Helping Terra

Three and a half days later, the Scouts entered Roik Territory. They ran for a while more before slowing down and changing back into clothes. Tearnyn slightly regretted not bringing a jacket since it was getting colder but knew it never would have fit in her bag. The last two miles felt longer as cold winds blew through to the bone. By the time they walked into the village they all but wept at the thought of warming up.
The next day Tearnyn walked out to find the village covered in white. Morgana groaned next to her complaining that trying to fix the outside of the shuttle would have to be put on hold. She trudged off towards their ship, muttering to herself how unfair winter was. Tearnyn laughed at how much Morgana hated snow. Yurik leaned on Tearnyn as he shook his head. Out of the three of them, Tearnyn loved snow, Yurik was indifferent, but Morgana despised it. Yurik bid Tearnyn good-bye and left for the library again. She wondered why Yurik still planned on researching when he left because he was finished with the library. When both her pack mates disappeared from sight, she headed to the tavern to begin her shift again.
Coral smiled at her with a glow she did not have before. Tearnyn smirked at her knowingly receiving a blush in return. She laughed at Coral’s reaction as she headed off to work. The air was still a spicy sweet scent however it also took on an atmosphere of happiness and calm. No longer were the male wolves looking for someone to punch and the females were no longer bursting with sexual desires. Everything was slowly evening out and Tearnyn felt she could once again breathe in the tavern.
At around noon Yurik came by and Tearnyn took her lunch break to hang out with him. He looked troubled as he munched on his food and spoke very little. Eventually Tearnyn coaxed it out of him that he did not know what to do. After visiting the library in the city he had nothing new to look into. He knew that they were stuck on Old Earth where no one from their government and unit would look for them. He also knew that there were about 1,000,000 wolves on the planet. He was able to talk to them and learn through a more verbal way of the history of the planet but other than that he was useless. He slumped forward, letting his head hit the table. Tearnyn gave him a sympathetic look as she rubbed his head. Her hand slowly made it to his cheek where he nuzzled it for comfort.
He looked at her lost and asked, “What do I do?”
Her thumb continued to sooth him as she replied, “You find a job and we help Morgana when we can. At this point it is mostly up to her to get us home. We’ll need you once we actually enter space, but for now she’s the one fixing our ship.”
“I guess…” He looked up at her and asked, “How have you done it for the past two months or so?”
“How do you mean?”
“Morgana and I have been working on our projects while you haven’t had really anything to do. How have you passed the time?”
“First off I am, what did they say… the breadwinner? Basically I work so we can eat and have clothes for this wonderful weather.”
“You are too wonderful.”
“Says the man who doesn’t think I should be let out on my own.”
“Just because you are wonderful does not mean I can trust you not to talk about something strange or invasive.”
“So says you. Now if you’ll excuse me I have work to do.” Tearnyn stuck out her tongue before clearing the table and getting back to work. She heard Yurik cackle behind her as he left to find something to do.
Eventually he did find work in the library. Working as a page was not ideal for him, he would have much rather be researching than putting books away, but it was not terrible. Unlike the past few months, he actually met and became friendly with some of the wolves around the village. He was able to learn about the culture of Green Willow which really piqued his interest and kept him from going crazy. What made Tearnyn secretly happy was having someone to hang out with that was from her pack. She liked the people she had come to know and enjoyed visiting the Silver Back Pack, but it was not the same as bonding with a pack mate. Now instead of finding someone to talk to or spend time with, she had lunch with Yurik and bothered him whenever she was not working or volunteering. At first Yurik was solely focused on work but after a few days managed to put books away and talk to Tearnyn when she visited.
One night Morgana was in a bad mood and snapped at her two pack mates whenever they said something to her. After a few hours of being yelled at, Yurik finally managed to get Morgana to confess why she was in a bad mood. She begrudgingly muttered that she felt left out. While she was working out in the field all day, Yurik and Tearnyn had been bonding. She honestly liked that her two pack mates were getting closer, she just felt like she was being left out. After that night the trio implemented two days a week where they would either not work or take a half day and hang out.
Tearnyn noticed that it was getting harder for all of them to keep their spirits up about getting off Terra. At first they freaked out about being stranded, then they found projects to do that were subject to get them home, and now they were hitting a lull. They were getting comfortable in their daily routines and that frightened them. Morgana was working hard, but were the fixes for the shuttle slow because it was slow work or because she was unconsciously making them so? Now that Yurik had read everything he could in Green Willow and made friends, would he become domesticated to Terra? And Tearnyn, out of all of them she was the one that got to know not only everyone in Green Willow but also the Silver Back Pack. Would she be able to leave them when the time came? Their feelings about their situation were all muddled. They feared not being able to leave Terra, but they were saddened at the thought of leaving their new friends behind. The trio tried not to grow attached to the werewolves on the planet, but seeing them every day and having nothing else to do forces a person to interact and slowly that turns into something more. Most wolves were social and going too long without others would be lonely. It would make anyone lost and stranded reach out for some kind of companionship. That was what they did. They did their best to not think about what would happen the day they left. It was too exciting and heartbreaking to think about.