"Heave!"

"Pip!"

"One more! Push as hard as you can!" I shouted, voice cracking under the strain. My hands were reddened, pulling up on a support beam from my perch.

Piplup, visibly shaking with effort, gave one final push. "Piiiip!"

The crossbeam, leaning against the side of the soon-to-be hut, was shoved up and firmly in my grip. Grunting, I lugged it onto my shoulder- and after a strained pause to adjust my footing, I slid it into place on the shallowly sloped 'roof'.

"Ahhh!" sighing loudly with relief, muscles groaning, I slid down to the ground. "There. We. Go!" Bending down, I high-fived Piplup. High-flippered?

Wiping the sweat from my brow- a frequent activity, really- I belted out a laugh. "It's done. Well, the hardest part is over- now for actual walls!"

Piplup nodded. We planned- with a lot of charades- to vertically fit the logs into the notched frame. Once we figured out nails, we'd upgrade, but neither of us had the first clue about metalworking or wooden pegs.

So now we needed more trees. Not nearly as wide, but more nonetheless.

Hopefully, our 'friend' wasn't much of a tree hugger. They regularly visited the hot spring, which meant they had good taste, but we knew very little beyond that.

"But let's get on that tomorrow. I say we've earned ourselves a feast!" I said excitedly, catching the growing exhaustion radiating from Piplup.

Brightening at the prospect, Piplup cheered. "Pip-lup!"

Rubbing my stomach, I leaned back onto a stump. "That may have been-" I paused, burping loudly, "-excuse me- a bit too much. Marinating it in the juices was a good idea, though. Delicious."

Piplup fell on top of me, head nestled under mine. Humming in agreement, she curled up on my chest. Those two wires crossed again, this time with a jolt- and I understood.

"Hmm... yeah, why not sleep here tonight? Under the stars?"

A hand snaked up to Piplup, pulling her even closer.

I dreamt of home that night.

I walked through that empty husk, wind biting at my tear-stained face. My room, emptied; my father's, missing the one thing I needed most. Only, this time, a woman in black stood at the window- a woman I knew.

She turned, long hair billowing, a question forming on her lips- a question I knew all too well.

I often dreamt of home.

Author's Node:

This chapter is very, very short, and I am sorry about that. The next chapter should be up soon, though!

Regards,

Verdin Grey