Toybox

Rest up Kid - Chapter Five

After clearing the table of its unappetizing decoration, Lucy took a seat at the edge of the table. Her feet seemed to barely touch the ground, of course it made sense that a family of bears had considerably larger than normal furniture.
"You look like a little tiny doll sat at such a huge table." Bjorn said with a velvety warm chuckle. His voice brought some odd parenting comfort, even though he had just openly admitted he tore a young girl to shreds.

"It's weird, I feel even smaller than I did before." She said nodding in agreement, tapping her fingers against the grand wooden table. Swinging her feet back and forth as she patiently waited for Bjorn to sit beside her. She let her though process bubble for a moment before plucking up the courage to speak again.

"So...This Heartress...where exactly do we find her? Do you have some friends who can help us?" She spoke with such thrilling enthusiasm that it actually perked up Bjorn's own mood.

"Not exactly...Her home is far to the east so we'll have to travel through some places to get to her...although I was kinda hoping we'd be able to enlist some help along the way."
He said with a rather deep and thoughtful expression carved into his face.

"I see, lets at least be optimistic. If we have to travel far then There's bound to be others who will help" She said with an exaggerated nod, though that seemed to be through fault of her own body getting a little too excited at the prospect of exploring a foreign land. She began to paint pretty pictures in her mind of what the land might look like, what the people would sound like. Every sense kept curiously busy.

There was a stiff silence between the pair, Lucy still had plenty of questions and Bjorn knew he had very few answers for her. He didn't know for sure if he had the guts to tell her that he too was relatively new to this place. He had simply settled for the hand that he had been dealt and had accepted that there could be no real change. To him, Lucy was a challenge. Someone who chose to discard her cards and look for answers in her own way and part of him envied that she had more guts then he could every dream of having. A rather heavy sigh passed his lips as he leaned against his arm, the matted fur pressed to his face in an odd balance of comfort and discomfort.

"We should probably get going, its never good to waste time" Lucy piped up, batting her thick black dolly lashes at Bjorn. The way she spoke was somewhat monotone and she wasn't sure if it was because she was in the aftermath of some shock or if this was another unwanted addition to the list of changes her body had succumbed to. Reaching up to play with a lock of her vibrant hair as she patiently waited for an answer.

"You're right...We should plan ahead tonight and leave in the morning. Take some provisions with us to be sure." He said with a yawn, stretching his paws out to crack the bones in his back. Giving a soft coo of relief as the tension built up in his bones as given a momentary release. Side eyeing Lucy as he watched his yawn contagiously spread to her. The redhead raising a hand to cover her mouth as she felt exhaustion catching up with her.

"That sounds like a good idea. Let's get packing before either one of us fall asleep!" She said snapping out of her fatigued state, hopping out of her seat and bounding over to Bjorn. Wrapping her arms around one of his own arms. Tugging him out of his chair and to his feet leaving him no choice but to be productive. At least she had good intentions and a small part of Bjorn was already quite fond of her refreshing attitude. It was always nice to see someone who was willing to get up and go.

Once forced to his feet, Bjorn directed Lucy about the house. The pair coming up with a compact list of essentials that they might need for their trip. A pouch of coins, small rations of food and two flasks of fresh stream water. A large blanket and a compass, as useful as a map would have been it was something Bjorn had never been provided with. Lucy neatly folded and slotted each item into the sandy rucksack which they would take turns to carry on the way, that had already been agreed between the pair. Once finished they both stepped back and dusted their hands off, by now it was well into the night. The moonlight peeked in through the crooked windows and the black velvet sky was dusted with a few twinkling stars.

Peeping out of the window, Lucy let out another long yawn. Rubbing her eyes as she tried to fight away the sandman for a few more minutes. Her half lidded eyes searching for somewhere to rest for a short while though before she could pick anywhere Bjorn scooped her up from behind. Positioning her so his claws didn't touch her. In her half sleeping state Lucy didn't feel the need to protest and soon enough found herself bundled up in a soft bed with a patchwork quilt wrapped around her. Her lids heavy as they fell shut, allowing herself some well deserved rest. A fond smile on Bjorn's face as he curled up in his own bed.

"Rest up kid, tomorrow's a busy day."

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AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks to everyone who's read this far and given me feedback. Hope you enjoy whats to come!!! <3