Deleted Scene: Polar Bear

How book three was going to start.

Hunger.

It was quickly becoming the only feeling she would ever know. The land had relinquished very little to feed her empty belly. This deprivation was what led to the death of her only cub. With a heavy heart and gnawing stomach, the childless mother moved onward. Snow carried up y the wind swirled around her mighty, white paws and rippled her thick fur. Nature was cruel; taking so much and leaving nothing.

Knowing that there was little hope for her species without offspring, she continued onward. Survival depended upon her living and mating with a male polar bear that was strong. A mighty male that would triumph over the harshest of arctic conditions. Until then, the she bear sought for food. For a while she was drawn by a feeling to follow a particular direction. Of course to a polar bear there was no though ton a deeper meaning to the feeling.

What did a polar bear care for of god, inspiration or spiritual guidance? Something told her to move east and so east she went. This took her many miles into the arctic wilderness. Not a penguin or seal in sight and her belly only grew more and more boisterous. Finally, she eventually arrived to the destination that changed everything. At a large span of frozen wasteland the polar bear stopped. Her breath came out in clouds from her nostrils, sniffing about the icy surface.

As the snow parted from her exhale, a dark form was made somewhat visible beneath the surface. Ravenous, the bear slashed at the ice with razor sharp claws. Was this the salvation she had been seeking? Could it be that she had finally found the meal that will save her life? Splintered cracks broke forth with one last burst of raw power. However, what was revealed inside gave her pause.

She clawed at the surface of the slick, frozen water but found it too thick to break through. Yet, something inside pushed and urged for the bear to try freeing this strange creature in the ice. So shoving and slashing and working the bear struggled on to get to this being down below. In doing so, her mind’s eye began to change, shift the form to resemble her cub that was lost so long ago. There he was, in that frozen prison, the whole time and must be set free!

Suddenly, a new scent wafted through the arctic wind, faint to most but distinct to a bear. With head raised she took in deep of that smell, mulling it over in her mind until it connected to an image. A dangerous image, which will not come anywhere near her cub and take him away from her again. Sounding a battle roar, the she bear charged for the enemy. There were two of them, human figures appearing through the snow. They gave a cry of alarm as the bear rose on hind legs to take a swipe at them. Like thunder, a crack sounded through the air that flew through the bear and took out the life within.

“Is it dead? Did I kill it?” asked a man, removing the thick goggles from over his eyes, squinting through the snow. “Are you two okay? Kat, Jonny?”

“Yes,” Kat replied, rising from the snowy ground and dusting it off from her knees. “I’m fine… I’m okay.”

“Me too,” Jonathan added. “Did you hit it? Did you hit the bear or did it run?”

Kathryn was the first to step forward, inching carefully towards the furry, lifeless, white mass on the ground. Rotating the tripod she carried for the camera, the woman prodded at the body with it. This resulted in no response and so Jonathan stepped forward to get a closer look at the fallen bear. Announcing that it was a she bear and very dead.

Their companion, who went by the name of Robyn, wondered, “Why do you think she attacked us so suddenly?”

“Probably protecting her cub,” Kathryn suggested, looking out into the windy, snowy air. “We should see if there is one just in case. I don’t know of any other reason why the she would attack like that.”

The other two men nodded and Jonathan waved his hand outward, “Then let’s go and then head back to camp quick before this storm gets worse. Put the cub out of its misery.”

Together, the trio of humans trudged their way across the thick ice and deepening snow, shivering in the frigid temperatures. Their thickly clad legs struggled to lift to move them onward with heads bowed and goggles shielding their eyes. A crack sounded through the windy air that froze them all where they stood, looking to each other. As it was Kathryn who made the noise, she knelt down slowly, running her hand across the thinned patch of snow to reveal the gashed ice beneath. She squinted, bending low towards the frozen water while her own hot breath turned to clouds in the frigid air. A dark form from deep down inside the solidified liquid slowly made itself visible as the woman’s breath passed away into the wind. Raising an arm, Kat waved it about to get the attention of the other two men.

“Hey! Hey! Get yourselves over here quick! I think I found something! I think it’s a neanderthal corpse or something!”

Robyn and Jonathan shuffled as quickly as they could through the snow and knelt down with her to get a look. One of them muttered it being too dark to really see and so brought out a large flash light to beam down. Indeed, there was a body down there, but it was nowhere near decomposed. No, it was more so just suspended, curled into a tight, fetal position. As though in a frozen womb, but it appeared to be the size of a full grown adult. However, that was not what had all three of them staring with mouths agape.

Kathryn found herself the first to utter the words of what they were all thinking. “Is that… does that have… a fish tail?”

“We need to get the body out,” Robyn stated quickly. “Get the ice picks and ax! We need to work before it starts getting too dark to see! We may not have this opportunity again!”

With resounding nods all around, the traveling scientists dug through their packs for the tools necessary for the job. Together they hacked, picked, chipped to break through the frozen surface bit by freezing bit. As they broke through lower and lower into the ice, chunks, with team effort, were able to be lifted out of the way. Finally, the trio of explorers lifted free from the ground, the final chunk that now allowed them to see, for real that, which they had just discovered.

“In the name of all that is holy...” Robyn gasped.

Indeed, neither of them could believe what their eyes were staring upon through the thin wall of ice beneath their fingers.