MINUS THE BEARS: Chapter 1-Anthem's Wishes

(Documentation from Panda Anthem, 20 days till winter) My name is Panda Anthem. The raging, slaughtering war between bears and wolves is slowly becoming worse. The wolves are refusing to retreat. The cubs have nowhere to escape for a refuge, for all of them have been destroyed by the bloodthirsty canines. The high council is slowly dying. They all fight for the same thing: food. Ever since the river dried up, most of salmon have died out. There's only a few fish left. The war started when the mighty Ursidae declared war and accused the wolves for stealing the fish. I am in charge of providing the warriors with heavy armor and sharpening their claws and getting them ready for battle. My best friend, Ursa (the daughter of Ursidae), is bearing a child. Her husband, Aharoni, is at war and it's also my responsibility to take care of her. This war has impacted my life and pushes my responsibility to the limit.

It was nighttime at Ages, the great city of the bears. Anthem, a mature Panda, led Ursa into her cave. She was scared. She was about to have a child, and all the fish was gone. Plus, winter was right around the corner and all they had to eat was some rotten berries.

"Ursa, are you okay? You looked frightened." Anthem said, concerned.

"I'm okay, Anthem. I'm just worried about Yari."

"Yari? Who's Yari?"

Ursa showed off her stomach, referring to the baby girl that was to be born in the midst of winter.

"You named it already, huh?" Anthem smirked.

"Mm... I named 'her' already."

"Oh, uh… s-sorry."

Ursa chuckled at Anthem's innocence. Today was Ursa's favorite day. This was the day in winter that the moon was at its brightest and closest to the earth. The sky was illuminating with stars, and Anthem enjoyed watching them with Ursa. Ursa prayed every night to the constellation, Ursa Major, for guidance, shelter, and food. They loved moments like this together, but all good things must come to an end.

"Well, I must be going. Got to clean the armor for the next attack."

"See ya, Anthem."

"Bye." Anthem left that night, and escaped to his cave deeper in the city of Ages. When he arrived, he found the risky Polar bear, searching for his rusty red armor.

"Aharoni? Why are you here? What's going on?"

"Ursidae just received a message that the wolves will launch a surprise attack on the city! I need my red armor."

"Okay, I'll get your armor from out back." Anthem hurried to the far back of the cave to bring out Aharoni's great armor. As Aharoni waited, he wondered about his mate. "Hey, Anthem, how's Ursa doing?"

"She's doing great! And get this. She already named her cub!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, her name will be Yari." Anthem said as he brought the armor for Aharoni.

"Thank you, Anthem! You're a great help."

"Good luck to you and the war." Anthem said, watching Aharoni put on his armor as he was leaving the cave and getting ready for battle. Anthem got ready for bed. He fell asleep watching the giant moon, and had the strangest dream.

"Good night, Ursa." He imagined Ursa and Aharoni in the future, along with the precious cub Yari.

"Good night, Aharoni." He imagined Aharoni and the other warriors win the war, and the fish was prosperous.

"Good night, Ursidae." He imagined Ursidae finding an antidote for the slowly dying high council, for he was a direct descendant from Grizzly.

"Good night, High Council." He imagined the High Council-Grizzly, Polar, Koala, Panda, and Black-becoming healthy again and continuing to lead the bears.

"Good night, everyone." He imagined everyone having a great life and the peace being restored.

It was morning. Ursa was hungry, but still felt good. Aharoni and the other bear warriors had taken advantage of the surprise attack and defeated the wolves. They won the battle, but not the war. Ursidae found a plant that might cure some of the sickness from the High Council. And Anthem woke up to chirping of innocent birds and a bright sun. "Ah, life is good." He was getting ready to check on Ursa when he heard a small voice.

"Help. I want to go home." Anthem paused, waiting to hear the voice again. He didn't and assumed that it was his imagination. He started to walk again, but the small voice spoke again.

"Don't you dare try to ignore me! I want to go home, bear. This isn't my home. Help me, mighty bear!"

"Who are you? Where are you? What do you want?" Anthem looked around for something that might talk.

"My name is Minus, I'm down here, and, like I said about a million times, I want to go home!"

Anthem looked down. Right under a large stone was a small animal that looked nothing like a bear. It had a long tail, legs, and ears. It also had a snout filled with teeth. He was grayish in color.

"You're… you're a wolf…"