The Longest Day (24 page)

“He came to our part of the woods earlier,” Lusa told her. “He was looking for Chenoa. He was angry when I told him Chenoa was dead. The other bears sent him away, but he must have been following me.”

Kallik frowned. “Do you think you'll be safe, sharing a camp with him?”

Lusa nodded. She felt sure that with the friendship of his own kind, his anger would ease. “He can mourn properly now. And I won't be alone with him.”

Kallik's gaze darkened. “I wonder if it was Hakan who blocked the river.”

“What?” Lusa didn't understand.

“Someone used a branch to block the salmons' path to the shallows where the brown bears were holding their trial,” Kallik explained.

“Why would Hakan do that?” Lusa asked.

“I can't see who else would want to spoil the trials.” Kallik shrugged and glanced toward the trees where the black bears had disappeared. “Ossi seems nice.”

“He is.”

“Is he a special friend?” Kallik's question was edged with meaning.

Lusa stepped back. “No!”

“Oh.” Kallik looked crestfallen. “He just seems to be very loyal.”

“We're not like you and Yakone,” Lusa snapped. Kallik's eyes clouded, and guilt washed over Lusa. “I'm sorry!” she gasped. “It's just that everyone seems to be trying to push me and Ossi together.”
Even Ossi.

Kallik touched her nose to Lusa's cheek. “It's okay. You must make your own decisions now. After all, it's your future, no one else's.”

Lusa's heart ached as she rested her cheek against Kallik's muzzle. The white bear's fishy breath smelled comforting and familiar.
My future. After all these moons, I still have no idea where my journey will end.

“I want to carry it!” Akocha
picked his way down the rocky ridge after his mother.

Toklo grunted, amused, as Tayanita headed back to camp with Akocha's salmon clamped proudly between her jaws. The fish was too big for Akocha to hold. Even the white bears glanced at it admiringly as they crossed the stone beach.

Hattack was still complaining. “We should have kept fishing until we found a real winner.”

Toklo scanned the white bears, looking for Yakone and Kallik. They had sometimes bickered on their journey, but they'd never fallen out like this. He caught sight of Kallik beyond the edge of the white bears' stretch of shore. He blinked in surprise. Lusa was with her.

“Hi!” Toklo stopped beside them as the other bears streamed past, heading for their own beach.

“Turned into a white bear, have you?” Muna hissed in his ear.

Toklo ignored her. Lusa was looking troubled. “What's wrong?”

“Hakan's here,” Kallik told him. “He attacked Lusa. He said if it wasn't for us, Chenoa would still be alive.”

Anger made Toklo's fur spike. “The coward! Why didn't he come looking for me? I'm the one who persuaded Chenoa to leave with us.”

“It's okay,” Lusa reassured him. “We managed to reason with him. Ossi's taken him to join the others. He's grieving, that's all. Perhaps the Longest Day ceremony might help him to accept Chenoa's death.”

Toklo snorted. “Hakan couldn't accept his mother's death. He blamed Chenoa for it, remember? Why would he accept Chenoa's?”

“He'll be okay now,” Lusa promised. “He's with his own kind.”

Kallik was still frowning. “We think it was Hakan who spoiled your fishing trial.”

Toklo blinked. Hakan couldn't have known that Wenona would suggest the fishing trial, unless . . . he had been lurking in the forest, following the brown bears.

Would he really go that far?

“Toklo!” Aiyanna called. “Hurry up. It's the fighting trial next.” The brown bears had reached the edge of their shoreline and were pacing restlessly.

Toklo looked at Kallik and Lusa. He didn't like the idea of Lusa sharing a camp with a bully like Hakan. But he had
to trust that she knew what she was doing. “Be careful,” he warned.

“And you!” Kallik replied, watching the brown bears. Some of them were already facing each other, fur rippling as though they couldn't wait to start fighting.

“Are Lusa and Kallik okay?” Aiyanna asked as Toklo reached her.

“They're fine.” There wasn't time to tell Aiyanna about Hakan.

Shesh was nodding the bears into groups. “Toklo, you're in this group,” he directed. “Aiyanna, are you taking part?”

Aiyanna shook her head. “This is my first gathering,” she told him. “I wouldn't know how to lead the ceremony.”

Shesh raised his voice. “We fight in pairs, without tooth or claw. This is a test of cunning and skill, not a real fight. The winner is the bear to hold his opponent down for three heartbeats. The winners will fight until one pair is left. Their fight will decide the winner of the trial.”

Toklo went over to the group Shesh had pointed to. Wenona, Tuari, and Muna moved aside to let him join. “I'll fight Tuari,” he offered.

Wenona bristled. “Let Muna fight Tuari. I'm fighting
you
.”

Toklo frowned. Was that fair? “I'm bigger than you—”

She silenced him with a snort. “This is about skill, not brute strength.”

Shesh shooed the bears away from each other so that each group had space to fight.

Farther up the beach, Akocha was wrestling with his catch
on the stones. “I won again!” he barked, planting his paws on the smooth silver fish. The other cubs were watching.

“Can we eat some?” Elki asked, eyeing the fish hungrily.

“Only if you fight me for it.” Akocha squared up to the cub and showed his teeth. Tayanita and Izusa hurried over.

“No teeth or claws,” Tayanita reminded them.

Izusa pulled the fish out of harm's way. “This is play-fighting, remember?”

Toklo pulled his attention away from the cubs. There was a real trial to focus on. He glanced around the other groups, seeing the same hardness in the gaze of every bear.
They all want to win.
Something stirred in Toklo, a feeling he hadn't had since he faced his father on his home territory. He'd wanted to show his father he was stronger. He'd wanted to prove he could take Chogan's territory for himself. The same competitiveness throbbed in his belly now. He didn't want to be leader of the brown bears, but he
was
going to win this fight.

He faced Wenona and waited for Shesh to give the signal. Nearby Tuari and Muna stood snout to snout. Silence fell around him as the bears prepared to fight.

“Begin!”

Shesh's bark rang across the shore. Wenona was on her hindpaws before Toklo could move. He tried to stand up with her, but her forepaws crashed onto his shoulders. Stiffening, he pushed back against her weight, then sank back, letting Wenona fall to one side. One fast move now and he could pin her shoulders to the pebbles. He lunged, but she was faster.
She rolled out of the way. Toklo's paws smashed onto the stones, sending them flying.

Wenona leaped to her paws, narrowing her eyes. She rammed her shoulder into his. He was surprised by her power and staggered. With a growl, she tried to heave him over, but he pushed back, driving her toward the water's edge. She ducked away suddenly, and he stumbled forward. As Toklo regained his footing, Wenona darted behind him. Confused for a moment, he froze.
Where are you?

Paws slapped heavily onto his spine. He jerked around, shaking her off. As her paws thumped onto the ground, Toklo saw his chance. Wenona's gaze dropped for an instant as she stumbled. He reached out with a forepaw and hooked her hind legs from beneath her. With a bark of surprise, she toppled over. This time, Toklo was faster. In a flash, he slammed his paws into her shoulders and held her firmly down for a count of three.

Rage flared in Wenona's gaze. Grunting, she shook him off and clambered to her paws. “You were lucky,” she hissed. Barging past him, she lumbered away.

Tuari was sitting on his haunches beside a pile of driftwood, looking beaten. Wenona sat next to him and glowered.

Muna nodded to Toklo. “It looks like we're the winners of this round.”

Toklo dipped his head to her. “Congratulations.”

Around them, the other fights were ending. Toklo glanced toward Hattack. He was watching a young bear limp away. Hattack was the largest bear here, and Toklo knew that if he
was going to win the trial, he would have to beat him.

Toklo won fight after fight until finally he stood head to head with Hattack. His paws stung from the pebbles, and his flanks were bruised from the blows of the other bears. Holata had been the hardest to beat. Toklo had admired his speed and quick thinking. He'd almost toppled Toklo twice, turning as fast as a deer. But Toklo was light on his paws, and the moons of traveling had given him enough stamina that when Holata had finally begun to tire, Toklo still had the strength to knock his opponent to the ground.

Hattack glared at Toklo. He had made easy work of a young she-bear before a long, fierce fight with an older male that had led him to the final round. Hattack's ear was bleeding. Perhaps he had torn it on a jagged pebble. But Toklo suspected both bears had used their teeth and claws in the previous fight.

Toklo squared his shoulders and met Hattack's burning stare.
I can win,
Toklo told himself, trying to ignore the doubt tugging in his belly.

Shesh stepped from the crowd of bears encircling them. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Hattack growled without looking away.

Toklo nodded.

With a jerk of his muzzle, Shesh shooed the others backward. Toklo shifted his paws as the space widened around them. The air seemed to crackle, as though a storm were coming.

“Begin.”

At Shesh's growl, Toklo braced himself for the attack. But
Hattack didn't move. He watched Toklo, a mocking glint in his eyes. Uncertain what to do, Toklo studied his opponent, checking for weakness in a paw or a patch of ruffled fur that might betray a tender spot. Hattack was larger, but only just. Muscles showed beneath his pelt.
I have muscles, too.
Toklo lowered his head, his heart pounding.
I guess it's up to me to make the first move.
Taking a step backward, he fixed his gaze on Hattack's left shoulder. Satisfaction pricked as Hattack's gaze momentarily followed his.
He thinks he's guessed what I'm going to do.

Still staring at Hattack's shoulder, Toklo lunged around the other side and slammed his paws into Hattack's flank. He felt Hattack stumble. But Hattack was quick. He jerked around, rearing onto his hind legs. Toklo lifted his forepaws to meet him, and they clashed heavily.

Toklo staggered, gripping Hattack's sides with his paws. Pebbles clattered beneath them as they wrestled. Hattack's hot breath washed his muzzle, then pain seared his cheek as teeth ripped his fur.
No claws or teeth!
Yanking his head away, Toklo glanced at the watching bears. Had anyone seen that? Outrage surged through him as the other bears leaned forward, eyes bright, growling as they cheered the fighting bears on. Either no one had noticed, or none of them cared now that the trial was about to be decided.

As his thoughts wandered, Hattack jerked him to one side. Toklo's weight shifted to a single hindpaw, which twisted painfully beneath him. With a roar, he shoved Hattack away. Hattack reeled backward, surprise showing in his eyes.
You didn't think I was so strong, did you?
Toklo dropped onto all fours
and shook out his hindpaw, relieved as the pain eased. Then he rushed at Hattack, his cheek still stinging. He met Hattack chest to chest. The heavy thump made them both stagger until Toklo gripped Hattack's shoulders once more. He felt Hattack's claws dig hard into his pelt, tearing his flesh.
You want to fight dirty?
Anger burned in Toklo's chest, and he prepared to dig his claws in.

No, Toklo.
A whisper sounded in his ear. The scent of Ujurak wreathed around him, taking him by surprise.
You are better than that.

Toklo uncurled his claws. The air shifted around him as though some unseen bear was giving him space.

His hindpaws are sore and tired.
Ujurak's whisper sounded again.
Push him over the sharp stones.

Toklo glanced at the patch of jagged pebbles behind Hattack and, with a bellow, heaved the brown male toward them. He winced as the rough edges jabbed into his own pads, but he felt Hattack flinch, too. Satisfaction surged through Toklo, giving him fresh energy. Hattack was struggling.

Be careful. A desperate bear is more dangerous.
Ujurak's voice brushed his ear fur. Toklo broke free of Hattack's grip, feeling claws scratch his skin as he pulled away. Scowling, Toklo ducked behind him, leading him farther over the jagged pebbles. Around them, the bears shifted to make room as Toklo led the fight closer to the water's edge. Cold water would make Hattack's scratched pads sting.