Flying Bears 2

Henchwoods Guide

In the morning we broke camp, said goodbye to Bandit and her family leaving behind a large pile of Brackenberries to show our gratitude. We then began our search for the Honaw. Fortunately the forests of Nuristan are not dense like those of Udenland so movement through can be done relatively quickly. We would sporadically stop and send one of the students up a tree to get our bearings, making certain we were heading
towards the location we last saw the Brown bear.

After three days of travel we stumbled into a clearing in center of which was a single tree, it held a large nest, low to the grown, suspended on a large branch under much distress. In the nest were two cubs, wrestling. On one of the upper branches, which was precariously bending under the weight, was the mother bear, keeping a keen watch for danger and for prey. Directly beneath the nest were the discarded bones
and carrion of prey taken by the mother. Thankfully we were downwind of the nest, therefore undetected.

We stealthy retreated from clearing and made camp some distance away. We would make daily visits to the clearing in order to study the bear's activities. One particularly remarkable member of our expedition was
Gaston. A advanced graduate student in unusual creature behavior. Truly a brilliant young man, with a gift for scholarly study. His astute observations of the natural world were highly regarded by his professors and peers. He was a pupil of rare intellect, perception, and he was the first to be eaten by the Knot on Honaw. I returned one evening to relieve Gaston only to discover him being devoured by the bear, truly grisly and enlightening. From this grim experience I learned much of the eaten habits of the bears. And, when they ate Amanda, Carl, and Rebecca, also all exemplary students I must add, I was amazed how voracious the Hanow appetite was. One fine day we witnessed the air speed they can reach when pursuing quarry, and Anthony almost made it to safety before the Bear overtook him. It was a beautiful sight to
behold, beautiful, and of course very upsetting just to be clear.

The Flying Bears of

Nurastan,

continued

The last bear I was determined to see the Oronar described as the largest and most magnificent of all the Flying bears of Nuristan, the Yupik Bear, completely white with a wingspan of twenty-five feet when fully grown. The Yupik Bear lives in the most desolate and challenging area of Nuristan wilderness. The extreme North where temperatures drop to such a degree that men have frozen as they walk. We returned to the tundra, with the help of the Oronar, made preparations, and began the arduous journey north. Along the way we met many more tribes who strongly suggested we abandon our quest. The tundra gave way to rock fields that were difficult to traverse. Snow began to fall and soon the ground was slick with ice. In the distance we could see great glaciers reaching into the sky. As we navigated our way over these massive mountains of ice we could hear eerie cracking and groaning coming from the impenetrable deep blue interiors of the glaciers as they made their slow crawl towards the tundra. Just as we were losing hope (as we had several times on this expedition) we heard the distant sound of the Boreal Sea, the home of the Yupik Flying Bear. We struggled to the edge of the glacier and cautiously peered down into the frozen sea. As we did a colossal shape streaked past us, up the face of the glacier and into the sky. We all leaped back in surprise, once we regained our composure we saw in the sky the silhouette of what could only be a Yupik Bear. It was larger than describe by the Oronar. At least fifteen feet tall from nose to tail, and a wingspan of thirty-five feet, and pure white other than it black nose and eyes. It rode the wind currents as it sailed back towards the sea below. We all marveled at its graceful movements amazed that such a hulking beast could appear so agile. As we watched it perform its aerial ballet we notice that it seemed to be laboring with some unwieldy weight. It was then that we were aware that Uteekna, our foreign exchange student from Swannaland, was missing.

The loss of Uteekna was unfortunate but did not deter me from my research, nor did the loss of Ivan, Patricia or Gomez. Though I must say when the bears took Terrance I was shaken to the core. He was one of the finest sled dogs I had ever known. But still, those of us that remained continued our research, fighting frigid weather and food shortages.

The Yupik Bear spends it days and nights out in the open, exposed to the elements, seemingly unaffected by the hostile environment it calls home. Often sleeping away its days on the ice flows that lazily drift through the freezing waters of the Boreal Sea. When it wishes to take fight it merely leans into the ferocious winds coming off the seas until, like a kite, it is lifted into the sky. Unlike the other flying bears we observed who must frequently land in order to rest, the Yupik remains aloft for hours and cover great distances searching for prey. Other than the occasional student the Yupik diet consisted chiefly of sea creatures, seals, small Thornwhales, Tick Tock Birds, which it would eat in a messy fashion on an ice flow.

Other than when tending cubs the Yupik led an isolated life preferring its own company to fellow bears. We found this to be true of most of the flying bears. Once when a Yupik attempted to approach a fellow Yupik, a aerial battle between two ensued over what we believe to be a territorial dispute. Both bears would achieve a great height, then, collide mid-air, clawing and biting each other they would plummet earthward, only to break off mere feet above the surface of the glacier. It was gruesome and the defeated bear suffered serious injury, making its escape flight an unstable affair.

We spent three months on the ice, and when I lost my third toe to frostbite I thought that it was a fitting time to say good-bye to the Flying Yupik Bears of the Boreal Sea. We made our way south visiting the tribes who welcomed us as we ventured north. They were astonished to see how many of us had survived our visit with the Great White Bear. They gave us the name of "Bear Kings" or possibly "cheese sandwich"; I have to admit it was difficult at times to understand their tongue.

We left the Nuristan heavy with new and concrete information about these magnificent beast, proving the legends to be true. We also left substantially lighter where the student body of the Udenland Institute
is concerned. A terrible shame, but I will make certain they are awarded high marks posthumously. I’m sure that would please them, if they had survived.

I have returned several times to Nuristan since this initial expedition, finding more bears species as well as other remarkable beast and plants. I always visit the tribes of the tundra were I am greeted with a song they have written in my honor: "Hail to the Bear King" or maybe "Hail to the Cheese Sandwich", (someday I should figure that out). Now of course I am too infirmed to make the trek over the mountains, but still I send my students north and those that manage to return always have unbelievable tales of the sublime land known as Nuristan.

Yupik Bear with a Thornwhale

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