The Broken Family

|7| A Promise

——Freighter "Jenny"——
——12:35pm——

The salty sea air ruffled my fur as I looked out over the expanse of ocean. I hadn't seen the ocean before this trip, so I was always finding something new to see. We had been on this boat for a couple days, so around tomorrow we would reach England. There was a radio in the cabin that was always playing, and I somehow memorized the lyrics to all the songs that came on. How that happened I had no idea, but I didn't really mind. The current song was quite nice, and I found myself connecting it to Bucky and I's current situation. There were a few that triggered that reaction, but overall it was background noise.

Footsteps sounded nearby and I stiffened. I sniffed the salty air and smelled Bucky coming back. He had been looking for spots where we could move undetected on the deck, that way we weren't just sitting around for the whole time.

Bucky was... distant... But then again so was I. Our experiences had caused us to be quiet and reclusive in our actions. Although, the simple action of sitting together was a comfort on both sides. A signal that we weren't alone, that we didn't have to face our demons in isolation, that there was another that knew what you were going through to a certain extent.

Bucky came over and sat down a few feet away, a blank expression on his face. I swished my tail over and the tip brushed against his hand, causing it to twitch. He looked up at me a confused expression on his face, and I merely wagged my tail good-naturedly. He gave a tiny chuckle and shook his head before looking over the ocean again.

——Time skip: The next day——
——10:45am——

I jolted awake to a blaring horn and shouting on the deck.

Blinking my eyes open, I stiffly got up and stretched with a yawn. Bucky was standing a little ways away, looking through the entrance to our hiding spot between a couple of crates. I walked over and raised my head up, looking out at the dock that was getting closer and closer.

"Ready?" Bucky's soft voice caused me to look over. A small nod on my part was all it took for us to make our way to the railing. We waited for the boat to dock and jumped over the railing and onto the pier. Well, I jumped over it while Bucky stood on the railing and jumped from there.

We quickly made our way to a sheltered area to hide, and figure out our next move. I looked up to the sky and began to pinpoint our direction. 'My home is... East..? Sounds right...'

"We can stay in this area for a bit to rest, but it would be smart to find a place to stay before dark." I chuffed and looked at Bucky, a questioning expression on my face.

He looked a bit confused, so I looked at one of the houses and nodded at it before looking up to where the sun was in the sky. A small huff escaped me as I then looked at the moon and nodded towards it. I looked back to Bucky and he nodded in understanding.

We began to walk around in alleys and side streets, looking for a hiding spot to wait. Not a word was passed between us as we looked, both of us were too used to not talking that it was easy to stay quiet.

After a few hours of searching, we reached the edge of the city and a small building caught my eye. It was worn down, with faded stone bricks, broken windows, and dark shadows were pushed back by sunlight in the interior.

Bucky stopped with me and we head over, entering slowly to scope out the house beforehand. My eyes were able to see really well in the shadowed room, so I trot around, sniffing and listening for any signs of life. Upon finding nothing, I trot back to Bucky and let out a soft huff. We went to separate corners and I laid down, my forepaws outstretched in front as I looked at Bucky. He simply sat there in his corner, staring at seemingly nothing with haunted ice-blue eyes. I could see the dark rings around the iris and the exhausted look he had, signaling a lack of sleep. 'He hasn't slept at all since before the river, and who knows how long it was prior that he got to sleep...'