Credit to alty for bouncing off me; this whole story belongs to he as much as I, as this story was written in tandem.
Remmy and Pierre belong to me
Alton and Joanne belongs to alty

---

CHAPTER 3
Bear Crossing


Pierre admits to himself that he may be a little out of his league. A studied spellcaster who can, among other unknown skills, wake the dead and enchant capture vessels? A wandering mage with a seemingly meteoric ball of fire at her disposal? A hero brought back from the grave – whether he was dead or not is up in the air – with such strength in his breath alone to call up a brief, but powerful storm?

What help can he even deliver?

"Don't look so down like that. You saved me from the monkey, and out of all of us you're swiftest to act. I'd wager silvers to spices that even if Alton is faster than you at a full sprint, you act the fastest."

Pierre smirks and gives Remmy a side-eye. "How expensive are these spices?"

Remmy glances to one side to think. "Uh… anywhere between 5 silver for 6 shakers, to 1 silver for 3."

"Are you trying to fill me with confidence?" Pierre asks, with a chuckle.

"I'm trying to say, I'm glad you're here."

Joanne clears her throat. "Well, so am I, otherwise I wouldn't be here either. And if this is about you helping? At the very least, you're a decent bodyguard for the rest of us. Though...isn't that what you raised the champion for?"

Remmy shakes his head. "I raised him for his might. Him acting only as a bodyguard would be a waste, as would Pierre here only acting as bodyguard, appreciated as it would be."

Alton nods. "We need to take initiative. Otherwise we'll see more spells turned against us than we have to see cast. Stopping the enemy faster leads to less opportunities for them to lash back out at us."

"Right...offense as a better defense, presumably in the long term and in the short battle." Pierre re-centers himself, and notes cheering from the remaining dead. Undead. Whoever hadn't fallen to the throes of madness, or maybe not had their own soul in their body at that point...they want the heroes to succeed too. "In that event...let's go strike back."

Joanne takes another glance at the setup. "Er, on what horses? We have three, and even if you two shared one with either yourselves or I...there isn't enough horsepower in one horse to lift our living legend."

Alton smiles. "Well, that's the fun part. I could use a little exercise. Mage? I never got your name."

Remmy blinks in surprise, then owlishly. "Ah, right, I suppose we entirely missed that part. I am Remmy, this is Pierre and Joanne, and in case I somehow forgot, this is Alton, you two."

"Hiii Alton," Joanne croons, and Pierre laughs.

"Right. Remmy? Hop on."

"On...you?"

"Yes, on me! I can carry two of you easily enough. So between yourself and our supplies, that would make as if I carry two."

Remmy blinks again, and then nods. "As much as I was sent for this for being more physically fit than the other mages...I doubt I have the stamina of anyone else here. Are you sure you'd rather carry me than run alongside three horses, though? We'd have to leave one here..."

Pierre looks at the undead milling about. "We could leave a horse here. Maybe one of them could take the horse back to Altair."

Joanne shakes her head. "Better not with the latter part. We don't know how long they'll keep walking and neither do they."

"Well, I'm sure the horse knows the way back at any rate," Alton said as he casually approached one of the horses from the side, so as not to alarm it. He undid the bags strapped to it and left the saddle & harness intact, leading the horse around by the latter toward the opposite direction they were headed. "Off with you, now," he said as he gave the horse a firm smack on the rump. The horse took off at a gallop past the shambling undead, disappearing at a bend in the road.

Alton strapped the saddle bags around his waist, then approached Remmy and sat down until his legs seemed to disappear into his waist. Despite his imposing stature, he now comically resembled a rather large emu or ostrich at rest, dressed & flanked by bags on either side of him. "Whenever you're ready, Remmy. I believe our first Altar Beast should be in the Violet Hollow, just outside the cemetery." Joanne quietly stifled a laugh as he spoke, beholding the rather amusing image before her.

Remmy nodded and carefully climbed onto Alton's back. "That is indeed where the Bear resides. I can explain more once we've cleared the cemetery."

Pierre and Joanne secured their equipment and climbed onto the two remaining horses. They rode out from Alton's crypt past the walking undead and the burnt remains of the horde.

---

Remmy spoke up as they cleared the boundary of the cemetery and entered a short region of grass separating it from the Hollow. "Listen closely, now. I may have explained to you two before some details regarding the Altar Beasts, but to summarize, these are legendary beasts charged as guardians of their particular domain. Their Altars are where they are summoned from, and where they normally rest, but the Storm Dragon seems to have destroyed the Altars and rendered the Beasts as his servants, unable to rest. They will serve him loyally and viciously with the promise of one day having their Altars rebuilt and being allowed to rest. Of course, we are coming to offer them a different sort of rest."

"Yes," said Alton, "inside small glass containers. I can't imagine they'll be very comfortable."

"Oh, I assure you, they won't enjoy going in," replied Remmy, "but once they are, they will be blissfully inert, by the assurance of the Mage's Guild's finest alchemists and sorcerers."

"Well, I for one am morbidly fascinated to see this happen," said Joanne. "Stuffing big beasts inside tiny bottles sounds so... improbable, it's exciting to get to see it in action."

"Hah," Pierre laughed, "this coming from someone who can conjure massive fireballs to toast the dead with."

"Oh~, you are just a flirt, aren't you, Mister Swan? Want me to roast you some dinner later?"

Remmy cut in before Pierre could react. "That's enough banter, now. We're here. Time to stay alert."

The midday sun disappeared under the dark violet boughs of the Hollow, though its rays illuminated the path ahead well enough.

---

The traveling party sees the Bear before he sees them; they hear him before they even see him. He's roaring and grunting and… there are two voices. "That's… strange… there aren't supposed to be two of them in one place… least of all if both of them are bears," notes Remmy. They're much more cautious on the approach…

Two bears are indeed fighting each other. A black bear of lean muscle, and a big brown bear who looks like a ruffled up veteran of a grizzly bear.

Joanne looks between the two as they grapple and wrestle each other. "Which one is the… "

Pierre can't tell for sure. "It's the grizzly bear, it has to be—"

Alton steps up and in view. "Kid, what do you think you're doing here? Don't you know what that thing…who that thing is?"

The younger bear manages to throw the Altar Beast off to the side, leading to both catching their breath. The "kid" takes a little longer. "Yeah, and my village isn't happy about the guardian being woken like this, and neither is the guardian. They sent a wrestler to put him in a sleeper hold but that hasn't been working too well, do you have any better ideas?"

Alton cracks his neck and a shoulder. "Yeah: wrestle better. If the Altar Beast wanted to go to sleep any way other than usual—and the usual is out, at least until we can wring Storm Dragon's neck—he wouldn't be fighting back."

The bear roars.

"What he said. If you can put him to sleep, but aren't strong enough to actually go through with it, what's the point?"

Pierre and Joanne glance at each other. "Do you think that's a pride thing?" asks the swan.

Joanne "No, I bet it's warrior's honor."

Another roar, which the younger bear again interprets. "He doesn't have anything to say to you, and I don't care about the distinction."

The black bear turns back to the beast and rushes at him, trying to shove him into a tree; the grizzly is moved back a few feet, but roars directly in the black bear's face and tosses him away, and he lands against a different tree. Pierre is about to run in to help him back up, but Remmy grabs his arm. "No. Look at his face…" The birds watch as the black bear's face starts to petrify, and the effect quickly spreads to the rest of his body, which was instinctively curling up as if it knew it was to hibernate.

Pierre's fists clench.

"We can heal him, but we had best keep the Altar Beast's attention away from him. It can shatter stone with ease. But it threw that boy away on purpose..."

Alton nods. "To keep one warrior from interrupting another one's fight. Remmy, keep that jar ready—I'll tell you when to hand it over." And with that, the risen hero charges into battle with the insomniac guardian beast.

"Are we… not gonna help him?" asks Pierre.

Remmy shakes his head. "We could. But we seem to have caught one in a good mood, he's feeling like a fair fight. Better we let him keep it, he'll take defeat more gracefully that way...and let the rest of us conserve strength."

Alton sped toward the grizzly like a hulking ostrich with arms. The grizzly opened itself up as if inviting the charge, or waiting to clamp down on the bird with a bear hug, but it found itself slammed against a tall oak behind it. Alton grabbed the beast's meaty forearms and struggled to pin them against the tree as the two combatants exchanged growls and roars; however, even his legendary might couldn't restrain the tall Altar Beast for long. The grizzly's arms began to press down and around the hulking ostrich-bird, forcing his elbows to bend as he strained against the mighty weight.

The grizzly continued roaring as his snout came down closer to Alton's face. The nostrils expelled puffs of air close to the bird's eyes, enough to make him blink. Alton's knees bent; he retracted his neck and pulled his head back as if he were trying to make a final push against the creature's arms before they encircled him in a deadly embrace. When it seemed like his strength would fail, Alton suddenly locked his legs. His retracted neck straightened in a snap, and he launched the top of his skull point-blank into the bear's now too-close snout.

Before the bear's head tapped the tree, Alton let go of the left arm and pivoted in a blur to grasp the right with both arms, putting his back against the dazed grizzly. In the same instant, he threw the bear over his shoulder and into a small clearing between the trees, away from the direction of his party and the petrified young black bear.

"Go!" He shouted to Remmy, gesturing toward the statue. As soon as he turned his gaze back, the beast had already closed the distance in a four-legged charge and tackled him, pinning him against the same tree before he could react. It had knocked the air out of him, but he still had enough strength to bring a wrapped fist down on the bear's nape. Before he could land another blow, the bear reared up and separated Alton's arms, bringing them down to his sides before pinning them there in a bear hug.

The claws dug into the tree. Alton now found himself stuck between a furious Altar Beast and a sturdy old tree.

The tree groaned and creaked against the pressure as Alton gritted his teeth at the snorting grizzly. Tree sap bled where the beast dug its claws, and slowly turned to stone. Tendrils of petrification began to spread from the claws and up & around the tree, making the sound of grinding gravel as they went. It would only take moments before Alton's skin would merge with the tree's as part of a stone memorial.

Alton only needed one of those moments to break free.

"Power… UP!" he yelled through gritted beak.

The yell cut through the noise of grinding rock and the sudden screech of timber being split. Where a hulking ostrich-bird once stood squeezed against a tree, a massive bear-like fowl took its place, one that matched the Altar Beast's size. The force of the sudden transformation staggered the beast onto its back, and shattered the petrified tree into a heap of rock and kindling behind him. Alton bellowed at the bear, the sound like a terrible cassowary's roar. The Altar Beast roared back more ferociously than before and made a second charge at its feathered adversary, leaping toward him with claws extended out.

Alton sidestepped and caught the grizzly at the waist, swinging the beast violently against another tree before tossing it again to the side. Before it could get up again, Alton had already closed the distance and brought both fists down like a gorilla on the beast's shoulders, slamming it back down once and then again before it decided it had enough of being beaten down and made a lunge for his waist. He stopped the clawed arms from closing around him, and found himself once more grappling with the beast as it stood back up on its feet.

Sensing the need to end this now, Alton decided to use the beast's strength against it. He let himself fall on his back, using the bear's momentum to launch it back towards the tree he'd slammed him against once already. This time, the force of the impact caused the tree to splinter and fall atop the grizzly.

The Beast huffed as it got back up, shoving the fallen timber aside. It looked back to where Alton should have been lying, but suddenly felt two bulging yellow-winged arms hug him tightly from behind, causing it to roar in surprise and writhe in outrage.

"Now, Remmy!" Alton yelled in a voice that almost didn't sound like his own. "Seal the beast!"

Remmy immediately rises from beside the younger bear, jar grabbed from sack in a swift move. He approaches, cork to the vessel in one hand, ready to release it-

The Altar Beast struggles, and Alton redoubts, but Remmy hesitates in doubt. "I'm not so certain I wouldn't catch you too. I could re-calibrate the pull to require a foot in the door, feather or claw, and you could—"

"Does it look like I have two hands free, scholar?!?" the powered hero shoots back. "Either seal him now or knock him out!"

"Better idea!" calls a voice from behind Remmy. "Give him the Full Nelson!"

Alton smirks, now having a plan, and slips his beefed-up wings between the bear's arms and trunk, and lifts until the Beast's claws are forced towards the sky.

"Now kick his legs out!"

Remmy may not have known what was going on before, but now he does, as he and the hero act nearly as one; already he uncorks the bottle as Alton catches the big bear off guard by leaning forward and back, causing its – his – legs to kick out farther than any other part of either buff brawler.

And that's when Remmy gets close enough to make the flask pull.

The bear's feet start to drift towards the bottle… and upwards. Alton's strength seems to be on full display, as for a moment it's like he's lifted the bear completely off his feet… no, on second look, it's like he's holding up the bear from falling. In doing so, Remmy is dragged centimeter by centimeter closer to the hero and the Beast by the flask.

The bear's foot starts to fall, and it does look like he's now being held back from falling towards the bottle, and it slips into the opening. His other foot attempts to find purchase on the side of the neck of the flask, but slides right off and backwards, settling inside. The bear lets out a loud roar...a howl...a growl...and then a whimper, as it realizes there is no escape.

"I'm going to let go now," says Alton. "May you sleep peacefully, until such a time arrives we can repair your rightful place."

Another, low growl. Acceptance…

The black bear stands up, and makes his way past Remmy, confident in firm footing even as the mage hooted an objection.

"You fought well, great guardian. May you protect us properly next time you are awoken."

A softer grunt. Gratitude.

Alton releases one arm, enough for the Altar Beast to swing it past the youth in a fist bump, before the paw is caught in the pull of the flask. The black bear backs away as Alton releases the other arm.

Within seconds, the Beast falls into the flask and shuts his eyes to begin hibernation. There's a moment to sigh relief.

Then Remmy turns around to face the boy, who shrinks back a little apologetically. "I know, I know… that was dangerous of me." Remmy nods. "But…thank you for releasing me from that stone. I… felt protected, yet vulnerable, and I'm glad it didn't come to anything worse."

"As am I," says Alton. "I'd dare to say that you getting to him first had put him in a better mood. I doubt the others will be so… generous."

"Absolutely. You two won't have nothing to do next time around, understood?" asks Remmy, head swiveling towards Pierre and Joanne.

"Sir, yes, sir!" calls Pierre, standing at attention.

Joanne giggles at Pierre's uprightness, before chiming in, "I figured you two had it covered this time. Wellll… you three."

Speaking of threes," Alton said, "now that we have the Bear, that leaves two more: the Tiger and the Wolf. Last I remember, the Tiger's altar rested in the snowbird country up north, past the mountains. Is that still the case, Master Remmy?"

"Yes, our scouts confirmed its location. It is, or was, resting near the now abandoned township it once served as patron. It's about a two days' ride across the mountain and to the ruins; I suggest we make camp or find a settlement on the way to rest."

"I can help with that, Sir Owl," the young black bear volunteered. "My family and relatives live in a cave system at the foot of the mountains. It's close to a stream where you can rest your horses and refill your water pouches. I'll lead you to them!"

The black bear moved out of the clearing and up the winding trail leading out of the forest, waiting for the party to prepare to follow. "Oh! And my name is Elliot. Thank you again for rescuing me."

"You're welcome, brave Elliot," Remmy replied as he climbed onto Alton's back, "and we're grateful for your offer. I am Remmy, and you've already met Alton here."
Pierre and Joanne mounted their horses as well. "I'm Pierre," said the swan, "and this is Joanne, our demolitions expert."

Joanne laughed and waved a greeting at the young bear before turning to Pierre, "Oh, you flatter me. But with any luck, I won't need to blast us a way through the mountains."

The party disembarked, following Elliot as he dashed forward at a bear's jog out of the forest. The skies darkened and became tinted red and purple with the setting of the sun as they entered the hilly northern country between the mountains and the forest.

---

Pierre and company made camp for the night outside of the cave while Remmy spoke with the bears inside. Having filled their waterskins and their packs with food, they were ready to begin riding over the mountain at first light. The bears had graciously gifted them wolf pelts for protection against the cold, in addition to portions of meat for their supper that night, as thanks for sealing the Altar Beast that threatened them. The three sat around the fire swapping stories as they waited.

"Oh, no. I wasn't always interested in magic," Joanne said to Pierre, "I just wanted an easier way to do things. I thought, 'Isn't it easier and quicker to cook meals, dry clothes, or make firewood with magic instead of doing it all by hand?' So I tried it! I found a book and tried learning to do simple things as quickly as possible. It took me ruining meals and burning clothes before my parents let me try to fell a tree, and instead sent me to a mage's academy to learn some discipline with my skills. As much as I hated it at the time, I'm grateful for my instructors, and I can't argue with the results."

"You sound like you were quite the spitfire in your youth, Joanne," Alton commented. "Good to see you here now knowing the value of time and discipline. Speaking of which, you seem pretty skilled with a sword yourself, Pierre. I'm sorry I robbed you of the opportunity of demonstration."

"No, no, it's all right," Pierre insisted. "I suspect I would've only made the bear that much angrier, till it finally caught me and crushed me to bird paste. You certainly lived up to the legend, Alton, summoning that strength like you did."

"Thank you, my friend," Alton replied. "That… particular magic trick is not something I can repeat too often. I only thought it prudent considering who we were up against today. If we're going to face the Tiger next, then we'll need speed and wits to defeat him. Our capacity as a team will be put to the test."

Remmy nods. "I suspect we'll all be a little better rested than Alton, we didn't do much. At least this hike is like a stroll for him...or was, before he exerted himself. Is it still fine?"

Alton chuckles. "Thank you for the concern. I've been taking this time to literally walk it off. How has the ride been treating the rest of you?"

"I feel like I've been faring better than my steed." Pierre ruffles his feathers a little, and Remmy does the same. "Joanne?"

She chuffs in response. "I may be cold-blooded but a little subtle fire magic does wonders for heat retention. I'm more surprised your metal armor isn't becoming a refreezerator."

"I'm more concerned with becoming cooked poultry in the sun. But with two mages around, you'll find some way to keep me comfortable, even in all this."

Alton eyes the armor. "Speaking of which, you're much stronger than we give you credit for. Walking around in armor like that practically all day, or even just riding around in all that? I could never! Even if it's not exactly full plate… "

Remmy spares it an extra glance. "It's only lightly enchanted. With what, I'm not sure. Likely extra comfort, and extra defenses against anything it doesn't protect you against by the nature of physically being relatively thick metal. So, elements as well as the elements."

Joanne leans in. "Really? Can't believe I didn't think of it before. What'd you do to deserve that?"

She already knows the story, and by this point so does Alton, but Pierre humors them. "Impressed the king after he challenged my sword fighting skills. Speaking of which, by technicality I've done what he initially asked of me… but I would hang my head in shame to return so soon. I scarcely did anything except keep you all company while you did all the work. Though, now I know what we're up against. And I'm confident enough that, even if I couldn't kill them unless I really tried—which is a good thing with our aims—I could ensure our safety from them for prolonged periods."

Alton gives a thumb up. "Good to know you're feeling better about this than you have been."

Joanne giggles. "Or you've got mood swings."

Pierre laughs. "I do not!"