ㅤㅤㅤKing could feel the tensions of the upcoming tournament through the trees. The fur of her hackles had been raised all day, a preemptive warning. The tiniest part of her wished things could be different. She knew they couldn’t be, that she didn’t truly want them to be. The tournament was necessary, they had to die. She heard the trees rustling, laughing at her, as she lumbered away. 

…

ㅤㅤㅤLife in the forest was splintered into threes: men, women, and bears. It was how it had been for eternity, how it would continue to be. They were all the same anyways — they lived with the same eyes, same ears, same noses, same overwhelming bloodlust. 

ㅤㅤㅤThe bears’ only enemies were men; all women were safe. Men who razed their forests with fire, chopped down their trees, shot their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, men who raped women. Stories about these monsters had been passed down for generations, and  their advice was always the same. Never trust the men. 

ㅤㅤㅤWhen King was seven years old, she decided that she was done being scared of the men. It was time for them to be scared of her. She remembered the story her mother told her when she was just a cub, about the golden-haired girl who crept into the Three Bear’s cabin when they were out and took everything from them. She was the only woman King had ever hated. She wanted to inflict the same kind of devastation onto the humans living in their forests, stealing their resources, existing as if they were the only monsters in the land. One night, once her mother was asleep, she snuck from her den to find the human camps. The trees watched her leave and said nothing. 

ㅤㅤㅤThe camps weren’t hard to find; all she had to do was follow the screams. As she came up behind a thatch of trees, she looked at the sight before her with amazement. Men and women dressed in white, dancing and singing with their faces illuminated only by firelight, their inhibitions completely forgotten. It was the first time that King had seen humans enjoying life together, carefree and zealous in a way bears could never be. She so badly wanted to join in, to dance and forget all the horrors these demons had caused her family, and she almost did. Then, a woman’s scream pierced the air, and she snapped from her reverie. 

ㅤㅤㅤThe cabin she ran to looked deserted, with its lights flickering in the wind and a dead garden path leading up a door cracked open at the hinges. Voices carried through the wind; humans, loud and angry and fearful. King remained cautious at the door until she heard a baby’s cry,  then charged inside with a ferocious roar. The woman, stomach swollen and pulsing with life, cowered behind the knife she pointed at the man, but stood strong over her child’s cradle. The man’s face was twisted in anger, eyes ablaze with hatred as he advanced toward her. In the firelight shining through the windows, he looked exactly how King’s mamma bear had described men to her in all the stories: ferocious in tooth and claw, ill-favored by the creator, irredeemable in all their actions. He was the most terrifying beast she had ever seen. She needed him gone, she needed the woman and her children safe. 

ㅤㅤㅤHe turned to look at King as she charged, his eyes ripening with fear right before she raised up on her hind legs and swung her paw at his head. He dropped to the ground immediately. The woman spun to face King, one hand protecting her stomach and the other grasping back at her child. King couldn’t bear to see the fear once directed at the demon on the floor now at her, so she lowered down and laid at the woman’s feet. 

ㅤㅤㅤThe woman stared in awe, swallowing hard before she opened her mouth to speak. 

ㅤㅤㅤKing had never been able to communicate with anyone other than her sleuth of bears. She never needed a reason to, before now. Her family knew her every thought and feeling before she really even understood them herself. Humans communicated differently. They needed logic and reason and detail; they needed to know themselves before they got to know anyone else. King truly hoped this woman understood her violence and would never feel that same kind of fear again. So she stared up into the woman’s eyes and waited.  

ㅤㅤㅤ“You saved my life. You saved my children’s lives. Why?”

ㅤㅤㅤKing wished she could respond. If I hadn’t, he would’ve hurt you and your children. Men turn and betray their own, even when you think you can trust them. I came to see humans so the men would be scared of me, and now they are. I did it so you could be free. 

ㅤㅤㅤShe stood up slowly so as to not startle the woman, and waited once more. The woman raised her chin up to be eye to eye with King. She looked so beautiful, face shining in the glow of the fire. The baby babbled in wonder behind her, his fear all but forgotten. The only sounds that existed in the space between them were the distant and drunken screams of pleasure from the fire outside, the baby’s gibberish, and the slight pained breaths of the man on the floor. 

ㅤㅤㅤ“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. King had never expected humans to be this beautiful. 

ㅤㅤㅤ“My name is Margaret.” She needed to protect this woman forever, show her that she could now live a life of peace with her children. With her. 

ㅤㅤㅤKing knew what she had to do. Letting out a snort, she went over to the man on the floor and threw him over her shoulder, feeling a quiet satisfaction when his head lolled like salmon after they’re caught. She looked at Margaret as she moved towards the door, and grunted at her, hoping the message was understood. Come with me. You’ll be safe and he will be dealt with. They will all be dealt with. The woman nodded to herself, looked around her cabin one more time in all its grimy glory, then picked up her child. She placed a soft kiss on his head; he reached out his chubby hands to King and grinned a toothless grin. The woman smiled down at her son and then up at King. 

ㅤㅤㅤ“So, where are we going?”

ㅤㅤㅤWe’re headed to safety. We’re headed to a place where you and your children will be safe from harm forever. We’re headed to a place where he will die, slow and painful. Would you want that?

…

ㅤㅤㅤThe tournament was Margaret’s idea. Woozy after birth, her tiny baby girl mewling in her arms, she proposed a solution. “They all have to die. All the men we have here, locked in their little cages, should have to prove they’re worthy enough to live. The only life they can give is for the children. To breed and then be forgotten, to fight and to die. He needs to die faster. I don’t want him near them. Please.”

ㅤㅤㅤSoon, Margaret had grown accustomed to the life of the bear. She foraged and hunted with the elders, cunning and bloodthirsty; lounged around in the field when the weather was perfect; most of all, she kept watch over the cages. Men paced inside, aggressive with no means of fully expressing true rage at their situation. They rattled the bars that constrained them, screaming obscenities until their throats ran hoarse and hatred was the only emotion visible through the bulging whites of their eyes. Margaret watched them with barely contained glee, calm amongst the screams and armed with the knowledge that they would never hurt her again. The roles would be reversed and men would now be the ones suffering. All was how it should be.