Chapter 5: Journey Begins
Love Heart awoke early the next morning, the sleeping bag he had slept on top of stained with tears. The memories of the previous day’s tragedies were still fresh in his mind and they would always remain so. Dusk Heart had been thorough and now there was no reason for him to remain here. Remembering his father’s words before they had entered town, Love Heart resolved to set out on the same journey Sage Heart had planned with the same purpose, to find other members of his species and, hopefully, teach them magic as well.
Packing up didn’t take as long as he thought, as all Love Heart needed was to pack up the preserved food and the sleeping bag he slept in. Then, as Love Heart was about ready to leave, he paused, and looked to the back room of the cave, a place he had never been into before. He’d heard his dad working on things back there before but he’d never seen what was down there. There was no reason to keep the mystery now, so before he left on his journey, he went into that room.
What Love Heart saw amazed him, it was a forge, not a particularly big one but large enough for Sage Heart to work in. Love Heart guessed this was where Sage Heart had forged his own magical sword that could shrink into a nail file. There wasn’t much in here, the forge had been put out ages ago and everything was packed up on one side of the room, probably because Sage Heart intended to take those things with them. One of these packages caught Love Heart’s eye, it was a rather large package wrapped in brown paper and tied together with thick twine, what got his attention most was the letter attached to the package with the words: “To my son, Love Heart Bear” clearly written on the envelope.
Intrigued, Love Heart removed the letter and opened the envelope, taking out a letter written in his father’s handwriting. Love Heart found his eyes tearing up as he read, stopping a few times to wipe away tears that were forming so he could keep reading.
“Dear Love Heart
My son, I hope greatly that you never have to read this but if you are, it means that some great tragedy has befallen me and you are now on your own. I prepared this special package for you if this happened and I hope it turns out to be useful to you. Inside you will find a book I have spent much of the last two years writing and creating, it contains everything I know about magic and how to teach it to others. The second item may appear to be a small piece of leather but if you charge it with mana it will change into a wallet that contains what remains of my personal wealth, use it well. The last special object is a special compass I’ve created that can track beings with similar forms to our own, “Care Bears” as the Great Wishing Star from my dreams called us, you simply need to infuse it with mana while holding it and it will point you to the nearest source of energy like ours. I am not sure how accurate it is over a distance but I am sure you will find out before long.
Because you are reading this, I urge you to set out on your journey, there is little you can do just staying here in a cave and hopefully you will find more friends out there than you have up until now.
Good luck, and always remember that I love you my son
-Love, Sage Heart Bear
Love Heart read the letter several times then held it close, crying slightly. He then folded the letter up and put it in his pocket before unwrapping the package. It contained what the letter said it would: a large heavy book with Sage Heart’s symbol on the front, a small but thick piece of leather, and a small compass with two pointers, one normal and one with a heart shaped pointer. Love Heart opened the book, it was heavy but not as heavy as it first appeared, and skimmed through it. A lot of it was quite complex but from what he gathered it was a detailed instruction manual on almost everything one could ever want to know about magic, including how to teach people at any age. Love Heart closed the book, more time to read later. Love Heart then charged the leather piece with man and as instructed and it expanded into a thick and loaded wallet. Love Heart skimmed the contents, mostly $100 bills but with a fair number of $20 bills, $10 bills, and $5 bills with assorted change including everything except for pennies. He thumbed through the bills and coins and estimated that there was at least $10,000, more than enough to see him through a few years on his own.
The compass was a different matter, Love Heart observed it for a minute or two before charging it with mana. The needle spun around a couple times before pointing in a particular direction, south according to the magnetic pointer in the compass.
“Guess that’s where I’ll be heading first then,” Love Heart said. He picked up the book and carried it into the room where he had packed things up, opening his backpack, which was a large hiking pack and thankfully quite large, and carefully inserted the large tome into it. He removed some trail rations to make room, deciding he’d eat those on the road today. Love Heart didn’t own a vehicle and even so he didn’t know how to drive nor were there any major highways nearby, just first roads in the forest that were careful laid out to avoid harming nature, the town nearby had been quite isolated from contact that wasn’t made electronically.
Love Heart returned to the forge room one last time and looked over the tools that Sage Heart had left. Everything was there that a blacksmith or any sort of craftsperson would need, but Love Heart had no such experience with these things, and he very much doubted that he’d be able to use these tools on the road, so he left them there, after retying them into a bundle so they would be at least somewhat protected from the elements.
Love Heart finally left his home, carrying his large backpack with sleeping bag tied to it and the trail rations for the day in his hand. He paused as he left and turned, he couldn’t just leave the cave for others to find, it was all that was left of his life when he was growing up, but he knew that in a few days people would come to investigate the total loss of communication with the town and if his dwelling was discovered, and he was the only survivor, he might be tracked and hunted, something he couldn’t afford to let happen.
With a shuddering sigh, Love Heart placed his hands together and charged up a massive ball of lightning. With a heavy heart, he fired the lightning bolt at the top of the cave entrance then turned and dashed away, partly to avoid the inevitable avalanche of rocks, but mostly because he didn’t want to watch. Tears streamed form his eyes as he heard the rocks rumbling and falling, completely covering the entrance to his former home, and he kept on running, away from his home, and all the memories it contained.
Eventually, Love Heart stopped running, worn out, his face stained from tears which he wiped away as he slowed his pace and took out the trail rations that he began to munch on. After finishing a handful he took out the compass and checked it again, just to make sure he was heading in the right direction, he had gone slightly off course in his frantic dash from home so he altered his direction through the forest that surrounded his home.
Love Heart walked all day and nothing much happened. He saw several wild animals, small creatures, squirrels, birds of various types, even a raccoon at one point but he ignored them, they weren’t doing anything to him and he enjoyed the fact that animals were still around after Dusk Heart’s rampage the previous day. He preferred that the forest was full of animal noises rather than the deathly silence that had filled it after his fight yesterday. Love Heart kept walking waiting for nightfall or when he would find civilization.
Love Heart ate as he walked and found he was able to walk without tiring at all, owing to his years of physical and magical training. By the time night fell, Love Heart had exited the forest and spotted a road in the distance, after checking to make sure that he wasn’t being followed or in any danger, he unrolled his sleeping bag and crawled into it. Love Heart stared up at the clear night sky, he hadn’t seen it much in his sixteen years of life, the trees in the forest and the light in the city made it difficult to see the sky clearly at the best of times.
Love Heart didn’t recognize most of the constellations and with nothing else to do he fell asleep quite rapidly. As he slept, Love Heart heard a voice speaking to him, one he didn’t recognize.
“Love Heart Bear,” it said.
“Who is it?” he asked, looking around in the black misty void he floated in inside his dream world.
Suddenly his dream world was filled with a bright light and a large five pointed star with a kindly old face appears. “Don’t be afraid,” it said, “I am the Great Wishing Star.”
“OK and what does that mean exactly?” Love Heart asked, not sure how to respond.
“Year ago, when your father found you, I turned him into Sage Heart Bear, and now that you are on your own I am here to help you,” the star said.
“Right, so what are you going to do?” Love Heart asked skeptically.
“I cannot do much as you must make your journey without my direct help, but I will tell you some things you need to know,” the star said solemnly, “That symbol you possess is called a tummy symbol, and while I can’t tell you everything it can do I will tell you that you will meet others like yourself, and when you do you must give them that gift. Use your symbol to bestow one on them, but in order to do so you must give them their true name.”
“True name, what do you mean by that?” Love Heart asked, confused.
“Every Care Bear and Care Bear Cousin like yourself has a true name that shows their true personality. Your name is Love Heart Bear because you have a deep love for all sentient beings. That is why you were so badly hurt by what Dusk Heart did.” Before Love Heart could reply the star continued, “You must observe the actions of the others you meet and reveal their true name. That is all.”
“Wait!” Love Heart called, but the star had vanished, leaving Love Heart to continue to sleep and dream on the instructions given to him.
Love Heart awoke the next morning, recalling his dream. As he packed up his sleeping bag he looked down at the eight differently sized red hearts that made up his tummy symbol.
“What else can this thing do?” he asked aloud, not receiving nor expecting an answer. He finished packing up and set out again, checking the magical compass to make sure he was heading in the right direction, and striding out, hoping to find another like him sooner than later.
Because he didn’t use a vehicle, or travel on the roads for fear of being hit by a car, Love Heart Bear took a long time to reach his destination. It took almost a week for him to reach the city limits of the first large city he had ever entered. He had almost used up his trail rations by this time and he munched on some of the last of it as the city came into view. The city, even fro this distance, was huge, bigger than the town he’d grown up near, much more spread out than anything man made he’d ever seen before.
As he entered the city he read the big green sign at the edge of the road: Welcome to Regina, Speed Limit 50 KP/H unless otherwise posted. The speed didn’t really mean a thing to him, since he didn’t drive and couldn’t run nearly that fast.
It was midday when Love Heart finally entered the city of Regina, it was hot and his first goal was to find a place to spend the night, and the next few days while he rechecked his bearings. He’d have to stay in Regina for a while, to re-supply and to rest. He’d never walked so much without much rest in so long, and the trail rations, while filling, weren’t enough to keep him going for a much longer. Knowing that hotels were near the center of the city, so began to walk up the main street, which he glimpsed from signs was called “Albert Street”.
Love Heart hadn’t reached the downtown are when he spotted a rather large hotel that was called the Seven Oaks, and decided it was as good a place as any to stay. He entered through the swinging glass doors and made his way to the counter. It took a minute for him to get the attention of the desk clerk but eventually he got the man to turn around, hang up what appeared to be a personal phone call, and said, “Hi, I’d like a room for the night.”
“Huh another one, sure just a moment,” he said, typing up something on the computer then handing Love Heart the bill. Love Heart discreetly pulled out the special wallet Sage Heart had given him and handed the money over, got his change and keycard, then headed up to his room. The room had a balcony view of the pool and waterslide and two twin sized beds. Love Heart sat down on one of the beds and dumped his stuff on the floor, relieved to have the weight taken from his shoulders.
Love Heart was hungry, and eager to eat something other than trail rations for the first time in a week he headed for the restaurant near the front desk. Once there he ordered the fish and chips and some juice. Once it arrived he began to eat, and think about his next move, then something hit him. Why wasn’t anyone staring, yes it was true that he preferred the lack of attention and strange looks that he expected would accompany his arrival in any human city. And what bout the desk clerk, he had said “another one” upon seeing Love Heart, maybe he wouldn’t have to search as hard as he thought.
He finished his meal, paid for it and left the server a tip and went back to the front desk. Thankfully the same clerk was still there so he rang to bell and got his attention.
The clerk turned around, “Oh, hi, can I help you?” he asked.
“Yeah, have you seen anyone else like me in this city?” Love Heart inquired.
“Yeah, some little red fox who looks like you, except he’s red and a fox,” the clerk said.
“Do you know where he lives?” Love Heart asked, hopefully.
“No, I’ve just seen him on the news a couple times,” the clerk said, not really caring that he didn’t know.
“OK, thanks anyway,” Love Heart said, turning and walking away. It didn’t really matter, he told himself as he pulled out the compass his dad had left for him, if he was nearby he’d be able to find him on his own. Once he stepped outside, he charged the compass with mana and watched the non-magnetic pointer, which pointed south further into town. Love Heart sighed and began to walk again, hoping he’d find this red fox before too long so he could get some real rest.
***
Love Heart was forced to turn down streets a few times as the needle point changed directions, but that was a good thing, if it was turning more easily it meant that this fox he was seeking was nearby. Eventually he walked past a couple alleys and saw that the arrow turned very easily. He put the compass away because he was close enough now that he wouldn’t need to use it. He looked down the alleys that he had passed, searching for a sign of the red fox described to him.
It wasn’t sight, it was a noise that alerted him, he dashed to the alley the noise was coming from and saw a small melee going on between four human gang members and what appeared to be a teenaged red fox like him! Not wasting a second thought, Love Heart dashed towards the brawl and heard them, swearing and cursing at each other.
“Yeah, fox, we’re going to get you back for what you did to our boss last week!” one shouted, raising a thin steel pipe and trying to strike the fox’s head. The fox was agile and dodged aside, punching the one wielding the pipe in his stomach.
“He had it coming, that jerk! And you all have it coming too!” he shouted back.
The gang member with the pipe stumbled back from the fox’s punch and noticed Love Heart charging at them, he grinned and raised his pipe, “Well waddya know, looks like the fox brought a friend along,” he swung down at Love Heart only to be surprised when Love Heart caught the pipe and kicked him away, causing him to relinquish his hold on the pipe.
“Thanks,” Love Heart said, taking a hold of the pipe as though it were a sword, “I was worried I might have to fight unarmed.” He swung the pipe sideways, two-handed at one of the gang members, laying him out flat. One of the other members who had a chain turned and began to swing it at Love Heart, striking the green bear twice, once on his shoulder and once on his leg. Love Heart stumbled backwards, that hurt a lot. The gang member saw this and aimed his next swing for the green bear’s head. Love Heart held up his pipe and caught the chain around it as it flew at him, then yanked it out of the man’s hand. The gang member was shocked at how strong the small green bear was, too shocked to notice when Love Heart grabbed him and sent a small shock through him, stunning him and knocking him out.
Once three gang members were off his back, the red fox focused his attacks on the one member, left. The fox easily countered the man’s attacks with his instinctual fighting style, kicked him between the legs then punched him on his jaw with an uppercut and laid him out flat. The fox stood panting for a minute as Love Heart discarded the pipe and walked over to introduce himself, but the fox reacted first by punching Love Heart in the nose, causing it to bleed slightly.
“What did you do that for!” he shouted angrily at the green bear, “That was my fight now they’ll think I need help to take them on!”
It took all of Love Heart’s restraint to avoid striking the fox back, instead he wiped the blood from his nose and narrowed his eyes, “what is your problem, I came to help you so you wouldn’t get beaten to death and you punched me in the nose.”
“I don’t need any help!” the fox replied, kicking one of the fallen gang members, “I’ve dealt with them before and I know how to fight, so I’ll thank you to stay out of my way form now on!”
“Well excuse me for wanting to help!” Love Heart shouted back, not caring if he got into a shouting match with this rude little fox, “I just thought I was being helpful!”
“Yeah well, I didn’t need it!” the fox shouted again. They were arguing in circles and continued to shout the same arguments at each other for about a minute.
During that time, the gang member that Love Heart had taken the pipe from got back up, dazed but not as badly hurt as the others. He saw the two arguing and smiled, now was a good chance to get them. The gang member dashed at them, scooping up the pipe and raising it, ready to smash the bear’s head it, as he had his back to the attacker and was unaware of the threat to him, but the fox wasn’t.
The fox saw the charging gang member, and instead of retorting against the green bear’s last argument he dodged past him and punched the gang member in the gut right before he brought the pipe down on Love Heart’s head, then kicked him off his feet.
“Dirty cheater, stay down!” the fox commanded, “yeesh these guys don’t know when to give up.”
Needless to say, Love Heart was surprised that the fox had broken away to strike the man down before the bear’s head had been smashed in, “Wow, thanks,” he said.
“Yeah well,” the fox was noticeably calmer now, “I couldn’t let him get a cheap shot off. Let’s get out of here before the cops show up.”
Love Heart didn’t disagree, the two of them walked out of the alley and headed away from the fight scene. Now that they were at least on calmer terms, Love Heart started a conversation, “So, what’s you’re name kid?”
“I’m not a kid, I’m 13!” the fox snapped, “and my name is Alex Kitun. So who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Love Heart Bear, and I-” Love Heart was cut off by Alex’s laughter.
“You’re name is Love Heart are you serious?” he asked, managing to stop laughing, “Oh man, I should have guessed something was weird with that heart stamp on your nose.”
“You’re one to talk,” Love Heart retorted, “You’ve got a heart stamp on your nose too,” he pointed out, a bit ticked that this fox was being so rude.
“Huh, yeah I guess you have a point,” Alex touched the tip of his nose, “Always wondered why.”
“So, Alex, where do you live?” Love Heart asked, hoping to chance the topic of conversation.
“West of the center of the city,” Alex said.
“Well maybe you shouldn’t go back there tonight, what if those gang members follow you and attack you in the middle of the night,” Love Heart was worried.
“Feh, those wimps, they don’t have the guts to try and follow me back home, and I’d just kick their asses if they did,” Alex kicked forwards to emphasize his last statement.
“Even so, want to spend the night with me at the Seven Oaks?” Love Heart asked, not wanting to lose a connection to the first animal like himself he’d met since his father was killed.
“The Seven Oaks eh?” Alex said. He wasn’t sure what to make of Love Heart, but at least he hadn’t tried to kill him after all the insults and the punch to his face, “well I guess I can’t turn down an invitation like that, sure! Race Ya!” The fox took off heading up north, apparently knowing where the hotel was. Love Heart shouted and took off after Alex.
OK, so Alex was a rude, short-tempered, annoying teenage boy, but he was the first other animal like him he’d ever met other than his dad, Sage Heart, so he had to try, not matter how much effort it took to keep from punching the fox’s lights out or stunning him with electricity.
