Way Of The Moon Bear

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Way Of The Moon Bear - book excerpt

Chapter 1 - Backwards

The birth of existence, the growth of life and the awakening of advancement – all momentous factors that once unravelled through time. Reality flows across the same course, forever-changing and evolving, like a river eroding away at conventional perception, breaking away to create a new trail for everything to be carried along. There is no one constructor of protocol, nor is there a decider of fate. All things come to be seemingly on their own accord, but whether these things are orchestrated by time itself is unknown. One thing pre-dates the next, over and over until history is ripe with a collection subsistence, affecting the world and shaping it for better or worse. Forms of being that call themselves Men and Women come and go as though they carry importance, but all are specks beside the other creatures that populate the dirt, air and waters. However, humanity once made a name for itself amongst the most majestic of entities, securing their place above all else, if only for a moment. They became the artificial bearers of all – holding time in one hand and reality in the other, as though they had the capability to bend it to their will. Arrogance and avarice had helped them climb to the top, but it quickly betrayed them and became their catalyst. Their wish had become true, humans did stand out above all else for the most part. Unfortunately, it was never supposed to be. Their hunger for knowledge and power soon hit a dead end, preventing them from surpassing what it meant to be human, as their comprehension was never designed to stretch beyond what their minds and souls could let them. Before long, they reverted back to their true, animalistic ways, spilling blood and provoking death to rivals. Humanity’s hatred spawned war, and their wars sparked division, forgetting that they would always share the same world, no matter how hard they fought. In their search to become divine, they realised that the only thing they could create was turmoil. Ages cluttered with anguish eventually halted growth and advancement, yet existence continued, holding humans in a never-ending cycle of inevitable doom. Although time continued to unfold, reality was trapped at a standstill, bound to the actions of the Earth's destroyers. As punishment, the worldly tools and equipment capable of real progress were torn from their grasp, costing them whatever fulfilling destinies they had in store. All was lost. Everything had now been designed to stop and oppress, thwarting what could have been and forbidding reality from ever catching up with its ongoing counterpart. If only they knew that it would only take one person to seek out answers – to discover the price they had all unknowingly paid – to regress their actions and start anew, but second chances don't come all too easily. For thousands of years, humanity lived on in secret torment, confined to the lower life forms which surrounded them, with just subtle hints towards an untapped potential. Unlike the other creatures, humans created kingdoms and castles for those elected to then govern over the rest. They scattered far and wide, claiming areas for themselves, breaking connections further and devoting their interests solely to the one piece of land they lived on. Their disconnection from each other generated opposing views, ideals and religions. Ground-breaking discoveries struck fear in the uneducated, sprouting an unhealthy obsession with the new and enlightening, in hopes to become greater than the other countries and clans around them. They were embarking on the exact same destructive path as before, except this time it was between themselves. The world had sadly become nothing more than a host for trivial conflict and tension, which passed on through endless generations. New life was then created and forced to continue their predecessor's lives of nothingness, as though it was their duty to do so. Life had become a paradoxical mockery of itself. From the moment a child opened their eyes, they were destined to take everything as it was and be doomed from the start. How was a boy expected to fare in such a world? No child would ask of any of it, but it was the people next in line that were born – they would continue to carry the weight of all existence. However, burdens came in all shapes and sizes, and not all were designed to be merely held in-hand. With the help of time, the container for life's problems had finally reached its tipping point, and things that would challenge humanity and its definition were ready to shift and change as it poured. The greatest burden of all was soon to be adopted within the palms of a boy. Whether or not he was prepared to change the fate of the world was left for him to decide.

The eyes were said to be access to the soul. It was a beautiful idea, although it made people overlook their literal purpose, which was to see and observe. The first second of perception feeds directly to the mind, so that a proper reaction can be decided in regard to what was just seen. The ability to simply see something for what it was rather than what it meant could easily make for a dangerous and frightening experience, especially when that person was merely a child, and their memory had been stolen from them. The moment young Greenwick reopened his eyes from an involuntary slumber, he was reserved the right to be alarmed. His eyelids slowly pulled apart to reveal a large, twitching nose, connected to a furry snout. The heavy sniffling from the wet nostrils was the reason he had woken up in the first place. On the contrary, to finally match the peculiar noise with the equally-strange sight was anything but closure. The boy connected with the beast's black, beady eyes, trapping him in fear. It was made apparent to Greenwick that he was currently laying on the floor, outdoors, in the middle of a forest during the day, with an extraordinarily large bear standing over him, observing his body whilst casting a huge shadow over it. The majority of the creature's head was round and fluffy, making it difficult to figure out where its skull actually stopped. The bottom half of its head made way for its wide, salivated jaws, armed with long and pointy teeth that could have torn the boy apart almost instantly. Its face as a whole though seemed gormless but curious, like a dim-witted brute that didn't really know how big and domineering they were. Greenwick dared to turn his head left then right to look at the fat paws at either side of him. If the teeth weren't able to rip him to shreds, the long, hook-like claws would have certainly done the trick. At first he was too scared to get up and run, but the moment the bear let out a quick grunt, his frozen state of fear transformed into a heated escape. The boy scurried backwards from under the looming body of hair and scrambled to his feet at incredible speed, without a moment to waste on looking back. He galloped through and over bushes, weaving in and out of a crowd of trees, listening to the bear's heavy steps and breathing between his own. His shock prevented him from screaming at the top of his voice. His heart raced around inside of his chest, beating rapidly as a wave of numbing adrenaline coursed through his veins. The rustles and stomps behind him increased in volume, indicating that the bear was gaining on him. At last, he felt the need to do a quick look back to see how giant the beast actually was. Its chunky body rippled as it ran towards him, and drool flung from its mouth when it growled. Whilst Greenwick faced the wrong way, his foot smacked into an unearthed root, causing him to fly and roll uncontrollably for several feet, before eventually hitting a tree, concussing him slightly, but by the time he got back up, the bear was stood in front of him on all-fours, no longer trying to get as close at first, until it noticed the bleeding cut on the boy's head. The intimidating animal plodded towards him. “Stay away from me!” he screamed, holding his arms above his head in fear. The bear was taken back by surprise for a moment, then tried to walk to him again. “Back! Get back!” he cried. For some reason, the beast seemed confused by the child's response. It leant back and dropped its hind legs to sit down, creating a deep thud on the soil and a small cloud of dusty dirt. It was a big, wide blob of a creature, but it no longer seemed as bloodthirsty. Greenwick stared at it for a while and noticed more of an adorable side. “What's happening?” he asked himself which unintentionally caused the bear to get back up and walk forward again. “No, I said stay away!” he put his hands out in front and made a pushing action with his arms in an attempt to shoo it. The brawny thing hesitated at first, but ultimately ignored the boy's requests and stretched out closer and closer until its head was in his face. The child was once again frozen in place, hoping that he wasn't about to be eaten. He closed his eyes to accept whatever the outcome was set to be, but to his surprise, the bear licked the fresh cut on his forehead as though it was concerned. After cleaning the wound, it sniffed him again continuously whilst grunting. Wick's panic had diminished slightly, giving him the courage to raise his hand and place it on the bear's fur. There was no reaction, so he began to stroke it vigorously in confusion. “Why aren't you trying to hurt me?” he wondered as the beast sat back down. It was a unique way to wake up. The more he thought about it, the quicker he realised that his memory had been compromised. He had no recollection of anything from before he woke up on the floor. All that remained were faint voices but he couldn't hear any actual words other than the screaming of his own name. He had no idea where he was or what he was meant to be doing, and the strangely domestic bear wasn't helping him piece things together either. Nothing made sense. He hoped he was trapped in some sort of dream, but it felt all too real. “What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?” he whined. The bear didn't seem to enjoy seeing Wick in despair, so it walked at him again. “I told you to stay back,” he said sternly whilst scratching his head, before walking around in circles in hopes of regaining his memory. After a while, he'd left the bear in the distance, causing it to run over and catch up to him. “I mean it, leave me alone!” he moaned. His head filled up with countless questions but he couldn't answer any of them, making his heart beat even faster than before when he was being chased. The baffling situation was all too much, and the boy's legs collapsed, forcing him down to his knees in misery. The worried brute didn't enjoy watching the poor child cry, so came in for another face lick as well as a nudge from the snout. “Stop it,” he blubbered. “Where do I go?” Suddenly, the bear pulled Wick's collar using its teeth, like it was trying to lead him in a particular direction. “Get off of me!” the boy sighed, but it continued to yank and tug whilst grumbling. “I'm not letting a bear take me anywhere,” he huffed and stood back up, shaking his head at the ridiculousness. He started to march through the woods spontaneously, expecting to eventually reach civilisation. Perhaps other people could have provided him with answers. Before he could gain much distance though, the bear pulled on him again, this time by his baggy sleeves. “What? Fine, I'll go this way instead... but I'm not walking with you,” Wick muttered. Whether he liked it or not, the beast persistently tagged along, keeping an eye on the direction they were heading in. The boy walked with haste, praying that he'd be left alone, but the bear had twice as many legs as him so keeping up wasn't a problem. They may have been travelling together, but Greenwick refused to consider the scary animal a companion. At the same time though, he couldn't help but think how it could be so domesticated and friendly.

After what felt like hours, they finally reached some sort of village. The tatty, wooden houses were surrounded by large logs, joining together to create a barrier for the civilian's protection. A watchtower was placed on each corner of the walls, all sporting a bland, grey flag with strange patterns on them. It was all meaningless to Wick. Even if he once knew what they meant, there was no point dwelling on it because at that moment, he had no idea. He cautiously strolled out from behind the trees and into the open, but so did the bear. “No, you have to stay here! You're going to frighten everyone to death!” he stressed whilst pushing the heavy dope back into the cover of vegetation. It backed up, confused with the request, then tried to move again. “No, no no! You need to stay put. Do you understand?” Wick scoffed. He walked back out into the open then turned to make sure the bear wasn't following. “Good. Now stay... stay. Lay down. Yes, that's perfect,” he ordered. The bewildered creature did the best it could to follow his instructions, shifting from side to side with a dumbfounded face, then slumping down into a large bush so only his nose poked through. Wick ran over to the large entrance of the village but was stopped by two armoured guardsmen. “State your business, little one,” they demanded.
“Oh, I'm lost. Well, not just that... I-I can't remember anything. I need help-”.
“You can't remember anything?” one of them interrupted.