Memories (The Pack)

Chapter 22

Who's excited for school?! NOT ME :D (jk I actually kinda like school)

Warnings: None

     ~Vikk's P.O.V.~

"Look, the forest is over there. We should reach it just before nightfall." Rob calls over his shoulder, pointing ahead and across the murky swamp water.
"Good, the sooner we get out of this nasty place the better." Jerome mutters, grimacing as he pulls his foot out of some mud.
"I really hope my fight doesn't take place inside a swamp." Lachlan agrees, trying to shake off some of the water from his sleeve.
Preston ducks under the droplet of water that sails towards him, "Watch where you shake Lachlan."

Lachlan apologizes before returning to the task of pushing Preston through the calm liquid.

By the time we reach the banks, we're exhausted from trudging through thick mud all day. Besides Preston of course... He got it pretty easy considering he could have easily been turned to stone. The moment I step onto the moist grass I fall to my knees, breathing heavily.

"Phew, travelling through a swamp isn't easy work." I sigh, wiping the beads of sweat from my forehead.
"Don't get too comfortable Vikk, we still need to make shelter before nightfall." Mitch reminds me, all of us groaning at the mention of work.

Rob and Lachlan help Preston out of the boat before we all shamble towards the forest, this time knowing better than to dig underground.

We settle for a small shelter made only of dirt with a single wooden door to enter. While Lachlan and I work on actually building the structure, Mitch and Jerome supply us with dirt to build with, Rob gathers leaves to make semi decent beds, and Preston starts working on a fire which we all dearly long for. I lean over and place down the very last dirt block just as the first skeleton spawns, and I quickly dive into the makeshift hit before it can spot me.

"Just in time... Good thing we didn't make it underground again." I comment, swinging the door shut behind me.
Lachlan nods in agreement, glancing over at Rob. "How you doin with the beds Robbie?"
Rob fluffs up a couple of rich green leaves, before sitting back on his heels and turning to face us. "All done. Preston, you got the fire ready?"
"Yep, I just need to light her up now."
"By all means, please don't hesitate cuz my jeans are soaked." Mitch ushers, Preston nodding firmly.

Preston turns to the pile of sticks and reaches out with his hand, letting it gradually heat up until the mound of wood bursts into flame. The fire instantly adds light to the dark space, casting a warm glow on each of us. I sigh in relief, savouring the warmth as it sinks into my frozen skin. And apparently Jerome likes it too, because before long he's scooted dangerously close to the fire to suck in its heat.

"Don't get too close, Jerome... We don't want a burnt bacca." Mitch chuckles.
"Are you kidding? Have you seen my fur? It's completely drenched." Jerome replies, holding out a dripping hand to prove his point.

We all chuckle lightly and crowd around the fire, coming to a silent decision that sleep can wait. Well all of us expect Preston, who presumably isn't cold and instead curls into his bed of leaves. But he doesn't sleep either, instead just lays on his side and gazes blankly into the dancing flames. It's not long until my eye lids begin to droop, and I'm brought into a comfortable daze. Just don't go to sleep and fall into the fire Vikk. I warn myself, yawning widely as my clothes dry off.

I sleepily glance up to see what everyone else looks like, to find them in similar states. Preston is starting to nod off, but keeps jerking away and refusing to sleep until we do, Lachlan is hugging his knees to his chest and is resting his chin on top with half lidded eyes, Rob is leaning back on his arms with heavy eyes, Mitch looks about ready to fall asleep on the spot, and Jerome has his eyes closed and breathing deeply, although still awake seeing as he hadn't toppled over yet.

I sigh in content, listening to the peaceful silence (aside from the mobs of course) and the steady breathing of everyone else. Suddenly I pick up on a low rumbling, and my head snaps up along with everyone else's to determine what it is. We all glance around in confusion before our eyes land on Jerome who hasn't moved an inch in response to the noise. The sound continues, and we all exchange glances, smiles slowly spreading to our face and amusement filling our eyes. Mitch bites back a laugh, poking at Jerome's shoulder. Jerome kinda jumps up, the peaceful rumble instantly stopping as Mitch starts to laugh.

"Jerome were you..."
Lachlan steps in, a smirk upon his face "Purring?"
"WHAT? NO." Jerome tries to convince us, but we can all see through his little lie.
"OH MY GOSH JEROME WAS TOTALLY PURRING!" Preston exclaims, all of us busting into laughter.
"That's adorable!" Rob coos.
"Aww big scary Jerome was purring!" Lachlan jokes.

Jerome tires to glare at us but even in the slight darkness, even through his thick fur, we can all tell Jerome is blushing furiously. We only laugh harder.

"And now he's blushing!" I laugh.
"Shudup..." Jerome growls, trying to cover his face.
"JEROME WAS PURRING, JEROME WAS PURRING." Mitch chants, Jerome completely hiding his face in his hands.
"Mitch, please, you really aren't helping." Jerome groans.

We all laugh for the following ten minutes, Jerome hiding away in embarrassment the entire time. At some point Rob was laughing so hard he actually started to cry. But I guess we have to calm down sooner or later... So eventually our laughter dies out to light chuckling.

"You do realize..." Rob begins, wiping a tear from his eye, "That we aren't going to let you live this down, right?"
"I'm well aware..." Jerome mumbles, his voice muffled in his jacket.

~~~