Too Big...

The chirping of birds signalled the arrival of dawn, a time where the woman and few men left in the village rose to start their work

At this time Yu should be asleep as his journey had been long, one severely lacking in rest, sadly this rest he did not get, instead, he was patting the sleeping Lyra's fur while his eyes stared emptily at the ceiling

'My sleepless state is back again'

There was no way he wasn't tired, in fact, he was dead tired, the only reason for his inability to fall into the land of dreams would be the strange black smoke that seemed to change something in him

'But I already got rid of the smoke, I was sleeping just fine all this time, why would it suddenly come back now'

He couldn't for the love of sleep figure out what the reason was, in the end he could only lean on Lyra and pat her to sleep while remaining on guard duty the entire night, that way at least one of them got to rest

Knock Knock

"Are you awake yet?"

Willa's voice came with the knocking followed by the faint sound of the door opening, this made Yu hastily chant to unsummon Lyra, thankfully he was in the bedroom and not the hall so there was enough time to do so before his door opened up after a single knock

"Oh, you already up, why didn't you answer?"

"The question is how come you're that uncaring when it comes to privacy"

"If I left you be you'd sleep in till noon, better start the day earlier or you'll miss out on the tour"

Her reason didn't sound so convincing, he also didn't like her barging in like this, those complaints he didn't say, it wasn't something worth making a problem out of

"I bet you need a bath first and foremost, just the heavy smell of blood is making me nauseated, I'll prepare the water for you now, eat breakfast in the meantime"

Willa then walked out the house to get the water from the well

Yu shrugged, might as well start the day since sleep didn't dine visiting him today so he came into the hall and sat down to eat the hot bowl of vegetable soup, carefully sipping it while watching Willa go in and out with two buckets, each the size of a basin, carrying them in a way that made it seem so effortless

This brought to his attention how toned her body was, especially the abdominal muscles that could barely be made out under her heavy shirt, it shamed him to remember how thin and fickle his own body was in comparison

"You can look all you want but no touching"

Her unhappy voice stopped his eyes from further roaming, she seemed angry but not so angry, the brash attitude made him smile wryly

"I was merely admiring the muscles you pack, is village life really so tough that it would need such strength"

"Heh, it sure is tough, nothing that builds you up though, these are from my old mercenary days"

Apparently she liked his praise of her well-built body, what woman didn't like genuine admiration for their figure

Yu didn't continue conversing as he noticed how bold and straightforward she was today, much unlike the rather formal attitude from before, in one night she did a one-eighty on her behaviour

'Woman, so flippant'

He sipped his soup in silence till the bath was finally filled up, as soon as it was Lyra urged him to call her out for a good grooming so he walked next to the bathroom door and looked at Willa

"What you waiting for, an invitation?"

Seeing him staring at her then the bath she asked with a frown

"Not quite, merely some soap and a towel"

"Soap? You'll find none here, I can bring you a towel once you're done"

He was surprised, soap seemed to be readily available, even in cheap bathhouses in the cities, it really didn't look like it was an expensive item

"Don't look so shocked, we have very little to offer for trade in our village, no farming is done here and the meat we hunt would spoil before it gets to the cities, not that they would even buy it off us, we severely lack in resources so what fur and leather we get we sell to get the necessities that we lack"

This made him realize how disregarding the people were of food, beasts were strewn about everywhere which made meat an extremely common resource, grains and vegetables were the expansive resources around here but village couldn't farm those in the wilds putting them in an awkward situation where they wouldn't starve but remain unable to improve their living standards

'My soap though…'

He was reluctant to wash without it, wishing he knew this beforehand and brought his own soap along, sadly there were no two ways about it

Entering the bathroom, soap-free, he waited until the hall's doors were closed signalling Willa leaving so the antsy wolf could be called out

"Wuu wu!"

The first thing she did upon appearing was canon ball into the big tub suspended on two stone stands, splashing a great amount of water onto the surrounding while drenching Yu in the process

"Wu wu wuu"

She called out for him to join her while covering her body lightly with flames to heat the cold well water

"...You do realize that water is not replenishable right?...Haah"

Seeing her ignore his mood dampening words and splash around in water he sighed and took off his clothes to join the fun bath time

'At least I have her brush with me'

One of the best things about baths for the two of them was the combing time, Lyra certainly enjoyed it and he also liked the feeling of brushing the soft fur, it just felt so relaxing and satisfying to do

"Humm hmm, hum hum"

Humming to himself he enjoyed the calming time for as long as he could, which was merely thirty minutes before Willa came knocking on the door for him to come out already

"What's her problem? She rushing me all the time"

Unhappily muttering to himself he unsummoned Lyra and opened the door slightly, then stuck his hand out to receive the towel

"Here is a set of new clothes as well"

She stuffed into his hand along the towel, he had clothes in his ring but couldn't explain where they came from so the old villager clothes were his only choice

"Haha, they don't fit you"

"You think"

The brown shirt looked like a barrel on his thin body, extending way past his waist which managed to cover up for the slipping oversized pants that he had to hold with his hands

"This is not going to work"

"I agree, I'll wash your old clothes, you wait here and, heh, give me the pants, you don't really need it"

Barely holding her laughter in she took the pants off his hands and went to wash his dirty clothes while he awkwardly stood in place

"Hmm?"

As soon as Willa touched the water she looked puzzled, the lukewarm temperature wasn't expected making her give the waiting Yu a puzzled look, clearly it was his doing but it wasn't easy to ask without looking invasive

"You've got one hot body"

She commented, hinting in a roundabout manner, sadly her true meaning didn't register in his mind if the uncomfortable expression was any sign, he must have thought she was being sarcastic

Unable to uncover the truth she took her frustration out on the poor clothes, scrubbing hard until any scent that thought of surviving was wiped away

"Just gotta wait for it to dry now, why don't we sit down for a talk in the meantime"

She teased and plopped down in the hall herself, knowing full well that he couldn't, the big shirt managed to cover his dignity but it was a different story if he sat down

"What do you have planned for today?"

He asked diverting the conversation away from his clothes

"Just strolling, I'll show you around the village and we'll figure things out from there"

"That's your tour?"

"What did you expect from a small village, it's not like we have much to do around here other than hunt, make cloths and drink"

'Then why did you come fetch me so early in the morning!'

Those thoughts he didn't say, it wasn't worth the argument

The two talked some more until his clothes were dry enough for him to don, then they exited the guest house to start their short tour, clueless of the people watching them from afar

"Should we start now?"

"No, wait a little bit more"

The hidden figures conversed, whatever they were planning was definitely not going to bod well, the only question was whom it would harm in the end