra’s bandana, and then, just past him, a grizzly!
Ari threw himself to the ground so he wouldn’t be seen. He crawled forward, then hid behind a large boulder and eavesdropped on the two bears.
“Let’s just take them now, then,” the grizzly said. “We know where we’re going, why keep up the charade?”
“Because, you nincompoop.” Tadra motioned at the surrounding jungle, and Ari ducked again to avoid being seen. “Who knows what else is out there? Let these fool bears spring any traps or deal with whatever there may be to deal with, then we swoop in and take the prize.”
“I don’t know, boss.”
“Of course you don’t know! That’s why I’m in charge out here and you ain’t.”
“What you want me to tell the cap’n?”
“As we agreed, tell him nothing until the right moment. Tell him whatever you need to tell him to keep the ship from sailing. When the moment’s right, we maroon him and be off with the treasure, the ship, and all the good fortune we’re owed.”
The grizzly gave a salute and said, “Aye aye, sir,” before lumbering back into the jungle.
“Cursed grizzlies,” Tadra said, and started walking toward Ari and the others.
This was bad, Ari thought. Tadra was in cahoots with the pirates still. He should have seen it coming.
A branch snapped and Ari lay flat, his heart thudding. If Tadra found him out here, he was done for. They’d have to fight it out, and who knew what that old pirate bear was capable of. Best not to find out.
The footsteps came closer, and Ari could feel his heart thumping in his head…. Thu-thump… Thu-thump….
He waited. A foot nearly landed on his paw, and then another nearby, and then Tadra was safely past.
Ari wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but he waited to make sure Tadra was out of earshot before even allowing himself to breathe. Finally, after counting to ten-Mississippi, he pushed himself up, wiped away the dirt clinging to his wet fur, and made his way back to camp. He was careful to circle around so it looked like he had gone off the other way.
“Where you been?” Tadra asked as Ari entered the camp.
“Looking for another way down,” Ari said.
“You mean aside from this hill before us?”
“Seemed too easy, too good to be true.”
“Aye, as often is the case.” Tadra took a step toward Ari, narrowed eyes assessing him. Then he seemed to relax, because he laughed and said, “Well, we’ve wasted enough time resting. Shall we take this way, or some more complicated but less suspicious way you’ve found, lad?”
“This way works,” Ari said. “For now.”
They made their way down the slope and began the long trudge along the expanse that led to the jagged ro
cks. Ari noticed Tadra giving him a suspicious stare more than once, and at each ravine they crossed or each turn around a slope, he considered how to ditch the pirate. But the opportunity never came—Tadra was sticking too close to Ari. He knew something was up, Ari was sure of it.
“How’d you get wrapped up with those sorts anyway?” Mia asked as they crossed a rickety old rope bridge, Tadra in the lead.
“Pirates?” Tadra stepped carefully onto a rotting plank, then leapt across a spot where two were missing. A river roared beneath. “It was a simple matter of survival, you see. I’d been exiled, but refused to go out to the deserts where exiled teddy bears normally go. Broke free of my bonds and found myself a nice little island to call home. Only, one day that captain and his crew sail up, tell me I can sink to Davy Jones’s locker or join them in sailing the Seventeen Seas. So naturally, it became a pirate life for me.”
“That wasn’t the story you told before,” Ari said.
“Wasn’t it?” Tadra shrugged, giving him no more.
“Your pirate talk, it seems to have vanished.”
Tadra looked at him with annoyance this time. “We’re teddy bears, what do you expect?”
They walked in silence for a bit.
“What do pirates do, then?” Mia asked. “You loot the Teddy Bear Picnic or something?”
“No….”
“So aside from this Christmas teddy bear thing, what makes you all pirates?”
“Until now, just the cool clothes, I suppose.” He walked, thinking for a bit. “Oh, and we have a Jolly Roger, you know, the flag with the skull and crossbones. And pirate songs.”
“Wow,” Ari said. “I’d have been a bit less intimidated if I’d known we were dealing with fake pirates.”
“Hey, we’re plenty real now, ain’t we?” Tadra glared at him, hand on his sword hilt. “I dare you to say otherwise.”
Ari waved him off and kept walking.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it,” Brutas said, which earned him an annoyed glare from Ari.
It wasn’t until the third bridge they crossed that Ari finally decided he’d had enough. He simmered as he watched Tadra, smiling and helping Mia take the last step, like he was her knight in shining armor, and all the while Ari knew a band of pirates were following close behind, just waiting for Tadra to say the word so they could attack.