The War Within

Chapter 5

     Agnus looked at Jake in confusion and looked back to where Jake came from, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Red walked over to the two and sat in between his father's legs, staring up at Jake. Once fear left him, he let go of Agnus and looked down to the ground.

        “S-Sorry Agnus,” Jake said softly. “It's just that there's this thing that comes randomly. I don't know anything about it. I don't even know why it exists.” Agnus did nothing but blankly stared at Jake. Jake looked at the bear, making eye contact with him, and started to feel uncomfortable as well. 

        “Wh-What are you doing?” Jake asked as he waved a hand in front of Agnus, trying to get him to blink. “Is that your ‘I’m going to eat you’ face? I remember you saying that you were hungry...Hello! Earth to Agnus!” Agnus walked past Jake with Red tagging along behind him. Jake raised an eyebrow in confusion. He remembered Captain Reko's orders to stay put, and would not dare to disobey them.

        “Agnus,” Jake yelled, “Where are you going!? Captain Reko said to stay here! Agnus!” Agnus ignored Jake's calls and continued to wander off. Jake groaned loudly and followed the two wandering bears out of fear of being alone again. Red dashed off ahead of Agnus, as though he knew exactly where they were going. Agnus wagged his tail slightly as he watched his cub play around in the grass and try to catch the butterflies that flew around above him. In the inside, Jake envied the two bears’ father-son bond for he never knew what it was like to have a loving father, or what it was like to have a real family. Jake sighed quietly and walked ahead of Agnus with his head hung low. Agnus turned back to his human form.

        “Does someone need a bear hug?” He asked. Jake shook his head.

        “Touch me and it’ll be the last thing you do.”

        “Awww do you miss the Captain?”

        “No, but I would like it if he did hurry up and come back.”

        “Don’t worry, your trusty pal, Agnus will show you how to have some fun.”

        “You've pinned me against a tree, sniffed me, stared at me weirdly, and almost abandoned me. You are far from being my pal.”

        “Oh! I know what to get you! Some sweet and tasty-”

        “Don't even say it.”

        “But I was gonna say honey.” Jake immediately stopped walking and looked at Agnus.

        “Is that all you think about?”

        “I think so...My head hurts when I think too much. You’re like Reko sometimes.” Jake slightly raised his eyebrow, causing Agnus to laugh a bit.

        “See? You even do that thing with the hair above your eyes too.”

        “Whatever….What do you know about this Zubelon guy? Captain Reko never told me about him.” Agnus' humored grin turned into an angry frown.

        “He's a monster,” Agnus answered, his voice deepening which sent a chill down Jake's spine. “I never would have thought that someone like him would be alive. Reko says he's been here on Tasaloo for a very long time. He didn't used to be bad, I think, but when he didn't get what he wanted, he got mad. He even turned himself into a cyborg so he wouldn’t die. He hunts down Tasoolians and enslaves them. Those who refused died. A lot of the villages have been destroyed by him. Captain Reko lost his mate and his son in one of those villages.”

        “Whoa, for a moment, I didn’t think you were smart enough to say all of that. Anyway, I understand that innocent people lost a lot of things important to them, but since you guys are the Resistance, why haven't you taken the fight to Zubelon?”