Great Bear Lake (book)

Template:Infobox Great Bear Lake is the second volume in the original Seekers series of six books. Lusa is featured on the portrait, with Kallik, Toklo and herself looking over Great Bear Lake.

Cover information

Book Jacket - Back

Three young bears from different species—black, polar, and grizzly—are brought together by a twisted fate that changes their lives forever. Guided by a shape-shifting cub with mysterious powers, they embark on a journey to a mystical place that will push each bear to its very limit. Theirs is a quest that will bring them amazing adventures and unexpected suffering, and will set their paws on a path toward a future they cannot yet imagine....

Detailed Plot Summary

The story starts where Lusa meets Toklo, explaining how she had come from the Bear Bowl, and tells him that she has a message for him from his mother. Hearing the name of his mother, Toklo becomes hostile again, and doesn't want to hear what the message was. Ujurak comes and explains to Lusa that he and Toklo are on a journey, following the stars. Ujurak invites Lusa to join them on their journey, and Lusa agrees to come. Toklo immediately opposes the idea. He believes that Lusa will slow them down and they shouldn't travel with a black bear. Lusa promises not to slow them down, and wonders if the spirits are waiting for her also, as Ujurak said.

Toklo thinks that Lusa joining them will ruin his new friendship with Ujurak, and continues to be mean to her. Soon, a pack of wolves find the three bears in the mountains, and they have to escape. Ujurak changes into a deer to help the others escape, and Toklo hides Lusa under a riverbank, then believing her to be weak. Toklo once again feels jealousy towards Lusa and how she had become good friends with Ujurak. After they escape from the wolves, Lusa thinks that she is seeing signs like Ujurak, and Toklo tells her that Ujurak finding signs is enough and criticizes her for not being able to hunt. Lusa and Ujurak talk about signs, and Lusa wishes she could be as close to the spirits as Ujurak was.

Lusa and Ujurak continue to look for signs, telling them which way to head on their journey, and they decide to swim across a river. Toklo is fearful of the water, and refuses to swim. But when he tries, he nearly drowns, and Lusa helps him, making him angry at her once again.

Meanwhile, Kallik continues her journey to find her brother. She sees a metal bird, afraid it is going to crash, but a mother and her two cubs come out. Kallik feels envious of the way that the two cubs have one another and a mother to care for them. She makes a shelter in a cave and rests for the night. In the morning, she follows the scent of other bears, hoping that where they head, Taqqiq will be there.

Lusa questions her choice to join Ujurak and Toklo, knowing that Toklo doesn't want her to be there. The three bears need food, so Lusa gets food from trash cans outside of human houses. The lid flies off of the can and a flat- face comes out with a dog to investigate; so the bears have to run back to the woods. The next day, they need to cross a river; but Toklo refuses. He admits his fear of water and explains that he feels like the spirits are trying to drag him under. Ujurak finds a bridge for them to cross to get to the other side, but gets hit by a firebeast. He wakes up quickly, but Toklo feels guilt for his fear of water.

Kallik finds another white bear, and thinks that she is Nisa. The bear is hostile at first, but explains to Kallik that they are on the Claw Path, which leads towards a lake where white bears call back the ice and don't fight each other. Kallik learns that the Place of Everlasting Ice is real and that the lake is on the way to it. Kallik asks the bear if she can travel with her, but the bear refuses, saying Kallik will eat all of her food.

Ujurak, Toklo and Lusa find get to the gathering place and Lusa stands out, being the only black bear in a crowd of all grizzlies. Some bears challenge her right to be there, and she tells them she is with friends. They say that black bears and grizzlies aren't friends. Lusa is forced to find the other black bears and leave Ujurak and Toklo.

Kallik finds her brother Taqqiq when he steals a fish she caught. Taqqiq is different from how she remembers, and at first when she tells him that she is his sister, he says that his sister is dead. When he realizes that she is Kallik, he decided to stay with his new friends.

Back at the Grizzly area, the grizzlies try to choose who will swim to Paw Print Island, as Arcturus had in legends, so the spirits will bring the salmon back to the rivers. Shoteka says that Toklo must, as he still hates him and Oka. The bears agree and Toklo is terrified, thinking that Oka and Tobi's spirits will drown him. As Toklo swims, he hears Oka and Tobi, and thinks they have come to drown him, but they help him make it to the island, and Toklo realizes that they want him to live.

Shoteka eventually swims to the island and tries to kill Toklo, but Oka gives him advice, and Toklo wins, forcing Shoteka back into the lake.

Back with the polar bears, Taqqiq and his new friends decide to steal a black bear cub, thinking that will show the black bears how much stronger the white bears are, and result in the polar bears taking over the forest. They go to where the black bears live and take Miki, one of Lusa's new friends. Miki can't fight the polar bears, and get taken away. The black bears aren't sure what to do, so they don't do anything to help Miki.

Lusa goes to Toklo for help, but Toklo feels that he must stay on Paw Print island, so Lusa swims to the white bear territory to save Miki.

While Lusa is going to the white bear territory, she spots a young white bear, Kallik, drowning, pushed out into the lake by her brother, Taqqiq. Lusa saves her, dragging her onto a tiny bit of land poking up in the lake. When both are back on land, Kallik tells Lusa how her brother and his friends are planning on invading the black bear forest.

Later, Toklo and Ujurak come to Lusa's aid and help her and Kallik save Miki. Ujurak turns into a white bear and goes with Kallik get Miki away from Taqqiq. Kallik tries to convince her brother that the ice will come back and that he should let Miki go. Salik interrupts them and tries to get them away from Miki, but he runs away. Salik chases him but Miki hides and Lusa springs out and is now chased. He finally catches her but Toklo comes to the rescue and defends Lusa. Salik was about to deliver a another attack on Toklo when Taqqiq saves him. Salik warns Taqqiq to never come to Great Bear Lake and that he'll kill him.

Taqqiq joins the bears to make the journey, and they all leave Great Bear Lake.

Characters

Polar Bears

• Kallik
• Taqqiq
• Siqiniq
• Imiq
• Salik
• Iqaluk
• Manik
• Nanuk
• Qanniq
• Namak
• Kunik
• Anarteq
• Silaluk

Grizzly Bears

• Toklo
• Ujurak
• Oka
• Tobi
• Shoteka
• Oogrook
• Shesh
• Hattack
• The Lonely Bear
• Arcturus

Black Bears

• Lusa
• Miki
• Chula
• Ossi
• Pokkoli
• Hashi
• Issa
• Taloa
• Arcturus
• King