Darkness has fallen all over the forest and I am still awake. Megan looks very exhausted and very hungry. There is no food around the campsite. I look at the sky and the rain storm has passed. The stars have very different constellations. There are two moons. One gray and one white. We are definitely in another world. The question is what kind of world?

I turn to Megan and she looks very weak. Once again I feel like blaming myself.

“I am so stupid. If only I grabbed some food for this journey then we wouldn’t be in this condition.” I lower my head.

Then I hear something in the forest. I raise my head. It sounds like the same groaning noise that I heard before. I think it might be the same bear that I saw earlier today, but there is nothing in the woods. The groaning sound fades away.

I try to get some sleep as I lie down on the ground. Then I hear the groaning again. Only the groaning sound changes into a voice. It sounds like someone singing. The voice sounds deep, bold, and rusty. Whatever it is, it’s getting closer to the campsite that Megan and I are in.

I grab Megan by the arms and start to drag her. We hide behind a rock so we can avoid the bear. Or at least I think it’s a bear. A hole is in the middle of the rock. It looks small enough to peek through. I can see the teepee and the fire pit. But I see no one else. I lay behind the rock to get some rest. Then I hear the singing again. Then I see a grizzly bear, or at least the feet of one. He is singing a song that sounds like a poem. The bear stands on two legs as he starts to dance. He sounds very happy and loves to sing his song. I listen as I try to keep quiet behind the rock.

“When there’s a moon there’s a sky

When there’s a sky there are some clouds

When there are some clouds, there is some rain

When there’s rain they grow the trees

When there’s a tree there are some bees and where there are bees there is…”

He stops for a moment. Then he starts to stomp as he dances and snaps his fingers. It sounds like he likes music a lot. I only see his feet through the hole behind the rock. They look like grizzly bear feet. The stomping from the bear is very rough and it bounces the little rocks on the ground. The bear finishes the song.

“H-O-N-E-Y, what does that spell?” the bear sings.

“Honey, mmmm,” answers Megan smiling in her sleep.

I gasp and shoosh Megan and cover her mouth. The bear hears Megan and starts to walk towards the rock that we are hiding behind. The grizzly bear starts to sniff in front of the rock. I peek through the hole and do not see the bear. I sigh, thinking that it is gone. The bear peeks in the hole and I can see his black eye.

I gasp very loudly and scoot back to Megan. I hold on to Megan’s shoulders. I feel very scared that the grizzly bear spotted us. The grizzly bear picks up the rock and grunts like a man working out. I don’t feel like screaming but I feel very shocked.

It is the same bear that I heard before in the woods, but it almost looks human-like. He is huge like a sumo wrestler, but not as chubby. His paws are large like bear paws. He has dark brown fur all over his body. He wears a red bandana on his forehead and has markings all over his body. One mark on his belly button looks like the sun with a dot in the middle, another one on the left side of his chest looks like five pickles lining each other, another one on his left shoulder looks like an X with two dots and two triangles in the X, another on his right side of his belly looks like half of a tree with a circle and a triangle by it. Another on the left side of his belly looks like the sun only with a line in the middle, another one on his left elbow looks like three whirlpools, another one on his left-hand looks like a long line with three lines in it, and the last one on his forehead looks like an upside-down triangle with a dot under it. I have no idea what the markings mean.

The human grizzly bear also carries a bow and arrows on his back. He looks kind of cute for a human grizzly bear. The human grizzly bear stares at me as he looks very curious.

“Did you say honey?” asks the human grizzly bear.

I point to Megan and then decide to get to the point.

“If you want to eat us then get it over it, and fast!” I shout.

The human grizzly bear looks very confused.

“Why would I want to eat you?” the human grizzly bear asks.

“That’s what bears do. They eat people,” I answer.

The human grizzly bear shakes his head and then smiles at me.

“I’m not going to eat you,” says the human grizzly bear.

“You’re not?” I ask.

“No. I’m a vegetarian,” answers the human grizzly bear.

I stare at his furry chubby belly and then back up at his face.

“That seems odd. Because you’re chubby and you eat only vegetables?” I ask.

“I eat a lot of fish in a river. So what’s your point?” asks the human grizzly bear.

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I shake my head at the human grizzly bear.

“Never mind, Um how long can you carry that big rock?” I ask.

The human grizzly bear gently puts the rock down on the ground. I get up and hold Megan in my arms.

“Well. Guess we better find food because she is starving to death,” I say.

“You don’t have any food with you kid?” the human grizzly bear asks.

I start to walk away and don’t feel like answering. The human grizzly bear stands in front of me, folding his arms. He looks down at me as he continues to smile. I feel frustrated at the human grizzly bear.

“Could you please get out of my way?” I snap.

The human grizzly bear chuckles a little.

“Look kid do I look like I’m going to eat you?” asks the human grizzly bear.

“N-no,” I stutter.

He puts his paws on his waist.

“And do I look like a wild animal?” asks a human grizzly bear.

“Yes.” I shake my head. “I mean no! I mean you look so…so…so…” I am still stuttering.

The human grizzly bear bends down to stare at me.

“So cute and cuddly?” says the human grizzly bear.

I look into his black eyes. I know he isn’t going to eat us. He seems like a nice human grizzly bear. I feel embarrassed and chuckle a little.

“Yes. You do kind of look cute and cuddly,” I answer.

“Thank you kid, now I believe I do have some food,” says the human grizzly bear.

The human grizzly bear hums as he walks into the woods. He climbs an oak tree and grabs some berries from the top. He climbs down and walks to the campsite. He crunches the berries in a pot and boils the pot over a campfire. The human grizzly bear notices Megan looking a bit pale. He reaches his right hand out to Megan.

“Hand her to me. I’ll see what I can do to make her better,” says the human grizzly bear.

“Please help her. She’s starving,” I beg.

I pass Megan to the human grizzly bear's arms. He sits on a log, grabs some water in a pond, pours the water into a wooden bowl, picks a purple flower and squeezes the pollen into the water, grabs an arrow from his pack on his back, and pokes his right trigger finger. He grunts as he feels the pain of the arrow. A bit of blood drops into the water bowl. It looks like he’s making a potion.

“Are you sure that’s necessary? I mean using your blood?” I ask.

“Old wise powerful sorcerers say if you want to save another you must give a little life to another,” the human grizzly bear answers.

I have no idea what he was talking about. The human grizzly bear opens Megan’s mouth and pours the potion into her mouth. She swallows the potion and chokes a little because I think it tasted a little terrible. And she gently falls asleep on the human grizzly bear's lap. I sit down by the right hip of the human grizzly bear.

“What now?” I ask.

“We wait,” answers the human grizzly bear.

I stare at Megan and she looks very peaceful as she is sleeping. The human grizzly bear sighs loudly as he rubs his chubby furry belly.

“What’s her name?” asks the human grizzly bear.

“Megan. And my name is Daniel,” I answer.

“My name is Grizzlyon,” says the human grizzly bear.

Grizzlyon, the human grizzly bear starts to fall asleep. He lies down on the ground as he holds Megan in his furry arms. I stare at Grizzlyon’s tummy.

“What are you exactly?” I ask.

Grizzlyon yawns and stretches his legs.

“A Humanimal,” yawn Grizzlyon.

I lay down by Grizzlyon and close my eyes to sleep. In the middle of the night, I am shivering in the cold. Grizzlyon places his right large paw on me. Now I feel very warm. The morning comes and the sun creeps over the wet forest. I wake up and smell the wet trees. I look around to see if Megan’s awake. She is sitting by Grizzlyon and is eating the berry soup that Grizzlyon made yesterday.

“Megan, are you all right?” I ask.

Megan turns to me and she runs to hug me. I hug back.

“I’m so glad that you’re ok,” I chuckle.

Megan smiles and sniffs. “So who saved me?” Megan asks.

I point at Grizzlyon. Megan turns to him with a smile. Grizzlyon waves at Megan with a smile on his face.

“Thank you for helping me,” says Megan.

“It was nothing,” says Grizzlyon

I walk to Grizzlyon and smile at him. I hold his right paw and shake it.

“Thank you,” I say.

“You’re welcome kid,” says Grizzlyon.

Grizzlyon rubs his furry belly again. Grizzlyon grabs his bow and arrows and his golden ax. He puts them in his satchel. He folds up his teepee and ties it onto his back. He grabs a long thick stick and sighs.

“Well, I must be off mates,” says Grizzlyon.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“Into the forest, shouldn’t you guys be heading back home? Where ever that might be,” asks Grizzlyon.

“We don’t know how,” I say.

“Then you two should come with me to Azent Kingdom. There you will find food and comfort. It’s not safe here in the forest,” says Grizzlyon as he starts to walk away.

Megan and I look at each other with confused faces. Grizzlyon looks around the forest. He looks very alert as if he senses something in the forest. Then a gust of wind blows very hard like a hurricane. Leaves are blowing everywhere.

“Is it a tornado?” Megan asks, hoping she is wrong.

Grizzlyon stands in front of Megan and me to protect us.

“Oh no mates, it’s not a tornado,” says Grizzlyon.

He looks up at the sky and he sees something flying in it. I look up to and so does Megan. We see three skeletons in torn-up black robes flying in the sky.

“What are they?” I ask.

Grizzlyon does not answer. He is paying attention to the flying skeletons in the sky. One of the skeletons notices us. He opens his mouth very wide and screams. The screaming sounds so very loud it is hurting my ears. We try to cover them with our hands, but it is no use. It sounds like nails on a chalkboard with a hint of a raven squawking.

“What are they?” I ask Grizzlyon.

Grizzlyon still does not answer. The skeleton flies down towards us.

“They’re coming!” I shout.

Grizzlyon does not panic as he holds on to his ax. “Quick, get behind me mates!” Grizzlyon shouts.

He waits for the flying skeletons to come. Megan and I get behind Grizzlyon and kneel to take cover. One of the skeletons flies to the right side of Grizzlyon. Grizzlyon chops the skeleton into pieces with his ax. Another one flies towards his face as it screams. Grizzlyon chops that one too. Grizzlyon grabs a skeleton bites his head off and crushes it with his large paws. Megan and I are watching as Grizzlyon fights the flying skeleton. Finally, the fight is over. We stand up behind Grizzlyon.

“I say, what are those?” I ask.

But before Grizzlyon can answer another flying skeleton pops up behind Grizzlyon. The skeleton raises a moon shape sword. He is about to stab Grizzlyon. Megan notices the skeleton behind Grizzlyon. “Look out!” shouts Megan.

Grizzlyon grabs the head of the skeleton and stares at it.

“Tell this to your master!” growls Grizzlyon.

He snaps the head of the skeleton body and puts it on the ground. Grizzlyon crushes it with his large grizzly bear foot. Megan and I both pant in fear. We see lots of skeleton pieces all over the ground.

“Do I have to ask again?” I ask as I folded my arms.

Grizzlyon pants as he hunches over. “They are called Screaming Meanies,” finally Grizzlyon answers.

Grizzlyon looks at the Screaming Meanies bones on the ground.

“They are undead. They scream in your ear until you’re dead. We Humanimals have been fighting them for a long time,” says Grizzlyon.

I look back up at Grizzlyon “We? You mean there are more of you?” I ask.

Grizzlyon nods. “Yes, there are many more of us living at Azent Kingdom. I’m heading there right now.” Grizzlyon starts to walk into the forest.

Megan and I feel a lot safer around Grizzlyon, so we follow him.