The next day, Juniper woke up feeling slightly warm, Both Demetrius and Gio were by his side.
''Good morning.'' Demetrius whispered and kissed the top of Juniper's head lightly.
Juniper hid his face in the quilt "Morning..." Juniper mumbled.
Gio stroked Junipers hair that was showing "Do you feel any different?"
"....My stomach feels heavy'' Juniper admitted
Gio smiled "Maybe I was a bit much, just let us know if anything changes'' Gio moved up pulling the quilt and quickly kissed Juniper on the lips, which made him blush again. ''You were very cute last night.''
Juniper blushed even more, "Tha-"
"Don't say too much Gio'' Demetrius interrupted before turning back to Juniper ''we're in no hurry to move on so once you're ready we can start travelling.''
Juniper nodded, while Demetrius began to pack the supplies. They soon left the area and headed deeper into the forest, their journey took them through the woods and mountains. The trees grew closer together, making a canopy overhead, leaving only patches of sunshine to shine down upon the ground.
Juniper was thankful for the shade, because he had been exposed to the sun for such a long time, he was starting to turn pink. Demetrius reached out a hand, placing it over Juniper's bare arm. "Here, put this around your neck. It'll help keep you cool.'' He said.
Juniper did as instructed, putting what looked like a thin band with a blue strip around his neck. A few minutes passed by in silence, the trio walking slowly across the land. As they walked further into the forest, Juniper heard a rustling noise and turned towards it.
A group of small rabbits ran out from behind some bushes and darted off into the distance, taking shelter under the trees. The creatures were completely white, except for the tips of their ears and tails, which were pale pink. Juniper smiled at the sight, looking up at Demetrius who raised an eyebrow.
Demetrius placed his hand on Junipers shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile as he continued walking. There was something peaceful about the place; Juniper couldn't quite explain why. Everything seemed calm here, there weren't any monsters or beasts stalking them. It wasn't until later that night that he realised just how wrong he'd been. Juniper woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, hearing strange noises coming outside. Juniper felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, knowing immediately what those sounds meant.
He quickly got out of his sleeping bag and Demetrius and Gio were also awakened. Demetrius put on his jacket and drew his laser sword, looking beyond Juniper and seeing three large wolf like creatures. He sliced his blade upwards and slicing through one of the creatures neck. Its body fell lifelessly to the floor and Demetrius landed a kick to another creature's head, Juniper also came forward using his claws to cut through the air and slashed at the two remaining creatures. Soon two of the three creatures were dead, Gio then appeared, deliverying the finishing blow by grabbing his gun and shooting the last creature.
Demetrius dragged the bodies away, turning to Juniper with concern. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Juniper replied, shaking his head.
Confirming that none of them had been harmed during the fight. Demetrius bent down and retrieved some of the meat the wolves' corpses, handing it to Juniper. "Saves us hunting later on for food''
Demetrius approach them "We need to get moving now otherwise the blood will attract more beasts" He said.
The trio bent down and grabbed their bags and packed up everything before setting off again, heading deeper into the forest.
It was way into the night, Juniper hoped they would reach a clearing soon enough. Juniper could smell smoke, which made him take a quick look around. The ground was littered with ash and burnt wood from the creatures theat look to have fought earlier, but Juniper didn't see anything nearby.
Demetrius picked up a stick and poked around, finding a trail of footprints leading away. He followed the tracks for a while longer, eventually arriving at what looked like a cave entrance. Demetrius and Gio walked in front and confirmed there was no animals living there and whatever did had left a long time ago.
Gio turned on a light illuminating the cave. "Let's stay here tonight." He suggested. Juniper nodded in agreement, although he hoped he wouldn't be disturbed too much. Demetrius and Gio set up camp, making sure all their weapons were secured and safe before settling down. Juniper curled up between them and fell asleep almost instantly.