“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m not fast enough.”
Whiteclaw patted his son on the shoulder. “These animals have been running for their lives since birth. You have not. It will be a while for your legs to gain the strength they will need to hunt buffalo. But it is important that you tried. Maybe if you and Evercloud put your heads together, you’ll be able to figure out how you might aide each other. We’ll move on for now.”
The travelers continued west and it was not long before another herd of buffalo appeared upon the horizon. They stopped at a good distance and watched as the buffalo grazed.
“Have either of you come up with anything?” asked Whiteclaw. “Think of what you can do, not of what you cannot.”
“I can chase the buffalo,” said Riverpaw.
“I suppose I can crawl toward them, maybe even further than the two of you, because I am smaller. Maybe I could get close and hope that they come near me.” Evercloud looked at the bears but neither of them seemed keen on the idea.
After a moment of thinking, Riverpaw spoke up. “They probably wouldn’t just stumble upon you, Evercloud. But…Maybe I could chase them toward you and then you could ambush them.
“Good,” said Whiteclaw. “I knew that the two of you could come up with a plan. Now get to it, I’m starving.”
Riverpaw and Evercloud huddled together to get their plan straight and then they headed off, crawling in opposite directions. They began to create a v-shape around the buffalo and they continued moving until the buffalo were in between them. Evercloud had crawled out with his golden claw strapped to his arm and from there, he would stay as low as he could to the ground and wait as Riverpaw chased the herd in his direction. When the buffalo were close enough, Evercloud would leap up and slash at the throat of one of the buffalo. Evercloud had achieved his position and now all he could do was wait. As he lay in the grass, the entire world was silent. No birds, no insects, no wind, not a sound except for his own breathing. As time passed, the silence made him paranoid and he became impatient. Where are you, Riverpaw? Evercloud thought. Then he heard Riverpaw’s roar come across the plains toward him, followed by the rumble of the herd. Evercloud dug his toes into the dirt and lifted his body up, just enough so that he could see the herd. They were coming straight for him. Evercloud dug his toes into the dirt even further and readied himself for the attack. He moved his hands out in front of him and kept his elbows bent so that he would be able to get a good push off of the ground. He looked like a wildcat ready to pounce. His claw, strapped tightly to his right arm, glinted in the sun. The buffalo were almost upon him now and they had no idea that he was there, the plan was working perfectly. The fear of Riverpaw chasing them had dulled the buffalo’s ability to sense Evercloud. Evercloud’s heart beat faster and faster and the rumbling of the herd increased in volume and shook the ground, harder with each passing beat of his heart. NOW, thought Evercloud. NOW. GO. Evercloud didn’t move. He was frozen. His heart was beating so fast and the sun was so hot. He stared at his claw in the light.
“NOW!” Riverpaw roared from behind the herd. “Evercloud! NOW!”
The heat was intense and Evercloud’s limbs wouldn’t move. He had no control over them at all. The herd saw him now and began to scatter around him. Evercloud’s vision began to tunnel as the herd moved further and further away from him. He had failed. He had frozen.
“What happened?” Riverpaw asked as he approached Evercloud, still crouching on the ground.
“I-I froze. I’m sorry.”
Whiteclaw was running toward them now with worry etched upon his face.
“Is he hurt?” he asked as he approached. “Was he trampled?”
Evercloud raised himself up on his knees to show that he was all right and then he lowered his head in shame. “I’m sorry, Uncle. I froze. I couldn’t move my limbs.”
Whiteclaw narrowed his eyes and visibly clenched his jaw. “Get up,” he uttered.
“Uncle, I–”
“Get up!” Whiteclaw roared and Evercloud quickly stood on his feet. “I will coddle you no longer, boy!” Whiteclaw took a few steps toward Evercloud and glared at him. “Look at me when I speak to you!” Evercloud raised his eyes to the ferocious bear. Even Riverpaw backed away a few steps. Neither Riverpaw nor Evercloud had ever seen Whiteclaw this angry before. It scared them both. “Do you think this is a game, boy? That this is all for fun? Your grand adventure? You wanted this and now you have it. This is real. I will not allow you to act like a child any longer. The Great Tyrant has most likely returned and we have been charged with finding the Ancients. We carry the fate of the entire Kingdom in our hands and you can’t muster the courage to kill a buffalo? I will not tolerate this. You will face much tougher tasks before this quest is through and some may very well mean life or death. Will you freeze in the face of death? I will not place my life and the life of my son in the hands of a spoiled boy with dreams of heroism. Do you understand?!” Evercloud was shaking now but it was not out of fear that he was losing control of himself, it was out of anger. “We can not afford for you to be a boy any longer. If it’s the last thing I do, I will teach you to be a–”
“A what?!” Evercloud yelled. “A bear? I’m not a bear!”
Evercloud turned and stalked away from the two bears, seething with anger. Whiteclaw called after him:
“A man, Evercloud. It is time that you become a man.”
Evercloud walked for a while, but his anger did not abate. It stayed with him, mostly because he had been embarrassed and also because he knew that he was wrong. He kicked at the ground and cursed at the sky. Why did I freeze? Why? What is wrong with me? Evercloud chastised himself for his inaction. How can I learn to become something I know nothing of? How can I become a man when I have never even known one? Evercloud sat down and pulled grass out of the ground, throwing it into the wind. And how does he even know what a man is like?
Then something became clear to Evercloud. Whiteclaw didn’t know what a man was like. He wasn’t really asking him to be a man. What he was really asking him to do was to be accountable for himself and to hold up his end of the bargain. Evercloud felt horrible. He wished that he could go back in time. How can I go back to them now? But where would I go? I have to make this right.
It was time to act. Evercloud knew his uncle had been right when he had said that there would be far more difficult trials than buffalo hunting. He had to prove that he would be ready for them. He had to kill a buffalo and show him that he could do it on his own. He turned around and headed back in the direction of Whiteclaw and Riverpaw, knowing what he had to do.
• • •
“Should we go after him, Father?”
“No, Riverpaw. Evercloud has to return on his own. There is no other way.”
Riverpaw nodded and sat upon the ground. Evening was coming and the sun began its descent over the plains. The world was silent and it was this silence that gave Riverpaw his greatest feeling of discomfort. The kingdom had always been full of bears and sounds. Even the forests around Gray Mountain were filled with the sounds of birds and other animals, the wind through the trees and streams running over rocks and stones. The silence made him feel as if he had left the world. Not just that he had left the world he knew, but that he had gone somewhere that didn’t exist at all. He was floating in nothing. Lost in nowhere.
The sun became red as it reached for the shelter of the horizon. Riverpaw watched it and as he did, he saw the silhouette of Evercloud coming back to them in the distance.
“He’s coming back.”
“I see him,” said Whiteclaw. “Let him do the talking. I’m sure that there are a lot of things weighing on his mind.”
By the time Evercloud had reached the bears, the sun had almost reached its respite. He sat down across from Whiteclaw with the big red sun directly behind him, rendering him opaque against the blazing sky.
“I was wrong, uncle, and I am ashamed of how I acted today. It won’t happen again.” Whiteclaw remained
silent. “I don’t ask for your forgiveness, uncle. I realize that I have not earned it. I have earned nothing, so I will no longer ask for things that I do not deserve. I will not be a weight around your neck. What I do is for the Kingdom, and I shall keep that in my mind and heart.” Evercloud stopped speaking and sat in silence, waiting for a response. None came. The sun descended below the horizon and left the group of travelers in darkness. “I will kill a buffalo tomorrow and I will do it alone,” said Evercloud, no longer waiting for a response.
“We shall see, Evercloud. We shall see.”
• • •
Morning came with grumbling stomachs and Evercloud rubbing dirt all over his body.
“It’s so they can’t smell me,” said Evercloud to the bears.
“I believe the herd moved off in this direction,” pointed Whiteclaw. “Let’s go.” Whiteclaw led them onward and before midday they came across the herd.
“How is it that you plan on doing this?” asked Riverpaw.
“Slowly,” responded Evercloud.
Evercloud began crawling out on his stomach toward the herd. After Evercloud was about a hundred yards out, Riverpaw turned to his father.
“He can’t be serious about this, can he?”
“Give him his chance.”
Two hours passed and the herd had not been disturbed by anything. It had been sometime since they had lost sight of Evercloud. Riverpaw’s stomach had been gnawing at him and he was beginning to grow impatient.
“Father, I think you should finish this job. I don’t know what state we will be in if Evercloud fails.”
“No, Riverpaw. We have to have faith in each other if we are going to survive out here. Evercloud needs to do this.”
Just then, they heard a buffalo cry out. They looked out over the plains at the herd and saw a buffalo fall to the ground as the rest of the herd scattered.
“He did it,” said Riverpaw, astounded. “I can’t believe it.”
“Are you going to stand there, gawking, or are you going to come get some food?” Whiteclaw smiled at his son and roared into the air as the two bears ran toward the kill.
The Plan
“You don’t fear humans, Riverpaw, because you have never had the misfortune of being hunted by them.”
The group moved on westward. The day was cooler than many of the previous had been, allowing for easier travel and less irritable dispositions. It had been almost three weeks since they had departed on that promising morning. Evercloud felt like it could have been a lifetime.
“I still don’t see why we should fear humans,” Riverpaw shot back at his father. “We are bears. Humans fear us. So, if we make it known that we are friendly they wouldn’t want to anger us by being aggressive.”
“There are things you are not taking into account, Riverpaw. For example, we don’t speak to humans, do we?”
It was true. It was an unwritten law throughout the world that creatures that were not human did not speak to creatures that were human. All bears, as well as other creatures, had been told the stories from the time that they were young of the misfortunes that befell any animal that talked to a human. Riverpaw knew these stories and even Evercloud had heard them. It seemed that most humans had an insatiable curiosity to know everything, why and how. Unfortunately, when they were unable to figure something out, they would label it as evil and become aggressive against it. This was the overwhelming theme of most of the stories. Of course, the bears had hoped they might be able to change these circumstances with Evercloud as ambassador, but that plan had been tabled out of necessity.
“So pray tell, Riverpaw, how will we let the humans know that we are friendly when the very sight of us sends them into fits?”
“Evercloud will tell them.”
“Of course,” Whiteclaw said whimsically, feigning idiocy. “A man they have never seen before, filthy from travel and adorned in clothes they have never seen before, claiming that he can speak to bears, will convince the village that we are friendly. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Evercloud couldn’t help but to chuckle at Whiteclaw’s sarcasm.
“Well fine,” said Riverpaw. “Then how are we going to question villagers about rumors of the Ancients?”
“Don’t worry,” said Whiteclaw. “I have a plan. Let us wait until we reach a stream where we can rest and I will explain it to you.”
• • •
It was another half day before the travelers reached a stream. They dipped their heads into the cool water to refresh themselves and then drank their fill. The sun was well on its way to setting and they decided to rest on the bank until the next morning. They were all very tired from travel but Riverpaw and Evercloud were far too curious to hear of the plan to just fall asleep. So they held Whiteclaw to his word and as they relaxed under the cool night sky, Whiteclaw laid out his plan.
“In order to obtain any information from humans, we will need to blend into their world and not seem suspicious. And when I say we, I mean Evercloud. You and I, Riverpaw, should not allow ourselves to be seen with Evercloud. It would ruin any chance he has of seeming normal. Now, if I am correct in judging our location, we are a few miles south of a village called Yorebrook and possibly ten miles north of a village called Hendrick. In the morning, Evercloud, you are to bathe yourself in the stream and use your claw to cut off all of your hair. Try to shave the hair off as close to your scalp as possible. That should fit you with an acceptable style to the villagers, much more than the hair you have now, at least.” This did not sit well with Evercloud. He had not cut his hair in a very long time. In fact, he couldn’t remember having it cut at all. As his hair was now, it hung to his shoulders in dreaded clumps, pulled to the back and tied off with a leather strap. He really didn’t like the idea of cutting it off but he knew not to argue. It was necessary to blend in. “I will travel north to Yorebrook tonight and return with clothing for Evercloud to wear into the village. In fact, I should leave soon if I want to be back with enough time to rest before morning.”
“What if you are caught?” asked Riverpaw. “Shouldn’t we go with you?”
“I won’t be. Don’t worry. I want the two of you to be fully rested. We will head south for Hendrick tomorrow morning and we will have quite the day ahead of us. I must be leaving now.” And with that, Whiteclaw ran off into the night.
“I’m starting to think that my father has a bit of a communication problem,” Riverpaw said to Evercloud. Evercloud just shrugged his shoulders and then he stretched out and fell asleep.
• • •
The night was still very dark when Whiteclaw returned to Riverpaw and Evercloud who were fast asleep by the stream. Whiteclaw was panting heavily as he slowed his run and approached them.
“Get up!” he yelled, gasping for breath. “Wake up!” Whiteclaw nudged Riverpaw quite forcefully and yelled again. “Get up!”
Riverpaw rose quickly to his feet, eyes wide. “What is it? Did you get the clothes?”
“Yes, I have the clothes, but the plan has changed. We must move, now.”
Evercloud was now on his feet. He couldn’t see anything in the darkness and neither could the bears, but their senses were better than his. He tried to look around and heard Whiteclaw to his right.
“Evercloud, get on my back. We must run.” The urgency in Whiteclaw’s voice told Evercloud and Riverpaw to not ask questions. Evercloud promptly climbed onto his uncle’s back. “Riverpaw,” called Whiteclaw. “Cross the stream and run south. Do not stop until I tell you to. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, father,” answered Riverpaw.
Evercloud clung to the large bear’s back as he crossed the stream. He wondered what had happened to cause an emergency exit like this. He couldn’t see much with the exception of the moon as it reflected off the surface of the stream. He didn’t dare ask any questions right now. He put his head to the side, facing north, and saw what it was they were running from. Dotting the horizon from the north were the flaming torches of a m
ob. Whiteclaw had not gone unnoticed and now the citizens of Yorebrook were after them.
The bears had crossed the stream and now began to run south at a ferocious pace. Evercloud kept his body low, to cause as little wind resistance as he could, but he kept his eyes on the flames. If he could not aide in the escape, he could at least serve as a lookout and alert the bears if they were losing ground. However valorous Evercloud’s sentiments may have been, they were ultimately futile. These men had no chance against the speed of two full-grown bears and the travelers rapidly put distance between them and their pursuers.
The bears had almost run all the way to the village of Hendrick before Whiteclaw called for them to stop.
“Enough, Riverpaw. We must take cover.”
It had been sometime since Evercloud could see the flames on the horizon. He assumed that the villagers had given up the chase. The sky had become a little lighter during their escape and Evercloud thought that he could now see large clumps of trees and brush. Whiteclaw found one particularly dense group of trees and led the party inside. Once again, the travelers were shrouded in complete darkness.
“Sleep,” commanded Whiteclaw. “Make no sound. We will be safe.”
Evercloud rolled off of his uncle’s back and curled up upon the soft ground. They were all quite exhausted and no one had the least bit of trouble falling into a dreamless sleep.
• • •
“Father?” whispered Riverpaw, his jaw agape. He stood, frozen, just feet from the mountainous bear as Evercloud woke. Whiteclaw stirred briefly and then yawned. The sun was now high in the sky and the party was no longer under the protection of darkness. Whiteclaw slowly rose to his feet and as he did, Evercloud saw what had held his cousin petrified.
Whiteclaw’s face was matted in blood and there was a deep wound where his left eye had been. Tears welled in Riverpaw’s eyes as he stared, dumbstruck, at his father. Whiteclaw looked back at his son with sadness in his one eye.
Everflame Page 13