Hello and welcome to my SECOND summer story, a nice lighthearted story that is an AU of my main storyline [which is Revenge - Bonds (and beyond)]. I decided that I would do a fun little short-chapter series just for you guys, since things have gotten rather dark in the main stuff.

As per usual, there will be a little violence, but nothing evil like in the main storyline.

Keep in mind, this is an AU of the main stuff, and in no way affects it. Nothing from the Main Storyline will make an appearance here, other than some characters.

This is my AU version of the movie, where Jewel goes with Beary to find the band [this chapter will explain a few new things about her character]. Many characters in this storyline will be different from that of the main stuff, while some things remain the same. You'll just have to see for yourself!

Another story you should check out is "The Tamborine" by Villain's Bad Girl. "The tambourine player for the band has hidden herself from the public eye for 10 years. Can Beary not only reunite the band, but help mend the relationship broken by the one she loved most? Ted/OC" It's a very good story about a new band member that was with the original band.

Thank you for clicking this story, and I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review!

Part One – Runaways

Jewel St. Claire frowned as she thought back to how this had all come to pass. How she had been taken hostage with her mother and why her best friend, Beary, was bleeding at the front of the bus. Why her mother was up front taking care of him, though a deranged man had a gun pointed at her. And why Jewel herself had a muzzle tightly wrapped around her snout, that the others had been forbidden to take off, less another person be shot. It had been a simple enough week, starting with a sleepover. How had things gone so wrong?

Jewel had decided to sleepover at Beary's house the night he asked his parents if he was adopted. She had watched their interactions, how they had denied it, though Dex said yes. She had felt rather awkward throughout the entire meal, with her helping of uncooked fish, though she'd rather have what the humans were having, which was mashed potatoes, gravy, sirloin, and corn. She didn't want this meager fish. Guess Mr. and Mrs. Barrington really did not understand bears as well as they thought they did.

She immediately felt guilty for the rude thought. Her mother had raised her better than that! She kept her mouth shut for the rest of the meal, unless she was spoken to, and waited until she and Beary were up in his room, sitting on his bed, looking through a red binder scrapbook of their favorite band, The Country Bears.

"No, no, I'm telling you. Tennessee O'Neal and Trixie St. Claire are a pairing!" Jewel argued.

Beary shook his head. "Just because Trixie's your mother, Jewel... She never told you who your father was, has she? That's why you live with your aunt and uncle. It might be some random bear! Not someone famous!"

"But they were dating! I'm telling you! Tennessee has to be my father! Who else could it be?" Jewel huffed and studied the picture of the bear she perceived to be her father.

"But that's not fair, Jewel! You'll have two Country Bears as your parents!"

"Yeah? Your point?" The ten-year-old female looked at her friend questioningly. "Is it about dinner? What you asked your parents?"

Beary nodded, closing the book with a sigh. "I just feel out of place. I look at you, and we're alike. I look at them and we're different. They… They're… We're not the same species, are we?"

Jewel frowned and shook her head. "No, you're not."

"Finally, you figure it out, doofus," Dex spoke sarcastically as he walked into his bedroom, shooting a glare at Jewel. He didn't like that another bear was here spending the night, which meant that he'd be sleeping in the guest room with the scratchy blankets while she took over his bed. "I thought you were just a dumbass that couldn't figure out the difference between humans and bears."

"That's not nice, Dexter Wolfe Barrington! I will tell your mother!" Jewel growled warningly.

Dex took a step back, knowing better than to mess with an angry Jewel, who actually knew she was a bear and much stronger, whereas Beary was more wimpy and pathetic. "Just because I'm right! It's not my fault he hasn't figured it out sooner. I mean, I've dropped plenty of hints!"

Jewel narrowed her eyes at him.

Beary sighed. "Jewel, don't. It's not worth it. And he's right; I should have realized the truth long ago."

"Hmph." Dex slid down to the floor in front of his bed and grabbed the controller for his Playstation, playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. He growled at the game a few times, his mind elsewhere, causing him to lose a few fights. "Damn it. You know what? You thought you were different because our eyes were different colors and the fact that I have freckles? You're such an idiot! Did you never not notice the fact that you have fangs and claws?!"

Beary lifted a paw, studying the filed down claws that his mother had carefully trimmed for him, and then looked over at Jewel's, which were a bit more sharp – though she sharpened her claws by scratching a tree, which he thought was very peculiar. It was one of the many things he liked about his golden friend.

"You're the problem here. You're like totally wrecking this family. Just look at us!"

Beary glanced over at the picture on top of the entertainment center showing their last family vacation. Everyone looked wonderfully happy. Everybody, that is, except Dex, who was slouching and looking very annoyed with a glare at Beary. "Can I do something to help?" he asked his brother, confused.

"Well, the bus station is on Pine Street. You could go there and buy a one-way ticket to denial."

Jewel gave another warning growl, earning a dark look from the teenager.

"Jewel, stop it." Beary looked back at his brother. "Why are you being so mean? Aren't we family?"

"You really want to know? Ugh." He tossed down his controller and got up, heading for his closet. He rummaged around, throwing clothes and toys behind him, until he found what he was looking for: A small box labeled BEARY. He grabbed another box, this one named DEX. He brought them over and set them on his bed as he rummaged around in them. "Okay, here's my baby picture." He held up a picture of a boy wrapped in a yellow blanket in a hospital nursery. "And this is yours." He reached into Beary's box and pulled out a picture of a park ranger holding a bear cub by one leg.

"Okay, so?" Beary studied the picture of his younger self. He'd seen it several times before, and couldn't figure out what Dex was getting at. That ranger was a friend of the family, as far as he was aware.

The human groaned. "Okay, here's my birth certificate," Dex said, showing Beary the official paper. Beary studied it closely, determined to understand his brother this time. Jewel was doing the same thing. "And here's yours." He reached into Beary's box and pulled out a strange-looking collar. Next, he brought out a small box. Flicking it on, it had a flashing light on it. He held the collar closer to it, causing the box to beep wildly. He moved it away, and the beeping slowed. "That's how the ranger kept track of you."

Beary frowned, taking the collar, studying it curiously, and then looked at the picture of him and the ranger. Was it true? He then picked up another picture, this one showing a younger version of himself with his parents. The Barringtons were waving proudly as the tiny baby Beary was snuggled into a baby carrier.

Dex grinned. "See? That's the day Mom and Dad got you!"

Beary felt a knot in his stomach. "What do you mean 'got me'?"

Dex's grinned turned cruel, but in a nice way. A fake kindness. "Picked you up, man. You were left alone. Abandoned by your parents. Rejected. So they brought you home, showed you a bunch of Barney videos, and pretended you were their son. They lied to you. You don't belong here. Hell, your own parents didn't even want you!" He smirked. "See? You don't belong, and you know it."

"Dex! Come and wash the dishes!" Norbert called up from the bottom of the staircase.

Dex groaned, but got up, walking out of the room, fully aware of the devastation he had caused, but not what would happen because of it.

"Beary, don't listen to him. He's just a jerk!" Jewel argued, seeing how upset her friend was.

"But he's right. I… I remember that day. I was scared, but when I heard Mom's voice, I… I just went right to them, Jewel. I was so happy to have someone to care for me…" Beary frowned, setting the photograph down, staring at the collar. "I feel so… stupid. How did I not make the connection sooner? I… Jewel, I want to find somewhere I belong. I need to find my higher purpose, like Dad said."

"And how are you going to do that?" Jewel thought back to the conversation at the dinner table, how Mr. Barrington had been trying to explain such a thing as a 'higher purpose' to Beary, but it's meaning was lost on both of them.

"I… I don't know." He frowned and turned around, glancing at his wall of Country Bear memorabilia. "But I have to think of something. If Dex is right, and he is, then I have no business being here. Mom and Dad… They lied to me. I'm adopted, and they kept trying to say I wasn't."

Jewel sighed, giving him a hug. "Oh, Beary… Hey, why don't we watch a video? That always gets you in better spirits."

"Y-Yeah, sure. Let's do that." Beary smiled at her. "I have a video of their last concert, and some interviews over here." He put the collar back in the box, slipping the box under his bed, and searched for his video. Upon finding it, he put it in the built-in VCR and pressed play, laying on his bed on his front while Jewel laid on Dex's.

However, Beary's mind wasn't on the video. He couldn't even focus on the music, though he could hear Jewel singing along. He rested his head on his paws, sighing softly. His own parents didn't want him? Abandoned? His adoptive parents were lying to him? He turned his face away from Jewel, letting out a muffled sob as tears rolled down his cheeks. He'd known he was different, but to learn that he was this different was heartbreaking.

Jewel, sensing that something was really wrong with her friend, got up and moved over to his bed, settling down beside him. She wrapped an arm around him and licked his cheek comfortingly. "Hey… It'll be okay, Beary… I promise, it'll be okay."

"Nothing's going to be the same," Beary responded softly, leaning close to her. Jewel had been the one to show him that snuggling was fine. She told him that bears did it all the time, same with the comforting lick to the face. He'd tried giving Dex a lick to the face once, years ago, and never did it again after the way his brother had reacted, which had been to yank hard on his tongue. "Why didn't my parents want me, Jewel?"

The golden cub nuzzled him and gently tugged on his ear with her teeth. "No one knows. Maybe they died in a tragic accident and couldn't come to get you? It might be something simple. Dex is just a big dummy for saying that they abandoned you!"

Her friend sighed, turning to look at her. "Jewel? I…"

"What?"

"I want to run away. Tonight."

"Tonight?! Beary, you can't run away!" Jewel argued. "What about me? What about your parents?"

"They lied to me, Jewel! They… They aren't my parents! I'm not meant to be here! I'm ruining this family! I'm going with or without you."

Jewel frowned, but knew nothing she said would dissuade him, and if she told his parents, he'd just get into trouble. "How are you going to? Where are you going to go?"

"I…" Beary frowned and looked up at the video playing. "I want to go to Country Bear Hall."

"How are you going to get there?"

"Take the bus or something. I should have enough in my piggy bank."

Jewel bit her lip, and nodded. "I'll go with you. I'm not letting you go on your own. My Mama will be fine with me going to the Hall. Maybe she might even be there! She said she was in the area again. I can't wait to see her and hear of her adventures. She was going to take me on a trip with her this summer, but something happened and she wasn't able to." Jewel shrugged. "My stuff's still packed up, but I don't have many other clothes here. Wait, yeah, I do! I think I still have some clothes here from last month when I stayed here a week with you!" She got up and went over to his dresser, rummaging through it and pulling out a few shirts, jeans, and shorts. She then went into the closet and grabbed two of her feather-hemmed jackets. "Well, let me put this stuff in my backpack, and we'll be good to go!"

Beary blinked a few times and grinned, happy that someone was listening to him. He got up and packed a few of his shirts and shorts into his backpack, along with his red Country Bears scrapbook, a sketchbook and pack of pencils and erasers, and the tracking collar, and set it next to his guitar, wanting to take that along, too, as it was one of his most prized possessions.

Jewel grabbed hers as well, and they placed their bags in front of the window for later that night. They covered them up with a random blanket so no one would suspect, and went back to watching the video.

It wasn't until around four in the morning that Beary quietly shut his bedroom door and turned on his light, opening up his piggy bank's bottom and pulling out what money he could get from it. He stuffed the bills in his pocket and looked over at Jewel, who was quietly opening the bedroom window and putting their backpacks on the roof of the porch. She climbed out, and then pulled out their guitars.

Beary took a look around his room for the last time and pulled out a piece of paper, writing down a few words. He left the torn paper, upset that his claws had ripped it, on his bed and followed Jewel out the window and over to the tree. She climbed down first, and he passed down their bags and the guitar bag cases, following after he shut the window. Once he reached the ground, he pulled on his backpack, shivered a bit at the cool early morning air against his nose, and picked up his case, ready to go.

Silently, they ventured down the driveway, both a bundle of nerves, and both wondering if they were really going through with this.

At the base of the driveway, Beary paused and glanced back at the only home he remembered. "Goodbye, everyone. I'm off to find my higher purpose… and maybe my family, too." Once he had said his piece, he hurried after Jewel up the street, both hoping to get to the bus station before anyone woke up.

Neither dared speak until they were at least two blocks away from the Barrington home, well on their way to the bus station that was nearly an hour's walk away from them. They had checked online and had discovered that the next bus to Shelbyville – and passing through Pendleton – was at 6:30am. They could hang out in the station until their bus arrived, and could pose as simple travelers.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Beary?" Jewel asked, glancing over at him as they crossed another intersection by their elementary school. "We can still turn back."

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to find where I really belong, and I figured I could start my journey by going to the Hall for a visit before continuing on. I mean, I have nearly $50 in my pocket. That should be enough to get me a long bus ticket, right?"

"I would think so. I have about that much with me. Aunt Tasha always gives me spending money whenever I come over here in case we go somewhere." Jewel shivered a bit in her green jacket, pulling her hood up over her head and sticking her ears through the openings in the fabric. She glanced over, watching as Beary did the same. "We look so silly."

"Dex says it's stupid. That the point of a hood is to cover your ears. Ours just stick out." Beary moved his ears a bit, listening to the sounds around them, hoping that they wouldn't get caught by anyone out and about.

"Dex is just a jerk, Beary. Don't listen to him. He doesn't know anything about bears."

"Well, neither do I. Not as much as you."

"Then I'll teach you. First of all, stop being gosh dang polite! If someone insults you, don't hold back your anger."

"But I-"

Jewel started laughing, shifting her guitar case to her other paw. "Beary, I was joking. If you were polite, you wouldn't be you." He gave her a half-hearted smile, and she gave him a push on the arm, which he reciprocated playfully.

They talked and joked quietly as they continued walking, and by the time they had gotten their tickets from an uncaring ticket seller that asked no questions, and had waited for their bus and boarded, both were very exhausted and ready to sleep.

Yet, neither did, for fear of missing their stop at Country Bear Hall. They decided that they would catch a few Zzzs near one of the trees while they waited for the building to open for the day, since it was still early. So that's exactly what they did.