Force2reckon

  Toni noticed all the tension in Temate vanish as the bck bear stood before them and spoke. Its accent was not quite french, but something simir. It had to be intentional, Mayor Bearington had the same accent, and it had a strange effect on several words.

  “Again, my apawlogies, it is supbearb you did not meet with a grizzly fate no? That would have id an unbearable amount of guilt upon my pelt.” The bear held its paw up in greeting. The three just stared. That was the strange effect it had, certain words sounded like they were saying certain other words as part of them. Their entire manner of speech meant they were making bear puns constantly.

  “Is there something the matter? The shock of battle must have left you bearly coherent! Oh wait! But of course! How embearassing! I have not introduced myself yet!” The bear bowed low, like a noble courtier or like Temate had to the Righ. Temate began to shake.

  “I am Honey Swete, Beartaker of the Warm Dry Caves of Bearbhaile at your service!” Honey Swete, the bck bear, stood back up and walked, on only its hind legs, towards Toni and Temate. When it got closer it held out one paw to Temate to shake his hand as it looked up into his eyes. Toni blinked again. She was doing that too much. So she let her mouth fall open again.

  Temate was taller than a bear. She knew he was big but this is… it’s a… what on god's green earth. Then it hit her and she felt better. Bears must be smaller here. She sighed in relief. That must be it, despite that revetion, which must be true, it was still a surreal sight.

  Temate slowly reached his quivering hand out to shake Honey’s hand when a small figure barreled between them.

  “Don’ do i’ d! Ya can’ trus’ a BEAR!” Pipuck pushed, or tried to push, the two apart they both looked down at the spiras and Honey began to ugh.

  “Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Who might you be, little shortling? I was unaware of any of your kind in this realm.” Honey leaned down to sniff at Pipuck who scurried behind Temate’s leg.

  “Ya keep your paw to yourself ya unscrupulous beas'!” Pipuck gred up at Honey and Toni saw a bears face scrunch up in confusion. She stepped to Temate’s side, who was physically holding himself, restraining himself from… something?

  “Shoosh Pip, mister ‘run and hide when goblins attack us’!" Toni gred slightly at Pipuck, "Hiii, sorry about them, I’m Toni, the big guy is Mate, the little angry person is Pip and the gremlin girl is R-uh Surrender. Nice to meet you!” Toni reached her hand out, Honey took it and shook her hand, then Surrenders. When Honey extended his hand to Pipuck the spiras snorted and turned away.

  “I can bearly contain my excitement! To meet a Lady such as yourself who bears the scent of friend of bears!” Honey smiled at Toni, and she smiled back, she was about to respond when there was a loud guffaw.

  Temate began ughing, loudly. Through his ughter he choked out, “This is unbearably funny, my forbearance can bear it no longer, it’s impawsible! Bears speak in puns?!” Temate fell over! Toni was just staring open mouthed, then Honey started ughing!

  “Most people find it overbearing, but we bear it for the world to hear! It’s a delibearate choice!” Honey sat down and Temate sat up, reaching out and grabbing the bear's paw and shaking it.

  “This might be porizing, but anybeardy who can make such koaty puns can’t be bad.” Honey stood up, pulling Temate with him and gave him a big, well, bear hug.

  “Ohhhhh ho ho ho! Most people find it ursanine but I’m gd to meet one who enjoys pandaring to our tastes, it’s quite libearating!”

  “Ooooh lights” Pipuck put his head in one hand sighing.

  Toni wanted to join in, unfortunately she wasn’t good at puns, but she could enjoy them. She thought it would have been rude to try, when she thought it was an accent accident. Knowing the bears chose it, she found herself smiling and then ughing along with the two. Especially when Honey made an excmation and pulled something out of nowhere pcing it on his head.

  “A bearet!” Temate excimed and exploded in ughter again. That made Toni ugh as well, Temate the stoic wall of hard to read emotion. Laughing like a child, Toni had to try.

  “Guys I’m sorry, I want to join in but I can’t, I’m really bad with puns, it’s actually quite–” pause for dramatic effect “–embearassing!” She grinned.

  Temate and Honey ughed, Surrender also started ughing. The only one who didn’t ugh was Pipuck. Who scowled and said only two words.

  “Feckin’ Puns.”

  Temate was smiling as he walked and talked, quietly, next to their strange new companion. Honey Swete, the bck bear, talked with him. They didn’t talk about anything particur, mostly about the state of bears in the realms. Neither was trying to make bear puns anymore, but if they came up, they didn’t avoid it either.

  “It is quite unfortunate to hear the state of bears in your realm, sadly that happens often in realms which lean into Materia.” Honey said morosely.

  “What do you mean by that?” Toni interjected leaning from Honey’s back to pop her head into the conversation. She was also smiling, she had been very excited when Honey had offered to let her, Pipuck and Surrender ride on him. Only she took him up on the offer, while Surrender had climbed back atop Temate.

  “Mayor Bearington said the same thing when I was talking to him but I was… uh, a bit drunk and we were crying and I didn’t think to ask.”

  “Mmm, Mayor Bearington you say? Now I understand how you came to be friend of bears!” Honey spoke up to her, “However I am embearessed to say, Lady Toni, that answering your inquiry is quite… difficult.” Honey looked thoughtful for a moment.

  Temate spoke, “well how bout an easier one then, earlier you mentioned her being friend of bears, and again just now. What do you mean by that?”

  Honey smiled, “Ah yes! The scent is mixed into her smell through the furs she is adorned with. It has been charmed with our smell and is the reason I first came seeking you. I scented you in the woods and came to see, then heard combat, but I missed the action.” Honey looked slightly sad at that, so Temate added.

  “Eh, you just bearly missed it.”

  Honey ughed, smiling at Temate. “I am surprised you did not receive such a gift, Master Mate, someone with your love of puns, as big as you are, why you must have bear blood in you!”

  Temate smiled back, “I was a bit busy, and also in my head. I was… suspicious of everyone I met, my world has certain beliefs of fairies and I didn’t want to fall into any traps, have my name stolen, stuff like that.”

  Honey nodded sagely, Pipuck was the one who spoke, “Tha’ originate’ from the bears! They starte’ the whole stealin’ of names!”

  Honey raised his snout and snorted, “Quite, and we were also the ones who abolished it, if you’ll remember. Stealing names, how pawsse!”

  They continued on talking aimlessly as Honey led them onward. The path he took them on wound north a bit until they reached a stream. The stream headed eastward, while their group headed west, Temate assumed it would join up with the river they’d left earlier. That being said ‘stream’ is what Honey called it, to Temate the stream is what he always imagined a river was.

  The stream was a couple hundred feet across and several feet deep. The water rolled onward nguidly, burbling over rocks at the edge. Here and there shadows could be spotted under the water. The details were impossible to make out at a distance but they looked like rge creatures. When asked, Honey simply called them fish or delicious. After another hour they began to hear a noise and Honey picked up his pace.

  “Oh boy we have arrived! I can bearly contain my excitement! Quickly Master Mate, Lady Toni, you will enjoy this I think!” Honey began to jog, slowly so as not to leave Temate behind. Temate was quick for his size, he knew, but a bear was a bear. Any bear on all fours could outrun him, let alone an intelligent bear who had form to its run as Honey seemed to.

  They followed the stream right up to the edge of a massive hole from which a litany of noises rose. Temate stopped, confused. There was a hole in the forest, a big hole, but that wasn’t the confusing part. The confusing part – which became more and more amazing as he focused on it and his [Magic Eye] began to kick in – was the stream. The stream was flowing across the hole, and from various points in the flow rge drops of water fell down into the pit!

  “Behold! Bearbhaile!” Honey announced, Toni climbed down off his back as he stood. Pipuck came running, huffing and puffing, to catch up but no one noticed because they were looking down, into Bearbhaile.

  Beneath the waterdrop, as that was certainly more accurate than waterfall – Temate would have to apologize to Surrender when he picked his jaw up off the floor – was a city carved from the stone. Towering totem poles had been hewn from the rock itself to serve as both decoration and pilr. They stood firm, holding ceilings often a hundred or more feet above the floor.

  Two ramps spiraled up the sides of the cave, like a helix of rock and bone. Yes, bone. Images of bears adorned every inch of the ramps walls, up and down the outside of the pit. Bears in repose in a cave beneath a waterfall, bears wrestling colossal fish from great rivers, bears dancing around stones in the moonlight. Bears doing all manner of things mundane and strange were engraved into the wall with bone.

  On the outside of the ramps were not epitaphs of death, but blooming life. Hedges and flowerbeds, gardens being tended by great gray bears as water dropped from above to moisten them. Like ever present rain – that Temate assumed was controlled somehow – to prevent overwatering. Here and there the ramps would ftten out for long stretches.

  There Temate could see caves stretching deeper underneath the ground. Soft glowing lights that Temate couldn’t quite describe were dotted here and there. Some floated in the open space of things, some were mounted in sconces. Some were at the bottom of the cavern, in a field of flowers and trees and, were those bees?

  Yes, they were, at the bottom of the spiraling ramps was a meadow, dotted with clusters of trees. There, Temate saw massive bee hives. Some were set in and between the branches of the trees, but Temate saw vast hives had been somehow migrated and pnted into the wall of the cavern! It was incredible.

  Temate did the only thing he could think of, he whistled. The whistle echoed beneath them, down into the depths of Bearbhaile, swallowed by the soft noise of a hundred or more bears. Temate reached up and patted Surrender on the head.

  “Guess you were right, it is more of a waterdrop than a waterfall.” Temate said.

  Honey heard this and replied, “Quite, the Waterdrop is a staple part of any proper Bearbhaile!”

  “How many Bearbhailes are there?” Toni asked from the ground, having kneeled to look closer at the city of bears.

  “One on each continent in every realm in which bears live.” Honey replied, “Our ancestors were the first to breach the bearier of realms and traverse the Deep Woods! We spread far and wide, and continue to do so, satiated with simply finding new realms and observing their cultures and people. Bearbhaile’s are our pces of communion, where bears pilgrimage often in order to bear knowledge to others in Hibearnatory!”

  Honey held his hands wide and looked proud. “Now how about we get you weary travelers a pce to rest, eh? Then we can see about a tour!”

  “Eh, I’ve seen better.” That came from Pipuck whose arms were crossed.

  “Oh stop being so grouchy Pip, this is cool! Let’s go Honey, I’d loooove a tour, can I ride you down? Or would that be embearassing?” She grinned, Temate grinned back and Honey ughed. Pip just groaned and put his face in his hand.

  “Do not mind Spiras Pipuck, those who live within the Deep Wood and rule over it don’t like bears much.” Honey said.

  “Yeah, tha’s a mil’ way to pu’ i’.” Pipuck crossed their arms again, grumpier than before. Temate looked down at the small spiras, who had been mostly cheerful since they’d met. Especially not openly hostile for so long. This was worse than when they got little fshes of anger or irritation. This was… serious. At least that’s what Temate thought, he wasn’t good at reading people.

  He’d check in with them ter when they’d found a spot to rest, for now Temate followed Honey and Toni down one of the two ramps into Bearbhaile, resolving to be beary careful.

  Toni couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Bearbhaile was amaaaaaazing. A bit scary, what with the dozens of bears around. Especially when she realized that maybe it was just Honey who was small, as most of the bears were in fact taller than Temate. Was that the scary thing, or was it more weird that Temate was an average height for bears? No, that was definitely the weird thing. Once again her eyes ran up the big mans back and she had to force an unnecessary cough to calm herself.

  It was strange to walk amongst the bears in the city, or was it more of a commune? There were, after all, not enough bears to really call it a city, maybe only 100 or so, from what she could see. No. No, that's still a hundred bears staying in one pce! That’s a lot of bears! That’s crazy!

  Bears were everywhere, they walked on four legs as often as two. Bears worked in gardens, carefully tending pnts using their cws as trowels or shears. A kitchen where bears use cws to slice meat, or open paw pads to knead dough. A weavers where cws were used to thresh and clean various pnts, then as spindles to spin the fiber into the fabric used in a lot of things around the city. The bears used their cws in everything they did, including the etching and carving of bone which was everywhere.

  “Why is there so much bone, Honey?” Toni decided to ask.

  “An astute observation Lady Toni, bears are omnivorous, but we do prefer meats and thus have many bones left over. We find it best to use everything instead of simply disposing of them, it has many uses. Fertilizer is a big one, and we eat some too. They are quite nutritious. What we don’t use for those is used to decorate as we enjoy the luster of the bone. It is especially beautiful in moon and starlight!”

  Honey directed a cw towards the various engravings in the wall, as well as some furniture in an eating space. Only this close did Toni see the ivory edgings to many of the pieces.

  “That is so crazy, I never thought I’d like the look of bone but it’s so well done.” She ran her hand gently along the bone in the wall. “It’s so pretty, morbid, but pretty.”

  “Your people use their cws very well I notice.” Temate nodded towards some bears who were carefully cleaning fish. Toni looked on in fascination as they worked, it was amazing. Was she thinking that too much? Did it matter? No, she decided it didn't, this pce was amazing and those bears were amazing.

  Cleaning fish was agile work, Toni knew, but these bears did it with their massive cws and paws faster than she’d seen her uncle do so. He was a big fishing guy and owned his own trawler, he’d taken Toni and her brother’s out fishing often when he was alive. Right... Home, let's not think about home and family right now!

  “Yeah, that’s amazing, I know people in our world who are masters at fish cleaning who can’t work nearly as quickly or neatly.” Toni acknowledged.

  Honey looked proud as he puffed his chest out. “But of course they’re fast, bears love fish, so we have many nets set up around the stream and river.”

  Temate looked up and spoke, “Why don’t fish fall down by the way? Water does but you could probably get a lot of fish that way, just setting up nets to catch them.”

  Honey shook his head, “Cw chip no! That’s just inviting danger, there are many things in the water Master Mate, no. We’ve set up a bearier to prevent organic matter from falling out of the water above, even if it wanted to!”

  “Wait, how?” Toni asked, then turned away from the engraving she had been examining to look with excitement at Honey. “MAGIC?!” She practically shouted the word, getting several grumpy looks from some of the bears nearby. That was such a strange feeling for her, bears giving her disapproving looks. One old looking gray bear reminded her of her grandmother a bit.

  “Sorry, Magic?” She asked again, at a normal volume. Honey nodded.

  “Quite, bears are capable of many forms of magic, but we are best practiced in bearier magic, for obvious reasons.” Honey chuckled softly. “Now come, I will show you to a pce to sleep and then we will begin the tour in earnest!” Honey headed off, walking briskly on two legs. He was also surprisingly fast, like Temate. She started wondering, when Honey had said it she assumed he meant it as a joke. Was it possible, however, that Temate had bear heritage though? It would certainly expin a lot.

  “What?” Temate asked, seeing her staring intensely at him. She coughed, blushing from embearrassment GAH embarrassment, and replied.

  “N-nothing, just thought it was crazy how you almost fit in here, add a bunch of thick fur and some cws and you’d practically be right at home!”

  Temate smiled softly at that, she liked that smile. “Pretty used to being called bear too so…” He trailed off, she would have poked him for it, but the way he circled his hand as he shrugged told her he did it on purpose this time. The way he said it though, Toni had another way to poke him.

  “Oh, big bear Mate liked his twinky’s?” Toni teased.

  Temate snorted, “Yes, though it isn’t my first choice for a snack, I much preferred…” he paused as he thought “...trapping prey with honey.” He grinned at her and she shivered, then realized what he’d said.

  “Wait, really?!” She asked, looking at Temate incredulously.

  “Really what?” He asked back, raising an eyebrow.

  “UGH obviously I mean were you really gay?!” She gave him a look like he was being stupid.

  “You say ‘were’ as if my sexuality somehow changes upon traveling a magical golden road to a den of bears.” He looked straight faced at her.

  “You know what I mean, it's just I thought you and Chtis–” She broke off, she hadn’t meant to bring up what Chtis had mentioned before they left. Temate’s face didn’t change though.

  “So she did tell you about that. Yes, that’s true generally, I can’t confirm her specifics though. Not unless you want to share them back to me.” He raised one eyebrow and she spluttered.

  “B-I mean, that’s, she- it was- I didn’t- Bi!” She floundered for a second, she was ashamed to admit it. Normally, she was much calmer and better with her words but Temate… did things to her head and heart, and other pces, that made her lose her words. She hated this, everytime she met a guy she liked she just floundered about until he ended up with someone else.

  “Okay, bye then.” Temate waved goodbye to her! His face was unchanged, straight and stoic as normal.

  “YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!” She shouted it again and then looked around. They had stopped walking and had an audience. She heard some bear whisper to another bear.

  “Do you think they’re mates?”

  “If they aren’t they will be, smell it on her?” The hushed reply came back, and Toni bzed with the unrelenting fme of shame and humiliation. A fme that should be painfully hot, but were decidedly, frustratingly, pleasantly warm. She turned to Honey, her voice a bit higher pitched than normal as she tried to quickly redirect things.

  “Where are these rooms, I still need to do that Empowering thing, PIP you’re helping me!” She stormed off, grabbing Pipuck by the hand to drag them off, they didn’t compin. She got about ten paces and stopped to look back at Honey. He pointed at a small door set in the wall of a cavern off the ft ramp they’d stopped on.

  “The rooms are right there, non-bear guest spaces at the Warm Dry Caves, my bearea.”

  She smacked her rapidly reddening face, groaned, and followed Honey, Temate and Surrender into the room.

  Force2reckon