Chapter 5

Musqux

It was the day after the blizzard. There was light snow falling when Musqux woke up. He was curled up next to Specula and Herba. He looked around for Conlis and saw that he was at the front of their den. Musqux padded up to him and asked, "Hey, Conlis. What are you doing?"

Conlis jumped in surprise. Then he realized that it was just Musqux. "Oh, I'm just thinking. I really want to taste berries and termites and things that normal Spectacled bears eat. I don't want to wait until I'm a full grown bear!"

"Me, too," He agreed. Musqux saw a glint of mischief in Conlis' eyes. "How about if we sneak off from Specula and go down the mountain to taste berries? Then we can come back!" Musqux loved that idea. "Yeah! We should do it after dark, though. Should Herba come, too?" He asked. Conlis thought for a moment. "Yeah. She really wanted to have berries, even more than us!" Musqux nodded. After a few moments Specula woke up and told them to wait in the den. She walked out and later she brought a snow fox for them to eat.

Herba had woken up by then and was starving. The four of them shared the fox and then Specula told Musqux, Conlis, and Herba to go play in the snow. Musqux ran outside and started burrowing in the cold snow, but Herba and Conlis just rolled their eyes.

"Herba, do you want berries?" Conlis asked. Herba became overly excited. "Yes yes yes!" She roared. Conlis grinned and whispered, "Well when Specula is sleeping, the three of us can go down the mountain and find berries! Then we can go back up when we're done."

"That's a perfect idea!" Herba exclaimed. Then the three of them padded back into the den and saw that Specula had fallen asleep.

"She must be exhausted from hunting half the day," Musqux guessed. "Yeah," Herba agreed. Conlis grew excited and whispered, "This is our perfect chance to find berries!"

"Yeah!" Herba roared.

"Herba, you'll wake Specula!" Conlis warned. "Oh, sorry," Herba replied, embarrassed. The three cubs then started down the mountain, excited to try some berries. It was exhausting, and by the time they were at the bottom, Musqux had cramps in his stomach and his paws were sore. He felt as if he could fall asleep and not wake up for a whole suncircle! But then he scented something he had never smelled before. It smelled sweet and tangy. Is that what berries smell like? He sniffed the air and began following the scent while Conlis and Herba followed him.

Then he saw it. A bush filled with juicy blueberries. He gasped and began picking some to eat. Herba grew so excited and began jumping up and down. They all began eating the berries until their bellies were full.

"Yum, that was the best thing i've ever tasted!" Herba exclaimed. Conlis agreed and then said, "We need to get back to Specula. If she's awake she'll worry!"

"Once my mother falls asleep, she won't wake up till morning," Musqux assured, "But we still should get moving if we actually want to get home by morning." He nodded his head towards the sun which was setting. Herba looked at it in awe. "Wow, I've never seen a sunset before! Look at the colors!" The three cubs stared at the sunset for what felt like hours. It was the most amazing thing Musqux had ever seen; all the shades of purple, gold, and blue. Then when all the color was almost gone the purple/blue sky melted into black. There were stars glimmering in the sky, like snowflakes sparkling.

"Look at all of these trees," Conlis said, "Don't spectacled bear spirits go into trees when they die?" Musqux nodded, remembering the story Specula had told the three cubs when she had just found Herba and Conlis.

"I think I see one!" Herba exclaimed. Conlis looked at her. "How? It's so dark!" Herba was still staring up at the tree. "Look," She told them and nodded her muzzle toward a spot on the tree. Musqux looked at it and saw just tree bark.

"There's nothing here," Conlis said. Musqux looked at the tree again and then he saw a knot in the tree. There was one next to it. They looked like eyes. Then he saw it. It was as if a bear was staring back at him through the tree.

"I see it!" He told them in excitement. Conlis was still staring at the tree. He shook his head as if he was giving up.

"I can't see it," He said in defeat. Herba nuzzled him and said, "It's okay. It's probably just too dark now." Herba and Conlis started up the mountain but Musqux didn't know. He was still looking at the spirit. When he finally noticed his friends had left, he tried scenting them but the smell of pine needles and dirt was too strong. He grunted and then looked around for a good place to build a makeshift-den.

There was a patch of ferns with boulders on each side. He decided to sleep there for the night and search for his way back home tomorrow.

Musqux woke up to the sound of birds tweeting throughout the forest. He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked around. Where am I? Then he remembered; Him, Conlis, and Herba had traveled down the mountain in search for berries. They had found blueberry bushes and ate the most delicious blueberries ever. Musqux's stomach grumbled at the thought of them. He decided to find the berry bushes again. He tried scenting it and picked up the sweet scent of blueberries nearby.

Musqux followed the scent and saw two bears sleeping in front of the bushes. One was bigger than him and the other one was tiny! They were both black like him but they didn't have white marks on their faces like he did. Those aren't spectacled bears! The big one was furry like him and had big ears. He had a white V shape on his chest. The tiny one had slick fur and tiny ears. She had a golden U shape on her chest. What types of bears are these? And what are they doing under snow-top mountain?

All of a sudden the big one opened his eyes. Musqux ducked behind a fern bush so they couldn't see him but he kept watching through the leaves. The bigger bear shook the small one awake. "Sunny! Wake up!" The she-bear opened her eyes and then stood up. The two cubs then began eating some berries off of the bushes. Suddenly the bigger bear stopped and froze.

"Moony, what's wrong?" Sunny asked. "There's another bear here!" He replied. Oh no, he is scenting me! Then Moony padded cautiously over to Musqux and pawed at the fern bush he was hiding in.

"Hello, are you lost?" Moony asked. Musqux rose from his crouching position and replied, "Oh, um… Yes I am. What type of bear are you?"

"I'm a moon bear and she's a sun bear. What kind of a bear are you and why are your markings on your face instead of your chest?" Moony asked. "I'm a spectacled bear and all spectacled bears have markings on their face. I've never seen a bear without markings on their face and I've never seen one with markings on their chest!"

"Wow! I've never heard of that type of bear!" Sunny said excitedly. Musqux smiled and then replied, "I've never heard of a sun bear or a moon bear, either. I've only heard of spectacled bears and black bears. What are you guys doing here?" Sunny and Moony then explained to him about Lusa, Toklo, Kallik, Ujurak, and Yakone and how they were going to find them at great bear lake.

"Wow, I want to go, too!" Musqux said once they were finished explaining. "Yay!" Sunny replied, "But wait, didn't you say you were lost?" Musqux then remembered how he had lost his family.

"My friends and I were going down the mountain because we really wanted to taste berries but then they went back home without me and I don't know how to get back. I'm really bad at scenting." Musqux explained.

"Well Moony and I came from the bear bowl, like Lusa did! Although I'm pretty sure it was a different one." Sunny told him.

"What's a bear bowl like? And how do you stand having barely any space to live?" Musqux asked. "I couldn't stand having not even a skylength to live. I actually came from the wild, but the flat-faces shot me with a firestick and brought me here." Moony explained. Musqux looked confused. "What is a firestick? My mother told me about flat-faces but not firesticks. What do they do?" He asked.

"Well there are two kinds of firesticks. One that puts you to sleep and one that kills you." Moony explained.

"What!? It kills you!? Why would a flat-face do that to you?" Musqux replied. Moony looked sad. "Yeah. Flat-faces killed my father. Ever since, my family and I have been very cautious of them. But one day I woke up before my mother and my sister and I heard flat-faces. I hadn't heard the high-pitched chattering sound they make in a very long time so I didn't remember what the sound was. When I realized that they were flat-faces, it was too late. They had shot me with the sleep firestick. When I woke up, I was in the bear bowl."

Musqux saw sadness in Moony's eyes. He nuzzled Moony and said, "I'm so sorry that happened to you. I would love to go on your adventure with you two."

"Thanks," Moony replied. The three cubs then started heading away from the mountains.