Summary: Attila's Journey takes 2 days (June 27th - 29th), when he finally decides to adventure outside the boarders. He walks through the forest, finding a big meadow, filled with mulberries. He pauses there a bit, to enjoy the blackberries and finds himself face to face with a bear. He ran away, freaked out, starting a chase...
W.C.: 2052
The forest seemed to have no end, the sunshine barely passing through the rich crown of the trees, which was a relief; the sun in his head and back would be much more tiring.
He was beginning to think about resting under a tree when the scent of berries found his sensible nose. Food. Unconsciously, his legs sped up the pace, his instincts longing for fuel to the tired body. The light was now showing through the trees, and hope poked the inner of his brain. He pushed a few branches, and there it was the source of that appealing smell. The meadow was big and irregular, but almost all it's extension was filled with mulberries, the dark fruits and the leaves shinning brightly with the noon sun. Somewhere nearby, he could hear the water of a creek run strong and fast. There was a giant rock, carved in a half circle shape, making a welcoming shelter.
His jaw hang open, the usual cold and hard grayish blue eyes now were soft and amused in a shock expression. 'Wow!', he mouthed slowly, and his shock became an excited smile. His little happy place.
He almost ran to the bushes, finding the most full-blown ones, sitting in his knees, his hands getting fistfuls of blackberries, the spear laying besides him. The small fruits were sweet and delicious, their juice overflowing his full mouth. His mother would be frowining at him by that behavior, but she wasn't there; no one would stop him to fulfill his hunger.
That mulberry was almost empty, the blackberries vanished, now inside the white boy's belly. He felt full, but he knew he'd need more energy to go all the way back. He stretched one arm to the closer bush to grab a branch and leave, but he hesitated. The breeze blew in his face, bringing a different scent, outstanding the one of the berries. It was warm and it was like-
The shock came back to his face, not only his arm was hesitating, but his whole body. Not hesitating, frozen completely. The image his glowless eyes registered in his brain jolted his heart, the adrenaline taking over him. The giant muzzle that was between his hand and the berry-filled branch sniffed nervously the air noticing a strange scent as well. That brown muzzle could only belong to only one creature...
The giganormous bulky beast stood in the two hind legs, and the boy followed it with desperate, wide eyes. The giant grizzly bear kept sniffing around in the air. The so brave boy felt a freezing chill come down his head to the tip of his toes, followed by a violent shakes of fear. 'I'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdead...' he kept thinking to himself. He knew the chances of a pup his size against a beast of that size. It was his doom, the end of his mere life.
'No!', a rebel voice inside his mind shouted, and he realized how pessimist he was being. He was Attila, for crying out loud! He always foudn a way to scape such things. He'd now too! The bear's eyes met his, and he couldn't bare but to scream. His strong voice went to a pitch tone with the volume of his scream. He grabbed the spear besides him and ran as quick as his strong but tired legs, drowned in adrenaline could. The bear roared in the common husky tone, the muzzle full of giant teeth, and started to race after the pale cream boy. That pressure was too much for a pup his age, but he was used to such situations.
His legs ached a lot with every movement, but he couldn't stop. The bear started to get close, and he needed to stun it, or earn more time. Somehow... His eyes found a tight curve in the bushes, and found his oppotunity. He slowed the pace and suddely took that curve, leaving the startled and confused enemy behind some yards away.
He smiled with the brief victory, but it didn't take long before it faded away in a mask of despair. The stone carved in that half circle shape made a trap for him. The terrified boy touched the smooth stone with trembling fingers, the spear falling down to the earthy ground, his racing mind not able to find a way out. If he turn back and run, the bear would catch him. If he stayed there, the bear would catch him. If he tried to climb it, he would slip and fall, and the bear would be there, waiting to catch him. He shoke his head, his eyes getting blurred with tears building up.
A roar made his head spun, the white back still facing the giant bear. The shakes started again, the chill passing through his body as well. Flashes passed behind his eyes, in a way he could still she the bear closing the distance between them slowly and the images, so clear and quick. It shown images of his short life, from a few moments ago to the very first time he opened the eyes. Like a retrospective, and it scared him even more. He knew that people saw their lifes passing through their eyes when they were about to die. He couldn't bare to stay quiet again. "HELP! SOMEBODY HEELP!!!" He screamed, pleading for help. No answer. A desperate howl ripped out of his throath, another plea. No answer. The tears that were waiting fell slowly down his cheek, but he wasn't ashamed by that, as he would. Men don't cry.
The bear stood again in two paws, clawing the horrible claws in the air, the muzzle opened showing the big teeth while it roared. His legs disappeared, and he fell to the gound, curling his back while tried to increased the distance between his attacker. That was it. He was dead... but he wasn't going to pass to whatever waited for him with empty hands! He grabbed the spear and stood it firmly, pointing to the bear. The bear started to low the body, ready to spring. The boy closed the eyes tightly, another scream lingering out of his mouth, but it wasn't so desperate. It was more like a war cry. Now that he knew he'd take the bear with him, he wasn't that scared anymore, but the shakes were still there.
Time passed, and he knew something was wrong. They both were supposed to be dead by now. His ears, which were flat in his head, flickered up with the sound of a coughed laughter. 'What the...?!', he thought. He opened one curious eye, only to find the bear rolling in the ground, laughing. The shaking sttoped, as well as the fear. 'What the hell?!', he mouthed, while he kneeled in the ground, astonished. Did bears laugh at all?
The bear sat down, still laughing hardly, tears rolling in his shut eyes. The boy's jaw fell open with a disbelief face, the eyes more than just confused. The beast started to stop laughing, but still sobbed while it looked at him with bloodred eyes. Attila hadn't notice the bear's eyes color at first, but now that he did, it only made it more scary. The creature just whipped the tears off with one giant curved claw. "I'm really sorry about that but... you should have seen your face!" It said in a harsh, deep, husky voice. It was very... bear-ish. The bear came back into laughing, but not as hard as before. The boy was now hesitant about it. He was completely ure that bears didn't talk at all! What was wrong with him?! Was that just a very bad dream? Was he getting nuts?
His once attacker stopped laughing again, and raised one big round paw to him, holding the laughter. "Whe're ar' ma manners? Ah'm Markku. Ya must be Attila.", he said, the tone still giggly but more polite, and the boy noticed a humorated way of talking of the weird bear. He stared wary at his paw, backing his head a little from it. The playful smile in the bear face started to fade away a time passed, and it came to an annoyed frown. The beast made a face. "You'r supposed to shake it, man." He said, irritated. The boy hesitated a bit, and then rose his own hand and shook it slowly, careful, half staring at his giant teeth. The bear noticed. "Ah don't bite, whelp! Relax." He said, the voice a fake annoyance. Attila stared at his crimson eyes, and back to his teeth, but felt a bit more relaxed, not sure why.
"Look, this's ha'w it works, dude: Ah'm yaur Spirit Guide, so ya can just tak'it easy." The bear said, making amove with its paw that startled the boy at first, but he tried to disguise it, but the bear notice that again. Luckily, it said nothing at all, just gave him a disbelief glance. "Why did you do that, then? What was the worth for that?" The boy asked bluntly, and the bear got what he meant. "Ma humor is'as morbid as ya'r own, whelp." The crearture answered with an evil smile. It reminded the Aston boy horribly of his own. He frowned, and the bear made a face back to him. "Will we be ev'n if Ah ge'ya ride home?" The huge creature asked, getting on it's four feet and motioning the boy to mount him. The bully boy hesitated for a few seconds, but grabbed the spear and mounted -with slight difficulty- in the big monster.
It stared to walk, and the moving shoulder plus the loose skin of its neck made it rather shaky. The bear looked up to him. "So, ar' we ev'n or wha'? It asked bluntly, not forgeting Attila owned him an asnwer. "Not yet." He said. "I thought I was going to die, man! After that near-death experience, there are a few things I wanna do." He explained, and he knew that freaking creature had to give it to him, after that shock. "First, I wanna a deer burguer... with many onion and sauce on it." He said, recalling of when he gave a try at his cooking skills, as he got hands for it. That was good, he wanted that so badly. The other thing was obvious. "Second, I wanna your help with my brother..." He added, thinking of that evil plan. That coward chicken would have a heart attack. He only freaked out because he was near to death. The boy felt the bear raising his bright red eyes to him, and he gave it his evil grin. Markku got that. "Man... Ya'r evil! It said, the husky voice giggly. "My humor is as morbid as your own, bear." He quoted the bear, taht laughed at the irony. "Well said, whelp... Well said..." He spitted with that harsh voice that started to get usual to the growing pup, as well as the soft and long fur of the bear's neck. It was very confortable, the loose skin of the creature's neck making the perfect seat for him.
The sun was getting slightly down from the center top of the sky, heading east, as were the new pals, heading back to their home. It felt so right, the memories of that near-death experience almost forgotten by Attila. That was now just a joke, he could see that now. He smiled, thinking about how would the others react to his Spirit Guide.