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Tyler-

The cold breath blowing across my cheek was the only thing I could feel. The sinister sneer plastered etched into the darkness that overtook my senses. I tried opening my paws, but I couldn't feel anything. I tried moving my body at all, but to the same lack of results. I couldn't tell if I was still in control of my body, but as far as I could feel, I was nothing but a floating consciousness. I tried collecting my thoughts, but everything I tried to think came out very fuzzy like static in my mind. I tried remembering what had been happening, but all I could remember was the cold breath and the wicked smile. The darkness was devoid of everything. It amplified my feeling of loneliness and wrought my heart with misery. I felt hopeless and trapped.

I took a weak breath when a small crystal blue dot appeared. It was very faint at first, but soon it had started to grow, albeit very slowly. The blue dot fluctuated and warped in strange shapes in front of me, but it didn't provide any light except within itself, everything else was still dark. As the dot folded and twisted, it took on various shapes. Soon it started growing more. The dot had tripled in size when I finally remembered what the dot reminded me of. As soon as the mere memory of him sprang into my mind, he was there. My black wolf barely contrasting to the pitch darkness surrounding him save two crystal blue dots where his eyes were.

His shadowy outline moved as he walked closer to me, reaching a paw out to me as if trying to reach for me. I willed my mind to move my paw to his, still feeling nothing. But when his paw would have reached mine to hold, I felt his ticklish fur caress my fingers. His form got even closer until he was only an inch away from me. The blue eyes flickered as he looked down at me, grasping my forearm and pulling me close to him. The moment my body would have collided with his, I exploded in feeling. The soft fur on his belly meeting mine as my body shivered. Next thing I felt was bitter, cold air rushing back into my lungs and the cold returned to my body. Light poured into my eyes as the blinding white of the snow covered landscape rushed back into view. I blinked a few times, taking everything in again as I started looking around. I was back in the camp, just as it was when it was pulled from my eyes, the only difference was the black wolf embracing me, his hug almost squeezing the fresh air from my lungs again.

I shuffled and fidgeted in his grip before he finally realized I was okay. He pulled back with a soft smile on his lips, his eyes kind and appreciative, his upper body still devoid of clothing. Pulling back, I said in a raspy voice, "H-Hey, mmhmm, what happened?" I squeezed my paws around Remus' biceps to confirm I could actually feel him there still.

"I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I stepped out of the tent and you seemed frozen." He blinked and glanced around, finding nothing out of the ordinary. "You were saying something, but when I stepped out, you just stopped and stared at me. I take it you spaced out again?" He asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"I..." I trailed off, glancing around as well, trying to find the black and green wolf thing that was talking to me before. "No actually. I was imagining you- standing there..." I trailed off before continuing, slightly embarrassed by what I was imagining, "When I saw you start walking towards me, but you changed. You had electric green stripes lining your fur which had changed to red. And your eyes became a piercing green color, but when you reached me, you blew on me, but your breath was cold. Then, whatever it was, said I was going to die now that it had what it needed. Then everything was black and I couldn't feel anything except alone." I stared back into his eyes, no hint of anything in them except steeled resolve.

"Ty..." he started, before casting his eyes down at the snow and taking a few steps back, "I worry about you. Obviously there is something happening and I can't leave you alone, because every time I do, you get attacked by something." He picked his head up, his fierce gaze took me by surprise, "I can't let you be alone again." Before I could even respond, he kissed me. His lips were cold, but his breath was warm. He wrapped his arms around me as I held his waist in my paws, just loving the new founded attention.

Remus had never been a very lovey wolf. I knew he loved me tremendously, but he would never show it often. Mainly because we have had to hide our feelings from the rest of the world for so long, but also because he isn't that kind of wolf. He takes care of me and I him, but the only time he holds me and kisses me so tenderly yet passionately is during our love-making. This new attention he has been showing me since we left our old village has done wonders for how strongly I feel for him. I kissed Remus back, my paws sliding up the small of his back as I pulled him even closer to me.

Our kiss deepened before it broke. My cheeks burned with desire as Remus stepped back out of the embrace. "Now, since I obviously can't leave you alone for even a moment, I suppose I have no choice but to finally let you come inside. Though it'll ruin the surprise..." he trailed off, but I couldn't be more excited. I was finally getting to see what he had been keeping so secret that past few days. We walked over to the tent, my eyes casting around for any signs of the intruder as we moved, but I couldn't see anything. Not even paw prints left in the snow. Remus stopped outside the tent entrance and turned back to me, kissing my cheek. "I have found recently that I am pretty good at this, so I thought I'd make something for you."

I cocked a brow and my head in confusion, not knowing what he recently found he was good at. Remus opened the then and motioned for me to go in first. I stepped inside that rather spacious interior to see our small oil lamp lit to provide a small amount of warmth to the confined space. I glanced around as my eyes fell on the spot where Remus has been sitting, his blanket folded into a neat square seat and a small carving knife next to a decently sized branch with small little wood shavings littering the canvas floor. The branch had been whittled away mostly to represent a small wolf's head canted back in a howling position, what I only assumed to be the moon whittled above it, a small hole positioned toward the top. A small shiver ran up my spine as Remus moved past me and sat on the blanket, picking up the wooden piece and knife and smiled at me.

"Recently found out I'm good at whittling," he said with a wide, sheepish grin, holding the wooden wolf head up, "What do ya think?" He asked as he passed the piece over to me. I took the wolf head in my paws as I turned it over, the flat back of the piece was etched with writing that read "Tyler, you will always be in my heart. Yours forever, Remus."

A tear formed in the corner of my eye, slipping down my cheek as I couldn't help but smile at the romantic effort Remus had been displaying to me recently. "It's absolutely beautiful! How did you learn you were so gifted when it came to this stuff?" I asked, dropping into his lap and giving him the biggest hug I've ever managed before, the tear now replaced by a few more slowly gliding down my cheeks.

"I'm not sure," he replied chuckling, "I kinda just tried a few days ago and I liked how it turned out, so I figured you might like something like this." Remus kissed my cheek lightly before continuing, "Honestly, it was going to be an 'I'm sorry I don't want to put you in danger, please stay safe for me' gift, but now that there is no way in hell I'm leaving you alone for a minute, it's just a regular present." Remus held out his paw for the wooden piece. I could see a few rough edges still, but for the most part, the piece was complete. I had a feeling he was going to finish this before we moved on, then give this to me in Sallowsdale when he left. My heart kind of hurt at knowing he planned to leave me despite saying he would take me with him if I mastered my power, but I'm just happy that he not only changed his mind, but he also made this extremely thoughtful gift just for me.

"What is the hole at the top for?" I asked just before realizing how stupid I must sound right now. Remus chuckled, simply holding up a piece of string in response. I couldn't help but laugh at my apparent stupidity. "Duh." We laugh together for a moment, all care blowing away with the breeze as time passed.

The rest of the day, Remus held true to his word. He wouldn't let me leave his sight, not even to relieve myself, going so far as to say "Just turn around, it'll be fine." I merely sighed and rolled my eyes in response. Considering we had seen each other nude enough times that this shouldn't be anything I should be concerned with, I gave him peace and simply complied with his desires. The remainder of our day consisted of picking up most of the camp and preparing for travel the next day. We wouldn't be spending much time resting from here on as we were now slightly behind schedule and needed to make up lost travel time. We retired to the tent early that evening where Remus finished his project for me, finally handing me the beautiful gift with a pleasant smile. I instantly put the string around my neck and held the wooden piece up, reading the inscription on the back again. No new words were there, but it made me feel just as giddy as when I first read them a few hours before. Remus kissed me gently before lying down and patting the ground beside him, indicating his desire to have me next to him. I tucked the necklace into my undershirt before shuffling down to lay next to him. Remus had always enjoyed laying behind me with a protective arm over me and tonight was not different. As I settled down, he snuggled up behind me, kissing the back of my neck and resting his left arm over my waist, drawing me closer to him. I exhaled a content breath and pat his thigh, whispering goodnight after he did to me.

Soon, my mind was left to swim in my thoughts, thinking of different things we needed to do and how difficult the trek would be tomorrow. We should make Sallowsdale within three days if we hike for ten hours a day. Maybe we could extend our travel time tomorrow and the next day so we could make it early the final day? I'll bring it up to Remus tomorrow when we pack up the tent. Remus' breath slowed, indicating his slip into unconsciousness. I pushed the remaining thoughts from my mind and focused on the sweet embrace of sleep, but just as I was reaching the edge of slumber, the same piercing green eyes appeared in the blackness of my mind, but I was too close to sleep and my mind slipped away, the green eyes fading just as quickly.

The following morning flew by, Remus and I packed the camp within minutes, setting out through the snow ridden forest during the dimly lit morning, the still, cold air attempting to bite through our clothing, but ultimately failing to reach our skin to even make us feel cold.

The snow crunched under our weight with every step we took, the old snow partially frozen made our hike long and difficult, but with every step we took, the sun rose higher in the sky, lighting the trees and sparkling off the brilliant white surrounding us in every direction. Excluding the encounter with the red wolf the previous day, we hadn't come in contact with any living thing in the past several days, not even a wild animal to hunt. We have sustained ourselves off the deer from before and various winter berries we found around tree trunks and evergreen shrubbery. The sky above was cloudy and gray, but the parts were enough to provide sparkling light in short waves. The bright sunlight would pass overhead for a few seconds, the brilliant gleam twinkling off the environment around us, every once in a while glancing off at just the right angle to make a rainbow. The scene was beautiful to observe and I would probably have never seen anything so beautiful had we not been running for our lives.

Remus led the way, his long strides forcing me to take overly large steps to stay in his tracks. We would often change lead while the other followed in the premade foot holes so the one trailing wouldn't use as much energy to keep themselves upright, but Remus had remained in the lead for several hours now, hardly saying a single word to me. I stepped in every hole he made for me, silently wishing he would make conversation with me.

We walked for a few more minutes in silence before I finally decided to break the silence myself. "So," my voice was a little horse from not being used in a few hours, "Would you like to try some hunting tonight when we make camp? We are running low on meat." I had decided to converse about survival since I knew he couldn't ignore that subject. "We only have enough left for today and one meal tomorrow. Unless you don't want to eat for two days?" I posed more as a question as I attempted to take a particularly large step to match his stride.

"Yeah. I can get us something tonight." Remus replied flatly, not even glancing over his shoulder. I grabbed the wooden wolf from around my neck and glanced down at it, lagging just barely behind.

"Ray. What's up? You've been extremely quiet today." I continued walking, not wanting to get left too far behind and struggling to catch up. I had figured he might start opening up to me more since we have been spending so much time together, with only each other as company.

Remus stopped, glancing around the forest before continuing, not once looking back at me. "Yeah, I just... feel weird is all." His reply was flat and almost emotionless. He usually only speaks to me like that if we are in company and I am a little too affectionate.

I dropped the necklace to hang from the string again before attempting to continue the conversation, "Okay, do you want to talk about it? You're not feeling bad, are you?" I asked, slightly worried as his gut feelings are usually always accurate.

"No." He replied, shifting his pack on his back indicating his waning energy. The sun was relatively low in the sky at this point, indicatinging we have been walking for nearly ten hours, our goal.

"Remus, slow down a bit? You've been walking rather quickly for the past several hours. We need to conserve our energy." I felt the wariness myself from the constant walking. It felt like I had been walking for days already, but then again, we basically have been. Remus passed by a tree, stopping just on the other side of it before turning to face me. He was breathing very heavily, his eyes drifting through me before taking a deep breath. "Remus. Please don't kill yourself trying to get there. We will be fine. And leave the hunting to me tonight. I'll try and get us a snow rabbit! I miss the taste of rabbit!" I moaned, rubbing my aching stomach and smiling sheepishly.

Remus put a paw on my shoulder, "That sounds... good..." He huffed between deep breaths, wincing it what I presume to be pain.

"Remus! What's wrong?" I grabbed the black wolf and held him as he went limp, his breathing becoming more and more strained. "Remus!" I held my paw to his forehead and was instantly aware of what was happening. Remus was sick and it was bad. I quickly lowered him to the ground and got his bag and the tent off his back, tossing them at the base of the tree next to us. I moved Remus to prop him up against his bag before tossing my own off my shoulders, digging through its contents for anything that could be used as medicine. "Remus..." I said, a bit of anger dripping from my words, "Why did you push yourself so hard?" I asked, still fumbling through the pack.

Remus didn't reply, simply closing his eyes and breathing, leaning his head back to rest. I dug farther, but to no avail. I had all the consumable items in my bag, so if I didn't have it, we didn't have anything to help. I quickly grabbed the cantine from the side pouch of my bag and held it to his lips, the cold water causing him to cough a little, but he drank. I grabbed his paw and forced him to hold the cantine himself as I grabbed some jerky for him to eat, but by the time I located it, I looked up to see his head all the way back, sucking out the final few drops of water. I grabbed the bottle from him and shoved the jerky in his hand. "Remus! Ugh... Just, eat that and I'll be back quickly. Hopefully we are still near some at least frozen water."

I stood, rolling my shoulders and grabbing my bow and quiver from off my bag, slinging the bow around my torso and strapping the quiver to my shoulder. I turned and jogged off in the direction I hoped there would be something.

I took deep breaths as I jogged on for a few minutes, glancing around and keeping my sharp ears as strained for the sound of water. I jogged a little farther before I heard some leave shuffle to my right. I watch a clump of snow fall to the ground. I glanced up the tree to see some squirrels jumping from branch to branch. If there are animals living here, there must be some running water nearby! I glanced around and began jogging again, the soft sound of gently flowing water slowly becoming louder as I continued. I smiled as I peaked a small hill to see a river flowing from North to South. I exhaled a sigh of relief and knelt beside the water, scooping some into the bottle. Once full, I capped it and turned to head back in the direction I came. I set off following the trail of prints I left behind. I passed the tree with the squirrels and found where I turned, picking up pace a little bit as I got closer to Remus again. Soon, he peeked into view. I smiled as I saw him sitting there, his eyes closed, but obviously breathing. I jogged back up to him and knelt beside him, tipping the bottle to his mouth and having him drink slowly. "There ya go big guy. Don't push yourself so hard. Lets camp here tonight."

Remus nodded in agreement and leaned forward, pulling his bag out from behind him. "Here," he said, opening the bag and refusing the assistance I offered. "Start the fire and I'll set the tent." Remus moved to stand, but I forcibly shoved him back into a sitting position. He stared at me bewildered.

"No." I said curtly, "Let me take care of setting up the camp. You just rest. Once the fire is going and the tent up, I'll move you inside." Remus did nothing but nod as he knew nothing would get done if he tried to help because I would spend all my time making him stop helping.

I pulled his bag closer to me and unwrapped the tent and materials. It wouldn't take long as this will only be for tonight. Regardless, we would have to press on again tomorrow, unless Remus can't move.

I set up quickly, but efficiently. The tent was up in minutes and Remus resting inside within another five. I walked over to some nearby trees and began my climb. I shuffled up the tree and grabbed a few low branches, breaking them free and tossing them back to the ground. After breaking off about fifteen branches, I shuffled back down the tree, picking them up and heading back to the tent. It took only two tries to get the fire started, quickly picking up in strength. The cracks and pops left me feeling accomplished. The only thing left was to get some food. Looks like squirrels are on the menu tonight.

I set out on a trip to the tree I saw before. It took me a few minutes to get near as I began stepping lightly, causing very little sound with each foot fall. I drew my bow and nocked and arrow, ready to fire when I saw my target. I glanced up at the tree from before and saw a few squirrels running up and down the branch chasing each other. I perched behind a nearby tree and pulled back on the string, mentally apologizing to the animals. I exhaled silently and slowly, releasing the arrow which zipped through the still air, finding it's target with accuracy. The lifeless body fell through the air, sinking into the snow at the base of the tree. The remaining squirrel charged up the tree and into a hole near the top, escaping the hunter's presence.

I stowed my bow around my torso again as I approached the spot my prey fell. I pulled the arrow from the corpse. The arrow head had broken, meaning this arrow was no longer useful to me. I snapped the shaft in half and buried the two pieces in the snow before heading back to the camp. I laid my bow and quiver down on the side of the tent and prepped the soon-to-be dinner.

After cleansing the animal of its fur and gutting it, I speared it on an extra branch from earlier and roasted the animal in the fire. A few turns and about twenty minutes later and our food was ready. Unfortunately we were going to have a small dinner, but at least we have something to eat tomorrow while we travel. I got up, moving my remaining belongings into the tent before entering myself, stirring Remus from his slumber. He was already coming down from his fever, which was good news to me. He blinked and sat up, sniffing the air. "Smells good babe," he said, eyeing the fully cooked meal in front of him.

"Good, I just caught a squirrel. I left the fire going. I'll put it out in a few minutes. It's time for some food. Hope you're hungry.

Remus licked his lips, "Starving!" He grabbed the squirrel and ripped it in half, handing part to me as he munched on his own. I chuckled as I bit into my own half, watching the wolf munch happily on the warm meal. "What?" He asked, his mouth full.

"Nothing!" I giggled, taking another bite. Remus finished his half quickly, burping before leaning over and kissing my cheek. I smiled back replying "Not a problem. Hope you enjoyed it?"

Remus took a sharp breath in, sucking on his teeth before replying, "Absolutely. You always cook shit better than I do. Even if it's just cooking meat over an open fire!" Remus exclaimed before taking a deep breath and laying back, closing his eyes. "Sorry, I barely have enough energy to eat right now."

I chuckled again, taking the final bite of food and laying down next to Remus, enveloping him in a big embrace from behind. He caressed my arm over his waist, but over a few moments, he stopped. I took a sharp breath and sat upright, opening the tent and just flicking some snow on the fire to smother it. I closed the tent back and laid back against Remus, taking my previous spot again as big spoon. My eyes closed as I played with the fur on Remus' stomach a bit, lulling me into slumber.

The following day was easy. Remus awoke feeling much better than he had, so he only had a small cold. Thankfully I got him to rest before it developed into more. We hiked for a few hours, this time much more chatty than before and this time walking slowly beside each other. Our day trek was another nine or ten hours before we set up camp again, not wanting to risk Remus' health to make it to our destination faster. The set up was quick and smooth again, under a tree for a little bit of added protection from the elements. I went hunting again, successfully catching another squirrel. Another small meal, but hopefully our last before we made it to our destination on the following day. As time ticked on and we settled for the night, my heart started racing in excitement to finally be done traveling for a week. I anticipated sleeping in a warm bed on a mattress again. Never will I take a comfortable mattress for granted again. I drifted off into slumber just as easily as I had the previous night.

We woke again the following morning, packing quickly and setting off before the sun had risen. The thought of being on the final home stretch made us both eager to get there. Remus was still feeling a little bad, but he had plenty of energy to make it all the way to town. As we travelled, we happened across a river and decided to walk along the slow flowing water. The sound of the running water was nice as we walked, reinvigorating us for our walk.

The sun had reached the highest point in the sky as the town finally came into view. I glanced over to Remus who returned my smile and nodded. We were finally here. We were done walking for a week and are finally going to get supplies and a warm room and bed to sleep in. We both exhaled deep breaths as we got closer. The long and perilous journey was over. The buildings were well built and mostly all were made of wood, as most small towns were. The buildings were spaced some fifteen to twenty meters apart, and haphazardly placed facing in all sorts of different directions. The layout of the town gave off a very homey feeling.

We crossed into town and saw citizens walking all over the place. Everyone looked beyond happy. There were wolves, foxes, lions, tigers, and bears! To name a few of the species we saw. Everyone was going about their day, not really paying us any mind.

A pair of young wolves ran by us, stopping for a moment to give us a warm smile, before running past and around a corner. We turned back and continued walking until we found what must be the town center. A few of the buildings here were made of stone. Mostly the bigger businesses had better buildings. The amount of citizens here was also much higher than on the edges.

We made our way to the only two story building visible. The building was built to look like a log cabin, but was kept up a lot better than some of the other buildings nearby. As we approached the door, we read a sign hanging from the deck of the second floor above us reading "Valley Inn." I held the door open for Remus and as he entered, I glanced around, still no one paying us any mind as they went about their daily lives. I smiled and entered the establishment behind Remus.

The inside was just as well kept as the outside and much more spacious. Very few people were inside, as the patrons simply ate and conversed amongst themselves, usually in pairs, but sometimes they were in groups of three or more. Remus glanced around the room before making his way to the counter where a stocky bear stood chatting with a couple of felines. It seemed they were coming to the end of their conversation as we approached as one of the felines slid a key across the counter to the bear. The bear took the key and smiled greatly, thanking them for their patronage and proceeded to set the key back in a cubby behind the counter numbered from one to fifteen. Remus approached the bear with a small grin on his face.

"Greetin's sir, how can I help ya today?" The bear asked us, giving us a huge grin as he wiped down the counter with a damp rag.

"We are looking for a room. A week stay if you have anything available." Remus leaned up against the counter, coughing lightly as he did.

The bear tilted his head, his grin not faltering, "Sure we do. We just had a guest check out. Would ya mind giving us 'round an hour to get the room cleaned and ready for ya?" The bear asked, ducking below the counter.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. We will probably go get something to eat in the meantime." Remus said, flipping his bag off his shoulder and digging through a side pouch. A few moments later, he produced a handful of very shiny coins. Enough money to pay for the room and then some. My jaw hit the floor as he poured the coins on the counter. I had never seen so much at once.

"Where did you get all of that?" I asked astounded, moving closer to the counter to stare at the coins. "Have you had those the whole time?"

Remus nodded, but did not reply. Instead, he kept his eyes on the bear in front of us, awaiting his return to our elevation.

"Aha!" The bear exclaimed, raising up again, his pudgy, but muscled belly bouncing against the counter as his eyes fell on the pile of money. "Ah, sir, that'll be way too much, I'll only be needing about..." he trailed off, pondering in thought, "About a fifth of that there for a week. One coin a night." He said, laying the paper on the counter. "If I could just get yer signature right here, I'll have ya reserved for the week." Remus nodded, taking the pencil and signing the document, then cutting out seven coins to prepay for the week. "A'ight, thank y'all very much, like I said, room'll be ready in about an hour." The bear added, stepping off with a wave over his shoulder. "Come back here and I'll give ya the key." And with that, he rounded the corner and we were left to get some food.

We made our way outside after Remus put the money back in the bag. "Are you going to tell me where you got that yet?" I asked, grabbing Remus' arm and pulling him back to face me.

"Okay," he said, amusing me, "I got this from the city we raided before. I kept it from you because if you knew we had 'stolen'," he added with air quotes, "money, then you wouldn't approve." I let go of his arm and pressed my lips into a thin line.

"Fine," I replied, "That's okay. It was forever ago and there's no need for me to be upset over it. Not like I can change it now anyways." I said, giving him a faint smile, wishing to drop the subject. Remus kissed my cheek, causing a few passersby to glance in our direction. None giving us and death stares. "This is something I am going to have to get used to."

"What?" Remus asked, glancing back at the people over his shoulder. "Also, I thought this place was supposed to have humans as well. How come I just see Amani?" Remus stepped into the street, looking up and down, but not seeing any humans. "Weird." I shrugged and grabbed his paw.

"Well, beside the point, where would you like to go to find some food? I am SO ready for a fully cooked meal." I walked alongside Remus, lacing my arm through his against my head telling me it's too dangerous to do that in public.

"How about over there?" Remus asked, pointing to a building about ten meters away with a sign above the door reading "The Gilded Lamb." The building looked old, but well worn. There were wear marks on the patio indicating the amount of foot traffic that entered into the restaurant. I nodded to Remus and we crossed the street, avoiding the passersby. As we approached the door, a pair of deer wearing well made and fairly new looking clothes exited the establishment. The male had a large and majestic set of antlers adorning his head. I had caught a small portion of their conversation, the male saying to the female "... hun, I can't believe how amazing the garden salad was! The mushrooms were amazingly paired with those berries..." The conversation died as the door closed behind us. I glanced around, the inside was much livelier. There were several tables set for two, three, and even five. The walls were a bare wooden brown color, adorned with pictures and drawing no doubt donated by locals. The back of the restaurant had a door leading into the back, presumably the kitchens. There were a pair of doors to the left along the wall close to each other. One door decorated with a blue triangle, the other a pink diamond. Most of the tables were full of diners, but there were still three tables left. Two set for two patrons, and one for five. A female feline dressed in a uniform made her way to us. From the looks of her, she was a leopard. She greeted us and asked how many, before taking us to one of the two open tables, the one closer to the wall which made me feel much more comfortable being as I don't like having my back to a door.

We sat our bags on the floor under our table and glanced at the menus. Not much in the vegetarian menu which was aptly labeled "Herbivorous." The section labeled "Omnivorous" had the most dishes under it, one catching my eye was Fresh Rabbit Stew. My stomach growled as we waited for service, Remus chuckling at my body's inability to keep quiet, but I laughed along with him.

Most of our time spent in the restaurant was spent in silence. We really only talked to our waiter who was a cute racoon boy who looked no more than seventeen years old. Our delicious smelling food arrived and we scarfed it down. The warm broth reinvigorated my soul, almost causing me to cry out of sheer delight. I glanced over at Remus after taking a spoonful into my mouth just as he ripped a big bite of his chicken. He had ordered a whole chicken and fully intended to eat the whole thing himself. As he ate, he would have another bite ready and entered his mouth only a second after he swallowed the first.

After our meals, we sat and relaxed for a moment before the racoon boy, apparently named Josh, came back to finish our service and collect payment. The boy only took one coin from Remus, so from what I could tell, that money was of high value. Much unlike the few copper pieces I had ever earned.

We cleaned up and collected our things before heading out and back across the street to the inn. As we stepped in, the bear waved us over. "Hey! So we finished your room slightly early. Here's tha key. Lemme know if ya need anything. We have a bathouse out that door if you'd like to wash off your travels. Other than that, your room is upstairs, third door on the right. Hope ya enjoy yer stay!" The bear waved as we made our way upstairs. I really wanted to take a bath, but I wanted to sleep in a bed more than anything.

"Are you going to bathe first? Or do you just want to sleep?" I asked as we reached the door, a small "11" was painted in the middle, matching the number carved into the key.

Remus pushed the key into the lock and clicked it open, pushing the door open before saying, "I kind of just want to sleep right now. We should get some rest and take a bath in a few hours." The room was rather spacious. It housed a small number of appliances, but exactly what we would need for a week. A large bed, two nightstands, a small bookshelf, a table and two chairs, one upholstered and one just made of wood. As my eyes fell on the bed, I almost began to drool over the thought of laying on something other than the ground. Remus and I both tossed our belongings to the ground after locking the door behind us. A few strides to the bed was exactly what was needed to be stripped of our clothes and under the covers, Remus' fur pressing against my bare back for the first time in a long time. I felt his heart beat in rhythm with his slow breathing, before drifting off into the most comfortable sleep I've had in weeks.