XIX. RUBY WHYTE

XVIII. HIGHER FORCE

Neighboring bears came to see the entire commotion. Claws ready in case of predators.

"Bearetherens, I have taken down the murderer of our kind."

"Then her life belongs to us. To the pits of hell with her!" An angry bear approached trying to swipe at Lana's head.

Bearriana grabbed his hand and nestled them both in hers. “Trust me. I want to smite her as much as the rest of you. More than the rest of you combined even. She took our bearothers, she took our sisters... she took my kids! But I know the both of them would be heartbroken if their mother shed more blood than need be. They were kind to a fault, but this monster is no longer a threat. Let her own self-judgment hold her back. If she cannot see the grief she's caused, then perhaps salvation isn't for everyone. A cell in her own pride is where she'll rot."

"This is preposterous!"

Whyte walked in-between Bearrianna and the pack of growling bears. "I'm Offycer Whyte of the Wynter Force. We handle the strife in our home down below your mountain. At Bellowing Embers, we shall have Lana tried by our justice system. Likely, she'll be imprisoned to serve her time. A life time from how I would judge. She is a vigilante of our village, so let us clean our own dirty laundry."

"Bearetherens... let them take care of their own mess. If we continued to distrust, we would have never taken in our beautiful Flora. We would've never been gifted her wondrous apples. We would've never been able to feel the gratitude she taught us to not only receive, but to give. Let us put what she embodied into practice. 'How,' may you ask? By showing the Wynter Force our gratitude. Follow me, Wynter Force. We shall put our fallen family to rest, and treat you from the apple heaven imparts on us."

"Thank you, kind Giant Walker."

"It's Bearrianna, Offycer Whyte."

"Thank you, Bearrianna." Whyte bowed her head graciously.

The fallen were buried higher up the mountain, but Bearry and Flora were given a holy burial inside right by the holy lake. They made sure they were put to rest where God's holy light shone in the cave.

Bearrianna kneeled and prayed on their graves. "God, please watch over two of the kindest people to have graced our mountain. I know you'll spoil them like your own children. They deserve more than what the world down here could ever offer them. I leave them in your hands. Please show them their beauty with your divinity. Amen."

Bearrianna escorted everyone out as it was too dark in the cave for any discussion. "Thank you, Wynter Force for your aid."

"Thank you for your cooperation, ma'am." Whyte saluted.

"Of course, offycer. I'm just pulling my weight, and there's a lot of it." Everyone giggled.

"You should help me train to be as strong as you Giant Walkers." Wyggler saluted.

"I think you need to train something other than your fangs, offycer."

"Ouch." He twitched with a shaky wink.

"I keep telling you so, honey." Wynery saluted, only to have Blake tug at her fur as Wylbur saluted and gave his thanks to Bearrianna.

"Will you tell me why now? Why did you make my dad hate my mom?"

"Kid, I didn't make anyone hate anyone. Your Dad and your Mom didn't get along well even before I came into the picture."

"But..."

"No buts, and that's final. Grow up. God, you're just as sensitive as your father when he asks questions."

Blake froze with his beak partially open. His anxiety getting the better of him. No more words, he told himself. They would only fall on deaf ears. He had no energy left put into a broken receiver. As his chest began to clamp, his arm grabbed his beak and closed it shut. His mind grabbed his face and turned his shock into a look of apathy.

Graham put his arms around Blake. Blake's expression fell into the abyss, but Graham made sure he didn't lose himself along the fall. The tears swept him until he fell into a whirlpool of emotions, but Graham's firm grip on his hand kept him grounded. No words were exchanged. Graham knew he could say more with his touch and gentle smile than a million words ever could.

Wails ran from Ruby's belly as tears dripped from her eyes.

Bearrianna went over to gently pat Ruby's head. "What's wrong, child?"

"Flora didn't seem to like me. Now I'll never be able to convince her how awesome I am."

Bearrianna pulled Ruby in to give her a hug. "Aww. Sweet, sweet, Ruby. If you look around you, you'll see two amazing friends who already know how awesome you are."

Wiping a tear from her face, Ruby asked Blake and Graham, "do you two really?"

Graham approached her with a smile. Bouncing forward and back on his toes, he answered, "Of course, Ruby. You always show up with the best cakes ever."

"Gee, thanks, Graham."

"I can hear the sarcasm in your voice, but I appreciate it so much that I've actually had my mother teach me to bake so that someday I could treat you to something as sweet as you are someday. Maybe even make something nobody's ever had before!"

Ruby's face lit up. "Aww, my gosh! Graham!" She gave him a bear hug strong enough to rival Bearrianna's strength.

Blake entered their personal space. "We may not see eye to eye on everything, Ruby, but you truly do show up when we need you the most. Remember when we were afraid of seeing a Giant Walker for the first time? You grabbed us by the hand when you could've just ran by yourself. I'm sure we would just slow you down, but you pulled us along with you. Amazing you really are, Ruby."

Ruby couldn't contain her gushing emotions. She pulled Blake in for their friendship hug circle. "You guys." She cried while pulling them closer and closer, tighter and tighter until barely a breath escaped their mouths.

"Ruby, you're suffocating us." While Blake desired physical affection, his anxiety isn't used to so much so swiftly. Their hugs were gentle, but this embrace broke new ground for their friendship.

Worrying about the aftermath of being held too tightly, Graham felt it only right to share his concern. "Any more and the food in my stomach will move up and out my mouth."

Bearrianna took her chance to share with Ruby. "Maybe you didn't have the time to show Flora how amazing you are, but clearly you've made at least these two feel like their world is better with you than without you. You don't have anything to prove, dearie. Just showing up just the way you are, and you've already got two people you can genuinely call your friend. See how you've made them feel? They'll never forget that; even if your paths no longer cross, that feeling of having connected with you will never leave their side."

Ruby let go of her strong grip so the two of them could catch their breath. Or maybe so she wouldn't be covered in vomit coming from Graham's mouth. Who knows what's been in there?

Blake wanted to remind her, and himself of something important. "I don't always say it, but that doesn't mean I don't feel like you're an amazing person, Ruby. I just don't really feel the need to share it, ya know?"

What came out of Blake's mouth made sense to Ruby. "I get whatcha mean. Like, I feel like you would already feel the way I feel about you, so why say it, right?"

Graham put his fingers to his chin before giving a loud and confusing, "what?!"

Now is a great time to share the life of her beloved Flora, Bearrianna thought. She began to speak, and just hearing Flora's name got the children's immediate undivided attention. "Flora was hard to follow. With her poetry and all of that, we had trouble making sense of what she was trying to say, but that in no way stopped her from showing us we mattered. Even when the words were too big for us, her deeds were even bigger. From the nursing of injured bearetherens, or collecting the most delicious of fruits we had trouble getting, she made sure to show up for us so unabashedly that no one ever questioned her love for us."

"That's a beautiful story, Bearrianna." Ruby began to tear up as the other two followed suit. 

Oddly enough, Offycer Whyte broke down in tears right around all of them.

"What's wrong offycer?" Bearrianna was confused on why Whyte is the one falling to pieces. Trouble at home? She began to wonder.

"As someone with much practice in the art of stringing words together, but in a more concrete and digestible way than Flora, I feel like I could've learned so much from her. I knew all the right words to cover all of my bases, making sure I had the best defenses to make sure I would be understood. I could craft letters detailing everything I thought, but surely words alone aren't enough to get someone to feel like you're by their side."

'I'm sure you did your best, offycer. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"For a bunch of Giant Walkers, you sure are kind."
"You have Flora and Bearry to thank for that."

Instead of Whyte's usual conflicting people pleasing attitude coming over her, conviction not in something assured, but conviction in knowing all is well took over her. "I know what I must do... Thank you, Flora...Bearry... Thank you all."

The bears went back to gathering food to prepare for the winter. The Wynter Force brought Lana to Gianluca to be tried in court. She was locked in prison for life. Ruby, Graham, and Blake spent time together at Ruby's place as she helped Graham learn to bake, with Blake constantly asking if she's using too much sugar. To which she would reply, "Nonsense!"

Whyte had other plans. She went off to the meadows towards the South-East part of town. Her ex-husband would be waiting for her there. Tired of the busy life, he moved to where he could find time to be alone. Away from all the chatter, inside and out. Maybe he could find himself if these conditions were met.

Whyte saw Wyll standing tall. One hand on a tree watching the sunset as he stood against the wind. Standing on her hind legs herself, she walked passed the green blades of grass timidly enough where even the grass couldn't feel her feet stepping atop of them.

"I'm sorry, Wyll. I know we tried to make rules to structure our relationship, I know I tried to rationalize everything, I know I tried to solve everything by making sense of everything, but I never took the chance to listen to what you were feeling. Maybe it's because I don't know what it's like to listen to my own feelings, but I'd like to start trying. Please, Wyll. Let me work on this. With you..."

"Whyte, you know I've heard all of this before... Maybe not this explicitly as before, but you've been trying to persuade me time and time again for too long... I don't think I can live up to being a part of your checklist... I don't think this could work out... people don't change just because they say they will... I can't bear to hear you say everything's fine when you're clearly in distress... My poor heart can't take all the ambiguity anymore... please, not again, Whyte... not again..."

Whyte's mind ran the entire universe for answers. She remembered every book, every word she's ever heard to spell out the right ones to give to her former lover. After a long pause with tears dripping from both their eyes, Whyte rushed behind Wyll. Her arms wrapped around him from behind. Her neck on his shoulder, as heavy as the weight of the world they've both been carrying for longer than either of them than recall. One arm above his shoulder, gripping her other hand under his arm and right on his chest. Her fingers brushing close enough against his heart to feel it becoming warmer and warmer until the passing of time went away and eternity set in. The sun said its farewell, but its warmth never left them.

EPILOGUE