The Journey Around The World, In Order To Save Spring

Make No Sound or Urine Trouble

They woke up the next day to find nothing to do. Which was natural, seeing as they were stuck in an empty room. So they lounged around in the room, lying down and thinking. Atsuguk threw a scrunched up piece of paper against the wall, caught it and repeated. Taggak dozed off, his eyes closed as he basked in the sunlight shining in from the porthole. Amaruq was lost in thought. He always thought when he had time, even daydreaming if he was feeling creative. "Have you ever wondered where that Mexican guy got that milk from?" "No," Taggak answered, so quickly Amaruq didn't know if he even thought about it or not.

He looked to the senior male, whose eyes were still closed and muzzle still neutral. "You don't think that these grey wolves take milk from pregnant and mother wolves, do you?" He followed up. The two wolves froze, their expressions ones of confusion. It was as if their faces were thinking 'what the actual heck'. After staring into space, the three then stared at each other... before shrugging it off and relaxing again. Their silence continued for some time, before Atsuguk said, "I gotta go." "Go? Go where?" Amaruq asked. "To the loo," the younger answered, looking agitated. "What do you want to do? Number one or number two?" It was Taggak's turn to ask.

"N-number one," Atsuguk was clenching his thighs together now. "Then just use that old bucket over there," Taggak simplified as he pointed to the metal container in the corner of the room. Atsuguk scurried to it, and unfastened his pants. He stood there for a few seconds. Amaruq was wondering why he hadn't started yet. "Any problem?" He asked, just in case. "It.... It won't come out," the younger said quietly. Amaruq then thought. Maybe it was anxiety? He was in a room with two other people. "Let me guess. You can't pee when people are with you?" He asked, but he took the other's barely whispered answer as a yes.

Taggak merely rolled his eyes. Why is it that young ones are so easily embarrassed. They were all males here. "Well, I guess I hafta help you. Can't let a boy wet himself, can we?" He joked, which only served to deepen the red on the other's cheeks. He transformed into Solar and looked at the door leading out of the room and into the ship's corridor. He scanned the whole ship with his visors and located the closest empty compartment. "Take the bucket and follow me," Solar said as Atsuguk quickly followed the instructions. They crept out of the room, taking quick but silent steps the 30 feet distance to the other room. Once Solar was at the door, he tested it and found that it was locked.

Strange, why would they lock an empty room? Whatever, he tried to think of a way to get in. It was getting harder and harder for Atsuguk to hold it in. Blasting the door was out of the question; Everyone would hear that. He could try to pick the locks. Luckily, he had the right tool for the job. He took out the torsion wrench he had made precisely for picking locks, and worked it into the keyhole. He used it to apply torque to the plug of the lock to hold any picked pins in place. He placed his ear to the door to listen. Meanwhile, the two heard some footsteps from around the corner but Solar made sure not to panic. That won't help him while doing precision work.

Once he was sure all the pins were picked, he turned the plug and opened the lock. He pushed the door open and Atsuguk quickly entered the room, pushing past him. Solar didn't want to disturb him, but the footsteps were getting louder, as well as the sound of chatter. Thinking quick, he bent and shifted the light particles around him, effectively rendering him invisible. And just so, as two men appeared around the corner, walking past Solar. "Man, I can't wait to get back to Shanghai," one man said. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I heard the Red Light District there is booming this time of year," the other man agreed as they turned the other corner.

Oh, that was right. The Treaty of the Bogue, the Treaty of Wanghia and the Treaty of Whampoa forced Chinese concession to European and American desires for visitation and trade on Chinese soil. That explained why these merchants were Americans, not Chinese. Well, whatever the case was, they were still heading to the right country. Solar kept watch outside the door as his young friend did his business. Once he was done and came out, they went back into their hideaway. Taggak was leaning on the wall now, but he seemed to be meditating. He cracked an eye open at the two but closed them again like Solar closed the door. Atsuguk emptied the bucket out the porthole.

Once again, they lapsed into boredom. Amaruq decided to read one of the books he bought. It was titled 'The Religions of Man' by Huston Smith and Amaruq found that interesting enough to warrant a purchase. The trio spent their time that way, leisurely relaxing the day away. It wasn't long past noon, however, when Amaruq discovered a problem. "Guys, I just realised..." he began, "We hadn't bought any food from the market! Or you know, a grocery store." Taggak thought about the problem. It did seem like a long journey to land. They'd starve after a week without any sustenance. "Well, can't you just, I don't know, grow food with your powers or something?" Atsuguk suggested.

"True, I can probably grow some fruits and vegetables using my Leaf element. But there's two problems with that. Number one: You're wolves and-" "Can't digest vegetables," Taggak finished for him. "Right," he said. "And number two: Fruits are great for vitamins and all, but they lack protein and fat," Atsuguk continued. The other two looked at him. "What?" He asked. Was there something on his muzzle? "Nothing. It's just... I didn't know you were knowledgable in nutrition. Also I was gonna say lipids but fat works too," Amaruq elucidated. "Well... I learned about it while training under Tullik," he explained embarrassedly.  It was one of the things a good alpha should now.

"The beta? Wow, I didn't know you were under his tutelage!" Amaruq exclaimed. He never knew his friend was that awesome. "Ehh... it's nothing really. I just wanted to be prepared in case my uncle doesn't have his own pup to fill in his shoes. Not that he wore any," the youngest cleared up. The other two understood what he meant. They had never seen their alpha show any interest in anybody. Maybe he was asexual? Definitely not aromantic, at least Taggak knew that. "I'm also learning a lot from you gents!" He said happily, proud to be part of their team. "Aww... shucks. We're nothing really," Amaruq waved his hand while Taggak huffed. He didn't think he was all that great at leading. He just had a good intuition.

"In any case, that means that sooner or later we'll have to raid our host's pantry," he said. The other two nodded. Only Amaruq could survive on a vegetarian diet. And even then, he'd probably need some Vitamin B12 supplements. They decided to hold it off till tomorrow. Today was just a 'do nothing' day. Amaruq Thorn grew some grapes, cranberries and blueberries for them to much on and sate their hungers for today. They were sweet and thus provided their bellies with saccharides for energy. They also had some fat stored underneath their skin anyway, from the animals they hunted before this. Before long, it was night again and the trio had another good night's sleep.