The Ring and The Dagger: Memories of Ursalia

Anthem Four: Electric Bubbles and Blooming Trees.

Buddi Gummi watched Ursa hone her knife blade curiously.

"So I'm going to have a baby sister?" he asked, reaching out to touch the whetstone.

"Or brother," Ursa concurred.

Buddi nodded, and continued to watch her.

"Aren't pregnant people supposed to knit and wear big dresses?"

Ursa stopped sharpening to look at him. Gritty was nearby practising with his sword on a nearby log. He laughed a bit, then went back towards the Glen when Ursa gave him a dangerous look

"Now who told you a silly thing like that?" Ursa asked Buddi, eyeing the storm clouds overheard and predicting the weather patterns.

The storms had only let up for a few days, and who knew when they would stop. No need to risk it.

"Oh, just Cubbi and Sunni, pregnant people wear fat dresses and knit booties."

Ursa eyed Buddi, then leaned back. She wasn't showing yet; she hadn't been pregnant that long, a few weeks now. Leather jerkins seemed fine for the moment. But her, in a dress?

"I'm not fat enough yet to wear fat dresses," she told him amused.

Buddi looked up and grinned.

"When my sister comes, can I play games with her and search for treasure?"

Ursa coughed at the word "sister" and nodded a bit.

"But not right away, the cub will be to small for that when he or she is born. But if you help Gritty and me take care of her, she'll grow up nice and big and you can play as much as you want," she noted a few droplets and got up, testing her blade. "Time to go in, I believe Grammi has supper cooked for us now, nice stew, and carrots, hot freshly baked bread, and some nice salad."

Buddi made a face at "carrots" but followed her obediently into the glen. A good meal was always welcome by the Barbics.

-seperator-


Gruffi couldn't believe his miserable rotten luck. Sitting at a wooden table in the remains of what must have been a castle, surrounded by people in rags, and grumbling over a bowl of thin and tasteless soup, tiny shrivelled things that should have been carrots, and some stale bread, Gruffi listened to the sound of women chattering nearby.

Who knew Gusto had so many sisters?

"Gruffi, can you pass the salt?" came a female voice nearby, and Gruffi was more than happy to oblige Delphi, anything to get a small break from the chattering of one of Gusto's sister beside him.

Vorallia, when they had come to it, had been a wreck, with half the shoreline scraped clean into the sea, the Island city now barely a crumbling little town with a single tattered dock hastily attached to what used to be the Castle moat. The Hilly Island paradise had sank halfway into the sea, covering most of the land, and people, in water.

"It was tragic, the storms," one girl said. "But thank the Great Gummies nobody was killed, we had some forewarning by your little bird friend their of the approaching storms.." she pointed to Arte, who was enjoying nibbling on the nuts they had de-shelled just for him. Apparently the girls had taken a shine to Arte.

Yeah. Thank the great Gummies they had gotten off that dang boat, only to be swept away off to a castle where Gusto's fourty-six sisters, blind father and stodgy aunt were doing their best to take care of Vorallia after the deaths of the Queen and King two years passed.

Gusto, of course was delighted by his family.

"I set off for adventure with only thirty-eight sisters and now come back to find so many more!!!"

The girls all laughed and Gruffi decided he'd prefer NOT to know what relatives he still had creeping around the world. Ugh, inlaws.

"Oh, but its so nice to hear that its not just us! I mean, not that that's a good thing, but we were SURE that we had been cursed somehow but if it's the curse of Ursalia then that means its all reverseable."

"Thats right," Gusto's father, Caesarien Gummi, or "Arien", agreed. "The ring and dagger must be "joined" before the third moon."

"And you have the dagger, correct?" Gusto's aunt Ophelia nodded to her nephew with a grimace of distaste at the soup, which was what was left of the castle stores. "All you need is the ring."

"We've taken care of the ring," Delphi murmured. "But we're still not quite sure how it all must occur. Are the books in the library still intact?"

One of Gusto's sisters, Alexandrine, or Drinny Gummy, nodded.

"I've taken special care of those books, though a lot were destroyed, I managed to salvage a great deal, you can look through it all.

Delphi nodded her thanks, with Denni giving her an interested look.

"Up to something sis?"

"Aren't I always?"

From across the table, Gruffi noted the exhanged looks.

I wonder what they're up too.

-seperator-

Delphi shook her head negatively at the ruin that the Great Library of Vorallia had become.

"This is a mess!" Denni complained as they sorted through books, Gruffi and Gusto exchanging worried looks. "How are we ever going to find anything in this!??!"

Tummi poked his head into the library blushing.

"I'm going to check on the boat, make sure she's all right..." Tummi said, then dissappeared quickly.

Delphi blinked.

"Is he all right?"

Gruffi's smile was pure delight to Gusto next to him, who laughed.

"Yead, Tummeroonie is fine," came the chuckling confirmation. "He's a sea bear though, likes the Oceam, I think he's part fish,"

"Or whale," Denni snickered, and Delphi gave him a dangerous look.

"Be NICE! I happen to LIKE how he looks!"

"Oh?"

Delphi blushed.

"Well, he's rather soft, don't you think? That tummy of his would make a nice pillow.."

Gusto laughed, and Denni snickered.

"Yeah, sis, didn't know you liked em large..."

Delphi huffed, and then skimmed through her book. Sigh. What was there but old traditions and incantations?

"Wait, I think I found something..." Denni pointed to a soggy text. "A poem, if you will."

They all bent over.

"Vorallia my keep on high,

"In the hills, safe and dry,

But when the water rises and hisses,

Ursalia saves her with gentle kisses."

Delphi quirked her head.

"Some sort of love ballad?"

Denni scratched his chin.

"Perhaps, the texts about Vorallia RARELY ever speak of it as being a Island, but comment on its hills and valleys. When water is mentioned, we must assume it's the storms or flooding. Even back in the day, the storms that touched Vorallia were qualmed by the presence of the Ring and Dagger. In a way, that was one source of the quibbling, who needed the "Protection" the most."

"So the kiss?"

"Some sort of joining of the Ring, Dagger, or just their bearers. Maybe both, maybe a "real" kiss," that made Denni grin, and Delphi blush. "But under the circumstances, I'd say that any sort of "kiss" could be the case. Of course, it would have to be SOME KISS to fix the damage to Vorallia, let alone Ursalia."

Gruffi scratched his fingers across the cover of an old manuscript with a huff.

"If it weren't one thing its another, I'm taking a walk!" he grumped and left the library.

Gusto shook his head.

"He really isn't very happy about all this," Gusto sighed. "Guess my sisters were too much for him.."

"Well it didn't really help that your father kept demanding to know all the "news" from Ursalia," Denni huffed. "When the city has been in ruins for half a century, and now destroyed. Is he quite all right?"

Gusto shook his head.

"Oh, he was a soldier back when he was my age, he served along with people like Sir Thornberry to protect the place, but they had to relocate to Vorallia when the city was abandoned. Then, uh, he met my mother," a small blush. "Guess he hasn't been quite all right since she died..."

"Well, your sisters certainly didn't help," Delphi chuckled. "All asking if Gruffi was married.."

Gusto laughed at that.

"The idea of marriage and such is very difficult for a guy like Gruffi. With him, marriage is probably more like, "I'm moving in, deal with it!""

Denni chuckled at that.

"Well, I hope he doesn't keep to himself too much. We may need a strong arm to help us repair this city if we can't find a fix-it solution with magic."

Delphi gave Denni a look, and turned to smile at Gusto, who was now lost in his thoughts as he turned the pages.

It had been so long since leaving, a young bear with a dream, out to find his artistic muse, and to create the greatest artistic expression a young bear could ever dream of. But now he was back, the dragon he worked on for most of his life somewhere at the bottom of the sea, and this damn Dagger was all he had to show his sisters of the "dream" he had abandoned them all to go looking for.

Its been so long since I've seen them, and now that I'm back, do I really want to leave again?

He fingered the edge of the dagger. Denni and Delphi were busy arguing over the Kissing poem still, and so he excused himself, and got up to go for a walk, and hopefully, his questions would be answered.

Flipping through the crumbling and soggy text, Denni huffed at Gusto's departure.

"Whats his problem?"

Delphi laughed.

"He's been gone a while," she said, flipping back a blonde strand out of her eyes. "He's a little euphoric from seeing his family. It happens to the best of us sometimes.

"Well, these don't tell us much more than we already know!" Denni said, "Except this darn poem, but what IS the real power of the Dagger, what can it do to fix this curse??"

Arghing in mental frustration, he bashed his head against the wall of books.

"My what a tiff," Delphi chuckled. "We'll assume that Gusto will know what to do and when to do it..."

"Look, we don't have the ring with us, right here, so lets just leave already, there's no point.."

"There's EVERY point!" Delphi laughed and delicately lifted herself up. "Dear brother, this is Gusto's HOME, where he was born! He MUST undo what has been done here, and only here can he unlock the power within him and his Dagger!"

"You think I don't know that??" Denni shouted. "But these books tell us nothing! And what of the Ring?"

He tossed a book away from him in dispair, much to Delphi's dismay, and started trouncing towards the books he hadn't checked yet.

"Patience, brother. The answer will reveal itself in time."

"Yes, time, time," Denni muttered. "Time, and Ursalia, and our little bid in the game, and I want this to be over with."

"So soon?"

Denni raised icy eyes, a look of pure mystery.

"This game is almost over Delphi...Just admit you've lost and call it even..."

Delphi laughed, an understatement of the singing peal that errupted from her.

"No, brother, the game has not even yet begun!"

"We shall soon see," Denni mused, turning back to the books. "Very soon indeed."

-seperator-


A few stray bears had been sitting around the table, watching the new arrivals curiously, from the moment they had started eating the lunch of thin soup to the moment when they headed off towards the library, not stopping a moment in their quiet perusal until the bears had left the room.

"They have the dagger?"

"Aye, at that, and they carry it around like some sort of trumpet, and its that no good peasant who ran off while his mother was sick that has it,"

"By rights it should belong to Vorallia."

"Aye, and what are those Glen Gummi's doing with the twins anyways? Aren't the twins above all this?"

"Aye, you bleeding daft? That Dagger is the key to fixing all our problems!"

"If it weren't for that damned Ring, we could.."

"Thinking out loud boys?"

The three looked up to the new comer, a blonde bear, the male twin, looking like he had caught the proverbial red handed thief.

"Aye, your majesty, we was just,"

"Plotting, well, if your going to plot, plot with me," Denni sat down. "You were saying something about getting the Dagger back for Vorallia? It was a SHAME my ancestors tomb was desecrated by that village idiot, but by Gum I'll have it back, make no mistakes."

"And your sister, Princess Delphi?"

Denni grinned.

"Let my sister amuse herself with fairytale delusions of finally returning Ursalia to its old glory. Without the ring, Ursalia is nothing but a gray old Queen. Vorallia is by rights the King of the Gummi world now, and we will need the power within that Dagger to bring it back into its triumph, back to the day before the dagger was stolen from here by peasants."

They laughed, and clacked their mugs together.

"Today we raise the hells bells again, no more of this mincing about.."

"Aye, stir up a fuss, and get the people with us,"

"Indeed." Denni said, a mysterious dark smile crossing his vision. "Indeed."

-seperator-


Ursa gambled a bit, and turned to her husband.

"Do you think I should be wearing a dress instead of fighting gear?" she asked plain, looking at him with an I-dare-you-to-say-yes sort of look.

"Well, we don't be needing to fight much anymore love, not that we have a home here and all, Buddi and Cubbi are good friends, no need to worry about being attacked in the woods in the middle of the night..."

Ursa fingered the edge of the sheet, making Gritty uncomfortable and he coughed, adjusting his bulk under the sheets.

"Well," Ursa said. "I suppose I should be cooking and cleaning and knitting baby booties too right?" she stated with a huff. "Right?"

Gritty gaped when the blanket fell away from her body for a moment, revealing her pleasant curves. He coughed.

"By Gum NO!" He stated, soothingly, turning himself to take her in his arms. "I LIKE your clothes, and your fightin', and if you became all prissy like that I don't know how my brain would cope!"

"Not to mention your libido," Ursa laughed, and kissed his cheek. "Does this mean I'm not allowed to knit booties for the baby?"

Gritty chuckled, and rained kissed on her soft but strong neck and chin.

"Sure you can, but just don't change too much, I like you just the way you are."

-seperator-


Gruffi sat on the edge of the pier. It was getting closer to evening, but the sun was still bright in the heavens, casting a pre-sunset glow to the water, and making him wince slightly when looking up at the sky. Shifting his feet, he turned his attention back to the water again, and its icy depths.

Too many times had he sat by himself, contemplating Ursa, Ursalia, Gusto, and everyone, this whole Gummi family and the whole damn mess, so much that his head hurt because of it all. Rubbing his temples, he leaned back, looking up at the bright and sparkling sky.

What do I do now?

Sighing, he coughed to clear his throat and pulled his hat off to examine his features. Not extremely attractive, not exactly ugly, just plain ordinary Gruffi Gummi, dark eyebrows knitting as he examined his visage in the water. Not quite the Adonis that Gusto was, not exactly Aphrodite like Delphi, but somewhere underneath them both, yet not too far down there. Just, ordinary, un-particular, nothing fancy. Not exactly the face of a fairytale hero that was for sure.

It couldn't be helped, his part in this. He was just a helpless bystander, watching, unable to help Gusto or Ursalia or do anything of worth. With a hammer in hand, he could repair any leak. But this? This was way over his head, in more ways than one.

I sure hope Gusto knows what he's doing.

Standing up, he paused, and looked at the ring on his finger for a moment, contemplating his own useless dreams, shattered by a few words, broken apart by a night in a leaky tent and a shattered city.

Nothing left of that old feeling, that could have been love for Ursa, and what could be this new feeling inside?

Who knew? Could have been anything, but, that didn't matter anymore, it was over. With a grunt, he pulled off the ring, a bit too quickly, and tossed it hard up in the air, towards the sparkling waves and ebbing tides of the water. He put his hand over his eyes, towards the sun watching the ring's trip towards a tiny Island sticking up out of the water that used to be a hill before the storms swept through here. A lone tree stood there, dead and decaying branches arching in misery towards the sun in a painful plea towards the heavens above. The ring flew upwards, onwards above the tree, glinting, until it almost disappeared into the sun itself.

Like lighting, a clink, and something snatched the ring out of his line of vision, and the ring was gone. Blinking, Gruffi tried not to laugh, eyes closed and watery.

A bird ate my ring! What dumb luck!!

Laughing, almost crying, Gruffi turned, and made his way from the back pier, towards the town, not noticing the events that were taking place behind him in his wake. It was time to let the past slip into the back of his mind, and think of better things, after all, time was just a bird in flight.

-seperator-

Meanwhile, at the exact same time, across the bay, almost the exact same distance from the Island, tree and all, Gusto sat on soggy grass that used to be a hilly area sloping towards the bay, and contemplated the dagger momentarily.

Drinny just got engaged last month. Was I there for her though when mom died? Was I there at her funeral? I was off chasing some damn dream! Even this dagger, I just went into the cave, didn't think, didn't even notice the marks, or even care, but just grabbed it greedily, stupid stupid STUPID!!

Getting up, he stood, feet wet in the grass, and looked around. This place, this Island he called his home, decaying around him, the waves pulling away sand and sediment from the beaches he used to walk as a cub, tiny birds perched in the trees whistling to the wind about Vorallia, a city that stood high on an island hill, now sinking painfully with the tide into the murky depths, the childhood memories slipping with them like grains of red and gold, lost in the ruins never to be recovered.

In fury, Gusto clenched the dagger. He had hurt the ones he loved, hurt their loved ones, and caused the death of a dear old friend and comrade, all because of a stupid Dagger.

I may be thrice damned for this, but YOU'RE the cause of everyone's misery!! And I'm sick of you and your curse!

With a howl of fury, Gusto tossed the Dagger up into the air, and watched it twirl in an angry twisting, painful and wrenching flight, arching towards the dead tree, with its diseased trunk and gnarled roots, up, blindingly, into the sun.

A loud clink, and Gusto watched, flabbergasted, as the dagger flew down at a frightening speed and imbedded itself with a thunk in the dead wood of the tree.

Silence.

Then, like a flourishing trumpet, each gnarled root, each twisting and twirling, miserable branch smoothed, thinned, flexed and stretched in a way that it had never stretched in almost a century. Strong, pliable limbs arched towards the light of morning, thickening and slicking, disease dripping away to reveal not rotted tree but solid wood, brown, crisp, like a fresh cut of earth, shooting towards the sun. Each spiralling tiny twig-tip exploded in a starburst of pink and violet vibrant colour, blooms unfolding and twisting open in an explosion of life, the hot pink petals winding in vines around the tinted trunk to gently touch the parched ground, where grass shoots began to whistle with the strains of wild flowers, and the living tree drank its fill of the sweetest of sounds coming from the shore.

Laughter, a happy echoing laugh that nearly rung Gusto's ears because it was his own, thrumming in vibrato notes through the air.

"It, but, I..."

For a moment, he didn't know what to do, then he jumped into the water, the icy chill of evening water hitting him, both arms stroking and splashing towards the tree in a water convalescence, and he climbed up to touch the bark, and the dagger imbedded deeply in the surface there.

"This dagger, is meant to heal, to bring life, isn't it?" he asked nobody in particular, water dripping from his body. "Is that it? But how...?"

With a glint of yellow, Gusto's eyes were drawn to the hilt of the sword, where a small circlet of gold lay dazzling itself with its brilliance around the thin blade. Taking a hold of it, Gusto lifted the dagger out of the tree's bark and inspected the ring, his eyes crossing a bit to read the words...

"Ursalia...Wait a minute, this is Gruffi's ring! But how did it...Gruffi's...RING?"

Gasping, the realization hitting him of what Delphi had said.

We have taken care of the Ring...

They had the Ring here all along! He was almost angry at Delphi for not telling him, until, something else, caught his attention.

"The Dagger, needs to kiss the Ring to heal something tree sized..."

But even now, without the dagger in the tree, the tree was starting to wither again. It wasn't strong enough magic.

"Must need someone to wield them to be permanently effective. Wait'll Gruffi hear this, he'll be..."

Suddenly, his eyes were drawn across from him, towards the other shore, where a lone bear trudged his way towards the heated throbbing town, towards.

Chaos. With his eyes, Gusto saw the lights of torches heading quickly in the direction of Gruffi's retreating form, fires burning towards the south, churning like a river towards the unknowing bear. Gruffi was too far away for Gusto's voice to carry a warning, not in this thin howling wind, and from the looks of it, there were a few houses burning, Gruffi was in danger!

"A riot! And he's headed right for the center of it!"

Pushing the dagger into his belt, and the ring onto his finger, Gusto dove into the water, gasping, his drenched body crying out at another cold plunge into the icy waters, not thinking of himself, only the gruff bear whose life was now in jeopardy.

Hang on Gruff! I'm coming!

Climbing up onto the dock, Gusto was just able to make out Gruffi being surrounded by torch carrying bears in tattered clothing.

"No!"

Grasping the ring, and with a cry, Gusto ran with all his might towards the crowd, their cries echoing through the grasping ruins into his ears angrily.

"They're the ones who did this too us!"

"Burn him ALIVE!!!"

A chorus of agreement, and Drinny's horrid cries coming from one direction, Tummi being held back, and Denni, standing there, not doing anything, his sister yelling at them to stop, but her voice not carrying over the crowds own cries.

Gusto felt him shout suddenly,

"Stop it!!! STOP IT!!!"

Grasping the dagger, and holding above his head, Gusto made his way towards the crowd, which parted in fright at the sight of the Dagger.

"STOP!!!"

He forced his way to Gruffi, holding the dagger out, causing the attackers to back off. Gasping for breath, Gusto, blindingly, pulled the ring from his finger, grasped Gruffi's shocked hand and slipped it onto a thick digit in full view of the crowd.

"THERE! By your own laws, now, you cannot TOUCH HIM!"

Their was a gasp in the crowd. The Ring on the shocked and disbelieving Gruffi's finger suddenly pierced them with the most beautiful ringing metallic note to ever be heard, and the most blinding glint of gold any bear could ever imagine.

"The Ring! The Royal Ring of Ursalia!!"

"IT CAN'T BE!" Denni howled, horrified, his hands wrenching in his hair. "Not HIM!?"

The crowd was suddenly aware of laughter, and Denni looked beside him to his sister.

"Are you DERANGED! The Ring can't be worn by a, by a..."

"A male? But it is! It IS!" she laughed and twirled around, her golden hair flicking around like water. "It is, JUST as I predicted would happen! After all, you never ASKED who the ring was chosen by! You just ASSUMED it was the woman Ursa!"

Laughing, with peals, Delphi danced towards the two dumbfounded bears in the center of the crowd, Gusto's sisters following her, and Tummi, and the grumbling Denni.

"And HAVE you finally figured out how the ring works yet BEAR?" Denni asked Gusto with a small snarl.

Gusto blinked a bit as Denni's behaviour was much different then how he knew him, and nodded carefully.

"Well, yeah, sort of, this Dagger, and the Ring, together, have the power to heal right? Cities, trees, anything, to repair and to heal, that's the magic right?"

"Right, but its not just that," Delphi said. "They literally CANNOT heal anything permanently without some being directing them too, the magic itself is very wild. The Ring and Dagger cannot be chosen by anyone without that magic, it would have been impossible for Gruffi to even TOUCH the Ring without being a magic user, the Tools know their owners well and it's the magic within you both that gives them the most power!"

Gusto smiled, and Denni puffed up, protesting slightly.

"But they can't, I mean, the, the..."

"The Kiss?" Delphi purred.

Denni's eyes widened with shock, and about two seconds after Gusto was hit by the realization of exactly what sort of "Kiss" was needed to fix the city. Denni was just able to catch the passing Gruffi, who was trying to run away as fast as he could.

"Not in a million years!!" The gruff bear shouted. "Let me go!"

Gusto was speechless, then he darted too, mostly in panic, in the opposite direction, not even noticing Delphi nearby.

"No way! Hey! Leggo!" Delphi had grabbed him, and both twins quite literally forced the two bears protesting back towards the center of the gaping crowd.

"Now now, it's a tradition," Denni smirked, finally enjoying this.

"It's the only way to heal Vorallia!" Delphi protested. "You both know it!!"

That didn't matter, both bears were forced towards each other, the crowd both blushing, gaping, protesting, but doing nothing.

Gusto suddenly lost his footing, and landed, flying, against Gruffi, the force of the short trip bashing their faces together.

"Are they..?"

Electricity ran through him. The first realization came to him was that he was kissing Gruffi, and the second realization was that REAL electricity seemed to jolt and spin through his body, the Dagger in his hand touching the Ring and causing the electricity to complete the circuit their mouths created, and an arch of energy erupted from them, spreading out like a bubble from the center of the crowd, quickly, its molten lightening flashing through the town in a huge celestial wave, crashing cosmically through the aching ruins, and lifting debris back into place. The stones melted and smoothed into walls, flags on their half mast risen full in a new wash of once drained color, vibrant reds, and an echoing throbbing hiss shook the land as the city island rose back out of the sea, each hill re-emerging from watery depths. Tall structures rebuilt themselves and forced their way upwards, bridges rolling back on their charted paths over streams into soft roadways and ancient highways restored. The bubble merged, rolled and rose until it surrounded the city, agonizingly bright, and then dissipated in a flash, leaving the sparkling golden hilly city of Vorallia, like a newborn child, a newly polished jewel, floating calmly in the sea.

Breaking away from Gruffi, startled, a soft whimper escaping from his throat, Gusto blinked, and looked around him. Everything that the bubble had touched had healed. The townsfolk who once stood in tattered threads were now bedecked in startlingly golden Gummi Garb of the royal colours of their city; blue, white and green ravishing them in a golden glow. Women were richly bedecked in silver, rings from their ears and golden chains around their soft necks, the men with high collars and golden jewels on their fingers, everyone gaping in awe at the beautiful city that none of them had ever seen in this manner.

Gruffi seemed to be covering his face in embarrassment with his hands, but gaped when Gusto grabbed his hand comfortingly and realization hit him that the city was healed and that they had healed it. Together.

"Vorallia," Drinny breathed, looking around, her new satin dress glistening and flawless, as opposed to the tattered homespun from before. "Its better than I imagined it could ever be!!"

"Wait a minute," Gusto said, still shaking from that literally earth shattering kiss. "You mean it heals it as far back..."

"As when the curse was laid," Delphi said with a gentle nod. "This is the Vorallia that we all should have seen with our own eyes. When the curse was laid on Ursalia, its effect backwashed over all Gummy kind."

"Why else would the Gummie's have fled? They had lost most of their magical abilities to protect themselves from humans," Denni stated roughly.

Gruffi didn't say anything through all this, just pulled his hat off, which was sparklingly clean, though it was still his simple hat, and twisted it a bit embarrassingly in his hands, blushing.

"So, uh, what now?"

"So, my royal Princes," Drinny started, bowing to them both. "A celebration in your honor!"

A cheer rose up through the crowd, which made Denni grind his teeth. The city had accepted this all way too easily for him, and he pouted angrily, crossing his arms.

"And then off to Ursalia," Delphi murmured, ignoring her brother's fretting. "To finish what we started," she said meaningfully towards Denni. "Vorallia is small compared to the work ahead of us in Ursalia, and the curse is rooted there, you still have MUCH to learn."

A hiss, and Denni turned to stalk towards the newly revived castle.

"Come," Delphi took Gusto and Gruffi's hands in hers. "There is MUCH to discuss."

-seperator-


Buddi jumped up onto the tree stump with a laugh.

"I get to be Prince of the castle!"

"And I'm a brave Knight!" Cubby echoed.

"And I'm the King!" came Frenni Gummi's little laugh.

"Well if you're the King, then I'm the Princess, like Princess Cala!" Sunni stated, prancing delicately towards the trunk and sitting down on it elegantly.

"Can I be a Prince instead?" Frenni asked, round eyes glowing.

"You silly," Sunni said. "There's only one Prince! And he rescues the beautiful Princess from the Castle!" she stated delicately.

Frenni frowned.

"Un uh! Un uh! My ma said there is TWO Princes!" he giggled. "And no crummy old Princesses!"

"You take that back, Frenni Gummi, I am NOT crummy!"

They ran around in circles, Sunny shouting at Frenni, the little bear laughing, and Buddi trying to protect him with his wooden sword from being bashed with a spoon that was painted to look like a sceptre.

"Ahh! Okay, Princesses not crummy, but mommy SAID!" and he yelped and hid behind the Trunk.

Cubbi had meanwhile taken up a pretend sword fight with Buddi, and Ursa watched from a distance laughing.

"Cubs."

Meanwhile Grammi was bent over her, patiently showing her how to knit.

"The needle goes in there and out the other loop,"

This was all baloney to her. But she wanted to knit something, the urge to make clothing for her baby was astounding. It was one thing to fix up one of Buddi's bloody knees or bathe him after a particularly muddy play session, but a baby? That was something new to her entirely, and she threw the knitting down in frustration.

"Just go about it slowly dearie, don't let it frustrate you, even learnin' takes time."

She looked up, feeling like being coarse, but sighed instead.

"Your right, I guess its just..."

"Mood swings?" Grammy said with a laugh. "Oh, what woman doesn't have them from time to time, but a baby, thats something WORTH being moody and emotional about, now just undo that knot and we'll do this again."

Meanwhile, Sunni was interested only in her princess costume, but the high winds were whipping about so much that she could barely keep her hair tied back, and Cubbi, who was now Sunni's pretend "knight" in shining armour, was being detained nearby with rope to prevent him from escaping as the evil lord "Frenfren" had finally triumphed.

"Where's my Knight and his Horse?" Frenni shouted into the wind, laughing and flapping his wings like a imitation dragon.

That was Buddi's role, but Buddi had suddenly become interested in something else.

"Uh, whatsit mean when the wind is all twirly like that!" he asked a bit afraid, pointing to a rather large column of whipping wind in the distance."

Ursa gasped, dropped her knitting, and the two Gummis ran towards the kids, scooping up young ones in their arms.

"Everyone to the house!! It's a tornado!!!"

Bears seemed to be filing in from everywhere windows were boarded up, and they trounced deep into Gummi glen to the storm shelters below.

"Where's Buddi!?!?" Gritty suddenly asked.

With horror, Ursa looked around to see no sign of her cub.

"Oh oh OH!! He's still out there Gritty!"

Twisting, panicked, she ran from the door, only to have it shut by Grubbi.

"You can't go out there, its too dangerous, you'll be killed!"

"I don't care! You just get away from that door! Thats an order!"

But Gritty wrapped hands around her.

"He's right, too dangerous, please,"

Ursa turned wet eyes to Gritty painfully.

"But he's my son..."

As if spurred by something, Gritty pushed Grubbi away and opened the door and pushed his way against the wind up into the glen.

Tentative moments of howling wind and shrieking wood passed, but the Glen withstood the storms.

"Probably why our ancestors stayed here," Zummi explained, bristling with a twinge of fear at his own words.

But Ursa wasn't listening, she was watching the door, for her husband, and child, and hoping that she wasn't being weak emotional pregnant woman in their time of need.

There was a knock, and the door flung open, to reveal Gritty and Buddi, tattered, windswept, a bit cut and bruised, but all right for the most part, and shivering from head to toe.

"It's a might windy out there," Gritty said breathless, cradling a whimpering Buddi.

The young bear jumped from Gritty's arms and flung himself into the shelter frightened towards Ursa.

"Momma, MOMMA!!" He sobbed, not caring who saw how upset he was.

Ursa grabbed him and held him tight, eyes wet. She didn't care what they thought either. Never had they ever experienced such horrible storms, and it was even scary to her, Ursa, and she rubbed his back gently.

"Its all right Buddi, its all right, its over now..."

But it had only just begun.

-seperator-


'Much to discuss' was probably an understatement, as Delphi outlined the history of the Ring and Dagger.

"Traditionally held by royalty who would rise to eventually become the monarch rulers of Ursalia, the Ring and Dagger were crafted by Wizards from Ursalia and Vorallia. These wizards were in service to the King and Queen of their time, but secretly longed to change the line of rulership that had plagued the land in dictators for many years,"

Gruffi listened with interest, but felt himself a little giddy from the days events. After all, it was only skin, touching, Gusto had been repeating that over and over in his ears loudly for almost an entire hour, but the event of skin merely touching had shaken him to the core of his very being. Why did he feel so..weak still? The magic?

"One of the young Princes, Prince Poldi, was a kind young man, and he held a love for the lovely princess of Vorallia, Neren, but because he was the youngest son, he could not marry her in those days. When the Wizards of Vorallia were asked by the Ursalian royalty to create a magic Dagger that could defeat their enemies, the Wizards were outraged. Instead, they made it so only the youngest of the families, or only child, could use the true powers of the Dagger, and only when joined in wedlock between two bears who TRULY loved each other, which left the dictatorial Queen and King seething.

"The Wizards were slain for their doublecrossing, but as decreed, young Poldi and Neren, who were the youngest of the families, had to be wed in order for their families to access use the full power of the Dagger, so it was agreed. They assumed the role of King and Queen of Vorallia, with the magic of the Dagger in their hands.

"But good intentions don't always end up as good," she noted Gusto's blushing agreement before continuing. "The Prince and Princess were followed by spoiled rulers who wanted to rule the world. Their tyranical rule was fierce, even without magic, and so the Wizards came together, and stole the Dagger to Ursalia, where they fashioned a Ring that by its own existence prevented the Dagger from being used for anything but good and loving intentions. The spells put on the Dagger and Ring as they were fashioned outlined their functions and abilities, that, to heal anything, no matter how large or small, that had been damaged by magic, but only by the physical joining in some way of the two who held them, and then the final unknown ability of the Ring and Dagger only by a marriage of True Love. A strange type of magic to be using on such objects."

Gusto blushed a bit, and laughed.

"THATS for sure!"

"Many battles were fought over the two objects, in an attempt to unlock their power, both objects leaving their places of origin and returning to them over and again, and the lines continuing, warring with each other, a different royal "Pair" ruling a different "City" as each generation passed. But nobody had ever been able to unlock the power, their love was clouded by their greed for power. Until finally, unable to bear the wars and the poverty in Ursailia, a young peasant stole the dagger from where it lay in Vorallia and fled to Ursalia with it and the Ring.

"But when the Sorcerer King and Queen of Vorallia at that time learned of the Dagger's theft, they attacked Ursalia, shattering it with magic, and retrieved the Dagger, cursing the Golden city as they swept over it in a torrent of blood and combat. The King of Vorallia died in that battle, causing the Queen to entomb the Dagger and the body of the King to prevent the Dagger from being stolen by an Ursalian. She cursed the Dagger, and Ursalia, and disappeared into myth. And that's the story."

Gusto looked up from his place in the library to Delphi.

"So the Dagger is cursed, but not the Ring? Are there any traditions your not telling us about we should know?"

Delphi laughed at their concerned looks. They had every RIGHT to be concerned after today, they STILL hadn't made any firm eye contact with each other yet, which had her a bit worried about their mentality after Healing the City.

"There are PLENTY of traditions and rituals, all in this library, not necessary all of them, but traditional most of them, you can probably figure out yourselves what needs to happen next, besides Ursalia of course."

She winked, and left them in the library, hoping that would start something. They only had so much time left, and Denni was getting more impatient by the day. No need to start THAT old argument yet!

The sounds of a bustling Castle filled the halls outside as the Gummis of Vorallia prepared to honour the Ring and Dagger with dancing and celebration. Gusto and Gruffi looked out towards where Delphi exited, and the twinkling of soft music filled their ears.

Gruffi pulled at his hat, and scratched his furry head.

"Uh, well,"

Gusto coughed.

"Look, I, want you to know, um," he blushed embarrassed. "Well, it, it wasn't bad I mean, it was just skin, and look at Vorallia! She's beautiful again!"

Gruffi laughed sheepishly, noting the wide eyed smile on Gusto's face, that melted him into painful goo, that echoed, "just skin, just skin" through his cranium.

"Yeah, I," Gruffi coughed again. "Shouldn't we be going then?"

"Your right! We need to get ready! After all, there's a banquet going on, and we're the guests of honor!"

Gruffi nodded in agreement, and jovially they left the library and headed towards their separate rooms, Gruffi's heart pounding in his chest.

Is it possible, that I'm...Falling in love again?

He didn't know, but Delphi's words shattered his mental reasoning that the powers of the ring he now wore may be forever linked to this feeling in his chest.

"And only between two bears who TRULY loved each other..."

Yes, that was it. And maybe he did love Gusto, just a little. But who would ever love a gruff old bear like Gruffi? Forcing his feelings down, he firmed himself to that mental restriction and headed to his room.

No need to get his hopes up for something that wouldn't happen, he had already fallen way to hard already, no need to sink any deeper into that quicksand pit of despair. With that final note, he watched Gusto trounce off happily to his bedroom, then shut his door with a click.

-seperator-

That whole event had perplexed Denni and destroyed his wildest notions of what is right and wrong. Gripping the handle, he stirred the cooking pot gently on his fire, watching the light dance off the dark carving on the walls of the cave that he and his ancestors had taken a liking to for its magical energy lines.

"No, they won't get me again, not even in this day and age where any Gummi Girl can just flaunt her gender, and any Gummi Boy can deny his, no, I WILL make things right again, even if I have to resort to the dark ways."

Lifting the spoon to test the consistency his potion, Denni smiled, but he didn't taste the concoction. No, that would be deadly.

"She should know, no Gummi male has EVER wore the ring! How will a bloodline be issued without children? This must be stopped at all costs!"

Putting the spoon down, he raised his hands over the pot, issuing a magical incantation, as the green and black potion coalesced and churned in the boiling pot, and ancient evil poisonous magic that dripped from the very stones themselves as a shadow of dark webbed wings and sharp fangs pierced the light.

"I WILL bring back the power of the Dagger to Vorallia! Even if I have to destroy the very Ring itself!!"

Laughter, rose from the chamber, which danced and echoed until in the shadows of the glittering night, only a growling cry echoed through the night, a roar of unmistakable power up to the dark heavens.

-seperator-

In her bedroom, Delphi sighed.

"Just don't go to far Brother, this is a game that even I can't control, just don't go too far!"

The curtain closed, as music and celebration lifted to her window.

She would be on watch tonight, but there was one last thing she must do. Leaving her room, she headed down the hall to Gruffi's room and knocked. She would not allow the mistakes of the past to destroy the future, it was time to act, and Gruffi had to know, just exactly what sort of power he would be dealing with.

Because right now, they needed the Ring more than anything else. It was their only hope.