Defying Gravity

And once more broadway has inspired me to write. Once again, another epic story which will have many many chapters. >:3 I can see myself getting fully into my Gummi Bears writing for awhile, until the release of Harry Potter book seven, which I have pre-ordered. Though I want to return and finish the HP stories I have already started, nothing is more inspiring to me right now than Gusto. Silly bear, inspirational in and of himself.

This story is inspired by the great musical sensation, 'Wicked' which is the story of the Wicked Witch of the East, as told from the perspective of her as the good guy, sorta. Really, I just love the music from Wicked! You have to get the soundtrack from it if you can get your hands on it, its awesome!

This story is unrelated in any way to my other stories, and I may rehash and recycle Gummi Bear character names, but they are totally seperate from the stories I've written before. Just in case there's any confusion. Okay, onto the show!



Defying Gravity

Chapter One: The Welcoming Committee

Gruffi Grummi stood on the watch tower beside Ursa Barbic, shielding his eyes from the bright sun and look down along the mountain valley towards the river. The forest floor was dark and invisible to his keen eyes from this distance, and the mountains cast their dark shadow over the tapestry patchwork landscape of human farmlands and great sprawling fields. A thin blue river, barely visible to the naked eye, wound its way up from the ocean towards the city and Gruffi was keeping both eyes on the that river, the the tiny dark dots upon them that were moving slowly in the direction of Ursalia. Gritty ran along the wall towards them, followed by at least half the Barbic clan. Below them on the ground near the inner wall the Glen Gummis were assembled, looking up towards Gruffi and Ursa with concern on their faces. Gritty finally made it to their side, but Gruffi barely shifted an inch.

"So?" Ursa said impatiently. "What did you see?"

Gritty stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and then grinned fully.

"Its like Arte told us," he said. "Six Gummi ships, coming down the tributary from the sea. Arte went to take them a map of the causeway up away from the human dam and shepherd settlement."

"The Great Gummis have returned," Gruffi said, feeling his stomach flutter. "Zummi's going to go spare."

Gruffi took his casual time walking down the stairwell to the waiting Glen Gummis to share the news. He heard Ursa sounding the welcome bell; the sounds of pounding feet. Zummi was dancing in spot grinning.

"Is it? Is it?"

"It is," Gruffi nodded. "They're back."

Gruffi had to plug his ears whilst laughing as the rest of his family spun in circles screeching and dancing. The Barbics soon joined them and there was much talking and conversation about the plans of what they were going to do to welcome the Great Gummis.

"I'll bake a cake!" said Grammi. "Cookies! Pies!"

"Yum!" said Tummi.

"I'll put on a fireworks show!" Zummi declared.

"We'll have dancing and parties!" Sunni said.

"And games!" Cubbi said.

"Music and songs!" Buddi said brightly.

"What about sports and competitions?" Ursa said, with a gleam in her eye.

"Er, yeah, that too," Buddi said with a blush.

"I wonder what sort of technology they'll bring with them," Gruffi said thoughtfully.

But there was one voice that didn't chime in with suggestions or commentary, and Gruffi stopped in his pondering to look around the group in confusion. There was somebody missing.

"Wait a moment...where's Gusto? He should be here!"

A horn wail sounded down the long wall up from the valley, interrupting their conversation.

"Oh goodness! They'll be here any day now, any minute!" Grammi said. "Oh heavens I have to go start baking!"

Everyone suddenly went in seven directions, leaving Gruffi and Ursa standing alone in the courtyard.

"Well, we'd better go find Gusto," said Ursa. "Last thing we need is him off somewhere daydreaming when the most important thing in Gummi history is going on right under his nose."

"I just know he's going to start painting the moment he hears about the Great Gummis," Gruffi added with a chuckle.

When they found Gusto he was sitting in his studio staring at a blank canvas. At this point in time it seemed that inspiration had left him.

"I can't decide...a flower arrangement or a self portrait?"

"Well, you could always paint some of the Great Gummis when they arrive today..."

"Nah I've painted tons of...what did you say?"

"They're coming. The Great Gummis are back."

What followed Gruffi's response was a whirlwind of Gusto activity that could only be described as artistic chaos. Paint and brushes went flying as Gusto went scrambling around in a flurry of fur, grabbing supplies off shelves with a starry look in his eyes.

"It's my dream," Gusto told them both. "Finally I can meet the Great Gummi artists! This is my chance to finally have my art truly appreciated and critiqued by the Masters! And...and...and, I can't even think of what to paint!!!"

He dropped his armful of canvas and brushes and grasped his head as if a headache was pounding in his head.

"Inspiration! I need inspiration! I need ideas! Why has my brain chosen now to keep me creatively bereft? Why!?"

"You'll think of something I'm sure," Gruffi chuckled. "Just be out there when they get here, you don't want to miss the big welcome party we're all throwing..."

"I wouldn't miss this in the world!" Gusto said. "I've been waiting for this moment my entire life!"

"I know Gusto," Gruffi couldn't help a wry chuckle. "So have we all."

-seperator-

They came in force, a large grand procession of laughing smiling Gummi Bears. It was overwhelming, the sheer number of bears in one place, two hundred or more at least. They smiled and laughed, and looked around them at the city of Ursalia with looks in their eyes of great interest, hope and a hint of creative enthusiasm. Large groups of them, in families and bands, and a large roving group of about fifty armed warriors lead by a procession of brightly robed wizards and scholars.

But most importantly, Gruffi noticed how different they were. Their clothes were different, their weapons and armour resembled nothing that the Barbics or King Gregor's knights could have ever pictured, and they were generally stockier, well built, beautiful and tall.

And Great Atlantic, the women; wearing clothes that would make even Ursa blush. Half clothed, with mid-sections and cleavage showing and their hair swept up away from their eyes or cut off completely. Gruffi had never seen anything so...scandalous.

Zummi was not the least bit flustered. He strode forward in welcome to them, and the identifiable leaders, the wizards, stepped forward to accept his welcome.

"Welcome to Ursalia!" said Zummi grandly. "We're very happy to welcome home the Great Gummis at last!"

Much to their dismay, the wizards laughed.

"Thank you for that very warm welcome," said the front most bear, a tall, stocky orange furred elderly male with a bald head and silver whiskers. "But we aren't the Great Gummis."

"You...you aren't?" Zummi was so flustered now that his hat flopped sideways on his head.

"No..." said one lady, smiling kindly at Zummi. "We're their ancestors, of course, come from New Gumbrea."

"Surely you didn't think that I was five hundred years old when you saw me?" said the old man.

There was a smattering of nervous laughter in response to this, and they introduced themselves.

"I am Prime Minister Welsi," said the old man. "And this is my wife, Molsi."

Molsi had pink fur and gray hair, and she, like the rest of the New Gumbreans, was looking at them in obvious amusement and delight. Gusto had his wish granted at once when she introduced the other important persons in their entourage of leaders, including Craftaster Tulli, an old tan furred bear with an artist's smock, who cried in dismay after being introduced.

"Why all these old statues and buildings are falling to pieces! We must replace them with proper works of art!"

Gusto grinned, eyes dancing. Ursa immediately introduced herself to the head of the militia, Armsmaster Vigo, a burly chalk gray bear, who was amused and delighted to meet the ancestors of the Barbics of Barbic Woods.

"We have many stories of the Barbics," said Vigo, a smirk on his grizzled face. "I never thought I'd meet the brave vanguard of the woods."

But there were almost too many bears to possibly remember the names of! The overwhelmed Glen Gummis and Barbics had the dubious task of showing them around the city, the restoration work they had been doing, and where the habitable residences in the city were located.

"Well, we can start from the beginning," Welsi said, not moving from where he stood, and he started giving out orders. "Bring the supplies into the city, assemble the kitchen staff to start working on lunch, we'll have to set up a makeshift barracks for the soldiers where the old barracks are. Get those old books into the Great Library, the last thing we need is for that thunderhead we spotted to break open and ruin them..."

Gruffi had to hold his hat as bears started moving past him, around him, talking, chattering and making decisions about what they would do with the city without even asking permission from the current residents. They filled every room of every building. They filled the kitchens with laughing smiling cooks, replacing Grammi's old iron pots and pans with their own copper and steel pans that made her eyes water with delight. The Barbics, however, had to make way for the Militia, who ran right over Ursa's designated sentry spots and started assembling themselves on every parapet and sentry wall within sight. The wizards and scholars took over the library, removing the old ruined shelves and books with a wave of their magical hands and replacing them with hundreds upon thousands of new volumes, which put poor Zummi's own sparse library to shame. Gruffi's workshop was soon filled with ten carpenters who all started making plans to rebuild the city, filling his tables and shelves with their strange tools and hundreds of blueprints and inventions that Gruffi couldn't even begin to understand the use of.

The Great Gummis had returned, and they had taken over Ursalia without even a thought. Gruffi could only sneeze as his nose caught hint of the dust their stomping pounding feet let loose in their wake.