Right off the bat, I would like to thank Shimmering Star/Eternal Dragon’s Tear for helping me edit this story, helping me come up with the idea of the Great Wishing Star giving immortality to those who accept it. Also I want to credit him with helping me create the character of Marine Bear.
Care Bear Magi: The Gathering Saga
Chapter 1: A New Life to Live
Koran Terada sighed as he stared out the window, watching the light snowfall through the cold glass as he wondered what his purpose in life was. This was not a trivial matter, Koran Terada was 85 years old, his life was nearly over and he had lived a life of quiet desperation. Working jobs he could do to make ends meet was pretty much all he did and he had been able to save a substantial fortune, more than enough to support an average family for years. He lived on the bare essentials, living in a small retirement age apartment complex, never indulging in luxuries such as television or video games and eating healthily and the main reason he could live on so little was because he knew magic.
Koran was the last in a line of powerful mages stretching back almost a millennium and each of his predecessors had found someway of using their powers to benefit the world, albeit in special secret ways so that humanity at large would not know that magic was the cause, however in the 20th century it seemed as though people had found a piece of technology to do whatever it was they could, and it was nearly impossible to use all the magic he had learn in his life without someone discovering him using it, and Koran knew that most people would not see his powers as a gift but a danger. Koran had spent 80 years of his life so far learning and practicing magic but sadly had not found any use for all the magical knowledge he had memorized nor any purpose for his life.
It was while the old man stared out of his window that he made a decision, his life was nearly over and he wasn’t going to waste away in this small apartment he lived in, he was going to use his last few years alive to try and find purpose in his life. He immediately, but slowly, began to pack up the few pieces of clothing he owned as well as a small number of books he still read into a large hiking pack he’d used when he was younger and took the staff, which was a long ask pole with a small iridescent blue orb on the top and left his apartment behind. At the front desk he left his keys and the building manager eyed him curiously.
“Mr. Terada, why are you leaving your keys here and where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to find my place in the world and I’m leaving the keys because I do not believe I shall be returning, ever,” Koran explained, standing up quite well considering his old age.
“Sir, you do understand that you cannot leave, let alone terminate your residence here without the permission of those who applied you to this place so I’ll ask you--”
“I applied and registered myself to this place 15 years ago, so I have my own permission to leave,” Koran said, cutting her off. The building manager quickly pulled out Koran’s file and checked, sighing when she saw he was correct, and he could leave at any time he wished.
“Very well, Mr. Terada, it was nice having you here, good luck and good day,” she said.
“Thank you,” Koran said as he exited the building, “I just hope I can find purpose through this.” As the old mage left the building he carefully and discreetly cast a spell over a withering plant at the door causing a small amount of water to form and drop into the soil in the plant pot, he smiled as he left.
Koran’s first stop was the bank to get all of his money withdrawn from his accounts and onto his person, there was no need to keep his retirement account open and he didn’t want to deal with being unable to use cards to pay for items while he was abroad and after a few hours at the bank he left with his currency, some in his pockets but most of it in a package in his backpack.
As he set out, Koran used his staff as a walking staff and headed out, deciding to seek out his purpose on foot at first. Rather than trusting in a map or any compass, Koran decided to follow his instincts now that he was on his journey, hoping they would guide him to his true purpose. He was able to reach the city limits by the evening and, as the city he lived in was near a forest, decided to camp for the night among the trees. Koran pulled himself into a sleeping bag he had purchased before leaving the city and stared up at the sky, seeing a single yet very bright star shining down on him. Smiling, Koran recalled a rhyme he’d learned when he was younger.
“Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight
Wish I may, wish I might
Have this wish, I wish tonight.”
As he finished the rhyme, Koran closed his eyes and said his wish aloud to himself, “Please, help me find my purpose in this world.”
That night as he slept Koran was visited in his dreams by a series of strange visions. He saw a child of an odd color, he saw someone of an equally odd color tending too it. He saw magic, and even more images that he could not truly discern, as they went by so fast, then a voice he had never heard before spoke, “Awaken, Koran Terada!”
Koran awoke when it was still dark out to the sound of crying nearby. He carefully extricated himself from his sleeping bag and looked around. The sound was coming from nearby so he tracked it carefully until he reached a small patch of under growth where the crying was coming from and carefully pulled it aside to find a bear cub that was the source of the crying, but not an ordinary bear cub. The cub was male, lime green in color with a dark green heart shaped nose and most amazingly, it appeared almost human, having a body orientation that was suited to walking as a biped rather than a quadruped. Koran carefully leaned down and picked up the cub, which opened its eyes and slowly stopped bawling.
This cub was defiantly special, anyone could see that, and as Koran looked around and noticed the blood and other evidence surrounding where the cub had been lying, he knew this cub was orphaned. The lime green cub was asleep now and as Koran looked down at it nestled in his arms he had an epiphany. There had to be more cubs like this, abandoned or left after their parents died or were killed, if he could find them perhaps he could live long enough to care for them and allow them to live on their own. He returned to where he had left his supplies and carefully wrapped the cub in a spare towel he had brought with him before lying down to sleep himself.
Koran awoke to the sound of the cub’s crying. He carefully moved his old bones out of the sleeping bag before going to his provisions and removing some carrots. The old man then cast a spell and in a few moments, the carrots have been reduced to a mush which Koran scooped up in a small container and carefully fed to the cub. The green bear cub stopped crying once it had eaten and Koran smiled, he may have been old, ancient in fact, but he could still manage to do this.
Not wanting to strain himself, Koran used his magic to levitate the cub and make it invisible and inaudible to everyone but himself. The cub seemed to like this and giggled happily as it was levitated along behind Koran. Koran suspected that there might be others like this cub in the world but in reality he wasn’t sure he had the strength to undertake an adventure around the world to find all of them. Even with magic to aid him he was too old to be able to endure such a trip, and after he had found a purpose for his life he wasn’t about to throw it all away.
A few days later, Koran finally found somewhere where they would be able to live. It was in a fairly remote part of Canada in the Boreal Forest. It was on a plateau that had a waterfall on one side near a small town that was quite friendly but Koran decided not to settle in the actual town, deciding that it would be better if he kept the strange cub a secret. Instead he found a small raised bit of land and, with the use of his magic, he carved a cave out of the rock and carefully molded it into a place where he and the cub could live. Once he had shaped the cave deep enough to contain a place for both of them to sleep, a place to store their belongings, and two beds, which he put moss on top of to make them soft enough to be comfortable to sleep on; one of them he made into a makeshift crib he could put the cub in without risking him climbing out and crawling away.
When all was said and done, Koran conjured orbs of light that hovered above himself and the cub as he set it down in the rock crib he had created for him. Koran sat down on his bed and watched the cub rolling around in its bed before it too stared back at the old man.
“Now we have a home,” he said to the cub, “But now I supposed you need a name, hmm what should I call you?” he asked. He didn’t expect a response but the cub just babbled as if in reply. Koran thought for a minute then yawned, “Perhaps I will think of a name for you in the morning, I need to sleep.” Koran lay down to sleep exhausted from the recent events. As he drifted off to sleep he sighed internally. He had found a purpose in his life but now it was almost too late. He only had a few years left and the cub was still an infant, before long, Koran would be dead and the cub would be alone and barely old enough to survive on its own, it was heartbreaking but he had to do what he could with the time he had left.
That night, as Koran slept, he dreamed, but it was no ordinary dream, it was a vision and in the vision he saw a great celestial being before him. It was a five pointed star with a wizened face upon its front; it had a soft gentle voice that seemed to reassure any listener that anything would be all right.
“Koran Terada, I See you have at last found your purpose in this world,” it said.
“Yes, I did,” Koran recognized the voice, “was it you who guided me to find this strange bear cub now under my care?” he asked.
“Yes, it was me. I am the Great Wishing Star and that cub is a member of the Care Bear Family. He is destined to grow up to help the world and its inhabitants, however there is more that he will need to know as there are dark clouds on the horizon.”
“What more will he need?” Koran asked.
“He will need to know how to fight, and defend himself, and most importantly heh will need to know how to use magic,” the star explained, “and he is not the only one, in times there will be others, other who must be able to fight to protect themselves and this world from a great threat that is growing and will one day be upon them.”
“Why are you telling me this? I am old and my life will be over in a few years, too soon to train him,” Koran’s eyes began to tear up as he thought of the cub, who would barely be old enough to understand what happened when Koran passed away in a few years.
“I see you have a good heart, a rarity in humans these days. They reason I am telling you these things is because I am here to offer you something, a chance to continue to raise him.”
Koran was in complete disbelief, “How is that possible?” he asked.
“It is simple, the cub’s life is indefinite, a trait I imposed on the Care Bear Family so they would be able to help the world for as long as was needed, I am offering the same gift to you. If you accept then your old life will be over and you will being anew so you can raise and train him when the time is right. Do you accept?” the Star asked.
“Yes, yes I accept,” Koran said without hesitation.
“Very well,” the star began to glow.
The cub stirred and yawned, opening its eyes when a bright glow filled the room. It sat up and looked over at where the light was coming from, from the man who had bee looking after him. The cub couldn’t make out what was happening but it knew, somehow, that this was important. The light was warm, like a gentle blanket of kind feelings and the cub soon fell asleep again.
When morning came, Koran felt strange. He recalled the dream last night clearly and wondered what the Great Wishing Star meant. Whatever had happened he certainly felt better than he had in years, he didn’t ache, he had no trouble breathing, in fact he found sitting up and getting out of bed much easier than he had for all the time he lived in the retirement complex. He stood up and stretched then noticed something, he was shorter, not by much maybe a foot and half shorter than he had been when he went to sleep the previous night; he also felt, fuzzy? He couldn’t really tell. After checking on the xub to make sure it was still asleep he left their cave dwelling and went to the nearby river, leaving his clothes behind in the cave. When he got to the water, he stared down at his reflection in amazement. He was a bear!
He looked much like the cub sleeping back in the cave right down to the white tummy, heart shaped pads on the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet, and the heart shaped tip of his nose, which he touched just to make sure he was real; the only real difference between him and the cub, other than age, was that his fur was iridescent blue rather than lime green. He turned around and looked over his shoulder to check and sure enough, he also had a little red heart mark on his rear.
After bathing, Koran got out and, using some wind magic, dried off and found that even his magic felt stronger. He stretched and noted that he felt years younger, if he had to guess he was in his late 30s or early 40s, and from what the Star had told him, that was how old he’d be, physically, for the rest of his life.
Koran returned to the cave and dressed, surprised to find that his clothing had shrunk with him and still fit. It was a bit itchier than he remembered but it was far from intolerable. It was then that he recalled what the Great Wishing Star had said in the moment before he had awakened.
“It is done, you are no longer Koran Terada, your new name is Sage Heart Bear, speak your name to receive your symbol.”
“Sage Heart Bear,” the iridescent blue bear said. As soon as he said those words the white part of his tummy began to glow and when the glow subsided he saw that it had left a symbol in its place, a heart formed out of rainbow colored dust. As he ran his hands over it he found it was both part of the fur and even on the skin underneath.
“This symbol,” Sage Heart said, “so my name is Sage Heart Bear now, I like the sound of that.” By now the cub had woken up and it was staring at Sage Heart as if in a trance. Sage Heart walked over to the cub’s crib and lifted it out into his arms.
“Now what about you, what should your name be?” Sage Heart asked, the cub just looked at him then snuggled close to the older bear’s chest, “You certainly are a loving little boy, hmm,” Sage Heart pondered this for a moment then said, “Then that settles it, your name is Love Heart Bear. Now how to get you a symbol.” Sage Heart closed his eyes and felt down, he could feel a strange warmth inside himself, from where the symbol was, he concentrated on this new feeling and found himself imagining the cub with its own symbol. As he thought this, his tummy symbol glowed and fired a beam up and around to land on the cub’s tummy. A moment later the glow subsided and the cub had it’s own symbol, either hearts of different sizes scattered across it’s tummy.
“Well would you look at that, this symbol of mine is more than decoration,” he smiled down at the cub who just stared back up at him, “Thank you, Love Heart Bear,” he said softly, “Thank you for giving me a purpose in my life.
***
I would like to thank my friend Shimmering Star for helping me develop ideas for this story, notably immortality being something bestowed on people by the Great Wishing Star, and for helping me to edit this story.
