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Chapter 3: The Founders Meet

Joel had never walked so much in his life, especially not on such rough terrain. The flat land of the farm had always been agreeable. Even on bad days the worst he had to deal with were mud puddles or snow. At least he had started his journey in dry weather though there was still mud to walk around, or through as he just had.

Joel groaned, leaned up against a tree, lifted his right hoof up and scraped the mud out of his frog, off his sole, used a stick to get it out from between his horseshoe and nail then repeated the process for his left hoof. Once he was satisfied with his work Joel took a granola bar out of his back pack, readjusted the load on his back, then continued onwards following the same feeling that had set him on this journey whilst munching on his early lunch.

It was unusually quiet for this late into spring, other than the chattering of squirrels and the chirping of birds overhead Joel hadn't seen or heard any animals, it was unnerving. Joel finished his food, stuffed the wrapper in the pocket of his pants, hefted his backpack and continued onwards.

Night fell and Joel stopped to camp. He had no tent, just a sleeping bag but it was enough. He had yet to see any other animals but that leant him a certain sense of safety as he lay in his sleeping bag.

Joel woke up with a sore back and he grumbled as he pulled himself out of his bag and stretched. "Gotta find a better spot next time," he said as he dug out some more of his trail food as he continued on his way.

Another day passed relatively uneventfully for Joel, more walking, more eating, this time being more careful to avoid mud, and more silence. Joel still felt unnerved by the lack of animal noises but he pushed onwards, still alert.

Joel woke up much earlier on his third day, so early that it was still dark. With nothing else to do, Joel just lay inside his sleeping bag and waited until the sunlight that shone through the trees was bright enough for him to see.

As he set out, Joel reached for a drink from his canteen but only got a few drops out of the container.

"Out," he shook the canteen just to make sure. He sighed and stuck the canteen back on his pack as he continued onwards.

It was shortly after midday when Joel heard running water. Following the sound, Joel found a stream running through the woods. "Phew." Joel pulled out his canteen, unscrewed the top and leaned down to smell the water. It smelled different but whatever it was it as better than dehydrating so he filled it.

A sound from nearby caused Joel to look up while his canteen was filling and he found himself staring at a bear, but not like the kind he'd seen in books. The bear was a light cream color with a multicolored tuft of hair on her head, a white tummy, and heart shaped pink stamp on the end of her muzzle. Time suspended as they stared at each other until the bear stepped forwards.

"H-hello," she said. Yes now that the bear was out in the open Joel was certain it was a she.

"H-hi." Joel stood up and absent-mindedly screwed the lid back on to his now full canteen.

The bear stepped forwards, "I didn't know there were others like us outside the forest."

"Us?" Joel blinked, "There's more of you?"

The cream bear giggled, "There's only one of me, but there's my mother, brother and his mate." She took his free hand in her right and beamed, "Come with me, I'll show you."

"Whoa!" Joel stumbled and nearly fell face-first into the stream, just managing to get steady on his feet as the cream bear pulled him onward. Once he got used to the tug on his arm, Joel matched the cream bear's pace and was able to walk up alongside her. "My name's Joel, what's your name?"

"I don't have one," she replied.

"What, why not?" Joel was perplexed.

"Don't really need one, there's just the four of us and we all look different," the cream bear replied. "Why do you have a name?"

"My dad named me."

The bear stopped for a moment and turned to face him, she narrowed her eyes, "I thought you said you never met another animal like you."

Joel raised his hands defensively, canteen still in his left, "I haven't, my dad's human. Well he's my adopted dad," he added, taking the reprieve to stuff his canteen in his backpack.

"Oh, OK," the bear expression relaxed. "We're almost there, come on." Thankfully the cream bear didn't drag him and Joel matched her pace more leisurely this time.

Their destination was a large clearing centered around an ancient evergreen tree with a large hollow dug out under its roots. At their approach an older grey bear exited from under the tree to greet them.

"Hello de-. Who's this," the grey bear said. Though her face was calm her muscles tensed as the sight of the horse and Joel took a step back.

The cream bear turned to Joel, "Mom, this is Joel. He's from the human world"

"Hello." Joel took another step away from the cream bear, relaxing when the mother bear did.

"Oh my, from the human world." The mother bear approached Joel and looked him up and down, "Is that why you're dressed? What are humans like."

"My dad was nice, I never really met any others." Joel kept still as she looked him over, trembling slightly.

"So why did you come here?" the mother bear asked.

"I think I was called here." Joel said as the mother bear's gaze met his eyes.

"Called?" The mother bear raised an eyebrow.

"I just felt...something pulling me here and I had to go." Joel gulped. Now that he said it out loud it sounded ridiculous.

"Maybe it was this." The voice came from a new bear. This one was male, iridescent blue and holding a walking staff topped with a crystal in the shape of a valentine heart that constantly shifted color. The blue bear held the staff forward, extending the crystal towards Joel.

Joel reached out to the crystal, "What's this?" he asked. He touched the crystal and felt a shock run up his arm, down his spine and through his head and limbs. He jumped back, "Yow!"

The blue bear smirked, "Sorry, I should have warned you."

"The crystal emits a magical energy that draws our kind towards it." The new female voice also came from the hollow as a moss green horse emerged. Horse? No, she had a spiraled horn sticking out from her forehead. Was she a unicorn? Unlike the other three she had long silver hair and, as Joel watched the blue bear help her out of the den, he could see she was pregnant.

"Joel, you're staring." The cream bear giggled and gave Joel a nudge. Joel shook his head and resettled his gaze on the two who had just emerged. The green unicorn, who also had streams of silver fur trailing off her heels, was leaning on the blue bear. He guessed that they were the cream bear's brother and his mate.

The unicorn leaned up against the tree and took a deep breath, rubbing her swollen middle. "You should come inside," she offered and gestured to the entrance to the den.

Joel sat down in the rough center of the large single room and looked around. He wasn't surprised that there wasn't any furniture inside the den, unless one counted the three beds of moss, one of which was twice the size of the other two. The others joined him and sat in a circle, the unicorn forced to lean backward because of her belly.

"So, where shall we start?" the mother bear asked.

Joel had to think for a moment, "Hmm, do you know why we are like this, oddly coloured and walking upright?"

"I think the answer is the same as why you're here," the blue bear held his staff forwards. "I barely remember when I was a normal bear cub. I was running from... something, probably the reason I was an orphan, when I stumbled across this crystal in a small pit. I reached out for it and the next thing I knew I was like this," he indicated himself with his free hand.

"We just woke up like this that same spring. I went to sleep in fall as a normal bear expecting my first child and when I awoke we had changed," the mother bear said. The cream bear nodded along with the story.

"I was travelling through this forest searching for this," the unicorn touched the staff. "I sensed its magical energy and when I found it, I found him."

~~~

The young iridescent blue bear had gone looking for food on his own. The crystal he had carried since he was a child had been fixed to the top of a tree branch about his height with pine resin, which made it easier to carry than the large chunk of crystal on its own. He grinned as he came across a ripe berry bush by a river and bit some of the berries off the stems, chewing with relish.

He was about to reach for another mouthful when he stopped, sniffed the air and went rigid. He backed away slowly, searching the surrounding brush for the source of the unfamiliar scent. He bared his teeth and issued forth a low growl. There! He could see it now. Whatever it was it was white and spying out at him from behind a bush. He stood up and relaxed his visage, whatever it was seemed to be scared of him.

"You can come out. I won't hurt you," he called to the bush.

The bush rustled for a moment and a long white face topped by a spiral horn poked out at him. The blue bear just stood in place, stunned as the rest of the creature emerged. It had a four thin, graceful legs ending in cloven hooves with silver fur streaming off the heels, a long silver mane down the back of its neck, a body like a deer's and a long thin tail that ended in a tuft of silver fur. The blue bear watched as it approached him and pointer it's horn at the staff.

"What? Oh this?" he held the staff forwards. The creature approached and inspected the staff, eyes focused on the crystal at the top. Before the bear could react, the creature touched its horn to the crystal and the area was bathed in a blinding white light. When the light receded the creature had changed. It had kept roughly the same body shape but she was now standing on two legs and her fur had changed to a moss green, save for her still silver hair.

"Whoa!" the bear stepped back, eyes wide.

The changed creature blinked then looked down at herself, "Oh-oh my!" she said in barely more than whisper.

"You can talk?" the bear asked, approaching her again.

She nodded, "What happened to me?" she extended one of her slim arms ahead of her, looking at her new fingers.

The bear looked from her to the color-changing crystal still attached to the top of his staff, "The same thing that happened to us, because of this."

"Us?" she looked at the bear.

"There's me, my sister and our mother." He offered a hand to her and gave a small smile, "Come with me. I can show you." She accepted the offered hand and he led her back to his home. "What kind of animal are you?" he asked.

"I'm a unicorn."

~~~

"...and I've lived here since then." The unicorn squeezed the blue bear's hand and nuzzled him, "We became mates last summer."

"So you're due any day now?" Joel asked, his eyes drawn to her swollen middle.

The unicorn nodded, gave a warm smile and rubbed her tummy. Her mate placed a hand over hers as well.

"Where did you come from, Joel?" the mother bear asked.

"From my mother. But dad said I was born as a normal horse foal and transformed into this overnight. After that he taught me everything he knew and... that's it really. Not much happened until I left to come here." Joel sighed.

"What's that thing?" the cream bear asked, pointing to the guitar case on Joel's back.

Joel blinked then unfastened the case. He'd almost forgotten about the instrument he'd carried with him. It seemed rather frivolous now. "It's a guitar." He removed the instrument from it's case and began to tune it. The unicorn and bears listened as he plucked the strings and adjusted the keys on the neck.

"A musical instrument?" The unicorn asked. Joel nodded. "Can you play something for us?"

"I know one song from a movie dad showed me." Joel finished tuning and began to play.

(Over the rainbow)

Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high And the dreams that you dreamed of Once in a lullaby

_ _

Somewhere over the rainbow Blue birds fly And the dreams that you dreamed of Dreams really do come true ooh oh

_ _

Someday I'll wish upon a star Wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where trouble melts like lemon drops High above the chimney top That's where you'll find me

_ _

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly And the dream that you dare to, Oh why, oh why can't I?

_ _

Well I see trees of green and red roses too, I'll watch them bloom for me and you And I think to myself What a wonderful world

_ _

Well I see skies of blue And I see clouds of white And the brightness of day I like the dark And I think to myself What a wonderful world

_ _

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky Are also on the faces of people passing by I see friends shaking hands Singing, "How do you do?" They're really singing, "I, I love you."

_ _

I hear babies cry and I watch them grow, They'll learn much more than we'll know And I think to myself What a wonderful world world

_ _

Someday I'll wish upon a star Wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where trouble melts like lemon drops High above the chimney top That's where you'll find me

_ _

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow way up high And the dream that you dare to, why oh, why can't I?

Joel looked up from his guitar and saw that the four of them were staring at him. Joel blushed and packed his guitar in its case. "Sorry. I could use some practise."

"Oh no dear, it was quite lovely," the mother bear smiled. "But we should get you settled for now, unless you planned on leaving before nightfall."

"Oh no I wasn't." Joel unslung his backpack and pulled off his sleeping bag. Seeing the others stare he added: "It's a sleeping bag, for camping or places like this."

"I see," the cream bear said. "Would you like to go foraging with me. I can show you where to search for food."

"Oh, umm sure," Joel chuckled nervously as he let the cream bear lead him out of the cave.

Foraging proved easier than Joel had expected, at least his companion knew where to find food. The cream bear could not help staring at Joel as he helped her gather armfuls of food and ended up asking a few questions while they foraged.

"What are those things on your feet?"

"Horseshoes. They're supposed to protect my hooves," Joel lifted a leg to give her a better look.

"What else was in that bag you brought with you."

"Some food and a canteen, not much of it's left now."

"What are humans like?"

"I don't really know. Dad didn't want other humans to see me. He said they might take away if they did."

They returned to the den as the sun was setting, bearing armfuls of root vegetables and early berries. Joel didn't question the diet; he didn't have a choice for food. Unsurprisingly the unicorn ate twice the amount the rest of them did, and probably more besides. With full bellies they all lay down to sleep, Joel climbing into his sleeping bag.

This felt right. He was among his own kind, but it felt like something was unfinished. There had to be something else, right?

~~~

It was one month later that the unicorn's child was born.

Joel stood outside, doing his best to shut out the noises from the den and failing. It was nearly dusk when the cream bear poked her head out of the den.

"It's done, Joel. You can come in now."

Joel nodded. He could hear the newborn's faint cries from inside as he descended. The unicorn lay against a wall, with her newborn in her arms. The newborn was a lime green colored bear that otherwise looked much like his father save for a dark green patch of fur on his forehead shaped like an eight-pointed star.

"He's beautiful," the unicorn whispered.

Joel said nothing as he watched the scene unfold before him. Was this how his dad had felt? Maybe... from what Travis had told him he was just one last foal for Duchess before he changed. The lime green cub gave a yawn and snuggled up against his mother and his father leant into his mate's side and the three fell asleep. The mother bear followed suit soon after.

The den had become hot and stuffy so Joel crept outside to take in the cool night air. He breathed deep and let the cool breeze pass through his fur as he sat up against the tree that formed the den's roof.

"Enjoying the night air?" The cream bear emerged from the den and sat down next to Joel.

Joel nodded. "Peaceful." He looked up at the stars. "But now what?"

"Hmm, what do you mean?" the cream bear asked.

"I mean what are we going to do now? Are we just supposed to live here as wild animals or are we supposed to do something?" Joel sighed, "I was drawn here and I can't believe it was just to live out my days here. I like you, but is this it?"

"You like me?" she scooted up close to Joel and gave him a gentle smile.

"Yes, I mean I, heheh..." Joel chuckled nervously.

She laughed, "I know what you meant but thank you anyway." She gave Joel a quick nuzzle, "Don't stay out too late, even summer nights can get cold." She retreated back into the den.

Joel stared at where the bear had disappeared, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks. Nevertheless, he stayed out for another half-hour before he re-entered the den, felt around for his sleeping bag and crawled in for the night.

~~~

It was nearly dawn when the inhabitants of the den were awakened by a bright rainbow of lights. Joel rubbed his eyes and stared at the source, the crystal atop the blue bear's walking staff. The staff was standing upright of its own accord in the middle of the chamber. The unicorn hung onto her mate and cradled her newborn son in her other arm. The infant bear was awake too and was staring at the light along with the rest. The mother bear stood up and walked over to the staff. She reached out and touched the crystal and the light exploded, engulfing them.

Images flashed into their minds, sights and sounds unfamiliar to them blazed by at lightning speed. They caught glimpses of animals like themselves in all the colours of the rainbow. The images finally stopped on an image of a wooden sailing ship and a voice echoed in their heads. "You must save the cubs. They are out there waiting for you. The radiant heart crystal will take you to them. Now go!"

When day came, the den had been cleared out. The mother bear held the walking staff and followed a bright beam of light that extended from the crystal as it led them onwards.