sparrow and lion

Chapter 4: runaways, Part 3: it begins

She awoke, of course, with a headache and a very cold nose. She didn't know it yet, but it would stay with her for the rest of her life. The headache, not the cold nose. The cold nose was destined to be more of an occasional occurrence than a permanent one.

The world looked different than it had before, but Leo was already forgetting how her eyes used to see it. Because now she saw it as it was. Jagged white crystals fell from a black sky. She put her hand in front of her eyes and her fingers were blue. She sat up and the snow under her was distorted and stained with vibrant blood. Jagged shale was under the snow. It shifted under her as she stood up. She might have caused a mountain slide if she'd been much bigger. The back of her neck was warm. Wren was still screaming. The bear was still holding him, but it was looking at her.

The bear did not know what to do with the boy in its mouth. It had never maimed a child before. In fact, until just this moment, it had forgotten there were two of them. One was screaming in its teeth and the other was staring emotionlessly at it.

Wren didn't realize Leo was still alive until she stood up. As soon as he saw her, he stopped crying. The bear shook him again. "Run!" Wren yelled. "Leo. Run."

Leo never did what Wren wanted. This was no exception. She did not run.

From Leo's new perspective, the truth of the matter was evident. The bear was more confused than enraged. This was good. Because uncertainty was far easier to manipulate than anger. She saw that now. The world was held together by different kinds of strings and this was one of the weakest. Confusion was like a single strand of human hair pulled taut.

And so she threw a rock at it - the bear, that is - and hit it right in the nose.

The bear let out a startled roar, Wren fell from its mouth, and then it was charging for Leo. But, this time, it wasn't confused. Now, the bear was angry.

But Leo knew that was okay, too. Because anger is still easier to deal with than other things. And so she waited until the bear swung its massive foot at her. She fell over. The bear missed.

It slid to a stop at the edge of the cliff. Leo could tell it was confused again. It turned around slowly. She stared at it and it stared back.

Wren was still laying in the snow. He was so cold and so scared and his legs shook too hard for him to stand up. His shoulder hurt. He'd bitten his tongue when the bear shook him. Leo was standing on the edge of the cliff. She didn't look scared, which scared Wren even more. She was very short and the bear was very tall.

Leo bent down and grabbed something. When she stood up, she was holding a snowball. Now Wren was even more terrified.

There's a saying about bringing a knife to a gun fight. There are no quotes about bringing a snowball. Because that would be stupid. Nobody does that.

Nobody except Leo.

Leo looked at the bear. Her head really hurt. The bear looked at Leo. Its nose really hurt. It took a step towards her.

Wren finally managed to stand up.

Leo threw the snowball.

Wren started to run towards her.

Leo took a giant step to the side.

The snowball hit the bear in the nose again. The bear bellowed in anger. It rose to its hindlegs. And then it disappeared.

And then Leo's footprints disappeared.

And then the side of the mountain disappeared.

Wren was still running towards Leo. But Leo was also running towards Wren. She grabbed his arm and spun him around.

They stumbled into the bear's cave as the rest of the mountainside collapsed. The world roared. The wind screeched. Snow and loose stone crumbled down the mountainside. The cave entrance disappeared behind a pile of white. Everything went dark.

The earth finally stopped shaking.

Wren stood up and tried to clear the debris from the entrance, but it was no use. "We're trapped," he said. "I can't see anything." Leo could hear the fear in his voice.

But she was not afraid. She could see things clearly now. She knew how the world worked. There was always a path. You just had to find it. There was always a way. You just had to plan it. And she had planned this one almost as soon as she woke up.

Wren was about to start crying. "Come here," Leo said before he could start. She grabbed his hand and pulled him the other direction. She took him deeper into the cave. And then deeper and deeper. She had seen this some time ago.

You see, the mountainside had been far too unstable for such a large bear. But it had gotten here somehow. And Leo still intended to talk to the weather witch.

And talk to the weather witch she would.

But that part doesn't matter.

At least, not yet.