Buddi walked through Ursalia
with Sunni; the two were attempting to get their minds off the visions. So
Buddi thought that he’d show Sunni some of the new things he and the other
Barbics had learned about the ancient city. There were some things that only he
knew about the city. Even Sir Thornberry didn’t know some of the hidden
passages. He had since learned that
that was especially useful when Ursa was angry with him.
By the time he came out, her anger
had cooled enough that she was approachable.
“Wow! It’s like another world in
here, Buddi!”
Buddi smiled at his friend. He’d
taken her into one of the secret passages. She was right. There were tunnels
and tunnels, going through nearly every room in the city. It was a city inside
a city. But the one thing that did bug him was the cobwebs. He wasn’t afraid of
spiders or any bugs really. In Barbic Woods when he was smaller and younger,
he’d come in at night covered in dirt and once even raced in for Ursa when a
bunch of bees caught him and wound up caught in his fur. It was just the creepy
feeling of crawling legs that bugged him. And the hair thin threads carried the
same feeling.
“Hey Buddi!” Sunni tugged on his arm
and pointed to the small door to her right. It was half the size of the others
and covered with dust and tangled spider webs. “Show me what’s in there!”
Buddi pulled her back. “Sorry. I
can’t. That’s the weapon room. To all the Barbics, it’s free entry. Except me.
I’m just a cub. They don’t let me in.”
“Why?”
Buddi shrugged. “Beats me. I guess
because they’re afraid that I’ll hurt myself on something. The weapons are
pretty heavy, except the practice spears. And a few real spears. Those had to
be made especially for me, smaller.”
“Well, these are inside the walls.
The others wouldn’t-“
“No, but they wouldn’t stop
searching until the found us. Besides, they know how my feet sound. And if I
got caught…well let’s just say I’d be hiding from Ursa a while and probably
still get my hide tanned.”
“You guys…always have guards?”
He nodded. “Except when they change
at night. Then, there are only guards outside, for about an hour.”
A mischievous grin overtook Sunni’s
eyes. Buddi could see it. He backed away, hands up.
“Oh no, don’t even think about it
Sunni. That’s not happening.”
“Aw come on Buddi! Cubbi’s seen it.
I haven’t. I’m curious. Aren’t you?”
“Well yeah…but I do NOT want Ursa
mad at me. Not that I ever do but-“
“Come on Buddi. You’re only in
trouble if you get caught. And you just said-“
“That’s at like four o’clock or
something!”
“So?”
“Well, I…”
“Come on Buddi. Let’s just pop in
this morning, look around and pop out.”
“Cubbi’s usually the irresponsible
one, Sunni. Not you.”
She nodded. “But if we know what
weapons you have, then we can prepare for whatever’s coming better!”
“Oww, I don’t-“ he glared at her.
“Seriously why?”
She shrugged honestly. “I don’t
know. You Barbics are so different, I guess I just wanna know what you differ
in.”
Buddi looked at her and saw the same
curiosity he had. If he wasn’t alone-
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
Sunni smiled. She was actually
terrified. She was faintly curious but she guessed that Buddi had been curious
himself for years. She knew him well enough that he would not do it alone. He
needed someone with him and to give him the nerve to do it. If she didn’t bury
the curiosity now, she knew that one day it would overwhelm him and he might do
something stupid.
The two started to say something
else when Buddi became aware of how high the moon was. Sunni noted and asked,
“What’s wrong Buddi?”
“I think I was supposed to be asleep
about an hour ago.”
Sunni winced. “Oops.”
No sooner had she said that, did the
two hear a female voice call, “Buddi! Sunni! Come out now, you hear me?”
Buddi grabbed Sunni’s hand and
tugged her back towards the entrance saying, “Ursa, definitely Ursa.”
Sunni gulped. “She sounds mad.”
Buddi shook his head. “Nope, just
impatient.”
He opened the door and walked
through what to normal Barbics usually was a mirror. Just after he closed it,
he heard a voice call,
“There you two are.”
The two turned and met eyes with
Grubbi. He smiled and pulled Buddi from Sunni, gently. He said to the girl
Gummi,
“The other Glens want you now Sunni.
They’re waiting in your room.”
She nodded and said to Buddi, “See
ya later.”
As soon as she left, Grubbi told
Buddi, “Ursa’s been looking for you for about ten minutes. You better go find
her before she has a mental breakdown.”
Buddi nodded and took off. He
finally found Ursa by the dining room.
“Ursa!”
She turned and found her little one
running to her. She sighed.
“Finally Buddi.”
He shrugged. “Sorry. I was showing
Sunni around. You know, those extra places we found.”
Ursa nodded. “I thought so. That’s
why I let you stay up later. But, it’s late now, Little Buddi.”
Buddi growled. How he hated that nickname.
Thornberry had started calling him that when they moved to Ursalia. Ursa and
the others liked it so pretty soon they called him that. He didn’t like being
reminded he was little. Ursa had had a name for him when he was smaller. She’d
called him ‘Baby’ until he was about seven, then she stopped and called him
just Buddi. Or sometimes, if things were tense or it was an emotional time,
like when they lost Barbic Woods she’d call him “My Buddi.”
“Ursa, are you goin’ call me that
when I’m all grown up?”
Ursa smiled. “Your body will be
grown up but I’ll always see a cub so probably.”
“Great.”
Ursa smiled. “Go and get ready
Buddi. I’ll be along in a minute. I want to tell you something.”
He nodded and took off to his room.
After he threw on a night shift and got into bed, the door opened. Ursa walked
in and sat down by him. She took his cap off and then told him, seriously,
“Buddi, Cubbi’s missing.”
Buddi’s jaw dropped. “What? When?
Why? Whe-“
“Whoa, slow down Buddi.” She put her
finger against his lips. “We’re taking turns searching. But I want you and
Sunni to stay here.”
“Why? Cubbi’s my friend too!”
“I know. Sunni had the same
response. But the point is that first off, we’re going to be wandering far and
after those fainting fits of yours I don’t want you pushing yourself. You
didn’t eat much dinner you know. Besides, it’s dark. Our older eyes are better
made for seeing in the dark. And it IS late,” she chuckled and pushed him down
against his pillow as he yawned. “And you’re tired.”
“Am not,” he rejected but even as he
did so, he could feel his eyes threatening to close. Ursa pulled his comforter
tighter around him and ruffled his hair gently.
“Yes you are. Have all the signs.
Now get some sleep,”
Buddi finally gave in. The
nervousness and fear of his coming risk was wearing on him.
He was asleep before Ursa closed the
door.
* * *
Cubbi came to slowly. The
Glen cub sat up slowly. He looked around. He was in some sort of cave, although
he wasn’t sure what kind. It was dry and clean. Sitting up, a new clean
comforter fell off his body. He looked around again. He could see different
hand made furniture, and well made at that. He was in a small bed, more a
bundle of sheets mounted on a frame than a bed. It was like a bird’s nest.
“I’m glad you’re up.”
Cubbi whirled around and came face
to face with a Gummi girl. She looked about fifteen or sixteen. She was very
tall, like a Barbic. Her fur was slick, like Ursa and Buddi’s. For some reason
Barbics’ fur was slicker than Glens. That was how her fur looked. Like it was
swept down with water. Except for her face. That had the bunny fluffiness that
all Glen Gummies had. And her eyes were smaller, almost an almond shape. They
were the color of the ocean. Her fur itself was snow white. And that made her
eyes and her coal black eyelashes stand out.
She had on a tunic similar to
Ursa’s. It was a cool dark blue and stretched to the tops of her knees. Across
her waist she wore a silver belt that had a small silver stick tucked away. She
only had one sleeve like Ursa had. Her cleavage was clearly visible. She wore
silver sandals that laced up, criss cross style to the bottom of her knees.
Around her neck, she wore a chain of silver that had the mark of the gummies in
the small spheres that made it up.
“How are you feeling? Better?”
Cubbi looked her over. Her eyes were
kind, like Grammi’s. Her body had curves and figures like Sunni’s. Her hands
were tough looking, like Gusto’s. And she was tall like Ursa. It was as if
someone took all the Gummies and blended their different traits together to
form this girl. She had a small smile, like Buddi’s. Buddi smiled like her,
slowly. Her eyes gleamed like Gritty’s. And she had the muscles of a Barbic.
“Y..yeah. Thanks.” The cub
stammered. “Who are you? Where am I?”
“People call me Missy. You’re in my
home on Carpy Mountain. I was traveling to Ursalia when I saw you collapse.
You’ve been here a few hours. I thought after you rested up, we might go back
to Ursalia together. But not now. It’s late, almost midnight.”
Cubbi nodded and watched as she came
over with a bowl of soup. She handed it to him. Cubbi had been wary of Grammi’s
cooking but this soup smelt good! He took a cautious bite. He was in heaven.
This gal could cook! He was emptying it in moments. Missy filled it again.
Cubbi once again drained it. He put the bowl aside and let the warm food
settle. Missy handed him a cup of hot tea. He drained that swiftly as well. It
was warm and felt good against his cold throat. When he finished he asked,
“Do you live with anyone? Where are
your parents?”
The girl’s bright blue eyes dulled.
She said nothing, just turned her face away and shook her head, slowly. Cubbi
clutched the mug tightly in his hands. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Oh,
I’m sorry.”
The girl nodded and turned to the
cub. “It’s okay. I’ve been alone for about ten years, orphaned at six years.”
“Six years? How did you survive?”
She shrugged. “You learn. You live
and you learn. Pain comes, you cope.”
Cubbi smiled at her. “Why were you
coming to Ursalia?”
“I know why your friends are
collapsing.”
* * *
“Sunni, why did I EVER let you talk
me into this?”
Sunni shrugged as they crept along
the dank hallway. Buddi had seen Ursa go to sleep a few minutes ago. But he was
still nervous. The door was old. It might wake her. She was the Barbics’
lightest sleeper. He was the heaviest. Ursa often joked that he’d sleep through
a fire, followed by a major earthquake and flood.
Grammi and the other Glens refused
to sleep. Sunni said they could use this to their advantage. She was worried
but told Buddi that he’d come back when he got hungry. Buddi agreed but that
didn’t erase the fear and anxiety. He had not been in real trouble since he was
about eight. And if he got caught…oh he did NOT want to think about that.
The two slowly creaked the door
open. It made a slight groaning noise but no other disturbance. The door had
been behind the battering ram so even if someone was there they couldn’t see
him or her. Not that they could anyway. It was pitch dark.
Sunni lit a torch and handed it to
Buddi. He cautiously waved it out. The room was empty. The two cubs slowly
stepped out. Buddi looked around. Sunni echoed his thoughts.
“Wow.”
“Double wow.”
In all his imaginings, Buddi had
never imagined this!
The whole of the room was covered
with iron racks, on which were the swords. They varied, from fancy hilts to a
single handle. The fancier ones were made from silver or gold. He wondered how
the Barbics had gotten them all here or if they had made some after they came
from the woods.
They were all about the same size,
about a foot, foot and a half long blade. But those swords were only half, no
not even a third of the weapons they saw.
In the center of the room, forming
an aisle were racks of spears. Buddi could see the practice spears and his own
smaller spears near the end of the aisle. The others were long and looked
heavy. He could never have lifted them, let alone thrown them. They had some
that were duller and would have to be sharpened. Some had just been sharpened
and looked like that would cut him if he just looked at them. The rest were
fairly sharp but not the razor sharp like the others.
Filling the space between the aisle
and the walls were racks of various weapons. They ranged from crossbows to
slingshots. Across the back wall were bows of various colors. There was an
individual box below each bow in which were a quiver and arrows designed for
each bow. There were also small pouches of small potions to add to the points.
Buddi felt all his doubt vanish. He
needed to see this. What was Ursa worried about? He knew better than to handle
the heavy weapons. And any idiot stayed away from the battering ram. But Buddi
heard something behind him that made his blood run cold.
“Buddi, is this really that heavy?”
Sunni had lifted a spear and was now
stumbling under its weight. She tripped forward, knocking a rack from the wall.
Swords clattered to the ground. Buddi raced to her and grabbed her hand.
“Leave-now.”
The two cubs started to run back to
the secret entrance. But Sunni stumbled over a sword’s hilt, luckily missing
the blade. But her stumble knocked her into Buddi and they both fell at the
base of another rack. The two covered their heads as it fell to them.
But it never hit them.
Buddi extremely reluctantly looked
up.
Ursa gave him a poisonous glare.
“Buddi Barbic, this had better
be good!”