Care Bears: Victis Honor Est In (Chapter 3)

Dinner in the Hall of Hearts was sullen, unmoving. Noble Heart said nothing, and True Heart was nowhere to be found.

"Rough day today," Timber Heart whispered to Honey. "Rough, rough day. I'm kind of glad you didn't come along."

"Yeah…" Honey said, thinking regretfully of her earlier excursion. "What happened?"

"We were supposed to be responding to a distress call," Timber Heart coughed. "It was a trap. Luckily we made it out, but it sure was close." Honey Heart shuffled awkwardly. She looked nervous, though she was definitely miffed.

She could engineer her way out of any trap. Maybe if she was there, they wouldn't have had such trouble getting out. Still, Honey Heart thought, You know what kind of danger was involved.

"Who'd you take with you?" She inquired. Just as he was about to speak, a frantic looking bird dashed in.

"What'd I miss?" He exclaimed, looking around with wide eyes. Timber Heart sighed heavily, gesturing to him.

"Flight Heart Penguin," Timber murmured, a small growl forming. "Always on cue."

Flight Heart panted heavily, and came to sit beside the two. He was an excitable, nervous sort of bird whose dream was to fly. It didn't help, however, that he was a penguin. Still, he would tell everyone he had hope because his tummy symbol had wings.

"What'd I miss?" Flight Heart asked once again. Timber Heart grumbled, and opened his mouth to speak before Honey Heart covered it. She didn't want to deal with one of his 'great' insults right now.

"Keep it down, Flighty," Honey Heart said in a quiet voice. "It's not a good time to be loud. We just lost Tenderheart." Flight Heart gasped loudly before clasping his wings to his mouth. Timber Heart shoved Honey's hand away, and nodded.

"Yeah. We don't need any outbursts from you. Wait till everyone leaves." He coughed, giving Flight Heart a stern glance. The penguin nodded silently, still looking very shocked at the revelation.

The three sat quietly as the bears and cousins dwindled out of the Hall. Soon, only Noble Heart Horse was left. He turned to them as he walked out.

"Please be careful," His voice was ragged. "Caring Missions will be much slower for a while, but be ready for when they do. I'm...proud of you all." With that, he slumped off, probably going to be with True Heart. Flight Heart trembled.

"He sounds so awful…" He murmured.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, bud." Timber Heart replied, crossing his arms.

"I thought maybe-"

"Ohh, you thought he'd be just fine despite-"

"Can it, you two," Honey Heart snapped. "Now are we gonna talk, or are we gonna argue like cubs?" Timber Heart muttered under his breath before he resided, and the both of them relaxed.

"Sorry, Honey Heart. Sometimes I don't think so clearly." Flight Heart replied.

"Ain't that the truth." Timber Heart laughed. Honey Heart scowled.

"Idiot." She said through gritted teeth. Timber Heart looked reproachful.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Let's talk." He said calmly. Honey Heart sighed, but nodded and sat down. The other two looked at her expectantly for a minute before she spoke.

"I think it's up to us to fix this," She explained, taking a deep breath. "It might be from me staying holed up here, but I've noticed that these missions...just aren't working." Honey Heart recalled her last excursion with a shudder. Timber Heart raised an eyebrow.

"Well...yeah, they aren't workin'," He coughed. "But don't have much else."

"Maybe a different approach?" Flight Heart suggested timidly. Timber Heart grumbled something under his breath.

"I'd like to Stare 'em all back into the way they were, those humans," Timber said gruffly. "But that just doesn't work like it used to."

"Well, that's because we used to have more of us," Honey Heart added, remembering the past she'd been told about. "Even then, it only worked for a little while with all of them. There's gotta be some way to save the Earth." The three sighed heavily, trying to think of anything they could do. They were silent for a moment before Flight Heart lept up in discovery, flapping his wings wildly.

"I know who might help us!" He exclaimed, looking down at the other two excitedly. Timber Heart raised an eyebrow, and Honey Heart gestured for him to continue.

"Yes?" She inquired.

"The Great Wishing Star!" He declared proudly. Timber and Honey exchanged looks, and then turned back to Flight Heart.

"I thought that the Founders already tried that, Flighty," Honey Heart said timidly. "I mean, they must have."

"They never talked about it." Timber Heart shrugged. It was true.

The Founders had been more quiet in the passing years, which was understandable. Still, going to the Wishing Star itself seemed like an almost obvious place for them to look for help. Didn't it?

"Maybe this time might be different." Flight Heart murmured, looking defeated. His wings drooped slightly. Honey Heart looked at the both of them, and laughed slightly.

"It's worth a shot, at least," She smiled weakly. "How bad can it be?"

"So we're going to find it?" Flight Heart said, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Honey Heart nooded, and glanced towards Timber again.

"You in?" She inquired. He smirked.

"Is my name Timber Heart Wolf? Let's go for it."