The Invincible Hero 7 A Hole Lot Of Something

"Xiong?!" The adolescent bear exclaimed.

"Who would name their dragon baby, Xiong?" The adolescent bear asked.

"On my hatching day, I punched out of my sh.e.l.l so hard that I knocked my father across the room. He said I punched like a bear!" Lorne said with a smile.

"Hahaha, you're Dad is a smart guy to see the strength of us bears. My name is also Xiong by the way!" The adolescent bear said proudly.

"My father said that another reason he named me Xiong was in honor of a great brother of his. His name was Hēi Sēnlín, he was also a bear. He even saved my father's life!" Lorne said.

"Hahaha, your father was good brothers with a bear! We should also be good brothers. From now on, you call be Big Bear and I'll call you Little Bear, what do you think?!" Big Bear asked.

"Ok, Big Bear!" Lorne said. He had finally made a friend. BS42 was right. He needed to find someone strong to be friends with.

"Alright, all you cowering little creatures. Come out and pay your respects to my little brother, Little Bear!" Big Bear yelled.

Slowly more and more creatures came out of their hiding places to see the new brother of the Big Bear. Big Bear was typically pretty surly but right now he seemed really happy.

"Hey Little Bear, come with me I want to show you to my village and introduce you to Grandpa. He's the chief of our tribe!" Big Bear said.

"Okay, let's go!" Lorne said.

In the dense part of the woods in a shadowy overgrowth, there was a pair of glowing yellow eyes. After Big Bear and Little Bear had left the figure stood up. It was an older tiger boy named Fēixíng Zhǎo. A small tiger cub walked up to Fēixíng Zhǎo.

"Big Brother, what do you think of that dragon baby?" Fēixíng Chìbǎng asked his older brother.

"Follow them. Get close and find out for yourself. After you get done playing come back to the tribe and share your experience with me." Fēixíng Zhǎo said.

"G...Go to the Hēixióng tribe by myself?" Fēixíng Chìbǎng asked.

"Don't be a scaredy cat. The bears and the cats are allies they won't do anything but give you a warm welcome." Fēixíng Zhǎo chided his little brother.

"Go on, or I'll toss you in the lake again." Fēixíng Zhǎo threatened.

Fēixíng Chìbǎng acted as if his rear was on fire as he dashed out to join up with the other Forest kids.

Fēixíng Zhǎo immediately left for the Hu tribe.

***

"Come in, come in! This is Astral Palace. We are under attack by Raiders. Need a.s.sistance, we have precious cargo on board. Come in, please, this is the Astral Palace, repeat, to any Imperial s.h.i.+ps, we have precious cargo on board. We are under attack by raiders and need a.s.sistance." A man with a bloodied forehead in a torn bridge continues to ask for a.s.sistance. Bodies laid all around him. The s.h.i.+p only has emergency lights available.

Suddenly, a transmission came in.

"Astral Palace this is Captain Qar Harso of the Imperial fighter squad Black Wing, we have received your emergency communication." A man said through the transmission node.

"Captain Harso, this is Kal N'Dar aboard the Astral Palace we are in need of a.s.sistance. We are under attack by Raiders. Please a.s.sist! We have precious cargo for the Dragon Clan."

"Astral Palace, what is the nature of your cargo?" Captain Harso asked.

"We have two dragon eggs!" Kal N'Dar said.

"Dragon eggs are rare, but we are on an important mission. It's not possible to break off the mission to save a couple of dragon eggs." Captain Harso said.

"Captain Harso, these aren't just any dragon eggs. These eggs have been incubating for nearly Six thousand years and these are twin eggs!" Kal N'Dar said.

"Kal N'Dar, we are rerouting to your position. Please hold tight." Captain Harso said.

Everyone in the Dragon Empire knew that the longer a dragon egg took to gestate the stronger the dragon. A gestation period of six thousand years meant the babies were at least Four-Clawed Silver Dragons. What was even rarer was that these eggs were twins. Twin dragon eggs were rarer than humans. One thing that not everyone knew was that dragon twins often developed special abilities that made them almost as valuable as Five-Clawed Golden Dragons.

Captain Harso knew that if he didn't manage to save this s.h.i.+p and its cargo he would lose his head. Captain Harso immediately requested backup to sweep the Raiders and secure the Astral Palace. He was already on his way. He would either save the cargo or die trying! This was a risk versus reward situation. Save the eggs there would be great rewards. Die, well he'd be dead. It was risky but worth it.

It might seem strange that s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, wars.h.i.+ps, and fighters might be used in a universe filled with cultivators. In reality, these vehicles and war materials were very important. High-level cultivators were rare and it was cheaper to build s.h.i.+ps than fund a High-level cultivator who can survive in s.p.a.ce.

The Empire's s.p.a.ce fleet and war materials operated to govern the majority of their territories anyway, and for that task, they were extremely effective. The few High-Level cultivators could destroy armies. However, they could also be overwhelmed by armies. If Kal N'Dar had chosen to take on these fighters based on his own cultivation he would have been instantly destroyed. The s.h.i.+p was like a flying array. It could both guard and attack the fighters.

An hour later, the Astral Palace was docked on an Imperial Carrier. Kal N'Dar helped a male and female dragon from the s.h.i.+p. The male was a Four-Clawed Silver Dragon, while the female was a Four-Clawed Golden Dragon. The pair had clearly been through a harrowing experience. Most of the crew had died on the s.h.i.+p during their fight against the Raiders. A portable incubation chamber with two dragon eggs was unloaded from the s.h.i.+p and surrounded by a heavy guard.

Although cultivating High-level cultivators could be extremely expensive. Dragons were a different matter. Dragons would naturally rise to the highest levels of cultivation given enough time. Every extra Dragon represented an additional military force. This was especially true of High-level dragons.

Medical teams secured the dragon eggs and took them to a special medical facility newly fas.h.i.+oned for the important cargo. The mother and father of the eggs were similarly escorted to another medical facility.

Kal N'Dar watched as the two were escorted away. A man in a flight suit trailed by several other officers quickly walked up to him.

"Kal N'Dar? I'm Captain Harso." A large Four-Clawed Silver Dragon extended his hand towards Kal N'Dar. Kal N'Dar took his hand and shook it.

"Captain, thank you for your a.s.sistance, without your aide we wouldn't have made it." Kal N'Dar said with a grateful smile.

A man stepped forward, He was a Four-Clawed Bronze Dragon with the rank of Colonel. He took Kal N'Dar's hand and shook it emotionally as well.

Mr. N'Dar, I wonder if you can walk us through what happened?" The man asked.

"Sir, perhaps we could talk somewhere more private?" Kal N'Dar hinted.

"Of course, by the way, my name is Colonel Gelt. If you will follow us." Colonel Gelt said. Colonel Gelt wasn't a dragon and to him, dragon eggs weren't as meaningful to him. If he couldn't have gotten away with not getting involved in this mess he would have gladly ignored the distress call of this man.

Lieutenant Fley, notify command that we have secured the cargo and that I and Commander Harso are interviewing Mr. N'Dar." Colonel Gelt commanded.

"Yes sir, " Lieutenant Fley said as he quickly left to carry out his orders.

The group of three, under escort of soldiers, found their way to a meeting room. Colonel Gelt invited Kal N'Dar and Captain Harso to have a seat. Colonel Gelt who was at Mystic King realm scanned Kal N'Dar. If Kal N'Dar still carried his Samsara pod the Colonel would have detected it immediately. Over the last Five thousand years, Kal N'Dar's cultivation had increased from the Void Emperor realm to the Saint realm.

This was really good progress considering that Kal N'Dar had to find a cultivation system for himself based on materials he could find in his wanderings. His initial cultivation was done through the birthing process guided by computers.

This was called hollow cultivation and wasn't as strong as someone who had cultivated on their own from the beginning. Cultivating through hollow cultivation was fine at whatever stage you 'began' with, however, as you advanced down your cultivation path moving up in rank would become harder and harder. It was the policy of the Zimwarn Empire that those who had hollow cultivation were forbidden from ranking up until their cultivation foundation was solidified.

Once Kal N'Dar began his travels he began to collect, modify, and streamline a set of cultivation techniques suited to his new biology. He was eventually able to solidify his foundation through these efforts.

Kal N'Dar was no rookie with cultivation. In his previous life, he had found his own cultivation path through his own hard work and genius. He actually had a far more solid foundation this time then when he originally cultivated.

"Mr. N'Dar..." Colonel Gelt began.

"Please, call me Kal," Kal said.

"Kal, thank you, you may call me Colonel Gelt." Colonel Gelt said.

"I see from your files that you've got a bit of a reputation for smuggling, gambling, some impressive mercenary work. How did you wind up transporting such precious cargo? You weren't trying to sell the eggs to those Raiders, were you? Things went wrong and found yourself in a tight spot?" Colonel Gelt said with an aggressive smile.

Kal laughed.

"I have to tell you Gelt, or is it Urmene? This is the first time I've had the interviewer do the interview for me. Since you're doing my part maybe I should do your part?" Kal responded.

"You look here you little merce..." Colonel Gelt began.

Kal cut him off and to the bone.

"Where were your s.h.i.+ps? We were promised safe pa.s.sage to the Dragon Clan. According to my flight instructions we were to be escorted through the sector of s.p.a.ce where we were ambushed. I lost most of my crew, my friends and their children nearly died. Why weren't you where you were supposed to be? Can you afford to get on the wrong side of this Urmine?" Kal smiled aggressively.

Captain Harso smirked. They were supposed to be doing a sweep of that area but Colonel Gelt decided to change their schedule because he didn't think it was worth his time to come all the way out here to babysit one little s.h.i.+p.

He was applying the heat to Kal in the hopes of finding a scapegoat. Things weren't looking good for the Colonel. If a smuggler could pinpoint the problem certainly the higher-ups in the Imperial command could as well.

"Is this going to be an issue Colonel? The eggs are safe, the parents are safe, I'm safe. We can end this here. You can try going against me..." As he spoke he pulled out a jade communication crystal and deftly placed it on the table. "...or you can spend your energy thinking of an excuse that might save your career," Kal said in a deadpan manner.

Colonel Gelt's eyes landed on the jade communication crystal. He knew whose communication crystal that was, it belonged to the great General Gang Long! A man who possessed the personal communication crystal of General Gang Long was not to be messed with.

Colonel Gelt collected himself and smiled.

"I think there's a misunderstanding my friend. My questions weren't meant to accuse it's merely standard procedure when ascertaining what's going on in a complex situation. Your ident.i.ty was obscured to me." Colonel Gelt said.

"I'm sure my ident.i.ty is clear now?" Kal asked.

"Yes....crystal clear. please do not mind the trivial things. I'll have a suitable suite prepared with you, sir." With that said, Colonel Gelt rose from his chair and left the room.

After the Colonel left, Kal turned his eyes to Captain Harso.

"Captain, how's my s.h.i.+p?" he asked.

"Totaled." Captain Harso responded.

"I thought so, too bad. I've really grown attached to it. I suppose I'll be riding with you for rest of the journey to the Dragon Clan." Kal said.

"That won't be a problem, sir." Captain Harso said.

Just like Colonel Gelt, Captain Harso also understood the ident.i.ty of this man. The Empire would often place trusted men into shady careers such as smugglers and so on. This was done to create non-traditional sources of Intel as well as learning about opportunities that might otherwise be missed.

Kal was under the personal command of General Gang Long. That meant Kal probably had a higher rank than their Colonel. No one could admit that, but if Colonel Gelt were to force the situation he wouldn't know how he died.

Kal was the only one who knew that his orders to infiltrate didn't only come from General Gang Long. He was also under orders from BS42 to infiltrate the Dragon Empire. He did so and even achieved a high status in the military forces. BS42 had been very satisfied with this agent.

***

It took a few more weeks of travel to finally reach the Dragon Clan's home territory. When Kal and his wards arrived with their dragon eggs; they were greeted by the most prestigious leaders of the Clan. Only the Dragon Ancestors did not come. The Elders, Grand Elders, and Clan chief waited for the arrival of the eggs.

Once they arrived, Kal N'Dar was treated like a hero! He bravely protected the precious cargo in the face of death. Dragons were extremely protective of their young anyway. However, for twin eggs such as these, the Dragons were nearly insane with protectiveness.

Before the transport had arrived Colonel Gelt was arrested and lost his military ranking. He was sent to a prison planet somewhere. No one knew where. Captain Harso was promoted to Major for his decisive actions that lead to saving the precious dragon eggs.

The Elders took the Dragon Eggs to the hatchery. At the hatchery, they were able to determine the exact hatching day of the eggs. It was decided that hatching day would be a big celebration in the Dragon Clan. Kal was invited to stay to enjoy the festivities.

While waiting for hatching day, Kal received a communication from General Long. General Long thanked Kal for a job well done and promised a replacement for his Astral Palace was on the way. Two weeks after receiving the message, a magnificent s.h.i.+p arrived it was Kal's new s.h.i.+p. Kal named the s.h.i.+p immediately calling it 'Lady Grace.' He examined the s.h.i.+p and was really impressed. It was far more advanced than his Astral Palace.

The s.h.i.+p had a meditation chamber, training room, library, and large kitchen. The Library was filled with cultivation techniques, array, and pill refining techniques. The meditation chamber was next to a separate storage room that stored a wide variety of cultivation resources. This s.h.i.+p also had a spirit chamber for refining one's soul through soul arts.

The s.h.i.+p even had its own forge and armament a.s.sembly room. crew quarters, captain's quarters, and general bunks. There was even a common room with a stage. There was also a shuttle room with three shuttles for the s.h.i.+p. The s.h.i.+p was a far bigger s.h.i.+p than Kal's previous s.h.i.+p, but with so much room Kal started thinking about taking on even more crew members. He might even hire some specialists this time.

Kal didn't fail to notice the subtle tracking formations and spyware throughout the s.h.i.+p.

"I guess the old General still has his doubts. Not many in this Empire would trust a mutt like me. Probably wise since I'm a double agent." Kal thought with a smirk.

Those formations were not hard for Kal to deal with. He could choose to feed false information into the arrays, or he could even deactivate the arrays if he wanted. The Dragon Empire's array technology used to be superior to the Zimwarn Empire's. However, the Zimwarn's Samsara technology and their genius Emperor allowed the technological abilities of the Zimwar Empire to make shocking progress.

Kal had a few items from BS42 that he wanted to install into the s.h.i.+p. He also had his own Warbox which was disguised as a puppet. On Earth, such a thing might be called a robot. Although Puppets and especially Warboxes were far more advanced than robots. The three were similar except a puppet was wholly artificial and a Warbox had a real soul. A puppet had a kind of limited AI whereas the Warbox was a living soul. Puppets were still more advanced than robots because they could utilize things like spirit energy.

Kal's Warbox would maintain the s.h.i.+p and guard it in his absence. It would also record and catalog all the materials and techniques on the s.h.i.+p. It would start making some alterations to s.h.i.+p. The soul core of the AI of Kal's Warbox was a Maser of runes, arrays and pill refining. Once the dragons were hatched he would receive new orders from BS42. The Young Lord's dragon egg would hatch in the next thousand years and there was still a lot of work that needed to be done.

Hatching day finally arrived and the Dragon Clan held their big celebration. The Clan was open to everyone and the most distinguished guests of their Empire and other Allied Empires made an appearance. People were anxious to learn, what kind of dragons would be born.

The people here might be shocked if they learned how these two precious children were 'born.' BS42 began the embryo creation and gestation period seventy-five hundred years ago.

A male silver Dragon and a female Golden Dragon were adventuring on the Beast planet that BS42 and Lorne were on. BS42 saw that the two were a couple of young Dragon kids out for kicks. BS42 sampled their genetics to create his twin dragon eggs. He also marked both of the kids. The two seemed like childhood sweethearts and the well-experienced BS42 believed they would probably wind up together later.

The first mission BS42 sent Kal N'Dar on was to find the dragon couple and place the eggs in the mother so that she could give birth to the baby dragons that resulted from his sample a fifteen hundred years before. The eggs were placed in Kal's Samsara pod as he went looking for this couple among the stars.

Kal found the parents on the run. The Silver Dragon and Gold Dragon fell in love, but the parents of the Gold Dragon had already chosen another Gold Dragon for her to marry. Instead of being separated, the pair chose to flee. When Kal found them they were about to be captured and sent back to their families. The Silver Dragon would be severely punished and the Gold Dragon would be forced to marry the prearranged partner.

It was a good thing that Kal was a smuggler. He hid the pair on the Astral Palace and the three escaped. Kal found a small planet and deposited the family in a mountainous beast forest that no one ever went to. Not long after arriving, the Golden Dragon gave birth to the two eggs. For the last six thousand years, the Golden Dragon was incubating her young. The eggs were actually 'born' seventy-five hundred years ago, but the parents never suspected anything when the mother gave birth.

Kal had kept track of the couple and would make routine stops to see how the pair was doing. Mother dragons have a pretty good sense of when their young are about to hatch. Sensing her children were near hatching and it would only be a few months until the big day, she contacted Kal and informed him that she wanted to return to her family to have the baby.

Both of the parents felt that the babies were special enough that they would be forgiven and taken back in. Kal agreed with them and set to work with his contacts to set up the family's reabsorption into the Dragon Clan.

Kal contacted General Long who gave his orders to aid the couple to arrive safely. Eventually, they made it back and today the entire Dragon Clan happily awaited the hatching.

Even General Long was able to attend the hatching. He was thrilled! He received a special commendation from The Dragon Emperor himself! At this moment Kal was his favorite sentient being. He promised himself he would make something out of Kal as thanks for all he had done. Just imagine if he hadn't found the pair and saved them from their families? In the General eyes, Kal was a lucky charm for him.

The twins were finally hatched. The audience waited anxiously and the first thing they saw were two golden little horn buds! The children finally came out of the eggs. They were Four-Clawed Golden Dragon babies! The last time twins appeared that were Copper Dragons but their power greatly exceeded even the power of Gold Dragons. That pair of twins served as elders in the Imperial Dragon Academy.

The souls chosen for the dragon babies were twins in their previous life. The pair were elite Zimwarn warriors who were plotted against and wound up going against the Empire. The Emperor realized that the pair had been wronged and that they didn't intentionally go against the Empire. Therefore their sentence was pretty light. Once their mission in the Dragon Empire was complete, they could return to the Zimwarn Empire and even request customized bodies for their next life. If they wanted to go on a training pilgrimage through the multiverse that would be fine as well and they could still create the customized bodies later.

The new dragon babies looked around the hatching arena and finally spotted their new parents. The pair flew to their parents and hugged them. It was a very touching event and every one felt deeply touched.

After the celebration, Kal departed the Dragon Clan readying for the day when the young Lord Lorne would also hatch.

***

Lorne came home later that evening to find his parents impatiently waiting. His mother looked really mad. Lorne walked in sheepishly and greeted his parents.

"Where exactly did you go today young dragon?!" Lorne's mother asked angrily.

"Mother, I went to the Bear Tribe," Lorne said.

"The Bear Tribe! Don't you have any sense?! How could you go there alone?" Lorne's Mother asked.

"Mother, how could they do anything to me when you were there watching me?" Lorne asked.

"How...How did you know I was there?" Lorne's mother asked, shocked at her son being able to detect her. How easy was it to detect a Wud Di? It wasn't easy at all.

"I didn't know, you just told me." Inside Lorne was pumping his fists, finally, it worked. How many years had he wanted to use the clever spy technique to expose someone? It felt so good.

"Wha...You little..." Lorne's mother didn't know how to react. His father on the other hand did.

"Hahahahaha, there you go son! Hahaha, he really got you there sister Yun!" Lorne's father was really amused. She was so clever, he never got one over on her. Yet their little baby just got her. The expression on her face alone was one of the funniest things he had seen in a long time. This kid getting one over on his wife, for some reason, it felt so good.

Lorne's mother finally processed what had happened. Even she was amused by the whole thing. All of her anger from earlier had completely vanished.

"Oh haha, you two are very funny. What a smart little guy. I guess since he's so smart there's no need to go out anymore right? You're so smart I'm sure there's nothing out there that could truly be of interest to someone such as you." Yun said.

Lorne realized his freedom was in jeopardy.

"I'm sorry mother, I'll be good." As Lorne said this he made his best puppy dog face he could muster.

"It's fine." Lorne's mother said. She always fell for the puppy dog face. He was just too cute!

"Okay, if you two are done, I'd like to hear what happened at the Bear Clan today." Lorne's father said.

I went with Big Bear, he and I became brothers. I told him about you and your brother bear and we are both named Xiong so he said, "I'll be Big Bear, and you'll be Little Bear." I thought that was pretty great.

After that, we went to the Bear Tribe and all these other animal kids followed us. We went into the tribe and I was surprised to see all the different species living and working in the tribe. I thought since it's called the Bear Tribe only bears would live there, but it wasn't the case.

We went to the lodge of elders where I got to meet Big Bear's Grandpa, he's the Tribal leader right now. He asked me some questions about how long ago I hatched and asked if you two would ever like to pay a visit to the Tribe. If so, he said you were both very welcome.

We all chatted for a little while and then we noticed these glowing eyes. Grandpa Bear said, "You cats sure like to lurk, why don't you come in and join us." It turned out that the Cat he as talking to wasn't any old cat it was the Tiger Ancestor!

The Tiger ancestor said, "I heard that baby dragon was finally born and I wanted to take a look at him." He took a look at me and said, "I like dragons, my master was a dragon." I was like "really?", and he said: "yes really." I asked him where his master was but he said he didn't know.

His master appears from time to time to give his teachings. Grandpa Bear said that the Dragon Master had always offered help to the beasts in the forest. He would offer guidance and what not. It was pretty interesting hearing about an old Dragon who lives around here. Mother, Father, have either of you ever heard of this old Dragon teacher?" Lorne asked.

"I've heard about the legends about an old dragon ancestor who teaches the creatures of the forest. However, he's never met with either of us." Lorne's father said.

"Hmm, well the forest kids asked if I could come tomorrow to play some more. Can I go?" Lorne asked.

"It's fine Xiong'er, but I don't know if you should get too close to those forest kids." Lorne's mother said.

"Why's that?" Lorne asked.

"Xiong'er when baby dragons are born they need lots of sleep. You've been awake for over thirty years. In a decade or so you're going to fall asleep for about one hundred years. When you wake up, all of your forest friends will be grown up warriors with families of their own. Some of them might even be dead. It's very hard to go to sleep having friends and then to wake up alone. It's better to be friends with dragons I suppose." Lorne's mother explained.

"But I can't be friends with other dragons because we don't live near other dragons. I don't want to worry about what I don't have. I understand that I'll be saying goodbye to these friends of mine soon. Even though it will be hard I still want to be friends with them. Maybe I'll be friends with their kids!" Lorne said.

"Okay, if that's how you feel then we'll let you have fun with your friends while you're awake." Lorne's father said.

Over the next few months, Lorne went to the forest every day to play with his friends. Sometimes Lorne felt a little weird playing with his friends like a kid, he was an adult after all. However, he noticed that the kids were getting older really fast. Big Bear already looked like an adult bear. He was going to start his warrior training soon and he wouldn't have the time to play with his friends anymore. The last days of childhood were quickly ending and in six months Big Bear would head off to the Forest Warrior Academy.

One day, Lorne was playing a game of soccer with a litter of rabbit kids. Lorne had recently taught this game to the forest kids and they loved it. The rabbit kids especially loved the game. All the bigger animal kids preferred the game 'football' Lorne introduced to them.

Lorne was one of the few creatures able to play soccer against the rabbit kids who had really strong legs. It was like the game was invented just for them. Lorne jumped up to intercept the ball catching it in his chest. Lorne fell towards the ground, but when his feet touched the earth the ground broke and he kept falling! Lorne had fallen into a hole.

"Little Bear, are you okay, are you okay? the rabbit kids came to the hole to check on Lorne.

"I'm fine." Lorne yelled at them.

Just as Lorne looked around this hole he noticed an interesting smell. He used his Ridarn vision to see what he could see. Over the years his Ridarn vision had gotten stronger and stronger. Even still, he could only make out splotchy scenes here and there throughout the hole. One thing Lorne realized was that he hadn't just fallen into a hole. He fell into a hole connected to a tunnel. Lorne kept smelling the air and looking around. Finally, he noticed something was this tunnel an entrance to an inheritance?

He had heard that sometimes someone might find a hidden inheritance. These inheritances could pave a new cultivation road for the chosen or lucky! Lorne grew really excited. He flew up and once out of the hole he looked at the rabbit litter.

"Little Tiao," Lorne cried out.

A little rabbit hopped out from his brothers and sisters. He and the Little Bear were pretty good friends. He was always happy to do things for him.

"Go, get Big Bear as fast as you can!" Lorne said

"Right, Little Bear!" Tiao turned to go but was stopped by Lorne.

"You should tell him to bring some brother bears with him, but no adults," Lorne said.

"Right, Little Bear!" Tiao turned to go but was stopped again.

"Tell him to bring some rope, shovels, and lights," Lorne said.

"Right, Little Bear!" Tiao turned to go but paused to make sure there weren't further instructions.

"Well, what are you waiting for hurry up!" Lorne said.

Tiao couldn't help doing a double take before finally rus.h.i.+ng to get Big Bear.

Lorne watched as Tiao rushed off. Inside he was laughing saying, "Yes, yes, yes, I finally did it! The Han Solo C-3PO maneuver. Hahaha" Lorne laughed in a satisfying way.

Soon, Big Bear came to the hole with six other bear brothers. Lorne motioned Big Bear forward and through a barrier up so that no one could hear the pair talk.

"Big Bear, big news!" Lorne began.

"What is it, why all the secrecy, what's so important?" Big Bear asked.

"I have a gift for you before you go off to the Warrior Academy," Lorne said.

"Really, what's that?" Big Bear asked.

"I found an inheritance for you. it's down that hole." Lorne said.

Big Bear was touched by the actions of his thoughtful little brother.

"If you found an inheritance you should keep it." Big Bear said.

"What am I going to do with a bear inheritance? If there are any weapons down there they'll probably be bigger than my whole body. It would be such a waste to hold onto such items until I get old enough to use them. That'll be thousands of years. You need these things, shouldn't us brothers look out for each other?" Lorne asked.

Big Bear's eyes were starting to tear up. There were a few things people knew about bears. They were tough in battle, a little dumb, and very emotional.

"How do you know it's a bear inheritance." Big Bear finally asked.

"Come with me, tell your bear brothers to guard the hole," Lorne said. He immediately removed the field that made it impossible for others to hear them.

"Hey, you other bears, guard this hole and don't let anyone enter. If anyone enters I'll tear the fur from your hindquarters and make a fur hat for old Baldy Bear!" Big Bear bellowed. All of the bears of the younger generation were scared of big bear. The only person Big Bear ever spoke to like a real friend was Little Bear.

The pair entered the hole and stood before the tunnel.

"Take a big whiff and tell me what you smell," Lorne said.

Big Bear smelled the air and his eyes lit up.

"I smell bears!" Big Bear said.

Big Bear started forward but was stopped by Little Bear.

"Don't be impatient, we'll do this scientifically. We'll collect the data as we go and uncover the traps too." Lorne said.

"Traps?" Big Bear asked.

Lorne threw a rock and several giant knives suddenly shot out of the wall and sliced the rock to pieces.

"Your ancestor didn't want just any dumb bear getting his treasures. This is going to take a while. Go tell your brothers. I'll get started on the traps and data collecting."

"How long is a while?" Big Bear asked.

"Four hours at most," Lorne said.

"That's not long," Big Bear said.

"It is for me. It's hard being as fast as I am yet having to move so slow. It takes real determination and focus!" Lorne said.

Big Bear didn't get it but nodded his head anyway and left to tell his brothers.

Lorne was excited. When was the last time he was on a dig? Lorne pulled out a recording crystal and set to work. As he dismantled all the traps he realized that the traps were also made from treasures. He a.s.sumed the Bear tribe would want these treasures. He didn't need them and they were left to the bears by an ancestor anyway. He also knew that Big Bear had hopes of being the Bear Tribe chief one day. It wouldn't hurt to get some merits right now.

Just as Lorne had promised. Four hours later, Lorne had finished his excavation. All that was left was to walk into the main chamber. Lorne motioned for Big Bear to go in. Whether there were trials or enemies to face, Big Bear had to do it himself. Lorne just prayed he would be successful. Big Bear entered the main chamber and the door closed behind him.

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE SLEEP OF THE FEARSOME BEAR KING!!!