The Woods ✔

A Road Trip

Caden sauntered down the narrow staircase, all the while stretching and making the bones in his back pop in the process.

The smell of bacon and eggs told him that Michael was already awake and cooking breakfast and he grinned. There was nothing better than to have a steaming plate awaiting his arrival, sitting innocently on the kitchen table in the morning.

He hopped down the last step and cracked his neck. After he had grown out of the basket - a very comfy one - he had at first slept in, Michael had readily let him have the first floor of the cabin, claiming that he was a bear and bears didn't sleep on trees. Caden thought that he was simply lazy and didn't want to climb the stairs. Therefore he had his bedroom along with the kitchen and the living room on the ground floor. But Caden would be stupid to complain about it because up there he had a lot of space, a great view and first and foremost, privacy.

Although he bumped his head a lot on the low ceiling he wouldn't give up his safe haven for anything. Michael teased him all the time about allegedly not being able to believe that Caden was a cougar because of his constant clumsiness whereupon Caden used to flip him off. Overgrown flea bag. He was simply jealous because he was just some fluffy teddy bear and not a lithe cat.

"Good mornin'," Michael greeted and dried off the freshly cleaned pan. Caden muttered a greeting, too, plopped down on a chair and dug in. He had to admit that the teddy bear could cook quite well.

"We're goin' into town today," Michael said out of nowhere and Caden looked up, a strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth. Going into town? Immediately, his heart began to thump excitedly in his chest and a smile crept on his face.

"Okay," he replied as calm as possible and ignored Michael's amused chuckle. So what? He enjoyed going into town and looking at all those strange things! The first time he had nearly peed his pants but now after getting used to all the noise and people he was ecstatic about visiting this foreign world. Though it was just a two hour ride in the car it could have been a completely other planet they were visiting. Everything was just so different.

And he would finally be able to spent the money he had earned over the summer with showing people around the more accessible parts of the woods down in the valley. He had been able to spend time outside and simultaneously prevent the humans from disturbing nature too much which made him think that maybe he could do this job for the rest of his life. It was perfect for him, wasn't it?

After finishing his breakfast he ran up the stairs and rummaged through his drawers, searching for the precious bundle of green paper. He shoved it in his pants pocket and skipped down the stairs again.

"Michael? I'm ready!" he exclaimed impatiently and heard rustling in the other man's bedroom.

"Am I allowed to put my pants on or do I have to go half naked?" Michael grumbled loud enough for Caden to hear and he snorted. It wasn't uncommon for them to move around the cabin in a more or less dressed state - shifters tended to rip an insane amount of clothing - but he wasn't sure about what the people in town would think.

Finally Michael joined him at the front door, jingling keys in hand and fully dressed.

"Let's go," he said with a nod and opened the front door. Caden took a deep breath, enjoying the bite of the cold autumn air, and made his way over to the single garage which seemed to cower beneath the trees. It held the beat-up blue truck they only used to drive into town every four or five months. Caden was amazed everytime when Michael brought the gurgling engine back to life.

He climbed up into the passenger seat and gazed curiously at the many buttons and levers. Michael seemed to use them with ease, not having to think about which one he needed at the moment.

After about half an hour of observing closely he got tired of it and instead rolled down the window to stick out his hand, feeling the air rushing through his spread fingers while they lumbered over the uneven, rocky path.

Down in the valley they would get to a less rocky lane which would lead them after some time to an actual street that wound in hairpin bends through the trees. If they survived this part of the ride the town was only about ten more miles away. Caden groaned, knowing that he had to endure at least one and a half hour more of sitting still. If there weren't any obstacles on their way. Like fallen trees or rocks and mud on the streets. Wouldn't be the first time.

He looked over at Michael who was completely focused on the difficult task of bringing them down the mountain alive. Michael actually was very good at managing to keep himself and others alive. After all, he had managed to raise a cougar cub though he hadn't had any clue about what to do. Caden liked to think that he somehow had turned out quite well. And he certainly wasn't clumsy.

"What do we need?" he inquired, trying to find out if he could sneak off to the little store on Oak Lane.

"Food," Michael answered. "Caned food, some dry meat for the winter. I need to go to the hardware store also, for supplies to fix some things around the house. Why are you askin'?"

"Just curious," Caden shrugged.

"You want books, don't you?" Michael dug deeper with a knowing smirk and Caden gave a timid nod. Who could blame him? Winter was awfully long and he wasn't fond of his paws freezing off in the deep snow.

"Don't worry, you'll get your books," Michael reassured him and Caden had to bite his lower lip to keep from grinning like a fool. Books!

He giddily shifted in his seat, earning himself another amused chuckle.

"Don't laugh," he grumbled and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Michael raised his hands in silent surrender and Caden huffed quietly before sticking his hand out of the window again. Sometimes the path was so narrow that he could feel the leafs of low-hanging branches ghosting over his skin.

It was oddly peaceful despite the loud rumble of the car.

He couldn't hold back the sigh of relief when they finally reached the better road down in the valley. The nervous knot in his stomach disappeared. He would prefer going down the mountain on his own paws but Michael had warned him time and time again of the tourists and hunters who were wandering around everywhere so Caden didn't even bring up the topic again.

"Hunting season starts in a few weeks, doesn't  it?" he asked when they drove by a pretty run-down hut where the hunting parties occasionally met up to then go up further into the mountains without their vehicles.

"Aye," Michael confirmed, a frown etched on his features. Caden shivered and rolled the window back up after retracting his hand.

Hunting season meant no shifting outside and it drove him crazy every year. Even roaming around the woods in human form was dangerous because those stupid hunters shot at everything that moved. Surprisingly they didn't shoot each other. A shame, really.

He stretched his legs and yawned, the excitement having slightly subsided.

"They should stay away," he mumbled and Michael nodded in agreement.

"Aye."

Caden kept quiet so he wouldn't keep Michael from concentrating completely on the curvy, narrow street. He didn't want to risk his life so close to the book store.