The White Hare

Teachings From A Burrow Dweller

The next day Nyxia wakes up to find herself alone in the surprisingly comfortable bed wrapped up in the warm blanket Jack had made in his entirely separate den. 'I still have to ask about why he made this place." She was dreading the possible answers. 'Was he having second thoughts about being my mate? Did he need space because I'm too- no that one is stupid, he is 5x clingier than I am. Was he just tired of my den? Was it really THAT bad?' The light of a fire in the doorway illuminates the room enough for her to see a bit but not clearly.

She hears the entrance to the den close as murmuring can be heard in the nearby room. Getting up, Nyxia walks through the doorway that is surprisingly large enough for her to fit through without crouching and enters the room connected to the tunnel that leads to the entrance. Strewn about the ground are glass jars and wooden containers of herbs, liquids and unknown substances. On one side of the room was a pile of hides sorted by type and softness. Bundled up with a cross of leather strips for each bundle to keep them together. Near that were piles of cleaned bones. On her side of the room were a couple of experimental pieces. Items made both with the system as well as obviously by hand. Weapons, armor, regular clothing, a rope, stone and wooden kitchen implements, it just went on. In the center of the room was Jack sitting over a fire. A metal pan was being used to fry strips of the mystery meat before he set them in another pan full of hot tallow. The smell makes Nyxia's mouth water as she slowly approaches the hare as he fries the meat crispy. On the other side of the large stone circled fire was a pot of stew.

"How much time have you sunk into this place?"

Jack looks at her and smiles. Grabbing a plate of food he hands it to her and pulls over a bundle of hides for her to sit on while she ate. Hellhounds weren't picky so everything tasted good to her. From the fried strips of meat, to the mandrake and herb stuffed giant constrictor he offered her. "Good to see you awake. You looked pretty tired so I didn't want to wake you up." He says with bags under his eyes himself.

Nyxia gets up to grab the scroll only for Jack to let out a sing song whistle behind her making her look back at him with the scroll already in hand. His hands cleaned with a small pot of water he had set off to the side and dried practically on top of the active fire. Nyxia takes the scroll and writes with some off reddish black ink Jack hands her.

"What is this place?" When Jack reads it he smiles.

"I was actually saving this place as a surprise for you. I didn't know how to ask if you would like to live here because I wasn't thinking too far ahead at the time. It became my little base of sorts where I just stored all my junk and worked on projects." He frowns as he writes the next part. "I wish I had asked you under better circumstances whether or not you wanted to live here. Now it seems I don't have much of a choice." He knew she liked her little log in the woods even if the space itself was a bit too small for someone of her size, height wise anyway. She often had to duck her head while inside the uneven carved out den but he didn't know how to broach the subject and just stayed with her when she wanted him to.

Nyxia looks at the scroll with confusion, mild bewilderment and a bit of sorrow mixing with the tingling joy in her heartfire. Writing a response with a raised eyebrow.

"So you waited all this time to ask me to move into a bigger home and it took my den being burned to ashes by my crazy pack to get you to bring me here?" Jack facepalms a bit with a chuckle as he looks at her.

"Yeah, by the way I can expand and modify this place much easier than most. If you need or want anything then please tell me."

"Jack, they are hunting us now." His emotions drop to his stomach as he munches on the experience rich meat. Nyxia writing a bit more. "If we don't get moving they will do the same to this place too. They won't buy that we died from the snake, not for long."