FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A/N: I just want to give a big thank you to a friend without whom this chapter would be only about 1000 words long and helped shape the direction this chapter went. I'll leave it up to them to reveal who they are.

Chapter 20: Reborn

While they waited for their passports to arrive, Confidence Heart Fennec, Sage Heart Bear, Life Heart Unicorn, Sweet Heart Pegasus and Independent Bear had little they could do except sit around their hotel suite under the spell that keep them hidden from any prying eyes. Considering the circumstances they all opted to go without clothes until they had to leave.

Sweet Heart Pegasus lay on the couch in the hotel suite and stared up at the ceiling. She squirmed for a moment then sat up, "I wanna go outside!"

"Hush dear, I'm almost done," Life Heart Unicorn's horn glowed as she took the last of the bandaging off Confidence Heart's arm, "How does it feel?"

Confidence Heart Fennec flexed her right arm and grimaced slightly, "Stiff and sore."

"That's to be expected, you haven't used it for a while now," Life Heart swept her magical aura over her arm again, "You're fully healed, now you should start using it again so you can get used to it."

"Right," Confidence got up from the chair, "I'm gonna get some exercise while I can."

While Confidence went off to do some push ups in her bedroom, Life Heart turned to Sweet Heart, who bounced on the couch and flapped her wings to hover for a moment before she landed on the couch. She jumped again and was about to land, when a magical grip slowed her descent to set her down softly. "Sweet Heart, we don't want to wreck the furniture or we'll have to pay for it."

"But I'm bored!" Sweet Heart jumped off the couch then flapped her wings, "I can't fly around in here and it's stuffy!" She bonked her head on ceiling before she landed with a *thump* on the ground, she put her hand on her head.

Life Heart walked over and rubbed her daughter's head then helped her to her feet, "I know, I can't stand it either. Just a couple more days until our passports arrive then we can see your brother again."

Sweet Heart smiled upon hearing that, "OK. I can wait. Can I go out on the balcony?"

"Yes, just don't fly off into the sky, promise?" Life Heart patted her head.

Sweet Heart put her hand over her heart, "I promise." She turned and skipped onto the balcony, after she slid the door open. She took a deep breath of the outside air, not quite fresh but better than being stuck inside.

Independent Bear was sitting on a chair by the window in the room he was sharing with Confidence Heart when she entered and dropped to the floor to start doing push-ups. Indy sighed, stood up and exited the room where he almost bumped into Sage Heart Bear.

"Excuse me," Indy brushed past him.

"Wait, Independent Bear, can we talk." Sage Heart's voice caused Indy to stop and turn to face him.

"Why?"

"You've barely spoken to us for the last two weeks, I'd like to get to know you." Sage Heart smiled.

The silver bear sighed, "I guess. I'm not used to being around other people, or having a real conversation."

Sage Heart motioned him to the suite's dining table and retrieved a couple leftover pop cans from the fridge. "Well we can start with what you're going to do when we leave."

Indy eyed the can in front of him for a moment before he cracked it and took a drink, gagging slightly at the overly sweet taste, "I guess I'll go back to wandering."

"Why don't you come with us on the plane?" Sage Heart took a more conservative sip from his can.

Indy shook his head, "I'm not a legal citizen of this country, or anywhere, and I don't have a passport."

Sage Heart watched Indy for a moment as the silver bear took a longer drink. "Independent Bear, do you hate being here?"

Indy stopped drinking then sighed as he set the can down, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be, but I'm so used to wandering that this just feel unnatural."

"I see..." Sage Heart looked down at his drink.

Life Heart walked over and around to the front of Indy, "Mind if I join in, Indy?"

Indy looked up at her, "Not at all," he found his eyes wandering down to her baby bump.

Life Heart noticed and smiled, "Want to feel it?"

Indy blushed slightly but he couldn't resist and reached down to touch her belly. He smiled.

Life Heart waited for a moment then sat down on a different side to the two bears as Indy withdrew his hand. "So, you like that?"

"I guess..." Indy was still blushing.

Sage Heart chuckled, "Well that's something. Would you like to talk some more?"

"About what?" Indy finally looked up at both of them.

"Your past," Life Heart reached over and touched Indy's hand.

"I guess, you told me about your past already," Indy pulled his hand away from Life Heart and averted his gaze again.

Sage Heart saw the look in the silver bear's eyes, "Independent Bear, are you envious of us?"

"A little. Living in paradise most of your lives and you had it pretty easy even when you had to live in the human world." Indy sighed, "But I can't hate you for it, it's not any of our faults." Indy looked back up at the two of them, "I was raised by a man named Koran, he gave me my names from old friends of his. He never talked about his past much, except that he was a kineticist." Indy finished off his drink then set the can down, he levitated it up and tossed it into the nearby recycle bin, "He taught me everything he could before he died two years ago and I learned Aether as my element. He said he was the last kineticist on earth...but I guess he didn't know about you guys."

"He might very well have been." Life Heart's words got Indy's attention, "Humans have forgotten how to use magic so it's likely he was the last human kineticist, and until I taught my family there weren't any kineticists left on Earth other than you two."

Indy stared at her, "But can't you use kinetics?"

Life Heart shook her head, "No." She placed a hand on her chest, right over her chest symbol, "I'm as old as human civilization, even older in fact, and I have seen every kind of magic used by humans throughout history. I cannot use most of them but I can teach any kind of magic if needed. A unicorn's mind is a repository for knowledge, though other memories have faded." She smiled at Sage Heart who smiled back and took her hand, "The memories of the last twenty years are more precious to me than the millennia of bare existence I had before I became a Care Bear, and a mother. I love you Sage Heart, you've opened my world up in ways I can't even begin to describe."

"I love you, Life Heart, for being my shining oasis in a world of chaos, for your support and the gentle hand you've always had for me," Sage Heart leaned over and they kissed.

Indy watched the display for a moment with an awkward look on his face, "How did this turn into an intimate moment?"

Life Heart blushed and turned back to him, "Sorry, I think we're all getting a case of cabin fever locked up in here. I do want to ask, what are you going to do when we leave if you can't come with us?"

Independent Bear sighed and leaned back in his chair, "I don't know, but I was thinking about following you on foot." He tilted his head up for a moment to see the astonished looks, "As awkward as I find this, after all the time I spent running from those wo nut-jobs, Shatter Heart and Blade Star, I don't want to face them alone. After you leave I'll travel to Regina on foot and meet you there in a week or two, if you can wait for me."

"Are you sure? We don't know if we can wait for you once we get there, we don't know what we're going to encounter there," Sage Heart said.

Indy sat forwards, "It's all I can do."

Life Heart nodded then gave a smile, "Before we go, we can teach you how to use your chest symbol."

Indy looked down at the small heart surrounded by ten small stars on his chest and poked it with his right index finger, "I guess I haven't really learned to us this yet."

Sage Heart stood up, "Alright, then let's get started."

OoOoO

Anger Heart held up his hands, a small fire burning in the empty space between them. "I did it!" he smirked.

Love Heart looked over at him and smiled, "That's good, keep it up until you're tired again." He turned to Defiant Heart an Guidance Heart who held fields of sparkling blue mana in both hands.

Guidance Heart sighed and let her hands drop as the field dispersed, "Sorry but I can't focus today." She hung her head, "It's Samantha's birthday."

Upon hearing this Anger Heart's fire went out and he sighed then grit his teeth, "Her parents did something, I know it!" He growled, "And we're just sitting here!"

The sound of a car out front drew their attention and Defiant Heart let his field disperse, "Alright, I can do this."

"Guess we're done for the day," Love Heart sighed and entered the house, followed by his three students.

Anger Heart and Guidance Heart only said a brief "hello" to Defiant Heart's parents before they left. Defiant Heart took a deep breath as he caught sight of his parents, both in the same room for the first time since he could remember.

Love Heart put a hand on Defiant's shoulder, "You can do this."

"Aren't you going to stick around?" Defiant kept his gaze locked on his parents, who were sitting on the couch together and just staring back at their son and the green bear.

"No, you need to do this on your own. I need to be alone to practise something personal. I'll be back later." With that, Love Heart let go of Defiant's shoulder and exited through the front door.

Defiant Heart Badger stood still for a minute, letting the silence wash over him, before his father spoke.

"Daniel, can we talk please?"

Defiant Heart tensed slightly but entered the living room and stood across from the coffee table with his back to the TV. He wanted to sit down but at the same time he couldn't relax around them, not anymore. "Alright, what are we talking about?"

His mother winced but spoke, "Daniel, I know we haven't..." she sighed, "OK, we've been terrible parents, I'm not going to deny that."

Defiant Heart kept his gaze locked on them, "You could be worse. Don't expect me to give any more praise."

"OK, we deserve that." His father hung his head, "I don't know what else to tell you other than, we're sorry."

"Not even going promise to spend more time with me?" Daniel glowered at them.

His mother averted her gaze, "It would be a hollow promise if we even tried. I want to say we would but..."

"But you're not even going to try!" Defiant's voice rose as he slapped a hand to his chest, "You don't even care that I'm a badger now?! Or that I have this," He pulled down his shirt collar to expose his chest symbol, a pirate flag with crossed swords and a heart where the skull would be.

His mother turned her whole head away to hide the tears, his father didn't even bother, "Your change was...concerning but I can see you're still you."

"How can you tell?! You barely say me before this, how do you know I didn't kill Daniel and take his place?! Would you even care if I was?!" Daniel's voice had risen to shouting.

"Of course we've care!" His mother turned back, she was visibly crying as she almost shouted, "We still know it's you! It's your voice and eyes!"

Defiant Heart growled then turned away, "I need to go."

"Where are you going?" His father got up and tried to take his arm, but Defiant Heart dodged aside.

"Out!"

"When will you be back?"

Defiant Heart pulled open the door, "Later!" He slammed the door behind him as he left.

His parents stayed in silence for a moment before his mother spoke up, "Should we stop him?"

His father shook his head, "No, unless he needs our help the best we can do is give him the same freedom we've done thus far. We have two weeks of vacation so in that time we need to at least know what he's going to do and try to make up for years of neglect."

His mother looked out the window at the retreating badger, "That's impossible."

OoOoO

Love Heart hovered half-a-meter off the ground as he floated down the street. He wasn't even tired anymore after flying two blocks. He landed carefully at a crosswalk and waited for the light to change, not caring about the looks he was getting from several pedestrians. By this point a green bear flying down the street wasn't a big deal, but it still drew attention.

Love Heart crossed the street and turned into the Wascana Park, a large park in the center of the city that surrounded a man-made lake. He kept to the trees and took a deep breath of the air, not as fresh as home but better than most of the city. He sighed then smiled. No use dwelling on the past, his family would be here soon.

"What are you doing, Love Heart? Practising kinetics"

Love Heart shrugged, "Just spending some time alone...!" Love Heart rounded on the voice and found a teal colored canine Care Bear with blue eyes leaning up against a tree next to him.

Love Heart's hand shot to his chest symbol, which glowed as he tensed for a fight, "Let me guess, 'come with me or die!'?" Love Heart conjured one of his swords and pointed it at the canine's throat.

The canine fell away from the tree and onto her butt as she held up her hands defensively, "What nononono! I'm not that! Why would I be?"

Love Heart's expression didn't soften as he closed the distance between them, "You know my name and that I'm a kineticist but I don't know you! Who sent you?!"

"No one!" The canine backed away but Love Heart kept up his advance, with the sword centimeters from her throat. "I know you, I'm Samantha!"

Love Heart blinked, then pulled his sword away and for the first time he noticed that she didn't have a chest symbol. He didn't relax though, "How can you be Samantha? What happened to you?"

The canine gulped, "After you gave me the basic mana conjuring lesson I went home and Caleb took me on a date that was just a movie outing. My big sister was spying on me and then my dad locked me in my room for the last two weeks. He was going to ship me off to a convent in Toronto to make me into a nun or something. I bolted at the airport and hid until midnight then I used that crystal I showed you to turn into a Care Bear." She watched Love Heart, who had visibly relaxed, "Do you believe me?"

Love Heart let his sword dissipate, "Your voice is the same and your eyes too," Love Heart offered a hand and helped Samantha to stand up, "So what are you? Some kind of wolf?"

Samantha grinned and spun once in place, flicking her tail as she did so, "I'm a Coyote, what do you think?" She winked at Love Heart.

"Not bad," Love Heart folded his arms, "But you said this was permanent so what do you think? Are you happy with this?"

"Are you kidding," Samantha's coyote face lit up in a bright grin, "I feel fantastic! I ran all the way here without getting tired and I feel so strong!" She flexed her arms, feeling muscles that hadn't been on her twig-like arms and legs the previous night, "And I'm hot! I mean look," she ran her hands up her wider hips and her toned waist up to cup her large breasts, "I was flat-chested twig last night and now look at me!" She stuck her tongue out and winked at Love Heart as she crossed her arms under her breasts to lift them up, "Don't tell me this doesn't turn you on."

Love Heart blushed and averted his gaze, "I have a girlfriend, and how old are you?"

"18 today," Samantha giggled then shook her head, "Sorry I'm just loving this so much, I even have a tail!" She flicked her tail again, "And the best part is my family won't recognise me, as far as they know I just dropped off the face of the Earth, never to be seen again! On that note, I do need something."

Love Heart turned back to look at her and saw Samantha pointing at her chest, right above the middle of her breasts, "I need a new name and chest symbol. Can you help me? Consider it a birthday present."

Love Heart looked her up and down and then looked her in the eye, "I can. But what do you think is your greatest quality?"

Samantha blinked then pulled her hand away from her chest, "Well I guess being clever and sneaky. It's now I got them to send me to normal school and avoided being caught last night." She scratched her chin, "What about Crafty Heart?"

"If you want then your name will be Crafty Heart Coyote." Love Heart's chest symbol lit up and a glowing light flew over to her. It whirled around her then landed on her chest.

She smiled, "It's warm." She looked down as the glow faded and left her chest symbol: an incomplete jigsaw puzzle in the shape of a valentine heart with the top left being pink, the bottom left being blue and the bottom right being yellow while the top right part was missing. She touched it then grinned, "Alright! Can you show me how to use it?"

"I can but let's find somewhere else," Love Heart motioned for Crafty Heart to follow him, "So why did you come to me first? I barely know you."

Crafty Heart put her hands behind her head and grinned, "Because you don't know my parents so they won't find out about this from you, if I told any of my friends then word might get out and everything would be for nothing."

Love Heart gave her a sideways glare, "Crafty was definitely the right name for you."

Crafty stuck out her tongue again, "We'll go meet them all for supper. Hopefully they won't recognise me and I can start over completely."

"What about your family."

Love Heart's question made her stop dead in her tracks. She glared at the ground, "Fuck them. They always tried to control me and twist me into another soulless doll like Emily. If I ever talk to them again it will be on my terms."

Love Heart turned around then put his hands on her shoulders, "If you're sure, but you can't keep this a secret from your friends. They deserve to know or they'll spend their lives wondering what happened to you."

Crafty Heart sighed and looked up at Love Heart with sorrowful eyes, "OK. I'll tell them tonight if I can convince them not to spread it around." She looked down at herself then up at Love Heart, "So question: I'm naked but why don't I look...naked. I mean I can't see anything inappropriate."

Love Heart stepped back, "I noticed that too. I asked mom and dad about it once and they said that it's some sort of magic that's tied into being a Care Bear. This passive field covers us and makes us look modest even when we're not wearing clothes, most of the time."

"Oh?" Crafty leaned in to Love Heart's face and tilted her head, "And when doesn't it?"

Love Heart blushed, "When we're in an intimate situation it all...comes out. I noticed when Confidence and I had sex the first time."

"Good to know. So do I have to wear clothes?" Crafty stood back.

Love Heart looked around at the people who were staring at them, "It's helps people feel comfortable around us, and some places still insist you wear clothes when you go inside."

Crafty Heart sighed and folded her arms, "Alright, but I'm kinda broke so I'm just gonna wear my new birthday suit for my birthday."

OoOoO

Defiant Heart didn't have any specific destination in mind when he left the house, he just wanted to get out and think, and that wasn't easy. His mind kept wandering back to his parents and he kept shaking it off. Why was this so hard?

Defiant Heart looked up to see that he had wandered right up to the edge of Wascana Park. He rolled his eyes and was about to walk away when he heard two familiar voices nearby.

"Good to know. So do I have to wear clothes?"

"It's helps people feel better about us, and some places still insist you wear clothes when you go inside."

"Alright, but I'm kinda broke so I'm just gonna wear my new birthday suit for my birthday."

Defiant Heart looked over and saw Love Heart talking to a green coyote Care Bear. He wanted to walk away, but this was the distraction he needed and he walked towards them, "Hey, who's the new girl?"

Love Heart and Crafty Heart turned to Defiant Heart. Crafty gave a wink to Love Heart who nodded, "Defiant Heart, this is Crafty Heart Coyote. I just ran into her in the park and gave her her name and chest symbol."

"Nice to meet you," Crafty Heart hopped over to Defiant Heart and extended a hand.

Defiant Heart regarded her oddly, something about her voice sounded familiar. He still took her hand and shook it, "You too. So why are you naked?"

"Because I don't have any clothes and you can't see anything anyway," Crafty smirked, "What, can't handle this?" She put her arms behind her head and pushed her chest out.

Defiant Heart didn't budge, "I don't have a problem with it but some people might."

Crafty stopped posing, "Well maybe I should meet some of your friends then."

Defiant Heart averted his gaze, "I don't really have any other friends."

"Well then we can meet my friends. Want to go to Anger Heart's house tonight?" Love Heart asked.

Defiant sighed, "Maybe, I need to stay away from the house for a while."

Love Heart reached out and took Defiant's shoulder, "Trouble with your parents?"

Crafty's eyes narrowed as Defiant sighed, "I just don't want to talk to them right now. They think they can just come back and try to be my parents after all this time... It's just, uggggg!"

"But they're trying. You should go back and talk to them."

"Honestly you've been more of a family to me than they ever have, Love Heart," Defiant Heart sighed. "I'll try, after I go to the gym."

Crafty Heart watched Defiant leave and then sighed, "I guess I'm not the only one with a messed up family."

Love Heart turned back to her, "Yeah. So what do you want to do until we go to Anger Heart's?"

Crafty put her arms behind her head, "I dunno, just wander the town and relax for a bit, and hope I don't see my parents anywhere."

Love Heart sighed, "How about I show you how to use your chest symbol and some more magic training."

Crafty grinned, "Sounds good to me."

OoOoO

Anger Heart was in his element over the stove as he stirred the leek, potato and onion soup, "Just a little more and I'll add the milk, I hope you're hungry cause this stuff is filling!" He called into the living room where Brandon, Caleb and Guidance Heart sat.

"We are," Brandon called back then sighed and sat back on the couch, "I just wish Samantha was here, we can't even celebrate her birthday with her."

"I know," Guidance Heart gripped the hem of her skirt in her lap then released it, "But we can celebrate for her."

"Maybe..." Caleb leaned back on the couch.

Anger Heart exited the kitchen into the living room and plopped down next to Guidance Heart, "Gonna take twenty minutes now, wanna watch some TV?"

"Sure," Brandon grabbed the remote and flipped the TV on, right when there was a knock on the door.

Caleb answered to find Love Heart and Defiant Heart there standing with a green coyote he didn't recognize; he blushed when he realized she wasn't clothed.

The coyote grinned and waved over Love Heart and Defiant's shoulders, "Hiya, how's it going."

"Caleb, everyone, get over here!" Anger Heart's shout drew their attention as Brandon turned up the TV volume.

"Last night, 17-year-old Samantha Cartwright disappeared. We are not at liberty to discuss the exact circumstances surrounding her disappearance but if you see this woman then please report her location to the police."

Everyone stared at the TV news report. Love Heart glared at Crafty Heart who sighed and walked over to look at the picture on the screen, "Not a bad picture, but not what I looked like when I ran."

"Samantha, what?" Guidance Heart stared at Crafty Heart who grinned back. "Who are you?"

"What, you don't recognise me?" Crafty Heart stood up.

Anger Heart glared at the coyote, "You sound like her and those eyes... But how?"

"She used a crystal the Great Wishing Star gave her, but she can explain it better," Love Heart took a seat.

"It is you, right, Samantha?" Brandon peered close to Crafty's eyes.

Crafty giggled and winked, "Yep, and I'll tell you everything as long as you promise not to tell anyone, especially not my parents."

Everyone stared at her until Guidance Heart spoke. "Alright, I promise," she reached her hand forwards.

"Me too," Caleb reached in too.

"I'll keep quiet," Anger Heart reached in.

"Same," Brandon added his hand.

"Fine, I'll keep it quiet," Defiant Heart didn't look as he added his hand.

"I promise too. So tell them everything." Love Heart didn't add his hand and stood to the side.

"Alright, well it started when Caleb took me home after the movie two weeks ago..."

OoOoO

"...And that's when Love Heart gave me the name 'Crafty Heart Coyote'." Crafty Heart sat back against the back of the couch, "And good riddance to those people who called themselves my family."

"That's, I mean I didn't think your parents would do something like that, Samantha," Caleb shuddered, "Sorry."

"It's not your fault, and call me Crafty Heart Coyote from now on, OK?" Samantha smirked.

"If you insist." A beep from the kitchen drew Anger Heart's attention, "Gotta finish the soup."

Crafty Heart laughed. "Sounds great, so does someone want to get me a cake? It's still my birthday."