Love and.....

From within can be heard of large steps that draw closer with every thud. The door opens to slowly reveal a large round face and massive body, all covered in smooth dark brown and blue fur as it slowly unveils in the morning sun. Thus revealing a rather feminine bear, standing proudly at the entrance of her humble abode, bearing the name of Amery. Strong and prideful, with an elegant Scottish accent.

" Good morning Oso," She greets, as she nudges his rotund belly with her nose, to gently wake him. Oso rolls to one end of the nest to avoid her nudges," Few more minutes," he pleads as he starts to slowly curl into a ball. " Any minute longer, flies will start buzzing all around you like last time, so come on, it's bath ".

His eyes blink open in dismay due to his mother's sudden, factual threat and awakes. He then does a routine of stretches before rolling over his dirt-mound nest and heads out to wait for Amery by the entrance of the cave. She arrives moments later, carrying a saddlebag holding towels, toiletries and a brush and set off to the route that leads to their personal lake that connects to a river with a beautiful waterfall running down a steep hill, which was east of their home and only a five-minute walk away.

Oso spots a family of rabbits running past them and two birds flying together through the forest On the way to the pond. He smiled as they both passed by them, Oso laughs and giggles with Amery whilst chatting and telling jokes, running around the path with hops and skips, they were enjoying themselves whilst viewing the comforts of the land, as if the whole world only revolved around them, when all of a sudden, "BASH", a large moose crashed through a tree and blocked the path to the river, with its head hanging low and a deranged glare as it's frothing mouth sullied the ground, everything only spells danger. The moose then, uncontrollably, lets out a deep and loud wale and slowly directed its attention towards Amery and Oso. 

It bursts into a charge with flaring nostrils whilst swaying its head and antlers from side to side, trampling over everything in its path. Amery remained unphased as it charged, with an almost unamused look, however, Oso trembled and was unable to move. Confused by the tense sensations, he looks at his paw shaking, realising that this is his very first experience of fear and terror, he then looks towards Amery wearing an unphased look as it charged forward. She then takes her left paw and slides Oso behind her, 

" Close your eyes and cover your ears Oso, it's going to be ok, I'll be right back," 

She says in a gentle tone as she dashed ahead. He does what she said and waits.... few minutes go by, Oso's wondering what's taking so long, but then he felt a gentle shrug bumping along his back.

He opens his eyes to see Amery smiling at him unscathed, sighing in relief he rushes towards her and gave a nice hug. He then looks behind her to see the moose unconscious, laying on its right side and a broken left antler next to it along with a large purple bruise on its head. 

"What happened to him ?", Oso asked, 

"It's alright, he won't be getting back up anytime soon, I merely gave him a good bonk on the noggin, nothing to worry about." Oso was told to head up with everything settled out first while Amery cuts up and buries the moose to bring back for later, to then finally arriving at the lake.

They played, ran around the pond playing tag, floating along the water's surface and bathed before heading back to the cave with moose at hand. Once they headed back, Amery stopped by the garden to pick some herbs to prepare the moose for dinner. Oso headed straight to the cave, Amery told Oso to prep the table before going to his mound to play, he brings out the plates, places the wooden cutlery and glasses then heads to his mound. His mound which is opposite of the table facing towards the exit has a little wooden cabinet built into the wall is designated for Oso's toys and games, he brings it all out and fumbles around in it. Amery then returns with a satchel of herbs and began prepping dinner.

After they had their moose steak and mint lemon tea dinner, she asks Oso to brush his teeth before heading off to bed. Oso then sat in his mound and read a book whilst waiting for Amery to tuck him in. She came to the mound and pulled a blanket over his body and asked if he wanted anything else, Oso carefully thought of a good request to ask, 

" I want to know how mummy got so strong ". She ponders on how to respond and said 

" Alright then, I believe it's a good time to tell you now that you're older, when I was a little cub, your grandfather brought me to a large empty field of 3000 metres, that belonged to our family for generations, and from that point on he would tell me to do all sorts of things which made me become who I am today," she said theatrically. 

" What kind of things? " Oso asked, 

" That's a story for another time, for now, it's time to go to bed, we've had a rough day, " She replied. As Amery was just about to walk away, Oso then asks, 

" Mum, will I ever be strong like you someday? "

" Oso, one day when you're older, you'll become a big and strong bear just like me, or maybe even stronger than anybody, do you want to know why?" 

Oso nods in response, " Because I believe that one day, you will become a vessel for greatness, a symbol of peace and above all, a wonderful bear," Oso smiles and rolls to the side, 

" Good night mum, ", 

" Good night Oso,".

A few years pass, Oso is now ten years old and is now almost as tall as Amery with him only being slightly smaller, which was around 150 cm on all-fours, at least. Amery notices how large Oso has become, he has even grown tufts of velvet-red hair under his neck which show signs of a mane that symbolise maturity in this species of bear, whereas normal male bear cubs his age would only grow to be about 135 cm tall at average, which is the height of her chin. She's shocked by how fast Oso has grown, but after assessing the situation, believes that he's too young to be this large for his age and is worried about what will happen later on in the future. However, unfortunately, she has no choice but to ready herself for the next phase of her plan begins to unfold. 

Amery waiting outside the cave wearing a sash around her head with a sinister-looking grin across her face, as well as large, suspicious objects on carts, covered in brown, old and ragged tarps. 

" Um.... mum....why are you looking at me like that, and what with all those things laying there behind you ? ".

" Hahaha, today is the that I will be teaching you an ancient art that has been passed down in our family for generations, it saved me countless times before as you've witnessed it all those years ago, and now it's time to pass it onto you my son, the art of martial magic that only us Bears are capable of wielding, we called it " The Strength of Ethers," 

She boasts of pride as she puffed her chest and head held high. Oso's eyes lit with excitement as he hears this news, for he had always wondered where his mother's strength came from. 

Then she interrupts, "However, this power isn't a gift that you receive willy-nilly, you have to earn it through years and years of pain and agony through constant training day-in and day-out with minimal rest, just to prepare your body, even learning how to use it takes even longer and with a greater amount of effort, very few have managed to survive and use this power successfully, myself included...... I'll give you time to think about it. " 

She then passes Oso and heads to the lake while dragging the large objects away, to await his decision.

After the last remark, Oso hobbles away and sits by the entrance to gather his thoughts.  Thinking back on his life, he believed that something, a sort of great conquest he always dreamt of, ever since his mother read him those notes. Living in the forest for most of his life, Oso felt as if he was wasting away with hardly had any motivation to keep him entertained through his arduous days of lacklustre board games and books. However, he notices the fact that Amery mentions this power with serious intent, which is exactly why he can't take this matter lightly, which begs the question, 

" Am I worthy of this power ?...... ".

Out of desperation, he closed his eyes to recuperate and calm himself while taking long and deep consistent breaths, eventually ending up in a meditative state, trying to find solace in this current moment. Slowly opening his eyes, he suddenly finds himself in a sea of large fluffy clouds, he turns around and surveys the area while standing on his hind legs, but can only see nothing but clouds reaching as far as the eye can see. He drops back on all-fours and walks around this ethereal place to explore its vast landscapes of eccentric cloud formations while searching for a way out. 

But after walking for quite a while, he spots something dark lingering in the distance and slowly approaches it, as Oso gets closer it then unveils the rear of a tall burly figure, which to his surprise, the figure turns around and carefully inspects Oso. After an awkwardly long amount of time, it wears a warm and welcoming smile as it is giggles in joy for it to be greeted by a lovely new face. 

The figure steps out of a thick fog of mist and is then revealed to be an adult male bear adorned with scars and deep-pitch black fur, along with an ivory-stained mane that runs around his neck,  " Why hello there young one, it has been a while since I've had guests coming to visit, my name is Geralt Molique Angus, but you can call Angus, please have a seat, " he greets with a deep and wise tone as a chair and table of clouds is magically formed in front of each other. 

Oso politely responds and sits down, " what is this place,? ", Angus replies " This is a place that has no name, no location that can be found on any map nor created by magic, this place is merely a simple astral plane, in one's subconscious mind that simply exists to exist, " Oso just accepts it as he found comfort in it, but is then reminded of the reason of how he ended up here.

" Young one is there something on your mind for you to wear such an expression, ?" Oso startles, 

" Oh, forgive me, I just happen to have a lot going on right now and I'm struggling to think of a decision for it, ". 

Angus curiously asks why he is struggling and what reason has caused him so. At first, Oso seemed reluctant to reveal it to a stranger, but for whatever reason, he senses something strange that causes Oso to feel a similar sense of familiarity, a deep and warm feeling that he has only ever felt towards his mother. After giving some thought he explains everything to him without leaving anything out. 

Angus understandingly smiles and chuckles at his explanation,

" Wow, it sounds like a very big responsibility, however, let me ask you this, do you really believe that power can give you meaning ?" Oso stunned by his question, tracks back to what Amery had laid before him, realises the mistake in his thoughts of reaching a decision. It was never about whether he was worthy; it was all about whether he was willing to make a change.

" Listen young one, whatever you're going through is natural, even I was given a similar responsibility during my time, but remember young one, remember that all the power that exists will always come at a price, not many animals can say so openly that they obtained immense power with ease, and even if they did, they may as well have either been a once-in-a-lifetime genius or a cowardly liar. 

So my advice to you as a fellow bear and as a friend, if you choose to accept that power, you must use it wisely and never act on impulse, be brave in your decisions and hold no regrets, if everything in this world may deter you to go astray, go back and reflect before moving back on track, be wild and free to be true to yourself and you will do wonders, I guarantee it. "

When Angus' gave his piece, he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and came to a decision.

" Thank you, Angus... "  

" No problem young one, " he stood up and bows to him, but then he is back at the cave with no change whatsoever, leaning against the entrance. 

He looks around whilst rubbing his eyes and eventually bounces back on his feet to find Amery.

She sits by the lake, reminiscing about the memories she has had with Oso. His laughs and giggles, his cries, his mistakes that he made at home, everything they did together has all led to this very moment. After hearing a crashing of trees, she turns to see Oso covered in leaves, panting and sweating with a determined smile across his face, 

" So Oso, let me ask you, for the first and last time, are you ready, ". 

Shaking off the leaves, pats off the dirt from his fur and taking a deep breath, he holds his head high and proud, 

" Yes, I am ready,". 

"Hahahahaha......, well then, let's get started."

* The beginning of a legend and the start of an era *